In the wake of the editorial shakeup at DC, we talked to VP-Direct Sales Bob Wayne and VP-Editorial Dan DiDio about what retailers can expect. The changes took place Wednesday, as Mike Carlin, formerly VP-Executive Editor DC Universe, stepped down into a Senior Group Editor role, Group Editors Andy Helfer and Dan Raspler left the company, and VP-Editorial Dan DiDio assumed editorial oversight of the DC Universe. Didio has been at DC for about a year after a 20-year career in television, including five years at CBS, 11 at ABC (including time overseeing ABC's daytime children's schedule), and five at animation house Mainframe.
Asked what the changes meant for retailers, Wayne said, 'Retailers should expect a re-invigorated DC Universe, continuing some of the directions but going faster, reaching out to other writers and artists that haven't worked with us in the past.'
DiDio stressed his new perspective when we asked what he was bringing to his new role. 'A fresh set of eyes, looking at the characters, exploring who they are, distilling them down to what their strengths are, what attracted people to them first, and then from there building them up again into a sensibility that has a contemporary feel,' he said.
DiDio also hinted at a broader range of genres drawn from DC's history. 'We're looking at everything as a whole right now to see how the pieces fit together, but more importantly how we can diversify the pieces as well. It's not just about just doing superheroes with the same set goals and ideals, but really trying to mix it up more, diversify the cast of heroes that we have as well and the different types of stories that we can tell. When I first started reading DCs in the 70s what attracted me to DC was the horror line, the war books, the western books, and I like the superheroes also, and although we've gotten away from that a little bit that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to find other ways to tell different stories.'