Coming as little surprise, comics writer Peter Tomasi has signed an exclusive deal with DC Comics. Tomasi, who worked in-house at DC as an editor for 14 years, transitioned to being a freelance writer in 2007 working primarily for DC on such titles as Nightwing and Green Lantern Corps. In the three years since becoming freelance he has worked primarily for DC, so this news is less a surprise and more a formal recognition of Tomasi’s stature in DC along with their future plans – such as co-writing the upcoming bi-weekly series Brightest Day with Geoff Johns.
Although exclusive contracts have been bandied about since the early days of American comics, they experienced a resurgence in the late 90s as publishers sought to obtain star creators on an exclusive basis – helping their lines while robbing competitors of the services. For creators, it offers many benefits – from a higher page rate to a guaranteed promise of work, but for some it also provides health insurance and benefits – a highly valued commodity in the comics creator community as they almost all work from home as self-employed individuals.
This announcement is the second exclusive creator deal announced in 2010 following up from the surprise DC acquisition of long-time Marvel artist David Finch. For some, that big jump presaged a new round of exclusives being announced on both sides of the Big Two. For DC, it seems a step in firming up their key group of creators in the coming years.
But for fans, what does it mean to you? Are you glad Tomasi and Finch are DC bound for years to come, or would you want them at Marvel spinning their web? Or do you disagree with exclusives alltogether and want to see more creators to both DC and Marvel work. And lastly, who's next to jump ship from Marvel to DC -- or DC to Marvel -- in 2010?