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Six DC Titles Canceled, Major Shift In Creative Teams

Bob Harras and Bobbie Chase discuss the latest changes being made at DC Comics.

In a recent interview DC's Senior Vice President Bob Harras and Editorial Director Bobbie Chase revealed that five DC Comics titles are being canceled and that there will be major changes made to the creative teams. Based on the information released earlier, SAVAGE HAWKMAN, TEAM 7, FURY OF THE FIRESTORM, DEATHSTROKE, RAVAGERS, and SWORD OF SORCERY are all being canceled.

BATWING cover by Ken Lashley
BATWING cover by Ken Lashley

Some of these titles were launched relatively recently following the previous round of cancelations by DC, so the question remains, did the publisher really give these series a chance to blossom and thrive, or were they eliminated prematurely?

According to Chase and Harras, although SAVAGE HAWKMAN and DEATHSTROKE are two titles that are being canceled, we will continue to see these characters in the DC Universe in the future. For example, Hawkman will appear in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA.

Cancelations are not where it ends, however. The heads of DC revealed that there would be major shifts made to creative teams, as well. Many creators who are seeing their titles come to an end (Christy Marx and SWORD OF SORCERY, for example) will be moving on to other titles.

According to the interview writer Michael Alan Nelson will be taking over SUPERGIRL from Mike Johnson. Writer Tom DeFalco is being replaced by Justin Jordan (DEATHSTROKE), and Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are both moving to BATWING. Additionally, Sterling Gates (SUPERGIRL) will be taking over THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA'S VIBE for writer Andrew Kreisberg starting with issue #4.

DC is also rolling out "WTF Certified" where the publisher will push things to the limit. You can see the first "WTF Certified" moment this April.

What do you think of the news? Were you reading any of the series that have been canceled? Are you looking forward to seeing the changes made to any of these creative teams?

Source: CBR

280 Comments

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Icarusflies

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Edited By Icarusflies  Moderator

Wow! I'm surprised by Team 7 and Sword of Sorcery, but I can't say I'll actually miss any of the cancelled titles.

Excited to see what will replace 'em.

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Zeeguy91

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Edited By Zeeguy91

Seriously?? Both of Justin Jordan's books are being cancelled????!!! Why??!

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crevicekid

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Edited By crevicekid

I wonder when Red Lanterns will finally get the chop? I only get it so I don't miss anything Lantern related.

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Rixec

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Edited By Rixec

Aw man; I'm losing Team 7, Ravagers, and Sword of Sorcery.

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deactivated-62dfe515b2439

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@crevicekid said:

I wonder when Red Lanterns will finally get the chop? I only get it so I don't miss anything Lantern related.

That mentality is exactly why its still hanging around.

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Impala

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Edited By Impala

So it comes to total 8 with DC Universe Presents and I,Vampire

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xblah_blahx

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Edited By xblah_blahx

I wonder where Deathstroke will be ending up. Hopefully in the pages of Noghtwing.

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Zeeguy91

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Edited By Zeeguy91

All I'm saying is that Jordan better be given another book and Deathstroke better still be around. Maybe they could give Suicide Squad over to Justin.

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the_tree

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Edited By the_tree

Sad to see Team 7 go, I mean, s###, it's only had five issues. At least Justin Jordan has a place on Superboy, though. That may give me an actual reason to check the series out.

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Outside_85

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Edited By Outside_85

Pleased that Dial H and Demon Knights endure, not bothered by these looses.

Less pleased that they cant give a decent explanation for why they needed WTF gimmick to begin with.

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noj

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Edited By noj

Sucks for fans of those books but I really hope whatever is replacing them will be awesome. Hopefully one of them is the rumored JLI relaunch with R.B Silva and Snyder's Superman book may be coming sooner rather than later. I would also love a new Booster Gold series.

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haydenclaireheroes

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Not really surprised by the titles cancelled. Can't wait to see what comics takes their place

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

Wut? Are they even trying to get these books to sell any more? Team 7 just started and Deathstroke has JUST been given a new creative team. Does the Edge corner of DC comics even exist anymore?

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LumberJacktheRipper

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Red Lanterns is like that d bag on survivor who never gets voted off because no one likes him and the other survivors know they can take them to the end as they won't get any votes...

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CircularLogic

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Edited By CircularLogic

Every title here deserved it unfortunately. Yeah, Jordan brought new life to Deathstroke, but the damage was done. I didn't even realize people still bought Firestorm.

In any case, Jordan's doing Superboy now, so that's cool. my main concern is who will be getting their own books when DC is reaching out for even Z-listers like Vibe to fill 52 titles. Cyborg? Martian Manhunter? Shazam? New Secret Six? The Others? I'm excited.

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akbogert

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Edited By akbogert

@Dark_Guyver: He's already shown up as a coming attraction in Red Hood and the Outlaws, ostensibly having agreed to take them out.

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dondave

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Edited By dondave

@Zeeguy91: he going to be writing Superboy

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JamesKM716

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Edited By JamesKM716

NO! Deathstroke, Team 7 and Sword of Sorcery?! I loved those comics. (Well the newest arc for Deathstroke)

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NightFang3

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Edited By NightFang3  Online

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

Wut? Are they even trying to get these books to sell any more? Team 7 just started and Deathstroke has JUST been given a new creative team. Does the Edge corner of DC comics even exist anymore?

I'm wondering that myself.

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animehunter

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Edited By animehunter

Except for Ravagers and Sword of Sorcery never really cared much for the others. it's just unfortunate that we don't get to see any more development of these characters: Rose Wilson, Caitlin Fairchild & Amethyst, but I hope I'm wrong and we still get to see them play a big part in some books.

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SynCig

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Edited By SynCig

@crevicekid: Idk if this is true or not but it seems like a lot of people are picking up Red Lanterns in hopes that it will get better or so they don't miss anything Lantern related. I have no idea what the sales numbers are but it feels like a lot of people that don't really enjoy the series are still buying it. Maybe once that stops it will be cancelled. I am only picking up Green Lantern and none of the others. Big fan of the GL mythos and most of the characters but I haven't been impressed with the other series. That's just me though.

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Teerack

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Edited By Teerack

Nice!

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Impala

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Edited By Impala

@SynCig:

Sales for December for titles below 18K mark

  • Legion of Superheroes – 16.9K
  • Dial H – 16.2K
  • Ravagers – 16.1K
  • Stormwatch – 15.4K
  • Team 7 – 15.3K
  • Demon Knights – 15.1K
  • Batwing – 14.7K
  • Sword of Sorcery – 13.8K
  • Hawkman – 13.6K
  • Deathstroke 13.5K
  • Firestorm – 12K

And I don't see Red Lanterns being cancelled any time soon cuz sales are 39K

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xblah_blahx

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Edited By xblah_blahx

@akbogert said:

@Dark_Guyver: He's already shown up as a coming attraction in Red Hood and the Outlaws, ostensibly having agreed to take them out.

Completely forgot about that page in RHATO #16. Ill still look forward to that encounter!

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Scarlet_Spider_Forever

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Really sad to see Deathstroke go. Great comics

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chalkshark

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Edited By chalkshark

To answer your question... No, the publisher is not giving any of it's titles a decent chance at finding an audience. Constantly shifting creative teams, axing promising titles to make room on the shelves for the next "new" thing, it's just chaos. We're a year and a half into the "new" 52, and DC's line of titles is as wildly unstable as ever. At this point, I'm seriously considering dropping everything but Batman, Green Lantern, and Legion Of Super-Heroes, as they seem to be the only titles with any kind of stability in creative teams and story lines. Everything else is a dice roll.

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Darkmount1

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Edited By Darkmount1

Man, we need somebody to take over DC editorial with one thing the current administration seems to be missing: SENSE.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

with every cancellation DC get's less and less diverse

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reignmaker

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Edited By reignmaker

I dropped Sword of Sorcery before DC did. If Beowulf would have been the main component and Amnethyst the backup, the book would probably still be alive.

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SynCig

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Edited By SynCig

@Impala: Ah I see. Then I agree that Red Lanterns will definitely be sticking around.

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akbogert

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Edited By akbogert

@Dark_Guyver: Yeah, I've never actually seen the character before so I'm looking forward to his role there, for sure.

@chalkshark: I keep trying to wrap my mind around the fact that they tried to fire Gail Simone. All their other creative decisions pale in comparison to how baffling that one was.

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wessaari

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Edited By wessaari

Red Lanterns has out stayed its welcome a long time ago, but this new direction for Batwing has me peaked. David is apparently quitting, so this may be a new Batwing

Definitely loving the new armor, great art and hopefully that person stays on

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Fuchsia_Nightingale

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More Batman !

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thenexusrebound

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Edited By thenexusrebound

I am sad Sword of Sorcery is getting cancelled. I like the Amethyst story and I loved the Beowulf story.

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longbowhunter

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Edited By longbowhunter

I never picked up a single issue of any of these titles.

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StMichalofWilson

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Edited By StMichalofWilson

What's with the metal Batman?

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roboadmiral

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Edited By roboadmiral

So. . . no chance of an explanation on the cyber-looking Batman picture?

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Impala

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Edited By Impala

It's Batwing

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Outside_85

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Edited By Outside_85

@NightFang: @Jonny_Anonymous: The Edge seems to be doing a lot better than the Young Justice line, which is now down to 2 books...and only 1 sells atm.

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Fantasgasmic

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Edited By Fantasgasmic

Seriously, we can't cancel Batwing yet? Who is reading it? And that redesign is just Iron Man crossed with Black Panther. Or maybe Batman Beyond.

Without the WINGS, the name Batwing is kinda pointless, no?

I heard rumor, one of the replacement books is Red Robin, and that's why they took Lobdell off Red Hood.

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whitelantern64

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Edited By whitelantern64

I can get them canceling all of them except sword of sorcery....that was actually a good title!

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Bluefox170

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Edited By Bluefox170

Guess I'm done with comics.

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save.me.now

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Edited By save.me.now

@thenexusrebound said:

I am sad Sword of Sorcery is getting cancelled. I like the Amethyst story and I loved the Beowulf story.

I know! The Beowulf backups were the main reason I read Sword of Sorcery, it was a really interesting take on The Future of the DCU. I'll also miss Ravagers, which I personally thought was a great book. Except for Firestorm I thought all these comics were good.

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

@Outside_85 said:

@NightFang: @Jonny_Anonymous: The Edge seems to be doing a lot better than the Young Justice line, which is now down to 2 books...and only 1 sells atm.

Yea but it also has a new upcoming book, The Edge now has three books, none of which sell.

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SwampPing

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Edited By SwampPing

That's too bad abou d-stroke and team 7... though at least were probably getting snyder superman...

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cameron83

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Edited By cameron83

@Fantasgasmic said:

Seriously, we can't cancel Batwing yet? Who is reading it? And that redesign is just Iron Man crossed with Black Panther. Or maybe Batman Beyond.

Without the WINGS, the name Batwing is kinda pointless, no?

I don't think that it's that black/white.And we don't even know who that is and if that is permanent or a temporary costume.

And that doesn't look like iron man at all,I can understand the black panther part....and sorta the iron man part,but at the same time It is barely reminiscent of iron man,in my opinon.

What I just said makes little to no sense,and at the same time makes some sense.....

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Notathug78

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Edited By Notathug78

Seems like every few months sense the new 52 started there about 3 to six titles getting cancelled. Way to go D.C. send me to Marvel.

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Impala

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Edited By Impala
09/2012: Team 7 #0 -- 34,503 10/2012: Team 7 #1 -- 27,661 (-19.8%) 11/2012: Team 7 #2 -- 19,510 (-29.5%) 12.2012 Team 7 #3 – 15.3K
09/2012: Sword of Sorcery #0 -- 29,954 10/2012: Sword of Sorcery #1 -- 23,947 (-20.1%) 11/2012: Sword of Sorcery #2 -- 18,080 (-24.5%) 12.2012 Sword of Sorcery #3 – 13.8K It's not DCs fault that this titles get axed, its the people who don't buy and support the titles No wonder they get canceled. They surely get below 10K till April. No leveling out in sight.
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akbogert

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Edited By akbogert

Just a note, that a lot of confusion and questions in these comments would be unnecessary if people read the original article which is linked at the end of the OP...

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Dark_Vengeance_

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Edited By Dark_Vengeance_

What? Deathstroke? Even after it was getting good again?