This past week saw the release of Batwoman #24. The issue is notable for kicking off the DEO-orchestrated showdown between Batwoman and Batman that has been brewing for months. It’s also notable as the final issue of J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman’s run on the series. The two have been writing the book, with Williams on semi-regular art chores, since it began as part of DC’s New 52 initiative. Even before then, Williams drew the lion’s share of Kate Kane’s run as the headliner of the Greg Rucka-written Detective Comics. Williams may not have created the character, but his work with Batwoman has certainly helped to define her. To call his leaving her behind the end of an era is not entirely hyperbolic.
The comic itself is a fine one. Kate and the DEO have gone to some pretty extreme lengths to draw Batman out, enlisting the aid of several of Gotham’s most notable rogues, including The Riddler, Poison Ivy, and Bane. Once the Dark Knight himself appears, though, Batwoman leaps into the fray, taking Batman on one-on-one. The issue ends with the two locked in battle. And at the bottom of the final page, a cliffhanger in which Kate refuses to yield to Batman: a next issue blurb for a “Zero Year” tie-in.
As I said, it’s a fine comic. But it’s an awful end to a run. It feels like the final issue of a series that was cancelled abruptly, which is not entirely inaccurate. Williams and Blackman had planned to end their run with issue #26, with the next two issues devoted to the fight between Batwoman and Batman. Rather than publish the issues as planned, however, DC decided to pull the final two issues. Hence, next issue’s “Zero Year” tie-in, and then who knows what from the new creative team of writer Marc Andreyko and artist Jeremy Haun.
On Batwoman #24’s release date, JH Williams took to his blog to express his disappointment and frustration at DC’s decision to end their run on a cliffhanger, with no resolution to any of the storylines they’d been cultivating for two years. It’s easy to see Williams and Blackman as the victims in this situation. The two chose to stand up for their creative principles and leave the book they loved. But given the way in which they went about leaving Batwoman, DC’s decision was not entirely surprising.
When the pair walked off the title a little less than two months ago, they did so rather publicly. The main reason they cited for leaving the book was that DC had changed its mind on allowing Kate and her girlfriend, longtime Superman supporting character Maggie Sawyer, to marry. Social media soon erupted with talk of how DC was against gay marriage, and while it was later clarified that DC isn’t against gay marriage but any sort of marriage for their characters, the amount of damage control that DC had to do was considerable.
In light of that, what exactly did Williams and Blackman think was going to happen?
It’s not as if DC hasn’t pulled books from people before. Back when Chris Roberson quit the company, he publicly called them out for what he considered their unfair treatment of their creators. A few days later, he was off of the arc of Fairest that he had been slated to write. As in the Batwoman situation, Roberson had put the publisher on the defensive, and they responded accordingly. The removal of Roberson’s story didn’t have nearly the narrative impact that the pulling of Williams and Blackman’s final issues of Batwoman have, but the responses by the publisher come from the same basic place.
Mark Waid recently wrote a really excellent open letter to newbie creators doing work-for-hire work. In that piece he emphasizes that freelancers “have a right to be treated professionally.” He’s absolutely right, but at the same time I think it goes both ways. If you want to be treated professionally, treat your employers professionally as well. If you have business with a company and you decide to quit, don’t trash them publicly while you’re still working for them, then expect that they’ll hold up their end of the deal. Aside from just being poor form, it can also cost you.
Williams and Blackman clearly did not agree with the direction that DC wanted to take with Batwoman. Since its beginning it’s been something of an odd duck among the Bat-books. It’s done its own thing while other books have crossed over with “Night of the Owls” or “Death of the Family.” With the next issue being a “Zero Year” tie-in, it’s obvious DC wants to bring the title into the rest of the DCU more fully. Combined with the nixing of Kate and Maggie’s marriage, it’s completely understandable why Williams and Blackman would want to leave. I’m not saying that creators shouldn’t speak out about their experiences; on the contrary, whistle-blowing on what they perceive to be unfair business practices can be a powerful way to get companies to make serious changes. That said, it’s probably wiser to wait to write your tell-all blog post about your employer until after you’re done working for them.
There are no winners in the situation as it exists now. Williams and Blackman don’t get to finish their story; readers are deprived of the narrative cohesion of having a single creative team at the wheel for the entirety of a story arc; and DC Comics has to contend with the ever-expanding view that they’re not a good company to work for. Had Williams and Blackman handled their departure more professionally, though, things would probably have turned out much differently.
November 16, 2013
No doubt it won’t be the ending Williams and Blackman intended but new writer Marc Andreyko has said in an interview that he will resolve the cliffhanger from #24 in Batwoman Annual #1 due out in the spring http://www.comicosity.com/interview-marc-andreyko-returns-to-gotham-with-batwoman/