Here we go again: Now it's DC that has deadline issues with one writer

Those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it.---George Santayana

History tells of a myriad of comics projects over the last 35+ years that have staggered to the finish line for one reason or another.

At Marvel, for example, they took a chance on filmmaker Kevin Smith writing Daredevil, drawn by then-editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, who was never great at deadlines, as anyone that read DC's Sword of Azrael miniseries will tell you. Between family emergencies and movie projects, Smith struggled to keep deadlines. He didn't have this bad a problem writing Green Arrow at DC by comparison. Marvel management compounded the problem by giving Smith a pair of miniseries, one featuring Daredevil, the other headlined by Spider-Man and Marvel's answer to Catwoman, the Black Cat. At least "The Evil That Men Do" ultimately was completed, but a recent report says that Smith still plans to finish Daredevil: The Target. File that under, "I'll believe it when I see it".

We've talked a number of times about Archie Comics' Creative Director Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa abandoning the two books he was writing, Afterlife With Archie & Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, in order to focus on adapting the latter and developing Riverdale for television. He's now fronting a third TV series, his 2nd for CW, Katy Keene. Aguirre-Sacasa, however, refused to share his vision with any other writer, else those books would be back on the shelves right now. It's been over a year since the last issues of Afterlife & Chilling Adventures were released, but the Archie Horror line, now rechristened Archie Madhouse, is thriving without them.

That brings us to a once-dependable writer, Geoff Johns.

Johns, who gave up a front office job with DC some time back, is the writer of the Shazam! series and the Doomsday Clock limited series, which have seen interminable delays, and it's not because of the artists on those books (Dale Eaglesham & Gary Frank, respectively).

No, like Aguirre-Sacasa, Johns is busy with Warner Bros. Television & prolific producer Greg Berlanti on a pair of projects, specifically Stargirl, based on his own creation, introduced at DC 20 years ago, and ticketed for DC Universe for next year, and Titans, due to return to DCU later this year for season 2.

In reality, Doomsday Clock should've been finished, as far as Johns' script was concerned, months ago, well before production began on either TV project or DC soliciting the limited series. A fill-in writer could cover Johns on Shazam! to make up the time lost to this point, but Johns and/or DC editorial decided not to go in that direction. Big mistake. The delays with both books will almost certainly be addressed during the annual Comic-Con in San Diego, which started today, and will run through Sunday.

It used to be common practice for DC or Marvel to cover for a deadline delay with a fill-in issue or a reprint, but that hasn't been the case in several years. Not when today's books are designed to lead into one of the annual "events" that get hyped to the moon and are what the company's lines are built around. To protect those events, they opt to delay issues by a few weeks, rather than go the reprint route, to maintain continuity, at the risk of their bottom line. How long do you think WarnerMedia or Disney will tolerate things like that before changes have to be made?

Here's to hoping the cases of Johns and Aguirre-Sacasa are a cautionary tale to future creators. Stress hoping.