Chuck Dixon - No Longer at DC Comics "In any capacity"

All it took was a quick, no-nonsense statement by writer Chuck Dixon to set the discussion boards alight. On the night of June 10th, Chuck Dixon wrote on his messageboard: “I am no longer employed by DC Comics in any capacity.”

The news caught Dixon’s fans by surprise, but seemed to underscore recent, sudden editorial changes at DC, including the recently announced replacement of Dixon by Frank Tieri on Batman and the Outsiders #11-#12, a “Batman R.I.P” tie-in. Dixon himself came on the series in much the same way, replacing the series’ original writer, Tony Bedard after Bedard’s first issue had been solicited.

Dixon’s return to Batman and the Outsiders complimented his return to Robin this March with #170, something which was hailed by fans, thanks to his storylines revealing that the long-thought-dead character Spoiler was in fact, still alive. The two books were seen by many fans as a return (in part at least) to the days of the ‘90s when Dixon was responsible for a bulk of the publisher’s Batman titles such as Batman, Detective, Nightwing, Birds of Prey and any number of one-shots and specials.

Given what has already been solicited and now announced, it appears that Dixon’s final issue of Batman and the Outsiders will be #10 in August. The latest issue of Robin that has been solicited (August’s #177 – a new Cluemaster story) is also to be written by Dixon.

The writer has also been announced to write Booster Gold #11-#12 (August and September) and the Storming Paradise miniseries for WildStorm. Issue #2 of the six issue Paradise has been solicited for August, and it’s most likely that the full run of the miniseries will see print with Dixon’s scripts – throughout his comics career, the writer has prided himself on working far in advance. At times tnroughout his Batman days, Dixon reportedly worked anywhere from three months to a year in advance of the issue then currently on the stands, so it's unclear how long his Robin stories will appear.

That said, DC's September solicitations are due out early next week, although is should be noted that the schedule for Robin has been changed by DC - there is no regular issue of Robin this month, rather last week saw the Robin/Spoiler Special. Issue #175 of Robin, originally solicited for June 18th, will now reach stores on July 23rd, while issue #176, originally due in stores on July 16th, will now hit stores on August 6th. Both issues are connected to the "Batman R.I.P." storyline.

Both Dixon and DC declined to respond to Newsarama inquires for further comment. In a post on his messageboard in response to how the decrease in workload affects his income, Dixon responded with, “Even when I don’t work for DC they provide the bulk of my income,” referring to royalty payments for reprints and collections of his work (and presumably characters he created) that are kept in print.

Dixon’s upcoming work includes Simpsons Comics #142 - #144, the currently running Frankenstein: Prodigal Son adaptation at Dabel Brothers, Big Badz at Platinum, and will be reprinting some of his own material under his own imprint, Bruno Books.