Batwoman writers J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman released an official statement Thursday announcing they’re leaving the DC series due to editorial interference and DC’s flat out refusal to allow Kate Kane marry Maggie Sawyer.
Unfortunately, in recent months, DC has asked us to alter or completely discard many long-standing storylines in ways that we feel compromise the character and the series. We were told to ditch plans for Killer Croc’s origins; forced to drastically alter the original ending of our current arc, which would have defined Batwoman’s heroic future in bold new ways; and, most crushingly, prohibited from ever showing Kate and Maggie actually getting married. All of these editorial decisions came at the last minute, and always after a year or more of planning and plotting on our end.
We’ve always understood that, as much as we love the character, Batwoman ultimately belongs to DC. However, the eleventh-hour nature of these changes left us frustrated and angry — because they prevent us from telling the best stories we can. So, after a lot of soul-searching, we’ve decided to leave the book after Issue 26.
It’s important to point out that DC responded by saying that “editorial differences with the writers of ‘Batwoman’ had nothing to do with the sexual orientation of the character”. This statement has been backed up by J.H. Williams:
@andykhouri But must clarify- was never put to us as being anti-gay marriage.
— J.H. Williams III (@JHWilliamsIII) September 5, 2013
Whether it’s because there was concern over a gay marriage or whether DC was just against the idea of Batwoman ever being married remains to be seen. At this point, DC has not released an official statement clarifying their decision, but it seems clear that they weren’t behind the storyline right from the start as they did little to promote Kate and Maggie’s proposal. By pulling the plug at the last minute, they managed to completely piss off one of their best creative teams.
Regardless of the reasoning behind this decision, pretty much any scenario makes me cranky.
(via io9)