John Layman, writer of Chew and soon-to-be former writer of Detective Comics, will be leaving the weekly Batman Eternal after doing only four issues of the first twenty issues.
Layman wrote to Bleeding Cool, regarding his leave from the comic book title:
People looking for scandal will be sorely disappointed, as my experience working with DC and the Bat-office was an overwhelming positive one. I’m leaving after honoring my commitment to what I said I’d write and leaving on amicable terms, told that I will be welcomed back to the Bat-office when I am ready. This is something I fully intend to someday do.
I agreed to Eternal while I was still on Detective Comics, intending to play off events in Eternal in Detective. If there is one downside, it’s that I was taken off Detective to make room for the fantastically talented Booch & Manapul, as part of a month where the entire Bat-universe is being shaken up. I didn’t necessarily want to lose Detective, but I watch numbers just like everybody else, and the “standard attrition” slide was there, and after 16 issues, I can’t blame DC for wanting to try something new. DC, to their credit, offered me a shot at XX book, and then YY book, but it was never my goal to write a ton of super hero books.
As I was writing my last Detective issues I realized I was saying goodbye to the Bat-characters, and it was hard to get back the focus back I needed to for Eternal. I’ve said before I’m not a fast writer, and writing nearly two years on Batman means two years of something else I was not writing, and I was getting the urge to do something new.
According to the what Layman has addressed, Detective Comics was not obtaining the best numbers in sales. However, Layman did bring the comic book title back from the ashes which should be appreciated after sixteen issues of good detective-centric stories. More or less, Layman has expressed his thanks to Mike Marts (editor) and a few other editors for working with him, and Layman will return in the future. As of right now, Layman will continue to focus on his Chew comic book series that is currently being eyed for animation.
Posted by Kristina Collins