hey ms. simone i've been wondering (and if you've already touched on this then i'm sorry for the repeat question) but, why did you chose to leave the new Firestorm title? i was really enjoying your take on it.

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Bleah.

It sucks, but it was just that old standby, 'editorial differences.'

It happens. No one goes onto a project with anything but the best intentions, as a rule. But the book I thought we were going for was not at all what the editor wanted, and I felt it was impossible to deliver the book I was hoping it could be. It sucks, but it happens. The choice becomes, do you stay on the book and not do your best work, which does no one any good and damages the property, or move over and let someone else take a try?

For me, the better choice is to move over. The next person might have the exact angle that can make the editor happy AND deliver a great book. I care about the characters, I care about Firestorm, so that's the choice I had to make.

The upside is, Ethan's staying on the book and he has a genuine passion for it, and the writer he's brought in, Joe Harris, seems to be incredibly enthused. That's what it really takes at this point, some new blood who is coming on who can expand the concept and hopefully won't have the same frustrations. Ethan and Joe are going to be doing their best work, Ethan's actually drawing two issues, it should give a huge boost to the book.

I'm not saying this as hype, just how I genuinely feel, but I suspect the book is going to be better and more popular…Ethan's ideas are a lot of fun, and they're using some of my stuff, now that the set-up work is out of the way. I think it's going to be a really powerful, fun book, which is what it always should be.  So I wish them every success.  It's sad from my point of view that we didn't get to do what we had in mind, but  I suspect that what's coming is going to have a lot of velocity, and I'm excited for the book and the creative team.