With the recent death of writer Dwayne McDuffie, DC's announcement that they would be giving one of McDuffie's most successful comic book creations, 'Static Shock,' his own ongoing title as a part of the 'New 52' received warm reception from fans; and news that one of McDuffie's closest friends and collaborators John Rozum would be co-writing the series with Scott McDaniel only seemed appropriate. The first issue of the series hit stores just last week on September 7th was written by writer John Rozum and Scott McDaniel with art and a cover by McDaniel-- unfortunately, this creative team would not last.
Yesterday on his blog, Rozum revealed that he would be leaving 'Static Shock,' citing that he would be resigning from the series and that the decision to leave was his own choice.
== TEASER ==My decision to leave was of my own choice. I was not fired..My decision to leave had nothing to do with the character of Static. I think Static is a great character with loads of potential, which I hope will get exploited. Given a lot of people's suspicious feelings regarding the relationship between DC Comics and Milestone Media, I will also warn not to read into this that my decision was based on any decisions regarding the handling of the character by DC Comics.
Rozum goes on to say that he is currently in the process of "developing new material for DC Comics," and that the publisher was not the reason for his departure; you can read the rest of his statement here. Rozum had been collaborating with writer/artist Scott McDaniel, and he doesn't seem to mention him in his blog; perhaps he felt that the book no longer required that collaboration? DC's Bob Harras revealed on The Source later that the publisher has "had a great relationship with John for 15 years," and that the company is looking forward to future projects with Rozum.
John Rozum called me today to tell me that he’s leaving STATIC SHOCK. DC Comics has had a great relationship with John for 15 years, and he and I had a great conversation about new ideas, new concepts and moving forward. We’re all excited to see what comes next.
Whatever his reasons for departure may be, we look forward to seeing more of John Rozum's work in the future. Maybe we'll get a 'Xombi' title again? What do you think of Rozum's departure from Static Shock, and did you enjoy the first book in the series?