UPDATE: Sterling Gates has confirmed to us on Twitter that he is in fact off Hawk and Dove.
DC has seen a number of shake-ups in their titles, switching up creators left and right like a chaotic game of Checkers (no, we can’t even use a good Chess analogy here). However, with the release of DC’s solicits for March 2012, one new loss becomes noticeable: amongst the changes we knew of (such as Joe Harris joining Firestorm or Paul Cornell leaving Stormwatch), Sterling Gates is still not listed as writer for Hawk and Dove — Rob Liefeld is.
Not only that, but unless we’re reading the solicit completely wrong, it seems to imply that Liefeld will be having a long stay on the book as both writer and artist than we had previously imagined when he was announced as the writer of issue #6. The solicit reads as follows:
While dealing with their complicated relationship, Hank and Dawn face an attack from a mysterious hunter who reveals a larger conspiracy involving the heroic duo! Legendary creator Rob Liefeld continues his solo run on HAWK AND DOVE as writer and artist with this explosive issue!
Could the reference to Rob’s run be any indication that Gates isn’t coming back?
If so, what happened? It’s never a good idea to assume anything, but given how writers seem to be leaving DCnU titles left and right (Gail Simone, Ron Marz, Ivan Brandon), is it possible that the relatively poor reception Hawk and Dove has received since the relaunch has caused Gates to leave the title? After all, he does have work at other companies like Dynamite now. Why stay on a book that was both critically reviled and was the second worst received title of the DCnU?
Hawk and Dove isn’t the only change in a title line-up of this month, but the lack of Gates in Hawk and Dove is the only absence that hasn’t otherwise been noted somewhere. We’ll let you know more if we find it.
