History ExecutiveMeddling / ComicBooks

** The good: As the first episode of Mortimer's run as the director, writer and main actor is aired, he and the producer find out that the original writer, director and main actor, together with Mickey and his friends, have literally stole away both the original fans and the new ones with the fan-financed pilot of a new adventure series. The sponsors, already enraged by getting the original crowd replaced with fans that won't buy their adult-targeted watches, aftershaves and similar products (with the original fans not wishing to be associated to a moron), takes this as the last straw and intervene by killing ''Bolton'', replace it with the new show, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking force Mortimer to star in a last episode written by Mickey in which his version of Bolton is declared an imposter and kidnapped by a robot that wants to go back to Mars]] [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment as punishment for ruining the old show]].

* The [[Creator/DCComics DC]] produced Toys/{{Bionicle}} comics were not allowed to adapt the movies or games as per Franchise/{{Lego}} mandate. This meant that whenever the comics reached the same point in the plot as one, [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised it would abruptly stop with a "Watch the movie to see what happens next!"]] and then pick up right after said movie in the following issue.

* ''ComicBook/TheMuppetShowComicBook'': The ''Family Reunion'' arc (which involved the reintroduction of [[WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies Skeeter]], Scooter's [[HalfIdenticalTwins twin sister]]) had to be pushed forward because the "Guest Stars" arc was scrapped on a veto and there was a gap that needed filling. However, the Creator/{{Disney}} executives had not decided whether to make Skeeter a full cast member, or to bring her in at all, so they told the writers to make the story ambiguous. The arc was framed by two celestial beings, who are NOT Statler and Waldorf, who throw in various characters as a way of livening things up a bit, leaving its status as canon murky.

[[/folder]].

** According to conversations with Ian Flynn, one of the big mandates was that the video game characters couldn't have relatives. This would initially led to Sonic and Tails being unable to call their parents by those familiar titles and Eggman's connection to Snively downplayed. When the CosmicRetcon hit, Uncle Chuck was no longer Sonic's uncle, [[HonoraryUncle with the name being just an endearing title to the scientist]], and Snively was renamed to "Julian Snively" with no familial connection at all to Eggman. This is despite the fact that both characters were part of the Saturday morning cartoon. This also makes utilizing Sonia and Manic from ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'' harder as many ''Sonic'' fans would recognize the two as siblings and expect them to be as such, but they could never say they were.

** Writer Simon Furman spent a few years writing a series of epic ''Transformers'' stories for IDW publishing that featured LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, as well as new concepts like the [[ZombieApocalypse Dead Universe]] and a plausible Decepticon invasion plan that made vehicular disguises relevant to the story. Then, due to falling sales, IDW decided to truncate Furman's twelve-issue GrandFinale into four issues of the "Spotlight" series (necessitating each chapter focusing on a single character's thoughts in addition to all the action), and a five issue ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersMaximumDinobots Maximum Dinobots]]'' series so that they can put their publishing power behind ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron All Hail Megatron]]''.

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'':

** Writer Simon Furman spent a few years writing a series of epic ''Transformers'' stories for IDW publishing that featured LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, as well as new concepts like the [[ZombieApocalypse Dead Universe]] and a plausible Decepticon invasion plan that made vehicular disguises relevant to the story. Then, due to falling sales, IDW decided to truncate Furman's twelve-issue GrandFinale into four issues of the "Spotlight" series (necessitating each chapter focusing on a single character's thoughts in addition to all the action), and a five issue "Maximum Dinobots" series so that they can put their publishing power behind ''All Hail Megatron''.

* The [[Creator/DCComics DC]] produced Toys/{{Bionicle}} comics were not allowed to adapt the movies or games as per Franchise/{{Lego}} mandate. This meant that whenever the comics reached the same point in the plot as one, [[TheResolutionWillNotBeTelevised it would abruptly stopp with a "watch the movie to see what happens next!"]] and then pick up right after said movie in the folowing issue.
** This became a problem for the original 2001 story line [[CutShort as said game was cancelled]]. The novels where fortunately not under the same mandate though, so the entire story can be experienced through them.

[[folder:DC Comics]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': Creator/AlanMoore's original idea was to use the Creator/CharltonComics superheroes that DC had acquired the rights to, but he was was not permitted to do so because he wanted to kill some of the heroes off. Moore himself has said that he agrees with DC's decision, as his story was much more effective since he was able to do more with his own characters than he could have with the Charlton characters.
* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': The ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight'' story came about because Creator/DCComics executives decided they needed a newer, hipper Green Lantern, so they gave the writer of his series three issues to get rid of the old guy and all related characters. The storyline itself was also changed from its original idea of "Hal Jordan going rogue after the Zamarons took over the Corps" because the editors said no one knew who the Zamarons were. The writer quit, they hired a new writer and reused the story title for the storyline.
* ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'':
** ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} was very almost killed off because Editor-in-Chief Creator/DanDiDio wanted a big character death [[Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths similar to Supergirl and the Flash]] to send shockwaves for the DCU in the aftermath. This led to a WriterRevolt as most of the staff, Geoff Johns included, refused to do so.
** [=DiDio=] and the editorial staff had complete control over the storyline for ''Countdown to Final Crisis'' because [=DiDio=] hated how ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'''s story got off-track from its original intent to explain the changes that had happened to the DC universe.
** And ''Countdown'' was part of the meddling in Creator/GrantMorrison[='=]s plans for ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' - they wanted the ComicBook/NewGods to be completely absent from the DC Universe, so that their return in the book they were supposed to die in would be more impactful. DC's response? Put them ''everywhere'', not only in the aforementioned ''Countdown'', but even creating an entirely separate ''Death of the New Gods'' series, to the point that when Morrison did start writing ''Final Crisis'', he ultimately opted to just ignore everything that happened in both of those books.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** In some very early issues of ''Detective Comics'', Batman would shoot criminals to death on a regular basis. One day, DC editorial director Whit Ellsworth asked the writers to tone it down and [[LighterAndSofter make it kid-friendly]], leading to Batman's ThouShaltNotKill attitude that he holds to this day.
** In the original comics, The Joker started out as a sadistic serial killer; in the first two years he was used, he killed close to 30 people. Eventually, he became less murderous and more of an {{Idiosyncrazy}} villain with a "jokes and gags" theme who robbed banks, built wacky gadgets, and pulled harmless pranks because of the Comics Code Authority.
** DC insisted Batman have a KidSidekick, which co-creator Bob Kane protested for being a stupid idea. He lost the argument, leading to the creation Dick Grayson, the first ComicBook/{{Robin}}. Another account claims that Kane had drafted a more fantastical sidekick for Batman, a young boy with the codename "Mercury" who'd wear a special suit that gave him powers. Jerry Robinson then convinced Kane to bring the child down to a more realistic level and suggested the name "Robin" after "Robin Hood" (the bird symbolism wouldn't come into play until much later).
** From 1995-98, writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones, who were in charge of the main Batman title, were allowed to pretty much ignore the rest of the Bat books and tell their own stories for their first three years of their run. However, on their fourth and last year on the book, editorial demanded that they tied the book with the other bat-titles. Jones [[http://www.gothamwdeszczu.com.pl/en/2013/05/17/interview-kellley-jones/ revealed]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLd6NHwF7N4&t=6159s interviews]] that this caused several cases of AbortedArc, including one they had been building up to for the last three years about a puppeter holding a Batman puppet appearing in the background during multiple issues being introduced as someone who knew Bruce's identity, was capable of manipulating both him and Batman and has been prepearing to confront Bats on his own terms.
** According to Tom King, his ''ComicBook/BatmanRebirth'' storyline was meddled in by Creator/DanDiDio, who heavily pushed for other, more darker events. For instance, Nightwing was shot in the head by the K.G.Beast and was meant to have been healed instantly by Zatanna. Instead, [=DiDio=] demanded that Dick be altered by it, thus kicking off two years of the much maligned "Ric Grayson" storyline. As well, [[spoiler:Alfred's death]] was supposed to have been a Scarecrow Fear Gas attack, but was forced to be changed to be real.
* ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'':
** Despite still selling reasonably well 70 issues in, editorial cancelled [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]]'s book with the justification of "we're launching a new Hawkgirl title and we don't want too many female-led books" and ordered the writers to make her pull a FaceHeelTurn. The turn was eventually reverted due to fan backlash.
** Creator/GailSimone confirmed that her "Death of Oracle" storyline in ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' was supposed to lead to Cassandra adopting a new identity and joining the team (partly to offset complaints about the MonochromeCasting in the series). She claims she even began writing Cass' debut issue before being told that Cassandra's return would instead be handled in Creator/GrantMorrison's ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman Inc.]]'' title.
** Writer Creator/ScottSnyder mentioned that Cassandra was present in his script for the first issue of the ''Comicbook/{{New 52}}'' ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' title, but at the last minute his editors forced him to write her out since canonically, she was still supposed to be living in UsefulNotes/HongKong. He was also barred from using Cassandra and [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2009}} Stephanie Brown]] in his ''Night of Owls'' BatFamilyCrossover, making them very notable absentees in an event that involved every Bat-book being published at the time except Batwoman. Eventually, editorial decided that ''neither'' Stephanie '''or''' Cassandra existed in universe at all despite the Bat-History being one of the relatively untouched parts of DC at the time, however they'd later be introduced in ''Comicbook/BatmanEternal'' and ''Comicbook/BatmanAndRobinEternal'' respectively years later.
** In [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2009}} Bryan Q. Miller's]] Series/{{Smallville}} Season 11, previews indicated that Stephanie Brown would show up as Batman's partner Nightwing. Miller even gave an interview to ''TV Guide'' talking about Stephanie's appearance in the comic. Editorial intervened and had it changed to Barbara Gordon.
** ''War Games'' was created after someone high in DC's editing department requested a story that would end with Stephanie Brown's death. Then-''Batgirl'' writer Dylan Horrocks opposed the story considerably and refused to have anything to do with it, save having Steph guest star during her time as Robin.
* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Creator/{{Dwayne McDuffie}} was not allowed to use any of the Big Seven, and had to constantly rewrite stories around the plots of other books. In one instance, [=McDuffie=] was informed that Hawkgirl was to be killed off in ''Final Crisis'', but at the last second was informed that she wouldn't die after all. The latter news came after a scene reacting to her death was both written and drawn, leading to the drawn pages being rewritten but using most of the completed artwork.
* ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'': The story was created to fill in a time gap. Clark and Lois got engaged in 1991 so 1992's big event was to be their marriage but by that point, but ''Series/LoisAndClark'' was in development and they wanted the couple to get married at the same time in the TV show and the comics. Now struggling to fill the gap in their storyline, one of the writers, as was often the case during story speculation, joked, "Why don't we just kill him?" -- he was taken seriously, and the rest is history.
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'':
** Bart going from ComicBook/{{Impulse}} to Kid Flash was an editorial decision. The writer of the story, Geoff Johns, has openly admitted dislike for being forced to do it, and Bart's creator Mark Waid dislikes it as well. This also applies to when Bart was aged up from Kid Flash to ''the'' Flash.
** When Barry Allen returned in ''Final Crisis'', Wally West was still around. The two had ''very'' similar costumes, the only difference being that Wally's belt was the modern "arrow" thing and that he didn't have wings on his boots like Barry. In ''The Flash: Rebirth'', artist Ethan Van Sciver was tasked with redesigning Wally's Flash suit to better distinguish him from Barry. He's said that DC gave him ''very'' strict guidelines on what he could and could not do to the suit: the colors had to stay relatively the same, the symbol had to be a familiar Flash symbol and he couldn't have an open cowl. These were all because DC didn't want to come off like they were demoting Wally back into his Kid Flash role or displacing him from the Flash name. Eventually, Van Sciver settled on altering the suit by adding elements of Wally's DCAU suit and Dark Flash: a simpler lightning bolt, white eyes for his cowl and darker red. Ironically, the open cowl design, showing off Wally's red hair, would be used for the character's return in ''DC Rebirth''.
** Writer/artist Francis Manapul mentioned that he wanted to work in an appearance from Wally West in his new series, but was barred from doing so by editorial. Wally wouldn't return to the Flash book, and the DCU as a whole, until after Manapul and Buccellato left for ''Detective Comics'', and a new team was assigned.
** When Wally is eventually reintroduced, he is still depicted as being Iris' nephew, but is younger than the rest of his generation (being a teen while Dick Grayson and Roy Harper were adults) and is half-black. Him being black at all was a result of ExecutiveMeddling so that he'd line up more with the West family on ''Series/TheFlash2014''.
** The ''original'' Wally West was eventually reintroduced (the New 52 version was turned into his cousin), and would take up the mantle of the Flash once again. While Wally remembers the pre-Flashpoint timeline, when he forms a new costume, it has silver highlights and an open cowl for his hair. Artist Brett Booth has said that this was because of editorial mandate.
* ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'': Creator/PeterDavid was restricted with what he would do with Tim Drake (who was ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} at the time) during the mid-'90s to early 2000s because the [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Bat-family comics]] editors had the final say on how ''Batman''-related characters were used. One of the restrictions put on him was that Robin couldn't be seen in public, as the Bat-family was supposed to be considered an urban legend InUniverse. He [[BitingTheHandHumor mostly parodied the whole idea]], with Robin hiding in the shadows even in broad daylight and characters saying things like "we know it's you, Tim."
%%* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'': James Robinson allegedly had to fight tooth and nail against editorial fiat on the controversial miniseries. While the series is decried for its overly dark ending where [[spoiler: Star City gets blown up and Arsenal's daughter Lian dies in the attack]], supposedly editorial wanted ''more'' carnage, with Speedy dying alongside [[spoiler: Lian]] and ''every fictional city in the DCU'' besides Gotham and Metropolis getting ripped apart.
* ''ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}'': J.H. Williams III and Haden Blackman both walked off because of "Eleventh Hour Changes". These include a new origin for Killer Croc and not allowing Kate Kane and Maggie Sawyer to marry (though they said specifically that it wasn't because they were gay but because of the brouhaha of superheroes marrying that was becoming something of a stigma in certain companies). This caused the last two issues of their run (#25 and #26) to be thrown out by DC, which pushed back the finale of their run where Batwoman and Batman fight to a few months later for the next writer to tie up the loose ends.
* Gail Simone was fired from ''Comicbook/Batgirl2011'' on two separate occasions. The first time, it was because refused to write the crossover issues for ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', with DC eventually bringing her back after massive fanback backlash. The second time, it was because a new editor was tired of the TrueArtIsAngsty angle going on. Which ''wasn't even her idea'', but the result of ''previous'' executive meddling; she's gone on record that the new creative team's LighterAndSofter approach is the book she ''wanted'' to write.
* ''[[Franchise/StarTrekExpandedUniverse Star Trek]]'': DC's first run on the comic came to an abrupt end after issue 56 because Paramount decided to exert greater control over the licensing. DC kept the license and launched a second series in conjunction with the release of ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'', alongside an ongoing monthly for ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', but DC's writers had to submit their scripts to Richard Arnold's department at Paramount for approval, and characters created in the previous series [[ExiledFromContinuity were barred from being used]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'': Despite numerous editing inconsistencies, the staff for the ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'' tie-in were explicitly told to make sure Connor Hawke was given the correct skin coloring and racial background. WordOfGod from colorist Nei Ruffino states the editors were aware that making a mistake with Connor was a FandomEnragingMisconception after the numerous screw ups done in the past, so the editors made absolutely sure it was done correctly this time.
* ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|1987}}'': Around the early 2000's, editorial mandated that Artemis Goddess of the Hunt couldn't appear in the book after ComicBook/{{Artemis}} of Bana-Mighdall became a supporting character. They thought readers would be too confused by two (very different characters) with the same name. Creator/GregRucka was prepared to lampshade this by doing a whole storyline where ''Demeter'' assumed the Hunt portfolio, but this was cut short by ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'': During the 2000's lawsuit between DC and the Shuster Family over rights to Superman, a legal tactic used by the opposition brought up the possibility that DC did not own the right to the concept of Superboy they way they did with Super'''man'''. Realizing this, DC had a mandatory edict that the Superboy concept, or even name, could not be used to avoid further legal issues. This meant that:
** After Infinite Crisis, despite the fact that many of Superman's Silver Age aspects were made canon again, they could not reference any Superboy related adventures. After several years, this became relaxed, and Geoff Johns was allowed to reintroduce the original Legion (that Superboy had adventures with), and even subtly declare Superboy canon with ''Superman: Secret Origin".
** Conner Kent, the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, was the first, immediate choice as the sacrificial lamb of Infinite Crisis following the rejection of Dick Grayson's death. The death of Conner (and parallel mandated graduation of Bart Allen to the Flash) scuttled most of Johns' plans for ''Teen Titans'', and despite working on the book for a bit longer, eventually gave the book to another writer. Conner could only be referred to by his name and not Superboy until Final Crisis.
** Superboy-Prime, one of the main antagonists of Infinite Crisis and the later ''Sinestro Corps War'' arc of the Green Lantern books, was a Clark Kent from a parallel world, but was affected as well. During the Green Lantern event, he was explicitly referred to as Super'''man'''-Prime and did not wear the traditional blue and red uniform he had previously. Following this, he became an antagonist during the '''heavily''' executively mandated yearly comic, ''Countdown to Final Crisis'', where he was aged up to adulthood to match his mandated adult name. During this time, DC ruled to legally own Superboy, so during ''Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds'', Superman-Prime was again deaged and referred to as Super'''boy'''-Prime, and came into blows with a resurrected Conner Kent, who was also referred to as Superboy.
* At a convention in 2019, legendary creator George Perez admitted that he was extremely unhappy during his brief stint on the Comicbook/{{New 52}} ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' series, as his scripts were often rewritten without consulting him. He went so far as to say that the incident was the first time in his long career that he simply stopped caring about his assignment.
* Creator/MarkMillar and DC butted heads during his run on ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' as DC kept insisting and editing or changing things to tone down what he wanted to do, reaching its nadir during the "Brave New World" arc, which was sidetracked with the "Transfer of Power" -- and when Millar got the book back, it was after 9/11, so DC now had grounds to force these changes. That said, a lot of the problems are the result of Millar himself as he wasn't easy to work with and a lot of the stuff he wanted to do were arguably tasteless including the Colonel, an analogue of the late Jenny Sparks, engaging in necrophilia with her corpse and the brainwashed and turned into a SexSlave Swift having her mouth used as an ashtray and lick plates clean in a sexual manner.[[note]]There's also the fact he wanted to clearly show UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush as part of the coalition to take out the Authority, but this definitely would've been tasteless post 9/11; while Millar had Magneto humiliate Bush in a degrading manner in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', that was also ''before'' 9/11 happened[[/note]]
* The critically-panned event ''Comicbook/HeroesInCrisis'', written by Creator/TomKing, was the result of this with the original idea being more about the hero community reacting and coping with a tragedy with emphasis put on the characters going to therapy. However, while the editors liked the idea, they also wanted a murder mystery and get rid of some CListFodder characters while also push some characters like Comicbook/HarleyQuinn who was getting a lot popularity and attention due to her introduction in the ''DCEU'' movies. The hasty rewrite of the story including a very notable change in direction mid-story ended up with a lot of {{Aborted Arc}}s, inconsistent characterization and the [[TookALevelInJerkass character assassination]] of [[spoiler:Wally West ''a.k.a'' The Flash II]] (a character that editor [=Dan DiDio=] has always hated) who is revealed as responsible for the tragedy that killed multiple C-list heroes (including Red Arrow) and framed Booster Gold and Harley Quinn for inconsistent reasons just to have Justice League hunt them. This event ended up screwing with the plans of some writers who tried to do as much damage control as possible and spent most of the ''Rebirth Era'' of ''DC Comics'' trying to redeem [[spoiler:Wally West]]. While writer Tom King would constantly claim that he had the story planned during and shortly after the event ended, he would later admit that the editors wanted the murder mystery, were heavily pushing for Harley Quinn in a main role and that he was encouraged (not forced) to use [[spoiler:Wally West]] as the main antagonists of the story.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes:'' Despite being set in the 30th century, the Legion during the Silver Age featured many aliens but no black characters, be they humans or HumanAliens. Both Creator/JimShooter and Creator/MikeGrell tried many times to introduce black characters, but were always shot down by then-editor Murray Boltinoff, who planned to explain this in a future storyline. That explanation came in ''Superboy #216'', which revealed that all black people on earth had rejected living alongside whites and moved to the isolationist colony of Marzal; their leader, Tyroc, especially despised the Legion and encouraged his people to hate them, but when the Legion proved themselves, he saw how wrong he was and joined up with them. Shooter and Grell absolutely despised the idea, describing the storyline as the most racist concept they'd ever heard. Grell especially hated Tyroc's portrayal as a stereotypical AngryBlackMan with "the world's stupidest super-power," so deliberately put him in the most ridiculous costume he could think of as a small bit of revenge.

[[folder:Marvel Comics]]
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Creator/StanLee originally wanted to call the series ''The Mutants'', but his boss said that very few readers would know what a mutant was. Lee's protest that ''nobody'', including he himself, knew what an X-Man was had no effect.
** The original conclusion for ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'' called for Dark Phoenix being psychically lobotomized; however, then-Editor-in-Chief Creator/JimShooter ordered writer Creator/ChrisClaremont and artist Creator/JohnByrne to come up with something more drastic as punishment for her crimes, and she was killed off. Fortunately, the talent was able to make that work for a powerfully dramatic conclusion and it is generally agreed that it was a superior idea to the original concept.
** When it was decided to bring Jean Grey back without the Dark Phoenix baggage (by [[RetCon having it be the Phoenix Force impersonating her while the real Jean was being healed in a cocoon at the bottom of Jamaica Bay]]), it was decided to relaunch the original X-Men lineup as ''ComicBook/XFactor''. One slight problem - Angel, Beast, and Iceman were tied up in ''[[ComicBook/TheDefenders The New Defenders]]'', so that series was cancelled, and the rest of the team killed off in a HeroicSacrifice, so the trio could be freed up for ''X-Factor''.
** When writers were forced to kill Jean again, the plans to give her a true death were changed to allow her to come back one day.
** Creator/ChrisClaremont had to deal with many mandates when he came back to the book in 2000. ''Exiles'' was re-packaged as ''New Exiles'' and Claremont was told he could only use characters he created or wrote as the protagonists for his first run on ''ComicBook/XMen''. Igor Kordey was replaced as the artist on ''New Excalibur'' while already working on the first issue; nobody informed Claremont, the writer, at the time of the change in artists. During his third, and latest, run on ''Uncanny X-Men'', Claremont had to drop an ongoing plot, namely the formation of a new Hellfire Club, while the story was in full swing. He was told to abandon the story because a different writer at the time professed interest in using the Hellfire Club. Eventually, it turned out to be {{all just a dream}}, making the forced abandonment of the plot in ''Uncanny X-Men'' a jarring example of executive meddling.
** Chris Claremont originally wanted to reveal that Nightcrawler's parents were Mystique and her female lover, Destiny, with Mystique having used her shapeshifting powers to turn into a man and impregnate Destiny. The higher-ups at Marvel wouldn't allow it.
** During Byrne's run on the title, he made a habit of having Wolverine kill people off-panel (thought there would always be a veiled reference to it later in the same issue). Jim Shooter had a bad habit of having his assistants read the books, so he wasn't aware of his trend until he actually overheard John Byrne bragging about it to a fan during an autograph session. Jim Shooter then demanded that every character that Wolverine killed off-panel be brought back. Claremont ended up with the unsavory task, and brought them all back as cyborgs, who eventually formed the band of villains known as the Reavers.
* For a brief period, Creator/JoeQuesada at Marvel Comics tried to encourage a "whoever is dead stays dead" policy, in order to combat the increasing perception that [[DeathIsCheap character death is meaningless in the medium]]. It wasn't an editorial mandate as is often mistakenly said (though there probably is some truth that he used the justification to influence people not to bring back characters he disliked). This policy notably affected several high-profile works for the company: Creator/GrantMorrison had to give Comicbook/EmmaFrost the diamond mutation to take the place the then-dead Colossus would have played, and Beast played the science-guy role that the then-dead Moira [=MacTaggart=] would have had. This edict proved very unpopular with fans, and overturned by 2004 with Magneto being brought back (ironically Magneto was himself labeled "staying dead" even though Morrison always intended on bringing him back). It took four years before fan-favorite Comicbook/{{Psylocke}} was brought back to life in 2005 after being killed off in ''Xtreme X-Men'', as she was originally slated to die in the Psi War arc, which was a few years ''before'' her actual death. Chris Claremont, though, merely planned for her death to be temporary, with the idea being that when she returned, she would be stripped of all of the Crimson Dawn stuff that had been added to her story (including her facial tattoo) plus perhaps even returning her to her original body (and not the Asian body she ended up in), however Claremont's plans were scrapped. Furthermore, when Creator/JossWhedon took over what became ''Astonishing X-Men'', one of the very few editorial mandates forced upon him was to bring Colossus back to life.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** Creator/JMichaelStraczynski was on board with the base idea of the story of ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' (RetCon Peter Parker's marriage to Mary Jane, thus rewriting 20 years of the comic's history, via a DealWithTheDevil), but did not agree with Marvel's Editor-In-Chief Creator/JoeQuesada on the execution. Straczynski had his ideas vetoed, and asked to have his name removed from the credits.
** The ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' has a long and complicated history, but the short version is that high sales of the initial issues led to the marketing department forcibly extended it from its six-month arc to last for two years. Tons of changes were also made to the story during development time by various people outside of the creative team, leading to certain aspects like Judas Traveller that nobody on staff fully understood or knew what to do with.
* ''ComicBook/MiniMarvels'': A backup feature in an issue of ''ComicBook/MarvelAdventures'' jokes that this is what the Skrull invasions of Earth are attempts at -- for the Skrulls, Earth is a popular reality show that they've gained ownership rights to, and now they want to exercise creative control. Unfortunately, Earth has turned out to have rather extreme ProtectionFromEditors.
* ''ComicBook/OmegaTheUnknown'': Creator/SteveGerber's original idea was about the difficult life of a realistic young man, but Creator/StanLee insisted he have powers and crossovers with other in-universe superheroes. Eventually, the book was taken away from Gerber entirely, and given to another author who summarily killed the characters off. Then, thirty years later, it was given to yet ''another'' author for an update, without so much as informing Gerber.
* ''ComicBook/{{Marvel 1602}}: Fantastick Four'': InUniverse, King James I offers... ''suggestions'' to William Shakespeare such as the witches in Theatre/{{Macbeth}}. A couple of actors nearby comment that Will nearly wept when James ordered ghosts put into Theatre/{{Hamlet}}.
* ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel1977'': When Marvel got the license after the first movie, Creator/GeorgeLucas forbade them to have Vader directly interact with the rebels, as it could interfere with what he had in mind for the movies.
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': While Doug Moench was the main writer for about a year (1980-1981), an editorial mandate prevented him from using any of the iconic members of their RoguesGallery due to the editor thinking they were overused. The result was that Moench came up with two {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s: AbsoluteXenophobe "Stygorr the Nightlord" stood in for Annihilus, while sentient [[UsefulNotes/BlackHoles Black Hole]] "Ebon Seeker" stood in for ComicBook/{{Galactus}} and had a similar origin.
* ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'': The short-lived Kasper Cole version came about because editorial wanted to shake up the book. Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}} claims they began looking for new writers and gave them the task of getting rid of T'Challa and introducing a "hip-hop relevant" {{Legacy|Character}} version of the character. The order eventually came back to Priest, who ended up creating Cole, despite not liking the idea one bit.
* ''Comicbook/CaptainAmerica'': Back in 1999, Creator/MarkWaid asked for his name to be removed from Vol. 3 #14 because the editors changed the story to the point where it didn't resemble what he had intended. Set inside the Comicbook/RedSkull's mindscape, Waid's point was that, from the twisted perspective of a high-up Nazi, they weren't the bad guys. In the Skull's screwed-up brain, Cap is both the embodiment of evil and - since he won - the new fuhrer. The editors preferred to make the Skull a CardCarryingVillain (while, paradoxically, removing any suggestion of racism), and Cap simply represented as "that guy the Skull doesn't like because he keeps beating him".
* Len Kaminski [[https://www.cbr.com/iron-man-teen-tony-stark-quit/ revealed]] that ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' was why he ended his run on ''ComicBook/IronMan''--the editorial staff was insistent on the story, which infamously attempted to retcon that Iron Man was really a ManchurianAgent for Kang, and in fact, that very plot point is the exact reason why he left.
* ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'':
** Near the end of Creator/RogerStern's run, editor Mark Gruenwald wanted Captain America to lead the team again, and requested that the current head of the group, Comicbook/MonicaRambeau, be shown as inferior in order to justify Cap's return. Stern refused, as he felt the idea was racist and sexist (since Monica was the first black character to lead the Avengers, and only the second woman to do so), and was fired as a result.
** Creator/WaltSimonson similarly walked away due to the meddling his run received, including editorial giving him permission to have [[Comicbook/FantasticFour Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman]] join the Avengers, only to rescind that approval after he'd already written them into the book. Prior to that, he'd also been told he couldn't use Iron Man or [[Comicbook/TheMightyThor Thor]], which only furthered his frustration with the gig.
** Steve Englehart had wanted Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}} to become a major recurring villain, as he liked the idea of the Avengers having to face a former teammate who'd fallen from grace. However, a later {{Retcon}} established that Quicksilver's villainous behavior was the result of {{Brainwash}}ing from Comicbook/BlackBolt's brother Maximus, and one of Englehart's ''West Coast Avengers'' scripts was even rewritten by editor Ralph Macchio in order to redeem the character.
* The short-lived 70s book ''[[ComicBook/Champions1975 Champions]]'' was pitched as a book involving leftover X-Men Angel and Comicbook/{{Iceman}} having adventures in Los Angeles. However, a mandate by Len Wein that the team had to have at least five members and "[[TheBigGuy One must be super-strong,]] [[TheChick one must be female,]] and [[WolverinePublicity at least one must have his own comic.]]" This led to the book also having [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]], Comicbook/BlackWidow, and Ghost Rider on its roster - needless to say, not an especially focused lineup.
* On a podcast, artist Ryan Stegman mentioned that he was told to tone down the designs on the new characters created for Creator/CharlesSoule's ''[[Comicbook/CharlesSoulesInhumans Inhumans]]'' so that they would be easier to adapt in Marvel's live-action TV shows (''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and ''Series/{{Inhumans}}'').
* Before the 2019 buyout of Fox, Disney and Marvel actively tried devalue the comic franchises whose film rights were owned by the rival company. The Inhumans were the most obvious attempt, with Marvel blatantly making a huge push to try and have them take the X-Men's place as the comics' discriminated superhuman minority. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, popular characters in both the MCU and the Fox produced ''X-Men'' films, had their origins retconned, no longer being mutants or Magneto's children in order to disconnect from the X-Men as much as possible. And while Disney has denied claims of giving the Fantastic Four this treatment, it's noticeable that their comic was cancelled shortly before the [[Film/FantasticFour2015 2015 movie]] was released and the team was PutOnABus from the Marvel Universe as a whole until the buyout was underway.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Archie Comics]]
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
** According to writer Ken Penders, Creator/{{Sega}} started off largely hands-off with the exception of a few moments, including sparing Princess Sally from her death in "End Game". Somewhere along the line, Sega started pushing for more game-centric stuff, which obviously clashed with then-writers Penders and Karl Bollers.
** The legal case between Archie and Penders. It was said that everything made for the Archie comic was now property of Sega. That meant characters, concepts, etc. Back in the early '90s, it was obvious no one minded the house at Archie and when Penders caught on about 15 years later, he quickly copyrighted his characters, which led to the lawsuits. The problem here was that the lawsuits put Archie in a bind - Sega was adamant that those characters were theirs and if Penders won, then it would go against the mandate and threaten the comic. To save face, all of Penders' characters and concepts (and later, all of those not made by Flynn) were dumped and Penders was given a mandate to cut off all of his characters from everything Sonic, which led to the ContinuityReboot that was ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide''.
** According to conversations with Ian Flynn, one of the big mandates was that the video game characters couldn't have relatives. This would initially led to Sonic and Tails being unable to call their parents by those familiar titles and Eggman's connection to Snively downplayed. When the CosmicRetcon hit, Uncle Chuck was no longer Sonic's uncle, [[HonoraryUncle with the name being just an endearing title to the scientist]], and Snively was renamed to "Julian Snively" with no familial connection at all to Eggman. This is despite the fact that both characters were part of the Saturday morning cartoon. This also makes utilizing Sonia and Manic from ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'' harder as many ''Sonic'' fans would recognize the two as siblings and expect them to be as such, but they could never say they were.
** The reason why you don't see characters like [[WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground Sonia, Manic]], [[Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie Sara]] and [[Anime/SonicX Cosmo]] interacting with the [[WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM Freedom Fighters]] is due to Sega preferring the use of more modern Sonic elements and prohibiting the use of past characters and elements in the comic, with the only reason the ''[=SatAM=]'' cast stayed was because [[GrandfatherClause they were part of the comic from the beginning]].
* Creator/ArchieComics's ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures'': The creative team at the time was preparing for its big epic storyline towards issue #75, "The Forever War", which would have brought back the future "Green Earth Turtles" and showcased the final fight with Shredder. However, the editors at the time balked at this as they absolutely hated the more violent path the comic was taking as well as the "Green Earth Turtles" (it was also because Mirage had started going color around this time and it was taking away from Archie), so they canned the creative team and, ultimately, the title.
* ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'':
** There was once a comic called ''Josie'' that ran for six years. It was basically a DistaffCounterpart of ''Archie'' until the success of the ''WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow'' and (more importantly) the success of the hit song from said cartoon "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar,_Sugar Sugar, Sugar".]] Creator/HannaBarbera then approached Archie Comics and asked them about adapting another one of its properties. So in December 1969, Archie retooled ''Josie''. Josie and her friends decided to [[ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats form a rock band]]. It was all done so Hanna-Barbera could adapt the then upcoming [[WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussyCats cartoon]] as a music-based series.
** The last two pages of issue 6 of ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'' had to be rewritten after the editor found the story to be too dark. Note this is a dark series set in a ZombieApocalypse that deals with anything from incest to domestic abuse. The fact that the same issue ends with [[ComicBook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch Sabrina]] [[spoiler:about to become the Bride of Cthulhu]] makes fans really wonder how you could get darker than ''that''.
[[/folder]]

* The short-lived 70s book ''Champions'' was pitched as a book involving leftover X-Men Angel and Comicbook/{{Iceman}} having adventures in Los Angeles. However, a mandate by Len Wein that the team had to have at least five members and "[[TheBigGuy One must be super-strong,]] [[TheChick one must be female,]] and [[WolverinePublicity at least one must have his own comic.]]" This led to the book also having [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]], Comicbook/BlackWidow, and Ghost Rider on its roster - needless to say, not an especially focused lineup.

** When writers were forced to kill Jean again, the plans to give her a FinalDeath were changed to allow her to come back one day.

* This trope led to the CreatorKiller of Creator/TakeTwoInteractive's own comic company, Double Take. Take Two had hired former Marvel Comics editor Bill Jemas (who was also responsible for the tripe that was ''ComicBook/{{Marville}}'') to create a new comic universe and planned to do so using ''VideoGame/XCom'', ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' and ''VideoGame/BioShock'' as a massive SharedUniverse (how that would have worked is really unknown). However, the games division was ''really'' protective of their franchises and didn't want this "outsider" messing with them, forcing the entirety of Double Take being yanked out of Take-Two's offices and into a new office. Scrambling for something to replace what they lost, they decided to focus on ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' and try to turn that into a superhero universe. However, that was met with incredible disappointment and the company would ultimately fold without really getting it's foot out the door.