History ExecutiveMeddling / ComicBooks

** 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 adopt the then upcoming [[WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussyCats cartoon]] as a music-based series.

* 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 not 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.

* 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 the responsible of 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.

* 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 cooping 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 the responsible of 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.

** From 1995-98, writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones, who were in charge of the main Batman title, where 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.

* 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 cooping 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 the responsible of 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 a 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.

* 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 cooping 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 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 the responsible of 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 many 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]].

* The critically-panned event ''Comicbook/HeroesInCrisis'' was the result of this with the original idea being more about the hero community reacting and cooping 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 ended up with a lot of {{Aborted Arc}}s, inconsistent characterization and the [[TookALevelInJerkass character assassination]] of [[spoiler:Wally West]] who is revealed as the responsible of the tragedy that killed multiple C-list heroes (including is friend Red Arrow) and framed Booster Gold and Harley Quinn for inconsistent reasons just to have them hunted by the Justice League. This event ended up screwing with the plans of many 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]].

* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'':
** Bart going from 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.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': Jim Davis was told by his syndicator to change Odie's ears from black to brown a year after his introduction to the strip. Apparently, readers were confusing Odie with [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]].

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': Jim Davis was told by his syndicator to change Odie's ears from black to brown a year after he was introduced to the strip. Apparently, readers were confusing Odie with [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]].

** In [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2009}} Bryan Q. Miller's]] Series/{{Smallville}} Season 11, previews indicated that Stephanie Brown would show up as Batman's partner Nightwing. Editorial intervened and had it changed to Barbara Gordon.

* ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''ComicBook/MarvelStarWars'': 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.

** And ''Countdown'' was part of the meddling in Creator/GrantMorrison[='=]s plans for ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' - he 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.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'': Jim Davis was told by syndicator to change Odie's ears from black to brown a year after he was introduced to the strip. Apparently, readers were confusing Odie with [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Snoopy]].
[[/folder]]

* ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'': A couple strips were removed because they were offensive.[[note]]Namely, a strip in which a boy gives a girl a pair of ballerina slippers and the final frame shows her in a wheelchair. Even the author admits it was rather offensive.[[/note]]

* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': The ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwlight'' 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/GreenLantern'': The ''Emerald Twlight'' 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.

* 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 degerading manner in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', that was also ''before'' 9/11 happened[[/note]]

* 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 degerading manner happened in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', that was also ''before'' 9/11 happened[[/note]]

* ''Franchise/ArchieComics'':

** 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 [[TheArtifact they were part of the comic from the beginning]].

** 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 (apparently) no longer Sonic's uncle ([[HonoraryUncle with the name being just an endearing title to the scientist]]), and Snively being renamed "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 can 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/SonicSatAM 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.

* 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 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 degerading manner happened in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', that was also ''before'' 9/11 happened[[/note]]