JMS leaves “Thor”.

“Babylon 5” creator J. Michael Straczynski is leaving “Thor”.  His exit on the extremely popular, Eisner nominated re-boot had long been rumored, and was confirmed by Comic Book Resources on Friday. JMS said:

The one concern at the back of my head was that of being pulled into a Big Event that could affect the forward momentum of the book and alter its direction. I’ve said elsewhere that in many cases — and this isn’t just Marvel, the trend is pandemic — such an event can sometimes result in the individual books serving the event, rather than the other way around, and you have to spend months and issues afterward stitching everything back together. I’m the kind of writer who likes to write in a straight line and know for certain the terrain he’s standing upon. Some writers can handle all that and never break a sweat. For me, it’s just not something I can do competently. That’s a shortcoming on my part and I recognize it as such.Prior to the reboot, when “Thor” was selling in the mid-50s, a Big Event wouldn’t have been much of a concern, but now it was selling in the top ten month after month, and that increased visibility meant it could precipitate an event. And, again without saying much because this has to come from Marvel, such an event appeared on the horizon.

I didn’t read his run on “Thor” but I did read the one-shots that Matt Fraction did. Considering a Thor movie is in the works, I’m not against the idea of Fraction taking over the character in light of his post-movie success with “Invincible Iron Man,” which is also a Eisner nominated run.

Interestingly though, JMS notes the potential of working with another God-like hero at DC Comics.

The DC work has gone and is going extremely well. We’re about six scripts deep into “The Brave and The Bold,” believe it or not. I just wrote Batman and Brother Power, the Geek, and it may be the best of the bunch, so we’re way ahead since the first issue doesn’t ship until September. All four Red Circle scripts are in and drawn, and I’m working on a secret project for DC that I hope we can discuss at San Diego Comic-Con. Suffice to say: anyone who knows me knows that there’s something I’ve wanted to do for my entire creative life, something that I’d give my right arm to write…something I’ve been actively chasing for over ten years. There’s one character, one property, that if George Lucas said “Here’s a million dollars, go write whatever you want and I’ll shoot it, but you’ll have to drop that book,” I would say no and never, ever look back.

Anyone, who likes JMS knows that he’s been pining after Superman for most of his career, and that should prove interesting.

JMS’s final issue of Thor will ship in August.

Source: JMS Confirms ‘Thor’ Exit [via CBR].