Charles Soule Signs Exclusive Contract with Marvel, on DC Titles Until March 2015

CBR

By Albert Ching

Published Sep 2, 2014

"Death of Wolverine" writer Charles Soule, an in-demand writer at a variety of publishers, has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel. UPDATED with comments from Soule and new details from DC Comics.

UPDATED 9/2/2014 3:38 PM PT:: Charles Soule has commented on his new Marvel exclusive contract via his personal blog, giving some insight into his motivation in signing the deal:

"So why sign a deal at all, if things were so great?" Soule wrote. "Well, it's pretty simple. Writing eight titles a month (which I've been doing for quite a while now) is no joke. It's a constant tightrope walk, requiring serious focus and discipline. I've proven to myself that I can do it, but now that I have, it's time for a different challenge -- I want to know what I can accomplish with a smaller slate, where I can really dive in. I've accomplished breadth, now I want to see about depth."

Additionally, a DC Entertainment spokesperson has disclosed to CBR News that Soule will remain on "Red Lanterns" and "Swamp Thing" until March 2015.

"Let me be clear -- the decision to work with Marvel for a while isn't any sort of denigration of DC," Soule wrote in his blog post. "I had a fantastic time there, I was treated extremely well, I have strong positive feelings about all of my editors and the DC universe of characters, and I look forward to hopefully working with them at some point down the road."

Soule also confirmed that his new detail does not affect his Oni Press creator-owned series "Letter 44." "I'm on that one until it's done, which won't be for a while yet."

For the past year, Charles Soule has been the rare writer with multiple current ongoing series at both Marvel and DC Comics -- but it looks like that soon won't be the case. A USA Today article published Tuesday on the Soule-written "The Death Of Wolverine," which debuts this week, included the information that the writer "recently signed an exclusive contract with Marvel." CBR has confirmed this news with Marvel.

Currently, Soule writes the ongoing "Red Lanterns" and "Swamp Thing" series at DC, with his "Superman/Wonder Woman" run scheduled to end in October. DC Comics declined comment on the situation when reached by CBR News. Soule is solicited as the writer of "Red Lanterns" and "Swamp Thing" through November 2014, the most recently released round of solicitations.

At Marvel, Soule writes the ongoing "She-Hulk" and "Inhuman" series, along with the weekly five-issue "Death of Wolverine" -- debuting this week on September 3 -- with multiple follow-up miniseries in the pipeline dealing with the fallout of the high-profile death.

While the USA Today article doesn't contain any further information on Soule's exclusive status, it's likely his "Letter 44" series at Oni Press, will be unaffected by the Marvel exclusive contract, as such deals traditionally preclude creators only from pursuing work-for-hire projects elsewhere, not creator-owned material.

Noted for not only receiving acclaim from both fans and critics but his prolific output -- especially given that he's maintained his own law practice throughout his comics-writing career -- Soule made his comic book debut in 2009 with the "Strongman" original graphic novel from SLG Publishing. His subsequent creator-owned work included "27" at Image Comics and "Strange Attractors" at Archaia. Soule took over "Swamp Thing" in 2013 with issue #19 as his first ongoing superhero series, followed by a stint on "Thunderbolts" at Marvel. "Death of Wolverine" -- promised to contain the in-continuity death of one of Marvel's most popular and enduring characters -- is his highest-profile mainstream work yet.