It's been a week of exits for DC Comics. Not only did yesterday bring the news that Andy Diggle had left his assignment writing "Action Comics", but also that Joshua Hale Fialkov had resigned from "Green Lantern Corps" and "Red Lanterns." While both writers citied professional differences as the reason for their departure, new information on Fialkov's exit has come to light.

CBR has independently confirmed that, as reported on Bleeding Cool, Joshua Fialkov's resignation from his Green Lantern titles was due in large part to an editorial edict to kill off John Stewart.

Stewart is one of DC's most recognizable African-American characters, which makes it somewhat surprising that he be marked for death in light of the steps the publisher has taken to diversify its line with the New 52, adding Cyborg to the Justice League, creating a gay Alan Scott in "Earth 2" and launching the New 52 with several titles starring black characters. Stewart is also arguably the character most associated with the Green Lantern franchise among the non-comics reading public, having been the face of the Corps for the popular Justice League cartoons. He's so associated with the franchise, in fact, that when Ryan Reynolds was announced as the lead in Warner Bros. live action film, many people wondered why a white actor had been cast as a character who they thought of as black.

After Fialkov's announcement as "Green Lantern Corps" and "Red Lanterns" writer, he indicated in an interview with Comic Book Resources his eagerness to put his spin on the Green Lantern corner of the DCU.

"For me, the attraction was that I wanted to tell a crime story on a galactic level. That was my pitch to DC," he said. "Geoff [Johns] and all of the other guys have done such an amazing job, prior to us, of telling those big, giant space operas. Now it's time to narrow it down. Let's do stories that almost fall into a different genre while still being in the Green Lantern universe."

DC Comics latest creative shake-ups come as a surprise, though they aren't without recent precedent. After announcing Jim Zub as incoming writer for "Birds of Prey," DC announced he was off the book before any issues were even published. A similar situation occured with Robert Venditti and "Constantine," though both Venditti and editorial stated he just had too much on his plate to take on another assignment, likely the main "Green Lantern" title.

When approached by CBR News for this story, DC Comics had no comment.

Stay tuned to CBR News for more as this story develops.