Leading via ouija boards?

I rag on Marvel Comics a lot. And justifiably so. If they're not busy undoing 20 years of Spider-Man continuity, they're trying to rip you off.

But it doesn't seem like things are much better these days over at their main competitor, DC Comics. A writer who recently left the company had harsh words for that ship's captain, senior vice president and executive editor Dan Didio. The writer, Chuck Dixon, called Didio a "tyrant" and "directionless gladhandler," among other things.

"I've worked under tyrants," Dixon wrote at Comic Book Resources, "and I can say that I'd prefer to work under a talented, knowledgeable tyrant with a successful plan than a directionless gladhander with a ouija board any day of the week."

Ouch. Those are some pretty harsh words. Of course, we have to take into consideration that Dixon might be venting some "disgruntled employee" feelings via his keyboard, but this isn't the first time Didio has taken some hits for DC's performance. He took 52 weeks of criticism throughout the weekly run of "Countdown," and fans of the character Nightwing know Didio -- not the Joker -- is that hero's biggest threat.

Yes, Didio takes a lot of hits. But as he noted during a comic book convention this weekend: "It goes with the job."