Cancelled Trade Cavalcade: Justice League: Breakdowns, Green Lantern: Hal Jordan Vol. 2, and Gerard Jones ~ Comics Live Updates

We've noted for a couple weeks now that it looks like the Justice League: Breakdowns collection that DC Comics officially solicited last month appears to have been cancelled.

It is still on Diamond's release list, but other sources have it listed as cancelled, it has disappeared from online listings, and Bleeding Cool is reporting it's been cancelled due to the recent arrest of comics writer Gerard Jones. Jones wrote the Justice League Europe issues of "Breakdowns" along with Keith Giffen; the Justice League America issues are by J.M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen.

Also having disappeared is the Green Lantern: Hal Jordan Vol. 2 collection, which would have collected Jones's post-Crisis Green Lantern #1-12. The first volume, collecting the first and second Green Lantern: Emerald Dawn miniseries with work by Jones (also Giffen and Jim Owsley [Christopher Priest]), just came out.

Note that there's also a Wonder Woman and the Justice League Vol. 1 collection currently scheduled for March that collects Justice League America issues between "Death of Superman" and Zero Hour. That book is mostly by Dan Vado, but if it were to get to Vol. 2, then it would contain Justice League International crossover issues written by Jones, and subsequent volumes would have issues entirely written by Jones. This suggests that some if not all of the Wonder Woman and the Justice League collections might be in trouble, too.

Jones also wrote the entirety of the John Stewart series Green Lantern: Mosaic, which I've wanted to see collected for a long time. Gerard also wrote issues that cross over with Mark Waid's Flash that we'd probably see in the next Flash by Mark Waid collection.

Let's establish that obviously the things Jones is accused of are horrific, and also everyone deserves a fair trial and they're innocent until proven guilty. Also, of course stopping wrongdoing and getting justice for victims is the most important thing here. But this is a comics-focused blog and we think about comics-industry issues, and it seems right now that what we have is a large swath of comics material, part of the established DC Universe tapestry -- and much of which that connects with work by other writers -- that's now become something of a third rail, persona non grata in terms of reprinting.

What should happen?

Obviously DC Comics is in a tough spot here, and I don't blame them for putting a hold on the books at least until there's more definitive news about Jones. Paying royalties to Jones for new collections would probably be impolitic, at least, and it's possible DC could get around that difficulty if Jones is criminally convicted.

The fan concern, however, is that DC might might find use of Jones's work so impolitic as to backburner any Jones-related work indefinitely. Again, I don't diminish the charges, but most of the already-solicited works listed above involve material in which Jones was just one of the writers on stories that involved other writers' series or characters, too.

Is there a separation between what Jones might have done and one's enjoyment of Hal Jordan's post-Crisis adventures? Is it possible to still value Breakdowns despite Jones's participation, or do the serious allegations taint it too significantly? Should further collections of "Return of Barry Allen" omit the Green Lantern chapter because of Jones, or does its importance to the completeness of Mark Waid's story overtake that?

I raise these issues because I am myself conflicted. I want to be a good citizen of the world and not support bad actions, but without sounding naive there's also a history of the DC Universe that I enjoy and feel some investment in. I have difficulty shunting my long-standing feelings for that material even as I now have concerns about the writer of said material. I welcome your reasoned thoughts on these issues.