TV: Did the Milestone characters kill DC Nation?

DC Nation was suddenly pulled from Cartoon Network’s schedule last week with a date sometime early next year announced for its return. The highly popular block featured Young Justice, Green Lantern: The Animated Series and a series of minute long shorts starring various DC characters from every spectrum.

The sudden disappearance upset a few and trumped many other announcements during New York Comic Con weekend.

Now word is coming out that negotiations between DC and Milestone Media may be the reason for the block’s sudden disappearance. Static, Icon and Rocket have started to appear in episodes of Young Justice, but with rights issues murky at best, they may delay production of the series until those issues are ironed out.

Even up until earlier this year, the characters of Milestone regularly made appearances as part of Static Shock, a launch New 52 title. But with poor reviews and a cancellation after issue eight, the Milestone heroes were left without a place in the New 52 DC universe. Since that time, many fans questioned whether DC would continue to use the characters.

If this is truly the reason for DC Nation’s sudden departure, fans can only hope for a quick negotiation between DC and the Milestone Media conglomerate.