The hottest rumour burning down the pre-NYCC parties is that Gail Simone, co-writer of DC Relaunch title Fury Of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men with Ethan Van Sciver, has walked off the comic.

The reason being given by the Manhattan tittle tattlers is over editorial conflicts over the book, the kind of thing alluded to here.

This only applies to Firestorm however, this is not the case with the bestselling DC relaunch comic Batgirl, also written by Simone. But for many, Simone is not just a good writer, but seen as fighting the case for female creators and characters at the company. If indeed she has left the series over the reasons suggested, that won't play well for DC this week. Expect it to be a topic of converation at the DC party, certainly.

Because it seems that Simone did have plans for Firestorm, if this panel from today's Batgirl #2 is any indication…

Professor Stein… is alive?

Neither Gail nor Ethan returned emails. DC Comics declined to comment.