DC has officially announced all 52 of their new titles coming this September. As such, now comes the time when every website under the sun will be offering up commentary on the titles: which ones we think will be good, which ones we have little to no hope for, and other assorted forms of thoughts on the matter.
Of course, Multiversity’s will be different. Throughout the week, every member of the site will be contributing different thoughts on the different groupings as we have broken them down. Today’s installment will be for the upcoming Justice League books. Join me after the cut as I spill out some of my thoughts on the 11 new titles.
Justice League #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
1:25 Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
RETROSOLICITED – On sale AUGUST 31 – 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US RATED T – Combo pack edition: $4.99 USRetailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Comics superstars Geoff Johns and Jim Lee make history! In a universe where super heroes are strange and new, Batman has discovered a dark evil that requires him to unite the World Greatest Heroes!
This spectacular debut issue is also offered as a special combo pack edition, polybagged with a redemption code for a digital download of the issue.
This is arguably the biggest book in the bunch. A long rumored title from two of DC’s top talents, starring a formation of the World’s Greatest Superheroes? I mean, what’s not to love here? Sure, you’re paying $3.99 for the book, but it’s oversized and full of artwork from one of the best artists in the business as well as the man who is creatively in charge of the future of the DCnU.
Of course, the only real drawback to this is that the two creators have been notoriously late with their work recently. Geoff Johns’ work on the Flash derailed to the point where they had to get a second artist to help play catch-up, and his work on Green Lantern pushed the series back by a month per issue. On top of that, I still don’t have my copy of Batman: Europa #1, and I believe Brian Azzarello has stated that he finished writing the book months ago so I think it’s safe to assume who might not have caught up yet. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee might be terrific talents and ones who you can usually assume will pay off, but the most common joke I’ve heard about the new Justice League book is “Oh, I can’t wait to read this book just four times in the coming year!”
The DCnU is promising that they will give us books that are timely released and of top quality. Johns and Lee collaborating on the Justice League is something that I feel should be easy enough to place your bets on, but if this book starts hitting delays and the enjoyment factor is diminished accordingly, it won’t be a huge surprise.
Or they could always prove me wrong and surprise us all. I’m fine with that, too.
Wonder Woman #1
Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art and cover by CLIFF CHIANG
On sale SEPTEMBER 21 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TThe Gods walk among us. To them, our lives are playthings. Only one woman would dare to protect humanity from the wrath of such strange and powerful forces. But is she one of us — or one of them?
Oh, Wonder Woman. You’re given a new book post Infinite Crisis, and people complain. You’re given the top female writer in the industry, and people complain. You’re given your original numbering and a new look/continuity reboot to help readers jump into the book, and people complain. You’re abandoned by JMS and DC does it’s best to fix what it started, but still people complain. And now you’re caught in a second reboot and left with your pants, and guess what people are doing?
Continued belowI want to like Wonder Woman more than I do. I mean that. I feel like there are enough great stories with and about the character that her role as part of the DC Trinity is just poorly treated. Batman’s family has 11 books and Superman’s has 4. Why is Wonder Woman so mistreated? If for nothing else, I look forward to buying Wonder Woman just to show DC that yes, fans of comics do actually care about the character and want to see something done with her.
Of course, the catch here is that the writer is Brian Azzarello. I have nothing but respect for the man, and I’m a huge fan of 100 Bullets. However, the guy writes dark stuff. He wrote a year on Superman called For Tomorrow, and it’s quite possibly the most aggressive/angry Superman story I’ve ever read. While I want Wonder Woman to get a top-billed writer and artist team (Cliff Chiang! Hooray!), I don’t think that Azzarello would ever be my top choice to make Wonder Woman a relevant character in the DCU as she needs to be. A violent one, sure, but with what little I know about the character I’d say Azzarello is not the writer who can accurately speak to her ideals and inherent morality. It’s going to be a very hit or miss launch.
Aquaman #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TThe superstar creators from BLACKEST NIGHT and BRIGHTEST DAY reunite to take AQUAMAN to amazing new depths!
Aquaman has renounced the throne of Atlantis — but the sea will not release Arthur Curry so easily.
Now, from a forgotten corner of the ocean emerges… The Trench! A broken race of creatures that should not exist, an unspeakable need driving them, The Trench will be the most talked-about new characters in the DC Universe!
Aquaman is another character who has had a rough time in the DCU, despite his membership in the JLA. He is one of the “Big Seven” after all, despite the stigma that his powers are lame. They’re really not; I’ve read some great stories with Aquaman using his power to talk to fish for the better (I promise I’m not lying). Geoff Johns seems to want to make Aquaman his next project, and that’s not inherently a bad thing. With Ivan Reis on board, you’ve got the team from Brightest Day, and if you enjoyed what was essentially Aquaman: Rebirth, there is a assumedly a lot to look forward to with the new title.
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t also offer up the negative side and reiterate some of my earlier points about Johns. I have nothing but respect for the man and will be reading several of the titles that he is writing, but he has not been writing like he used to lately. Brightest Day was a mess and the current state of the Green Lantern books is definitely less than desirable. I would hope that Johns has a plan to rejuvenate Aquaman’s mythos in the same way as he originally did to Green Lantern before he went all “event crazy,” and I would sincerely hope that he doesn’t try and rush us into some Aquaman-based event as he did the Flash.
Which is another way of saying that this is yet another title in the Justice League line-up that will be incredibly hit or miss. I’d like to lean towards hit, but I can’t say Aquaman is high up on my list of “titles I’m looking forward to reading.” I’ll buy the first issue and I’d recommend that, with talent like Johns and Reis, you should too; just don’t invest too much in it.
The Flash #1
Continued belowWritten by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL
Variant cover by IVAN REIS and TIM TOWNSEND
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TRetailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
The Fastest Man Alive returns to his own monthly series from the writer/artist team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato! The Flash knows he can’t be everywhere at once, but what happens when he faces an all-new villain who really can! As if that’s not bad enough, this villain is a close friend!
Poor Flash. He just can not catch a break. After spending years dead/in Heaven/in the future/as a bolt of lightning, Barry Allen finally returned to the DCU with a fantastic creative team only to be left behind (pun is obviously intended). Now Johns has left the character and left Francis Manapul the artist to pick up the pieces for the DC Relaunch, and honestly? I think that’s probably the best decision they could’ve possibly made here.
I’ve never read anything Manapul has written outside of his blog, but Manapul always seems like a fairly assertive writer if not a tad bit jokey. While DC’s history of taking artists and turning them into writers, I don’t think it’ll be that hard for Manapul to step up to the plate and write an intriguing Flash story, provided he works with some of the ideas that Johns had brought to the table. The Flash has always been a family man, so if Manapul can make the book more about the character again and less about a segue into the “next big event,” we’re off to a good start. He’s also promising some new characters, and it’s nice to think that the book won’t just be regurgitations of old ideas and “How can we make the Rogues do the same thing again this time?” story motifs.
He’s certainly got the artist talent to make the book look gorgeous, and while he will be sharing artistic details with Buccellato I’d say it’s fair to assume that this latest incarnation of the Flash will probably pretty good. At least, I’m crossing my fingers to that end.
The Fury Of Firestorm #1
Written by ETHAN VAN SCIVER and GAIL SIMONE
Art by YILDIRAY CINAR
Cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TJason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond. These two high school students are worlds apart — and now they’re drawn into a conspiracy of super-science that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control. The dark secrets of the murderous Dog Team and its Firestorm Protocol force them to put aside their differences to confront a threat so terrifying that it may lead to a new Cold War! Welcome to a major new vision of nuclear terror from writers Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone with astonishing art by Yildiray Cinar!
The Fury of Firestorm is perhaps the first book that I can openly say doesn’t inherently interest me. Perhaps it’s the fact that I know Brian Clevinger could’ve been writing this book and won’t be, but at the same time the title just doesn’t seem to call to me in any discernible way. Yes, Gail Simone is a talented writer, but the book assumedly has a time-limit to it, doesn’t it? Brightest Day ended with the kids having a countdown to destruction, so how are we going to be reading a title about two kids struggling to be normal when really they’re just struggling not to destroy all life?
Teen/youth based titles are fine and often times enjoyable, but the Firestorm set-up as it is is not one that particularly seems to be a safe bet to take as a new reader. Firestorm is not a big title character like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or Flash, and I’d imagine that most people coming into the shops to try something new might not go for a concept that seems rather involved as this one. That is, of course, assuming that this does continue what began in Brightest Day. If all of that countdown to destruction stuff is thrown out the window and instead you’re just reading a title about two kids trying to co-exist than perhaps you’ll get an amusing title out of it – but this title seems like a much less safe bet than any of the other books, especially for a new reader.
The Savage Hawkman #1
Continued belowWritten by TONY S. DANIEL
Art and cover by PHILIP TAN
On sale SEPTEMBER 28 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TCarter Hall’s skill at deciphering lost languages has led him to a job with an archaeologist who specializes in alien ruins — but will the doctor’s latest discovery spread an alien plague through New York City? No matter the personal cost, Carter Hall must don his wings and become the new, savage Hawkman to survive! Witness the start of a new action series from writer Tony S. Daniel and artist Philip Tan that will take Hawkman where no hero has flown before!
Hawkman was arguably one of the titles I was most looking forward to with the DC Relaunch. He’s one of those characters who I’ve always wanted to read more, but outside of three trades by Geoff Johns I just have not been able to find much in print to really delve into the character and enjoy him outside of books where he is part of a group. Having a story just focusing on him was definitely something that I had anticipated post-Brightest Day.
Well, not so much anymore. The first comment I have about this title is: What happened to James Robinson? At NYCC, he mentioned that he would be writing the book, but now it seems he’s nowhere to be found. Instead we’re given Tony Daniel, who is rather notorious in the fan community/critical corner as being a bad writer. Daniel’s work on Batman was rather void of any discernable quality, and while the man is definitely a talented artist his writing skills just don’t match. While Hawkman is a character who could certainly be written as someone who is “mad here” and “not mad here,” I’d rather read a story with some sort of inherent goal as opposed to Daniel’s paper doll form of characterization.
Look: I would’ve read a comic by Robinson starring Hawkman. The man gets a bad rep nowadays amongst fans, but he’s also responsible for work like Starman, which I’ve heard some people to remark is “better than Watchmen.” While Robinson’s JLA was something not worth discussing despite the hype behind it, I would be happy to give him a chance with Hawkman. Tony Daniel? Not so much. I might get the first issue out of morbid curiosity, but I can’t imagine anyone who has encountered Daniel’s writing will be particularly anxious to try this.
Green Arrow #1
Written by J.T. KRUL
Art by DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and ROB HUNTER
On sale SEPTEMBER 7 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TGreen Arrow is on the hunt. Driven by inner demons, Ollie Queen travels the world and brings outlaws to justice…by breaking every law.
Now, armed with cutting-edge weaponry and illegally gained intel (courtesy of his team at QCore), Green Arrow is shooting first and asking questions later.
I know a lot of people harbor a strong dislike to JT Krul due to his work with a title like Rise Of Arsenal. When one considers his position, it was a very difficult place to be in: he was the one that had to literally pick up the pieces of Star City and it’s main characters after Robinson blew it up. I imagine that’d be fairly hard for anyone to deal with. However, subtlety is something Krul clearly doesn’t have much of, and Rise of Arsenal is one of the most infamous comics of all time at this point.
So it’s really hard for me to understand why a) DC gave Krul an exclusive and b) DC keeps having Krul write the Green Arrow saga. I gave the last new Green Arrow a shot (pun intended) and found it to be one of the dullest books on the market. I’m going to hazard a guess that not much has changed since the book started, initially as a companion piece to Brightest Day. It also seemed like Krul had a plan when he began, with Ollie dealing with the takeover of his corporation and the Black Arrow. Has any of this happened? No? Ok. Well then.
Continued belowGreen Arrow #1 was a chance to give the character a reprieve after all of the awful things DC has let happened to him over the past couple years. With Krul still on the book, it is clear that DC still has no love whatsoever for the character, and my advice is to avoid the title until a new writer emerges.
This isn’t, by the way, to completely say that nothing Krul has ever written is good. That’s not my place to say. However, I can assure you of this: I’ve read quite a few Green Arrow comics in my day. Having followed Krul out of the ashes of Green Arrow/Black Canary and Cry For Justice, I’d advise you to go get a trade of some older story before even thinking about buying this.
Justice League International #1
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by AARON LOPRESTI and MATT RYAN
Cover by AARON LOPRESTI
On sale SEPTEMBER 7 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TWith the growing presence of super beings around the world, the United Nations resolves to create a new group called Justice League International.
Batman, Booster Gold, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, August General in Iron, Fire, Ice, Vixen and Rocket Red are charged with promoting unity and trust — but can they reach that goal without killing each other first?
In the past year, DC has published two bi-weekly series: Brightest Day and Justice League – Generation Lost. The former was a tragedy of wasted potential, while the latter was a triumph that nobody saw coming. Judd Winick went from being “that guy” with all that stigma to his writing career due to books like The Trials Of Shazam to the man who was writing a better comic than Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi combined. So I ask you: Why is he not given the chance to continue doing so?
In some ways, I get it. Dan Jurgens created Booster Gold. In a way, this is DC allowing Jurgens to continue his run on the character, except now with the cast of JLI. It wouldn’t be the first time he wrote the character, and now he’s certainly got an eclectic cast to do it with (August General In Iron being my favorite). But the unfortunate fact of the matter is that literally everyone I know who has read Jurgen’s past work with the group has told me to stay as far away from it as possible, to the point that DC has not even printed out the books in a way that I can find and read (currently all the JLI titles on the market are written by Keith Giffen). So why would I want to try this out? And after I’ve shared this information with you, why would you?
On top of that, what is with the cast? Blue Beetle is apparently out for no reason, Power Girl is nowhere to be seen, and DC has not even bothered to name the woman in the lower left. Why, after spending all that time developing a team dynamic, is DC allowing it to be thrown away? Reboot shmeboot. People picking up the new JLI will most likely be readers of Generation Lost. It just seems like a waste.
Winick deserved this title, and it certainly would’ve been a fantastic opportunity to Keith Giffen. Neither of them are getting the opportunity to continue the work that they began and pioneered in their own way, and frankly I’m not sure why. It just seems that the further we move down the list of titles, the more examples of wasted potential we’re being given. I wanted to read JLI because I thought Winick was writing it and I wanted to see what other stories he had in him. Now JLI has gone from a definite buy to a maybe buy after a brief browse in store. I don’t think that’s what DC wants for any of their titles.
Mr. Terrific #1
Written by ERIC WALLACE
Art by ROGER ROBINSON
Cover by J.G. JONES
On sale SEPTEMBER 14 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TThe world’s third-smartest man — and one of its most eligible bachelors — uses his brains and fists against science gone mad in this new series from Eric Wallace (TITANS) and Roger Robinson!
Michael Holt is the head of a successful high-tech corporation and an institute that recruits and encourages the finest minds of the next generation to excel. As Mister Terrific he inhabits a world of amazement few others know exists, let alone can comprehend.
I will not be getting this title, and I in good conscious can not recommend anyone else doing so either. I’m also going to point out that the fact I am leading with this is not a good thing for the book.
I have several issues for the title. The first is that, in no short terms, Eric Wallace is writing. Wallace wrote Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink and is currently writing Titans, both of which amount for some of the worst comics I’ve ever read. You might remember Titans as the instigator for Comics Alliance’s “Racial Regression In Storytelling” article, and since then nothing has changed. Titans has taken a group of characters who are supposed to be “complete badasses” and turned them into confused fools grappling at air for some semblance of meaning in a metaphorical fashion for the title. Wallace’s Titans has also managed to net the much sought after “Worst Book Of The Month” here at Multiversity, especially when it’s my turn to do the article.
But that’s not what worries me the most about the title. What worries me the most is that Mr. Terrific has been given his own title and with it a “sexy reboot,” redesigning his character to have cool and edgy tats and apparently defining his bio as “one of the most eligible bachelors” who uses brains and fists to fight science. Reading that has elicited one of the biggest groans possible from yours truly, and the whole scenario seems like a perfect set-up for DC to “accidentally” be racially insensitive. Again. Michael Holt is an intelligent character, one of poise and dignity. If DC is really allowing him to be “reborn” as a character who is – and I’m trying to be delicate here – more street, I just have to ask why they thought Eric Wallace was the man who could do this well after what he did to the Tattooed Man.
All I’m saying is: if you want to read some good Mr. Terrific stories, go find a JSA trade. He kicks a fair deal of ass in Bill Willingham’s run, and I can guarantee you it will be a million times less offensive.
Captain Atom #1
Written by J.T. KRUL
Art by FREDDIE WILLIAMS II
Cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU
On sale SEPTEMBER 21 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TCharged by nuclear energy, possessing vast molecular powers, Captain Atom has the potential to be a literal god among men — a hero without limits. But the question is: Will he lose himself in the process?
Don’t miss the start of a legend from writer J.T. Krul (GREEN ARROW, TEEN TITANS) and artist Freddie Williams II (JSA ALL-STARS)!
This is another book from JT Krul that, in all honesty, should have gone to Judd Winick. Winick wrote a terrific Captain Atom in Generation Lost, even with Atom being literally lost at the end of the book. Now apparently with a convenient reboot he’s back, and instead of giving his future to a writer who might actually treat the character with some humanity, they’ve given him to “drug addled cat fighter” writer JT Krul.
I rag on him quite a bit, but let’s look at it this way: in no short time JT Krul was able to write Blackest Night: Titans and Rise Of Arsenal, two books that sent fans all over the world into a frenzy to discuss how offensively bad they thought it was. DC’s response to this was, “Well, hey, people are talking about our books!” I get the feeling that DC subscribes to the belief that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but while you’re waiting for September to come borrow a copy of Rise of Arsenal from a friend who was foolish enough to buy it and then ask yourself: do I really want to be reading more of this?
Continued below
DC Universe Presents #1
Written by PAUL JENKINS
Art by BERNARD CHANG
Cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale SEPTEMBER 21 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED TIt’s the start of a new series spotlighting some of the DC Universes’s most exciting super heroes! First up is Deadman, straight from the pages of BRIGHTEST DAY, in a five-issue epic where the body-hopping hero meets his match in a new foe who wants to make sure the souls that Deadman helps out go straight to Hell!
DC’s anthology title is perhaps the most curious offer. While I can’t say I’m particularly excited over the prospect of reading a Deadman story, the idea behind DCU Presents is actually quite wonderful. Giving artists and writers an opportunity to work with characters that aren’t “good” enough for a main ongoing in the form of a disconnected ongoing is a very great way to give many different creators an opportunity to strut their stuff. Look at Superman/Batman: after Loeb’s run on the book it was just a place for creators to come and tell fun and unique stories with the characters that didn’t specifically intrude on continuity. This is easily one of the best titles they’re offering in terms of accessibility.
That being said, the initial offering isn’t that exciting. Bernard Chang is a great artist and I’d love to see more of his work, but Paul Jenkins has proved in the past couple years that where once there was a creator who was fantastic at telling character pieces there now stands a character attempting to relive the glory days and just telling thick and unexciting work (see: Prelude to Schism from Marvel, which is really – really – dull). While DCU Presents is a title I’d recommend looking forward to in the future, perhaps the initial launch is one you can skip over unless you hear better otherwise first.
