Soliciting Burpee: DC’s June 2011 Solicitations

While perusing the DC solicitations for June 2011, I noticed that there were a few things that caught my eye. It got me thinking that it might be fun to go back to an old column I tried but turned out to be way more time consuming than it was worth, called Burpee’s Stoked for Solicitations. In it I ran down the things I was most excited about in the solicitations for the month, with an eye to reexamining the titles when they came out to see if they lived up to my expectations. This turned out to be a giant mess and sunk like Chuck Austen’s comic writing career.

Now I’d like to do a variation of that and share it with you. What I’ll do here is run down the things that caught my eye and then explain why it caught my eye. So we’ll start with DC today and then when Marvel’s solicits hit I’ll examine those. I also may try and combine some of the more independent companies and examine the most interesting from those as well. So let’s start here and see where we end up, shall we?

Hit the button below to see what’s trying to entice me to give up my hard earned money for a good time.

Wonder Woman Apparel Alert! — So could it be that yet again fans have cried out in rage for no reason whatsoever? It appears to be the case here, as the cover for Wonder Woman #612 seems to show Wonder Woman leaving behind the new look to return to her classic look.

Was it always the plan to return to the look so soon, or was this because of fan outcry? I am sure individuals on both sides will make arguments for why it’s back. The real point to be taken here though is comic fans need to chill. If something is truly iconic and important it will come back.

Who stole Tony Daniel’s pencils?! — So Batman of recent has been written and drawn by Tony Daniel. Is this changing? Look at the following solicitaion:

BATMAN #711â€¨
Written by TONY DANIELâ€¨
Art by STEVE SCOTT and RYAN WINNâ€¨
Cover by TONY DANIELâ€¨
Batman acts on his suspicions of a newly elected political figure in Gotham City and finds himself in deep water. With piranhas. Meanwhile, Two-Face fights his way back from the brink of death to find an unlikely ally who will show him that there are two sides to every story. â€¨
On sale JUNE 15 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED T

So what’s the deal? Maybe he’s using this as time to catch up. Maybe he was given an option of writing or arting and he took the writing option. Maybe we’ll no longer see Cat Girl. Well, the last one is pure wishing on my part.

The Sweet Tooth Before Christmas — Apparently in the surprise move of the year, Sweet Tooth is going to crossover with A Nightmare Before Christmas; Sweet Tooth is going to Christmas Town! I am interested to see how the logistics of this work since Disney owns Marvel and Nightmare, but not Vertigo and Sweet Tooth…

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Super Spoilers? — Did the Action Comics solicitation blow the lid off whether any of the Reign of the Supermen characters were dead or not? Probably not as I think most assumed characters like Steel weren’t dead, but did you really have to spell it out for us before it’s revealed in the book, DC?

I’ve provided the Solicitation below. You be the judge.

ACTION COMICS #902â€¨
Written by PAUL CORNELLâ€¨
Art and cover by KENNETH ROCAFORTâ€¨
1:10 Variant cover by JON BOGDANOVEâ€¨
“Reign of Doomsday” marches on! A deadly new foe has risen following the events of ACTION COMICS #900 — and he represents Superman’s worst fears personified. Even with Steel, Superboy, Supergirl and the Eradicator by his side, Superman is still in for the fight of his life — and considering his life, you know that’s gotta be some fight!â€¨
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.â€¨
On sale JUNE 22 – 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US – RATED T

Whatcha think? I know I for one am glad I didn’t buy any of the tie-ins that tried to trick you into thinking something actually happened. Ok, well I did buy Steel… but “fool me once” and all that jazz, I suppose.

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Kelly Sue DeConnick on Supergirl! — I know I speak for everyone on the Multiversity staff when I say this was a pleasant surprise. DeConnick is clearly a rising talent, as shown by her Women of Marvel work as well as her Osborn mini, and I am excited to see her take on the Girl of Steel. I can tell you that I will be picking Supergirl come June.

Red Hood: Man or Test Tube? — What the hell is going on with his helmet in that picture? How do you fit a head in there and why must it be so long?! He looks more like a Tick villain. This seems like a tactical mistake for someone like Red Hood. I mean, how is he going to chase criminals through standard sized doors?

Holy Shit Ton of Flashpoint, Batman! — Anyone else have a hard time wrapping their brain around the sheer amount of tie-ins for this bad boy?! I scrolled down through solicits for what seemed like eternity before I finally reached the end of the Flashpoint section.

In the time it took me to reach the bottom I realized two things. The first is that this series still doesn’t have a hook that makes me feel like I MUST buy all the tie-ins. With Civil War you had the idea that you could see where all the heroes stood on the issue of registration. With Secret Invasion you had the whole “who’s a Skrull and who isn’t” thing. Here you have pirate Deathstroke…

The second thing I realized was that I was crazy hungry.

AWWWW YEAH New Teen Titans Omnibus! — This is sure to be a fan favorite move by DC. I think there were a lot of people who saw that DC was going to release a New Teen Titans Omnibus and thought, “About damn time!”. I will gladly be spending money to take this hot mamma home with me. This is what I’ll buy instead of Flashpoint more than likely.

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Now can we get the original Booster Gold series in omnibus form?!

Emerald Warriors of Awesome Covers! — No need to say much here. I just wanted to say how awesome this Felipe Massafera cover is! Check it out! Sexy time indeed!

Well, there you have it. Those are things I found the most interesting, both good and bad, in DC’s June 2011 solicitations. I’ll see you back here soon to look at the Marvel solicitations for June 2011.