Ah, February. Love is in the air and, despite being the final full month of winter, things are starting to look a little brighter and warmer in the world come this time of year. Over at DC Comics, we’ve got a bunch of books to talk about, including a few very exciting new series.
10. When one Batman leaves, must they all?
So after ‘Fear State,’ the big Bat-status quo shift is that Bruce Wayne/Batman is leaving Gotham. I thought that this was due, in part, to wanting the Jace Fox Batman to become the ‘main’ Batman of Gotham for a bit, to establish himself as a major player in the DCU. But nope, he’s off to NYC!
Now, there is a long history of DC characters using NYC as their spot to reimagine themselves – Kyle Rayner, Freddie Freeman, the entire 90s Titans roster – but this still feels like another excuse for not putting Jace in the driver’s seat, even in a purely symbolic way. Why introduce this new character if you’re not going to do much with him?
I AM BATMAN #6
Written by JOHN RIDLEY
Art by KEN LASHLEY
Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL
Variant by FRANCESCO MATTINA
1:25 variant by KHARY RANDOLPH and EMILIO LOPEZ
Black history month variant by ALEXIS FRANKLIN
$3.99 US | 32 pages | $4.99 US Variant (Card stock)
ON SALE 2/8/22Jace Fox’s baptism by fire as Batman during “Fear State” was the first step toward his next great challenge—a relocation to the Big Apple! Joining his mother and sisters in the move as they arrive to the city, Jace will find new adventure, a rekindled love, and terrifying new adversaries as “Empire State of Mind” begins!
9. Just BLAZE
Suicide Squad miniseries are popping up like weeds nowadays. For a franchise that was all but dormant for 20ish years, the last five years have seen a real cottage industry form around having spin-offs from “Suicide Squad,” even if most of them are not really connected. It’s unclear how much “Blaze” will be tied to current continuity, but the team of Si Spurrier and Aaron Campbell, late of “John Consantine: Hellblazer” inspire enough confidence for this to garner a glance. Maybe their DC contract now requires ‘blaze’ to be in all of Spurrier titles?
SUICIDE SQUAD: BLAZE #1
Written by SIMON SPURRIER
Art and cover by AARON CAMPBELL
Variant cover by MATÍAS BERGARA
$6.99 US | 48 pages | 1 of 3 | 8 ½” x 10 7/8″
Prestige Plus
ON SALE 2/8/22
17+
The attacks begin without warning. Brutal, sudden…cannibalistic. A metahuman with all the power of Superman but none of his humanity. An unstoppable being ruled only by hunger and instinct, striking at random across the world. To stop this threat, Harley Quinn, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark have been assigned to corral, nursemaid, and if necessary execute five deadly new recruits: the expendable products of a secret government procedure called BLAZE. They’re ordinary prisoners, endowed with incredible power…and the certain knowledge that it’ll burn through them like wildfire. They have six months to live, maximum. If you’re staring down life in prison, maybe that’s a good deal—especially if you’re Michael Van Zandt, desperate to reunite with the mad lover who forsook you after your Bonnie-and-Clyde crime spree.But that power? It’s surprisingly transferable. As each member of the Squad dies…the others get stronger. What would a hardened criminal do with that knowledge? Worse yet: What would a desperate, lovesick idiot do with it? One thing’s certain: this time the Suicide Squad’s bitten off more than it can chew. Win or lose—they all burn.
Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell, the creative team behind the critically acclaimed John Constantine: Hellblazer, have been turned loose on the one DC title even more horrific and blackhearted than that one! We suggest you brace yourselves…
8. When isn’t love weird, amirite?
These anthologies of late have been either excellent or simply very good. The reason I tend to enjoy them so much is that it is both an opportunity for new creators and old favorites to do some DC work, but it also challenges the ‘writing for the trade’ trend that we see all over comics. This is about telling a story quickly and efficiently and, sadly, that’s a rare thing in the Big 2 nowadays. Enjoy books like this for just that sort of work.
Continued belowWEIRD LOVE TALES #1
Written by REX OGLE, RICH DOUEK, COLLIN KELLY,
JACKSON LANZING, RAM V, STEPHANIE PHILLIPS, DEVIN GRAYSON, and others
Art by GERALDO BORGES, CHRISTIAN DUCE, PHIL HESTER,
ANDE PARKS, JON SOMMARIVA, ROGER ROBINSON, and others
Cover by YANICK PAQUETTE
Variant cover by AMANDA CONNER
$9.99 US | 80 pages | One-shot | Perfect bound
ON SALE 2/8/22Ahhhh! Can you smell that? Love is in the air again, and we’re here to warm your heart and brighten your soul with eight timeless tales of…weird love? Sorry, hold on, I just need to read that again. Yup, that says weird love. Well, all right. Looks like we’ve got stories of a love as old as Jurassic time on Dinosaur Island, a bromance between Peacemaker and his eagle sidekick Eagly, and a first date you never saw coming. Oh wow, these really do sound sweet and heartwarming! So c’mon, let your freak flag fly and get weird this Valentine’s Day with us for Weird Love Tales #1!
7. Time for more Tai
“Green Lantern Legacy” came out in 2020, and it was a very well received Green Lantern story with a new ring slinger, Tai Pham. Since then, the character has appeared in a pinup in the “Green Lantern 80th Anniversary Super Spectacular,” a vision in “The Green Lantern Season 2,” and in a story written by one of his co-creators in the “DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration.” But now, we are getting a proper sequel to the OGN, which this time introduces a new Kid Flash. On one hand, I’d love to see this character interact with more DC characters, as I think “Legacy” was a lot of fun and DC has a dearth of spotlighted Asian heroes (see #3 for more on that). But then again, these OGNs are great and they likely reach a multiple of the regular weekly DC readership, so this doesn’t need integration into the mainline DCU to be legitimized.
GREEN LANTERN: ALLIANCE
Written by MINH LÊ
Art and cover by ANDIE TONG
$9.99 US | 144 pages | 5-1/2” x 8” | Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-77950-380-0
ON SALE 4/26/22The creative team behind Green Lantern: Legacy brings back Tai Pham in the action-packed sequel we’ve been waiting for!
It’s only been a few months since Green Lantern Tai Pham inherited his ring from his Bà and defeated his nemesis, Xander Griffin. But Tai knows their last battle was only the beginning, and even though no one believes him, Tai is determined to prove that Xander is up to his old tricks again.
When a string of fires start popping up around Coast City, Tai finds himself stretched thin as he struggles to keep up with school, training, working at the store, and following Xander’s trail. That is, until a new hero, Kid Flash, shows up on the scene with an offer to help. Can the heroes find the arsonist before it’s too late?
6. A Strange Reprint
I originally had the “Gotham Central” omnibus in this spot, and while I still think you should absolutely check that out, I have more to say about this reprint of the second half of “Batwing.” After Judd Winick left this book (as covered in the season finale of 520 Weeks [returning in January]), a new Batwing was introduced: Luke Fox, son of Batman’s longtime associate Lucius Fox.
Luke’s brother Jace, née Tim, is currently starring in “I am Batman,” and so maybe this is a clue to Luke donning the Batwing suit again alongside his brother? Or maybe this is just to capitalize on that synergy. Either way, I wish that the David Zavimbe stuff was getting a nice new edition, instead of this version which was, by all accounts, pretty forgettable.
Continued belowBATWING: LUKE FOX
Written by JIMMY PALMIOTTI and JUSTIN GRAY
Art by EDUARDO PANSICA, JULIO FERREIRA, and others
Cover by MIKE McKONE
$29.99 US | 384 pages | 6 5/8″ x 10 3/16″ | Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-77951-420-2
ON SALE 2/15/22Son of Wayne Enterprises tech guru Lucius Fox, young Luke Fox is brilliant, brave, and rebellious—and now, he’s the newest member of Batman, Inc.! When the original Batwing walks away from crime-fighting, the Dark Knight recruits Luke to take up the mantle as a global representative in the war on crime. His assignments as the Batman’s newest agent will take him from Africa to Italy to a side of Gotham City that he’s never imagined.
5. This warms my heart
The Dick Grayson/Clark Kent relationship is one of the best things DC has ever established. Their love and respect for one another is never overplayed, but any interaction they have is usually heartfelt and great. To see Dick return the favor and act as mentor for Jon Kent is so perfect that it shouldn’t have surprised me when I saw this issue’s solicitations. Dick is, established in canon, as being ‘Better than Batman,’ and so who better to teach the Man of Tomorrow than Dick?
NIGHTWING #89
Written by TOM TAYLOR
Art and cover by BRUNO REDONDO
Variant cover by JAMAL CAMPBELL
1:25 variant cover by BENGAL
$3.99 US | 32 pages | $4.99 US Variant (Card Stock)
ON SALE 2/15/22Superman/Nightwing crossover! Years ago,when Robin took his first uncertain steps away from Batman as his own hero, Superman stepped in and offered Dick Grayson crucial advice, support, and a name: Nightwing. Now it’s time for Nightwing to return the favor. To be concluded in Superman: Son of Kal-El #9 in March!
4. When the DCU Meets the Real World
It is always hard to not cringe at how companies will use key times each year to highlight diversity, and ignore it most of the year. But Milestone is nothing if not an authentic representation of African Americans in comics, as the company was founded by and run by Black creators, featuring Black characters. Using Milestone characters to highlight some real-life Black heroes is a great idea, and is a way for DC to celebrate Black History Month without it appearing to be pandering or phony.
MILESTONES IN HISTORY
Written by REGINALD HUDLIN, ALICE RANDALL, TOURÉ, MICHAEL HARRIOT, and more
Art by VARIOUS
Cover by CHRISCROSS
Variant cover by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
$9.99 US | 96 pages | Prestige Format | One-shot
ON SALE 2/15/22Celebrate Black History Month the Milestone way, as the superpowered citizens of Dakota (including Static, Icon, Rocket, Hardware, and more) narrate the true stories of Black trailblazers from across human history! Witness the military campaigns of Hannibal and the Queen of Sheba, the literary accomplishments of Alexandre Dumas, the World War One dogfights of Eugene Bullard against the legendary Red Baron, and many, many more, all written and drawn by a who’s-who of comics and literary talent!
3. I simply say “good”
DC really has missed the boat at how infrequently they have not given titles or co-starring roles to international characters. “New Super Man” ended back in 2018, and if I recall correctly, since then, DC’s international characters have been dormant, save for a few guest spots or anthology issues. Earlier this year, the “DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration” was a great reminder of how many Asian characters DC has, but frequently ignores. In that issue, Gene Yang and Bernard Chang introduced us to the Monkey Prince, a new Chinese character that DC seems to have high hopes for. After a free digital #0 issue, this is the debut of the titular series, on the Lunar New Year no less.
Interestingly, the #0 issue had a lot of connection to the Fourth World. Yang and Chang are among DC’s finest talent, regardless of any qualifier like race. Those two facts taken together show you that DC is taking this very seriously, and that this may be the start of something really special. Let’s hope that the sales back this concept up, and we can further diversify the DC Universe.
Continued belowMONKEY PRINCE #1
Written by GENE LUEN YANG
Art and cover by BERNARD CHANG
Variant by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU
1:25 variant by ANAND RADHAKRISHNAN
1:50 variant by Dustin Nguyen
Team variant by Zao Dao
$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (Card stock)
ON SALE 2/1/22Introducing the newest hero in the DCU, the great sage, equal to the heavens, better than his predecessor the legendary Monkey King, even better than the Justice League—and definitely the Teen Titans—(actually, all the heroes combined), everyone put your hands together for…the Monkey Prince! Marcus Sun moves around a lot because his adoptive parents are freelance henchpeople, so this month he finds himself as the new kid at Gotham City High School, where a mysterious man with pig features asks Marcus to walk through a water curtain to reveal himself as who Marcus really is…someone who has adventured through The Journey to the West, can transform into 72 different formations, can clone himself using his hairs, and is called…the Monkey Prince!
2. They were no longer Aqua boys, but…
The Aqua-corner of the DCU has been in flux since the “Aquaman” series wrapped up pre-‘Future State.’ But the past few months of the dueling miniseries “Aquamn: The Becoming” and “Black Manta” have convinced me that Chuck Brown and Brandon Thomas have a really interesting plan in place for these characters. I am curious if this book will have dueling narratives between Black Manta and the Aquaclan, or if there will be some of the rub of heroism onto Black Manta pairing them together for a bit. Either way, I’m here for it.
AQUAMEN #1
Written by CHUCK BROWN and BRANDON THOMAS
Art by SAMI BASRI
Cover by TRAVIS MOORE
Variants by KAEL NGU and NICK ROBLES
1:25 ratio variant cover by JIM LEE and
SCOTT WILLIAMS
Black History Month variant cover by ALEXIS FRANKLIN
$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (Card stock)
ON SALE 2/22/22Dive deeper following the thrilling conclusions of Aquaman: The Becoming and Black Manta!
When a terrorist in Middle America is revealed as an Atlantean sleeper agent seemingly gone rogue, the Aquamen—Arthur Curry and Jackson Hyde—are on the case. But it soon becomes clear that the tragedy was not just a single bad actor, but the beginnings of a much larger and more dangerous chain reaction…and the heart of an explosive Atlantean conspiracy! If Arthur’s not careful, the secrets he’s keeping—from Mera, Tula, Tempest, Atlantis, the surface, and even Jackson—could cause a rift from which the Aquamen might never recover!
1. Mary, did you know?
I am a well known Shazam simp, so this book is right up my alley. In the criminally underrated “The Powers of Shazam” series, Jerry Ordway has an arc about how Mary is, essentially, the far better champion than Billy, and for years, I’ve been waiting for someone to pick up that thread, either directly or indirectly. I’m sure that Josie Campbell isn’t going to be directly referencing those titles, but reverting her name to Bromfield is a huge tip of the cap to that era as well.
But more than anything else, this is exciting because of Doc Shaner’s return to the Marvel Family. Shaner’s work on “Convergence: Shazam” is among the best Shazam artwork of all time, and to get him for four issues on this is a real, real treat.
THE NEW CHAMPION OF SHAZAM! #1
Written by JOSIE CAMPBELL
Art and cover by EVAN “DOC” SHANER
Variant by JOSHUA MIDDLETON
$3.99 US | 32 pages | 1 of 4 | $4.99 US Variant (Card stock)
ON SALE 2/22/22Mary Bromfield has always struggled to determine who she is outside her family…kinda hard to do when you’re all superheroes! Now, after Billy Batson’s heroic sacrifice, the power of Shazam has vanished, and she’s been left powerless.
Most heroes would be distraught, but not Mary. It’s finally time for a voyage of self-discovery as she prepares for her freshman year of college and a civilian life. But nothing is ever truly normal for this young hero, because she’s just been chosen as the new champion of Shazam! (At least according to a talking rabbit sent by her estranged brother Billy.) Will she embrace the power? Or will it die alongside this world’s hope of survival against the mysterious magical forces waiting to take control?
Find out in Mary’s first solo miniseries, brought to you by up-and-coming comics writer Josie Campbell (Future State: Green Lantern) and fan-favorite Shazam! artist Evan “Doc” Shaner (Strange Adventures, Convergence: Shazam!)!
For the full solicitations, check out Newsarama.
