“Death Metal” is over. The ‘Future State’ has receded. The “Infinite Frontier” begins for DC Comics in March, and we’re here to dig into it. Let’s go!
10. Exploring the new multiverse
“Crime Syndicate” is the first title in DC’s new status quo to take place on a different Earth and, for that reason alone, it is significant. I did a quick interview with writer Andy Schmidt last month about this series, and I got a vibe off of him/the new multiverse that is going to initially turn people off, but hear me out: I sort of got a New 52 tone. Now, I don’t mean high collars and tabula rasa storytelling, I mean a drilling down into what the core of the character is supposed to be. The multiverse is a confusing place, but we all know that Earth-3 is the world where the Justice League is evil. So, let’s take that idea, and create the best version of that story, eschewing some of the fluff, and giving people an iconic version of this Earth.
Now, there is another title, “Batman/Superman” by Gene Luen Yang and Ivan Reis, that is exploring the multiverse by taking a look at various Batmen and Supermen across it. And while that idea is potentially even more exciting, I think “Crime Syndicate” is a great model for the future. Give us miniseries (or, please lord, ongoings) that are fully set on one alternate Earth, and allow us a deeper look at the new multiverse over these titles.
written by ANDY SCHMIDT
art by KIERAN McKEOWN
backup story art by BRYAN HITCH
cover by JIM CHEUNG
variant cover by SKAN
ON SALE 3/2/20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | 1 OF 6 | FC | DC
Spinning out of Dark Nights: Death Metal, the Multiverse is reborn—and Earth-3 with it! In this six-issue miniseries, witness the true origins of the malevolent makers of mayhem known as the Crime Syndicate as a common foe unites them! But how long can alliances last between villains like these?
Also in this issue, it’s the origin of Ultraman in our special backup story drawn by superstar artist Bryan Hitch!
9. Exploring and expanding Gotham
If you’ve read me or listened to my podcast for any amount of time, you’ll know that I stump for the return of anthologies to prominence in comics all the time. “Batman: Urban Legends” is almost exactly what I’ve been pitching for a few years now: a combination of a place to launch new stories, a place to tell stories with characters that maybe can’t carry their own series at the moment, and a place to let new talent get their feet wet.
This first issue has a Red Hood story by some really well respected talent (Chip Zdarsky and Eddy Barrows), a Grifter story that both picks up from ‘Future State’ and connects to the ongoing “Batman” series by Matthew Rosenberg and Ryan Benjamin, a story that precedes “Harley Quinn” #1 by that creative team, and an “Outsiders” story, again borrowing from ‘Future State.’ People will come in the door for Zdarsky and Jason Todd, but get all these other interesting Gotham stories, too. Yes, it’s more expensive, but 64 pages is twice the size of a standard comic, and you’re getting four stories out of it, so it is essentially like pay for 2 comics, which cost $3.99 each, which would cost $7.98. This book is $7.99. If you really want to bitch and moan over DC scamming you out of a penny, have at it.
written by CHIP ZDARSKY, MATTHEW ROSENBERG, STEPHANIE PHILLIPS, and BRANDON THOMAS
art by EDDY BARROWS, MARCOS TO, RYAN BENJAMIN, LAURA BRAGA, and MAX DUNBAR
cover by HICHAM HABCHI
Batman/Red Hood variant cover by DAVID FINCH
Batman/Grifter variant cover by KAEL NGU
blank variant cover
PRESTIGE FORMAT | ON SALE 3/9/21
$7.99 US | 64 PAGES | FC | DC
Batman may be the biggest name in Gotham City, but there are lots of other heroes—and villains—who will get a turn to shine in Batman: Urban Legends, a brand-new monthly series tying into the biggest events in Gotham City. The series begins with these can’t-miss tales:
Continued below
• Superstar writer Chip Zdarsky enters the world of Gotham City with celebrated Detective Comics and DC Future State: Robin Eternal artist Eddy Barrows for a six-part story chronicling Red Hood’s investigation of a new drug sweeping through Gotham. It’s a night that will change his life forever—and put him in Batman’s crosshairs.
• Writer of the DC Future State “Grifters” story Matthew Rosenberg picks up where he left off, continuing from the pages of Batman #101! Superstar artist Ryan Benjamin joins the team as we learn why Cole Cash is in Gotham in a tale that hints at what Halo might be…and we also get Batman vs. Grifter—round two!
• New Harley Quinn writer Stephanie Phillips and DC Future State: The Next Batman artist Laura Braga join forces for a Harley tale set just before the launch of her new series. Harley’s determined to sort out her history with Poison Ivy—but first, she’ll have to find her!
• Coming off the DC Future State “Outsiders” tale, writer Brandon Thomas begins a three-part saga reuniting Black Lightning, Katana, and Metamorpho. But this reunion quickly turns into a confrontation with a figure from Katana’s past, in a story drawn by fan-favorite artist Max Dunbar (Champions, Dungeons and Dragons, Judge Dredd)!
8. At least Wally isn’t evil right now
Since Wally West’s return, he’s had two types of stories: he’s unhappy because no one remembers him, or he’s gone evil somehow. This sucks, because Wally is a great character who has almost universally wasted over the past 10 years. So, I’m happy to see him in a place where he wants to hang up the costume and enjoy his life. I also think that won’t happen, but at least this is a new story for him and one that, hopefully, can give the character some growth and change. I like Brandon Peterson’s art a lot, so I’m also excited to see what he does with the Flash Family.
written by JEREMY ADAMS
art and cover by BRANDON PETERSON
variant cover by IAN MacDONALD
ON SALE 3/16/21
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC
The retirement of Wally West begins! After the events spanning from DC Universe: Rebirth to Heroes in Crisis to Dark Nights: Death Metal, the former Kid Flash decides to call it quits. But the current Flash needs his former partner now more than ever. As fallout from Infinite Frontier hits the Flash, Barry Allen and Wally West must confront the past by way of a Justice League led by Green Arrow.
7. Expanding off of ‘Future State’
Of all of the ‘Future State’ realities for the Trinity, Wonder Woman’s is the most intriguing, and also the biggest change, and the one that is going to cause the biggest ripple effect. We’ll get to one of the big ripples when we discuss “Justice League,” but more than the changes to the DC Universe, I love putting Diana in a new situation and allowing her to do something a little bit different for awhile. We all know she’ll be back to normal sooner than later, so let’s get weird!
Also, I love that this book has a backup, and that the backup is set on Themyscira. I wish it wasn’t a young Diana story, because there are scores of other Amazons I’d like to see featured, but you can’t win ’em all.
One last note: for a few of their books, DC has made these wraparound variant covers, this one by Travis Moore, which give a glimpse at the current world of the character. We see so many characters here, and between the main story, the backups, the new “Sensational Wonder Woman” digital first comic, “Justice League,” “Teen Titans Academy,” and hopefully the rumored Joëlle Jones Yara Flor series, we’ll be getting a lot of interesting stories from this corner of the DC Universe in 2021.
written by BECKY CLOONAN and MICHAEL W. CONRAD
art and cover by TRAVIS MOORE
backup story written by JORDIE BELLAIRE
backup story art by PAULINA GANUCHEAU
Continued below
wraparound variant cover by TRAVIS MOORE
ON SALE 3/9/21
$4.99 US | 40 PAGES | FC | DC
What. Is. Happening?! Wonder Woman just woke up in the middle of battle, with rampaging hordes of mythological beasts bearing down on her! Not even the Princess of the Amazons can survive such an assault, but that’s okay—it’s just another day in Valhalla! The warriors here spend their days fighting and their nights drinking—and if they die in combat they’ll be resurrected in time for the party. Strange, though, that no one seems surprised to see Wonder Woman in this crowd. It’s up to Diana to find out why things are going wrong in the Sphere of the Gods—and whether it has anything to do with what landed her in the Norse afterlife.
This bombastic adventure comes from the new creative team of writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad (DC Future State: Immortal Wonder Woman) and artist Travis Moore (Nightwing)!
In the backup story, the world may know her as Wonder Woman, but once upon a time she was just Diana of Themyscira, a young girl struggling through adolescence on the shores of a mysterious island. Brought to you by Eisner Award winner Jordie Bellaire and fan-favorite artist Paul Ganucheau, this new backup story will present an intimate look into the princess’s upbringing and the hidden secrets of her past.
6. Moving past Bendis
Full disclosure: I am less familiar with Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s writing than I probably should be. I know he did a killer “Aquaman” annual a few years ago, but beyond that, I’ve never been super interested in his work. That said, in all the interviews he’s done around taking over the Superman books, he’s said the right things. By having Jon Kent as more of a focal point, you’re also speaking my language. And, by having a backup that features Bibbo (though not written by Johnson), I’m very into this.
But, as we did with “Wonder Woman,” the possibilities of the Super books are really opened up by the John Timms wraparound variant cover, which shows off Krypto, Conner Kent, Steel, and two (!) Jimmy Olsens. The Super books have so many great characters, there is no reasons that we shouldn’t be seeing most of these folks every couple of months. If Johnson is the guy to make Metropolis feel more like Gotham, in terms of focusing on its other denizens, I’m all in.
written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON
backup story written by SEAN LEWIS
art by PHIL HESTER and ERIC GAPSTUR
backup story art by SAMI BASRI
cover by PHIL HESTER
wraparound variant cover by JOHN TIMMS
ON SALE 3/9/21
$4.99 US | 40 PAGES | FC | DC
Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson jumps from DC Future State back to the present for a two-part story that spans Superman and Action Comics this month!
In “The Golden Age,” Jonathan Kent steps back to examine his father’s legacy. When a monstrous foe from outer space attacks Clark—and nearly kills him!—this young hero must consider the fact that his father died once before, and the Legion of Super-Heroes told him he could die again. Any threat could be the one—including this one!
And in the new backup “Tales of Metropolis” story, writer Sean Lewis (DC Future State: Superman of Metropolis) and artist Sami Basri (Harley Quinn) follow Jimmy Olsen on a quest to meet of some of the city’s more colorful denizens, beginning with Bibbo Bibbowski!
5.This pairing is [Italian chef kiss emoji]
Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s “Suicide Squad” was one of the best books of 2020. “Nightwing” has been a mess for a very long time now. By bringing Taylor and Redondo onto this title, DC is killing two birds with one stone, and what a glorious kill it is. By making Barbara Gordon a co-lead to this book, it also opens up a lane for a Batgirl focused title (or, perhaps more likely, backup) to feature Cassandra Cain and/or Stephanie Brown.
Taylor, quite simply, is one of the best writers working in comics, and Redondo has grown by leaps and bounds in the past couple of years. This is my sleeper pick for best ‘Future State’ title, and should properly lead Dick Grayson back into DC’s upper echelon of heroes.
Continued below
written by TOM TAYLOR
art and cover by BRUNO REDONDO
variant cover by SKAN
ON SALE 3/16/21
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC
Nightwing is back—and his drive to keep Blüdhaven safe has never been stronger! But his adopted city has elected a new mayor with the last name Zucco. When Nightwing enlists Batgirl’s help in investigating the politician bearing the same name as the man who murdered his parents, she unearths details that will shock and fundamentally change the hero.
The New York Times bestselling team of writer Tom Taylor (DCeased, Injustice) and artist Bruno Redondo (Injustice, Suicide Squad) are about to take Nightwing to the next stage of his evolution as a hero!
4. Back to school
Legacy is the key to DC’s success, and the Teen Titans are the literal manifestation of that concept. By letting the “New Teen Titans” of the early 80s act as mentors for a new generation is great for so many reasons. First of all, aside from Cyborg and Nightwing, few of these characters have ever felt like anything more than afterthoughts since their days as teens ended. This gives them a role that isn’t Justice League, and still connects them to their roots. Personally, I love it when DC has a Titans book that is between Teen Titans and Justice League, but this is too good of a concept to get mad at the particulars.
written by TIM SHERIDAN
art and cover by RAFA SANDOVAL
variant cover by JAMAL CAMPBELL
ON SALE 3/23/21
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC
Welcome to Teen Titans Academy! Packed with both new, super-powered teens and numerous dark secrets, Teen Titans Academy’s student body includes Shazam; a new Australian speedster; a trio of Goth(am) teen expatriates obsessed with Batman—and one member of this first class will become the deadly Red X. Original New Teen Titans including Nightwing, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy take on the role of teachers and mentors for superpowered teens. Their goal: to shape the next generation of heroes.
3. A really smart decision
Of all of the people that DC has turned books over to in the wake of ‘Future State,’ Mariko Tamaki is, perhaps, the smartest one. First of all, DC still needs to be a more diverse hirer, and having a Japanese/Jewish Canadian woman writing their flagship title is a good look. But beyond any of that, Tamaki is a kickass writer who has a real sense of story construction and brings an approach and sensibility to DC that isn’t so rooted in superhero comics. Pairing her with Dan Mora, a legit superstar in the making, gives “Detective Comics” one of their most high profile creative teams in quite some time, but also a team that may bring in folks who are less frequently buying DC books.
For the third time, I want to shine a spotlight on these fun wraparound covers. This one is actually from “Batman” #106 by Jorge Jimenez, but features the entire Gotham side of the DC Universe. I’m not sure how much of this will necessarily show up in the pages of “Detective” right away, but again, hop aboard the hype train.
written by MARIKO TAMAKI
art and cover by DAN MORA
backup story written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
backup story art by GLEB MELNIKOV
card stock variant cover by LEE BERMEJO
ON SALE 3/23/21
$4.99 US | 40 PAGES | FC | DC
DC Future State may be over—but the present looks tense! With the loss of his fortune and manor, the election of Mayor Nakano, and the growing anti-vigilante sentiment in Gotham, Bruce Wayne must rethink how to be Batman…or risk being left behind by his own city. To make matters worse, a catastrophic crime wave has taken hold of the city, culminating in a murder mystery that hits close to home—the suspects mount, the clues multiply, and the trail of bodies hasn’t ended yet! Eisner Award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and superstar artist Dan Mora begin an exciting, surprising, and death-defying new chapter of Detective Comics.
Continued below
Plus, in the second and concluding chapter of “Demon or Detective,” Damian Wayne meets a startling new faction from his family’s checkered past…but what is the League of Lazarus?
2.It was bound to happen
Brian Bendis on “Justice League” always seemed like a piece of his arrival at DC. While I still think he picks up on “Legion of Super-Heroes” where he left off a month or two down the road, this was always going to be the big money ticket, in part because so much of Bendis’s legend is (wrongly, in my opinion) built on his “Avengers” run. I thought that DC would give Bendis a ‘classic’ JL lineup to work his magic with, in the hopes of it leading to the story that could be adapted on screen in 5 or 10 years.
Well, joke is on us. Hippolyta, Black Adam and Naomi make this a tough adaptation, and putting Black Canary and Green Arrow on the team shows that Bendis is an old-school DC fan. No Flash and Green Lantern isn’t a problem for me, especially as both of those characters and their overall worlds can use a refresher right now, especially with “The Flash” coming off 100+ issues from Joshua Williamson and the GL books being a mess for quite some time now.
Also, the decision to shift “Justice League Dark” to shorter backups is a decision that I think is brilliant, at least for now. If the story continues to be great and Bendis’s “Justice League” sells really well, a relaunch from the pages of “Justice League” makes a ton of sense. I just hope that this isn’t a sign that the title is going away. Hell, even if they shared the backups with another JL team, that could be a fun development.
Once again, let’s marvel at the David Marquez wraparound variant, which shows us the new Suicide Squad team, a Shazam image, and some Lobo/Teen Titans business. All of this could be very fun, and these variant covers have done a really great job getting the hype going.
written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
art and cover by DAVID MARQUEZ
backup story written by RAM V
backup story art by XERMANICO
wraparound variant cover by DAVID MARQUEZ
variant cover by KAEL NGU
ON SALE 3/16/21
$4.99 US | 40 PAGES | FC | DC
Writer Brian Michael Bendis reunites with artist David Marquez (Miles Morales, Iron Man, Batman/Superman) for a new, star-studded Justice League featuring Superman, Batman, the Flash, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Hippolyta, new DC powerhouse Naomi, and…is that Black Adam?! Superman is leading the charge to reinvent the Justice League—and at the same time, a new, cosmic-powered threat arrives from Naomi’s homeworld to rule the Earth!
And in the backup story, dark days lie ahead for the new Justice League Dark. Zatanna and John Constantine take a road trip, only to discover horror around the bend as a friend—and sometime foe—is reborn in fire! A legend is destroyed, and another takes a terrible turn, as Merlin reveals the beginning of a new, blood-drenched plot for all humankind. So begins writer Ram V’s new journey into the abyss with the Justice League Dark and artist Xermanico!
1. A new hope
It’s a bit odd to end with this title, as I’ve spent all of this time extolling the virtues of the stories that spin out of this, but I absolutely love when DC does big books like this, which plot the path forward for a year or more’s stories. We also get the return of “Stargirl,” an Alan Scott story, and hopefully some surprises that fill in some of the gaps in the publishing line. I wouldn’t be shocked if a Justice Society of America book spins out of this, which is something I’ve been saying for almost 5 years now.
2020 was a rough year for DC’s mainline comics; March is the clearest indication yet that 2021 looks to be an improvement.
written by SCOTT SNYDER, GEOFF JOHNS, JAMES TYNION IV, JOSHUA WILLIAMSON, GEOFFREY THORNE, PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, BECKY CLOONAN, MICHAEL W. CONRAD, JOËLLE JONES, and TIM SHERIDAN
Continued below
art by JOHN TIMMS, HOWARD PORTER, JOËLLE JONES, JORGE JIMENEZ, ALITHA MARTINZEZ, DAVID MARQUEZ, STEPHEN BYRNE, JAMAL IGLE, DEXTER SOY, RAFA SANDOVAL, ALEX MALEEV, JOHN ROMITA JR., and others
wraparound cover by DAN JURGENS and MIKEL JANÍN
card stock variant cover by JOHN TIMMS
ONE-SHOT | ON SALE 3/2/21
$5.99 US | 64 PAGES | FC | DC
card stock variant cover $6.99 US
The next phase of the DC Universe begins here! Dark Knights: Death Metal presented the darkest threats of the Multiverse. DC Future State revealed what may lie ahead. Now it’s time to look into the Infinite Frontier of the current-day DC Universe.
In Gotham City, The Joker jolts citizens awake with an attack even the Dark Knight never expected. In Brazil, a young woman discovers her destiny and her connection to the Amazons. In Belle Reve, Amanda Waller plots an invasion of Arkham Asylum. In the far reaches of space, Mongul dreams of galactic domination, while the Green Lantern Corps hosts a summit of its greatest enemies. At the Hall of Justice, the League joins forces with Black Adam. Beyond the mortal world, Wonder Woman settles into a new role in the godsphere. And somewhere in the DC Universe—it’s the return of Stargirl, in an all-new tale written by Geoff Johns!
This oversized, all-star issue kicks off the next great era of storytelling and excitement as top writers and artists reveal what’s next for the World’s Greatest Heroes and opens the door to some of the greatest stories of 2021.
For the full solicitations, check out Newsarama.
