April is bringing a bunch of endings to DC Comics – a few series are ending, a team is apparently dying, and the blissful period with no “Flashpoint” stories is also drying up. Let’s get to it!
10. Objection! Overruled!
I’ve mentioned a few times now how much I’ve been enjoying DC’s compressed events, with entire stories running their course in a fraction of the time it would normally take. ‘Trial of the Amazons’ is just a two month event, but it is touching all the Amazonian characters at DC, and looks set to change the circumstances for each of them on the other side. It’s odd to say that these characters needed a refreshing, as it wasn’t all that long ago that these books all launched. But the Wonder Woman corner has felt very stilted and falling short of its promise since the start of ‘Rebirth.’ Let’s hope this shakes things up a bit.
TRIAL OF THE AMAZONS #2
Written by STEPHANIE WILLIAMS, VITA AYALA, BECKY CLOONAN, MICHAEL W. CONRAD, and JOËLLE JONES
Art by JOËLLE JONES, ELENA CASAGRANDE, SKYLAR PATRIDGE, and LAURA BRAGA
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
Variant cover by ROSE BESCH
$4.99 | 40 pages | 2 of 2 | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 4/26/22With the trial postponed and the greater evil revealed, the very existence of the Amazons is at stake!
A foe from Diana’s past has come through Doom’s Doorway seeking revenge and anarchy to destroy Wonder Woman and her people once and for all. Only then can he escape Themyscira and bring Man’s World to its knees!
Now the Amazons must unite to save their way of life and carry out the sacred mission of peace and justice passed down to them by the goddesses all those years ago. Led by Wonder Woman, these women are now ready for the battle they’ve spent all their lives preparing for. Can anything stop the combined strength of the Bana-Mighdall, Esquecida, and Themyscirans? Find out in the final chapter of our crossover that will change the world of the Amazons for good!
9. Back to Gotham, and ‘Tec, Goes Bruce
When I’ve asked folks to fill in on one of the ‘Soliciting’ columns, I always say, “look for stuff that is new, noteworthy, or gets you excited.” This is not really new or exciting, but it is noteworthy. The big change of Bruce Wayne/Batman leaving Gotham has lasted a total of four months, as we’re getting a traditional Batman story. While I’d really like to keep the ‘Shadows of the Bat’ crew in focus, I get why that’s not really the best decision for the finances of DC.
On the other hand, Sina Grace is writing a Gotham Girl backup, and that is new, noteworthy, and exciting. I can’t wait to see what he cooks up.
DETECTIVE COMICS #1059
Written by MARIKO TAMAKI and NADIA SHAMMAS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and DANNY MIKI
Backup written by SINA GRACE
Backup art by DAVID LAPHAM
Variant cover by LEE BERMEJO
1:25 variant cover by RODOLFO MIGLIARI
$4.99 US | 40 pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 4/26/22Riddle me this…when is a criminal not a criminal? The answer awaits you in the start of a brand-new Detective Comics story arc from writer Mariko Tamaki, guest co-writer Nadia Shammas, and legendary artist Ivan Reis! The Riddler is back in Gotham City in a big way, becoming a media personality and using his newfound influence to wreak havoc on the Dark Knight. As Batman chases down clues to put an end to Riddler’s machinations, the clock ticks away for the citizens of Gotham whom Edward Nygma has placed in the line of fire…
Then, in “Gotham Girl: Interrupted” part one, the super-powered Claire Clover returns to the city that helped ruin her life…to get psychiatric treatment at the new Arkham Tower. But when Gotham Girl’s newfound semblance of normalcy is rocked by a murder mystery, she finds someone unexpected at the heart of the crime…herself.
8. The first of many Beyonds
Continued below
Spinning out of a “Batman: Urban Legends” story, “Batman Beyond: Neo-Year” is a six-part miniseries that softly reboots the Batman Beyond universe again. The inciting event – no spoilers, but read the solicit text – was pretty exciting, and looks to be giving this title the strongest direction in a few years. We’ll see if anything sticks beyond the initial mini, but’s fun to see a new take on this character that is too often relegated to the same old role.
BATMAN BEYOND: NEO-YEAR #1
Written by COLLIN KELLY and JACKSON LANZING
Art and cover by MAX DUNBAR
Variant cover by CHRISTIAN WARD
1:25 variant cover by SIMONE DI MEO
1:100 variant cover by JIM CHEUNG
$3.99 US | 32 pages | 1 of 6 | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 4/5/22Neo-Gotham is alive and has killed Bruce Wayne. It’s rejected Terry McGinnis as Batman and offered him the chance to escape. Terry turned it down—he is the city’s protector, and he will uphold the legacy of Batman. Now Neo-Gotham will do everything in its power to destroy Terry, including creating brand-new villains to fight him. Terry’s first year without Bruce Wayne begins…does he have a fighting chance? From the rising-star creative team of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (Kang the Conqueror) and Max Dunbar (Batman: Urban Legends, Robin), a new future for Batman Beyond has begun!
7. The Joker got away, HEY
With James Tynion’s retreat from corporate comics (or not, see a few items down the list), it isn’t surprising that this book is coming to a close. What is very surprising is that this is being called a ‘season’ of “The Joker,” which implies someone else will pick up the story down the road a spell. While, of course, there is always going to be a market for Joker stories, I would think that this Joker series probably begins and ends with Tynion’s vision for it. Give it a few months and Matthew Rosenberg will likely pick it up, it’ll run for six issues, and die a quiet death. That’s not offense to Rosenberg or the character, but just how these things tend to go.
THE JOKER #14
Written by JAMES TYNION IV
Art by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI and CAM SMITH
Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
Punchline backup written by JAMES TYNION IV and SAM JOHNS
Punchline backup art by BELÉN ORTEGA
Variant cover by ALAN QUAH and BELÉN ORTEGA
1:25 variant cover by JAMES STOKOE
$5.99 US | 40 pages | (All covers card stock)
ON SALE 4/12/22All the hunters converge on the Sampson estate as the brutal conclusion to the first “season” of The Joker is here! Bullets will fly, blood will be shed, and will James Gordon be forced to make the choice he’s been dreading since issue #1?
Punchline Backup: Punchline walks free, and the Royal Flush Gang is desperate for a new queen. The underworld of Gotham City is going to change forever, and this last chapter of “Punchline” is only the beginning.
6. Drop the “Teen.” “Titans Academy.” It’s cleaner.
There had been a rumor – or perhaps a statement from Tim Sheridan himself? – that “Teen Titans Academy” was going to be either ending or getting a new creative team after issue #12. But here we are, a month after the ‘Earth 3’ crossover, and Sheridan is still on the book. Phew! This book is the antidote to modern decompressed team books; so much happens in each issue that it can seem dizzying at times. But that’s a good thing! Comics should be less staid and have more happen in each issue. Sheridan still being on this book (and similarly, Jeremy Adams remaining on “The Flash”) is a very good thing.
Continued belowTEEN TITANS ACADEMY #14
Written by TIM SHERIDAN
Art by TOM DERENICK
Cover by TOM DERENICK and JEREMIAH SKIPPER
Variant cover by DAN SCHOENING
$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 4/26/22It’s a fresh start for the students and staff of the newly-rechristened “Titans Academy”! As classes resume, two faculty members navigate the awkwardness of a new relationship—and one student, on a dangerous training mission, must finally face the mysterious past that’s haunted him all his life…
5. I suppose this flows better than Earth-CW
It is legitimately shocking that it took this long for DC to do a book like this. Sure, there have been Arrow and The Flash digital first comics before, but why not lean into the CWness of it all? This is profoundly not for me, but it seems like there is a very large potential audience for this, so why not?
EARTH-PRIME #1
Written by NATALIE ABRAMS, KELLY LARSON, and CAMRUS JOHNSON
Art by CLAYTON HENRY
Cover by KIM JACINTO
Photo variant cover
$5.99 US | 48 pages | 1 of 6 | Variant $6.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 4/5/22Spinning out of the hit CW shows, Earth-Prime continues the adventures of your favorite heroes from the small screen. While each issue focuses on a different Arrowverse series, a threat lurks in the background, out to finally bring these heroes to their knees!
Ever since the tech that created many of Batman’s rogues hit the streets, Ryan Wilder has been running herself ragged trying to contain the new villains popping up around Gotham City. But when Clayface’s mud binds itself to a local high schooler, Batwoman will need help from an unexpected source in order to contain this muddy foe! Also, follow how Luke Fox balances his life as a superhero and a boyfriend!
4. So…why in April?
Speaking of large, potentially untapped audiences, lots of people are excited by the Ezra Miller-starring The Flash film due out in November. As a kid, I would love comic adaptations of films, tie-ins, anything that got my comics and movies talking to one another. However, this comic is being released in April…why? We will be lucky if by April we have a full trailer for the film. Wouldn’t this make more sense in September? October? Any month later than April? I truly don’t understand why this is coming out when it is, and I think it will likely miss its audience for exactly that reason.
THE FLASH: THE FASTEST MAN ALIVE #1
Written by KENNY PORTER
Art by RICARDO LÓPEZ ORTIZ
Cover by MAX FIUMARA
Variant cover by ANDY MUSCHIETTI
$5.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $6.99 US
ON SALE 4/26/22Race through the streets of Central City in this lead-up to the hotly anticipated blockbuster The Flash! After Barry’s adventure with the Justice League, he’s determined to become a truly skilled and inspirational hero. As a new threat emerges in Central City going by the name of Girder, Barry turns to Batman for advice on training to master his powers. Can the Dark Knight help show the Scarlet Speedster a way to defeat this metallic menace, or will the Flash be crushed by Girder’s strength?
3. It sounds like Substack is a nightmare, amirite?
A few months ago, James Tynion announced the end of all of his work for hire projects to focus solely on creator owned work, both at established companies and on his Substack. He left the door open for more projects at DC down the road, and here we are, with the first ‘new’ project of his Substack era. The fact that he, or anyone, loves “Sandman” is not shocking, nor is the idea that working on Sandman-related properties would lure him back to DC.
DC’s ‘Sandman Universe’ has been an interesting mix of critical success and short term hype, with no real consistency or plan in place. There have been triumphs in there, but also a few flat out flops alongside them. Tynion is both a big enough name and a good enough writer to likely avoid the flop, but I’m not sure that “Nightmare Country” will do anything more than what we’ve already seen, in terms of moving the needle, for these titles.
Continued belowTHE SANDMAN UNIVERSE: NIGHTMARE COUNTRY #1
Written by JAMES TYNION IV
Art by LISANDRO ESTHERREN
and YANICK PAQUETTE
Cover by REIKO MURAKAMI
Variant by YANICK PAQUETTE
1:25 variant by KELLEY JONES
1:50 variant by ÁLVARO MARTÍNEZ BUENO
1:100 variant by JENNY FRISON
$3.99 US | 32 pages
Variants $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 4/12/22
17+Sometimes, nightmares walk the Earth. Every night when you sleep, the Lord of Dreams chooses the path you’ll follow…into a sylvan Elysium, or down the hallways of your darkest fears. And sometimes, if it is Dream’s will, those nightmares escape those halls, and go out into the world. But it is not a choice he makes lightly.
Today the Corinthian walks the Earth again. The most feared of all Dream’s nightmares, his ravenous mouths have made him a legend among serial killers. Letting the Corinthian out among mortals is the most dangerous thing Dream could possibly do. But he has no choice—because there is another nightmare walking the Earth, one that must be hunted…and this monster is one that Dream, lord of all nightmares, did not make.
Horror-comics superstar James Tynion IV has waited his whole career to pay tribute to the mythos of The Sandman, the work that made him the writer he is today—and that time has come! Designed to welcome new readers into one of the greatest worlds in DC’s library, The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country is a terrifying travelogue through a nation recognizable and obscene, which will show you things seen in no Sandman series ever before—with spectacular art by Lisandro Estherren (Redneck, Strange Skies Over East Berlin) and “nightmare” sequences by comics art all-stars, starting with the incredible Yanick Paquette!
2. Please make this fun
“Flashpoint” is a hard event to wrap your head around because of all of the baggage that comes with it: the new of 70 years of DC continuity, the New 52, etc. But more than anything, an event that should’ve been all Elseworlds fun was, instead, impossibly dark and dour. Why do a different version of DC history if you’re not going to have any fun with it? But Geoff Johns seemed poised to give us a darker, less hopeful future, and so the event felt like it had a pall on it the entire time.
But here’s a revisiting of that, (from #1) being co-written by two of DC’s best young talents, Tim Sheridan and Jeremy Adams. Xermanico is drawing it, and that dude has been killing it lately. This has the opportunity to make “Flashpoint” fun. Please, please, please do it.
FLASHPOINT BEYOND #0
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by EDUARDO RISSO
Cover by DEXTER SOY
Variant cover by EDUARDO RISSO
1:25 variant cover by MAX DUNBAR
$5.99 US | 48 pages
ON SALE 4/5/22The world of Flashpoint returns! After sacrificing everything to help the Flash put the universe back together and save Bruce Wayne’s life, Thomas Wayne wakes up in a world he thought was no more. Forced to don the cowl once again, Batman prowls the streets of Gotham searching for answers to how this world still exists, but what he starts to uncover will send him hurtling around the globe. The hunt for the Clockwork Killer starts here!
Legendary writer Geoff Johns comes back to the alternate world he created, partnering with prolific artist Eduardo Risso as he returns to the Flashpoint Batman!
1. Bring out your dead
“Death” in comics never really means death, especially when the characters that you’re going to be killing are all starring in comics that aren’t going to stop anytime soon. ‘Death of the Justice League’ likely means some sort of misdirection or presumed death, perhaps a time jump, or maybe a new Earth for the team to inhabit. Regardless, this is being presented as a big deal and, hopefully, will read like one, too. A reshuffling of the deck is always good for a temporary change of pace.
Plus, Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval have earned the trust to give this an honest try and not get too bogged down in the minutia. Bring on the death!
JUSTICE LEAGUE #75
Written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
Art by RAFA SANDOVAL
Cover by DANIEL SAMPERE and ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ
Variant covers by ALEX MALEEV, DAN JURGENS and
NORM RAPMUND, and MIKEL JANÍN
1:25 variant cover by SIMONE DI MEO
1:50 variant cover by TONY HARRIS
Team variant cover by TODD NAUCK
$6.99 US | 48 pages | (All on card stock)
ON SALE 4/19/22Oversize special issue! Superstar writer Joshua Williamson pens the beginning of the next big DCU event! It all starts here!
A new Dark Army made up of the DCU’s greatest villains has formed on the edges of the Multiverse! The DCU’s best and most powerful heroes are pulled together in an epic war to push the darkness back! But in the end, they are no match for it! That’s right, you heard it here first: the Justice League are killed by the Dark Army, with only one survivor to warn the remaining heroes of Earth about what is coming for them!
FINAL ISSUE!
For the full solicits, check out our friends at Newsarama.
