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Soliciting Multiversity: DC’s Top 10 for May 2023

By | February 27th, 2023
Posted in Columns | % Comments
[Featured image is a variant cover for “Shazam” #1 by Evan “Doc” Shaner]

For the first time in a few months, this column almost needed to be expanded to 15 books just to cram all of the releases in; May’s going to be a big month for DC. In addition to Free Comic Book Day, there’s also “Batman” #900, another “New Talent Showcase,” a video game tie-in written by John Layman, and a few more reprints I would’ve normally featured. However, there’s just too much stuff that needed to get covered.

10. Finishing off a backup

As we get a little distance (at least in the solicits) from “Lazarus Planet,” it seems very clear that the entire event was set up to give writers an easy way to introduce some new wrinkles to old characters and to set them up for their next story. Leah Williams and Marguerite Sauvage were given the task of finding something new for Power Girl, and after a “Lazarus Planet” feature and three “Action Comics” backups, the initial part of her new power set wraps up here in this oversized one-shot. I like how many characters were given a fresh coat of paint in the event, but I fear that DC has no real plan to integrate them back into the overall DCU. A one-shot is nice, but let’s get Power Girl on a team book or in a ‘permanent’ backup.

POWER GIRL SPECIAL #1
Written by LEAH WILLIAMS
Art and cover by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Variant covers by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU and AMANDA CONNER
1:25 cover by TULA LOTAY
1:50 cover by TAJ TENFOLD
$5.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $6.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 5/30/23

Power Girl takes center stage!

With new powers and a new mission, Power Girl faces a challenge unlike any she’s experienced before in this shocking one-shot rising from the events of Lazarus Planet and Action Comics!

With Omen’s guidance, Power Girl now strives to battle the demons—literal and figurative—lurking within the minds of some of the greatest superheroes in the DC Universe! But the nefarious Johnny Sorrow has been searching for a connection to Earth-0, and the superheroines’ work may unwittingly give him the means to make their world his personal stage!
Can Power Girl and her estranged Super-Family bring down the curtain on Sorrow’s evil plans? And at what cost?

9. A prequel to a prequel?

I know this isn’t really a prequel to Pennyworth, but when I saw the name of this book, I wanted to make a “Young Alfred: The Origin of Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler” joke, and so here that is. It really wasn’t worth that whole set up, but here we are.

On a slightly more serious note, it seems like DC is more committed than ever to making Alfred a key part of their marketing across all media, despite him being unceremoniously killed for no real reason by Tom King. That decision seems worse and worse every day.

YOUNG ALFRED: PAIN IN THE BUTLER
Written by MICHAEL NORTHROP
Art and cover by SAM LOTFI
$12.99 US | 160 pages | 5 1/2″ x 8″ | Softcover | ISBN: 978-1-77950-971-0
ON SALE 8/1/23

When Alfred attends Gotham Servants School, he is a clumsy and nervous boy going to fulfill his father’s last wish—he will become…a butler. But when he suspects that his new school may be involved in a criminal plot, Alfred must look within himself to see if he has what it takes to be not only a butler, but a hero.

From New York Times bestselling writer Michael Northrop (TombQuest, Dear Justice League), with striking visuals from artist Sam Lotfi (Mosely), comes the story of a scrappy kid who becomes a legend.

8. But is there a dancing opening credits sequence?

Is it a shock that DC is trying to capitalize on John Cena and James Gunn’s Peacemaker series? No, it is not. Is it a little shocking that they are literally a year too late doing so? No, that’s actually not too shocking either.

Continued below

What is not exactly shocking but very good is the creative team behind this book, with Kyle Starks and Steve Pugh easily being the main reason to buy this book, regardless of the character they’re focusing on. There’s nothing intrinsically bad about Peacemaker, but unless you’re aping the Cena performance, he’s just sort of dull. And so, while I never want the adaptations to wag the dog of the comics, I think that’s probably for the best here.

PEACEMAKER TRIES HARD! #1
Written by KYLE STARKS
Art by STEVE PUGH
Cover by KRIS ANKA
Variant cover by BJORN BARENDS
Movie poster variant cover by KRIS ANKA
Foil-embossed variant cover by ERIC BATTLE ($9.99 US)
1:25 variant cover by DAN HIPP
1:50 variant cover by SIMONE DI MEO
$4.99 US | 32 pages | 1 of 6 | (all covers are card stock)
ON SALE 5/2/23

Having earned his release from the Suicide Squad, Peacemaker wants to try and do normal superhero stuff for a change. Unfortunately everyone, including the bad guys, thinks he sucks at superhero stuff. But when busting up a terrorist ring introduces Christopher Smith to the cutest thing to ever walk (awkwardly) on four legs, he finds the unconditional love he’s been denied his whole life. That is, until the dog is kidnapped right out from under him by a super-villain who has some very un-super-heroic plans for Peacemaker’s brand of ultraviolence. Will he help an infamously unstable super-powered criminal steal the world’s most valuable—and dangerous—DNA? Honestly, Christopher’s pretty lonely, so it probably just depends on how nicely they ask…

Breakout writer Kyle Starks (I Hate This Place, Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton) and art legend Steve Pugh (Preacher Special: Saint of Killers, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass) deliver a brutal and hilarious take on DC’s biggest P.O.S. that will bust guts, break bones, and melt hearts!

7. Unsung and Under-appreciated: The Unwritten Story

Once the calendar turned over to the 21st century, a strange thing happened to Vertigo. All of a sudden, the imprint had lost its initial excitement and cache, but it never really stopped innovating and doing amazing things. And so, some books never got the accolades or appreciation that would’ve come a decade earlier, simply because of Vertigo’s diminished presence at the top of peoples’ minds. “The Unwritten” is the perfect example of that. While it was successful in its time, when it is discussed now, if it is at all, it is as a forgotten curio, a relic of a different era.

But ask Multiversity editor in exile Walter Richardson if this book is worth your time. This is one of those books that will be constantly rediscovered every time there’s a new printing because of just how good it is.

THE UNWRITTEN COMPENDIUM ONE
Written by MIKE CAREY and PETER GROSS
Art by PETER GROSS, VINCE LOCKE, and others
Cover by YUKO SHIMIZU
$59.99 US | 984 pages | 6 5/8″ x 10 3/16″ | Softcover | ISBN: 978-1-77952-175-0
ON SALE 6/20/23

Boy wizard Tommy Taylor is the main character in a series of fantasy novels by author Wilson Taylor that have become a cultural phenomenon. However, as a result of Tommy’s success, the real Tom Taylor—the son Wilson long abandoned—is worshiped worldwide as a literary legend made flesh. As Tom’s life begins to take on eerie and deadly parallels with Tommy’s, he’s drawn into a strange literary underworld where the power of storytelling is as strong as any spell. This first book in a series of two compendiums collects The Unwritten #1-30 plus the original graphic novel The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twice.

6. Brave and bold? In this economy?

I find it very strange that Simone DiMeo decided to recreate that terrible flying scene from Black Adam on this cover, but that’s only the second strangest part of this book. This is clearly just a renamed “Batman: Urban Legends,” the anthology series that wrapped up earlier this year. The subtitle ‘the Brave and the Bold’ has always meant a team-up, and this book has four non-team up stories, and only two of them are Batman related. I’m not opposed to any of the content in this book (well, maybe that StormWatch story…), but the packaging is very, very strange.

Continued below

I didn’t even mention the incredibly hyperbolic write up of Tom King’s story in here! Oh shit…

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #1
Written by TOM KING, ED BRISSON, CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL, and DAN MORA
Art by MITCH GERADS, JEFF SPOKES, JAVIER RODRIGUEZ, and DAN MORA
Cover by SIMONE DI MEO
Variant cover by JIM CHEUNG
Variant cover by FRANK CHO
1:25 variant cover by BRYAN HITCH
1:50 variant cover by NATHAN SZERDY
$7.99 US | 64 pages | Prestige | (all covers are card stock)
ON SALE 5/16/23

Coming off the spectacular success of Batman – One Bad Day: The Riddler, the Eisner Award-winning team of Tom King and Mitch Gerads reunite for a horrifying four-part retelling of the first bloody clash between The Joker and the Batman. A tale of loathing, lies, and laughter, this may be the most frightening Joker story in a generation.

Everyone is going to be shocked.

Everyone is going to be talking about it.

The Justice League may be gone, but its enemies aren’t. Who’ll protect the world from the worst of the worst? Ed Brisson and Jeff Spokes pick up the story started in the Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special as Director Bones and his new covert StormWatch team travel the globe on black-ops missions to take super-powered weapons of mass destruction off the board. But this is StormWatch, and as always, not all is as it seems. “Down with the Kings” starts here!

Superstar artist Dan Mora (Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Detective Comics) makes his writing debut kicking off a new series of Batman Black & White short stories. In a Gotham City overrun by the cybernetic henchmen of The Joker, the only person who can save us is the mysterious motorcycle-riding, bat-costumed hero of urban legend…

In “The Order of the Black Lamp—Part I,” from writer Christopher Cantwell (Halt and Catch Fire co-creator, Briar, Iron Man) and artist Javier Rodríguez (Daredevil, Defenders), Superman finds a decoder ring with a secret message—“Save me”—which sends him on a quest to solve a mystery with ties to the Man of Steel’s past.

5. Please last and please matter. Thank you.

When the New 52 launched, Geoff Johns decided that Cyborg was going to be a major player in the DC Universe, getting a spot on the Justice League and becoming one of the ‘big 7’ for the first time. However, any Cyborg series we’ve seen has either been cut very short, or fell out of relevance almost instantly. The ‘Rebirth’-era book ran for two years, 18 months of which were all written by John Semper Jr., but DC never positioned the book as meaning anything. The book both felt totally disconnected from the bigger DC universe, and also like it wasn’t being given the opportunity to transcend its relatively meager place in DC’s publishing line.

Cyborg is one of the most prominent Black characters in all of comics, and has been positioned as one of DC’s ten or so tentpoles in every promotional image and corporate conference call over the past 10 years. Give Morgan Hampton – a recent graduate of the Milestone Initiative – the chance to make a Cyborg book that won’t seem like an afterthought. Please, please DC.

CYBORG #1
Written by MORGAN HAMPTON
Art by TOM RANEY
Cover by EDWIN GALMON
Variant cover by TOM RANEY
Variant cover by JORGE CORONA
1:25 variant cover by NIKOLAS DRAPER-IVEY
1:50 design variant cover by JORGE CORONA
$3.99 US | 32 pages | 1 of 6 | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 5/16/23

When a family emergency brings Cyborg back home to Detroit, Victor Stone surprisingly finds himself enjoying his return to the simpler life—where everybody sees him for who he really is and always was, rather than as a larger-than-life superhero. It’s been a while since Vic’s been able to lower his guard and seek a purpose outside of being Cyborg 24/7. But a lot has changed in Detroit while Victor’s been away. An aggressive new company is turning the Motor City into an overclocked engine for revolutionary artificial
intelligence…and no one knows better than Cyborg that technological transformation always comes at a steep human price!

Milestone Initiative writer Morgan Hampton (DC Power: A Celebration) joins forces with veteran star artist Tom Raney (Green Lantern, Uncanny X-Men) to give Cyborg the Dawn of DC epic he deserves!

Continued below

4. A siloed initiative

I think it is fantastic that DC is attempting to add more Asian characters to their ranks, especially with how prominent Monkey Prince has been since his introduction in 2021. However, a series of three miniseries under the ‘We are Legends’ banner seems like another opportunity to tell six months worth of stories and then forget these characters exist. I hope that this is just the beginning of these characters’ eventual integration into team books, future solo series, and event tie-ins, but I invite you to consider the New Age of Heroes. Although that sounds like something from the early 90s, those titles ran from 2018 to 2020. Exactly one of those characters – Sideways – has been seen in any real way since those books wrapped up.

Launching these lines of new characters all together seems like a surefire way to make an initial impact with minimal, sustained success. I will be the first to admit that I’m wrong if these books all take the world by storm, but I think the proof is in the pudding by having Monkey Prince already without a place in the DCU just a few months after his 12-issue series wrapped. And, much like Monkey Prince, there are some traditional DC characters showing up in these titles from day one, but I still don’t feel like this is going to penetrate the DC Universe in any real way. Again, prove me wrong.

SPIRIT WORLD #1
Written by ALYSSA WONG 王秀莲
Art and cover by HAINING 海凝
Variant cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN
1:25 variant cover by TRUNG LE NGUYEN
1:50 variant cover by HAINING 海凝
AAPI Heritage Month variant cover by ZU ORZU
$3.99 US | 32 pages | 1 of 6 | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 5/9/23

From the pages of Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate, a new Chinese hero emerges who’s able to travel to and from the Spirit World, the realm of the dead, and that of the living. Their name is Xanthe, and their superpower is being able to burn items folded from joss paper and immediately turn them into real objects, based on the East Asian practice of burning joss paper at graveyards in order to send resources to ancestors in the Spirit World…except Xanthe can retrieve those items in the world of the living! Their weapon of choice is a large broadsword (because who doesn’t love a big sword when you can choose to use a big sword?!).

Xanthe is a master of the dark arts who’s here to give Constantine a run for his money…literally. When Constantine shows up saying Xanthe scammed him into buying something, he finds them and Batgirl Cass Cain fighting an abnormal influx of jiangshi (Chinese hopping vampires) and joins in to help. But when a portal opens up that drags Batgirl into the Spirit World, it’s up to Xanthe and Constantine to travel to the land of the spirits to rescue her! Who knows what other spirits we’ll find in the Spirit World—like that skateboarding boy wearing hanfu with some headphones and a gaping hole in his chest?!

3. Switcheroo

When the ‘Dawn of DC’ was announced, the “Green Lantern: Hal Jordan” book was to be written by Mariko Tamaki. However, here we are, and Jeremy Adams is now penning the book, now just called “Green Lantern.” I am always pushing for DC to diversify their writing ranks away from straight, cisgendered, white, male writers and that’s exactly who Adams is. That’s no knock on Adams; I think he’s probably the best month to month writer not named Mark Waid at DC right now. And while Tamaki’s work at DC has been mixed, at best, I still can’t be a little bummed out by the change in writers.

That said, Adams has built up the world of “The Flash” so effectively over the past few years that I can think of few people to better establish a story around Hal Jordan that isn’t just “boring GL in space.” And while “John Stewart: War Journal” is not exactly an enticing title for a second Lantern book, I’m glad that after a few years in the wilderness, we’re getting back to some Lantern stories.

Continued below

GREEN LANTERN #1
Written by JEREMY ADAMS
Art and cover by XERMANICO
John Stewart backup written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON
John Stewart backup art by MONTOS
Variant covers by LUCIO PARRILLO and IVAN REIS
1:25 variant cover by DANIEL SAMPERE
1:50 variant cover by ARIEL COLON
1:100 variant cover by XERMANICO
5th-color variant cover by PETE WOODS
$4.99 US | 40 pages | Variant $5.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 5/9/23

Spinning out of the events of Dark Crisis, the Guardians of Oa at the heart of the Green Lantern Corps have quarantined Sector 2814, home of the planet Earth—and its champion along with it! A heartbreaking defeat has sent Hal reeling, returning home to rediscover his roots…and find the man responsible for ruining his life: Sinestro.

From the visionary team of Jeremy Adams and Xermánico (who brought you the epic Flashpoint Beyond) comes a tale of redemption, loss, and finding out that maybe…just maybe…you can go home again. At least if you’re willing to hot-wire a power ring to do it. Also featuring part one of John Stewart: War Journal from writer Phillip Kennedy
Johnson and artist Montos!

2. Simply the best

There have been a few ‘grown up’ Titans books, but none that have positioned the team in quite this way before. While I won’t be fully satisfied until Roy Harper joins the book, I love the idea of their legacy finally coming to fruition. Tom Taylor has been such an incredible voice on “Nightwing,” and clearly has a vision for these characters. My dream would be to expand the ranks a little beyond just the ‘classic’ Titans, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Plus, getting Nicola Scott back on a monthly book is reason to celebrate, even if there’s still, inexplicably no Roy Harper. I know he’s going to be a part of “Green Arrow,” but c’mon man. Let him double dip!

TITANS #1
Written by TOM TAYLOR
Art and cover by NICOLA SCOTT
Variant cover by JIM LEE
Variant cover by JEN BARTEL
1:25 variant cover by DAN MORA
1:50 variant cover by SIMONE DI MEO
Blank variant cover
1:100 foil variant cover by NICOLA SCOTT
$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 5/16/23

The Dark Crisis is over, and the Justice League is no more. Now, a new team must rise and protect the Earth…Titans, go!

The Teen Titans are ready to grow up. Each member joined as a much younger hero, certain that one day they’d be invited to join the Justice League. But the time has come for them not to join the League…but to replace it! Are the no-longer-teen heroes ready for the big leagues? Danger lurks around every corner as heroes and villains alike challenge the new team before they’ve even begun. Will the DCU ever be the same? Find out in this landmark first issue brought you by the all-star creative team of Tom Taylor (Nightwing, DCeased) and Nicola Scott (Wonder Woman Historia, Earth 2)!

1. Finally!, aka the month of Mora

In May of 2023, Dan Mora will see three books see publication: Issue #15 of “World’s Finest,” the first part of a black and white story in “Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” and “Shazam” #1. That’s astonishing, and needed to be commented upon.

Beyond that, let’s just focus on how great this book sounds. While Geoff Johns did introduce a lot of interesting ideas to the Shazam mythos, he mostly did so in “Justice League” ten years ago. Since then, the output has been sporadic at best, and mostly just rehashing older ideas. Tim Sheridan and Josie Campbell wrote excellent miniseries that set up this ongoing from one of the best creative teams in comics. Add that to the fact that I’m a Captain Marvel nut, and this is one of my most anticipated books of the year. I can’t wait to see what Waid can do with the character and, hopefully, be the first person in almost 30 years to get an ongoing of more than 15 issues going for the Big Red Cheese.

Continued below

SHAZAM! #1
Written by MARK WAID
Art and cover by DAN MORA
Variant covers by CHRIS SAMNEE and JOHN TIMMS
1:25 variant cover by EVAN “DOC” SHANER
1:50 variant cover by ARIEL COLON
1:100 Spot gloss pulp variant cover by DAN MORA
Spot foil cover by MIKE DEODATO ($5.99 US)
$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 5/2/23

The World’s Finest creators present the World’s Mightiest Mortal in a dazzling solo series!

Dinosaurs from space! The Clubhouse of Eternity! Homicidal worms and talking tigers! Atomic robots, alien worlds, mad scientists, sinister curses, and villains from throughout the DC Universe—welcome to the wild adventures of Billy Batson, whose big red alter ego defends the Earth from its weirdest and wildest threats! Want to stop Lex Luthor and The Joker? Call Superman and Batman! International crises? Page Wonder Woman! But when Garguax, Emperor of the Moon, sets his sights on Gorilla City, that’s when you shout “Shazam!”

The fan-favorite team of Mark Waid and Dan Mora (Batman/Superman: World’s Finest) brings the magic!

For the full solicits, check out The Beat.


//TAGS | Soliciting Multiversity

Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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