This is the first batch of solicitations released after the news that DC’s staff was to be gutted due to cuts all over AT&T/Warner Bros. While the solicits don’t exactly reflect those changes yet, the line was already moving in a few directions which may look a little clearer in a few months. Let’s dig in.
10. Fun, pulpy reprint
Unfortunately, if rumors are to be believed, we will be seeing less reprints like this one, “The Amazing World of Superman.” This is a specialty reprint for fans of a certain age or folks who like to collect some of the folksier Superman ephemera, with maps of Krypton and ‘how to draw Superman’ segments of the book. There are probably a few thousand people in the world who want books like this and will pay handsomely for them, but when Warner starts really tightening the belt, I can’t imagine books like this getting reprinted, or at least not at this cheap of a price. Maybe they’ll go to the on-demand route for books like this, like Warner Archive Collection did for DVDs.
THE AMAZING WORLD OF SUPERMAN (TABLOID EDITION) HC
written by BILL FINGER, E. NELSON BRIDWELL, and others
art by CURT SWAN, WAYNE BORING, and others
cover by CURT SWAN and MURPHY ANDERSON
ON SALE 4/13/21
$19.99 US | 64 PAGES | FC | DC
10″ x 13.5″
ISBN: 978-1-77950-918-5
The 1973 tabloid reprinting the origin of the Man of Steel is back in a new hardcover edition!
This classic collection also includes the story of Lex Luthor’s sinister visit to the theme park called Superman Land, Superboy stories, plus features like a map of Krypton, “How to Draw Superman,” “Superman Family Portrait,” and more!
Includes a giant map of Krypton, plus stories from Action Comics #210, Superman #170, Superman Annual #2 and #6, and more!
9. New team, who dis?
After over 100 issues on the character, by far the longest streak for a Jason Todd book, Scott Lobdell is thankfully off of “Red Hood and the Outlaws.” We’ve been over why this is good before. Now just called “Red Hood,” the team of writer (?) Shawn Martinbrough and artist Tony Akins are taking over the book with #51. Martinbrough is best known as an artist on books like “Thief of Thieves” and “The Creeper” revives the New 52’s trend of giving artists some of their most violent books to write (see Rob Liefeld and “Deathstroke,” Tony Daniel on “The Savage Hawkman”). Thankfully, Tony Akins, who did amazing word on one of the New 52’s best titles, “Wonder Woman,” is on board as well. I really have no idea what to expect from this title, but anything has to be better than Lobdell.
RED HOOD #51
written by SHAWN MARTINBROUGH
art by TONY AKINS
cover by DAN MORA
variant cover by KAEL NGU
ON SALE 11/24/20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC
A new era begins for the Red Hood! With his Outlaw days behind him, Jason Todd returns home to Gotham City. While he plots what’s next for Red Hood, he tracks down a childhood friend now living in the Hill. As Gotham City reels from the effects of “The Joker War,” Jason finds himself caught in the crossfire between vigilante protectors of the historic neighborhood and a rising criminal element intent on seizing power!
8. In the dark
This is one of the trends I mentioned in the opening to this piece. This month is lousy with “Death Metal” tie-ins, whether in one-shots, like “The Multiverse Who Laughs,” which sees multiple creators take short stories, or in “Tales from the Dark Multiverse” re-tellings of classic DC lore, or the “Justice League” tie-ins from Joshua Williamson. When something is really popular, DC seems more likely than ever to run it into the ground with an insane number of tie-ins and specials.
This month also sees “Strange Adventures #1 Director’s Cut,” which is the same idea: take a popular book and milk every ounce out of it. This can lead to some very fun comics, or can lead to a lot of dreck. We’ll see in November which it is!
Continued belowSide note: Patton Oswalt, a longtime DC stan who ‘broke up‘ with DC around the time of New 52 penned a story in “The Multiverse Who Laughs.” Reunited, and it feels so good!
DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL THE MULTIVERSE WHO LAUGHS #1
written by AMANDA CONNER, PATTON OSWALT, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, SCOTT SNYDER, BRANDON THOMAS, JAMES TYNION IV, and JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
art by CHAD HARDIN and others
cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
1:25 card stock variant cover by SIMONE BIANCHI
ON SALE 11/24/20
$5.99 US | 48 PAGES | FC | DC
CARD STOCK COVERS
The DC Multiverse is a collection of alternate-reality worlds where anything is possible. Each world tells the tale of a possible split in reality, or shows how lives vary depending on a single, solitary decision. But now that the Multiverse has been destroyed, the Batman Who Laughs has used his god like power to create a new Dark Multiverse…a collection of 52 evil worlds, each more terrifying than the last. This one-shot offers the curious—and the brave—a glimpse into the nightmare realities that the Batman Who Laughs has created in tales by creators who know what it means to have a truly twisted sense of misfit humor. An Arkham Asylum even more terrifying than what we know? A world of evil Super Pets? All that and more in these new tales of the Multiverse Who Laughs!
7. See ya, Kelly Sue
Nearly 2 years after coming on the title, Kelly Sue DeConnick is exiting “Aquaman.” But not before DeConnick gave Arthur and Mera a child, and continuing to build on the elaborate mythology that Dan Abnett set up. The 65 issues of “Aquaman” post-‘Rebirth’ may be the most consistent any non-rebooted title has been over multiple writers, and that’s sort of saying something. It seems like fewer and fewer of DC’s writers are building off of their predecessors, instead just cherry picking an item or two to include to give the illusion of a continuing story, but DeConnick really worked hard to make sure that her story was an addition to Abnett’s, and not a retcon or replacement. It will be missed.
AQUAMAN #65
written by KELLY SUE DeCONNICK
art by MIGUEL MENDONÇA
cover by ROBSON ROCHA and DANIEL HENRIQUES
ON SALE 11/17/20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC
Villains, heroes, machinations, and long-held grudges from Kelly Sue DeConnick’s definitive Aquaman run all converge in this issue! Arthur is defeated, Mera’s held captive, and Orm’s grand plan is near completion! Together, Mera and Arthur are one of DC’s most powerful couples, and when they send out the call, you better believe that everyone answers. Guest-starring the Justice League in a finale that will amaze you!
6. Imagine not having read this?
So I actually think that this a really fun idea fo a collection, but it is being sold on the inclusion of one particular bit of text: Alan Moore’s pitch for a project called “Twilight of the Superheroes.” This is a fascinating thing to include in this book for a few reasons: Moore has been vocal about the way DC has treated his work for hire done at that company, and it seems like an even sleazier practice to publish an internal document. But more than that, the pitch has been available online for years; if you ever wanted to read what Moore had planned, that’s easy enough to do. Are folks really going to plunk down $50 for unconnected reprints, a few essays, and the Moore pitch? Maybe they will, but it seems unlikely to me.
Continued belowDC THROUGH THE ’80S: THE END OF ERAS HC
written and illustrated by VARIOUS
cover by CURT SWAN and MURPHY ANDERSON
ON SALE 12/15/20
$49.99 US | 520 PAGES | FC | DC
ISBN: 978-1-77950-087-8
The ’80‘s were a truly rad time for comic books. DC was killing it with groundbreaking titles like Man of Steel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen. This collection, curated by writer and former DC publisher Paul Levitz, celebrates the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths era of the early 1980s with memorable adventures including Alan Moore and Curt Swan’s poignant “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?,” both Batman and Superman teaming with their Golden Age equivalents in separate stories, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor versus gremlins, and more. Collects Action Comics #583, Detective Comics #500, The Flash #296-298, Jonah Hex #54-55, Superman #423, House of Mystery #286, #290, #294-295, #300, #308, #321, Warlord #42, Wonder Woman #311-312, The Brave and the Bold #200, Weird War Tales #93, Time Warp #2 and #3, G.I. Combat #288, Blackhawk #258, DC Comics Presents Annual #1, Super Friends #36, and Sgt. Rock #345, #347, #368, and #387. Also includes new essays on this amazing era from such comics luminaries as Jack C. Harris, Elliot S! Maggin, J.M. DeMatteis, Andy Kubert, and more, and features the complete text of Alan Moore’s legendary, never-before-published Twilight proposal!
5. This could be very cool
The focus on the young adult and all-ages portion of DC is another trend I think we will be seeing more of as things at WB continue to coalesce. Claudia Gray, a YA-author who has done some work on the Star Wars novels at Del Ray, is a really good fit for tackling a Krypton book. Her talents in world-building, specifically, will be a huge boon to this story. Unfortunately, this is a story about Jor-El, which means it has a limited timespan it can run, as opposed to going the Krypton route and setting it further in the past. Regardless, I’m very interested to see what Gray can bring to the Superman mythos.
HOUSE OF EL BOOK ONE: THE SHADOW THREAT TP
written by CLAUDIA GRAY
art and cover by ERIC ZAWADZKI
ON SALE 1/5/21
$16.99 US | 208 PAGES | 6″ x 9″ | FC
ISBN: 978-1-4012-9112-9
A brand-new vision of one of comics most famous tragedies—the first of a trilogy of young adult graphic novels by New York Times bestselling writer Claudia Gray and illustrator Eric Zawadzki!
Explore Krypton like never before: through the eyes of two teenagers on opposite sides of the same extinction-level event. Zahn is one of Krypton’s elites: wealthy, privileged, a future leader. Sera is one of Krypton’s soldiers: strong, dedicated, fearless. Their rule-bound society has ordained that their paths should never cross. But groundquakes are shaking the planet’s surface. Rebellious uprisings are shaking the populace. Krypton’s top scientists, Jor-El and Lara, conduct a secret experiment that is meant to reform their planet from the cellular level up.
Zahn and Sera must join forces to investigate the hidden dangers truly threatening Krypton. In the process, they form a bond that will endure past the end of the world…
4. This will sell out before you finish reading this sentence
One of DC’s biggest hits of the year was the first appearance of the new James Tynion created Punchline’s first appearance. DC, again sense a theme?, is capitalizing on that by doing a one-shot Punchline story just after ‘Joker War’ wraps up. I think Punchline is a fine character so far, but I can’t help but think that the WB bosses see another Harley Quinn on their hands, and will continue to push Punchline to the moon. We’ll see whether the character deserves such treatment.
PUNCHLINE SPECIAL #1
written by JAMES TYNION IV and SAM JOHNS
art by MIRKA ANDOLFO
cover by YASMINE PUTRI
variant cover by FRANK CHO
blank variant cover
ONE-SHOT | ON SALE 11/10/20
$4.99 US | 48 PAGES | FC | DC
Spinning out of the pages of “The Joker War” comes the first solo book starring the blockbuster new character Punchline. As she faces the consequences for her role in “The Joker War,” the story of how Alexis Kaye became Punchline will take Leslie Thompkins, Harper Row, and Cullen Row on a harrowing journey that reveals a fringe teenager’s radicalization to the ideology of a madman. It’s a terrifying tale so big it demanded an oversize special issue!
3. A triumphant return
“Sweet Tooth” was pretty perfect in its first go ’round, and really doesn’t need a sequel. But Jeff Lemire seems like a creator who has no issue saying no to things he doesn’t want to do, so the fact that he’s bringing the series back for a six-issue epilogue (or at least next chapter) seems less like a cash grab, and more like a creator returning to fertile ground for a new story. Or, at least that’s what I hope this is, because there’s no reason to soil the legacy of “Sweet Tooth” unless there’s something really strong up Lemire’s sleeve.
Continued belowSWEET TOOTH: THE RETURN #1
written by JEFF LEMIRE
art and cover by JEFF LEMIRE
card stock variant cover by JIM LEE
ON SALE 11/3/20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | 1 OF 6 | FC
DC BLACK LABEL | AGES 17+
CARD STOCK VARIANT COVER $4.99
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Gus. He had antlers and lived with his father in a little cabin in the woods. Then his father died, and the big man with cold eyes took Gus away. Gus went on many great adventures, found friends, love, happiness, family, and acceptance.
Now, years later…it begins again. A young boy with antlers and deer-like feature wakes in a bizarre and completely foreign world where the last humans struggle to survive. They tell the boy he is special, he is chosen, and that he alone can lead them back to a world dominated by the oppressive Hybrids.
Sweet Tooth: The Return is no re-hash of the original series, but rather a bold re-imagining of the Sweet Tooth mythology; taking elements of the original series and remixing them into something familiar, but totally new. A divided world. A planet long ago past the point of devastation. And at the center of it all, a child who didn’t ask to be born into any of this, but who has no choice but to try and forge some life for himself. His visions and dreams may not be real at all…they may just be fiction. But they are hope. And sometimes hope is enough.
Acclaimed writer/artist Jeff Lemire reunites with colorist José Villarubia to bring you the next chapter in the saga of DC’s acclaimed series Sweet Tooth!
2. Cancellation Corner
In yet another portent of things to come, a number of prominent DC books find themselves cancelled come November: “Hawkman,” “Teen Titans,” “Young Justice,” “Suicide Squad,” and “John Constantine: Hellblazer.” Some of this seems sort of natural or expected – “Hawkman” ran almost 30 issues, which seems like a miracle in 2020 – but others, like “Suicide Squad” and “Young Justice” have a lot going for them, and are written by some of DC’s brightest stars right now. This all makes it seem likely that there’s a reboot of some sort going, which may see some of these creators return to these characters in the future. Or maybe that’s just the optimist in me not wanting to say goodbye to Venditti’s “Hawkman” or Sideways on “Young Justice.”
YOUNG JUSTICE #20
written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS and DAVID F. WALKER
art by SCOTT GODLEWSKI
cover by JOHN TIMMS
card stock variant cover by DERRICK CHEW
ON SALE 11/3/20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | FC | DC
CARD STOCK VARIANT COVER $4.99
FINAL ISSUE
For the first time in months, the entire Young Justice team comes together to face a threat bigger than anything they’ve faced before. Just as the team has come to grips with their fractured legacy, someone from Young Justice’s past has come back to murder them! Guest-starring the Wonder Twins, Dial H for Hero, and Naomi—plus some other Wonder Comics surprises too hot to mention here! Don’t miss this final issue from the Eisner Award-nominated co-writers of Naomi!
1. Let’s finally enroll
When the first issue of “The Other History of the DC Universe” is released in November, it will come out 34 months after the book was originally announced. That’s a hell of a long time to wait, but the book sounds both really interesting and really timely, somehow more timely than when it was announced in 2018. I’m more glad that the book is coming out than anything else, and if it is a quality project, I don’t mind the extra wait. I’m just curious exactly what happened that led to this book being delayed for nearly 3 years.
THE OTHER HISTORY OF THE DC UNIVERSE #1
written by JOHN RIDLEY
art by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI and ANDREA CUCCHI
cover by JAMAL CAMPBELL
cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI and MARCO MASTRAZZO
1:25 variant cover by JAMAL CAMPBELL
PRESTIGE PLUS FORMAT
RESOLICIT | ON SALE 11/24/20
$6.99 US | 48 PAGES | 1 OF 5 | FC
8.5″ x 10.875″ | BIMONTHLY | NO ADS
DC BLACK LABEL | AGES 17+Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Let It Fall) examines the mythology of the DC Universe in this compelling new miniseries that reframes iconic moments of DC history and charts a previously unexplored sociopolitical thread as seen through the prism of DC Super Heroes who come from traditionally disenfranchised groups.
This unique new series presents its story as prose by Ridley married with beautifully realized illustrations by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Andrea Cucchi. Issue #1 follows the story of Jefferson Pierce, the man who will one day become Black Lightning, as he makes his way from being a young track star to a teacher and, ultimately, to his role as a hero. Future issues focus on characters such as Karen and Mal Duncan, Tatsu Yamashiro, and Renee Montoya.
Extensively researched and masterfully executed, The Other History of the DC Universe promises to be an experience unlike any other. You may think you know the history of the DC Universe…but the truth is far more complex. The Other History of the DC Universe isn’t about saving the world—it’s about having the strength to simply be who you are.
See the full solicitations over at Newsarama.
