The monthly solicitations for DC are usually a mixed bag: some exciting announcements, some depressing cancellations, creative shifts, and the like. What they never are is boring. So, I present to you the ten most interesting occurrences of DC’s August offerings:
10. Batman/Superman, Meet Batman/Superman
BATMAN/SUPERMAN #3
Written by GREG PAK
Illustrated by JAE LEEIt’s a showdown that could shatter two worlds when Batman and Superman battle the Superman and Batman of Earth 2!
This series intrigues me, as the creative team looks stellar, and the stories seem to be coming from a place that is different from the traditional Bruce/Clark team ups.
Plus, I love me some Earth 2, so this is right up my alley.
9. Farewell Batman Inc! Oh Wait. Not So Fast
BATMAN, INCORPORATED SPECIAL #1
Written by CHRIS BURNHAM, JOE KEATINGE, DAN DIDIO and others
Illustrated by CHRIS BURNHAM, ETHAN VAN SCIVER, JASON MASTERS and othersAn all-star special featuring the various members of Batman Incorporated—Man-of-Bats, Red Raven, El Gaucho, Dark Ranger, Knight, Batman himself and more! In the wake of their epic struggle with Talia al Ghul, the Heretic and Leviathan see what’s next for the members of Batman’s army. Featuring stories written and drawn by a collection of industry greats! Plus: Bat-Cow makes her solo debut in a tale by writer Dan DiDio and artist Ethan Van Sciver!
One of the great missed opportunities of the past few years for DC is not having a Batman, Inc anthology book. Anything with “Batman” on the cover sells, and it would be great fun to have Man of Bats, El Gaucho and the rest of the gang have short adventures to continue their tales beyond just popping up twice a decade. This is DC attempting something similar to that – perhaps if this works, we can see a yearly special, catching up with the rest of the BInc gang. I’d buy that.
8. Villains Lining Up For…Something
Rich Johnston, friend of the site and Bleeding Cool owner/operator, has been banging the “Villain’s Month” drum long and hard, and his basic thesis is this: come September, we will be getting all villains, all the time, starring in one-shots that will temporarily replace the ongoing books. So, being the solicit sleuth I am, I looked for some clues as to this and, well, Rich may be onto something. Here is a partial list of books and their potential villain star:
“Supergirl” – Cyborg Superman
“Green Arrow” – Count Vertigo
“Katana” – Sickle
“The Flash” – The Reverse Flash
“Talon” – Bane
You get the idea. These are all villains mentioned in the solicits, and who could very well be the stars of September’s issues. Only a month to see if Rich is right or not!
7. He-Man Shows Up in the DCU – Finally?
DC UNIVERSE VS. THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #1
Written by KEITH GIFFEN
Illustrated by DEXTER SOYAfter narrowly escaping his last battle with He-Man, Skeletor has fled to the most unexpected realm to recover: EARTH! Once there, he sets a plan in motion to siphon off Earth’s core magic. Forging an unlikely hunting party, He-Man and company go in search of Skeletor. Finding themselves at odds with the heroes of the DC Universe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe must find a way to stop Skeletor and his mysterious new master!
I suppose there are people out there who are really excited for this. I can’t count myself among them, but I do think that this is an interesting time and way to potentially bring He-Man and co. into the DCU proper. You could certainly do worse than Giffen and Soy (whose work on “Captain Marvel” for Marvel was grossly underrated, in my opinion) as the creative team, and I think there is a chance that this is very fun.
I doubt it, but it could be.
Continued below6. Cool it on the Director’s Cuts
THE WAKE DIRECTOR’S CUT #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Illustrated by SEAN MURPHY“There’s something down there…”
A special behind-the-scenes look at Vertigo’s newest hit series. THE WAKE is a strange, epic tale with so much more broiling below the surface than meets the eye. This “Director’s Cut” will reprint the first issue, plus a variety of bonus features like character designs, script pages, black and white art and more to give you a glimpse of the creative process.
Collected editions of comics can sometimes contain what is typically referred to as backmatter – scripts, sketches, interviews, etc. These are put into collections to get people, many of whom already own the series in single issues, to buy the collection. DC has started offering “Director’s Cuts” of some of its biggest books in hopes that people won’t wait 6 months to a year to get a hardcover or trade paperback collection that features backmatter, but rather sell them another copy of the same issue a month or two later.
I have to admit, cynical though it may be, it is sort of an ingenius idea. However, “The Wake,” a Vertigo miniseries, probably isn’t best book to do this with. Plus, what is the collected incentive later? Give it a rest DC – everyone is already excited for “The Wake” anyway.
5. Trinity War Continues to be Manageable, Tie-In Wise
Between the two months of “Trinity War,” there are six issues of main story, three issues of July tie-ins, and only two issues of August tie-ins. This is, frankly, pretty remarkable.
The solicits keep referring to a murdered Justice Leaguer, but I can’t see DC killing anyone major. My guess goes to the new, female Atom, paving the way for Ryan Choi or Ray Palmer to take up the mantle come October.
4. Four More Books Cancelled
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #23
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Illustrated by KEVIN MAGUIREIn this final issue, the Legion picks itself up after the brutal attack from the Fatal Five nearly destroyed civilization across the cosmos! While some Legionaires bury their dead, others fight for the future of the Legion against a society that now doesn’t trust them. Don’t miss surprises galore in this landmark issue drawn by Kevin Maguire as the true nature of the Legion is questioned—and the future of the DCU is changed in a way you’ll never expect!
Joining their fallen brethren like “Blackhawks” and “Mister Terrific” are “Legion of Super-Heroes,” “Sword of Sorcery,” “Demon Knights” and “Dial H.” If I’m being totally honest, I can’t say that any of these are truly surprising choices, but there are some interesting decisions at play here. First of all, “Legion” is a classic DC property, albeit a challenged one, that has been in publication for 40 years almost non-stop. “Dial H” is a critical darling, “Demon Knights” has been well liked, and “Sword of Sorcery” never really got a chance to impress.
These cancellations show DC further constricting their lines down to Superbooks, Batbooks, Lanternbooks, and JLbooks, and that is a shame.
3. This “American Vampire” Anthology Won’t Suck
AMERICAN VAMPIRE ANTHOLOGY #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER, JEFF LEMIRE, GREG RUCKA, GAIL SIMONE, GABRIEL BA, FABIO MOON and others
Illustrated by BECKY CLOONAN, RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE, JEFF LEMIRE, GABRIEL BA, FABIO MOON, FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA, DECLAN SHALVEY and others
Cover by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUEYou are cordially invited to a party—to die for! This special features eight amazing stories set in the world of American Vampire, with “lost tales,” new characters and old favorites. Don’t miss these stories brought to you by series creators Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque, as well as other awesome comics talent like Becky Cloonan (BATMAN), Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon (DAYTRIPPER), Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH), Greg Rucka (The Punisher, BATWOMAN), Gail Simone (BATGIRL) and many more!
The “American Vampire” hiatus is an occurrence that no one particularly wanted, but everyone understood. Whether this is the signaling of its return, or merely an intermission snack, remains to be seen – what doesn’t need to be revealed is how awesome this is going to be. The artists’ names alone make this a slam-dunk of a buy, plus you get Greg Rucka’s first DC work in three years as a toss in? Sold.
Continued below2. Trillium!
TRILLIUM #1
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Illustrated by JEFF LEMIREIt’s the year 3797, and botanist Nika Temsmith is researching a strange species on a remote science station near the outermost rim of colonized space. It’s the year 1921, and renowned English explorer William Pike leads an expedition into the dense jungles of Peru in search of the fabled “Lost Temple of the Incas,” an elusive sanctuary said to have strange healing properties. Two disparate souls separated by thousands of years and hundreds of millions of miles. Yet they will fall in love and, as a result, bring about the end of the universe. Even though reality is unraveling all around them, nothing can pull them apart. This isn’t just a love story; It’s the LAST love story ever told.
Trillium is an 8-issue series that combines rich historical adventure and mind-bending science fiction into a sprawling, unconventional love story by Jeff Lemire (SWEET TOOTH, CONSTANTINE, ANIMAL MAN).
This amazing miniseries kicks off with 28-pages of story in a flip-book with two covers and two separate but connected stories!
Just read that solicit and tell me it doesn’t sound amazing. Go ahead. I’m waiting. I’ll be over here, waiting.
…
Oh wait, it does sound awesome? Yeah, I told you so.
Good lord, is it August yet?
1. Digital First Is Making Everyone Else Look Bad
DC’s Digital First line is a tough thing to figure out. On one hand, they seem to have exceptional talent working on their digital properties (this month’s totally incomplete list includes DnA, Bruce Timm, Mike Allred, Dean Haspiel, Jeff Parker, Kyle Higgins, Mike Grell, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Paul Jenkins), but on the other, I never see DC pushing/advertising these series. Every Monday, DC publishes the digital edition of “Adventures of Superman,” and like clockwork on Mondays, my Twitter feed explodes with joy over the stories published there.
So why isn’t DC pushing these books harder? Well, probably because they take place outside of continuity and feature “classic” versions of some of their characters. But let me be the first to say, “so what?” After Scott Lobdell’s gig as fill-in writer for “Action Comics” is done, each month a minimum of 4 writers and artists will be tackling Clark each month in the New 52. In fact, DC is now publishing “Batman/Superman,” which takes place “earlier” than the other New 52 stories. Is it that much more confusing to push the digital first stories that take place outside of continuity?
Most of DC’s digital comics are aimed at non-comics readers – properties based off of video games or tv shows (in the case of “Batman ’66,” a nearly 50 year old show). But why waste good Batman and Superman stories on a digital initiative that no one really knows about? The above Bruce Timm cover is maybe the best Superman cover of the New 52 – except that it isn’t, because it isn’t edgy enough. It is insane to me that DC got Mike Grell to do covers for “Arrow,” the TV show’s tie-in book, and not for “Green Arrow,” its once slumping monthly print book. TV fans don’t give a shit about Mike Grell – but the dude in the comic shop does.
Regardless of why it is happening, it is fascinating how much of its top talent is working on the digital side. Whenever the conversation turns back to “Who should take over X book?,” just look to the digital side and poach some truly superior talent.
Full solicitations, via our friends at Comic Book Resources, are available here.
