This month’s DC solicits pose a few interesting challenges, in terms of writing about them. First of all, they are all villain-centric, which is hard to cover without sounding repetitive. Plus, there are a few instances of “TBD” being one of the creators, which makes discussing the book is difficult. And, in addition to all of that, most of the books are on hiatus for the month, but a few are quadruple shipping, so it’s hard to keep track of what is going on. But, I will attempt to do my best, and highlight some of the positives in this upcoming, and unusual, month for DC.
10. A new approach
BATMAN AND ROBIN #23.4: KILLER CROC
Written by TIM SEELEY
Art by FRANCIS PORTELA
3-D motion cover by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAYAs the battle for Gotham City continues to build, the scales become unbalanced when the ferocious Killer Croc enters the fray!
Look, no one hates this .1 numbering more than I do, but I have to give DC some credit here for shaking up their books, at least for a month. This new approach (overship popular titles, drop underperforming ones) is nothing new – hell, Marvel has basically spent the last three years doing exactly this – but it shows DC is willing to attempt something to get September free of the mundane.
Of course the flipside of that is the nearly 20 Batman titles. But hey, one of them is written by Tim Seeley! That guy rules!
9. A well-needed rest for some
GREEN ARROW #23.1: COUNT VERTIGO
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by ANDREA SORRENTINO
3-D motion cover by ANDREA SORRENTINOGet set for the twisted origin of Count Vertigo! Why is the Count in Vancouver on the hunt for Green Arrow, and what could have happened to make him such a sadistic adversary?
The nice thing about some of these solicits are that, because certain books are not shipping, certain creators who tend to get overworked at DC are getting some time to breathe. Justin Jordan gets the month off, Jeff Lemire has the second issue of “Trillium” and “Green Arrow,” but gets to drop “Justice League Dark” and “Animal Man” for the month. He does illustrate one page of “Dial E,” but we’ll get to that later. Even the perpetually overworked Scott Snyder only has two issues coming out this month, and one is a co-write!
Hopefully, months like this give some of the more taxed creators a chance to breathe and re-charge their batteries for what’s coming next in their books, and it also gives some guys a chance to pick up some extra work after their recent runs/books ended (like Peter Tomasi).
Of course, Geoff Johns is writing or co-writing five books, so, you know, no rest for the CCO.
8. “The DC Universe Vs. The Masters of the Universe” is apparently both secretive and important
THE DC UNIVERSE VS. THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #2
Written by KEITH GIFFEN
Art by DEXTER SOY
Cover by ED BENESSkeletor is on the loose in the DC Universe! If He-Man and the Masters of the Universe can’t stop him, then how can the Justice League hope to?
It has been a long time (since “Brightest Day” I believe) that DC has use the “Top Secret” stock image for a cover, and the book they’ve dusted it off for is…”The DC Universe Vs. The Masters of the Universe?”
I mean, sure, this has potential to be fun, but there have been some pretty major storylines “spoiled” by covers over the past two years, and yet the “Top Secret” tag is reserved for this? Really?
7. Kindt, Fisch, Gates and Soule on a ton of books
Continued belowGREEN LANTERN #23.3: BLACK HAND
Written by CHARLES SOULE
Art by ALBERTO PONTICELLI
3-D motion cover by BILLY TANIn a world with no heroes, death lies behind every turn! Black Hand arrives to take advantage of Forever Evil, and he may be the most dangerous player yet! And when last we saw him, Black Hand was a pile of dust in the Dead Zone! How did he manage to return?
This month is a nice opportunity to get some of the newer and less exposed writers on DC’s roster to really let loose. Matt Kindt, currently relegated to back-ups in “Justice League of America,” is writing 4 titles, “Action Comics” back-up writer Sholly Fisch is writing two, and “Swamp Thing”/”Red Lanterns” scribe Charles Soule is writing three books. A pre-“Flashpoint” rising star, Sterling Gates, is also writing 4 titles, after being largely absent from the New 52.
The reason that these four, in particular, are more exciting than Johns or Peter Tomasi writing a bunch of books, is that these are writers whose DC style is still relatively unknown, so there might be some interesting stories popping out of their books, whereas it isn’t too hard to imagine what Tomasi is going to do with the Bat-villains.
6. Dial E
JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.3: DIAL E
Written by CHINA MIEVILLE
Art by MATEUS SANTOLUOCO, JEFF LEMIRE, JOCK, ALBERTO PONTICELLI, DAVID LAPHAM, RICCARDO BURCHIELLO and others
3-D motion cover by BRIAN BOLLANDYou can’t stop dialing! In a special VILLAINS MONTH coda to the fan-favorite DIAL H series, a lost E-dial is discovered by four young criminals on the run in Littleville. But who is chasing them? And will they figure out how to control this nefarious dial before it’s too late? Hindsight is twenty-twenty when you’re sprinting through dark alleys! This issue features 20 new villains, 20 pages of creative insanity—and 20 top artists, each drawing a page of the action!
Multiversity’s Vince Ostrowski is the biggest “Dial H” fan on the planet, and so this was his pick for the book he was most looking forward to but, even as a non-“Dial H” fanatic, I have to admit how awesome this looks. 20 artists, each doing one page on a new villain? Those artist include Jock and Jeff Lemire? Done and done!
5. “Forever Evil”
FOREVER EVIL #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIENDThe first universe-wide event of The New 52 begins as FOREVER EVIL launches! The Justice League is DEAD! And the villains shall INHERIT the Earth! An epic tale of the world’s greatest super-villains starts here!
This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.
While “Villains Month” in general can seem like a slog, both in terms of dollars and lack of continuity within the books you know and love, the “Forever Evil” mini does excite me. Johns does large scale really, really well, and a 7 issue mini focused on the villains of the DCU seems like a fun way for some dearly missed world building in the New 52. David Finch on art will be polarizing, but this seems like the sort of book he’d thrive on. 7 issues seems like a bit much, but I’m still in.
4. Reverse Flash!
THE FLASH #23.2: REVERSE-FLASH
Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art by FRANCIS MANAPUL
3-D motion cover by FRANCIS MANAPULDiscover the untold origin of Reverse-Flash! Who is he, and what is his relationship to Barry Allen? Secrets are revealed and questions answered as we race through the history of Reverse-Flash right through to Forever Evil!
One of the greatest all-time villains, re-imagined by Francis Manapul, seems like a fine place to spend 20 pages.
3. Black Adam!
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7.4: BLACK ADAM
Written by GEOFF JOHNS and STERLING GATES
Art by EDGAR SALAZAR
3-D motion cover by TONY S. DANIEL and MATT BANNINGWhere is Black Adam? And what series of events is triggered when the Secret Society attacks Kahndaq? Discover all of this and much more in this issue!
The greatest almost-villain in all of comics, in my humble opinion, is Black Adam. He’s not quite an anti-hero, he’s not quite a villain, but he’s somewhere in the middle. He’s been on the JSA, he’s killed thousands of people, and he’s always interesting. This is the single title I’m looking most forward to and, hopefully, this leads us to a “Shazam” family book come October.
Continued below2. The art talent is unusual and exciting
JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.2: LOBO
Written by MARGUERITE BENNETT
Art by BEN OLIVER
3-D motion cover by AARON KUDERDeep in the dark corridors of space lives a black-hearted being of unimaginable power. He’s witnessed horrors beyond description and committed unparalleled evils. In all of history, no being has ever been capable of as much chaos and terror as this lone individual. This is the story of the man called Lobo. He’s coming. And he’s bringing all of hell with him.
Because of the large number of books, and the regular creative teams getting a rest, we get some really interesting and inspired pairings. Ben Oliver drawing Lobo? Hell yes. Pasqual Ferry on Deadshot? Sure. Andy Clarke drawing the Joker? Woo-hoo. Szymon Kudranski on Scarecrow? Boy-o. Scott Eaton on Man-Bat? Don’t mind if I do!
Even if a lot of those books will be sub-par in terms of storytelling (they may not be, I’m just hedging my bets), they will be damn pretty to look at. I’ll say it again – Ben Oliver on Lobo. Check out this Lobo Oliver recently put on his blog if you don’t believe me:
1. “Batman: Black and White”
BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE #1
Written by CHIP KIDD, NEAL ADAMS, JOE QUINONES, MARIS WICKS, JOHN ARCUDI and HOWARD MACKIE
Art by MICHAEL CHO, NEAL ADAMS, JOE QUINONES, SEAN MURPHY and CHRIS SAMNEE
Cover by MARC SILVESTRIThe legendary, Eisner Award-winning series BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE returns in a brand-new six-issue miniseries featuring tales of The Dark Knight by some of comics’ greatest writers and artists! This first issue kicks off with stories by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho, Neal Adams, Joe Quinones and Maris Wicks, John Arcudi and Sean Murphy, and Howard Mackie and Chris Samnee!
In addition to so many pre-“Flashpoint” villains returning this month, “Batman: Black and White” is back as well, with a killer cast of creators telling Bat-stories. To me, the combination of villains returning and a relaunching of this series tells us one thing, loud and clear: the old DCU is coming back, slowly but surely. The fact that only two (2) villains featured in Villains Month are New 52 creations (H’el and Relic) shows just how reliant on the old stories the current writers really are. DC can never admit, under the current regime, that the New 52 was a mistake, but by bringing back books like this and villains like Bizarro, even after H’el was created as a poor man’s Bizarro, it shows that, with patience, most of the great stuff from pre-2011 will return at some point.
Let’s just speed up the process.
Check out the full solicits from our friends at Comic Book Resources here.
