Last week, DC announced four titles making up the Third Wave of New 52 titles: “Talon,” “Team Seven,” “Sword of Sorcery” and “The Phantom Stranger.” With the already announced cancellation of “Justice League International,” many were trying to guess which three other books would be biting the dust.
Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Joining “Justice League International” on the New 52 chopping block will be “Voodoo,” “Captain Atom,” and “Resurrection Man.”
“Voodoo” is a book troubled from the start, with a controversial opening issue set almost entirely in a strip club. Original scribe Ron Marz left the book after issue #4, and the book has consistently been near the bottom of sales for DCnU titles.
“Captain Atom,” under the pen of JT Krul, has also been a notoriously poor seller since its debut, and with “Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan” debuting in August, September seemed the right time to put this book out to pasture.
“Resurrection Man” is a revival of another short-lived series of the same name, both penned by character creators Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Of the three newly cancelled books, this had the most potential, but lackluster stories led to middling sales (although it should be noted that this outsells the not cancelled “Blue Beetle” on a regular basis).
While I’m sure these books have their fans, none of these are exactly surprise cancellations. DC has been living up to its word about incorporating cancelled characters back into the main universe thus far (with the exception of “Static Shock,” which is not featured with some of the other cancelled titles in September’s “DC Universe Presents” #0), I’m sure this won’t be the end for these characters in the New 52.
