DC Previews Picks: August 2020
Savor this round of Previews Picks from DC. With Friday’s news that they were ending their distribution agreement with Diamond, this will likely be the last “Previews” picks you’ll read. Not that I won’t cover their solicitations if they’re made available. But something tells me that I have more of these columns behind me than ahead.
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Dark Nights: Death Metal — Legends of the Dark Knights #1
It’s another “Metal” series, so that means there’s another round of Nightmare Batmen for the heroes to deal with . Including the Batman Who Is Also A Dinosaur. Warren Ellis mentioned this in his newsletter, and it’s a two-page bit that he’s doing. This should be fun since “Nextwave” showed that he can do demented superheroics extremely well. That he’s doing a two-page story also explains the abundance of creators on this one-shot. In addition to Ellis, and “Metal” mastermind Scott Snyder, there’s James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson, Peter Tomasi, Daniel Warren Johnson, Frank Tieri, Garth Ennis…
WAIT! WHAT THE HELL IS GARTH ENNIS DOING ON A BATMAN EVENT BOOK?!
You’d think that’s the last place he’d want to be. He may have contributed a miniseries to Marvel’s “Secret Wars” event, but that was basically just an excuse for him to write another “Phantom Eagle” miniseries. Even if this one-shot is just a showcase for the craziest Batmen in the Dark Multiverse (in stories that are at least two or more pages), I’m still not sure it’s a good fit for the writer. Judging by his last two “Sixpack” miniseries for DC, my guess is that he will be delivering the Batman Who Is So Incredibly Dumb And Awful That You Now Feel Shame For Liking Batman At All. Just a hunch, really.
Batman: Three Jokers #1 (of 3): I mentioned this in the June Picks, but after the Diamond shutdown there should REALLY be no delays for this miniseries. Right Geoff and Jason?
Dark Nights: Death Metal #3 (of 6): Among other things, the return of everyone’s favorite wannabe Robin is promised. This is a little curious since no Robins who fit that description immediately come to… Oh. Oh god, NOT HIM!
Harley Quinn #75: “FINAL ISSUE — YES, WE’RE SERIOUS!” DC, we’re not surprised you’re cancelling Harley Quinn’s ongoing series. What will surprise us is if she doesn’t get a new ongoing series in the next round of solicitations.
Justice League #51: Yeah, I figured DC wouldn’t be crazy enough to make Simon Spurrier the new regular writer on Justice League. As he wraps up his arc, a new guest writer hops onboard: Jeff Loveness, who has written comics before, but is probably better known for his work on “Rick and Morty.” Most recently, he was the solo writer on “Never Ricking Morty” (the train episode) and “Promortyus” (the “Alien” episode) from the back half of Season Five. Now he’s doing a two-parter on “Justice League” that sees him playing with one of Alan Moore’s most used plot devices for the DCU: The Black Mercy. It’s the plant that kills you while your desires are granted in a dream. This does sound like the kind of plot device that a writer for “Rick and Morty” could go really crazy with… on the TV series. As he’s stuck doing this in the DCU, it might be best for everyone to temper their expectations here.
Legion of Super-Heroes #8: The first part of a two-part story where each page spotlights a different member of the Legion and is drawn by a different artist. Genius storytelling or the best-looking mess we’ll see in comics this year? We’ll find out in two months!
Batman: The Demon Trilogy HC: Even though this hardcover collects the three “…of the Demon” stories — “Birth,” “Bride,” and “Son” — it’s a bit of a misnomer to call them a trilogy. That’s because two of them were written by Dennis O’Neil and one by Mike Barr. Also, they’re not telling one story: Just three key encounters between Batman and his longest-lived foe, Ra’s Al Ghul. I’ve read “Bride” a while (read: over two decades) back and I’ve got some fond memories of it. While I’m interested in the other two stories, and in seeing them reprinted in their original oversized format, I’m not sure if I’m $75 interested.