DC Previews Picks: February 2020
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Batman: Creature of the Night HC
Around 15 years ago, Kurt Busiek wrote, with Stuart Immonen providing the art, a “Superman” miniseries called “Secret Identity.” It was set in the real world and followed a young boy with the name of Clark Kent. Mind you, this was a world where “Superman” existed in the same way he does in ours. While the kid did his best to take all the ribbing in stride, his life winds up taking an unexpected turn when he finds out that he’s got more in common with the Man of Steel than just a name.
Busiek and Immonen essentially took a very dubious premise and made it into a perennial fan-favorite story. I’ll admit that it took me a while to finally get around to reading it, and I was glad to see that it lived up to its reputation. Now Busiek is back with artist John Paul Leon to tell the “Batman” version of this story. The setup here is about a young comic-book fan named Bruce Wainwright who’s living in Gotham City at the same time that a mysterious figure starts stalking its nights. As this is being marketed as a “deliberate spiritual companion” to “Secret Identity” there’s good reason to be excited for what the writer will be bringing to the table here. That would include great instincts for character work and undoubtedly some twists to subvert expectations and set it apart from its predecessor
Flash #750: While we’ve yet to see if fans will go as crazy for the 750th issue of “Wonder Woman” as they did for the 1000th issues of “Action Comics” and “Detective Comics,” DC isn’t slowing down the oversized milestone anniversary issue trend just yet. “Flash” is the next beneficiary of this attention as famous “Flash” creators join regular writer Josh Williamson as he kicks off the next major storyline of his run. Famed creators who are returning include Geoff Johns, Marv Wolfman, Francis Manapul, Scott Kolins… Huh. No Mark Waid? I mean, he had an eight-year run that was hugely influential not just for the character, but on DC Comics itself during the 90’s. You’d think that getting him to do a “Flash” story for this issue would be a no-brainer. Unless upper management (read: Dan Didio) is still bitter with him about how things went the last time Waid came back to write Wally West. That might be a reason…
Amethyst #1: DC gives the ongoing adventures of the Princess of Gemworld another go. Best of luck to them, and creator Amy Reeder, in making a better go of this than the last couple of times they tried to revive the character. Still, getting Reeder on this series is a big get since this series is going to look amazing with her as the artist.
DCeased: Unkillables #1 (of 3): After DC’s own “What if our universe was taken over by zombies,” series topped the charts earlier this year, some kind of follow-up was all but inevitable. And I mean “some kind of follow-up” rather than “sequel” since it’s not immediately clear if “Unkillables” is one. It’s billed as a street-level tale of redemption as Red Hood and Deathstroke take on undead Wonder Woman for all the marbles. I say that because it makes for a more easily understandable objective than what the solicitation text gives me, which is that they’re doing it to save “life.”
The Green Lantern: Season Two #1 (of 12): Hal Jordan and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps are back and looking to put the universe back together after the Blackstars have had their way with it. First on their agenda: Looking for the next generation of cosmic beings to oversee the Corps. Or as the solicitation text puts it, “Is the universe ready for… the Young Guardians?” Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp are back for more police procedural as space opera shenanigans.
Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #1 (of 4): After Brian Azzarello’s attempt to take on the “Birds of Prey” imploded, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti return to the character for a Black Label miniseries. The two of them turned the former Dr. Harleen Quinzel into one of DC’s best-selling books so it stands to reason that a lot of people are going to want to read this. ESPECIALLY since Conner will be illustrating the whole thing. It’s been a while since she’s delivered a full issue’s worth of art, but the pages she did for the Lois Lane/Selina Kyle bachelorette issue of “Batman” shows that she’s still got it. So while the schedule for this series is bi-monthly, expect that to go out the window after issue 2, although the quality of the art will likely make each issue worth the wait.
Leviathan Dawn #1: Bendis and Alex Maleev continue their tale of superhero espionage as the leader of Leviathan has been unmasked. Now it’s time for the heroes to fight back… which doesn’t bode well for the story in the Event Leviathan HC also solicited this month. So if that story was all about finding out the identity of Leviathan’s leader as well as his plans, then it only sounds like half of one. The second half — the fightback — looks to begin with this one-shot. I’ll just say that this kind of storytelling make me glad I’m waiting to read all of Bendis’ “Superman” stories in softcover rather than rushing out to pick them up when they debut in hardcover.
Plunge #1: After a giant tsunami rocks the Bering Strait, a distress signal starts sounding from deep beneath the ocean. It belongs to a ship known as the Derleth, which has been missing for the past 40 years. Naturally a group is being organized to go down and recover the ship, and the fact that this is coming to us from “NOS4A2” and “Locke & Key” writer Joe Hill means that these people will be lucky if the only thing awaiting them in the ship is its zombified crew. While Hill’s presence is enough to get me on board, this miniseries is also going to feature art from a very unlikely source: Stuart Immonen. He got his start at DC before jumping over to Marvel for a very successful run there for many years. After he finished his run on “Amazing Spider-Man,” Immonen said he was going to take a break for a while, and now he’s back with this! I can’t wait to see what kind of style he’s going to deliver for this horror story.
Superman: Villains #1: So, you may have heard that Superman is going to reveal his identity to the world. There are going to be lots of repercussions as a result of that, and the biggest one is likely to be, “What is his rogues gallery going to do about it?” This one-shot, written by Bendis, Matt Fraction, Greg Rucka, and Jody Houser, looks to provide a one-stop answer to that question. Villains like Mongul, Toyman, and Joker(!?) are all name-checked here, so it’s safe to expect stories about them. Luthor is mentioned by name as well, but my expectation is that whatever face time he gets here is just going to be prelude to a much bigger story. After all, how do you expect him to react when he finds out that the Man of Steel’s true identity is that of a reporter he’s crossed paths with more than a few times over the years.
Batman: Arkham Asylum HC New Edition: Yeah, I’m wondering how many times they can reissue this graphic novel too. Still, if for some reason you haven’t picked up Grant Morrison and Dave McKean’s classic Bat-tale then you can pick up this new edition when it comes out. Or just go and buy one of the many others that are floating around out there.
Batman: Universe HC: The story from Bendis and Nick Derington that was serialized in the “Batman” comics initially exclusive to Wal-Mart is finally collected. It’s described as a race across the DC Universe as Batman tries to track down a mystical artifact of incredible power. When it was announced that Bendis was going to DC, I think everyone figured that he’d be writing a “Batman” story at one point. Not just because of the character’s iconic status, but because he’d be a great fit for the writer’s crime fiction leanings. This… doesn’t sound like a crime fiction story. It sounds like something more than a little crazy. I’m still onboard, and I’m sure Derington is going to make it look great. I just hope it doesn’t leave me wishing the writer had played it safe and delivered just a crime fiction-influenced superhero story.
Superman vol. 2: The Unity Saga — The House of El: This is really a busy month for Bendis, for both ongoing titles and collections. Of the many collections bearing his name here, this is the one I’m most interested in. The first volume, “Phantom Earth” was a very entertaining superhero story which showed the writer had a great grasp on the character. It also left off on a pretty dramatic cliffhanger which directly followed up on one of the key plot threads from “The Man of Steel.” Seeing that followed up on, along with the ongoing threat of Rogol Zaar, the newer threat of General Zod, and lots of alien warlords and assassins should be just as fun.