DC Previews Picks: September 2012
This coming September marks the one-year anniversary of the “New 52” and we’re getting another stunt to celebrate. There will be no “regular” issues solicited this month — only flashback “zero” issues designed to illuminate key points in the history of these characters and series. Some of them, such as the ones from the “Green Lantern” line are explicitly setting up future storylines, and a couple like “Talon” and “Sword of Sorcery” are actually trailing new titles. I doubt that this will produce the long-term growth that the industry so desperately needs, but anything that keeps the big two going long enough for Image to take over the industry (again — this time for the right reasons) can’t be all bad.
The Shade #12: Writer James Robinson raised a lot of concern when he stated that this series, featuring the sinisterly charming antagonist of “Starman,” might not complete its planned run after it launched with somewhat disappointing sales in the wake of the “New 52.” Well, here we are at the end and we’ve got art from Gene Ha to cap it all off. The Shade was one of those rare supporting characters who can enliven just about any scene that he’s in (at least, that’s what Robinson was able to do with him) so picking up the inevitable collected edition is a no brainer. And yes, I realize that trade-waiters like me are what prompted the writer to make those comments online in the first place. All I can say is that the series did reach its conclusion, and I’ll still have the fact that “Wildcats 3.0” didn’t to haunt me until my dying day.
Justice League Dark vol. 1: In The Dark: John Constantine and Shade The Changing Man on a team together. In the DC Universe. It sounds like a disaster waiting to happen for anyone dumb enough to team up with them. Anyone who has read about the exploits of either character knows that they don’t play well with others, and (especially in Constantine’s case) usually wind up getting other people killed. I think that it would be hilarious if everyone but Constantine and Shade wound up getting killed after each arc, with the roster being re-populated by unwitting dupes who can’t connect the dots. This won’t be what we’re getting here, but I’m optimistic that Milligan will try to have some fun with the setup.
52 Omnibus HC: Another one of those, “If you haven’t bought it before now” recommendations. It would normally be cheaper to pick up the four volumes in softcover, but a quick check over at Amazon gives me the impression that DC is in the process of letting them go out of print. So if you want to get your hands on DC’s best weekly serial, you’ll want to act before this hits the stands.
The Batman/Judge Dredd Collection HC: Plus a Lobo/Judge Dredd crossover to round out the package. I have the original edition that collects the three team-ups between Batman and Dredd and I remember them being pretty fun. That said, as it comes from veteran “Dredd” and “2000 A.D.” writers John Wagner and Alan Grant, you’ll have to have acquired a taste for the brand of ridiculousness that those titles traffic in. Specifically, if the idea of Judge Death singing “Sympathy For The Devil” at a concert in Gotham or Joker becoming one of the Dark Judges with a laugh that makes people’s heads explode, stretches your suspension of disbelief then this isn’t for you.
Steig Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo vol. 1 HC: The original book is a fantastic read and actually deserving of its hype. There should be little doubt that this is going to supplant or even complement that, but it at least has a good creative team in writer Denise Mina and artist Leonardo Manco who put out a good “Hellblazer” arc a few years back. I’m sure it’ll sell well, but I doubt that it’ll bring any new fans to the medium. To be honest, DC would’ve been better off trying to get this done sooner so they could’ve marketed it as part of their Vertigo Crime line. That way they might’ve had better success trying to sell the other titles in it on the back of this one. Then again, most of them were very “meh” anyway so the line probably would’ve folded in much the same way it did in real life. It just would’ve taken longer.
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland HC: It’s not the next volume, but an original story by creator Bill Willingham with art from Jim Fern and Craig Hamilton. This is a Bigby-centric story as, while traveling across America to find a new home for Fabletown, he encounters a place called Story City populated entirely by werewolves. The volume is currently solicited for November, so let’s hope that it makes its date this time because much like the most recent volume of “The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service” it suffered a massive delay after it’s initial announcement last year. Even so, Willingham has yet to disappoint with this title so I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.
Scalped vol. 10: Trail’s End: I’m expecting a finale that makes including it on my “best of 2012” list the easiest thing I’ll do all year. If it’s as good as the previous volumes, then I have nothing to worry about.
The Unwritten vol. 6: Tommy Taylor And The War Of Words: 240 pages of Tom Taylor finally taking the fight to the Cabal. I’m sold! And with a cover that has him throwing down with Pullman? Damn! October can’t come fast enough.