DC Solicitation Sneaks: November 2023
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
DC vs. Vampires vol. 1
$25 for the first half of this miniseries in hardcover? No thank you. $17 for the first half in softcover? Yeah, I think I can make that work in my head. As for what it’s about, “DC vs. Vampires” kind of says it all, doesn’t it. “DCeased” has shown that this kind of out-of-continuity story can work and the hope is that this series measures up in the same way. I will say that it’s interesting to see this coming from two co-writers that I’m familiar with: James Tynion IV and Matthew Rosenberg. I imagine there are people who will see Tynion’s name attached and be disappointed that it’s not coming entirely from him. Longtime readers will be correct in guessing that’s true for me as well – only with Rosenberg’s name subbed in. I’m curious to see how much of his irreverence will make it into the final product, and to see Schmidt’s art on this series. He’s an artist who I’ve heard lots of good things about, but have yet to see anything he’s actually worked on.
Titans: Beast World #1: He’s been doing good work at both Marvel and DC for so long that it feels like Tom Taylor should’ve helmed an event series before now. That changes with “Beast World,” springing out of the pages of his run on “Titans.” The solicitation text implies that this is going to be a straightforward thing: The Necrostar has emerged, is going to end all life on Earth, and only Garfield “Beast Boy” Logan is able to stop it. Oh, and Amanda Waller might be using the chaos to further her current goal of taking out all metahumans in the DCU. There’s even a one-shot about that last bit – Beast World: Waller Rising – hitting this month as well. Even though I’ve never been a “Titans” reader, I’m enough of a fan of Taylor’s that I’ll be checking this out when it gets collected. Especially with Ivan Reis providing the art.
Batman: Off-World #1 (of 6): After years of writing lots of Marvel titles and delivering an “Avengers” run that took the team all across time and the multiverse, it appears that Jason Aaron is done with the publisher for now. So he’s come back to the publisher that gave him his big break, with “The Other Side” and “Scalped,” to write a “Batman” miniseries. Is this the start of something bigger for the writer at DC? We shall see. As for “Off World,” it sounds as extra as you’d expect from the writer as a younger Batman heads out into space to catch an alien lawbreaker. If you’re a fan of the writer like me, then this is likely all you need to know to get invested in this title. However, this miniseries is also going to feature the art of Doug Mahnke, who is quite honestly the most perfect artist to draw what is going to be an over-the-top-crazy sci-fi “Batman” story. That said, if you’re looking for a different kind of crazy involving the Dark Knight…
Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight #1 (of 4): St. Nick has come to Gotham on Christmas. Not to spread holiday cheer, but to track down the perpetrator of a brutal crime. To do so, he’s going to team up with his former student – Batman. When did Batman study under Santa? What did he learn from him? Did they part ways because a disagreement over who was nice and who was naughty? Writer Jeff Parker and artist Michele Bandini look to answer these questions and more as the Christmas Knights make their presence known through the DCU. I won’t lie: This sounds adorable. However, don’t expect to read a review of the collected edition when it comes out. I’ll likely wait until the following Christmas to read a story like this.
Outsiders #1: This is one of two books that writers Colin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing are launching this month, with the other being “Thunderbolts” over at Marvel. This is easily the more interesting of the two as it looks like they’re trying to do “Planetary” in the DCU. That series was one of the best that WarrenEllis wrote, with the incredible John Cassaday providing the art in every issue. While it was ostensibly about a three-person team investigating the hidden strangeness of the world, it was really about exploring the history of pulp comics and other genres and their influence on superheroes. Something similar is being done here, only with the secret corners of the DCU being explored by Luke Fox, Kate “Batwoman” Kane, and a third unnamed member who’s been confirmed as a new version of the Drummer. Kelly & Lanzing have yet to write something that really gets me excited, but I’m at least curious to see if they wind up turning this run of “Outsiders” into a proper “Planetary” homage or a ripoff. Robert Carey provides the art and I bet he really wishes people would stop comparing this series to one illustrated by Cassaday.
Batman: Shadows of the Bat – House of Gotham: I thought this was a tie-in to the “Shadows of the Bat” event, but upon closer inspection (in that I actually read the solicitation text) this is something different. It’s a story about a boy whose parents were killed by the Joker and how he was failed by the system in Gotham. Catastrophically so as he didn’t wind up in an orphanage or a foster home. No, he wound up in Arkham Asylum. What happens next is not likely to be pretty. Matthew Rosenberg writes, and Fernando Blanco illustrates. Who knows, if this turns out to be good, I might have to check out the other half of the “Shadows of the Bat” event – “The Tower” – also solicited here.
Black Adam vol. 2: East of Egypt: No, I didn’t like the first volume all that much. Yet it’s only half the story and this would be its wrap-up. Which means that I’ll either sell vol. 1 before this comes out, buy this and hope the story gets better, or… shrug and do nothing.
Nightwing vol. 2: Get Grayson: Waiting to read this series in paperback was the right move. Vol. 1 was a perfectly entertaining superhero story that I likely would have enjoyed less if I had paid a premium for the hardcover edition. Vol. 2 looks to continue on what was set up previously as newly-minted billionaire Dick Grayson sets up the Alfred Pennyworth Foundation to help get people off of the streets of Bludhaven. This, a two-part crossover with “Superman: Son of Kal-El” and an Eisner-nominated issue that was constructed to be read as a continuous 22-page image are just a few of the things we have to look forward to in “Get Grayson.”