DC Solicitation Sneaks: November 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Justice League of America: The Nail – Complete Deluxe Edition
The Justice League has always been a combination of superheroes working together to achieve things they couldn’t do individually. While there isn’t a hierarchy within the team, one hero has always been first among them: Superman. So what happens to the League when he never existed in the DCU in the first place? That’s what these two Elseworlds miniseries from creator Alan Davis look to answer, and I look to finally read after all these years. I’d heard about how good “The Nail” and its follow-up “Another Nail” were, but just never got around to reading them for one reason or another. Now DC is reprinting both together in an oversized deluxe hardcover format that I’d normally say something like, “If you haven’t read this by now…” in these writeups. Now it’s my turn to do that and while this may be on the pricey side ($50 for 312 pages), I’m still interested in seeing whether or not these miniseries live up to their hype.
Batman/Deadpool #1: The DC half of the epic crossover brought to you by the “Klaus” team supreme of writer Grant Morrison and artist Dan Mora. Like the Marvel half, there aren’t any specifics being given about the plot. However, we’ve been promised that Morrison is going to go full meta here and fully embrace the fact that this is a comic book story, told in a comic book format, featuring a character who’s fully aware that he’s in a comic book. I’m sure Mora is up to the challenge of whatever insanity is thrown at him, as I’m sure that Batman will respond to all of this with his trademark grim stoicism. Or maybe his reaction will be a surprise.
We’ve also got additional crossover stories in this issue: Nightwing/Laura “Wolverine” Kinney from Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo, Hulk/Harley Quinn by Mariko Tamaki and Amanda Conner, Ms. Marvel/Static by G. Willow Wilson and Denys Cowan, and Doctor Strange/John Constantine by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman. Yes, you read that last part correctly – three writers are teaming up for what is likely an 8-10 page story. I don’t know how or why it took three writers to do this, but my gut is already telling me what the most disappointing story in this one-shot is likely to be.
Batman: Knightfight #1: The “DC K.O.” crossover (which stands for King Omega, in case you haven’t heard) rolls on this month with this latest tie-in one-shot? Miniseries? It’s not stated here but I find it hard to believe that the publisher would limit a story about Batman’s involvement in the event to just one issue. Particularly when it involves him fighting against THE BATMEN OF THE FUTURE!!! Brought to you by Joshua Williamson and… Dan Mora? I thought he’d be too busy with “Justice League Unlimited” and “Transformers” to do any extra work like this for DC. Guess I was wrong, or maybe this is just a one-issue thing.
Harley & Ivy: Life & Crimes: It’s the story of DC’s most famous criminal couple right from the start. See how Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy started as enemies, became friends, and then made the jump to being lovers courtesy of writer/artist Erica Henderson. Best known for her lengthy run as artist on “The Incredible Squirrel Girl” she’s also worked on “Dracula Motherf**ker!!” and “Parasocial” with Alex De Campi, and the gone-before-its-time “Assassin Nation” with Kyle Starks. There’s no doubt that she’s the right artist for this kind of project, but are her writing chops up to the task? I want to believe that’s the case, but it’s also possible that the art is going to be so lively that it may not matter.
Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia #1 (of 4): Green Arrow is busy putting his life back together after being forced out of his company when The Question comes calling. He’s been tracking a human trafficking operation through Hub City and the Arctic, only turning up a name for his trouble: Arcadia. Not having anything better to do, Green Arrow joins The Question in his search to find out what it means only to run straight into the brick wall that is Batman. This Black Label miniseries comes to us from writer/artist Gabriel Hardman who was partly responsible for the deeply mediocre second series of “Star Wars: Legacy” but also gave us the really solid “Aliens: Dust to Dust” on his own. Let’s hope that means we’ll get an equally solid miniseries out of this intriguing setup.
Absolute Batman vol. 2: Abomination: Likely referring to the debut of Absolute Bane in this volume. Just a hunch. Also, I did get my copy of vol. 1 in the mail yesterday. I haven’t read it yet because I’ve been busy with work, social commitments, and writing this. BUT SOON!!! MAYBE EVEN AFTER I’M DONE WITH THIS!!!
The Flash vol. 4: Bad Moon Rising: Because that’s where Eclipso wound up at the end of vol. 3. Now he’s working on assembling an army using the powers he’s gained in the wake of Darkseid’s death to assemble an army, which includes Flash’s own Rogues. Not about to let the villain have his way, Wally prepares to use his newfound ability to split himself into temporary temporal versions of himself to form his own army. Nothing will go wrong there, right? Writer Simon Spurrier wraps up his run on “The Flash” after giving us two extended storylines. Certainly not bad ones, but they’ve felt like the comic book equivalent of ingesting two full-course meals back to back (so far).
Poison Ivy vol. 6: A Death in Marshview: A subtitle like that certainly sounds ominous. But it certainly can’t be referring to Ivy because she’s already died and come back in this series. Harley Quinn? Ha, no. Killer Croc? Possibly, but I’m hoping his status as a Bat-villain protects him here. Janet From HR? Don’t be silly. The solicitation for this month’s issue implies that Ivy is going to take her out to the swamp and kill the woman herself. Um… spoilers?