DC Previews Picks: February 2013
After 300 issues, “Hellblazer” ends in these solicitations. It’s disappointing news but I suppose the writing was on the wall after its sales dipped below the 10,000 mark. There was a time when DC was considering cancelling the series, after Warren Ellis abruptly exited the title after the company declined to publish the school shooting issue he wrote (which eventually saw the light of day in the rarities collection “Vertigo Resurrected”). Then Brian Azzarello took over with issue #146 and revitalized the title whose sales have been on a slow decline ever since. By the time it ends, the title will have run for 25 years, which is an impressive length by any standards. The feat is all the more impressive because “Hellblazer” was always a writer-driven title, something of a rarity early on in an industry that was heavily artist-driven at the time. It certainly helped that it had some of the best in the business (in chronological order): Jamie Delano, Garth Ennis, Paul Jenkins, the aforementioned Ellis and Azzarello, Mike Carey, Denise Mina, Andy Diggle and Peter Milligan (with the likes of Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison and Eddie Campbell providing fill-ins along the way). Artistically, it was no slouch either; though, Sean Phillips led the pack with Marcelo Frusin a close second. I’m sad to see it go, but it leaves a rich legacy of stories that outshines a lot of other series that have lasted as long.
In other news, the last of the “Before Watchmen” mini-series ship this month and all I can say is good fucking riddance. More on this month’s offerings after the break.
Justice League of America #1: Shipping with 54 different covers, one for each state and principality of the United States. Clever marketing if nothing else. This is coming to us from Geoff Johns and David Finch and its lineup is billed as featuring the most DANGEROUS superheroes out there. I want to be optimistic in light of Johns’ involvement, but the idea of an “extreme” JLA doesn’t really inspire me. DC, on the other hand, seems so assured of this title’s success that they’re launching two new ongoing series this month featuring B-list members of the team Katana and Vibe. I’m giving them both a year, even with Johns’ co-writing credit on “Vibe.” More than anything, this reeks of arrogance as there’s no indication that people will even like the interpretations of the characters seen in the parent title. If they don’t, then my initial estimate will be more than generous.
Issue #17 of each Green Lantern Family title: Apparently we’re going from crossover to crossover here. “Rise of the Third Army” leads directly into “Wrath of the First Lantern.” As this is part of Johns’ ongoing “Green Lantern” story then I’m onboard. That said, the solicitation text for each of the involved issues does not give the impression that a cohesive story is being spun throughout them.
The Phantom Stranger #5: From the solicitation text, “The Phantom Stranger’s family has gone missing!” Judas had kids? I bet they got picked on a LOT at school.
All-Star Western #17: Also from the solicitation text, “In the backup story, meet Jenny Freedom and the StormWatch of the 19th century!” I’m not sure how I feel about this. The Ellis version of the team is still the definitive one in my eyes and the attempts to capitalize on it in the New 52 have been less than successful. I think I’ll keep passing on this title…
Young Romance: A New 52 Valentine’s Day Special: Features art from Gene Ha, Emanuela Lupaccino, Becky Cloonan and Phil Jimenez. It’ll look great, that’s for sure and fans of the Midnighter and Apollo should know that they’ve got a story here too. As for me, I’ve generally found most romances in mainstream comics to be almost uniformly terrible. Unless they’re coming out of Vertigo, then the results are actually pretty good. At least they were in “Preacher” and “Swamp Thing.”
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (New Edition): Collects the title story by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola which Batman in the 19th century tracking Jack the Ripper. The success of that story pretty much launched the Elseworlds imprint which ran through the 90’s and early 00’s and gave us “Kingdom Come” along the way. I remember reading the story years and have fond, but indistinct memories of it. I’ll be looking forward to picking up this edition which also collects the sequel “Master of Reality” by Augustyn and Eduardo Barretto, which I seem to recall has Batman facing off against the Joker of the era. Looking forward to seeing that.
Marshal Law: The Deluxe Edition HC: Written by 2000A.D. vet Pat Mills, this series was notable for the fact that it features art from Kevin O’Neill of “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” fame. I’ve not heard that this is an essential title for my collection, but it has always occupied a space in my mind because O’Neill was never credited with doing much outside these two titles. Mills is also a solid writer, so I guess if the Amazon discount is deep enough this might wind up in my collection anyway.
Hellblazer #300: To bring us full circle, let me say that this is the only series I’ve made a concerted effort to collect in single issue form. It started about a decade ago when I discovered Ebay and started picking up uncollected runs from writers I liked. Getting the complete Ennis run on this title came first. Then Ellis, Jenkins and Delano. With the missing parts from Azzarello as needed. From there, I figured, “Well why not just keep buying the title monthly?” That was that until I stopped going to the comic shop regularly. Now I’m trying to see if I can get someone on Amazon to sell me the issues of Milligan’s run that I’m behind on for one flat fee instead of $3.99 an issue as is the site’s standard practice. If I succeed… well, you’ll hear about it eventually.