DC Solicitation Sneaks: December 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Superman Unlimited vol. 1
Dan Slott may have broken into mainstream comics with “Arkham Asylum: Living Hell,” but he made his name at Marvel with his legendary run on “Amazing Spider-Man.” Now that things have cooled off for him at the House of Ideas, he’s found his way over to DC who has seen fit to grace him with an all-new “Superman” title to write. I’m all for that, especially if it channels his gift for subverting tropes that was consistently on display in “Amazing” and much less so in his “Iron Man” and “Fantastic Four” runs. We might be getting that here as when Supes has to save Earth from an oncoming meteor only to find out that it’s one made of Kryptonite. Things go from bad to worse when in the wake of this, his weakness is found to have properties beneficial to all of mankind. What’s the Man of Steel supposed to do when the planet he’s promised to keep safe is no longer safe for him? We’ll see if Slott has some good answers for that in this volume.
DC K.O. Superman/Wonder Woman/Harley Quinn/Red Hood vs. [REDACTED] #1’s: DC’s latest event marches on with these four one-shots spotlighting specific fights that seek to pit these heroes against unexpected opponents. As for who the first three are fighting… your guess is as good as mine after you assume that we’re not going for obvious match-ups like Superman vs. Luthor and Wonder Woman vs. Cheetah. The exception here is the Red Hood one-shot which seems all but certain to pit him against the Joker for a rematch decades in the making. You’d think the member of the Bat-family that regularly uses guns here would have the edge, but this is the Joker we’re talking about. We’ll see if co-writers Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson have the Clown Prince of Crime go two-for-two against the former Robin, with another crowbar this time just to rub it in.
Absolute Batman: Ark M Special #1: It’s a big month for “Absolute” titles, starting with this one-shot which promises to detail the history of the secret black site that has started operating in Gotham City. Scott Snyder co-writes this issue with Frank Tieri and Joshua Hixson provides the art. Meanwhile over in Absolute Batman #15, Alfred finally tells us what he knows about the man called the Joker. Joining Snyder for this issue is his “Detective Comics” and “Wytches” collaborator Jock. Additionally, Batman teams up with Wonder Woman for the first time in Absolute Wonder Woman #14. Elsewhere… not much else. I guess it’s just a big month for “Batman” in the Absolute Universe.
Birds of Prey #28: The final issue. Which kind of sucks because the series was just hitting its stride with vol. 3. Then again, the fact that it took until vol. 3 for that to happen might be a reason it’s getting the axe now.
Poison Ivy #39: From the solicitation text, “Having a friend for dinner is simply lovely, isn’t it?” After all the talk last month in these solicitations, I just hope it’s not Janet From HR.
Absolute Superman vol. 2: Son of the Demon: So the big reveal at the end of vol. 1 was that the head of the Lazarus corporation Superman has been fighting against was none other than Ra’s Al Ghul. Which means that Supes is up against a ruthless businessman with centuries of experience in being a bastard. Fortunately the Omega Men are ready to fight alongside him, so long as they can convince our protagonist that their aims are aligned. The first volume was a solid start to this reinvention of the “Superman” mythos, so I’m curious to see what writer Jason Aaron and artist Rafa Sandoval (along with Carmine Di Giandomenico and Fico Ossio) do here. Let’s see if re-positioning this longtime Bat-foe as a Super-foe gives this title what it needs to get to the next level.
Absolute Wonder Woman vol. 2: As My Mothers Made Me: Diana was told that she was the last of the Amazons. So when she finds out that there may be another one held captive underground in the government base known as Area 41, nothing is going to keep her from finding out the truth. Whether or not she’ll actually get there is up for debate as she’ll have to go through the base’s leader, Veronica Cale, and the leader of the army of monsters in the labyrinth blow the base. Sounds like a good time to me – for us readers, of course. Kelly Thomopson writes, Hayden Sherman illustrates, and Matias Bergara pitches in art for a couple of issues too.
Krypto: Last Dog of Krypton: Longtime readers and listeners will know that I’m an avowed cat person. I’ll still read comics focused on dogs, but they have to be doing something to interest me as being a book about cute doggos just doesn’t do it for me the way one about cats does. Enter Ryan North who’s writing this miniseries that’s actually going to tell the story of how Krypto came to Earth. While most comics featuring the Super-pup are out-of-continuity all-ages affairs, this one is in continuity and detailing a relatively unknown part of it as well. I’m in, and the art from Mike Norton only adds to its appeal, as does the cover from Jae Lee as the spooky artist par excellence trying to be adorable is absolutely precious.
Batman: Detective Comics (by Tom Taylor) vol. 2: Elixir: P.I. Harvey Bullock is working a case with some questions he just can’t answer. So when his investigation has him crossing paths with Batman, the case is as good as solved, right? Well, my impression of Bullock was formed by his portrayal on “The Animated Series” as the grumpy cop who did not trust Batman at all. That take on the character hasn’t always held true in the comics, so it’ll be interesting to see how Taylor decides to pursue it here. It should make for a good time, seeing as how they’ll be solving a mystery and not trying to add any new wrinkles to Batman’s origin. In addition, the anniversary issue #1100 is collected here which will also feature contributions from lots of well-respected Bat-creators, even if it probably won’t match the wattage from the #1000 issue.
Shade the Changing Man by Peter Milligan and Chris Bachalo Omnibus vol. 2: The second half of this founding Vertigo series is collected. Vol. 1 is still on my To Buy list, but it’s good to see that the series will finally be collected decades after the original issues were published. While I did like what I’ve read of the series after the initial attempts to collect it in paperback, I’m a little wary about what this volume has to offer. That’s because Milligan originally planned to leave after issue #50 and wanted the series to end there. However, it was selling well enough that the series was set to continue if he did. So Milligan stuck around and things wrapped up 20 issues later with #70. Let’s hope you can’t feel the writer’s desire to leave through those issues here, or maybe we’ll get his own take on the situation in the foreword and afterword planned for this omnibus.