DC Solicitation Sneaks: July 2023
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods HC
This was an easy choice to make. “War of the Undead Gods” is the concluding chapter to writer Tom Taylor and artist Trevor Hairsine’s epic alternate-universe superpowered zombie saga and the stakes are now cosmic. While things ended on a positive note as Earth was cleansed of the Anti-Life-powered zombie epidemic, the rest of the universe was still in danger. That’s because Darkseid had been infected as well and he was still at large. As one of the most powerful beings in existence, things are not looking good for anyone still alive at this point. Then again, he’s not the only infected superpowered character to have survived the events of the first volume…
Even if the antihero-centric “Unkillables” is still the series’ high point as I write this, there was a definite increase in quality from vol. 1 to vol. 2. I mean, Taylor managed to make me appreciate seeing John Constantine in a superhero story and I didn’t think that was possible. He also continued to show us new and unexpected sides of many superheroes in the DCU, which is the kind of thing you want to see in these kinds of stories. I realize that while I have yet to read the writer’s “Dark Knights of Steel,” I feel confident that this will wind up being his best alternate-universe superhero work. Assuming that he can stick the landing. No worries from Hairsine, though, he’s been consistently great through the first two volumes.
Knight Terrors: First Blood #1 & Knight Terrors #’s 1 & 2 (of 4): DC’s got a new event series going? It’s about the murder of an old villain in the Hall of Justice and a new villain called Insomnia? And Deadman’s going to be a major part of it? Okay, but who’s writing this? It’s Joshua Williamson again? I’ll pass. Those of you looking for quality superhero art, however, may want to give this a look as Howard Porter is illustrating the prologue, while Giuseppe Camuncoli and Caspar Wijngaard split art duties on the miniseries proper.
Oh, and it looks like A LOT of the ongoing series for this month are taking this and the next month as they publish two-issue “Knight Terrors” minis. Most of these minis appear to be written by the regular writer of each series, so keep an eye out to see if this is true for any of the series you follow. As for what these minis will be about, why nothing less than the greatest fears of the title characters. To that end:
Knight Terrors: The Joker #1 (of 2): Wherein the Clown Prince of Crime finds himself working a 9-to-5 job and dealing with meetings that could’ve been handled as e-mails, making small talk with co-workers by the coffee machine, and why Bring Your Daughter to Work Day has been canceled. No doubt writer Matthew Rosenberg and artist Stefano Raffaele have some answers regarding how he deals with them and why he just doesn’t kill everyone to get his life back on track. Could it have something to do with the masked madman terrorizing Gotham by night? We shall see…
World’s Finest: Teen Titans #1 (of 6): A new “Titans” series was just launched by Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott, but Mark Waid and Emanuela Lupacchino are here to tell you about what things were like when they were just “Teen(s).” This is effectively a “Year One” story for the “Teen Titans” so adjust your expectations accordingly. In my case, I’ve never had any affinity for the team whose original incarnation saved DC Comics, but I can appreciate the talent of a team like Waid and Lupacchino. If nothing else, it just feels good to see Waid, a longtime veteran of the company, experience ongoing and sustained success upon his return to it after many years in exile over at Marvel. Those of you who need more proof of his success need only look at his other new series in these solicitations…
Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1 (of 3): This three issue Black Label miniseries re-teams Waid with his “JLA” collaborator Bryan Hitch. (It should be noted that if this and “Ultimate Invasion” hit their shipping dates, Hitch will have two high profile miniseries shipping at the same time. I’m happy for the man, but this is something that I thought I’d never see given the man’s “slow but steady” reputation that has followed him for most of his career.) The title of the miniseries should give you a good idea as to what this is about; however, it doesn’t mention that Superman is prepared to go to the ends of the Earth in order to save his longtime adversary. While it’s possible that Luthor could be blackmailing him, or promising him something Superman couldn’t refuse, I like to think that it’s down to the Man of Steel’s inherent compassion. Which extends to someone as reprehensible as Luthor. Maybe Waid thinks the same, or he’s got some kind of twist up his sleeve. Whatever the reason, this looks like something that’ll be worth waiting for when it’s collected in hardcover later this year or early next.
The Sandman Universe Special: Thessaly #1: The “Sandman Universe” lives on through “Nightmare Country” and “Dead Boy Detectives.” What I didn’t know is that the witch who was Morpheus’ lover for a time, and played a role in his subsequent demise, also showed up in both of those series. “Nightmare Country” writer James Tynion IV teams with “Faithless” artist Maria Llovet to follow up on her appearances there as she tries to solve the mystery of who killed Madison Flynn. In order to do that, she’s going to have to find a way to magic her way into the job of screenwriter for Flynn’s biopic. Sounds cute. I’m just wondering if this is really going to be a done-in-one story or the lead-in for future stories involving Thessaly. There’s also the matter of whether or not I should be excited for seeing Tynion take on more of the “Sandman” mythos as my copy of “Nightmare Country” vol. 1 still hasn’t shipped yet.
Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo HC: Marc Silvestri’s first DC work was in the pipeline for a VERY long time before the first issue was solicited. Surprisingly, the solicitation of the miniseries appears to have gone on without a hitch and this collection has been advance-solicited for September. While I’m sure this is going to look great, given Silvestri’s past work and the aforementioned lead-up time to the comic’s publication, I’m less convinced about the story it’ll be telling. Not just because it involves Batman and the Joker teaming up to rescue people close to them, but because Silvestri is writing this himself. Let’s not forget that the original Image founders, of which Silvestri was one, rose to fame because of their artistic skills and not their writing ability. They’re still more famous for their art, no matter how many issues of “Spawn” Todd McFarlane has written to try and convince everyone otherwise. Still, this is a 248-page hardcover being sold for $30, which isn’t a bad price these days. So I may pick this up to see if Silvestri’s writing drags down or elevates his art.
Joker: One Operation Joker vol. 1, Superman vs. Meshi vol. 1, and Batman: Justice Buster vol. 1: If nothing else, I appreciate that these are actually manga being translated for the North American market rather than western creators trying their approximation of such. On the other hand, you’ve got the same guy, Satoshi Miyagawa, writing series about Superman trying to decide what to have for lunch, and a Bruce Wayne who has been de-aged to a baby being raised by a Joker. One of these sounds like some cute, slice-of-life fun, while the other is so crazy that I doubt Grant Morrison would be able to deliver a proper take on it. As for “Justice Buster,” it sounds the most conventional of the three as Batman develops a computer program (ROBIN) to help him put an end to crime in Gotham. No points for guessing whether or not it’s going to go out of control here. As a fan of manga, I should be interested in DC’s efforts to properly have a go at the market with some of its most visible characters. What they’ve described here is a mix of the conventional alongside stuff that can charitably be described as “Just so crazy it might work!” If nothing else I’m entertaining the idea of doing a podcast roundtable where I get John and Myron’s opinions on these as well. So keep watching this space.
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures vol. 1: This, on the other hand sounds delightful. It’s all about the extended Bat-family – Nightwing, Red Hood, Spoiler, Orphan, Batgirl, some Robins – hanging out at the mansion and just being a family to each other. As well as new arrival Duke “Signal” Thomas. Originally published on “Webtoon” with its vertically-scrolling format, this has been adapted for a print release. I’m sure this will read just fine in a dead tree edition as word has been that this series is every bit as fun as its premise indicates it will be.
Gotham City: Year One HC: Writer Tom King and artist Phil Hester tell the story of how Gotham became the cesspool of crime and decay that Batman fights against to this very day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look to involve any cults sacrificing people to Bat-gods as writers like Peter Milligan have implied in the past. No, the Gotham we know came into being with the kidnapping of one of the Wayne scions in the early 20th Century. Private Investigator Slam Bradley is hired to find the kid, and what he finds is almost certain to ruin his and a lot of other people’s days. I’m curious, but this will run you $30 for 40-pages less content than “Deadly Duo” will. Maybe I will pick this up in hardcover, or maybe I’ll just wait for the paperback edition.
Dark Knights of Steel vol. 1: Arriving in softcover to coincide with the solicitation of the final issue of the maxiseries, if not its actual release – this is advance-solicited for September. In case you’ve forgotten, this is the maxiseries where writer Tom Taylor and artist Yasmine Putri re-imagine the DCU in a medieval fantasy setting. DC also decided that it’d be a great idea to publish the first six issues in a $25 hardcover, to which I said, “NO THANKS!” to. A $17 paperback collecting those same issues is much more my speed. We’ll see if the wait was worth it in September.