DC Solicitation Sneaks: June 2026
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Detective Comics by Tom Taylor vol. 3: The Courage That Kills
Fear has always been one of Batman’s greatest weapons when it comes to his never-ending war on crime. However, what if everyone in Gotham City woke up one day without the ability to feel it? Would this turn it into a modern utopia, or (more likely) be the start of its descent into complete and utter chaos. That’s what Batman’s newest villain is determined to find out by infecting the city with a virus that removes their ability to process fear – and the Dark Knight is infected too. Taylor’s run on “Detective” has been something of a mixed bag, employing his usual straightforward approach to subverting superhero tropes and making not entirely successful additions to the character’s history. This storyline sounds promising, both in its setup and the addition of an all-new villain. That Mikel Janin will be back to illustrate it is just the icing on the cake.
Summer of Supergirl Special #1: Didja hear? She’s got a new movie out this month, also featuring Lobo – who’s in this special as well. Synergy! At least DC is putting a quality team on this including regular “Supergirl” creator Sophie Campbell, along with Mark Waid, and Gail Simone. It’s probably worth noting that Supergirl is guest-starring in this month’s issue of “Lobo,” but I’m giving the nod to this issue because I’ve read enough of Skottie Young’s work to know that he’s probably going to miss the mark there.
The Deadman #1: From the team behind “Ice Cream Man” and “Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum,” writer W. Maxwell Prince and artist Martin Morazzo comes this new series about DC’s deadest superhero. There’s not much to go on here as we’re just told that Boston Brand is floating between the worlds of the living and dead, trying to uphold order between both. So your interest in this will likely come down to how invested you are in this particular creative team. To which I say, “Come back after I’ve (probably) read ‘The Kryptonite Spectrum’.”
Supergirl: Survive #1 (of 6): Kara Zor-El and Kal-El left Krypton at different times and wound up embracing very different destinies. What if they both left at the same time – in the wake of Zod’s militaristic rule on the eve of the planet’s destruction? That’s the question Ethan Parker and Griffin Sheridan are asking with this miniseries and it sounds like the most interesting of the “Supergirl” related projects in these solicitations. Especially with Rod Reis handling the art.
DC K.O.: That’s short for “King Omega,” the one person who’ll be able to take on Darkseid now that he’s returned after creating the Absolute Universe. That title will be decided by the Heart of Apokolips as all of DC’s biggest heroes, and villains, fight in a series of ranked one-on-one battles. This is another event written by Scott Snyder whose work has generally disappointed me when he’s not writing a regular “Batman” title. So, I decided to absorb all of the spoilers I could for this series as it was being published and… I’m not any more interested in reading it. I’ll still be experiencing it through osmosis as a result of its tie-in titles which include…
DC K.O.: Superman: Actually “Superman by Joshua Williamson vol. 6.” Yup, I’m still reading it. It’s still good, even though I miss seeing Superman and Luthor trying to work together like they did in the first two volumes. The tie-in shenanigans here involve Superman working with some unexpected allies to find out what happened to the Legion of Super-Heroes, and the revelation of who’ll be protecting the Earth while he’s in the tournament.
DC K.O.: Battle Royale: Collects most of the one-shots, including “Boss Battle.” So if you want to see who’d win in the Homelander vs. Superman fight, you’re going to have to pick this up. I’ll admit that a better inducement on my part would be the four-part “Knightfight” series which has Batman fighting his way through alternate Gothams from writer Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora – someone who is certain to take that setup and draw the absolute hell out of it!
DC K.O.: Justice League Unlimited: Actually vol. 3 of the series – vol. 4 if you count “We Are Yesterday.” With most of Earth’s heroes involved in the tournament, it’s up to Mister Terriffic and the time-stranded heroes from that other event to try and keep things from going to hell. Well, more hell than they already are. Mark Waid writes and Dan Mora illustrates. Yes, Dan was VERY prolific during this crossover.
Absolute Martian Manhunter vol. 2: The Agency: John (and the Martian) may have saved Middleton in vol. 1, but he wasn’t able to save his marriage. Now he’s living out of a hotel as he’s visited by The Agency, a shadowy government organization who’ve come to investigate what’s been happening in his town. Dealing with them will likely be a piece of cake, at least until John finds out that his son has been possessed by an agent of Darkseid. I respected vol. 1 more than I actually enjoyed it, which put this comic ahead of most others I’ve read from writer Deniz Camp. I’m expecting that to continue here as the writer focuses on ideas over character and stories, while also giving artist Javier Rodriguez lots of incredible and mind-bending stuff to draw.
Superman Unlimited vol. 2: This Looks Like a Job For…: Vol. 2 of the Dan Slott-written series. Vol. 1 has been ordered and I’ll know how excited I should be for this after reading it. That said, Superman and Guy Gardner teaming up to save Simon Stagg on his space yacht and the reinvention of the Prankster as an A-list villain do make this volume sound quite intriguing.
Gotham City: Year One Deluxe Edition: Good enough for the deluxe treatment? I wouldn’t say so. Phil Hester may have made this look good, but writer Tom King tells a too-ordinary story that would’ve been better served had it not been associated with the Bat-mythos. If you really want to read this, just get the regular softcover edition instead.
Batman: The Long Halloween – The Last Halloween: Already solicited in softcover? That was quick. The hardcover has also been ordered and this is one of those cases where I’d rather have this story in that format because I already have the other “Long Halloween” stories in it as well. Whether or not this will stay in my library, well… that’s an entirely different question.