DC Solicitation Sneaks: March 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Superman: Action Comics Superstars vol. 1
While “Superman” is currently under the purview of writer Joshua Williamson, DC has effectively turned “Action Comics” into an ongoing anthology series spotlighting a variety of different creators. This collection marks the first part of this new era, featuring stories written by Jason Aaron and Gail Simone, and illustrated by John Timms and Eddy Barrows, respectively. Aaron and Timms are teaming up to give us their take on Bizarro who is now even more mad at Superman after his homeworld goes missing. Aaron’s sensibilities would seem perfectly tuned for a character like Bizarro and what I’ve seen of Timms’ style makes me very optimistic for what it’ll look like. As for Simone and Barrows, well… their story isn’t summarized here, but they’ve got a track record for quality so there’s every chance it could be as good as the story preceding it.
In other news, the “Absolute” line doubles in size this month. As for whether or not that’s a good thing…
Absolute Green Lantern #1: I have not heard of Jahnoy Lindsay, the artist of this series, at all, but the fact that they’ve been tapped to illustrate it implies that they’re either very good at doing cosmic superhero art and/or have a very distinct and appealing style. That said, the appeal of the artist is secondary here to who will be writing it: Al Ewing. After writing lots of very good cosmic stories at Marvel that failed to get any kind of sales traction, he now has the chance to reinvent DC’s cosmos with a blank slate. At least, that’s what I hope is going to happen. The solicitation for this issue is just, “Without the Corps…without the ring…without the willpower, what’s left is the Absolute Green Lantern!” So it may not even be cosmic at all. It’s still coming from Ewing, however, which means that it’s still likely to be very good on its own terms.
Absolute Martian Manhunter #1: This comes to us from writer Deniz Camp, and I’ll have a better idea how to feel about that after I get my hands on his first volume of “Ultimates.” As with “AGL” we’re getting very little to go on here; though, I’d assume the basic concept of a telepathic, shape-shifting Martian who has to live among humans is being kept intact here. Unlike the above-mentioned title, I’m very familiar with the artist for this one, Javier Rodriguez. He’s one of those artists who can draw ANYTHING and make it look stylish. Putting him on a title that centers around a shapeshifter is a very smart and promising move in my opinion.
Absolute Flash #1: Nick Robles illustrates this series and while I liked what he did on “The Dreaming: Waking Hours,” I wouldn’t necessarily say that his name alone is enough to get me to pick up this title. Which is a shame since it’s being written by Jeff Lemire. While I initially liked the man’s work, it soon became evident that he’s better at finding new ways to illustrate a comics story, as seen in “Sweet Tooth” and “Royal City,” than in finding clever spins on familiar material, as seen in pretty much everything else that he’s written. So when you tell me that he’s been given a blank slate to reinvent a character like “The Flash,” well, you’ll forgive me for not expecting much to come of it.
Batman #158: Beginning “Hush 2” from the creative team of the original: writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee. The original “Hush” was a twelve-issue storyline that ran in the pages of “Batman” in the 00’s that sold like gangbusters based on Lee’s work. Loeb’s storyline, while certainly serviceable, was mostly notable for introducing a new villain that most writers have struggled to do something interesting with ever since. Now we’re getting a sequel to that original story, and I think it’s great that Lee is carving out the time to illustrate it while also being President of DC Comics. That said, everyone should know that this is just the start of “Hush 2” which is planned to run for five more issues before an extended break happens in order to allow the final six issues to be drawn.
Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature #1 (of 5): That the character of Peacemaker is now popular enough to “present” his own spinoff miniseries is wild, and it’s all thanks to James Gunn who is credited as a “story consultant” here. Given that he’s busy co-running DC’s current film operations, directing the new “Superman” movie, and working on Season Two of “Peacemaker,” I’d be very surprised to learn that “story consultant” meant anything more than dashing off a bunch of notes on a couple of cocktail napkins for writers Tim Seely and Rex Ogle. They’re telling stories of Vigilante going after a missing Peacemaker, and of Eagly and his pet human stopping some masked bad guys on their vacation, respectively. These stories are being illustrated by Mitch Gerads, who is best known for illustrating some very serious superhero stories with Tom King, and Matteo Lolli, who has done some straightforward superhero stuff with Gerry Duggan over at Marvel, along with a lot of “Deadpool” as well.
Secret Six #1 (of ???): It’s billed as a miniseries, but with no indication of how long it’s meant to be. Amanda Waller has been taken into custody following the events of “Absolute Power,” but wouldn’t you know it, she’s already escaped. With no solid leads, the trio of Jon “Superman” Kent, Jay Nakamura, and Dreamer are forced to team up with another trio who have crossed Waller’s path in the past: Catman, Deadshot, and Black Alice. This does seem a little contrived, but they’re at least including half of the modern “Secret Six” team in this new incarnation, so I’m feeling a little optimistic here. Nicole Maines writes and Stephen Segovia illustrates.
All In Saga: This is a collection of issues which I think is meant to serve as a starting point for people wanting to jump in on the new “Absolute” line, as well as the creative team refresh of the DCU. Unfortunately I can’t tell how this collection is meant to tell a coherent story between all of the issues collected here: “Absolute Power” #4, “DC All In Special” #1, “Justice League Unlimited” #1, “Batman” #153, “Wonder Woman” #14, and “Superman” #19. You’ve got the final issue of an event storyline, a flip-book one-shot, the start of the new “Justice League” series and a random collection of “Batman,” “Wonder Woman,” and “Superman” issues. I’m not sure what story is meant to be told here and the randomness of the issues being collected here doesn’t make me interested in wanting to find out.