DC Solicitation Sneaks: October 2023
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1
“This. Sounds. Ridiculous,” were my first thoughts upon seeing this solicitation. Ridiculousness isn’t a bad thing, however, as it can stand out like a shining beacon in a sea of utter sameness. Make of that what you will. My only concern here is whether or not the comic will be able to live up to the scale of what’s promised. What starts off as a clash between the League and the Legion of Doom quickly goes from zero-to-crazy when the border between dimensions is breached and the stars of the Monsterverse make their way into the DCU. While I’m sure that seeing the League fight Godzilla and Kong will make for an entertaining first couple of issues, it’ll be interesting to see what writer Brian Buccellato and artist Christian Duce have in store after that. Any takers on whether we’ll see the ultimate Luthor/Darkseid/Mechagodzilla/King Ghidora team up? I’d certainly pay to see that.
Batman & Robin #2: I know I said last month that I’d be skipping this series because Joshua Williamson is writing it and what I’ve read from him has done nothing for me. However, I felt that it was worth mentioning that this issue is introducing a new villain. She’s been described elsewhere as a female version of Hush, the vindictive childhood friend of Bruce Wayne who once assumed his identity. Her name? Shush. Yes, really. Still skipping this series.
Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #1 (of 6): Or, the “Golden Age Sandman” if you prefer. Dodds was originally a crimefighter who took on criminals using a sleep gas of his own devising. He also came up with some other forms of gas to fight crime with that were far more lethal. The premise for this miniseries has the formulas for those gasses being stolen and Dodds having to track them down along with the people who stole them. I believe this new miniseries markes the first time in several decades that the character has starred in a non-Vertigo/Mature Readers series, as “Sandman Mystery Theatre” was a long-running series for that imprint. It comes to us from writer Robert Venditti and artist Riley Rossmo who have done a lot of work in the DCU, but also possess sensibilities that may have this series skewing closer towards the character’s Vertigo days. Which would make this a lot more interesting to me.
Batman/Superman #20: Still waiting on the paperback collections of this series to arrive. However, longtime fans of writer Mark Waid will be interested to know that Batman and Superman are heading across dimensions in this issue to one where there’s a jaded, world-weary Superman, a disabled but still capable Batman, and a Wonder Woman who has embraced the call to war. That’s right, we’re heading to the “Kingdom Come” universe, from the seminal miniseries written by Waid and illustrated by artist Alex Ross. It won’t be the first time the writer has returned to it, but if he’s doing it in this day and age you can bet he’s got a good reason to do so.
Return of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1: One more anniversary issue that serves to remind me I’m no longer as young as I thought I was. The “Death of Superman” was one of the biggest events of the 90’s and it garnered mainstream attention simply based on its title alone. Even then, however, I remember that most comics fans were skeptical of the idea that the character’s death would stick. DC was going to stretch this newfound attention out for as long as possible, which is where the four potential successors to the Man of Steel’s legacy – Superboy, the Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, and Steel – came in. For this anniversary issue, DC got the writers of the “Superman” titles at the time – Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, and Karl Kesel – to come back and write some “lost stories” from that era. It’s a nice idea and if you’ve got any nostalgia for the era, then this 80-page/$10 issue is likely for you.
Batman: City of Madness #1 (of 3): Christian Ward writes and illustrates this Black Label miniseries about a twisted version of Gotham City that exists below the one above ground and is kept in check by the Court of Owls. Until it isn’t and a twisted version of Batman escapes to capture and train a Robin of his own. Now our Dark Knight has to team up with the Court to take this Batman down and take on any other “escapees” from this underground city. I’ve come around on Ward’s art over the years and I would think that he’d be given enough time to work on a prestige format miniseries like this to bring his A-game to the art. I’m not familiar with his skills as a writer, so that leaves me on the fence about this. Maybe it’s finally time to give his Image series “Blood-Stained Teeth” a shot to see what he’s capable of?
Danger Street vol. 1: Not only are writer Tom King and artist Jorge Fornes working on a maxiseries that I’m willing to read (their last one together was the “Watchmen” sequel “Rorshach”), but they’re putting the first volume of it in softcover. Which means I’ll likely be picking this up when it arrives. As to what it’s about, King and Fornes are taking some of DC’s (very) lesser-known characters – Starman, Metamorpho, and Warlord – and examining what happens when they summon Darkseid to Earth in order to defeat him and impress everyone and the Justice League specifically. It… doesn’t go well and now these heroes are going to have to find a way to prevent the apocalypse (or Crisis, if you prefer) they’ve unleashed.
Batman Eternal Omnibus (2023 Edition): Collecting the 52-issue (plus one issue of “Batman”) weekly miniseries that saw all sorts of chaos engulf the Dark Knight’s life, and ultimately served as a follow up to showrunner Scott Snyder’s first year of “Batman.” It was good and the $125 price point for this 1,208-page omnibus is decent for how these things go. However, it bears mentioning that only Snyder and James Tynion IV are credited as writers in the solicitation. For the unfamiliar, no, these two writers did not write the entire thing. They had help from capable people like John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Tim Seely, Ray Fawkes and more – all of whom are credited as artists here even though the latter two are the only writer/artists among them.
Batman/Catwoman: The capstone to Tom King’s “Batman” run hits softcover at a very reasonable $25 for 424 pages. Even though it doesn’t directly follow up on any plot threads left over from his time on that title, it’s still a very engaging (if occasionally confusing) look at the Bat and the Cat’s relationship over multiple generations. In short, if you liked King’s “Batman” work and haven’t already picked up the hardcover edition, check this out when it arrives.
Superman: Son of Kal-El vol. 2 – The Rising: In vol. 1, writer Tom Taylor found a way to make Jon Kent’s desire to be a proactive force for good in the DCU actually work within the confines of that shared superhero universe. He wasn’t going to change it, just a specific part that needed changing: The island nation of Gamorra, run by the nefarious Henry Bendix. We saw in vol. 1 that Bendix is no chump and Jon may have bitten off more than he can chew here. Which is why he’s going to seek out some help in order to find out the best way to bring the dictator down. Naturally his first choice in this matter is Nightwing and I’m sure it’s because he’s the best one and not because Taylor is also writing his title as well. I kid, the first volumes of both titles were quite solid and I’m looking forward to seeing how the writer has the two heroes interact with each other.