DC Solicitation Sneaks: October 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Absolute Green Lantern vol. 1: Without Fear
Al Ewing did some really great work in the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe on “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “S.W.O.R.D.” that, unfortunately, didn’t make a dent in the market. The hope is that working with a blank slate in the Absolute Universe on its “Green Lantern” title, he’ll be able to go as big as he wants in terms of fleshing out that cosmic space. This is in addition to being able to do it for as long as he wants given the imprint’s smashing sales success so far. Vol. 1, however, appears to be giving us a story in a much smaller scale as its description lets us know that it’s about an alien who comes to Earth, terrorizes a small town, and forces some of its citizens – Hal Jordan, Guy Gardner, John Stewart, and Jo Mullien – to overcome their fear as they fight back. Where’s the power ring? Where’s the Green Lantern Corps? Who knows, and maybe that’s part of Ewing’s plan. He’s earned enough trust to get me to pick this up regardless, as well as to vouch for the excellence of its artist Jahony Lindsay.
DC K.O. #1: Something called the Heart of Apokolips has transformed Earth into a hellscape in preparation for the return of Darkseid. It has also forced the heroes of Earth into a fighting tournament for the privilege of fighting the darkest of the New Gods when he re-emerges. The catch being that the closer you get to the Heart of Apokolips, the more you’re corrupted and turned into something dangerous. This isn’t a bad setup for an event series, even if it’s just a ridiculous framework for getting the entire DC Universe into a fighting tournament. However, it’s being written by Scott Snyder with art from Javi Fernandez, and there was a time when the writer’s involvement would’ve been enough to get me to look beyond these misgivings. That time is long past, however, and I’ll likely be spoiling myself for any details of this event as they come out rather than wait for the collected edition.
In case anyone’s interested, there are tie-ins to the event in this month’s Justice League: The Omega Act #, which is the event’s lead-in, Justice League Unlimited #12, Superman #31, Titans #28, and The Flash #26. That issue of “The Flash” is co-written by Mark Waid and Christopher Cantwell. If you’re wondering if that means Simon Spurrier is off of that title, then the answer is “yes.” But it also coincides with the end of his second major storyline on the title, so it doesn’t look like we’ll need to worry about anything being left hanging there.
Absolute Evil #1: What’s the point of creating a brand-new superhero universe if you don’t have a big crossover within it at some point? That’s what this Al Ewing-written and Giuseppe Camuncoli-illustrated one-shot is setting up as Ra’s Al Ghul, Veronica Cale, Hector Hammond, Elenore Thawne, and the Joker are forced to finally work together to combat the new superheroic threats facing them. The problem is that none of these characters have ever played well together and betrayal from within is more a matter of when rather than if. Which is GREAT as far as I’m concerned as bad guys should struggle to achieve their goals rather than receive them according to plot dictates.
Gotham Academy: First Year #1 (of 6): Once upon a time, there was a series called “Gotham Academy” where student Olive Silverlock and her friends dealt with the various mysteries surrounding it. Which may or may not have involved a lot of bats. It was pretty good, but it also started after Olive had been attending the academy. This new miniseries looks to explore the time after her mom lost control and Olive wound up here courtesy of Bruce Wayne. Now she has to deal with awful rich kids, potential first loves, and… maps? Original co-writers Becky Cloonan, Brendan Fletcher, and Karl Kerschl are back and joined by new artist Marcelo Ferreria.
Superman vol. 5: Love and Mercy: So I’ve still been reading Joshua Williamson’s run on this title after I reviewed the first volume. I just haven’t gotten around to writing up reviews of subsequent volumes because there’s been other stuff I’ve wanted to discuss rather than play catch-up here. That said, one of the things I liked most about that volume, the new Superman/Luthor relationship, was sidelined after the villain lost his memory following the events of “House of Brainiac.” The good news is that it looks like we’re getting back to that with “Love and Mercy.” At least, I hope we’re getting back to the relationship Williamson established in that first volume. It’d suck if Luthor went back to being a straight villain after that great setup.
Batman & Robin: Year One: Do we really need another retelling of the origin of the original Batman & Robin partnership? When it’s coming from the team supreme of co-writer Mark Waid and co-writer/artist Chris Samnee, then yes, we do. In addition to the usual business of seeing how the closed-off billionaire crimefighing vigilante and the orphaned circus kid learned to work together, we get to see what happens when a new villain known as the General declares war on Gotham’s underworld. Should be entertaining.
Secret Six: At the end of “Absolute Power,” Amanda Waller was locked up in Belle Reeve with all of the secrets in her head sealed away by Dreamer. While Waller could remember that she knew this information at one point, she couldn’t actually recall it. Which was a fitting punishment for someone as adept at manipulating people through secrets as her. That punishment suddenly looks a lot less clever once Waller disappears from her cell, which means that it’s possible someone else could get into her head and get those secrets out to use for themselves. That’s why three people who have been on the receiving end of Waller’s wrath, Superboy, Jay “Gossaer” Nakamura, and Nia “Dreamer” Nal, are teaming up with the three villains who were closest to her, Deadshot, Catman, and Black Alice, to track the woman down. While writer Nicole Maines doesn’t move the needle for me, and it remains to be seen if Stephen Segovia will bring his A-game (along with Cian Tormey and Roger Cruz), this is a rare case of a superhero coming delivering a premise that has me interested on the implications of its story alone. If it can also recall the antihero glory days of “Suicide Squad” and its namesake Gail Simone-written series, all the better.
Hitman Omnibus vol. 2 HC: Collects issues #34-60 of the main series, the “1,000,000” issue, “Hitman/Lobo: That Stupid Bastich,” “Hitman/JLA” #’s 1-2, “All-Star Section 8” #’s 1-6, “Sixpack & Dogwelder: Hard-Travelin’ Heroz” #’s 1-6, plus some odds and ends from various one-shots. If you bought the first one, then getting the rest of the series plus “1,000,000,” “Hitman/Lobo” and “Hitman/JLA” will be worth it. Less so for “All-Star” and “Sixpack & Dogwelder.” For those of us who already have most everything here, there’s actually the promise of new material in the form of a twelve-page story detailing the origin of a beloved supporting character here. Maybe if writer Garth Ennis was still firing on all cylinders in this day and age, that’d be enough to get me to consider picking up this 1,100-page, $125 omnibus. But he isn’t and it’s not.