February 2014 DC Comics Diamond Previews Review
It is time once again to turn our attention to Previews Magazine, issue 305, listing items to appear in comic shops starting in April of this year. With so many changes happening in my life the one I am excited about is re-establishing a pull list. I have purchased titles here and there but with my hold pile at my comic book store having grown to huge proportions I waited until now to get back into some books monthly. April is a great example of jumping on points for the big two. First up let’s take a look at DC.
April is the month where several titles catch up to the new post-Forever Evil status quo. It is also a month of endings and some very notable starts. One of the most exciting starts is the first of two weekly series (three if you count the rumoured Earth 2 weekly). Batman Eternal is heralded by some of the strongest writers in the DC stable and specifically one writer who will always be tied to Batman, Scott Snyder. It is interesting to note that issue 3 of the weekly lists the return of Stephanie Brown but Bat-fans are probably already aware that she has made her first New 52 debut on the last page of Detective Comics #28 released on February 12th. James Tynion IV, John Layman, Ray Fawkes, and Tim Seeley are inboard as writers with Mr. Scott Snyder and Jason Fabok has the art covered.
Forever Evil affected many characters and teams but most affected was the Justice League family of titles. Justice League #30 written by Geoff Johns with the art tag team of Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, gives us a drastically changed lineup with a couple of notable additions and three missing members. Joining the team are Captain Cold, and new leader Lex Luthor. Shazam is on the team, taking the place of the missing Superman. Flash, and Green Lantern are also missing from the lineup, which leads me to wonder what team they will eventually end up on? Maybe a book with Titans in the title? With such a changed lineup the drama in this book will definitely be notched up and I look forward to reading about a Luthor led team, while also seeing shades of Norman Osborne and his post Secret Invasion status over at Marvel. Let’s hope DC can do something a little fresh with the idea of a villain being considered the world’s greatest hero.
Justice League of America #14 brings an end to that series with many of the characters transitioning to Justice League United and north of the border where a new Justice League Canada sets up shop. Simon Baz, Katana, and Catwoman seem to be moving on from their Justice League status while Hawkman, Stargirl, Martian Manhunter, and Green Arrow are joined by Animal Man, a Red Lanternless Supergirl, and the newly Canadianized Adam Strange all call Justice League Canada home. While Matt Kindt is a very capable writer he has never spoken to me on a level that makes his books must buys for me but Jeff Lemire on Justice League United is a writer I can get behind. He has guided Animal Man within the New 52 since the character appeared in the first wave of 52 titles, right up to his cancellation in March so it is appropriate that he appears on a Jeff Lemire written team book. I honestly expected him to move over to Justice League Dark but assume that they are going to be given him more of a superhero edge following his 2 and a half years in the “Dark” corner of the DC Universe. Justice League United #0 is out on April 23, 2 weeks following the ending of Justice League of America.
Speaking of Justice League, the Dark team, previously led by Constantine now has him taking a passenger seat while Zatanna takes the wheel. The solicitations point to a traitor on the team. I am going to point my finger at either Nightmare Nurse or Deadman. J.M. DeMatteis is not my favourite writer but the draw of the characters is pulling me along, plus I want to see if I’m right about the traitor.
Before we go any further let’s look at some of the ending series. Nightwing #30 marks the end of that series written by James Tynion IV. With James moving over to Batman Eternal we have more than likely seen only the beginning of the changes in Nightwing’s life and will more than likely see the true fallout from Forever Evil in the Bat-weekly.
Another series ending as a result of Forever Evil is Suicide Squad, which bows out of the New 52 with issue #30. Amanda Waller has failed to protect the United States and must now pay for that failure. While I have not followed this book I do hope that homes are found for many of the characters, namely Amanda Waller, maybe a solo book? That is probably what the March solicited one shot is for, a testing of the waters for the character.
Superman Unchained #9 is the final issue of that series. Even though Scott Snyder has proven himself I never believed for a moment that Jim Lee would remain on the series for very long and expected this at some point. With so many Superman books this one seemed a little redundant and the story arc could have appeared in any of the other core Superman books, or they should have solicited this as a mini-series which is what most fans surely expected this book to be anyway.
Stormwatch has been a troubled book since the start, never able to find it’s footing or voice but DC gave it numerous chances but it appears that those chances have run out. Issue #30 of the series closes that out with the return of the original team from their New 52 launch. Retailers and fans should take note as this book is solicited as a “Futures End” prelude. I don’t think this will be the last we’ll see of Stormwatch, and expect they will figure prominently in Futures End.
Another book with a weak standing in the New 52 was Teen Titans. It too comes to a close in April with their 30th issue. Fans of the Teen Titans will get an extra issue in April as the third annual for the title also ships one week after the final issue of the monthly. The Green Team finale had an interesting last page teaser and I wonder if we will see that story thread followed up on when the title undoubtedly relaunches.
With endings we also get several new series. We have already touched on Justice League United but that is not all that DC has in store for us. Secret Origins #1 brings us an origin series which will hopefully clean up some of the more confusing points of the condensed New 52 history, instead of adding more points of contention for continuity buffs. We get three origin tales; Superman, Supergirl, and Dick Grayson. The second issue in May is going to include Batman, which seems an odd choice since his origin is being told quite successfully by Scott Snyder in the main Batman book, but we’ll see who else joins the Dark Knight in the second issue to judge whether it is worth picking up. For now I will try out the first issue because of the writing of Tony Bedard, and Greg Pak drawing me in.
Before the New 52 I don’t think anyone expected Aquaman to be a character that could successfully maintain his own monthly for an extended period, but he has, and now he gets a second book as Arthur is joined by his former teammates, the Others. Aquaman and the Others #1 by Dan Jurgens (W), Lan Medina (A), and Ed Tadeo (A) is, quite smartly, a “Futures End” prelude, which should help boost the sales of a book that will already have high fan interest.
It has not been confirmed but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the last issue of Larfleeze solicited soon, and the premiere of Sinestro #1 by Cullen Bunn (W) and Dale Eaglesham (A) confirms that hunch for me. The Green Lantern family of books is a robust line but something has to give and Larfleeze being shut out of the most recent Lantern cross-over does not bode well for that book. Sinestro has been a character with so many ups and downs that it is far past time that he got his own book. This looks like a rebuilding of Sinestro, in the vein of DC’s Rebirth books. Sinestro has lost everything, and now he has to face all of his failures in the past in order to build a stronger Sinestro.
Speaking of Green Lantern, the mythos of the ring bearers hits the Smallville universe in Smallville Season 11: Lantern #1, the first of a four issue mini-series that sees Clark Kent don the ring for space sector 2813.
Vertigo has a couple of books of note. First is The Sandman: Overture #3. I will believe it when I see it. Just a tip to DC, when you solicit a book so far in advance, maybe, just maybe, make sure it can be released on time. DC is lucky that the Sandman character is so loved or else the delays that this book has been suffering could drastically hurt it.
DC must be taking a page from the Dark Horse book and are putting out a Vertigo Quarterly. It’s not monthly but as long as they can maintain the impressive creators who take part I will be there every 3 months. The first issue, Vertigo Quarterly: Cyan #1 features Jock, Fabio Moon, James Tynion IV, Amy Cho, Javier Fernandez, and so many others providing story and art. I am hoping this book gets strong support because the Vertigo Universe is a perfect place for an anthology. $7.99 for 80 pages is worth it as long as the creators deliver. Here’s hoping they do.
Well that is DC for April 2014. Some interesting stuff coming out and a perfect jumping on point for readers who stayed away during the Forever Evil cross-over. Good reading to everyone.