March 2013 DC Comics Diamond Previews Review

With Marvel done we can now turn our attention to DC Comics.

          May sees some series ending while others are beginning. It is towards two new debuts that we turn our attention to first. First up is a complete revamp of a concept that appeared once, years ago, The Green Team. This time around the creative team is Art Baltazar (W), Franco (W), and Ig Guara (A). This looks like a story about characters with too much money, wanting to buy their way into the big leagues, and that has an immense amount of story potential. I will be checking this out, if for no other reason than to quell my curiosity.

         The flip-side of The Green Team looks to be the new series, The Movement. Gail Simone brings the words and Freddie Williams III brings the pictures. That creative team alone should put this on allot of peoples pull list and adds a wonderful pedigree to this launch. Where The Green Team seems to represent the 1%, The Movement would represent the 99%, and they want to be heard! This will also be on my pull list, at least for the first arc. One other treat about these books are the covers by Amanda Conner. I love the propaganda-ish design to them.

         Issue #17 of Green Arrow cemented this books position on my pull list. Lemire has hit it out of the park for me and I cannot wait to delve further into his run. Andrea Sorrentino rocked my world when I picked up I, Vampire #1 and I am thrilled that her art fills another monthly since I, Vampire is not long for this world. The deconstruction of Ollie continues in issue #20. If you are a trade waiter I would recommend doing the monthly thing with this book, I would have a hard time staying away from this team on this book for longer than a month.

         Perhaps the biggest surprise for me was Justice League of America’s Vibe #1. That book by Geoff Johns and Pete Woods blew me away. Vibe has shrugged off his cheesy history and maligned origin to become a character who, in one issue, managed to become a key figure in the tapestry of the New 52. That first issue had the spark of what made the initial launch of the New 52 so exciting, a newness, a freshness. Granted the creative team is changing and as of May’s 4th issue Sterling Gates is the writer and art is from both Pete Woods and Sean Parsons. I will gladly pick this book up and hope that Sterling Gates can retain the energy from this wonderful start.

          Power Girl’s original costume is back in World’s Finest #12. And the chorus sang HALLELUJAH!

         May also marks the end of an era as the creative teams of all of the Green Lantern books give us their final issues before the June creative teams are put in place. These issues also bring to a close the Wrath of the First Lantern crossover. I am excited for the creative change and this will be a perfect jumping on point for readers who had found the Green Lantern family to be pretty inaccessible to new readers. I will try at least one issue each title.

         With new series launching and several launches known for the next few months there has to be cancellations. Sword of Sorcery #8 is the last issue of that series. There were two main reasons this book failed. First is the price point. $3.99 is a high price to pay for a slightly obscure character. Let’s face it, as good as the backups were, most readers of this title read the lead feature, and not the backup, myself included, and that price is high for so little story. The second was the immediate immersion into the Dark corner of the New 52. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Dark titles and I still collect a few of them, but why not get exposure through some of the more mainstream titles, the books that aren’t niche and sell much higher. I am thankful that, at least at this time, that there is hope that Amethyst will still appear in Justice League Dark in the future, depending on how climactic the ending of the series is.

         Speaking of mainstream crossing over, Justice League Dark #20 features the Flash, in addition to the Swamp Thing, perhaps helping Constantine recover the House of Mystery from Dr. Destiny.

       Team 7 #8, and Deathstroke #20 are both the swan songs for these books. I am not overly surprised about Team 7 as it seemed very derivative compared to the other books on the stands. Another book ending is The Ravagers #12. This book was way too 90’s for its own good.

          Suicide Squad #20 sees a new team, a new direction, and a new creative team in Ales Kot (W), and Timothy Green II (A). I have been waiting for a jumping on point for this book because I lost interest during the first arc and I love the concept and have been waiting for something to draw me back in for another try at my pull list.

         I was thrilled that Adventures of Superman #1 is being released without the Orson Scott Card story after Chris Sprouse quit the book. DC says they are going to still publish it and are actively seeking another artist but I think they will just ignore this ever happened and move on and never publish the story. They should realize that any attempt to publish the story will result in a similar reaction. Because of the change, Jeff Lemire will be joining the creative roster of this anthology, in addition to Justin Jordan, and Riley Rossmo.

         Vertigo reminds us of its relevancy in May with the release of the much anticipated 10 issue series, The Wake. The creative team is phenomenal, Scott Snyder (Batman wunderkind) writes and Sean Murphy (Punk Rock Jesus creator) provides the art. This underwater horror tale will be a huge hit, and will definitely bring back some of the spark to the Vertigo line.

Well that’s our look at DC Comics shipping in May. See you soon for the Back of the Book.