May 2013 DC Comics Diamond Previews Review
Next in Previews let’s take a look at the DC offerings for July.
Trinity War kicks off and the battle royale between Justice League, Justice League Dark, and Justice League of America begins. I will be picking these up in single issue format until the end of the crossover when Justice League Dark will be going onto my trade waiting list. This crossover will hopefully add a bit more punch that the less than New “New 52” has had in recent months. A hero’s death is the catalyst and the crossover spills over into Trinity of Sin: Pandora #2, Constantine #5, and even though it isn’t listed, I would hazard a guess that Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger #10 has a hint of a tie in, that’s just a guess though.
Justice League #22 is the official kick off, with Part 2 taking to the pages of Justice League of America #6, and Part 3 gives us a defector who leaves the Justice League and joins Justice League Dark in #22 of their series. I do find it odd that Justice League Dark is a big part of this crossover and they didn’t do a retail/digital combo pack, at least for this crossover.
There are a small number of books that I feel the need to get monthly and Wonder Woman is one of them. Issue #22 is out in July and thanks to Brian Azzarello (W) and Cliff Chiang (A) we take our first trip to the New 52’s New Genesis, and she meets the Highfather face to face. This is one of the best series that DC is putting out and it has been consistent in quality being delivered by the creative team.
Even though the quality is present for the most part within the pages of Katana and Justice League of America’s Vibe, I think that July’s shipping of their sixth issues may mark the halfway point of their run’s as they are close too, if not already, in the cancellation danger zone. It’s unfortunate that these two books have yet to find a foothold and really start speaking with their own voices.
These days the threshold between launch and cancellation is shrinking, and we aren’t seeing an industry where a new title or concept can not survive from the big 2. I hate too say it but maybe DC, and Marvel, should both just stop the attempts to introduce new, Image can provide the new, and instead they can focus on what does well. Less titles, but all titles will tie into concepts, teams, or characters that have a proven pedigree and drive sales. In the long run this would help the industry and strengthen it.
Now pivotal to Flash mythology is the character known as Reverse Flash and he makes his appearance in the pages of The Flash #22, and will his New 52 appearance signal even more change for our speedster?
Superman Unchained releases its second issue in July and I am excited to see Mr. Snyder’s take on the old boy scout. Scott has become a writer I follow and because of that I have no problem double dipping when the Director’s Cut of #1 comes out in July, one month since the original #1. The two draws for me are the artwork, presented in beautiful pencil, and second would be the full script. I cannot wait to see how Mr. Snyder works his magic with words! Not to be outdone, Batman Year Zero: Director’s Cut #1 is also out in July and features much the same, the pencil work, and a full script. Again with Snyder’s name attached this is an instant buy. Because of Snyder I now have a month Superman and Batman books to look forward too, and with Wonder Woman coming home monthly I am officially collecting the true Trinity of the DC Universe.
The expected conclusion of Batman, Incorporated comes to us in issue #13, even though a special has already been announced for August. The special definitely has a Legends of the Dark Knight vibe to it, giving us stories of those within the organization, that fit during different time frames. Continuing on with Batman we have him partner up with Catwoman in Batman and Catwoman #22. Call me crazy but I like the sound of that as a title, and the storytelling possibilities are endless.
The new Batwing returns to Gotham in the pages of Batwing #22. I think they are going to try to do everything they can to make this book work, but even being tied to Batman can save a title for only so long.
Two titles coming in July but slated for cancellation in August, are Legion of Super-Heroes #22, and Threshold #7. Threshold was not a surprise and I was expecting this news any day, but Legion kind of surprised me. I never expected it to be top ten, but I always felt that with the right creative team it would grab a foothold on the stands and stick around for awhile. Well the Legion as a concept does not stay down long so expect another resurgence in the near future, and I am predicting it will be tied to an event.
Stormwatch #22 continues the story of Lobo joining Stormwatch. Jim Starlin has made this title fun again and it is an interesting combo of retro with the hard edge that the StormWatch possess, and it works. I was skeptical because of how burnt I felt with the initial New 52 relaunch but I am happy I gave it another try and I hope it gets enough of a sales bump to stave off cancellation. PS. The return of the original logo is wonderful, thank you DC.
Raven looks like she is from Silent Hill on the cover of Teen Titans #22. Don’t make a noise or she will catch you…
One of the biggest launches of the summer is in Batman ’66 #1 from Jeff Parker (W) and Jonathan Case (A) and a cover by none other than Michael Allred himself, whose style works so well with the retro pastiche that is Adam West’s Batman. This is coming home with me and I look forward to following this one for months to come!
I may be late to the party but I am jumping on the Scott Snyder bandwagon and that includes his recent work. Shipping in October is the Batman Vol. 3: Death of the Family HC. This includes issues #13-17 of Scott’s acclaimed run.
In the action figure department we have new releases for my favorite line, and one of two action figure series I actively collect, the New 52 figures. We find solicitations for Captain Cold, Black Manta, Joker, and a N
ew 52 Trinity box set. DC is aware of the possibility of duplicates and for the most part try to make things different, such as the box set where we get a Wonder Woman with a different head sculpt, and Superman gets a snazzy metallic paint job. It appears that Batman is the only one that would be a duplicate. Well worth it for me, especially for Supes new paint job.
That is DC for this July 2013. See you soon when we look at the rest of Previews.