 | Details on DC Comics reboot |
In September, 52 new first issues will hit the stands. Here's the skinny on the first week's 15 titles (much of the info was gleaned from CBR.com)
The new JLA
Batman, Superman, Aquaman, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Cyborg team up to for the super team to end all super teams.
Justice League of America hasn't been highly regaled of late due to numerous changes in the creative staff and an unrecognizable cast of characters. DC hopes to change all of that with Johns and Lee at the helm. Each character has been tweaked and redesigned to appeal to a new younger audience while the roster is as old school as you can get (with the exception of Cyborg).
Johns has a solid reputation on fixing broken characters and has done excellent work on team books such as JSA and Teen Titans. A hit artist, Jim Lee has a big draw for readers, but it has to be said that his pace is slow and he seldom stays on a title for very long. As both creators are now also executives in DC corporate, I imagine that there will be a shift in the names on the cover in no time.
This marks the third time I can think of off the top of my head that Justice League has been rebooted- in 1985, 1997 and in 2006, each time attempting to attract readers to the comic that should have been flying off the shelves as a given.
2. "Aquaman" by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
Poor Aquaman. The character with as legacy running back as deep as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, he just cannot get a break. Editorial changes their mind on who and what he is from decade to decade. A guy who rules the seas and talks to fish seems to be able to write himself in my opinion, but so much of his material is unreadable and contradictory. In the past twenty years there have been several versions of Aquaman who have nothing to do with each other.
Solution? Give him to Geoff Johns, the same guy who has fixed Hawkman, Green Lantern and the Flash (all of whom have overly complicated back stories). I am a big Aquaman fan and am sure that if anyone can make this book sell, it's Johns and Reis (the same artist behind the Rann Thanagar War). That said, is there an audience out there who actually wants an Aquaman book? A character who has been out of the spoitlight for almost ten years is overdue for the 5 star treatment. Don't call it a come back.
3. "Wonder Woman" by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang
Apparently the W0nder Woman series is the one attracting the most hype, possibly due to the unusual creative team of Azzarello (100 Bullets) and Cliff Chiang (Green Arrow). Wonder Woman is one of the biggest and most important icons in comic books hands down yet her monthly book has been largely unreadable due to several problems starting with editorial. They cannot decide where to take the character, what her purpose is or what she should wear. Additionally, stunt hiring big name authors to writer her book was a major mistake. Jodi Picoult had no idea how to write the character and by the time fan favorite Gail Simone arrived, readers had jumped.
A series that hopes to return some kind of continuity and character to the Amazonian Princess comes from the unlikeliest of places, a crime noir author. It could work, but I suspect that just like the recent JMichael Straczinski retooling of her background, this will be undone in about 12 months with a 'back to basics' approach just in time for a film franchise.
4. "The Flash" by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
As anyone who has endured my regular blog reminders of late, I am a big fan of the Flash. In the 60's, he was the herald of the Silver Age. A quirky hero with bizarre villains and a nerdy personality, he has been revised into a sharp and brilliant criminal detective, solving cases at super speed. Johns has worked his magic on the Flash, but will that extend past the Flashpoint crossover and into his new series? I predict that the Flash is next in line for the big movie treatment after Green Lantern, but a lot depends on that happening. It can happen, but the stars need to align just right.
Additionally, artist Francis Manapul has wowed me with his art, but... can he write?
5. "The Fury of Firestorm" by Ethan Van Sciver, Gail Simone and Yildiray Cinar
A third or fourth tier hero, Firestorm has his devotees. He's a good character but again, he has had his share of continuity disasters and revisions to make him into an elemental avatar instead of a crime-fighting hero made out of the fusion of a jock and a scientist (the strongest appeal in my opinion).
The latest iteration includes the original Firestorm and the most recent version fusing together into some kind of mega Firestorm. I dunno. Simone is a fan pleaser with her off the wall ideas, so this may work, but is there a clamoring for Firestorm comics?
6. "The Savage Hawkman" by Tony Daniel and Philip Tan
Artist Tony Daniel has proven himself a capable writer from his run on Batman. Hawkman is a character who can sell out in an hour or sit on the shelves for months. He's a wildcard. All it takes is the correct approach to make him work for the reader. Johns found the magic touch by taking all of the conflicting origins of Hawkman and combining them into one cohesive lifetime, Highlander-style.
The buzz on the new approach is that it will be heavily influenced by Indiana Jones. That could work, but the audience base needs to be there.
7. "Green Arrow" by J. T. Krul and Dan Jurgens
Another reboot with the same writer of the current series, JT Krul (not a villain from Street Fighter as you may think). The smart mouthed bowman had a renaissance of late thanks to Kevin Smith's run, but interest has waned thanks to the inclusion of crossover events and... reboots. This will be the third Green Arrow #1 in about ten years.
8. "Justice League International" by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti
Dan Jurgens, one of the architects of the Death of Superman, is not exactly a name to set the world on fire these days. From what I can gather, this series is intended to recapture the appeal of the comedic series from the 1980's by Kieth Giffen and JM DeMatteis, one of the most enduring of all the JLA iterations. Unfortunately the reception on this one has been luke warm. Perhaps Jurgens can prove the armchair critics wrong.
9. "Mister Terrific" by Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson
Mister Terrific has to be one of my favorite heroes in the DCU. A self-made man, he strove to be the best at everything, from Olympic-level athletics to engineering and computer programming. His appearances in JSA made him a cult hit with readers, but... what's he doing with his own series? Even as a fan of the character I am dumb founded. Traditionally, monthly books centered on a character as obscure as Mister Terrific tank in about three months. So unless this series is out of this world amazing, I can't see it breaking that record, sadly.
10. "Captain Atom" by J. T. Krul and Freddie Williams II
One of the Charlton Heroes, Captain Atom has a small devoted following.... somewhere. I recall reading the reboot in 1985 when DC Comics obtained the rights to the Question, Blue Beetle and Captain Atom here. It was passable but failed to retain my interest. He has gone on to co-star in a few team books, but essentially has been a has been of the comic book world. This could be his third #1 since 1985.
11. "DC Universe Presents," featuring Deadman by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang
I am 100% behind an anthology series as it usually has at least one or two good stories in it month to month. Starting with Deadman by the team of Jenkins and Chang is an inspired idea. Anthology books rarely sell all that many copies, however, so I expect that this will tank in no time.
12. "Green Lantern" by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke
Green Lantern has proven himself to be the top tier hero that he was almost meant to be. With a strong back catalog of hardcovers behind him, two animated features, video games and an upcoming weekly TV series, he is here to stay. Once more Johns is at the helm with fan favorite Mahnke (his work on Batman is outstanding) along for the ride. I'm unclear what the 'new direction' will be but it will mark the fourth such change in the hero's comic since he returned in 2005.
13. "Green Lantern Corps" by Peter Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin
The GLC brother title to the Green Lantern monthly is by the established team of Tomasi and Pasarin. Their work on Emerald Allies hasn't caused panic in the streets, but if the Green Lantern feature film takes off, everyone could be GL crazy.
14. "Green Lantern: The New Guardians" by Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham
This series is an absolute enigma and marks the third of four Green Lantern tie-ins.
15. "Red Lanterns" by Peter Milligan and Ed Benes
Peter Milligan, once the maverick behind Shade the Changing Man and X-Statix, is once again dipping his toe into the superhero realm. I'm no fan of Benes's artwork (it made the already dire Justice League of America book that much worse) but it could be interesting to see him paired up with a writer of Milligan's caliber.
So that's the first week's new comics all coming in September. Expect more announcements to come and think long and hard before you buy one of these issues as each dollar steers the DC Entertainment ship to new shores. They may print the funny books, but we bag and board them. Use your influence as a buyer carefully.
Batman
The Batman Family of comics will consists of nine titles with an one more on the way, Batman Inc. Despite the attempt to place Dick Grayson in the helm of the Batman Empire, DC Editorial has again decided to pull Grayson out of the suit and place him back into the role of Nightwing. You'd think he'd have learned by now.
Batman by writer/artist Tony Daniel will continue his highly acclaimed run while the darker series Detective
Comics by Scott Snyder and Jock is sure to retain readers. Additionally Batman & Robin by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason and Batman Dark Knight by David Finch will also relaunch with no real changes heralded aside from the fact that only Bruce Wayne will wear the cowl in the revised DCU.
The popular all female Birds of Prey will be returning with Duane Swierczynski (Punisher) and Jesus Saiz. Catwoman will again relaunch thanks to Judd Winick and artist Guillem March and looks to be a stylish and slick read. Gail Simone and artists Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes will be tackling Batgirl, a heroine who deserves a good monthly books. Batwoman will finally get that monthly book she was promised agers ago by J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman and Amy Reeder, a series that promises to be well worth a buy and always a bridesmaid Nightwing will be back in his usual togs courtesy of Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows.
The Batman universe looks to be trying to reorganize once again and maybe this time it will work. One of the most appealing comic book characters out there, he speaks to almost every reader in one way or another. Tortured, brilliant and the finest tactician around, he has a big appeal. But can DC Editorial figure out how to make a hero that sells video games and movie tickets work on the printed page?
Batman #1
Detective Comics #1
Catwoman #1
Batwoman #1
Batgirl #1
Nightwing #1
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