DC's June previews reviewed

I like this Derek Charm variant cover for Action Comics #1044. I like Charm's work a lot, and would love to see him draw more DC heroes, particular their younger and teenaged heroes like the new Superman. 

This looks like James Stokoe's work on this cover for Batman #124, but the solicitation copy only has variants listed from Jock, Gabrielle Dell'Otto and a Filya Bratukhin, so I'm not 100% sure. It's pretty awesome, whoever is responsible. The most biggest and therefore most obvious thing in the Batcave appears to be a giant robot of sorts, but I find myself most curious about the Bat-train in the background...

I call no way on the cover for Batman: Killing Time #4. 

I know it's just because of the movie, but I still think it says something about DC as a publisher when they can't get it together to keep a Captain Marvel/"Shazam" series going, but will launch a new ongoing series starring Black Adam. 

The character has been so regularly featured in the pages of JSA, 52 and, most recently, Justice League for so long it almost seems natural that Captain Marvel's second- or third-greatest villain is the only character from that franchise with his own book, but this is a little like DC publishing a Penguin or Riddler ongoing series instead of Batman...

Still, DC got Christopher Priest attached as writer to their Black Adam #1, and, in addition to being a great writer, that guy has plenty of experience writing black-clad heads-of-state and DC villains. Rafa Sandoval is attached as artist. 

The solicitation copy for Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere's Dark Crisis #1 seems to rather heavily imply that this is the new Justice League, made up of "the legacy heroes" who must step up to fill the vacuum left by the dead Justice Leaguers. That's...not a very exciting Justice League, given that it's just the Future State Justice League, right? Didn't DC already publish—and I skipped—comics featuring this Justice League?

I wonder if there will be an in-story reason for why these particular legacy characters are in the new League, rather than those with more experience/seniority, like Nightwing, Supergirl (or the other Superboy), Donna Troy, Garth and any of the other Green Lanterns who have been Justice Leaguers before...

Young Justice returns (hooray!) in Dark Crisis: Young Justice #1 by a Meghan Fitzmartin and Laura Braga. 

I was pretty caught off guard by the announcement that Tim Drake was coming out as bisexual, given how unlikely it seemed (Tim has only had two serious relationships since his introduction to the DC Universe as a teenager, and both were with girls...in fact, he was dating Stephanie Brown the last time we saw him).

It just seemed there were more likely candidates among Robins (Jason Todd, Damian Wayne) or the Young Justice line-up (Superboy, who's horny teenage "womanizing" always seemed for show as it almost never actually lead anywhere, or Impulse). 

Then again, I never read the story in which Tim came out/realized he was bi, and maybe it was so well-written it can convince me that this is a natural development for his character, and not an artificial change to garner some press and maybe even some goodwill among fans who shipped him with boys in the past.

So I'm very much  looking forward to DC Pride: Tim Drake Special #1, which apparently collects the storyline from Batman: Urban Legends where Tim first realized he was bisexual, and includes new material, including a team-up with the Batgirls, which I suppose will resolve his current relationship with Stephanie Brown. 

Damn. Someone sure earned every penny they were paid for this variant cover for Deathstroke Inc #10...