DC's November previews reviewed

Based on the image they released with the solicitation, it appears that Batman/Spawn: The Classic Collection will be getting a new cover by Spawn-turned-Batman-turned-Batman/Spawn crossover artist Greg Capullo. 

The collection will include both of the distinct and unrelated Batman/Spawn crossovers from 1994, Image Comics' Spawn/Batman by writer Frank Miller and artist Todd McFarlane, and DC Comics' Batman/Spawn: War Devil by writers Chuck Dixon, Alan Grant and Doug Moench and artist Klaus Janson.

 I bought and read both of them at the time. As I remember, neither was terribly good, not even by the standards of a Batman inter-company crossover. 

I remember the Image one being particularly badly written, and being disappointed that the man who made Dark Knight Returns had crafted such a poor story. But I also remember that one being the one with art I was more excited about at the time—the whole point of the endeavor would be to see McFarlane drawing Batman, right?

I remember almost nothing at all about War Devil, save for how I was disappointed in the art at the time (Not only was it not McFarlane, it wasn't even the ideal artist for the team-up, Norm Breyfogle). That, and I remember thinking how weird it was that it was for a single Batman story to be written by all three of the Batman writers as a team. 

I'm looking forward to revisiting these stories now, and I will be happy when I can do so without digging through my comics midden to find them.  

The release is coming ahead of a new Capullo and McFarlane Batman/Spawn crossover, which will be interesting. I hope they get Kelley Jones for a variant cover of that....I'd love to see Jones' take on Spawn's cape. 

A lot of people seem genuinely excited about Batman: The Deadly Duo, a Marc Silvestri-written and drawn seven-parter teaming Batman with The Joker. 

Personally, I'd be more excited if variant cover artists Kyle Hotz or Kelley Jones were handling the interiors, but that's just me.

Here' s Hotz's variant for #1:

And here are Jones' variants for #2:

In November DC will be releasing ''90s" themed variant covers, like the above one for Batman Vs. Robin #3. Some seem to depict the characters as they appeared in the 1990s, some are from artists who drew them in the '90s and some are reimaginings of the characters with '90s stereotypical fashions. 

This one seems to show Batman and Robin as they appeared in the '90s...but the artist has given Batman more pouches, in the form of a utility garter. Batman never wore one, of course, but Jean-Paul Valley's Batman costume did include one (I always wondered how he opened his pouches given the bladed claws on his fingers), as did Spoiler Stephanie Brown's original costume. 

Is there a more perfect—I mean, purrfect—artist to provide a '90s variant to Catwoman #49 than '90s Catwoman artist Jim Balent....?

This year's holiday special is called DC's Grifter Got Run Over By A Reindeer, presumably because "Grifter" sounds as close as they could get to "Grandma" with a DC hero, even if he is an emigree from the Wildstorm universe. Now that I've moved almost exclusively to trade-reading, these seasonal specials DC produces are a special treat that I always look forward to...and it remains my greatest writing ambition to someday contribute to one of 'em. 

Scary Plastic Man images should be against the law. Like this cover for DC Vs. Vampires #11? It should be totally illegal. 

I'm sorry, but I just don't have the bandwidth to deal with Batman's Sexy Mom wearing a Batman's Sexy Mom Halloween costume on the cover of Gotham City: Year One #2 right now...

I'm glad the JSA will be returning with a new book in Justice Society of America #1, although I've grown a bit leery of writer Geoff Johns' work. He would, of course, seem like the ideal writer for the series, given his run on JSA and its related titles, but it's been a long time since I've read and enjoyed any of Johns' work, the New 52 seemingly have stripped him of his ability to write continuity-driven stories that made sense and that worked with the characters.

Now we've got a new continuity again, so it will be interesting to see if Johns takes a starting-from-scratch approach like that he took with the Justice League in the New 52, or if he will resume the past continuity that he wrote the team in during the past. Personally, I'm hoping for the latter, but assuming a mix of the two. We'll see. Mikel Janin will be the artist attached. 

Hey do you guys remember the column where I said that it was kinda lame that Hippolyta was temporarily replacing Wonder Woman on the Justice League line-up while Diana was off being presumed dead or a goddess or whatever, just like she did during the Morrison run on JLA, and that instead they should have had Nubia join the Justice League....? (This would have been back during Bendis' brief run on Justice League). Well, Nubia  is finally joining the Justice League in the pages of Nubia & The Justice League Special #1. I'm not sure how permanent this is—the precise League line-up seems to be in flux as the characters are presumed dead in the ongoing Dark Crisis—but here's hoping she stays on the team for a good long while. 

Remarkably, she's only the second black woman to ever appear on a Justice League line-up, following Vixen's stint during the Detroit era. Is that right? I think that's right. That doesn't sound like it should be right though, does it? Yeesh. 

This is why it is my humble belief that the Justice League should have a huge, 20-30 hero roster, so they can accommodate a much more diverse group of heroes and genuinely represent Americans and readers. I'm sure I'll tell you of my ideal Justice League line-up someday...

Despite my reservation with Johns, I'm definitely up for a series in which artist Todd Nauck draws a bunch of weird Golden Age kid superheroes. That Manhunter's robot dog Robby is in it is only one more reason to be particularly excited about Stargirl: The Lost Children #1, which seems to follow from the pages of last year's Stargirl Spring Break Special #1. 

What's better than Mike Allred drawing Superman? Mike Allred drawing the whole Justice League, even if they are a little worse for wear. This is the cover of Superman: Space Age #3.