DC's February previews reviewed

Today DC Comics released their solicitations for the comics they plan to release in February of next year. So tonight I responded as per usual.


ADVENTURE COMICS #523
Written by PAUL LEVITZ
Art by PHIL JIMENEZ & ANDY LANNING
Cover by PHIL JIMENEZ
Phil Jimenez (INFINITE CRISIS, Amazing Spider-Man) launches an arc starring the rookies as they learn to be heroes at Legion Academy! This gorgeous issue marks a perfect jumping-on point for any new reader curious to learn about the DC Universe of the 31st century!

Hey everyone, it’s Phil Jimenez! Penciling a book for DC Comic! It seems like it’s been quite a while since that’s happened, doesn’t it? I really like Jimenez’s work, and think he’s an all-around hell of an artist. I just wish he was drawing something I was interested in reading…


THE ALL-NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #4
Written by SHOLLY FISCH
Art and cover by RICK BURCHETT & DAN DAVIS
Here comes the bride! It’s Valentine’s Day and you’re invited to the wedding of...Batman and Wonder Woman?!

Awesome.


BRIGHTEST DAY #19-20
Written by GEOFF JOHNS & PETER J. TOMASI
Art by IVAN REIS, PATRICK GLEASON, ARDIAN SYAF, SCOTT CLARK & JOE PRADO Covers by DAVID FINCH & SCOTT WILLIAMS
1:10 Variant covers by IVAN REIS
The BRIGHTEST DAYS are numbered as this best-selling series heads toward its shocking conclusion, and fans won’t want to miss a single page of the action! “Aquawar” breaks out with Aquaman, Mera, Aqualad and a surprise guest star facing off against the terrorist forces of Black Manta and Siren to keep the vast waters of the world from sinking the United States!

Is the surprise guest star Tempest? Because that would be cool if it were Tempest. Poor old Tempest, who died during a story arc in which everyone else came back to life. Man, when was the last time he and Aquaman were both alive at the same time, anyway? It seems like one of them or the other is always dead.

Say, I wonder if Tempest is a candidate for being the White Lantern/Life Entity Guardian person that Deadman and Dawn are looking for…?


DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #1-2
Written by TONY BEDARD & MARV WOLFMAN
Art by HOWARD PORTER & LIVESAY and ADRIANA MELO & NORMAN LEE
The DC event of the year begins, coinciding with the release of the wildly anticipated DCU MMO! Get ready for the ride of a lifetime with this immense, 26-issue biweekly series!

In issue #1, Lex Luthor’s obsession with destroying Superman reaches fever pitch when he cuts the ultimate Devil’s deal with Brainiac...but with the shake of a hand, has Luthor consigned humanity to genocide?

In the startling second issue, The Lex Luthor of a post-apocalyptic future scrambles to escape Brainiac’s invasion of Earth, but he must gather an army to stop the invasion. Who will he recruit? And in the present, Brainiac’s first assault on Earth has begun, which recaps the incredibly rare DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #0!

Comic book legend Marv Wolfman joins fan-favorite writer Tony Bedard and artist Howard Porter to tell the ultimate DC Universe Super Hero tale of good versus evil!

Hmm. I’m not so sure about this book. I like the idea of a bi-weekly series (I’m digging Justice League: Generation Lost and Brightest Day in part because of how often they ship), and this does look like it will feature most of the DC Universe’s big super-characters, but those lame-ass Ed Benes covers really fill me with dread.

Presumably the interiors will be much better. I like Howard Porter a whole lot, and while I’m not a fan of Melo’s work, it’s far better than Benes’. Those armored-up costumes from the DC Universe Online trailer don’t look so good under Benes’ pencil, and I’m having trouble imagining Porters’ version of them being particularly kick-ass either.

Hmmm…

Well, I guess I still have a few months to think about whether I want to read this series or not…


DOOM PATROL #19
Written by KEITH GIFFEN
Art by MATTHEW CLARK and RON RANDALL
Cover by MATTHEW CLARK
It's part 1 of the 2-part Doom Patrol vs. Secret Six rematch you've all been waiting for! (Well, some of you. Well, Robotman seemed pretty heated up about it, anyway...) The battle starts here, and then continues over in SECRET SIX #30, also on sale this month!

Rematch? I don’t remember The Doom Patrol and The Secret Six fighting before. Did that happen in one of their books already? I guess I haven’t been paying very close attention to the goings-on in either book since I dropped them…


How cool would it have been if Barry Allen came back as a skeleton? Like, just a skeleton in a Flash costume, just like on this cover.


Dave Johnson sure is a great cover artist, isn't he?


Sooooooo I guess Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors is just going to be the gross covers, rendered poorly title in DC’s line from now on…?


JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #54
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by BRETT BOOTH & NORM RAPMUND
Cover by BRETT BOOTH
“The Rise of Eclipso” begins here as the dark energies that have surrounded Earth are harnessed once more to usher in the great Lord of Darkness! And it looks like the corruption of all mankind starts with the members of the Justice League! When things go dark, which teammate poses the greatest threat to mankind – Obsidian or Jade?

Aw man, Brett Booth? On Justice League of America? I don’t want to read Brett Booth’s JLoA…

Man.

And things were going so swimmingly for so long in my on-again, off-again relationship with this volume of the Justice League comic…


I like these big stone guys Freddie Williams II drew on the cover of this issue of JSA All-Stars.


This is a really rather striking cover image. I wonder how it will look once it gets the Showcase Presents trade dress treatment though...


Looks like another action packed issue of Superman!


SUPERMAN 80-PAGE GIANT 2011 #1
Written by JOE CARAMAGNA, STEVE HORTON, ABHAY KHOSLA, NEIL KLEID,AUBREY SITTERSON, BEAU TIDWELL and others Art by EDDY BARROWS, CAFU, DAN MCDAID, ANDY MCDONALD and others
Cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN

Get ready for seven fresh and exciting storiesspotlighting Superman and his friends and foes by some of the industry's most promising talent! In one story, either Twilight-mania has finally hit Smallville, or Superboy has a vampire problem on his hands. Meanwhile, when a lab full of Jimmy Olsen clones escapes and runs amok in Metropolis, it's up to Superman and Jimmy to round 'em all up before things turn even more bizarre! And speaking of bizarre, take a trip to Bizarro World for "Bizarro Grounded"! Plus, stories of Supergirl, Krypto, Jor-El, and more!

Abhay who now? Khosla? This guy?

Huh.

Khosla is by far one of my favorites writers-about-comics, producing epic, unique, often oddly-illustrated essay-posts that usually manage to be both critically insightful and hilarious. And take it from someone who tries his damnedest to do just that on a daily-ish basis, that is a lot harder than it sounds. And Khosla makes it seem effortless.

Given all that, I shouldn’t be surprised to see his name popping anywhere at all really, but given that the last comic of his I read included conversations about Dracula’s cock, well, Superman 80-Page Giant 2011 #1 wasn’t high on the list of Anthology Comics I Expected To See Abhay Khosla’s Name Attached To.

Well, this is definitely going on my pull-list, whether it ends up having a ten-page story in which Jimmy Olsen and Perry White hear Lois Lane talk about Superman’s penis or not.

Or if it has an ending as good as this one: Yeah, Dracula? Fuck that guy.


FUCK. YES.

Oh, sorry, this is a kids comic, huh? I meant, um, let's see here...

@#$%. YES.