DC's October previews reviewed

Better late then never...?

Well, I don't know about that, but here's my monthly look at DC Comics that won't be released for three more months yet, based solely on the information DC has just released. Full solicitations at Comic Book Resources and ComicsAlliance, if you want to follow along.

That right there is the "Ame-Comic Catwoman (Holiday Variant) PVC Figure." Now that DC is doing a comic book series based on these statues, I look forward to seeing an issue devoted to Holiday Variant Catwoman.

AQUAMAN #13
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS
On sale OCTOBER 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. The variant cover will feature the standard edition cover in a wraparound format.
• The finale of “The Others.”
• Aquaman pushed to the breaking point!
• Who is Black Manta working for?

Who is Black Manta working for? Well, based on how much Geoff Johns likes Challenge of the Superriends and regards it as a source of DC's most iconic villains, I would guess either Lex Luthor or the Luthor-lead Legion of Doom.

Although it would be kinda silly if Johns was putting together something like that, given how thoroughly Alex Ross and company already did a very thorough "serious Challenge of the Superfriends" comic book series, and it would be awfully hard to beat...

Or maybe he's working for The Trench? Would that explain why there's a Trench face reflecting in one of his eyes...?

I don't like the look of this cover; I hope that's simply because they're not finished with it.


BATMAN #13
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Backup story written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES TYNION IV
Art by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION
Backup story art by ANDY CLARKE
Cover by GREG CAPULLO
Variant cover by AARON KUDER
1:100 B&W Variant cover by GREG CAPULLO
On sale OCTOBER 10 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
...
• The Joker returns in “DEATH OF THE FAMILY”!
• He crippled Batgirl. He killed Robin. What will The Joker do now that he’s returned to Gotham City?
• What must Batman do to protect his secret identity and that of those who fight alongside him?

Well yeah, he crippled Batgirl. But she got better. And yeah, he killed a Robin, but he got better too. Kinda deflates the menace of The Joker when his most horrible crimes against Batman's sidekicks have been reversed by continuity hijinks, doesn't it? And calling attention to it as a selling point sure doesn't work all that well. Oh no, The Joker is back! What horrible thing will he do this time that we'll eventually have to reboot away?!

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #13
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by DAVID FINCH
1:25 Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
On sale OCTOBER 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. The variant cover will feature the standard edition cover in a wraparound format.
• Batman is pushed to his limits as he faces a fear toxin unlike any he has ever encountered!
• What is Batman most afraid of? Find out here!
• More on The Scarecrow’s origin.

I swear to God I've read the exact story being described above like 15 times already.

Also, what is Batman most afraid of? Being chained up in a beaver dam, apparently. I never would have guessed that.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #13
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art and cover by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY
On sale OCTOBER 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• Gotham City is being devoured by zombies!
• Learn the dangerous secrets of the 2-Club!

I imagine there's some sort of twist on it, but "Batman vs. zombies" is another comic book story I've read several times before...

...including twice in the past few years. And the guy writing this is the same guy who wrote one of those above comics.

Nicely designed and drawn cover by Patrick Gleason, though.

Just in case you're not getting enough blood-vomitting from Red Lanterns.

Keep Rob Liefelding, Rob Liefeld!

Uh-oh. That sure as hell doesn't look like black-colored lightning that Black Lightning is emanating. Don't fuck this up, DC.

Also, BL's gloves look really dumb.

Huh. I don't really care for this version of the new Green Lantern costume as much as the previous image I saw of it.

The GL symbol is that of the 2002 Jim Lee redesign of Kyle Rayner's costume (Although I guess Dave Gibbons and Stan Lee's GL design predates that), rather than the more Lantern-like one seen on the preview image above, which was apparently altered before Earth 2 #2 eventually shipped.

Also, the solicitation notes that there's a Grundy in this issue, and the big, monster person on the cover is apparently wearing a dress. Is Earth 2's Solomon Grundy a lady? Or a transvestite? Is the new gay Green Lantern fighting a new transvestite Solomon Grundy? Damn, this is one progressive comic book!


THE FURY OF FIRESTORM, THE NUCLEAR MEN #13
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by DAN JURGENS and RAY McCARTHY
Cover by DAN JURGENS and NORM RAPMUND
On sale OCTOBER 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• Ronnie and Jason not only not only have to deal with a new twist to the Firestorm powers, but they also must face off against the murderous DataXen!
• New series writer/penciller Dan Jurgens blasts Firestorm in a whole new direction beginning this issue!

Well look who's taking over Firestorm, poor old Dan Jurgens who, with Keith Giffen, seems to me who DC turns to for last-minute fill-in work.

I don't think Firestorm is long for this world, which is kind of a shame—if a predictable one—given that DC's most successful writer Geoff Johns spent a year establishing a new status quo for the character in Brightest Day, and then DC ditched all that work and rebooted it for a new take that, by the time October arrives, will have featured—let's see here...Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone, then Van Sciver and Joe Harris, then just Joe Harris...four different writing teams, for a change every three issue or so.

Hopefully the guy with the sword succeeds in his objective in this issue, which I assume is slicing off Green Arrow's dumb-looking shinguards. Then he can head to Metropolis to take on Superman's new costume.

Well at least the new black Green Lantern wearing a ski-mask doesn't have a handgun on this cover.

I imagine the white guys in the background of this cover (and the other three Green Lantern titles, which interlock to form a single, horizontal image, are supposed to be The Third Amry. They look awfully generic and unimaginative compared to the first two armies—The Manhunter androids and the Green Lantern Corps—although I suppose the designs of those armies' uniforms were based on those of specific superheroes designed to cary their own features, and thus there was a pre-fab, pizzazz-filled starting point.

I'm sorry, but all I can think of when I look at this cover, is this:

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: THE ORIGIN OF SKELETOR #1
Written by JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV
Art and cover by FRAZER IRVING
One-shot • On sale OCTOBER 31 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
• Take a look at the twisted origins of Eternia’s most loathsome and terrible villain.
• What horrific events from Skeletor’s secret past defined the evil despot he became?

So DC's comics effort to exploit the Masters of the Universe license is unbelievably fucked-up at this point. That said: Fraizer Irving doing a Skeletor comic?!

NIGHTWING #13
Written by KYLE HIGGINS
Art by EDDY BARROWS, RUY JOSE and EBER FERREIRA
Cover by EDDY BARROWS
On sale OCTOBER 17 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
• Lady Shiva makes her New 52 debut!
• Why has one of the world’s most deadly assassins returned to Gotham City?

Okay, I give up.

Is that supposed to be Lady Shiva on the cover? If so, what is she wearing? And is the lady who was the world's most deadly hand-to-hand combatant in the old DCU someone who fights with a goofy ball and chain in the New 52U?

That, like here headgear, is super-dumb.

Wow, the producers of Smallville really expected Tom Welling to bulk up in order to play Superman in the hypothetical eleventh season. No wonder they never made that season!

Oh shit, is it the debut of Superman Family Adventures Stee...?! I think it is.

The owl-masked dudes in suits on the Guillem March's cover to Talon #1 are pretty creepy. Do drink in the anatomy on Talon, too; it's pretty fucked up, but hasn't drawn as much criticism as his Catwoman #0 cover, for the obvious reasons.


TEEN TITANS #13
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art by ALE GARZA
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
1:25 B&W Variant cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
On sale OCTOBER 24 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. The variant cover will feature the standard edition cover in a wraparound format.
• Wonder Girl must battle her former lover for possession of her stolen armor!
• Is something wicked coming for Tim Drake?

How old is Wonder Girl supposed to be in the New 52U...? Old enough to have a former lover...?

I was curious to see this month's cover for Worlds' Finest, because the last few have shown Power Girl doing something superheroic, while the Huntress stands or hangs ineffectually off to the side, looking on, and maybe sort of gesturing with her crossbow.

This time they decided to just leave her off the cover all together, perhaps so as not to continue to embarrass her.


Finally, here are two especially interesting looking offerings for October:


GHOSTS #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS, JOE KUBERT, GILBERT HERNANDEZ, PAUL POPE, CECIL CASTELLUCCI, MARY H.K. CHOI, AL EWING and NEIL KLEID
Art by RUFUS DAYGLO, GILBERT HERNANDEZ, PHIL JIMENEZ, JOE KUBERT, JEFF LEMIRE, JOHN McCREA and AMY REEDER
Cover by DAVE JOHNSON
1:10 Variant edition cover by PHIL JIMENEZ
One-Shot • On sale OCTOBER 31 • 80 pg, FC, $7.99 US • MATURE READERS
...
Check out this all-new anthology from some of the biggest talents in the industry! Stories spotlight a space heist on a ghost ship, a spirit who wants to play synthesizer in a techno band, a ghost-for-hire haunting agency and others dark, twisted tales.
With stories and art by some of comics’ greatest talents, this special features a cover by Dave Johnson, and a variant cover by Brendan McCarthy!

A FLIGHT OF ANGELS TP
Written by HOLLY BLACK, BILL WILLINGHAM, ALISA KWITNEY, LOUISE HAWES and T.D. MITCHELL
Conceived by REBECCA GUAY
Art and cover by REBECCA GUAY
On sale NOVEMBER 28 • 128 pg, FC, $17.99 US • MATURE READERS
ANGELS: Guardians. Messengers. Warriors. Fallen.
All these angelic aspects and more are explored in A FLIGHT OF ANGELS, a riveting tale in the tradition of The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales. A mysterious angel plummets to Earth and lands deep in a dark forest, where his dying body is found by the mystical denizens of this strange place. As the gathered fauns, fairies, hags and hobgoblins debate what to do with him, each tells a different story of who they imagine this celestial creature to be: a hero, a lover, a protector or a killer. Once the stories have been told, a verdict is rendered – and the outcome will leave you breathless. Conceived and stunningly illustrated by fantasy art legend Rebecca Guay (Magic: The Gathering, Veils), A FLIGHT OF ANGELS is written by an all-star lineup of today’s top fantasy talent, including Bill Willingham (FABLES) and Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles) in tales that will grip your heart and make your imagination soar.

Eight bucks seems awfully steep for a comic book, even if it is 80 pages, but I like just about everyone involved with Ghosts to one degree or another. I'd really be interested in reading Johns' piece, as I'm curious about his skills as a writer, and what divorcing him from his pet subject matter (i.e. in-continuity DC superheroes) might reveal about his talents.

Every artist drawing the stories in that thing is a great one, and McCrea, Pope, Kubert and Jimenez have all been among my favorite comic book artists ever at various points.

That second one looks like it will do very well in book stores and (especially) libraries, where "Holly Black" and "Bill Willingham" can certainly move paper. It also sounds like exactly the sort of dark fantasy thing Vertigo has always done very well, and surprisingly doesn't do as much of as they used to (Vertigo really ought to be burning up book stores these days, given how mass audiences have embraced paranormal romance and modern adaptations of myths and fairy tales...you know, the sorts of stuff that Vertigo was founded upon).