First, it's the launch of Forever Evil, a seven-issue miniseries by the publisher's top writer Geoff Johns and artist David Finch, who only managed two or three issues as the artist on JLoA before abandoning the project—perhaps to get to work on this book (And, if that's the case, then apparently this wasn't planned out all that far in advance). It will be the first line-wide crossover/event series of The New 52, which is curious, as DC has been teasing and hyping this summer's "Trinity War" almost since the launch of The New 52, and that ended up being only a six-part crossover between three different titles, not a Blackest Night or Final Crisis style project. The premise seems to be something about the Justice League "dying" or being removed, and the villains getting the run of the joint (a premise that might be more effective were these heroes or this League one that was older than three years or so).
Second, each New 52 book will go on semi-hiatus, with many of them getting special between-issues issues with decimal points in the numbering, each highlighting a particular villain and each bearing a matching enhanced cover, a portrait of a villain with some sort of goofy limited-motion lenticular effect.
This apparently means DC will go back on two things they've said rather publicly before. First and foremost, there was that whole "holding the line at $2.99" campaign, which they've wiggled around variously in the past (chopping story pages per book from 22 to 20 pages, and publishing more over-sized books with back-up stories). Each of these books is priced at $3.99, but their page-counts remain 32 pages (20 pages of story, 10 pages of ads, 2 pages of advertorial "Channel 52" features, if this month's pattern holds into September). The extra dollar goes to pay for the cover technology, I guess.
The other thing is a quote Robot 6's Kevin Melrose caught DC's John Rood saying in a passive-aggressive swipe at Marvel,saying DC doesn't do decimal point issues.
Just as noteworthy, however, is the way in which DC is publishing those decimal-point issues, or at least the titles. They're not restricting themselves to one issue of each book, as popular book like Justice League and JLoA getting four issues this month, while less-popular books like Vibe and Katana are taking the month off. Heck, even books like Supergirl and Superboy are missing, while there are instead multiple issues of the higher-selling Action Comics and Superman (The new Scott Snyder/Jim Lee series Superman Unchained is absent; apparently some creative teams or book's get the month off so as to avoid participating).
It's a way for DC to publish four issues of a more popular title and avoid selling any issues of a less-popular one without actually going to the trouble of canceling it, and it has the effect of rack-crowding to an almost unprecedented degree (there's ten books with the words "Justice League" in them alone, and I'm afraid to even count up the Batman books, which, as with the Superman family, published more issues under the more popular titles like Batman, while not publishing issues of, say, Nightwing or Batgirl.
I'm sure it will give DC a huge market share, something they always protest they're not interested in, given that they are selling more books with more popular titles for more money that month, but I can't imagine it will work as well as they want, however.
For example, look at the four issues of Justice League. Of them, only one of them is co-written by Geoff Johns (#23.4: Secret Society), while another is quite explicitly the final issue of the canceled Dial H series under a different name ("In a special VILLAINS MONTH coda to the fan-favorite DIAL H series," says the solicit for #23.3: Dial E), another is written by Greg Pak and is just as likely tied to the Greg Pak-written Superman/Batman as to Justice League (#23.1: Darkseid) and the other is a Lobo one-shot.
If you look closely at creators—well, writers, anyway—you can see what villains month book replaces what regular book—Batgirl writer Gail Simone is writing Batman: The Dark Knight #23.1: The Ventriloquist, starring a villain she's been using in Batgirl, for example—and while that's not that hard for readers to puzzle out, I bet it's gonna suck to be ordering these things as a retailer (Like, obviously you can order the Johns issue of Justice League as if it were a regular issue of Justice League, plus whatever you think the promotion itself will add, and the "Dial E" issue as if it were an issue of Dial H plus whatever you think the promotion will add, but then you have to factor in for whether readers will be fooled into wanting it because of the "Justice League" in the title or...Urrgh. This looks like one of those month's where I look at the solicitations and all I can think is "Those poor bastards" when I think of our friends in the comics retailing business).
DCWKA already broke down the creative teams by gender, and noted that while there are four times as many women writing for The New 52 than in September of 2011 (when there was only one), now there's one fewer artist—there are no female artists involved. Of greater interest to me (increasingly I think the Big Two need women more than the women need the Big Two; I can't imagine Prudence Shen, Faith Erin Hicks and Lucy Knisley aren't getting much more money and recognition for their First Second-published OGNs Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong and Relish than they'd get and make were they working on Earth-2 or Hawkman or whatever) is how few new creators of any kind are involved: Once more, it looks like a bunch of the same old creators, with new blood consisting of the likes of old hands without monthly assignments, like Tom DeFalco, John Ostrander, Dan Jurgens, Frank Tieri and, most surprisingly, Graham Nolan.
(I am glad to see some talented name creators getting some no doubt lucrative gigs in The New 52 though, like Francis Portella, Tim Seely, Jeremy Haun and Aaron Kuder.)
At any rate, let's take a closer look at a few of the publisher's offerings of special note this month. As always, for the full solicits, you can head on over to Comic Book Resources...
Written by NATHAN EDMONDSON and KYLE KILLEN
Art by YILDIRAY CINAR and PIA
Cover by YILDIRAY CINAR
On sale SEPTEMBER 25 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
When an alien baby crashes on Earth, Superman must protect the screaming infant from her pursuers both human and extraterrestrial! Plus: a Lex Luthor tale like you’ve never seen before, written by Kyle Killen, creator of Awake, and drawn by Y: THE LAST MAN’s Pia Guerra!
Weird. I was just wondering whatever happened to Guerra after reading this must-read (well, should-read) piece on The Beat (which quotes me, and misplaces my J). She's a great artist, and one whose work I'd like to see on a regular basis again somewhere.
BATMAN #23.4: BANE
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by GRAHAM NOLAN
3-D motion cover by GUILLEM MARCH
On sale SEPTEMBER 25 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Batman is gone, and the inmates of Arkham Asylum are running wild in the streets! Bane is in Gotham City with one goal…to take it over no matter who he has to break!
BATMAN AND ROBIN #23.1: TWO-FACE
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by GUILLEM MARCH
3-D motion cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Two-Face is approached to join the Secret Society! Which side will his coin land on?
So if I were to buy any of these issues—and at $4 for 20-pages, I won't, but maybe there are actually 32 story pages in these things—these would be the two I'd buy. I think of the villains' month special issues, these are the ones where I like the work of the writer, love the work of the artists and have some interest in the characters.
Written by CHIP KIDD, NEAL ADAMS, JOE QUINONES, MARIS WICKS, JOHN ARCUDI and HOWARD MACKIE
Art by MICHAEL CHO, NEAL ADAMS, JOE QUINONES, SEAN MURPHY and CHRIS SAMNEE
...
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 • 48 pg, 1 of 6, B&W, $4.99 US • RATED T
...
The legendary, Eisner Award-winning series BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE returns in a brand-new six-issue miniseries featuring tales of The Dark Knight by some of comics’ greatest writers and artists! This first issue kicks off with stories by Chip Kidd and Michael Cho, Neal Adams, Joe Quinones and Maris Wicks, John Arcudi and Sean Murphy, and Howard Mackie and Chris Samnee!
Probably the biggest, most exciting release of the month, a new version of DC's 1996 miniseries that featured black-and-white Legends of the Dark Knight style stories from some of the best comics creators in the world (and which later lead to back-up strips in Batman: Gotham Knights). This one doesn't sound quite as awesome—that original series had a cover by Alex Toth and a contribution from Katsuhiro Otomo, for example) but Chip Kidd and Neal Adams are pretty big names, and I like the work of just about everyone mentioned there. I'm especially eager to see what Samnee and Quinones can do with Batman.
Written by NEAL ADAMS
Art by NEAL ADAMS and others
Cover by NEAL ADAMS
On sale OCTOBER 2 • 368 pg, FC, $19.99 US
Legendary Batman artist and comics pioneer Neal Adams returns to Gotham City with an electrifying new story that pits The Dark Knight against villains and allies old and new! Now, all thirteen issues of BATMAN: ODYSSEY are collected in trade paperback!
Wow, $20 for 368-pages seems like a pretty good value, doesn't it? And I really like that they decided to put an image of Batman riding a pterodactyl on the cover, just to make it clear how insane the contents of the book actually are.
Written by JOHN OSTRANDER, KIM YALE, STEVE ENGLEHART, DOUG MOENCH, GERRY CONWAY and PAUL LEVITZ
Art by LUKE McDONNELL, MARSHALL ROGERS, TERRY AUSTIN, DON NEWTON and others
Cover by LUKE McDONNELL
On sale OCTOBER 30 • 160 pg, FC, $14.99 US
In these bullet-ridden 1980s tales, Deadshot goes on a solo mission to kill a crime boss known as El Jefe, only to learn that the men who sent him on this mission have ulterior motives. Collects DEADSHOT #1-4, BATMAN #369 and DETECTIVE COMICS #474.
Sure, I'll take one of these.
That bit about Suicide Squad on the cover only reminds me that we're way past due for the next volume of the Ostrander-written Suicide Squad to come out in collection.
Say, is this the first New 52 design I prefer to the original...? I think it just might be. Usually they're much, much worse (see Captain Cold and Heatwave on the same image, for example), but that Mirror Master may be an honest to-to-God improvement. Huh.
That's regular Flash artist Francis Manapul's cover to The Flash #23.3: The Rogues, by the way. There are three issues of The Flash in September, each of 'em by either Brian Buccellato, Manapul or Buccellato and Manapul, so unlike, say, the various Justice League books, it looks like all of these "count" as being issues of the Flash series.
Kinda sucks to be a Flash reader then, as your Flash comics line item for the month will have jumped from $3 to $12...
Written by ANN NOCENTI
Art by CHRISCROSS
3-D motion cover by MIKEL JANIN
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Freed from his mystical prison, The Creeper walks a path littered with gore and misery—and there may be no way to stop him! Many will be caught in his web, including the Justice League of America’s Katana and Jack Ryder, The Creeper’s unwitting human host. Where will The Creeper strike next?
Despite the title and the Dark Justice Leaguers on the cover, I have to assume this is actually the stealth September issue of Katana, given that it's written by Katana writer Ann Nocenti and mentions Katana in the solicit copy.
That is one...not very interesting looking version of The Creepr, and "littered with gore and misery" sure doesn't make it sound like one that will be very interesting to read about, does it?
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND
1:25 Villain A cover by TBD
1:25 Villain B cover by TBD
1:25 Villain C cover by TBD
3-D motion variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:200 B&W variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 • 48 pg, 1 of 7, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $4.99 US
Retailers: This issue will ship with seven covers. Please see the order form for more information.
The first universe-wide event of The New 52 begins as FOREVER EVIL launches! The Justice League is DEAD! And the villains shall INHERIT the Earth! An epic tale of the world’s greatest super-villains starts here!
Nothing reminds me that making comic books at this particular corporate level is little different than making sprockets or widgets than seeing that many TBDs for variant covers announced. Someone decided that this book will need seven different covers, but they hadn't yet decided what seven artists should draw them.
Sigh...
I suppose this is on the artist who drew that particular cover more than some kind of statement on the state of the DCU at the moment (the artist being Finch, I assume, although it doesn't look all that Finchy), but all but ten of those villains are Batman villains.
Well, I hope this is a good comic book series, and easy to follow for someone not reading much of the New 52 on a monthly basis, as it's most likely the only comic book-comic I'll buy this month, given the 33% price increase in the entire line (and even then I'm not sure; while I love Johns' writing of DC super-comics, I'm not a fan of Finch's artwork at all).
JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.2: LOBO
Written by MARGUERITE BENNETT
Art by BEN OLIVER
3-D motion cover by AARON KUDER
On sale SEPTEMBER 11 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Deep in the dark corridors of space lives a black-hearted being of unimaginable power. He’s witnessed horrors beyond description and committed unparalleled evils. In all of history, no being has ever been capable of as much chaos and terror as this lone individual. This is the story of the man called Lobo. He’s coming. And he’s bringing all of hell with him.
I thought Lobo already made his New 52 debut in Stormwatch...?
Anyway, I thought this noteworthy for the darkness of its tone—Lobo sounds far, far from his dark humor heyday—and the absence of Lobo creator and DC workhorse Keith Giffen, who is MIA from the villain specials (His only September credits are on a pair of Masters of the Universe books).
Written by MATT KINDT
Art by PASQUAL FERRY
3-D motion cover by TONY S. DANIEL and MATT BANNING
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Is it a death wish that makes Floyd Lawton put on the mask of Deadshot? Or is something more sinister pulling at Floyd when he becomes a relentless assassin who feels nothing for his victims? Discover the truth behind Deadshot’s secret history in this issue!
Reading Red Handed: The Fine Art of Strange Crimes and Super Spy, I think a Matt Kindt Deadshot comic would be pretty much the best thing ever. Seeing that cover, and reading that solicit, I think otherwise.
If only Kindt drew his own scripts for DC...
Written by SHOLLY FISCH
Art by JEFF JOHNSON and ANDY SMITH
3-D motion cover by AARON KUDER
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Lex Luthors’ sinister plan to manipulate Superman’s genetic material to create a mindless soldier under his control results in the monster known as Bizarro: opposite of Superman in every way, with no compassion, no remorse and no mercy!
Woof, I do not care for that Bizarro re-design, which mixes elements of both of Superman's bad New 52 costumes, and, somewhat perplexingly, have the exact same shades of blue and red that Superman's costumes, instead of being a few shades off, as per Bizarro tradition.
Normally I'd be really excited about a Bizarro one-shot, especially one written by Sholly Fisch, but man, that solicitation copy sounds no fun at all, and it looks like we're back to the post-Crisis origin for Bizarro as a botched clone, rather than an entity from Bizarro World, as the pre-New 52 version gradually evolved back into.
I do kinda dig the horns, though.
WONDER WOMAN #23.2: FIRST BORN
Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art by ACO
3-D motion cover by VICTOR IBANEZ
On sale SEPTEMBER 25 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
The First Born son of Zeus—Wonder Woman’s oldest brother—has returned to claim the throne of Olympus! But it’s been a long and bloody road to reach his destiny…and you won’t believe the horror when you meet the rest of Wonder Woman’s extended “family”!
There are two issues of Wonder Woman this month, but this seems to be the one that "counts," as its written by regular Wonder Woman writer Brian Azzarello and features the villain of his latest story arc. The other issue features The Cheetah, who appeared in Justice League, not Wonder Woman, in the The New 52. That one's written by John Ostrander.
"Forever Evil" aka the 4 and 5 issues of "Final Crisis"?
ReplyDeleteSo World's Finest this month is Earth 2.1? I didn't know the sales between Earth 2 and World's Finest were that different in scale.
ReplyDeleteAlso, find it odd that there's a Teen Titans: Deathstroke when he hasn't shown up in Teen Titans at all. Maybe it's a follow up to Ravagers.
You'd think a Teen Titans: Harvest as a stealth Superboy issue would make more sense.