DC's October previews reviewed

ACTION COMICS #1004
written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
art by RYAN SOOK
enhanced foil cover by STEVE RUDE
...
Superman confronts Lois Lane and wants answers: Where is Jon Kent? What happened during Lois’ trip into space with Jor-El? Why didn’t she contact the Man of Steel when she returned? And most importantly, does she still love him? Or is the world-famous reporter looking to let Clark Kent down easy? Lois and Clark’s relationship gets redefined in this issue illustrated by acclaimed artist Ryan Sook!
ON SALE 10.24.18
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES
FC | RATED T

That's a really rather lovely cover by Steve Rude as it appears here, but I'm not entirely sure what it might look like in person, as it is one of these "enhanced foil" covers. I know what the words "enchanced," "foil" and "covers" mean individually, but I'm not entirely sure what they mean altogether in that particular order, and what exactly they refer to in terms of a finished project. I am imagining something akin to the recent Dark Nights: Metal covers, but I could be way off.

Oh, and I guess something is going on with Superman and Lois Lane in this issue. Hopefully it's just a reaffirmation of their current relationship, because if Bendisbroke them up this far into his run after heavily teasing a major shift at the very beginning of his run (DC Nation #0,Man of Steel, etc) it will seem like a particularly naked manipulative move.


AQUAMAN: THE SEARCH FOR MERA DELUXE EDITION HC
written by STEVE SKEATES
art by JIM APARO
cover by NICK CARDY
Writer Steve Skeates and artist Jim Aparo began their acclaimed Aquaman run with the epic tale of
Mera’s disappearance and Aquaman’s quest to to get her back, now collected in this Deluxe Edition. While Aquaman desperately searches for his missing wife and queen, Mera, Atlantis plunges into the grips of a new enemy, a politician named Narkran, who plans to rule the underwater kingdom with an iron fist! Aquaman’s quest takes him to depths high and low as he battles all who stand in his way, including his archnemesis Black Manta. Collects Aquaman #40-48 (1968).
ON SALE 11.28.18
$34.99 US | 216 PAGES
FC | 7.0625” x 10.875”
ISBN: 978-1-4012-8522-7

I'm not a big fan of Mera, which I suspect has as much to do with the fact that I first encountered the character during the time in which he was estranged from Mera as the fact that I think her powers are weird and dumb and I always hated her weird costume with the frog-feet, but I am very interested in seeing hundreds of pages of Jim Aparo drawing these characters.

BATMAN BLANK COMIC #1
Celebrate “24-Hour Comics Day” with the BATMAN BLANK COMIC! You can write and draw your very own adventure of the Dark Knight in this 16-page comic, which features uncoated 80-pound paper (the same stock used on DC’s blank variant covers) that’s ideal for drawing on!
ON SALE 10.03.18

I do hope that the $2.99 price tag on the cover is there just to make this blank comic--there are also Superman and Wonder Woman blank comics available--look more like a regular comic book, and that DC Comics is not actually charging the same price it would have for an issue of Batman--and Superman and Wonder Woman--a few months ago for a shorter comic with nothing at all on its pages.

Batman: The Kings of Fear provides an unnecessary but still welcome reminder that Kelley Jones is indeed awesome.

BATMAN: THE HUSH SAGA OMNIBUS HC
written by JEPH LOEB, PAUL DINI, A.J. LIEBERMAN and others
art by JIM LEE, DUSTIN NGUYEN, AL BARRIONUEVO and others
cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
The saga of Hush, a.k.a. Thomas Elliott, is collected in a single, massive Omnibus edition! This title includes his introduction in the legendary “Hush” storyline by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee, his conflicts with the Dark Knight and encounters with Gotham City’s greatest villains, including Two-Face, Poison Ivy and many others! Collects BATMAN #608-619 and 685, BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #50-55, 60-71 and 73-74, DETECTIVE COMICS #846-850 and 852, BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #1-4, 14 and 16-21, plus stories from BATMAN VILLAINS SECRET FILES #1 and Wizard #0.
ON SALE 03.13.19
$125.00 US | 1,240 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1-4012-9060-3

I know the original "Hush" story arc from Batman was quite popular as it was being published--and given the fact that writer Jeph Loeb basically just provided artist Jim Lee with an opportunity to do a greatest hits spin through the Batman character catalog, that fact wasn't terribly surprising--and that it remains a decent evergreen seller, which goes a long way towards explaining why it so often pops up in slightly different iterations in DC's solicitations. This $125, 1,240-page omnibus is, in fact, just further evidence of the continuing demand for "Hush" in the market.

That said, even if we dismiss the fact that "Hush" doesn't age well at all--like, even by the time the last chapters were shipping, they sort of rendered everything that preceded it nonsensical plotting gobbledygook that made Long Halloween seem like Shakespeare--I think it's rather widely agreed upon that it was the only really good Hush story, and all of those that followed were basically garbage. Like, that A.J. Lieberman story was just terrible, terrible comics, and that was one of the low-points in what may have been the single worst run of any writer on a Batman comic (Er, that I've read, anyway). Even the stories by usually reliable writers like Paul Dini were pretty dumb, like that one where Hush removed Catwoman's heart but kept her alive through...comic book medicine, I guess...?

But then, given the price point, I imagine this isn't exactly targeted towards a terribly wide audience.

On the positive side, I do like the idea of a collection so massive it includes the vast majority of a particular Batman villain's appearances--like, I'd buy a 1,000+-page collection featuring Catman, Calendar Man, Anarky or maybe even Killer Moth--and the one think I've always liked about the Hush character was that he was, essentially, an evil plastic surgeon, a combination of words I've always personally found slightly hilarious.


BATMAN SECRET FILES #1
written by TOM KING, JORDIE BELLAIRE, RAM V., CHERYL LYNN EATON and TOM TAYLOR
art by MIKEL JANIN, JORGE FORNES, ELENA CASAGRANDE, BRAD WALKER and others
enhanced foil cover by MIKEL JANIN
Delve into Batman’s case histories and discover brand-new stories by some of comics’ most exciting talents. The BATMAN team of Tom King and Mikel Janin provides a framing sequence, setting up our hand-picked teams of creators to take a look at Bat-mysteries past and present. Featuring a bevy of Batman villains, including a look at how the Scarecrow’s fear toxin affects the common man, and a special story written by Tom Taylor with art by Brad Walker that teams the Dark Knight Detective with Detective Chimp.
ONE SHOT
ON SALE 10.31.18
$4.99 US | 48 PAGES
FC | RATED T

The title of this is interesting, as in the mid-to-late 1990s DC rather regularly published specials called Secret Files and Origins that functioned as something of a hybrid of their old Who's Who In The DC Universe entries (that is, pin-up with some stats and relevant histories of various characters relevant to the franchise or story) and Secret Origins.

As for the contents of this, while the titles suggests a modern update to the Secret Files and Origins format, the solicitation text makes it sound like the files of the title are Batman's own case files. But then, it's only 48 pages long, so how many cases can really get covered in any depth while still allowing for the stories mentioned...?

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD: BATMAN AND WONDER WOMAN HC
written by LIAM SHARP
art and cover by LIAM SHARP
When a Celtic god’s murder leads to a war between the fairy folk and a possible breach between worlds, Wonder Woman must find the murderer and keep the peace while Batman investigates strange occurrences in Gotham City. As Diana must turn to the World’s Greatest Detective for help, the two heroes quickly learn their cases may be connected. Collects the entire six-issue miniseries.
ON SALE 11.14.18
$24.99 US | 152 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1-4012-8343-8

I'm looking forward to this one. I read the first issue of the miniseries to try it out, and then decided to trade-wait it. I'm still not crazy about the title, which seems like it was chosen simply for legal reasons, but I think I've figured out how to retroactively make it make sense: Sharp simply needs to follow this miniseries up with more six-issue miniseries pairing various DC characters together. You know, The Brave and The Bold: Superman and Mister Miracle, The Brave and The Bold: Shazam and Plastic Man, The Brave and The Bold: Martian Manhunter and Swamp Thing and so on...

CURSED COMICS CAVALCADE #1
written by JAMES TYNION IV, BECKY CLOONAN, BRYAN HILL, TIM SEELEY, RILEY ROSSMO GARY DAUBERMAN and others
art by MARK BUCKINGHAM, BECKY CLOONAN, RILEY ROSSMO, RICCARDO FEDERICI and others
cover by DOUG MAHNKE
Horror! Death! Uh…Face-punching! Witness ten all-new stories that promise to be the most terrifying, most shocking and most horrific comic that DC Comics has ever published! (Hyperbole much?) Batman, Wonder Woman, Guy Gardner, Swamp Thing, Zatanna and more of your favorite heroes face unspeakable horrors from the streets of Gotham City to the darkest sectors of the universe.
PRESTIGE FORMAT
ON SALE 10.10.18
$9.99 US | 80 PAGES
FC | RATED T+

Clever title, there.

The skyrocketing price of comics has made these over-sized anthologies almost prohibitively expensive--$9.99 is the price point for the first volume of many Image Comics trade paperback collections, for example--and there's something inherently disposable about the anthology one-short format by nature. For example, not only does this solicit not list all of the writers, artists or characters involved ("and others", "and more of your favorite heroes"), but no matter who the readers in question is, there are going to be creators and characters that they do not care for as much as the others. That's just the nature of the best. Or monster, perhaps I should say.

DC has added a spine to one-shots of this length (note the "PRESTIGE FORMAT") which makes the high price tag a little more tolerable, but also has the weird effect of making these something of a hybrid between a comic book and a trade paperback.

All told, it's a weird format in this current period of comics publishing. Regardless, I will almost certainly get this, as DC's anthology holiday one-shots are the books they publish that are perhaps most up my alley.


GREEN ARROW #45
written by JULIE BENSON and SHAWNA BENSON
art by JAVIER FERNANDEZ
enhanced foil cover by ALEX MALEEV
...
In this Heroes in Crisis tie-in, Oliver Queen is forced to take a hard look at himself and evaluate his methods after he fails one too many times trying to do the right thing. It’s a dark, depressing stroll down memory lane for the Emerald Archer, as Oliver must come to grips with how he’s hurt the people around him. This issue guest-stars members of the Justice League and the Titans, but are they there to console Ollie…or condemn him?
ON SALE 10.03.18
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES
FC | RATED T+

Wow, dark and depressing...? Sign me up for that!

Weirdly, the solicit for this tie-in not only does a poor job of selling this particular issue, it also makes the Heroes In Crisis comic sound infinitely less appealing...

DEATHSTROKE/YOGI BEAR SPECIAL #1
written by FRANK TIERI
art by MARK TEXEIRA
backup story written by J.M. DeMATTEIS
backup story art by TOM MANDRAKE
cover by TYLER KIRKHAM
...
In Yellowstone Park, legends speak of a spirit bear referred to as “the Yogi,” which few if any have actually encountered. Real or not, when a bear seems to have graduated from stealing picnic baskets to kidnapping actual campers, Ranger Smith decides it’s time to stop this menace—so he calls on the services of Slade Wilson—a.k.a. Deathstroke—to get the job done. Plus, part one of a Secret Squirrel backup story written by J.M. DeMatteis.
ONE-SHOT
ON SALE 10.31.18
$4.99 US | 48 PAGES
FC | RATED T

The central joke of these weird-ass crossovers, which are generally worth a perusal if only to see in which particular ways they are weird, generally comes from the very idea of doing dark, grim, gritty versions of cartoon characters from your dad's childhood. This particular one seems to tell that joke absolutely perfectly in its title and cover. That is, if Yogi Bear were in a Deathstroke comic, what might that be like? Why, he would be a rampaging grizzly bear...but wearing a tie. Of course, because the cover tells that joke, it sort of seems as if the rest of the comic would therefore be redundant. I'm not really sure making Yogi a spirit bear or whatever actually lends itself to a compelling story, but I guess we'll see.

Of this year's second round of crossovers, this seems like the most interesting, which means they are still leaving an Enemy Ace/Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines and All-Star Squadron/All-Star Laff-a-Lympics on the table.

I am also slightly curious about the back-ups. I've never been at all interested in Secret Squirrel, a character I cannot even imagine drawn in Tom Mandrake's style, which actually makes me eager to see what that might look lik.

HEROES IN CRISIS #2
written by TOM KING
art and cover by CLAY MANN
...
Suspected of murder, [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] find themselves on the run from the super-hospital called Sanctuary —with each thinking the other one is the real killer! It’s up to Batman to solve this heinous crime, but suspicion falls on him when Superman and Wonder Woman ponder just how much Sanctuary’s A.I. is telling them. Meanwhile, [REDACTED] tries to make a shady deal to hide from the Trinity, while [REDACTED] searches out an old friend to help him out of this mess—and only gets deeper in trouble.
ON SALE 10.24.18
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES
FC | 2 of 7 | RATED T+

Well that's a weird way to sell a comic book. It features four different characters who aren't Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and, one imagines, Harley Quinn. Unless they are big surprises that no one would see coming--Doctor Manhattan! Dream of The Endless! The guy in the Guy Fawkes mask from V For Vendetta! Scooby-Doo!--then I can't imagine why they are bothering referring to the characters as "[REDACTED]".

A comic book series about Jonah Hex's wives seems like a strange premise for an ongoing comic book series, but then, I guess there have been stranger premises in the past. If this book is not about Jonah Hex's wives, please don't tell me and ruin it for me.

Readers and retailers are going to be so pissed if this is another bait-and-switch and Killer Croc and Orca, The Whale Woman don't actually get married in this issue.


JUSTICE LEAGUE #9
written by SCOTT SNYDER
art cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
...
THE ROAD TO “DROWNED EARTH”! Superman and Batman can’t agree on how to put back the moon—you know, the one that went missing in issue #1. On the other hand, Wonder Woman and Aquaman have faith in each other, working together on a new addition to the Hall of Justice. Martian Manhunter takes Hawkgirl under his wing to test out the limits of her recently broken wing, and Flash and Green Lantern get up to some hijinks in the Hall’s cafeteria. Can you say super food fight?!
ON SALE 10.03.18
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES
FC | RATED T+

I kinda like the idea of an issue devoted to various Leaguers' relationship, premised along a series of team-ups/hang-outs like this. I used to ship Aquaman and Wonder Woman during the early JLA era, before I knew what the word "ship" meant. I think it was mostly derived from that cool little team-up Christopher Priest wrote in 1998's JLA 80-Page Giant #1 wherein Aquaman got tangled in Wonder Woman's lasso, the one that the Justice League movie cribbed from. That, and it served as an explanation for why on earth the then super-moody, perpetually-grumpy Aquaman would consent to joining the League and, well, the pair of them just had so much in common with one another versus to any of the other Leaguers (Like during Mark Waid's run, when secret identities were an issue, and they both passed because they were the only of the then eight-person League who didn't have secret identities, for example).

Huh. It looks like the whole current line-up all has someone to hang out with except Cyborg. I guess that means they should add Plastic Man or Steel or Mister Miracle or Captain Marvel Shazam to the League so Cyborg can have a friend too.

I really dig this Francis Manapul cover as it is, this is apparently an "enhanced foil cover," so who knows what it will look like in person.

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT: NORM BREYFOGLE VOL. 2 HC
written by ALAN GRANT
art by NORM BREYFOGLE and others
cover by NORM BREYFOGLE
It’s another volume of Batman tales illustrated by top comics artist Norm Breyfogle, featuring the Dark Knight’s conflicts with Anarky, The Joker and the Scarecrow and the seeming death of the Penguin. This volume collects DETECTIVE COMICS #608-621, BATMAN #448-459 and more.
ON SALE 11.21.18
$49.99 US | 456 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1-4012-8512-8

Woo-hoo! I've been waiting for this so long I was beginning to worry they weren't going to publish a second volume.

NEW CHALLENGERS #6
written by SCOTT SNYDER and AARON GILLESPIE
art and cover by V KEN MARION and SANDU FLOREA
Final issue! Now that they’ve uncovered the face of their true enemy, the New Challengers must band together to stop the unstoppable—a reawakened space god with unlimited power, weaponized to tear reality apart! Their borrowed time is just about up—will our team of heroes be able to save the very fabric of reality as we know it?
ON SALE 10.17.18
$2.99 US | 6 of 6 |32 PAGES
FC | RATED T

This was the last of the "New Age" books I expected to see end, but then I guess it's a miniseries rather than an ongoing. I just checked the solicitation for the first issue, and I guess it was always meant to be a six-issue miniseries, which is...odd.

Reminder: Scooby-Doo Team-Up is the best place to see all your favorite DC Comics superheroes.


SUPERMAN/TOP CAT SPECIAL #1
written by DAN DiDIO
art and cover by SHANE DAVIS
backup story written by J.M. DeMATTEIS
backup story art by TOM MANDRAKE
variant cover by EMANUELA LUPACCHINO
It’s Superman versus super food with Top Cat caught in the middle. While searching for his missing friend Bennie, TC uncovers a dietary danger that threatens the healthier portions of mankind, and it’s up to the Man of Steel to stop the probiotic menace of Kalien! In the salad bar, no one can hear you scream. Plus, part four of a Secret Squirrel backup story written by J.M. DeMatteis.
ONE-SHOT | ON SALE 10.31.18
$4.99 US | 48 PAGES
FC | RATED T

Nobody's favorite writer and apparent Top Cat super-fan Dan DiDio is responsible for one-fourth of the next round of DC/Hanna-Barbera crossovers which, remember, means he assigned himself the book. Yes, Dan DiDio, co-publisher of one of the biggest mainstream comic book periodical publishers, the one that is responsible for maintaining the continuing adventures of many of the world's greatest superheroes, looked around at all of the possible people in the world who might consent to write a fairly lucrative one-shot comic, and decided that he, himself is totally the best choice for the job!

Luckily, this is drawn by an artist whose work I don't really like, and features a Hanna-Barbera character I am not really interested in, so it's not like I'm missing anything. I just think DiDio's continuing to take pretty good writing gigs that could go to anyone else in the world is weird as hell.