Marvel's November previews reviewed

Based solely on what the two biggest publishing companies in the North American direct market have solicited for the month of November, Marvel Entertainment's comics line seems a lot healthier than DC's...or, at least, they have far more books of various types, they have far fewer cancellations and no one has used the word "bloodbath" to describe what might be going on behind the scenes there.

Although I suppose one could also look at Marvel's offerings, which include some 14 X-Men books and eight Spider- books and one book with over 35 fucking variant cover and also conclude it's anything but healthy.

 I suppose health is, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder...?

At least Marvel, unlike DC, is neither publishing new material nor reprinting anything from Warren Ellis, or any of the other bad actors prominently featured in Abhay Khosla's The Comics Journal series on sexual harassment and exploitation in the comics industry (although I do see at least one name Khosla singled out for criticism for enabling Ellis and not doing enough to stand-up for exploited women in the industry getting plenty of high-profile work for the publisher).

One legitimately cool thing Marvel has to offer in November are Jeffrey Veregge's "Native American heritage tribute" variant covers. That's one of them at the top of the post. Here are some more:

Pretty great, huh?

Now let's see what else Marvel has to offer...


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #52.LR
NICK SPENCER & MATTHEW ROSENBERG (W) • FEDERICO VICENTINI (A)
Cover by MARCELO FERREIRA
...
LAST REMAINS TIE-IN!
Doctor Strange is now bound to this Kindred problem and he recruits someone to help.
Even with Strange and his recruit, the Order of the Web will be lucky if they survive!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #53.LR
MATTHEW ROSENBERG & NICK SPENCER (W) • FEDERICO VICENTINI (A)
Cover by MARCELO FERREIRA
...
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES VARIANT COVER BY JASON HICKEY
LAST REMAINS TIE-IN!
Another classic Spider-Man villain gets pulled into the most soul-shaking Spider-Man story ever. You won’t believe what you read, and it will break your heart.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Oh, Marvel's still doing that dumb thing with the numbering of ASM during the "Last Remains" crossover for some reason.

Yikes. That's not supposed to be Namor, is it? I wasn't fond of his recent-ish makeover, the one where he was given black, crustacean-like armor on his arms and shoulder and nowhere else, but I did eventually get kinda sorta used to it. But this looks much, much worse. If that is Namor, I'm not sure there's any getting used to that...

ETERNALS #1
KIERON GILLEN (W) • ESAD Ribić (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO
VARIANT COVER BY ALAN DAVIS
VARIANT COVER BY ART ADAMS
VARIANT COVER BY MAHMUD ASRAR
VARIANT COVER BY JEN BARTEL
VARIANT COVER BY BOSSLOGIC
VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
VARIANT COVER BY DAVE JOHNSON
VARIANT COVER BY JEFF JOHNSON
VARIANT COVER BY MIKE DEL MUNDO
VARIANT COVER BY JENNY FRISON
VARIANT COVER BY RIAN GONZALES
VARIANT COVER BY INHYUK LEE
VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY JOHN ROMITA, JR.
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY JACK KIRBY
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY BRIAN PELLETIER
VARIANT COVER BY JOE QUESADA
VARIANT COVER BY KHARY RANDOLPH
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY ESAD RIBIC
LAUNCH VARIANT COVER BY HUMBERTO RAMOS
PREMIERE VARIANT COVER BY ESAD RIBIC
VARIANT COVER BY WALT SIMONSON
VARIANT COVER BY RON LIM
VARIANT COVER BY OTTO SCHMIDT
VARIANT COVER BY SUPERLOG
HEADSHOT VARIANT COVER BY TODD NAUCK
VARIANT COVER BY GREG LAND
VARIANT COVER BY TAKASHI OKAZAKI
VARIANT COVER BY DAN PANOSIAN
VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
VARIANT COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
VARIANT COVER BY FRANK CHO
BLANK VARIANT COVER AND KIRBY CRACKLE VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
NEVER DIE. NEVER WIN. ETERNALS.
What’s the point of an eternal battle?
For millions of years, one hundred Eternals have roamed the Earth, secret protectors of humanity. Without them, we’d be smears between the teeth of the demon-like Deviants. Their war has waged for all time, echoing in our myths and nightmares.
But today, Eternals face something new: change. Can they – or anyone on Earth – survive their discovery?
From the thought provoking minds of Kieron Gillen (The Wicked + The Divine, Uncanny X-Men, Thor) and Esad Ribić (Secret Wars, King Thor) comes a new vision of the classic Marvel mythology!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Is it a controversial opinion to say that no comic book should have more variant covers than it has interior pages? Eternals has 37 variant covers. Thirty-seven! On an Eternals comic! I would be shocked beyond belief if this series even lasts 37 issues. Or, like, half that. Jack Kirby's original 1976 Eternals, the last of his cosmic gods-as-superheroes comics stories, lasted only 19 issues. Marvel's never even attempted anything more ambitious than a limited series with those characters since. Thirty-seven covers. Jesus.

HELLSTROM: MARVEL TALES #1
Written by GARY FRIEDRICH, JOHN WARNER, RICHARD HOWELL & RAFAEL NIEVES
Penciled by TOM SUTTON, JIM MOONEY RICHARD HOWELL & MICHAEL BAIR
Cover by INHYUK LEE
...
Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan himself, burns his way into your brain as we celebrate the legacy of the House of Ideas with MARVEL TALES! This anthology series shines a spotlight on fan-favorite characters, features timeless stories and highlights some of Marvel’s most impressive talent from the past eight decades. First, the Son of Satan makes his daring debut as a tormented exorcist in GHOST RIDER (1973) #1! Next, Daimon enters his father’s domain and faces an unholy family reunion in SON OF SATAN #1! A marriage made in heaven takes center stage as Daimon and his then-wife, Patsy Walker, star in MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #59! And there’ll be hell to pay when Daimon, now an occult investigator, comes face-to-face with his own demonic doppelganger in HELLSTORM: PRINCE OF LIES #1!
88 PGS./Rated T+ …$7.99
ORDER USING MAR201016

Hey, Hellstrom finally looks both cool and like himself again...but then, I guess this is a collection of classic stories, so maybe that's not too surprising...

MARAUDERS #14
GERRY DUGGAN & BENJAMIN PERCY (W) • STEFANO CASELLI (A) • Cover by RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
...
A toast. A dance. A dinner served: Part I
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Wait, is Storm into furries now...? Is that the logical next step after marrying a guy who dresses up like a cat all day? It must be love. There is no other way to explain the rose in that dog fursona's mouth...

I have no idea how much milk the X-Men drank, but it must have been a lot.

MARVEL #2 (Of 6)
ALEX ROSS, DAN BRERETON, STEVE DARNALL, PAOLO RIVERA & ERIC POWELL (W)
ALEX ROSS, ERIC POWELL, PAOLO RIVERA & DAN BRERETON (A) • Cover by ALEX ROSS
Variant Cover by DAN BRERETON – FEB200898
Another artist extravaganza overseen by the master; Alex Ross! In this issue, the X–Men old and new grapple with the swelling of their ranks in a story by Dan Brereton, the Thing, Spider–Man and Doctor Doom contend for the most coveted object on the planet in a tale by Eric Powell, and the Vision pushes himself to the limit in order to save a life in an adventure by Paolo Rivera! All wrapped in a framing sequence painted by Alex and scripted by Steve Darnall!
40 PGS./Rated T …$4.99
ORDER USING FEB200897

I don't like the vague-to-the-point-of-meaningless title, but I do like Dan Brereton art. I'll be looking forward to the collected version of this.

MARVEL’S VOICES: INDIGENOUS VOICES #1
JEFFREY VEREGGE, REBECCA ROANHORSE, DARCIE LITTLE BADGER & STEPHEN GRAHAM JONES (W)
JEFFREY VEREGGE, WESHOYOT ALVITRE, KYLE CHARLES & DAVID CUTLER (A)
Cover by JIM TERRY
DANI MOONSTAR NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE TRIBUTE VARIANT COVER BY JEFFREY VEREGGE
Variant cover by DAVID MACK
Variant cover by AFUA RICHARDSON
MARVEL CELEBRATES INDIGENOUS HISTORY WITH A STAR-STUDDED SPECIAL!
Today’s hottest Native American and Indigenous talent make their Marvel Comics debuts with a collection of super-charged stories as Marvel celebrates National Native American Heritage Month! Celebrated writer and artist Jeffrey Veregge explores the legacy of Marvel’s incredible cast of Indigenous characters! Hugo, Nebula, and Locus-award winning Black/Ohkay Owingeh writer Rebecca Roanhorse and Tongva artist Weshoyot Alvitre tell an Echo tale like none you’ve heard before. Geoscientist and Lipan Apache writer Darcie Little Badger joins acclaimed Whitefish Lake First Nation artist Kyle Charles for a Dani Moonstar story that’s out of this world! And Bram Stoker-winning horror writer Stephen Graham Jones of the Blackfeet Nation teams up with Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation artist David Cutler to revisit one of the darkest spots of X-Men history!
40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/RATED T+ …$4.99

This is interesting. The original Marvel's Voices comic, which is also being reprinted in November, wasn't that great, but it had its moments. Unfortunately, there were so many characters and so many creators involved, that the super-short—sometimes no more than a page—stories meant that moments were all that it really could have. I wonder if this will be the same, or if Marvel's relatively fewer indigenous characters will mean that the stories will be of greater length...?

One thing that I think could prove exciting about this is that I am completely unfamiliar with the work of any of the creators (I read a Star Wars prose novel Roanhorse wrote, and I've seen Jeffrey Veregge's covers and...that's it), so this is a probably a good place to look for new creators.

Well, Marvel has succeeded in making Ultraman look as boring as your standard Marvel superhero in your standard modern Marvel superhero comic...

U.S.AGENT #1 (OF 5)
Christopher Priest (W) • Stefano Landini (A) • Cover by Marco Checchetto
...
VARIANT COVER BY PATCH ZIRCHER
CHRISTOPHER PRIEST & STEFANO LANDINI BRING BACK THE SUPER-SOLDIER YOU LOVE TO HATE!
“American Zealot” Chapter 1 of 5: John Walker, the former Super Patriot, has been stripped of his official USAgent status and is now operating as an independent government contractor protecting government covert interests. His latest protection detail draws him into a conflict between a small town and the corporate giant trying to destroy it. John acquires a new partner and new enemy along the way while being haunted by ghosts from his past and confronting challenges to his future.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

D'oh! I didn't notice the mention of "Patch Zircher" the first time I read through these. He...did not come out looking great in Khosla's TCJ report, where he appears because he offered his "take" on Cameron Stewart's pursuit of teenage girls and young women. I had originally just pulled this one out because Priest is always an interesting writer, and while  I'm not terribly familiar with the USAgent character in any real detail, having missed the first few decades worth of his appearances, he seems like one that a writer like Priest could have some fun with.

But if you wanted to avoid this because of Zircher being kind of a terrible person in public, who could blame you? Not I.

WARHAMMER 40,000: MARNEUS CALGAR #2 (OF 5)
KIERON GILLEN (W) • JACEN BURROWS (A) • Cover by JAMES STOKOE
...
DESCENT INTO CHAOS!
The untold origin of MARNEUS CALGAR continues as a startling discovery is made on the moon of NOVA THULIUM!
But will the young Marneus face his first triumph…or a soul-shattering loss?
A shocking revelation in the history of the legendary Chapter Master of the Ultramarines that will forever change what you thought you knew!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

I don't rightly know what "Warhammer" is exactly. I've seen paperback novels of it. Is it a video game franchise? Or a role-playing game? Marvel's previously published Warhammer comics, but this is the first time I actually stopped and took any notice beyond, "That is a thing that exists," because it has a James Stokoe cover. Behond the power of James Stokoe art!

WIDOWMAKERS: RED GUARDIAN AND YELENA BELOVA #1
DEVIN GRAYSON (W) • Michele Bandini (A) Cover by MIKE MCKONE
...
Devin Grayson, one of the creators of Yelena Belova — the Red Room recruit who once nearly killed Natasha Romanoff — returns with a brand–new story drawn by rising star Michele Bandini! Yelena has spent years trying to figure out who she is. Once she thought the Black Widow mantle was her destiny, but fate had other plans. Now the past is catching up with her — and with Alexi Shostakov, a.k.a. the Red Guardian! Alexi has worn many titles, including husband to Natasha, but while the Widow played her avenging games, the Red Guardian waited in the shadows. Now a new day is dawning — and this time, no one will stand in his way.
40 PGS./ONE–SHOT/ Rated T …$4.99
ORDER USING FEB200833

Hey look, a new Devin Grayson comic!

Marvel's also releasing a collection of the X-Men: Evolution tie-in comic that Grayson wrote for a bit. I read all of the Grayson-written issues of that series, basically just because she wrote them, and I remember nothing at all about them, so I don't think they were very good. Or, at least, not very memorable. (I think they played baseball in one? But I guess you could say that of many runs on X-Men, no?)

WOLVERINE: BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD #1 (Of 4)
GERRY DUGGAN, DECLAN SHALVEY, MATTHEW ROSENBERG (W)
ADAM KUBERT, DECLAN SHALVEY, JOSHUA CASSARA (A)
Cover by ADAM KUBERT
VARIANT COVER BY ADAM KUBERT
VARIANT COVER BY RON GARNEY
VARIANT COVER BY TONY DANIEL
VARIANT COVER BY GEORGE PEREZ
TOP MARVEL TALENT SINK THEIR CLAWS INTO ALL-NEW
WOLVERINE TALES AND THEY’RE BLOODIER THAN EVER!
LOGAN. PATCH. WEAPON X. WOLVERINE. The mysterious mutant has gone by many names and lived many different lives. Now, experience ALL-NEW untold tales of the best there is through the lens of an all-star cast of creators, in the unadulterated black and white format (with a healthy splash of blood red all over)!
Return to the Weapon X program with Gerry Duggan and Adam Kubert, and a new revelation from Wolverine’s shattered memories. Join Matthew Rosenberg and Joshua Cassara on an explosive deep-cover spy mission from Wolverine’s association with NICK FURY. Head into the wilds with writer/artist Declan Shalvey as Logan finds himself in the crossfire of a deadly trap! This is the one you’ve been waiting for, bub.
40 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

I yield the remainder of my time to Graeme:

DC's November previews reviewed

Behind the scenes, things seem more than a little chaotic at DC Comics these days (the word "bloodbath" has been used in reference to the recent wave of layoffs), and, if you look at what they plan to ship in November, well, it's not exactly the deepest, widest, most diverse or most robust slate of comics.

No entire line or publishing initiative seems to have disappeared over night. There are still plenty of "Black Label" books for mature readers (mostly starring Harley Quinn and/or The Joker, or old Vertigo properties), and there are a pair of original graphic novels for young readers (House of El, We Found a Monster). There are a handful of collections, of a couple of recent books, a couple of millennial hits (some of which probably shouldn’t be getting republished, but we'll get to that later), and one comic from 1973.

But there are a lot of cancellations, and a general narrowing of the canonical, "DC Universe" books, which probably doesn't bode well for that increasingly niche part of DC Comics as a publisher.

This month’s cancellations are Hawkman, John Constantine: Hellblazer, Suicide Squad, Teen Titans and Young Justice.

Considering all the books that were revealed to be cancelled in previous rounds of solicitations, that means the only team books DC will have left will be Justice League, Justice League Dark and Legion of Superheroes.

The only solo characters with their own ongoing series will be Aquaman, Batman (regular and Beyond), Catwoman, The Flash, Jason Todd/The Red Hood, Nightwing, Superman and Wonder Woman. Those eight white folks are just barely enough people to form a Justice League, and even then, it would be an awfully Bat-heavy Justice League.

Of course, DC could just be getting ready for some kind of new relaunch or publishing initiative, particularly given that Dark Knights: Death Metal all but has to include some sort of continuity rejiggering. In fact, given the number of books that have had their final issues solicited in the last few months, DC definitely seemed to be winding down many of their books, as if in anticipation for something new (Perhaps, at one point, the five-generation thing that Dan DiDio was teasing, when he was still at DC).

But given what we’ve heard has been happening to the editorial staff, it doesn’t exactly look like the publisher is ready to roll anything too ambitious out at the moment (This Hollywood Reporter interview with Jim Lee seems the best place to look for clues at the moment; I read it, and I personally found some of his answers kind of chilling in their non-specificity).

Speaking of Death Metal, it will ship its fifth issue in November, and it and the ongoing Justice League tie-in arc will be supplemented by four more one-shots. That's so much Death Metal, you guys.

Let's see what's worth noting among DC's November solicitations. There are few enough that this shouldn't take too long, which is just as well. I'm having such a hard time figuring out how to do this type of post, which I've been doing for like 14 years now, in Blogger's new interface I may have to stop doing them altogether (I gave up and am using the "legacy" interface at the moment. I guess that's still an option for a few more weeks now).

This is Kaare Andrews' variant cover for Batman: The Adventure Conntinues #5. I want to call attention to The Joker's eyes. I thought that, when they redesigned the character for the cartoon and gave him new, scarier eyes, I always thought that either his eyes were meant to be reversed of everyone elses', so that the "whites" of his eyes were black and his irises were white, or that his eyes were just completely black, and the white dots were light reflecting off of them.

Here, though, Andrews' drawing seems to suggest that the black part of The Joker's eyes is actually on his skin, and not part of his eyes at all.

That is weird.

Um, that's all.

THE BATMAN’S GRAVE #12
written by WARREN ELLIS
art and cover by BRYAN HITCH
variant cover by KEVIN NOWLAN
ON SALE 11/10/20
$3.99 US | 32 PAGES | 12 OF 12 | FC | DC
In this final issue, Scorn makes his final move to destroy justice in Gotham City! Injured and alone against an army of chaos, Batman has one chance to save the city: his ability to think like the victim. But the victim is always dead. The Batman can only win by using the approach of his own death.

Oof. DC is still publishing Warren Ellis comics...? Have they...have they really not heard any news about Warren Ellis lately? Like, at all? Because he really doesn't seem like the sort of person who a responsible company would want to associate with your children's character and licensing juggernaut Batman, you know? The more I hear about Ellis, in fact, the more he seems like the sort of person that, if he were a citizen of Gotham City, Batman would throw metal versions of his logo, tie up and drop off on the doorstep of Arkham Asylum...

But wait, there's more! Not only did DC not cancel this new Ellis-written maxi-series starring Batman (how could they? How could they deprive DC Comics readers of a...ninth comic with "Batman" in the title this November?), they're also publishing collections of The Authority and Transmetropolitan, which, if I understand publishing correctly, means they will be sending more royalties Ellis' way.

DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL THE MULTIVERSE WHO LAUGHS #1
written by AMANDA CONNER, PATTON OSWALT, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, SCOTT SNYDER, BRANDON THOMAS, JAMES TYNION IV, and JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
art by CHAD HARDIN and others
cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
ON SALE 11/24/20
$5.99 US | 48 PAGES | FC | DC
CARD STOCK COVERS
The DC Multiverse is a collection of alternate-reality worlds where anything is possible. Each world tells the tale of a possible split in reality, or shows how lives vary depending on a single, solitary decision. But now that the Multiverse has been destroyed, the Batman Who Laughs has used his god like power to create a new Dark Multiverse…a collection of 52 evil worlds, each more terrifying than the last. This one-shot offers the curious—and the brave—a glimpse into the nightmare realities that the Batman Who Laughs has created in tales by creators who know what it means to have a truly twisted sense of misfit humor. An Arkham Asylum even more terrifying than what we know? A world of evil Super Pets? All that and more in these new tales of the Multiverse Who Laughs!

If you don't quite recognize all of those Super-Pets on the cover, don't worry. They appear to be a Dark Multiverse answer to the secret Super-Pets line-up that Peter Tomasi and Paul Pelletier created for 2018's Super Sons Annual #1. Oddly, I don't see Tomasi listed among the writers, so perhaps someone else is writing of that world...

DARK NIGHTS: DEATH METAL INFINITE HOURS EXXXTREME! #1
written by FRANK TIERI, BECKY CLOONAN, and others
art by DALE EAGLESHAM and others
cover by KYLE HOTZ
1:25 card stock variant cover by RAFAEL GRAMPÁ
ON SALE 11/10/20
$5.99 US | 48 PAGES | FC | DC
CARD STOCK COVERS
Pull up a chair, ya bastiches—it’s time for Uncle Lobo’s Infinite Hour! It’s your chance to let the Main Man Lobo-tomize you with familiar yet freaky stories of the DC Universe, exactly as he remembers them: with blood and guts and exxxtreme gratuitous violence! Tell yer comics guy to put you down for alllll the copies!

I appreciate the use of the word "extreme" right there in the title—is this the first DC Comic to have the word extreme in the title since Extreme Justice?—but I wonder if maybe four or five x's would be better than three. "XXX" has a particular connotation that I'm pretty sure DC doesn't want for this book—It's not even Black Label!—or, at least, it did with a readers of a certain age, from the days when pornography wasn't something you could find on the phone you carried with you in your pocket.

I like the Hotz cover. He draws a good Lobo, and I really like the way he draws smoke. Do note the artist drawing the variant cover; I'm pretty interested in what Rafael Grampa's Lobo might look like.


DC THROUGH THE ’80S: THE END OF ERAS HC
written and illustrated by VARIOUS
cover by CURT SWAN and MURPHY ANDERSON
ON SALE 12/15/20
$49.99 US | 520 PAGES | FC | DC
ISBN: 978-1-77950-087-8
The ’80‘s were a truly rad time for comic books. DC was killing it with groundbreaking titles like Man of Steel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen. This collection, curated by writer and former DC publisher Paul Levitz, celebrates the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths era of the early 1980s with memorable adventures including Alan Moore and Curt Swan’s poignant “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?,” both Batman and Superman teaming with their Golden Age equivalents in separate stories, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor versus gremlins, and more. Collects Action Comics #583, Detective Comics #500, The Flash #296-298, Jonah Hex #54-55, Superman #423, House of Mystery #286, #290, #294-295, #300, #308, #321, Warlord #42, Wonder Woman #311-312, The Brave and the Bold #200, Weird War Tales #93, Time Warp #2 and #3, G.I. Combat #288, Blackhawk #258, DC Comics Presents Annual #1, Super Friends #36, and Sgt. Rock #345, #347, #368, and #387. Also includes new essays on this amazing era from such comics luminaries as Jack C. Harris, Elliot S! Maggin, J.M. DeMatteis, Andy Kubert, and more, and features the complete text of Alan Moore’s legendary, never-before-published Twilight proposal!

This looks pretty interesting, although $50 is such a high price that it kind of negates the idea of buying it out of curiosity (Justic skimming the contents, I think I've read almost none of these, aside from the Moore/Swan Superman story, of course. Hopefully plenty of libraries will order copies.

Oh, and do note the last thing mentioned in the solicitation: "Alan Moore's legendary, never-before-published Twilight proposal!" Think of how much mileage DC has gotten out of the handful of comics Alan Moore had done for them. Now, imagine a world in which they went out of their way to be nice to Alan Moore, and kept him happy and working with them for years to follow. How many more Watchmen, Killing Jokes, Swamp Things might they have produced over the years...? Not pissing off creators isn't just a nice thing to do, it also makes good business sense!

You know, I'm actually kind of surprised that DC hasn't produced some version of Moore's Twilight pitch yet. Like, that seems to have been an easier, more obvious way to exploit Moore's name and fame then doing Watchmen prequels and sequels.

Also, it's really weird to read the phrase "Alan Moore's legendary, never-before-published Twilight proposal!" in 2020, as I couldn't do so without spending a split-second thinking it referred to Moore's proposal for a comic set in the world of Stephanie Meyer's vampire/werewolf love triangle YA epic...

That's a great Liam Sharp cover on The Green Lantern: Season Two #9. I like the way it looks like a classic cover, to the extent that at first glance you would almost think it were a reprint of a Carmine Infantino image, until you look just a little closer at the faces and can see that it is indeed the work of Sharp, just working in a different style.

I certainly how Season Two is as good as the first "season" was.


HOUSE OF EL BOOK ONE: THE SHADOW THREAT TP
written by CLAUDIA GRAY
art and cover by ERIC ZAWADZKI
ON SALE 1/5/21
$16.99 US | 208 PAGES | 6" x 9" | FC
ISBN: 978-1-4012-9112-9
A brand-new vision of one of comics most famous tragedies—the first of a trilogy of young adult graphic novels by New York Times bestselling writer Claudia Gray and illustrator Eric Zawadzki!
Explore Krypton like never before: through the eyes of two teenagers on opposite sides of the same extinction-level event. Zahn is one of Krypton’s elites: wealthy, privileged, a future leader. Sera is one of Krypton’s soldiers: strong, dedicated, fearless. Their rule-bound society has ordained that their paths should never cross. But groundquakes are shaking the planet’s surface. Rebellious uprisings are shaking the populace. Krypton’s top scientists, Jor-El and Lara, conduct a secret experiment that is meant to reform their planet from the cellular level up.
Zahn and Sera must join forces to investigate the hidden dangers truly threatening Krypton. In the process, they form a bond that will endure past the end of the world...

It disturbs and depresses me to think that we've lived with the story of the destruction of Krypton for so many decades now, and no matter what media it is presented in, the basic is always framed in such a way that the reader or viewer is meant to sympathize with the heroic Jor-El, realizing that his scientific calculations about the impending doom of his planet are right and that if only the fools who scoff at him would pay attention, they could have avoided a catastrophe.

And yet when it comes to the climate crisis here on Earth, almost no one takes it as seriously as we should. We have more than one Jor-El here, but, as a society, as a species, we seem to be taking the side of the Kryptonians who laughed off Jor-El.

THE OTHER HISTORY OF THE DC UNIVERSE #1
written by JOHN RIDLEY
art by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI and ANDREA CUCCHI
...
PRESTIGE PLUS FORMAT
RESOLICIT | ON SALE 11/24/20
$6.99 US | 48 PAGES | 1 OF 5 | FC
8.5" x 10.875" | BIMONTHLY | NO ADS
DC BLACK LABEL | AGES 17+
Academy Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Let It Fall) examines the mythology of the DC Universe in this compelling new miniseries that reframes iconic moments of DC history and charts a previously unexplored sociopolitical thread as seen through the prism of DC Super Heroes who come from traditionally disenfranchised groups.
This unique new series presents its story as prose by Ridley married with beautifully realized illustrations by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Andrea Cucchi. Issue #1 follows the story of Jefferson Pierce, the man who will one day become Black Lightning, as he makes his way from being a young track star to a teacher and, ultimately, to his role as a hero. Future issues focus on characters such as Karen and Mal Duncan, Tatsu Yamashiro, and Renee Montoya.

Extensively researched and masterfully executed, The Other History of the DC Universe promises to be an experience unlike any other. You may think you know the history of the DC Universe…but the truth is far more complex. The Other History of the DC Universe isn’t about saving the world—it’s about having the strength to simply be who you are.

Oh, this again. The use of the word "other" in the title would seem to imply that there is a history of the DC Universe, and not, like, a dozen competing ones, including fluid shrug emoji versions that are regularly over-writing one another, which has been the status quo for much of the last ten years or so. Like, look at Black Lightning's costume on the cover there, and think about how many completely new and different origin stories the poor guy has had since his last ongoing series ended in 1996. I want to say three, since 2009?

I hope that's just the sort of lame title to the book, though, and not necessarily reflective of the premise, because, if so, it would seem to require a stable DC Universe history in which the more minor, more diverse voices of the likes of Jefferson Pierce and Mal Duncan could provide an alternative to, and that hasn't been the case in a long, long time.

If that is the premise though, then this would have been a great project circa 2005 or so!


PUNCHLINE SPECIAL #1
written by JAMES TYNION IV and SAM JOHNS
art by MIRKA ANDOLFO
cover by YASMINE PUTRI
...
ONE-SHOT | ON SALE 11/10/20
$4.99 US | 48 PAGES | FC | DC
Spinning out of the pages of “The Joker War” comes the first solo book starring the blockbuster new character Punchline. As she faces the consequences for her role in “The Joker War,” the story of how Alexis Kaye became Punchline will take Leslie Thompkins, Harper Row, and Cullen Row on a harrowing journey that reveals a fringe teenager’s radicalization to the ideology of a madman. It’s a terrifying tale so big it demanded an oversize special issue!

I like Mirka Andolfo's art a whole lot.

I'm glad to see Harper and Cullen Row mentioned here, as I'm never quite sure if we're supposed to remember those characters exist or not. And if they still do, and Harper is going to continue to not be a vigilante, she should really give up her claim to the code name "Bluebird." That's a pretty quality name for a Batman sidekick, and other Batman sidekicks with lame code names could be using it. Like, Tim Drake could be wearing a blue and black variation of his old Robin costume and be going by Bluebird rather than wearing that weird brown and gold costume and calling himself "Drake" in the pages of Young Justice (for however long there will be pages of Young Justice, of course...).