Marvel's August previews reviewed

It looks like Marvel's big, tent-pole crossover/event series have increased in frequency to the point that they are now over-lapping. For example, in August of this year, the Age of Ultron follow-ups and spin-offs will be in their first or second months, while the movie-inspired Infinity event is going on, and an X-Men family event (or will it be wider than that, given how many X-People are on all the Avengers teams now?)Battle of the Atom will be ramping up.

For a better idea of what Marvel's August will hold, you can check out their complete solicitations at Comics Book Resources. For some second-guessing and smart remarks, read on!

AVENGERS A.I. #2
SAM HUMPHRIES (W) • ANDRE LIMA ARAUJO (A)
Cover by DAVE MARQUEZ
ARTIST VARIANT BY ED MCGUINNESS
• The return of the Sentient Iron Man armor!
• Dimitrios -- a powerful super-intelligence with an axe to grind against humanity -- strikes...!
• What secrets does the powerful Alexis hold for the Marvel Universe? Is it your bank account balance, your email password, your secret journal entries?
• There’s nothing about your life that artificial intelligence cannot use against you! BEWARE!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

As I probably said last month, I really like the idea of this book, that Marvel's now at the point where they can take a half-dozen or so characters with one thing in common, put them in the same book and slap "Avengers" in the title and it will sell. This one is a bunch of random robot characters. I hope it does well enough that we can get a Cat Avengers (Black Panther! Hellcat! Zabu! White Tiger! Sabretooth! That One Guy From Omega The Unknown Who Was Totally Rad!) or an Infernal Avengers (Daredevil! Devil Dinosaur! Son of Satan! Satanna! Ghost Rider!) or an Original Defenders Avengers.

I like this cover a whole lot, too. I think it's by Marquez, but I can't be sure it's not McGuinness. By the way, what the hell's an "Artist Variant"...? Sure the artists who draw the covers that aren't artist variants are also artists, aren't they...?

ENDER’S GAME GRAPHIC NOVEL TPB
Written by CHRIS YOST
Penciled by PASQUAL FERRY
Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is 6 years old, bullied, resented and alone. And he might be humanity’s only hope. Ender is recruited to the International Fleet’s child warriors in training, to fight in defense of the planet. His promise is high, and his teachers are sure he will rise to the test — if Battle School doesn’t kill him first! As young Ender rises through the ranks, he struggles to find tranquility, humanity and a connection with something greater than the brutal mechanics of war and strategy. But when he is thrust into Command School at a vastly accelerated pace, will he crack up on the road to becoming the hero that the human race so desperately needs? Sci-fi legend Orson Scott Card’s award-winning classic is brought to life! Collecting ENDER’S GAME: BATTLE SCHOOL #1-5 and ENDER’S GAME: COMMAND SCHOOL #1-5.

I believe this is a collection of the previously published adaptations, collected into a new package in time for the upcoming movie.

After the backlash sent DC's way for hiring the now notoriously homophobic Orson Scott Card to write a Superman story for them, I suppose it will be interesting to see if similar heat is directed to Marvel for this book, and if Marvel or Yost or Ferry feel the need to distance themselves from Card's beliefs.

If not, it may be worth asking why not. Was it really just something special about Superman, and the idea of a writer who doesn't believe in justice and the American way getting to write the character that rankled so many readers and retailers...? (Personally, I think Card's a odious enough individual that I wouldn't wanna read anything he wrote for any publisher, involving any character).

Hey, is that a new costume for Valkyrie? I liked her old one, and didn't really think anything was wrong with it, but I really like this one too.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #6
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS & NEIL GAIMAN (W) • SARA PICHELLI (A/C)
...
• The blockbuster new series hits hard as Marvel’s newest superstar Angela comes right for the Guardians!
• Round one is Gamora versus Angela…with an entire universe at stake!
• All that and comics legend Neil Gaiman joins the award-winning Ultimate Spider-Man team of Bendis and Pichelli in this one-of-a-kind comic book event!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Well, my theory was that Marvel was announcing the use of Gaiman's Angela character as cover for their introduction of the Marvel Man character into the Marvel Universe, because, for the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone at all would be interested in the Angela character (who is really only of interest as a footnote in a clash of two huge comics industry personalities), why Neil Gaiman would be interested in co-writing a Marvel space opera comic with Brian Michael Bendis and why the Frazetta-inspired, Medieval fantasy character is appearing in a sci-fi comic (i.e. she's not, but Marvel Man will be instead).

If that is Marvel's super-sneaky plan, however, they're going awfully afar with it, releasing fake solicitation info and cover images and everything.

I don't know; this doesn't annoy, anger or depress me like so many of the Big Two's more bizarre publishing decisions—it just confuses me. Seriously, the whole Angela and Gaiman at Marvel and in Guardians of the Galaxy thing just boggles my mind.

Ah well.

It is nice to see a great artist like Pichelli get such a great gig, working with one of the industry's most popular writers and the always-popular-when-he-returns Gaiman on a book that Marvel is pushing this hard.

Angela's Frazetta-ness looks even more apparent on this cover than usual, doesn't it...?

Oh, and hey, I'm not fashionista or anything, but isn't there some sort of rule about how your belt can't be bigger than your pants...?


HAWKEYE #14
MATT FRACTION (W) • Annie Wu (A)
Cover by DAVID AJA
• THAT THING THAT HAPPENED TO KATE IN THE ANNUAL IS TOTALLY FOLLOWED UP ON!
• This one has it all! Characters! Plot! Story! Dialogue! Theme! Meaning! Message! Action! A little exposition! Fire! Arrows! Criminals! Neighbors! Large bodies of water! Clients! Cops who don’t care! A system that victimizes the victims! The dog!
• In a broken town where cynicism and apathy has its claws around the throat of the good and decent, LADY HAWKEYE is the only hero you can trust!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

I like the writing on this solicitation. Sounds promising!

Just wanted to note that here's yet another David Aja-less issue of Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye (Slow down, Marvel!), but the artist drawing it is Annie Wu, who is a) a lady (Marvel's got a coupla comics drawn by people of the female persuasion this month; I think Nicola Scott is the only female artist currently in the Distinguished Competition's employ, and who knows, that may be changing for the worse soon, as her creative partner on Earth 2 just announced his departure from the title and the publisher).

Wu previously contributed nice-looking splash pages to Hawkeye #8, each of which was meant to evoke an old-timey romance comic or paperback cover.

HUNGER #2 (of 4)
JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV (W) • LEONARD KIRK (A)
Cover by ADI GRANOV
• The fallout from AGE OF ULTRON rips open a dangerous rift in the universe!
• Prepare for a hunger so strong, that no universe is safe.
• Is this the beginning of the end?
• All the details will be revealed when Age of Ultron #10 hits stands everywhere!
• PREVIOUSLY SOLICITED UNDER THE CLASSIFIED NAME OF AGE OF ULTRON #10 UC
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

This one I just find odd. "Previously solicited under the classified name of Age of Ultron #10 UC"...? That's—that's—Well, that's just weird. Like, not only is the title classified, but it went under an assumed name for a while to protect...what? That Galacuts maybe shows up at the end of Age of Ultron or something, but even though Age of Ultron #10 is still a few issues away, Hunger is now safe to reveal it's true name to the comics-ordering public...?

This one confuses me almost as much as Neil Gaiman and Angela guest-starring in Guardians of the Galaxy...

INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #12
MARK WAID (W) • MATTEO SCALERA (A)
Cover by MUKESH SINGH
TIME TRAVEL VARIANT BY MIKE DEL MUNDO
“AGENT OF T.I.M.E.” PART 2!
• The team-up you’ve been waiting for: HULK and...BRUCE BANNER?
• In the last hours before the extinction of the dinosaurs, it’s Hulk vs. the CHRONARCHISTS!
• And who is the true TOMORROW MAN?
• Guest starring KID COLT, TWO GUN KID and RAWHIDE KID!!!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Well shit, this sure looks promising: Hulk, dinosaurs, Marvel's cowboy heroes and Mark Waid. And Hulk as Mona Lisa on one of the variants? Awesome. This is the one Marvel title I most wish was $3 instead of $4, and the one I'm looking forward to reading in trade the most at the moment (Although I still think the armor looks dub, no matter what its function!)

INFINITY #1 (of 6)
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • JIM CHEUNG (A)
Cover by ADAM KUBERT
Blank Variant Also Available
Design Variant by JEROME OPEÑA
Generals Variant by IN-HYUK LEE
Hero Variant by ARTHUR ADAMS
Hero Sketch Variant by ARTHUR ADAMS
Variant by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
Variant by SKOTTIE YOUNG
The oversized kickoff to the year’s most anticipate Blockbuster summer event, changing the way you view the Marvel Universe!
• The outbreak of war on two fronts: Earth and Space, with our heroes torn between them.
• The world-shattering return of Thanos!
• Includes material from FREE COMIC BOOK DAY: INFINITY
56 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
Retailers: Check the Marvel Mailer for news on Infinity Launch Parties

I just wanted to call attention to this one because good God in heaven, look at all those variants! And mention of launch parties! And Marvel promoted this one on Free Comic Book Day! That's an awful lot of marketing muscles being employed to move issues of this comic (and I've gotta say, a 56 page comic for only $1 more than they charge for the 22-page Indestructible Hulk makes this sound like an incredible value, as well, although they also launched Age of Ultron with a $3 first issue before pumping the price up to $4 for the second issue).

Good for Jonathan Hickman...but the sheer number of those variant covers makes this look not only like Marvel is really getting behind this particular comic with all their might, but also like they're desperate to sell as many copies as possible...


NEW AVENGERS: BREAKOUT PROSE NOVEL MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Written by ALISA KWITNEY
Cover by DAVID FINCH
Fantasy/romantic fiction/comics author Alisa Kwitney (A Flight of Angels, Moonburn) reveals the secret backstory of Avengers couple Hawkeye and the Black Widow! Under secret orders to assassinate the Widow, the rough-edged marksman finds himself caught up in a violent prison break that releases some of the world’s most vicious and powerful criminals. Defying his superiors, Hawkeye joins forces with the sultry Russian spy — and with a mismatched group of personalities that includes Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Luke Cage, Captain America and Iron Man. Unexpected betrayals and shocking revelations lead the team from Manhattan’s top-security Raft prison to the untamed jungle of the Savage Land in dramatically different take on Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch’s first blockbuster NEW AVENGERS arc. Learn the sizzling backstory of your favorite big-screen heroes in this adaptation, inspired by the best of page and screen!
272 PGS./No Rating …$7.99

And here's Marvel confusing me once again. This seems like a terrible waste of Alisa Kwitney, who I would hope Marvel would either employ in the writing of comics scripts or, if she was going to spend time writing a trashy prose superhero novel, would probably be better off writing something original, or something original featuring Marvel characters, rather than novelizing one of Bendis many shitty New Avengers story arcs.

I like the bit that says it's a "dramatically different take on Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch's first blockbuster NEW AVENGERS arc." I suppose that means it will have a plot, be self-contained, have a beginning, middle and end and the character's won't all talk in the same voice...?

Because that would be cool.


S.H.I.E.L.D. BY STERANKO: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION TPB
Written by STERANKO with STAN LEE & ROY THOMAS
Penciled by STERANKO with JACK KIRBY
Cover by STERANKO
Rarely before and rarely since has comics seen a talent as innovative as Steranko. Blending together influences from Pop art to Salvador Dali and Will Eisner to Wally Wood, Steranko’s boundary-breaking style is an incomparable visual language that continues to influence and inspire storytellers decades later. Now, for the first time ever, Marvel is proud to offer the complete Steranko NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. in one volume! Collecting NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (1968) #1-3 and #5, and material from STRANGE TALES (1951) #151-168.
352 PGS./Rated T …$34.99

I'm glad to see that this is a book that exists, as Steranko's work on this book from that era is one of those runs that is always mentioned in histories of comics, but I think is also one of those runs that everyone knows about without ever actually having had the opportunity to read it (That is, Steranko's SHIELD comics have long been easier to read about than to just read).

I'm pretty sure that Marvel could probably compile a book of comparable size simply by collecting all of the Steranako/SHIELD homage covers they've published in the last 40 years, too...

YOUNG AVENGERS #9
KIERON GILLEN (W)
JAMIE MCKELVIE (A/C)
• We wanted to just write “Screaming! Screaming! Screaming!” for this solicit, but we’re told we need boring old facts. :(
• Anyway! The Young Avengers road trip across the multiverse goes proper crazy as it reaches it’s destination. It’s destination is mainly EXCITEMENT and HEARTBREAK.
• Several Young Avengers decide what to do next. The question is, whether what they do next is to be Young Avengers...
• Honestly, screaming.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

At first glance, I thought this was another issue of Hawkeye, because of the purple logo. Hands off, Young Avengers–purple belongs to Hawkeye! (Although the Young Avengers have a Hawkeye on their team too, so maye it's cool).

I'm afraid I won't be comics-blogging tonight.

But I have the best possible excuse for not blogging about comics—I'm busy reading comics.

Specifically, these comics:

(This volume featuring a back-cover blurb from Joe "Jog" McCulloch!)

(Cyril! No!)

Regular service will return tomorrow night.

Meanwhile...

Today at Robot 6 I have a review of Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, a YA original graphic novel by newcomer Prudence Shen and already-here-er Faith Erin Hicks. It's really good.

The above page is probably my favorite of the book, in which head cheerleader Holly's hatred for Nate is so powerful that he can feel it emanating out of her head and reaching over and touching him. I'm fairly certain the project began its life as a prose novel, and its scenes like the one above that make me curious about how exactly they would have been written, given how well they work in the purely visual narrative structure that comics allow.

This is maybe my second favorite page, featuring Charlie and Nate:

In other Caleb-writing-about-comics links, this week at Good Comics For Kids I reviewed the latest of Papercutz' Smurfs reprints, The Smurflings, and their first volume of a new series reprinting another of Peyo's comics, Benny Breakiron: The Red Taxis. They're both good; the latter a bit more interesting just because it's Peyo doing non-Smurf work, and it's fun to see his style applied to human and automobiles and modern buildings and so on.

Let's talk at far too great length about Suicide Squad #1 (2011), and what its characters look like

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Insmurfious Rex...?

So what do you think the chances are that Submariner Smurf is exactly what I imagine when I see the name "Submariner Smurf"...?

DC's August previews reviewed

That's the look of a character who has just had his New 52 title canceled

It seems like it's been a bit since DC has announced any new series, and when reading through the publisher's solicitations for the books they plan to publish in August of this year, I noticed four more titles were being canceled. So I thought I'd count up the number of books set in the DC Universe proper (i.e., not stuff on the Vertigo imprint, or digital-first media adaptations and so on) to see how close they were to maintaining 52 ongoing monthlies, and it looks like as of August, they will only have 49 "New 52" books. And, as I said, four of those are being cancelled, which would knock the number down to 45.

So I suppose there could be as many as a half-dozen new ongoings announced for September 2013, the two-year anniversarry of the "New 52." (Or should I say "at least" a half-dozen new ongoings, as some of the current, not-yet-cancelled ongoings include ones with anemic sales, like Vibe and Katana.

The series shipping their final issues in August are Threshold, Legion of Super-Heroes, Demon Knights and Dial H.

None of those are surprising. Threshold was a $3.99 sci-fi series written by Keith Giffen with a Larfleeze back-up strip, perhaps best known for its indecipherable cover desgin and its reinvention of Captain Carrot as a Rocket Raccoon-like character. Honestly, that book looked like it was canceled form the moment it was green-lit.

Demon Knights is only a surprise in that it lasted this long, and thus seemed to have survived some sort of culling threshold (not the lower-case T of that instance of the word "threshold"). It was one of the original New 52 books and most of the ones that don't make it seem like they get canceled around the eighth issue or so, but this one lasted almost two full years. I thought the idea was sound, and the scripting of the first collection's worth of issues was good, but the art, as I noted previously, was pretty piss-poor (The writer has changed at least once since then, of course, and I imagine the artists have changed even more than once).

Ditto Legion of Super-Heroes, which also launched at the start of the New 52-iverse. I was always sort of perplexed by the inclusion of a LOSH title—actually, two, but the other one was already canceled—as nothing says Silver and Bronze Age nostalgia comics to me as loudly as the Legion of Super-Heroes. And, of course, DC had Paul Levitz writing the book, which made it, on paper anyway, seem like the oldest New 52 book imaginable.

I haven't read any of Dial H yet—I'm just about to get to the first trade, actually—but it's my understanding the writing's been on the wall for that one for a while now. Even having never read it, though, I'll be bummed to see it go, if only because it means there won't be an awesome Brian Bolland cover included in each new round of solicitations. Hopefully DC will find some other title for him to start covering ASAP.

For a complete list of what DC's planning on publishing in August, you can check out Comic Book Resources. Here's what jumped out at me this month...

BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT VOL. 1 TP
Written by DAMON LINDELOF, JONATHAN LARSEN, TOM TAYLOR, B. CLAY MOORE, STEVE NILES, T.J. FIXMAN, ANDREW DABB and JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV
Art by JEFF LEMIRE, J.G. JONES, NICOLA SCOTT, BEN TEMPLESMITH, TREVOR HAIRSINE, TAN ENG HUAT, PHIL HESTER and others
Cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
On sale SEPTEMBER 4 • 168 pg, FC, $14.99 US
These new tales of Batman explore unusual sides of The Dark Knight, including his early years as a crimefighter, his method of dealing with super-powered foes and more. Collecting issues #1-5 of the digital-first series.

Any librarians in the reading audience? I'd highly reccomend this collection of the Batman anthology series. The quality of the stories vary from installment to installment, but look at that list of contributors. Coupled with the time-less, continuity-free nature of the stories, this is the sort of book that you can't go wrong adding to your graphic novel collection.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #23
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by ALEX MALEEV
...
On sale AUGUST 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
...
Batman and Commissioner Gordon are forced into a tight corner as Clayface embarks on a murder spree throughout Gotham City. But hope surfaces when the Mad Hatter emerges as an unlikely ally.

Hey look, long-time Brian Michael Bendis collaborator Alex Malleev! Drawing for DC!

BATMAN, INCORPORATED SPECIAL #1
Written by CHRIS BURNHAM, JOE KEATINGE, DAN DIDIO and others
Art by CHRIS BURNHAM, ETHAN VAN SCIVER, JASON MASTERS and others
Cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
...
On sale AUGUST 28 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
...
An all-star special featuring the various members of Batman Incorporated—Man-of-Bats, Red Raven, El Gaucho, Dark Ranger, Knight, Batman himself and more! In the wake of their epic struggle with Talia al Ghul, the Heretic and Leviathan see what’s next for the members of Batman’s army. Featuring stories written and drawn by a collection of industry greats! Plus: Bat-Cow makes her solo debut in a tale by writer Dan DiDio and artist Ethan Van Sciver!

I've wanted to see DC do a Club of Heroes title ever since Grant Morrison and J.H. Williams did that story reintroducing some of the above characters, either as a Justice-League-where-all-the-characters-are-Batman team title or a Legends of the Dark Knight style anthology.

That said, the lack of credits here is kind of discouraging (And of those given, I trust Burnham and Keating, and, like anyone else who has every read anthing he's written, I'm frightened whenever I see a "Written by...DAN DIDIO").

I don't like the look of that new Knight up there either; I haven't read Batman Inc since the New 52 reboot yet, but I'm guessing The Knight dies and The Squire takes over...? (Boo! Hiss!). But whatever the case, why on Earth does she need boob-shaped armor and metal high heels...?

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #11
Written by PAUL JENKINS
Art by OMAR FRANCIA
Cover by GREG LUZNIAK
On sale AUGUST 7 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T • DIGITAL FIRST
“What Happened Was…” When Calendar Man and Batman battle during a Gotham Knights game, things go very, very wrong. But with everyone in the crowd giving a different eyewitness account, will the GCPD even be able to figure out what happened?

I'm really excited to read a Calendar Man story. I hope it's the Calendar Man with the calendar cape and red cowl, and not the Long Halloween version that's been appearing in those weird "Channel 52" advertorial comics DC's been publishing in the backs of their books.

Let's take a moment to appreciate Mike Allred. This is his cover to Batman '66 #2. I hope creators Jeff Parker and Ruben Procopio and Dean Haspiel (Dean Haspiel?! Awesome!) can live up to my sky-high expectations, because a solicit with the names Jeff Parker, Michael Allred, Dean Haspiel and Batman in it sure has a way of raising expectations.

This issue apparently introduces the Batman '66 version of Killer Croc, who was never actually on the show, which should be intersting.

DC ONE MILLION OMNIBUS HC
Written by GRANT MORRISON, MARK MILLAR, MARK WAID, RON MARZ, GARTH ENNIS, JAMES ROBINSON, GEOFF JOHNS and others
Art by VAL SEMEIKS, PHIL JIMENEZ, CULLY HAMNER, MARK BUCKINGHAM, J.H. WILLIAMS III, BRYAN HITCH, KEITH GIFFEN, SEAN PHILLIPS, DAN JURGENS and others
Cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale OCTOBER 30 • 1,080 pg, FC, $99.99 US
The 1999 event masterminded by Grant Morrison is collected in its entirety in one massive hardcover! In the 853rd century, Earth remains safe thanks to the descendants of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and others—but they’ve never met anything like the sentient super-computer Solaris. This incredible collection includes DC ONE MILLION #1-4, plus the #1,000,000 issues of ACTION COMICS, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, AQUAMAN, AZRAEL, BATMAN, BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT, BOOSTER GOLD, CATWOMAN, CHASE, CHRONOS, THE CREEPER, DETECTIVE COMICS, THE FLASH, GREEN ARROW, GREEN LANTERN, HITMAN, IMPULSE, JLA, LEGION OF SUPER HEROES, LEGIONNAIRES, LOBO, MARTIAN MANHUNTER, NIGHTWING, POWER OF SHAZAM, RESURRECTION MAN, ROBIN, STARMAN, SUPERBOY, SUPERGIRL, SUPERMAN, SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL, SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF TOMORROW, WONDER WOMAN, YOUNG JUSTICE, as well as DC ONE MILLION 80-PAGE GIANT #1 and SUPERMAN/BATMAN #79-80.

As collections go, this one is probably way too complete.

I liked this story—a JLA story that ran in a single issue of JLA and its own miniseries, with a handful of relevant tie-ins, although the entire DC line tied in. When it was previously collected in trade, they just included the main series, the JLA issue and bits and pieces of the books that tied most directly into the story. Most of the above had very little to do with that story, and are only set in the world that Solaris and Justice Legion A hailed from.

So this includes about a month's worth of DC comics, an 80-Page Giant sorta sequel (with short stories set in the world of DC One Million) and even a Chris Roberson-written two-part Superman/Batman story from 2011 that guest-starred the System's Finest team of Superman and Batman.

There are a lot of good comics in here, and I suppose it would be interesting to read, like, every thing DC published in a single month of a partiucular year in one sitting, but I can't imagine dropping $100 on something like this. Especially when you shouldn't have much trouble at all finding all of those comics in quarter bins if you've got the patience to look for them.

DC UNIVERSE VS. THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE #1
Written by KEITH GIFFEN
Art by DEXTER SOY
Covers by ED BENES
On sale AUGUST 28 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
...
After narrowly escaping his last battle with He-Man, Skeletor has fled to the most unexpected realm to recover: EARTH! Once there, he sets a plan in motion to siphon off Earth’s core magic. Forging an unlikely hunting party, He-Man and company go in search of Skeletor. Finding themselves at odds with the heroes of the DC Universe, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe must find a way to stop Skeletor and his mysterious new master!
This debut issue features two covers by Ed Benes, both available for ordering: one featuring the heroes of the DC Universe, and the other featuring The Masters of the Universe!

Given that He-Man has a lame-looking and completely unnecessary costume redesign, I guess that means that Eternia is actually in the New 52 Universe. Perhaps it's in the center of the hollow earth, where the sword and sorcery world of brawny men in loincloths of Skartaris was in the old DC Universe...?

I actually almost wrote a whole post about this particular product announcement over the weekend, as I was so excited/incensed/anxious about this. Suffice it to say that as someone who grew up with these superheroes and the Masters of the Universe (the first comics I read were the little ones that came pre-packaged with what I used to refer to as He-Man Guys; did you know Bruce Timm drew some of those...?), this is literally a dream project of mine; DC's superheroes meeting and fighting the characters of He-Man's world is something I would daydream about as a child.

I would like to hope this would be, oh, 1/100th as good as the DCUvMOTU of my fantasies, but the creative team doesn't give me a lot of hope (Now if JLoA writer and avowed He-Man fan Geoff Johns were writing it...).

I think Giffen's a talented writer and artist with a lot of good comics to his credit, but based on DC's usage of him over the past decade or so, there's a certain stink about his byline, where it only appears on doomed projects: He mostly seems to provide fills-in to keep a book on schedule or takes over a book after the first choice leaves or is fired (In fact, James Robinson wrote one issue of an MOTU series for DC, before Giffen took over as writer with the second issue).

Also, the last DC Universe vs. Another Universe's Characters story written by Keith Giffen that I tried to read—

—was so poorly done I only read the first issue and had no desire to read the second.

As for the artist, I know the name, but I can't think of something by him I've read—he's not the guy who drew the Captain Marvel series that half the Internet complained about the art on, is he...?

All that said, I may be bracing for the worst, but I'll be hoping for the best. This is a comic book I'd really like to like.

EARTH 2 #15
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by NICOLA SCOTT and TREVOR SCOTT
Cover by JUAN DOE
...
On sale AUGUST 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Dr. Fate, Red Arrow, The Flash, Green Lantern and The Atom all fall victim to the Hunger Dogs of Apokolips as the war against the forces of Steppenwolf continues!

Red Arrow, huh? I remain pretty intrigued by this book, which more and more seems to sound like a rather weird Elseworlds series more than a This Is What's Up On The Earth Where All The Golden Age Characters Live sort of series. I still haven't read it yet, but I imagine the first volume ought to be showing up in Ohio libraries soon-ish.

I'm not super-crazy about that particular cover, which is more idea than illustration, but I'm a big fan of Doe's artwork and I hope to see a lot of him. If DC could give him a title to do interiors on that isn't horribly written, that would be ideal.


JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #23
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art by MIKEL JANIN
Cover by DOUG MANHKE
...
On sale AUGUST 21 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
...
TRINITY WAR CHAPTER 5! The Justice Leagues continues to fracture as the murder of a hero is solved—and the line between justice and vengeance blurs as they head off to find those responsible!

The line between justice and vengeance is blurred, huh? I wonder if anyone's ever done a story about that in a sueprehro comic before.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA’S VIBE #7
Written by STERLING GATES
Art by PETE WOODS and SEAN PARSONS
Cover by BRETT BOOTH and NORM RAPMUND
On sale AUGUST 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Afraid that A.R.G.U.S. has been lying to him, Vibe goes on the run! But he doesn’t get very far before a new villain with ties to his past threatens to turn his future upside down!

Kinda surprised this one isn't tying into the "Trinity War" event (it's got the word "Justice League" in the title and everything), as that would have helped stave off the book's inevitable cancllation by another month or three.

SUPERGIRL #23
Written by MICHAEL ALAN NELSON
Art and cover by MAHMUD ASRAR
On sale AUGUST 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Supergirl struggles to survive against one of the most dangerous villains in the entire universe – Cyborg Superman! But what could superman’s robotic doppleganger want with Supergirl? The answer will blow your mind—and set the stage for a massive story this fall!

I like what Asrar has done with the capes on this cover, and the way they form a big, bright red arrow that is striking even from afar.

I'm not sure how exciting the words "Cyborg Superman" can possibly be in the New 52 though, once the character is decoupled from his own history in "Reign of The Supermen" and the subsequent stories, which have been bounced out of continuity.

SUPERMAN UNCHAINED #3
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
Backup story art by DUSTIN NGUYEN
1:300 B&W Variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
On sale AUGUST 14 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
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Retailers: This issue will ship with ten covers. Please see the order form for more information. Watch for further information on variant covers coming soon.
Superman’s found out the secret the U.S. Army tried desperately to keep from him—or more specifically, that secret’s found him! But with hijacked drone aircraft tearing Tokyo apart, there’s not much time for mystery…and with Lois Lane on the case as well, what’s in the darkness will come to the light!

Ten covers? Ten covers?! That seems like a lot of covers. Especially for the third-issue of an ongoing title. Are there ten different ways to show Superman breaking chains? Does that number take into account the 1-in-300 black and white variant, or would that be 11?

If DC feels the need to publish a Jim Lee comic with ten covers to sell the damn thing, well, something's really, really wrong.

I suppose the movie-i-fication of comic book Bane was inevitable, but I don't like the way this looks. The movie costume and mask would probably work okay on a more human-scaled comic book Bane, but it just looks ultra-weird on a hulking, Hulk-sized, Kelley Jones-style Bane.

In general, I am very pro-beard, but I'm not sure how I feel about War's licorice whip beard on this cover.

Aside from wanting to eat licorice now, of course.