Wednesday, April 6, 2016

June 2016 Solicits

The recent #Rebirth announcements shook up the landscape of DC Comics, bringing in new creative teams and new directions to just about all the DC titles. The transition to the new universe will occur over the early summer months. So June is sort of an odd month as some titles receive a Rebirth special while others wrap up their New 52 runs.

As a result, there will be just a few books for me to cover on this post. To look at all the solicits head to Newsarama here:http://www.newsarama.com/28585-dc-comics-full-june-2016-solicitations.html

Now there are a lot of titles in this month which I am probably going to sample that I am not covering in this post. But, amazingly, Rebirth is a jumping on point for me. This sounds like a more organized revamp of the universe than the New 52. I'm probably going to be checking out Flash, Titans, and Green Lantern. And I haven't read those properties in years. I'm probably back on board with Wonder Woman. So check out the whole solicits.

On to the super-stuff.




ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL #3
Written by STERLING GATES
Art by EMANUELA LUPACCHINO and RAY McCARTHY
Cover by CAT STAGGS

Blank Variant Cover
Based on the new hit TV series! After seeing Vril Dox locked up for his crimes against Winn, Kara thinks life in the D.E.O. will get back to normal. Until the zombies attack. Now Supergirl must fight her way across universes and lifetimes to find the mastermind behind her current troubles.


How cool is it that we are getting this book in print! The masses have spoken!
I also love ... LOVE ... that this one comes with a blank variant! Hoping I can grab this. And the bigger question is who will I have sketch on it?

But zombies? And this armored cat? Excellent?  




ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL #4
Written by STERLING GATES
Art by CARMEN CARNERO
Cover by CAT STAGGS
Based on the new hit TV series! Road trip! Kara convinces her big sister that a trip to the Fort Rozz crash site is just what they need to get some answers—but what they find leads to more questions. And when the architect of Kara’s recent woes reveals herself, how long can Supergirl stand against Facet?


Well, we can put a name to an idea. The big bad is Facet. And she looks diamond-like.

I love the idea of the Danvers sisters heading to the Fort Rozz crash site. I'm surprised we haven't seen that in the show before.

Lastly, I don't know Carmen Carnero so look forward to seeing the art.


DC SUPER HERO GIRLS VOL. 1: FINALS CRISIS TP
Written by SHEA FONTANA
Art and cover by YANCEY LABAT
Preparing for high school exams is hard enough, but at Super Hero High, even the tests are super-tough! Principal Waller keeps an eagle eye on her students, drilling them in math, science, literature—and other subjects like flying and powers! And no one wants to fail, because Principal Waller hands out detention faster than a speeding bullet.
In the first-ever all ages DC Super Hero Girls original graphic novel, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Bumblebee, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, Katana, and Poison Ivy are studying hard—well, maybe not Harley Quinn— when they are each abducted by a mysterious villain! Will the students outsmart their captor, save Gotham City, and still pass their finals?


We have heard the 'Finals Crisis' joke before over on Tiny Titans. But I am happy to see DC Superhero Girls getting some classic comic love. It is nicely priced at $9.99 so I guess I am in.

Any thoughts about the mysterious villain? 




HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #4
Written by AMANDA CONNER and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by BILLY TUCCI
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
1:25 variant cover by BILLY TUCCI
Harley’s been to some very strange places in her bizarre life…but an alternate-reality time-travel trip is a new one even for her! Somehow, some way, Harley’s managed to find herself in the world of the Bombshells, a universe where female heroes have taken to the battlefield of World War II! And most unbelievably of all…she’s gonna meet herself?! Our heads hurt already.


I have loved how the Harley books have sort of skirted continuity, using a different Power Girl and having Harley act in a different way.

So why not have her team up with the DC Bombshells! I love this idea! Hoping Supergirl will be in here.

I think Harley's Little Black Book is going to be this generation's DC Comics Presents or Brave and the Bold.  I might pick and choose which issues to buy.

And now onto the non-Supergirl books and other merchandise. 






DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by GARY FRANK, IVAN REIS, ETHAN VAN SCIVER, PHIL JIMENEZ and others
Cover by GARY FRANK
It all begins here. Do not skip to the last page. Do not let a friend or message board ruin this comic for you. The future (and past) of the DC Universe starts here. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!


Okay, warning about the last page. 
I am calling it now. 
The hand on the cover is the Monitor, like the first Monitor of Crisis on Infinite Earths. 

It better not be that Monarch is Captain Atom.   




SUPERMAN: REBIRTH #1
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and JAIME MENDOZA
Cover by DOUG MAHNKE
Variant cover by ANDY PARK
The world needs a Man of Steel, but can Superman protect the world while raising a super-son with his wife, Lois Lane?
IT BEGINS: Now it's Clark's turn to be Pa Kent and teach his son what it means to be super, but who is hunting Superman's son—and why?


I am a little worried about Peter Tomasi as writer. I'm a little worried that the opening image is the red-eyed angry Superman. And I do wonder if having this be the 'older Superman' with a son is going to work long term.

And I had to chuckle when I recently heard Tomasi say in an interview that after his arcs, Superman will never be the same again. Didn't we hear that after Grounded? And Doomed? And The Truth?

How about we just have Superman be the same for a while??  





ACTION COMICS #957
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by PATRICK ZIRCHER
Cover by MIKEL JANIN
Variant cover by RYAN SOOK   

“PATH TO DOOM” chapter one
Superman returns to Metropolis just in time to meet the city of tomorrow’s newest protector: Lex Luthor. But it’s not long before these dueling titans meet someone unexpected — the new Clark Kent!
DON’T MISS: ACTION COMICS returns to its original numbering with this issue!

 

So we get Action renumbered. And we have Lex be the headliner. Didn't we try this a few years ago?

I completely trust the team of Jurgens and Zircher. So despite this weird step, I'm optimistic.



ACTION COMICS #958
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art by PATRICK ZIRCHER
Cover by MIKEL JANIN
Variant cover by RYAN SOOK
“PATH TO DOOM” chapter two
Luthor and Superman must put aside their differences and face the common threat of Doomsday, as Jimmy Olsen and the Planet staff try to uncover the truth: who is the man claiming to be Clark Kent?



And ... 2 weeks into #Rebirth ... we have Doomsday again.

Sigh.

I completely trust the team of Jurgens and Zircher. So despite this immediate weird second step, I'm optimistic.


THE DARING NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL VOL. 1 TP
Written by PAUL KUPPERBERG and JOEY CAVALIERI
Art by CARMINE INFANTINO, BOB OKSNER and others
Cover by RICH BUCKLER and DICK GIORDANO
In these 1980s tales from THE DARING NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL #1-12, Supergirl relocates from Metropolis to Chicago—and meets evil in new forms, including the villainous Psi! Plus, while battling the evil foursome known as the Gang, Kara stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens all of her new hometown! Guest-starring the Doom Patrol!


Hurray for history!

I love the fact that Daring New Adventures is getting a trade collection. It is totally early 80s, Bronze Age goodness! I own these but I am getting this for easy rereading. I hope ... really hope ... we get a Paul Kupperberg foreword. 



DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS: SUPERGIRL BUST
Based on the art of EMANUELA LUPACCHINO
Sculpted by JACK MATHEWS
It’s a new era and a new look for the Girl of Steel in this new Bombshells bust, as she leaps into action on the battlefronts of the European Theater of Operations!


I have talked at length about how much I have loved the Bombshells book. I have also said I am not completely enamored with the Supergirl costume. But this alternate version of the uniformed Kara? This I love.

I better start saving my pennies.

Will the optimism of #Rebirth wane when I actually read the books? Time will tell.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm buying that "TDNAOS" TPB so damn fast it'll make your head spin like a top.

:)


JF

Gene said...

"And the bigger question is who will I have sketch on it?"

How about Jamal Igle's depiction of Supergirl's television costume? That would make it an interesting reunion issue of sorts...

Gene

Jay said...

Action sounds about as bland and uninspired as I anticipated from today's Dan Jurgens and yesterday's Superdad. Frankly I have more trust in Tomasi's work, even though I still won't be reading it as long as the doppleganger is in place. All in all everything looks awful on that front. Superman can't come back soon enough. I hope Supergirl delivers.

Anonymous said...

I'll be buying Jurgens and Zircher's Action Comics over Tomasi and Gleason's Superman myself. Like you said, I trust Jurgens' writing ability and understanding of Superman over Tomasi's based on his past resume and Lois and Clark currently. However, in Tomasi's defence, today's issue of Superman is a marked improvement in terms of how he can write Superman when he wants to, though you'll have to see for your own opinion.

Oh and Jay Superman is coming back. It might not be the Superman you want but it's the Superman a lot of fans have been missing, myself included. A more consistently portrayed, wiser and mature Superman who knows what he's doing and doesn't change personality from writer to writer. Superdad's been floating around the Superman section of the Superman boards a lot which is probably where that term came from but I hardly see it as an insult. It signals growth, consistency and world building that the Superman comics have been missing for years now. I'm not a big fan of New 52 Superman being killed off as opposed to being depowered but I can't say I mourn his loss, he didn't represent the characteristics of Superman I value and most like about him.

Louis

Jay said...

Superman's not back for me until Superdad is gone. There's just as many fans with no interest in him as there is who wanted him back. I have no doubt this will reflect in the sales. Nothing's going to change. A boost due to the new #1 and the appeal of the return to the old numbering in regards to Action, then it will level off if not fall even lower than its already been. Jurgens just brings nothing to the table he didn't already do over twenty years ago. I mean look at his first arc. Doomsday again. Really? If that's any indication of his ideas, Superman fans all over are in for a mess.

Anonymous said...

Jay - Are there just as many fans that prefer New 52 Superman though? Because out of all the poor choices and silly decisions DC have made since the New 52, the one constant disagreement fans have is the depiction of Superman. There's consistently been a large outcry over the character becoming more aggressive and dour, let alone when he dated Wonder Woman over Lois. Anyway, I'm of the opposite view as Superman hasn't been back for me for years. The only New 52 Superman stories I can honestly say I think are good are Action Comics #1-18, Superman Unchained #1-8 and Batman/Superman #28-30. Everything else has not been to my liking.

Obviously I can't say whether the return of the old Superman will truly make sales better but Lois and Clark was not marketed well at all. People kept buying the god awful Truth crossover because it had the familiar sounding titles rather than the much better written L&C. With this we can see how a more classic Superman can compare to the new Superman in sales.

In closing, I must confess a certain bemusement You're willing to suffer through H'El on Earth, Doomed, Truth amongst the slew of bad New 52 Superman stories all over several years yet this is what's too much? At least Jurgens is promising consistency and world building in the Superman line. Something the current Superman comics have failed miserably at and something Pre Flashpoint Superman is better placed at doing than you and others in your camp will admit.

Louis

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing Anj. _DEFINATELY_ TDNAOS tickles my fancy as well! Just because...


Regards

Jay said...

Yes, I'm sure there's just as many that prefer the New 52 Superman. Now, I think there's not enough Superman fans as a whole. That's a big problem. But for what there is, I've seen nothing to convince me that the majority want the old one back. Sales at least don't reflect it. And that's really the only accurate benchmark we have outside of personal biases.

And while I'm not a fan of Truth, frankly I don't think L&C was written that much better. Its safe, its bland, its generic. Which is basically today's Dan Jurgens in a nutshell. There's nothing special about it at all in my mind. The best Superman title sold in 2015 in my mind was American Alien. No contest.

And I'm willing to suffer through bad stories for Superman because I love the character. The New 52 has had some bad misses but I thought it had a lot of good stuff too. For every Doomed and Truth there's a Power Couple Vol. 1 and Pak and Kuder's initial Action run before the crossovers began. In any case, that's not even the reason the current ideas are too much for me. Its too much for me simply because Superdad is not the Superman of this Earth. He doesn't belong here. If you want to have him back fine. I'd prefer it be on another Earth but whatever. But you don't have him replace the actual Superman of your current continuity. It kills the immersion for me and that's why its too much. The fact that the character they're going back to is in my opinion one that was at least on the cusp of the worst of the post-Crisis Superman era, and Jurgens on board with his bland, 20-years-out-of-date ideas is just icing on the cake.

Jay said...

And I can't get on board with the idea that the pre-Flashpoint Superman is one better equipped for world building. I certainly won't admit that because its not true. The New 52 Superman at least has a clean history. The pre-FP Superman, along with having an incomprehensible origin due to the alterations he went through, now is operating on a world not his own. That's pretty much the definition of confusing and convoluted. No way that's a better template for strong world building. The New 52 era failed at building Superman's world for various reasons, but not because there was anything inherently wrong with that incarnation of the character to prevent it. Writers just didn't do it. Be it by their own pitches or Berganza's interference, the builk of the 5 years were swallowed in way-too-long crossovers. Thats' why we didn't get a lot of world-building. IF anything it will be harder with the pre-FP version.

With all that said, I'm pretty confident this is just temporary and Superman will be back in duet time. I think Superdad will stick around; even though I'd rather he be on his own Earth, DC seems content to try Clutterearth again despite having the multiverse back. But I think Superman will come back and at least take back one of his titles, and be the young Superman who hangs with the Justice League, while Superdad will be the older one who hangs with the Jusitce Society, if they too come back to the main Earth.

Anonymous said...

"Superman's not back for me until Superdad is gone. There's just as many fans with no interest in him as there is who wanted him back. I have no doubt this will reflect in the sales."

It certainly reflected in the sales... but not in the way you expected. Or hoped.