Thursday, February 18, 2021

DC May Solicits


The DC Comics May 2021 solicits have been released. DC has plenty of new books on the shelves so it looks like the rumors of the company only putting out a small number of floppies were, at least for now, unfounded. Here is a link to the complete list: https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-may-2021-solicitations/

There is no mention of Supergirl anywhere. So I think she is on the shelf for a bit as DC tries once more to decide if they want to put out another title or not. But if they are going to come out with another Supergirl book, I want it to be the right book with the right creative team.

And another month without Event Leviathan:Checkmate on the docket. 

Let's jump to the super solicits.

ACTION COMICS #1031
Written by: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Art by: Daniel Sampere
Backup story written by: Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad
Backup story art by: Michael Avon Oeming
Cover by: Mikel Janin
Card stock variant cover by: Julian Totino Tedesco

“Warworld Rising” part two! After a war-torn battleship escapes Warworld and makes the perilous journey to Earth, Superman searches for answers about the identities of its mysterious refugees and their apparent link to the planet Krypton. Could there be other Kryptonians in the universe? Meanwhile, Atlantean scientists study the wreckage of the Warworld vessel…and make a shocking discovery that could change the balance of power on Earth.

And in the backup story, stuck in the wrong timeline, Midnighter continues to gather intel on the Chrysalis in hopes of finding an answer. But will it cost him his relationship with Apollo? And who is being held captive at Trojan Solution.

Interesting to see that it sounds like Superman escapes Warworld and is back on Earth just 2 issues in. I hope that there aren't more Kryptonians out there because Between the Els and the Zods, there are already too many. I am pretty sure that the Kandorians are stull dead.

I don't know if I am too interested in the back-up.


SUPERMAN #31
Written by: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Art by: Scott Godlewski
Backup story written by: Sean Lewis
Backup story art: Sam Basri
Cover by: John Timms
Card stock variant cover by: Inhyuk Lee

“The One Who Fell” part two! Thought to have been defeated long ago by Superman and his allies, the ancient Shadowbreed have returned in a horrifying new form, and Superman’s oldest ally has been assimilated into their ranks. As Jon and the besieged new Thakkramite leader search for the key that will help them defeat the creatures, Superman returns to the site of his first historic victory over the Shadowbreed in an attempt to warn the Thakkramites of the incoming threat. But Superman’s old allies kept terrible secrets from him, and both he and Jon are more vulnerable against the Shadowbreed than they know.

And in the backup story, Jimmy Olsen’s plan to build a backup squad to help out his pal Superman looks like it’s already falling apart when two of its members, Loose Cannon and Gangbuster, would rather fight than be friends.

Shadowbreed sounds like a sort of Lovecraftian enemy. And I keep wondering who Superman's oldest ally is. I doubt it's Supergirl as she has only been around a couple of years. I can't think it is Batman or they'd trumpet that. 

A Jimmy Olsen backup sounds more interesting to me. Sean Lewis wrote some Future State so fingers crossed.


BATMAN/SUPERMAN #18
written by GENE LUEN YANG
art and cover by IVAN REIS
card stock variant cover by SIMONE BIANCHI

The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel are on a mission to stop the godlike Auteur.io from destroying the pocket worlds he's created...but where on Earth did Auteur.io even come from? The answer starts not on Earth at all, but with an ancient cult of World Forger worshippers on a planet far away—and if our heroes are to have a prayer of stopping this mythic behemoth, they'll need to get to the bottom of his power source, and quick! It's a race against time as the parallel lives of entire worlds hang in the balance!

I like the villain name of Auteur as it brings to mind the concept of the Auteur movie director, a blustering person with a vision that might destroy people. 

Yang and Reis is a good team so I am looking forward to this.


SUPERMAN RED & BLUE #3
written by MICHEL FIFFE, STEVEN T. SEAGLE, NICK SPENCER, JESSE J. HOLLAND, and JAMES STOKOE
art by MICHEL FIFFE, DUNCAN ROULEAU, CHRISTIAN WARD, JAMES STOKOE, and LAURA BRAGA
cover by PAUL POPE
variant cover by JOHN PAUL LEON
variant cover by DERRICK CHEW

Five more incredible tales of the Man of Steel, told in an art style that pays tribute to his primary colors. In this issue we take visits to both Smallville and the Fortress of Solitude. We look at an object that was important to Superman on his trip to Earth, and we see the lasting impact that has on those around him. Plus, punching! Someone has to take down the electro-mechano-organic intelligence they call Kilgore, but even he's nothing compared to the massive monster waiting in the farthest reaches of space.

I love Michel Fiffe and Steven Seagle. I am not a big fan of Nick Spencer. So I am hoping we get more great stories. I like Kilg%re. And I assume we'll see some stuffed animal in Kal's rockets. We have read enough stories about the blanket so I hope it's something new.


CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER SONS #2
written by PETER J. TOMASI
art by MAX RAYNOR and JORGE CORONA
cover by SIMONE DI MEO
card stock variant cover by NICK BRADSHAW

Okay, Robin and Superboy saved the Flash from certain annihilation...surely the day is saved and everyone can go home and watch TV, right? Wrong! Once the Doom Scroll inscribes a name on its mystical list, the bearer of that name will be imminently killed—and the heroes of the Justice League are being targeted one by one! Next up? Wonder Woman! Plus, see just what happened when the boys were snatched from reality, and how they first encountered the Doom Scroll...in medieval England?

Super Sons in print!! Wonder Woman!
Max Raynor on art!

Can't wait to see these two heroes in a more fun adventure!


DC FESTIVAL OF HEROES: THE ASIAN SUPERHERO CELEBRATION #1

Written by: Gene Luen Yang, Ram V, Greg Pak, Alyssa Wong, Amy Chu, Minh LE, Dustin Nguyen, and others
Art by: Marcus To, Bernard Chang, Dustin Nguyen, Marcio Takara, Trung Le Nguyen, Francis Manapul, and others
Cover by: Jim Lee
Variant cover by: Stanley "Artgerm" Lau

Grab your favorite boba and pull a chair up to the dim sum table as we celebrate Asian Heritage Month with all your favorite Asian DC characters, old and new! Join Cassandra Cain, Katana, Green Lantern Tai Pham, the Atom, Dana Tan (a.k.a. Batman Beyond), Red Arrow, Lady Shiva, Damian Wayne and the al Ghul clan, New Super-Man, and more as we present new tales of these characters from their thrilling history! Plus, Cheshire Cat's relationship to Cheshire is revealed as Shoes asks Selina Kyle to take her under her wing as Cat Girl. And that’s just the start!

A new Kenan Kong story?? I am in!

But the rest of this book sounds great! In particular, can't wait to read the Lady Shiva story.

Anything else grab your attention?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are the Kandorians gone? In Batman/Superman, Zod subjected half the Kandorians to a Lazarus Pit, and I think that crazy bunch is alive but in stasis at the Fortress. The other half Zod took with him, along with some Lazarus material, perhaps to try again someday, and Superman speculates that they are also in some kind of stasis till then. So - Kandor sort of lives on.

It's not a Superman-related book, but I'm looking forward to Wonder Girl #1 by Joelle Jones, debuting in May.

T.N.

Martin Gray said...

I’m confused. Is Action Comics staying in the Future State timeline? I have no interested in that, or Midnighter as a back-up.

Nick Spencer did write that excellent Jimmy back-up drawn by RB Silva, just before the New 52, so you may be pleasantly surprised.

Kinofreak said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bostondreams said...

Action is NOT staying in the Future State timeline.

Martin Gray said...

Oh good. So the new writer just really, REALLY likes Warworld. I’m pretty tired of Warworld, and while I enjoy Midnighter, I’m not excited by the idea of a back-up that definitely is tied to Future State.

Anonymous said...

I guess no one has come to DC with a real bad Supergirl pitch yet...I mean Sterling Gates is literally on twitter every day lobbying for the job.
As I say so often lately "sooner or later, it all turns to hate".

JF

Anonymous said...

Maybe this shows what leads to Superman ending up on Warworld. Midnighter could be part of the connecting glue - Cloonan and Conrad wrote the Future State backup and will continue on the series. There's apparently a connection between the Future State story and the upcoming one in Action.

I liked Midnighter's swagger, but had a ton of problems with the way Cloonan and Conrad wrote the story. Many breakdowns in the storytelling, too numerous to list. My problems started on Page 2! Page 1 was a flashforward to the end of the installment, but then Page 2 was captioned "Warworld, sometime tomorrow." Nope - that kind of caption should be along the lines of "Warworld, two hours ago." So I had trouble understanding the story immediately, and it didn't get any easier for my sadly weakening mind.

T.N.

Anj said...

Thanks for comments.

I remembered about Kandor in the BM/SM story but I don't know what has happened anymore given Metal.

As for Warworld, I think beats of the Future State stories were supposed to resonate back to the present. So not surprised we are seeing these things.

Still no Supergirl. Sad.