DC Comics January 2023 Solicits

The solicits for the new year of DC Comics were released last week and I have to say it is an odd month. We are down to one Superman title for now as the new Jon Kent book Adventures of Superman isn't released yet.  But that one book is Action Comics which is becoming a new version of Superman Family. I think that is great!

The Lazarus Planet books sound intriguing but there while there are some interesting bits I don't know if I needed another big crossover right out of the gate of Dark Crisis. Maybe give us a year of building whatever this new universe is before breaking it down?

Anyways, here is a link to the full solicits from GamesRadar (formerly Newsarama):
https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-comics-january-2023-solicitations-covers/

ACTION COMICS #1051
Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON, DAN JURGENS, and LEAH WILLIAMS
Art by RAFA SANDOVAL, LEE WEEKS, and MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Cover by DAN MORA
Variant covers by STEVE BEACH, JORGE FORNÉS, SERGIO DAVILA, RAFA SANDOVAL, DAVID NAKAYAMA, and LEE WEEKS

ACTION COMICS REBORN!

Action Comics #1051 begins a new format for DC's most action-packed title, offering not one, not two, but three epic adventures of Superman and the entire Super-Family! Following the bombshell events of Action Comics #1050, the world's relationship with Superman is forever changed, the upper limits of his supercharged powers have yet to be reached, and the House of El's transformation of Metropolis, led by Steel, has begun. But Lex Luthor has found the perfect instrument with which to undo everything Superman is working to achieve: Metallo, whose hatred of Superman is matched only by his hatred for Luthor himself. Then, in "Lois and Clark 2: Doom Rising," Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks return to tell the tale of young Jon Kent on the farm with his parents, learning about his abilities, coming of age…and battling the Doombreaker?! And finally, Power Girl returns in part one of a three-part story spinning out of Lazarus Planet! This issue marks the first appearance of new characters, new costumes, and a new era of Action Comics! It all starts here!

First off, there are a ton of great variant covers for this issue but I love this main one by Dan Mora the most. Just a great shot of our new Superman Family in a new sort of family uniform. I love it. Mora does such great work. I love his Supergirl.

This turns out to be a sort of Superman anthology so I hope at some point Supergirl gets a solo bit here.

I am glad that Phillip Kennedy Johnson is still on board for the main story. Super-juiced on Genesis and fighting Lex/Metallo is great. Love that the Phaelosian twins are here too!

Way back in DC Rebirth, the Convergence Superman merged with the New 52 Superman. Now we get a Jurgens/Weeks arc looking back at the pre-merge Superman with a young Jon. I'm not against it because I liked those series. But strange to do now. Is this to mollify the 'why did you age Jon' crowd?

And I am glad Power Girl is back. I wonder how this creative team will treat her.

On to the rest of the books.

WORLD'S FINEST # 11

Written by MARK WAID
Art and cover by DAN MORA
Connecting variant covers by JONBOY MEYERS

The saga of Boy Thunder crashes to a close as Batman, Superman, and the Titans frantically attempt to save their wayward ward! The choices the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel make in this moment will affect the future as we know it, as the secret identity of this über-powerful last son—that of someone DC fans have known for decades—is at last revealed!

Now this grabbed me.

Boy Thunder is a character we have already known?? A mystery??

My guess is this is somehow Superboy Prime pulled into this world early. But I welcome all other guesses. It might be hard to be Prime given we have seen that his world included Daily Planet, Metropolis, and characters. So other guesses? 

LAZARUS PLANET: ALPHA #1
Written by MARK WAID and GENE LUEN YANG
Art by RICCARDO FEDERICI, BILLY TAN, and more
Cover by DAVID MARQUEZ and ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ

CHANGE THE WORLD.

Following the explosive (literally) events of Batman vs. Robin #4, the Lazarus Volcano has erupted, spewing dangerous and transformative chemicals into Earth's atmosphere! As these Lazarus clouds rain down upon the planet, people across the globe begin to develop strange new abilities, watch their already-extraordinary abilities change, and witness a whole host of chaos unlike anything the DCU has experienced before! It's up to Damian Wayne to put out the distress call for whoever can still hear it: come to the ruins of the Hall of Justice and help save the world! Poison Ivy, Power Girl, Cyborg, Batman, and more answer the call…but why could the fate of all life as we know it rest in the hands of…Monkey Prince?

I have to be honest. I thought that I would be skipping this. I, for sure, won't be grabbing all the crossovers. 

But I like Mark Waid and Gene Yuen Lang. And I love the artists on board. (I have seen preview snippets from Riccardo Federici pages and they sing.) 

I think the thing that grabbed me was seeing Jon as the Electric Superman. Now that is interesting. And Batman wearing the Dr. Fate helmet has me rubbing my chin. Interesting. I don't like that Martian Manhunter is becoming Doomed. I like the fact that Mercy Graves, a Superman minor character, is being elevated.

So I guess I am in.

LAZARUS PLANET: ASSAULT ON KRYPTON #1
Written by NICOLE MAINES, C.S. PACAT, FRANK BARBIERE, and LEAH WILLIAMS
Art by SKYLAR PATRIDGE, SCOTT GODLEWSKI, SAMI BASRI, and MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
Cover by DAVID MARQUEZ and ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ

With the world in chaos and Lazarus raining from the skies, the Earth's protectors from Krypton are hit hard. In this collection of epic vignettes from in and around Lazarus Planet, we'll see heroes transformed, secrets revealed, and power unleashed. Can Power Girl free herself from the out-of-control Omen? Will Dreamer's visions guide our heroes to the path of victory? Can Mercy Graves survive the transformation she's undergone? And will Jonathan Kent ever be the same again?

I'm always happy when the Superman family are given some room on the rack. So glad this exists.

I already said that I like the idea of Electric Jon and I am excited to see what is going on with Mercy. 

I really like the artists listed for this book. Hope Basri or Sauvage are on the Power Girl side of things.

But I am sad that Supergirl is nowhere in this book. Shouldn't she be here? Somewhere?

MONKEY PRINCE #10
Written by GENE LUEN YANG 楊謹倫
Art and cover by BERNARD CHANG 張伯納
Variant cover by EJIKURE 吳偉傑
1:25 variant cover by AUDREY MOK
$3.99 US | 32 pages | Variant $4.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 1/3/23

BATMAN VS. ROBIN TIE-IN!

Sound the alarm bells and bow at his feet, because the legendary Monkey King is finally released from the Phantom Zone! And what timing this is, when the first thing Monkey King senses is that his oldest foe-turned-friend-turned-??? was also just released from his own captivity…Nezha! But most importantly…does Monkey King sense his own son, Monkey Prince, and does he even know of Monkey Prince’s existence? Find out here, along with the secret origin of Marcus Sun and why he is the Monkey Prince!

Okay, so Supergirl is somewhere. But tucked away in Monkey Prince??

She isn't even mentioned in the solicit! Thank goodness I saw the covers!

I loved Bernard Chang's take on her when he drew her main book so I'll be glad to see his take on Kara again. And I am hopeful she has a decent part to play and that this isn't some bait for me.

Anyways, hoping Lazarus Planet is okay!