DC Comics June 2025 Solicits

The June 2024 solicits for DC Comics came out this week and it looks to be a good month. With the Superman movie coming out in July, DC is making it the summer of Superman. So why not give us some fun stuff to read, starting out with the new Supergirl book. 

I'll be covering some of the offerings but if you want to see the whole list, head here:
https://aiptcomics.com/2025/03/21/full-june-2025-dc-comics-solicitations/

But let's start with Supergirl!

SUPERGIRL #2
Written by SOPHIE CAMPBELL
Art and cover by SOPHIE CAMPBELL
Variant covers by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU, PABLO VILLALOBOS,and SAOWEE
1:25 variant cover by DAVID TALASKI
1:50 variant cover by MIRKA ANDOLFO

Discover Lesla’s transformation from an awkward nerd in Kandor to a bombshell superbabe. Who knew Supergirl’s quest for good could inspire such evil?! Back in Midvale, our hero faces a gigantic problem with kryptonite-like powers. Titano the super-ape is here to take over the idyllic town! To defeat him, Supergirl will have to rely on an unexpected new ally from Metropolis…Lena Luthor! The houses of El and Luthor join for good in this action-packed second issue!

There is a lot to noodle about in this solicit for sure.

For one, we are kicking it old school with someone named Lesla from Kandor trying to replace Supergirl. This is pure Silver Age! And having Supergirl become pals with Lena Luthor is both a riff on their friendship in the Silver Age of comics as well as their alliance (for the most part) in the Supergirl TV show. Why not kick it up a notch.

Plenty of cool variant covers here as well. But the standard cover (shown above) is fun. Could that be <gasp> a supporting cast on the left? I hope so.

Knowing Sophie Campbell, there is a chance the Lesla story will be a trans story or a trans allegory. And I suppose all the SuperCorp fanatics will be hoping for a Kara/Lena relationship. Hoping this is just a fun straight-up superhero book!

Review: Superman #24

Superman #24 came out this week and ended with such a turn for a character that it felt like a jolt of acceleration into the next arc. We just wrapped up the Doomsday story arc so we need to take the next step. This issue sort of bridges the gap, catching up with characters but also pushing us forward.

Writer Joshua Williamson does a great job telling the tale, having Lois and Superman uncover the hidden threat in different ways, coming together at the end for a major cliffhanger. I thought this 'two fronts' (as alluded to on the cover) was a nice technique. Superwoman gets the action piece. Superman gets the thinking thread. It is a little bit of a role reversal since Lois is usually doing the investigating while Supes punches things. Throw in some guest stars and DC history and you have a fun read.

Eddy Barrows is on art, last seen in the Gail Simone Superman arc. I have always loved Barrows' work so seeing him draw one of my favorite characters who is a guest star here made me smile. His art really is just gorgeous and we get to see him spread his wings a bit here. 

So overall, another solid issue in a string of solid issues. Get ready for the next threat! On to the book!

Review: Superman The Last Days of Lex Luthor #2

Way back in August 2023, Superman The Last Days of Lex Luthor #1 came out. In my opening paragraph of that issue, I talked about how the book was sort of under-advertised and snuck up on me which made me worry that it would go unnoticed.

Here we are, over a year and a half later, with my review of Superman The Last Days of Lex Luthor #2. With 19 months separating these chapters, surely this Mark Waid/Bryan Hitch book has been mostly forgotten and will again be mostly overlooked.

And that is a shame. Because all of the things that I lauded about the first book are still true here. It is a Mark Waid Superman book, which is always awesome. It is a classic story told with modern sensibilities. It is packed full of DC history, not surprising from Waid. And it has a few nods to Superman's appearances in other media.

But it is the Luthor/Superman dynamic that stirs the drink here. Lex has to be reminded of what Superman is to others. Others have to be reminded by Superman of who the Man of Steel is. But we also get an update to the classic Luthor origin, of a mishap in a lab that perhaps fostered a hatred of aliens in Lex.

As I have said before, I am not the biggest Bryan Hitch fan. But I am a huge Kevin Nowlan fan and Nowlan certainly puts his panache on the art. I'll say we cover a lot of DC real estate in this book and it just makes me wish we saw more of Nowlan on current issues. Everything is gorgeous. 

On to the book.

Old School Comic Show

It's officially Convention Season!

In a couple of weekends I'll be driving north to Concord NH to attend the 'Old School Comic Show' for the first time. I was unable to go to this show last year and I am thrilled that things worked out for me to head to it this year!

I'll definitely do a recap post afterwards but I am basically heading in blind. 

That said, it appears to be a great show with a decent guest list of creators, many of them which could be called 'Old School'.

One of the things about attending conventions for the last 15 years or so is that I have met a lot of creators. So when I see someone new at a con I get pretty excited!

I'll also say that given the roster I doubt I'll be getting a commission at this con, concentrating more on signatures and comics!

On to the show!

Review: Batman/Superman World's Finest #37

World's Finest #37 came out last week, wrapping up the underwater adventure that writer Mark Waid and artist Adrian Gutierrez have sent our heroes into. 

I will start with the most amazing thing about this story ... perhaps the most amazing thing that Mark Waid has ever done. He made Ronal both sympathetic and interesting.

The story itself, the Floronic Man using 'magic plants' to pit the twin cities of Atlantis against each other, is a bit of a stretch. I still don't know why he simply couldn't harvest these plants on the downlow. Or replant these plants somewhere else and create his own crop. And the wrap-up to the story is sort of a secondary part of the tale which seems more about the burden of leadership and how it can strain relationships. Whether it is Aquaman who is accused as an absent leader or Ronal who is so consumed by leadership that he has lost himself, being a leader is difficult.

The art by Adrian Gutierrez remains fun and energetic. I am amazed at how he continued to remind me this is an undersea story by adding bubbles and wave lines throughout. 

But overall, I feel this story was a little stretched out when comparing to other arc in this title. Still fun!

On to the story.

Review: Action Comics #1084 (edited)

And so 'Superman Superstars' ends, not with a bang but with a whimper. (Sorry ... there are more issues in the 'Superman Superstar' banner!)

Framing a very good story by Mark Waid and a solid story by Gail Simone were the beginners and enders of the 'Superman Superstars' trade dress, Jason Aaron and John Ridley. It isn't a bad idea. The old 'Legend of the Dark Knight' comic book were stand-alone Batman arcs from different creative teams, each telling a compelling Batman story. The problem with the idea is some arcs will sort of fall flat and then the question is, in this volatile comic market, can a title survive if people ditch it while a story they don't like runs.  Back in the day, I bought LOTDK based on creators. 

John Ridley finishes his story in Action Comics #1084 and I get the sense if this was a LOTDK story I would have skipped it. Ridley seems to have a lot to say in this story of recidivism, people living on the edge, people exploiting people living on the edge, and Superman trying to deal with a world filled with inherent justice. I am sure this all made sense as a concept, Ridley wanting to tell a story about the 1% taking advantage of the poor, forcing the poor into crime or despair, and how even heroes are powerless against it.

It just never gels. It feels like too many 'real world' topics to cover in a brief story. And so it feels like Ridley is scratching the surface of what he wants to say but can't get to the conclusion of any of his theses.

Inaki Miranda's art is fun and energetic. There some good fight scenes at the beginning. 

Let's wrap it up.

Review: Absolute Superman #5

Absolute Superman #5 came out this last week and it felt like the closing of a first sort of arc. We end on a cliffhanger of a sort for sure. But it feels Krypton is finally behind us.

Writer Jason Aaron has been doing a ton of world building in this series so far. We have had issues focusing on Lois Lane and Krypton and Jor-El and Lara. In some ways it means that Superman has been in the background. We have seen young Kal and heard his thoughts. But grown-up Superman? We know him more from his deeds than his words. 

This issue is similar in approach. We see current day Superman reacting to the death of the villagers last issue, now trying to track down the Christopher Smith Peacemaker. And there is a lot of action for sure.

But the meat of the issue is the flashbacks to Krypton leading us up to its destruction ... finally! Aaron uses Krypton as a cautionary tale for Earth, for sure. There is literal battles between the haves and have-nots. There is the damage to the environment that leads to the planetary explosion. It nears ham-fisted in its telling but doesn't go over the line. And while Krypton is gone, Kryptonians are not. Hmmm ...

The art remains spectacular. Rafa Sandoval is hitting it out of the park here. This is a global destruction issue with earthquakes, spaceships, and civil unrest. It is filled with an angry Superman battering his way through troops. Sandoval makes the whole thing beautifully flow.

We are still world building for sure. On to the book.

Back Issue Box: Superman/Doomsday:Hunter/Prey #3

With no new super-books on the shelves this week and a splendid Doomsday story finished up in the current Joshua Williamson Superman book, I have been dipping into the back issue box to review Superman/Doomsday:Hunter/Prey, wrapping it up today with the third issue, the finale.

Writer/artist Dan Jurgens has been weaving a pretty good narrative here, filling in Doomsday's origin and amping up the threat of both Doomsday and the Cyborg Superman, both fresh from their debut storylines. This wasn't long after the monumental 'Death of' and 'Reign of' arcs. We were just getting to know these characters. 

Last issue, we learned how Doomsday was the product of an accelerated evolution experiment by a scientist named Bertron. We saw the Cyborg Superman get atomized by Darkseid. We saw Desaad send Doomsday to the planet Catalon, the planet Doomsday was killed on prior to Superman doing the same deed on Earth. But since his resurrected form is invulnerable to his last mode of death, Catalon is in trouble. 

As I said, Jurgens is wrapping up the loose ends of the first Doomsday story, giving us a narrative. This is the beginning of Doomsday's story, explaining his powers, and here tying him in specifically to Superman, linking them forever.  I have to give him credit. He does a fine job explaining everything. And he seems to put an end to it all. The ending feels like an ending ...

But 30 years later we know better. We have seen Doomsday a lot. We have seen Superman turned into Doomsday. We have seen a Doomsday plague. We've seen an army of Doomsdays. We've seen Doomsday in Hell. And know we have seen a Time Trapper Doomsday, intelligent and skinny. 

Joshua Williamson has been doing a great job mining this story for its key elements and bringing them to the current arc. Heck, in Superman #20 he has Dan Mora draw Superman in the Mother Box armor we see him in here. We have The Radiant, the Aftermath of the planets Doomsday has destroyed, and a Time Trapper Doomsday, perhaps echoed in the finale here.

I haven't thought about this series much over these last decades. But revisiting it, I have to say, its embers still glow in the DC Universe. It has had impact.

On to the book.

Back Issue Box: Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #2

Today I review Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #2, the middle chapter of the 1994 mini-series that filled in the backstory of Doomsday and set up the first of many rematches between the Man of Steel and his killer. 

Doomsday has returned in recent issues of Superman and writer Joshua Williamson has really leaned into this Prestige Format mini which I found impressive. One of the strengths of DC, as crazy as it sounds in the current comic world, is it's continuity, is its history. But it also makes me feel wizened and archaic when I realize this book is almost 30 years old. As such, reviewing this to remind folks of this history made sense.

It is in this issue we learn about the planet Catalon and its hero The Radiant, both heavily involved in Williamson's story. In this issue we learn about how Doomsday went from world to world, devastating places, the origin of Williamson's Aftermath. And we learn about Doomsday's origin, about how he resurrects and is impervious to his last weakness, all of which ties into the evolution of him to the Time Trapper Doomsday. So once again, kudos to Williamson for leaning in.

And kudos to Dan Jurgens, the writer/artist of this series. It couldn't have been an easy task to bring back Doomsday. Not only Doomsday, but the Cyborg Superman as well. These were the ultimate villains of both Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen. Can you write them in a way to make them more compelling? Doomsday felt like a literal tool in Death, there only to kill Superman and not have any sort of story. Jurgens brings a horrific origin to the thing which has stuck.

On reread, I'll say the series is solid. But there is no denying its impact on the Superman mythos.

Back Issue Box: Superman/Doomsday:Hunter/Prey #1

Based on the recent Doomsday storyline in Josh Williamson's Superman book, I pulled out Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey #1. After all, the ideas of Doomsday resurrecting more powerful, his connection to Krypton, and the Radiant being from Catalon all are introduced here. As crazy as it sounds and as old as it makes me feel, this mini-series is 30 years old. two years after the Death of Superman storyline. 

It is hard to believe but at this point we really didn't know anything about Doomsday. We knew he seemed to be alive, strapped to a meteor that Cyborg Superman shot into space. But who was he? What was he? 

Legendary creative team of writer/artist Dan Jurgens and inker Brett Breeding decide to answer the question. But this isn't a straight A to B line. Jurgens has this mini-series travel throughout the DCU with guest stars and other villains and pretty big action sequences. 

In fact, this is a big enough story with those big Doomsday reveals, I am surprised this took place outside of the main titles. This gets the slick, square-bound Prestige format which works great. But that means this major event is in a mini-series away from the Triangle era books. Would you feel cheated if you didn't get this and found out Doomsday's origin was here? Or is it par for the course

I don't know if I would call this a great mini-series. But it is very good. And it certainly has had historical legs. This has stuck, as seen even last month.

On to the story.

Back Issue Box: Legion Of Super-Heroes #16

It is an off-week for new Superman books on the shelves so that means dipping into the back issue box for something to review. As always, I look for books that resonate with current proceedings. So between the reappearence of the Absolute Legion and the new Crisis On Infinite Earths podcast The Monitor Tapes  hitting the airwaves, I thought it would be a great time to review Legion of Super-Heroes #16, the most 'why isn't this a Crisis cross-over' issue that hit the racks in 1985. 

Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 came out the first week of July 1985. This issue came out 4 weeks later in August 1985. So amazing timing by writer Paul Levitz and artist Steve Lightle to maximize the impact of Supergirl's death. 

Levitz always had the knack of juggling the many characters and many plot lines of this book. He knew that Supergirl's death would have a major impact on Brainiac 5. Legion fans love continuity. Kudos to him for giving the aftermath the pages it deserves. And given Brainy's past with mental health crises, we needed to see this, in all its beauty and ugliness.

But Levitz has more irons in the fire. We get the five new Legionnaires on a solo mission. Four of them are peppering the then relatively unknown Sensor Girl about her powers. The rest of the Legion is away at a baptism. Heck, there is even a hint at a storyline that is more than two years away. That is a lot of plot. But Levitz had that knack.

Meanwhile, legend Steve Lightle is on art. Bob Smith is on inks this issue, giving Lightle less of a polish than Larry Mahlstedt does. But the art is still great. Brainy's pain is palpable. The action is swift and potent. And the downtime scenes with the other Legionnaires show a posh side to the super-hero team.

But why??? Why is there no official Crisis Cross-Over banner on this issue! This has way more to do with the Crisis than some of those 'look, the sky is red' ones!

On to the book.

DC Comics May 2025 Solicits

The full May 2025 DC Comics solicitations have been released and it is obvious that the incoming Superman movie is spurring DC to ramp up their Superman output. Here is a link to all the books out that month: https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/dc-comics/dc-comics-may-2025-solicitations-covers/

On top of what is coming out this month, we have heard of a Matt Fraction/Mike Norton Krypto book and Mark Waid/Skylar Patridge run on Action Comics writing Superboy. Get ready for the summer of Superman and, by extension, the Super Family. 

Let's dive right in!

SUPERGIRL #1
Written by SOPHIE CAMPBELL
Art and cover by SOPHIE CAMPBELL
Variant covers by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU, PABLO VILLALOBOS, and JOSHUA MIDDLETON
1:25 variant cover by BILQUIS EVELY
1:50 variant cover by W. SCOTT FORBES
Foil variant cover by STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU
Blank variant cover

Kara Zor-El has been a key member of the Super-Family in Metropolis, but what happens when she strikes out on her own? Follow Kara as she returns to her roots in Midvale…home of Supergirl! But how could this be?! Our hero has not been back in years, and the protector of that town has been saving the day for weeks. Can Supergirl stop the impostor before they steal her fresh start and life?

Celebrated writer/artist Sophie Campbell (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Wet Moon) makes her mark on the DC Universe with this thrilling debut issue! Plus a new costume designed by bestselling cover artist Stanley "Artgerm" Lau!

I covered my initial thoughts on the new book here . But I will again say that I have optimism around this book. Midvale hasn't been in comics for a long time. That said, the orphanage was mentioned by Mark Waid in World's Finest. So maybe some classic trappings are going to be seen here? And the imposter? Could it be Matrix? Linda Danvers?

All that said, it has been 5 years ( July 6th 2020 ) since we had a Supergirl book 'on the shelves' (remember that the last 2 issues of this volume was released as digital-only). Five years! 

At least Campbell sounds like a fan of the character, more than many who have been on the book.

But wait, there's more!

The Two Faces Of Supergirl On Instagram

It is 2025 and a new Supergirl book has been announced. A new Supergirl movie is being filmed. 

The character is suddenly stepping into the spotlight in a way she hasn't since the announcement of her television show. 

But things are uncertain and interesting. 

What will Sophie Campbell's book be like? A return to classic superhero adventures? Or something else?

What will the Supergirl movie be like? A pure 'True Grit' adaptation of Tom King's Woman Of Tomorrow? A book I had major issues with which may unfortunately define the character for a whole new audience?

Imagine my surprise to head to Instagram and see some of my hopes and fears laid out in front of me. 

First I stumble upon this pic on Dan Mora's story. 

I have loved any time Mora has drawn Supergirl, so seeing this picture (which must be a variant cover for the upcoming series) made me smile. Mora makes everything look great. But this is spectacular. 

She's young and vibrant. She's smiling. She is in a position of confidence and strength. And we are looking up at her, like we should to our heroes.

It is perfect.

But then I stumbled on to more ...