Comic Book Resources

Sure looks fertile: DC Entertainment comic-book solicitations for May 2010

[Note:  This post was written before I learned about Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, and Geoff Johns' new management positions.  That topic will have to wait for a future GOF. -- TCB]

Some months the solicitations just feel perfunctory. May 2010 is not one of those months. There’s a lot to anticipate, both in new series and old favorites. There are even some pleasant surprises. I found a lot to like in the latest batch of solicits, so let’s have at it!

THE LONELIEST NUMBER?

There are twelve No. 1 issues in the May solicits.  These include the ongoing Birds Of Prey vol. 2, I, Zombie, Legion of Super-Heroes, and Zatanna; as well as the miniseries Batman: The Return Of Bruce Wayne, Brightest Day (picking up from April’s zero issue), DC Universe: Legacies, Justice League: Generation Lost, and Superman: War Of The Supermen (which follows the Free Comic Book Day zero issue).  There are also the lead-in specials Titans: Villains For Hire and Mighty Crusaders.

In fact, DC evidently hopes to hook readers with the aforementioned Superman:  WOTS #0 on Saturday, May 1, so that if all goes well, they’ll be back the next Wednesday for #1 and every week thereafter in May. That seems like an improvement over last year’s FCBD strategy, when readers of May’s Blackest Night #0 had to wait until July for BN #1. (Not that it didn’t work out well in the end.)

It’s also the first month since December 2008 (cover date February 2009) that DC’s seven foundational franchises (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, the Justice League, and the Legion of Super-Heroes) are each represented by their own ongoing series. In the interim, of course, the Flash and the Legion each had “re-introductory” miniseries which suffered considerable delays. (Barring further Flash delays, each took, or will take, the better part of eleven months to come out.)

Finally, if I am counting correctly, May’s Legion of Super-Heroes #1 is the fifth issue #1 of an ongoing Legion-only comic (1984, 1989, 2001, and 2005), and the third in the past ten years. Similarly, the ongoing Flash series has been relaunched three times since 2006 (that year’s  Bart-centric Fastest Man Alive, the 2007 “Wild Wests” revival, and Barry’s new series this year), so I’m inclined to think that these iterations are going to be around for a while. At least, if the worst happens (unlikely, to be sure), I don’t think DC will be eager to revamp either Flash or Legion anytime soon.

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Tony Bedard and Ardian Syaf start on Green Lantern Corps with May’s #48.

Mark Schultz’s run as Spirit writer ends with May’s #2, but apparently it’s all good.

Nothing against Dan Jurgens, but I can’t tell you how eager I am for Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Chris Batista’s run on Booster Gold. (In a nice bit of symmetry, Giffen and DeMatteis follow Jurgens on a JLI character after Jurgens succeeded G/DM on Justice League America in 1992.) Based on DeMatteis’ earlier comments, I’m guessing the “someone from Booster’s past” is his (ex-?) wife Gladys. Taking a trip through the timestream to annul a gold-digging marriage (and Booster was the gold-digger! Ha!) sounds very much in the spirit of the old Justice League International.

Based on the Secret Six and Wonder Woman solicits — not to mention regular WW artist Aaron Lopresti doing Superman and Justice League work — it looks like Nicola Scott is setting up shop at WW. That’s fine with me: I don’t dislike Jim Calafiore on Secret Six, but I thought Lopresti and Scott were excellent fits for WW and S6.

THIS AND THAT

The train on the cover of DCU Legacies #1 kinda looks like the ride to the wizard Shazam’s hidden throne room.

Green Lantern’s “New Guardians on Earth” storyline reminds me of the “GL Corps On Earth” era from the Steve Englehart/Joe Staton days of the late ‘80s (by the way, coming in December to trade paperback).

Call me a sucker, but after just two issues of the new JLA lineup I’m surprised at how much I like the Robinson/Bagley JLA; and I even like May’s solicitation. There’s just a lot going on, the suspense level is appropriately high, and the looks at DC obscura are gravy.  The ongoing subplots are still around, but it’s more about superheroing.  Plus “The Ghosts Of Earth And Space” is a neat title.

Back to Generation Lost:  if maintains a bullpen of artists (Aaron Lopresti on #1 and Joe Bennett on #2), I wonder how that will work with Giffen’s breakdowns. Giffen had multiple artists on the original JLI titles (including Kevin Maguire, Bart Sears, Adam Hughes, Ty Templeton, Mike McKone, and Steve Leialoha), but they didn’t change from issue to issue.  Likewise, I wonder how the various art teams on S:WOTS will mesh. Probably about as well as the art on the other Super-titles over the past year.

Paul Levitz writing a Superman/Batman arc which “promises repercussions for a millennium” sure sounds like a Legion setup, doesn’t it? I’m surprised DC isn’t making more of the Jerry Ordway artwork, which should be reliably solid.

It’s not clear whether Adventure Comics #11 is the last unofficial Superman-book tie-in issue, but I imagine the end of this particular era is near.

Earlier I mentioned the delays with Flash: Rebirth and Legion of Three Worlds … well, Superman: Secret Origin has basically gone biweekly for its back half, taking about nine months to publish six issues. Also, better late than never: the ongoing Zatanna series was announced (for “next year,” i.e., 2009) at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con. I’m cautiously optimistic about Zatanna, and this preview helps.

Merits notwithstanding, the Mighty Crusaders Special highlights the problem with incorporating after-acquired characters directly into an existing shared universe. If the Red Circle characters had their own Earth, the MC Special would be an event like the formation of the Justice League. Of course, if the Red Circlers had their own Earth, they might be too uncomfortably close to the early-‘90s !mpact line (which also produced a JLA-like Crusaders series). Thus, I’d say these Crusaders hope to trade prestige for longevity.

COLLECTIONS

It’s hard to tell before all the issues are in, but I still question the decision to collect Blackest Night separately from related Green Lantern issues. There are a total of seven BN hardcovers, and thankfully there is a logic to their scheduling. BN proper, BN:GL, and BN: Green Lantern Corps all come out on July 7, so readers willing to part with about $80 retail can flip back and forth without having to wait a week. The two sets of character-specific miniseries are collected in two Black Lantern Corps volumes (July 14), and the rest comes out in two volumes on July 21. The Sinestro Corps collections didn’t have such problems, because that arc was pretty much confined to the two GL titles and assorted specials; and I’m sure there are economic concerns which affect these kinds of decisions. Nevertheless, I think BN and GL have been so intertwined that flipping back and forth would be necessary.

Speaking of economic concerns, apparently the lawyers have okayed reprinting the original Superboy stories from More Fun Comics and Adventure Comics. Also, cross your fingers, because the Showcase Presents Suicide Squad paperback is back on the schedule.

As Robot 6 has already reported, the I Zombie preview is here. Looks quite fun.

STATUARY

The April solicits featured a Michael Keaton Batman bust (out in September for $80.00 retail), and the May solicits now have a Keaton Batman statue, out in October for $195.00 retail. The demand for the Keaton Batman is evidently higher than I thought.

I don’t usually comment on the Ame-Comi statues, because they’re not really my thing — but Sam’s an old friend, and he’s done his usual fine work here.  I especially like the peppy Jade statue. It’s the best Jade has looked in quite some time, even disregarding the whole “being dead” thing.  As for the Star Sapphire statue, the minimalist costume seems suited best for the Ame-Comi context….

BIG FISH, BIG POND

I suppose I should say something about Aquaman coming back in Brightest Day, so here goes:  this news makes me reasonably happy.  I like Aquaman well enough — he’s got a lot of storytelling potential, but he tends to be undervalued because he supposedly doesn’t work well in a land- or space-based context.  Aquaman doesn’t need to be overthought, and there’s no radical reinvention lurking at his core, waiting to be let out.  However, for the past few years it’s been “what about Aquaman?”, like it was in the ’90s with Hawkman.  Now, Hawkman did need some retooling to reconcile the Golden and Silver Age versions, because elements of both were appealing.  Aquaman doesn’t need that; so I am curious to see what Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi think he does need.  We’ll find out soon enough.

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Well, that’s what jumped out at me this month.  What looks good to you?