More than nine months after an original splash page from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns sold for a record $448,125, Heritage Auctions is offering two more original pieces of Frank Miller art, expected to bring in more than $50,000 each.

Consigned by Miller himself, the pieces are the cover to 2006′s Absolute Dark Knight and the frontispiece from the 1997 10th-anniversary edition of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

“It took me years to define, in my own mind, Batman as less a creature of vengeance than of vigor,” Miller said of the Absolute Dark Knight cover. “This piece is one of my personal favorites. To me, it sums the man up.” And on the Batman and Robin splash: “Like any hero, Batman is complex. Here we see him as a father figure, instructing one of my favorite creations, dear Carrie Kelly.”

The two pieces will be auctioned Feb. 23 by Heritage, which notes that while Miller worked with inker Klaus Janson and colorist Lynn Varley on The Dark Knight Returns, “these images are rare examples of 100 percent Frank Miller pencils and inks on his most popular character.”

Because they’re like crack.

Visit Callen’s site to also see Daredevil #7 (from the current Mark Waid/Paolo Rivera run) and Batman #15 (which should put to rest that whole Batman-hates-guns myth once and for all). I hope someone starts paying him to do these as covers for digital comics. I’d never buy print again.

"You're not going out in *that*?!?"

Although they won’t be solicited for a few more weeks, DC has already been talking up the six new(ish) titles coming in May. G.I. Combat, Dial H, Ravagers, and Worlds’ Finest join the returning Batman Incorporated and the long-rumored Justice So– I mean, Earth 2 — as the replacements for most of the New-52′s lowest-selling books.

As with the original New-52 group, every new title except one is familiar to longtime DC fans; and as with the original New-52, that book spins out of an existing feature. (Then it was Batman Incorporated begetting Batwing; here it’s the Teen Titans/Superboy nexus spawning Ravagers.) However, where the New-52 tried noticeably to make many of its books accessible — or at least uprooted them from established DC lore — most of the new titles seem to require some prerequisite reading.

For me, this is not a problem, because I’ve been reading Batman Incorporated (and the rest of Grant Morrison’s Bat-work) since the beginning; and I grew up on the annual JLA/JSA multiple-Earth team-ups. However, I am not exactly the target audience for the New-52, and it’s curious to me why DC would head back towards the deep end of the continuity pool with at least half of its new offerings. In fairness, it is possible to boil hairsplitting topics like parallel Earths into easily-digestible packets of information. It’s not so much that there’s an alternate Earth, it’s that there’s an Earth which doesn’t tie into forty-odd other monthly comic books. Likewise, the new/old Huntress and Power Girl need not be throwbacks to comics from the ‘70s and ‘80s, just plausible takes on their extremely-familiar superheroic heritage. After all, “Batman and Catwoman’s daughter” was good enough to get that “Birds Of Prey” TV show on the air (even if what the “BOP” show did with it was something else….)

Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s look at the newcomers in detail.

The New-52 books have already “reclaimed” a number of Vertigo characters, but with Dial H the line between the two imprints gets blurrier as uber-editor Karen Berger helps relaunch one of the Silver Age’s quirkier concepts. Let me repeat that: Dial “H” For HERO was quirky for the Silver Age because it invited readers to design their own superheroes, who would then be worked into the stories. These days, that kind of thing practically dares a publisher to craft some social-media reader-participation component, but it sounds like writer China Miéville has enough of his own ideas about where to take the series. Specifically, its protagonist looks to have a hard time adjusting to the endless cycle of random powers and/or identities which once were governed only by the whims of DC’s readership. To tell you the truth, that makes it sound like Daffy’s descent into madness in the classic “Duck Amuck” — where another capricious omnipotence kept changing the rules of Daffy’s reality — but I’m sure that is just a facile comparison.

A better one may be to the New-52′s Animal Man which, ‘way back when, made the transition from DCU to Vertigo and has come back working a good bit of that smart-and-cool Vertigo mojo. Dial H sounds like a good-enough-for-Vertigo superhero comic, and it certainly has the pedigree (the original Dial H even debuted in the old House Of Mystery, looong before that book was annexed by Neil Gaiman’s Sandman). Thus, my expectations are high, but with good reason.

G.I. Combat replaces Men Of War perhaps in name only, since on the face of it I’m not sure that much distinguishes the two military/paranormal mashups. MOW stars a new Sgt. Rock and had an anthological backup feature, while GIC will pair The War That Time Forgot with rotating backups like The Unknown Soldier and The Haunted Tank (the latter a staple of the original G.I. Combat). In fact, this version could easily have been called Weird War Tales (which eventually featured the original “War That Time Forgot”) for its more direct melding of the battlefield and the strange. Oh, heck; titles are irrelevant: the Unknown Soldier was the last regular feature of Star Spangled War Stories, “WTTF’s” original home.

All three of these features have been revived fairly recently — WTTF as a 12-issue DCU miniseries, Haunted Tank as a 5-issue Vertigo miniseries, and Unknown Soldier as a Vertigo ongoing series. As you might expect, the Vertigo versions made some changes, placing the Tank in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the “Soldier” in 2002 Uganda. Regardless, these features arguably have some residual name recognition (besides being perennial favorites and entertaining concepts), which may have contributed to their inclusion in the new G.I. Combat. In the end, I’m glad DC is sticking with a military-oriented book set in its main comics line, because it makes the line more diverse.

Not helping diversity as much is The Ravagers, which spins out of Teen Titans and Superboy. From what I can tell, DC is doing “edgy Teen Titans” in Teen Titans itself, so if Ravagers is “even edgier,” I don’t know if there’s much of an audience for that. Actually, the premise sounds more like Gen13, it includes at least one Gen13 alum, and “on the run from shadowy organization” is a decent starting point. Still, I have a bad feeling it will try too hard to be edgy and/or extreme, in keeping with its ‘90s roots. Much of this goes back to artist Ian Churchill, whose work on 2008′s Titans relaunch couldn’t quite overcome his tendencies to exaggerate and/or objectify. I do like Superboy’s Rose Wilson and Caitlin Fairchild — well, I don’t dislike them, and artist R.B. Silva draws ‘em in a nice, non-exploitative manner — so I will give this a chance. I’d like to think it will be better than Red Hood and the Outlaws, but that’s not exactly grounds for a commitment.

I have already committed to Batman Incorporated, so I’m glad it’s back on the schedule. There might not have been more to say, except for editor Mike Marts proclaiming that BatCorp Volume 2 is “the final, unbelievable act of a saga six years in the making.”  If you’ve been reading Morrison’s Batman for the past six years, that’s one thing. Otherwise, I’m sure DC would love to sell you a few collections (or at least the hefty Leviathan special) to bring you up to speed. That’s a lot of material, even digitized. It’s good stuff, don’t get me wrong; but again, there’s six years of it. In that context, the Earth-Two Huntress may be an easier sell, even having been out of circulation for most of the past twenty-five years; because that kind of break surely means that Worlds’ Finest will go out of its way to be accessible. Six years of Batman comics? You can get through that over a long weekend.

And that brings us back to the two parallel-world — excuse me, next-generation superhero — titles, Earth 2 from James Robinson and Nicola Scott and Worlds’ Finest from Paul Levitz, George Pérez, and Kevin Maguire. I will be getting both of these eagerly, mostly because of my stated affection for the old Multiverse. Again, though, I wonder how many of the New-52′s newer readers will be interested in a pair of books which (re)introduce another Earth’s worth of continuity? The old Earth-Two was basically the home of Golden Age DC stories, which had apparently occurred in real time (or in whatever faithful-to-the-originals order Roy Thomas arranged them) so that, starting in the early 1960s, DC’s writers and editors could distinguish Then from Now.

Soon enough, though, Earth-Two became its own ongoing concern — got its own Now, as it were — and Power Girl and the Huntress were very much a part of its unique identity. Like Supergirl, Power Girl was Superman’s first cousin; but she landed on Earth almost forty years after he did and was more like Clark and Lois’ adopted daughter. The Huntress was Helena Wayne, Batman and Catwoman’s actual daughter, who became the new Darknight Detective after her mom’s death drove her dad into retirement. These are not difficult concepts to grasp. Regardless, Earth-Two was full of just-different-enough characters, even if (from the Golden Age fan’s perspective) the new folks were the different ones. Green Lantern wasn’t a space-cop. The Atom didn’t shrink. The Flash wore a helmet. Hawkman … ugh, let’s not get started with Hawkman. Then there was Doctor Mid-Nite, Doctor Fate, Mister Terrific, Starman, and various others who hadn’t gotten Earth-One counterparts. When I first learned about the Justice Society and Earth-Two — when I was six, so it’s been a while — I wanted to know more. I recognize now that I could have also dropped that issue of Justice League like a hot rock and run for something less complicated.

With that in mind, I understand why DC didn’t advertise the current Huntress miniseries as a prelude to the Earth-2 series, since (SPOILER ALERT, maybe?) it features Helena Wayne posing as her not-related-to-Batman counterpart. That wouldn’t have been a bad hook for an old-school Huntress fan, but I wouldn’t have wanted to market a New-52 book to an old-school fan. Still, I didn’t pick up Huntress originally, because my interest couldn’t quite overcome budgetary concerns, and now I’m wishing I had. (Haven’t had time to download the issues yet, either.)

As discussed above, you’d think Earth 2 and Worlds’ Finest would make a special effort to be new-reader-friendly. I’m also interested in how old-reader-friendly they’ll be. If this is the Earth-2 glimpsed briefly during Geoff Johns’ run on JSA, it’s had a while (since the end of Crisis On Infinite Earths, in fact) to develop into something even more distinct. It shouldn’t be a replacement for the pre-Flashpoint DC-Earth, because it wouldn’t have had any Silver Age characters or their legacies — so no Green Lantern Corps, no Barry Allen, Wally West, or Bart Allen, no Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or Damien Wayne, etc. I wonder if there’ll even be the full complement of Starmen. Of course, the hypothetical new New-52 reader might not know what s/he’s missing, but I suspect us oldsters will make even more assumptions about what Earth-2 “should” be, well in advance of May’s first issues. It’s kind of like J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, creating a new setting with enough of the old to seem familiar, but not enough to be a duplicate.

At the very least the two books should look great. Nicola Scott is an asset to any team book — she handled crowds pretty well when Birds Of Prey guest-starred the Secret Six — and I can’t wait to see Pérez and Maguire trade off on Worlds’ Finest.

Not surprisingly, I hope these books find a decent audience beyond the core of JSA/Power Girl readers. It’s not that the New 52 needs the stylistic alternative of an Earth-2 as a safe harbor from all those high collars and ‘90s callbacks. For a long time, being a DC fan meant buying into the Multiverse and/or the legacies, so it’s nice that some of that is coming back. How much of it, and for how long, are questions for another day.

The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist

It’s time once again for our monthly trip through Previews looking for cool, new comics. As usual, we’re focusing on graphic novels, collected volumes and first issues so that we don’t have to come up with a new way to say, “Batwoman is still awesome!” every month. And we’ll continue letting Tom and Carla do the heavy lifting in regards to DC and Marvel’s solicitations.

One cool change this month and for the foreseeable future: I’m joined by Graeme McMillan who’ll also be pointing out his favorites.

Finally, please feel free to play along in the comments. Tell us what we missed that you’re looking forward to or – if you’re a comics creator – mention your own stuff.

Abrams Comicarts

The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist – I admit, I tend to run hot and cold on Clowes’ output, but I’m a sucker for coffee-table career retrospectives, so the idea of taking 224 pages to look back at his career to date (with, of course, the traditional little-seen artwork and commentary) seems like a must-look at the very least. [Graeme]

Abstract Studios

Rachel Rising, Volume 1: The Shadow of Death – Terry Moore’s latest series gets its first collection and I love the premise of a woman’s waking up in a shallow grave with no memory of how she got there and needing to figure out who tried to kill to her. [Michael]

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom

Arcana

Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom – I don’t know enough about Lovecraft, but man I love me some undersea kingdoms. [Michael]

Archaia

Cow Boy – As much as I don’t want to stick writer Nate Cosby in an all-ages box, I’m eager to read his and Chris Eliopoulos’ story of a kid bounty hunter trying to bring in his family of outlaws. [Michael]

If nothing else, Nate Cosby’s Twitter feed made me curious about checking out his western collaboration with Eliopoulos, but finding out that Roger Langridge and Colleen Coover were also contributing pushed me over the edge. [Graeme]

I’m Not A Plastic Bag – Color me skeptical but hopeful about Rachel Hope Allison’s ecological debut, even if that title makes me a little nervous. [Graeme]

Archie

Archie #631 – Picks up on that story where Archie and Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats hook up. Look, Archie’s going nowhere with either Betty or Veronica, so I’m rooting for the furry. [Michael]

Stan Lee’s Mighty 7 #1 – At first, finding out that this comic was actually by Tony Blake and Alex Saviuk without Lee was a letdown; until I found out that the comic is actually about Stan Lee, which pushes it into the “This will either be horrendous or bizarrely enjoyable” category. [Graeme]

I’m not sure that I’ve ever unreservedly enjoyed a comic that Stan Lee wrote, much less just came up with the idea for, but I love his persona and putting him in the comic with some superheroes is so crazy it just might work. [Michael]

Crossed: Badlands #1

Avatar Press

Crossed: Badlands #1 and 2 – I’m definitely not a horror fan, but the idea of Garth Ennis’ writing an ongoing biweekly series feels like it’s as good a lure to get me to pick this up as anything else. (I think the plan is to have creators alternate on arcs, with Si Spurrier and David Lapham as part of the alternate writers on the book. That’s a pretty impressive line-up.) [Graeme]

Boom!

Exile on the Planet of the Apes #1 – I’m all for another Planet of the Apes comic from Boom!. [Michael]

More Apes by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman (art by Marc Laming)? This can only be a good thing. [Graeme]

Supurbia #1 – I feel like we’ve seen a few of these “what if superheroes and reality shows were mashed together?” series, but here’s the first of four issues of another one written by former Marvel staffer Grace Randolph. [Graeme]

Kitchen Sink Press: The First 25 Years – Remember what I said about being a sucker for coffee table retrospectives above? That goes double for this one, which has the added benefits of being both cheap (only $15!) and having contributions from Alan Moore and other creators from Denis Kitchen’s vast address book. [Graeme]

Dark Horse

BPRD: Hell on Earth – The Pickens County Horror #1 – I’m all for new BPRD comics, but it’s getting more and more difficult to keep track of everything. Still, I’ll buy a Scott Allie Mignolaverse story any day. [Michael]

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories

Abe Sapien, Volume 2: The Devil Does Not Jest and Other Stories - Abe’s my favorite BPRD character, so I feel like this the way I do the previous item: grateful, but also a little saturated. [Michael]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8, Volume 1 – The first ten issues – or two trades, if that’s how your brain works – of the Joss Whedon-led series get an oversized hardcover edition. [Graeme]

Channel Zero – Brian Wood’s breakthrough book comes back into print with this collection of the original series, the Becky Cloonan-illustrated follow-up and material from the awesome Public Domain design book. Jonathan Hickman fans, you should really pick this up. [Graeme]

Manara Erotica, Vol. 1: Click! and Other Stories – Yes, it’s comic porn. But unlike Lost Girls, this is actually sexy comic porn. [Graeme]

Ragemoor #1 – If they hadn’t got me with Richard Corben, they certainly would have with “living castle nurtured on pagan blood.” [Michael]

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Volume 2 – The Promise, Part 2 – Yikes, what a title. I’m still missing Avatar: The Last Airbender though, so this is welcome. [Michael]

Empowered, Volume 7 – Why haven’t I started reading this critical darling yet? I do not know. [Michael]

DC

Batman: Death by Design - Chip Kidd’s writing a Batman book and it’s a real-live, honest-to-goodness superhero adventure. What’s more awesome is that the concept of design plays a large role in the story in the form of a massive reconstruction project in Gotham City. [Michael]

Saucer Country #1

Saucer Country #1 – Paul Cornell + Ryan Kelly + saucer aliens = SOLD. [Michael]

Fairest #1 – Bill Willingham launches a new series about the women of Fables and makes me even less interested in everyone else’s modern updates of fairy tales. [Michael]

New Deadwardians #1 – The solicit opens, “Another vampire/zombie comic? Really, Vertigo?” My sentiments exactly and yet, this one’s illustrated by INJ Culbard whose work I’ve loved on the Sherlock Holmes adaptations he’s done with Ian Edginton. [Michael]

Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child #1 – It would be redundant to mention that the cover to this is both “striking” and “by Rafael Grampá,” so I’ll just mention the concept, which is also eye-catching. It’s the story of a grad student who also happens to be heir to the Voodoo Queenship of the most haunted city in America, and someone is killing off the royal family. Vertigo was created for stuff like this. [Michael]

Dynamite

Bionic Woman #1 – I had the deepest crush on Jaime Sommers as an 11-year-old. My current crush on Paul Tobin’s writing is slightly less deep, but still significant enough to make me want to read this. [Michael]

I’ve been following Dynamite’s Bionic Man series and surprising myself by digging the hell out’ve it; seeing that this spin-off is being written by the insanely-underrated Paul Tobin was all I needed to convince me to read this. [Graeme]

George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1 – For the fantasy fan (or HBO subscriber) in your life, here’s the first quarter of Dynamite’s adaptation of the not-so-cult-anymore novel. [Graeme]

Vampirella: The Red Room #1

Vampirella: The Red Room #1: On the one hand, it’s “monster vs. human cage matches.” On the other, it’s written by Dan Brereton, so it’s probably going to be good fun… [Graeme]

Fantagraphics

Angelman – I’ve not read much by Austrian cartoonist Nicolas Mahler, but I think I’m won over just by the idea of his new book, which satirizes not just superheroes, but the business behind them. [Graeme]

Interiorae – Lovely, lovely art by Gabriella Giandelli in this collection of his Ignatz series. (It’s also in full-color, unlike the original serialization, which is another win.) [Graeme]

I don’t know why it’s taken this long for Fantagraphics to collect the comics that got their cool Ignatz format a few years ago, but I’ll shut up and be grateful. I greatly enjoyed Giandelli’s creepy tale of an apartment building, its residents, the large rabbit who roams its halls, and the creature the rabbit seems to serve. What’s also exciting though is that this means Richard Sala’s Delphine will get a collection too. [Michael]

Humanoids

Monsieur Jean: The Singles Theory – So, so excited for this new book by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian, making its English language debut in this edition. [Graeme]

IDW

Berkeley Breathed’s Outland: The Complete Collection Sunday Comics, 1989-1995 – The star of this collection of Breathed’s Bloom County follow-up isn’t the title strip, but the reprints of his early, college-era work that’ll accompany them. [Graeme]

Funny Stuff

Funny Stuff By Frank Frazetta – It makes me a bad nerd to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever seen Frazetta’s legendary early comics work, so I’m pretty excited for this oversized hardcover collection, especially to see just how much he… homaged other, more famous strips. [Graeme]

Rocketeer Adventures 2 #1 – Featuring work by Stan Sakai, Bill Sienkiewicz, Marc Guggenheim, Peter David, and Sandy Plunkett. Plus covers and pin-ups by Dave Stevens, Darwyn Cooke, and Art Adams. [Michael]

The first series of anthology tributes to Dave Stevens and his retro creation worked so much more than I’d expected, so I’m definitely up for a second go-’round. [Graeme]

Smoke And Mirrors #1: Mike Costa’s been winning me over every month with his Cobra series, so I’m looking forward to this creator-owned book he’s co-writing about a stage magician who gets trapped in a world where magic has taken the place of science. [Graeme]

Star Trek, Volume 1 – Dear all fellow Trekkies/Trekkers/whatever you want to call yourselves: If you liked the original TV show and also the JJ Abrams movie reboot, you owe it to yourself to check out this monthly series, so grab this collection of the first issues and dig in. [Graeme]

Will Eisner’s The Spirit: Artist’s Edition – Of all the IDW “Artists Edition” books to date, this is the one that just feels like a must-have. Eisner’s Spirit pages as they appeared on his drafting table? I cannot wait to see these. [Graeme]

IDW probably explained the “Artist’s Edition” concept before and I just wasn’t paying attention, but I am now and I finally get why it’s cool to have COLOR scans of original-size black-and-white art so you can see blue pencils, art corrections, editorial notes, and stuff like that. Especially for someone as legendary as Will Eisner.  [Michael]

Saga

Image

Saga #1 – New Brian K. Vaughan. Does anything else need to be said? Oh, alright: FIona Staples on art. Seriously, you guys. [Graeme]

I’d buy a Fiona Staple fantasy epic anyway. That Brian K Vaughan is writing it makes me sigh like a Belieber. [Michael]

Hell Yeah #1: There’s something weirdly fitting about reading a series about the generation who’s grown up with super-heroes that’s created by someone like Joe Keatinge, who’s been around in comics for a long time, and Andre Szymanowicz’ art looks good as well… [Graeme]

The Manhattan Projects #1 – Jonathan Hickman returns to indie roots with the true story behind the atomic bomb. Turns out, Oppenheimer created this rocket ship, but forgot to shield it against cosmic rays… [Graeme]

Mad scientists! By Jonathan Hickman! [Michael]

’68, Volume 1: Better Run Through the Jungle – Mark Kidwell, Nat Jones, and Jay Fotos’ Vietnam War/zombie series is collected. [Michael]

The Walking Dead: Cutting Room Floor – I’m very, very curious about this collection of Robert Kirkman’s handwritten notes about the creation of his hit series. It sounds like a joke, doesn’t it? But it could very well be awesome… [Graeme]

Marvel

Avengers Academy #27 – Guest-starring the Runaways, ya’ll! And Bruiser’s totally punching Mettle cross-eyed on the cover. [Michael]

Savage Beauty

Moonstone

Savage Beauty Limited Edition Hardcover – I’m really curious to see how Mike Bullock’s contemporary, political jungle-girl story turns out. [Michael]

Oni

The Coldest City - If Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy taught me anything, it’s that I’m really not done with Cold War spy stories just yet. This one’s set in Berlin, which is even cooler. [Michael]

I’ve already read this one in galley format, and it is really, really good for those who like the spy stuff (Queen and Country fans, it’s written by Antony Johnston, so you know that it’s great; the art by Sam Hart follows Steve Yeowell’s lead from his early Zenith days, and for those who know my love for that series, there are few higher compliments I can offer). [Graeme]

The Secret History of DB Cooper #1 – Beyond “colorful weirdness and conspiracy-laden Americana,” I have no idea what to expect from Brian Churilla’s new series, and that just makes me look forward to it all the more. [Graeme]

I can’t wait to find out once and for all if Mr James is Doobie Keebler. [Michael]

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures

Red 5

Atomic Robo: Real Science Adventures #1 – Eep! An Atomic Robo anthology! Great news for a series whose back-up stories have always been just as entertaining as its lead feature. [Michael]

Atomic Robo returns with an all-new ongoing series?!? Surely this means that Christmas is either not over, or coming early or… well, you know what I mean. Good stuff. [Graeme]

Top Shelf

Blue – I’ve never heard of Pat Grant, the creator of this OGN, but Craig Thompson calls him “the Australian Mark Twain,” which is good enough for me. [Graeme]

Zenescope

The Jungle Book #1: Zenescope get around to “updating” the classic and well-loved story, which is more than likely going to mean adding more cleavage than you would’ve thought appropriate. Welcome to the year 20BOOB, everyone. [Graeme]

While the initiative was unveiled just this morning, this is not the first time comics publishers have used superheroes to help benefit charities seeking to end hunger and famine in Africa. Although organizations have been collecting donations for famine and disease relief in Africa for decades, one of the worst famines in recent memory occurred in Ethiopia in 1983-1985, which inspired the charity singles “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and “We Are the World” from the music supergroups Band Aid and USA for Africa, respectively.

Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson picked up on the “jam piece” idea for comics: a book featuring numerous creators to raise money for East African famine relief. In 1985, Starlin pitched Marvel’s then-Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter, who recruited Uncanny X-Men editor Ann Nocenti and writer Chris Claremont, and from there, the project continued to expand. Titled Heroes for Hope, the comic featured the X-Men in an adventure that eventually brought them to Africa, where they faced a god-like entity who feeds on human despair. In fact, Starlin details the entire process in a September 2011 blog post that includes a full list of the creative team, which included Stan Lee, John Romita Jr., Harlan Ellison, Frank Miller, Stephen King and Alan Moore.

According to Shooter, the initiative raised more than $500,000. The money was originally intended to go to Oxfam, but because of a disagreement with an Oxfam America representative, the money instead went to the American Friends Service Committee.

In 1986, DC Comics released a similar book, Heroes Against Hunger. The story, called “A Song of Pain and Sorrow,” featured Batman and Superman teaming with Lex Luthor to fight a new villain named The Master, who, much like Marvel’s villain, drew his power from human misery. Starlin and Wrightson were once again instrumental in the organization of the book, with Starlin contributing the overall plot. Heroes Against Hunger also boasted an all-star creative team, including Neal Adams, John Byrne, Howard Chaykin, Jerry Ordway, Andy Kubert and Barry Winsor-Smith. In the 48-page comic, every two pages were handled by a different creative team.

While there are no details on a tie-in book for DC’s current “We Can Be Heroes” initiative, the press release indicates there will be merchandise for sale through WeCanBeHeroes.org, with 50 percent of the purchase price going to famine relief.

I will not caption this cover "Pistol Packin' Mama"

The big news from April’s solicitations was revealed last week, as DC announced the cancellation of six of the original New-52 books (to be replaced with five new series plus the returning Batman Incorporated). While there’s more to say about this on its merits, I do like DC keeping a fixed number of ongoing series. Nerds love structure, right? (Besides, it’s kind of like programming a television schedule.)

Of course, just two weeks ago I predicted that all of the original New-52 books would get to their twelfth issues, in part so that DC could claim they each “told their stories.” That doesn’t seem to be the case here, at least not from the solicitation texts. Instead, the solicits for each final issue mostly advertise how the series are all going down swinging. We know now, too, that in some ways this isn’t really the end: Mister Terrific’s Karen Starr looks like the Power Girl of the upcoming Worlds’ Finest; Men Of War’s superhero/military mashup should transition smoothly to G.I. Combat; and I don’t think DC will kill off Hawk and Dove again.

Actually, if I were Captain Atom, I’d be a little nervous. According to ICV2′s December sales estimates, Hawk & Dove was the highest-selling New-52 book to be cancelled (18,014 copies at #114), but CA was right behind (17,917; #115).

Anyway, on to the solicits themselves….

* * *

LO, THERE SHALL BE … OH, YOU KNOW

Lots of finality in the April solicits, even beyond the obvious. Mister Terrific signs off with the Blackhawks and (more than likely) the return of Power Girl; and Men Of War guest-stars Frankenstein. Blackhawks and Hawk and Dove tease doom and gloom. Action Comics, Batman, Batwing, and Batman and Robin all wrap up their inaugural arcs (as does OMAC, but its first arc turned out to be its last), and the Justice League Dark/I, Vampire crossover concludes. Batman: Odyssey and THUNDER Agents finish their limited runs, and over at Vertigo, Northlanders ends with #50. Finally, Static Shock’s last issue looks more like an epilogue, hopefully indicating a decent role for the character beyond the end of his latest series.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

Possible groundwork for the next Pandora appearance: dark visions of the future show up in Captain Atom #8 and Teen Titans #8, while the Flash visits the Speed Force in Flash #8. If I wanted to connect it to the Daemonite plots over in Grifter, Voodoo, and Superman, I’d say that the Daemonites realize (somehow) that the former WildStorm Earth was probably a lot easier to conquer without the Justice League in the way, so they’re going after Superman to eliminate the biggest threat first. It’s all very “countdown to Infinite Crisis”-esque, you see.

Since I dropped Teen Titans after issue #1, it’s been surprisingly easy for me to ignore it and still read Superboy. However, I’m worried that might not continue as Superboy becomes more involved with both Titans and the upcoming Ravagers series. Then there’s Superboy’s crossover with Teen Titans and Legion Lost, which I should have seen coming back in September. Ordinarily, that would all be okay, but I have a bad feeling that Ravagers will get dragged into the whole thing, and the Gen13 kids will be there, and it’ll just turn into a whole big mulligan stew of teenaged super-people. Wow, now I really do feel old.

By contrast, the upcoming Resurrection Man/Suicide Squad crossover should be easier to take, just because it looks more isolated. Oh, and who else thinks the Squad’s traitor is involved with Skinny Amanda Waller? She’s got to be a fake, and the real deal will be about twice her size…. Regardless, the old Amanda shows up in Batman Beyond Unlimited #3, so that’ll be good.

ONE LEAGUE UNDER THE SEA

I am probably more excited than is necessary at the prospect of Green Arrow in Justice League. To be sure, I don’t know this version of Ollie that well, having dropped the current Green Arrow after issue #1 for being too bland. Maybe Ann Nocenti will light the proper fire under him, and maybe that will be reflected in his JL #8 characterization? After all, cross-promotion is one of the Justice League’s oldest and most subtle missions.

Meanwhile, it seems eminently appropriate for Batwing to join Justice League International — I’m guessing he’s not the “surprise team member” if he’s on the cover of #8 — but I kind of want him to take a page from his patron, and claim that he’s too busy with his own crusade.

And as long as we’re talking Leagues here, I agree with Scipio that Aquaman’s old team should turn out to have been the Sea Devils.

THIS AND THAT

There is a sort of backhanded precedent for Wonder Woman packing heat (issue #8′s“Pistols of Eros,” snicker). It comes from the end of Greg Rucka’s run, when the Amazons reverse the polarity of their Purple Healing Ray, build an industrial-sized version, and call it the Purple Death Ray. I trusted Rucka to do that, and I trust Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang to make the P’s. of E. work too.

I’ll never turn down George Pérez artwork, so it’s good to see his guest pencils on April’s Supergirl #8. It may also be a nice way to warm up for his work on another Girl of Steel in Worlds’ Finest.

COLLECTIONS

The Infinite Crisis Omnibus mentions “villains uniting,” but it doesn’t seem to collect Villains United. However, the miniseries and specials listed in the solicits only add up to about half of the Omnibus’ page count, so there seems to be room for VU and the Return of Donna Troy miniseries as well.

I have a feeling that the Batman: Prey paperback is meant to capitalize on Catwoman’s role in The Dark Knight Rises, even though “Prey” was primarily a Hugo Strange story. In fact, for my money, “Prey” is the second-most-influential Hugo Strange story, behind the seminal Engelhart/Rogers Detective Comics arc. “Prey” takes one iconic scene from Englehart/Rogers — Hugo as Batman, with a Bruce Wayne mask under the cowl — and extrapolates from that an entire psychosexual obsession with the Darknight Detective, also involving a second Batman impersonator in Hugo’s scheme to destroy our hero. All that and the post-“Year One” origin of the Batmobile too! It’s a good story, is what I’m saying.

I’m not sure about the causal relationship between the various reprint lines. The Archives came before the Showcase Presents books, so there were Challengers of the Unknown Archives and Sgt. Rock Archives before there were SP reprints. However, I bet the sales of the SP volumes supported the upcoming Challengers Omnibus and the latest Sgt. Rock Archives.  In any event, the hardcover market may be more eclectic than I thought.

The character — or at least this phase of his development — doesn’t seem to be remembered that fondly, but I’m looking forward to revisiting the “AzBats” Batman in the new Knightfall Volume 2. What’s funny is that two Batman artists from that period, Graham Nolan and Mike Manley, are now drawing the soap-opera strips Rex Morgan M.D. and Judge Parker. I wonder if their newspaper fans will want to see their superhero work.

I’ve already mentioned the Sea Devils, but I believe their Showcase Presents solicitation helps clarify certain recent events. Reading between the lines, it seems that DC has been working on a hush-hush follow-up to this series called Flame-Headed Watchman 2….

* * *

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

DC Comics’ new logo was officially unveiled this morning, followed by the release of mockups showing how the “peel” design would appear on digital devices, collected editions and single issues. However, a closer look at the latter reveals a comics conundrum: a New 52 cover for Batman, with the current creative team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, is labeled as Issue 708, while George Perez’s Superman #1 cover is numbered somewhere between #700 and #709 (it’s partially obscured, making it difficult to tell). Here’s the thing — despite the New 52 covers, both of those issues were published before the New 52 was announced in July 2011.

Batman #708 was printed in March 2011 during David Hine and Guillem March’s run on the book. Any issue of Superman that begins with “#70_” would had to have been somewhere between June 2010 and March 2011, spanning J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Roberson’s runs. Assuming these are the numberings from March 2011, that would mean the final two issues should be Green Lantern #64 and Wonder Woman #609. Could this be a sign of the New 52 numbering being a last-minute change for DC? Or maybe DC wasn’t letting the outside firm in on its relaunch plans, which could indicate this logo has been in development since well before March.

Then again, it could just be a coincidence, but it is an odd oversight to present a new logo with numberings from issues that hit stores 10 months ago.

Whatever the case, it brings us to the question why the company didn’t roll out its new brand identity in late August, when it relaunched its entire line, or even last month, when it published a mammoth hardcover collecting all 52 first issues – one that now rests on shelves sporting the nearly seven-year-old “swoosh.”

DC’s “peel” logo will make its comics debut in March, when most of the covers presumably will bear the number 7.

Jake Parker (Missile Mouse) posted this drawing on his blog and I can’t stop thinking about how much I want to see him draw more like it. If DC Comics ever does another Bizarro Comics anthology, I hope someone gives Parker a call.

(via The Comics Reporter)

Detective Comics #8

Answering one of the questions raised by yesterday’s announcement the expansion of Batman and Detective Comics to 40 pages, DC Comics revealed this afternoon that April’s Detective #8 will kick off a multi-part backup story featuring Two-Face.

The 10-page stories reunite series writer Tony S. Daniel and artist Szymon Kudranski (Spawn, Penguin: Pain and Prejudice), who collaborated on the “Russian Roulette” one-shot in Detective Comics #5. The Two-Face spotlights are intended to reveal the history of a rogue who’s only appeared briefly since the launch in August of DC Comics: The New 52.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Szymon Kudraski, who’ll no doubt capture the dark mood and tone I’m reaching for in Detective Comics,” Daniel said on DC’s Source blog. “I’m going deep into the character of Harvey Dent and the inner conflicts and demons he must confront. I’m approaching the characters and story the way I would a multi-layered psychological thriller, one that covers a man at the losing end of a battle within himself.”

The same month that Two-Face spotlight debuts in Detective, Batman will launch back-up stories centering on the Court of Owls, the shadowy organization that has plagued the Dark Knight and Gotham City in the first arc of the relaunched comic. Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV will write the stories, with American Vampire artist Rafael Albuquerque providing the art.

Justice League #4

Publishing | Number-crunching the direct-market charts, John Jackson Miller determines that sales of comics ranking in Diamond’s Top 300 increased by more than 3 million copies in 2011, bringing the total to 72.13 million. Dollar sales, too, rose by nearly $3 million, even as the average price of comic dropped by about a dime, from $3.58 to $3.49. [The Comichron]

Creators | Artist Fiona Staples has responded to Dave Dorman’s objection to her cover for Saga #1, which shows a woman breastfeeding an infant: “I find it a little hard to fathom why anyone would object to a depiction of breastfeeding, even if it were on a kids’ comic, which it isn’t. I have yet to hear a line of reasoning that makes sense to me. That said, anyone who wants to be grossed out by our comic is of course free to do so. I’m just going to fixate on the part where a master painter called me a ‘gifted artist.’” [ComicsAlliance]

ComicsPRO

Awards | The retailers association ComicsPRO has announced the nominees for its Industry Appreciation Award and the Industry Appreciation Memorial Award, which recognize individuals who have contributed to the success of the direct market: Cindy Fournier, David Gabriel, Robert Kirkman, Eric Stephenson and Bob Wayne. [press release]

Publishing | Valiant Entertainment, which in July announced the return of Valiant Comics, has signed an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with Diamond Comic Distributors and Diamond Book Distributors. [press release]

Creators | Kaiser Health News interviews MIT economist Jonathan Gruber — wait, why is this in Comics A.M.? Oh, yeah, because Gruber is the writer of the graphic novel Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It’s Necessary, How It Works, which is that rare book that spoils the ending in the title. Artwork by Nathan Schreiber gives it some serious comics cred. [Kaiser Health News]

Creators | Lauren Davis has a fascinating interview with Achewood creator Chris Onstad, who recently brought his webcomic back from hiatus, about burnout, haters and the new things he has been trying lately, including a larger format to fit the new storyline. [Comics Alliance]

Gladstone's School for World Conquerors #1

Creators | David Harper talks to Mark Andrew Smith, writer of Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors, about his inspirations for the comic. I think Smith nails one of the best features of the book when he says, “I just like moments like these where we see supervillains being real people and doing things that normal people would do that we don’t get to see supervillains doing in other books. It’s great to pull back the curtain and see those moments of humanity there.” [Multiversity Comics]

Creators | This article on Kickstarter includes an interview with John Walsh, who recently raised $5,800 to support his webcomic Go Home Paddy. [Boston Herald]

Review | Larry Cruz reviews the intriguing webcomic Power Nap, about a future society in which drugs have eliminated the need for sleep — except for the one guy who is allergic to them. [The Webcomic Overlook]

Jakub Nowak shared his awesome Van Gogh/Jim Lee tattoo on Tumblr and it’s been making the rounds since. The tattoo artist is Dominika Gardocka of the Skorpion Sosnowiec studio in Poland. [/Film]

Justice League #4

Publishing | John Jackson Miller takes apart the December sales numbers and finds that while comics were up for the month, graphic novel sales fell just enough to prevent the direct market from having its first up year since 2008. In fact, trades are down 16 percent from December 2010, and Miller spends some time discussing why that might be — and why next year might be different. [The Comichron]

Publishing | Houghton Mifflin has high hopes for Are You My Mother?, the new graphic novel from Fun Home author Alison Bechdel: The publisher plans a first printing of 100,000 copies. [Publishers Weekly]

Retailing | Diamond’s Retailer Summit will be held the two days before the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, with attendees receiving free admission to the April 13-15 convention. [ICv2]

Saga #1

Creators | Brian K. Vaughan speaks briefly about Saga, his March-debuting collaboration with Fiona Staples that promises “a nice mixture of some bounty hunters, monsters and all sorts of lovely threats.” [USA Today]

Creators | Joe Keatinge (Hell Yeah, Glory) writes about the immutability of Big Two superhero comics and the freedom that independent publishers like Image have to throw dramatic twists into their stories—and make them stick. [Image Comics blog]

Digital | Letterer Todd Klein reads Green Lantern #1 on his iPhone and finds the experience different, but enjoyable. [Todd's Blog]

Graphicly

Digital | HTML5 is in, Windows 7 phones are out: Micah Laaker reviews the past year for digital distribution service Graphicly and hints a bit at what the future may bring. [Graphicly Blog]

Digital | Which platform will survive? Matt Alexander speculates that as tablets get better and cheaper, dedicated e-readers will become a thing of the past. Ironic, no? [The Loop]

Cosplay | Hana, a Muslim anime blogger, discusses the complications of finding characters to cosplay while observing the rules of modest dress: “Clearly, some of you might be wondering what all the fuss was about, and I’m not saying that all Muslim hijab-wearing females are anything as habitually neurotic as I am. However, think of it more as an illustration of how my faith is the filter through which I experience the fandom and everything else. For me, it’s an entire lifestyle that affects everything I do, rather than just being a set of beliefs.” [Beneath the Tangles]

Batman #8, by Greg Capullo

Batman and Detective Comics will expand to 40 pages beginning in April, a move that brings with it back-up stories and a price increase from $2.99 to $3.99, DC Comics announced over the weekend.

Batman #8 will see writer Scott Snyder re-team with American Vampire artist Rafael Albuquerque for the first in a series of back-up stories examining the history of the Court of Owls, the shadowy organization that has plagued the Dark Knight and Gotham City in the first arc of the relaunched comic. Co-written by James Tynion IV, the stories also dovetail into “The Night of the Owls,” a crossover that will launch in May and run through all of DC’s Bat-books.

“The first backup, in issue eight will give a sense of the terrifying scope of the Court of Owls’ attack on Gotham. This really will be the first shot in a war for the soul of Gotham City,” Snyder wrote this morning on DC’s Source blog. “And then, starting in issue nine, we’ll begin a three part story called ‘The Fall of the House of Wayne’ that will investigate the secret history of the Court of Owls and its relationship to the Wayne family – particularly to Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce’s parents. The story will be told from the point of view of Jarvis Pennyworth, Alfred’s father, and offer some big surprises and shocks about the forces that shaped the bat-mythology as we know it. Can’t wait for you all to see these stories!”

In a pair of interviews with Newsarama and ICv2, DC’s Executive Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development John Rood and Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne also revealed Detective and Green Lantern will join Action Comics, Batman and Justice League as “combo pack” titles, meaning that for $1 more, readers receive a redemption code allowing them to download a digital version of the comics, leaving the print editions “pristine.”

Check out Albuquerque’s Batman sketches below.

Batman, by Rafael Albuquerque

Batman, by Rafael Albuquerque

Justice League #1

Publishing | Four months in, the DC Comics relaunch seems to be a success. The most recent sales figures show Justice League #1 selling more than 360,000 copies since August, and Batman #1 and Action Comics #1 selling more than 250,000. By contrast, Marvel’s strongest seller was Ultimate Spider-Man #160, which was in the 160,000-copy neighborhood. These figures seem to reflect sales in the direct market only; it would be interesting to see how many digital copies have been sold. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Awards | Nominations are open for this year’s Eagle Awards. [Eagle Awards]

Retailing | San Francisco retailer Brian Hibbs shares the top-selling graphic novels in his store for 2011, by units and by dollars. [Savage Critics]

Retailing | Christopher Butcher looks back on the events of the past year in the comics store he manages, Toronto’s The Beguiling. [The Beguiling blog]

Commentary | Mike Gold explains why the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a terrible idea. [ComicMix]

Comics | Enough with the best-of lists: Ron Richards presents his lovingly compiled list of the worst things in comics in 2011. His No. 1 point stands in stark contrast to The Hollywood Reporter piece: Overall, sales are dropping. [iFanboy]

Gingerbread Girl

Comics | Tom Spurgeon continues his holiday interview series, talking to Rina Piccolo, Steve Bissette, Colleen Coover, Todd DePastino and Robot 6′s own Chris Mautner. [The Comics Reporter]

Comics | The Houston Chronicle covers the arrival of its own local superhero, the Scarlet Spider. [Houston Chronicle]

Publishing | Jim Shooter recounts his time at Broadway Comics, as well as dealings he had with the World Wrestling Federation when Valiant had the rights to produce wrestling comics: “VALIANT, as you may know, was forced into a license to do WWF comics by my corrupt partner Steve Massarsky, who represented both Leisure Concepts International (the WWF’s licensing agency) and VALIANT. Can you say ‘conflict of interest?’ Massarsky made a ton of money personally by making a deal with himself with utter disregard for what made sense for VALIANT, and I was stuck with actually producing WWF comics.” [Jim Shooter]

Creators | Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner profile Legion of Super-Heroes writer and former DC Comics president and publisher Paul Levitz. [Graphic NYC]

Brilliant #1

Creators | This profile of Mark Bagley covers his entry into comics and his collaborations with Brian Michael Bendis on Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and Avengers Assemble and their own Brilliant. [Creative Loafing]

Creators | Ron Marz reports he raised $500 last month for Toys for Tots by selling signed comics to fans. [Messages from Marz]

Creators | Guest-blogging for Whitney Matheson, Grace Bello interviews Tony Millionaire. [Pop Candy]

Creators | Kurtis Wiebe discusses Green Wake, The Intrepids and his new series Peter Panzerfaust. [The Outhouse]

Craft | Colorist Matt Wilson explains how he went about coloring a page of Wonder Woman #4 that presented some challenges. [SeeEmWhyKay, via Blog@Newsarama]

Commentary | Filmmaker and blogger Becki Burrows interviews Paul Gravett, author of many books on comics and graphic novels, most recently, 1001 Comics to Read Before You Die. [Paul Gravett]

Commentary | David Uzumeri makes the case for why The Flash is “the most visually inventive book of the [DC Comics] relaunch”: “The first hint of this came when DC began promoting the first issue’s title page the promotional rounds, an absolutely gorgeous piece of work that integrated the design sense of the logo into not only the artwork but the actual storytelling. Manapul drew Barry Allen disarming an army of mysterious sci-fi marines in a breathtaking clockwise sequence that was immediately readable despite its complexity, guiding the eye in a circle across a sequence where the Flash basically hands all of these dudes their butts in a series of small panels within the letters of his own name. Then it kept getting better.” [ComicsAlliance]

Commentary | Sean Kleefeld examines the world view of One Piece and wonders if some of the folks at the Occupy protests were there because of Luffy and the Straw Hats. [Kleefeld on Comics]

Review | Rob Clough reads Seth’s The Great Northern Brotherhood of Canadian Cartoonists. [The Comics Journal]

Despite his having drawn two of the bangin’-est, bone crunching-est superhero comics of the modern age (namely Daredevil Born Again and the book at hand, Batman Year One), few would argue that a — perhaps the — defining aspect of David Mazzucchelli’s approach to his mainstream comics work is its great subtlety.  The artist’s decision to leave superheroes for the greater freedom of alternative comics may have been surprising at the time, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense: Mazzucchelli was never as interested in the roaring moments of climax that are action comics’ stock in trade as he was in the smaller, tension-filled moments of ascent and decline that bookend them.  It was perhaps inevitable that he would one day leave the spandex merry-go-round in order to investigate them more deeply, but in his timeless collaboration with Frank Miller on Year One, Mazzucchelli was able to find an ideal point between noise and quiet, action and inertia: superhero comics somehow created to lack the kitschy “zap bam pow” element, given a truer “real-world” feel than can be found just about anywhere else in the genre.

Mazzucchelli achieves his understated tone not by shying away from the big moments, but by presenting them in a slightly different manner than usual.  Until the final installment of the story, he leans uncommonly hard on a four-tier layout, rather than the typical three of hero comics — and even when a three-tier layout is employed, it’s often imposed onto a page still composed in quarters, with two tiers taking up half a page rather than two thirds and a third dominant image filling the other half (above).  It might not seem like an incredibly important shift, but it fundamentally changes the reading experience: Year One is composed a little too densely to be called a page turner.  Unlike the majority of superhero comics, drawn using the Kirbyist model in which all the information on each page is apprehensible at first glance and reading is only necessary to fill in the blanks, Year One’s tightly packed pages demand a more incremental reading — one closer to the way we interact with prose.

Too, Mazzucchelli’s four-tier pages throw off the natural rhythm of hero comics, as seen above.  The linchpin action shot of the page above is in panel two, with Batman’s thundering kick splintering a solid stone column — and yet the dominant image, the one backgrounding the entire page, is in panel three, as the roof comes crashing down on a hapless group of antagonists and the hero leaps clear.  It’s a choice that acts as shorthand for Mazzucchelli’s entire approach to this book: rather than focusing on the most kinetic moments, he puts the spotlight on the ones most felt.  Batman’s kick takes a split second, barely seen, and directly affects nothing but the pillar; but the subsequent collapse of the roof is a more drawn-out process, one that has ramifications as long as its victims remain in traction.  Time and again in Year One, Mazzucchelli purposely de-emphasizes (or as below, entirely leaves out) the big moments in order to create something that flows, something that foregrounds the impacts actions have on characters rather than the fact of the impacts themselves.

Mazzucchelli favors placing his dominant images in the third tier, allowing them to hold down the center of the page while giving them as big a build-up as possible.  It’s an action that mirrors both the four-panel gag strip and the “four on the floor” rhythm of pop music, a regularized pulse with a little extra put on one beat in each set.  It’s such a familiar structure to present content within that Year One just soaks in through the pores — if the lurching, ever-so-slightly goofy rhythm of hero comics is gone, it’s been replaced by something simultaneously sleeker and more muscular, a pleasingly symmetrical structure that’s roomy enough to be experimental within.  It remains a high-water mark for superhero comics, a bold statement that proves the genre has room for the typical crash and bluster and the considered subtlety of one of our greatest cartoonists.

Detective Comics #8

To celebrate the 2 millionth “like” of its Batman Facebook page, DC Comics has debuted the cover for April’s Detective Comics #8, by Tony S. Daniel and Sandu Florea.

“More than 2 million people have signaled that they are fans of the Caped Crusader, a sentiment we whole-heartedly agree with,” Brandy Phillips, DC Entertainment’s director of publicity, wrote this morning on The Source. “It’s no surprise that so many people feel this way. Batman continues to be one of the most popular comic characters ever created, with top-selling and popular books Batman, Detective Comics, Batman: The Dark Knight and Batman and Robin leading the way. And with Catwoman, Batwing, Batgirl and Batwoman rounding out the Batman family – the whole line is really on a tear, backed by some of the best creative talent in the industry including Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Tony Daniel, and David Finch, among many others.”

Check out the full cover below.

Batman, Inc.: Leviathan Strikes!

This past Wednesday saw the return of something I didn’t expect to see quite so soon or even ever again–the pre-reboot DC Universe. DC Comics released Batman, Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes! #1 by writer Grant Morrison, artists Cameron Stewart and Chris Burnham, and colorist Nathan Fairbairn, which collects what would have been issues #9 and #10 of the well-regarded series.

“See the last hurrah of Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, in a sinister school for suicide spy girls! Find out what caused the Batman and Robin team to split! And witness the unmasking of Leviathan in a shocking final page twist that sets up 2012’s Batman: Leviathan, the epic concluding act of a Batman story six years in the making!” Morrison said on DC’s The Source blog. While you can never say never when it comes to comics, this could be the final glimpse into the DCU of old.

So what are folks saying about the big finale? Here’s a sampling of opinions on the comic:

Chad Nevett, Comic Book Resources: “Ostensibly Batman, Incorporated issues #9 and #10, Batman, Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes! #1 ends the first ‘season’ of the title and sets the stage for next year’s return and conclusion to Grant Morrison’s tenure on the Batbooks. The wait for this comic may have been long, but with Cameron Stewart and Chris Burnham providing the art, it was well worth it. Morrison delivers both an entertaining ‘done in one’ style adventure spotlighting Stephanie Brown and an ambitious issue that pushes the story about as far as it can go before it breaks. It ends with the big reveal of who is behind Leviathan, the criminal organization that Batman has created Batman, Incorporated to fight. It’s the sort of issue that arrives just in time to remind critics that, maybe, they left Batman, Incorporated off their top ten of 2011 lists and that, obviously, was a mistake.”

Erik Norris, IGN: “It’s no secret that it’s been a really long time since the last issue of Batman, Inc. shipped. Therefore, it’s very easy to forget what’s happened in the series up to when Leviathan Strikes! #1 takes place. That’s why, in rare fashion, I’m going to recommend you flip to the back of the issue first to read the 8-page recap that covers the formation of Batman, Inc. and the pertinent information from the entire series up until this point (just don’t mistakenly see the final page reveal!). Honestly, if I’d known this was included, I would have done the same and the book would have made a lot more sense during my first read-through. This recap also does a marvelous job pointing out all the bread crumbs Morrison has thrown on the ground over the course of Batman, Inc., stretching as far back as Batman R.I.P.”

Colin Bell, Newsarama: “Jam-packed with rug-pulls, betrayals, allegiances and big Bat-ideas, it’s a dizzying, giddy rollercoaster that demands the reader’s attention, and rewards those that keep up. The way the story zips around puts me in mind of the raised stakes of the ending stages of Morrison’s run on New X-Men, and indeed one part of this story seems to echo a beat from that work to the point where it’s nearly a cut and paste job. That said, you get the feeling that Morrison has been champing at the bit to let rip with Leviathan’s grand plans, and it’s an infectious enthusiasm permeates Burnham’s art and leaps off the page. Special mention must go to Nathan Fairbairn, whose use of color veers from tastefully subdued and foreboding in Stewart’s portion, to lurid pop in Burnham’s, and really enhances the read.”

Minhquan Nguyen, Weekly Comic Book Review: “Stewart’s light, easy style makes a perfect fit for Steph Brown as Batgirl, especially since he can draw young girls who look like young girls and not try-outs for Teen Maxim. He adds in all sorts of cool, funny details (e.g. rhinestone-studded pistols, sub-headmistresses wearing outer corsets) that definitely mesh with Steph’s quirky world. As for Burnham, you have to respect the guy; he probably tore his hair out trying to translate Morrison’s loaded script into coherent visuals, and for the most part, he succeeds. Fairbairn offers sympathetic coloring work for both artists.”

Greg Burgas, Comics Should Be Good!: “This comic, however, is up to snuff. Stewart’s Batgirl-centric story of her adventure at St. Hadrian’s School for Girls is ridiculous in all the right ways, and Morrison, as he usually does, gives us a sidekick who has earned Batman’s trust and is allowed to do quite a lot on her own (Batman needs to come in at the end, but more to assist rather than to rescue). Burnham draws the second issue, as Batman, Dick, Tim, and Damian fight their way through Dr. Dedalus’s labyrinth of death, and it’s really a magnificently written and drawn issue.”

Thanks to the ever-resourceful Mike Sterling for the find, you don’t have to burrow through Previews to see DC’s finest the way Superman can see them with his x-ray vision. The vision of a green-tinted skull with the superhero domino mask is frightening in itself.

I, for one, fully endorse this trend and hope the line is successful enough to we can see more shirts in the line. Who wouldn’t want to see how Plastic Man’s skeleton looks when it bends?

You can find images of each shirt after the jump.

*****

Atomic Comics inventory

Retailing | The inventory Arizona retail chain Atomic Comics, which abruptly closed its four locations in late August amid the bankruptcy of owner Michael Malve, will be sold at auction Jan. 3 Jan. 10 in Phoenix, both live and online. Known nationally for its in-store signings, innovative marketing and sheer size, the 23-year-old chain gained international exposure last year when its name and logo were featured prominently in Kick-Ass, the film adaptation of the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Photos of the inventory to be liquidated can be found on the website of the auction company. Update: The date of the auction has changed to Jan. 10. [Sierra Auction Management]

Publishing | Tom Spurgeon continues his yearly holiday interview series by talking to Tom Neely, Emily Nilsson and Virginia Paine about the future of Sparkplug Comic Books. [The Comics Reporter]

Publishing | Tim Stroup, co-founder of the Grand Comics Database, recently dug up some old comics sales figures from the 1940s; John Jackson Miller analyzes them and reaches an interesting conclusion: “comics may be reaching far fewer eyeballs, but it’s a more profitable business to be in today.” [The Comichron]

comiXology

Digital | ComiXology CEO David Steinberger talks about the development of comiXology, including his initial inspiration, which was to create a way for people to see new releases and create pull lists via the internet. [Mashable Business]

Publishing | Tina Anderson, who publishes her own graphic novels, had a good year in 2011, and she provides an interesting view of the business end of self-publishing from the author’s perspective—not just how big a share of the sales she gets but also what it’s like dealing with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other distributors and retailers in terms of efficiency, accuracy, and benefit to the creator. [Gynocrat, Ink.]

Retailing | The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs spotlights the comic shop Comics N’ Vegetables’ win of the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award last summer. [The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

Batman #4

Creators | Scott Snyder discusses his run at Batman, in particular this week’s issue, which he says is “one of the emotional keystones of the entire run.” [USA Today]

Creators | Drew Friedman discusses his latest book, Old Jewish Comedians. [Heeb]

Commentary | Matthew Meylikhov makes the case for buying Gødland. [Multiversity Comics]

Commentary | Patrick Smith reviews the first two issues of Action Lab Entertainment’s Princeless. [Spandexless]

Commentary | Alyssa Rosenberg explores questions of magic and mental illness in Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover’s Gingerbread Girl. [ThinkProgress]

Education | Mohammed Yohan profiles a high school graphic novel course in which students not only read graphic novels but create their own. [my.hsj.org]

Batman: Noel

Batman: Noel
by Lee Bermejo
DC Comics, 112 pages, $22.99

Let’s get this out of the way first: The very idea of grafting Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol story template onto the Batman universe is an inherently terrible one. Batman and Scrooge are two completely different archetypes. They have very little in common, and their character arcs go in wildly opposite directions. To do this sort of thing right, you’d have to first turn Batman into a real jackass — which I imagine DC would be reluctant to do — so that his  eventual redemption at the end is all the more striking and heartwarming. That in turn raises the question of whether contemporary readers want a Batman who sees the good in everyone and spends more time helping widows and orphans than fighting crime.

Still, you can’t say this sort of juxtaposition is surprising. A Christmas Carol has been adapted in just about every medium hundreds of times, and just about every popular TV show or multimedia character has attempted a variation on it (I fondly remember the Family Ties rendition, for instance). Honestly, the only shocking thing is that it took DC this long to try something like this (and with that I await the reply of some knowledgeable fellow in the comments section to tell me that, yes indeed, DC’s done this sort of thing several times before).

Anyway, Batman: Noel is Lee Bermejo’s big follow-up to Joker, the successful stand-alone graphic novel he did with Brian Azzarello. Bermejo, all on his lonesome here, adheres to the same lush, photorealistic style he used in that book, again drawing upon The Dark Knight movie, as the lengthy scars on the Joker’s face and armor-styled design of Batman’s uniform attest. It makes perfect sense that Bermejo’s next book would be another Batman story, drawn in the same vein, although I question the wisdom of stealing from a holiday classic .

The plot involves Batman attempting to catch the Joker (who doubles as the Ghost of Christmases Yet to Be) by putting a desperate, low-level crook (the book’s Bob Crachit) and his young son in jeopardy. Along the way, various characters obviously standing in for the characters from Dickens’ story stop by and ask him what the hell he thinks he’s doing and why has he become such a sourpuss lately.

Honestly, the whole thing comes off as incredibly awkward and forced. Many of the Dickens allusions seem shoehorned in with little thought as to whether they correlate properly to the original text. So we have people like Catwoman filling in here for the Ghost of Christmas Past and complaining about how Batman used to be a lot more fun and happy-go-lucky, which is a bit different from the androgynous waif that shows Scrooge what a decent guy he used to be.

If my harrumphing hints haven’t already clued you in, Noel is yet another over-the-top commentary on how the modern grim-and-gritty style is completely ruining superhero comics. Honestly, it’s not a position I necessarily disagree with, but the way it’s presented here makes me want to read nothing but Faust for the next month.

As painfully awkward as the story’s basic premise is, Bermejo makes things 10 times worse by inserting an insufferable narration that runs throughout the entire tale, as “Bob” badly summarizes Carol’s basic plot in an odd, street/everyman lingo that corresponds to the visuals in the most obvious 1-to-1 manner possible. This sort of punning between the visual and verbal is barely tolerable when Alan Moore does it anymore, and Bermejo isn’t anywhere near the same league as a writer.

Bemejo is, of course, an artist of considerable talents, and if you’re buying the book just to appreciate the visuals there won’t be as much to complain about I suppose. Throughout the book, he adopts a style where the panel borders are eschewed in favor of having them overlap each other, often using a large, foreground figure to help separate the sequences. As visual styles go, it’s certainly striking, though it can can make for a confusing read at times, especially depending on how familiar you are with this particular storytelling device.

But while Noel offers some nice art, that doesn’t mitigate the numerous problems this book has or make it anything close to an entertaining read. Perhaps Berjemo hoped that drawing on a classic work would give Noel a bit of cultural cache. What he’s created though is a mess that will please neither Batman fans or those looking for a fun holiday-themed comic. Forgive me for making the obvious allusion, but Noel is the comics equivalent of a lump of coal in your stocking.