Soliciting DC Comics: December 2012

Merry Christmas! Too soon? Not if you’re talking about the comic book industry. Yesterday DC rolled out previews for comics shipping this December. Oh man, do I love this time of year.

Watch the Throne

December brings artistic shifts and a major crossover between two of Geoff Johns’ books, Justice League and Aquaman. Throne of Atlantis  will see Ivan Reis, who helped launch Aquaman to critical acclaim, move over to Justice League. He will be replaced on Aquaman by the very capable Adrian Syaf. Rumor has it that after this 5-part crossover Johns will be leaving Aquaman for good. Will this event be Aquaman’s Sinestro Corps War? With talent this good I can only hope so. Oh, and Geoff? Can you please bring back the new Aqualad from Brightest Day? He was pretty cool.

It’s a Rotworld, After All

Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire’s Rotworld will hit its third chapter in December, and the awesome guest appearances just keep on coming. Issue #15 of Swamp Thing and Animal Man will feature appearances by Steel, Black Orchid, John Constantine, Beast Boy, Batman, and the inmates of Arkham Asylum. This thing hasn’t even started yet and I’m loving every second of it.

Superman R.I.P.

Issue #15 of Action Comics is set to be the penultimate issue of Grant Morrison’s run on the book, so you can bet it’s going to be pretty freaking crazy. The identity of the little man, the machinations of the Anti-Superman Army, all of it is coming to a head here. The future of the Superman franchise is a little murky after Grant’s departure, so drink ’em while you’ve got ’em.

Mandatory Check-In on the Green Lantern Books

Oh man, did you guys read the Green Lantern Annual? How about Green Lantern #0? Wasn’t that stuff awesome?! If you haven’t read them, or you did and you didn’t like them, I’m sorry about how miserable you must be all the time. In December the GL books will hit part 3 of “The Rise of the Third Army.” With that we have the Simon Baz, Earth’s new GL, meeting Guy Gardener, Kyle Rayner continuing to be the DC equivalent of the Last Airbender, Atrocitus confronting the demons of his past with some good old fisticuffs and napalm, and Guy Gardener losing it, “again” (if this means he’s going to become a Red Lantern again, I’ll be annoyed that it’s the third time in less than 2 years that it’s happened, but overjoyed because he looks so freaking cool as one). Also, I have to mention how glad I am than New Guardians has a new artist, and that Carol Ferris is completely clothed.

He Who Must Not Be Named

If you are as in to following comic industry news as I am, you might have heard about Rob Liefeld’s infamous Twitter flame-out a few weeks back. If not, or you’ve never even heard of Liefeld, let’s just leave it that way. All you need to know is he’s a cranky, somewhat unprofessional man who does not work for DC anymore. Because of that, expect the three books he was writing to get significantly better. Hawkman will now be scripted by Fabian Nicieza (though Liefeld still gets plotting credit…for now), Grifter will be taken over by Frank Tieri, the book’s co-writer, and Deathstroke will be helmed by none other than the indie sensation Justin Jordan, who is also writing the character over in Team 7. Oh, and they brought back Deathstroke’s cool new costume, the one that Rob Liefeld got rid of.

The Return of the New Gods (Nuff Said)

(Wonder Woman #15)

Soliciting DC Comics: September 2012

It’s common practice in the comic book industry for companies to release solicits for their comic books three months in advance. This is done so that retailers can have plenty of time to plan their purchases for that month and to alert them to any major releases that need special attention. While solicitations are intended to be a tool for retailers, they also give fans a look at what’s coming up in their favorite books. Starting this month I’ll be going over solicitations from major comic companies as they are released and talking about what books look interesting to me. I was inspired to do this by similar articles at the comic site multiversity.com. Today DC Comics released their solicits for the month of September and with them comes news of zero issues, new series, and some cancellations. DC’s full solicitation list can be found here.

Indie Comics Corner: March 2012

Welcome to another edition of Indie Comics Corner. I didn’t plan on making this an ongoing feature, but it seems like every month smaller publishers like Image, Vertigo, and Dark Horse are putting out intriguing new series. Here I’ll be giving my opinion on four new series, 3 from Image and one from Vertigo. While super hero comics from DC and Marvel are the bread and butter of the comics industry, it’s really great to support up and coming creators and smaller publishers. Who knows, one of these books could be the next Walking Dead. Check out the books after the jump and head over to Comixology or another digital comic provider to give them a shot.