DC Comics - 2022

[odessasteps]

 

[Tarheel Moneghetti]

Read Heroes in Crisis and was pleasantly surprised.  Enjoyed it quite a bit.  There was a bit too much misdirection to keep the story moving, but the idea was interesting and King has a good ear for dialogue.  Art was quite good, though Mann’s inability to keep to a schedule is annoying.  I wonder If he’s going to basically disappear the way John Cassaday and Rags Morales and a bunch of other talented but slow artists have.

Anyway, not King’s best work but more than worth the price of a trade.  I guess the caveat is that people invested in certain characters - namely Wally West - may want to peruse spoilers first, but that’s not me.  As long as writers tell a decent story, I find myself not caring what they do with the characters,  Probably wouldn’t have said that when I was 20-ish and had a pull list but that’s my attitude now.  Not really into any particular character these days.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Tarheel Moneghetti

[odessasteps]

Cassady transitioning to being mainly a cover artist was prob a good decision. 

[Kang]

Some DC book ending

Task force Z

Future State Gotham

Robin 

 

Batman vs Robin and Tim Drake/Robin books coming with more titles. Me, I expect Tim's book to be axed later on, lot of 90's fans are not happy with his sexuality change. 

Some other books were just limited series like Task Force Z.

The entire line

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_DC_Comics_publications

 

[Kang]

Post Dark Crisis DC is the next new era.

So more books after the event.

[Kang]

Dark Crisis 3

Looks like Black Adam doesn't want to wear a cape anymore. And he joins the LOD.

The JSA to replace the JL?

Deathstroke is corrupted by the great darkness.

Nice to know that the giant Black Lantern battery is back.

Hall gets transplanted in John's fake prison dream world.

Next issue becomes Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths so the tone of the series will change.

[The Natural]

Batman #125-126. The main story, Failsafe is written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Jorge Jiminez. The backup called Two Birds, One Throne is also written by Zdarsky and the artist is Belen Ortega. I pre-ordered Batman #125 a while ago when the news broke Chip Zdarsky was on Batman as he wrote the wonderful Finale in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 which me and @Matt D always talk up, My Dinner With Jonah from Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #6 which is great and his Daredevil's really good also. Batman #125 came out last month and Batman #126 today. In the main story, Batman talks about his mission and the cost that this life won't allow for him or his soldiers happiness and there's the titular Failsafe as a new adversary. In the backups, Catwoman has to deal with the ramifications over what happened to the Penguin. I really liked both. There's a huge last page reveal to the main story of Batman #126. Zdarsky has balls bringing that back with how brilliant the two stories are using that concept. One for, @Brian Fowler and @twiztor.

Edited August 2, 2022 by The Natural

[Matt D]

I've not been looking at any DC recently but i might check that out.

[The Natural]

12 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Batman #125-126. The main story, Failsafe is written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Jorge Jiminez. The backup called Two Birds, One Throne is also written by Zdarsky and the artist is Belen Ortega. I pre-ordered Batman #125 a while ago when the news broke Chip Zdarsky was on Batman as he wrote the wonderful Finale in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 which me and @Matt D always talk up, My Dinner With Jonah from Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #6 which is great and his Daredevil's really good also. Batman #125 came out last month and Batman #126 today. In the main story, Batman talks about his mission and the cost that this life won't allow for him or his soldiers happiness and there's the titular Failsafe as a new adversary. In the backups, Catwoman has to deal with the ramifications over what happened to the Penguin. I really liked both. There's a huge last page reveal to the main story of Batman #126. Zdarsky has balls bringing that back with how brilliant the two stories are using that concept. One for, @Brian Fowler and @twiztor.

The last page reveal:

Spoiler

Batman of Zur-En-Arrh. First appearance since Batman RIP in 2008, part of Grant Morrison's epic Batman run. Batman of Zur-En-Arrh debuted in the story Batman - The Superman of Planet-X!.

 

Edited August 2, 2022 by The Natural

[Kang]

The Flashpoint Beyond Batman series has 3 issues left.

 

[Kang]

Barry has no book these days and in the near future no tv show. Meanwhile it's Wally as the main Flash again in comics. Quite the reversal.

Nobody can replace Hal however not Kyle or John or Guy or any others.

 

[twiztor]

8 hours ago, The Natural said:

Batman #125-126. The main story, Failsafe is written by Chip Zdarsky and drawn by Jorge Jiminez. The backup called Two Birds, One Throne is also written by Zdarsky and the artist is Belen Ortega. I pre-ordered Batman #125 a while ago when the news broke Chip Zdarsky was on Batman as he wrote the wonderful Finale in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 which me and @Matt D always talk up, My Dinner With Jonah from Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #6 which is great and his Daredevil's really good also. Batman #125 came out last month and Batman #126 today. In the main story, Batman talks about his mission and the cost that this life won't allow for him or his soldiers happiness and there's the titular Failsafe as a new adversary. In the backups, Catwoman has to deal with the ramifications over what happened to the Penguin. I really liked both. There's a huge last page reveal to the main story of Batman #126. Zdarsky has balls bringing that back with how brilliant the two stories are using that concept. One for, @Brian Fowler and @twiztor.

haven't followed Batman for a few years (too caught up on other stuff!) but read 125 & 126 because of this post. Decent enough story. Even with your lead that they were bringing someone or something back, i didn't expect this one! thanks for the shout!

[Kang]

The next JL attempt

[The Natural]

3 hours ago, twiztor said:

haven't followed Batman for a few years (too caught up on other stuff!) but read 125 & 126 because of this post. Decent enough story. Even with your lead that they were bringing someone or something back, i didn't expect this one! thanks for the shout!

Thank you for reading Batman #125-126 because of my post. I didn't expect that concept either. Genuine surprise. You're welcome for the shout, my friend.

[Kang]

The "dead" JL will be back eventually but I'm not sure if they will revert back to their previous selves.

One chracter is staying dead permanently.

 

[Kang]

Dark Crisis ignored the Cyborg/Gar merge twist from TTA.

Anyway Gar is still alive.

Edited August 3, 2022 by Blue Dragon

[Kang]

Instead of NEW JL, looks like they may put Superman's Son and Damian and Yara with the JSA instead. 

[Justin877]

That new JLA looks interesting, needs a  "heavy hitter" in it though.  Why do we have to have Harley Quinn in everything?  Killer Frost (?), I am ok with.  Plus Damien (even though he is becoming a favorite in the Batman family) isn't really a Justice League type guy.

[Justin877]

1 hour ago, Blue Dragon said:

Instead of NEW JL, looks like they may put Superman's Son and Damian and Yara with the JSA instead. 

I like that idea, put the legacy heroes with the OGs .  Good mentors for the youngsters.

[Kang]

The JL i posted above already appeared with Kal's son and failed. The cover not be what happens at all, sometimes covers are symbolic or misleading.

 

[The Natural]

Seen this for the first time today. Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiminez interview on Batman: Failsafe from June 2022.

[Kang]

 

DARK CRISIS: WORLDS WITHOUT A JUSTICE LEAGUE – BATMAN#1
Written by SIMON SPURRIER and MEGHAN FITZMARTIN
Art by RYAN SOOK, DAN JURGENS, and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by RYAN SOOK
Variant cover by RYAN SOOK
1:25 variant cover by ARIEL COLON
1:50 foil variant cover by RYAN SOOK
$4.99 | 40 pages | One-shot (all covers are card stock)
Release Date: 11/15/22

When Pariah and his forces of the Great Darkness laid waste to the most powerful superheroes of all time, all hope was lost…until now. To power his weapons of war, Pariah has captured each member of the Justice League and trapped them on worlds suited to their every dream and desire…while the planets themselves slowly eat away at their respective inhabitants. Batman is stuck in a loop wherein the greatest detective must solve the mystery of his own existence! Plus, unravel the secrets of Zatanna’s world in this final epic chapter of the WORLDS WITHOUT A JUSTICE LEAGUE saga!

[Kang]

[Tarheel Moneghetti]

Is anyone reading John Ridley’s Batman books?  Planning to pick up I Am Batman and wondering if I should read the two minis first.  Second Son appears to tie uin pretty heavily, Future State looks skippable.  Is that accurate?

Thanks.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Tarheel Moneghetti

[ohtani's jacket]

I finished reading the complete 1960s Doom Patrol run. It gets a bit inconsistent towards the end, as most runs do when they're coming to a close, but remains a much beloved series. I still maintain that the backup origin stories are better than the lead features. In fact, I'm not sure the lead stories ever live up to their true potential. I'd be hard pressed to name the best story over the course of the entire series. They all blend together into a stream of wacky Silver Age goodness. In that respect, I don't think you can compare Drake's work to what Lee & Ditko or Lee &  Kirby were doing. It's clearly a better series than second tier Marvel, but it's the characters that are the hook more so than the stories. 

Kirby's OMAC starts off with a brilliant first issue, tapers off after that, and goes out on an absolute whimper. That first issue is phenomenal, though. Fleisher and Aparo's Spectre is a lot of fun waiting to see what gruesome way the Spectre will kill the bad guys this month. It's a shame that DC didn't have the balls to keep publishing it. Make sure you check out the Wrath of the Spectre series to read Fleisher's final three stories. 

I read a couple of Gene Colan projects from the 80s. The 80s wasn't really the best time for Gene Colan work, but I was hoping to find some gems. First up was the Phantom Zone mini-series he did with Steve Gerber. I'm not entirely sure what the point of having a Phantom Zone mini-series was. It's entirely unrecognizable as a Gerber story, aside from some of the mystical elements. Superman is strangely aggro once he's released from the Phantom Zone. There's even a scene where he laments the fact he has a code against killing. It was interesting seeing Colan draw Superman, and some of the other DC superheroes, but largely pointless. Nathaniel Dusk seemed like it had more potential, as a pulp detective story is right up Colan's alley. It was okay, but I didn't like the coloring. 

The Shadow is not Bill Sienkiewicz' finest work. There's a reason why people don't talk about Bill Sienkiewicz' Shadow work. In six whole issues, there were only a handful of panels that impressed me, and the story is confusing as hell. 

Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such is much worse than the first Vertigo Jonah series. Felt completely pointless to me. I didn't appreciate the crude humor at all, even if I'm sure the West was more than likely full of it. Truman's version of Jonah is really ugly. There are times in the Fleisher run where Jonah would get filthy, and was in need of a bath and a shave, but he was never as grimy as Truman's Jonah. But again, it's an aesthetic they were going for. I did love Truman's old 1800s style photographs, though.