Written by Geoff Johns and Illustrated by Jim Lee, Justice League will be set 5 years in the past (at least for the first 7 issues), we will get to witness the formation of the Justice League. Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg are the heroes. We know the first villain is Darkseid. With over 200,000 issues sold, this is everything DC could hope for and then some.
The date is September 7th, 2011. The writer is Grant Morrison and the artist is Rags Morales. Need I say more? I do? Well, how about a Superman that our fathers fathers read way back when? A Superman that the people who reside in the DC Universe aren’t ready for and don’t know if they want? I have a feeling that with the greatness of Grant Morrison we are going to get something that harkens back to the days when Superman first arrived in America, but is going to hit home with problems of today. Get ready for an intelligent, wild ride.
How do I describe the wonder that is Jeff Lemire? If you haven’t already, you need to read Sweet Tooth. So we have Animal Man. It is fitting that this is next up alphabetically to Action Comics, seeing as Animal Man was revived by Grant Morrison in the 80′s. I can think of no better person to write this wonderful comic than Jeff Lemire. Even if you’ve never heard of Animal Man or Buddy Baker you will want to read this comic. It turns out the Maxine, Buddy’s daughter is starting to manifest powers as well.
Barbara Gordon can walk again! Gail Simone is writing!
Batwing, the Batman of Africa. My spelling auto correct recognized Batman, but it doesn’t recognize Batwing. With Judd Winick writing and Ben Oliver on art, it is only a matter of time before this error is rectified.
Tony S. Daniel has been working on Batman since #670, so I see no reason why this shouldn’t be fantastic. I don’t think DC would give this flagship title to him if they weren’t confident in his ability to give us a most wonderful comic book. And with Ryan Winn doing the art. All I can say is, “holy crap”.
Law breaker, millionaire, weapons expert. Sounds like a guy in a bat costume we know doesn’t it? Well, this is Oliver Queen, better know as Green Arrow. “Driven by inner demons”, Green Arrow is “on the hunt”. J.T. Krul has worked on everything from X-Men to Red Sonja. Proving his skill at writing Green Arrow in the past, DC has tapped him to write the comic book in the New 52 launch. With the fantastically talented Dan Jurgens on art, this comic book will explode off the pages and into your minds.
Oh Rob Leifeld, what are you going to do? I don’t believe the Hawk or Dove wear any pouches. Well, to the Leifeld fan out there, we’ve got you covered. And, if you have a hold list set up, you never have to worry about getting your bluetooth headsets from the late 90′s fix.
Booster Gold! The greatest super-hero this timeline, or any timeline has ever known. At least he things so. And he is the leader of this group! Jevus help us all. Dan Jurgens was made to write this book. As you can tell, I am in the Booster Gold fan club. But with Batman, Guy Gardner, Fire, Ice, Vixen and Rocket Red in the group, this is going to be one wild ride that you will never want to get off.
Men of War #1. I don’t know what to think about this. It’s set in the DC Universe, obviously, but it is more like a military comic book with super villains in it. I don’t even know if the main character, Joe Rock, whose name sounds more like a wrestling character, has super powers. Regardless, it might be kind of cool actually. What I do know, is that one of the best cover artists, and friend of the store, Viktor Kalvachev is doing the covers. So if nothing else, you should pick this up just for his works of art.
Dan Didio steps aside from his Editor in Chief duties to write One Machine Army Corp along with Keith “One Punch” Giffen. In fact, Giffen will be pulling double duty on this one, providing both writing and art. I’m looking forward to him adding a sense of funny to this otherwise serious comic book.
DC’s attempt to answer to Spider-Man. We have an awkward teenager who gets superpowers. Static Shock is written by Scott McDaniel and John Rozum, with art by Scott McDaniel, Jonathon Glapion and LeBeau Underwood. It’s disconcerting that it takes three people to draw one comic book, but maybe I’m looking into things too much. This comic book also has one of the many African American lead characters in DC’s attempt to make a more diverse universe.
Written by Paul Cornell, the brilliant mind behind Knight & Squire, and with art and cover by Miguel Sepulveda, Stormwatch is DC finally putting the Wildstorm characters to some great use. According to Lucas Siegel, Newsarama Editor, Stormwatch is the second best comic book behind Animal Man, of the seven comics that he read at the DC Media Event.
One of the titles that can be the most wondrous and dark, Swamp Thing is being written by Scott Snyder and art by Yanick Paquette. Anyone who has talked to me in the store, or has watched the podcast knows that for the past 5 months I think that Scott Snyder’s Batman Gates of Gotham has been one of the best written out there, so I will be looking forward to Swamp Thing to be just as fantastically written. I can’t wait until Wednesday for this one.
Batman, Bruce Wayne, and Robin, his son Damien are finally in their own ongoing comic book together. Writing this new incarnation of Barman & Robin is Peter J. Tomasi with art by Patrick Gleason. Along with new antagonists for the series, one of the main problems Batman is going to have is working with his son. Anyone who has read the Batman & Robin by Grant Morrison knows that Damien is a brat and heavy handed. How will Batman handle all the new foes being thrown his way while taking care of his immature, sadistic son?
Easily one of the most anticipated comic books for the New DC 52 is Batwoman, written by J.H. Willams III and W. Haden Blackman with Williams on art. Although Greg Rucka is not writing this series, expect Williams to pick up right where they left off in the groundbreaking Batwoman storyline in Detective Comics #854 – 860. With an intriguing heroine, nasty villains, and a fantastic art style that changes depending on whether Batwoman or Katherine is on the page, as fans, we have been waiting for this comic book to start for well over a year.
Something happens that makes Slade Wilson, A.K.A. Deathstroke, come out of retirement and reclaim his “fearsome legacy”. Deathstroke will be written by Kyle Higgins, one of the writers of the fantastic Batman: Gates of Gotham, and also the writer of the new Nightwing comic book, with art by Joe Bennet, whose worked on everything from Birds of Prey to Wolverine.
Jason Blood is the man with the demon Etrigan inside him. It is up to Jason and Madame Xanadu to stop an evil horde from destroying civilization. But demons only serve their own purposes, and protecting people is not always in their interest. Written by Paul Cornell, who you already know we love from Knight and Squire, but even more recently Stormwatch, and with art by Diogenes Neves, whose done some fantastic work on X-Men: Worlds Apart, New Mutants and Brightest Day: Green Arrow.
With character driven comic books under his belt like Sweet Tooth, and now Animal Man, it is appropriate that the acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire is going to be writing Frankenstein. Working with S.H.A.D.E., the Super Human Advanced Defense Executive, Frankenstein will be taking on monsters even more horrifying than himself. And how will someone as vilified as Frankenstein cope with being asked to do this for humanity?
Follow the adventures of the greatest Green Lantern of all time Sinestro? What the?! Yes, that’s right. When last we read Green Lantern Hal Jordan was out and Sinestro was in. How will Sinestro handle taking back up the mantle of Green Lantern, and what will he do when he has to face the Sinestro Corp? From the team of Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke, this is a comic book title that you will regret missing.
Ex black-ops agent Cole Cash has to go on the run when he’s branded a serial killer for killing inhuman creatures hiding in human for only he can see. How will this charming Grifter stay alive long enough to prove himself innocent as well as a hero. Written by Nathan Edmondson, whose best known for his work with Image in Olympus, and with art by CAFU, Grifter is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Personally one of the comic books I’m looking forward to the most, Legion Lost is a comic about a group of super heroes that come to the present day from the 31st century to save the future, but when they get here they discover that all their cool toys don’t work. Now they are trapped in a world they don’t understand, and have to use everything they have just to survive. Written by Fabian Nicieza (Red Robin), with art by Pete Woods who most recently just finished his run on Action Comics, Legion Lost has plenty of opportunity to inject laughter along with fantastic action and adventure.
Another entry into the new diverse DC Universe, Mister Terrific is being written by Eric Wallace (Titans). Michael Holt, the world’s third smartest man, has his first headlining comic book with an all new cast of characters.
Peter Milligan, writer of the profoundly excellent Shade the Changing Man in the early 2000′s brings us a new entry into the Lantern universe, Red Lanterns. Follow along as Atrocitus and other Red Lanterns use rage to cut a bloody path through any enemies that get in their way.
Mitch Shelly can’t stay dead for long. He is Resurrection Man, and with each death and rebirth comes new and unexpected powers. Now there is a group of people who have taken notice, and want to know how they can live forever, and just as importantly, how they can kill Resurrection Man Mitch Shelly once and for all. Written by Dan Abnett, who’s written such comic books as Punisher, X-Men, and Legion of Super-Heroes and art by Fernando Dagnino (Superman, Teen Titans, Wonder Woman).
Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and King Shark caught and pressed into service to catch criminals. Written by Adam Glass, well known for his work on Deadpool and Luke Cage for Marvel, this comic book should be a wild romp that holds nothing back. With artist Marco Rudy, whose been trusted enough to do titles such as Superman/Batman, Final Crisis, Justice League of America and Shield, the images are sure to pop off the page and fill the world to suit Adam Glass’ words.
Following the success of the Superboy from Young Justice, Superboy is now a clone with Human and Kryptonian DNA. The problem is, being born in a laboratory, can this Superboy gain a conscience of a human before unleashing his vast powers upon those around him. Writing is Scott Lobdell, whose shown his worth in past titles such as Iron Man, Fantastic Four and Daredevil, as well as writing the new Teen Titans, and on art is RB Silva (Action Comics, Superman, Secret Six).