October will see the reunion of Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale for a new Batman The Long Halloween sequel oneshot
October solicits are out! Notes and Thoughts: - "Batman: The Imposter", new Black Label mini-series by the screenwriter of Matt Reeves' The Batman. Story sounds a bit "been there, done that", and the approach of "What if Batman was real?" feels unoriginal, as well, so I'm not gonna buy the mini. Depending on reactions (and my future wallet), I might look into a collected edition down the road. - Arkham City tie-in miniseries. Nope. - "Task Force Z", basically Suicide Squad with zombified versions of currently dead villains, with Red Hood in command. Somehow, this concept is now an in-continuity ongoing series. Hell no. - The previously announced Long Halloween special is a sure buy. - Old Lady Catwoman mini-series by Cliff Chiang holds little interest on me. - DC vs. Vampires, twelve-issue maxi-series co-written by Tynion, this one's out-of-continuity. DC is certainly riding that high of DC/horror mash-ups since DCeased sold so well. - Human Target mini-series by Tom King. For once, a title King seems to be a good fit for. Mildly interested, but not enough to override my wallet. - "Deep Target", 7-issue mini-series co-starring Aquaman and Green Arrow. I guess they had to do something, what with both heroes celebrating their 80th anniversary this year and neither having their own ongoing title, so I guess a mini-series throwing them together is the most cost-effective solution for DC. - Apparently there's a new Batman scripted podcast on HBO Max, and a new one-shot prequel comic. Since I'm not in the US and don't have access ot the podcast, this is not even up for consideration for me. Pass. - Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary 100 page one-shot, notably the variant covers are not going through the decades as previous anniversary specials did. Bruce Timm variant, though, and variants based on the movie and Lynda Carter versions. - Wonder Woman: Historia, 3-part prestige Black Label series that's been long in the making (I think it was first announced when Black Label originally launched). History of the DC Amazons, written by Kelly Sue DeConnick with art by Phil Jimenez (and in following issues by Gene Ha and Nicola Scott). Hell yeah! - "Nubia & the Amazons" 6-issue mini-series. Interested. Might not even trade-wait. - Action seems to follow Clark and the Authority now, while "Superman" follows Jon. - Checkmate goes after the Justice League. - Kinda regretting not getting into the JL Infinity single-issue release. I am so getting that TPB.
I'm mildly interested in Task Force Z, especially since October is the season for horror related stuff, although i'm not interested in the vampire mini series. The WW 80th Anniversary special could be good, I'll wait and see who is writing stories for it. None of the rest of the solicits really interest me, especially the Black Label stuff (since Black Label Batman showed his Bat dong, I'm a bit worried about a Black Label WW book). Also, I can't believe that DC is trying to shove The Authority into a Superman book. I seem to recall one of the greatest single issue Superman comics ever specifically being written as a reaction (and kind of a "fuck you") specifically to The Authority. But, DC being DC, I suppose it makes sense that they'd do stupid shit like this. Plus, you know, The Authority was co-created by a piece of shit, so you'd think being a terrible idea created by an asshole would be enough to never see them again, but instead they're getting a spotlight in freaking Action Comics. Actually wait, looking it up Manchester Black is part of this Authority, and Superman is leading them in a another book written by noted idiot Grant Morrison. This is like Batman forming a super team with The Joker, Victor Zsasz and Joe Chill, or like Magneto joining The Purifiers. DC literally always does the worst thing they can do. They really need to start hiring non-shit writers, but that won't happen until people like Jim Lee are long gone.
The Morrison book will be done by October, so I imagine this will be the new status quo for awhile. Morrison's work for DC has been absolutely incredible these past ten to fifteen years, filled with homages to Silver Age continuity and holding up to multiple readings. Of course, being Morrison it helps to consult the annotation blogs that are out there, but thanks to reading all those reprints in digest form back in the seventies and early eighties I impress myself with how many Easter Eggs I've managed to find. I really enjoyed Morrison's Action Comics run and his take on the characters. I wish DC had kept his version of Luther and Jimmy Olsen. Olsen was closer to the same age as Clark and they became good friends which was nice to see. As for The Authority, that was one book I wish had been kept in New 52 continuity so I am glad to see them back. They were adapted somewhat to make them more compatible with the DC universe, and Midnighter's backup in Action Comics was nice to see although the story being broken up, has not been a good call. I am guessing that the future Midnighter plays into the new story as it is supposed to tie into Future State.
PMFJI, but I've been out of the loop for awhile and I just have one question...does DC still do those massive reality-altering crisis events like every three or four years? I mean, call me crazy - and many have - but I just think it's kind of ridiculous. Crisis on Infinite Earths was great, probably my favorite comic storyline of all time, but then they started doing it ALL.THE.FUCKING.TIME. Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, Final Crisis, 52, New 52, Convergence, Flashpoint, Rebirth...every so often they just throw up their hands and start over for no readily apparent reason. And don't even get me started on Hypertime. Does DC still do that? Or have they calmed down?
And readers don't mind that? Really? I mean, I'm sure these constant crises make for interesting reading, but one would think that fans would be just a tad uneasy about the fact that characters and continuity could change basically at any moment.
I can't respond for all readers, but I've enjoyed most if them. "Continuity" doesn't mean as much to me as it did in my youth.
It's amazing how continuity matters differently across various franchises. Trek fans, for example, complain about even the slightest inconsistency, yet others don't seem to care at all. Funny old world, isn't it?
I'm over Trek continuity, too. Oh, comics fans are very into the continuity. They might he original continuity obsessers, I recall right after Crisis and the intro of Byrne's Superman, future pro Mark Waid asked "When is the real Superman coming back?"
52, New 52, Convergence, Flashpoint are all the same thing. But yes, they love their Crises. I stopped reading DC after COIE and didn't start again until IC, but have been reading steadily since.
Ah. Funny, that was the point when I stopped reading comics for a few years. Not based on dissatisfaction, though, but because of my financial situation at the time.
The New 52 was the universe created by Flashpoint, and Convergence took place during the New 52 was meant to be a non-canonical event* that happened while DC moved from NY to California. Rebirth was a New 52 course correction (soft reboot) to reintroduce some pre-New 52 concepts back into continuity. * There was one element that DC introduced into continuity which was the old versions of Lois and Clark escaped into the New 52 universe and lived there for years in secret.