Previously in comics… May 31st: the day DC Comics took over the Internet. They announced they will be wrapping up all of their titles in August, including Action Comics (which has published continuously since 1938), and relaunching the whole line with 52 new #1’s and (supposedly) streamlined, iconic but modernized versions of their heroes. Perhaps even bolder was their next bombshell: day-and-date print and digital releases of every one of those #1’s for your iPod/Pad/Pud/Etc.
The Big… Three?! Nuv and Ian will be joined while they play 52 pick-up by Mark “Motherfuckin’” Campbell. He loves comics. He draws (web) comics. He IS comics!
Mark: Right. DC relaunch. Because it’s not a reboot. Nope. Despite new origins and de-aged characters, and the merging of the DC and Wildstorm Universes. My biggest concerns are that the titles will not mesh, the universe will lose cohesion, and in a few years we’ll be doing this all over again. But, all concerns aside, DC has managed to do the most important thing you can do in comics: they’ve got people talking. So, let me start doing just that.
The final week of August will see the final issue set in the current DC Universe and the first set in the New DCU…
Justice League by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee
Mark: Let’s let that sink in. Can we do that for a minute? I don’t know if anyone has really had time to process this, what with 51 other books announced in just over a week. Forget about the relaunch, and the rejuvenating, and the re-whatevering. Geoff Johns. And Jim Lee. On the Justice League. As long as it comes out on time, it will be a bestseller every month.
Ian: This title is going to suck because Jim Lee is a dick and Geoff Johns’ writing makes about as much sense as Nuv’s grasp of the English language. Total fail! Next!
Nuv: Fuck. Sorry Mark. I thought I made Old Yeller’s chain shorter, but here he is, shitting all over everything again. Funny thing is, he can’t even remember what he does and doesn’t like. Here’s two occasions of him singing Johns’ praises: “hypo” and “crite.”
Anyway, I’m with you. This is my dream team choice, creators and characters both. The jury’s out on Cyborg’s place here, the popped collars are a little douchey, and I don’t know why they have Martian Manhunter slumming it over in Stormwatch, but this’ll be a guaranteed blockbuster.
Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang
Ian: Azzarello is a weird-ass choice for this book, but I’ll read anything drawn by Cliff Chiang. Count me in on this one!
Mark: DC hasn’t told us much about how or if they will be adjusting Wonder Woman’s history, and when it comes to the big guns, the less I hear, the more I seem to worry. My reading history with Azzarello has been hit and miss, but I really like Chiang’s work of late. I’ll probably wait for the trade here.
Nuv: Clifford is indeed the boss of this here art shit! Have you seen his Runaways/Wonder Woman (master)piece? 70s cool, minus the menace of of the dreaded banana tit! They shoulda just let him handle all them DC hoes.
Aquaman by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
Ian: My least favourite writer on my least favourite hero? I’ll wait for this one to land in the dollar bins. And then not buy it.
Mark: I’m probably going to hear from Nuv for saying this, but I love Aquaman. I have since I picked up an issue by Peter David, Marty Egeland, and Jim Califiore. I have every issue of every Aquaman series from the eighties on… right up to the point Erik Larsen fucked it all up. Geoff, Ivan… please save my favourite B-lister. I think you are the team that can do it. And bring back Tempest while you’re at it.
Nuv: Ever had a close friend with a new, shitty girlfriend? You just gotta wait it out, and be there when they’re ready to move on. And, Mark? F@¢K! You’ve really let us all down with this particular closet-skeleton.
The Flash by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Ian: When The Flash series got sacked/turned into Flashpoint I was pretty grumpy. But I just can’t quit you Manapul!
Nuv: Flash and Francis Manapul have permanent spots on my pull list. As does “trigger of gun aimed at Ian.”
Mark: While I cannot praise Francis Manapul enough, I have little-to-no interest in this series.
The Savage Hawkman by Tony Daniel and Philip Tan
Mark: I have an old Hawkman #1 in which he and Hawkgirl fight the Shadow Thief. I’d rather find issue two from that series than read this one.
Ian: Philip Tan is off the hook and sure I’ll probably take a look but I probably won’t end up buying the book. See what I did there?
Nuv: Hawkman as the Indiana Jones of the DCU? I’ll read that shit! Well, as long as Tony Daniel was ordered to stay 600 yards away. Like Ian and schoolyards. So, never mind then.
Green Arrow by JT Krul and Dan Jurgens
Ian: The winsome Venus Explosivo loves anything Green Arrow, so we’ll definitely be pulling this one!
Nuv: This would’ve been the perfect opportunity to do something with DC’s best second-stringer and use the awesome Supermax concept. Krul and his heroin addict/cat abuse stories can fuck right off back to the pages of Ian’s dream journal.
Mark: Moving on…
Mister Terrific #1 by Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson
Mark: The announcement of this series was the first of three that featured black men in their own title, because DC is trying to be more diverse. I support the effort, but my lack of familiarity with the creative team leaves this book in the “wait for the trade” zone.
Ian: I always judge a book by its cover and this cover by J.G. Jones screams “Lame SAUCE!”
Captain Atom by JT Krul and Freddie Williams II
Mark: Freddie Williams II: good. JT Krul: bad. Captain Atom: somewhere in between. Conclusion: indifference.
Nuv: To get around the whole “doomed sequel to a sacred work” and “Alan Moore’s beard will kill us” issues, I wonder if they’ll make this version of Captain Atom closer to Dr. Manhattan, who was based on Captain Atom who was… Gah! Infinite loop!
Ian: Infinite POOP! Nobody is going to buy this comic. The only reason it’s getting published is because DC had a cult-like obsession with the number 52.
Justice League International by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti
Mark: I’ve been reading the current Booster Gold series in trade, and really enjoying it. Count me in, at least for the first arc. It looks like it could be a lot of fun and a good counterpoint to what is sure to be a widescreen, blockbuster affair on the main Justice League book.
Ian: Booster Gold and Batman huh? No wonder I Make Mine Marvel! Ultra pass!
Green Lantern by Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke
Green Lantern Corps by Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin
Green Lantern: The New Guardians by Tony Bedard and Tyler Kirkham
Mark: My love of the Green Lantern world died years ago. I’ve tried to get back into it more than once, but there’s nothing left there to hold my attention. GL has been Geoff Johns’ pet project for nearly a decade now, and it is the corner of the DCU that is likely to see the least change. No matter what DC says, I can’t picture Johns undoing or negating ten years of work. If anything, I get the feeling that Johns is using this as an opportunity to skip ahead a few years in his ongoing plot for GL. I suspect that the upcoming GL-verse is where Johns would have taken us in another few 87-part mega-stories. So if nothing else, at least we are being spared the “No Evil” and “Beware My Power” chapters of Johns’ plans.
Nuv: Look here, Campbell Soup – Green Lantern’s been overhauled from hokey second-stringer to A-list icon that deserves to stand next to Superman in the League, and Batman in sales. And it’s all thanks to Geoff Johns and the space super-epic he’s been weaving since stepping onto the title. He’s still here, so am I.
Red Lanterns by Peter Milligan and Ed Benes
Ian: Oh right! Like I’m EVEN going to read a comic book about dudes who go around barfing on everyone.
NEXT ISSUE: YOU CAN TELL IT’S DARK AND EDGY BY ALL THE SPIKES!! MORE #1′S WITH THE BIG THREE!
MARK (HEH) OFF YOUR CALENDARS AND TUNE IN: TOMORROW! SAME IAN-TIME, SAVE NUV-CHANNEL…
