Behold the DC July solicits. There’s some promising stuff coming out, including some creators who’ve been MIA for too long.
Faker #1: Mike Carey? Check. Jock? Check. “Chock full of ruthless characters with hidden agendas, FAKER takes place during freshman year in college; the ultimate time of reinvention, where, if you’re up for it, you can lie, cheat and fake your way through almost anything”? I’m completely and utterly sold, and have been ever since this series was announced late last year.
The Programme #1: Peter Milligan returns to the sort of (presumably) creator-owned book where he can do his own thing. It sounds quite promising, and features a nifty cover by C.P. Smith, but I have to admit to being worried about this project: Milligan is never a top seller, Wildstorm is having trouble selling books, and the last Soviet-themed book, The Wintermen, sold dismally enough to be semi-cancelled and retooled before being completed.
Batman #668: At last, this might be the Batman book I’ve been waiting for. I wasn’t terribly impressed with Grant Morrison’s run on the book, but I’d attribute that largely to the art by Andy Kubert, who’s just too Image-Nineties for my tastes. But this is the second issue in a row to be drawn by J.H. Williams, who did a very nice issue of Detective Comics before getting called back to Seven Soldiers. I doubt we’ll see more than a handful of issues of Batman with this stellar team, but we should enjoy it while we can.
Green Arrow: Year One #1: I’d say that July is Jock Month at DC, but that might bring up the wrong mental image. Anyway: In addition to Faker, action artist extraordinaire Jock reunites with Losers writer Andy Diggle for a story about a rich guy stranded on an island who learns to shoot a bow. Hell yeah. (Jock also turns in another nice cover for the latest issue of Scalped.)
JLA #11: I’ve got little-to-no interest in DC’s primary line of superhero books, but this may be an exception as Gene Ha abandons the sinking Authority ship to do an issue of one of DC’s flagships. I’m not much of a fan of Brad Meltzer, but Ha’s work is always top notch. The one down side: Unless I want to pay $10-15 for Ha’s variant cover, I will have to buy a book with a Michael Turner cover. Dilemma: Do I buy a variant, or do I actually tear the cover off a new book I just bought?
Alan Moore: The Complete WildC.A.T.S TP: I’ve never read this stuff, produced by Moore while I was taking a break from comics. Probably among Moore’s lesser works and WildCATS better stories, I’ll probably take a look at least.
A few other random observations:
- Wildstorm’s relaunch appears to be disintegrating rapidly. Wildcats and Authority are notoriously MIA, while most of the original creative teams are gradually moving elsewhere: Garth Ennis is replaced on Midnighter by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, though they do manage to swing some Brian Stelfreeze pencils; Doug Mahnke is off Stormwatch; both Mike Carey and Whilce Portacio have left Wetworks. Gail Simone is still on her two books, and Deathblow maintains its original creative team, even though the bi-monthly schedule means they’ve only produced six issues. Sales were pretty disappointing with the A-list relaunch creators; is DC slowly pulling the plug?
- Were people really demanding an omnibus volume of The Death and Return of Superman? $75 (US) for comics by marketing and editorial committee?
- More corpses and sad superheroes! At least they’ve stopped fetishizing Mary Marvel.
- On the other hand, they do manage to skank up Catwoman and Supergirl for their statue line. Was there really a conversation in which someone suggested the woman in skintight leather and the teenager girl who flies around in a cheerleader skirt needed to be sexed up?
- Grant Morrison finally seems to be taking a break, with only one comic out this month (Batman).
- New Frontier action figures! Tres cool.
- I question the veracity of including “DC/Top Cow” and “Classics” in the same paragraph, let alone the same title.
- Showcase Presents: Adam Strange: I love the more obscure Showcase volumes DC has produced, and this one promises to meet all your ray-blasting needs:
