Big doings this week… at that other company. Yeah, yeah, they got Stephen King. And the guy who created Rambo. But hey, DC has that guy from Smallville writing Superman/Batman. And…well…other stuff too! We rock just as hard. So shut up!
Umm…let’s just go to the news, k?
Superman/Batman Gets a New Teammate
The replacement team’s been a matter of speculation and rumor for a while, but officially now, as of issue #27 in early 2006, Mark (Superman) Verheiden and Ethan (Green Lantern) Van Sciver will take over as the ongoing creative team on DC’s Superman/Batman.
We spoke with Verheiden about the move, and what readers can expect.
Follow the dueling thought captions to Newsarama
I thought the whole point of Superman/Batman was that people were tired of the “they don’t really like each other” paradigm that Supes and Bats (sorry Mr. Byrne) were locked in for years. I would swear to you that Loeb more or less said, “The fact that we have not progressed past the dynamic from Man of Steel is silly. It is time that we stopped pretending that these guys are not friends.” If that’s not exact, it is pretty damn close.
On the other hand, though, I did not really like Superman/Batman. Or, more accurately, I really disliked Superman/Batman. Plenty. So maybe this shift in attitude will help. The best quote I’ve heard about this announcement was, “Prepare to be underwhelmed,” which, while possibly untrue and/or unfair, was still quite funny. Nonetheless perhaps this is exactly what the doctor ordered to get me interested in the title again.
And if not, there is this other guy…
Van Sciver’s Gonna Make it All Alright
It was just announced that Ethan Van Sciver would be taking over as artist on Superman/Batman with Mark Verheiden scripting. THE PULSE thought it would be a good time now to get a few quick comments from Van Sciver about drawing two of his greatest heroes.
Beautiful art is being made at The Pulse
Any man who opens an interview with this quote, “Jen, if I was James Dean, I wouldn’t have even made it past Cyberfrog. I would have crashed up my car and died, and my last thought would have been, “I didn’t ever draw Superman. I didn’t ever draw Batman. What was I waiting for?” People would say, “Remember Ethan? He drew Cyberfrog.” And the answer would be, “No.”
Life isn’t necessarily short, but it could be. Jesus accomplished a lot in his 33 years, and I’m already 31. It’s time to do the things that I want to do, that I might subconsciously be denying myself. That means it’s time to draw SUPERMAN/BATMAN. And to wear a sailor suit,” is a genius. Nothing you can say can possibly persuade me otherwise. Although I do feel he was being a bit too hard on Cyberfrog. I cannot be alone in wanting to see a Cyberfrog vs. Battletoads comic. Make it so, Ethan, make it so.
Any man who closes with this quote, “Because Mark and I have seen a million faces, and we’ve rocked them all. I hope you’ll let us rock your face too, with Superman/Batman in 2006,” also has my respect and admiration.
Van Sciver is certainly one of those artists who makes my “Need Sketches From” list. Specifically sketches of Double Down and Black Hand. Don’t laugh, I am way serious. I love his designs on those characters. Love them fierce.
So for me, this is the reason to get excited for Superman/Batman. I look forward to having my face rocked.
Levitz: Rebirth!
On the DC Comics site in the Ask the Editor section, Editor Stephen Wacker, in response to a question about the Legion of Super-Heroes, said that DC President & Publisher Paul Levitz was writing an issue of JSA. He’s working on February’s issue # 82 with artist George Perez.
See the master climb back into the saddle at The Pulse
Levitz? Cool. With Perez? Now that’s just crazy. It is as if DC has discovered that their amps go up to eleven. Or something.
It is neat, okay? Let’s just leave it at that.
Fresh Off that Paternity Case, Here’s What Johnny Quest is Up To
Joe Kelly’s next take on a classic Hanna-Barbera character for DC Comics will be Jonny Quest. According to Wizard # 170, perennial favorite boy action hero Quest is returning for five issues next year. Artist Howard Porter will be digitally painting the limited series.
For more Quest news (unrelated to Harvey Birdman) order your Indian servant/surrogate brother to carry you to The Pulse
Who is the audience for this little endeavor? I really do not know. It reminds me when I was younger and my cousins (who were younger still) had just gotten into Power Rangers. I was stuck babysitting them one night and they basically had these three or four episodes on a constant loop so I sat down and “imagined” a “cool” version of the Power Rangers. You know, more intense, violent, etc. I found a few years ago when I was emptying out my desk and read it. It was pretty silly/awful. Some things just don’t lend themselves to being made more “adult”.
On the other hand, people seemed to like Kelly’s Space Ghost which has a similar approach to a classic “cartoony” hero. So, I won’t be picking it up, but many might.
Welcome to the VIP Room
Scott McDaniel, whose dynamic drawing has graced series including ROBIN, NIGHTWING and BATMAN, has add 2-years to his exclusive agreement with DC Comics.
Andy Diggle, writer of Vertigo’s THE LOSERS, the DCU miniseries ADAM STRANGE, and the WildStorm miniseries SILENT DRAGON, has extended his exclusive agreement with DC Comics by one year.
See how the exclusives live it up at Newsarama
First off, at the end of this article is an unrelated press release about a price change on Jonah Hex, from 2.50 to 2.95. Forty-five cents does not strike me as a huge deal, but I am, apparently, crazy. Because, according to everyone else, the sky may very well be falling.
Look, the long and short of it is this. If a book costing 45 cents more is enough to persuade you not to buy it, you probably did not really want to buy it in the first place. You forgo one soda, one candy bar, one bag of chips, one movie, one magazine, one of basically anything that week and you’ll have at least twice what you need to buy that comic. Or you could just deal with the extra 45 cents. Either way, not such a big deal.
Remember when Andy Diggle was supposedly going exclusive to Marvel? Remember those rumors from Lying in the Gutters? What happened there? Were they actually pursuing Ferry and Rich got it messed up? Was it never even close to true? I wonder about things like this sometimes.
The Writer of the MOST Important Series Ever
Speaking from a large-picture perspective, Crisis on Infinite Earths was the most important comic series for DC Comics in the last 20 years. It had real and lasting impacts, forever changing the DCU, and affecting everything that came after. In fact, for any DC fan under 30, the post Crisis DCU is their DCU. Obviously, the original Crisis is still having effects, as seen in Infinite Crisis #1, and a handful of other titles recently released that tie directly back to the storyline created by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by George Perez.
We caught up with Wolfman for a quick catchup on all things Crisis, as well as his upcoming Infinite Crisis work.
Watch the hyperbole fly at Newsarama
This is nice, but Ben did it better in Wizard.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
SUPERMAN #223
I am only highlighting this one because of this piece of solicitation text: “Supergirl leaves earth.” And not a moment too soon.
SEVEN SOLDIERS THE BULLETEER #1
You just know that it is going to be awesome.
OPINIONS ON THE WORK OF PEOPLE FAR MORE TALENTED THAN I
Can you believe I read a grand total of 0 DC books last week? What the heck?!
As you can probably tell, it is another abbreviated week this week. I feel lousy about it because I really did have big plans for this one but life got in the way. However, next week, UN-THING!!!! You may or may not know what that means, but trust me, it will change everything you believe about yourself, your friends, your family, and…Aquaman!!! Be prepared.
Un Gajje is Bringing it Like the Boy Scouts, Bay-bee!!!
