DC News &Views: World War III and April Solicitations

Hey, how about Animal Man in 52, huh? That seemed…underwhelming, huh?

It is okay though, because we have something that is never underwhelming…NEWS!

Didio Chronicles the Rolling Storm Clouds of War

War is coming to the DC Universe.

As hinted at – heavily – in the weekly 52 series (and seen briefly in Justice Society #1), sometime before the 52 ends, World War III will shake the world. Actually, the date for the war is pretty specific – it will occur in Week 50 of 52.

But – war is big and messy. As such, it sometimes can’t be contained to one series or one issue. To get the larger picture of the war, DC has confirmed for Newsarama that there will be four one shots shipping during Week 50 as well, all tied to the events of World War III.

I love that purple prose of a headline. Do you think Newsarama will too?

I’m glad to see Ostrander aboard. Otherwise though, I think I am suffering from a bit of “52” fatigue. It’s not that I don’t like the book overall (although it is hardly perfect), but I was set for the 52 issues. That was manageable. Introducing four more now, when I’m so close to done, just sets me off my rhythm. Yes, it is only four books. But it is four books, all at once, just as the finish line is within eyeshot. It would be like tacking another half mile onto the end of a marathon. Sure, proportionally that’s nothing. But if you find out about it when you are 24 miles into the race, it is going to unsettle your confidence a bit.

Of course, comic reading is hardly a marathon, but…still. Why does DC have to pick on me like this?

Now here’s the thing to contemplate. Did DC have this planned all along (in which, I call dirty pool in presenting 52 as a self contained entity) or did they just get to the point where they had too much plot for the last month of issues (in which case, their pacing was a bit off, eh?)? I suppose it does not much matter, I’m just always interested in the backstage wheeling and dealing.

Thankfully, DC also announced Suicide Squad so everyone is too psyched about that to question how these four books in a week came about.

The Man That Started World War III

Every time Newsarama talks to Keith Champagne, the intro to the article talks about how he’s an inker trying to break into the world of comics writing.

Time for that to stop.

With the announcement on Friday that DC is trusting two of its Week 50 “World War III” one shots to Keith Champagne — pairing him up with veteran writer John Ostrander — it’s pretty safe to say he’s done broken in.

And what’s more, he seems proud of it when he talks to Newsarama

This writing process sounds miserable: “I’m going back and forth between scripts right now. All these books are being produced simultaneously so I’m basically writing half of #1 to get the penciller going, then half of #2 to get that artist working, back and forth that way.”

Can you imagine, just when you get into the groove you have to jump to the second issue, get a roll there, and jump back to the first? I guess, timewise, it makes sense, but my solution would’ve been more leadtime. Less chance for the crazies that way, I’d expect.

I’m also not thrilled with the “release all four books at once” schedule. It is like one of those fifth week events from back in the day except a.) you could pick and choose which of those you got because they didn’t really all tie together and b.) they were the only books coming out that week. This way, you’ve got four extra books to buy along with, let’s say, your average haul of six. That’s a hefty difference in the price department.

Am I the only one that missed that all of “52” was leading up to World War III? I mean, yes, I did hear about in some interviews but most of them were pretty recent (as was the nod to it in Justice Society #1) and they always sort of referred to it in a subdue manner. In other words, I knew WWIII would occur at the end of “52” but I never thought of it as the whole point of “52” as it is being painted now.

Please Call the Emergency Hotline if You Are Having These Thoughts

As we reported on Friday, April will see four one shots tied to World War III, which will be happening in 52 #50. Two of the four will be written by Keith Champagne, while the other two will be handled by John Ostrander.

On top of those two special issues, DC Universe Executive Editor Dan Didio revealed that Ostrander would be working with a familiar property in the coming year as well – a new Suicide Squad miniseries.

If you go back and check out the initial news (in that first link, above) readers are still talking about Ostrander’s return to the Squad. To say that there’s a healthy fan anticipation…well, that’s an understatement.

For those not familiar with the connection, Ostrander created the current version of the Suicide Squad that’s been appearing around the DC Universe since their debut in Legends #3 (1986). His team then was a reimagining/reintroduction of the concept to the DC Universe, as it had first been introduced in 1959. The idea – kind of like The Dirty Dozen meets Mission: Impossible, but replace Bronson, Brown, Savalas, Sutherland and the others with the likes of Deadshot, Enchantress, Javelin, and Captain Boomerang (and replace Lee Marvin with Bronze Tiger and Rick Flag Jr.) – and then put Amanda Waller on top of them all. In short, the government used the criminals to do the dirty work around the world – missions where superhuman muscle was needed, but was too messy for the heroes to be involved.

Ostrander, who was the series’ writer for its 66 issue run used the characters, their missions, and the dynamics between the disparate – and desperate – villains to get inside heads and turn over motivations and explore them from the inside out. As a result, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang – to name two – became fan favorite characters during the run.

Newsarama is not an option

Somewhere, Mathan is feigning interest in this story.

And you thought Suicide Squad and the Police Academy films had nothing in common.

The Johnny DCs Are Legion

In April, another title is slated to join Johnny DC’s collection of titles based on DC’s animated versions of their characters. Joining The Batman Strikes!, Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans Go! will be The Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century with a kickoff coming from J. (Teen Titans Go!) Torres and Chynna Clugston-Flores.

The series will be, like the other titles, based on the animated version of the properties (showing on Cartoon Network and KidsWB/CW), but will not be a monthly re-telling of episodes.

Newsarama is offering flight rings. No, honest.

Somewhere, I am feigning interest in this story.

McKeever is Marvelous No More

The coming of a new year can be seen as a symbolic starting point for making a clean break from the past and beginning anew. For writer Sean McKeever, the beginning of 2007 is more than just a symbolic marker for change, as the creator has accepted a one-year exclusive contract from DC Comics after years of writing comics for Marvel.

The switch comes as a bit of a surprise for one obvious reason: No comics by Sean McKeever have been announced by DC Comics. In fact, he’s never written a DC-published comic before. Add to that the fact that the writer just announced he’d be writing Spider-Man Family beginning in February and that he’s still writing the ongoing Spider-
Man Loves Mary Jane, and you’ve got to wonder — “What’s up?”

Never shying away from asking what’s up, Newsarama sat down with McKeever to talk about the DC exclusive, how it came about, what’s going to happen to his Marvel work — and what he’s writing now that he’s got a new home with DC.

See Sean Sell Out (not really but I love me alliteration) at Newsarama

I’ve liked a lot of what McKeever did at Marvel. Gravity, Mystique, and Sentinel were all a lot of fun and very well done. I always thought that part of McKeever’s projects’ charm was that they were smaller works, free to exist on their own without crossover fever or the like. However, I can understand from a writer’s perspective where not getting or getting and then losing more high profile projects would be a source of frustration. Thus, no begrudging here. But it is a bit of a shame.

This book was so great, I can hardly stand it. Damn you BEYOND!

Still, good news for DC, right? So, there’s that.

BEWARE THE FUTURE’S AWESOME MIGHT

April solicitations! Read ‘em at Comic Book Resources and enjoy my opining along with it below.

The PLAIN Janes– No offense to any of the Janes, but People Loving Art in Neighborhoods has to be the weakest gang name ever. And as say this as a guy who once ran with a group of people that called themselves “The Peace Club”. (Look, it was kindergarten…what do you want from me?

52: Week 48– I have not mentioned this nearly enough, but Jones has done great covers for this series. Here is another.

Now, a lot of people are interpreting this cover to mean that Renee will be the new Question. I say, maybe. I’d be disappointed if that happened because it is like combining Venom and Scorpion (as they did to the two Spidey villains) or making Bart the Flash. You take two great characters and eliminate one whole cloth and reduce the other one by fitting a square peg into a round hole. The Scorpion Venom has managed to bring forth none of the personality of either character and ditched the pathos of what made them both unique. Bart becoming the Flash stripped him of his sense of humor and reduced what could have been a compelling arc (Bart slowly coming into his own, transitioning from ADHD poster boy to standup hero, albeit funny standup hero) to a business decision that was never backed up by the on page action. And so, I fear, folding Renee into the Question will leave all parties reduced or abandoned.

I still don’t think it is going to happen though.

Batman #665–

Two interpretations of this cover. 1.) Someone cut Batman’s symbol from his chest and he wrestled the blade (or shattered piece of glass, as it appears) from them or my preferred interpretation 2.) Batman is such a bad ass that when his costume gets torn, he simply carves the symbol into his chest. Either way, it’s a weird cover.

Detective Comics #831– This reminds me of the Batman: The Animated Series episode (possibly written by Dini?) where Harley is released from prison only to be more or less harassed into picking up her wicked ways again. The whole episode ends with Batman bringing her back to Arkham and telling her he understands what it means to just have one very bad day. Then, she gives him a kiss on the cheek and tells him something to the effect of “Guys like you shouldn’t have bad days.” Man, it chokes me up everyday.

Umm….

So…yeah. I’m looking forward to this.

Nightwing Annual #2– It just occurred to me that maybe the reason this story was not resolved in the first place was because there was no resolution planned. They figured, we’ll have him propose, he’ll die in Infinite Crisis, end of story. Then, they decided not to kill Nightwing and OOPS! forgot about dealing with that second part.

Either way, I’m just happy to be finally getting the story of what happened to this engagement. I don’t expect people will be satisfied, mind you, but I am looking forward to it. Plus, it is written by Marc Andreyko and he is excellent.

Supergirl #16– Wait…Supergirl is here to kill Superman? When the heck did this happen? Eh, why pretend like I care.

Anyway, do you think there is any chance that Garza’s interpretation of Supergirl will get people to let up on the anorexia/Paris Hilton catcalls? Take a look at the cover.

I mean, yes, she is still thin and her stomach does have the funky line down the center (real people get it too though, check out Mena Suvari in American Beauty if you don’t believe me). However, her legs, I think, are suitably powerful looking. They aren’t “thick” but they aren’t pencil-like either. I’m probably hoping for too much here, but wouldn’t it be great to never again hear about her being too thin or slutty. (And yes, I can see that her skirt is still a bit short. Let it be!)

The All-New Atom #10– Man, that’s a lot of ended romantic relationships in that solicitation.

Oh, and as to wait killed the husband? My guess would be the wife, Atom’s old flame. I’m thinking if the Atom is still hung up on her, that could be devastating. Plus, Atoms’ significant others have a history of catching the murderous crazies.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #51– TEMPEST ALERT!

See, not so dead.

The Brave and the Bold #3– Nice to see that even here on this cover,

Validus is following the Kevin Church rule of always flipping out.

No idea what I’m talking about? Go here, here, and here and have all your questions answered.

Doctor Fate #1– Ten to one Kent Nelson, Psychiatrist, will be more like Kent Nelson, Psychologist. And if you don’t get the difference…for shame!

Also, feel free to write and I’ll explain it to you.

Firestorm #35– This being the end of the title is disappointing to me in so many ways. First, McDuffie was just getting started. He’s an asset to DC (and Marvel, since he’s doing Fantastic Four over there) and they are knocking him off the first title they give him at the end of his first arc. That can’t go down smooth.

Second, it is a good, solid book. It is unlikely to change the medium, but there should be room in the industry for a good, solid book or two.

Third, I know the Ronnie Raymond fans are going to be celebrating in the streets about this (yes, all eight of them). Now, the Raymond people are not nearly as bad as HEAT was. However, having lived through being a fan on the wrong side of HEAT, I have natural distrust and dislike for any group of comic fans that decide, sight unseen, to not support a character because someone had the nerve to meddle with their favorite. I didn’t love the idea of Bart as Flash (as much for him losing his identity as it was for Wally being done away with) but I at least waited for the book to come out and read it before I decided I didn’t care for it. Most of these guys never bothered, and instead bellowed to any forum that would let them about the injustice of a character only a select few cared about (and not vocally until this new title was announced) being replaced.

Also, a lot of those complaints were tinged with the “you’re replacing a white character with a minority?” faux outrage that reeks of subconscious (or perhaps conscious) racism as the implicit suggestion is that another white guy might have been okay with them. Plus, the whole “minorities are being shoehorned in by the boatload” mentality is purely hysterics and is obvious when you look at the number of living white male heroes in comparison to all other categories.

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #11– I won’t be buying the book, but this is a nice Van Sciver cover.

Green Arrow #73–

So does Ollie just not bother with a string on his bow at all anymore?

Bold move, Mr. Queen, bold move.

Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood #6– Best miniseries of the decade? Well, I don’t know about that, but Mathan thinks so. Seriously, just ask him about it, he’ll tell you.

JLA: Classified #37– KID AMAZO!

Wait a second.

This is another goof, isn’t it DC? Because this isn’t the first time you promised me this arc just to rip it out from underneath me.

Justice League of America #8– Does Justice League really need a variant cover to boost its sales? Really?

Justice Society of America #5– Nice spooky cover for Sand(man).

Again, though, I have to admit I am perplexed by the idea that the variant cover is provided by the guy who is doing the interior art AND it is more likely to reflect the action going on in the book than the non-variant does. I don’t get it at all.

Manhunter #30– Ouch. How’s that for a gut punch? I guess the reprieve was a very temporary one. The book went up about 60% in sales with 26 but that apparently was not enough. Man…

I’m not surprised, but it is still wildly disappointing. On the other hand, though, it has lasted longer than Chase, Bloodhound, Chronos, or Aztek so I guess I can’t claim that it didn’t get a fair shake.

I do ask one thing though, DC. Don’t send her into space. That’s where good Earth bound characters go to never be thought of again. At least leave her around so Birds of Prey can keep utilizing her.

Shadowpact #12– This cover makes me laugh.

Clearly Enchantress is supposed to be reacting to where the blade has been plunged (and the source of the blood), but it looks like she is just freaked out by the sword itself.

Yeah, it is the little things.

Outsiders Annual #1– Goodness…

Is that really Black Lightning? Looks nothing like him.

And why not have the incomparable Scott McDaniel do the cover since he is doing the interiors? He’s most excellent.

Spirit #5–

Great cover.

Wonder Woman #7-8– I’ll never understand this tendency when comics fall behind to ship the book biweekly when it catches up. It just seems like you are setting yourself up for another scheduling problem.

And why be in such a rush to push through this arc? Is it the Amazons Attack thing? Can’t that be pushed back a month?

Alan Moore: Wild Worlds– I’ve gotta imagine Moore is psyched about this release.

Danger Girls: Body Shots #1– Andy Hartnell, creator of Danger Girls? Huh, who knew? He’s kind of got fifth Beatle syndrome going on there.

Also, naming a book after a late 90’s Tara Reid film seems, well, ill-advised.

Justice Series 6 Action Figures– For those of you who were thinking that that double page spread in the recent Justice was action figure ready, congrats.

Your cynicism was correct again.

That’s it from News Central. Shoot me all your comments at parallax2@juno.com or hit the message board for stimulating debate.

Thanks.

Un Gajje Sees a Long Hard Federal Holiday-less Road Ahead