• BATMAN INCORPORATED – Writer: Grant Morrison. Artist: Chris Burnham. The acclaimed ongoing writer of ACTION COMICS, Grant Morrison, presents a fresh take on BATMAN INCORPORATED, in which the Batman brand is franchised globally in preparation for a major international threat.

• EARTH 2 – Writer: James Robinson. Artist: Nicola Scott. The greatest heroes on a parallel Earth, the Justice Society combats threats that will set them on a collision course with other worlds.

• WORLDS’ FINEST – Writer: Paul Levitz. Artists: George Perez and Kevin Maguire. Stranded on our world from a parallel reality, Huntress and Power Girl struggle to find their way back to Earth 2. Perez and Maguire will be the artists on alternating story arcs.

• DIAL H – Writer: China Miéville. Artist: Mateus Santoluoco. The first ongoing series from acclaimed novelist China Miéville, this is a bold new take on a cult classic concept about the psychological effects on an everyman who accidentally gains powers to become a hero.

• G.I. COMBAT – Writer: J.T. Krul. Artist: Ariel Olivetti. Featuring the return of a classic DC Comics series, THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT, along with rotating back-up stories and creative teams – including THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, with writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and artist Dan Panosian; and THE HAUNTED TANK, with writer John Arcudi and artist Scott Kolins.

• THE RAVAGERS – Writer: Howard Mackie. Artist: Ian Churchill. Spinning off from TEEN TITANS and SUPERBOY, this series finds four superpowered teens on the run and fighting against the organization that wants to turn them into supervillains.

The new series will replace BLACKHAWKS, HAWK AND DOVE, MEN OF WAR, MISTER TERRIFIC, O.M.A.C. and STATIC SHOCK.

I am looking forward to the release of  Earth 2, Dial H, and possibly The Ravagers.

I am not a fan of the Batman Incorporated story/idea or to be honest Grant Morrison.

World’s Finest has potential to be a great series, but I am not feeling the first story line or creative team, so I will sit that one out for now.

What do you think of the new books and cancellations?

Greg and I had the opportunity to meet Jerry in 2008. I remember how kind and unassuming he was. He talked about his past working in comics, creating the Joker, and told a lot of stories about how rough the comic book industry was in the early days.

He was a huge advocate for artist’s rights. He spoke about Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster’s struggles, and his battle to get them proper credit and payment for creating Superman.

He was an amazing man, and Greg and I are honored to have heard him speak and to have gotten the chance to meet him. Some photos we took that night are below.

From The Source: Brian Azzarello and artist Cliff Chiang have teased that readers should expect the unexpected in this edgier, horror take on the superhero genre ­and the king of the gods will ensure that nothing goes as planned for his defiant daughter.

I have to say I am excited about this news. Zeus being Diana’s father just makes the whole Wonder Woman story make more sense to me (she can fly, has super strength and the gods had a hand in her birth anyway). I am still just relieved that they got rid of those pants they had her wearing for the last year.

What do you think about the new Wonder Woman origin?

Both issues have been brewing for a while and I am certainly not the first person to voice my opinion on either matter, but I have had a few people ask me my thoughts so here they are (and I doubt they will be what you expect).

DC Comics and Women Creators

There is a sound bite (uploaded on Comic Book Resources) taken during a DC panel at this year’s San Diego Comic Con where a fan says “Hire Women” which is met with approval from the crowd and is followed by the question “Why did you go from 12% in women [creators] to 1% on your creative teams?” at which point Co-Publisher Dan DiDio responds rather angrily “What do those numbers mean to you…Who should we be hiring? Tell me right now. Who should we be hiring right now? Tell me.”

This exchange has (of course) spawned articles about sexism in the Comic Book industry (like this one from Comics Alliance) and a letter from Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee posted on The Source which reads in part “Over the past week we’ve heard from fans about a need for more women writers, artists and characters. We want you to know, first and foremost, that we hear you and take your concerns very seriously…We’ll have exciting news about new projects with women creators in the coming months and will be making those announcements closer to publication.” Read the entire letter here.

My take on the issue is: Seriously?!  There may not be a ton of female creators hired by DC Comics but how many are there at Marvel, or any of the other publishers?

To call out DC who has so many strong female characters compared to the other publishers: Batgirl, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Black Canary, The Birds of Prey, Power Girl, Batwoman, both the Question and Dove are now women, is ridiculous!

In 2009 DC gave even more female characters the spotlight when they gave Wonder Girl, Raven, Huntress, Terra, and Vixen each their own 6 issue series to headline. At MegaCon 2009 I got a chance to talk briefly to Dan DiDio about the strong women in the DCU, unbeknownst to either of us at the time “The Cameraman” recorded our conversation you can watch the video here.

The other issue that seems to be forgotten in all of this is: Gail Simone is hands down one of the best writers in the comic industry male or female, she has written everything from Birds of Prey, The Suicide Squad, to Wonder Woman, and now with the 52 re-launch Batgirl and Firestorm, not to mention Welcome To Tranquility (the third TPB was just recently released).

It also seems that all of these DC haters have forgotten that Amanda Conner shot to a whole nother level in her career after her run on Terra, the Supergirl Weekly series, Power Girl, and her line of Women of The DC Universe busts.

If you ask me DC has done a ton more for females in the comic book industry than Marvel accomplished with its three issue “Girl Comics”. Maybe next time everyone should take a deep breath before screaming sexism or inequality.

Marvel And The New Spider-Man

The whole world knows that there is a new Spider-Man and that he is half African American and half Latino, what I have to keep explaining to people (esp. my co-workers) is that Peter Parker is still Spider-Man, then I have to get into the whole alternative universe explanation, at which point most of them get bored with the conversation.

I am a little torn on this issue. Spider-Man is probably Marvel’s most iconic character (Amazing Spider-Man is one of the few Marvel titles I subscribe to), so messing with him is always going to cause a very strong response, which may very well be what Marvel was going for. As the USA TODAY article points out “Putting an African American under that mask probably is going to pack more of a cultural punch than simply creating a new minority superhero.” I get that and I agree without any hesitation that there is a desperate need for more diversity in comics.

DC killed the original Question, Charles Victor Szasz, his replacement Renee Montoya is a lesbian. They also killed Blue Beatle, Ted Kord and replaced him with Jaime Reyes, a Mexican-American teenager. Unless you read comics regularly you have no idea that these changes happened, they did not make headlines like the creation of a lesbian Batwoman did, or like Miles Morales is doing now.

At the same time the idea of killing Peter Parker and putting someone else under the mask, doesn’t feel right, whether that person is white, African American, Latino, Male or Female, straight or gay (which by the way there is talk about possibly making Miles gay). Making such a drastic change to  a character who has been around since before most of his fans were even born  is going to upset people, and their anger is going to overshadow the good that you are trying to accomplish, which is evident with all the angry comments being left around the web regarding Miles.

I just think there may have been a better way of  bringing more diversity to Marvel,  I also think that if you truly want to make a change it should be in the real universe with the real characters and story lines, not in the Ultimate one which the average person knows nothing about.

Miles Morales will make his official debut as the new Spider-Man in Ultimate Spider-Man #1 which will be in stores next month.

“Beginning next year, Marvel presents a first for the company: Season One, a series of original graphic novels detailing expanded and in-continuity origins for some of the most popular characters in comics.”

The first thing that popped into my mind when I read the above on Marvel’s site was: Doesn’t this sound familiar. Wasn’t it just last year that DC released Earth One? What can I say I am a DC girl to the core :)

But as I read the story (and re-read the sentence) I realized there is one very big difference: The Continuity. DC’s Earth One was “retold on a new earth with an all new continuity“, while Marvel is going for  in-continuity origin stories that will bring new readers up-to-date with the comics.

The first four books will be:

FANTASTIC FOUR: SEASON ONE, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and drawn by David Marquez, delivers Marvel’s First Family of super heroes.

X-MEN: SEASON ONE, written by Dennis Hopeless and drawn by Jamie McKelvie, presents the beginnings of Marvel’s merry mutants.

DAREDEVIL: SEASON ONE, written by Antony Johnston and drawn by Wellinton Alves, details the gripping origin story of the Man Without Fear.

SPIDER-MAN: SEASON ONE, written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Neil Edwards, introduces Peter Parker, the web-slinging wonder of the Marvel Universe.

I think that this is an interesting ,while not completely original idea. That being said I am not won over yet, but I am contemplating  picking up Fantastic Four and Spider-Man when they hit the shelves in February.

Head over to Marvel  for more on the series and quotes from the creative teams.

GAIL SIMONE IS WRITING BATGIRL!!! That in itself is enough to make me giddy with joy, but it gets better…BABS IS BACK!!!!!!!!

I have to say I have throughly enjoyed reading the new Batgirl series with Stephine Brown (and I love the purple costume) but there is only one true Batgirl: Barbra Gordon, and fans were robbed when the Joker senselessly shot and paralyzed her. To make up for that horrible occurance DC is not just bring her back to her rightful place in the DC Universe, but they are doing so with one of the best writers in comics. Artists Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes will join Gail on the book.

And if that wasn’t enough, Selina Kyle is back with Catwoman #1 which will be written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Guillem March.

Today is a very good day.

This year, change is in the air at DC Comics.

On Wednesday, August 31st, DC Comics will launch a historic renumbering of the entire DC Universe line of comic books with 52 first issues, including the release of JUSTICE LEAGUE by NEW YORK TIMES bestselling writer and DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and bestselling artist and DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee. The publication of JUSTICE LEAGUE issue 1 will launch day-and-date digital publishing for all these ongoing titles, making DC Comics the first of the two major American publishers to release all of its superhero comic book titles digitally the same day as in print.

DC Comics will only publish two comic books on August 31st: the final issue of this summer’s comic book mini-series FLASHPOINT and the first issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE by Johns and Lee, two of the most distinguished and popular contemporary comic book creators, who will be collaborating for the first time. Together they will offer a contemporary take on the origin of the comic book industry’s premier superhero team.

In the hours, days and weeks to come, we’ll have more news about the other titles. Tomorrow, we’ll hear from Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee about this momentous occasion. Keep checking THE SOURCE for updates about the other first issues.

This year, make history with us.

I am going to keep an as open of a mind as I can on this, although it is a bit frustrating. Wasn’t  Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis written to fix and bring continuity back to the DC Universe? Just five years after seemly fixing the mess they are scraping everything to start all over, it never ends does it?

Shortly after the announcement was made on DC’s site, USA Today began releasing more details and quotes from Co-Publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee, and slowly more information is trickling out. Below is some of that new information:

The reasoning behind this decision? “We really want to inject new life in our characters and line,” says Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC with Lee. “This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today’s audience.”

“Jim Lee worked with both staff and freelance artists to redesign costumes in a contemporary way as well as alter the physicality of many heroes and villains to modernize the DC Universe”. They have been talking about stripping Superman of his red undies forever, and it looks like that is exactly what they are planing.

I am not too thrilled with this news, especially after seeing what they did to Wonder Woman.

The Justice League will ultimately consist of 14 members, but the core (and the only members in the beginning) will be Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Flash. Honestly I stopped reading Justice League shortly after Brad Meltzer ‘s runs on the series, and I ♥ both Geoff Johns and Jim Lee so this news actually makes me happy.

Diversity will continue in resent years DC has worked really hard to bring diversity to their characters. The Question and Batwoman are gay, Blue Beetle  is Hispanic…and Cyborg take his rightful place as an important member of the DC Universe. And that is the way it should be.

The heroes are getting younger “This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today’s audience.” This actually makes some sense to me, how old are Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman? Their ages have needed to be addressed and adjusted for some time now.

Those are the high points so far. After all this news all I can think is how much more sense does Flash Point’s promise that “everything you know will change in a flash” make now?

While I do I think of Superman as being American (as you can see here), cries from news outlets (although does anyone take Fox news seriously) to boycott DC Comics and Warner Bros, is a gross overreaction. Clark Kent is the man behind the suit and this announcement takes nothing away from his upbringing or beliefs.

Superman is the  first and oldest superhero, and while that endures him to us it also (at times) makes him feel outdated. DC Comics is desperately trying to make him more relevant and current, and making him a member of the global community is a first step to revamping his image.

To me (maybe it is because I am a DC girl)  dropping “Captain America” from the Cap movie is more of a slap in the face than the announcement that the American Way is no longer enough in a world that is connected like never before.

Our sincerest condolences go out to the family and many friends he leaves behind.”

Dwayne McDuffie’s  passing comes on the same day as the release of his animated adaptation of Grant Morrison’s All Star Superman.

During his career Dwayne McDuffie had runs writing  high profile stories for both Marvel, and DC. As mentioned earlier he adapted the script for the newly released All Star Superman animated movie, he also wrote the original script for the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths animated film.

He may be best known as the man responsible for creating Static Shock, and as a writer on the Justice League animated series. He will be deeply missed by all his fans and colleges.

Our condolences go out to his friends and family.

Update

“McDuffie died Monday, a day after his birthday, of complications after undergoing emergency heart surgery at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, said Gary Miereanu, a publicist for Warner Home Video.” Via The La Times

The comic will be written by fan favorite Paul Dini (the man behind Batman: The Animated Series, who also wrote both Arkham games) it will be drawn by Batman: Arkham City concept artist Carlos D’anda.

Each issue of the miniseries will also feature an eight page digital-first interlude that will expand on the story included in the miniseries. The digital shorts will be written by Dini and drawn by a variety of artists. They will cost .99, be in between the printed comics, and will later be printed in the collected edition of the story.

Issue one and two will hit stores in May, issue one will ship with a variant cover that features in game artwork.