I'll start with DC. The biggest news story to come out of the comics world in a very long time just hit recently. I'm of course talking about the new slew of mini-series' known as Before Watchmen.
Starting this summer, the epic 12-issue opus from the 80's is finally getting a continuation in the form of a prequel, told within seven different mini-series of various issues and a one-shot epilogue. It's something that has epic potential but many people (including Watchmen's original creator, Alan Moore) have labeled it 'unnecessary and shameless'.
I'm personally in the optimistic category on this issue. The slew of creative talent they've gathered to write and pencil these issues are enough to get me excited; and honestly, it's the world of comics. There are always new stories to tell.
Another announcement from DC is their next wave of changes in creative teams. It's an aptly named 'musical chairs' of writers and artists. Jeff Lemire moves from Frankenstein to Justice League Dark. JLD's original writer Peter Milligan moves over to the writer-less Stormwatch (much to the chagrin of Shade fans) and Matt Kindt (last seen writing the now-cancelled Men of War) picks up Frankenstein. In addition, Greg Hurwitz, hot off the critically applauded Penguin mini-series, will take over on Batman: The Dark Knight.
For the artists, classic Animal Man artist Steve Pugh
comes back to the role, pushing current Animal Man artist Travel Foreman over to Birds of Prey. BoP's Jesus Saiz goes to Resurrection Man and that book's artist Fernando Dagnino comes aboard the Suicide Squad team.
Confused yet? Because DC isn't quite done. They've also released the full solicits for the month of May, which include quite a few revelations.
In addition to the previously announced 'Wave 2', six new ongoing titles to replace the six cancelled titles, two more ongoings will also start up in May, both featuring Superman. Smallville: Season 11 is a story in the tradition of Buffy, continuing the tale of the television show in comic book form. Also, the creative team behind the children's Tiny Titans goes right off the finishing of that book to create Superman Family Adventures, another take on the DC Universe aimed at a younger audience.
The month of May also includes the introduction of Annuals to the world of the New 52, starting with Batman, Animal Man, and Teen Titans, to bring focus to those books continuing epic crossovers and story arcs. Also of note is the much waited for graphic novel Batman: Earth One, finally continuing that line of books from last year.
The news from Marvel is decidedly less dense to parse through. New trailers for their summer blockbusters The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man were both released...and they were both amazing. Continuing sneak peaks of their 2012 events are slipped out, with covers for Avengers vs. X-Men giving us clues as well as a look at Spidey's new costume in his Ends of the Earth mini-event.
And finally something a little more mysterious. One image was released with the tag-line 'Spider-Men'. Who knows what this could mean, but sources say it could be the return of the recently killed off Ultimate Peter Parker. Why would they bring him back so soon after tragically killing him off last year? We'll have to wait and see.
But Marvel is not without there share of bad press. A recent law-suit wrapped up in Marvel's favor, awarding them $17,000 dollars from the now penniless co-creator of Ghost Rider. The law-suit originally came out of funds that he thought he deserved from the Ghost Rider movies, but a hard lesson was learned when it comes to suing corporations that are backed by Disney.
He is also no longer allowed to sell Ghost Rider related autographs and merchandise, or claim that he is the creator of the character (even though he is.) Ouch.
Well, that's it for this week. Another informative post to help you keep up conversations with all those nerds at the comic shops. Your welcome.
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