Being a comic fan can be tough. With so many publishers printing more and more books, canceling titles and starting new ones, it can be daunting when you head to the comic book shop on a Wednesday to know exactly what’s coming out.
The current system of presenting and ordering comics three months ahead of their release as set forth by the sole comics distributor, Diamond Comics, doesn’t make it any easier either. We’re not a fan of that system, we think it’s slowly strangling comics to death, but we realize it’s a harsh reality of how the industry works and we definitely don’t want you to miss out on any of the cool comics being published.
And so, as opposed to regurgitating the list of comics solicited in Previews each month, we present to you some of the highlights of things you probably won’t want to miss out on.
SPOILER WARNING – in order to get people to order comics, the publishers have a funny habit of revealing what’s happening in the books. If you don’t want anything at all to be spoiled, then you’ll probably want to skip this post and take your chances with your pre-orders and/or your shopping.
GARY FRANK SIGHTING!
Gary Frank is one of my favorite artists in comic books but he’s been mostly out of sight since Superman: Secret Origin. (Hopefully, he’s been working on Batman: Earth One, but I won’t believe it until I see it.) But now he has returned to regular comics work with the new Captain Marvel SHAZAM! back-up story that will now be appearing in Justice League. Plus, with this issue, we have our first story of the Justice League in the “present”, which should be fun.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #7
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by GENE HA and GARY FRANK
Cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
Variant cover by GARY FRANK
B&W Variant cover by JIM LEE
On sale MARCH 21 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99Now that the team’s origin story is complete, starting with this issue we shift to the present-day Justice League! What has changed? Who has joined the team since? Featuring artwork by Gene Ha, the story also reintroduces the team’s greatest champion: Steve Trevor!
Also starting in this issue: “The Curse of Shazam!” featuring a story by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank! Discover Billy Batson’s place in DC Comics – The New 52 as we reveal his all-new origin story!
HERE COME THE NEW WRITERS
With 52 new books that DC launched it was inevitable that there would be some creative team changes. That’s just the nature of comic books. We’ve already seen a few creators drop out, but this month sees the first major wave of writer changes.
THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MEN #7
Written by JOE HARRIS and ETHAN VAN SCIVER
Art and cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
On sale MARCH 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99New co-writer Joe Harris (Ghost Projekt) joins Ethan Van Sciver in this white-hot jumping-on issue!
Plus: Van Sciver provides interior art for what’s sure to be one of the most talked-about comics of the year! As the fallout from the recent rogue Firestorm attack spreads and threatens to bring down Zither-Tech and the Firestorm Protocols, Ronnie Raymond pursues the Russian Nuclear Man Pozhar on what may well turn out to be a suicide mission.
Meanwhile, Jason Rusch is made an offer he can’t refuse. Separated in an evolving game of international atomic brinkmanship, each Firestorm faces a world more dangerous than he ever imagined… while one gets a life-altering shock you’ll never forget!
GREEN ARROW #7
Written by ANN NOCENTI
Art by HARVEY TOLIBAO
Cover by HOWARD PORTER
On sale MARCH 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99Green Arrow’s gone looking for trouble, and he’s found it – in triplicate! Three women who give new meaning to the term “drop dead gorgeous” have our hero outnumbered and outgunned! Collectively, they’re called “Skylark,” and they’ve been sent on a secret mission with Oliver Queen as its focus! Who’s directing them, what is their shadowy goal and will Ollie let his guard down and be gulled by these beautiful and deadly adversaries?
Join new creative team Anne Nocenti and Harvey Tolibao as they chart the next chapter in the life of Oliver Queen!
SUPERMAN #7
Written by KEITH GIFFEN and DAN JURGENS
Art by DAN JURGENS and JESUS MERINO
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale MARCH 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99The start of an insanely epic arc from the new writing team of Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens!
New love interests, new roommates, and a new foe: the wicked Helspont! What does this monster want with Superman, and how does it all connect to the Daemonites?
STATIC SHOCK #7
Written by MARC BERNARDIN
Art by SCOTT McDANIEL and ANDY OWENS
Cover by KHARY RANDOLPH
On sale MARCH 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99Static seeks information at S.T.A.R. Labs in regard to his sisters, only to discover that they’ve walked in on a heist. Introducing the intangible Phayze, who’s out to steal tech that could change the world. How can Static defeat a villain he can’t touch, protect his sisters from rampaging drones, and keep his alias a secret? It’s just another spark of excitement for this electromagnetic teenager!
Featuring the debut of new series new writer Marc Bernardin (THE AUTHORITY, THE HIGHWAYMEN, TV’s Alphas) as we begin an exciting new chapter in a young hero’s story.
LEGION LOST #7
Written by TOM DeFALCO
Art and cover by PETE WOODS
On sale MARCH 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99New writer Tom DeFalco (Spider-Girl, SUPERMAN BEYOND) comes on board to take LEGION LOST to new heights! The hulking member Tellus receives a distressing, telepathic cry for help from a woman being tortured. So why does the Legion refuse to come to the rescue?
NEW STORYLINE (FINALLY)
If you didn’t enjoy the Deadman story, come back in, the water’s fine. Well, hopefully. The problem, as I see it, with doing an anthology book like DC Universe Presents in the modern age is that the conventional thinking is to write the arcs as trade length stories. But if people don’t like that particular story arc then they are out of luck for half a year, which is an eternity when your product is released monthly. I feel like shorter arcs is the way to go on this book. Anyway, the new arc begins here and it involves the Challengers of the Unknown.
DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #7
Written by DAN DIDIO and JERRY ORDWAY
Art by JERRY ORDWAY
Cover by RYAN SOOK
On sale MARCH 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99What do you do when death wears the face of the one you loved? That’s what June Robbins must deal with, as the one person who didn’t survive last issue’s crash, Ace, returns in a monstrous new form, determined to end the lives of June and the Challengers of the Unknown!
Get ready for a globe-hopping, reality-warping thrill ride from Dan DiDio and Jerry Ordway!
HOW ABOUT A CROSSOVER?
Two similarly toned books are engaging in a three issue crossover!
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #7
Written by PETER MILLIGAN
Art and cover by MIKEL JANIN
On sale MARCH 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99
S
traight off the shocking events of last month’s I, VAMPIRE #6, vampires across the world have gone berserk, attacking anyone and everyone with a pulse. Fearing her apocalyptic vision of the future has come to pass, Madame Xanadu mobilizes the team to intervene. But everything the JL Dark members know about how to slay a vampire is useless, for the world has changed.It’s a crossover that had to be, continuing into this month’s I, VAMPIRE #7!
I, VAMPIRE #7
Written by JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV
Art and cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO
On sale MARCH 28 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99Straight off the shocking events of last issue and continuing the story from this month’s JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #7, Andrew Bennett finds himself in a place he never thought he’d reach during his countless decades walking the Earth. But his absence on Earth signals a deadly loss of order in the vampire hierarchy, as the savage attack on humanity he’s long feared looks like its coming to pass.
HOLLYWOOD’S NEXT BIG STAR: BANE!
Even though next summer will be the second time that Bane has appeared on the big screen, The Dark Knight Rises will be the first time that the world won’t agree to have collective amnesia about it. So before even your mother-in-law starts asking you questions about “that nice Bane fellow” you should probably bone up on the two most important Bane stories, one good and one not. (I’m not saying which is which… here.)
BATMAN: KNIGHTFALL VOL. 1 TP NEW EDITION
Written by CHUCK DIXON, DOUG MOENCH and ALAN GRANT
Art by GRAHAM NOLAN, EDUARDO BARRETO, JIM APARO, NORM BREYFOGLE, JIM BALENT, TOM MANDRAKE, KLAUS JANSON, BRET BLEVINS, MIKE MANLEY, RICK BURCHETT and others
Cover by MIKE DEODATO JR.
On sale APRIL 25 • 640 pg, FC, $29.99In the first installment of this classic storyline, the Dark Knight’s greatest enemies have all simultaneously escaped from Arkham Asylum and are preying on Gotham City. With his city under siege, Batman pushes his body to the limit as he takes on The Joker, the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, The Riddler and the Scarecrow. But things get much worse when Bane, the man behind all the madness, confronts an exhausted Batman – and breaks his back.
This massive first KNIGHTFALL volume collects BATMAN: VENGEANCE OF BANE SPECIAL #1, BATMAN #491-500, DETECTIVE COMICS #659-660, SHOWCASE ‘93 #7 and 8 and BATMAN: SHADOW OF THE BAT #17-18, including chapters never previously reprinted.
BATMAN: VENOM NEW EDITION
Written by DENNIS O’NEIL
Art by TREVOR VON EEDEN, RUSSELL BRAUN and JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ
Cover by TREVOR VON EEDEN
On sale APRIL 18 • 144 pg, FC, $14.99A new edition of the classic tale from BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #16-20, introducing the strength-enhancing drug Venom. After Batman fails to save a young girl, he becomes addicted to Venom – and his entire life begins to spiral out of control.
A FORGOTTEN CLASSIC
Everyone’s ALWAYS talking about the Justice Society of America, but hardly anyone but Ron Richards and Tom Katers ever talks about the All-Star Squadron. Rectify that right now with this giant black and white collection of the Roy Thomas classic.
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: ALL-STAR SQUADRON VOL. 1 TP
Written by ROY THOMAS and GERRY CONWAY
Art by RICH BUCKLER, DICK GIORDANO, JERRY ORDWAY, ADRIAN GONZALES and DON HECK
Cover by JOE KUBERT
On sale APRIL 18 • 528 pg, B&W, $19.99In these stories from JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #193 and ALL-STAR SQUADRON #1-18, the All-Star Squadron has been founded on Earth II by the lost heroes from the JSA to stop Per Degaton from delivering mystic weapons to the Axis powers!
NEW VERTIGO #1s
New Vertigo books! New Vertigo books!
SAUCER COUNTRY #1
Written by PAUL CORNELL
Art and cover by RYAN KELLY
1:10 Variant cover by SEAN MURPHY
On sale MARCH 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99Arcadia Alvarado, the leading Democratic candidate for President of the United States, says she was “abducted by aliens.”
As the Mexican-American Governor of New Mexico, she’s dealing with immigration, budget cuts and an alcoholic ex. She’s about to toss her hat into the ring as a candidate for President in the most volatile political climate ever.
But then…a lonely road and a nightmarish encounter have left her with terrible, half-glimpsed memories. And now she has to become President. To expose the truth – and maybe, to save the world.
Arcadia’s quest is at the heart of this new monthly series from writer Paul Cornell (DEMON KNIGHTS, ACTION COMICS, Doctor Who) and artist Ryan Kelly (NEW YORK FIVE, NORTHLANDERS). With the help of her quirky staff, Arcadia will pursue the truth of her abduction into danger, mystery and awe. SAUCER COUNTRY is a dark thriller that blends UFO lore and alien abduction with political intrigue, all set in the hauntingly beautiful Southwest.
FAIREST #1
Written by BILL WILLINGHAM
Art by PHIL JIMENEZ and ANDY LANNING
Wraparound cover by ADAM HUGHES
1:10 Variant cover by PHIL JIMENEZ
On sale MARCH 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99New York Times best-selling, award-winning creator Bill Willingham presents a new series starring the female FABLES. Balancing horror, humor and adventure, FAIREST explores the secret histories of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Snow White, Rose Red and others.
The first 6 issue arc follows the misadventures of Briar Rose after she is stolen away by the goblin army in FABLES #107. Fan-favorite artist Phil Jimenez (WONDER WOMAN, THE INVISIBLES) returns to Vertigo to pencil the opening storyline. Award-winning cover artist Adam Hughes (WONDER WOMAN, BATGIRL) provides covers, starting with a wraparound cover on issue #1.
Future arcs will be written by 2011 Arthur C. Clarke winner Lauren Beukes with art by Inaki Miranda, and iZOMBIE scribe Chris Roberson with art by Shawn McManus! And remember: They may be beautiful, but there will be blood.
A CREEPILY AWESOME STATUE
I love, love, love this statue line. I love it so much that I bought one of the statues (the Frank Quitely one) and I had never done that before. It’s really amazing how well they capture the look and feel of each artist’s style.
BATMAN: BLACK AND WHITE BY SAM KIETH STATUE
DESIGNED BY SAM KIETH
SCULPTED BY JONATHAN MATTHEWSFrom the brilliantly twisted mind of legendary illustrator Sam Kieth comes the latest incarnation in the “Batman: Black and White” line of figures.
Based on designs by Kieth himself, this unique figure measures 5.5” high x 6” wide x 5” deep and matches the previous figures in this series with its moody, monochromatic color scheme.
RESOLICIT – On sale March 21, 2012 * Statue * $80 US
For the complete list of DC releases in March 2012, go here.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
Ann Nocenti? Nice!
I have recently gone back and found most of the original all-star squadron series from the early 80’s, and it is really fun stuff. That collection is a great recommendation for any fan of the jsa or other earth-2/ww2 era DC heroes.
I don’t know why but I always have a soft spot for the WWII type comics.
I bet these stories are canon in the New DCU. Should be; at least in my mind.
This is some of the best Golden Age-cum-Bronze Age DCU/WWll (USA-centric) comics combo ever. The pacing is as fast as all of the WWII era movies, adventure stories, Saturday Serials, pulp novels and all of the chaste/saucy nature of the time.
“Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway at their BEST!”
You can quote me! [?]
With that Superman solicit, all you needed to say was “Helspont”. I’m in.
For me, all they needed to NOT say was George Perez on scripts. Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens still seems like a ’90’s step back to me (“Helspont”? What year is this?), but at least I know I used to like their books. Perez is a great artist, but his writing was…dense.
With Helsponts return and Giffen helping on story I will be trying Superman again.
im all for new Vertigo books but i dont want to read something to do with Fables and the Alien books description doesnt seem like something id enjoy … but its got aliens so i will probably still try it out
“and how does it all connect to the Daemonites?”
Buh? Were they mentioned in previous solicits, or is this new info? I kinda figured the Daemonites would be Stormwatch territory.
Helspont was the Big Bad in the first WildCATS arc back in 1992, and if I remember right he was a Daemonite of some variety. It seems like DC is sprinkling the Daemonites in several titles, slowly fitting them into the larger tapestry of DC alien races (I’ve heard fan speculation of a Daemonite Green Lantern or Legionnaire down the road).
And others have pointed out that, if you pronounce it a certain way, there’s a “DUH!” obvious Daemonites/Demon Knights connection.
Helspont was an evolved Daemonite, in that he could survive in his alien form without taking a host human body. He’s one of my favorite villains and was a pretty huge Wildstorm threat…despite only appearing in, like, 10 issues.
Huh. I just hope Grifter doesn’t get pushed to the wayside due the expansion. Really want him to be a big player in the DCnU.
“And others have pointed out that, if you pronounce it a certain way, there’s a “DUH!” obvious Daemonites/Demon Knights connection.”
No doubt thanks to the not-so-subtle comment made by Ollie in the latest Grifter 😛
This is a great development in the growth of the DCU. In the past, I never had the funds to experience much of the WildStorm Universe. I’ve been interested in the ins and outs of it all, but the extra cost would have killed my wallet. Now I can watch it unfold anew, Helspont, Daemonites and all.
None for me thanks, I’m trying to cut down.
But seriously, March will hopefully be the month I wrap up most of my DC buying.
I’d hoped to be out in September, but the New 52 bought them another six months.
As the original arcs end, new talent comes in and the universe starts to cross over, I’ll be bowing out.
Not that I have anything against DC or any of these titles are particularly bad.
I just can’t afford to support all of these titles anymore.
It was enough just getting the Avengers corner of the 616-verse.
Due to Regenesis and AvX, I’m buying multiple X-titles again for the first time in 15 years.
I’m really glad for the spike in interest and potentially readership that the New 52 created.
As of the end of Huntress and/or THUNDER Agents, I’m out.
At least my wallet sincerely hopes so.
🙂
Yeah man I wish my love of comics was as big as my income 🙂
I’m doing the same… well, at least for the most part. There have been some of the new 52 that just aren’t clicking with me. And who can afford to buy something that’s not as enjoyable these days?
So you’re buying a bunch of Marvel books and dropping everything DC altogether?
Funny, I’ve done the exact same thing – in opposite.
All in all, it’s still a great time to be reading superhero comics.
Actually, I realize I wasn’t really clear on what I meant in my post.
I’ve been giving a number of books until the first arc is complete. But even if I were to drop all the ones that are on my possible drop list, I’d still be buying close to thirty titles a month – all from DC. There are just some fantastic books out there right now.
I talk about All-Star Squadron as much as I possibly can because it was one of my top 3 comic books when I was a kid (the other 2 being Legion of Super-Heroes and New Teen Titans). My 11 year old self couldn’t get enough of WW2 super heroes, taking an entire year of issues to cover only one month of real time, and tons of extra notes at the end of the letter column to explain when, where, how, and how it all fits together with the actual comics published in the 1940s. I would buy a hardcover All-Star omnibus in a heart beat as well as a new series. If DC were to give us an Earth-2 line of books like Marvel has an Ultimate line, I’d buy ever single book under the Earth-2 banner.
To some readers, a license to print money. Cash Money.
What I MEANT was some readers would willingly [gladly] pay for more of this kind of stuff.
…Where’s that edit button?
Great post
Geoff Johns/Gary Frank on SHAZAM!-That is one badazz team and makes a great book even better. Looking forward to the I, Vampire cross With JL Dark , I’ve been really enjoying both titles IMMENSELY. Saucer Country with Mr. Cornell has been something I been really interested in since I heard about it. Vertigo has been releasing some epic stuff from Sweet Tooth , Unwritten, to American Vamp. Last thing I dig is Keith and Dan on Supes, I will need to give that another go around. GREAT JOB DC
I had high hopes for the DCU presents book….maybe it could have followed the Brave and the Bold model where it was mostly one shots featuring different characters each time. Maybe have each “arc” focus on a larger adventure, but each issue was from a different character POV. Coulda made a fun trade. Either way DC must feel the Brave and the Bold style didn’t sell well enough. 6 months for one arc is kinda tough.
I dunno… I bet the Nubusiness model might at some point, be able to change the title’s course in the ‘old’ B&B/52/Wednesdays Comics kind of way. So what if a major DCU storyline passes through this little book?
Does DC Comics Presents HAVE to present storytelling in the monthly comic book format? The concept can be so much more.
Love Fables but not sure I need a second Fables book. I may check out Saucer Country but the premise doesn’t exactly grab me.
Well Jack of Fables I really liked. This book with Jimenez art? Should be great. New Vertigo books are always a plus, even if they aren’t my cup of tea. I dunno about Saucer Country but will check the first issue out at least. Cornell and Kelly are both damn good.
I just couldn’t get into Jack of Fables. I liked the character when he was in the main book but didn’t really feel he merited his own series. I felt the same way about Cinderella. Still this book will focus on multiple characters instead of just one which is a positive and as I’m reading every Vertigo ongoing except for Northlanders, DMZ and iZombie I’ll probably check out at least the first issues of both.
im guessing the good Bane related story is Venom.
The best Bane stuff really is in secret six..what Gail did with him was so humanizing
Ya i agree.. .. Just finished secret six a couple months back.. Ive been seeking out more G simone stuff now..
Just that Venom vs Knightfall.. I havent read venom for a while but i remember liking it quite a bit…
@irobert-I Should have said the best Bane related stuff I read was Secrest Six-Venom is great tho and I’m bias because I grew up reading KnightFall but I remember It being a great read but haven’t been back since it was released
I hate to say that this is a big ol’ list of I don’t care, but eh…it is. I have learned that I can’t trust DC with Green Arrow anymore. I’m going to give the Challengers of the Unknown stuff a whirl, and that’s it.
A presidential candidate that believes she was abducted by aliens? Still better than anything we’ve had in my lifetime.
I am ready to read the Nu-Nu52. I’ll give a bunch of these books a second shot. Definitely going to be checking out Green Arrow, Superman and DC Universe Presents and possibly Static Shock and Firestorm.
I am hopeful for Shazam! Hopefully, it will be a strong launching pad for a new on-going. But, most importantly, I hope it is FUN and a little ZANY. Enough of this dark Captain Marvel stuff all of the time!
I am also very curious about Fairest and All-Star Squadron. I will definitely check those out.
Yeah Man agreed-Zany and Fun is the only way to go
Saucer Country sounds intriguing to me. I will most likely check that out.
Definitely going to try out Saucer Country. I love alien stories and Cornell could go all sorts of ways with the book.
I’m intrigued to get the two ‘Bane’ related trades because:
A) I never read Venom and it has a great team on it
B) Knightfall Part 1, where Bane does break Batman’s back, is really good. The second and third parts are where it dips in quality really fast. But the lead up to the shocking twist is what I enjoyed reading the first time so many years ago.
Both Knightfall and Venom are on sale digitally. I’m enjoying it.
Loving these brief crossovers between similarly themed DC books. It’s the way to do it.
Looking forward to more Vertigo books. I’m currently down to 3 regular Vertigo titles. I think I read they have several new Vertigo series lined up for 2012 so that should be sweet. Gonna have to start cutting some stuff to make room for the new though.
That DCU Presents issue is not the start of a new storyline – it starts with issue 6 in February.
I’ve been enjoying the Deadman story, am not that interested in the next arc. New Storyline (Finally)? I guess you don’t feel the same.
I think the point is, if they’re going to do 5 or 6 issue arcs in their anthology book, why not just make them miniseries? It looks like they have a steady stream of mini-series lined up. Why saddle the Challengers of the Unknown story with the numbering of the Deadman story? I assume people would be more likely to stick through a DC Presents story they weren’t really into if it were only a couple issues.
I must reiterate, this book needn’t be strapped down to one format. Think about it.