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Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Forward Thinking: DC Comics for April 2006


Following in the proud tradition of Michael May and Kevin Melrose, please join Hisham Zubi and me for a trip through DC Comics' April solicitations.

INFINITE CRISIS #7
Tom:
Issue #7 continues the trend of "shattering" cover images, with the Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman symbols each on separate shards against a starfield. The obvious symbolism is that their relationship is still fractured. If true, that's a little disappointing for the end of a story. I guess practically speaking, though, Infinite Crisis has to leave something for 52.

Hisham: The cover's kind of cryptic. I can only assume that this issue is going to involve some kind of upheaval for DC's trinity. It's been an interesting series, not excellent, but okay. I'm a DC dork so I have to stick with it until the end.

CHECKMATE #1
Tom: Looks like a green-flaming former Justice Leaguer will be involved. Other than Sasha Bordeaux and what I take to be a Checkmate trooper, I don't recognize anyone else.

Hisham: Checkmate was one of those titles where I read about the concept in Who's Who and thought it was really cool, but I never got to read the original series. Just as well, since the original series probably couldn't have lived up to my fanboy expectations. This new series sounds a lot like Micah Ian Wright's run on Stormwatch. This is a good thing. Having artwork by Lee Bermejo and Jesus Saiz doesn't hurt either.

BATMAN TITLES
Tom: It almost looks like "One Year Later" is around 1976, with Man-Bat getting another miniseries and Jason Bard appearing in James Robinson's 8-part arc.

Hisham: There's basically one reason why I'm checking out these comics, James Robinson. I'm so glad to see him writing comics again.

SUPERMAN TITLES
Tom: Superman Cover to Cover looks sort of interesting for an art book. Ironically, I'm not sure I can judge this by its cover -- I'll have to wait and see what the inside looks like.

I'll be getting the new Superman and Action Comics, naturally, but I'm also looking forward to seeing what Greg Rucka does with Supergirl. By making her and Power Girl the "Nightwing and Flamebird" of Kandor, it sounds like he'll be exercising his crime-fiction muscles too.

AQUAMAN: SWORD OF ATLANTIS #41
Hisham: Judging by the solicits, I'm forming a theory about who this new Aquaman is going to be. Of course, I haven't followed the character in a while so I don't know if it has any validity, but I am curious.

BIRDS OF PREY #93 and VILLAINS UNITED SPECIAL
Tom:
These Gail Simone books look interesting. The Villains United follow-up sounds exciting, and is that Gypsy on the cover of Birds of Prey #93?

Hisham: Gypsy? I was wondering who that character on the cover was. For some reason I thought it was some new version of Phantom Lady. Now I'm curious who else Simone has added to the BoP lineup.

CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 4
Tom:
This is a must. The JLA and JSA meet the Marvel Family in the second story, and the Legion of Super-Heroes in the third. Those almost make up for them only meeting Cary Bates and Elliot S! Maggin in the first one....

SEVEN SOLDIERS #1
Hisham:
Grant Morrison's epic comes to its conclusion. Hopefully, I'll be caught up with all the minis before it comes out. Even without the buildup, I'd still want to check out more work from JH Williams.

Tom: Yeah, I'll be getting this one too. I'm right there with you when it comes to JH Williams.

Tom's Odds and Ends
Solo #10 may be the first issue of that series I'm not tempted to buy. I have nothing against Damion Scott, but the cover doesn't thrill me and I've never been a real follower of his work.

On the other hand, I'm eager to read Joe Kubert's Sgt. Rock miniseries. It's good that DC is showing some love to its non-superhero characters like Rock and Jonah Hex.

Hisham's Odds and Ends
I'm glad that Joe Kubert is still going strong. For some reason, I'd rather check out this series when it gets collected and I know that it will get collected.

100 Bullets #71: I've really got to reread my back issues to get the storylines straight. Of course Azzarello has to add new characters and subplots. Thanks a lot, Brian!

Fables #48: I don't think I've been waiting for a Mowgli/Big Bad Wolf teamup, but I guess I have been.

Testament #5: From the first issue, I've been impressed with Rushkoff's reinterpretation of stories from the Bible. This is not your father's Old Testament.

Well, that's it for us. Feel free to share your thoughts, and we'll be back next month!

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