Dc Solicits of Interest: June 2012

[espanolbot]

I have to say, first of all, I'm not a huge fan of the new format that the DC Blog has for showing their solicits, with the information on one page and the covers on another.
THE SHADE #9

Written by JAMES ROBINSON

Art by FRAZER IRVING

Cover by TONY HARRIS

1:10 Variant cover by FRAZER IRVING

On sale JUNE 13 • 32 pg, FC, 9 of 12, $2.99 US • RATED T+

• The final chapter of this amazing epic begins here, with fantastic art by FRAZER IRVING (BATMAN AND ROBIN, XOMBI)!

• THE SHADE returns to his hometown, London, to get to the bottom of the mystery of who tried to kill him!

Hm, considering how Robinson has been expanding on the number of international heroes in the DCU in this series, as a continuation of themes from his other world, hopefully this means that Beryll and the Knight'll show up in this issue. :)

ALL-STAR WESTERN #10


Written by JUSTIN GRAY and JIMMY PALMIOTTI

Art by MORITAT

Backup story art by JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ

Cover by LADRONN

On sale JUNE 27 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+

• Part one of a story exposing the beginning of a battle for GOTHAM CITY between THE COURT OF OWLS and THE CRIME BIBLE!

• TALLULAH BLACK is back!

• And in a new BAT LASH backup story illustrated by legendary artist JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ, an outraged father is accusing Bat of tarnishing the honor of his twin daughters – and he’s making his case with a double-barreled shotgun!

The Court of Owls versus the Religion of Crime? Ohh, this is going to be good. ^^ Also, yay, Tallulah Black!

DEMON KNIGHTS #10

Written by PAUL CORNELL

Art by DIOGENES NEVES and OCLAIR ALBERT

Cover by MIKE CHOI

On sale JUNE 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• Part two of “ASSAULT ON AVALON!”

• While searching for MERLIN, our heroes find KING ARTHUR…both of him!

Interested in how Cornell shows Avalon in this series, considering how it appeared in both his Wisdom and Mi13 runs over in Marvel as well.

BATMAN, INCORPORATED #2

Written by GRANT MORRISON

Art and cover by CHRIS BURNHAM

Variant cover by CAMERON STEWART

1:100 B&W Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM

On sale JUNE 20 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Combo pack edition: $3.99 US

• This is the story of a man and a woman fighting over the heart and soul of their child. Unfortunately for the world, the man is BATMAN, the woman is TALIA AL GHUL, and the child is DAMIAN.

This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

*Impatiently awaits the Cass Cain appearance we were promised*

BATMAN AND ROBIN #10

Written by PETER J. TOMASI

Art and cover by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY

On sale JUNE 13 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• Someone calls a meeting of the ROBINS, but who and why? And will the exiled and egotistical RED HOOD answer the call?

• RED ROBIN learns of DAMIAN’S betrayal – but how long will the youngest ROBIN’S lack of discipline stand?

• Many of Gotham City’s villains blame BATMAN for their downfall, but what happens when they stand together in a pact to bring the DARK KNIGHT down?

Although she's been excluded from the ranks of Robin, I do hope that Steph is given a mention in some manner here. :(

BATWING #10

Written by JUDD WINICK

Art by MARCUS TO and RYAN WINN

Cover by MARCUS TO

On sale JUNE 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

• BATWING fights pirates known as THE JACKALS as they attempt to smuggle a mysterious cargo.

• BATMAN’S investigation leads him to China to face an unexpected member of his ROGUES GALLERY!

• Guest-starring BATMAN!

Going to China, likelihood of Cass Cain appearing... low to not existant. *sigh* He does seem to have pinched a chromed version of her mask though.

Comments

[icon_uk]

Although she's been excluded from the ranks of Robin, I do hope that Steph is given a mention in some manner here. :(

Even as a fan of Stephanie (as Spoiler and Batgirl at any rate), I really can't see why she should be. The whole point is that she now has never BEEN Robin, this is a Robin-centric issue, so why should someone who has never been a Robin be more likely to be mentioned than anyone else? Brining her in would just... muddy the waters.

That being said, I want a Spoiler appearance and history (as well as elaboration on whether she was ever Batgirl) pronto, just not in the middle of this story.

[aeka]

I do see where you're coming from, but it still feels like an insult to not just Stephanie fans that she's no longer acknowledged as a Robin, but an insult to female readers in general because the message here comes across as "girl Robins don't matter."

Yeah, Helena Wayne *was* Robin on Earth-2, but she's the only girl Robin in continuity and she's still outnumbered by all the four male Robins. :/

[rainspirit]

It was an insult from the start. It was NEVER meant to be a genuine role for her - merely shock value before inevitably returning Tim to the role.

Steph had a bad, bad history before Batgirl.

[darkknightjrk]

Agreed. Not to mention that, sad as it is, since Steph as Robin had potential to be something fun and exciting, I thought it was vastly wasted and mostly used to tell really crap stories so antithetical and almost poisonous to some of the Bat-Family that it's a good thing that her time as Robin was taken out in Flashpoint.

[espanolbot]

The thing is that her time as Robin was actually a lot of fun, and it was nice to see her, Bruce and Cass working on an equal footing for once.

It's just a shame that it was never intended to last, and was just considered to be a brief reprieve before her torture/death scenes.

[darkknightjrk]

Eh...there were a few cute moments, but I honestly don't even remember her stories as Robin being all that great--not terrible, just...not at all memorable. To be fair, though, it was a nice reprieve from Willingham writing Tim, which was just god-awful.

The only moment I really remember of Steph as Robin was in a Detective Comics issue, where she was taken hostage by Zsasz, and she breaks free by biting one of his fingers off. I thought that was awesomely hardcore on her part.

[espanolbot]

I remember her team-up with Cass, and when she met Conner (who indignantly told her that she wasn't Robin). Both were interesting to me at least.

[darkknightjrk]

Maybe you can do posts on those? I honestly can't remember anything like that at all, and I'm pretty sure I was reading monthlies by then.

[espanolbot]

The Cass one I posted recently, the other I'll post tomorrow. :)

[vitruvian23]

Actually, if the continuation of the Batman Leviathan storyline picks up where it left off, in the latest installment we've seen she was Robin. Are they going to go back and edit that text when the whole thing's collected in an Absolute Edition?

[vitruvian23]

Meant to say, she was mentioned to be Batgirl.

[darkknightjrk]

I'm guessing it's either going to be one of two things:

1. They don't include Steph or Babs at all, making the whole point moot in terms of Morrison's story.
2. They have Babs as Batgirl, possibly have Steph as Spoiler, and have, say, Babs mention that Steph was Batgirl while she was recovering the use of her legs.

[vitruvian23]

An Absolute edition would include the entire story, which includes the special with Stephanie (who has been Batgirl) infiltrating that school. If that story's not included, it's not Absolute.

Even if they keep it all in multiple trades, either that story gets collected in one, or the trades are incomplete, and then it will remain noticeable to anybody who gets all the trades and reads them in order.

[darkknightjrk]

I get that--what I'm saying is that they'll either explain it away in the upcoming on-going coming out in May, or they'll just ignore it. That has nothing to do with what was shown in the past.

[sistermagpie]

And I believe the line there was "I was Robin for five minutes" so even with that being true she probably wouldn't be called in for a meeting of the Robins.

[thormonger]

I have to say, first of all, I'm not a huge fan of the new format that the DC Blog has for showing their solicits, with the information on one page and the covers on another.

That's why I wait for Newsarama to post their consolidated solicits page.

[espanolbot]

I read them on the Source, but I got the covers from Comicbook Resources. :)

[darkknightjrk]

Am I the only one who feels that a lot of times the talk about Batman Incorporated is being clouded by Cass? I mean, yeah, I certainly would like to see her appear there, or anywhere else, but even if that doesn't happen, I think it's going to be an AMAZING book. I mean, look at that cover! It's gorgeous!

[espanolbot]

*Sigh* I know. I just feel that, as a fan, it was a little unfair that both Cass and Steph were shown in good positions just prior to the reboot after years of bad editorial decisions, writers' grudges and the like, only for them to vanish in a puff of smoke.

[icon_uk]

Except we don't know that they have disappeared in a puff of smoke, just that they haven't shown up yet.

That's aggravating, true, but they still exist as characters and heroes, AFAIK, which is more than can be said about Donna Troy, Garth of Atlantis and Wally West.

[darkknightjrk]

Yeah, right now I'm pretty much thinking that all of them exist to some degree, they're just outside of all the big goings on right now, doing their own thing.

[icon_uk]

The absence of any reference to Wally by Barry (AFAIK) and the fact that Bart is seemingly the first "Kid Flash" sort of argues against Wally having had any sort of a heroic career.

[darkknightjrk]

Eh, I still think that's something that could be fixed VERY easily with a few lines if/when he's brought around again. It would probably have to be in a way to negate a lot of his history (would be weird for him to have a wife and kids with the de-aging), but I think it would work--besides, the kids were kind-of the kiss of death for Wally anyway.

[aeka]

Am I the only one who feels that a lot of times the talk about Batman Incorporated is being clouded by Cass?

A lot of that I'm sure has to do with the fact that Cass is pretty much benched at the moment. If she was set to appear in her own solo book or on someone else's book, I'm pretty sure this would not be an issue. :/

[jaybee3]

It wouldn't be that way if DC hadn't said to look for Batman Inc. for any appearances for Cass. If they let her appear in Birds of Prey or even in Snyder's Batman (where he said he originally had her cameoing in issue 1) there wouldn't be this problem.

Personally I think its beyond odd (and kinda dodgy strictly from a marketing POV) to continually have the most successful (sales-wise) Asian hero (male OR female, I think) in DC history to be blanked out and never mentioned or "benched" for months at a time while El Gaucho (I mean, El Gaucho, for pete's sake!) gets on the Batman Inc. cover.

And I am dubious that she will appear at all (in a meaningful way) even if Batman goes to China. But that's the cynic in me.

[darkknightjrk]

I just assume that if she is around, it's going to be as a supporting character--it's been said multiple times that the main story is about Bruce, Damian, and Talia, so I guess I never assumed that she would be mentioned in the solicits--not to mention that it was a surprise when she was Incorporated last time.

[runespoor]

A lot of the times I would enjoy DC much more if not for their habit of disappearing the characters I like.

[darkblade]

I don't know why I didn't see it before but with that cover I can't help but see Dick's new costume as a cowl free version of the Batman Beyond costume.

[werehawk]

"I have to say, first of all, I'm not a huge fan of the new format that the DC Blog has for showing their solicits, with the information on one page and the covers on another."

I agree 100%. They also made it harder to peruse the future comics that are coming out for the next few months. You now have to search by comic or date and can only see 8 or so on the page. Kinda like Marvel's website now, which sucks.

[maxisanacorn]

I keep holding out that Spoiler and Black Bat have been on a secret Inc mission and will be somewhat of a minor subplot in INC. Or sometime this summer have a mini series or one-shot.

They're confirmed that BOTH exist, which is better than poor Wally West and Donna Troy, it's just WHERE are they?!

While Cass will probably retain her Batgirl stint, Stephanie may not, which I think is a terrible sacrifice of good character development.

Morrison seemed to like Stephanie and wrote her very well as Batgirl.

An easy Flashpoint fix is that Cass was Batgirl for most of Babs's wheelchair boundness, bout 1.5-2 years or so, was NEVER evil and after Bruce "died" Cass was given orders in his will 'post mortem' message to establish herself in Hong Kong, leaving the Batgirl mantle open and becoming Black Bat, effectively being the first preliminary branch of Batman Inc once Bruce returned.

Babs, following Bruce's disappearance goes to Africa for her surgery and year of rehab.

With Cass, Babs, and then Tim supplanted as Robin and goes AWOL, only Stephanie, Dick and Damian are left in Gotham. Bruce leaves a message for Dick to tutor/keep an eye on her as she's sorta, like Damian, a bit of a liability. She adopts the Batgirl mantle Cass left behind and after being solo like she was while in Cass's costume in her book, Dick intercepts and after a new suit, she become's DICK's temporary Batgirl for 9-6 months, as long as he was Batman. They hold Gotham together.

Bruce gets back, and he and Stephanie take down the School of Night on their Inc mission, a competency check. He asks if she'd like to be Spoiler, her own previously maligned mantle again, finally fully Batman approved and accepted. She becomes Spoiler again and then is finally reunited and sent on an INC mission with Cass thus there is no Batgirl in Gotham for a few weeks to a few months. Then Babs returns and suits up for the first time in three years. She doesn't need to mention Stephanie because she was cut out from her tenure. Same with Proxy/Wendy and Supergirl/Stargirl. Honestly no problem with that.

I really don't understand the problems for having them around. I'd love someone to really interview the DC big wigs and get them to confess WHY they don't like these characters so much.

They kept Dick as Batman canon, keeping Steph as Batgirl canon is doable cause it happened at the same time. It changes NOTHING of the current status quo.

It's interesting that now that Babs is so young, and Stephanie's age, about seventeen, and Cass's eighteen to nineteen they're pretty much peers instead of mentor/mentees. Drop Batgirl from BOP and make a team book of Steph, Babs and Cass. It's like the Powerpuff Girls but with Bats.

[darkknightjrk]

Wow...that's a pretty damn good way of keeping most of everything intact while keeping what was established in Batgirl. Good show. :)

[junkurosu]

That's very feasible fix. I'm impressed. Wow. :O

[maxisanacorn]

Thanks. I'm a 22 year old with a B.A. in English creative writing but don't have any experience in writing comics. Why I can come up with this and 30+ year old professionals at DC Comics cannot, I honestly can't understand it. It's their job to make their customers happy, and that is a way to do it that makes maybe 1/3 of their Bat-fam fans happy and doesn't affect Babs and the current Batgirl run AT ALL. It allows everyone a cake and they can eat it too.

It's really pretty straightforward editing and simplification, and it's very funny that fixing Steph's tenure is essentially eliminating Barbara Gordon from being involved. Sure it's not what we read before, and their relationship has been set back to square oneish back to when she was Spoiler, but it still means Steph's growth as a character and her reestablishment with Tim happened.

Since Tim is still 16ish again (bout a year knocked off from the reboot) and Stephanie is always a year older than him and then Cass about 19, the reboot essentially doesn't change either of those girl's ages much either.

Honestly just having Steph take up Batgirl because Cass left would be out of trying to "keep face" for Gotham now that Bruce is gone. It would be very noble, not just Cassandra dropping it at her feet.

She worked well next to DickBatman and Damian. I think adding the temporary "purple much" Yvonne Craigish Batgirl alongside a bouncy Batman and a grumpy/irate Robin when referencing the Reborn era as a misfit-y trifecta temporarily trying to hold Gotham together in lieu of Bruce's "death" and three of their family: Tim, Cass and Babs leaving Gotham. I really think it works.

[marco]

This is going to be incredibly off-topic, but can I ask where you went to school? And if you went somewhere specifically because of their creative writing program? Just curious, because I plan on transferring soon, but I have zero clue about where to go, etc.

[terabient]

I wish they'd cut down on the Batman guest appearances in Batwing. The interaction between Batman and Batwing isn't particularly interesting and all Batman ends up doing is stuff that could easily be assigned to supporting characters or done by Batwing himself.

Oh well. At least there's PIRATES!

[darkknightjrk]

Agreed--Bruce has been in at least HALF of the issues to some degree so far. That don't make you a guest star, that makes you a supporting character--which isn't inherently a bad thing, and Bruce has been used in a way where I don't think he's overshadowed David, but it is kinda odd.

[terabient]

Honestly, Batman comes off as a sidekick more than anything else, which says a lot about the necessity of his presence. :p

[junkurosu]

That Batman and Robin cover makes it look like Jason wants to have a hug-it-out with Damian and Tim. It just screams: "Hi. Let's reaffirm our relationship as brothers while I hold my guns up in the air so I don't shoot you."

Batman tends be a guest star a lot in Batwing. Is it just to try to pull regular Batman readers or because the writer is having a hard setting up the main concepts of the book?

[eyz]

Tallulah Black? Bat Lash? Hooray, my Western corner of the DCU wasn't much affected by the reboot!!

And Hooray for that Batman & Robin issue, though I miss the blue on Dick's costume, it's nice to see how well they all go alongside now~

[pepperspray101]

I'm sorry but what is going on in Batman inc's cover? I'm suddenly put to mind movie posters from the 80's and not the good kind. Why do people like this? I like the medusa head and talia and batman even if the coloring is very basic/simplistic, but then you got who is that? El gaucho? grinning with 2 random chicks on his arms and smaller characters in the back with a medium shot of serious Damian. Its feels random. I dunno, I guess I like there to be some uniformity to covers or not a mish mash of things like this. Looks awful to me.