Steph Lives Post-Reboot: Official! And Other DC Solicits!

[espanolbot]

"Grant Morrison is back on BATMAN INCORPORATED for a giant-sized one-shot called LEVIATHAN STRIKES. Gotham’s greatest detective will learn that there’s more to his deadly foe than meets the eye. So what is the Leviathan’s shocking secret? We’re not saying…but for now, we’ve got a first look at the cover by Chris Burnham.

“The long-awaited conclusion to season 1 of BATMAN INCORPORATED is here at last!” said Morrison. “For months, Batman and his allies have fought a shadow campaign against the deadly legions of the mysterious Leviathan, but now it’s time for all-out war – a war which Batman may not be able to win. Schoolgirl assassins! Bat-robots! Nazi masterminds with Alzheimer’s! Guest stars galore! Batman and Spoiler team to face the School of Night while Batman Incorporated travels to a sinister Cold War interrogation facility to face the mind-bending menace of Doctor Dedalus for the last time while the true identity of Leviathan is finally revealed, with shocking consequences for the Dark Knight. With incredible artwork from Cameron Stewart (BATMAN AND ROBIN MUST DIE) and Chris Burnham (BATMAN INC.), LEVIATHAN STRIKES! rounds out season 1 and is also the prologue to 2012’s BATMAN: LEVIATHAN – the epic, tragic, final act of a story six years long.”

BATMAN INCORPORATED: LEVIATHAN STRIKES goes on sale December 21."
http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/09/19/batman-incorporated-leviathan-strikes-first-look/

So, this apparently is in continuity, judging from the mandate that said RIP etc. were all still in continuity, except that that's Bruce's prereboot outfit. Oh well. And Steph's the Spoiler again, huh, maybe her time as Batgirl was was retconned after all. :(

Still, they could have ordered Grant to rewrite it as Barbara who was having to go undercover at the British Finishing School, so Steph still being in the story is good.


THE SHADE #3

Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Art by CULLY HAMNER
Cover by TONY HARRIS
1:10 Variant cover by CULLY HAMNER
On sale DECEMBER 14 • 32 pg, FC, 3 of 12, $2.99 US RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
The Shade must take a trip “Down Under” to find the answers he seeks about his past! In Sydney, he encounters an old ally named Diablo Blacksmith. But deep in the heart of the Outback lies a monstrous foe, one that The Shade must face completely on his own, and one that knows all of The Shade’s weaknesses.

Why would an Australian have Diablo as a name? Huh, well I guess if the Shade knew him, he could have been one of those guys who moved from the States to Australia while looking for gold back in the 1800s.

BLUE BEETLE #4

Written by TONY BEDARD
Art by IG GUARA and J.P. MAYER
Cover by TYLER KIRKHAM and SAL REGLA
On sale DECEMBER 21 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
What is Jaime Reyes going to do? La Dama and the unstoppable, mechanical monster known as Silverback both want the scarab for their own nefarious purposes, and Jaime’s family and friends want to know why he disappeared. Can he keep his secret safe, or will he risk everything to tell his loved ones the truth?

Hey everyone, can y'all say: unnecessary reboot! Also, cybergorilla. Hee.

These and the other books DC doesn't want to promote, found here,
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=34464

Comments

[eyz]

STEPH'S STILL CANON! HOORAAAAY!!~
Back as Spoiler? I can live with that :P

About Bat's costume: He's Batman! He can have multiple costumes around, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

But Jaime's family's not on the loop concerning his secret ID? oh... :(
But I liked their interactions regarding his super hero life...

[tpsreports]

That means this never happened, which I refuse to accept.

[mrstatham]

If Steph's time as Batgirl has been retconned - and at this rate, maybe even Cass' (since it would be easy to say she was always Blackbat), for me that pretty much confirms how anal the people in charge of DC are. It's not enough they've got Barbara back as Batgirl for their little silver-age butchery to continue it's course, but they have to make it so she'd be the only Batgirl ever?

I admit I'm just theorising that, but still, would you put it past them? DC have already displayed with magnificent idiocy that they don't understand or care about the fanbase the two previous Batgirls have.

[icon_uk]

IMHO better to have the retcon have Steph have always kept the name she made for herself, rather than have to explain why she's no longer Batgirl, a name she's only just taken on and which they had to jump through hoops for to have her take on in the first place.

To be honest, I'm likewise ambivalent on her career as Robin being excised. Before anyone jumps down my throat on that, it's got nothing to do with her being "the girl Robin" or any sense that she was not worthy of the role. She was. But I'll note that if her assumption of the role of Robin had ever struck me as anything less than a crass (and given it's preordained ending, unspeakably horrible) marketing gimmick I'd be more upset about it's excision from history.

Let her have stayed Spoiler, the name SHE chose and made for herself. She now is (and may well always have been) the first Spoiler, not the first Spoiler, followed by being the fourth Robin and the third Batgirl (Or fourth if you count Helena... or fifth if you count Betty Kane back in the day).

[magus_69]

Steph? HOORAY!

Jaime's family and friends not in the loop from the beginning? NO!

*deep breath*

Okay, okay, we don't know the circumstances yet. For all we know, Jaime has just gotten back, but circumstances are conspiring against him so that he has to do the hero thing before he's had a chance to do more than the basic "Hey I'm alive!" check-in.

*starts twitching*
That's all that it is. I'm sure of it. Really.

[darkknightjrk]

Well, it sounds like they're starting things over, so he's not going to have been involved in Infinite Crisis/OYL--that event probably doesn't even exist in this timeline.

[drmcninja]

Frankly, I am unimpressed by all of them. I'm just kind of happy to see theh Kingdom-Come-esque robots up and about. It was only a matter of time before they became canon.

[icon_uk]

We've already seen WayneTech-created, Gotham-patrolling Batbots in "Batman Inc."

[q99]

Aw, too bad we didn't get to see Steph as Batgirl do the Batman Inc thing.

Still, moving her back to Spoiler is the logical move in light of all else.


(Btw, speculation- Next she'll become Nightwing for, like, 3 months, then be back to Spoiler. And after that? Batman! The pattern has already been establishing, Steph shall claim *every* Batcrown!)

[drexer]

Stephanie Brown is BATMAN INCORPORATED

Makes sense really.

[salinea]

LOL

That'd be fun :)

[runespoor]

HEY

THAT'S JASON'S THING.

Next time, featuring Steph as Nightwing and Jason as Spoiler.

[icon_uk]

If they have Jamie keeping his ID secret from his family, they've lost me on this relaunch. It was a magnificent and defining component of his story that he was open with his family about his life and his heroic career. If they change that, they've changed Jaime and his family dynamic too much IMHO, so I hope they have him coming out (in a manner of speaking).

[nezchan]

Agreed. If you don't have Jaime immediately and without hesitation letting his family in on what's happening, you don't get the character and you don't get what made his original series so awesome.

The whole "how can I hide my identity" schtick is OLD, people! Every damn superhero does it!

[drexer]

Once again:

*happydance for Steph's return*

[eyz]

Now all we need is a confirmed sighting of BlackBat or whatever Cass goes by these day :P

We can count on Morrison to keep Bats such an extended family of related characters around^^

[runespoor]

*crickets chirping*

*fingers twirling*

*waiting for Cass*

[icon_uk]

If Batman Inc is still intact, I can't see any reason to think she's NOT still BlackBat operating out of... Hong Kong wasn't it?

[mullon]

Yeah, but shge's only back as another one of Morrison's things.

[arbre_rieur]

Being one of Morrison's things is, fortunately, seldom a bad thing.

[auggie18]

...man, Steph was my favorite Batgirl. Kinda sad that that's probably all out the window now. Still, at least she exists, right? Right?


Sigh.


Also, auuugh, no, what are they thinking, Blue Beetle has a secret identity from his folks now? Does Milagro not exist anymore? Did they miss the whole freaking point of his original run? Is someone there allergic to original ideas? GRRBLSMXER!

[retro_nouveau]

My first Colleen Coover sketch request was for Stephanie Brown putting on the mask for the first time in a few months. I love everything about the 100% original Eggplant Enforcer.

Spoiler, Robin IV, Spoiler, Batgirl III (IV, V, whatever), and of course back to The one-and-only Spoiler. The corollary to "scans or it didn't happen" is "scans so it did happen".

[darkknightjrk]

"And Steph's the Spoiler again, huh, maybe her time as Batgirl was was retconned after all. :("

No, that can be done very easily. During the issue, Steph's getting ready and Bruce is telling her to hurry through her comm-set, and she replies, "Oh, keep your pants on, boss--with Babs taking the reigns of Team Batgirl, I want this to be the best introduction to the all-new, all-different Spoiler and generally make a good impression."

"Hey everyone, can y'all say: unnecessary reboot! Also, cybergorilla. Hee."

Honestly, I've heard Bedard's argument for rebooting the character, and honestly I can't really argue it. I mean, think about it--his origin in finding the scarab and his first adventure is a massive event comic that doesn't even count in this new continuity, and a lot of the exploration and world-building had to deal with how characters like Ted Kord and Dan Garrett fit. Not really the most clean or helpful when they should focus more on Jaime.

[midnightvoyager]

Uh.

So, someone wanna tell me why a GIGANTIC crotch-plate is preferable to over-undies?

(Sorry, that's all the "give a damn" I can muster.)

[whitesycamore]

Because it really makes his bat-parts POP, that's why!

[aaron_bourque]

I am heartened by the fact that Blue Beetle has a gorilla on the cover. Seemed like they never did that except ironically in the past 15, 20 years.

Aaron "The Mad Whitaker" Bourque; okay, yes it's a modern day grim'n'gritty cyborg death gorilla, but still. It was a mainstay of the Silver Age for a reason.

[runespoor]

Wasn't Grodd on the cover of a Superman/Batman like two years ago? Looking terrifying?

But admittedly, that's Superman/Batman. Land of sweet sweet crack.

[zechs80]

I think Steph's Spoiler again at the very latest in Batman Inc to avoid confusion amongst "new" DC readers. "Two Batgirls? What huh?"

Honestly, given that Snyder said mostly all Bat History remains and given his fondness for Cass (I think he was the force that nudged Morrison to make her Batman of Hong Kong). Well, I think other than Morrison we'll have Snyder be using her as well.

[runespoor]

Because it's not going to be confusing at all, when they hear it's the second part of something else, and in that something else Steph is Batgirl.

And if there can be multiple Green Lanterns without confusion for the readers...

[icon_uk]

Why would an Australian have Diablo as a name?

Who says he's Australian?

[avantre]

Who says he's not? Speaking as an Australian, we're not all called Bruce and Sheila, and we've got people from all over the world here that are more than capable of giving their offspring bad names.

For that matter, who says it's a real name? Ironic-yet-self-depreciating nicknames are as Australian as you can get. In Australia, Diablo would be the meek little guy in the back of a bar, the one sipping on milk or water or something.

[leikomgwtfbbq]

STEPH LIVES!

Leviathan

[capt_satellite]

My money is on R'as having lept over into Damien at some point, and being at the head of Leviathan.