DC Solicitations for September 2010: What Are You Buying?

[Ed Liu]

DC Comics Solicitations for September 2010 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26690)

My comments:

- Probably popping for a few of those War special comics. Our Army at War, Weird War Tales, and Star-Spangled War Stories look like good preorder fodder, and G.I. Combat might get the nod out of general principle because it's got the Haunted Tank in it.

- Might pre-order that New Teen Titans: Games HC, even though I've never been a humongous Titans fan.

- Very striking cover for Gotham City Sirens #16 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/dccomics/201009/superman_batman/Gotham-Sirens-16-cover---NOT-FINAL.jpg), both for the weird color scheme and the visual layout that makes such heavy use of reflective surfaces.

- Is that Gorilla Grodd attacking Lex Luthor with a giant spoon (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/dccomics/201009/superman_batman/AC_Cv893.jpg), or am I the only one who sees that?

- And am I also the only one getting a kind of inappropriate vibe out of the cover to Zatanna #5 (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/dccomics/201009/dcu/Zatanna-5.jpg), on the assumption that the guy on the cover is her cousin?

- On the one hand, I liked Doug Moench/Kelley Jones collaborations in the past. On the other hand, I have a problem with anything advertised as "scarifying." Still probably going to order that Batman: Unseen TPB, though.

- Hmm. Boy Commandos HC. On the plus side, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. On the minus side, $50 price tag. Maybe.

- I get so confused about how DC is doing the Gail Simone Wonder Woman reprints. It seems like sometimes, we got a HC before the TPB, sometimes the HC and the TPB at the same time, and now it seems like we get no HC at all for Contagion. Which I'm pre-ordering, unless I can find out whether there was a HC for it or not.

- I'm also looking a bit askance at the JLA Deluxe Edition hardcovers now, since they don't seem to reprint anything that wasn't written by Grant Morrison, regardless of how it leaves gaps in the comic (and also excludes fun stories like "The Strange Case of Julian September."

Sowhatchagonnaget?

[rggkjg1]

BRIGHTEST DAY #9-10
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #49 (http://fdfdfd)
THE FLASH #6
NEW TEEN TITANS: GAMES HC (http://fdfdfd)
BATMAN #703
BATMAN: ODYSSEY #3 (http://fdfdfd)
DETECTIVE COMICS #869 (http://fdfdfd)
BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #16
BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #6 (http://fdfdfd)
BATMAN AND ROBIN #16
BATMAN BEYOND #4
BATGIRL #14
SUPERMAN #703
ACTION COMICS #893
SUPERGIRL #56
ADVENTURE COMICS #518 (http://fdfdfd)
DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES #5
FIRST WAVE #4
WONDER WOMAN #603 (http://fdfdfd)
ZATANNA #5 (http://fdfdfd)

[Anthonynotes]

Will buy:
Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam #20
Tiny Titans #32
Batman: The Brave and the Bold #21

Might buy:
Scooby Doo, Where Are You? #1
Looney Tunes #190

A new #1 for Scooby Doo, but doesn't look different from the previous series.


- Is that Gorilla Grodd attacking Lex Luthor with a giant spoon, or am I the only one who sees that?

I saw it too... from the description about "making a meal out of Lex", I assume they're both referencing the stupid idea in recent years of Grodd eating human flesh. Guess somebody at DC flunked biology/zoology... the only meal he'd "make out of Lex" would be eating his fruit salad or something. Then again, maybe Grodd asking Mirror Master if he's "going to finish that" salad he's eating isn't as "realistic" (read: bloodthirsty) as, um, some man-eating gorilla idea that feels more at home in a "Three Stooges" episode... :-p

Wonder if anything's planned for 200th issue of Looney Tunes (if they don't restart that title a la Scooby, too)? Especially with a new cartoon out this fall...

-B.

[Jin Kazama]

Getting
-Brightest Day #9-10: I really dislike that they’re putting Young Justice-Aqualad into the main DCU. Media tie-ins into the mainstream storyline always suck, and take down everything with them.
-Green Lantern #58
-Green Arrow #4: I’m giving the first few issues a shot.
-Birds of Prey #5: See: "Green Arrow"
-The Flash #6: Why do I get the sinking feeling that I’m going to hate “Flashpoint”?
-Batman #703
-Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #6: Issues 1 and 2 blew. I’m in this until the end of this mini, but this is pretty much the breaking point with me. Depending on how this ends, I may be off Batman as a whole.
-Batman and Robin #16: Teasing Dick dying? Really? Because that worked out so well before, right?
-Batgirl #14: Can’t we have anything teen-girl related that doesn’t have vampires these days?
-DC Universe Legacies #5
-Booster Gold #36: Interesting plot element to have a man who can travel time being stopped by it.
-Zatanna #5: Again, giving the first few issues a try.
-Secret Six: Danse Macabre TP: I read it in trades, so this is an easy get. Nice to see the Suicide Squad tie-in issue there as well.
-Tiny Titans #32: Tiny Titans Kalibak (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/dccomics/201009/dckids/Tiny-Titans-32-cover.jpg)! Awesome.

May Get/Not Getting But Worth Note
-New Teen Titans: Games: I like the talent. I recognize what they did for the franchise. But I’ve (shamefully) never read any of their run yet, so I’ll have no idea what’s going on.
-Superman #703: Really neat cover (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/dccomics/201009/superman_batman/Superman-703.jpg). Normally when they do this sort of “Superman of the People” stuff, he’s hovering above them. Here, he’s on their level, and focusing more on the people than their savior.
-Secret Six #25: Round One! FIGHT! (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/preview2.php?image=solicits/dccomics/201009/dcu/SSIX_Cv25.jpg) Ha! I love it!

[Xurk]

BRIGHTEST DAY #9-10 - I'm only up to #3 so far and I'm still not sure if I'll stay on this. I'm pretty interested in the White Lantern and all, but the rest has failed to excite me much.
GREEN LANTERN #58
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #52
GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS #2
ADVENTURE COMICS #518 - When did this go back to the original numbering? Is all the "Legion" and cross-over stuff over with yet? I can't tell from the solicitation text, but the cover doesn't seem to be Conner.
BOOSTER GOLD #36

[Anthonynotes]

-Brightest Day #9-10: I really dislike that they’re putting Young Justice-Aqualad into the main DCU. Media tie-ins into the mainstream storyline always suck, and take down everything with them.

Hmm... well, comics have taken elements from their spinoff media in the past---that's how we wind up with Jimmy Olsen as a major character (thanks to the 40s Superman radio show, and later 50s TV show), or kryptonite (which was created for the radio show), or (for a more recent example) Harley Quinn in the mainstream comics...

-B.

[Jin Kazama]

ADVENTURE COMICS #518 - When did this go back to the original numbering? Is all the "Legion" and cross-over stuff over with yet? I can't tell from the solicitation text, but the cover doesn't seem to be Conner.

Conner's getting his own ongoing soon. I'm not sure when it starts, but August's Action Comics has a co-feature that sets it up, so probably within the next few months worth of solicits.


Hmm... well, comics have taken elements from their spinoff media in the past---that's how we wind up with Jimmy Olsen as a major character (thanks to the 40s Superman radio show, and later 50s TV show), or kryptonite (which was created for the radio show), or (for a more recent example) Harley Quinn in the mainstream comics...

-B.

Yeah, but for every Harley Quinn, there's "face scar" Joker and "target on head" Bullseye. Heck, they've already killed Garth to get the new guy in there.

[Ed Liu]

Heck, they've already killed Garth to get the new guy in there.
Yeah, because death is forever in DC Comics, innit? :p

Besides, Garth hasn't been "Aqualad" for some time, has he? He changed to Tempest some time ago, just as Dick Grayson is Nightwing and Roy Harper is Arsenal. The all-new, all-black Aqualad-from-the-TV-show is replacing Garth, but for a position/name that's been left unfilled for quite a bit longer than Garth's recent "death." That'd be like saying Damian Wayne is replacing Dick Grasyon -- it's true in the most literal sense, but you're skipping a few steps.


I saw it too... from the description about "making a meal out of Lex", I assume they're both referencing the stupid idea in recent years of Grodd eating human flesh. Guess somebody at DC flunked biology/zoology... the only meal he'd "make out of Lex" would be eating his fruit salad or something.
I thought higher primates will eat meat if they can get it, but generally don't go out of their way to get it. They'll definitely eat grubs and insects, so it's not like a gorilla would NEVER eat meat. Besides, the idea of dangerous carnivorous gorillas has been a staple of pulp fiction for years. I'd say that DC was probably stealing from Tarzan if I had to pick a place where that was coming from.

Regardless, what struck me as weird about that image is that it's a giant spoon. Not the first dining implement I'd pick as a weapon, or the one I'd use to eat meat with. Plus, it's a giant spoon, even for Grodd's larger size. That's like Galactus' spoon, to scoop out the last, best little bits of planet from the shell before he moves on. I mean, seriously -- what's up with that?

[Jin Kazama]

Yeah, because death is forever in DC Comics, innit? :p

That doesn't mean we need to go around killing everyone in sight because they're just coming back later. That's how DC got into the mess they're in right now in terms of how they're viewed by fans at the moment.



Besides, Garth hasn't been "Aqualad" for some time, has he? He changed to Tempest some time ago, just as Dick Grayson is Nightwing and Roy Harper is Arsenal. The all-new, all-black Aqualad-from-the-TV-show is replacing Garth, but for a position/name that's been left unfilled for quite a bit longer than Garth's recent "death." That'd be like saying Damian Wayne is replacing Dick Grasyon -- it's true in the most literal sense, but you're skipping a few steps.

Well, the traditional-sense Aquaman that they're using at the moment hasn't been really used that much in almost that long as well. Of all the characters to either come out of or be associated with Blackest Night, Aquaman seems to be the one that they're pushing the hardest to get over right now. I don't really see how having him share the spotlight with Product-Placement-Aqualad helps Aquaman himself.

A year down the road? Maybe. But 8 issues into a series he's sharing with ten other characters (and it being the only title Aquaman's in at the moment)? No.

[Anthonynotes]

I thought higher primates will eat meat if they can get it, but generally don't go out of their way to get it. They'll definitely eat grubs and insects, so it's not like a gorilla would NEVER eat meat. Besides, the idea of dangerous carnivorous gorillas has been a staple of pulp fiction for years. I'd say that DC was probably stealing from Tarzan if I had to pick a place where that was coming from.

Yeah, i know it's a pulp/B-movie staple, but still figured DC was smarter than that. (Blinks for a moment) Then again, this *is* the same company that thinks "superhero-wife-rape" is something to base a *Justice League* story around... :-p



Regardless, what struck me as weird about that image is that it's a giant spoon. Not the first dining implement I'd pick as a weapon, or the one I'd use to eat meat with. Plus, it's a giant spoon, even for Grodd's larger size. That's like Galactus' spoon, to scoop out the last, best little bits of planet from the shell before he moves on. I mean, seriously -- what's up with that?

Maybe it's some sort of spoon designed to amplify Grodd's mental powers and, um, uh... or maybe it's made of some sort of metal designed to absorb Lex's suit's powers and, erm... or something that's designed to counteract or store the Flash's super-speed vibrations and... OK, I have no idea either.

-B.

[wonderfly]

Getting:

Adventure Comics #518: I'm still onboard for the Legion arc...but I'm not sure what happens to this title once that story's over with.
Legion of Super-Heroes #5
Jonah Hex #59
Scalped #42


On the "Maybe" list:

Wonder Woman #603: I might pick up if I enjoy the 1st issue of Straczynski's run...
The Sandman Vol. 1-3 TPB's: Ooooh, it's a new edition featuring the remastered colorings from the "Absolute" Edition. Might be a good time for me to collect Sandman again (I sold off my TPB's several years ago due to money concerns at the time).

[DisneyBoy]

Batgirl #14 looks like a fun read. I'm not usually drawn into the mainstream books, but this just seems like a fun premise and an easy-to-access issue.


Is that Gorilla Grodd attacking Lex Luthor with a giant spoon, or am I the only one who sees that?

No, you are not. Really nice art - bizarre concept.


the only meal he'd "make out of Lex" would be eating his fruit salad or something.

Especially if we're talking about Smallville's Lex. Ho-Yah!

[Anthonynotes]

Especially if we're talking about Smallville's Lex. Ho-Yah!

Smallville's Lex eats fruit salad? Not a Smallville fan, but gather this was an actual plot point? :-p

-B.