Upcoming Comics: February 25, 2015

Comic-Con San Diego tickets went on sale yesterday! Did any of you guys manage to get some tickets? I was up early yesterday to try and order some for a friend, but only managed to get a badge for Sunday. It’s a crazy process! I consider myself lucky though. I spoke to a lot of my friends yesterday afternoon, and they didn’t get any. If you are one of the lucky few who scored badges, let us know! I’ll be there all week, and this will be my first convention, so I’m looking forward to it!

This week’s releases are listed in order of what I’m most excited to read, to what I’m least excited to read. For each title, I’ll include the official solicitation, the talent credits, more of my randomness, and the Batman News team member that will be covering each book. After that, you’ll find a poll for this week’s best cover! Should you have trouble picking one cover, no worries! The poll is open so you can select as many covers as you’d like. Then, as always, you’ll find graphic novels scheduled for release this week, along  with their cover as well thanks to some requests (note: graphic novel covers will not be included in the poll for best cover). And of course, I (we) want to hear from you in the comments section! What titles are you picking up? What do you hope to see? And what are your thoughts about the order of my list? So, without further ado…

 

February 25th

Batman #39
“Endgame” part 5. The Joker is back! The penultimate issue of the Clown Prince of Crime’s horrifying return! Plus, in the backup story, the inmates and Mahreen finally learn the truth about The Joker!

Written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV
Pencils by Greg Capullo and Dustin Nguyen
Inks by Derek Fridolfs and Danny Miki
Colored by Dave McCaig and Francisco Perez
Cover by Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, and Francisco Perez

Random Blurb of Excitement: If I could find a way to hack DC and read this now, I would… unfortunately, I’m no Oracle, so that won’t happen… I’m forced to wait until Wednesday…

Batman News Critic: Brandon

 

Catwoman #39
Will Selina save Gotham City? Or will she burn it to the ground?

Written by Genevieve Valentine
Pencils by Garry Brown
Inks by Garry Brown
Colored by Lee Loughridge
Cover by June Chung and Jae Lee

Random Blurb of Excitement: Burn it to the ground! There are a lot of plots moving towards what will hopefully be a massive climax, so I’m holding my breath! There are some varying opinions on this book at the moment, but I think it’s near perfection.

Batman News Critic: Josh

 

Batman Eternal #47
In the new order of Gotham City, Selina Kyle holds all the cards…and now it’s up to master spy Julia Pennyworth to steal them back!

Written by Tim Seeley, Scott Snyder, and James Tynion IV
Pencils by Juan E. Ferreyra
Inks by Juan E. Ferreyra
Colored by Juan E. Ferreyra
Cover by June Chung, Jae Lee, and Marcelo Maiolo

Random Blurb of Excitement: It looks like this book is FINALLY getting back on track! Maybe we’ll actually make some progress in moving towards the conclusion. I read the preview for this issue, and liked what I saw. Hopefully the rest of the issue will measure up.

Batman News Critic: Brandon

 

Gotham Academy #5
This month’s assignment: Uncover the hideous secrets of Gotham Academy’s North Hall! Also: smooching?!

Written by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher
Pencils by Karl Kerschl
Inks Karl Kerschl
Colored by MSASSYK and Serge Lapointe
Cover by Becky Cloonan

Random Blurb of Excitement: This book has been a refreshing surprise since the beginning, and it’s continued to get better each month! I’m really looking forward to see where the creative team takes us after last month’s ending. If you haven’t been reading, or just read the first issue or two, I really recommend catching up.

Batman News Critic: Josh

 

Deathstroke #5
Deathstroke vs. Batman – with Harley Quinn stuck in the middle! The most intense, brutal battle in the history of The New 52 takes place in this issue!

Written by Tony Salvador Daniel
Pencils Tony Salvador Daniel
Inks by Sandu Florea
Colored by Tomeu Morey
Cover by Tony Salvador Daniel, Sandu Florea, and Tomeu Morey

Random Blurb of Excitement: We’re continuing our coverage of Deathstroke this month due to Batman & Harley’s involvement. If you remember, I was really nervous about last month’s issue based on a one page spread that depicted Harley poorly in issue #3. Thankfully, that appears to have just been a lapse in quality, because I enjoyed last month’s issue quite a bit. Now I’m looking forward to one intense fight between Batman and Deathstroke!

Batman News Critic: Elena

 

Gotham by Midnight #4
Dr. Szandor Tarr is far from what anyone would consider social, but will it turn out he’s more at home with an insect monster savaging Gotham City than he is with the Midnight Shift?

Written by Ray Fawkes
Pencils Ben Templesmith
Inks Ben Templesmith
Colored by Ben Templesmith
Cover by Ben Templesmith

Random Blurb of Excitement: I meant to pick this up and catch up, but I completely forgot. Elena has been giving the book pretty high marks though, so I wanted to try and reflect that in my ranking. Since I forgot to pick it up last month, I will make sure I catch up this month.

Batman News Critic: Elena

 

Arkham Manor #5
The insanity of Arkham Manor floods the streets of Gotham City!

Written by Gerry Duggan
Pencils by Shawn Crystal
Inks by Shawn Crystal
Colored by Dave McCaig
Cover by Shawn Crystal and Dave McCaig

Random Blurb of Excitement: If I’m being honest, this is a title that I found enjoyable, but I dropped it the moment I found out it was canceled. I still intend on reading it, I’m just waiting for the trades. This, again, is another book that Elena has been giving positive marks.

Batman News Critic: Elena

 

Batman ’66 #20
Gotham City has a new hero in town: Joker Man! Can it be? Has the Clown Prince of Crime now become a comedic crimefighter? This new Joker seems to be sincere about lassoing the lawless by rounding up all the criminals, including some of his former allies! In fact, he’s so good at it that the citizenry wonders if they still need Batman and Robin at all!

Written by Rob Williams
Pencils by Ruben Procopio
Inks by Ruben Procopio
Colored by Jordan Bellaire

Random Blurb of Excitement: I always enjoy reading this title, but it’s never something that I feel I need to read right away. Does that mean it’s not as good as the other titles above it? Not necessarily, it just doesn’t carry the weight of the other titles since they could potentially impact continuity.

Batman News Critic: Jay

 

Secret Origins #10
Get ready for The New 52 origins of Batgirl (written by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher with art by Irene Koh), Firestorm (courtesy of writer Dan Jurgens and artist Sean Chen) and Poison Ivy (coming your way from writer Christy Marx and artist Stjepan Sejic)!

Written by Brenden Fletcher, Dan Jurgens, Christy Marx, and Cameron Stewart
Pencils by Sean Chen, Stjepan Sejic, and Stephen Thompson
Inks by Mark Morales, Stjepan Sejic, and Stephen Thompson
Colored by Romulo Fajardo, Jr. and Stjepan Sejic
Cover by Lee Bermejo, Bryan Hitch, and Alex Sinclair

Random Blurb of Excitement: I usually place Secret Origins near the bottom of my list because it typically feels like a forced re-hashing of something we already know. This issue intrigues me a little because of the creative team behind Batgirl. I know I’m on the fence with that book, but it’s partially because the way they write Barbara often feels like she’s in her first year as Batgirl, instead of the Barbara who has experienced so much over the past few years… and that fresh, younger perception should work perfectly here. They also made a point to call this story out in this month’s issue of Batgirl, which I don’t think other books have done for their characters that have been featured. We also get a Firestorm and Poison Ivy story. I like Poison Ivy, but having Marx write her makes me nervous.

Batman news Critic: Elena

 

Futures End #43
Major fallout from last issue’s shocking demise of humanity’s one hope against apocalypse!

Written by Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, and Jeff Lemire
Pencils by Andy MacDonald
Inks by Andy MacDonald
Colored by Hi-Fi
Cover by Ryan Sook

Random Blurb of Excitement: It looks like Futures End is kicking it into high gear for a big finish to lead us into Convergence. It might be worth it to find a recap of the book to date, and catch up on the last few issues! That’s probably what I’m going to do…

Batman News Critic: Jesse

 

Earth 2: World’s End #21
Does Oliver Queen hold the answers to saving Earth-2?

Written by Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson, and Daniel Wilson
Pencils by Eddy Barrows, Jorge Jimenez, Eduardo Pansica, Robson Rocha, and RB Silva
Inks by Eber Ferreira, Jorge Jimenez, Paul Neary, Guillermo Ortego, and Walden Wong
Colored by Michael Atiyeh
Cover by Eddy Barrows, Gabe Eltaeb, and Eber Ferreira

Random Blurb of Excitement: This book has been incredibly inconsistent. It just feels like it’s all over the place. There are moments that it’s good. Moments that it’s bad. And moments where its good and bad all at the same time. Plus, I would really like to see Huntress have a chance to shine in the New 52. Since her introduction as Helena Wayne, she’s essentially been the damsel in distress that’s needed to be saved. I would love for her to get the opportunity to prove she’s like her father, and doesn’t need powers or enhanced strength to be a badass.

Batman News Critic: Sean

 

Notes:

• Harley Quinn #15 has been pushed back to 3/5.
• The Multiversity Director’s Cut #1 has been pushed all the way out to April 1^st.
• Secret Six was originally scheduled to double up this month and release issue 3 this week, but it has been pushed to 3/11

 

Graphic Novel Watch:

Batwing Vol. 5 Into the Dark (Softcover) – The Gotham Underground is about to boil over with anarchy, and no matter who triumphs, Batwing will be the first target. He must travel into the madness that is The Gotham Underground to put an end to those behind the uprising! Will Batman, Inc., be in the market for a new Batwing? Find out in these stories from issues BATWING #27-34 and BATWING: FUTURE’S END #1.

 

Cover of the Week

Now, with all of this week’s releases listed above, it’s time for you to sound off! What’s the best cover that is being released this week? If you’re like me, and can’t decide on just one, then you can select multiple if you would like. Vote using the poll below, and we’ll announce the winner next week. Last week’s winner can be found in the spoiler tag!