Upcoming Comics: December 21, 2016

Christmas and Hanukah are less than a week away! The season has me like:

Fear gas on roses and Catwoman’s kittens,
Joker spray toxin and all of Bane’s venom,
The JLA meets as Black Canary sings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Purple caped ladies and Damian’s doodles,
Robins and Bat Cows and Alfred’s great noodles.
When Batwoman leads Orphan and team.
These are a few of my favorite things.

Jean Paul in action, his flame sword it slashes,
Harley Quinn kisses on my nose and eyelashes,
Bat signal lighting these cold winter scenes,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the bad strike, when the Squad stings,
When I’m feeling sad,
I simply remember that Batman is king,
And then I don’t feel so bad.

Thank you! Thank you! Total hit-in-the-making! I know! Anyway, to continue the holiday joy, DC released their March 2017 solicitations. I’ll have those posted Thursday following our reviews for this week. And next week we’ll get into the New Year spirit with a couple of polls!

Alright, on to business! 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 reviewing each book. 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 (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…

 

December 21^st

Nightwing #11
“BLUDHAVEN” part two! They call themselves the Run-Offs! And now, this group of villains that Batman and Nightwing ran out of Gotham City plan to do the same to the former Boy Wonder! But can he find the serial killer terrorizing the city before the Run-Offs catch up with him?

Written by Tim Seeley
Pencils and Inks by Marcus To
Cover by Marcus To

Random Blurb of Excitement: Yes! That’s all that needs to be said. Just, “yes!”

Batman News Critic: Jay

 

 

Trinity #4
“BETTER TOGETHER” part four! The trio’s tribulations have turned the Black Mercy’s gift into a world of nightmares that give birth to a horror that can only be called the White Mercy. And what scares Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman could destroy the world!

Written by Francis Manapul
Pencils by Emanuela Lupacchino
Inks by Seth Mann
Cover by Clay Mann

Random Blurb of Excitement: Manapul has delivered a really nice book so far that appears to be driven by a character focus. This issue will feature Wonder Woman, and I’m really curious to see how the tone of the art and story of this issue changes compared to the previous two. I’m giving a big high-five to whoever decided to have a different artist for each character’s spotlight, because it was brilliant!

Batman News Critic: Brian

 

Justice League vs Suicide Squad #1
The first major event storyline of DC’s Rebirth era begins with a day Amanda Waller always knew would come: the Justice League discovers the existence of the Suicide Squad! This government-sponsored black-ops team of super-villains with bombs implanted in their brains is obviously a deal-breaker for Earth’s paragons of truth and justice! But you can bet that the Wall and her Task Force X won’t go down without the fight to end all fights as this weekly series gets underway!

Written by Joshua Williamson
Pencils by Jason Fabok
Cover by Jason Fabok

Random Blurb of Excitement: I’m hesitant to say I’m excited for this. I’m excited for Justice League of America. But this? I’d much rather say that I’m curious. I’m very curious to see what this event will be like. If Rob Williams were writing, then I would be excited… But he’s not. Now, I am excited for Fabok’s art! I mean, that alone is worth buying this issue!

Batman News Critic: Brian

 

 

Harley Quinn #10
Come spend the holidays with Harley in issue #10’s collection of wintry short stories—just don’t expect to make it to New Year’s in one piece!

Written by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
Pencils by Moritat
Cover by Amanda Conner

Random Blurb of Excitement: It’s like another holiday special, but mini-sized compared to its predecessor. I’m sure this will be fun, but for whatever reason, I’m not getting overly excited.

Batman News Critic: Elena

 

 

Batman #13
“I AM SUICIDE” conclusion! Batman and the remains of his team come face to face with Bane and the Psycho-Pirate in a final battle at Santa Prisca—and learn whether this was truly a suicide mission!

Art by Mikel Janin
Cover by Mikel Janin
Variant cover by Tim Sale
Written by Tom King

Random Blurb of Excitement: Look, there are aspects of “I Am Suicide” that I really enjoyed… But overall, I’ve found it to be a convoluted mess. There have been a number of continuity issues, highly questionable character choices, and the “Batman builds a Suicide Squad” aspect has basically been pointless. That being said, I do have a theory of what might happen in this issue, but I’m holding my tongue.

Batman News Critic: Brandon

 

 

Justice League #11
“OUTBREAK” conclusion! Beaten, battered and outnumbered, the Justice League faces utter annihilation when Amazo and a host of the team’s deadliest enemies are released from prisons around the world as part of one man’s revenge against the world’s greatest superheroes.

Written by Bryan Hitch
Pencils by Neil Edwards
Inks by Daniel Henriques
Cover by Matt Ryan and Fernando Pasarin

Random Blurb of Excitement: Alright, the last issue kicked things up a notch, and it was honestly the first time I found myself remotely getting into Justice League since Rebirth. I feel as though this story could ultimately use a few more issues before wrapping up. So much time was put into the set-up that I feel like we’re kind of getting cheated out of a climax. Regardless, if the issue itself is fun and engaging, that will be a win for this title!

Batman News Critic: Brian

 

 

Injustice: Gods Among Us – Ground Zero #2
When a violent protest against Superman’s regime breaks out on the streets of Gotham City, Sinestro arrives to put down the participants by any means necessary. But the timely appearance of Wonder Woman and Green Arrow from the parallel Earth prevents a possible slaughter. Meanwhile, on the streets, Harley and her gang plan to use the cover of the riot to strike a blow against Superman…until parallel Earth Batman shows up!

Art by Daniel Sampere
Cover by Ben Oliver
Written by Chris Sebela

Random Blurb of Excitement: The debut was solid, and it’s interesting to look at these events from Harley’s perspective. I’m still a little curious on how gripping it will ultimately be considering we already know what’s going to happen in the end.

Batman News Critic: Elena

 

 

Teen Titans Go! #19
The prank war to end all prank wars has erupted in Titans Tower, but for some reason, Beast Boy seems to be out-pranking everyone—he even dodged Cyborg’s barrage of stankballs. It’s like he knows what pranks are coming before they even happen. That’s because, unknown to the other Titans, Beast Boy has a new power: he can smell into the future! But what happens when Beast Boy gets a whiff of…the apocalypse?!

Art by Marcelo Di Chiara
Cover by Daniel Hipp
Written by Ivan Cohen, Paul Morrissey, and Heather Nuhfer

Random Blurb of Excitement: It’s another chapter of TTG! There’s stankballs and smelling the future… I’ll let you decide from there. Stankballs.

Batman News Critic: Jay

 

 

Notes:

• Additional DC releases this week: Aquaman #13, Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye #3, Cyborg #7, Green Arrow #13, Green Lanterns #13, Raven #4, Suicide Squad Most Wanted: El Diablo & Amanda Waller #5, Superman #13,
• All Star Batman #1 Director’s Cut releases this week.
• Harley’s Little Black Book #5 has been pushed back to September 14^th October 5^th October 26^th November 23^rd December 14^th December 28^th
• Dark Knight III: The Master Race #7 has been scheduled for October 24^th December 28^th
• Harley’s Little Black Book #6 has been scheduled for October 24^th November 30^th December 28^th January 25^th

 

 

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 results can be found in the spoiler tag.

 

Graphic Novel Watch:

Teen Titans: Year One – The origin of Teen Titans is reimagined in this collection of the six- issue miniseries! See how these teammates overcame the sheer awkwardness of being teenagers in this tale that guest-stars the Justice League of America!