Welcome back to Upcoming Comics!
This week, we… we…
Ugh. I don’t know if I can do this. You guys see what happened to ComiXology?
I made a Twitter thread about it, for those not in the know:
To recap for people who don’t use Twitter (or aren’t checking the website itself), the ComiXology browser has essentially been entirely absorbed into Amazon’s website: destroying much of its functionality in the process. There are a lot of reasons why this is a horrible change, from being barely able to access your comics to the reader being completely broken beyond repair… but to me, the most frustrating thing is how it will impact Upcoming Comics.
There’s no two ways around it: ComiXology was essential to Upcoming Comics and its effectiveness. I can get things wrong, solicitations can get things wrong, official DC websites can get things wrong: but ComiXology rarely missed a beat. Every time I needed to know if a comic was delayed, ComiXology would be on it; and it was the only place I could grab a current and easily useable list of the comic’s creators. There are other ways, but I’ve tried them, and they are nowhere near as efficient.
What this means is that Upcoming Comics might go through some issues for a little while, as I try to navigate the best way to continue – my hope is that I can brute force Amazon’s ridiculously outdated website to give me the information I need. Thank you all for being such a cool and understanding bunch whenever I make a mistake, by the way – in times like these, I really couldn’t ask for better readers!
Now, here’s what we (hopefully) have for this week:
Upcoming Comics
Detective Comics #1054
It’s Nightwing versus Psycho-Pirate in the grand finale of “Shadows of the Bat” act two of three! As Gotham’s elite gather to celebrate the formal opening of Arkham Tower, Dr. Wear’s secret weapon is more unhinged than ever, and the storm clouds of disaster gather above the city’s monument to reform! The Party Crashers, the Bat-Family, Penguin’s forces, and a tower full of innocent civilians and villainous patients converge in the chapter you’ll need to see to believe! Spoiler alert: not everyone makes it out alive! Every story has two sides, and as much as Batman has reached out his hand through the darkness to try to help the Boy, there are too many hands in the shadows of Gotham pulling in the other direction. The finale of act two of “House of Gotham” poses a stark choice: Live with the family you know, or betray everything you’ve learned to be true?
Written by Mariko Tamaki and Matthew Rosenberg
Pencils and Inks by Max Raynor and Fernando Blanco
Colours by Luis Guerrero and Jordie Bellaire
Cover Art by Irvin Rodriguez
Batman News Critic: Casper
Robin #11
They survived the League of Lazarus tournament! Damian, Flatline, Ravager, and Connor Hawke celebrate with the rest of the fighters, but their party quickly turns into another deadly fight! Secret crushes are revealed, hearts are broken, and Hawke has one last confrontation with an old enemy before he can return to his former life!
Written by Joshua Williamson
Cover art by Simone Di Meo
Pencils and Inks by Gleb Melnikov
Colours by Luis Guerrero
Batman News Critic: Matina
Catwoman #40
If I told you that there is a whole retro-glam apartment building in Gotham called the Trixie that houses mob wives, side chicks, and mistresses, and Catwoman has secretly taken a whole floor to herself eavesdropping on mob wives and mistresses to blackmail them, would you believe me? Of course you wouldn’t, because the last thing you want is to be caught knowing those truths at the only place in Gotham you can actually get away with murder.
Written by Tini Howard
Cover Art by Jeff Dekal
Pencils and Inks by Nico Leon
Colours by Jordie Bellaire
Batman News Critic: Michael
Harley Quinn #12
If Superman had to deal with a bomb on a runaway train barreling toward Gotham, he’d just throw the whole thing into outer space like a football. Zatanna would do some cool magic thing. Aquaman would, like, summon an army of bomb-defusing dolphins or something. But I’m Harley Quinn…and I can’t do any of those things. So how am I gonna defuse the bomb, save Kevin, and stop Keepsake from destroying Gotham? Well…I’m workin’ on it, okay? Don’t rush me! But I’ve definitely, certainly, without a doubt got it handled. Probably.
Written by Stephanie Phillips
Pencils and Inks by Riley Rossmo
Colours by Ivan Plascencia
Cover Art by Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia and Sun Khamunaki
Review will be covered in a trade release.
Task Force Z #5
Heads? Everyone gets eaten by a zombie. Tails? Aw, who am I kidding…everyone’s going to get eaten by a zombie. It’s always a trick question when Two-Face is involved…and Harvey Dent’s role in this whole zombie Suicide Squad thing (zombicide? Is this a Zombicide Zquad?) is a whole lot weirder than you think it is. Or maybe not, I don’t know you. What are you still reading this solicit for? Get out there and read Task Force Z!
Written by Matthew Rosenberg
Pencils by Eddy Barrows and Jack Herbert
Inks by Eber Ferreira and Jack Herbert
Colours by Adriano Lucas
Cover by Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira and Adriano Lucas
Thoughts: I would like to have stern words with whoever wrote this solicit.
Batma News Critic: Casper
Teen Titans Academy #12
It’s all come down to this! As their lives are literally tumbling down around them, the Titans must contend with the betrayal of their most troubled student-who has just unmasked themselves as Red X-plus a familiar face from deep in their darkest days, determined to exact an unholy vengeance upon Nightwing. In the end, after the epic collision of past, present, and future, who and what of Teen Titans Academy will still be standing?
Written by Tim Sheridan
Cover Art by Rafa Sandoval and Alex Sinclair
Pencils and Inks by Tom Derenick
Review will be covered in a trade release.
DC vs Vampires #5
The future of the world is at stake as a battle to the death ensues between Batman and Hal Jordan! Will the vampiric Green Lantern be too much for the Dark Knight? Will the future of humanity be in the hands of…Jayna, vampire slayer? The bloody, bestselling series continues!
Written by James Tynion IV and Matthew Rosenberg
Pencils and Inks by Otto Schmidt and Simone Di Meo
Colours by Otto Schmidt and Simone Di Meo
Cover Art by Otto Schmidt, Trevr Hairsine and Rain Beredo
Review will be covered in a trade release.
Beyond the Bat
Welcome to Beyond the Bat! Here you can see everything else that DC is releasing this week, beyond the scope of the books we cover on the website.
I believe there are other DC books being published this week, but… yeah, things are a mess right now.
Ratings
Most Excited: Normally I’d put Robin here, but the more I read and look at DC vs Vampires, the more I like it!
Least Excited: Teen Titans Academy took an interesting premise and hasn’t done anything with it that’s really kept my interest.
Wild Card: I still think Task Force Z is a strange premise, but it seems they’re rolling with it rather well.
I know this article isn’t as extensive as usual, but I’ll keep working to figure things out. I’m actually at an airport right now in Singapore – this is being published between flights on my trip to London. Best wishes, and see you in the reviews!
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Author’s Twitter: @ObnoxiousFinch
