Hello everyone and welcome back to Upcoming Comics! I hope you’ve all had a great week and start to your July! I’ve spent this Saturday up at work helping host a kick off party for the library’s annual Summer Reading Club. If you haven’t swung by your local library lately I highly recommend doing so, you’ll get access to a ton of great books and resources for free, and many libraries have great comic collections or provide you with access to apps that you can read comics on! While libraries rarely have brand new comics out on a weekly basis, they’re still a great resource if you’re looking for a way to discover a new series or take a peek back into something you might have dropped! Now’s a great time too since any library hosting a summer reading club will give you the opportunity to win some great prizes just for doing something you’re already going to do: read!
Speaking of reading, let’s take a look at what titles will be coming out this week!
Upcoming Comics
Batman #136
Failsafe and Red Mask have forever changed Batman, and Gotham isn’t as welcoming as it once was. Can Batman remind them who he is? Can he remind…Catwoman? The future of the Bat-books starts here, and everyone’s world is about to explode!
- Written By: Chip Zdarsky
- Pencils & Inks By: Belén Ortega, Jorge Corona
- Colors By: Ivan Plascencia, Tomeu Morey
- Cover By: Jorge Jiménez, Richard Isanove
Thoughts: I’m not so sure how I feel about seeing Batman forever changed again, or the growing tension between Batman and Catwoman promised in this solicit.
Batman News Critic: Casper
Dark Knights of Steel #11
The Trinity have united under a banner of hope as they go to war against the White Martian threat in this penultimate chapter! But how deep has the betrayal fractured the tentative alliance? Can bitter differences be set aside to save the planet?
- Written By: Tom Taylor
- Pencils & Inks By: Yasmine Putri
- Colors By: Arif Prianto
- Cover By: Dan Mora, Yasmine Putri
Thoughts: It’s been a while since I’ve read this series, but I took a look at the preview pages, and those plus the solicit have rekindled my interest. I might have to pick this book up again and do a quick catch up before next month’s finale.
Batman News Critic: Aaron
Poison Ivy #13
There sure is nothing quite like a romantic night with your sweetie in the swamp to make your mouth water. It’s the dawn of a new day as Pamela Isley makes her return to Harley and Gotham City with a lovestruck Janet-from-HR in tow. The tension’s so thick you could cut it with a fan boat’s propeller!
- Written By: G. Willow Wilson
- Penciled By: Marcio Takara, A.L. Kaplan, Kelley Jones,Guillem March
- Inks By: Marcio Takara, A.L. Kaplan, Kelley Jones, Guillem March
- Colors By: A.L. Kaplan, Jose Villarrubia, Arif Prianto
- Cover By: Jessica Fong
Thoughts: Janet-from-HR is a name that makes me smile, and a love struck Janet-from-HR sounds like a fun wrench to toss into the mix.
Batman News Critic: Theresa
The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #9
What’s big and scary and lives in the sewers? In Gotham City, a lot of things. But the Joker is going to war with the biggest scariest of them all-Killer Croc! Plus, Red Hood is being set up to take a fall at Blackgate Prison…and his only hope of survival may just be someone from his past.
- Written By: Matthew Rosenberg
- Penciled By: Carmine Di Giandomenico, Stefano Raffaele
- Inks By: Carmine Di Giandomenico, Stefano Raffaele, Francesco Francavilla
- Colors By: Francesco Francavilla, Romulo Fajardo
- Cover By: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Batman News Critic: Theresa
The Joker: Uncovered #1
Lowlifes, creeps, and scoundrels, it’s your Uncle Joker here. You know art can come from many places. And most great art is about truly despicable people, like me. In that spirit, you should buy The Joker: Uncovered to see a murderer’s row of the world’s greatest comic book artists commit my beautiful image to dozens of wonderful variant covers, all collected in one place for the very first time. Expand your mind a little bit, and take in some good art.
- Cover By: Lee Bermejo
Thoughts: A collection of covers with some light commentary by Joker seems like it could be fun, especially for those readers who really enjoy the variety of covers that DC puts out.
Batman News Critic: None
Beyond the Bat
Hello everyone and welcome back to Beyond the Bat! Here we take a look at titles published by DC that are outside of the Batman family of products. This week Jon Kent continues his journey through the Injustice universe in Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent, and based on the cover he might have a longer interaction with Damian this issue. As disinterested in Injustice as I am, I have to admit I’m a bit curious to see how Jon and Damian might interact long term in this particular situation.
Ratings
Most Excited: Dark Knights of Steel #11- Now that the series is nearing its end, I’m glad to see the Trinity all teamed up, and really curious to see how everything might play out.
Least Excited: The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing #9- I’m pretty sure I said this last time Red Hood was mentioned in a Joker related solicit, but I am really tired of seeing those two joined at the hip in narratives. They can, and should, exist separate from each other.
Wild Card: Batman #136- With the Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War announced, I can’t say I’m super excited for the future of Batman, however I could be surprised by this issue, and it’s lead up to all that.
That’s all for this week’s Upcoming Comics! Don’t forget to share what you’re looking forward to picking up down in the comments, and until next time, see you in the comments!
