Welcome back to Upcoming Comics! The mathematically inclined of you may have noticed that July 3rd is a Wednesday, and not the normal Tuesday release day for DC. Well, in case you missed it, DC is moving their comic day back to Wednesdays. It seems that the strategy of pushing releases one day ahead of Marvel after splitting with Diamond Comic Distributors wasn’t worth it. From here on out you’ll be able to pick up all of your comics on the same day (and we here at Batman News will have one extra day to finish the reviews we may or may not have procrastinated).
Upcoming Comics
Absolute Power #1
THE TRINITY OF EVIL HAS WON. DC’s epic summer event kicks off with a bang, as the combined might of FAILSAFE and the BRAINIAC QUEEN has at last given Amanda Waller the ability to steal the metahuman abilities of every hero and villain on planet Earth. As chaos erupts in the streets and a massive misinformation campaign sways public opinion to her side, the founder of the Suicide Squad methodically targets each superhero dynasty one at a time, starting with SUPERMAN. But even in this darkest of hours, a resistance is forming…and BATMAN is out for vengeance. It’s a shocking blitzkrieg across the globe that is decades in the making—and will shape the course of the DC Universe for years to come! Brought to you by the superstar talents of MARK WAID and DAN MORA—it all starts here!
- Written By: Mark Waid
- Penciled By: Dan Mora
- Inks By: Dan Mora
- Colors By: Alejandro Sanchez
- Cover By: Dan Mora
Thoughts: I hope this is good because it’s going to be taking over a lot of DC for the next few months.
Batman News Critic: William
Batman #150
A milestone issue featuring art by the legendary DENYS COWAN (The Question) and series regular JORGE JIMÉNEZ! When a two-bit crook uncovers Batman’s true identity, he becomes the most dangerous man in Gotham City! Can Batman stop him before it’s too late? Does he even want to? Plus, an Absolute Power backup story by Chip Zdarsky and Mike Hawthorne teaming Batman and Catwoman on the heist of their lives against Amanda Waller!
- Written By: Chip Zdarsky
- Penciled By: Jorge Jiménez, Denys Cowan, Mike Hawthorne
- Inks By: Jorge Jiménez, Mike Hawthorne, Adriano Di Benedetto, John Stanisci
- Colors By: Tomeu Morey, Romulo Fajardo
- Cover By: Jorge Jiménez, Alejandro Sanchez
Thoughts: Speaking of Absolute Power taking over, here’s the first of many tie-ins. Buckle in, because it will be a while before we return to “normal” Batman comics.
Batman News Critic: Jackson
The Boy Wonder #3
The cunning Tim Drake has always been the smartest of Batman’s sons…and the most comfortable matching wits with the most sinister geniuses on Earth. Damian Wayne doesn’t like feeling outsmarted—to him, no smugly-written insult could ever be sharper than his sword—so when he’s forced to infiltrate a super-villain gala alongside the sneaky Red Robin, the biggest danger the two of them face might not be Lex Luthor but Damian’s own temper!
- Written By: Juni Ba
- Penciled By: Juni Ba
- Inks By: Juni Ba
- Colors By: Chris O’Halloran
- Cover By: Juni Ba
Thoughts: Last month Juni Ba seemed to do the impossible and wrote a good Jason Todd story published by modern DC. Let’s see if he can repeat his feat by doing the same with Tim Drake.
Batman News Critic: Andru
Birds of Prey #11
The Birds of Prey’s personal failings threaten to turn an advantage into a disadvantage as their search for Barbara continues to be more “fight for their lives” than “search for Oracle.” Oh, and there are dinosaurs.
- Written By: Kelly Thompson
- Penciled By: Gavin Guidry, Javier Pina, Robbi Rodriguez
- Inks By: Gavin Guidry, Javier Pina, Robbi Rodriguez
- Colors By: Jordie Bellaire
- Cover By: Jordie Bellaire, Leonardo Bastos Romero
Thoughts: We return to the tried and true strategies of comic book marketing: put a dinosaur on the cover. It’s up there with the greats such as “put a gorilla on the cover” and “make it look like Superman is a huge jerk”.
Batman News Critic: Jeremy
Poison Ivy #24
THE DEATH OF PAMELA ISLEY Dr. Jason Woodrue, the Floronic Man (a.k.a. Floro), has stacked the deck in his favor. Neither Ivy’s powers nor her allies are enough to put an end to Floro and his devilish plan to turn Ivy’s victims against her. As time, and her own supply of blood, runs out, one thing becomes apparent: to bring the outbreak of the parasitic fungi, Ophiocordyceps Lamia, to an end, Poison Ivy will have to kill both her own creator and herself.
- Written By: G. Willow Wilson
- Penciled By: Haining
- Inks By: Haining
- Colors By: Arif Prianto
- Cover By: Jessica Fong
Thoughts: I have to admit I’ve reached the point where I roll my eyes at the suggestion that a main comic character will die. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 736 times, shame on me.
Batman News Critic: Andru
Batman and Robin and Howard #1: Summer Breakdown
Summer is in session, and that means all the neighborhood patrols, soccer games, and snacks the boys can handle. But things take an unexpected turn when a new group of heroes, known as the Hero Club, approach Damian and Howard with an unusual offer—an invitation to help unmask the corporation planning to build a recycling factory in their favorite park. If that weren’t enough, Batman has been acting strangely and disappearing for stretches of time. And there are ninja everywhere…What could possibly be going on?
- Written By: Jeffrey Brown
- Penciled By: Jeffrey Brown
- Inks By: Jeffrey Brown
- Colors By: Silvana Brys
- Cover By: Jeffrey Brown, Silvana Brys
Thoughts: This time they’re releasing the single issues *before* the collected edition. See, that’s smart.
Batman News Critic: None
The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #7
The Scarecrow’s new fear toxin has Gotham City too frightened to function! Batman and Mystery Inc. are able to put off the inevitable for a while as they investigate, but soon they fall victim as well—except for Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, who seem weirdly immune. It turns out that always being scared has some advantages, after all!
- Written By: Ivan Cohen
- Penciled By: Puste
- Inks By: Puste
- Colors By: Carrie Strachan
- Cover By: Puste, Carrie Strachan
Thoughts: Shaggy and Scooby being immune to fear toxin because they’re always afraid is a great bit. “That’s my secret, Cap…”
Batman News Critic: Chip
Beyond the Bat
Welcome to Beyond the Bat, where we take a quick look at the rest of DC’s comics coming out this week.
Graphic Novel Watch
Sometimes you need more than floppies. Sometimes you want something that can sit nicely on your shelf that proudly displays your favorite stories. That’s when you turn to graphic novels. Let’s see what bat collections are coming out this week:
Ratings
Most Excited: The Boy Wonder #3– The second issue proved that this series’ greatness wasn’t just a fluke. This is one of the best titles DC has put out in a while.
Least Excited: Batman #150– I’ve had many thoughts on this title for a while, but none of them were “man, I really wish this was part of another event”.
Wild Card: Absolute Power #1– Last week I said Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1 was my most excited, and that was largely because I mistakenly believed it was the actual start of the event. It was just a recap of the events leading into. Now we’ll get to see what this story actually looks like.
Well that’s it for this week! Let us know in the comments what comics you’re looking forward to.
