DC Comics New 52 Volume 2 Previews

A preview of DC’s collected editions of all New 52 series being released throughout 2013. Prepare yourselves, for this year, many DC fans will go broke. Enjoy!

NOW AVAILABLE (2013-)

- Animal Man Vol.2: Animal Vs. Man

Written by Jeff Lemire, Illustrated by Steve Pugh and Timothy Green

- Batgirl Vol.2: Knightfall Descends

Written by Gail Simone, Illustrated by Ed Benes and Ardian Syaf

- Batwoman Vol.2: To Down The World

Written by JH Williams, Illustrated by Amy Reeder

- Green Arrow Vol.2: Triple Threat

Written by Ann Nocenti, Illustrated by Harvey Tolibao

- Green Lantern Vol.2: The Revenge of Black Hand

Written by Geoff Johns, Illustrated by Doug Manke and Ethan Van Sciver

- Justice League Vol.2: The Villain’s Journey

Written by Geoff Johns, Illustrated by Jim Lee and Scott Williams

- Justice League International Vol.2: Breakdown

Written by Dan Jurgens, Illustrated by Aaron Lopresti

- Stormwatch Vol.2: Enemies of Earth

Written by Peter Milligan, Illustrated by Miguel Sepulveda

- Suicide Squad Vol.2: Basilsk Rising

Written by Adam Glass, Illustrated by Fernando Dagnino

- Voodoo Vol.2: The Killer In Me

Written by Josh Williamson, Illustrated by Sami Basril

- Wonderwoman Vol.2: Guts

Written by Brian Azzarello, Illustrated by Cliff Chiang

MARCH 2013

- All-Star Western Vol.2: The War of Lords and Owls

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti, Illustrated by Moritat

- Batman Vol.2: The City of Owls

Written by Scott Snyder, Illustrated by Greg Capullo

- Catwoman Vol.2: Dollhouse

Written by Judd Winnick, Illustrated by Guillem March

- Earth-2 Vol.1: The Gathering

Written by James Robinson, Illustrated by Nicola Scott

- I, Vampire Vol.2: Rise of the Vampires

Written by Hale Fialkov, Illustrated by Andrea Sorrentino

- Red Lanterns Vol.2: The Death of the Red Lanterns

Written by Peter Milligan, Illustrated by Miguel Sepulveda

APRIL 2013

- Batman, Detective Comics Vol.2: Scare Tactics

Written by Tony Daniel, Illustrated by Ed Benes

- Batwing Vol.2: In The Shadow of the Ancients

Written by Judd Winnick, Illustrated by Marcus To

- Birds Of Prey Vol.2: Your Kiss Might Kill

Written by Duane Swerczynski, Illustrated Travel Foreman

- Blue Beetle Vol.2: Blue Diamond

Written by Tony Bedard, Illustrated by Ig Guara

- Dial H Vol.1: Into You

Written by China Mieville, Illustrated by Mateus Santolouco

- Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E Vol.2: Secrets of the Dead

Written by Matt Kindt, Illustrated by Alberto Ponticelli

- Swamp Thing Vol.2: Family Tree

Written by Scott Snyder, Illustrated by Yanick Paquette

- World’s Finest Vol.1: The Lost Daughters of Earth-2

Written by Paul Levitz, Illustrated by George Perez

Wallpaper of the Week: "There's only one Justice League!"

Upon buying my digital copy of Geoff Johns' newest Justice League title, JLA, and after reading it, I've decided to devote this WoW to its greatest image released so far. The book has much promise and looks to be another JL thriller featuring characters we are relatively unfamiliar with. How Johns plans to bring these unlikely heroes together, explore the new Secret Society and eventually have them confront the original Justice League is beyond me, but based on his track record of titles, I have high hopes for this new Justice League of America! Enjoy!

Wallpaper of The Week: The JLA of Yesteryear

Just a couple days ago, Geoff Johns and David Finch's Justice League of America hit the stands, debuting the second New 52 JL series, and the third JLA series of all time. Unfortunately, Johns was forced to end his 7 year run on Green Lantern to pursue this new series, ending arguably the greatest comic run in history, but i have no doubt that he will bring his natural storytelling elements to this title. I look back on the JLA series that was inevitably cancelled due to the launch of the New 52, and display, what is in my opinion, three of the best wallpapers from the JLA series that began in 2006, written by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Ed Benes. Enjoy!

It All Comes Down To This: The Greatest Showdowns In DC Animation

Batman: The Animated Series (Batman vs. Joker)

After viewing this episode, I concluded that the whole thing represents one of those classic Batman versus Joker moments, but it isn’t until the final, climatic scene, where they square off. The episode, titled “The Laughing Fish” follows Joker on a long list of evil schemes, all involving his infamous “joker” toxins, with Batman and Gotham’s finest following up on all their leads. The final clue leads Batman to save the life of Harvey Bullock and pursue the Joker to the roof of Gotham’s aquarium. What makes this duel so epic is not just the build up from the cat and mouse theme of the episode, not just the action, but also the setting and the dark storm happening around them. The best moment is when Joker swings a crowbar at Batman as Batman grabs the crowbar. The battle ends with the Joker falling to his apparent death in the shark-filled waters below. Unfortunately, this was the fifth episode of the second season, and the Joker would be seen many more times after that, but a part of me realizes this would have made a great series finale.

DC Cancels Six Titles: Who Should Be Their Replacements?

Justice League of America (Vol.3) #1

   DC Comics recently announced the cancellations of six of their titles, three of them featuring fairly well known characters. The Savage Hawkman, Firestorm, Deathstroke, The Ravagers, Team 7 and Sword of Sorcery all got the boot, making way for new titles to take their place come spring/summer of this year. When I first saw the lineup of New 52 titles I was skeptical of the lesser known titles, worried that they wouldn’t be anywhere as successful as mainstream heroes like Batman or Superman, which would lead to their cancellation. This has happened to a lot of those ‘underdog’ series. The biggest problem with trying to make these series successful is that their popularity will never match the already established series, which still begs the question as to why Hawkman or Deathstroke were cancelled, but then again, maybe upper management wasn’t happy with their recent profits, or maybe the creative teams weren’t happy with where the stories were going, I’m not sure.

     What I am sure of is the replacement titles coming later this year, which include: Threshold, Constantine, Katana, JLA’s Vibe, Justice League of America, and Superman: Man of Steel. The two that strike the most intrigue would be Geoff Johns and David Finch’s JLA, which will focus on a new team of heroes, separate from the original Justice League, featuring Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow and the return of Hawkman, right after his cancellation, and Scott Snyder and Jim Lee’s new Superman series, which will again examine his outsider role in Metropolis. As excited as I am for these new series, the same old problem still remains with half of them. Will they be able to sell as much as the “regulars” or be as popular? Maybe not, which is why I’ve compiled a short list of ‘could-be’ titles that DC could use come the next cancellations.

Wallpaper Of The Week: A "Shockingly Destructive" Combo

The Amazing Spider-man sequel is well underway, with production recently starting. News has revealed we will see familiar faces along with new additions like Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn, along with two, pretty major ones. Check'em out, and enjoy!

The "Shockingly"

The "Destructive"

The Future of DC Animated Films

     A total of 16 DC Animated Movies have been released, beginning in 2007 with Superman: Doomsday. Compared to some of the DC animated series currently or recently airing, I would take any one of these movies over those shows, aside from GL and Young Justice. In saying that, creating feature length animated films based on famous comic book titles was a great corporate decision. The only thing I would argue is some of the stories chosen for the films. Why Public Enemies and not Knightfall? Why Superman versus The Elite and not Batman Hush? I’d like to examine the upcoming DC movies, why their chosen stories are perfect for animated recreation and which stories DC should recreate next.

      Up until DC’s latest film release, I had two favorites from the earlier films: Superman: Doomsday and Justice League: The New Frontier. The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 surpassed the greatness of those earlier films, in both animation and story. The film’s creators stayed truest to the source material and ended up with a great result, which was again surpassed by its sequel, The Dark Knight Returns Part 2. Any fan of these movies has been wishing for an animated interpretation of Frank Millar’s original book since Doomsday’s release, and with the story being split into two parts, the writers and directors were able to fully capture all the details, and even exact frames, from the original books. Whether it was the dramatic scene of Batman, sitting next to the dying Joker, or the climatic battle between the world’s finest superheroes, the movie was truly a comic book come to life.