The State of Future State, Part 1

JK, Shane and Tom take a look at DC’s Future State titles, starting with ‘The Next Batman,’ ‘Superman of Metropolis,’ ‘Wonder Woman’ and ‘Flash.’

DC officially kicked off Future State earlier this month, and the comics we’ve seen give a rough — emphasis on “rough” for some heroes — idea of what possible futures look like for their characters. This line-wide event, or publishing initiative, or whatever we want to call it, will go on through February and has replaced their regular titles until March.

With the event now in full gear, Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant and I decided to discuss each one, roundtable style. Also, since the titles are all set at different times — some are just a few years into the future, while others jump forward thousands of years — I thought it might help to share this timeline of when each one is set:

I know it has helped us as we’ve been reading them.

So let’s get started …

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘Crimson Flower,’ Iron Fist and more

New comics arrive this week from Larry Hama, Zac Thompson, Andy MacDonald, Peter David, Javier Pina, Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, Saladin Ahmed, Matt Kindt, Matt Lesniewski and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide each week to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

This week brings another wave of DC’s Future State and another issue of Marvel’s King in Black events series, as well as new titles from Dark Horse, Marvel, BOOM! Studios, Oni Press and AfterShock, among others.

You know the drill — check out a few recommendations below, or visit ComicList for this week’s full list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Mail Call | DC reveals more details on April’s relaunch of ‘Green Lantern’

A round-up of recent news on ‘Aliens,’ DC Future State, IDW’s Canto and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

When Green Lantern returns later this year after the events of Future State, Geoffrey Thorne and Dexter Soy will chart a new path for John Stewart, Sojourner “Jo” Mullein from Far Sector and Teen Lantern, the hacker Green Lantern who appeared in Young Justice.

Here’s how DC describes the first issue: With the majority of Green Lanterns called back to Oa, John Stewart arrives alongside Teen Lantern Keli Quintela, whose homemade gauntlet could be one of the most powerful and unstable weapons in the universe. With the entire landscape of the universe in flux, is this the end of the Green Lantern Corps…or a new beginning?

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Clowns, kids and Claremont

New comics arrive this week from W. Maxwell Prince, Terry Moore, Chris Claremont, Darick Robertson and more.

Welcome to Can’t Wait for Comics, your guide each week to what comics are arriving in comic book stores, bookstores and on digital.

This week brings another wave of both DC’s Future State and King in Black tie-in titles, as well as debuts from Terry Moore and W. Maxwell Prince, as well as tribute comic to Uncanny X-Men scribe Chris Claremont.

Check out a few of our recommendations below, or visit ComicList for this week’s full list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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Tom and Carla lock down 2020

Tom Bondurant and Carla Hoffman review the year that was for Marvel and DC, while looking toward the future for both companies.

From 2009 to 2015, Tom Bondurant and Carla Hoffman collaborated on year-in-review posts centered around DC and Marvel. Circumstances kept them apart for a while; but it turns out that being stuck in your house for months on end can also help you reconnect. Therefore, Smash Pages proudly presents the return of an annual tradition, as Tom & Carla lock down 2020!

[This conversation has been edited from an extended Slack chat that occurred in December.]


Carla: Okay, so main topics for the year I see right up front are production (company decisions, strategies, etc), story (what’s actually happening in the comics) and media (TV and movie stuff).

Anything else this doesn’t cover? What’s the most important of these do you think?

Tom: I would say the production side of things – shutting down Diamond for six weeks, plus all the DC layoffs and cancellations, and DC changing distributors twice (or at least 1 1/2 times). Didn’t Marvel have some cancellations as well? Feels like Marvel had a low-key year event-wise, although it went from Empyre to X Of Swords to King In Black.

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Can’t Wait for Comics | Living in the future

2021 brings new comics from James Kolchalka, Cullen Bunn, J. Michael Straczynski, C.P. Smith, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Kieron Gillen, Esad Ribic, David Pepose and more.

Hey, welcome to 2021! We made it.

This week brings a whole lot from DC, as they wrap up Death Metal and launch their next big event, Future State. This week also sees new titles kick off from Marvel, BOOM! Studios, AfterShock and more.

Here’s a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week. Check out a few recommendations below, or visit ComicList for this week’s list of new comics arriving in stores, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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DC reveals additional creative team changes after ‘Future State’

DC held several panels at Brazil’s CCXP to announce new titles, creative team changes and more.

For two months, DC will focus on the future of the DC Universe as they present DC Future State in January and February. Limited series starring future version sof Superman, Batman, Wonder and more will temporarily replace their regular titles.

Come March, though, many of the creators bringing Future State to life will stay on to work on the ongoing titles as well. DC revealed many of these creative changes during CCXP, a big comics convention held in Brazil. This year, the event was held virtually, of course, and DC used it as an opportunity to highlight several of these changes.

Here’s a rundown of what we know so far on what to expect from DC’s regular line-up when it returns in March after their two-month hiatus:

(Note: I’ve updated this based on the press release from DC that came out Dec. 7, with new details and artwork)

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Swamp Thing blossoms again in March

Ram V and Mike Perkins, who will work on the character during Future State, will re-team for the new series.

Just in time for Spring, Writer Ram V and artist Mike Perkins will harvest a new Swamp Thing title in March. They will be joined by colorist Mike Spicer and letterer Aditya Bidikar.

The seeds for the new title will be planted during DC’s Future State event, as V and Perkins will work on a story featuring the character’s future self during January-February.

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New Suicide Squad title by Thompson + Pansica launches in March

Peacemaker, Bolt and more will form a new Squad next year.

At its DC Future State panel at CCXP yesterday, DC Comics announced that writer Robbie Thompson and artist Eduardo Pansica will team up on a new Suicide Squad title that will launch in March. Pansica will be joined by inker Júlio Ferreira, and colorist Marcelo Maiolo.

Thompson is the writer of the DC Future State Suicide Squad miniseries, which will run in January-February as part of the big DC event. While the Future State title focuses on a future version of the team, the new title will be set in the current DC Universe.

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DC’s Future State Wonder Woman will become the present state Wonder Girl

Yara Flor, the South American Wonder Woman who will debut in January, will appear in a miniseries by Joelle Jones.

We’re still a couple months away from the debut of DC Future State, the post-Death Metal event that will offer readers a glimpse at the future of the DCU. But one character set to debut in the two-month event will live on — Yara Flor, the future Wonder Woman who hails from South America.

DC announced this week that they are developing a show for The CW featuring the character, but are also giving her a miniseries that will be written and drawn by Joëlle Jones.

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‘Future State’ takes over DC’s line-up in January

DC will kick off 2021 by exploring the future of their universe for two months, with regular titles resuming in March.

Following the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal, which wraps up Jan. 5, DC will hit pause on their regular monthly titles for two months. In January and February, they’ll release a bunch of titles under the “DC Future State” banner, giving readers a glimpse at the future of the DC Universe.

“In DC Future State, the Multiverse has been saved from the brink of destruction, but the triumph of DC’s heroes has shaken loose the very fabric of time and space,” reads their press release. “The final chapter of Dark Nights: Death Metal brings new life to DC’s Multiverse, kicking off this glimpse into the unwritten worlds of DC’s future.”

They plan to resume with their regular titles in March.

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