Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on the new titles debuting in DC’s December solicitations, which you can find here or here. Hit the links for more information.
By December we’ll be a couple of months into DC’s All In publishing initiative, which not only features the publisher’s top talent working on top books — Mark Waid and Dan Mora doing a Justice League book, Tom Taylor and Mikel Janín on Detective Comics, etc. — but also the return of some quirky titles with new twists.
For instance, I didn’t have a new Metamorpho title or the first Two-Face title on my bingo card for 2024, but here we are. And here’s another one: Challengers of the Unknown will return in a new title by Christopher Cantwell and Sean Izaakse, and they’re getting a few new members — namely Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman.
As you can see on Mike Deodato’s cover for the first issue, DC’s Trinity may be joining the team, but they’ll be donning the traditional Challenger outfits:
“…the Challs have one rule—if you wanna hang, if you wanna challenge that unknown… …you gotta go purple and gold,” Cantwell said on Bluesky.
“The Challengers are a found family unified by one thing: they should all be dead,” he added. “They’re on borrowed time. Better make the best of it.”
Here’s the description of the new title from DC:
Spinning out of Absolute Power and the DC All In Special, the terror of the Darkseid shock wave has cascaded across the DC Universe…tearing open the very fabric of time and space itself! Only one band of super-scientists have the right stuff to challenge the fate of a universe: the Challengers of the Unknown.
Ace Morgan, June Robbins, Prof Haley, Red Ryan, and Rocky Davis, adventurers “living on borrowed time,” run day-to-day operations for the Justice League’s Watchtower base in orbit above Earth, collaborating with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the League to seal the rifts that threaten the galaxy. But a mysterious foe from the Challengers’ past lurks in the shadows, and its connection to the Darkseid wave will put not only the Challengers, but all of the DC Universe, on borrowed time.
The first issue of the new Challengers of the Unknown title will arrive Dec. 18, with variant covers by Taurin Clarke, Danny Earls and Gleb Melnikov.
We found out in July that Ram V and Evan Cagle are bringing back the New Gods as a part of DC All in, and the first issue of their run will also arrive Dec. 18.
We also know that Darkseid ain’t long for this universe, and his death kicks off a lot of the events we’ll see druing All In (including the birth of the Absolute Universe). The New Gods will focus on the consequences it brings to New Geneis and Apokolips:
An old god has died, and the reverberations of his passing are felt across the universe, setting forth the soldiers of an intergalactic army and awakening the latent powers of a mysterious child on Earth.
But this has all been foreseen—prophesized by the Source and fed as enigmatic images to its agent, Metron. Now, as Metron brings word of this cosmos-shattering prediction to the residents of New Genesis and Apokolips, both worlds are thrown into chaos and conflict. On Earth, Scott Free and Barda find themselves unaware of this incoming chaos while consumed with their most daunting task yet: parenthood.
The first issue features a main cover by Nimit Malavia and variant covers by Evan Cagle, Pete Woods and Carmine Di Giandomenico.
Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s recent run on World’s Finest showed that there are plenty of stories to tell from DC’s past. In that vein, The Green Lantern/Green Arrow: World’s Finest Special reunites Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan for a story from the past featuring Deathstroke the Assassin. It’s by Jeremy Adams and Lucas Meyer, and also features a back-up Barry Allen Flash story by Adams and Travis Mercer.
It arrives in stores on Dec. 18, with a cover by Dan Mora and variants by Howard Porter, V. Ken Marion and Crystal Kung.
We know that at some point Lois Lane is going to once again gain super powers and become Superwoman, but how did that happen? Joshua Williamson and Edwin Galmon will tell that story in December’s Superwoman Special #1:
The amazing story of how Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Lois Lane got superpowers and became Superwoman is finally told. What does it mean for the matriarch of the Super family to fly alongside her family and friends? And how long will these powers last? And who wants these powers for themselves?! Guest starring the Atom, Mister Terrific, Supergirl, and Silver Banshee!
Superwoman Special lands on Dec. 11, with a cover by Galmon and variants by Dave Wilkins, Elizabeth Torque and Mark Spears.
It wouldn’t be Christmas without the annual DC holiday special, and this year they lean in heavily into a cult classic Christmas carol for the title: DC’s Batman Smells, Robin Laid an Egg. The anthology will include six stories by Marv Wolfman, Alexis Quasarano, Drew Maxey, James Reid, Calvin Kasulke, Rick Sanchez, Dorado Quick, Zipporah Smith, Paul Pelletier, Andrew Drilon and more.
It arrives Dec. 4 with a cover by Riley Rossmo and variants by Lee Bermejo and, appropriately, Santa Fung.
DC will release another Uncovered special in December, featuring variant cover artwork from issues of Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy — a.k.a. the Gotham City Sirens. Gotham City Sirens Uncovered arrives in stores the week of Christmas, with covers by Guillem March, Homare, Ejikure, Marcio Takara and Bailie Rosenlund.
Finally, here’s one we won’t see until next year, but it looks like it’ll be worth the wait. With all the emphasis on DC’s super-powered pets in recent years, it’s nice to see Bud and Lou, Harley Quinn’s pet hyenas, get their due. And they will in this new all-ages graphic novel by Ben Hed, creator of Pixie and Brutus:
When Harley’s hyenas, Bud and Lou, are framed for stealing the Lasso of Truth, they’re forced to team up with Super-Pets Ace and Jumpa. Hilarity ensues as the unlikely team sets off on an adventure that leads them from Oswald Cobblepot’s penguins to Mr. Freeze’s polar bears.
Harley’s Bud & Lou is an advanced advanced solicitation, and it’ll arrive in stores March 4 of next year.