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 February solicitations, which you can find here. Hit the links for more information.
DC’s Absolute Universe has proven to be a big hit for them, and is one of the biggest success stories in the mainstream comic book world this year. DC even put out a press release claiming that Absolute Batman #1 was the best-selling comic of the year when you took into account all the subsequent printings, although they didn’t share any actual numbers so it’s hard to say whether it’s a bigger success than, say, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, which IDW said was the best-selling comic of the year, or Ultimate Spider-Man #1, which Bleeding Cool reported sold more copies across multiple printings.
But hey, no matter who had the higher numbers, it’s good to see all of these comics doing well enough to be in the conversation.
But getting back to the Absolute titles, the line will grow from three to six next March with the addition of Absolute Flash, Absolute Green Lantern and Absolute Martian Manhunter.
Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles present a new take on Wally West in Absolute Flash. “Without the mentor…without the family…without the Speed Force, what’s left is the Absolute Scarlet Speedster!” Robles drew the main cover, while Lemire provides a variant.
Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay bring Green Lantern to the Absolute universe, with what sounds very much like Biblical science fiction in Ewing’s interview with The Beat. Sojourner “Jo” Mullein will be the protagonist, with appearances by John Stewart, Hal Jordan, “The Abin Sur” and more. That’s Lindsay’s cover for the first issue, shown above, along with a variant by Martin Simmonds.
Deniz Camp and Javier Rodríguez team up for the story of the Absolute version of J’onn J’onzz in March. I don’t think much has been said about this one yet, but above you can see covers by Rodríguez, Daniel Warren Johnson and Guillem March.
As announced at the New York Comic Con, Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee return to the flagship Batman title with issue #158 for a sequel to their 2002 story arc that introduced us to the villain Hush. Titled Batman: H2sh, the story will run monthly for six issues through August’s Batman #163.
Above you can see the main cover and several variants by Lee, along with variants by Dan Mora, Lee Bermejo, Gabriele Dell’Otto, J. Scott Campbell, Simone Di Meo and Sean Gordon Murphy.
Here’s a preview of Lee and Scott Williams’ artwork from #158:
And finally, here’s the cover to issue #159:
Batman #158 arrives March 26.
Harley Quinn Fartacular: Silent Butt Deadly #1 is exactly what it sounds like — a story about Harley Quinn and farts. The solicit for this April Fools’ Day one-shot by Joanne Starer, Ted Brant and Ro Stein reads, “If you are grossed out by farts, then this comic isn’t for you (and that’s perfectly okay!…though I am judging you!). Unless you want to put your feelings to the test…in which case this comic is for you!” So go at your own risk. Brant and Stein did the cover, while Amanda Conner and Ben Caldwell drew the variants.
Sonic X Justice League was announced back in September, and features the DC super-team crossing over with Sonic the Hedgehog — who had a pretty good opening weekend at the box office. Ian Flynn and Adam Bryce Thomas pit Sonic, Knuckles and the rest against Darkseid, with a little help from Superman, Batman and more. Pablo Collar did the cover.
Peacemaker Presents: The Vigilante/Eagly Double Feature! was also announced earlier this year, and this miniseries by Tim Seeley, Mitch Gerads, Rex Ogle, Matteo Lolli, John Kalisz, James Gunn and more will feature two stories that take place between seasons 1 and 2 of the MAX series Peacemaker — one featuring Vigilante and one featuring Eagly. Above you can see the main cover by Gerads with variants by Lolli, Darick Robertson and Dan Panosian.
Wonder Woman #19 will bring Wonder Woman’s battle with the Sovereign to its conclusion, courtesy of writer Tom King and artist Daniel Sampere.
“Tom and I have really put Diana through the wringer in this arc,” Sampere said. “She’s celebrated the birth of her daughter, Trinity, and mourned the death of Steve Trevor, while dealing with the threat of the Sovereign at the same time. I’m so excited for readers to see what we have in store for this finale!”
This issue will have a wraparound main cover by Sampere, with variant covers by David Nakayama, Seba Fiumara, and Ramon Pérez, plus a “Courtside” card stock variant cover by Nicola Scott and Annette Kwok. Several of DC’s comics in March have basketball-themed variant covers, BTW, so you can celebrate March Madness in comics form!
All In Saga is a collection of several comics from earlier this year that introduced DC’s latest publishing initiative. The collection includes Absolute Power #4, DC ALL IN Special #1, Justice League Unlimited #1, Batman #153, Wonder Woman #14 and Superman #19. Dan Mora drew the cover.
Teen Titans Go! return to comics next March with a story about their previous comic being cancelled. “Desperate for a relaunch, the Titans remake themselves as everything from transforming robots to artsy, black-and-white indie comics characters. But when DC still doesn’t bite, the Titans turn to more drastic measures…like sabotage.” It’s by Sholly Fisch and Dario Brizuela.
Fisch also wrote this all-ages graphic novel, which features artwork by Yancey Labat. Kanga-U: Tests and Tournaments is set on Themyscira, where a group of Kangas compete for the honor of serving Princess Diana, a.k.a. the teenaged Wonder Woman. But when Ares shows up, all the Kangas will have to work together to stop him.
Wednesday Comics, the 2009 weekly anthology inspired by the Sunday comics sections of old, gets a new printing of its collected edition in March. If you never saw the originals this is worth checking out, as it features stories by Dave Gibbons, John Arcudi, Kurt Busiek and more, with a lot of beautiful artwork by Ryan Sook, José Luis García-López and Kevin Nowlan, Joe Kubert and more. I’d still love to see a sequel to this.