Slugfest | A look at DC in August

Olympus: Rebirth, The New Champion of Shazam, DC Saved by the Belle Reve and more arrive in August.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on DC’s August announcements, of which there are many. Hit the links for more information.

Like Marvel, DC released their solicitations for August this past Friday (You can find the complete listings on Newsarama or The Beat) and they included several new titles and big storylines that I may or may not have already covered here on Smash Pages. So, here’s a round-up of what to expect and what looks interesting, but first, here’s what I’ve previously covered:

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Waid + Asrar team for ‘Batman vs. Robin’ this fall

The event series will run for five issues beginning in September.

If things have seemed tense between Batman and Robin lately, well … as the saying goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

With a post that exclaims “The Bat is out of the bag!” artist Mahmud Asrar reveals that he’s working on a new Batman vs. Robin event series with writer Mark Waid and colorist Nathan Fairbairn.

“BATMAN vs ROBIN is a five part event by Mark Waid and I coming this fall from DC Comics to shake things up for Bruce’s world,” the artist said on both Tumblr and Twitter.

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Taylor + Hairsine pit DC’s heroes against an undead Darkseid in ‘DCeased: War of the Undead Gods’

The finale of the ‘DCeased’ saga will rise in August.

Writer Tom Taylor and artist Trevor Hairsine will reunite one more time for the final chapter in the DCeased storyline — DCeased: War of the Undead Gods.

The eight-issue monthly limited series will take the action into the cosmos, as the Anti-Life Equation spreads among the stars and the surviving heroes from Earth prepare to battle a reborn, undead Darkseid — who has also infected the New Gods. Taylor and Hairsine talk about the new series in a launch trailer:

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Batman villains steal the spotlight in ‘One Bad Day’ one-shots

Tom King, Mitch Gerads, G. Willow Wilson, Jamie McKelvie and more tell new stories about Riddler, Catwoman, Bane and more.

DC Comics spent the day on social media revealing a series of eight one-shots starring Batman’s villains by a variety of comics’ finest.

The 64-page one-shots will feature The Riddler, Two-Face, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Bane, Clayface and Ra’s al Ghul, by the likes of Tom King, Mitch Gerads, John Ridley and more. They’ll be released monthly starting in August.

Here’s a rundown of who is doing what, along with cover art for six of the projects:

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‘Superboy’ by Porter + Lindsay wins the second DC Round Robin tournament

It will be published by DC later this year.

History has a way of repeating itself, so the results of the second DC Round Robin fan tournament should be no surprise — another teen sidekick comic has beaten out the Suicide Squad.

Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay was chosen by fans voting on the DC Universe Infinity message boards. The vote was not close:

It will go on to become a real comic later this year.

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‘Perry White’ one-shot will include a new story by ‘Jimmy Olsen’ team

The award-winning team of Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn and Clayton Cowles reunite for a new story about Jimmy Olsen’s boss.

DC has announced a new one-shot, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen’s Boss Perry White #1, which will not only come out next month (Great Caesar’s Ghost! That’s fast!) but will also include a new seven-page story from the team behind the award-winning Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: Who Killed Jimmy Olsen? maxi-series.

Matt Fraction, Steve Lieber, Nathan Fairbairn and Clayton Cowles will have a story in the anthology, which will also include reprints of stories by Elliot S. Maggin and Curt Swan, Neil Kleid and Dean Haspiel, and Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis.

It really is Miracle Monday, isn’t it?

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Voting opens for the finals of the DC Round Robin tournament

It’s Superboy vs. Suicide Squad Dark in the final vote of the tournament.

DC’s second Round Robin tournament will come to a close this weekend, as voting has opened for the final round. The finals pit Suicide Squad: Dark by Zac Thompson and Garry Brown against Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay.

The tournament, which has been conducted through DC’s social media accounts and the DC Community message boards, allowed fans to vote on their choice for a new DC series. Last year’s winner was, appropriately, Robins by Tim Seeley and Baldemar Rivas, which brought together several of Batman’s former sidekicks. It went on to become a six-issue miniseries that recently wrapped up.

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Dark Crisis expands with five specials focused on the Justice League members who just died

‘Dark Crisis’ will run through December with multiple tie-ins, crossover issues and more.

DC has revealed more of their plans for Dark Crisis, the big event series spearheaded by Joshua Williamson that kicked off in Justice League #75 with the “death” of several members of the Justice League.

I put “death” in quotes because with this latest announcement, we find out that all those dead Leaguers will appear in a series of specials over the next few months, with the big conclusion to the event expected to land in December.

Here’s a look at what’s been announced thus far:

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Superboy + Suicide Squad Dark move on to the DC Round Robin finals

From 16 pitches fans have narrowed the field to the final two — but only one can win and become a real series.

From 16 pitches featuring a variety of characters, fans have narrowed the 2022 DC Round Robin tournament down to twoSuicide Squad: Dark by Zac Thompson and Garry Brown, and Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay.

But only one of these two creative teams can move on and win the tournament, but when that will happen hasn’t been announced yet.

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Final four set in DC’s 2022 Round Robin tournament

The fans have spoken.

And then there were four — DC’s Round Robin tournament, where pitches from different creators face off in a fan vote on social media, is down to its final four competitors.

The four pitches moving on to the next round are:

  • Constantine & The Demon: Vacation From Hell by Frank Allen and Nik Virella
  • Suicide Squad: Dark by Zac Thompson and Garry Brown
  • Green Lantern: Light at the End of Forever by Si Spurrier and Marco Santucci
  • Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay

Voting for the next round will kick off next Tuesday. Here’s the updated brackets:

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Webtoon + DC announce three new webcomics

Vixen, Zatanna and the Red Hood will arrive on Webtoon later this year.

Following the success of Batman: Wayne Family Adventures, which launched last year, DC Comics and Webtoon have announced three new projects that will debut on the popular mobile comics platform.

The first, titled Vixen NYC, will debut in May, while two others — Red Hood: Outlaws and Zatanna & The Ripper, are expected to launch this summer.

“WEBTOON is home to a new generation of comics fans, and DC is home to some of the most iconic characters and franchises in comics,” said David Lee, Head of Content at WEBTOON U.S. “Our partnership with DC represents the future of the comic industry, combining legendary franchises with new technologies and global fandoms that cross borders. Fans can’t get enough of ‘Batman: Wayne Family Adventures,’ and we know they are going to love what we have in store for the 2022 slate.”

Here are a few more details and the creative teams for each of them:

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HBO Max’s ‘Young Justice’ jumps into a digital-first comic

Showrunner Greg Weisman and storyboard artist Christopher Jones present a ‘fully canon’ story.

Fans of HBO Max’s Young Justice cartoon will be happy to know that DC will continue the story from the latest season, Young Justice: Phantoms, in a new digital-first, “fully canon” comic.

Young Justice: Targets will be written by showrunner Greg Weisman, with art by storyboard artist Christopher Jones.

“It’s been terrific working with Christopher Jones again on another Young Justice comic, and I’m really excited for the fans to read Young Justice: Targets,” said Weisman. “It’s a fully canon six-issue mini-series, picking up right where Young Justice: Phantoms left off, with plenty of action, nearly our entire cast, and multiple new revelations.”

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