New ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ one-shot coming from Miller, Grampa, Bellaire

‘Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child’ shows ‘the next generation of heroes in action.’

DC Comics has announced a new one-shot set in Frank Miller‘s Dark Knight Returns universe, Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child. Miller will be joined by artists Rafael Grampá and Jordie Bellaire in the follow-up to 2015’s Dark Knight III: Master Race.

According to the press release, the story takes place three years after the events of Master Race, where Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Carrie Kelley and Lara Kent overcame the renegade priest Quar and his cult of Kandorian fanatics in their bid to convert humanity into worshipping them as gods. During this interim, Lara has spent time learning about what it means to be human, while Carrie has grown into her role as Gotham City’s new protector, Batwoman.

 “The Dark Knight Returns story began with its heroes getting older,” said Miller. “Now we’re seeing the next generation of heroes in action, and Rafael was the obvious choice for me to usher in these heroes that are vigorous, untested and loaded with promise. I think that Jonathan Kent in particular will surprise everybody with his unforeseen abilities and impossible mind.”

Continue reading “New ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ one-shot coming from Miller, Grampa, Bellaire”

DC reveals more Jim Lee art from ‘Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium’

DC’s publisher teams up with longtime collaborators Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair on new pages for the project.

With the first issue of Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium arriving this Wednesday, DC Comics has released some additional preview pages by the art team of Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair.

The trio of artists have worked together many times in the past, going back to the pre-DC Wildstorm days, and on titles like All-Star Batman and Robin, Batman: Hush and Superman. This time around, they’re working with writer Brian Michael Bendis as one of several art teams contributing to the two-issue miniseries.

It’s a collaboration that’s been in the works even before Bendis made the jump to DC from Marvel, as the writer told Entertainment Weekly that several years ago, he received a note from Lee asking if he’d like to work on Legion with him.

Continue reading “DC reveals more Jim Lee art from ‘Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium’”

Comics Lowdown: Spiegelman withdraws essay after Marvel wanted to remove Trump reference

Plus: Hector Gonzalez Rodriguez III on the El Paso shooting, thieves caught selling comics to their actual owner; and more!

Marvel asked legendary comic creator Art Spiegelman to remove a line from his introduction for a new Golden Age comic collection for being too political. The essay refers to current president of the Unites States Donald Trump as an “Orange Skull.”

“In today’s all too real world, Captain America’s most nefarious villain, the Red Skull, is alive on screen and an Orange Skull haunts America”

The graphic novelist decided to withdraw his entire essay meant for a Folio Society deluxe collection and published it online at the Guardian, fully intact, and added a few paragraphs at the end about his experience with Marvel, being edited, and about how CEO of Marvel Entertainment Ike Perlmutter donated $360,000, the maximum amount allowed, to the “Trump Victory Joint Fundraising Committee.”

Continue reading “Comics Lowdown: Spiegelman withdraws essay after Marvel wanted to remove Trump reference”

November is Geoff Johns Month in the Dark Multiverse

New one-shots with even darker takes on ‘Blackest Night’ and ‘Infinite Crisis’ will arrive in November.

As revealed in their November solicitations, DC will release two more one-shots in their new “Tales from the Dark Multiverse” line.

The What If?-style one-shots re-imagine past DC storylines with “a twisted and terrifying spin.” In November, look for new takes on the Green Lantern event “Blackest Night” and the Justice League event series Infinite Crisis. Both events were written/spearheaded by Geoff Johns and were pretty dark in their own right.

More details below …

Continue reading “November is Geoff Johns Month in the Dark Multiverse”

‘Green Lantern: Blackstars’ debuts in November

Grant Morrison ‘rewrites reality’ in a new miniseries that spins out of his work on ‘The Green Lantern.’

DC has announced a new miniseries spinning out of Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp’s The Green Lantern series. If you’ve been reading that series and would rather not have it spoiled, it might be safer to stop reading now.

Continue reading “‘Green Lantern: Blackstars’ debuts in November”

‘Red Rain’ Batman sinks his teeth into ‘Secrets of Sinister House’ one-shot

DC’s annual Halloween anthology features new stories by John Layman, Paul Dini, Rafael Albuquerque, Tom Raney and more.

DC’s annual Halloween anthology will return in October with a new story set in the world of Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, among other stories.

Rafael Scavone and Rafael Albuquerque will co-write the story about vampire Batman, with art by Rafael Albuquerque. Albuquerque’s the co-creator of American Vampire, so he’s very familiar with fanged monsters. Released in the 1990s and created by Dog Moench and Kelley Jones, Red Rain was one of the earliest “Elseworlds” stories published by DC. It spawned two sequels.

Continue reading “‘Red Rain’ Batman sinks his teeth into ‘Secrets of Sinister House’ one-shot”

DC shares artwork from ‘Black Canary: Ignite,’ other middle grade projects

Check out previews of books by Art Baltazar and Franco, Gene Luen Yang and more.

During the “Raising Super Readers: Inside DC’s Middle Grade Graphic Novels” panel in San Diego today, DC Comics once again dropped a bunch of artwork from their upcoming “Middle Grade” titles — just like they did yesterday with their YA titles.

Check out previews below for Superman of SmallvilleDear Super-VillainsBlack Canary: IgniteDC Super Hero Girls: Powerless and Superman Smashes The Klan.

Continue reading “DC shares artwork from ‘Black Canary: Ignite,’ other middle grade projects”

DC announces ‘Strange Adventures’ by King + Shaner + Gerads

Adam Strange will fly again in 2020.

It started with teases this weekend — Tom King and Mitch Gerads, the award-winning team behind DC’s Mister Miracle miniseries, have a new project in the works. That fans, naturally, kept asking about.

“So here’s the deal. It doesn’t come out for awhile, so SDCC might be a little early to announce it,” Gerads said on Twitter. “BUT DC has told us if the Eisners go well for us tonight then we can announce it tomorrow! So fingers crossed! I’ve got covers and info ready to go!”

Things went very well for them at the Eisners Friday night, and DC was true to their word — this morning they announced via Twitter Strange Adventures, featuring Adam Strange, by Tom King, Mitch Gerads and — get this — Evan “Doc” Shaner, a man who was born to work on Adam Strange.

The tweet came with two images:

Continue reading “DC announces ‘Strange Adventures’ by King + Shaner + Gerads”

DC previews artwork from their upcoming YA titles

Check out pages from ‘Shadow of the Batgirl,’ ‘Gotham High” and more.

During the “Super-Powered YA: DC Graphic Novels For Your #TBR Pile” panel at Comic-Con International yesterday, DC shared artwork from four of their upcoming young adult graphic novels (formerly known as the DC Ink imprint).

Check out previews for Shadow of the Batgirl,The Lost Carnival: A Dick Grayson Graphic Novel, Gotham High and Wonder Woman: Warbringer below.

Continue reading “DC previews artwork from their upcoming YA titles”

‘Birds of Prey’ soars again in October

The Birds are back in town, courtesy of Brian Azzarello, Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy and Trish Mulvihill.

Just in time for the film of the same name, DC has announced a new Birds of Prey series featuring Black Canary, Harley Quinn and the Huntress. Writer Brian Azzarello and the art team of Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy and Trish Mulvihill will bring the three heroines together to battle a new threat called Las Esposas de la Muerte.

“It’s cool to have a story to tell about these characters I’ve never worked on before, with Ema, a terrific artist I’ve never worked with before,” Azzarello said in the release. “Having Harley involved screws with the new BOP dynamic—hell, with every dynamic. She’s chaos, but she might be the most together member of the team. Canary, Huntress, and Montoya have a lot of damaged baggage. Ema and I are gonna unpack it.”

Continue reading “‘Birds of Prey’ soars again in October”

Ellis + Hitch reunite for ‘Batman’s Grave’

The 12-issue series will take readers into the minds of Batman and Alfred.

Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, the team that reignited the comics medium with their take on The Authority at the turn of the century, will reunite for a new Batman maxi-series. Kevin Nowlan joins Hitch on art.

Titled The Batman’s Grave, the 12-issue series will see the Dark Knight take on a case that “forces him to inhabit the mind of a murder victim with a half-eaten face—without filling the empty grave next to those of his parents.”

“My very first work at DC was two issues of Legends Of The Dark Knight,” begins Ellis, “so it’s been 25 years since I did a full-length story with the Batman. I’ve decided to revisit the crime scene where my career in American comics began, and I’m so grateful that my old comrade Bryan Hitch is doing this midnight run with me. It’s been too many years since we last did a long campaign together.”

Continue reading “Ellis + Hitch reunite for ‘Batman’s Grave’”

DiDio + Davis bring Nth Metal to the ‘Metal Men’ this fall

New 12-issue series will explore developments in Metal Men history revealed in ‘Dark Knights: Metal.’

DC Publisher Dan DiDio and Superman: Year One artist Shane Davis will bring back the Metal Men this fall in a new maxi-series that will also include The Nth Metal Man, who was introduced during the Dark Knights: Metal event. Painter Michelle Delecki will work with Davis on the art.

“I’m a longtime fan of the Metal Men and had a chance to write them briefly in the anthology, Wednesday Comics, several years ago,” shares DiDio. “With this new series, we explore the essence of what makes the Metal Men human, by having them caught between Doc Magnus, the man who created them, and the newly introduced The Nth Metal Man, the being that gave them life.  What I’m enjoying most about this book is the chance to stay true to all existing stories, while building out their mythology in exciting new directions.”

Continue reading “DiDio + Davis bring Nth Metal to the ‘Metal Men’ this fall”