Slugfest | Unwrapping DC’s December solicitations

Find Challengers of the Unknown, New Gods, Superwoman and more under your Christmas tree this December.

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:

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DC + Sega team up for a Sonic + Justice League collaboration

Ian Flynn will write a five-issue miniseries featuring Sonic characters mashed up with DC heroes.

Who is faster, Superman, Flash … or Sonic? DC and Sega will put that question to the test next year as they partner to bring together Sonic the Hedgehog and the Justice League.

The collaboration will include a five-issue miniseries written by longtime Sonic scribe Ian Flynn. No artist for the project was named, but Dc will publish it next year.

According to DC, the event “features an unprecedented crossover event where the Justice League and Team Sonic must unite to save their worlds from a major threat.” And by unite, they must mean a mash-up, based on the images they shared of Shadow as Batman, Knuckles as Superman, Sonic as The Flash and more:

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Al Ewing + Steve Lieber ‘get groovy’ with ‘Metamorpho: The Element Man’ this December

‘This is 100% fun comics, delivered with total confidence, visceral joy and absolutely no winking to the camera.’

Some announcements just make you want to smile, like this one: Al Ewing and Steve Lieber will team up for a new series featuring Metamorpho, as part of DC’s All In initiative. Or maybe that should be “Al In,” considering it’s one of Ewing’s first major projects with the publisher.

Metamorpho: The Element Man will feature “done-in-ones” stories that build up to something bigger, according to Ewing, who is paired with Lieber of Jimmy Olsen fame. They’re joined by Lee Loughridge on colors.

“This is 100% fun comics, delivered with total confidence, visceral joy and absolutely no winking to the camera,” Ewing said. “It’s a love letter to Bob Haney, Ramona Fradon and the spirit of superheroes at their wildest and weirdest—we’re aiming to catch the essential fab-freakiness of Metamorpho like lightning in a bottle and get groovy with it in our own special way.”

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Dan Watters + Hayden Sherman team for ‘Batman: Dark Patterns’ in December

The 12-issue maxi-series will feature four different cases from the early days of Batman’s career.

Home Sick Pilots writer Dan Watters and Absolute Wonder Woman artist Hayden Sherman will revisit the early days of Batman’s career in Batman: Dark Patterns, which will delve into “four mysterious cases as he attempts to cement his place as Gotham City’s protector while the city itself fights back against him.”

Watters and Sherman are joined by colorist Tríona Farrell and letterer Frank Cvetkovic for the 12-issue series, which will be broken into three-issue story arcs that focus on a specific case. The first one, “We Are Wounded,” involves a series of “sickeningly gruesome murders sending shock waves through Gotham City.”

“I love the strangeness of Batman. A man dressed as a huge, gothic bat, solving crimes in a hostile city of black magicians, mad scientists, and superstitious, cowardly criminals. I’ve always wanted to write a series of mystery stories that would home in on that aspect of the character- a dweller in the shadows of Gotham’s towering, dilapidated spires,” said Watters. “After watching The Batman, this desire was reaffirmed. Batman: Dark Patterns explores the pulpiest part of the Dark Knight’s rich history and gives readers an entirely new perspective on the early years of DC’s Dark Detective.”

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DC announces ‘Two-Face’ by Christian Ward + Fábio Veras

Harvey Dent finally won the coin toss and gets his first solo miniseries this December.

Following in the footsteps of the Joker, the Penguin and Catwoman, Two-Face is the latest Batman villain to get a solo series.

The new series featuring Harvey Dent and his alter ego will be written by Christian Ward, with art by Fábio Veras, colors by Ivan Plascencia and lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

“After falling in love with writing the beautiful, complicate, Harvey in Batman: City of Madness,” said Ward, “I couldn’t be more excited to be, or prouder, to be writing Two-Face’s very first solo series! Two-Face is without any hesitation not just my favorite Batman villain but my favorite character in all of Gotham, and I’m thrilled to be taking him, together with superstar artist in the making Fábio Veras and the legends that are colorist Ivan Plascencia and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, to some wild places you might not be expecting. The first of which takes Harvey Dent back to the courtroom.”

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Slugfest | ‘Justice League Unlimited’ + related titles top DC’s November solicitations

November brings new titles featuring Batgirl, Black Lightning, the Question and more.

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. This edition focuses on DC’s November 2024 solicitations. Hit the links for more information.

DC’s November 2024 solicitations arrived late last week, sharing more information on several titles that tie into the DC All In initiative that were revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con last month.

I pulled out some of the highlights below, including launching series and milestone issues. To see DC’s full solicitations, you can find them over on The Beat.

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Santa’s coming back to the DCU this December

Jeff Parker, Lukas Ketner, Marcelo Maiolo, Pat Brosseau and Michele Bandini make the nice list for bringing us a sequel to ‘Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight.’

This holiday season is shaping up to be the most wonderful time of the year, not just because of the gifts and eggnog and merriment, but because DC is publishing a sequel to last year’s wonderful Silent Knight miniseries that featured Santa Claus teaming up with various DC characters.

Santa’s back to save Christmas and the Justice League in Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns by writer Jeff Parker, who wrote last year’s miniseries, along with artist Lukas Ketner, colorist Marcelo Maiolo and letterer Pat Brosseau. Michele Bandini, who drew the original miniseries, will be back to draw some of the scenes in this one as well, as a trapped Justice League must rely on Robin, Zatanna and Santa Claus to save them.

“I was blown away at how well last year’s Silent Knight series was received, readers really responded to us going full tilt with Norse-mythos Santa in the DCU,Parker said. “We followed the old tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas (remember the line from ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’?). Then to be asked if I wanted to do another one AND have an extra issue? That was the Happy New Year.”

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Black Canary + Lady Shiva will go fist-to-fist in Tom King + Ryan Sook’s ‘Black Canary: Best of the Best’

The six-issue series kicks off in November.

Black Canary will take center stage — or is it center ring? — in a miniseries by Wonder Woman writer Tom King and Seven Soldiers: Zatanna artist Ryan Sook.

The six-issue Black Canary: Best of the Best will feature Dinah Lance going up against Lady Shiva to determine the best hand-to-hand fighter in the DC universe.

“I’ve been wanting to tell this story for a few years, and I’m really excited for fans to see what Ryan and I have planned for Dinah,” said King. “He’s got the perfect art style for this series, and fans will feel every punch and kick thrown from the first issue to the finale.”

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SDCC Slugfest | Monday hangover edition

Rick Remender, Paul Azaceta and Matheus Lopes team for ‘The Seasons,’ Scott Dunbier’s new company announces titles, ‘Shadow Cabinet’ returns from Milestone Media and more!

Slugfest is a roundup of cool announcements about projects coming to a shelf near you. With the 2024 San Diego Comic Con now in the books, this edition covers news and tidbits from the weekend I haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

I’m not sure when or where this was announced this past weekend, but Paul Azaceta has shared on social media and through his newsletter that he’s working with writer Rick Remender and colorist Matheus Lopes on The Seasons, which will be released through Remender’s Giant Generator imprint at Image Comics.

“We really have something we’re both proud and excited to be putting together for you,” Azaceta said in his newsletter. “Something new from us. And something a bit different than the usual offerings on the stands. We worked hard on building this little world, creating these four sisters and what this book will be. But this is only the beginning!”

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SDCC | Jeff Lemire to write ‘JSA,’ ‘Absolute Flash;’ Ram V + Evan Cagle revive ‘New Gods’

In San Diego today, DC held their “What’s Happening in the DC Multiverse” panel, revealing a few new projects coming this fall as a part of the All In initiative.

In terms of new projects, Jeff Lemire was on hand to talk about returning to the DC Universe to write a new Justice Society of America title and Absolute Flash, which joins Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman in the fledgling universe.

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SDCC | DC brings back an old friend for its new era

The popular DC Bullet logo returns.

As DC prepares for both a new comics era in October and the launch of the DC Studios slate headed up by James Gunn (starting with Creature Commandos, whose trailer dropped at SDCC), the company unveiled the return of its DC Bullet logo.

“For me, there is no better way to celebrate the power of our storytelling, and usher in this new era of creative unity at DC, than bringing this powerful, iconic mark back into the world—back to its rightful place of prominence, on the front covers of everything DC,” said Jim Lee, DC’s president, publisher and chief creative officer, on the company’s LinkedIn feed. Lee revealed the change back to the older logo during his panel in San Diego today.

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SDCC | DC announces ‘Justice League Unlimited’ by Mark Waid + Dan Mora

The ‘Absolute Power’ team brings back DC’s premiere super-team with a fun, throwback title.

In the wake of Absolute Power, the Justice League will return to DC’s core universe in Justice League Unlimited by Mark Waid and Dan Mora.

The new title was revealed by DC in San Diego yesterday, following hints and teases in various places over the last couple weeks, including the solicitations for Absolute Power #4 and the Scott Snyder/Joshua Williamson All In video.

What’s really fun is the title itself, as Justice League Unlimited was of course the excellent DC animated series that wrapped up the series of cartoons that started with Batman: The Animated Series and grew from there. Like that program, perhaps the title hints that the team will have an open roster? I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Dan Mora shared a cover on social media, which reveals at least some of the members: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, Satr Sapphire, Atom, Flash and Captain Atom.

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