DC announces ‘Dark Crisis’ event series

Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere team up for a crossover that spins out of ‘Justice League’ #75 and pays tribute to DC’s past.

DC has announced their next big “Crisis” crossover series, following on a long tradition of using the term, whether said crisis is Infinite, on Multiple Earths, Final or, um, “Identity.” (Maybe it’s best to skip that last one).

This particular crisis ties back to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the landmark 1980s series by Marv Wolfman and George Perez that reduced the multiverse to a single Earth and introduced us to Pariah, who watched multiple universes die after his own did. It also has roots (appropriately) in one of my favorite stories from Swamp Thing, issue #50 by Alan Moore and Stan Woch, which saw Swamp Thing and his allies attempting to save Heaven from “The Great Darkness.” Finally, it’ll spin out of Justice League #75, due out in April, where the team will die at the hands of “a new  Dark  Army  made  up  of  the  DCU’s  greatest  villains.”

Dark Crisis will run for seven issues and is written by Joshua Williamson, featuring art by Daniel Sampere, colors by Alejandro Sánchez and lettering by Tom Napolitano.

Dark Crisis is an epic DCU event about legacy,” said writer Joshua Williamson. “It will have all the giant, fun cosmic battles and Multiversal set pieces, but it’s not about reboots, retcons, or rewriting time and space. At its core it’s about the characters and the relationships that we’ve seen built over DC’s great history. Dark Crisis spins out of Justice League 75 ‘Death of the Justice League’ and connects all the story threads across the DCU since Infinite Frontier #0 in a major way. Unifying the new legacy of the DCU as we honor the classic. You can’t miss it!”

Here’s a teaser trailer:

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Williamson + Leomacs go rogue on new DC Black Label title

The Flash’s villains take the spotlight as they go for one last, big heist — robbing Gorilla Grodd.

DC Comics has announced Rogues, the rare un-Batman project from DC’s Black Label imprint, by Joshua Williamson (Batman, Robin, Flash) and Leomacs (the wonderful Basketful of Heads).

The four-issue, prestige format series will feature the Flash’s rogue gallery 10 years after they disbanded, as Captain Cold brings them together for one more heist. And what a heist it is — he wants to rob Gorilla Grodd.

Rogues is unlike anything I’ve done at DC,” said Williamson. “It’s closer to my own creator-owned works. It’s a crime book full of super-science, dark humor, lost civilizations, and crazy action set pieces, but it’s all played straight, with the dark edge and morality-play qualities of classic noir stories. Rogues takes everything we love about these classic characters and sends them violently crashing into a noir story that makes the ideal DC Black Label series.”

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Deathstroke goes to war with Talia al Ghul in ‘Shadow War’

The crossover series will run through the Joshua Williamson-written titles ‘Deathstroke Inc.,’ ‘Robin’ and ‘Batman.’

Several of the plots hatched by Joshua Williamson over the last year will come to a head next March in Shadow War, a DC Comics event that will run through issues of Batman, Deathstroke Inc. and Robin.

The crossover will begin in Shadow War Alpha #1, by Williamson and Viktor Bogdanovic. The 48-page issue will set up the story, which finds Deathstroke committing “an unthinkable act” that angers Talia al Ghul and the League of Shadows. As Deathstroke, Inc. and the League of Shadows go to war, Batman and Robin seek to bring Deathstroke to justice.

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Williamson + Molina to pit Batman against the new villain Abyss in December

Williamson takes over the flagship Batman title following the departure of James Tynion IV.

Following the departure of James Tynion IV from Batman, Joshua Williamson has announced on Twitter that he’ll write the title beginning with issue #118, with Jorge Molina on art.

“As Batman leaves Gotham, I’m starting a new storyline called ‘Abyss’ drawn by the awesome Jorge Molina,” he said. “We’re honoring the plan that the other books in the bat-line are doing while telling a brand-new story for Bruce Wayne as Batman in the DCU.”

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‘Justice League Incarnate’ spins out of ‘Infinite Frontier’ in November

Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver helm the miniseries featuring the multiverse’s Justice League.

Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver will follow up this summer’s Infinite Frontier miniseries with Justice League Incarnate, a five-issue oversized series. The first issue features artwork by Andrei Bressan and Brandon Peterson.

The series will feature the team made up of members from each world in the multiverse, including their recent addition, Flashpoint Batman, and a new character, Dr. Multiverse from Earth-8. Earth-8 is the Marvel-equivalent world that’s home to the Extremists and the Retaliators.

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DC announces several new projects for September as ‘DC Connect’ goes to print

‘Deathstroke Inc.,’ ‘Titans United,’ ‘Black Manta’ and more arrive from DC in September.

DC Comics has announced that their monthly online preview magazine DC Connect will be available in print starting in September — and in doing so, revealed several new projects slated for that month as well.

As luck would have it, today is also the day DC released their September solicitations, so let’s break down some of these new announcements …

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‘Future State: Gotham’ #1 will include a Katsuhiro Otomo Batman story

Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver and Giannis Milonogiannis send the Red Hood after Gotham’s vigilantes.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently that we haven’t already covered. Hit the links for more information.

DC Comics has released a preview of the upcoming Future State: Gotham #1, which spins out of the Future State event from earlier this year. The comic will feature the ongoing story of the Red Hood hunting down masked vigilantes for The Magistrate — which brings him into conflict with The Next Batman.

The comic is co-written by Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver, with black-and-white art by Giannis Milonogiannis. Along with the preview came the news that DC will reprint “The Third Mask,” a Batman story written and drawn by Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of the manga and anime AKIRA. It originally appeared in a 1996 issue of Batman: Black & White.

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DC announces ‘Infinite Frontier’ miniseries

Joshua Williamson and Xermanico will pick up on plot threads from ‘Infinite Frontier’ #0 in a six-issue series beginning this summer.

With Infinite Frontier #0 hitting shelves today, DC has announced — both via press release and in the comic itself — plans for a six-issue Infinite Frontier miniseries.

The creative team of Joshua Williamson and Xermanico will expand on some of the storylines featured in the #0 issue. [Potential SPOILERS for Infinite Frontier #0 below]

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DC’s Future State will continue with ‘Future State: Gotham’

Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver, and Giannis Milonogiannis will continue the story of the Red Hood, the Magistrate and more in May.

DC has announced that at least one of the time periods and plot lines introduced last month during their Future State event will continue past the end of the event. If you’ve been enjoying the Magistrate story running through the Batman titles, you’ll be happy to know that the story will continue in Future State: Gotham in May.

This six-issue debut story arc will be co-written by Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver, with art by Giannis Milonogiannis and covers by Yasmine Putri and James Stokoe. It’ll focus on Jason Todd, aka the Red Hood, has turned on the rest of the Batman family and now hunts masked heroes for the Magistrate, the mercenary force that has taken over Gotham. It will also be “rendered in stark, black and white tones,” according to the press release.

Future State: Gotham pulls from ALL the Future State Bat-Books,” Williamson said on Twitter. “It’s going to surprise you. Be sure to read Dark Detective #4 and the Red Hood back-up as that is a massive prelude to this new series coming in May!”

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Robin leaps out into his own series by Williamson + Melnikov

The new ongoing will launch in April.

Damian Wayne will become the latest Robin to branch out into his own ongoing series, courtesy of Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov.

“Being a big fan of Damian Wayne, I’m really excited about getting him back on a hero’s journey,” Williamson said. “Gleb is the perfect artist to tell this story as we show readers Damian’s growth, in a new adventure that navigates his legacy, his connections to Batman, Talia Al Ghul and kicks off an important story in the DC Universe.”

Robin, now unaffiliated with either Batman or the Teen Titans, will investigate something called the League of Lazarus tournament, which he plans to enter and win to “prove he is the greatest fighter in the DC Universe.”

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DC sails into an ‘Infinite Frontier’ in 2021

New creative teams and directions arrive in March, along with a one-shot to kick it all off.

After a reality-altering crossover in Dark Nights: Death Metal over the last few months and a look into the future with DC Future State in January and February of next year, DC will chart a new path in its regular ongoing titles in March, starting with a one-shot called Infinite Frontier that’ll kick everything off.

Infinite Frontier #0 really feels like the beginning of a new era of DC Comics, a time when anything is possible,” said writer Joshua Williamson. “We’re taking the aftermath of Dark Nights: Death Metal and combining it with the best things we love as storytellers about the DC Universe, resulting in bold, fun, and exciting new directions. There are a lot of teases to new story lines, surprises, and mysteries for the year set up in Infinite Frontier #0 that you won’t want to miss.” 

Dc has already revealed new titles and creative teams for March over the last few weeks, and the release of their solicitations for that month lay it all out. Here’s a rundown of what to expect:

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Can’t Wait for Comics | ‘X of Swords’ begins

New comics arrive this week from Fabian Nicieza, Ron Garney, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Dan Panosian, Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter and more.

We are back with a look at what’s arriving in comic shops, bookstores and on digital this week. There are several first issues coming out, including new titles from Dan Panosian, Daniel Kraus, Fabian Nicieza, Ron Garney and of course the big X of Swords crossover event featuring Marvel’s merry mutants (with swords!)

If you’re wondering what to get this week, check out a few recommendations below. You can check out Comic List to see what’s arriving in your local comic shop, and the comiXology new releases page for what’s available digitally.

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