DC Preview Review For January Part 1 of 2

Jim: So the new 52 has done pretty well with me so far as I’m reading the third issues at this point and I have only dropped six titles. They are Static Shock, Men of War, Hawk and Dove, Captain Atom, Savage Hawkman and Fury of Firestorm. I’m still not 100% sold on a lot of these series and the odd familiarity and yet strangeness still keeps bothering me. Plus I have no clue how the new DCU fits together. All in all I guess I’m happy with it, but my connection to these characters is not as strong as it used to be.

Gwen: I never know what to say for these introductions. *Drumroll* And now here's your DC solicitations, with your hosts, Jim and Gwen!

BATMAN VS. THE BLACK GLOVE DELUXE EDITION HC
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art by ANDY KUBERT, J.H. WILLIAMS III, TONY S. DANIEL, JOHN VAN FLEET, RYAN BENJAMIN, JESSE DELPERDANG, JONATHAN GLAPION and SANDU FLOREA
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
On sale MARCH 28
384 pg, FC, 7.0625” x 10.875”, $29.99 US
Comic-book legend Grant Morrison (ACTION COMICS) joins forces with top artists including Andy Kubert (FLASHPOINT), J.H. Williams III (BATWOMAN) and Tony S. Daniel (DETECTIVE COMICS) in this new hardcover collecting BATMAN #655-658, 663-669 and 672-675!
First, Batman receives the greatest shock of his life when he discovers that he has a son. And sparks fly when the new addition to the Batfamily is introduced to Robin, the Boy Wonder. Which young hero will carry on the legacy as Gotham City’s protector?
Then, Batman and a group of global heroes face a killer on a mysterious island, and Batman relives an adventure in the life of young Bruce Wayne: the hunt for his parents’ killer.

Jim: I’m starting off this month backwards by doing the back end of the solicitations first. The reason is it plays into a problem I have with the reset button being hit so hard by DC. I was really into the Batman stuff and it feels like it was changed a fair amount. It was changed enough that my desire to have this material in a high end hard cover has been diminished. I wonder what this type of change does to the back end trade market.

Gwen: I can't say I was terribly interested in this before so the new 52 hasn't impacted my opinion that much. I love Batman and all but I'm just not a big Morrison fan - although it should read much better as a trade.

SUPERMAN IN ACTION COMICS ARCHIVES VOL. 6 HC
Written by DON CAMERON and ALVIN SCHWARTZ
Art by VARIOUS
Cover by WAYNE BORING and STAN KAYE
On sale JUNE 6
240 pg, FC, $59.99 US
Superman enters the post World War II era in these stories from ACTION COMICS #86-102. The Man of Steel helps out Hocus and Pocus, and fights the nuisances of The Prankster and Mr. Mxyztplk.

Jim: If I hadn’t sworn off getting too many hard covers I would have thought about getting this one. It is finally getting into that black hole era of super hero comics when things were no longer all about WWII and the beginning of the EC Comic era was around the corner. Still besides curiosity I don’t think this material has much to offer.

Gwen: Hocus and Pocus? I don't know who they are but I want to!

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: YOUNG LOVE VOL. 1 TP
Written by VARIOUS
Art by VARIOUS
Cover by JAY SCOTT PIKE
On sale FEBRUARY 22
544 pg, B&W, $19.99 US
DC’s popular romance series is collected for the first time in this title reprinting YOUNG LOVE #39-56, featuring art by John Romita, Mike Sekowsky, Don Heck, Gene Colan, Jay Scott Pike and others.

Jim: This material is so dated and due to it being dated it becomes funny. Just thinking about a bunch of middle aged men writing this romance stories is pretty funny. Still some of the art was very well done.

Gwen: Oh the tragedy of your mom picking your husband for you... I know for a fact that parents have little control over their kids these days if high school is any indication. Jim's right though, these do look pretty funny.

I, VAMPIRE TP
Written by J.M. DeMATTEIS, BRUCE JONES, DAN MISHKIN, GARY COHN and MIKE BARR
Art by TOM SUTTON, ERNIE COLON, PARIS CULLINS, JIM APARO and others
Cover by JOE KUBERT
On sale FEBRUARY 8
320 pg, FC, $29.99 US
A cult favorite series is collected at last, from HOUSE OF MYSTERY #290, 291, 293, 295, 297, 299, 302 and 304-319 and BRAVE AND THE BOLD #195! Vampiric Lord Andrew Bennett turned his beloved Mary Seward into a vampire, hoping to keep her by his side through eternity. But what happens when her power turns her evil?

Jim: A few months ago I would have skipped this book in a heartbeat. The new I, Vampire series is so good I want to see some of the original material that some of the ideas and themes are based on. I have a strong suspicion this stuff won’t hold a candle to the current work.

Gwen: That vampire looks an awful lot like Ras Al Ghul.

GONE TO AMERIKAY HC
Written by DEREK McCULLOCH
Art and cover by COLLEEN DORAN
On sale MARCH 28
144 pg, FC, $24.99 US
MATURE READERS
This sweeping, century-spanning graphic novel explores the vivid history of Irish émigrés to New York City via three intertwined tales, from a penniless woman raising a daughter alone in the Five Points slum of 1870, to a struggling young artist drawn to the nascent counterculture of 1960, the year America elected its first Irish-Catholic president.
Written by Eisner Award-nominated writer Derek McCulloch (Stagger Lee, Pug), and beautifully illustrated with period detail by Colleen Doran (THE SANDMAN, ORBITER) and color by Jose Villarrubia.

Jim: I didn’t order this book and I have a feeling I’m going to regret it as I enjoy historical material and since I’m half Irish this is of even more interest to me.

Gwen: I want this book. You should go back and order it =P

Part 2 coming soon………