Okay, so this is how it’s going to go. Following on the heels of the New 52, DC is announcing its October books with a smatter of new miniseries and other extras. The Batbooks were revealed today with a new Huntress mini by Paul Levitz and a Penguin mini by Gregg Hurwitz.

In addition, as expected, often tardy writer/artist David Finch has been joined by Paul Jenkins and Jay Fabok on DETECTIVE COMICS #2. Graeme McMillan says this is the first DC book to crack, but we haven’t seen all the #2s yet.

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THE HUNTRESS #1
 Written by PAUL LEVITZ
 Art by MARCUS TO and JOHN DELL
 Cover by GUILLEM MARCH
 On sale OCTOBER 5 • 1 of 6, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
Look out! By the end of this hot new miniseries, the Huntress will have the largest price on her head in DC Universe history.
What will the Huntress do that warrants such a death mark? And who puts it there? The jaw-dropping events will be revealed as the Huntress heads home to Italy and embarks on a mission that defines her life. Don’t miss out, because this story will tie in to upcoming events in BIRDS OF PREY!

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PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE #1 
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
 Art and cover by SZYMON KUDRANSKI
 On sale OCTOBER 5 • 1 of 5, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
In this exciting new miniseries from novelist Gregg Hurwitz (You’re Next) and rising star artist Szymon Kudranksi (Spawn), the painful and dark past of one of Batman’s most devious foes is examined. How did young Oswald Cobblepot go from being the apple of his mother’s eye to the leader of underworld gangs and adversary of The Caped Crusader? Find out in PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE!

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BATMAN #2 
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
 Art and cover by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION 
Cover by GREG CAPULLO 
Variant cover by JIM LEE
 1:200 B&W variant cover by GREG CAPULLO 
On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
Bruce Wayne is back in the cowl, hunting a new and deadly killer in Gotham City – a killer with a vendetta against Bruce Wayne! But who is this mysterious killer in an owl skull mask? And is he the key to unlocking one of Gotham’s oldest and most terrifying secrets? Be there for their first brutal encounter!

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BATWING #2 
Written by JUDD WINICK 
Art and cover by BEN OLIVER 
On sale OCTOBER 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
He is called Massacre, and he brings death. What does the soldier in service of Batman Incorporated do when he’s met his match? When he’s been brought so low and been wounded so badly? What does he do when lost Super Heroes begin turning up as victims? Batwing fights back!

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DETECTIVE COMICS #2
 Written by TONY S. DANIEL 
Art by TONY S. DANIEL and RYAN WINN
 Cover by TONY S. DANIEL
 On sale OCTOBER 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
Batman sets his sights on the Gotham Ripper, who in turn has his sights on Batman. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne explores a budding romance with television journalist Charlotte Rivers, who’s visiting Gotham City to cover the gruesome slayings – while also trying to uncover Bruce’s own mystery. But time is running out as both Commissioner Gordon and Batman work to uncover the true identity of this new serial killer.

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BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #2 
Written by DAVID FINCH and PAUL JENKINS 
Art by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND with JAY FABOK
Cover by DAVID FINCH and RICHARD FRIEND 
On sale OCTOBER 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
Something sinister surges through Arkham Asylum, and Batman finds himself bombarded by his greatest foes in this second sensational issue from superstar creator David Finch!
 Bigger, meaner, and more powerful than ever before, the inmates of Arkham Asylum run rampant as the entire Bat Family struggles to keep the walls from falling down, unleashing Gotham City’s worst criminals on the unsuspecting population. And you won’t believe the jaw-dropping final page! Just keep repeating, “It’s only a comic book. It’s only a comic book…”

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BATMAN AND ROBIN #2
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
 Art by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY
 Cover by PATRICK GLEASON 
On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
Batman’s fears about Robin’s tendency to dish out more pain than necessary are growing! And who is the man named NoBody, visiting Gotham City to say hello to his old friend Bruce Wayne and find out where he went wrong in his battle against crime.


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BATGIRL #2 
Written by GAIL SIMONE
 Art by ARDIAN SYAF and VICENTE CIFUENTES
 Cover by ADAM HUGHES 
On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
 The nightmare-inducing brute known as Mirror is destroying the lives of Gotham City citizens seemingly at random, and an explosive confrontation between Batgirl and Mirror leads Babs to question wearing the cape and cowl at all! 
The riveting adventures of Batgirl continue in
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stunning fashion, with script by fan-favorite Gail Simone and stellar art by superstar Ardian Syaf!

BATWOMAN #2
 Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III and W. HADEN BLACKMAN
Art and cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III 
On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 
Horror! A terrifying new villain stalks the innocent children of Gotham City! Intrigue! A threatening government agency is hot on Batwoman’s trail. Romance! Kate Kane’s new relationship is heating up!
 Can Batwoman stop the new evil rising from the damp back alleys of Gotham’s barrios? And overcome the many challenges she faces as both Batwoman and Kate Kane? 2011’s most anticipated new series intensifies in this exciting second issue!

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NIGHTWING #2
 Written by KYLE HIGGINS
 Art and cover by EDDY BARROWS and JP MAYER
 On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
When a mysterious assassin targets Dick Grayson, Nightwing must work fast to uncover the killer’s plot before he strikes again. But as Haley’s Circus continues to perform in Gotham City, Dick finds himself torn between two lives: His old one as a circus performer and his new one as a Super Hero. And they may be more connected than he ever realized!

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RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #2 
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art and cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT and BLOND 
On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
Red Hood is already globe-trotting in an effort to find the ancient assassins behind the slaughter of those who taught him some of his darkest skills… and if Roy and Kori are going to be of any help, well, they’ll just have to tag along – whether Jason wants them to or not!

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BIRDS OF PREY #2 
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
 Art and cover by JESUS SAIZ
 On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T 
An explosion in a secure Gotham City airport terminal hurls Black Canary and Starling headlong into a nightmare involving stolen pharmaceuticals, terrorists for hire and killers in stealth suits who can appear – and disappear – at will. When Canary calls in backup, Starling’s not so sure a vengeful samurai who talks to her dead husband in a sword is the best choice.

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CATWOMAN #2
Written by JUDD WINICK
Art and cover by GUILLEM MARCH
 On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+ 
She’s a thief who lives to steal just for the thrill of breaking the law. He’s The Dark Knight, obsessively driven to battle evil with every ounce of his strength. They should keep each other at arm’s length, but…they just can’t seem to help themselves! Don’t miss this issue – things are gonna get messy!

1 COMMENT

  1. I think you meant Batman The Dark Knight #2 is the first to crack, not Detective Comics #2.

    Also, I thought Kori’s costume before was bad, this one is even worse in some respects. They might as well just throw some pasties on her and call it a day.

  2. Huzzah. Huntress still exists! Though having a price on her head? Wha? Though points for not having a midriff from Lee’s design even if she does have the weird Cully Hamner shoulder pads. Of course the weird Wildcats leftover mask is still part of the costume.

    And.. wow.. how terrible does that new Redwi.. er.. Nightwing costume look?

    And look. DC made Dinah wear pants under her fishnets and put pants on Wonder Woman, but Starfire makes the Star Sapphires look conservatively dressed.

    And Roy’s Trucker Hat is still there! It’s actually part of his costume!

    And, damn, I keep forgetting Finch’s pet project is part of this launch. Nothing like issue two coming out not many months after issue four hit the stands.

  3. This is the sort of diversity that DC needs, not only female characters from earth who look like hookers but also alien Space hookers.

  4. I get why they chose not to cover Starfire up from an editorial standpoint. She’s one of those characters where her lack of costume is directly tied into her character’s personality and backstory.

    But, man, that costume makes Emma Frost look like a librarian compared to that.

  5. Sorry, I forgot to mention… I brought up Starfire’s outfit because beyond that, Red Hood and the Outlaws is one of the more appealing concepts coming out of the relaunch. *IF* what is coming out of DC editorial is true and this isn’t a reboot, it’s really interesting to me why one of Dick Grayson’s closest friends and his ex-fiance would be teaming up with Jason Todd.

  6. I’ll be interested in checking out the Huntress book to see how Levitz handles her, but also for Marcus To who has been *VERY* good on art for the Red Robin book.

  7. Half of those covers look hideous, especially the Huntress one. If they really want to get new readers they are going to have to do way better than that.

  8. Wow. It just hit me. Starfire and Jason are teamong up again after the brolliant award winning fan beloved series Countdown! DC is brillianly relainching this book based on that brilliant team! Brilliant! It didnt make sense then but DC is smart enough to not let sense and chatavteeizarion hold them back.

  9. Yet Batwoman, we see her looking so thin by Issue 2. reduced to skin and bones. Okay, reduced to bones. ouch.
    How will she look in issue 3?

  10. People, people so negative. At first I was not happy with the DC relaunches, but now I am kind of excited. Been reading comics for 22 years now and I have a pretty healthy pull list….so, I think many of these books look exciting, specially Batgirl with Barbara Gordon. I think the Bat books need a fresh start as continuity was all screwed up these past years. Let’s give these books a chance before we diss them….

  11. “Let’s give these books a chance before we diss them….”

    Let’s not. It’s my money; I think I’ll keep it in my pocket than merely roll over for a bunch of recycled superhero pablum.

  12. You can keep your money that is fine, I just think people should see the product before they complain about it. I probably wont buy all of them but let’s face it. Both Marvel and DC have been recycling their stories and heores for years and years. Nothing new here. Just look at how many reboots Marvel has done. Sure not all in shot like DC, Marvel prefers launching a #1 every 2nd years and doing terrible job in some of these events. (Spider-man clone saga anyone? is just an example)

  13. Naveed, i’m pretty sure Marvel hasn’t done any full reboots. closest they’ve come are Heroes Reborn and Byrne’s Spidey, both of which were quickly reversed.

  14. Just look at how many reboots Marvel has done.

    I agree with every criticism of Marvel you made, except the one above. They might have retconned characters too many times to count, but they technically haven’t rebooted the mainstream Marvel Universe. Retcons are worse, because they — “they” being Bendis, et al. — practically never get the details right, and the reader winds up with logical messes.

    Marvel’s Ultimate Universe line has arguably been rebooted, but how many people care?

    SRS

  15. “People, people so negative. At first I was not happy with the DC relaunches, but now I am kind of excited.”
    “I just think people should see the product before they complain about it.”

    The people who are excited and the people who are critical are basing their opinions off of the same information, why should the second group keep quiet just because their opinion is deemed “negative” by the first?