Tag: DC

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.

Less than 24 hours ago The Beat and several other websites linked to a Kickstarter page forWomanthology, an all-female anthology of comics by both established and new creators. Less than 24 hours later not only has it met its $25,000 goal...it is OVER the goal with $27,454 in pledges. In case you haven't noticed, there's been a SURGE of interest in comics, video games, books, movies and TV from females readers, nerds and geeks out there. I have already pointed out how successful female cartoonists and writers are on the bestseller charts. It would seem that everyone who has been squawking about this has spoken with in the loudest way they can -- not with Twitter, or Tumblr but the DOLLAR.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a new action-RPG set in Middle Earth that takes place during the War of the Rings but is concerned with the action in non-southern front places. LIke Eriador and Rhovanion. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? That's right! Carn Dûm, baby!

Despite the debut of this year's big blockbuster series Flashpoint, average DC comic-book sales were down in May. In part, that's because Flashpoint itself came in 13,000 units below the magical 100K mark and ended up charting second after Marvel's Fear Itself #2, which has to be quite a disappointment for DC. On the other hand, most of the rest of DC's line didn't join in the crossover until June, so the overall numbers may still pick up. The other notable thing about DC's May output is that there wasn't a lot of it. The number of new comic books released by DC in May was 59, which, along with January 2004, holds the record for the fewest number of books released by the company since Diamond started publishing data on actual sales. Looking at the solicitations, it's not hard to find the reason: None of the five Green Lantern film tie-in books scheduled for May came out (one of them still hasn't been published as I'm writing this), while the launch dates of Static Shock and Batwoman were pushed back to September. And, while we're at it, the David Finch vehicle Batman: The Dark Knight remained in limbo in May. DC's Web site currently lists issue #3 for July 13 and issue #5 for August, with no information on #4. So not even DC seems entirely sure what's going on with the book.

Looks like some of the New 52 Issue Twos are rolling out. Artist Adam Hughes tweeted:

By Jeff Trexler-- In March 2008, Grant Morrison's homage to Siegel and Shuster appeared in comic shops on the very same day that the Siegel heirs recaptured half the original Superman copyright.  Now Morrison is set to work his shaman's magic once again in the September relaunch of Action #1--and this time, the Siegels could lose everything. Morrison's upcoming Supergods holds the key to understanding why. For an explanation and a sneak preview of Morrison’s new book, click below. A mysterious appeal, Joe Shuster’s super-swastika and the final crisis of the legal multiverse--this one has it all.

In answer to all the questions that retailers -- and a few readers and certainly Beat readers have -- DC has sent out an FAQ on the relaunch/reboot/September to their retailer accounts, with a cover letter by Bob Wayne. It shows great insight into what people are squawking about and gives a good fact sheet on returnability, pricing, digital, and so on. Well be back later with analysis of all this.

DC has launched a subsite for their September relaunch, and at last it has a name The New 52. The site includes the video of DC execs promoting the launch which was widely circulated yesterday, as well as previews of the various titles. It also, as Comics Alliance slyly pointed out, hadn't been properly proofed, as when it went live it included earlier, Earth-4 versions of the creative teams on a number of books:

A Facebook page has sprung up to organize a protest march against the new awful designs of the new 52. It seems some folks don't like the new fresh DC designs that are all new:

Seeing as how it was somehow unearthed by Bleeding Cool, there is no way of knowing where this video featuring all of DC's major editorial players save Geoff John talking about the relaunch was created for. It's definitely aimed at consumers, but the actual venue we may never know. Or it may never have been released. The video shows Dan DiDio, Jim Lee, Eddie Berganza, Bob Harras, and special guest star Grant Morrison each uttering the word "new" about 30 times each. Our impressions is that they want us to know that this is a NEW initiative and a NEW way of doing things. It's NEW.

The DC reveals continue apace. Over the weekend, a beverage glass manufacturer Facebooked an image of their San Diego exclusive: a JLA tumbler that seems to reveal all 15 members of the nü JLA Identified thus far: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Deadman, Atom, Element Woman, Firestorm, Green Arrow, Hawkman, and Mera. Element Woman is a new Jim Lee designed character from Flashpoint. However, the identity of the 15th character, a seemingly blonde woman on the right, remains a mystery.

In for a penny in for a pound: Despite bad reviews, and a 66 percent decline at the box office this weekend, Warner Bros. is still planning a sequel to Green Lantern, THR reports. A WB spokesman admits that the studio was "somewhat disappointed” with the box office, but they still believe in it as a franchise.