Out With The Old, In With The New 52.

Now that six of DC's New 52 titles have met their ends, what do you think of their replacements?


This month, we said "goodbye" to Blackhawks, Hawk & Dove, Men of War, Mister Terrific, O.M.A.C., and Static Shock and will be saying "hello" to six new titles in May.


World's Finest might be an interesting book.  There have been several versions of it over the years, but it always starred Superman and Batman.  This time around, World's Finest refers to Power Girl and The Huntress and is written by Huntress co-creator, Paul Levitz with art by George Perez and Kevin Maguire.  The word going around is that these are characters from the alternate reality of Earth 2.  I have always believed that alternate realities get the writers at DC into trouble.  We have our Batman, then there's a Batman on Earth 2 and one on Earth 3.  You can have Batmen from infinite Earths and when that happens, it creates a crisis.  We've seen it from time to time and DC has no idea how to deal with it except to reboot the whole universe.  So I'm suspicious about the introduction of Earth 2 characters, but at the same time, I really like Power Girl and The Huntress.  I'm crossing my fingers.


Earth 2 is getting it's very own title for those of you who can't get enough alternate reality excitement.  Writer James Robinson and artist Nicola Scott are onboard and not a lot is known about this book other than a peek at some character designs and the confirmation that Jay Garrick (JSA's Flash) is Earth 2's speedster.  I'm a little worried about this book for the same reasons I'm nervous about World's Finest, but I've promised myself not to panic until realities collide.


Back in the DC line-up, is Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham's Batman Incorporated.  I love that this book is coming back.  Batman Inc. was one of DC's best titles before the New 52, and I have a feeling it's going to be a huge hit next month.  The series more or less picks up where the one-shot leaves off and pits Batman's world-wide army against Talia's army of international assassins.  Since Robin is Batman and Talia's son, you know this book is going to have some great action and a lot of intense drama.  To quote writer Grant Morrison, "It's like Kramer vs Kramer, but they've got thermonuclear capability."  Let's hope Gotham City doesn't blow up in the custody battle.


I read a post online where a reader was saying that he hoped DC would replace one of their old titles with something starring Sgt. Rock.  If that reader had read Men of War, he might have gotten his fill of Sgt. Rock and they might not have cancelled the book.  The reader was also hoping for something "Weird War" related.  GI Combat promises to cover all sorts of war stories including Unknown Soldier and Haunted Tank and will have back-up stories by creators like Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, Dan Panosian, John Arcudi and Scott Kolins.  I have a feeling it'll be better received than it's predecessor.


Dial H is the biggest surprise in this wave of new titles.  I remember that Dial H For Hero was a comic with two teens who could dial a rotary phone and get random super powers.  This happened every issue and every issue they'd become someone totally different.  Fantasy/horror writer China Mieville teams up with Mateus Santoluoco and introduces a re-vamped concept that is nothing like your parents' Dial H For Hero.  I'm excited about this one, too.  When I was little, I thought the original series was great.  Now that I'm older, I crave the darkness in comics that I think Dial H is going to have.

The last book in the second wave is Ravagers.  It's a spin-off of a cross-over between Teen Titans, Legion Lost, and Superboy.  We'll see some old favorite characters like Terra and Caitlin Fairchild from Gen13 and we'll meet some familiar characters for the very first time, like the new and improved Beast Boy.  I wasn't too crazy with any of these titles to start with, but Ravagers looks really good.  The art by Ian Churchill is amazing, and with Howard Mackie writing it, you know it's going to be exciting.  By the way, the cross-over that leads into Ravagers begins with Teen Titans Annual #1. 


That's the six new titles in a nutshell.  It all starts in May and it all looks pretty good.