So, along with the #0 origin issues in September, DC is also launching four new ongoing series. Here are my first thoughts:
Talon – Spinning out of “Court of Owls.” Sorry, but I tuned out right there. I’ve never been a big fan of the Bat-verse (heresy, I know), so a Batman spin-off doesn’t really do much for me.
Sword of Sorcery – A genre book similar to All-Star Western and G.I. Combat. At least to start with, it’ll be headlined by a revival of Amethyst, with backup stories about a post-apocalyptic Beowulf. This is the one I’m most interested in, not for Amethyst or Beowulf in particular, but to see what DC does with the fantasy genre. Demon Knights has been a fun read, and is currently the DCU book I’m most eager to read when a new issue comes out.
Team Seven – Set shortly after the Justice League’s debut, about a special-ops team put together to counteract superhuman threats. The team features characters from all over DC and Wildstorm, including younger Deathstroke, Grifter, Amanda Waller, and others. This seems like something I would have been fascinated by 10-15 years ago when I was more heavily into the DC Universe itself, rather than seeing the DCU as just the setting for some comics I read.
Phantom Stranger – His origin and connection to Pandora. Um…no. In my opinion, the Phantom Stranger should be left mysterious. He’s the Phantom Stranger, not the Phantom Guy that the Audience Gets to Know Well. The fact that they decided to re-introduce him by giving him a definitive origin suggests they’ll be taking the character in…I don’t want to say the wrong direction, but certainly a direction I’m less interested in reading.
IGN contacted DC and confirmed that they won’t be canceling four books right away, though in a Newsarama interview, Dan Didio reiterates the plan to stick with 52 ongoing series in general, so we’ll probably see a brief bump in September followed by a few books getting canceled in the next couple of months.
I’ve noticed lately that the less connection a book has to the mainstream DC Universe, the more appealing I find it. That’s kind of sad, but I think it’s partly the fact that DC is actively courting an audience I’m not part of, and partly a consequence of my slow drift away from the super-hero genre and toward sci-fi/fantasy.
So how about you? Which of these books do you find most interesting?
@SpeedForceOrg I definitely agree with you that the appeal of the Phantom Stranger is that he is an unknown.
I’ll go with your choices. Flash is the only DC title I still get, though i did enjoy an issue of Shade and want to read more. But definitely Batman overkill -its like Marvel andthe X-men
Agreed on Talon (and the Batverse) and Phantom Stranger. But no interest in Sword of Sorcery, and skinny Amanda Waller still bugs me.
Guess I really am done with the New 52 aside from Demon Knights.
The Talon sounds really interesting to me, I’ll give it a shot.
Well, I *was* kind of interested in seeing what they would do with Phantom Stranger….until I found out what they’d already recently did with him. How distressing. This is like revealing the real name of The Doctor in Doctor Who…can’t be anything but downhill from there once its done.
Yeah, I’ve noticed a marked tendency lately to put off daily searches to do with comics in favor of researching old SF loves instead. It *is* hard to maintain interest when your being ignored by the ‘store people’ in favor of ‘more important’ clientele. The list of new books that I at the very least wanted to keep generally abreast of has fallen by more than half since October. Truth…I still follow Flash more from a sense of loyalty and the artwork than because I’m really captivated. Over the course of years, I know that won’t be enough. Not getting any younger and Fan Doth Not Live By Old Issues alone, you know? Sadly, even the news of a Justice League film and a new Superman one isn’t perking me up…and I don’t mean this new Superman DCAU either where they’ve given him Popeye’s jaw for some godawful reason while keeping the red briefs.
Trying to hold on, but DC is making it terribly difficult to do so.
For the record, also not happy with Marvel where my second favorite animated show is about to be cancelled in favor of one more tied to the movie.
Insert curse word here.
I’m sorry for your anger.
But think of the Talon! What adventures can be told from that series!
Well, the character is a Mindless drone, isn’t him?
They are kind of like elite Ninjas from the Hand. I’m sure they can come up with an interesting story, but they weren’t conceived as complex characters
Actually, Calvin Rose, the Talon’s real name, is supposed to be the first Talon to have rebelled against the Court and tries to live a normal life, but unfortunately the Court keeps coming after him.
There’s a lot of character growth potential if you look at it.
Well of course. But is a lot like the Bourne Identity, right?
All I mean to say is that the character as it is, is not interesting. Hopefully he’ll evolve into something else, but there’s is very little backstory for the character, and that means he is not very interesting just yet.
I’m trying NOT to think of Talon (yet another effing Batman family. You might as well call DC: The Batman Universe Oh And A Few Other Heroes. (Yeah, not really a Batman fan unless he’s with JL or Superman/Batman. I prefer Superman and Flash ‘modes’ to grim/dark.)
Technically, Talon’s not part of the Batman family, I’m not talking about in-universe. He’s only in the ‘Batman group’ because most of his adventures probably are in Gotham where the Bat family is.
That’s sort of like saying that Gotham Central wasn’t a Batman-related book.
Not one of those interests me even remotely. Glad to see they’re trying to diversify their line-up (aside from the Batman spin-off) with stuff they haven’t done before, but I’ll be passing on all of these.
None, actually. And I predict they’ll have short lives.
DC tried Sword and Sorcery not so long ago with a revival of Warlord, and it didn’t last very long.
I hope the Sword and Sorcery does well. I know a lot of people with fond memories of Amethyst.
That’s an odd use of the Team 7 name. Team 7 was like the origin to most of the Wildstorm Badasses (Grifter, Backlash, Lynch, Deathblow, Dane…). I actually enjoyed the first Team 7 mini, ofcourse that was the 90s and I liked a lot of bad books then, it might be horrible if I reread it now.
They say Team 7, it makes me think Sovereign 7, one of Chris Claremont’s old titles. Confusing.
Have little no interest in Wildstorm, so no.
The enigma that is the Phantom Stranger should remain so.
I like Batman but I don’t read any of the titles. I’ve heard good things about the Court of Owls arc so I’m thinking about checking it out in TPB. Thus, I really can’t read Talon because I’m unfamiliar with it. Although it sounds somewhat reminiscent of Jean-Paul Azreal, one of the my fav Bat-related characters.
Sorcery would interest me the most, but that’s because I like the fact DC is diversifying the line, showcasing more distinct genres. Of this, Western, and Combat, I would read these titles over the more mainstream DC titles now.
The only mainstream DC titles I read are Flash and LSH. I’m a huge Superman fan but kinda iffy on this re-launch (For example, I don’t have any interest in seeing Superman fight a Daemonite). I may check out Morrison’s Action run in TPB.
Same with Shazam. Big fan, but really hesitant over what Johns will do with the character. Plus, I don’t want to shell out 4 bucks for a mere back-up story especially if I have no interest in the main story.
One more Bat-book? Really? And a fake-Azrael-lite one at that?