Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Random DCnU Revue

Good to read your review KC. I was wondering why DC would put out a collection of all their #1s in a book - and now see it would interest people who are into TPBs or just skipped the initial launch.

Batman and Detective have been pretty well received around here. I'm reading Batman for the first time in years.

If you're no longer buying pamphlets, I totes recommend checking out digital comics, kc! Comixology pretty much rocks!

*glares at digital comics*

(my own don't count 'cause no one reads them )

So as the April 2012 sales start to come out, it's clear that a big portion of the DCnU is simply selling like crap. Obviously they kept a few going to get to #12 so they could release a second trade, but I'm surprised they even did that. Captain Atom, for instance, is selling at a dismal level.

With August we get a number of #12 issues. I have a feeling we'll get a few announcements of cancellations too. There are a lot of serious contenders: Captain Atom, Hawkman, Firestorm, Blue Bettle, Deathstroke, Grifter, Voodoo, Resurrection Man, Batwing, I Vampire, and even series I like such as Frankenstein & Demon Knights. But I have a feeling they'll only do 6 again, and replace those 6 with more series. I'd actually prefer if they just cancelled 8 or so and replaced them with 6 to get away from this crazy notion they should have 52 ongoing series.

Legion Lost is kind of on the bubble but it sells a lot better than most of those series I just listed. I also think I, Vampire has a longer shelf life because DC is hoping trade sales will pick up with the bookstore crowd.

Surprisingly, All-Star Western sells pretty good! Better than every series I've mentiond so far. At a $3.99 price point, it also makes more money. Glad its safe.

Usually, solicitations come mid-month so we'll know for sure if they're cancelling anything in August in a few days. Probably at the end of the week with the full solicits out next Monday.

September is the #0 month, and I can't see DC wasting that marketing ploy on a series like Captain Atom that sells two copies (one for J.T. Krul's mom and the other for Dan Didio). Probably the next round of DC series will begin with #0 in Sept. And *probably* 3 of those will be cancelled next June.

Jill Thompson stopped in for the latest story, and like the previous artists, rocked the hell out of it.

Fantastic Times Past story in 1902 that gets into the Shade's first encounter with a member of his own family after he's become the Shade.

This series has been a major high point of DC's output since the DCnU began.

Four new series announced this morning: Amethyst, Team Seven, Talon and Phantom Stranger. Unclear on what will be cancelled to make room, but Captain Atom *has* to be one.

I've been waiting for Amythest since we found out she'd play a big part in the DC cartoon hour (or whatever it's called). No clue on the creative team. The actual title of the series may be Sword and Sorcery.

Team Seven will be different than it's original Wildstorm incarnation, including several DC characters as referenced in their own series: Black Canary, Steve Trevor, Deathstroke and Amanda Waller. No word on creative team yet, though we'll probably learn today.

Amethyst?!?!?! Huzzah!!!!!!!! That just made my weekend. I just hope we don't lose something good to make room.

Amethyst is a sure bet for me as well! It makes sense if they are honest about diversifying their line.

It sounds like it'll also have sword & sorcery back-ups, so probably Warlord, or Silent Knight or something.

Guys... Amethyst is going to be written by Christy Marx.

As in the woman who wrote and helped create Jem Christy Marx.

Cue obligatory "Amethyst is Truly Outrageous" joke.

Descriptions from Newsarama :

Talon:

This new comic, which is being co-plotted by Batman writer Scott Snyder, introduces a new "anti-hero on the run" to the DCU. Calvin Rose, the only Talon to escape from the control of the Court of Owls, will be traveling all around the DCU as he is hunted by his former masters. While the story spins out of the Court of Owls storyline that is running through the first year of Snyder's Batman, the title character is a brand new one.

As the comic launches in September, Snyder will be working on plots with James Tynion IV, his co-writer on the Batman back-ups. Talon will feature art by Guillem March.

Sword of Sorcery

This new series, which DiDio described as "a new anthology book in the same vein as All-Star Western," will launch with the return of Amethyst to the New 52. Written by Christy Marx with art by Aaron Lopresti, the comic will show how Amethyst finds out she's the lost princess of Gemworld, and she's being hunted by her murderous aunt. The comic will launch with a back-up story about Beowulf and Grendel, written by Tony Bedard with art by Jesus Saiz.

The Phantom Stranger:

Written by DiDio with art by Brent Anderson, The Phantom Stranger will spin out of the character's recent appearances in Justice League and DC's Free Comic Book Day story. It promises to tell more about the mysterious origin of the character who seems to have biblical ties and his connection to the purple-hooded woman Pandora.

Team Seven:

Set in the early days of the DC Universe, Team Seven will show how the emergence of Superman touched off the formation of counter measures against superheroes. The comic, which is being written by relative newcomer Justin Jordan with art by Jesus Merino, will have a team composed of Amanda Waller, Dinah Lance, Steve Trevor, John Lynch, Alex Fairchild, Cole Cash and Slade Wilson.

I hope this doesn't mean Guillem March is leaving Catwoman! I was just raving about how awesome his artwork is. I'm not all that interested in Talon, despite Snyder's involvement, though I am a fan of March.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Stranger thing is kind of outrageous. Dan Didio has used his powers as a high ranking executive in the company to ensure he is the writer on a series that appears critical to the overall story of the DCnU and the next big storyline / crossover. Meaning, its guaranteed a certain amount of sales; ipso facto, he's guaranteed a certain amount of royalties. This is a violation of one of the major principles of business and the kind of thing people lose their minds over when it happens at investment banks and insurance companies.

The Team Seven series is interesting enough that I'll sample it. Jordan is an unknown but that isn't good nor bad. His "Strange Talent of Luthor Strode" is almost universally praised and is on my list of trades to buy.

Three launches in, there's one genre conspicuously missing from DC's admirable attempt to broaden the range of its offerings: Science Fiction/Space opera.

No, Legion doesn't count, they're still super-heroes.

No Adam Strange, Captain Comet, L.E.G.I.O.N./R.E.B.E.L.S, Omega Men, Tommy Tomorrow, Space Ranger...

Does DC the genre is just too dead? I think Marvel got some traction with the Annihilation stuff. Maybe they're taking cues from the creators, and none of them seem interested in exploring sci-fi characters?

Well, the Amethyst team certainly sounds promising. I wasn't a Jem fan growing up, but I did like some of the music. I really like Aaron Lopresti's work, if he keeps it from being too cheesecakey.

I lament that it's an anthology, but that does open the door to Arion and Warlord in the future.

I like the mystics, so I'll probably at least try the first issue of "Phantom Stranger," despite Didio's involvement. But the others don't interest me in the least.

I was thinking the same thing about sci-fi, cmk. I was also thinking the Legion would be better off grouped with sci-fi titles than the "young heroes" genre they seem to want it to fit in.

The Misfits were better.

OMG!!!!!!

Christy Marx is my HEROINE!! I wouldn't be writing if it weren't for her!!! Not so much because of Jem, although I did like that show, but because she wrote episodes of G.I. Joe and Spider-Man!!!!! Also what was in my opinion the ONLY good episode of Beast Wars, "Transmutate."

Damn you, DC! Just as I was comfortably settling into my hiatus from comics!

Does anyone else wonder if there'll be any Legion references in Amethyst?

Well, Gemworld was, IIRC*, the same world as Zerox (the Sorceror's World), wasn't it? And didn't a younger Mordru appear in the original series?

*I've never read a lick of Amethyst (except possibly a free insert preview DC ran in DCCP back in the day), so this is half-remembered stuff I mighta heard!

Yes, Zerox is Gemworld, and Mordru plays a big part. In TM (minus K), Mysa was channeling Amythest for awhile while battling Mordru during Legion of the Dead.

So, the cancelled titles are JLI, Voodoo, Resurrection Man, and Captain Atom.

It figures Resurrection Man gets axed.

For the sake of coherency and being a rational adult, here's a DeviantArt journal entry explaining why I do not like Red Hood and the Outlaws.

http://judedeluca.deviantart.com/journal/Another-quot-why-I-hate-Outlaws-quot-entry-307459587

Four titles I was buying, too. Guess that $12 a month will have to go toward paying off the new lawnmower I just bought.

No surprise on the new three cancelled series. The only real surprise is DC is intent to sticking with 52 ongoing series.

A little peek behind the scenes:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/06/24/george-perez-talking-about-being-rewritten-at-dc-comics/