As we hinted earlier today, Speed Racer is returning to comics, with new stories by Len Wein (Human Target, Swamp Thing, X-Men, Wolverine), Tommy Yune, Robby Musso, Lee Kohse, and James Rochelle.
[[[Speed Racer]]] is an English adaptation name of the Japanese manga and anime, Mach Go Go Go, but is best known in the US from the 60s television series translation and the 2008 film. Selected chapters of the manga were released by NOW Comics in the 1990s under the title Speed Racer Classics, later released by the DC Comics division, Wildstorm Productions under the title Speed Racer: The Original Manga, then collected by IDW.
The release date of the new series has yet to be announced. Maybe in this new series, the Mach 5 will actually have a trunk lock? Or is that too much to hope for?
Making it all official, here are all 52 of the #1 solicits from DC Comics for September.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
1:25 Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
RETROSOLICITED • On sale AUGUST 31 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US RATED T • Combo pack edition: $4.99 US
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Comics superstars Geoff Johns and Jim Lee make history! In a universe where super heroes are strange and new, Batman has discovered a dark evil that requires him to unite the World Greatest Heroes!
This spectacular debut issue is also offered as a special combo pack edition, polybagged with a redemption code for a digital download of the issue.
A lot rides on the answer to that question. Nobody knows how all of these new titles are going to perform, particularly with DC releasing all these comics day-and-date online as well. Retailers are going to be ordering blindly for a while, even though they’ll be returnable for the first few months. So they need your help.
Please take a minute to answer this poll– the comic book shop you save could be your own. And please, just check off the ones you expect to be buying in paper– nothing against digital editions, lord knows, but this is to try and gauge reader interest in the stores.
She is considered the “Godmother Of Reality Television” and now Sharon Osbourne has reinvented herself again with her part in AMERICA’S GOT TALENT and a daytime talk show. She tells us how to live the 24 hour day, plus we get some disturbing news from DC on Vertigo.
Is the DC Relaunch a mistake or comics’ “last chance”?? Drop us a comment below!
To support The Dark Knight, Warner Premiere offered up Batman: Gotham Knight, a collection of stories from various animators that were dark and largely uninteresting. It’s gratifying to see that they have learned from this rare misfire and have offered up a companion to this month’s The Green Lantern feature film with Green Lantern: Emerald Knights, on sale Tuesday. There are five stories, largely culled from the comic books, with a sixth tale connecting everything together. Essentially, Krona, the fallen Guardian, has come back from banishment as an enormous, angry form, having coalesced within a star. Summoning Shadow Demons from the Anti-Matter Universe of Qward, Krona threatens the Guardians and their world of Oa.
The entire Green Lantern Corps has been summoned to deal with this cosmic danger but they pause to stand in line to take their turn recharging their rings. While waiting patiently to save all of reality, Hal Jordan (Nathan Fillion) spins tales for his latest recruit, the young, idealistic Arisia (Elisabeth Moss). On the one hand, Krona is a big menace and the climactic scenes are incredibly strong and powerful. There’s a scope to his rising from within the sun that is what animation and comics is all about. That sense of scope, though, is missing from the frame in that in the comics, the central Power Battery was large enough that scores of the Corps could float before it and recharge en masse. Watching them stand in a queue is absurd.
The frame and five stories along with the characterization and visualization of the Corps and Guardians are cherry-picked and modified from the fifty years comics featuring the second incarnation of the Green Lantern. It’s nice to see that several people with comic book roots, including GL editor Eddie Berganza, got a shot at penning some of these stories. About the oddest juxtaposition of realities is seeing Sinestro (Jason Isaacs) still a member of the corps in good standing. Why he’s here is clearly a nod to his role in the live-action film, done so as not to confuse viewers.
We’re told the story of “The First Lantern” (written by Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim) which tells us a variant version of how the Corps was formed. It’s still a solid story showing how anyone can become a hero and show others the way to act. There are mammoth space battles and lots of ring-slinging but why the planet is under attack and the motives of the attackers are never even questioned, let alone explored. (more…)
DC Comics has released information on the first ten titles of their September reboot, with creative teams and cover art.
Here we go, kids.
We already knew about JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 by our superstar creators Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. The cover to issue #1 is by Jim Lee and Scott Williams.
New York Times bestselling writer Brian Azzarello, author of The Joker and 100 Bullets, teams up with artist Cliff Chiang (Neil Young’s Greendale) for WONDER WOMAN #1. The cover to issue #1 is by Cliff Chiang.
Geoff Johns reunites with GREEN LANTERN and BRIGHTEST DAY collaborator Ivan Reis to bring you AQUAMAN #1. The cover to issue #1 is by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado.
Rising superstar Francis Manapul, fresh off his acclaimed run on THE FLASH with Geoff Johns, makes his comics writing debut in THE FLASH #1, sharing both scripting and art duties with Brian Buccellato. The Flash knows he can’t be everywhere at once, but what happens when he faces an all-new villain who can? The cover to issue #1 is by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato.
Writers Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone team up with artist Yildiray Cinar to deliver THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1. Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond are two high school students, worlds apart – and now they’re drawn into a conspiracy of super science that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control. The cover to issue #1 is by Ethan Van Sciver.
In 1986, as the Crisis on Infinite Earths was winding down, Marv Wolfman made the radical suggestion that DC indicate the universe had truly changed by altering the numbering on all the titles and restart everything with a #1. For a number of reasons, it was a great idea but the timing couldn’t allow the move. Years later, Dick Giordano indicated it as one of his greatest editorial regrets. However, he can’t be blamed since the Crisis was wrapping up while DC was still negotiating to relaunch its flagship heroes. At that time, only Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli had been lined up for Batman: Year One while John Byrne was still being wooed for Superman, and very late in the process, Greg Potter and George Perez were circling Wonder Woman.
Had the stars aligned, it could have avoided two decades of constant revisions to the reality.
It now seems DC’s executive team has spent the last year moving the stars around. Today’s bombshell announcement indicates the rebooted line will kick off in September, with Justice League #1 previewing the new order on August 31.
I can only hope that DC has its house in order and can avoid embarrassing fill-ins and radical creative team changes early in a title’s run – problems which have plagued the core titles for the last few years. The worst example may well be Batman: The Dark Knight, written and drawn by David Finch. After debuting in November, the fifth issue of this monthly series is not coming out until August and only then with a fill-in artist.
That aforementioned new Justice League book is coming from DC’s two busiest executives: Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Sure, it’ll read well and look great, but will it be a monthly and for how long will the talent remain intact? At minimum, these new titles, all 50 of them, need consistent talent on board for at least the first six issues and fill-ins need to be carefully integrated. (more…)
On Wednesday, August 31st, DC Comics will launch a historic renumbering of the entire DC Universe line of comic books with 52 first issues, including the release of JUSTICE LEAGUE by NEW YORK TIMES bestselling writer and DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and bestselling artist and DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee. The publication of JUSTICE LEAGUE issue 1 will launch day-and-date digital publishing for all these ongoing titles, making DC Comics the first of the two major American publishers to release all of its superhero comic book titles digitally the same day as in print.
DC Comics will only publish two comic books on August 31st: the final issue of this summer’s comic book mini-series FLASHPOINT and the first issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE by Johns and Lee, two of the most distinguished and popular contemporary comic book creators, who will be collaborating for the first time. Together they will offer a contemporary take on the origin of the comic book industry’s premier superhero team.
A separate letter went out to retailers, hinting at “a more modern, diverse DC Universe, with some character variations in appearance, origin and age. All stories will be grounded in each character’s legend – but will relate to real world situations, interactions, tragedy and triumph.”
There’s a lot of head-shaking going on at this move– Tom Spurgeon displays this POV quite well– but to me, this screams hard core brand consolidation, combined with simplification to make it easy for the new comic reader– who is absolutely expected to be a digital reader. It wouldn’t surprise me if DC started doing special digital subscriptions. For example: all 52 series digitally for $50 a month.
The real concern, however, has to be on the retailer side, who will suddenly find competition on all of their titles on books that have been ordered months in advance and may be non-returnable. Hopefully, DC will keep books returnable for the first few months while the impact on stores is figured out.
If nothing else, it could explain why DC wasn’t at BookExpo this year, as they were waiting to relaunch big.
Rizzoli is here with their licensed art books, as you can see at right– the proofs for The Joker look great (you can see the cover over the gentleman’s shoulder). Andrews McMeel Publishing has [[[The Batman Files]]] ready for an October release. Chronicle Books has a preview copy of Michael E. Uslan’s [[[The Boy Who Loved Batman]]], which will be out in time for San Diego Comic-Con and that I’m very much looking forward to reading.
But DC Comics itself is nowhere to be seen, save for one person passing by the Diamond booth. Random House, their distributor to the trade, isn’t pushing their books at all. Marvel is somewhat better represented at the Disney booth, but not well.
Do they think they’ve saturated the market? Or do they just not care about the bookstore and library markets anymore?
Hey, kids! Guess what? DC is revamping their line again, for what seems like the 1,000th time since Crisis On Infinite Earths. What a shock! How original!
O.K. Here’s the poop. DC honchos Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, both exceptionally talented comics creators, are going to make “bombshell announcements about the future of Superman and the entire DC Universe” on Saturday, June 11th at the Hero Complex Film Festival. Maybe this time they’ll stick to it: if Geoff and Jim are behind it, there’s some cause for hope. If they stick to it.
Even though control of DC Comics has passed through several hands since the first Crisis, perhaps the concept of leaving well enough alone will grab somebody this time. The DC Universe has gone through so many needlessly confusing transformations a roadmap to the place would give M.C.. Escher vertigo. With a small “v.”
Good grief, I’m getting tired of writing this story. I’m going to link to the Los Angeles Times so you can get what’s passing for news here.
