DC PUBWATCH: September 2022 Edition

DC Pubwatch - October

The months are getting chilly, but DC’s books are remaining hot, or at least most of them are. Hottest this month though was Superman: Space Age #2.

The News

More sad news on the legendary DC creators front this year, I’m afraid. Legendary Green Lantern and Superman/Batman penciler Carlos Pacheco has been diagnosed with the degenerative disease ALS. We wish him strength in fighting the terrible disease.

Highlights

Superman: Space Age #2
Laura Allred (colors), Michael “Spike” Allred (art), Mark Russell (writer), Dave Sharpe (letters)
September 27, 2022

The Justice League racing a train on the cover of Superman: Space Age #2

This comic is on pace to be the best thing DC has done in what looks to be a year full of stand-out books. It’s a reverent Superman tale that has heart and charm, and keys into his place within the DC Universe. Russell litters the book with subtle and not-so-subtle references to tales and creators that have come before, while still telling a story that will be timeless. Which is a bit ironic, since Space Age very cleanly roots itself in a specific time period. If Darwyn Cooke’s New Frontier was a love letter to the beginning of the Silver Age, Space Age is the romantic ballad sung of it’s end. Allred’s art has the feeling of an updated take on Curt Swan’s Superman, and indeed that is the version of Superman we get throughout this series. Don’t forget to stop at Seagulls Bar (right next to Joe’s Shoe Store) to have. a nice cold glass of milk.

Grade: A+

Batman: One Bad Day: Two-Face #1
Jordie Bellaire (colors), Javier Fernandez (art), Ariana Maher (letters), Mariko Tamaki (writer)
September 20, 2022
Two-Face in Red in front of a split portrait of Batman and his father

Everything I wanted from the One Bad Day series was encapsulated in this installment. It’s a shame it wasn’t the first of them. This book delivered on the promise of being a series of oversized character studies on the various Batman rogues, in a way that One Bad Day: Riddler did not. Tamaki did a fantastic job of showcasing the dichotomy of Two-Face, and how even when it seems that Harvey is in control, it’s just a matter of time before his alter-ego wrests that power back to ruin both his own life and the lives of those around him. It was a heartbreaking story that you could see the twist coming but still be intrigued enough to keep reading.

Grade: A

Poison Ivy #4
Jessica Fong (cover), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (letters), Arif Prianto (colors), Marcio Takara (art), G. Willow Wilson (writer)
September 6, 2022

Poison Ivy sitting at a desk

Speaking of stand-out books this year, there has not been a bad issue of Poison Ivy yet. Wilson and Takara are firing on all cylinders portraying a heartbroken and lonesome Ivy as she comes to grips with her own mortality and lost love. The book is a wishful fantasy for the world to claw back from the brinks of armageddon we’ve brought it to; for nature to once more thrive. The fact this issue very clearly has Ivy taking on the horrible sexist boss of a “global two-day shipping” company is all the more escapist fantasy.

Grade: A

Flashpoint Beyond #5
Jeremy Adams (writer), Jordie Bellaire (colors), Romulo Fajardo Jr (colors), Mitch Gerads (cover), Mikel Janín (art), Geoff Johns (writer), Rob Leigh (letters), Tim Sheridan (writer), Xermanico (art)
August 16, 2022

Flashpoint Batman with half his face shattered as though a mirror with a poker chip

You know what is an absolutely fantastic way to sell comics? Have one of your big crossover books of the summer actively tell readers not to bother reading the other one because it doesn’t matter. Even better have it actively spoil what happens in the other. Just grand well thought-out work from Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adams (who worked on both crossovers I might add), and Tim Sheridan. That aside, Flashpoint Beyond is nothing more than self-referential gunk masquerading as something relevant. I don’t know anyone that actually cares about the Flashpoint universe, or that was clamoring for more of it.

Grade: F

Grades

A+

Superman: Space Age #2

A

Action Comics #1047
Batgirls #10
Batman #127
Batman Beyond: Neo Year #6
Batman: One Bad Day: Two-Face #1
Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #7
Catwoman #47
Detective Comics #1064
Nightwing #96
Poison Ivy #4
The Flash #786
The New Champion of Shazam #2
The Nice House on the Lake #10
Tim Drake: Robin #1

B

Batman vs Robin #1
Batman: Fortress #5
Batman: The Audio Adventures #1
Batman: The Knight #9
Black Adam #4
Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #4
Dark Crisis: World Without A Justice League: Wonder Woman #1
Dark Crisis: Young Justice #4
DC Horror Presents: Sgt. Rock vs The Army of the Dead #1
DC vs Vampires #9
Deathstroke Inc. #13
DUO #5
Harley Quinn #22
Harley Quinn: 30th Anniversary Special #1
I Am Batman #13
Multiversity: Teen Justice #1
Nubia: Queen of the Amazons #4
Superman: Son of Kal-El #15
Sword of Azrael #2
Task Force Z #12
The Sandman: Nightmare Country #6
Wonder Woman #791

C

Batman: Urban Legends #19
Black Adam: The Justice Society Files: Atom Smasher #1
Blood Syndicate: Season One #5
Dark Knights of Steel: Tales from the Three Kingdoms #1
DC Mech #3
DC vs Vampires: All Out War #3
DCeased: War of the Undead Gods #2
Fables #155
Future State: Gotham #17
Justice League vs The Legion of Super-Heroes #6
The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #1
The Human Target #7
The Jurassic League #5
Titans United: Bloodpact #1

D

Batman: Beyond the White Knight #5
Batman: Dark Detective #1

F

Flashpoint Beyond #5

Solicitation Situation

Action Comics #1050

  • Written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON, TOM TAYLOR, and JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
  • Art by MIKE PERKINS, CLAYTON HENRY, and NICK DRAGOTTA
  • Cover by STEVE BEACH
  • Variant covers by JIM LEE, ALEX ROSS, MEGAN HUANG, CRYSTAL KUNG, LEE WEEKS, JOHN GIANG, RAHZZAH, GABRIELE DELL’OTTO, MIKE PERKINS, RILEY ROSSMO, DAN PARENT, STEVE LIEBER, SIMONE DI MEO, PAMELA HOOGEBOOM, NATHAN SZERDY, and RAFAEL SARMENTO
  • 1:25 variant cover by JONBOY MEYERS
  • 1:50 variant cover by AL BARRIONUEVO
  • 1:75 wraparound variant cover by ALEXANDER LOZANO
  • 1:100 variant cover by STEVE RUDE
  • 1:250 variant cover by MICHAEL ALLRED
  • 1:500 variant cover by ARIEL COLÓN
  • 1:1050 inks variant cover by JIM LEE
  • Foil variant cover by ALEX ROSS
  • Team trading card variant cover by VARIOUS
  • DC Holiday Card variant cover by JIM LEE, SCOTT WILLIAMS, and ALEX SINCLAIR
  • $5.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $6.99 US (card stock)
  • ON SALE 12/27/22

The Dark Crisis is over, and a new dawn shines on the DCU! In the wake of cataclysmic battles with Mongul, Henry Bendix, and Pariah’s Dark Army, Kal-El is back on Earth and here to stay. And the people of our planet are ready to look up, up, and away into a brighter tomorrow. Well…most of the people. Clark Kent’s reunion with Lois and his son, Jon Kent, proves fleeting when strikes the ultimate attack from Superman’s greatest adversary: Lex Luthor. But this time something is different…Luthor has stolen something from Clark’s life, something so important that it will change the very planet itself! If you think you’ve seen the biggest battle between Superman and Lex Luthor—think again! This clash will rock the course of their lives forever…and it’s only the beginning.

Two years’ worth of Superman stories come to a head in this oversize anniversary issue with all-star talent that launches Superman and the DCU into an exciting new era!

Beppo and Bibbo arm wrestling while Krypto and Jimmy watch

I’m a sucker for oversized anniversary issues, and Action Comics #1050 looks to be a big one. Very excited to see where the next chapter of the Men of Steel leads.

The other big future release I’m very excited about it not going to be out until next month’s solicits, with Tini Howard taking over Harley Quinn. With that, I’m more excited than I ever have been about Harley Quinn. 

Join us next month for the return of the Infinite Multiverse in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths.

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Cori McCreery

Cori McCreery

Cori is a life long comic nerd residing in Northern California. A life long Supergirl and DC Comics fan, she is the DC Comics Beat Reporter for Women Write About Comics.

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