DC May Solicit Revue

It's that time again! 10 things from DC's May solicits that caught my eye. Read on, true believers!

DETECTIVE COMICS #832
Written by Royal McGraw
Art by Andy Clarke
Cover by Simone Bianchi
Terror comes in threes! The nefarious Terrible Trio returns, only instead of being the hunters, they’re the prey! And the only one who can save them from certain death is their deadly aversary — Batman!

That's the most un-Bianchi-like Bianchi cover I've ever seen. Are we sure they're not pulling our leg here? Also: I enjoy the word "Royal" when used as a first name. Well done, Mr. and Mrs. McGraw. That's awesome work.






BATMAN: TURNING POINTS TP
Written by Greg Rucka, Chuck Dixon and Ed Brubaker
Art by Steve Lieber, Dick Giordano, Paul Pope and others
Cover by Tim Sale
Collecting the miniseries BATMAN TURNING POINTS #1-5! This story explores the relationship between Batman and Commisioner Gordon, and how it has developed through the years, from Batman’s early days through sidekicks and even a broken back.

This took me completely by surprise, as I can't recall ever hearing of it when it originally came out in the monthlies. Was this story any good? Having Rucka, Dixon, and Brubaker onboard certainly leads me to believe so. This is a potential purchase for me, pending readers commenting otherwise, so help a brother out, will ya?

OUTSIDERS #47
Written by Judd Winick & Greg Rucka
Art & cover by Matthew Clark & Art Thibert
Part 2 of “Checkout,” the crossover with CHECKMATE! The prison hasn’t been built that can hold the Outsiders for long — and that includes Checkmate’s Alpine HQ, as Nightwing leads an attempt to break free from house arrest!

OK, DC. I give up. Part 2 of a 2 part Checkmate crossover is pretty much the only thing that could have gotten me to buy an issue of Outsiders, because you know:

A) the end of Checkmate arcs are best part because we get to see the political fallout, and

B) Rucka helped write this issue, which means that there's bound to be at least 50% less suck.

But I'm not happy about adding the phrase "purchased a copy of Outsiders" to my curriculum vitae.



ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #5
Written by Frank Miller
Art and cover by Jim Lee and Scott Williams
Variant cover by Miller
The pulse-pounding adventure continues with the All Star creative team of Frank Miller, Jim Lee and Scott Williams! The Batman puts Dick Grayson to the ultimate test, and the orphaned aerialist must make a difficult choice before becoming Robin, the Boy Wonder!

I will not make ASBAR lateness jokes. I will not make ASBAR lateness jokes. I will not makes ASBAR lateness jokes. I will not ma--- oh hell, just one.

If this is "pulse pounding adventure", then I'm afraid someone at DC has flatlined. Either that or their heart beats at the rate of 5 issues every two years.

Bonus "ASBAR Sucks" Observation: What is Wonder Woman's hiney (in a piece of art that must have taken Miller all of 30 or 40 seconds) doing on the cover? You know what, on second thought, I'd probably rather not know. Let's move on.


GREEN ARROW #74
Written by Judd Winick
Art and cover by Scott McDaniel & Andy Owens
All of Green Arrow’s secrets have been revealed to the citizens of Star City…threatening his tenure as mayor!

Wait a second... you reveal ALL of Ollie's secrets and the thing we're worried about is whether or not he gets to keep his job as a city bureaucrat? Not family, or friends, or... huh. Well, OK, I guess. I suppose he'll have to go back to being just a lowly boring old everyday superhero.



THE ALL-NEW ATOM #11
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Eddy Barrows & Trevor Scott
Cover by Ladrönn
The 3-part “Jia” concludes! The Atom comes to grips with the mystery involving his high school sweetheart and the horrific life she’s had to live since he left her in Hong Kong.

I love this comic. And so should you. And that is one damn fine creepy cover.









HAWKGIRL #64
Written by Walter Simonson
Art by Renato Arlem
Cover by Howard Chaykin
Hawkgirl flies to Metropolis where both Superman and Oracle help bring her closer to the ultimate confrontation with Hath-Set, the man who has cursed Hawkman and herself.

I could have sworn I read somewhere that this got cancelled. Has this gotten any better? At all? And why does it seem like I keep asking that every two months?



SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE ATOM VOL. 1 TP
Written by Gardner Fox
Art by Gil Kane, Murphy Anderson and Sid Greene
Cover by Kane & Anderson
From the Silver Age of Comics comes this collection of science-fiction tales starring Ray Palmer, The Atom! Included here are some of the Atom’s greatest adventures, from SHOWCASE #34-36 and THE ATOM #1-17!

Given what happened in Identity Crisis, the cover to this is either A) in really poor taste, or B) gut-bustingly funny enough to warrant a Random Panels-like meme for a caption. I'm going with B) and trying not to think about going to hell. Take it away, Brandon!





SUPERGIRL AND THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #30
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Barry Kitson & Mick Gray
Cover by Kitson
It’s a turning-point issue for the Legionnaires as a longtime member makes a startling decision that will affect the entire team!

Where have I seen that text before? Oh yeah, in about every single team book solicit ever made. Gotcha.

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #8
Written by David Lapham and Brian Azzarello
Art by Eric Battle, Cliff Chiang and Prentis Rollins
Cover by BattleTwists
Shocks abound as the secret behind two tales is finally revealed! Witness the true and terrible nature of crime, punishment, and…The Spectre! Plus: Dr. 13’s wild adventure ends with a big bang in the hidden nexus of the DCU!

Also have heard very good things about this; can you confirm or deny? Dig the creative team very much, and want more reader opinions!