Solicitations July 07: DC, part 1

[nathalia]

COUNTDOWN 43-40
Story by Paul Dini
43 script by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray; art by David Lopez
42 script by Sean McKeever; art by Carlos Magno
41 script by Adam Beechen; art by Dennis Calero
40 script by Tony Bedard; art by Manuel Garcia
Breakdowns by Keith Giffen
Covers by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson
This year-long weekly series featuring a cast of hundreds kicks into high gear in its third month! Learn more about the search for Ray Palmer! Travel into the Nanoverse! All this plus appearances by the Suicide Squad, the Penguin and the Atom!
COUNTDOWN 43 on sale July 5 • COUNTDOWN 42 on sale July 11
COUNTDOWN 41 on sale July 18 • COUNTDOWN 40 on sale July 25
32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Do I need to mention that I love the concept of Countdown or 52 for the matter? I admit that I don’t like that Countdown is counting down to the next big event in the DCU, but that’s because I’m sick of events right now (don’t even get me started on World War Hulk).
The cover art by the Dodsons doesn’t live up to some of their other work, though. And it pretty much hints that the Teen Titans are gonna face a death in their ranks. And Cassie is pretty close to Tim, consoling him.

AMAZONS ATTACK #4
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art and cover by Pete Woods
The battle rages on! Another "country" joins the fight as a new, deadly opponent enters the fray! While Batman and Catwoman devise a plan to get to the bottom of the chaos, Grace — the Outsiders’ 6’ 6" female powerhouse — is about to be visited by her past. And in the midst of all this, Supergirl and Wonder Girl have betrayed the heroes and armed forces. Their target: the President of the United States!
On sale July 25 • 4 of 6 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I have to admit that I have no idea what is going on in Amazons Attack but it seems as if a lot is going on. I think it’s cool to have something with Grace Choi but I really don’t know what to think of the rest. Batman and Catwoman, okay, but Wonder Girl and Supergirl attacking the US president? Well, I don’t really care.

THE ALL-NEW ATOM #13
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Mike Norton & Dan Green
Cover by Ladrönn
The Search for Ray Palmer continues as the Atom finds himself with people who knew Palmer very well: the jungle-dwelling little people from SWORD OF THE ATOM! And they may be hiding the Atom's predecessor among their people.
On sale July 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

This has to be awesome. Gail Simone and Mike Norton. I don’t know much about the little people mentioned here, but I know how many people want Ray Palmer back (even though there are more people who want Ted Cord back, me being one of them). I still think Ray Palmer is hiding in Power Girl’s cleavage.

OUTSIDERS #49
Written by Judd Winick & Greg Rucka
Art by Matthew Clark & Wayne Faucher
Cover by Clark
The finale of "Checkout," the crossover with CHECKMATE!
The White King calls on the Dark Knight to aid the combined Outsiders-Checkmate strikeforce, even as one member is exposed by the events of AMAZONS ATTACK!
On sale July 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I don’t like cover artists. It’s even worse, when they don’t have real names. Is it too much work to put COVER ART BY MATTHEW CLARK? The member exposed to the events of Amazons Attack obviously is Grace. I think that the Outsiders and Checkmate are perfect for a team-up- They aren’t like most teams in the DCU and their actions fit together better than if it was a Checkmate-JSA crossover.

ACTION COMICS #852
Written by Kurt Busiek
Art and cover by Brad Walker and John Livesay
3-2-1-ACTION! (part 1 of 3) Hot on the heels of SUPERMAN #665's "Jimmy Olsen Countdown Dossier" comes this true blue COUNTDOWN event! Superman has always been Superman's pal. Will he now become Superman's partner?! More secrets of Jimmy's past revealed, the Kryptonite Man on the loose, and more! This issue ties into the events of COUNTDOWN #40!
On sale July 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

 I think there’s a mistake in this one. Superman has always been Superman’s pal? I guess they mean Jimmy Olsen. I’m not a big fan of Superman although Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman rocks. And the cover of this one just looks stupid. Since when does Clark have this huge hole in the forehead? The glasses are waaay too big. Busiek has a thing for strange storyline titles. Compared to 3-2-1 Action, Up, Up and Away was a totally normal title. More secrets of Jimmy’s past revealed sounds boring to me.

TEEN TITANS #49
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Al Barrionuevo & Bit
Cover by Tony S. Daniel
Special Amazons Attack crossover! Supergirl and Wonder Girl team up, but whose side are they on?
On sale July 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I think that Supergirl and Wonder Girl will betray the heroes and attack the president of the United States, it’s just a gut feeling of mine, I can’t really explain it.
Don’t know what to think of Adam Beechen except for the fact that I always feel that I’m smiling when I see his name somewhere.

BATMAN #668
Written by Grant Morrison
Art and cover by J.H. Williams III
Batman, Robin and the Club of Heroes are stuck on an island rigged with elaborate death traps. And even as the villain behind it all begins to explain his twisted motives, he continues to pick the heroes off one by one.
On sale July 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

The cover looks awesome. The Batman looks so realistic and the house it so ghost house-y and comicy. The hand below is a totally different thing. It makes everything look wrong in a way and that looks cool.
It doesn’t matter what the plot is like, the cover should be enough for people to pick it up and the name Grant Morrison probably helps a bit as well.

ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #6
Written by Frank Miller
Art and cover by Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Variant cover by Miller
Batman and Black Canary get down to business — the business of criminal skull-cracking! Things heat up on a storm-tossed shipyard as the pair hunts down the mystery man behind the murder of Dick Grayson’s parents. Plus, Black Canary isn’t the only one of Gotham’s fairer sex to be aroused into action by the Dark Knight’s war on crime! This issue is resolicited; all previous orders are cancelled.
Resolicited; on sale July 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Whoa, that one came pretty fast! Issue 5 is solicited for May and we’re getting #6 in July? Isn’t the time gap between those two issues a bit small? After only delivering one issue in 2006, they are very quick now.
The cover looks shitty, I can’t say anything else about it, it just does. That’s Frank Miller, how can he deliver such a cover?
And I don’t like to think that Black Canary feels attracted to Batman, I don’t want her in Batman stories at all. Why is it that everyone thinks Batman is so hot? He isn’t. And if Black Canary has to be with someone, it’s Green Arrow. I don’t care if this out of continuity or not. Why can’t the Bat stick to his love interests like Vicky Vale, Catwoman, Talia al Ghul and such?

DETECTIVE COMICS #834
Written by Paul Dini
Art by Don Kramer & Wayne Faucher
Cover by Simone Bianchi
The stunning conclusion, building on last issue’s shocking revelations! As Batman is brutally tortured in an inescapable deathtrap, the mortally wounded Zatanna is unable to speak the magic words to save them both! Meanwhile, the mad magician known as Loxias embarks on his farewell performance, intending to kill hundreds of spectators in the grand finale!
On sale July 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Cover by the awesome Simone Bianchi! It looks just awesome. ‘nuff said.
This sounds pretty interesting. Batman is involved in a lot of magic in this issue and in general, the preview sounds a lot more compelling than this month’s Batman. It’s good to have two main Batman titles and have such high profile writers on both. Their views of the character are very different as are their stories and that’s why right now, it’s good to have two Batman titles (and many more of course).

BATMAN CONFINDENTIAL #7
Written by Michael Green
Art and cover by Denys Cowan & John Floyd
What kind of person becomes a Joker? Writer Michael Green (Heroes writer/producer) and classic Batman artist Denys Cowan shed light on who the Joker was before he became the Joker…and how he and Batman crossed paths even before the day he was created.
On sale July 11 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

NOOOOO!!!
I love that the Joker’s past is shrouded in mystery, that nobody, not even the Joker himself is sure about who he was before he became the Joker because there are so many stories that contradict each other. There are some beautiful stories like Alan Moore’s "The Killing Joke" where the Joker himself says, "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I’m going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice."
I don’t want Joker’s past to be revealed.
And I don’t want him to have ties to Batman that have been there even before he became the Joker, I don’t want all of this. And I am still very sceptical when I see a TV writer doing these things. They might do good stuff, though not always, but I don’t want some guy to come along and think "My name appears in the credits of Heroes, now I am entitled to take such a high profile character like Joker and write a story about him where I reveal what was never truly revealed."
And right now there’s another reason I don’t want it to be revealed: I don’t want anyone but Grant Morrison writing the Joker right now. I’m gonna have to write down my opinion on the Joker, primarily his OYL reinvention, and post it.

CATWOMAN #69
Written by Will Pfeifer
Art by David Lopez & Alvaro Lopez
Cover by Adam Hughes
The conclusion of the "Catwoman Dies" storyline! The identity that Selina Kyle built for herself to protect her baby daughter is being destroyed at the hands of Hammer and Sickle, and that’s just the beginning. With supervillains and the Gotham police hunting for both Selina and her replacement, Holly, drastic measures are needed!
On sale July 18 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Hmmm, the Slam Bradley storyline is still going on and the Black Mask thing is having repercussions which I find very interesting because it’s one of the few comics that actually shows that you can’t get away with murder that easily.

NIGHTWING #134
Written by Marv Wolfman
Art by Jamal Igle & Keith Champagne
Cover by Ryan Sook
"The Missing Year" continues with a startling rebirth: The return of the Vigilante! Yesterday, he challenged the Crimelords of Europe, Asia and Africa, and defeated them. Today, he controls the 21 Tigers, an international gang of murderers. But there was a time when Dick Grayson called him friend and mentor — and they both loved the same woman.
On sale July 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I don’t know who the Vigilante is, but it actually interests me which is why I looked it up. It was the last line that got me interested in this, "And they both loved the same woman". I want to know what woman it was. The obvious choices would be Firestar and Barbara Gordon, but I really don’t know.
Marv Wolfman seems to like Vigilante. He created at least two characters with this name, one of which committed suicide and one which is a woman. So, I guess it’s either Bruce Jones’ Vigilante that has been around since 2005 or Marv Wolfman is resuscitating his old creation Adrian Chase. Chase was in New Teen Titans, so this could be a link to Dick.
I give up, I can’t find anything.

ROBIN #164
Written by Adam Beechen
Art by Freddie E. Williams II
Cover by Patrick Gleason & Wayne Faucher
Dodge plans to launch an attack on Robin, but he can’t succeed alone. Scouring the streets of Gotham, Dodge manages to put together a group of like-minded villains — but can he control them when the time comes to teach Robin a lesson?
On sale July 18 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

The cover looks very strange. Tim’s legs are way too thin and short and strange to support his body. The background just looks stupid, as if the guys doing this didn’t have time to do something decent. Very much like the Frank Miller cover for All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder.
And this Adam Beechen seems to be everywhere.
I’ve never heard of this Dodge character and everything I get from this is that Dodge and some other guys will team-up to beat up Robin. This sounds like a fantastic plot! Nothing ever done before. The villains will get into fights over who gets to deliver the final blow and how to attack and what not and in the end Robin wins, maybe because someone comes to help him.

SUPERMAN #665
Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Rick Leonardi & Ande Parks
Cover by Jesus Merino
A special Countdown dossier issue with amazing guest art by Rick Leonardi & Ande Parks, revealing for the first time how Jimmy Olsen came to the Daily Planet!
On sale July 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Jimmy Olsen’s role in the Superman titles and the DCU in general has grown a lot since it was announced that he would be one of the main characters of Countdown. But there are some things I don’t want to know and one of them is how Jimmy Olsen came to the Daily Planet. Why does it have to be an event that involves strange happenings? Why can’t they just have it that he went to a job interview, the Daily Planet liked his photos and offered him a job? Why can’t things be simple and have to always be exaggerated?

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #38
Written by Alan Burnett
Art and cover by Dustin Nguyen & Derek Fridolfs
Variant cover by Claudio Castellini
Alan Burnett (producer of Batman: The Animated Series), Dustin Nguyen (BATMAN, WILDCATS) & Derek Fridolfs deliver Part 2 of "Torment." A major villain returns, and it will have repercussions across the entire DC Universe! And what’s the Scarecrow have to do with all this?
On sale July 18 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

As I said, why is it all the TV people want to write comics now and seem to be so interested in Batman. W have this Heroes person on Batman Confidential and this Batman the Animated Series producer on Superman/Batman. I really don’t need that. And Scarecrow is a major villain, he was even featured in the movie, so the way they put it is just offending to Scarecrow fans. (Note that I am not a Scarecrow fan, I’m just pointing this out).

SUPERGIRL #19
Written by Joe Kelly
Art by Alé Garze & Marlo Alquiza
Cover by Garza & Richard Friend
Superstar writer Joe Kelly concludes his SUPERGIRL run with a grueling fight between Supergirl and Superman! Is the only way to save the universe to kill the Man of Steel?
On sale July 5 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Okay, why would Superman battle Supergirl? We all know that Superman won’t be killed off, so why do they even ask this stupid question. Clark is all family Kara has, why should she attack and want to kill him? And I think Superman is a lot more stable and less of a danger to the universe than Supergirl. He's always been Clark Kent and doesn't keep changing origins and names and everything else.

SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL #6
Written by Darwyn Cooke
Art and cover by Tim Sale
The stunning tale of the origin of Kryptonite by the team of Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale concludes!
On sale July 11 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

The origin of Kryptonite? Kryptonite is a thing that doesn’t need an origin. It seems as if the Confidential titles are supposed to be the place to tell stories that aren’t in the current timeline and deal with things that shouldn’t be dealt with. In other things, I don’t see the necessity of Superman Confidential or Batman Confidential. I know there’s also JSA Confidential and JLA Confidential, but they seem to tell stories that aren’t that stupid as the past of the Joker and the origin of Kryptonite. Grrr ... Who would even have the idea to tell such a story?