DC Relaunching Everything in the Fall?

its funny to see just how much this thread has imploded into folks trying to top or "correct" what someone else said....

Like someone else said in this thread (dont remember who at this point and honestly dont feel like looking right now), the whole thing is fiction..... I will never understand why people work themselves into such a tizzy over something like this. Enjoy it for what it is. No one is holding a weapon to your head forcing you to purchase and/or read any of these comics.

Just saw the Flashpoint "checklist" in Batgirl #22. There's 37 books on it JUST for July and August. THAT is what people are tired of and why sales are dropping. At a conservative $3 per book, you're looking at $111 JUST for the Flashpoint "epic" for those two months. That's ridiculous.

Just went through the books for August and saw Red Hood and the Outlaws. I have a personal attachment to Starfire and dislike the possibility she is now on a team with a different former Robin. If they "get together" the jokes will never end. "So which Robin haven't you been with?" Oh, and let's not forget she's being labled an outlaw. Has she suddenly become more like Blackfire? Uhg! And please don't get me started on the new Birds of Prey *cries*. Put Gail Simmone back on the book! Put that team back in the book! *shakes head* Sadly, this will not be my DCU. Someone said this is a business decision and I agree, but it will alienate a lot of older readers. My brother was a staunch DC comics fan. Today he brought home his last books. He did have one grand comment, "They should put Bruce Tim in charge."

Ok. So most of the October solicits are out, which means some questions we have had from the September solicits and covers is actually being answered. Also, I reread some of the September solicits and gained some more knowledge. I’m just going to touch on the ones I find interesting.

Birds of Prey: The woman on the front cover with the tattoo that nobody was able to identify is apparently called “Starling”. A.K.A. Ev Crawford. Whoever that is. And “Ev”? Surely it’s supposed to be “Eve”. Whatever, she appears to be a new character. (Sadly this info was in the September solicit, just nobody read it as we were too busy looking at pictures, manking judgments and bemoaning the loss of well-liked costumes.)

Fury of Firestorm: Looks like Ronnie and Jason have been sent back to High School. And some military team wants to kill them. Firestorm is their answer. And apparently the funky looking, skeletal-faced Firestorm in the background of Issue #1 is the merged form of Ronnie and Jason. And according to solicits for #2, there’s may be a third person caught up in this. But with Teen Titans and Blue Beetle, don't we already have enough teen superoes in school? Why did they have to revert Ronnie and Jason? I am a bit miffed, but will still read to see where it goes.

Superboy: Apparenty Project Cadmus is no longer responsible for creating Superboy. Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is the new origin. Hopefully we will learn just what N.O.W.H.E.R.E. stands for.

Teen Titans: You know that funky looking insect-like character with the funky arms on the cover of #1? Well apparently her name is – sadly – Bugg. Still no word on who Miss Black Smokey Girl is. It looks like there’s going to be several “team building” issues here. Also Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E. from Superboy ties in to the first few issues of Teen Titans and Kid Flash might just be another of their projects. Hard to tell from the solicits. Gonna read this myself.

Green Arrow: Remember this pic of Ollie?

Well, we get a new one with Issue #2. And, well, let’s just say Smallville seems to have played a bigger part in his costume than we thought. Also, he goes from goatee to what looks to be Wolverine chops! Well, almost. Also apparently his company is no longer Queen Insustries, but QCore.


Hawk and Dove: Kestrel appears to be back, this time in male form. Also it would appear that Brightest Day did happen and Dawn is dating Deadman. Can’t see that relationship being more than a dead-end....heh.

Blue Beetle: The combined solicits for September and October seem to make this read like a re-telling of Blue Beetle’s origin. Complete with Jaime being in High School, and the scarab having just fused with him. I like Beetle still being Jaime, but not the loss of the former stories.

Captain Atom: Combined solicits again make this sound like a retelling/reimagining of the character and his origins.

Justice League International: Reading both September and October solicits makes it clear that this team is just being formed. Apparently no former team called Justice League International has been around. Also, and surprisingly, Booster Gold would appear to be the leader of the team! Go Booster!

Huntress: She gets a 6-issue mini-series starting October! She’s also linked to the Bat-Family in that her series was placed in the Bat-family area of the solicits. Anyways, what happens in this series will apparently tie into Birds of Prey.

Batgirl: Issue #2 supposedly already has Barbara questioning her return to active duty. Good. There’s other girls out there who could do the job.

Penguin: Pain and Predjudice: the Penguin gets his own five-issue miniseries starting October. Could be interesting.

Stormwatch: #2 gives us reasons why Martian Manhunter is on the team. Also something happens to the moon in Superman #1 and Stormwatch has to deal with it. For some reason.

Deathstroke: combined solicits provide a synopsis where someone thinks Deathstroke has been a mercenary and assassin for too long and it’s time to “retire” him. And we all know how assassins are ‘retired’. Also, instead of having a broadsword, he now has a ‘giant sword’. *cough* Um…no word yet if his big sword is made of promethium still or not.

Suicide Squad: remember those comments we had about Harley’s costume when we saw the cover of #1? Well, in #2 her corset appears to really be straining to do its job.


O.M.A.C.: something we didn’t apparently see earlier about this series as we were too busy lamenting the past: apparently Brother Eye and Checkmate are at war. Interesting… Also, O.M.A.C. no longer stands for One Man Army Corps, but One MACHINE Army Corps. And newcomer Kevin Kho is the O.M.A.C.

The Shade: appears to be a 12 issue series starting in October. I don’t know who “The Shade” is, but this looks interesting.

Frankenstien, Agent of S.H.A.D.E: The series looks interesting. And Frankie gets a team: the Creature Commandos. The team looks to have a four armed “Bride of Frankenstein,” a Japanese school girl complete with sailor outfit and domino mask, a mummy, a werewolf, a flying, intelligent monkey, a undersea mer-woman with tentacle legs, and possibly zombies? Should be a fun read!


The Superman family of solicits are not out yet. Perhaps Monday will reveal them and we can talk more.

Also new to me is how DC is breaking down its universe into sections. The Edge, The Dark, Green Lantern, Bat-Family, Superman, Justice League/Young Justice. I suppose it’s convenient for them, and it also lets us kind of know where to look for stories of a particular bent.

I find it interesting how much of the new stuff is tied to shade in one way or another. We have the S.H.A.D.E organization (Super Human Advanced Defense Executive) from Frankenstein, Shade the Changing Man (glad to see him back) and The Shade getting his own series. Could just be a coincidence, but it stands out in my brain.

So, all in all, it appears that when Barry Allen returns form Flashpoint/the past, whatever happens during Flashpoint, Barry comes back somewhat earlier than he left. I’m not sure I like all this retelling/reimagining of character origins just yet, as in the process we lose history that I liked, but I’m at least willing to give things a chance.

I posted those pics just for such discussion.

Keep it coming people!