Thoughts on what's to come

You know a lot of people like to give Dan DiDio a lot of shit for what he's been doing at DC. And a lot of it he deserves, but lately, the man has been making all of the right moves and it saddens me that so few people are giving him the credit he deserves. The man has really whipped his company into shape and for the first time in what feels like years I'm actually excited for superhero comics again.

I mean just a quick glance through DC's five biggest franchises here you can say that they're being led by DC's powerhouse writers. Of the 8 Batman books that were announced, the only turkey of a creative team is Judd Winick's Batman book, but that's completely off set by the fact that Morrison, Rucka, Tomasi, and Dini are all spotlighting the rest. The Superman books are being spearheaded by Johns, Robinson, and Rucka all legends in their own right. The Green Lantern books themselves have been been better, and are just creatively rich in their own right. Even Wonder Woman's going through a great patch right now. Flash: Rebirth, I'm a bit iffy on, but seeing what Johns has done with the GL franchise, and what he's already previously done with Wally, pretty much tells me that the book will be great in it's own right. The only real turkey in DC's Tentpole Franchises is the Titans Franchise, but with the horrors that are McKeever and Winick leaving the book, good things may be in store for the future. And still, DC's C and D-List books are all pretty damn enjoyable too. REBELS is a sleeper hit, Secret Six is consistently enjoyable, Jonah Hex is as enjoyable as always, Booster Gold has lost steam but it's still a winner, and Supergirl is currently the best the character's ever seen. GA/BC still needs some serious work though, and that Vigilante series is just a waste of paper, but no one bats a thousand so it's understandable.

And it's not even just the ongoings that are exciting me. DC's announcement of the return of the double bill is the best news I've heard in a very very long time. I have no problem paying an extra buck for 10 pages of extra story featuring characters that really deserve more spotlight. And that's one of the things DC is doing really well lately, spotlighting new characters. Sure they might be bringing back Barry and Hal, or whoever, but just looking through the Superman books they're putting the focus back on the new characters, or the forgotten characters who really deserved better.

There may be a few missteps in the future, namely JLA which has a very muddled direction caused by a lot of faulty editorial dictates, but like I said, for the first time in a while I'm actually excited for comic books.

One Sentence Wednesday 3/11/09

Action Comics #875- Decent set-up issue, though I was expecting a little more from Rucka.

Battle for the Cowl #1- Considering I was expecting this to be awful I was pleasantly surprised, it's a fun romp and Tony Daniels art looks good for once.

Batman Confidential #27- Very good and very fun, DC and Marvel need more books like this.

REBELS #2- This really is better than it has any right to be.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz #4- This picture should sum up how great this book is.

One Sentence Wednesday 3/04/09

Secret Six #7: Secret Six owns, and this was a solid enough conclusion, but really what was the point of Huntress showing up?

Superman: World of New Krypton #1: Slow to start, but I could really see this going places and I'm more than happy to follow along.

Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?: Meh, the Bullock short was really the only interesting part and I'm fucking shocked that they brought back that awful "Soul of Gotham" or whatever the hell she calls herself.