Blackest Night in January and the end of Batwoman?

An interesting 10 Questions with Dan Didio this week as he actually gives some great answers to the Newsarama reader questions.

One of the things we learn is that in January there will be a break from the main Blackest Night mini series (to allow Ivan Reiss enough time on the art duties) but we will still be getting plenty more Blackest Night action. The following one shots have be announced to resurrect certain DC titles in the Blackest Night theme. The titles are:

The Power of Shazam! #18 is being written by Eric Wallace.
Catwoman #83 is going to be written by Fabian Nicieza,
Suicide Squad #67 is being written by John Ostrander.
The Question #37 is Greg Rucka.
Phantom Stranger #42 is Peter Tomasi.
Weird Western Tales #71 is Dan DiDio.
The Atom and Hawkman #46 is Geoff Johns.
Starman #81 is James Robinson.

I think this sounds pretty cool, and there are some good writers involved, though no artists confirmed yet.

Also reading I noticed that it seems Batwoman will no longer be the headlining star in Detective Comics from January. I was not aware of this and am pretty gutted as the creative team on that book have been great and done excellent work with the character. However, is a solo Batwoman series a possibility somewhere down the line?

“ Nrama: The cover to January's issue is Batman instead of Batwoman, so is that when Batwoman steps out of the comic? Is she completely out of the picture at that point?” “DiDio: I think we'll be still seeing her appearing in the series. As a matter of fact, you might be seeing her appear in a couple of the Batman series at the start of the year, and then it's going to be hard to contain her just as a guest star appearance. I feel that she's really proven herself as a solo star.”

If a Batwoman solo series is coming out I hope its still Rucka and Williams so they can continue the great work they have started.

Check the full interview HERE.

Mega mini reviews!

I’m so behind on my comic books because there has been so many I’ve picked up in the last couple of weeks I haven’t got round to reading them all yet. Due to that some of these reviews might be for older comics (I’ve lost track to be honest), but I want to try and do as many mini reviews as I can from now on so here we go:

Batman and Robin #3 - Review

Really really great. The usual thick layering of Morrison’s Batman work continues. Like his run on Batman, Morrison’s comics don’t always read that great as single issues but read together they are fantastic. Pyg as a villain is insanely sick and brilliant and my fav Batman villain for a long time. Quitely also does great work here (and I’m not generally a fan). Stand out scene was when Pyg had Robin tied to the chair and danced provocatively in front of him before Damian responds by saying “You just redefined ‘Wrong’” – Fan-fucking-tastic. Damian rocks.

4 out of 5

Detective Comics #856 - Review

The great work here continues. This really is one of my favorite titles. It is just so beautiful. Rucka pulls no punches when it comes to Kate’s sexuality and I love that. The story is intriguing, but discussion with the supporting cast can be a little confusing, if like me you had never read any story with Kate Kane/Batwoman before. Like Pyg in the pages of Batman & Robin another great addition to the villains of Gotham is the haunting Alice.

Finally The Question back up should not be ignored, this is the best co-feature DC is producing, and like the books namesake is a great little detective story.

4.5 out of 5

Red Circle: The Shield #1 - Review

Ummmm…. It was okay, But I was expecting more after the last issue (The Web) that was pretty good.
So the story goes that the main character is injured in the army. The US government then save his life by attaching liquid armor to his skin that can be absorbed into his body. It allows for super strength and flight amongst about a hundred other things. It’s basically really ridiculous. The little story hook is that the Shield’s father is actually alive (when the Shield believes him dead) and appears to be connected in the background of the Shield project some how. An average read. I’ll try the first issue or so when the regular series hits but I’m not too excited.

2 out of 5

Dark Avengers #8 - Review

Cyclops as the new mutant Messiah! A bit hypocritical really, as at the end of this issue the X-Men raise their ‘Utopia’ island from the sea and declare they want mutants to be separate from humans on the main land, but isn’t that what Magneto did with Asteroid M and what the X-Men are meant to fight against? Anyway, I loved this issue, the best of the cross over so far. Emma and Namor show their true colors to Osborn, which will lead into the big fight finale one-shot between the Dark Avengers and X-Men. It was played well, and rocked. Fraction did a really good job on this issue. All I want to know is what happened to Beast? He sort of disappeared in the middle of the issue, I hope we find out in the next chapter, he looked so sad with his little cat eyes.

4 out of 5

Wolverine Origins #39 - Review

Romulus is here! Finally this is what I have been waiting for. This title was pretty shit form day one but ever since Dark Reign it’s been pretty good. This was a chapter where a couple of big X-Men villains die. Romulus, for those of you who haven’t been reading this book, is the mastermind behind every shitty event in Wolverines life, ever. How are connected? Why has Romulus been doing this to Wolverine? Not sure yet. But he looks like he could be Wolvie’s dad or granddad or something. GIVE ME THE ANSWERS NOW! Or at least next issue… please!!!!!

4 out of 5

Check back tomorrow for mini reviews of Blackest Night Superman #1, X-Men Legacy #227 and more!

Late (if you live in the US) DC previews

So I’ve been bit slack this week at posting all the previews for this weeks books, seems there has been a lot. I know these comics were released yesterday in the US, but for guys like me who get there comics a little later, these DC previews still might help you with your purchasing decisions this week. Just click the title of your choice to be taken to the preview:

Detective Comics #856

Wonder Woman #35


Superman #691

BATMAN: THE WIDENING GYRE #1

Detective Comics #855 - Preview

For those of you who appreciate fine art, here is a preview of Detective Comics #855 that I nabbed from DC’s The Source, drawn by the masterful J.H. Williams III, due for release 29/07/2009. Enjoy.

The Beautiful Batwoman

I won’t go into a long review of this book as it has been reviewed on every other comic book site over the last week. I finally got round to reading this last night and I just wanted to express how good this comic was.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single comic drawn more beautifully than here by J.H Williams III. The only other time I think I have seen his work is in the great Batman ‘Club of Heroes’ story arc written by Morrison. He work there was excellent with very imaginative layouts which he also uses to great effect in Detective.

I never read 52 or any other story involving this Batwoman, but straight away I like her. She is modern and tough and very determined. I want to learn more about her.

But back to the art, I can’t express how good the work is, and not just the pencils but the colour work too. J.H. Williams III is shown as the only artist in the credits but you could easily think that 3 artists have contributed to this book (please correct me if I’m wrong). The art goes from dramatic paint style with bold blacks and reds to a softer neutral pallet that then flows into a sketchy more usual comic book style, but they all work so well together.

This comic basically blew me away and is a total ‘must pick up’. I have included some preview pages below to show you some of this fantastic art if you have not already seen it. Plus the Question back up feature was a great little crime caper too. Two great stories, one fantastic and exciting new book. Stuff like this makes me a happy comic book fan.