DC Comics Announces New Books and New Focus for June 2015

DC Entertainment Announces New Books, New Creators, Broader Focus for the DC Universe

Iconic Super Heroes & Super-Villains Universe is Diversifying To Make Room for More Types of Storytelling, More Fans

June Slate of Titles Includes Long-Awaited Return to DCU of Bryan Hitch, Garth Ennis; Gene Luen Yang & Ming Doyle Join Team of Top Talent

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This summer, DC Entertainment launches a bold new direction for the DC Universe (DCU) that is even more inclusive and accessible to a wider group of readers as the publisher continues to evolve comic storytelling for its next generation of fans. Award-winning, critically acclaimed writers are headlining the June 2015 slate of DC Comics’ new periodicals and graphic novels, including Gene Luen Yang, Bryan Hitch, Garth Ennis, and Ming Doyle.

    “Whether you’ve been a DC fan your whole life, or whether you are new to comics – there will be a book for you beginning in June.”

Beginning June 3rd, the DC Comics line of comic books will consist of 24 brand-new series that will begin at issue number one, as well as 25 on-going, bestselling fan favorite series that will continue without a break in the issue numbering. The total number of periodicals in the DCU will be 49, with additional new titles debuting throughout the year.

“This heralds in a new era for the DC Universe which will allow us to publish something for everyone, be more expansive and modern in our approach and tell stories that better reflect the society around us,” said DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Dan DiDio. “Whether you’ve been a DC fan your whole life, or whether you are new to comics – there will be a book for you beginning in June.”

DC Comics will be keenly focused on going back-to-basics with its legendary characters, like BATMAN, SUPERMAN and WONDER WOMAN, while also reinventing key characters, such as BLACK CANARY, BIZARRO, CYBORG and STARFIRE, with a new contemporary tonality to ensure a diverse offering of titles. Top writers and artists, as well as emerging fresh voices, are on board to help create an expansive lineup of comics that appeals to a broad audience of fans.

Depicting some of these iconic characters in a more contemporary light include National Book Award finalist Gene Luen Yang who will join artist John Romita Jr. in the ongoing adventures of SUPERMAN. Comic superstar artist Bryan Hitch will write and draw new tales of the world’s greatest heroes in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA. The pitch perfect team of Garth Ennis and John McCrea returns to DC Comics for a limited series called SECTION EIGHT featuring characters from their popular Hitman comic. VERTIGO creator Ming Doyle will be lending her talents to DC Comics, penning CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER along with newcomer artist Riley Rossmo.

“More than ever before, DC Comics fans are being exposed to our rich portfolio of characters through multiple sources, including an unprecedented number of highly successful TV shows, video games and upcoming major motion pictures,” said Co-Publisher Jim Lee. “We are looking to extend that experience within publishing to ensure there is a comic book for everyone. For example, fans of the ARROW television show may want more stories about BLACK CANARY. Now they can find modern, fresh takes on the character in the pages of her standalone series both in stores and digitally.”

Breakout star, Brenden Fletcher, co-writer behind the all new, highly successful BATGIRL book will also be writing the new BLACK CANARY series launching in June. Fan favorites Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti will be the creative team on new titles STARFIRE and HARLEY QUINN/POWER GIRL and will continue to helm the perennially bestselling HARLEY QUINN.

“Beyond character and creators, the June slate will showcase different styles and approaches to storytelling as we add offbeat, irreverently funny titles such as BIZARRO, BAT-MITE and PREZ,” said Lee. “Truly there will be something for everybody as we simultaneously celebrate our rich legacy while embracing new voices and concepts.”

A first look at upcoming storylines will be the focus of DC Entertainment’s Free Comic Book Day issue – DC COMICS: DIVERGENCE – available Saturday, May 2, featuring three 8-page previews for the June releases of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s BATMAN, as well as Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok’s launch of the Darkseid War within JUSTICE LEAGUE featuring the biggest villains in the DCU – Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor, and Gene Luen Yang's DC Comics debut with celebrated artist John Romita, Jr on SUPERMAN. More than half-a million free issues of the DC Entertainment sampler will be given away at comic book retailers globally.

“In this new era of storytelling, story will trump continuity as we continue to empower creators to tell the best stories in the industry,” said DiDio.

To learn more about the June DC Universe slate, visit www.dccomics.com.

About DC Entertainment:
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the world’s largest English-language publisher of comics.

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Read Webcomic Grumble: Chapter One - Page 15

Page 15 is here: http://www.comicbookbin.com/grumbleone015.html

Terra Formars: The Grasshopper and the Diving Beetle

I read Terra Formars, Vol. 4

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter and at Grumble.

Book Review: THE EMPTY THRONE

THE EMPTY THRONE
HARPERCOLLINS – @HarperCollins

AUTHOR: Bernard Cornwell
ISBN: 978-0-06-225071-1; hardcover (January 6, 2015)
320pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S.

The Empty Throne is a 2014 British historical novel from Bernard Cornwell, a prolific author of historical novels.  The American edition of The Empty Throne was published in early January 2015.  It is the eighth book in Cornwell’s “Saxon Tales” series and continues the story of Saxon warlord, Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

The Empty Throne follows the events depicted in 2014's The Pagan Lord: A Novel, and the new novel is largely set in Saxon Mercia, with some scenes set along the coast of Wales.  In The Empty Throne, Uhtred fights to assure the survival of Mercia during a conflict of succession that will shape the future of both Mercia and of its immediate neighbor to the south, the Saxon kingdom of Wessex.

The Empty Throne is set in Britain and opens early in the tenth century AD.  Æthelred, the ruler of Mercia, is dying, but he has no legitimate heir.  There is only his wife, Æthelflaed, who is also the sister of King Edward of Wessex, and Æelfwynn, the daughter of Æthelred and Æthelflaed.  There is turmoil among the Saxons over the future of Mercia.

King Edward would love to merge his Wessex with Mercia, but the proud Mercians want their own leader.  The soon-to-be widow, Æthelflaed, has all the makings of a leader, especially as she is widely loved and respected by the people of Mercia.  But can Saxon warriors ever accept a woman as their ruler, especially when some of those Saxons want to control Mercia for themselves?

Lord Uhtred has long supported Æthelflaed, but he was grievously wounded at the Battle of Teotanheale (fought in The Pagan Lord).  Although he is still recovering, Uhtred has many goals:  recover Ice-Spite, the sword that wounded him; fight the Vikings that are encroaching on Wales and northern Mercia; and uncover the conspiracy against Æthelflaed.  In the battle for power in Mercia, Uhtred is forced to play a game of thrones because there can be only one ruler.

The previous two novels by Bernard Cornwell that I have read, 1356 and The Pagan Lord, were battle-heavy tomes of historical fiction.  The clash of swords, axes, shields, etc. resulted in spurts of blood, severed heads and limbs, and a pile of dead bodies that would scare even vultures.  For all the masculine bump-and-grind of war, both novels also offered adventure as the characters traveled far and wide, chasing enemies and rivals and their own goals.

The Empty Throne is also filled with bloody dismemberment and pitched battle, but it is also about courtly intrigue and the larger ambitious of kings, lords, and nobles, and the men who serve them (whose ambitions are often larger than their lords and masters).  The Empty Throne is smart and sarcastic when dealing with intrigues and plots and those darned Christians, revealing the often amusing vanity of the chief plotters and of the faithful.

The Empty Throne is also a bit sentimental.  Lord Uhtred is in the twilight of his life, and his injuries have slowed him.  His vulnerability makes him funnier and forced to be even more crafty and devious.  That's the difference in The Empty Throne, it finds the quiet humanity in a turbulent time of political struggle, of sectarian strife, and of an uncertain future.  So Bernard Cornwell, who writes the best battle scenes (as George R.R. Martin says), makes the best of his characters.  They are not simply warriors; they are also fallible and even frail in a most human way.  A thinking Uhtred is every bit as interesting as a killing Uhtred.  Fans of Bernard Cornwell and of historical fiction will want to sit near The Empty Throne.

A

www.bernardcornwell.net

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: HONEY BLOOD: Tale 0

HONEY BLOOD TALE 0
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Miko Mitsuki
TRANSLATION: pinkie-chan
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
LETTERS: Joanna Estep
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7339-7; paperback (February 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Honey Blood is a vampire shojo manga created by Miko Mitsuki.  The series debuted in Japan's Sho-Comi magazine in 2009.  However, there was an earlier version of the Honey Blood that began in 2008 as a series of manga short stories.

Honey Blood focuses on Hinata Sorazono, a high school girl.  All her classmates at Sunshine Flower Girls' Academy are in love with the vampire romance novel, Until the Ends of the Earth, and the series of novels it spawned.  Hinata is surprised to discover that her new neighbor is Junya Tokinaga, the author of Until the End of the Earth.  Then, she also learns that Junya is actually a vampire and that with one simple kiss, he puts his fate and his life in Hinata's hands.

Honey Blood: Tale 0 is a stand-alone manga that collects the three Honey Blood one-shot manga stories that predate the Honey Blood ongoing manga.  The stories:  “My Boyfriend is a...?!,” “Until Dawn Comes,” and “Until the End of Time,” which were first published in 2008 and 2009, comprise the original version of the story that is Honey Blood.

“My Boyfriend is a...?!” finds 15-year-old Hinata Sorazono becoming curious about her new neighbor, Junya Tokinaga.  Hinata is shocked when she walks in on Junya biting the neck of Hanazuka, his book editor.  In “Until Dawn Comes,” Hinata wants to have a normal relationship with her vampire boyfriend, Junya, but can vampires be normal?  In “Until the End of Time,” a movie is being made from Junya's novel, “Night Love,” and Hinata finds herself caught in a rivalry between Junya and the movie's star, Mariya Satomi, a spoiled male model.

[This volume contains two bonus stories, “A Bouquet of Love for the Princess” and “First Love, Melting in the Night.”]

I read the first volume the Honey Blood manga.  I was intrigued by its central conceit:  when a vampire kisses his true love on the mouth, he can drink only her blood from that point forward.  I prefer edgy shojo vampire romance manga like Vampire Knight and Black Rose Alice.  Thus, I found Honey Blood a bit cutesy, although enjoyable to read.

For some reason, I enjoyed Honey Blood Tale 0 a little more than I did Honey Blood Volume 1.  These semi-primordial Honey Blood stories, however, are extra cutesy.  In fact, Miko Mitsuki's work here is immature compared to the later Honey Blood manga.  So I can't explain why I find this early manga endearing.  Perhaps, I wanted Vol. 1 to be more cutesy and frilly?  Fans of Honey Blood will also want Honey Blood Tale 0.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: JUDGE DREDD CLASSICS: The Dark Judges #1

JUDGE DREDD CLASSICS: THE DARK JUDGES #1
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

WRITERS: John Wagner (writing as “John Howard”); Alan Grant (writing as “T.B. Glover)
ART: Brian Bolland
LETTERS: Tom Frame
COLORS: Charlie Kirchoff
COVER: Darick Robertson with Diego Rodriguez
VARIANT COVER: Sam Shearon
28pp, Colors, $3.99 U.S. (January 2015)

Judge Dredd created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra

I will take any opportunity to praise legendary British comic book artist, Brian Bolland, that is presented to me.  The most recent opportunity comes in the form of the latest Judge Dredd Classics series from IDW Publishing.  Judge Dredd Classics: The Dark Judges reprints the best stories from British comics weekly, 2000 AD, that pitted Judge Dredd against the “Dark Judges.”

For those who don't know, Judge Dredd is a British comics character.  He was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, and first appeared in the second issue of 2000 AD (1977), the long-running, weekly science-fiction British comics anthology.  Joseph Dredd a/k/a Judge Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a post-apocalyptic future.  In the dystopian future city of Mega-City One, Dredd is a “street judge,” and he is empowered to summarily arrest, convict, sentence, and execute criminals.

Judge Dredd Classics: The Dark Judges #1 offers four episodes (known as “progs” in 2000 AD) of the Judge Dredd comics strip that guest-starred the ultimate Dark Judge, Judge Death.  All four progs in The Dark Judges #1 are drawn by Brian Bolland.

Progs 149 to 151 comprise the story known as “Judge Death,” which introduce both Judge Death and Psi-Judge Anderson (or Judge Anderson from the Psi-Division).  This story opens with the arrival of Judge Death in Mega-City One.  An alien super-fiend from another dimension, Death believes that all life is a crime, and he is such a bad-ass that even the vaunted Judge Dredd seems unable to stop him.

Judge Dredd Classics: The Dark Judges #1 closes with Prog 224, the first chapter of the classic story, “Judge Death Lives!”  Judge Death escapes imprisonment with the help of a fool.  Meanwhile, three new characters arrive to pass the sentence of death on Mega-City One.

I think this is the first time that I have read the stories, “Judge Death,” written by John Wagner (using the name “John Howard”), and “Judge Death Lives!,” written by Wagner and Alan Grant (writing as T.B. Glover).  I bought this comic book because of Brian Bolland's art, but I must admit that I enjoyed the stories.

Bolland's work here shows why he is one of the most celebrated comic book artists of the last four decades and also why he is a beloved Judge Dredd artist.  Bolland's robust compositions, sturdy figure drawing, imaginative storytelling, and precision draftsmanship are all on display here.  For this series, Bolland's art is refreshed and revitalized by Charlie Kirchoff's coloring.

I am surprised by Judge Dredd Classics: The Dark Judges #1, because I did not think that I would want to buy anything past the first issue.  I think, however, I should try more, because I did end up enjoying reading the thing.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for February 4, 2015

DC COMICS

DEC140312     ACTION COMICS #39     $3.99
OCT140366     AME COMI GIRLS TP VOL 03 EARTH IN CRISIS     $14.99
JUL140268     AMERICAN VAMPIRE SECOND CYCLE #6 (MR)     $2.99
DEC140272     AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #10     $2.99
NOV140286     BATMAN 66 #19     $2.99
NOV140307     BATMAN ARKHAM UNHINGED TP VOL 04     $14.99
DEC140321     BATMAN ETERNAL #44     $2.99
NOV148199     DEATHSTROKE #1 2ND PTG     $2.99
DEC140342     DETECTIVE COMICS #39     $3.99
DEC140345     DETECTIVE COMICS #39 COMBO PACK     $4.99
DEC140278     EARTH 2 #31     $2.99
DEC140274     EARTH 2 WORLDS END #18     $2.99
DEC140370     FLASH SEASON ZERO #5     $2.99
DEC140340     GRAYSON #7     $2.99
DEC140286     GREEN ARROW #39     $2.99
DEC140356     GREEN LANTERN #39     $2.99
DEC140358     GREEN LANTERN #39 COMBO PACK     $3.99
DEC140417     HINTERKIND #15 (MR)     $2.99
NOV140290     INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE #8     $2.99
OCT140400     INVISIBLES HC BOOK 03 DELUXE EDITION (MR)     $29.99
DEC140291     LOBO #5     $2.99
DEC140402     LOONEY TUNES #223     $2.99
DEC140419     NAMES #6 (MR)     $2.99
DEC140294     NEW 52 FUTURES END #40 (WEEKLY)     $2.99
NOV140223     SUPERMAN #38     $4.99
NOV140227     SUPERMAN #38 COMBO PACK     $5.99
OCT140340     SUPERMAN EARTH ONE HC VOL 03     $22.99
OCT140360     SUPERMAN HC VOL 05 UNDER FIRE (N52)     $24.99
NOV140301     SUPERMAN TP VOL 04 PSIWAR (N52)     $16.99
DEC140365     SWAMP THING #39     $2.99
NOV140302     TEEN TITANS TP VOL 05 THE TRIAL OF KID FLASH (N52)     $17.99
DEC140422     WOLF MOON #3 (MR)     $3.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES
JUN140331     RED LANTERN 1:1 SCALE POWER BATTERY PROP W RING     $199.95
AUG140373     THRONE OF ATLANTIS AQUAMAN AF     $19.95
AUG140374     THRONE OF ATLANTIS BLACK MANTA AF     $19.95
AUG140375     THRONE OF ATLANTIS MERA AF     $19.95
AUG140372     THRONE OF ATLANTIS OCEAN MASTER AF     $19.95