How to use this Page

Greetings, sales charts fans! It's time once again to look at DC's sales figures.

Alex Lu and Kyle Pinion dig into the first week of DC's Rebirth #1s to tell you which books break new ground and which stay mired in DC's troubled past.

Are you ready to fall in love with comics this weekend?

With rumors circulating across the internet, Scott Snyder has confirmed his departure from Batman in April’s issue #51. The writer announced that the issue will be his last comic with artist Greg Capullo for six months. Truth: I've been delaying writing the last pages of Batman #51 – my final issue on the series & last comic […]

Every Wednesday, I talk about comics with Brandon Montclare, writer of the hit Image series Rocket Girl and co-writer of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur series. We gab about what we’re reading now, what books we consider classics (Brandon loves Dark Knight Strikes Again…), and the hottest gossip of the industry.  Occasionally, the inimitable artist Amy Reeder (Rocket Girl, Batwoman) stops by.  Check out our full […]

The Comics Beat recently sat down with DC Comics' biggest stars to talk about their epic run on BATMAN and the future of the series as Greg goes on hiatus to work with Mark Millar.

Per CBR During his panel at NYCC, Scott Snyder announced that his Batman collaborator Greg Capullo will be taking a break from the title after Issue #51 (which, just a guess, may very well be the wrap-up of the Commissioner Gordon as Batman story arc). Snyder stated that reason for this was that Capullo would […]

Warner Bros. plans to create a Batman Vs. Robin animated film. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the cast includes actors who worked on the Son of Batman movie and several new faces.

Those who will return to reprise their roles include Jason O’Mara (Batman), Stuart Allan (Damian Wayne a.k.a. Robin), Sean Maher (Nightwing), and David McCallum (Alfred). The newly hired voice actors include Jeremy Sisto (Talon), ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic (The Dollmaker), Grey Griffin (Samantha), Robin Atkin Downes (The Grandmaster), Peter Onorati (Draco), and Kevin Conroy (Thomas Wayne).

MovieWeb.com reports that “the story will be based on the Batman: The Court of Owls comic, written by Scott Snyder and illustrated by Greg Capullo.” The world premiere will take place at this year’s WonderCon event in April 2015.

Via The Hollywood Reporter, WB Animation has unveiled its cast for the upcoming feature Batman vs. Robin, which despite sharing a title with a Grant Morrison arc, is actually based on the Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo “Court of Owls” storyline that opened up their run in the New 52 era.

The film will act as a sequel to the preceding Batman and Son, with Jason O’Mara, Sean Maher and David McCallum reprising their roles as Batman, Robin and Alfred respectively.

New cast members joining on include:

Jeremy Sisto as Talon (Sisto, you may recall, played Batman in Justice League: The New Frontier)

Grey Griffin as Samantha

Weird Al Yankovic as The Dollmaker

Robin Atkin Downes as Grandmaster

Peter Onorati as Draco

Kevin Conroy as Thomas Wayne (Bruce’s father, not the other one)

Batman vs. Robin will arrive in stores this Spring, its the next entry in WB’s shared universe of animated films that include the previously released Justice League: War, Batman and Son, and the upcoming (and to be reviewed in short order by Davey Nieves on this very site) Justice League: Throne of Atlantis. It’ll be directed by Jay Oliva, who took the helm for Batman: Assault on Arkham and the animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, among others projects.

I haven’t enjoyed any of the offerings from this animated line in some time, probably not since Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, but I continue to hold out hope that the next entry will be the point where they bounce back. Snyder and Capullo’s enjoyable first arc together is as good a starting point as any.

If you’re picking up Batman #35 this week, do yourself a favour and check out the price point. See that $4.99 price sticker? Originally solicited at the regular $3.99 price, DC sent an e-mail to retailers last week telling them that the price of Batman #35-37 would be pumped up to the $4.99 mark in order to account for additional story pages (surprise: Kelley Jones is back!).

This series has been no stranger to the occasional price bump, with four of the twelve Zero Year issues clocking in at prices equal to or above the $4.99 price point (issue #24 ran a stunning $6.99), and so DC’s choice to pump up the price in the face of extra content shouldn’t come as a surprise. The problem, was this: retailers (and the creative team) were informed of this change on September 30th, whereas the book was sent to press in and around September 15th, the final day retailers had to send in orders. In essence, the company waited a full 15 days after retailers sent in their final numbers to let them know that they were about to charge 20% more for a book they were contractually obligated to purchase.

A few notes: when these changes happen after solicitations have gone out, the product being offered does become returnable, which is good. If I want to return every issue I have left unsold of Batman #35, I can absolutely do that… eventually. I’ve been working in the industry for 8 years, and I still can’t quite grasp the process, but that’s probably because operating in Canada plies a whole ‘nother set of hoops to jump through.

Second: after hearing about this price jump, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo approached the company and implored them to lower the price back to $3.99. The company was receptive to this, and announced yesterday that they would only be charging $3.99 for issues #36 and 37, which is cool. The problem is this: enacting price jumps after information has gone out is not a thing that should happen. I understand the realities of this business sometimes require a bit of adjustment, and that retroactively a creative team and editor will decide that things needs more space to breathe. Letting retailers know after committing to product? That’s a pretty crap thing to do. It certainly isn’t business busting, but it’s a reminder about how terrible the contracts retailers sign in order to get comics are. Technically, Marvel or DC could announce tomorrow that all of their books are going to jump a dollar, effective immediately. All of this product would be made returnable eventually, but in the meantime, somewhere, there are comic shops that are either just starting or are currently, for whatever reason, operating by the skin of their teeth. They purchase product using a strict budget, because if they don’t, there’s going to be trouble. Imagine learning that a large chunk of your books were suddenly going to be 20-25% more expensive immediately, with no time to adjust. That’s going to be quite a nightmare. But what are you going to do? Not get Batman in your store? Pff. Sure. Let’s see how that goes down for you.

Now ply that to a smaller scale and think about customers. There are a lot of people out there living by the skin of their teeth. They buy comics as a means for escape, but they only have a set amount of money. I know back when I first started picking up comics from a file, I kept a list of 20 books a month, because that’s all I could afford. Some can’t quite do that. Now imagine all of your books increasing significantly overnight. I know that this happens quite often, that Marvel’s across the board policy of $3.99 comics have caused problems for a few people, and that DC’s $3.99 Septembers are no help either. While I often advocate the fact that people will pay $3.99 or $4.99 for their superhero books without blinking (and I have the sales data to back this up), I know that there are those out there for whom the idea of spending that much on a title is insanity. The unfortunate thing for both customers and retailers is this: your budget problems don’t really amount to much when it comes to overall sales.

While a $4.99 comic might have me losing one or two customers, I still have more than enough people for whom that jump is not a deal breaker. In the case of Batman, over the course of Zero Year, I lost a single customer due to the various jumps in price, while all others gladly made purchases. My loss incurred was matched ten-fold by the extra money the price increase nabbed me. The same goes for the industry at large – which is why from a purely business standpoint, DC is crazy for leaving money on the table and dropping the price of the next two issues of Batman. That said, I do have to applaud the company for doing the human thing and keeping the title at $3.99. While it leaves a stack of money on the table, it is greatly appreciated by myself, and many others.

It seems weird to try and thank a company who caused the problem that they are fixing, but let’s be honest: if this goes without remark, they’re going to get the wrong message. They’re going to look at how money is spent, and opt for the quick buck over something more sustainable. So DC? Thanks for not being 100% a dick. Despite what last week’s comics might have suggested.

from Grayson #3

But we’ll talk about that bit of business later.

[Brandon Schatz has been working behind the comic book counter for eight years. He's spent the past four as the manager of Wizard's Comics and Collectibles in Edmonton, Alberta. In his spare time, he writes about the comics he likes over at Comics! The Blog. You can find him on twitter @soupytoasterson. The opinions expressed are those of Schatz and do not necessarily reflect those of The Beat.]

By Kyle Pinion

One of the bigger initiatives to come from the Big Two this year is the advent of the three weekly titles from DC Comics: Batman Eternal, Futures End, and Earth 2: Worlds End. With the latter on the verge of release, and Batman Eternal continuing to perform well in DC Sales Figures, members of the various creative teams for the titles gathered for DC’s Weeklies panel. Writers on hand included: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins (Batman Eternal), Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire (Futures End), Marguerite Bennett and Daniel H. Wilson (Worlds End).

The panel, moderated by Bob Wayne, was neatly delineated with each title receiving its own focus time. With that, things were kicked off with Batman Eternal.

- Scott Snyder thanked the attendees for picking up Eternal and making it such a sales success: “We came up with an idea that we felt would be so big and infect that neighborhood in Gotham. I helped write the first few and I’ll come back and do the last, but it’s these guys that are just killing it on the series. The great thing about it is that it’s not happening in a small corner.” Snyder also stated that when Batman returns in Issue 34, it will deal with the fall-out of Eternal, flashing forward past the Weekly time-frame, with the consequences of the series reverberating through a number of books.

- Fawkes discussed the breakdown of writer tasks and interests within their team, stating that he specifically will be writing the sub-plot dealing with Jim Corrigan and Batwing through the duration of the series. Higgins also chimed in, mentioning that despite coming onto the series late (replacing outgoing writer John Layman), his arc would begin in the 30′s and he would be bringing back The Architect in those issues (a character he co-created with Snyder in the Pre-New 52 Gates of Gotham mini).

- In describing the break-down of the series’ acts Higgins added: “The way that we’re structuring this is three acts. The end of the first big act of the series will be right around issue 20. Section two tees up something new and different with different characters. That’s the stuff I’m doing; I’m working with Jason Fabok to tell the end of section two.” Snyder added in that each of the acts are designed to raise the stakes until the city is on the edge of destruction while reaching a giant crescendo in its finale.

- Moving on to Future’s End, the panelists were a little less verbose regarding future plans, with a big as of yet unannounced event on the horizon, but they discussed the dynamics of the “incredibly unlikely group of writers” that make up their team. With Lemire pointing out that the unusual mix of writers gave way to the eclectic cast that makes up the title’s roster.

- Jurgens and Lemire were especially quick to praise Ryan Sook as the unsung fifth member of their team, who sat in on their writing meetings and created character sketches based on the ideas being bounced around.

- Regarding writer specific favorites, Lemire mentioned that it was Brian Azzarello who was gravitating towards Terry McGinnis, and this in turn led to a discussion amongst the panelists as to whether Terry is called Batman or Batman Beyond in the book proper. (A: He’s not called anything as of yet, as he has few associates per Lemire).

- Lastly, the panel’s focus turned to Earth 2: Worlds End, with “show-runner” Wilson describing the series as: “We’re in a situation where we’re continuing what’s going on in Earth 2 and there are some catastrophic events on the way and we’re bridging into the future. On the ground level, we have characters like Dick Grayson who are surviving on the ground, then you bump up a bit and you have the World Army, then, to the top level. Having all of this play out at the same time is really interesting; figuring out who deals with what and what’s happening to the world.”

- Both Bennett and Wilson agreed that the series will be shifting its gaze less to the big picture and more to the people within it, with Bennett specifically citing Batman Eternal as a huge influence on her work here: “It’s not just a story of attrition or the death of the world, it’s a story about the people in that world. It’s a story of triumph, of love and hope that’s coming out of the ruins.”

- Both writers also wanted to stress the importance of the series having a sense of accessibility, and the first issue will provide an intro as to the happenings within the Earth 2 monthly title.

- Lastly, Wilson mentioned that readers should be on the look-out for them to address some unanswered questions, particularly in regards to the fate of Sam, Alan Scott’s partner.

- The panel then moved into the Q&A portion, which begun with an elaboration on who is tackling what character in Futures End; Lemire is writing Frankenstein and any space characters, Giffen has the Cadmus team and Grifter, Jurgens is writing Tim Drake and Superman, and Azzarello oversees Terry McGuiness.

- Regarding any restrictions on ideas that the Eternal crew might have proposed, they said there weren’t any, and that in issue 20 the status quo will shift tremendously. With Tynion adding in: “We’re marching closer and closer to the end with every single issue, and issues #21-23 is the real turning point to set up that next section and things are going to start changing rapidly. Gotham is going to become very dangerous very quickly.” Fawkes also added that characters like Killer Croc, Jim Gordon, and Batwing will come out of the events of Eternal with new lives.

- On what the writers of Eternal would remember from the series as a whole: Snyder answered that the title is key theme. With Fawkes emphasizing this point, stating that the team wanted readers to believe this is the story that would destroy Batman, but once they reach the conclusion they’ll get the meaning of the title in that context.

- Snyder closed the panel stating that the coordinated work amongst the writers on Eternal affected the narrative of his upcoming Batman arc “Endgame”: “When I seehow much they’re doing, it was like, ‘Let’s make Batman do that too.’ ‘Endgame’ is about taking Batman and giving readers a Gotham they’ve never seen before.

After a tragic encounter with an artifact known as “The Dreamstone,” infamous treasure hunter Fabian Gray is possessed by five literary ghosts and granted access to their unique abilities.

Get this on Amazon Five Ghosts Volume 1: The Haunting of Fabian Gray TP

From Booklist
Thanks to a popular Kickstarter campaign, comics fans can enjoy a story so unique yet so familiar it’s like slipping on a pair of old slippers worn by a stranger. Famed treasure hunter Fabian Gray has the remarkable ability to channel ghosts of five archetypal figures—the wizard, the archer, the detective, the samurai, and the vampire—a power that comes in quite handy in the midst of his swashbuckling exploits. Barbiere’s writing and Mooneyham’s art are reminiscent of classic adventure comics, crammed with rubies to snag, helicopter ladders to lunge after, and biplanes that crash into deep jungles full of magic-wielding cults, all wrapped up in a plot dripping with revenge, regret, greed, and deep hubris. But Barbiere and Mooneyham aside, it would be a mistake not to acknowledge the book’s colorist, S. M. Vidauri, whose muted tones and deep purples mix the nostalgia of iconic adventure tales with the rich, heavy visuals of contemporary comics, such as Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Scott Snyder’s American Vampire, and Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man. –Ben Spanner

Tweet

As I suggested in my early con impressions, WonderCon had a reasonable amount of space and handled the numbers of attendees pretty well. It was no surprise that Saturday brought bigger numbers than Friday, and the crowding was more obvious, but still never reached that feeling of pushing and shoving that can easily erupt at crowded cons. The floor occasionally got backed up, particularly around the constantly slammed DC Comics booth, where big names like Scott Snyder appeared frequently for signings and the DC booth’s location, at the very front of the con entrance, contributed to some difficulty getting onto the floor. I noticed that the retail side of things was fairly busy, too, with some crowding and difficulty navigating, suggesting that plenty of fans were there to buy back issues and memorabilia, as well. The artists alley at WonderCon was a little on the scanty side in terms of size and numbers of tables, but those artists who were present were very engaging and passionate about their work. They seemed to have regular followers who were coming in to buy their artwork and there was a strong representation of the fine art side of fantasy prints and original work, as well as handmade arts and crafts.

Open areas like the food court and outside atrium were a welcome oasis, but it also continued to be easy to exit the con into the outdoor plaza areas for a rest and there was no difficulty with re-entry. Though the floor only allowed a couple of doors for access, the many exterior doors were open for comings and goings, with several food trucks outside, far enough from the entrance not to cause back ups. One other surprise was that Sunday seemed just as busy as Saturday, as I heard retailers commenting. They were turning over sales at just as high a rate that day. This feeling may be due to the fact that there were slightly fewer panels on Sunday, making the floor more of a feature, or simply that people waited to do their shopping on the floor on Sunday. When I stumbled into the Arena, a venue I hadn’t seen before, I was impressed with the numbers it could hold, and also that it was completely full for a Joss Whedon Shakespeare film adaptation event. This suggested to me that the con was handling numbers well, since I generally had no idea that so many people were even at the con on top of the numbers moving in the open spaces of the con. It was Easter Sunday the last day of the con, and it closed a little early, at 5PM, perhaps for this reason, but fans still had a sense that they would have been happy for the con to go on a little longer, a good sign regarding WonderCon’s appeal.

One final follow up: I suggested initially in my coverage that people might find WonderCon in Anaheim appealing due to Disneyland access, and that this would appeal to people will kids particularly. Though this turned out to be true, I also underestimated the appeal of Disneyland to singles and younger congoers. I went to Disneyland the following Monday and found that quite a number of WonderCon attendees were there too, from a younger demographic than I expected. You could tell from their conversations and generally less pastel clothing what guests were in town for the con, and I’d say about 1 in 10 were from the con in the massive crowds Disney drew on that post-Easter day.

Final thoughts: it was a well run and appealing con, offering plenty of choice in terms of panels, keeping up with what’s going on in comics and pop culture right now. Marvel were a little under represented, though Dan Slott was participating in panels, and several pros who were there for DC panels were formal Marvel people. Marvel didn’t have a booth on the floor, driving up the demand for DC variants and signings, which they happily accommodated. I was also impressed by the energetic presence of the mid-sized presses like Dark Horse, Archaia, Image, IDW, and ComiXology, for taking the opportunity to flourish and interact with fans when given a little more space to do so. The mid-sized presses really shone in their engagement with fans on the floor, their foresight in bringing new and upcoming books to purchase and get a sneak-peak at, and also through their involvement on panels. This gave the general impression that mid-sized presses are on the rise and taking on the role, collectively, as contenders for the Big Two. Good for them!

Whether WonderCon is in Anaheim again or back in San Francisco in the future, the planning and structure of the con should continue to hold up to make it a comfortable as well as enjoyable, exciting event for fans. This won’t be one of the cons where you have to sacrifice personal amenities just to see your favorite artists speak or get the variant your collection is calling for. They have a sense of putting the customer first at WonderCon and let’s hope that continues; it sets a good model for the growing con industry, and there are some bigger cons who could learn a thing or two from this.

Without further ado, some highlights of the con in photos from my trusty partner in crime Michele Brittany who proved her moxie as a pop culture photographer at WonderCon 2013 in spades. Thanks Michele!

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

Tweet

Following on from Night of the Owls and Death of the Family will come an 11-part storyline from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo called ZERO YEAR. Taking the sime kind of approach as Frank Miller’s ‘Year One’ story, this will see Batman in the New 52 – establishing the Bat Cave, meeting his first super-villain, and hopefully painstakingly working out just how pointy the ears should be on his costume.

Snyder is careful to establish that this isn’t going to be a story which dismantles the story and idea behind Year One, but will instead be a new story giving a different perspective on Batman’s origin, and building up the character in a different way:

We tried to preserve as much of Batman’s history as we could and keep what we could of this history intact. It’s ‘The Zero Year,’ the one that no one has told the story of before. We see how Bruce became the Batman, built the cave, faced off with his first super villain … It’s time for a new story showing how Batman became who he is in The New 52. It builds up the mythology

And, as the creative team established a short while ago, the story is not intended to cross over into any event storylines - like the last two Batman stories have. This is set to be self-contained. And looking at Capullo’s lovely, simple cover for the first issue of the story (issue 21) it looks as though DC are hoping to turn this into the first properly notable and standalone graphic novel collection for the New 52. So shiny.

Batman in the new 52 currently has a wonderfully convoluted and messy backstory, with countless robins, a son, a couple of rebirths and a few vanishing Batgirls currently crammed into what DC says are the first five year’s of the character’s life as Batman in the new DC Universe. How is Snyder going to deal with all that?

And most importantly – when is Bat Mite coming back?

Tweet

The end of the ROT WORLD crossover arc raises the question that Umberto Eco posed in his famous essay on Superman in 1972: can there really be change in a superhero universe? Doesn’t that imply aging, and movement toward an end, death, in fact? Whereas the constant return to a status quo at the end of each trial or adventure puts readers back in a position of looping time, and any seeming change in the lives of superheroes is seen to be a kind of necessary illusion. Eco even pointed out that “What If” stories are the only recourse to exploring meaningful life developments for superheroes like having long-term relationships or kids, milestones that can be neatly tucked away as “out of continuity”. We’re still struggling in superhero comics with the same realities of narrative constraint introduced by the Man of Steel, but that doesn’t mean that some writers and artists are satisfied to make all monumental events, the reason we read superhero comics in the first place, transient. Some are determined not to hand the property on to the next writer or artist in the same condition in which they received it, and that does suggest a lot of gumption on their part. Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire have suggested in interviews before the ROTWORLD finale that they fought to incorporate lasting change into the universes of SWAMP THING and ANIMAL MAN respectively, and the question is, are those changes really meaningful to the reader? What did the ROT WORLD arc add to the mythology of the DCU and will its impact continue to be felt, or will there still be a gradual return to the status quo to follow?

[Spoilers for ROTWORLD arc, ANIMAL MAN #17, 18, and SWAMP THING #17, 18 below!]

All evidence points to New 52 marketing wanting readers to believe that ROT WORLD was culminating in something monumental, something unheard of that might never be seen again. SWAMP THING #18’s cover, depicting Abby and Swampy embracing reads, “’Til Death Do Them Part!”, and ANIMAL MAN #18’s even more emotionally gripping cover, with Buddy Baker screaming in the dark, reads in rather gigantic letters: “This is the Most Tragic Day in the Life of Buddy Baker!”. As far as hype goes, it’s pretty extreme, and even though fans might not want these characters to suffer, anything less might seem like a rip off after this kind of advertizing. Maybe they want readers to feel conflicted because that means they are personally engaging with the titular characters.

Let’s start with the ROT mythology, and the way in which it affects a reader’s view of the DCU, then discuss the kind of “change” ST #18 and AM #18 introduce. As mythology, the introduction of The Rot is a significant accomplishment. It shines a light on the dark corners of the underlying principles of the DC Universe and helps fill out the cosmic principles that hold it together for readers. The Rot functions as a third element to stand in balance to The Red, the element of animals (and humans), and The Green, the element of the plant world. It makes sense there should be more than just The Green and the The Red struggling, often against each other. Adding a third principle, first as a mutual foe, that represents “decay” is pretty ingenious. It speaks to the reality of death and entropy in the DCU and gives readers a greater sense of just how things function in the DCU. So from an overarching standpoint, thumbs up. But honestly, it gets even better. In issue #17 of SWAMP THING when Swamp Thing and Animal Man start questioning their own view of what The Rot is, things get more “real” in the sense that the opposition between The Red and The Green versus The Rot becomes instead a triad of opposing forces.

As Constantine had warned earlier, The Red and The Green are not “black and white”. They are not alone, and don’t simply have a mutual foe. They have a mutually equal principle to deal with taken over by Anton Arcane. They begin to realize that the avatars of each principle can determine whether the element works in more helpful or harmful ways and that The Rot, a principle of decay, is, in fact neutral, though corrupted by Arcane. Though readers might have seen this coming, it forms a sudden clear paradigm for principles acting in the DCU, and suggests a satisfying emphasis on “harmony” between principles as a universal goal. It syncs well with all the struggles of heroes in the DCU, and could speak to Superman’s endeavors just as well as Batman’s. The ROT WORLD arc has added this paradigm to the DC Universe, and contributed to its mythology.

So much for a view from a distance. It’s wonderful, and maybe even essential to have a solid and well thought out mythology behind a superhero universe, but without elements of humanity in its characters, there are no real stories to be told. The entire ROT WORLD crossover is deeply psychological. One could argue that perception and uncertain perception of reality are some of its key themes, particularly focused upon Swamp Thing and Animal Man. Are the worlds they fall through and move through even real at all? Can anything be fixed and certain when time-travel and world-travel are involved? That could move the reader away from a sense of seriousness in the events they are witnessing, not being sure that anything happened “for real”. Snyder and Lemire actually break through the “fourth wall” in a way by writing this uncertainty into the storyline openly. When Swampy and Animal Man storm Arcane’s stronghold in Rotworld in ST #17 and AM #17, they encounter monstrous, twisted versions of their loved ones, Abby (Abigail Arcane, Swamp Thing’s girlfriend) and Maxine (Animal Man’s daughter) respectively. The loved ones seem lost, bent beyond recognition into Arcane’s principle of Rot, and though they speak in familiar voices, Swampy and Animal Man still question whether it’s “really them”. It’s a version of them, Arcane confirms, since he’s grown them from infancy for this role, but there’s a lingering possibility that somewhere, if only in a version of the past, Abby and Maxine are still untainted. It’s emotionally engaging to see Swamp Thing and Animal Man interact with these twisted versions, but if it’s not “really” them, the impact is limited.

That’s where issues #18 of both comics come in. They hold the key to determining if these are just essentially rather gruesome “What If” stories that have plenty to say about the DCU and especially a great deal to say about the psychology of central characters, but then, like a dream, will cycle back to normality having won the battle against Arcane and restored balance to the newly defined three principles of the universe. Lesson learned, life could more or less return to a version of the DCU that readers recognize. This is where, it seems, Snyder and Lemire’s determination to insist on change in the DCU after ROT WORLD comes in. They each take divergent paths to accomplish this, but the principle seems the same: restoring balance takes personal cost. If the universe is capable of righting itself after an imbalance, it does so with little concern over the impact on human lives, but works toward a bigger goal. Let’s also remember that Swamp Thing has agreed to be the avatar of The Green and give up his Alec Holland matrix of identity (as introduced originally by Alan Moore) and that Animal Man faces the same strict principles though his daughter Maxine is actually the avatar of The Red. This means that nothing is safe, and nothing is more sacred than that role.

Snyder brings humanity to the post-Rot roles of Swamp Thing and Abby through the unlikely final farewell to their humanity and a backward-looking but meaningful sentiment about their connection to each other, visually depicted by Yanick Paquette in stunning terms as their two human bodies lying together, presumably deceased, gradually covered by the flowers of The Green. It’s a farewell for fans, one that deserves some rites of its own, but its implications bring actual change to the DCU also. Abby has knowingly taken on the role of avatar for The Rot in its new, neutral form as a safeguard for keeping it that way. She’s not only resisting the kind of horror arcane unleashed upon the entire DCU in the form of his own version of The Rot, she’s doing something about, and sacrificing her humanity to do so.

As counterbalanced principles now, she and Swamp Thing cannot truly be together (witness the ashes arising between them when they touch). He is growth and she is decay, interactive elements with their distant parts to play. Satisfyingly in some ways, Abby is now Swamp Thing’s equal. Surprisingly, that makes sense, as if her potential and future role had something to do with bringing them together in the first place. How can it be satisfying, though, that they can never be together again? It’s satisfying only in the sense that it rings true because it is honest to goodness change in the DC Universe, one Snyder went to bat for. How can these stories continue to be deeply meaningful to us if there is never any deep change visible? Bravo, Mr. Snyder, no matter how miserable you have made Swampy and Abby. To be fair, they seem to accept this fate the way elementals do, with rather profound wisdom.

Jeff Lemire has, in some ways, a more difficult task at hand in ANIMAL MAN #18. Thrown back into his world to learn if things have changed, if at all, he has his entire family to worry about, not just his daughter Maxine. To introduce change into a family configuration is complicated. Do you change the nature of the relationships? Does Maxine, assuming she’s alive, stop being the avatar of The Red? What about losing his mother? That seems somehow like a reasonably nod toward change. But the scale of ROT WORLD has been so extreme that, simply stated, losing a parent might not quite satisfy readers. If Swamp Thing and Abby were tragic and nostalgic (and isn’t The Green usually anyway?), Animal Man needs something raw and violent to contend with, something primal perhaps. Steve Pugh does an excellent job rendering scenes between Buddy and his family human, and physical, once he returns to his world (particularly necessary with a title like ANIMAL MAN).  I wouldn’t say that having his already ill son Cliff Baker, finally die, was predictable. It was a roulette spin on who might die, though death did seem likely, especially given the book’s cover art. Cliff doesn’t need to be the avatar of The Red like Maxine, and his death can be an emotional touchstone for readers to connect to Buddy Baker. Superhero stories have contained quite a few lost sons over the years, but that doesn’t mean the trope doesn’t pack a punch.

After everything Animal Man has been through to save the universe from the Rot, doesn’t he deserve better than this? And yet, that’s the point. In this way, he’s not special. He’s vulnerable and human, and could experience the loss of a child. This is change for Buddy, but it’s more a psychological change than a major plot shift for future issues of ANIMAL MAN. This isn’t to say that losing a character doesn’t change the DCU, it does, but Cliff’s death doesn’t change it on the same scale that Abby’s transformation will. Is the change that Lemire introduces less of a success because of this? Nope. He introduces change to the fabric of Animal Man’s life, and an emotional impact that will last forever in psychological terms. Exactly how Cliff’s death will impact the ANIMAL MAN comic, in fact, remains to be seen, but it would be very hard to brush it aside. This certainly isn’t a “What If” story.

So, the bottom line about the end of an era with Snyder’s final issue of SWAMP THING and the end of the ROT WORLD arc is that it does remarkable things to alter the way in which readers perceive and understand the DC Universe as a whole, and is a pretty impressive feat of universe building from the inside out. It creates growth and greater appreciation of a universe perpetually under construction, and for that reason, rarely explained in broad terms. But Snyder and Lemire also do something that shows a lot of fortitude and personal vision for what readers need to see in superhero stories to really grasp their significance: the potential for change. If these characters cannot be affected by their life experiences, where does that leave us, the readers, trying to connect and apply their experiences to our own?

SWAMP THING #18 and ANIMAL MAN #18 complete what you might term “Eco’s loop” in terms of creating continuity again in the DCU (by restoring balance in The Rot), but they also break through that loop and give us a glimpse, hopefully an enduring one, of heroes in a “real” situation of loss, maybe even a form of sacrifice to restore that balance. There’s nothing more human than the realization that things don’t always work out the way you want them to. Thankfully, for Snyder and Lemire, they did this time.

Title: ANIMAL MAN #18/ Publisher: DC Comics/Creative Team: Jeff Lemire, Writer, Steve Pugh, Artist, Lovern Kindzierski, Colorist, Jared K. Fletcher, Letterer

Title: SWAMP THING #18/ Publisher: DC Comics/Creative Team: Scott Snyder, Writer, Yanick Paquette, Artist, Nathan Fairbairn, Colors, Travis Lanham, Letters

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

TweetScott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman #17 came out this week, concluding their ‘Death of the Family’ storyline to universal approval from reviewers. But in all the rush to celebrate and praise, there’s been precious little evaluation of the book itself — many of the reviews, in fact, read more like a pre-emptive defense of the [...]

TweetSome early morning ramble to go with your coffee. While all around us creators are struggling with editors, artists are flying from one series to another every three issues, books are chopped and movies are cut – there is a little oasis in the middle of the DC desert. Batman. When the New 52 started [...]

The only cons I like better then ones that I can ride my bicycle to are cons that only take an hour and a half  drive.  Sometimes the commute is intimidating and it's much easier to just stay home.  Amazing Arizona Comic Con gave me too many reasons to not miss this event.

By Alexander Añé

Today I spoke with Scott Snyder by the DC Booth at San Diego Comic-Con. I got to talk with him about his work with Batman and how he’s going to bring us the another big event with Greg Capullo and Death of the Family.

Alexander Añé [AA]: You’ve been the master of the “horror comic,” even putting out things like American Vampire left and right. I am kind of curious to know you’re going to doing Death of the Family very soon, how are you going to be bringing that horror element, that extra soul-grinding bit, to the arc?

Scott Snyder [SS]: Oh, that’s easy with Joker. I got bitten by the bug when I wrote him for Detective for 879 and 880. He’s such a blast to write because he’s so evil, and so interestingly evil. It’s effortless to bring out the wickness. I promise it’s going to be gruelsome and not for the faint of heart  what so ever. He’s going to wreak havoc like you’ve never seen Joker wreak havoc. It’s the biggest, craziest Joker story ever. I was thinking about it, “I would really like to use Joker but he’s in so much stuff. How am I going to do it?” But then I looked at it and I was like, “you know what? Joker’s not in that much stuff, he’s ubiquitous in pop culture, movies, and in the animated stuff but there hasn’t been been a batman comic to feature joker as the central villain. He’s been great in Grant [Morrison]’s stuff as the peripheral villain for Batman & Robin but as the villain, as coming after batman, there hasn’t been a story like that in a really long time, since the earthquake. So for me this is giving joker his due and doing a love letter to him about all the crazy wonderful and terrifying things he’s about so I can’t wait. I promise there will be a lot of blood on the floor, admittedly, but there will be exploration of his psychology and who he is without going back to his origin.

AA: You have yourself a wonderful reputation about making this batman mythos your own, I mean with making characters like Mr. Freeze in a whole new light. What sort of mindset did you go in with when you actually started with the Batman title back in Detective Comics and especially in the New 52?

SS: I was going to start detective, and I was going to use James, Jr.,  and I met with grant morrision for the first time at San Diego at this con. I guess it was 2 years ago and I told him my idea for Detective with using James, Jr. and he was so encouraging about basically explaining you have to blaze your trail, as though you are writing for yourself and imagining no one is reading it and you’re just a total lunatic writing fan fiction and it’s not comics whatsoever. and for me that’s what it’s about, it’s about trying to do it in such a way writing your own favorite batman book at that moment,  it might not be the best, it might not be the smartest, the darkest or the most action packed but it’s the one you would enjoy the

"Batman: The Black Glove" hits enters the list at No. 2.

DC have finally confirmed what people have been whispering/typing misspelt into ALL CAPS headlines for months now – that September’s issues for all their New 52 titles will be ‘Zero’ issues, and wind back in time to reveal the origins of each character. What this will do for books like Action Comics or Demon Knights, which have already done that, is uncertain. I’m sure Grant’ll think of something.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Dan DiDio explains that this zero initiative is intended to help new readers who want to know the origin of each character (although it seems like an idea more geared towards satisfying long-term readers who want to know which classic stories are still in continuity). So September will have 52 origin stories released, before the titles all revert back to issue #13 in October.

….well, apart from four of them.

Yes, DC have announced that the third wave of their New 52 will start soon, with four titles being cancelled to make way for four new books. Start panicking for the future of your favourites! We already know that Justice League International is over with issue #12, and those who pay keen attention to sales (you know who you are) will likely be looking carefully at the future of Captain Atom and Blue Beetle, among others.

But what will the four new titles be? Well there aren’t many details yet – expect CBR or DC’s own ‘The Source’ blog to reveal more later today, no doubt – but we do know what the books will be, and roughly what they are about. They are:

Talon: A spin-off from the current Batmancentric ‘Court of Owls’ crossover, written by Scott Snyder.

Team Seven: The team Geoff Johns has been teasing for months in the main Justice League title, as Steve Trevor, Dinah Lance, Amanda Waller, John Lynch, Cole Cash, Alex Fairchild and Slade Wilson join forces to fight Superman or something. This announcement could suggest that Suicide Squad is facing cancellation, which will surely delight Harley Quinn fans if true.

Phantom Stranger, also launching out of the teases Geoff Johns made in DC’s Free Comic Book Day issue, although how they’ll string a story together out of him is anybody’s guess. DC promise that this is the book which will explain the origin of the New 52 Universe as a whole, so that could be the hook.

And the final book is Swords and Sorcery starring the return of Amethyst, bizarrely enough. Which means the market has no place for an ongoing Storm, Black Widow, Hepzibah or Spoiler series, but is happy to support Amethyst. Ah well! This book looks like the most fun of the four.

No creative teams announced for these books, by the way, aside from the Snyder/Talon announcement. We’ll likely have to wait a little longer for the lucky soul relaunching Amethyst to be revealed. I ruddy love Amethyst.

Kapow Comics Convention took place over the last weekend, with several major publishers attending in semi-full force. Certainly at least, Dan DiDio, Joe Quesada and Eric Stephenson were all there, along with 2000AD and (I think!) IDW’s Chris Ryall. Here’s a little rundown of all the things people were treated to over the course of the two days, alphabetised for your viewing comfort.

Artists’ Alley:

A little empty! The artists’ alley was situated on the high balcony around one side of the event hall, and while superhero artists like Barry Kitson and Adi Granov enjoyed queues, there were several tables which were barely attended. I spoke a little to Al Davison about his current projects (cavaliers and roundheads and vampires and incredibly detailed artwork abound!), and noted that nobody on the surrounding tables had anybody talking to them. A little bit of a shame, but maybe I was just there at the wrong times.

CB Cebulski:

Still on his never ending Bob Dylan-esque tour of the world, looking for promising new artists, a fun game to play from time to time was to walk past CB Cebulski’s review table, and see how tired he looked. That man suffers for art!

Cup O’ Joe:

With nothing to announce, Joe Quesada immediately turned his panel over to fan questions, which led to a very interesting trend – something which you could see throughout the convention, actually, as time went on. Rather than asking about Avengers Vs X-Men or Spider-Man or the comics, almost every question was about the movies, and their impact, and the future of Marvel properties in alternative media. The focus was strongly on movies and TV, although the audience did come to ask a few questions about The Ultimates towards the end. Kieron Gillen asked if Namor was still a Marvel property, or if he was classed as part of the Fantastic Four family - and therefore off-limits for any potential Marvel films. To his relief, Namor is still in the hands of Marvel studios.

DC:

Dan DiDio and Bob Wayne were present, and hosted a few panels and interviews. DiDio dropped a few hints, but seemed to be keeping most things up his sleeves for announcement at SDCC. Among the teases we did get were the hint that a classic DC character would return to the New 52 soon, and be outed as homosexual; that there were no plans whatsoever to bring Wally West back into monthly comics, at least for the long-term future; and an interesting bit of discussion about Wonder Woman. DiDio believes that the reason Wonder Woman has never been as defined as, say, Superman or Batman, is because every new relaunch of her book throws her in a radically different direction. She’s either a goddess or not a goddess, or a war hero, or a secret agent, or any number of different personas. “You don’t see a Batman series where suddenly he’s a taco waitress”, DiDio joked, and noted that the new direction for her was something they wanted to keep for as long as possible, and have that ground and define her for future creative teams.

After his last interview, DiDio then went and wandered around the small-press tables for a good few hours or so, chatting to creators and picking up a few comics, happily.

Digital Comics:

A lot of small-trade a