If
you don’t know, Previews
is the catalog that Diamond Comic Distributors use to offer the
products they distribute to comic book stores around the country.
This is where you can view and order (through your favorite Local
Comic Book Shop) comic books, trade paperback collections, t-shirts,
books, media, and toys and other collectibles from hundreds of
different vendors that deal in geek-oriented merchandise. The genius
part is that you actually have to pay for your copy of Previews
for the privilege of ordering other things to pay for. It’s like
the Ren Fest except without the horse poo smell.
So
every month a new edition of Previews
is sent out to comic book stores. Contained in the pages within are
products that might be currently available or could be released
anytime in the next year; but typically about two months away. Or
sometimes never. I’ve ordered lots
of things that have just never come in. Without getting into the
specific politics of Diamond, let me just say that they aren’t
quite
a monopoly and also aren’t quite
the worst distributor anybody has ever dealt with in the history of
the universe.
But
I’m not here to discuss that. I’m here to discuss a few of the
weird and/or wonderful items offered in this month’s edition.
This
month DC decided it would be fun to do their own little book like
Marvel does. This is primarily because of the “Rebirth” event and
is not currently scheduled to be a regular thing. As far as we know.
Naturally, DC’s little book shipped late and didn’t arrive in our
Local Comic Book Shops until last Wednesday. That means today you get
the second – thought smaller and more focused – Previews
rundown of the month.
This
is as much a magazine putting over how exciting “Rebirth” is as
it is a catalog. Having read it, I now totally understand why DC
published it as a separate entity from Previews.
It does a great job of drawing attention to the changes and making
the event feel like a big deal and a possibility for solid new
beginnings.
We’ll
see.
I’ll
be posting a new episode of the Needless
Things Podcast
this Friday where we get a little more in-depth about DC’s recent
publishing history and what we expect (and would like for) “Rebirth”
to accomplish. For this post, I’m sticking to my usual brief
commentary about each entry.
Oh yeah - DC printed these in extremely limited quantities because they thought it best if news of their massive, line-wide promotion reached as few people as possible. As such, I was only able to obtain one copy from my Local Comic Book Shop. This means that some of the pictures you see are going to have my podcast prompts on them. Sorry about that. Consider it a tease for what we'll be talking about on Friday.
Fortunately for DC, I'm here to spread their word.
Oh yeah - DC printed these in extremely limited quantities because they thought it best if news of their massive, line-wide promotion reached as few people as possible. As such, I was only able to obtain one copy from my Local Comic Book Shop. This means that some of the pictures you see are going to have my podcast prompts on them. Sorry about that. Consider it a tease for what we'll be talking about on Friday.
Fortunately for DC, I'm here to spread their word.
We
know a lot more than we used to about Rebirth, and yet still don’t
really know anything. That won’t stop me from recording a podcast
episode about it for this Friday, though!
DC
seems to once again be trying to have their cake and eat it, too by
doing a reboot that isn’t a reboot. I still say that if they had
just made a clean cut with the New 52 and used things like Batman:
Earth One
to establish all-new continuities they’d be in a better place now
than they are. All of this wishy-washy stuff isn’t doing them any
favors.
Also,
this Ivan Reis cover isn’t doing much for me. I’m normally a fan
of Reis’s work, but this one image doesn’t excite me. Some of
those faces are pretty mushy.
The
first thing that jumped out at me was the Harley Head Challenge. This
is a fun little gimmick and the sort of thing at which Marvel used to
excel. There’s no prize for finding the Harley heads, but the
presence of this silly little game makes this volume – and, by
extension “rebirth” itself – seem more fun and engaging.
Then
I look up and see that awful Damian Wayne. That costume is
hilariously overwrought. Unless he’s going to be in space or on
Apokolips or something, this is the worst Robin costume I’ve ever
seen. Especially when standing right next to a ratty-looking Superboy
with a Walmart children’s hoody and artificially torn jeans that
aren’t even long enough. Ugh.
Look
– I want to be as positive as I can for “Rebirth”. I want
to be excited about DC comics again. But when you throw laughable
character designs like this in first thing, I can’t just overlook
that.
UPDATE;
Okay, I can admit when I’m wrong. I got deeper into the book and
saw this:
Apparently
this might be part of Damian’s version of Batman’s Dark Knight
Returns armor. As-is it’s actually a bit sparse for that, but the
idea of Damian feeling the need to fight Superboy (Clark Kent’s
son) is very entertaining.
Finally
– and I can’t believe I’ve spent this many words on a single
page – there’s the list of DC characters and where they are in
this book so you can easily jump to your favorites and see what the
heck DC has done to them
kind of exciting plans DC has in store!
In
addition to the “Rebirth” comic that’s being released at
midnight on May 24th
DC is also publishing twenty different one-shots to establish the
roles of specific characters in this totally-not-new DCU. I’ll run
down which titles interest me below.
These
are all interviews with the creative talents involved with each of
the new “Rebirth” comics. There are also tidbits about the new paradigm and character situations.
At
the forefront of many of these articles is the fact that a number of
these titles are going to be bi-weekly. I think that this is a
terrible
idea. DC has had enough trouble keeping their creative teams
consistent on monthly titles. And nothing turns me off of a comic
book faster than artistic inconsistency. There’s absolutely no way
they’re going to be able to keep that schedule without using a ton
of fill-ins. And that right there turns me off of any of their
proposed twice-monthly books. Especially when they’re saying right
up front that some will have alternating artists each issue. Jim Lee
and Phillip Tan may not having jarringly dissimilar styles, but it is
noticeable and will take away from the narrative consistency.
I
didn’t want to get too deep into the overall mechanics of “Rebirth”
here because we’ll discuss it on Friday’s podcast, but I feel
like you need my reasoning for whether or not I’m buying certain
titles.
Also,
I don’t like this picture at all:
Harley’s
face is as generic as a comic book character’s could be. It has no
personality whatsoever. That could be Psylocke or Jubilee or Banshee
or Catwoman or any female character. And while this isn’t the worst
Killer Croc I’ve ever seen, it sure isn’t good. He looks like
angry broccoli.
How
could I not by this? I love DC’s characters. No matter how badly
they bungled the New 52, I have to give DC a chance. I’m not
exactly pumped for the event, but I’m hoping for the best. I’m
going to buy this and you should, too.
Also
consider the fact that it’s 80 pages for (holding the line at!)
$2.99. I doubt it will be much more than a glorified marketing
brochure, but I’m still looking forward to reading it, for better
or for worse.
I’m
interested in the concept of a fresh-faced hero showing up in Gotham
City thinking he can handle it. I think there are a lot of story
possibilities here. While Scott Snyder is helping out with the
“Rebirth” issue, King is flying solo on the book. I’m not
excited about it being twice monthly, but I’ll give it a shot
because it’s Batman and new.
I also like the new Bat Symbol. I/m not so sure about that utility belt and codpiece, though.
I also like the new Bat Symbol. I/m not so sure about that utility belt and codpiece, though.
This
is one of the books that I’m actually excited for. James Tynion IV
has a proven track record and I am a big fan of Eddy Barrows’ work.
The story concept is kind of like Batman
and the Outsiders
in that he and Batwoman are working with a team that needs guidance.
I love the idea of Clayface trying to reform and I dig every
character being used in this book. I have high hopes for Detective
Comics.
I
just wanted to point out that it says not to read The
Flash: Rebirth
#1 until after you red DC
Universe: Rebirth,
so I think there’s a good chance Flash is central to whatever is
going on with this change. I’d love to read a good Flash comic, but
I’m not familiar with anyone on this creative team and with so many
books shipping twice a month I have to be really choosy.
Greg
Rucka.
That’s
all I need to see. None of his comics have let me down yet.
Everything that he’s written that I have read has been great stuff.
I’m not familiar with Liam Sharp, but judging from the cover shown
he has a style that fits with the themes of mythology and wonder. I
just hope they don’t get quite as deep into all of that as New 52
Wonder Woman did. I loved it at first, but eventually it got to be
tiresome. And I love
mythology.
I
gushed over this last month, but I feel it’s worth mentioning
again. Buy this comic. It will be excellent. It will be worth
whatever weird crap DC does with the other Hanna-Barbera books just
to get this one.
Mattel
did a very good job with the toys and the cartoon is a cute and
clever use of DC’s universe and characters. I bet this’ll be
good.
That
mask is awesome. They translated Amanda Conner’s art perfectly. And
if you haven’t read the current Harley book, the included trade
reprints issues 0-8, which are great fun. I recommend this set.
The
Killing Joke
is an outstanding landmark work in the history of comics, no matter
how much people have decided to start shitting on it now.
That
being said, this is the third
color variation that DC has released. If you want to read it in black
and white; this is your chance.
YES.
This
was excellent. Remember above when I said James Tynion IV had my
trust? This is part of the reason why. He displayed such an
incredible understanding of these characters and their worlds. I
never would have imagined that anyone could give me a Batman/TMNT
story that would truly make me happy and Tynion did. Buy this.
Elseworlds
is good stuff. For those of you wondering how I was able to enjoy
Dawn of
Justice
as much as I did, this is why. It’s all Elseworlds to me. Nothing
will ever top the DC Animated Universe, so everything else is just
Elseworlds.
I’ve
never read these, so now I’m going to.
The
description says it’s a trade paperback, but the picture is of a
hardcover and the price suggests hardcover. I dunno.
Amanda
Conner is one of the greatest illustrators of the modern age. This is
a book that reproduces her original drawings from some of her
best-known works. It’s a full 12”x17”, so it’s a big ol’
tome with a big ol’ price tag, but I’d love to have it.
Oh.
One hundred and seventy-five bucks. That’s a little more than I
thought this was going to be. Back when DC Collectibles first
showed this mammoth plane at Toy Fair,
they said it would be $150. Still pricey, but not as close to two
hundred bucks.
I
want it. I want it badly.
But it’s over three feet of plastic and I just don’t know what
the heck I’d do with it. It’s too damn big to hang from the
ceiling, which is what I normally do with flying vehicles. For that
price I do wish it had sounds. I still feel like the
Batmobile
should have.
I
love that DCC is producing these, even if I’ve decided against
collecting their Icons line. This is a great set, but I wonder if the
Starros have a mechanic in place to allow them to attach to figures’
faces.
You
can probably guess that I’m ordering all four of these. It might
seem like a lot of Harleys, and it is, but I like my growing Harley
shelf. Besides, these look great.
These
are great! I don’t collect much plush, but Joker Fish and Osito are
must-haves. These things are adorable!
This
statue looks great and I love the color scheme, but I’m going to
have to stick to action figures unless they make like, I dunno, a
Halloween Batgirl or something.
Oh,
come on.
I
actually saw a preview of this one several weeks ago and texted the
picture to Mrs. Troublemaker. We both agreed it’s a must-have. This
is the best Bombshells release so far. I don’t get why she’s
Batgirl
and not Batwoman
because everything about the design and even her face looks more like
Kate Kane, but whatever. This is an amazing piece.
Unaffiliated
Thoughts
There’s
a whole lot more to DC’s “Rebirth” than what was in this
special Previews
add-on, so stay tuned to Needless Things and the Needless
Things Podcast
to keep up with what’s happening!
*****
That’s
all I’ve got for this month. Start putting your pennies in your
Diamond Select figural bank and remember to drop your order form off
at your Local Comic Book Shop!
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