DC Comics Axes Four More Titles

So DC Comics has decided to cancel four more of its New 52 titles – two from the original 52, one slightly new and one very new… Legion of Super-Heroes (#23), Demon Knights (#23), Dial H (#15) and Threshold (#8) will all come to an end in August 2013.

Apparently Legion and Dial H are as head-grabbingly-angsty about their cancellations…

iFanboy (a great site, FYI) had this to say about the cancellation: “It sucks that just about every book that DC tried to publish that was outside of the traditional superhero vein was met with abject indifference from the buying public.” Also, as Mark Waid pointed out, this is the first time in about 40 years that DC will not be publishing a Legion title. Having never read that series (New 52 or pre-52), I can’t say that it means anything to me…

Of these four series, I’ve read the first volume of Demon Knights (written by Paul Cornell, and which I rather enjoyed, but couldn’t afford to keep reading on a monthly basis), and some of Dial H (which I thought was rather weird, and continues to prove that just because China Miéville wrote it, doesn’t mean I’ll love it…). I had been waiting for the first volume of Threshold to be available on ComiXology before trying it (though was a little wary of the talking rabbit character, I must admit…). And I was never interested in Legion of Super-Heroes. I’m not sure why…

There are some new series on the horizon, too: Pandora, Superman Unchained (by the awesome Scott Snyder – #3 cover art, by Jim Lee and Scott Williams, below), Batman/Superman, Larfleeze, The Movement, and The Green Team

Interview with PAUL CORNELL

Paul Cornell has written some great comics (Demon Knights and Saucer Country most recently, but also Action Comics and more), as well as for Dr Who and other fiction. With the release of his latest novel, London Falling, I thought it would be a perfect time to ask him about some of his recent work. In this interview, we learn more about Paul’s writing, his thoughts on genre, and I also discover that he’s no longer writing one of my favourite series…

DC New 52 Catch-Up: The Dark

I’ve decided to split the ‘Dark’ and ‘Edge’ review into two (otherwise, it would be a review of 21 comics, and that could end up being a bit unwieldy). These titles are, with the exception of Justice League Dark (a late addition to my pull-list), the ones that originally attracted my attention when I first started reading about the New 52. They promised more gothic, twisted and (excuse me) darker stories. I was not at all disappointed, and in fact these are some of my favourite comics full-stop, not just from the New 52.

Reviewed herein: Demon Knights #4-6, I Vampire #4-6, Justice League Dark #4-6, Resurrection Man #4-6

[While on the subject of The Dark, a reminder that I’ll be reviewing Swamp Thing #1-6 in an all-in-one, separate review.]

Artwork: “Demon Knights #4”

I’m not going to be able to review this one for a little while, but I just loved the cover artwork, by Mike Choi, so I thought I’d share it here:

Demon Knights is one of my favourite comics, part of DC’s New 52 reboot. Issue 4 is in stores tomorrow.

This Week’s Comics Round-Up (Nov.9th)

The latest DC New 52 & Marvel releases

This is a great week for the DC New 52 comics. Four of my favourite series enter their third issues: Demon Knights, Grifter, Resurrection Man and Suicide Squad. The latter, if you read my previous round-up of these series, was actually on probation after a bit of a weird second issue, while the other three were very eagerly awaited. Another series I decided to catch up on was Deathstroke, which I didn’t pick up last month because… well, I’m not entirely sure why, now.

(An aside: Considering how much I’ve been enjoying an ever-growing number of these titles, it’s becoming difficult to say which are actually my ‘favourites’, as often issues wax and wane depending on their overall story’s progression…).

Finally, as promised in last week’s round-up, I tracked down the two new X-Men titles: Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine & The X-Men, which each track a different half of the now-split X-Men team. I also got hold of the Regenesis one-shot, which is meant to fill in the gaps for newcomers to the series and events therein.

DC New 52: This Week’s Chosen Four

Strong second issues for four of DC’s rebooted titles

Taking a different approach to the previous DC New 52 reviews I’ve posted up here, I’ll now review them by week of release, I think. This will mean for less clutter on the website and hopefully more streamlined reviews. Also, assume that there are minor spoilers after the break – so if you don’t want anything spoiled, just pay attention to the pre-break stuff.

This week: Demon Knights, Grifter, Resurrection Man, and Suicide Squad – all four of which continue the stories started in their debut issues very well, and actually improve! Resurrection Man and Demon Knights are probably the strongest of the four, and only Suicide Squad has left me wondering about how long I’ll be sticking with it.

[I intend to stick with all the titles I’ve enjoyed until they lose my interest. It’ll be interesting – probably only for me – to see how far I get with some of them.]

DC New 52: “Demon Knights” #1

Demonic Possession & Invading Armies

Writer: Paul Cornell

Artists: Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert

In the dark ages of the DC Universe, a barbarian horde is massing to crush civilization. It’s fallen to Madame Xanadu and Jason Blood, the man with a monster inside him, to stand in their way – though the demon Etrigan has no interest in protecting anyone or anything other than himself! It’ll take more than their own power to stop an army fuelled by bloodlust and dark sorcery, and some very surprising heroes – and villains – will have no choice but to join the fray!

Another title I knew nothing about, but came recommended by a number of people whose opinion I trust. An interesting premise, and it will be interesting to see where it’s headed.