DC Comics continue their return to normal post-Knight Terrors and once again November shows that we aren’t seeing the ramifications of Dawn of DC’s big event wasn’t much. From November’s solicitation show, The Gotham War is having a bigger impact, and Titans: Beast World is set up to be a bigger deal. Along with that, we have some big things going on for Green Arrow, Birds of Prey, Flash, and much more. Find out what the ten biggest takeaways were from DC Comics November 2023 solicitations below.
10) GREEN ARROW LEARNS WHY HE’S LOST
Oliver Queen is about to hit a year of being lost somewhere in the Multiverse. Now in Green Arrow #5, he will finally learn why he has been trapped in whatever dimension he is in. It appears that learning the truth will just tick Oliver off and make it so he continues to be trapped with no way home.
Given his actions in Green Arrow #1, Oliver chooses to stay where he is at rather than returning home to his family. If that is the choice it hopefully is a good reveal. Because there is only so far this trapped in another dimension can go for this storyline with Green Arrow.
9) THE LABOURS OF CATWOMAN’S NINE LIVES
“The Gotham War” is going to be a big tone-setter for Catwoman’s future. We have some details as Selina has trained a new generation of thieves to not fall the common Gotham City criminal path. While this plan may appear as the best way to curve Gotham City crime it can come with its own consequences. The Batman: Outlaw storyline is going to show some of these faults as one of the people Catwoman trains becomes a traitor. That could mean that Catwoman is unintentionally training a new generation of villains greater than Batman’s rogues gallery.
This also makes the path Catwoman walks with her going on nine deadly missions in her ongoing series stand out. We don’t know what happens in “The Gotham War” to cause Selina Kyle to disappear but Catwoman to stick around. The nine deadly missions certainly sound like Catwoman will be taking on the Labours of Hercules-style trials.
8) NIGHTWING VS. OLD FLAM BEA BENNETT
While we may all want to forget the “Ric Grayson Era” it is something that happened. And Nightwing is going to face a major face of this past as Dick Grayson runs into Bea Bennett on his pirate adventure. This is certainly surprising since we have seen the Bat-books largely avoid that period in Dick Grayson’s life outside of brief mentions.
Now turning that era to give more of a connection to Dick Grayson with the return of Bea is certainly a choice for giving death to the Hold as a secret pirate society. This will likely lead us to learn that Bea wasn’t just a regular person but someone with a major secret past. The question is if Tom Taylor can resist the trope of making a former love interest into a villain. Taylor has proven he doesn’t fall down these common tropes and it is hopefully the case with Bea as that would be way too obvious of a direction.
7) FLASH FAMILY EXPAND SPEED FORCE
Outside of the Batman Family the rest of the franchises under the DC Comics brand have had a hard time selling multiple titles. Even the Superman and Wonder Woman families have not found the success of their fellow Trinity peers. So with that in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how Flash handles having a second title in the form of the Speed Force. The Flash franchise isn’t necessarily at the height of its popularity with The Flash TV show ending this past spring and the DCEU movie being a box office bomb.
That is where Jarrett Williams and Daniele Di Nicuolo must go all out making sure that they maintain the majority of the Flash fans that will pick up Speed Force’s first issue. It can be done but it will take a strong creative direction to pull it off. It is a spotlight that the Flash Family certainly deserves as the franchise has largely focused on Barry Allen or Wally West. Giving a chance for Wallace West, Avery Ho, and other Flash Family members would be great to see happen as DC Comics is rebuilding the Flash franchise.
6) BATMAN ALONE BECOMES AN OUTLAW
November is going to be the start of a rough period for Batman. For one Bruce Wayne will be once again isolated from the majority of the rest of the Batman Family except for Damian Wayne, his co-star in Batman & Robin. Unlike before, whether he knows it or not, Bruce has become accustomed to having Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake, and others in his life. Going back to being an isolated loner is going to have a major impact on him as he battles against the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh’s side of his mind from taking over. That makes the timing for the Joker to return to haunt Batman’s life a bigger deal. Both have gone through a lot.
If that wasn’t enough Batman will deal with another demon controlling him in the form of Azmer and placed on a path where Gotham City wants to hang him. While Batman deals with having a new Outlaw status it is very well want can bring his family back to his side. While Robin, Batgirl, and others aren’t on the best terms with their mentor they still have his back. How they handle things makes Batman: Outlaw a story to follow as much as the latest rematch between Batman vs Joker.
5) BIRDS OF PREY VS. WONDER WOMAN
The Birds of Prey are certainly making sure that everyone knows they are back as now it appears they are going to war with Wonder Woman and Themyscira starting in November. While Black Canary, Big Barda, and Batgirl are great fighters making an enemy out of Wonder Woman doesn’t sound like a good idea. There certainly better be a good reason for this because Wonder Woman is the last person they should be fighting.
Also, this hopefully doesn’t mean the start of another superhero vs superhero story. That is one element from her time working at Marvel that Kelly Thompson isn’t bringing to DC Comics. With the DCU rebuilding itself there are plenty of villains for the Birds of Prey to fight. Especially in the absence of the Justice League, this is a time the Birds of Prey can establish themselves as a premier superhero team in the DC Universe like the Titans. Fighting one of the members of the Trinity is not the way to do that.
4) GREEN LANTERN HAL JORDAN VS. RED LANTERN SINESTRO
While Hal Jordan may be grounded on Earth that does not mean he has escaped all of the Green Lantern drama. Especially when he has Sinestro hanging around to ensure Hal can never escape their past with one another. Changing things up this time around is the power source Sinestro will be using for their latest rematch. Because rather than returning as a Yellow Lantern, Sinestro will be a new Red Lantern Corps member.
Given how hard Hal and Sinestro go at each other whenever they fight it is not surprising that Hal is going to have to break United Planets law during this battle. That would finally bring in the greater DC Universe to Green Lantern as we learn more about how things are going beyond Earth. It is about time since we have two Green Lantern titles and both are Earth-based. We need the cosmic side to get more attention than it has during the Dawn of DC, which has almost been zero.
3) THE OUTSIDERS GO BEYOND GOTHAM CITY
Now we have the official solicitation for The Outsiders we see that for now, it does appear that it will be a duo series with only Batwing Luke Fox and Batwoman Kate Kane as the only members. That is certainly one way to start a new team book with just two members. Especially considering that The Outsiders #1 solicitation mentions The Outsiders tackling both magic and science-based threats to the DCU. Given that scope characters like Zatanna, John Constantine, Khalid Nassour, and Ragman would make great members of this version of The Outsider.
Other than the roster, the direction of The Outsiders is certainly unique. With teams like the Titans, Justice Society, and Birds of Prey filling the role of the Justice League this more cosmic direction is what The Outsiders need to stand out. This could tie back into the previously mentioned Amanda Waller overarching plotline for the DC Universe.
2) JASON AARON’S FIRST BATMAN STORY
With how long Jason Aaron has been in the industry it is hard to believe that his first Batman story will be published in 2023. Aaron’s writing style is what you would think DC Comics would have made him recruit him to write a Batman comic book a long time ago. But in this case, it is better late than never as Aaron will be writing a new six-issue mini-series titled Batman: Off-World with Doug Mahnke.
Outside the A-list creative team the concept for Batman: Off-World has potential. With the majority of Batman stories set in Gotham City having Off-World set somewhere on the cosmic side of the DC Universe is a positive change of pace. This will provide a good test for how Batman handles a setting he has no familiarity with. Getting Batman out of his comfort zone and dealing with a cosmic story without the Justice League to back him up should make things interesting to see how they play out.
1) TITANS BEAST WORLD TAKES OVER DC UNIVERSE
We already knew that Titans: Beast World would be the first big event led by the DCU’s new premiere superhero team. When it was announced all we knew was that it would take place between the main Beast World mini-series and tie-ins in the Titans ongoing series. Now we know that Beast World will be a much bigger event that involves more than Titans members.
Specifically on the superhero side, at least the Superman Family will be involved as Jon Kent’s Superman, Supergirl, Dreamer, and Power Girl will be taking part. This is a good thing for the Superman Family as they’ve been in Clark Kent’s shadows. Taking part in big events like Beast World helps elevate their own status. However, if they serve a long-term role in the Beast World event is a wait-and-see. Because it does appear that the way Titans: Beast World Tour is titled this will be a tie-in series we may see one-shots for Wonder Woman, Shazam, and other major DC families to take part in this event.
Then there is the Waller Rising tie-in to Beast World. The solicitation frames this comic book more as how Amanda Waller will use this Titans event to further her own plans rather than being a focal point of Beast World. This would make sense as DC Comics appears to be building Amanda Waller and The Light as the overall big bad of the DCU for their next Crisis-level event.