DC Comics just released their February 2017 solicitations. With brand new solicitations we got some new titles coming our way in the form of Super Sons and JLA. Not only does February look to be the beginning of new series but also the end of many storylines currently taking place. Now with so many things to be excited about from DC here is a breakdown of what stood out.
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD DC UNIVERSE
While Marvel continues to tell stories involving hero vs hero conflicts DC Comics is moving more towards a united universe. February 2017 is yet another example of this as we dozens of books either featuring team-ups or teams fighting against the greater evil. This has been a refreshing route that has helped DC Rebirth turn the DCU into a fun and interesting place to read stories about.
Standing out amongst all the team books is Justice League of America. This second Justice League book seems to just be Batman and The Outsiders under the JLA name. With that said, I am actually more intrigued in this JLA line-up than the current Justice League, which is a series I have cooled on lately. The team is made up of a lot of unique, volatile personalities that can create very interesting stories beyond the main conflicts the team face.
The other team series that caught my attention is Green Arrow. While the series is an Oliver Queen vehicle it has essentially taken on Arrow’s format for building its cast. “Emerald Outlaw” looks like it will be the story that fully establishes Green Arrow’s team, which looks similar to Arrow Season 4’s team. All in all Benjamin Percy will no doubt deliver once again as Green Arrow has quietly been one of DC’s best titles.
DC COMICS YOUTH MOVEMENT GROWS
During the New 52 DC tried to capitalize on the Young Justice cartoon’s momentum by creating a number of books like Teen Titans, Blue Beetle, Static Shock, The Ravagers and a few others. While it was a commendable move the execution of the ‘Young Justice’ line was a failure. Instead of elevating the young superheroes DC made their next generation of heroes even less relevant during the New 52 era.
DC Rebirth has changed all of that with quality titles in Teen Titans, Titans and Super-Man featuring the next generation in strong, fun comic books. Now in February another title looks to strengthen this line with the addition of Super Sons.
Peter Tomasi has long proven to be one of DC’s top talents and his run in Superman has only strengthened his portfolio. The most recent Superman arc was a great introduction to what we should expect from a comic book featuring Damien Wayne’s Robin and Jonathan Kent’s Superboy.
CLARK KENT MYSTERY REVEALED?
One of the biggest questions in the Superman books since DC Rebirth began is the identity of the human Clark Kent. Since returning to the main DC Universe the pre-Flashpoint Superman and Lois Lane-Kent have taken up the “new” last name of Smith along with their son Jon. This was done to keep their real identities a secret since the world knew the New 52 Superman’s secret identity of Clark Kent. And with New 52 Superman dying right before DC Rebirth the identity of Clark Kent was also buried along with New 52 Superman. Or so everyone thought.
With pre-Flashpoint Superman saving people in the public eye a new human Clark Kent has also appeared in the pages of Action Comics. We have seen that this human Clark Kent childhood is almost identical to Superman’s origin. But even with those details there are still a lot of questions to who this Clark Kent really is. Now starting in February we may end up learning who he really is as both Superman and Lois turn their full attention to discovering his intentions.
RESURRECTION OF BATMAN’S VILLAINS CONTINUES
While Batman’s villains have always been praised as the strongest in comic books they haven’t seen much of a spotlight in recent years. For the most part the last few years of Batman comics have been all about Joker and The Court of Owls. That has changed with DC Rebirth as the Batman writers are using the rest of Batman villains for their stories.
This trend continues in February with Bane’s story continuing in Batman and Poison Ivy taking her turn as antagonist in All-Star Batman. There is also the new League of Shadows appearing in Detective Comics, who may just be a reborn League of Assassin’s since that is the name of the organization in the Dark Knight Trilogy. If that is the case the core Batman books will spotlight three big Batman villains in one month.
These are all a few things that stood out to me from DC Comics February 2017 Solicitations. There are plenty of other individual comic books that I am looking forward to as well. You can check out all of DC’s February 2017 Solicitations here.