DC Comics 2021 continues to take shape as everyone is settling into the post-Future State status quo. Infinite Frontier looks to be a genuine fresh start for the DC Universe. While characters like Batman and Wonder Woman are continuing on with their adventures pre-Future State, many others seem to be on new, fresh journeys. We see that with the Green Lantern, Justice League, Teen Titans, Suicide Squad and other titles. At the same time May 2021 looks to continue the trend of integrating more elements from Future State into the main DC Universe as we will see Shilo Norman become the new Mister Miracle and Yara Flor makes her debut as Wonder Girl. Let’s take a look at the the big things we have to look forward to from DC Comics May 2021 solicitations.
YARA FLOR BEGINS HER CAREER AS WONDER GIRL
The breakout star from the Future State direction has easily been Yara Flor. As Wonder Woman Yara has shined not only in her solo series, Future State: Wonder Woman, but also in Justice League and Superman/Wonder Woman. So its not surprising that Yara would be brought into the main DC Universe.
The new Wonder Girl series will see Yara assume the role that Diana Prince, Donna Troy, and Cassandra Sandsmark have carried before her. What I’ll be interested to see is how Yara’s origin will tie into the expansion of the Amazons in the DC Universe. Through Yara we will get to see the mythology around the Amazons in South America start to be developed. This gives greater opportunity to explore different aspects of mythology that can further elevate the Wonder Woman franchise.
While the early issues will likely stick with exploring the South American Amazons I do hope that we eventually see Yara interact with the Amazons on Themyscira. Diana is an obvious person that Yara will likely cross paths with. Though I hope that we do eventually see Yara interact and team-up with Donna and Cassandra as they can bring a lot to how she develops as their successors as Wonder Girl.
SHILO NORMAN STEPS UP AS NEW MISTER MIRACLE
One of the running storylines across multiple Future State comic books has been the situation with the New Gods. We’ve seen that play out in the Superman Family comic books for Future State, including Immortal Wonder Woman. A major player in that has been the returning Shilo Norman, who has assumed the Mister Miracle identity once again by the time Future State started. Given that since New 52 Shilo has only appeared in a handful of comic books there is the question of how he took over being Mister Miracle once again.
Now it looks like in May 2021 we will get that answer as the new series Mister Miracle: The Source Of Freedom will be reimagining Shilo’s journey to becoming the second Mister Miracle. Going with a six-issue mini-series for Shilo’s beginning is a smart play. It’ll make I so the focus of Mister Miracle: The Source Of Freedom is on Shilo rather than building out several sub-plots that normally happen in an intro arc for a new ongoing series.
With everything about the DC Universe’s continuity back into play after Dark Nights: Death Metal it’ll be interesting to find out where the New Gods are positioned. Mister Miracle: The Source Of Freedom could plant seeds for what Darkseid and the New Gods are up to. Which would play well with the Totality group that was established at the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal.
JASON TODD HUNTS THE BATMAN FAMILY
Given the popularity of Future State it is not surprising new titles being announced under that banner. That is exactly what we are getting with Future State: Gotham as Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver continue to explore the Magistrate regime during Future State. With this new series it is clear that the Magistrate regime will not be taken down by the time the first wave of Future State Batman Family titles end. This does make sense since the Magistrate Saga has by far been the strongest storyline in the entire Future State direction. That is thanks to how powerful all the Batman Family writers working on Future State have established the Magistrate to be.
Jason Todd as Red Hood being placed in the spotlight for Future State: Gotham works well. Jason Todd is one of two Batman Family members who has joined the Magistrate. The other person is Luke Fox. Luke’s story has been part of both The Next Batman and the Grifter back-up in Dark Detective. In addition to that we know Luke will be part of both the main Batman series and The Next Batman: Second Son.
That leaves Jason’s story as Red Hood open to be explored in Future State: Gotham. It looks like this new series will follow all the events in the current Batman Family Future State comic books. Or at the very least up to Dark Detective, which is set two years after the events of every other Batman Family story. So Future State: Gotham could fill in the gap of how things go during those two years for the Batman Family with Jason Todd being the one to hunt them all down.
CHIP ZDARSKY TAKES THE JUSTICE LEAGUE ON THEIR LAST RIDE
Chip Zdarsky name has been popping up in more DC Comics books in 2021. That trend continues with Zdarsky working on the Digital-First series titled Justice League: Last Ride. This new series looks like it will have more of the classic Justice League line-up. Which will be a good compliment for Brian Bendis upcoming Justice League run where the roster is more of a mix of different characters from the DC Universe. Given Zdarsky’s library of work thus far I have no doubt that Justice League: Last Ride will be an excellent read.
The premise for Justice League: Last Ride is also intriguing as it does seem like Zdarsky is aiming this to have a final story for the Justice League tone to it. The solicitation reminds me a lot of Marvel’s The End line. That is another good take to have as we will see more detective work being done with the center of Zdarsky’s story being set around the DC Universe’s greatest murder trial.
JO MULLEIN OFFICIALLY JOINS THE GREEN LANTERN CORP
It was only a matter of time before Jo Mullein became a full member of the Green Lantern Corps. While she has been operating as a Green Lantern it has been mostly in secret away from the rest of GLC for her first mission. Now with Geoffrey Thorne making Jo part of the Green Lantern Corps we will see how her first mission being in Far Sector will impact the way she interacts with other Green Lanterns. Right now she has been positioned more as someone who works on her own like Hal Jordan before her. Being part of the larger GLC could change that as she becomes even more involved in the rest of the DC Universe.
The death of a Guardian of the Universe is another thing to keep an eye on. We know that establishing the United Planets will continue to be a thing in Infinite Frontier. One of the Guardians’ dying could impact how that ends up turning out. Which could lead into the teased major threat that the new Green Lantern series will be dealing with.
JAMES TYNION INTRODUCES BATMAN’S NEXT BIG VILLAIN
First it was Punchline, then Ghost-Maker, now James Tynion is looking to introduce the next big new Batman character for the franchise in the form of Miracle Molly. So far Tynion has not missed with the new characters he has introduced into the Batman franchise. So we can all expect Miracle Molly to only add to the strength of Batman’s Rogue Gallery. This will also likely make Batman #108 a hot seller given how other new character introductions have gone since Tynion started his run on the series.
Given how the Magistrate were established in the Future State continuity it is good to see in the main DC Universe continuity that Bruce Wayne is being active about figuring things out about the organization. This will help not make everything moving forward come across as Future State being inevitable. It also helps to bring the Magistrate into the fold as a major threat right away rather than waiting to see them operate sometime down the line. How Miracle Molly and the Unsanity Collective gang factor in will be interesting to see play out.
WALLY WEST BRINGING THE JSA TO THE DC UNIVERSE
With each new solicitation its become clear that Wally West will be the Flash we will be following in Infinite Frontier. As a Wally West fan I hope that this means that the new run by Jeremy Adams will start setting things right for the character. There is so much untapped potential to reestablish Wally as a hero once again that has not been tapped into since he returned in DC Rebirth.
What catches my interest for this new story that Wally is in the center of is how it looks like Adams is aiming to draw on the connections between Wally and other speedsters. That is at least what The Flash #770 talks about. The cover for the issue also teases us with the appearance of Jay Garrick. This could mean that Wally’s new adventure also involves the Multiverse since the end of Dark Nights: Death Metal established that the JSA exist on a parallel Earth to the one we are normally following. So that could mean that The Flash #770 will further grow the seeds planted for the return of the JSA in the future.
WONDER WOMAN MEETS THOR
While Joelle Jones’ Wonder Girl looks to be expanding the mythology of the Amazons in the DC Universe the Wonder Woman series by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad is going on a different direction. Wonder Woman instead is exploring other forms of mythology to bring into the DC Universe. With Cloonan and Conrad’s first arc they are bringing in Norse mythology into the fold. This is honestly a great change of pace as we will get to see Wonder Woman interact with and be the connection to all the Gods from different forms of mythology, including the DCU’s own New Gods.
And obviously how Cloonan and Conrad establish the DC Universe’s version of Thor will be something that will be most eye caching. How they end up differentiating the DCU’s Thor from Marvel’s own God of Thunder can help strengthen the direction they are taking the Wonder Woman franchise.
NIGHTWING JUMPS INTO KINDOM HEARTS
James Tynion isn’t the only one adding a new villain to the Batman franchise in May 2021. Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo continue their run on Nightwing by adding a new villain named Heartless. Seeing that name appear in the solicitation for Nightwing #80 immediately makes me think of Kingdom Hearts. Even the cover reminds me of the Heartless from the video game.
My video game nerd self aside, it is good to see new villains being added across the Batman franchise, especially for Nightwing. With Dick Grayson returning full-time as Nightwing having to face off against new, unexpected threats works well for this fresh start. It will further strengthen Nightwing as solo hero as he takes on wild threats that are his own rather than being someone from Batman’s well established Rogues Gallery.
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