San Diego Comic-Con 2023 was a much different event than past SDCC. Specifically, with both the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes going on the presence of TV and movies where much smaller than they normally. Possibly with that in mind DC Comics decided against dropping their October 2023 solicitations along with Marvel, Image, BOOM! Studios, and other comic book publishers as we started SDCC 2023. Though that did not stop random things leaking after some got ahold of an early copy of DC Connect #39 which contained the information for DC Comics October 2023 publishing plans. With all that in mind I’ve put together a breakdown of the biggest announcements from DC Comics coming out of SDCC 2023.
JUSTICE LEAGUE VS GODZILLA VS KONG
Arguably the biggest announcement to come out of SDCC 2023 was Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong. The series pitting the Justice League against the two most Monsterverse icons creative team will be writer Brian Buccellato, artist Christian Duce, and colorist Luis Guerrero. The Justice League featured in this crossover will be a mix of the team we saw in New 52 and Rebirth with Batman Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Cyborg, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, and Supergirl.
Based on all the information released Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong will be set in its own universe just like the recent Mighty Morphin Power Rangers vs. Godzilla mini-series. Which is something that is for the best as it will allow the creative team to not have to worry about any particular continuity. Buccellato, Duce, and Guerrero should let their imagination go wild with how Batman will have use Gundam size mechs to take on Godzilla and Kong.
This series also appears to help fill the gap of the Justice League not being around right now. Though not a confirmation, this does guarantee that we are likely not getting a new Justice League ongoing series until sometime in 2024 at the earliest. Which is a good thing as DC continues to establish the Titans as a premiere superhero team and we are seeing the Outsiders, Birds of Prey, and Wonder Woman’s Amazon sisters as additional superhero teams as we end 2023.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
THE OUTSIDERS RETURN WITH BATWOMAN & BATWING
The Batman Universe side for DC Comics was in an awkward spot going into SDCC 2023. DC Comics already announced the Batman and Catwoman crossover, Gotham War, Joshua Williamson’ Batman & Robin, and Kelly Thompson’s Birds of Prey for later 2023. Those were big announcements that would’ve made Batman’s SDCC noteworthy if they happened at this year’s show. That said, there were still obvious holes in the Batman Family publishing line-up with Robin, Batgirl, Batman Jace Fo and others not having solo or team books at the moment.
Now we know one title that will be filling in that hole for the Batman Family will be a new Outsiders 12-issue maxi-series. The new Outsiders team will not be featuring the roster of Black Lightning, Katana, Metamorpho, and Duke Thomas that’s been the team since Infinite Frontier started. Instead a duo team of Batwoman and Batwing, who are teaming up to investigate the history of the DC Universe after being disillusioned due to the events of Batman/Catwoman: Gotham War.
Based on everything Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing have said about the Outsiders series they are writing this doesn’t sound like a team book. Instead this is going to be more of a Batman & Robin-esque book with just Batwoman and Batwing. Limiting the roster to just a pair is an odd choice since characters like Tim Drake, Duke Thomas, Stephanie Brown, Black Lightning, and Katana could fit well with Batwoman and Batwing. Having a small roster may make the Outsiders not feel like a big team book as fans may expect
Kelly and Lanzing also will have a lot to prove with the Outsiders. There work on Captain America, Batman Beyond, and Guardians of the Galaxy have not been big sellers or gotten wide acclaim even with those being major titles. The Outsiders could be a chance for that break-out hit as DC Comics is giving Kelly and Lanzing a chance to utilize the Multiverse for their story. Hopefully with them writing great characters in Batwoman and Batwing, and possibly others, the Outsiders can be a big success.
Source: CBR
TITANS FIRST BIG EVENT TITLED BEAST WORLD
With the Justice League not around DC Comics has made an effort to elevate the Titans as the premiere superhero team for the DCU. Having Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott as the creative team was a big step in making that a reality. And thus far they have proven the Titans can be a Justice League-level team with their creative run thus far.
Now the Titans are taking another step to prove themselves as they lead their first big event titled “Beast World,” with its prelude taking place in Tales of the Titans #4. Beast World will have its own dedicated mini-series with Taylor and Ivan Reis as the creative team. Additional, for now, the Titans and Nightwing ongoing series will have tie-in issues to the series. We don’t know if other ongoing titles will be involved.
From all the information DC Comics released about “Beast World” it does sound like what you expect from big event. What makes this set-up work better than the current Knight Terrors event is that Taylor and others are actually doing a lot of build up for this event. Specifically, with this being a Beast Boy-led event we’ve already seen hints of why this story is happening in Nightwing, Titans, Action Comics, and Dark Crisis. Having that sort of build gives “Beast World” a sense that it will be a payoff to a story that’s been planned out.
Source: DC.com
AMAZONS ATTACK EXPAND WONDER WOMAN FRANCHISE
With the relaunch of the Wonder Woman series by Tom King and Daniel Sampere it created a lot of questions around what’s going on with the rest of the franchise. Now we know that there are some plans for other Wonder Woman characters in the form of Amazons Attack written by Josie Campbell and artwork by Vasco Georgiev. Amazons Attack appears to be a team book with Queen Nubia, Wonder Girl Yara Flor, Faruka, and Mary Marvel as the roster.
In terms of creative team Campbell proved she does have a good handle of the DCU with New Champions of Shazam. It being a mini-series also makes it a good proving ground if Wonder Woman can handle having more than one series, something the franchise hasn’t had much success with. We’ve seen that if a mini-series is successful, like G. Willow Wilson’s Poison Ivy, DC will not hesitate to greenlight it as an ongoing series. With that in mind it’ll not only be a test for Campbell and Georgiev as a creative but also provide an idea of the results of the creative investment in Nubia, Yara Flor, and Mary Marvel the last few years.
Though the way DC Comics announced it does not give much confidence in how much they believe in Amazons Attack. That’s because Amazons Attack appeared to just be an off-hand announcement during the Knight Terrors panel when they briefly spoke about possible spinoffs. Add in the lack of official artwork shown off, where as DC was happy to share art from Titans: Beast World and Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong, it does not seem as though Amazons Attack is seen as a high-priority project. If it was SDCC 2023 would’ve been the perfect place to start building hype for Amazons Attack ahead of its release.
Source: Popverse
DC COMICS WINS BIG AT EISNER AWARDS
The Eisner Awards is one of the most, if the most, prestigious award in the comic book industry. At this year’s awards, when it comes to brands, DC Comics was the biggest winner of the night. Creators working on their titles won six awards with two additional creators winning awards with their project list including several DC Comics titles. The eight Eisner Awards won by DC Comics are:
- Best Single Issue/One-Shot – Batman: One Bad Day: The Riddler, by Tom King and Mitch Gerads (DC)
- Best Continuing Series – Nightwing, by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo (DC)
- Best Limited Series – The Human Target, by Tom King and Greg Smallwood (DC)
- Best Short Story – “Finding Batman” by Kevin Conroy and J. Bone in DC Pride 2022 (DC)
- Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team – Greg Smallwood, The Human Target (DC)
- Best Cover Artist – Bruno Redondo, Nightwing (DC)
- Best Writer – James Tynion IV, House of Slaughter, Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd (BOOM! Studios); The Nice House on the Lake, The Sandman Universe: Nightmare Country (DC), The Closet, The Department of Truth (Image Comics)
- Best Coloring – Jordie Bellaire, The Nice House on the Lake, Suicide Squad: Blaze (DC); Antman, Miracleman by Gaiman & Buckingham: The Silver Age (Marvel)
A huge congratulations to all the creators who won Eisner Awards. It is a major accomplishment, specifically showing the investment with the Batman Family is working as four of the six individual awards for that franchise while Human Target got the other two. Now DC Comics needs to take the success of the Batman Family and give the same creative investment to their other franchises.
Source: Comicbook.com