For as big as San Diego Comic-Con 2019 was DC Comics showing did not compare to that of Marvel and other comic book companies. Part of that was that DC Comics got out in front of some of their new comics announcements before SDCC 2019 began, which we already talked about here. From the comic book side it seemed as though the biggest news came from Dan Didio voicing his frustrations on reprints outselling a lot of their new comics. Though that does not mean they didn’t have any comic book panels at SDCC 2019. DC Comics hosted quite a number of panels talking about already announced plans that includes things outside the pages of their comics. Let’s take a look at what else DC Comics talked about at SDCC 2019.
DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN LEADING INTO NEW CRISIS EVENT
The most common thread through all of DC Comics panels at SDCC 2019 was the talk around Year of the Villain. It’s clear that DC is putting a large part of their focus for the rest of 2019 in ensuring Year of the Villain is a success. That is all likely due to how Year of the Villain’s focus being on building up their next big event. Though all the talent did stay away from saying that the event that Year of the Villain is going to be called a Crisis.
All these panels also emphasized how important Batman Who Laughs will be in the immediate future for DC Comics under the Year of the Villain banner. We already knew that Lex Luthor will be the major leader behind what is going on in the next few months for all of the DCU’s villains. But with Batman Who Laughs still running around he definitely should serve as a major wild card. His first course of action seems to be finding a Superman so he can create his own twisted version of the World’s Finest duo. How exactly Batman Who Laughs tries to accomplish this gives the upcoming Batman/Superman another reason to pick it up since the character will next appear their.
Source: CBR
TOM KING AND MITCH GERADS WORKING ON NEW ADAM STRANGE COMIC
The creative team of Tom King and Mitch Gerads won the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series. That is a great honor and well deserved award for King and Gerads to win as their Mister Miracle comic was phenomenal. Since working together on Mister Miracle the two have teased working on another big comic book together. Though they have not stopped working together, as Gerads has drawn issues of Heroes In Crisis and Batman for King, it has not been with their names as the full creative team. Now we finally know what comic book that King and Gerads have been teasing that is their next big work as a creative team as DC Comics announced Strange Adventures on their Twitter account this morning.
That is huge news for DC to drop on Twitter. It is honestly surprising that DC didn’t make this a bigger deal at any of their panels. Rather they held off to announce it on Twitter before the final day of San Diego Comic-Con 2019 started. This is one of those comics that I’m surprised wasn’t talked about during one of DC’s panels on Saturday after King and Gerads won the Eisner Award for their Mister Miracle. That said given the big name value King and Gerads now have after winning the Eisner Award for Mister Miracle even greater attention will be placed on the upcoming Strange Adventures, set to release sometime in 2020. It is about time Adam Strange got time to shine.
Source: DC Comics’ Twitter
DOOM PATROL AND YOUNG JUSTICE RENEWED FOR NEW SEASONS
DC Comics did not want Marvel to have all the fun before Saturday ended as they dropped multiple announcements about their streaming service plans. First we learned that Doom Patrol would be coming back for a second season. That season renewal comes with the twist that it will be premiering on both the DC Universe and HBOMax streaming service. This is something that was implied when Doom Patrol footage was shown as part of the promo video that was released to announce the HBOMax service.
On a less clear, but equally exciting, note was learning that Young Justice has also been renewed for a fourth season. Though the Young Justice: Outsiders season has hit a bit of a roadblock with the last few episodes it has still been a solid season. The reveal that Apokolips will play an even bigger role in season four puts into question where the Outsiders season will end. Because Apokolips will likely start playing an even bigger role the closer we get to the season finale for Young Justice: Outsiders. If this is actually just the beginning it leaves a lot of room for where those featured on Young Justice will end up by season’s end.
Interestingly enough this renewal was that from the information released is that it will, for now, be exclusive to the DC Universe service. That could easily change when HBOMax launches and it could debut could be pushed to both platforms just like Doom Patrol.
HARLEY QUINN CARTOON FIRST LOOK
We got our first officially look at what the Harley Quinn cartoon will be. From the trailer it is clear that the cartoon is taking full advantage of being rated-R, just like Titans. Not having to deal with censors will benefit Harley Quinn a lot as the cartoon is taking a violent slapstick approach to its tone. Having a different animation style from what we have seen in other DC Comics cartoons is also a big plus. It won’t have to worry about tying into another cartoon or version of the character. The show’s staff have full reign on making this version of Harley Quinn unique. Exploring her relationship with Joker and Poison Ivy will be cool to see tackled in a cartoon that doesn’t feel the need to be restricted by censors. It’ll also be in line with where the character’s direction is going in the comics right now.
Source: DC Comics YouTube Channel
BRANDON ROUTH GETS SECOND CHANCE AT BEING SUPERMAN
DC Comics’ TV presence was very strong at SDCC 2019 with their CW shows teasing what is to come with their Crisis crossover, Batwoman and other heroes status quo. But by far the most exciting announcement to come out of the DC Comics CW show panel was that Brandon Routh would be playing Superman again. Not only will Brandon Routh get a second chance at playing Superman but he teased rocking the Kingdom Come version of the Superman costume for the upcoming Crisis crossover. That reveal by Brandon Routh easily started the breaking of the Internet that Marvel fully broke with their MCU announcements.
Source: Deadline
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