DC Comics January 2025 comic book solicitations are here! DC Comics is kicking off 2025 DC Comics going even more into their DC All In direction. A noticeable thing in DC Comics January 2025 comic book solicitations was how the reliance on Batman is not as overshadowing for the entire publishing schedule. The presence of the Batman Family is certainly still a big part in DC Comics publishing plans. Though it looks like they are using the DC All In banner is something the company is using as an opportunity to re-invest in their massive library of characters. With that in mind let’s look at the biggest takeaways from DC Comics January 2025 comic book solicitations.
AQUAMAN FINALLY GETS A NEW ONGOING SERIES
Since New 52 over a decade ago DC Comics has invested a lot of time and effort to make Aquaman into a franchise that matches his Justice League peers. For all that investment there hasn’t been the big payoff of consistent plans to move Aquaman simply being about one character to a franchise like Batman and Superman. Worst for the character, in recent years it has felt as though there has been a promise of big plans for Aquaman and his world but nothing has manifested since Aquaman #66 was released in December 2020. The best we’ve gotten is a few mini-series and Mera having a very short stint as a member of the Justice League.
Now finally after four years Aquaman is getting a new ongoing series. For this new series DC Comics certainly somewhat made up for the four year wait with writer Jeremy Adams and artists John Timms as the creative team. Adams has done a great job transitioning into comic book writing. His DC Comics has been solid to great. His current Green Lantern run has made that series one of the best comic books DC Comics is currently publishing. Timms art style hits on making every comic book he’s done have a big time feel.
With this creative team DC Comics has set-up Aquaman to have a lot of success. Given that in the four years since the last ongoing series there are plenty of story telling potential. Afterall there has been a lot of things that have happened in the DC Universe that can have a big impact on the state of Atlantis. That was recently teased in Titans #16 with Tempest leaving the team to deal with some mysterious things going on in Atlantis. With that in mind, while Aquaman will certainly be driven by Arthur Curry hopefully we see Mera, Tempest, and other Atlantis characters play big roles in the series.
GREEN LANTERN ENTERS FRACTURED SPECTRUM ERA
The battle for the Emotional Spectrum as the United Planets tried to control all of its power was a big game changer. While the developments were largely kept to the Green Lantern titles the impact of those developments impacted the entire DC Universe. Based on recent solicitations for Green Lantern issues it does appear to be that Lord Premier Thaaros will be defeated. That is largely confirmed with the solicitation for the Green Lantern: Fractured Spectrum one-shot and Green Lantern #19.
The Green Lantern: Fractured Spectrum one-shot special speaks to how the Green Lantern Corps are back to their status quo of space cops for the DC Universe. While their status quo has returned that does not mean that things are back to normal. The battle with Thaaros and the United Planet Lantern Corps is something that has a massive impact on the future of the DCU’s Emotional Spectrum. That aftermath will see the rise of a new Corps that will be dubbed the “Fractal Lanterns.”
With the name “Fractal Lanterns” it certainly paints a picture of how the Emotional Spectrum will likely still be an unstable spot. While the Green Lantern Corps status quo is returned the question is what is going on with the other Lantern Corps. Whoever are part of the “Fractal Lanterns” could speak to the direction of the other Lantern Corps in the Emotional Spectrum. There may be even newer ones that we’ve yet to see.
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED BEGINS THE ATOM PROJECT
One of the big storylines in the aftermath of Absolute Power is all the power swaps that happened after the heroes defeated Amanda Waller. While that is a major storyline it is something that has taken a backseat for the start of DC All In. Though that is understandable given what Darkseid did to shake-up the entire Multiverse of the DC Universe. Because of what Darkseid did there are obviously a lot of other immediate universe altering problems they have to deal with.
Now to kick off the new year the Justice League Unlimited will be directly dealing with the metahuman superpower swaps. On top of Justice League Unlimited #3 we will be seeing the launch of Justice League: The Atom Project. Headlined by both Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi, the two Atom’s will be investigating what is going on with metahumans.
What makes things more interesting is how quickly Captain Atom appears to be moving from a core Justice League Unlimited member to antagonist. Captain Atom at least is being teased as one of the main antagonists for what is going on in Justice League: The Atom Project. That is not unsurprising as Captain Atom is a character that flips between hero to antagonist. That is just the nature of the character. The question is if this will end up elevating the character or once again bury Captain Atom.
WALLER WAS RIGHT MOVEMENT RISES
With how Absolute Power ended it seemed as though it would be a while before Amanda Waller would appear again. Well I guess it could be said that three months is a long time in comic book timeline. That is because the annual DC Power one-shot is being dedicated to teasing the return of Amanda Waller, or at least the spirit of the character. This comes from various heroes dealing with the rising “Waller Was Right” movement that is taking place around the world.
The DC Power: Rise of the Power Company is careful to state that the “Waller Was Right” movement is one that is small but loud paramilitary group. This is not surprising as there will always be some sort of support for what Amanda Waller was doing. The people that did support her hostile takeover of the world working together can be a big storyline for the DC Universe in 2025.
The big reason that there could be hesitance with how big the “Waller Was Right” storyline could be is that it is happening in the DC Power one-shot. While it is great that DC Comics is continuing to be dedicated to spotlighting their diverse characters as the years pass these monthly heritage one-shots have had less of an impact. It would be a genuine step forward for DC Power and these one-shots if the “Waller Was Right” becomes a major storyline coming out of the comic book. It is something that can have a big impact on the direction of many comic books. Hopefully that is the case simply so that these characters aren’t simply contained to the annual one-shots.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR LEX LUTHOR?
Lex Luthor has taken a back seat the last few years since his Apex Luthor days during the Year of the Villain period for the DC Universe. Most recently, he has been spending time in prison to answer for all his crimes. Though Lex is someone that will make sure to get out of prison as soon as possible. He’s done it before and will do it again.
Thanks to the events of the House of Brainiac and Absolute Power it looks like Lex is going to be getting the spotlight again. Though that spotlight comes from needing knowledge that Lex forgot during the House of Brainiac storyline. Given that Lex at one point was seen as having the most knowledge of the DC Universe there is anything that the memory needed could be.
Given that in the aftermath of the Absolute Power storyline we saw many metahumans superpowers swapped and the link to the Multiverse broken it could be either one. Lex has a connection to both metahuman and Multiverse research.
What makes this story with Lex getting his lost memories back is that it would take him away from the peaceful life he is now living. The Superman: Lex Luthor Special certainly teases the morality of this decision. Specifically, as it is Superman who appears to be the one that ultimately holds Lex’s fate in his hands. That elevates the interest around what happens in the Superman: Lex Luthor Special.
ABSOLUTE UNIVERSE MERGES HOUSE OF EL & KENT FAMILY
With each passing month the Absolute Universe is gaining more and more momentum. That momentum is starting with Absolute Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. This past weekend DC Comics announced that Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Green Lantern will each be getting their own Absolute Universe comic books. With that DC Comics is certainly showing that the Absolute Universe is its own publishing line and won’t just be dominated by the Trinity.
That said, before we get to the new comic books we are still seeing big developments for the Absolute Universe’s Trinity as they establish themselves individually. We’ve seen big changes for Batman already in his Absolute Universe title and know Wonder Woman will have similar big changes. Then there is Absolute Superman. With how the Absolute Universe was changed by Darkseid, there is no way he would not make sure to alter Superman in order to keep his biggest threat at bay.
Everything about the Kryton mythos appears to be what is changing for the Absolute Universe. We see that with how Jor-El and Lara have had their lives changed from important members of Krypton to simple farmers. In a way it looks like the Absolute Universe is merging Jor-El and Lara with Jon and Marta Kent. This does put into question that means for what life was like for Superman if his two parents were in fact merged in this way. Will we even see Clark Kent or is he simply Superman 100%?
This change to Superman could mean we are seeing the World’s Finest situations flipped in a way. Because we saw in Absolute Batman #1 that Bruce Wayne still has his mother in his life as only Thomas Wayne was killed as part of his origin. That change already shows us that Bruce has more of a connection to his world as he has a living parent to worry about. What would happen with a Superman who doesn’t have that parental connection to ground him?
WONDER WOMAN & BIRDS OF PREY DEALS WITH THE FATE OF THE AMAZONS
The current Wonder Woman series is one that I gave a much longer leash to sell me on its direction. Tom King is genuinely a writer I have enjoyed much of his work in the past. Daniel Sampere is also an artist that I believe is one of the best in the industry right now and he has proven that again with his work on Wonder Woman. Unfortunately King’s writing as been a massive disappointment with Wonder Woman #14 being one of those last straws of continuing to read monthly.
That said, there is still interest in what is going on with the Amazons in the DC Universe. DC Comics has consistently shown they are one step in and one step out when it comes to pushing for the Amazons to be a major part of the DCU. Both the Wonder Woman and Birds of Prey titles in January show that the Amazons futures are very much something to pay attention to. Given that without the Amazons the heroes wouldn’t have defeated Amanda Waller they should get their due.
Specifically, I hope that King finally pays respect to Donna Troy, Cassandra Sandsmark, and Yara Flor as they appear to be finally helping their mentor in Wonder Woman #17. King has not shown he knows how to properly write these three characters yet. Each time they’ve appeared Donna, Cassie, and Yara have come out looking worse as characters. For the sake of these characters they are actually shown to be somewhere close to Wonder Woman’s level as they finally help her out against Sovereign.
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