DC Comics September solicitations are here! With that we get a glimpse of how DC Comics is planning to end their summer and head into the fall season. Unsurprisingly, DC Comics September solicitations is dominated by the Absolute Power event and Batman titles. There is very little else going on in the DC Universe beyond those things. It does certainly feed into the narrative DC Comics has created for themselves that they are a Batman driven company. Let’s take a look at what the major takeaways where from DC Comics September comic book solicitations.
ABSOLUTE POWER IS AMAZONS TIME TO SHINE
One of the biggest complaints with Tom King’s current Wonder Woman run is how he has done zero to develop the impact of the current story has on the Amazon’s status quo. While King isn’t fixing that anytime soon it looks like Mark Waid and Dan Mora will be. That is at least what is being teased in Absolute Power #3.
The solicitation for Absolute Power #3 is mostly the same as the previous two issues. The difference is the mention of the Justice League seeking out elite Amazonian fighters for help. This makes sense because beyond Batman, Wonder Woman, and Black Canary not many of DC’s superheroes are known as elite fighters. There are only so many Batman Family members o spread around.
With that thrusting the Amazons into a spot where they can help the Justice League is a great call. This immediately places a sense of importance to the Amazons and uses their history as respected fighters. Given the respect Waid and Mora have shown for the DC Universe they are the right team to trust helping the Amazons be established as game changers. This in turn will help Wonder Woman’s franchise be better and hopefully something King utilizes to make his run better, it certainly needs it.
FROM LONG HALLOWEEN TO LAST HALLOWEEN
If there is one thing that the return of DC Elseworld has shown that they are relying on the Batman brand to be the selling point rather than the imprint itself. We get another example of this as we get yet another retread of an iconic Batman mini-series That comes in he form of a new 10-part sequel to Batman: Long Halloween in the form of The Last Halloween from Jeph Loeb and Eduardo Risso.
Now this isn’t a surprise since DC Comics telegraphed with the The Long Halloween Special one-shot that came out a few years ago. Bringing Loeb back to work on the series is at least a better sign. It hasn’t felt right that DC has handed off sequels to iconic Elseworld titles to other creators than those who originally worked on it.
With Loeb back for Batman: The Last Halloween there is a question of it living up to its title. Going with such a title should indicate we will see an end to the narrative Loeb has built with The Long Halloween. That is what is teased in the solicitation and hopefully the last so we can let The Long Halloween enjoy its iconic status without it being overdone.
TOM TAYLOR AND BRUNO REDONDO’S FINAL NIGHTWING CHAPTER
Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo have had my favorite comic book run of the last few years with their work on Nightwing. Both a award-winning, critically and commercially acclaimed creative run, I wish it could go on forever but all things end. And finally with the conclusion of the “Fallen Grayson” story arc July’s Nightwing #118 will be the end of their run. Its both sad and exciting, a compliment to what they’ve achieve to create such emotions for their final Nightwing ongoing series issue.
With this being an end of an era for Nightwing there is a lot to wonder of how it will all wrap up. Taylor and Redondo have done such a great job at defining what Nightwing represents in the modern era and elevating Bludhaven’s importance as a location in the DC Universe. The ending for the Heartless Saga can lay the foundation for the direction we see the next Nightwing creative team take.
There is also the Absolute Power element that will likely factor into Nightwing’s future. Even though the Justice League are the leads of that event we’ve seen Nightwing have at least a supporting role in the main series and lead a couple tie-in mini-series. So between the end of Taylor and Redondo’s run along with Absolute Power there is clearly still plans to keep Nightwing an important figure in the DCU. At least that is the hope.
JON KENT TAKES SOLE CLAIM OF SUPER SON TITLE
On a more celebration front, DC Comics September solicitations had the exciting news we will be getting new Super Sons content. Or at least it should since it looks like this time as an Absolute Power tie-in comic book Jon Kent’s Superman is take singular claim to the title of Super Son.
The solicitation and covers for Absolute Power: Super Son makes it clear that this comic book will star Jon Kent solo rather than with Damian Wayne. This does play into the fact that we know Damian Wayne will be teaming up with Wonder Woman as a new Dynamic Duo during Absolute Power. Because of that we do get some spoiler details that Jon Kent will be a hero the Trinity of Evil capture or severely injure in the early stages of Absolute Power. That likely plays into what we will see Brainiac Queen do to establish themselves as part of the Trinity of Evil.
Still, this does not make up for the fact that it is a missed opportunity to not use Absolute Power as a team-up opportunity for Damian and Jon. Without his powers this would’ve been a good chance for Damian to help out his friend and further his training to help combat the Trinity of Evil. Maybe that will end up happening by the end of Absolute Power: Super Son. We will see what it all means for Jon when this one-shot releases.
BATMAN AND CATWOMAN REKINDLE THEIR ROMANCE
Now that we are more than six months away from the Gotham War storyline its okay for DC Comics to admit that crossover was a mistake. While it did feed into the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh narrative the Gotham War crossover did more harm than good for the Batman franchise. We’ve seen that six months later Chip Zdarsky already fix the mistakes made by Gotham War with how Dark Prisons ended.
Zdarsky is not ending fixing the wrongs made by Gotham War by only reuniting the Batman Family. As we see with Batman #152 Zdarsky is going to be using the Absolute Power event as a way to bring Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle back together. At least it will be on a temporary basis as they will have to work together to survive being hunted by the Suicide Squad.
Given Bruce and Selina’s well documented history together, being in a situation where they have to watch out for each other’s lives can rekindle things between them. While we shouldn’t expect them back together in a full-time relationship like they were before this should at least repair their standing with each other. It’s at least a start to make-up for all that went wrong in the Gotham War storyline.
KEEP DAN DIDIO AWAY FROM NIGHTWING!
Speaking of Nightwing, the one concern we as fans should have is the name of Dan Didio. That is because we see Dan Didio returning to DC Comics as a writer for a brand-new special with Nightwing at the forefront. Didio’s writing return comes in the form of DC’s I Know What You Did Last Crisis.
It’s been well documented that Didio wanted to make permanently kill Dick Grayson off in Infinite Crisis and replace him with Jason Todd as Nightwing. It was only thanks to other creators like Geoff Johns and fans outrage that didn’t happen. But the fact remain that Didio always liked to joke that he pitched Dick Grayson’s death during Infinite Crisis.
With how often Didio has joked about it and returning to write a title called “DC’s I Know What You Did Last Crisis” it looks like he is finally going to finish the job. The lucky thing is that this will be an out-of-continuity one-shot. But as has been said before….Keep Dan Didio far away from Nightwing. Please DC Comics!
EARTH’S GREEN LANTERN POWER BATTERY IN DANGER
Absolute Power is set-up to be a game changing event in so many ways. One of these ways is what it will mean for the Green Lantern franchise once all is said and done. We know base on how Jeremy Adams ended the most recent Green Lantern story arc that Lord Premier Thaaros is working with Amanda Waller. That alone sets up the United Planets to have their power grow even more no matter how Absolute Power ends.
The greater immediate concern during Absolute Power for Hal Jordan will be Earth’s Green Lantern Power Battery. As we see with DC Comics September solicitations, Green Lantern #15 will involve Hal trying to get to Earth’s Green Lantern Power Battery. The problem with that is Hal will have to do that while evading the Trinity of Evil’s forces. That will be easier said than done given that Hal doesn’t have use of his Power Ring and his allies are all depowered.
Because of all that there is the risk Absolute Power will cause the secret of Earth having a Green Lantern Power Battery to be revealed. That would change a lot about the direction for not just the Green Lantern franchise but the DC Universe as a whole. This would put Earth at an even greater risk of being seen as a danger to the DCU. That’s something the United Planets under Thaaros leadership will take advantage of in the long term. Then there are all the people like Amanda Waller who could target this new power resource for their own plans.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BIRDS OF PREY?
The foundation of Kelly Thompson’s first year on Birds of Prey has been focused on someone trying to kill Barbara Gordon. Even the search for Sin, Black Canary’s sister, was secretly based around Barbara and why she wasn’t originally brought into the new Birds of Prey roster. Now with Birds of Prey #13 that storyline appears to be wrapping up.
With that in mind, Birds of Prey #13 will play an important role in defining what the team’s future is in the DC Universe. They are individually and as a team going to be involved in the Absolute Power event. But then what comes after that? What is going to be their mission statement in comparison to other superhero teams like the Titans?
There are questions to be answered with their direction, especially if Absolute Power ends with the Justice League back full-time. Having a team direction will help them further establish themselves as a mainstay rather than going the way of the Outsiders and JSA. Hopefully we get some sense of that with Birds of Prey #13 as the creative run has been fun thus far.
RAVEN CAUSES DEATH OF A TITAN?
In one of the only big comic book storylines that is not an Absolute Power tie-in is The Dark Winged Queen story arc in the Titans ongoing series. Titans #15 immediately makes itself an important comic book by teasing the death of a major character taking place. The teaser is careful to not say the death will be one of the members of the Titans roster. It is very vague in terms of who but it is big enough that it has some ramifications for the greater DCU.
Given that Tom Taylor started this latest Titans series teasing the possible death of Wally West’s Flash a team member death isn’t likely. Because the only ones that would be major DCU shaking would be Dick Grayson or Wally West since they having ongoing titles and are part of several other series. Killing off any of the other Titans without an ongoing series or presence in another DC series would be cheap.
To Taylor’s credit, going for a cheap death to pop sales numbers isn’t something he has done in any of his work. The teased death will more than likely be tied to Dark Raven personally. The biggest one would be Trigon given the villain’s importance and how it would change a lot for Raven as the lead of this entire Dark Winged Queen arc.
For more opinions on anime, comic book, movies, and sports you can follow Kevin on Bluesky, Instagram, Threads, and Twitter/X.