kgrogers1979

Yeah, it has to do with popularity more than anything else as to why a character gets multiple books. Green Lantern was never hugely popular until Geoff Johns. Now there are four Lantern books; Green Lantern, Corps, New Guardians, and Red Lanterns. They are introducing the new Arabic Lantern in next month's zero issue, and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets his own book too.

davidh777

Didn't the Supes-WW thing get hinted at in Kingdom Come as well? (Man, I've started that twice on vacations and really need to finish it one of these days. )

Batman had four titles back in the '70s too, Batman, Detective, Brave and the Bold, and World's Finest (bit of a cheat maybe, but at least I'm not including JL).

The Valeyard

Same with Supes in the 70s with Superman, Action Comics, DC Comics Presents and World's Finest (I'm cheating too!). You could probably count Superboy too.

Travis McClain

The big thing for the publishers is to have their flagship characters on the shelves with fresh content weekly, and not just as part of team books or through spin-off titles. Just based on this thread and what few conversations I've had elsewhere, it's pretty much unanimous that Scott Snyder's Batman has been the best of the four Batman titles, with Batman: The Dark Knight on the opposite end of the spectrum, seemingly read and enjoyed by nobody. Batman & Robin and Detective Comics fall somewhere in between, each alternately enjoyed and panned by readers of differing tastes.

What DC cares about, though, is that every Wednesday, there's a brand new comic with Batman on the cover not just in image, but in title (his name is part of the Detective Comics logo, though not the official title). Even though the Bat-family is well represented through solo books and as members of various team books, Batman himself is important enough they want him out there every week. For one thing, there's always the hope that someone is walking into a comic book shop for the first time and they want to ensure that Batman is featured in the new assortment. There's also the hope that we'll become impatient waiting for our Bat-fix and buy another Batman title while we're waiting for the next issue of the one we actually want to follow.

I would imagine DC would be very reluctant to cancel any of the four weekly Batman books, regardless of reviews or sales. Better to tinker with creative teams, push crossover stories or guest stars or resurrect diecut holofoil covers than to let a whole two weeks elapse without a new comic featuring Batman on the cover hit shelves.

Going back to the Silver Age, though, does bring up an interesting point that Superman was huge...but it wasn't just Superman himself. There was of course Action Comics and Superman, but there were also Superboy, Superman' Girlfriend, Lois Lane and Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen and The Superman Family. Plus, Superman was a regular part of DC Universe Presents. Looking at the current Super-presence in the DCnU, they're actually kind of trying the same thing with Superboy and Supergirl filling out the month as companions to Action Comics and Superman. I wonder: would there be a readership today for a Lois Lane comic? Depending on the tone, the creative team and how connected it was to the other titles, I might actually be interested in such a book myself.

Lastdaysofrain

I feel like that model works well for newstands/grocery stores, when they wanted impulse buys and kids to buy a new book with a familiar character every week. But since all comics are more or less sold through direct market shops now, I suspect there's a lot less walking in and browsing the new releases, people seem to know exactly what they want to buy each week in advance.

dishpan

this is seriously great news. that plus diggle taking over action comics and then the new movie coming out has me very psyched for a year of superman!

fujishig

That brings up an interesting question: did DC vastly improve their shipping schedule? Otherwise no way are they getting the Batman titles out in separate weeks.

I'm not actually sure how people decide to pick up comics these days. You can't tell anything about the art or even, most of the times, the story by the cover. Most comic stores have limited shelf space so you can't even see most of the covers. If you're not already collecting something, or if you're not already interested in the character, how do you start something new?

I don't think a Lois Lane solo comic would do well at all. Maybe as a backup feature, but they tried that long ago (to justify the price increases at the time) and I don't think that worked out either. Pre-Flashpoint Action comics actually featured Lex Luthor for a lengthy arc, and I wonder how that did.

Travis McClain

An interesting point. Perhaps it's merely a psychological holdover from the mass market era?

Hmm. I see that Batman and Batman & Robin both ship during Week 2. There is Batman Beyond Unlimited during Week 3, though that's obviously outside the main continuity. Actually, now that I look at it, Week 3 is sort of a peculiar week in the schedule all the way around. Here's what's scheduled for Week 3 next month (19 September):

New 52 #0s
Batwoman
Birds of Prey
Blue Beetle
Captain Atom
Catwoman
DC Universe Presents
Green Lantern: New Guardians
Justice League
Legion of Super-Heroes
Nightwing
Red Hood and the Outlaws
Supergirl
Sword of Sorcery [new book]
Wonder Woman

It looks as though Week 3 is primarily led by women (of the Bat, Cat and Wonder varieties, as well as Supergirl) and second-stringers, with Justice League undoubtedly the biggest seller of the lot. It's interesting that Batman and Superman are both "under" represented during the same week.

There are three shops in my area, and I know of at least one more that's on another side of town that I haven't visited in, like, 18 years. Each manages to have a full wall display of new content, with 2/3 of the covers visible. I only visited one of the stores once, but I think their display may have even allowed the entirety of each cover to be seen.

The problem, though, is that 95% of covers are all so interchangeably generic that visually, it becomes a mind numbing sea of mediocrity. Even those artists we praise as being so crazy talented appear to be little more than glorified hacks when you surround them with enough laziness. How many fireballs, leaping-toward-us perspectives and laughably contorted women can the eye really process before it all looks absurd?

Now that she's not tied to Clark Kent, I could see there being some potential in it if, as I initially posed, the tone and creative team was just right. One thing that I've thought about quite a bit over the years is how differently Kingdom Come might have been told had Lois not been killed and perhaps an alternate impetus was given for Superman's exile. She would have offered a very unique perspective on the world of superheroes, not being one herself but being familiar with many of the key players. We're used to thinking of her as Superman's Girlfriend(/Wife), but as the DCU has become so integrated, it's time that she was given a broader role than just being the "intrepid reporter" dogging Lex Luthor's shenanigans and seeing that Superman is kept in the public eye.

In fact, if we accept that The Daily Planet is even still in business it's almost certain that its readership, like The New York Times or the Washington Post, goes well beyond its metropolitan area of publication. The Daily Planet must have at least national readership, perhaps even an international one at this point. It's entirely plausible for Lois to be a field reporter specializing in superhero activities, her investigations taking her to all manner of places and interacting with the entire DCU. Lois Lane could become a sort of backdoor anthology book, then, but instead of just being a team-up-of-the-month kind of thing, we would see the world of superheroes through her eyes. We would read her judgments about the various methods and values of each story she covered, kind of like Sam Beckett did in Quantum Leap.

I've just spent two lengthy paragraphs pitching a comic in a forum thread. Apparently, sleeping 2/3 of the last few days while recovering from a malady hasn't been enough.

PhantomStranger

More than hinted, years later in a newer edition they actually have a child together in Kingdom Come. Batman is the kid's godfather.

kgrogers1979

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/08/...er-woman-kiss/

PhantomStranger

I'm not sure Booster Gold's reaction makes much sense, but whatever. If DC was Marvel, you just know a future adult child from an alternate timeline of the couple would show up and be made a permanent member of the current DCU. Would the child be called Wonderman or Superwoman?

kodave

kgrogers1979

Chris Kent!!

It still amazes me that DC had great potential to make a new Young Justice starring Damian Wayne, Chris Kent, and Iris West (Wally's daughter) and they never even bothered to explore it.

stingermck

Wait is Booster realizing the timeline is all fracked up? I havent followed him in the new 52.

madcougar

There's been a small thread in IJL with Booster Gold courting Wonder Woman. He claims that in the future, the two of them are together. Obviously he's suprised to see Wonder Woman macking with Superman.

reubs82

I can't imagine Damian leading any kind of team. That kid is pure trouble.

madcougar

It's been hinted that Damian is going to join the dark side pretty soon...

Travis McClain

I picture Booster sulking and playing the Spin Doctors's "Jimmy Olsen's Blues" on endless repeat, getting angrier every time he hears the line "I can't believe my dilemma is real/I'm competing with the Man of Steel." Then Booster realizes that if he and WW really do hook up in the future, it means she chose him over Superman.

Total. Shocker. (Not.)

reubs82

Is that in Batman & Robin or Batman, Inc? I haven't caught up on Inc, and I haven't been reading B&R (it gets such mixed reviews, and I've never read Tomasi's stuff).

madcougar

I've read a few interviews with Didio that hinted at it.

Dragon Tattoo

It would've been a surprise if Damian didn't end up turning evil.

stingermck

I love Ries art on Blackest Night and Aquaman

fujishig

Reis is great. I'm glad that they're really prioritizing JL as the flagship title.

On another note, because Amazon had it for pretty cheap I got the first trade of the New 52 Teen Titans. Wow that was crap. Anybody follow this title? Does it get any better?

stingermck

I only read the first few and agree it was crap. My New Teen Titans Omnibus and the upcoming Johns Omnibus is all the Titans I need. It was unfortunate that the title was really coming around to being great again right when 52 hit.

Travis McClain

Okay, I'm pretty behind so...

Batman and Robin Vol. 1: Born to Kill
I was surprised to find this at my local library last week, but being a chance to read the first eight issues for nothin' was irresistible so I snagged it. This was the first story I've ever read with Damian Wayne in it, but I knew who he was going in. The dynamics between Bruce and Damian, and Alfred and Bruce, work well but the story itself is a bit generic and I had a major objection to the resolution where Bruce turns a very blind eye toward something pretty astonishing from Damian. It didn't jive with the Batman that I've known - and I've known quite a few takes on the guy.

Batman: Death by Design
I was gonna pass on this one entirely (my budget doesn't allow for $25 graphic novel blind-buying), but when I returned Batman and Robin to the library, I discovered they now had this, too! The covers for the current crop of original graphic novels are kind of weird; they're textured and I just assumed it was some kind of library-special-edition, but no, that's how DC is makin' 'em these days. Anyway, I loved it! The story harks back to the crime noir, early-years stuff that I love so much and Dave Taylor's art was amazing. I was especially impressed when I learned from remarks quoted in the sketchbook in the back of the book that he did the entire thing with just pencils and never erased anything to fix it! It's particularly striking and bold in the era of computer colored artwork that doesn't appear to have originated from a human hand. I'm definitely going to keep an eye out for a sale-priced copy of this one!

Detective Comics Annual #1 and Detective Comics #0
Just picked up these at my LCS, The Great Escape, this morning. The Annual was fun, though I'm sure for those who've kept up with the Black Mask it reads differently than it did for me. The last time I knew anything about the guy, he was basically just a crime boss with a simplistic - yet striking - disguise. I dunno nothin' 'bout no mind-control stuff. I was able to glean what was necessary and go with it, though. Interesting to see The Mad Hatter. I was never much on the guy, though with my lifelong adoration of Alice in Wonderland, I always wanted to like him.

As for 'Tec #0, I think I've just lost my interest over the years for Bruce-studying-martial-arts stories. The payoff here was well done, but I do wish there'd been something a little different here than what we've become accustomed to seeing of Bruce's pre-Batman days.

The back-up story with Alfred didn't set right with me. For one thing, Alfred appears disheveled and I just don't buy that he would allow himself to slip into that state even with Bruce having been gone seven years. Nor do I buy him roughing up a guy - certainly not someone of a higher social station than his own, or for that matter, swearing at him. It was a very clumsy American Alfred impostor and I very much prefer the English original.

I also picked up Batgirl #0 - there were but three copies remaining when I got to The Great Escape this morning, barely an hour after they opened. It came out yesterday. There were comics from last week that still had more remaining on-hand copies than this one. I've heard the buzz is strong for this issue, but I'm holding off until later tonight when I can count on not being interrupted as I was with the two 'Tec comics.