DC January 2021 Solicits

The DC Comics solicits for Jaunuary came out last week and I have to say, I have never been more fatigued with DC than I am now. And remember, I have lived through a lot.

I don't even know if I can adequately explain or even want to. But because of METAL (which I am not reading) the DC Universe timeline is again ripped to shreds. And DC is taking two months off to give us some sort of Elseworlds mash-ups before we get back to continuity storytelling.

It feels like Convergence all over again and just a handful of years after Convergence!

Here is a link to the Superman solicits and my thoughts:https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-future-state-superman-and-justice-league-january-2021-solicitations/ 

But seriously, another reboot? I think we are number 4 in the last 20 years?

FUTURE STATE: KARA ZOR-EL, SUPERWOMAN #1
written by MARGUERITE BENNETT
art by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
cover by PAULINA GANUCHEAU
card stock variant cover by ALEX GARNER

Kara Zor-El, Superman's hot-tempered cousin, has finally found peace and purpose away from Earth and its heroes. Now known as Superwoman, she watches over the Moon and the refugees from across the galaxy who have congregated there. But all of that is about to change when a spaceship piloted by a runaway alien crash-lands and turns Kara's world upside down! Does this fugitive come in peace? Or does this arrival bring war to our hero's front door?

Why not start out with something that totally irks me ... this Future State Kara.

When the creative team of Bennett and Sauvage was leaked I was actually excited. They wrote a pretty good Kara over in Bombshells. And I thought at least she wasn't ignored in the event.

Then the solicit dropped. 

Hot-tempered. Away from Earth.

Why?

WHY???

Why must DC always default back to an angry Kara who abandons Earth. That isn't Supergirl. 

Moreover, in this future state world she is at odds with Jon. So now she wants to fight her family again.

This take never works. And I am just sick to death of it.

FUTURE STATE: LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1
written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
art and cover by RILEY ROSSMO
card stock variant cover by IAN MACDONALD

Whatever happened to the Legion of Super-Heroes? The team is no more, and the United Planets are in total chaos as one of the Legion's own has turned on the entire galaxy! Everyone is affected...and not everyone survived! Ultra Boy tries to put the Legion back together to face the future head on! Find out the fates of all your favorite Legionnaires like Shadow Lass, Triplicate Girl, Brainiac Five, and Bouncing Boy. Plus, a shocking twist in the Legion mythology—and a long overdue appearance by the Legion of Substitute Heroes! It's all here in a truly way-out tale by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist extraordinaire Riley Rossmo!

I am a little more sympathetic towards this one. I love the 5YL Legion. I don't mind the old school Adult Legion stories. And we are still learning about the current Legion. So a peek to a dystopia before we (hopefully) snap back to current storytelling here is okay.

I think Riley Rossmo's art is wonky and probably perfect for this sort of story. And I am glad Bendis is on board as writer.

FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN OF METROPOLIS #1
"Superman of Metropolis" written by SEAN LEWIS
"Superman of Metropolis" art by JOHN TIMMS
"The Guardian" written by SEAN LEWIS
"The Guardian" art by CULLY HAMNER
"Mister Miracle" written by BRANDON EASTON
"Mister Miracle" art by VALENTINE DE LANDRO
cover by JOHN TIMMS
card stock variant cover by INHYUK LEE
card stock blank variant cover

Before leaving for parts unknown, Clark Kent entrusted Earth's safety to his son. Now, Jonathan Kent is Superman! Top priority for this new Superman: to protect Metropolis. When a new version of Brainiac attacks, Jon takes drastic measures—which result in the Bottle City of Metropolis! But watch out, Jon, because Supergirl is on her way, and she is not happy with your decision.
Meanwhile, in the new bottle city, a new hero has risen. Jake Jordan, the former Manhattan Guardian, came to the City of Tomorrow to start over. But he's not the only one who wants a new beginning. An anarchist calling herself Honest Mary sees this time of trouble as an opportunity for rebirth—and she'll tear down the entire city to prove her point. Does Jake have what it takes to save his new home from disasters both inside and out of the bottle? Superman's former pal Jimmy Olsen is going to make sure he does!
Finally, the current Mister Miracle, Shilo Norman, is also in the bottle, and he's looking for a way out! He'd better be careful, though, or he may end up someplace unexpected. It's a story that continues in Superman: Worlds of War #1!

 Superman off Earth.

Jon bottling Metropolis.

Supergirl is 'not happy' and heading to fight.

Sigh.

Jon Timms being here and a new Shilo Norman story makes this a bit more palatable.

FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN VS. IMPERIOUS LEX #1
written by MARK RUSSELL
art by STEVE PUGH
cover by YANICK PAQUETTE
card stock variant cover by SIMONE DI MEO

Welcome to Lexor, home of the greatest businessman in the Multiverse: Lex Luthor! After years of prosperity, Lex's utopia is at last ready to join the ranks of the United Planets and promote peace among worlds. However, Lex has never done anything unless he had something to gain from it. What could he be up to this time? Sounds like a job for Superman and his wife Lois Lane, the Earth representative to the U.P.! It's time the Man of Steel shut down this former Metropolis magnate once and for all!

Now as a young Anj I used to read these Lexor stories and be intrigued. Lex as a hero on another world? Why not just live there and stay out of Superman's business.

So a re-inventing of Lexor is a little bit intriguing to me. I have only heard good things about Mark Russell and I am a fan of Steve Pugh and Yanick Paquette.

FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN: WORLDS OF WAR #1
"Superman: Worlds of War" written by PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON
"Superman: Worlds of War" art by MIKEL JANíN
"Midnighter" written by MICHAEL W. CONRAD and BECKY CLOONAN
"Midnighter" art by GLEB MELNIKOV
"Black Racer" written by JEREMY ADAMS
"Black Racer" art by SIYA OUM
"Mister Miracle" written by BRANDON EASTON
"Mister Miracle" art by VALENTINE DE LANDRO
cover by MIKEL JANÍN
card stock variant cover by RICCARDO FEDERICI

This monumental Future State title features four big stories! 

First, Clark Kent is gone, leaving a Superman-shaped hole behind. People gather in Smallville to celebrate their hero, little realizing that he is across the galaxy helping others. Superman has gone to Warworld, where he fights as a gladiator in the deadly pits of Mongul. But this is Superman we're talking about—and his idea of a victory does not line up with the expectations of Mongul's hordes!
Meanwhile, on the other side of Warworld, other agents are at work, struggling for a better life. Shilo Norman, the man known as Mister Miracle, has ridden a Boom Tube across the cosmos from Metropolis to finds himself at odds with an entire planet!
At the same time, Midnighter, the greatest fighter from Earth, is punching his way through a whole mess of trouble. He's on the hunt for a new energy source deadlier than Kryptonite. His goal: to shut it down before it gets unleashed on an unsuspecting universe.
On top of that, the Black Racer, a girl raised in the slums of Warworld to be one of its top competitors, turns betrayal into a crusade to fight for the freedom of others like her.

Warworld meets Superman:Exile meets Fourth World meets Midnighter.

The artists are all top notch.

FUTURE STATE: SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #1
written by DAN WATTERS
art by LEILA DEL DUCA
cover by LEE WEEKS
card stock variant cover by JEREMY ROBERTS

The sun has set on the heroes of the past, and a new age is dawning! As two arrogant gods challenge one another to a contest of strength, Superman and Wonder Woman are forced to take action to save their cities from the chaos. Together, Jonathan Kent and Yara Flor, man of science and woman of myth, have the potential to become something powerful, but that's only if they can learn to get along! Can the two fledgling heroes put their differences aside long enough to save the world they have sworn to protect?

Nice Lee Weeks cover. I like Leila Del Duca's art. 

But overall, so many of these sound like scrapping together the discarded pages of the now defunct '5G' project into something while new books get organized. These are all 'next generation' stories in some timey-wimey continuity.

I even lost energy as I was writing this post.

So fatigued.

Posted in: Reviews