Hello everyone and welcome back to Upcoming Comics! I hope you’re week has been good and you’ve all found time to see just a couple Summer Blockbusters. I managed to dig out some time this weekend to go see Barbie, and I had a blast. I love the theater experience, especially around a new release. I saw a ton of people dressed in all shades of pink, and the theater itself was packed. There is something special about being together with a ton of people all experiencing the same thing I really missed. I used to be a frequent movie goer, but my time has been more and more constrained these past few years and I’ve had a hard time finding my way back to theaters. Prior to Barbie, the last thing I’d gone to see was the Dungeons and Dragons movie, and that was only because my group wanted to see it together. Hopefully this re-ignites that love in me and I’ll find myself enjoying that kind of community again more frequently. I hope you too find some time to go see something fun, whether that be Barbie, Oppenheimer, or any of the other movies flooding the theaters right now.
Before that though, we should look at the comics set to release this week!
Upcoming Comics
Knight Terrors: Detective Comics #1
Jim Gordon stumbles upon a sacred ritual held by three disciples chanting around an enchanted clock…and one of them is wearing the robotic Batsuit that he donned many years ago as Batman…except this metal suit seems to have soldered directly into the flesh of the wearer! What do these creatures want with Gotham, and why are they targeting Jim's daughter, Babs, too? This has to be a dream, right? Or perhaps it’s a nightmare, but if you die in it, you can die in real life as well…
- Written By: Dan Watters
- Pencils & Inks By: Riccardo Federici
- Colors By: Brad Anderson
- Cover By: Riccardo Federici
Thoughts: I haven’t been the most excited about the Knight Terrors titles so far, but I am interested to see this one focused on Jim Gordon, it’ll be interesting to see how the nightmare realm impacts him.
Batman News Critic: Matina
Knight Terrors: Titans #1
The kids are not all right! After plummeting into the Nightmare Realm, the remaining members of the Titans come face-to-face with a fever dream turned reality: the Terror Titans! These warped versions of our heroes are prepared to do anything to become the next Justice League…even kill!
- Written By: Andrew Constant
- Pencils & Inks By: Scott Godlewski
- Colors By: Ryan Cody
- Cover By: Yanick Paquette, Dave McCaig
Thoughts: I can see this being an interesting concept, fighting a version of yourself warped by ambition, especially for the Titans team.
Batman News Critic: Aaron
Knight Terrors #2
Oh dang-I gotta do another one of these this month? Batman and I are joined by…Wesley Dodds, the Sandman?! What the heck? I thought I was the only dead person allowed in this story. I guess not! We uncover one of Wesley’s oldest cases, which haunted him until the day he died-and it points us in the direction of the Nightmare Stone. But Insomnia has unleashed his own army to hunt us down…the Sleepless Knights. And this issue is their first appearance, kids! Get scared!
- Written By: Joshua Williamson
- Penciled By: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Caspar Wijngaard
- Inks By: Caspar Wijngaard, Stefano Nesi
- Colors By: Caspar Wijngaard, Frank Martin
- Cover By: Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, Brad Anderson
Thoughts: A Sandman, Batman, Deadman teamup sounds like it could be a fun adventure for sure. Especially as they attempt to solve a cold case.
Batman News Critic: Jackson
Batman the Brave and the Bold #3
The horror goes on. In the first fight ever between Batman and his deadliest enemy, the Joker came out on top, giddily laughing in Batman's swollen, bloody face. Now it’s time for round two. Bruce just learned never to underestimate the power of a man with nothing to lose-time for Joker to learn the same. The award-winning creators behind One Bad Day: Riddler continue their brutal epic! “No More Kings “continues as Stormwatch break into S.T.A.R. Labs to retrieve Malware, a living computer infected with a virus that, if weaponized, could cause global chaos and a complete meltdown of the world’s technological infrastructure. One small mistake and Stormwatch could do the very thing they’re trying to prevent: unleash Malware upon the world! In the conclusion of “The Order of the Black Lamp” by Christopher Cantwell (Briar, Iron Man) and Javier Rodríguez (Dead Boy Detectives, Daredevil), Superman teams with a person he never thought he’d see again as the mysteries of the secret location the Man of Steel has been led to are revealed! And this issue’s Batman: Black & White tale by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing and Jorge Molina takes us to a different Gotham City, where Batman is a young, arrogant monster hunter about to be humbled by a legion of bats!
- Written By: Dennis Culver, Ed Brisson, Christopher Cantwell, Jackson Lanzing
- Penciled By: Otto Schmidt, Trevor Hairsine, Jeff Spokes, Javier Rodriguez
- Inks By: Otto Schmidt, Jeff Spokes, Javier Rodriguez, Jorge Molina, Andy Lanning
- Colors By: Jeff Spokes, Javier Rodriguez, Pierluigi Casolino, Rain Beredo
- Cover By: Simone Di Meo
Thoughts: I’m less interested in the solicited stories for this entry in the Brave and the Bold anthology, but I do like the idea of an alternate version of Bruce as a monster hunter, that could shake out to be a lot of fun.
Batman News Critic: Jackson
Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #1
Imagine a world-beyond both the waking world and that of dreams. A world where your every choice creates a series of infinitely rippling profane reverberations. Where donuts and soda cans can do the cancan and I actually am goin’ steady with yer mom. Our story takes place there, in the realm beyond the limits of the liminal. A place we call…the Harley Quinn Zone. I’m your host, Dr. Ryleha Q. Niun, attorney of drawers-Just kiddin’. It’s still me, Harley! But hey, this one is real freaky-and my life is already pretty dang bananas! Hold on to your buns, ’cause this one is gonna give you some interdimensional chafing for sure! Plus, Leah Williams and Ben Templesmith help me crack a cosmic-mystery night terror! This case goes so many layers deep it’s practically a true turductective story, if you will…
- Written By: Tini Howard, Leah Williams
- Penciled By: Hayden Sherman, Ben Templesmith
- Inks By: Hayden Sherman, Ben Templesmith
- Colors By: Ben Templesmith, Triona Farrell
- Cover By: Hayden Sherman
Thoughts: Honestly, I’m not sure what to think about this Harley story, she’s already doing so many multiversal things, dropping her into the nightmare realm is probably pretty normal.
Batman News Critic: Theresa
Batman Beyond: Neo Gothic #1
Terry McGinnis defeated the evil A.I. controlling Neo-Gotham and asserted himself as the one true Batman, but his next battle will bring him to the remains of Old Gotham. Children are going missing and being swallowed by the city’s old bones. Batman Beyond will have to go underground, led by a mysterious splicer named Kyle the Catboi, to find the children and confront the city’s buried sins. What happened to the green of the city? What happened to magic? And what villains never left old Gotham? All these questions will be answered by the red-hot creative team of Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (Batman - One Bad Day: Clayface, Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty) and Max Dunbar (Batman: Urban Legends).
- Written By: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
- Pencils & Inks By: Max Dunbar
- Colors By: Sebastian Cheng
- Cover By: Max Dunbar, Sebastian Cheng
Batman News Critic: Jackson
Batman The Audio Adventures #7
It’s all come down to this! Batman is face-to-face with a Killer Croc like he’s never seen before. The Dark Knight will need to find some way to break through Waylon’s rage and pull him back from his monstrous rampage or Gotham City will be no more!
- Written By: Dennis McNicholas
- Penciled By: Anthony Marques,J. Bone
- Inks By: J. Bone
- Colors By: Dave Stewart
- Cover By: Dave Johnson
Batman News Critic: Aaron
Beyond the Bat
Hello everyone! Welcome to Beyond the Bat! Here we’ll take a look at the other titles released this week not focused on Batman. Action Comics gets its turn with Knight Terrors this week, and the Superman: The Last Days of Lex Luthor starts as well.
Ratings
Most Excited: Knight Terrors #2- I think the premise sounds fun here, and I enjoy Batman getting to solve mysteries. Even if they’re couched in nightmares and part of a race to find a mystical stone.
Least Excited: Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #1- It’s not that I am dreading this issue, it’s just that the solicit didn’t give me anything more than typical Harley Quinn, and with an event like this I’d like to at least know what I’m getting into with this book.
Wild Card: Knight Terrors: Detective Comics #1- I like Jim Gordon and stories about him, so I’m interested to see where this one goes. I just hope it says something interesting.
That is all for this week’s Upcoming Comics! I hope to see you all in the reviews, and be sure to let us know what you’re looking forward to this week! Also, if you have seen Barbie and enjoyed it drop a comment below, I’d love to hear if you enjoyed it and how your movie going experience went!
