Upcoming Comics February 26, 2025

Welcome back to Upcoming Comics! The big news that came out this week is definitely that Matt Fraction is taking over the Batman title. The folks at Batman News have definitely had a lot of speculation as to who would be replacing Zdarsky after the H2SH intermission, and I don't think anyone had him on their short list. I think my guesses were either Dan Watters or Ram V, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. I think Hickman was my "if I could pick anyone I wanted" choice.

I'm certainly hopeful for what Fraction can deliver, though. I haven't read a ton of his work, but his Hawkeye run with David Aja is phenomenal if you get the chance to check it out. Though I was also a big fan of Zdarsky's Spectacular Spider-Man when he was announced, and, well. Regardless, there's still plenty of reason to be optimistic about this announcement. I like Matt Fraction and every new run has a chance to surprise you. Except the art, I guess. You know exactly what to expect from that because Jorge Jiménez is sticking around for an astonishing third run in a row. It's safe to say that he'll define the way Batman looks for the decade.

Upcoming Comics

Detective Comics #1094

The shadows of Gotham extend and darken as Asema’s bladed grip on the city’s underworld tightens. Now, while Batman struggles to keep his city safe, he begins to suspect that he has uncovered the identity of this bloodthirsty menace…and it may be someone very close to Bruce Wayne. Tom Taylor and Mikel Janín’s epic journey through the bloodied streets of Gotham continues, and it needs to be seen to be believed!

Written By: Tom Taylor
Art By: Mikel Janin

Thoughts: The next three months of solicits for this title really are just "I wonder who Asema is; do you think it could be Scarlett?" Talk about a mystery box.

Batman News Critic: Jackson

Justice League Unlimited #4

As the Justice League reels from the horrors inflicted by the Parademon Horde, a new threat arises across space...and TIME. With the team racing to put out multiple villainous fires at once, the mystery surrounding the Martian Manhunter deepens and the techno-terrorist group Inferno makes its boldest move yet...as their secret leader is revealed!

Written By: Mark Waid
Art By: Dan Mora

Thoughts: The Martian Manhunter angle is definitely welcome, as it gives a more personal hook to all the globe-spanning drama

Batman News Critic: Akash

Batman The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween #5

Hehehehehehehehahahahahahahahahaahahahahaahaha! Guess who has a special Valentine’s Day present for Gotham City?!

Written By: Jeph Loeb
Art By: Bill Sienkiewicz

Thoughts: I just realized, if this series is only 10 issues instead of 13 like its predecessors, doesn't that sort of break the premise of having an issue for every month/holiday? What about the representation for Labor Day? And, uhhh, "National Book Lovers Day" I guess?

Batman News Critic: Chris

Harley Quinn #48

Somebody ruined my perfect date night!!!! Professor Pyg here, Gotham City’s most sensual and available bachelor. I regret to inform you that my one true love, Harley Quinn, has left my heart spurned and abused. Well, I simply can’t have that, so I’m going to do what any maladjusted individual would do and throw a fit in the swamp! Try having a nice time with Poison Ivy now! In fact, you know what? Get lost, Poison Ivy! Harley Quinn’s got a new hubby and he has a perfect piggy nose!!!!! Let’s get sick together!!!!!!!

Written By: Elliott Kalan
Art By: Mindy Lee

Thoughts: Someone at DC decided that I needed to see that cover, and we need to have a chat.

Batman News Critic: Jack

Little Batman: Month One #4

Don’t miss the climactic conclusion to Little Batman’s first month! Damian Wayne, a.k.a. Little Batman, has all the information he needs to bring down Scarecrow but now finds himself trapped in the claws of a nefarious foe…his own babysitter! If Little Batman wants to bring Scarecrow down and save his father, he’s gonna have to get out of this situation the only way a kid can: by driving her crazy.

Written By: Morgan Evans
Art By: Jon Mikel

Thoughts: I appreciate the retro 2000s (oh god, that really is retro now huh?) trade dress and logo.

Batman News Critic: Aaron

Beyond the Bat

Welcome to Beyond the Bat, where we take a quick look at the rest of DC’s comics coming out this week.

Gallery

Graphic Novel Watch

Sometimes you need more than floppies. Sometimes you want something that can sit nicely on your shelf that proudly displays your favorite stories. That’s when you turn to graphic novels. Let’s see what bat collections are coming out this week:

Gallery

Ratings

Most Excited: Justice League Unlimited #4- I'm not sure if this series has quite hit its stride for me yet, but it's certainly fun to read and pretty to look at.

Least Excited: Harley Quinn #48- Looking around, the anger over the last run really seems to have been replaced with apathy for this one.

Wild Card: Batman The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween #5- It's almost strange to say that 4 issues in I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this title.

Well that’s it for this week! Let us know in the comments what comics you’re looking forward to.

36 comments

Kaingerc

February 22, 2025

wait, THREE MONTHS?!?!?!?
how long is Taylor going to stretch this extremely thin "mystery" plotline out?! (does anyone in DC know how to write a compelling detective story?)

regarding 'Last Halloween'. for me it's also mostly apathy (seems to have very little new to say and is mostly repeating stuff from the previous runs)

Jackson Luken
February 22, 2025
"does anyone in DC know how to write a compelling detective story?"
Yes, Dan Watters. If you're looking for a detective story and haven't been reading Dark Patterns, you should be.
1. Kaingerc
  February 22, 2025
  um, I don't know about that.
  the first arc was decent enough, but I wouldn't really give high praise to the mystery or suspense aspects of it (it was more of a relatively straightforward connect the dots from the villain who can't feel pain, to the people he was killing and eventually to the company/lawyer who was responsible)
  1. Madeleine
    February 22, 2025
    Some of that probably should be covered with a spoiler tag.
    Hardly any Batman comics have been good detective stories. Most writers use a poor mystery as a catalyst for superhero character and world exploration. The shock reveal is more important to the subgenre than the detective work. I would love if DC hired a mystery novelist to write a Batman run but I doubt it would sell well.
  2. Raphael Howard
    February 22, 2025
    I don’t think any Batman story has to be a “Great” mystery - it just has to show how diseased this world is and how hard it can be to challenge that…
Raphael Howard
February 22, 2025
He’s going to stretch it out until we get the final issue of Batman 89: Echoes (Delayed YET AGAIN - we’ve had to wait 18 MONTHS for the chance to see Barbara Gordon put on the Batgirl costume)
1. Kaingerc
  February 22, 2025
  HA, I keep forgetting that that series isn't finished yet.
  1. Raphael Howard
    February 22, 2025
    I get that Batman 89 also had loads of delays and didn’t sell too well, but the “fan casting classic villains” concept will always be intriguing, the Batman 89 novel has done well, and Batgirl fans like myself think that Echoes could have been a good substitute for the cancelled movie. DC should not have mishandled Echoes this badly, esp as the Superman 78 series had a much smoother release…

Kerk Lastnameless

February 22, 2025

"Someone at DC decided that I needed to see that cover, and we need to have a chat." -- soooo....were they right?

Kaingerc
February 22, 2025
I guess it gives a reason to talk about the comic (I can't think about any other)
Raphael Howard
February 22, 2025
It’s the logic that’s led to us receiving the Fartacular - any publicity is good publicity…

Madeleine

February 22, 2025

I believe The Hellblazer: Dead in America trade also is scheduled for release on February 25. I'm getting that and King's Penguin vol 2.

The Harley Quinn cover reminds me of the time some Hawaiian neighbors were roasting a pig on a spit in their driveway.

I bought Red Hood: The Hill last week and while Jason's place in it is as puzzling as ever in trade, maybe more puzzling actually, I did enjoy it overall on this second reading. Contrary to some concerns I voiced about Batman & Robin #18 I realized that I really, really like watching Bruce and Jason interact at any point in their lives. For me it's become the most interesting relationship in these comics going back to the Bronze Age. By all rights Zdarsky's run should have been custom made for me. How wrong can a run go to alienate its perfect audience like that? The bad writing was one thing of course but the dishonesty was worse. I'll follow you down a dark path but not to a stupid place...

Madeleine
February 22, 2025
And now I've just seen that Ward's Two-Face series has been cancelled. It was the only DC comic I looked forward to...
1. Kaingerc
  February 22, 2025
  I went over the release schedule trying to dispute your claim, but honestly I couldn't find anything better than 'pretty decent' or 'potentially develops to something good in the future'
  nothing that I would really qualify as a 'must buy'
  1. Madeleine
    February 22, 2025
    It was a must buy for me because it corresponded to my interests in a character and world I'm invested in in a way that I found intriguing and saw strong potential for building on. The marriage of story, themes, and visuals is the best in any current Batman comic and the exploration of identity construction and disability are second to none. Batman comics exploit both these latter themes extensively but little genuine concern is shown about them. Cover artists continue to delight in showing Harvey getting punched in the head by children. See Batman & Robin: Year One #6 variants for an example.
    1. Raphael Howard
      February 22, 2025
      I personally thought the first two issues of Two Face are among the better Batman comics right now, but I wasn’t really “wowed” by them. I like the format combining “case of the week “ with a larger arc, but the second case (a life-or-death infidelity trial) was pretty silly. It’s a good series overall, but I don’t think it’s the “solution to DC problems” these discussions are portraying it as…
      The way the comics sales are measured is still stupid. It just comes across as a way for some reactionary American comic shop owners to put their thumb on the scale and prevent stories outside the major blockbusters finding an audience. However, I’ve had trouble finding issue #3 of Two Face in Forbidden Planet - maybe that’s a good sign. Even if the 6 issues are all for now, good TPB sales could (or at least should) lead to more opportunities for Two Face down the line…
    2. Madeleine
      February 22, 2025
      The third issue is what makes sense of the first two. The first two cannot be judged without it.
      I don't think anyone's called it the solution to DC's problems. To me it's a microcosm of what makes a comic good. It's been a chance to see a creative team with passion and talent take on one of my favorite characters and make positive original contributions to the canon. It's also brought in something important to me, improved disability representation.
    3. Raphael Howard
      February 22, 2025
      I couldn’t find Issue #3 in Forbidden Planet - maybe that’s a good sign…
      Agreed about the need for good disabled rep, but I tend to focus on Oracle. Even before New 52 retconned her wheelchair use away, she was never given the solo spotlights she deserved…
  2. Sara
    February 22, 2025
    You didn't say what YOU think makes a series "'must buy.'"
    Is quality not enough? I don't care about relevance to the major plots or main heroes. I want a story that's good, with art that serves it, that moves a character forward, and introduces new features into the world that can continue to be used by other writers for years to come. I want comics written out of love for the characters, and not by some ass who just wants to make a name for himself. I want a writer who takes consequences seriously. Two-Face had all that in spades. We got one of the rare runs that doesn't talk down to us like mentally challenged sixth graders, and asks us to do some of the thinking and not rely on the writer to play nanny.
    So what does DC do? They end it at six issues.
    But of course they ended it. This is the publisher that thought it was necessary to produce a scratch-and-sniff comic about Harley, their most hated character, farting. Their priorities are the priorities of dogs that eat their own shit, barf it up, and eat it again.
    1. Kaingerc
      February 22, 2025
      If I thought 'relevance to the major plots or main heroes' was a major draw I would qualify all the recent "events" as 'must buys' for constantly changing/resetting the status quo(they really weren't)
      give me a book about a C-list character like Elongated-Man and his wife and I will be happy as long as it's well written. (just don't give it to Tom King, he seems to hate Superheroes for some reason and his idea of a good story seems to not just make them flawed, but also immoral for some reason)
    2. Sara
      February 22, 2025
      Didn't Elongated Man's wife die in Identity Crisis? Or am I thinking of another stretch-themed hero's wife? How many rubber guys does DC have?
      See, I think we want similar things from our comics. We just aren't always interested in the same characters. I want an A-list rogue's story to get the development it's sorely needed. You want a C-list hero to get the same. It's Fartley Quinn who wins this fight, and she doesn't even have to throw a punch. It was rigged. I won't say this is why Marvel outsells DC, but I will say it's why I, personally, buy almost nothing from DC. I was paying actual money for the Two-Face comic to support it. (By contrast, I am "borrowing" Dark Patterns from the "library.") We're always told to support the books we value. And then they end too abruptly because of low sales, housecleaning, or who knows what. It almost feels like getting punished for doing exactly what we're told to do to get rewarded.
    3. Raphael Howard
      February 22, 2025
      Entertainment will always be divided between blockbusters and cult faves, and the latter will usually do worse than they deserve…
    4. Kaingerc
      February 23, 2025
      both Ralph and his wife died pre-Flashpoint, but after the new 52 continuity got all screwed up so I think they are back to being alive. (not resurrected, just randomly alive, like the original Question and many other characters)
      I'm not saying I necessarily prefer stories about C-list characters, just that I don't mind them as long as they are good (though C-list characters have the advantage of usually having less baggage of over-complicated history and needing to appear in half a dozen books simultaneously )
2. Jackson Luken
  February 22, 2025
  I wouldn't say Two-Face was "cancelled". It was always scheduled for 6 issues.
  1. Madeleine
    February 22, 2025
    It was cut then. Christian Ward is quoted by Bleeding Cool:
    "Two-Face #6 and I'm sorry to say the last in the series is out May 7th. It's been such an honour to write Harvey's first ever self titled solo series and seeing the outpouring of love on here has been incredible. I'm beyond thrilled with the script for #6 and Fábio is currently hard at work drawing. It's a complete and emotionally satisfying story but I have ideas of where it could go should we get a follow up series (akin to how DC handle Si Spurrier's Hellblazer run) so never say never. But for now #4-6 are the best of the series so I can't wait to see how you all respond."
    1. Jackson Luken
      February 22, 2025
      Lately DC has been treating almost every new series as a sort of "contract to hire" situation. They schedule a 6 issue mini and then if it performs well enough they leave open the option for extending it, like Poison Ivy.
  2. Sara
    February 22, 2025
    News to me. I remember there being some uncertainty about length early on, but I never heard that it was definitely going to be six issues and I'm pretty sure I heard at least once that it would be twelve. Maybe that was wishful thinking. But it sure seems like more than six issues' worth of set-up is in the three issues we've had so far. Clearly, Ward was planning for a longer run, even if it was just-in-case.

Sara

February 22, 2025

Here, let me solve some problems.

Fire Tom "One Note and It Is the Wrong One" Taylor from Detective Comics. Dose everyone's morning coffee with Lethe and never speak of this run again. Replace Taylor with Christian "Can Actually Write" Ward. Let him continue his Two-Face plot, but merge it into a Batman story about the Gotham underworld. Make Bruce both competent and compassionate, but recognize the limitations and respect when dealing with someone who is severely mentally ill. NO MAGIC BULLETS. Offer us an in-depth exploration of what it means to live in a broken but vital city, without the fantasy or pacing issues that drove readers away from Ram V or the character assassinations and stupidity that made Zdarsky's run an abomination.

Build something in Gotham that stands a chance of lasting.

Mingthemerciless
February 22, 2025
Not enough thumbs up for this post. Very well said. I would add Tom Edgelord King and Clownhunter/Punchline "Im full of bad ideas for this book" Tynion to your list "never let these guys near a batbook again" writers. Tynion also fought to have Fitzmartin butcher Tim Drake beyond recognition so there's a twofer for terrible writing for a batbook.
1. Sara
  February 22, 2025
  Was Tynion the force behind Fitzmartin's work? I didn't know that. I did figure he was behind most of the problems that have persisted since his departure. There was a tight collusion between Tynion and editorial. Remember when Ghost-Maker was handed control of Batman Inc? That awful character got eighteen issues to ruin a team, so that Tynion could earn royalties. Tell me something isn't weirdly obviously wrong with this picture. This Tynion-style takeover is exactly the sort of thing DC needs to put a stop to.
  1. Mingthemerciless
    February 25, 2025
    Yes I recall Fitzmartin saying that Tynion (who was overseeing the batbooks at the time) went to bat for her ideas with DC editorial and pushed to get them through.
    They tried to make all of Tynion's "original" characters a thing but none have survived...mercifully.

Raphael Howard

February 22, 2025

The cancellation of Two Face despite it literally being written for some of the most passionate posters on this comment page has led to a lot of arguing over why DC is struggling (outside the Absolute line, and we’ll see how well that’s still doing in a year or so), and I would like to say this..

It can be pretty hard to measure the exact quantities needed to make a truly standout story, and a lot of the problems affecting current titles are due to them moving too far in one direction or another. Some of the current comics lean too much into existing relationship dynamics (Batgirl) and some discard them almost entirely (the current Catwoman run). Some are too dark (Batman: Full Moon), some are too light (Batman and Robin: Year One ). A common issue seems to be the desire to make a status quo-changing epic (The main Batman line, the Detective Comics line) but that’s inevitable when you need to sustain attention for months and months over years and years…

Madeleine
February 23, 2025
I don't feel varied tone is a real problem. I like horror stories like Full Moon. I don't like Mark Waid's work very much but he's incredibly popular and Batman & Robin: Year One is no exception. I'll probably get both in trade myself; I'd expect both of these to sell very well including to casual readers.
I think DC has made the status quo the problem, or more bluntly it's made Bruce and Joker the problem jointly. Back when I watched Batman Ninja last year the open admission that the Batman/Joker rivalry destroys other characters and stories with its gravitational pull stuck in my throat and hasn't come unstuck since then. Batman Ninja is self aware parody, Zdarksy's run is unwitting self parody.
When I had my first look at the new batsuit for Matt Fraction's Batman #1 with its blue symbol and emphasis on athleticism over power I had to wonder if it was Dick not Bruce in the costume...
1. Raphael Howard
  February 23, 2025
  I feel like comics are pretty much a six month preview for TPBs nowadays. You can only get comics in comic shops, but you can find some good TPBs anywhere you can buy (or borrow) books. Of course they’ll have the advantage in this environment…
  1. Madeleine
    February 23, 2025
    There's also the advantage that with trade reading you might be spared a bad story or run by word of mouth.
    There's a lot to read that looks fine, maybe better in one format than another (I almost always prefer trades; I am very impatient), but there's a core problem that needs to be addressed to regain consumer confidence. The side books can go in whatever direction they like to reach their respective audiences as floppies or trades. DC's flagship book shouldn't have its sales propped up by hate and habit.
2. Sara
  February 24, 2025
  I've been saying for years that the only way for DC to break Batman comics out of their rut is to get rid of Bruce and/or the Joker.
  I'm not seeing this happening, but I don't know how anyone can dispute this. Do Batman vs Joker stories sell? Yes, they do. They sell amazingly well. Are they good? No, they're terrible, and their terribleness infects everything around them. Every other character is weaker, stupider, and smaller because of this. DC let these two get too big, and here we are. Every couple years we get a Joker event. He's not just some guy in a clown costume, raising Cain. He's an anthropomorphic apocalypse that cannot be repelled. He has to be withstood. And the only man who can withstand him is... BRUCE WAYNE, that pillar of manly virtues. But Bruce is old and showing some wear. The Joker, though? He's ageless.
  It's a mythology for the idiot brood of a post-religious society.
  (That sentence is half in jest. Not much about comics fandom is more cringe than people claiming that superheroes are "our" modern myths. That's fanboy myopia at its more puerile.)
  This also sells well to casual readers who know dick about the other rogues but feel just fine and dandy demeaning them as Joker's inferiors. DC is happy to play this up. It's a vicious circle.

Kaingerc
February 22, 2025
wait, THREE MONTHS?!?!?!?
how long is Taylor going to stretch this extremely thin "mystery" plotline out?! (does anyone in DC know how to write a compelling detective story?)
regarding 'Last Halloween'. for me it's also mostly apathy (seems to have very little new to say and is mostly repeating stuff from the previous runs)
1. Jackson Luken
  February 22, 2025
  "does anyone in DC know how to write a compelling detective story?"
  Yes, Dan Watters. If you're looking for a detective story and haven't been reading Dark Patterns, you should be.
  1. Kaingerc
    February 22, 2025
    um, I don't know about that.
    the first arc was decent enough, but I wouldn't really give high praise to the mystery or suspense aspects of it (it was more of a relatively straightforward connect the dots from the villain who can't feel pain, to the people he was killing and eventually to the company/lawyer who was responsible)
    1. Madeleine
      February 22, 2025
      Some of that probably should be covered with a spoiler tag.
      Hardly any Batman comics have been good detective stories. Most writers use a poor mystery as a catalyst for superhero character and world exploration. The shock reveal is more important to the subgenre than the detective work. I would love if DC hired a mystery novelist to write a Batman run but I doubt it would sell well.
    2. Raphael Howard
      February 22, 2025
      I don’t think any Batman story has to be a “Great” mystery - it just has to show how diseased this world is and how hard it can be to challenge that…
2. Raphael Howard
  February 22, 2025
  He’s going to stretch it out until we get the final issue of Batman 89: Echoes (Delayed YET AGAIN - we’ve had to wait 18 MONTHS for the chance to see Barbara Gordon put on the Batgirl costume)
  1. Kaingerc
    February 22, 2025
    HA, I keep forgetting that that series isn't finished yet.
    1. Raphael Howard
      February 22, 2025
      I get that Batman 89 also had loads of delays and didn’t sell too well, but the “fan casting classic villains” concept will always be intriguing, the Batman 89 novel has done well, and Batgirl fans like myself think that Echoes could have been a good substitute for the cancelled movie. DC should not have mishandled Echoes this badly, esp as the Superman 78 series had a much smoother release…
Kerk Lastnameless
February 22, 2025
"Someone at DC decided that I needed to see that cover, and we need to have a chat." -- soooo....were they right?
1. Kaingerc
  February 22, 2025
  I guess it gives a reason to talk about the comic (I can't think about any other)
2. Raphael Howard
  February 22, 2025
  It’s the logic that’s led to us receiving the Fartacular - any publicity is good publicity…
Madeleine
February 22, 2025
I believe The Hellblazer: Dead in America trade also is scheduled for release on February 25. I'm getting that and King's Penguin vol 2.
The Harley Quinn cover reminds me of the time some Hawaiian neighbors were roasting a pig on a spit in their driveway.
I bought Red Hood: The Hill last week and while Jason's place in it is as puzzling as ever in trade, maybe more puzzling actually, I did enjoy it overall on this second reading. Contrary to some concerns I voiced about Batman & Robin #18 I realized that I really, really like watching Bruce and Jason interact at any point in their lives. For me it's become the most interesting relationship in these comics going back to the Bronze Age. By all rights Zdarsky's run should have been custom made for me. How wrong can a run go to alienate its perfect audience like that? The bad writing was one thing of course but the dishonesty was worse. I'll follow you down a dark path but not to a stupid place...
1. Madeleine
  February 22, 2025
  And now I've just seen that Ward's Two-Face series has been cancelled. It was the only DC comic I looked forward to...
  1. Kaingerc
    February 22, 2025
    I went over the release schedule trying to dispute your claim, but honestly I couldn't find anything better than 'pretty decent' or 'potentially develops to something good in the future'
    nothing that I would really qualify as a 'must buy'
    1. Madeleine
      February 22, 2025
      It was a must buy for me because it corresponded to my interests in a character and world I'm invested in in a way that I found intriguing and saw strong potential for building on. The marriage of story, themes, and visuals is the best in any current Batman comic and the exploration of identity construction and disability are second to none. Batman comics exploit both these latter themes extensively but little genuine concern is shown about them. Cover artists continue to delight in showing Harvey getting punched in the head by children. See Batman & Robin: Year One #6 variants for an example.
      1. Raphael Howard
        February 22, 2025
        I personally thought the first two issues of Two Face are among the better Batman comics right now, but I wasn’t really “wowed” by them. I like the format combining “case of the week “ with a larger arc, but the second case (a life-or-death infidelity trial) was pretty silly. It’s a good series overall, but I don’t think it’s the “solution to DC problems” these discussions are portraying it as…
        The way the comics sales are measured is still stupid. It just comes across as a way for some reactionary American comic shop owners to put their thumb on the scale and prevent stories outside the major blockbusters finding an audience. However, I’ve had trouble finding issue #3 of Two Face in Forbidden Planet - maybe that’s a good sign. Even if the 6 issues are all for now, good TPB sales could (or at least should) lead to more opportunities for Two Face down the line…
      2. Madeleine
        February 22, 2025
        The third issue is what makes sense of the first two. The first two cannot be judged without it.
        I don't think anyone's called it the solution to DC's problems. To me it's a microcosm of what makes a comic good. It's been a chance to see a creative team with passion and talent take on one of my favorite characters and make positive original contributions to the canon. It's also brought in something important to me, improved disability representation.
      3. Raphael Howard
        February 22, 2025
        I couldn’t find Issue #3 in Forbidden Planet - maybe that’s a good sign…
        Agreed about the need for good disabled rep, but I tend to focus on Oracle. Even before New 52 retconned her wheelchair use away, she was never given the solo spotlights she deserved…
    2. Sara
      February 22, 2025
      You didn't say what YOU think makes a series "'must buy.'"
      Is quality not enough? I don't care about relevance to the major plots or main heroes. I want a story that's good, with art that serves it, that moves a character forward, and introduces new features into the world that can continue to be used by other writers for years to come. I want comics written out of love for the characters, and not by some ass who just wants to make a name for himself. I want a writer who takes consequences seriously. Two-Face had all that in spades. We got one of the rare runs that doesn't talk down to us like mentally challenged sixth graders, and asks us to do some of the thinking and not rely on the writer to play nanny.
      So what does DC do? They end it at six issues.
      But of course they ended it. This is the publisher that thought it was necessary to produce a scratch-and-sniff comic about Harley, their most hated character, farting. Their priorities are the priorities of dogs that eat their own shit, barf it up, and eat it again.
      1. Kaingerc
        February 22, 2025
        If I thought 'relevance to the major plots or main heroes' was a major draw I would qualify all the recent "events" as 'must buys' for constantly changing/resetting the status quo(they really weren't)
        give me a book about a C-list character like Elongated-Man and his wife and I will be happy as long as it's well written. (just don't give it to Tom King, he seems to hate Superheroes for some reason and his idea of a good story seems to not just make them flawed, but also immoral for some reason)
      2. Sara
        February 22, 2025
        Didn't Elongated Man's wife die in Identity Crisis? Or am I thinking of another stretch-themed hero's wife? How many rubber guys does DC have?
        See, I think we want similar things from our comics. We just aren't always interested in the same characters. I want an A-list rogue's story to get the development it's sorely needed. You want a C-list hero to get the same. It's Fartley Quinn who wins this fight, and she doesn't even have to throw a punch. It was rigged. I won't say this is why Marvel outsells DC, but I will say it's why I, personally, buy almost nothing from DC. I was paying actual money for the Two-Face comic to support it. (By contrast, I am "borrowing" Dark Patterns from the "library.") We're always told to support the books we value. And then they end too abruptly because of low sales, housecleaning, or who knows what. It almost feels like getting punished for doing exactly what we're told to do to get rewarded.
      3. Raphael Howard
        February 22, 2025
        Entertainment will always be divided between blockbusters and cult faves, and the latter will usually do worse than they deserve…
      4. Kaingerc
        February 23, 2025
        both Ralph and his wife died pre-Flashpoint, but after the new 52 continuity got all screwed up so I think they are back to being alive. (not resurrected, just randomly alive, like the original Question and many other characters)
        I'm not saying I necessarily prefer stories about C-list characters, just that I don't mind them as long as they are good (though C-list characters have the advantage of usually having less baggage of over-complicated history and needing to appear in half a dozen books simultaneously )
  2. Jackson Luken
    February 22, 2025
    I wouldn't say Two-Face was "cancelled". It was always scheduled for 6 issues.
    1. Madeleine
      February 22, 2025
      It was cut then. Christian Ward is quoted by Bleeding Cool:
      "Two-Face #6 and I'm sorry to say the last in the series is out May 7th. It's been such an honour to write Harvey's first ever self titled solo series and seeing the outpouring of love on here has been incredible. I'm beyond thrilled with the script for #6 and Fábio is currently hard at work drawing. It's a complete and emotionally satisfying story but I have ideas of where it could go should we get a follow up series (akin to how DC handle Si Spurrier's Hellblazer run) so never say never. But for now #4-6 are the best of the series so I can't wait to see how you all respond."
      1. Jackson Luken
        February 22, 2025
        Lately DC has been treating almost every new series as a sort of "contract to hire" situation. They schedule a 6 issue mini and then if it performs well enough they leave open the option for extending it, like Poison Ivy.
    2. Sara
      February 22, 2025
      News to me. I remember there being some uncertainty about length early on, but I never heard that it was definitely going to be six issues and I'm pretty sure I heard at least once that it would be twelve. Maybe that was wishful thinking. But it sure seems like more than six issues' worth of set-up is in the three issues we've had so far. Clearly, Ward was planning for a longer run, even if it was just-in-case.
Sara
February 22, 2025
Here, let me solve some problems.
Fire Tom "One Note and It Is the Wrong One" Taylor from Detective Comics. Dose everyone's morning coffee with Lethe and never speak of this run again. Replace Taylor with Christian "Can Actually Write" Ward. Let him continue his Two-Face plot, but merge it into a Batman story about the Gotham underworld. Make Bruce both competent and compassionate, but recognize the limitations and respect when dealing with someone who is severely mentally ill. NO MAGIC BULLETS. Offer us an in-depth exploration of what it means to live in a broken but vital city, without the fantasy or pacing issues that drove readers away from Ram V or the character assassinations and stupidity that made Zdarsky's run an abomination.
Build something in Gotham that stands a chance of lasting.
1. Mingthemerciless
  February 22, 2025
  Not enough thumbs up for this post. Very well said. I would add Tom Edgelord King and Clownhunter/Punchline "Im full of bad ideas for this book" Tynion to your list "never let these guys near a batbook again" writers. Tynion also fought to have Fitzmartin butcher Tim Drake beyond recognition so there's a twofer for terrible writing for a batbook.
  1. Sara
    February 22, 2025
    Was Tynion the force behind Fitzmartin's work? I didn't know that. I did figure he was behind most of the problems that have persisted since his departure. There was a tight collusion between Tynion and editorial. Remember when Ghost-Maker was handed control of Batman Inc? That awful character got eighteen issues to ruin a team, so that Tynion could earn royalties. Tell me something isn't weirdly obviously wrong with this picture. This Tynion-style takeover is exactly the sort of thing DC needs to put a stop to.
    1. Mingthemerciless
      February 25, 2025
      Yes I recall Fitzmartin saying that Tynion (who was overseeing the batbooks at the time) went to bat for her ideas with DC editorial and pushed to get them through.
      They tried to make all of Tynion's "original" characters a thing but none have survived...mercifully.
Raphael Howard
February 22, 2025
The cancellation of Two Face despite it literally being written for some of the most passionate posters on this comment page has led to a lot of arguing over why DC is struggling (outside the Absolute line, and we’ll see how well that’s still doing in a year or so), and I would like to say this..
It can be pretty hard to measure the exact quantities needed to make a truly standout story, and a lot of the problems affecting current titles are due to them moving too far in one direction or another. Some of the current comics lean too much into existing relationship dynamics (Batgirl) and some discard them almost entirely (the current Catwoman run). Some are too dark (Batman: Full Moon), some are too light (Batman and Robin: Year One ). A common issue seems to be the desire to make a status quo-changing epic (The main Batman line, the Detective Comics line) but that’s inevitable when you need to sustain attention for months and months over years and years…
1. Madeleine
  February 23, 2025
  I don't feel varied tone is a real problem. I like horror stories like Full Moon. I don't like Mark Waid's work very much but he's incredibly popular and Batman & Robin: Year One is no exception. I'll probably get both in trade myself; I'd expect both of these to sell very well including to casual readers.
  I think DC has made the status quo the problem, or more bluntly it's made Bruce and Joker the problem jointly. Back when I watched Batman Ninja last year the open admission that the Batman/Joker rivalry destroys other characters and stories with its gravitational pull stuck in my throat and hasn't come unstuck since then. Batman Ninja is self aware parody, Zdarksy's run is unwitting self parody.
  When I had my first look at the new batsuit for Matt Fraction's Batman #1 with its blue symbol and emphasis on athleticism over power I had to wonder if it was Dick not Bruce in the costume...
  1. Raphael Howard
    February 23, 2025
    I feel like comics are pretty much a six month preview for TPBs nowadays. You can only get comics in comic shops, but you can find some good TPBs anywhere you can buy (or borrow) books. Of course they’ll have the advantage in this environment…
    1. Madeleine
      February 23, 2025
      There's also the advantage that with trade reading you might be spared a bad story or run by word of mouth.
      There's a lot to read that looks fine, maybe better in one format than another (I almost always prefer trades; I am very impatient), but there's a core problem that needs to be addressed to regain consumer confidence. The side books can go in whatever direction they like to reach their respective audiences as floppies or trades. DC's flagship book shouldn't have its sales propped up by hate and habit.
  2. Sara
    February 24, 2025
    I've been saying for years that the only way for DC to break Batman comics out of their rut is to get rid of Bruce and/or the Joker.
    I'm not seeing this happening, but I don't know how anyone can dispute this. Do Batman vs Joker stories sell? Yes, they do. They sell amazingly well. Are they good? No, they're terrible, and their terribleness infects everything around them. Every other character is weaker, stupider, and smaller because of this. DC let these two get too big, and here we are. Every couple years we get a Joker event. He's not just some guy in a clown costume, raising Cain. He's an anthropomorphic apocalypse that cannot be repelled. He has to be withstood. And the only man who can withstand him is... BRUCE WAYNE, that pillar of manly virtues. But Bruce is old and showing some wear. The Joker, though? He's ageless.
    It's a mythology for the idiot brood of a post-religious society.
    (That sentence is half in jest. Not much about comics fandom is more cringe than people claiming that superheroes are "our" modern myths. That's fanboy myopia at its more puerile.)
    This also sells well to casual readers who know dick about the other rogues but feel just fine and dandy demeaning them as Joker's inferiors. DC is happy to play this up. It's a vicious circle.

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