Upcoming Comics March 5, 2025

Welcome back to Upcoming Comics! I'm going to keep it brief this week because I'm sick. Let's take a look at some comics.

Upcoming Comics

Two-Face #4

Pushed to the brink, Harvey Dent’s mask of sanity is slipping, leading him to the deepest recesses of his own twisted mind, as memories collide with haunting traumas from his past. This is the trial of Harvey’s life, and Two-Face must face the ultimate judgment. Will he let go and rise above his shattered past, or will his darker half take over his body once and for all?

Written By: Christian Ward
Art By: Fabio Veras

Thoughts: It's honestly shocking that's it's taken this long to get such an in-depth character study of Harvey. He's practically begging for it.

Batman News Critic: Aaron

Batgirl #5

As Batgirl continues to unravel the complicated relationship with her mother, she finds herself alone in the dark den of her enemies. Plunged into poppy-induced hallucinations, Batgirl relives her past alongside a surprise visit from a Bat-Family member, who helps Cass confront the tangled roots of her origins. The lines between love, shame, and legacy begin to blur. Will Cass survive long enough to embrace her heritage…or break free from it at last?

Written By: Tate Brombal
Art By: Takeshi Miyazawa

Thoughts: Mind trip stories are often a great way to get a look inside a character's head, and also hopefully a chance for some interesting art.

Batman News Critic: Chris

Batman: Full Moon #4

With the clock ticking down to zero, Batman travels deep into the Welsh highlands to undo the curse of the werewolf. But what awaits him will challenge his most deeply-held convictions. To lift the curse, he’ll have to choose: sacrifice his own life...or take another!

Written By: Rodney Barnes
Art By: Stevan SUBIC

Thoughts: Batman and Gothic horror just go together like peanut butter and jam.

Batman News Critic: Chip

Birds of Prey #19

Black Canary, Sin, and Megaera try to bond through violence as they find themselves overwhelmed by a splinter League of Assassins clan bent on reacquiring Sin. Maybe leaving Barda at home wasn’t the best idea? Elsewhere, Barda, Cass, and Constantine face the unexpected as they try to return a mischievous demon home while trapped inside the mysterious area known only as the Seam.

Written By: Kelly Thompson
Art By: Juann Cabal

Thoughts: The double cover between this issue and the last one is pretty neat. I like it when comics do stuff like that.

Batman News Critic: TBD

Poison Ivy #31

The strange and startling secrets of Marshview are revealed as Poison Ivy, Janet, and Peter Undine explore the transient and hungry ghost town’s past. But some things are best left dead and forgotten…lest they try to eat you alive.

Written By: G. Willow Wilson
Art By: Brian Level

Thoughts: I've expressed my love for "skull-faced guy in a fancy suit" characters in the past, but looking at this cover has me thinking maybe that just extends to all "weird-faced guy in a fancy suit" characters.

Batman News Critic: Andru

Teen Titans Go! #1

Say it ain’t so! The Titans’ comic book—canceled?! Desperate for a relaunch, the Titans remake themselves as everything from transforming robots to artsy, black-and-white indie comics characters. But when DC still doesn’t bite, the Titans turn to more drastic measures…like sabotage.

Written By: Sholly Fisch
Art By: Dario Brizuela

Thoughts: Sometime it blows me away how much of an institution this show has become for DC/Cartoon Network.

Batman News Critic: Chip

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: Two-Face #4- Easily one of my favorite bat books out right now, and I'll be sad to see it go after 6 issues.

Least Excited: Teen Titans Go! #1- Nothing against TTG, I just can't get too excited about yet another cartoon tie-in comic (and there are no outright "bad" comics this week to dunk on)

Wild Card: Batgirl #5- I think a lot of this series' appeal so far has been getting to see all the characters that had been sidelined for so long, so hopefully that can all come together in a satisfying story.

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

14 comments

Sara

March 1, 2025

The TTG book has zero appeal for me, but Sholly Fisch is one of DC's better writers for books for kids. Also, when adults automatically start slamming kids' shows that don't look good to them, I think of this thing. Yeah, I get it, it's not as good as the show it's based on. But on its own it has probably secured the lifelong loyalty of innumerable DC fans since it first aired.

Two-Face #4 for me. It's rare to find a comic where the writer, artist, and character are this good a match. And there's been no condescension or stupidity. I'm seriously miffed that this is ending at six issues because there is so much more story to tell. I don't believe that sales alone can explain this. There are worse books with worse sales that DC keeps on life support for months and years. Maybe Ward's plans didn't line up with DC's? Maybe Loeb wants control of Harvey again? (Heaven forfend.) But it's such a pain in the ass that a good comic that's able to give character problems the attention they deserve is being forced to conclude imo pretty prematurely. There is no way to complete a story about a character THIS complex in six issues. You can tell Ward feels the same.

Kaingerc
March 1, 2025
It's almost impossible for me to enjoy TTG because I was such a fan of the original Teen Titans cartoon and I just can't disconnect the two of them.
Partly because it's difficult for me to enjoy shows about characters I like being treated like incompetent morons for a joke, and partly because of all the callbacks to the original show. (Them having the same voice actors also doesn't help making the disconnect)
I get why a lot of young people might like it, and I'll admit I got laugh out of a few random clips I saw online, but sitting down and watching a full episode of them being just awful people is just too much
1. Sara
  March 1, 2025
  Oh, I understand. I've met a lot of TT fans who loathe TTG. I can put myself approximately into their place by imagining an Outlaws series that warped the characters for giggles. (Jason would be a token dumb, violent, horny male and Artemis would be the brains by default because she's a girl.) But as these things go, in the end, DC needs profitable, influential work that reaches children. Almost nothing they're doing is a hit with any age group. For reasons I can't fathom, and don't really need to, TTG has spoken to children for two generations.

Madeleine

March 1, 2025

I'm reading Two-Face #4 this week.

I am so mad this is ending at 6 issues...

My hope for Two-Face is that something really new will happen, a transition to the Judge personality being my first choice. This isn't asking for much. In all his major origin stories he acts as a vigilante, he's acted as one in most recent appearances... Stories where the second personality is pure evil miss the point and value of the character. Besides if they can bring Baby Doll into the comics canon then they can bring the Judge in too. There's ample history here. It would be a net gain for Batman comics.

Sara
March 1, 2025
You know what'll probably happen, though, right? Ward will solve problems that have existed in Harvey's canon for decades, and then someone else (have I mentioned I don't trust Loeb?) will throw it all away on a terrible relapse plot because editorial chickened out or never got permission from someone involved in the filmmaking end or whatever causes bad decisions like that.
I'm all for the Judge, for the reasons you mention, and also because I think he'd make an interesting counterweight to powerful gangsters like the Penguin. You could create a Bat-free run about these two warring on each other.
DC needs these escape hatches for people who hate the events and the small brain big deal stories that make the main books virtually unreadable most of the time. And also because the villains are no less characters than the heroes, but they get treated like second class characters most of the time.
1. Robin MB
  March 1, 2025
  To be fair this is an issue with most forms of serialized entertainment. Things will always go back to the status quo. They could do Judge or bring back Janus from that Shadow of the Bat story maybe?
  1. Sara
    March 1, 2025
    I've actually never read that Janus story before? I had to look it up on a fandom wiki. I need to read that now. Thanks for alerting me to something I wasn't aware of.
    But, I mean, there's so much they could do that doesn't involve a miraculous cure or full conversion to good guy. There's tons of material to work with, tons of sources outside Batman comics to take inspiration from. But what they'll probably decide is that having an ex-DA villain with a second personality called Two-Face is all that matters because, idk, toy sales or something.
    1. Robin MB
      March 1, 2025
      Yeah I learned about it during a video essay about The Judge. It also went over another villian named Judge in the Bronze Age. Tbh I'm not sure what could be done with him as a villian now? I'm not really a writer though.
      I do know Judge kinda got a follow up in the tie in comic, with Harvey having been slipped a trick coin and doing good deeds that corresponded to crimes he did...but also putting him at risk of being killed
    2. Sara
      March 1, 2025
      I used to learn about stuff like Janus back when Mr Rogues had an active YouTube channel. His videos about the rogues were the best resource, and still are. He probably has one on Janus that I never saw. Once he retired from making videos, I almost stopped watching YouTube videos about comic books. I don't even know of any good channels anymore.
    3. Robin MB
      March 2, 2025
      Oh that is a hard question...a lot of comic YouTubers seem to fall into the alt right pipeline...I like Serum Lake, he does a few comic videos but his are mainly essays about the DCAU, with a focus on Batman TAS. The first part of the videos typically give a brief history on the character
      Side note. Have you read Batman Gotham Adventures? It's the tie in comic from The New Batman Adventures. Has some good Two-Face stories. #2 is about his childhood, and another has him in a brief role when Batman asks him some legal questions for a case he's working
2. Madeleine
  March 1, 2025
  They probably will set him back... and yet almost every notable Two-Face story pulls in the direction of Harvey seeking a means to reform. I like the Judge idea because it leaves Harvey his freedom and identity. If he's reformed he's just another supporting character whose right to act depends on Bruce's will.
  I'm not a fan of the Janus story (SotB #62-63) which mars good ideas with lousy writing and understandably has passed into obscurity. I never have liked how Grant writes Harvey... The plot about nukes and a $2b ransom was taken from a Dennis O'Neil story I do like (Batman #258), the first story to try to give Harvey a motivation that people could relate to: the pursuit of a refuge. (This is echoed in Matt Wagner's Faces.) Batman #258 is also the first comic to name Arkham, introducing mental illness as disability as opposed to high concept craziness into a rogue tale. In Batman #258 Bruce slips Harvey a trick coin to defeat him. Remarkably that the coin reappears in Batman #260, a Joker story, when Harvey saves Batman during a prison breakout. Harvey insists it's the coin doing his thinking for him but O'Neil leaves room for doubt. The Judge has also used a trick coin to shortcircuit his decision making process without giving up the compulsion to defer to the coin. That idea is brought up again in Ward's series, one of several reasons I think/hope Ward favors the Judge concept.
  1. Sara
    March 1, 2025
    This is a day for me to feel ignorant, it seems. I have read the story where Harvey threatened to nuke Congress (which, let's be honest, we've all dreamed of doing), but I have not read the follow-up with the Joker. I knew about a trend for Bruce trying to save Harvey going back to the Golden Age, but I didn't know Harvey seeking subterfuges to save himself was already a thing during O'Neil's formative work. Most writers prior to Helfer, that I knew of, seemed to treat his split personality and coin as ways to dodge responsibility.
    Again, agreed about the Judge being the best choice (that I know of, and we have firmly established that there are things I don't know). I guess we'll see in the next few months. And then over the next couple years we'll see if any of whatever Ward does sticks. It's also possible he didn't get to do whatever he planned to do because somebody (DID I MENTIONED THAT I DON'T TRUST LOEB) has other plans.
    1. Madeleine
      March 2, 2025
      It annoys me so much when Harvey is written as a typical villain, bad for badness' sake. It doesn't respect the intentions of his creators. There are Two-Face stories between O'Neil and Helfer that do him more justice but until mid Rebirth, beginning with Deface the Face, nothing took a strong hold. It's DC that really keeps lapsing back into bad habits...
      Regarding another comment you made, a very good YouTube channel for comics is Strange Brain Parts. He covers indies and superhero comics, new and old. He's the opposite of the ragebaiting controversialists and channels that summarize or regurgitate. His channel deserves more support and views than it gets.

Robin MB

March 1, 2025

Immortal Thor #21
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #6
Shazam #21
Spectacular Spider-Men #13(decided to give the series a second chance)
Ultimates #10

Sara
March 1, 2025
The TTG book has zero appeal for me, but Sholly Fisch is one of DC's better writers for books for kids. Also, when adults automatically start slamming kids' shows that don't look good to them, I think of this thing. Yeah, I get it, it's not as good as the show it's based on. But on its own it has probably secured the lifelong loyalty of innumerable DC fans since it first aired.
Two-Face #4 for me. It's rare to find a comic where the writer, artist, and character are this good a match. And there's been no condescension or stupidity. I'm seriously miffed that this is ending at six issues because there is so much more story to tell. I don't believe that sales alone can explain this. There are worse books with worse sales that DC keeps on life support for months and years. Maybe Ward's plans didn't line up with DC's? Maybe Loeb wants control of Harvey again? (Heaven forfend.) But it's such a pain in the ass that a good comic that's able to give character problems the attention they deserve is being forced to conclude imo pretty prematurely. There is no way to complete a story about a character THIS complex in six issues. You can tell Ward feels the same.
1. Kaingerc
  March 1, 2025
  It's almost impossible for me to enjoy TTG because I was such a fan of the original Teen Titans cartoon and I just can't disconnect the two of them.
  Partly because it's difficult for me to enjoy shows about characters I like being treated like incompetent morons for a joke, and partly because of all the callbacks to the original show. (Them having the same voice actors also doesn't help making the disconnect)
  I get why a lot of young people might like it, and I'll admit I got laugh out of a few random clips I saw online, but sitting down and watching a full episode of them being just awful people is just too much
  1. Sara
    March 1, 2025
    Oh, I understand. I've met a lot of TT fans who loathe TTG. I can put myself approximately into their place by imagining an Outlaws series that warped the characters for giggles. (Jason would be a token dumb, violent, horny male and Artemis would be the brains by default because she's a girl.) But as these things go, in the end, DC needs profitable, influential work that reaches children. Almost nothing they're doing is a hit with any age group. For reasons I can't fathom, and don't really need to, TTG has spoken to children for two generations.
Madeleine
March 1, 2025
I'm reading Two-Face #4 this week.
I am so mad this is ending at 6 issues...
My hope for Two-Face is that something really new will happen, a transition to the Judge personality being my first choice. This isn't asking for much. In all his major origin stories he acts as a vigilante, he's acted as one in most recent appearances... Stories where the second personality is pure evil miss the point and value of the character. Besides if they can bring Baby Doll into the comics canon then they can bring the Judge in too. There's ample history here. It would be a net gain for Batman comics.
1. Sara
  March 1, 2025
  You know what'll probably happen, though, right? Ward will solve problems that have existed in Harvey's canon for decades, and then someone else (have I mentioned I don't trust Loeb?) will throw it all away on a terrible relapse plot because editorial chickened out or never got permission from someone involved in the filmmaking end or whatever causes bad decisions like that.
  I'm all for the Judge, for the reasons you mention, and also because I think he'd make an interesting counterweight to powerful gangsters like the Penguin. You could create a Bat-free run about these two warring on each other.
  DC needs these escape hatches for people who hate the events and the small brain big deal stories that make the main books virtually unreadable most of the time. And also because the villains are no less characters than the heroes, but they get treated like second class characters most of the time.
  1. Robin MB
    March 1, 2025
    To be fair this is an issue with most forms of serialized entertainment. Things will always go back to the status quo. They could do Judge or bring back Janus from that Shadow of the Bat story maybe?
    1. Sara
      March 1, 2025
      I've actually never read that Janus story before? I had to look it up on a fandom wiki. I need to read that now. Thanks for alerting me to something I wasn't aware of.
      But, I mean, there's so much they could do that doesn't involve a miraculous cure or full conversion to good guy. There's tons of material to work with, tons of sources outside Batman comics to take inspiration from. But what they'll probably decide is that having an ex-DA villain with a second personality called Two-Face is all that matters because, idk, toy sales or something.
      1. Robin MB
        March 1, 2025
        Yeah I learned about it during a video essay about The Judge. It also went over another villian named Judge in the Bronze Age. Tbh I'm not sure what could be done with him as a villian now? I'm not really a writer though.
        I do know Judge kinda got a follow up in the tie in comic, with Harvey having been slipped a trick coin and doing good deeds that corresponded to crimes he did...but also putting him at risk of being killed
      2. Sara
        March 1, 2025
        I used to learn about stuff like Janus back when Mr Rogues had an active YouTube channel. His videos about the rogues were the best resource, and still are. He probably has one on Janus that I never saw. Once he retired from making videos, I almost stopped watching YouTube videos about comic books. I don't even know of any good channels anymore.
      3. Robin MB
        March 2, 2025
        Oh that is a hard question...a lot of comic YouTubers seem to fall into the alt right pipeline...I like Serum Lake, he does a few comic videos but his are mainly essays about the DCAU, with a focus on Batman TAS. The first part of the videos typically give a brief history on the character
        Side note. Have you read Batman Gotham Adventures? It's the tie in comic from The New Batman Adventures. Has some good Two-Face stories. #2 is about his childhood, and another has him in a brief role when Batman asks him some legal questions for a case he's working
  2. Madeleine
    March 1, 2025
    They probably will set him back... and yet almost every notable Two-Face story pulls in the direction of Harvey seeking a means to reform. I like the Judge idea because it leaves Harvey his freedom and identity. If he's reformed he's just another supporting character whose right to act depends on Bruce's will.
    I'm not a fan of the Janus story (SotB #62-63) which mars good ideas with lousy writing and understandably has passed into obscurity. I never have liked how Grant writes Harvey... The plot about nukes and a $2b ransom was taken from a Dennis O'Neil story I do like (Batman #258), the first story to try to give Harvey a motivation that people could relate to: the pursuit of a refuge. (This is echoed in Matt Wagner's Faces.) Batman #258 is also the first comic to name Arkham, introducing mental illness as disability as opposed to high concept craziness into a rogue tale. In Batman #258 Bruce slips Harvey a trick coin to defeat him. Remarkably that the coin reappears in Batman #260, a Joker story, when Harvey saves Batman during a prison breakout. Harvey insists it's the coin doing his thinking for him but O'Neil leaves room for doubt. The Judge has also used a trick coin to shortcircuit his decision making process without giving up the compulsion to defer to the coin. That idea is brought up again in Ward's series, one of several reasons I think/hope Ward favors the Judge concept.
    1. Sara
      March 1, 2025
      This is a day for me to feel ignorant, it seems. I have read the story where Harvey threatened to nuke Congress (which, let's be honest, we've all dreamed of doing), but I have not read the follow-up with the Joker. I knew about a trend for Bruce trying to save Harvey going back to the Golden Age, but I didn't know Harvey seeking subterfuges to save himself was already a thing during O'Neil's formative work. Most writers prior to Helfer, that I knew of, seemed to treat his split personality and coin as ways to dodge responsibility.
      Again, agreed about the Judge being the best choice (that I know of, and we have firmly established that there are things I don't know). I guess we'll see in the next few months. And then over the next couple years we'll see if any of whatever Ward does sticks. It's also possible he didn't get to do whatever he planned to do because somebody (DID I MENTIONED THAT I DON'T TRUST LOEB) has other plans.
      1. Madeleine
        March 2, 2025
        It annoys me so much when Harvey is written as a typical villain, bad for badness' sake. It doesn't respect the intentions of his creators. There are Two-Face stories between O'Neil and Helfer that do him more justice but until mid Rebirth, beginning with Deface the Face, nothing took a strong hold. It's DC that really keeps lapsing back into bad habits...
        Regarding another comment you made, a very good YouTube channel for comics is Strange Brain Parts. He covers indies and superhero comics, new and old. He's the opposite of the ragebaiting controversialists and channels that summarize or regurgitate. His channel deserves more support and views than it gets.
Robin MB
March 1, 2025
Immortal Thor #21
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu #6
Shazam #21
Spectacular Spider-Men #13(decided to give the series a second chance)
Ultimates #10

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Upcoming Comics March 5, 2025

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