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DC Reveals its First Wave of Milestone Comics

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Graphic Policy Team

Following 2020’s panel at DC FanDome Hall of Heroes, DC has announced more details on the return of the fan-favorite Milestone universe of characters from the city of Dakota.

Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0

The excitement kicks off February 26 with a digital-first “extended cut” of the Milestone Returns #0 one-shot. Originally available only during 2020’s DC FanDome Hall of Heroes and Explore the Multiverse, this updated edition also arrives in comic book stores on May 25. Milestone Returns: Infinite Edition #0 combines the original 17-page comic with an additional 24 pages of completely new material written by Reginald Hudlin and drawn by artists Denys Cowan, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Bill Sienkiewicz, and more.

This added content includes a retelling of the events of the Big Bang, the police-brutality protest that unleashed a sudden wave of superpowers in the city of Dakota. This $4.99 “director’s cut” also features content introducing the full new creative teams behind Static, Icon & Rocket, and Hardware, the digital-first series spawned by this new Big Bang, along with a reveal of their issue #1 covers.

In addition, DC’s future plans include the long-awaited launch of Earth M, a new line of comics conceived by Cowan and Hudlin, which will include the return of Duo, introduced to readers in Milestone Returns “#0, and other characters who will also appear in Milestone comics.

Static Digital-First Miniseries

Following in April, fans can expect new adventures of Dakota teenager Virgil Hawkins in a six-issue Static digital-first series.

In this monthly miniseries (20 pages per issue), bullied nerd Virgil is gifted with incredible electromagnetic powers in the wake of the Big Bang. Now he finds himself caught between an over-militarized police response to Black kids getting special abilities and some of those kids who are using those powers in dangerous and destructive ways. But when the bullies who terrorized him before the Big Bang show up with powers of their own, can Static be the hero that Dakota needs?

Static launches Monday, April 12. Each 20-page issue will be available on participating digital platforms for $3.99.

Icon & Rocket Digital-First Miniseries

The return of Augustus Freeman and Raquel Ervin is also in the works, with a new series featuring Icon and Rocket.

What happens when superheroes actually make a difference? When Raquel Ervin broke into the home of a wealthy Black lawyer, she didn’t expect to learn that he was a nearly omnipotent alien, lost in despair of ever returning home—and he didn’t expect that she would inspire him to emerge from the shadows and become a force for change on the planet he’s trapped on. What starts out as a simple request to stop the drug trafficking in her neighborhood turns into a mission to eliminate the drug trade worldwide. However, this act of heroism has unexpected consequences, making the pair the two most wanted criminals in the world when actually stopping crime leads to the collapse of the global economy!

The debut issue of this six-issue monthly series (20 pages each) arrives June 21 for $3.99 per issue.

Hardware Digital-First Miniseries

The relaunch of Milestone would not be complete without some mention of Curtis Metcalf, and beginning August 23, the first wave of new Milestone stories climaxes with the return of Hardware in a new digital-first series. This six-issue monthly series features the return of legendary artist and Milestone co-founder Denys Cowan with Bill Sienkiewicz on the character that completes the foundation of Milestone and the Dakota universe, both past, and present.

All his life, young prodigy Curtis Metcalf was told he was special, and that he would save the world. But it turns out that Alva Industries wanted his beautiful mind for something a lot less noble than that—and his technology has made him the fall guy for the tragedy of the Big Bang. But Curtis is smart enough to not go out like that—and smart enough to steal his inventions back from Alva and start the process of remaking the world his way.

New issues of this series will be available each month for $3.99.

Comics

Michael B. Jordan Joins Static Shock as Producer

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Brett

DC announced during their FanDome event that Static Shock was getting the movie treatment. The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop that Michael B. Jordan and Outlier Society will produce the film.

Jordin joins Reginald Hudlin on the project. Outlier Society is Jordan’s Warner-based banner.

In a statement, Jordan said:

I’m proud to be a part of building a new universe centered around black superheroes; our community deserves that. Outlier Society is committed to bringing to life diverse comic book content across all platforms and we are excited to partner with Reggie and Warner Bros on this initial step.

Static is 15-year-old Virgil Hawkins who gains electromagnetic powers and becomes a costumed crusader.

Static first appeared in Static #1 in 1993 as part of the Milestone Comics imprint. Milestone was a comics imprint founded in response to the underrepresentation of minorities in comics. The comic imprinted the Dakota Verse, filled with minority superheroes and characters. Static was created by Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle. When Milestone folded, Static eventually joined the regular DC Universe.

Milestone is currently being revived by DC. Hudlin will be writing a new Static Shock digital comic series that launches in February 2021 as well as a graphic novel with art by Kyle Baker.

Static has also appeared in other media including his own animated series which ran for four seasons and 52 episodes.

Friday Flashback Review: Static Shock: Trial by Fire

Posted on April 14, 2017 by George Carmona 3rd

StaticTBF For my first installment to the GP Time Portal that is “Flashback Friday,” I’m going to go back to the 90’s for a re-read of Static Shock: Trial by Fire, originally Static issues #1-4, the name change came with wanting to capitalize on the cartoon from the WB.

This collection is the first appearance of our hero Virgil Hawkins aka Static, a superhero most of us could relate to, a scifi geek making it through high school, battling the bad guys while trying to get the girl and this is only a taste of what the Milestone crew brought to this series.

Co-written by Dwayne McDuffie and Robert L. Washington III, both gone too soon, you would think that something written over 20 years ago would be dated. The writing is able to balance humor and danger like phasers and photons. With the exception of one or two words, the pacing of the dialogue is a master class in writing teens, the issues our hero faces in and out of costume are sadly problems young kids still face today.

static-01-02 And let’s not forget the art, the early work of then newcomer John Paul Leon is full of energy and I’m not just talking about Static’s power effect. From fighting to walking down the street, JPL infused a crazy amount of kinetic flow into the movement of the characters, but he doesn’t stop there. His character designs, based off of Denys Cowans work in the Milestone bible, Static is like a snapshot of today’s kids walking around being teenagers, minus the video chatting.

If by this point I haven’t persuaded you to run to your local store to track down this trade. I’ll put it to you this way, if you like Miles Morales and Riri Williams, you can thank Virgil for paving the way. Static is that super smart, geeky kid that shows us how anyone can be a hero and still be cool. This series was that it talked about bullying, dating, gangs and just about everything else a modern teenager faces today and not in a condescending manner, instead it did it in a way that makes you think about how these issues can be fixed.

For more of my money bring back Static, bring back Milestone.

George Carmona 3rd is an Artist/Writer, former Milestone Media Intern, former DC Comics paper pusher, current book lover, and lifelong comic geek. You can find his work at FistFullofArt.com or follow him on twitter at GCarmona3.

DC Dice Masters: Green Arrow and The Flash Review: The Atom, Static, Wonder Girl

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Brett

In September, the latest DC Dice Masters set, DC Dice Masters: Green Arrow and The Flash will be released. Wizkids hooked us up with ten booster packs and after an unboxing video, I’m now going over groupings of the cards to discuss their playability and how they stack up to previous versions of the characters.

Up next, the common The Atom, Static, and Wonder Girl!

The Atom: Matter Compression (uncommon)

Team: Titans

Purchase: 4 FIST

Die – Fist / Fist & Fist / Fist & Fist

Level: 0 1 1 / 1 4 4 / 1 5 5

Character Previous Set: War of Light and Justice League

While The Atom is active, whenever you could use a Global Ability you may spin down one of your The Atom dice to level 1 to draw 2 dice, put one into your Used Pile and the other into your Prep Area.

Thoughts: I love this card and die. It uses a mechanic we’ve seen in previous version of the character, spinning the die down. It’s relatively cheap to purchase and cheap to field. The ability to spin it down and draw dice? Hells yes. This game is about getting dice and anything to help with that helps. Find ways to spin the die up during turns and you’ve got a cool way to move through your bag.

Static: Taser Punch (rare)

Team: Titans

Purchase: 4 BOLT

Die – Bolt / Bolt and Bolt / Bolt and Bolt

Level: 0 2 1 / 0 3 2 / 1 4 3

Character Previous Set: None

While Static is active, whenever your opponent rolls 2 or more dice at once, KO target Sidekick unless your opponent takes 1 damage.

Thoughts: It’s Static’s debut in Dice Masters! The card’s ability is an interesting one. It can help clear out Sidekicks which may be helpful, but since it’s a KO, you’re giving them a die to use the next turn. For me, the fielding is the best part of the card, a 0 cost 3A/2D is a solid cheap character in the field.

Wonder Girl: Are’s Champion (uncommon)

Team: Titans

Purchase: 3 FIST

Die – Fist / Fist and Fist / Fist and Fist

Level: 0 2 2 / 1 3 2 / 1 3 3

Character Previous Set: War of Light

If you have an active Titan character, Wonder Girl costs 1 to purchase. You may only purchase 1 Wonder Girl die this way each turn.

Thoughts: Cheap to purchase, cheap to field? This card is a solid one for Titan teams allowing you to get her out quickly and get a die out to absorb some damage or do an attack. I’m digging the card and if you use this version or a previous set version will be determined by the rest of your team.

Final thoughts: Three solid additions to Titan teams. These three are so interesting, I really want to see what their other versions are like. Each is useful in their own way and each adds to the Titans which need to be expanded as a team option.

Warner Bros. Announces Static Shock

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Brett

Warner Bros. has revealed some of the details about its digital production unit. The unit named Blue Ribbon Content has unveiled some of its initial development plans, including some more work based on comics.

Already announced is Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles, which will debut on Machinima in 2015 as well as the virtual reality experience, Batman: The Animated Series Experience. Warner Bros. has a stake in Machinima, so the project makes complete sense. Some other projects are tied into The CW, the television network that Warner Bros. is also involved with.

Today brought even bigger news, a project based on Static Shock.

The action series include Static Shock, an adaptation of the Static comic from writer-producer-director Reginald Hudlin (Django Unchained).

That’s a pretty big announcement quietly put out there. Warner Bros./DC Comics was the first to announce a movie based on one of their female characters, as well as an African American character. Now we have Static Shock out of nowhere. Seems like the company that had been receiving lots of criticism is now beginning to fire on all cylinders.

Here’s more details on the comic related projects:

Static Shock — Writer/producer/director Reginald Hudlin (Best Picture Oscar nominee for producing Django Unchained) leads the creative team behind a live-action adaptation of Static Shock, featuring the African-American super hero Static, aka Virgil Ovid Hawkins. Static Shock is based on the Static comic co-created by the late Dwayne McDuffie with co-writer Robert L. Washington III and artist John Paul Leon, which was originally published by the DC Comics imprint Milestone Comics and, later, by DC Comics. Milestone Media co-founder/comic book artist/TV producer Denys Cowan (the original Static Shock animated series) is collaborating with Hudlin on the new Static Shock.

Batman: The Animated Series Experience — As previously announced, Blue Ribbon, DC Entertainment and visual effects pioneer OTOY are teaming up on an immersive entertainment experience that will see the Batcave from the acclaimed Emmy Award–winning Batman: The Animated Series brought to life via interactive holographic video for virtual reality displays. OTOY is collaborating with series producer Bruce Timm on this interactive narrative experience which will give fans the opportunity to explore Batman’s world like never before, allowing them to feel what it is like to be inside the show’s stylized universe on devices such as the Samsung GALAXY Gear VR, the Oculus Rift, and on forthcoming “glasses-free” light field displays that will power future TV and mobile devices.