Post Convergence, DC Comics Looks to Divergence and Diversity
Soon, DC Comics big event Convergence will hit, seeing the various corners of DC Comics history coming together into one massive story. The big question has been, what will the DC Universe look like after it? Today, we’ve begun to get our answer, and that it’ll include diversity in characters, series, and creators.
Continuing the trend began with Gotham Academy, Gotham by Midnight, the new Power Girl, and revamped Batgirl, DC Comics has circled back and revamped their comics line for the better, reflecting the diverse audience that reads comics. It’s almost is if a million voices screamed out, and were heard!
The new DC Comics launches June 3rd with a line that consists of 24 brand-new series that begin at issue one, which join the 25 on-going series. That brings the line-up to 49 comics, and more will debut throughout the year.
DC Comics has said it is planning on “going back-to-basics” with its classic characters of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, and will reinvent “key characters” such as Black Canary, Bizarro, Cyborg, and Starfire. The last character suffering massive issues post New-52 launch.
In the release, Co-Publisher Dan DiDio said:
This heralds in a new era for the DC Universe which will allow us to publish something for everyone, be more expansive and modern in our approach and tell stories that better reflect the society around us. Whether you’ve been a DC fan your whole life, or whether you are new to comics – there will be a book for you beginning in June.
The announced line-up of creators matching this new tone is amazing. Gene Luen Yang will join artist John Romita Jr. on Superman. Bryan Hitch will write and draw the Justice League of America. Garth Ennis and John McCrea will work on a limited series Section Eight which picks up on their popular Hitman comics. Ming Doyle and Riley Rossmo will bring us Constantine: The Hellblazer. That’s diverse voices, and some going back to the roots, hence the “Hellblazer” addition to Constantine’s title, harkening back to his Vertigo days. Brenden Fletcher, who helped revamp Batgirl, will write Black Canary. Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti will take the magic they’ve shown with Harley Quinn (which they’ll continue), and add a new Starfire series as well as Harley Quinn/Power Girl to their portfolio.
What’s amazing is Jim Lee’s addition to the release, which recognizes that people are being exposed to comic characters through more sources than ever before.
More than ever before, DC Comics fans are being exposed to our rich portfolio of characters through multiple sources, including an unprecedented number of highly successful TV shows, video games and upcoming major motion pictures. We are looking to extend that experience within publishing to ensure there is a comic book for everyone. For example, fans of the Arrow television show may want more stories about Black Canary. Now they can find modern, fresh takes on the character in the pages of her standalone series both in stores and digitally.
Lee pointed out that there’ll be different styles and approaches highlighting Bizarro, Bat-Mite, and Prez. The last of which might have to do with Prez: First Teen President a four-issue series written by Joe Simon and released by DC Comics in 1974 and 1974.
We get our first look this Free Comic Book Day with DC Comics: Divergence which features 8 page previews for many of the series.
Didio ended the release with this interesting statement:
In this new era of storytelling, story will trump continuity as we continue to empower creators to tell the best stories in the industry.
Looks like DC Comics is listening and learning. Below check out a full list of releases as well as promotional images. What are you excited for?
New Titles |
|
| Title | Creative Team |
|---|---|
| Batman Beyond | W: Dan Jurgens A: Bernard Chang |
| Bat-Mite (6-issue limited) | W: Dan Jurgens A: Corin Howell |
| Bizarro (6-issue limited) | W: Heath Corson A: Gustavo Duarte |
| Black Canary | W: Brenden Fletcher A: Annie Wu & Irene Koh |
| Constantine: The Hellblazer | W: Ming Doyle A: Riley Rossmo |
| Cyborg | W: David Walker A: Ivan Reis |
| Dark Universe | W: James Tynion IV A: Ming Doyle |
| Green Lantern: Lost Army | W: Cullen Bunn A: Jesus Saiz & Javi Pina |
| Doomed | W: Scott Lobdell A: Javier Fernandez |
| Earth 2: Society | W: Daniel Wilson A: Jorge Jimenez |
| Dr. Fate | W: Paul Levitz A: Sonny Liew |
| Harley Quinn/Power Girl (6-issue limited) | W: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner A: Stephane Roux |
| Justice League of America | W: Bryan Hitch A: Bryan Hitch |
| Justice League 3001 | W: Keith Giffen A: Howard Porter |
| Martian Manhunter | W: Rob Williams A: Ben Oliver |
| Midnighter | W: Steve Orlando A: ACO |
| Mystic U | W: Alisa Kwitney A: Stay tuned for artist info! |
| Omega Men | W: Tom King A: Alec Morgan |
| Prez | W: Mark Russell A: Ben Caldwell |
| Red Hood/Arsenal | W: Scott Lobdell A: Denis Medri |
| Robin, Son of Batman | W: Patrick Gleason A: Patrick Gleason |
| Section Eight (6-issue limited) | W: Garth Ennis A: John McCrea |
| Starfire | W: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner A: Emanuela Lupacchino |
| We Are Robin | W: Lee Bermejo A: Khary Randolph |
Ongoing Titles |
|
| Title | Creative Team |
| Action Comics | W: Greg Pak A: Aaron Kuder |
| Aquaman | W: Cullen Bunn A: Trevor McCarthy |
| Batgirl | W: Cameron Stewart & Brenden Fletcher A: Babs Tarr |
| Batman | W: Scott Snyder A: Greg Capullo |
| Detective Comics | W; Brian Buccelato & Francis Manapul A: Francis Manapul |
| Batman/Superman | W: Greg Pak A: Ardian Syaf |
| Catwoman | W: Genevieve Valentine A: David Messina |
| Deathstroke | W: Tony S. Daniel A: Tony S. Daniel |
| The Flash | W: Robert Venditti & Van Jensen A: Brett Booth |
| Gotham Academy | W: Becky Cloonan & Brenden Fletcher A: Karl Kerschl |
| Gotham By Midnight | W: Ray Fawkes A: Juan Ferreyra |
| Grayson | W: Tom King & Tim Seeley A: Mikel Janin |
| Green Arrow | W: Ben Percy A: Zircher |
| Green Lantern | W: Robert Venditti A: Billy Tan |
| Harley Quinn | W: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner A: Chad Hardin |
| Justice League | W: Geoff Johns A: Jason Fabok |
| Justice League United | W:Stay tuned for creative team info! A: |
| Lobo | W: Cullen Bunn A: Cliff Richards |
| Secret Six | W: Gail Simone A: Dale Eaglesham |
| Sinestro | W: Cullen Bunn A: Bradley Walker |
| New Suicide Squad | W: Sean Ryan A: Carlos D’Anda |
| Superman | W: Gene Luen Yang A: John Romita, Jr. |
| Superman/Wonder Woman | W: Peter J. Tomasi A: Doug Mahnke |
| Teen Titans | W: Will Pfeifer A: Kenneth Rocafort |
| Wonder Woman | W: Meredith Finch A: David Finch |
DC Comics….. take my money!!!!
Ive been such a Marvel head all my life, and just recently I’ve wanted to delve into DC Comics….Im stuck on if to start with The New 52 or go back to original DC stories.
After this announcement, you might want to wait until June. There’s some solid stuff that came out of the New 52, but much of it was blah. This line-up of comics and creators though, sounds amazing.
“story will trump continuity.” Finally! The poets and prophets of no less a book than the Bible knew that story comes first, that story is truer than continuity in most cases.
Yup. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s actually done, but for me I enjoy story arcs and one off stories more so than long ongoing continuity.
agreed. let’s stop pretending that canon has to exist in comics, per se. Let’s enjoy the characters! That’s what made Batman: The Brave and the Bold (show) so fun.