Geoff Johns Ends His Decade Long Green Lantern Run

Well I say a decade long run, but this will actually be Geoff Johns ninth year taking on Hal Jordan and his adventures. This is a particularly bittersweet day for me as well being that I returned to comics in 2004 from a long hiatus and Green Lantern: Rebirth was my first exposure to the mythos and also one of the first books that brought me back.

From my own opinion this has been the most consistently solid and entertaining comic book in either of the big two companies. Johns brought back Hal Jordan and made the book one of DC top selling titles each month. It's hard to let these things go when you have followed it from it's existence, but Geoff has said he's leaving on his own terms and I'm pretty excited to see how it all gets wrapped up leading into a new chapter for Green Lantern.

Johns has over 100 issues of Lantern tales under his pen now and along with him will be the shake up of the other Green Lantern related titles as well. He had this to say about what awaits in his final issue;

"So what will 'Green Lantern' #20 bring? The bizarre return of Hal Jordan, the final fate of Sinestro, the revelation of the First Lantern and an ending that I hope pays off everything we’ve ever done and ever created with 'Green Lantern,'" Johns said in his post. "It has art by Doug Mahnke, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis and Joe Prado and I’ve poured everything I can into the script."

Comic Book Resources also has a great look at potential writers that could take over the main Green Lantern title. My first pick would be their top pick also, Peter J. Tomasi. He has worked in this corner of the DCU for a long time and would bring familiarity with his own unique style. Next would be as they put it and absolute dream team for fans with Abnett and Lanning taking on the Corps with all their experience in galactic characters.

Green Lantern and all of it's supporting titles have easily been the highlight of my return to comics in these 9 years that I've been reading. While there are definitely hit and miss issues throughout, Johns had a clear vision of what he wanted to do with each big story arc and I feel like he delivered in full each time. I can only hope that the next batch of creative teams can bring something fresh that we will be in awe of years later.

Justice League of America Interior Page

DC Comics has been hyping up the new Justice League of America title which finally sees release at the end of this month. The company decided to team up two superstar members of their very own roster, Geoff Johns and David Finch, to help get this title started off with huge momentum. From the looks of the team so far they are going with the lesser known characters to fill up the ranks, but it promises to be a very different tone than the regular Justice League title.

No doubt DC is hoping for a fair amount of success for the new book and it's a bit reminiscent of New Avengers #1 for Marvel back in 2004. Brian Bendis and Finch teamed up to bring a fresh take on the dwindling Avengers franchise. The regular Justice League book is far from being a sales disappointment at the moment though, regularly being in the top 5 to 10 books each month. It helps draw attention to the book having such big names especially when they are touting that a character like Vibe will be one of the centerpieces of the book.

Geoff Johns promises to make this one of the top must reads each month from both companies;

"I'm hoping that David and I working in conjunction lets him bring something people aren't expecting. You look at that team lineup, and it's very unexpected. I like that. I want people not to know what to expect from the book. Now, we've got a lot of the story broken, and when it's out there, I want these cliffhangers to be the craziest cliffhangers in comic books. I really want this to feel like something special."

Homecoming #3 Review

 Homecoming centers around a group of teens who have mysteriously returned after a ten year absence. A young girl name Celeste is the focal character of the story and she has been reunited with her mother, Carla. It's also revealed that in the strange vanishing from before Carla was caught up in it as well so the reunion is a very emotional moment for the both of them.

Elsewhere in the book another teen endowed with strange powers is Paul, and as any young adult male would do he tries out for the football team with his new skills. The two stories connect once Celeste heads off to school and the group of students hang in the cafeteria.

Celeste is broken from the group after receiving a phone call from her mother to come home immediately. She finds Carla passed out on the floor as an assault from the alien beings known as Strikers ensues. Celeste eventually handles the threat, but passes out and finds herself trapped inside of a glass tank with her own mother putting her there.

David Wohl and Emilio Laiso feel like the perfect team on a book like Homecoming. Wohl really handles the personalities of each teen well and you feel the emotion between Celeste and her mom when they are first reunited and the twist at the end becomes that much harder to watch. Laiso gets to have a lot of fun with the Striker aliens and handles the quieter moments of the teens sitting around at a table with ease. This issue was just a lot of big fun and had a great twist ending that entices anyone reading to come back for the next issue. 

Avengers #3 Preview

Two books in the Marvel NOW! launch that I didn't give much attention to prior to their release were Avengers and New Avengers, both written by Johnathan Hickman. I am a huge fan of Hickman's work on Fantastic Four, FF, S.H.I.E.LD., and many of his lesser known projects like Teeth. A bit baffling that the advertisements and previews for these two new books didn't set the excitement level for me like they should have. Maybe in the back of my mind I felt Hickman was more suited for franchises not as big as the Avengers so he can really spread out his ideas in a better environment.

Sometimes when you don't set your expectations at any certain level the actual product comes out to blow you away. Hickman has introduced his very grand and epic style into the world of the Avengers who had very recently became stale with the previous writing efforts of Brian Bendis. My favorite has to be his bringing the The Illuminati back together in New Avengers with Black Panther to explore multiple worlds/universes in order to slow down the destruction of their own. He also never loses sight of developing his characters while these cosmic scale events are happening around them.

Pick these books up if you haven't yet and you won't be disappointed. On that note Comic Book Resources has released a preview of Avengers #3 where we see many of the Avengers still trapped by Ex Nihilo.

10 for 10 and J. Scott Campbell

Aspen Comics continues to add more incentive for fans and new readers to join in on the publishers’ tenth anniversary initiative with the announcement of superstar artist J. Scott Campbell coming aboard to provide covers for all ten “10 for 10” issue #2 releases. Aspen Editor-in-Chief Vince Hernandez discusses the addition of Campbell to their growing “10 for 10” initiative:

“It was a no-brainer for us to ask Jeff to join in our hugely ambitious plans for 2013 and to celebrate our ten-year anniversary with us. Besides the fact that his art is always a visual delight and truly amazing; he’s been a good friend and played a big part in the success in our first decade in the industry as well. Some of Jeff’s earlier covers for Fathom and Soulfire were some of our most memorable and classic to date. So for us, it’s just a continuation of a wonderful collaboration with Campbell that will result in ten amazing covers for fans to collect!”

All of Aspen’s issue #2’s as part of their “10 for 10” initiative will feature the retailer incentive exclusive edition by J. Scott Campbell, and Aspen encourages fans and new readers to check with their local retailer for details on how to reserve their copy. Below is the full list of Aspen’s “10 for 10” issue #2 titles featuring J. Scott Campbell covers, and release dates provided by the publisher:

March 6th – Legend of the Shadow Clan #2 (New Aspen Series)

April 10th – Shrugged #2 (Volume 2)

May 22nd – Jirni #2 (New Aspen Series)

June 5th – Charismagic #2 (Volume 2)

July 10th – BubbleGun #2 (New Aspen Series)

August 21st – All New Fathom #2

September 18th – Awaken Skies/Overtaken #2 (New Aspen Series/s)

October 2nd– Executive Assistant: Iris #2 (Volume 4)

November 6th – Trish out of Water #2 (New Aspen Series)

December 18th – All New Soulfire #2

Aspen has already released the J.Scott Campbell exclusive covers for the first two “10 for 10” releases: Legend of the Shadow Clan #2, and Shrugged (Volume 2) #2. Future Campbell covers for later “10 for 10” titles will be revealed soon.

Superior Spider-Man #1 Review

Going into this review I am assuming most people have either read Amazing Spider-Man #700 or at least have checked the articles online about what the big shocker was at the end of the issue. So from this point on prepare to be spoiled if you are still in the dark about what happened to everyone's friendly neighborhood hero.

So this is the big first issue where Spider-Man is actually Otto Octavius as Peter Parker. Yep, Doc Ock switched brains with the web head right before he died and now we have Octavius stepping in as Spider-Man while we wonder if the real Parker will ever return. Admittedly I am not a huge fan of Spidey, but I have been following the book on and off since the controversial Brand New Day storyline changed the status quo. The last issue of Amazing Spider-Man was very well written with great art to accompany it so I wanted to give this new title a chance.

What we get is a really fun book with a lot of action and a Spider-Man that moves around and looks just like what is the norm, but the personality is quite different. I believe that's where the fun of the book will strike most people willing to let this storyline play out. Right from the get go Otto Parker breaks up a group of villains attacking a science building and makes no bones about how embarrassing they are to use the name of Sinister Six. Instead of the wall crawler that usually spews out witty quips to his enemies, this version is very self righteous. His inner thoughts even become frustrated that Peter Parker is going to be the one to get the credit for all of the brilliant discoveries and works of science that truly should belong to Otto Octavius. There is also an uncomfortable scene while Peter and Mary Jane are out for dinner, that makes you feel a bit dirty which helps drive a different side to this new take on Spider-Man.

The lingering question is how will the real Peter Parker return and how long is the wait? At the end of Superior Spider-Man #1 Otto Parker begins viloently thrashing the villain Boomerang close to the point of death, but stops moments before ending him while wondering why he didn't finish the job. We see ghost Peter holding his arm back and it's obvious that something is brewing to make everyone happy again.

I have zero complaints with this issues art. Ryan Stegman knows how to make an action scene pop off the page and when Otto lets loose on Boomerang he shows off close ups of fists and eyes which works fo well for such a hard hitting moment. His style is a bit similar to Humberto Ramos which will help the transition for fans who loved the Amazing Spider-Man title. That's not to say he is a carbon copy of Ramos though, he certainly has his unique style that helps this book stand on its own.

This was a strong first issue and surprised me throughout as I was reading it. I'll be coming back for issue #2 with joy and maybe even hoping Peter stays gone for a while so we can have a little fun with a new Spider-Man.

Aspen Comics To Bring Back Classic Series Shrugged For “10 for 10”

As their second release in their tenth anniversary “10 for 10” initiative, Aspen Comics is returning to the world of Perspecta and their popular series Shrugged. Created by Michael Turner and Frank Mastromauro, Shrugged will feature a mix of both a returning and brand new art team. The official Aspen solicitation for the new series reads:

You think you’re prepared, but you’re not. You’ve been decisive in your actions up to this point, but now things have been turned upside down. You feel you’ve conformed your mindset and are ready to accept what you’re about to experience, but you haven’t. That’s because SHRUGGED is back and ready to blow your mind!

Theo and his friends are entering their final year of high school, and even though Ange and Dev are still along for the ride, a host of new characters have joined in on the adventure! But, everything isn’t all fun and games this time around as an evil force has also returned and is preparing to silence those voices inside their heads…permanently. If you thought you knew what fear was, you haven’t seen anything yet!

Creator and writer Mastromauro discusses the new volume:

“It’s been a long time coming and I couldn’t be happier working on Shrugged again. When we created this series almost eight years ago, Michael [Turner] always had an idea for where he wanted the story to go after the first volume was completed. I’ve kept that idea in mind ever since for when we were able to get the series scheduled back into production and back into stores for the fans and readers. Now that Aspen’s ten year anniversary is here, I’m thrilled to have Shrugged return as a part of that celebration, and I’m looking forward to bringing Michael’s incredible vision to everyone to the best of my ability.”

This newest volume of Shrugged will be written by Mastromauro and will pair up-and-coming Aspen newcomer Jonathan Marks with returning, veteran colorist Beth Sotelo. Volume one artist Micah Gunnell will also return to provide a special lead-in to the new art team for this new volume.

As with all of Aspen’s “10 for 10” releases, the publisher will be offering a host of incentives for retailers and fans alike, including the extremely affordable price of only $1 for the first issue, Shrugged #1. Aspen will also be offering a special Aspen Reserved Edition cover for Shrugged #1 featuring art by Marks and superstar colorist Peter Steigerwald. Fans who reserve this all new Shrugged volume with their local retailers will be eligible to receive the Aspen Reserved Edition of Shrugged #1.

Fans who collect all ten of Aspen’s “10 for 10” Aspen Reserved Edition #1 covers each month through their local retailer will be eligible to receive the full-size Aspen “Perfect 10’s” jam poster absolutely free.

In addition to the debut issue, Aspen is also offering an Aspen Reserved Edition cover for Shrugged #2 by Gunnell and Sotelo, along with a Shrugged #2 J. Scott Campbell Retailer Incentive cover. Aspen will be releasing more info on further Shrugged incentives and Aspen’s “10 for 10” soon.

Death of the Family Expands in December

When the new 52 launched last September one of the big shake-ups was having The Joker in absence for a whole year to lead up to a monumental return. Early on Joker had the skin of his face carved off by the Dollmaker which was confiscated by GCPD and kept at their station for further investigation. This left many fans wondering and highly anticipating what direction the Clown Prince of Crime would go in this new DCU.

Fast forward to October 2012 where the Joker eerily arrives at the GCPD building and takes out an officer one after the next, using the shadows to his advantage much like Batman would do. This story has promised to have major consequences all across the board of the Bat-titles, though October and November has seen minimal action with the story being contained in 2 issues of Batgirl, Catwoman, and Batman as well as a single outing in Suicide Squad. The Joker is taking his time to pick apart the family of bat characters with an unpredictability that we have never seen.

December explodes the story across each title involving a character connected to Batman. Death of the Family will continue from now through February in Batman, Batman & Robin, Detective Comics, Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood & the Outlaws, Suicide Squad, and Teen Titans. Something interesting to point out is that the next two months are missing the Catwoman title as part of the checklist. It could simply mean that Catwoman will be going in a different direction after last months issue, but with the psychotic nature of this new Joker she may not survive the end.

Night of Owls was the introductory arc for the new 52 Batman and would be hard to top with any story arc following it, but it looks like DC is on the right path to make this bigger and better than these already solid group of books are at the moment.

Karen Berger Bids Farewell to Vertigo

Official Press Release

Karen Berger, Executive Editor & Senior Vice President of DC Entertainment’s Vertigo brand, has announced she is stepping down from her post after nearly 20 years at the helm of the award-winning literary imprint. She will remain on through March 2013 where she will be assisting in the transition to a new leadership team which includes veteran staffers whom she has mentored over the years.

Karen is responsible for shepherding critically-acclaimed and best-selling publishing titles including perennial favorites: THE SANDMAN, HELLBLAZER, V FOR VENDETTA. FABLES, PREACHER, THE INVISIBLES, 100 BULLETS, Y - THE LAST MAN and AMERICAN VAMPIRE. Vertigo has published nearly 300 new literary properties during the last 20 years. Berger notes she is ready for a professional change and is looking forward to pursuing exciting new opportunities.

“I've been incredibly proud to have provided a home where writers and artists could create progressive and provocative stories that broadened the scope of comics, attracting a new and diverse readership to graphic storytelling,” said Berger. “I'd like to thank all the many immensely talented creators who have helped make Vertigo into a daring and distinctive imprint and I’m grateful to everyone at DC Entertainment and the retail community for their support and commitment to Vertigo all these years. It’s been quite an honor.”

DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson stated, “We are extremely grateful for Karen’s commitment and dedication to Vertigo, its books and its incredibly talented team of staff and creators. In Vertigo she leaves a legacy to which we remain committed and on which we intend to build for the future. She will always be a deeply valued and respected member of the DC family.”

DC Entertainment is planning a celebration next year - to help salute Karen, her 33 years with the company and her many accomplishments, befitting her legendary status within DCE and across the publishing and comics industries.

The Age of Ultron Is Coming

Brian Bendis has been working with the main Avengers cast for 8 years now and with the Marvel NOW! event he is bowing out of those duties. Or at least everyone was lead to believe that. Jonathan Hickman will be scripting The Avengers and New Avengers from the new sorta-kinda-not-really-relaunch as Bendis moves on to All New X-Men among other titles.

Even with this new shift in many of the Marvel books, it was revealed today that Bendis will be writing the long awaited Age of Ultron story that was first teased last year. It was intended to bring Ultron back into the mainframe as a key villain of the Avengers and also the final story with the group from Bendis. Comicbookresources has a really lengthy article combing out all the fine details of what to expect and Bendis was adamant about this being a top secret story;

"Though this book started in 'Avengers'...it was always meant to be a Marvel Universe book. It stars everyone, not just the Avengers. Our last pages are so shocking that there are literally only six people in the whole world who know what they are.''

Bendis even revealed that once Bryan Hitch comes aboard for the art duties, something happens in the story that is being kept even from the previous artists working on the book. This is obviously going to be something quite big for it to be such a secretive topic. I imagine it will have lasting consequences on the ''new'' Marvel universe, but we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.

Age Of Ultron will be a ten issue series with one issue stamped as a prologue to get things started off, running from March until June of 2013.