Wow. Can you believe we are in March already? This 2016 year is playing no games in terms of the speed that its passing us by and while I often refer to the month as “March Metal Madness” for the heavy music stuff I guess I am going to start citing this as “March Media Madness” for the films and comic book postings like this one. That being said, let’s get to examining the offerings from DC Comics. Historically speaking about these posts, I’ve locked into only presenting those first issues coming out but with this month we have to pay some attention to the fact that the remaining titles that fell under “The New 52” labelling are reaching their 50th issue this month. Those covers and premise from the DC media desk are presented for your shopping ease. Let’s go.
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #1: It’s four powerhouse tales in one colossal comic, as some of comics’ most legendary talents launch new tales of Firestorm, Metamorpho, Metal Men and Sugar and Spike—that’s right, Sugar and Spike! Main Cover by Aaron Lopresti
FIRESTORM: Firestorm is back! To save Jason Rausch, Firestorm will need to retrieve Danton Black’s stolen research from Professor Stein’s lab. But if Jason can’t fuse with Ronnie by the Firestorm Protocol…who can? Written by Gerry Conway, Art by Eduardo Pansica and Rob Hunter
METAL MEN: Doctor Will Magnus’ Metal Men may be the next step in robotics technology, but when the mysterious cyber-terrorist known only as Nameless comes after them, they may have met their match! Written by Len Wein, Art by Yildiray Cinar and Trevor Scott
METAMORPHO: Metamorpho—a prisoner of millionaire industrialist Simon Stagg! Now, the only person who can save him is Stagg’s beautiful daughter, Sapphire!? But can they defeat Stagg’s prehistoric bodyguard, Java? Written by Aaron Lopresti, Art by Aaron Lopresti with Matt Banning
SUGAR & SPIKE: The last time we saw Sugar and Spike, they were still in diapers! Now, they’re grown up, and they’ve become private investigators who specialize in cleaning up embarrassing problems for the DCU’s greatest heroes. Sugar & Spike’s first assignment: retrieve a cache of Batman’s retired costumes that have been stolen by Killer Moth! Written by Keith Giffen, Art by Bilquis Evely.
ACTION COMICS #50: Clark battles his way through Vandal Savage’s hordes to reclaim what is rightfully his—the Fortress of Solitude and his birthright! This epic anniversary issue leads to the finale of “Savage Dawn” in this month’s SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN #27 and SUPERMAN #50!
Written by Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder, Art and cover by Aaron Kuder
AQUAMAN #50: Dead Water is a killer and a monster. No matter where you go, he can reach you if there’s even one drop of water present. Pray that Aquaman finds you first! And the most famous oceanic hero on Earth is Aquaman, right? In our gala 50th issue, make way for…Aquawoman!
Written by Dan Abnett, Art and cover by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund
BATGIRL #50: It’s the explosive conclusion of the epic that changed Barbara Gordon forever! The enemy lurking at the edges of Batgirl’s life has been revealed, as have the gang of heroes assembled to help her! From this point on, Batgirl doesn’t walk alone! It’s an extra-sized celebration of the greatest hero Burnside has ever known, from Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr!
Written by Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart, Art and cover by Babs Tarr
BATMAN #50: Batman has returned to Gotham City! In this extra-sized conclusion to Snyder and Capullo’s epic story “Superheavy,” Bruce Wayne returns to the cape and cowl to battle Mr. Bloom alongside Jim Gordon for the fate of the city they both love.
Written by Scott Snyder, Art and cover by Greg Capullo and Danny Miki
CATWOMAN #50: Catwoman behind bars?! Thrown into jail with criminals who are still looking to collect a bounty on her head, Selina has to work with her shadowy helper, Mr. Blond, in order to escape and get to the bottom of the mystery behind the Frost Diamond. Shocking revelations will be made before the end of this extra-sized conclusion to Tieri and Miranda’s “On the Run” adventure!
Written by Frank Tieri, Art by Inaki Miranda, Cover by Joshua Middleton
DETECTIVE COMICS #50: Jim Gordon faces his past in this extra-sized conclusion to his most shocking cold case yet. With history itself forcing him to reflect on the last year as Batman, Gordon must make a decision about what his future holds in Gotham City.
Written by Peter J. Tomasi, Art by Fernando Pasarin and Matt Ryan, Cover by Tyler Kirkham
THE FLASH #50: In our massive 50th issue, The Flash must win back the trust of Central City! But to do so, he needs to outrun the police force that’s been charged with bringing him down—with the awesome power of the Rogues behind it all!
Written by Robert Venditti and Van Jensen, Art by Jesus Merino, Cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado
GREEN ARROW #50: In our anniversary 50th issue, Green Arrow and Deathstroke race across the globe to find the Miracle Man, whose blood can cure any disease! And the Tarantula returns—but even with her assistance, she and Green Arrow are no match for the perfect assassin!
Written by Benjamin Percy, Art by Szymon Kudranski, Cover by Shane Davis and Michelle Delecki Davis
GREEN LANTERN #50: In this extra-sized issue, it’s a battle for the fate of Earth! Parallax believes Hal Jordan has failed this universe—and now, he’s prepared to wipe Hal out of existence! Hal has to get over the shock that Parallax still exists so he can unleash the power of his gauntlet to stop him! It’s a battle neither Jordan can win, and one that will change both forever.
Written by Robert Venditti, Art by Billy Tan and Mark Irwin, Cover by Juan Gimenez
SUPERMAN #50: Superman returns in all his glory in this very special issue that sees the Man of Steel back to full power as he faces his greatest enemy and also comes face to face with the pre-Flashpoint Kal-El! At last, it’s the meeting of the Supermen you’ve been waiting for!
Written by Gene Luen Yang, Art by Howard Porter, Cover by John Romita, Jr. and Klaus Janson
WONDER WOMAN #50: It’s a special super-sized 50th issue! Wonder Woman continues her quest to save Zeke and Olympus, but is she prepared for what she might find? Long-buried secrets suddenly brought to light will call into question everything she thought she knew about those she loves and trusts the most.
Written by Meredith Finch; Art by David Finch and Scott Hanna
COLORING DC: BATMAN – HUSH VOL. 1 TP: DC Comics presents classic adventures in a whole new way: in black and white, on heavy stock suitable for coloring! This title collects the opening chapters of “Batman: Hush,” from BATMAN #608-611 and a story from Wizard #0, all featuring spectacular artwork by Jim Lee and Scott Williams!
Written by Jeph Loeb; Art and cover by Jim Lee and Scott Williams
COLORING DC: BATMAN ADVENTURES – MAD LOVE TP: DC Comics presents classic adventures in a whole new way: in black and white, on heavy stock suitable for coloring! This Eisner Award-winning tale told the origin of Harley Quinn, by the creative team that first introduced her in Batman: The Animated Series! Includes MAD LOVE, plus stories from BATMAN ADVENTURES ANNUAL #1 and BATMAN ADVENTURES HOLIDAY SPECIAL #1.
Written by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm; Art and cover by Bruce Timm
PiercingMetal Thoughts: I’m really enjoying the “Legends Of Tomorrow” television show and if you have not yet checked it out you should be doing so. I have to admit that I even like it more than “Arrow” these days because its serious with some sense of humor in it whereas “Arrow” barely has a single laugh. That being said it’s great to find this special issue being released but one has to wonder why we are getting “Metamorpho” and “Metal Men” since they are not a part of the show and neither is “Sugar and Spike. I think I would have preferred a solo tale about Hawkgirl or Captain Cold and Heatwave or Rip Hunter and perhaps even Vandal Savage himself. I’m picking up a copy regardless and hope that they make this an interesting series going forward. It has the potential to be a great spotlighting issue for those we might even see on the small screen sometime in the future. I love that “The New 52” titles are reaching their 50th issue and think that those are going to be on my shopping list as well. Last but not least are these awesome coloring book editions. Yeah they might be best suited for the younger readers in your household but some artists I know have said that the aspect of coloring every once in a while is a very calming and centering thing. I’ll take their word for it and might even snag these two issues. Remember to stay inside the lines and have fun. That’s all for the DC Comics side, I will be back with Marvel, Valiant and perhaps even Dynamite and Image if you are lucky. Let me know what you think of these offerings in the comments section below.
Official Website: http://www.dccomics.com