Scott and Dan pick the comics they’re most looking forward to…
—
Dan Greenfield, editor, 13th Dimension
Two-Face #2, DC. Like last week, I think New Comic Book Day is officially Thursday because of the holiday, but check with your shop. Anyway, I really enjoyed the first issue of Two-Face, but this is the one that got me to try the miniseries to begin with: Two-Face has to litigate the divorce of King and Queen of Hearts from the Royal Flush Gang. I am a huge fan of the Gang, and just love this irreverent concept.
—
Batman #608 Facsimile Edition, DC. DC’s 2025 Hush-0-Rama begins here! The publisher is repubbing the entire story by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and co. as twice-monthly Facsimile Editions, and the six-issue Hush 2 kicks off this March in the pages of Batman #158. I haven’t read Hush in a long time, so I’m looking forward to giving it another go. My recollection is that I liked it a lot, except for the ending. Time for fresh eyes.
There will be foil and sketch covers, too. I’m getting the sketch one because that Batman logo is the best the Modern Age has had to offer and it should never have been replaced:
—
DC Comics Presents #26 Facsimile Edition, DC. There’s a decent Superman-Green Lantern team-up, but that’s not why DC is publishing this. It’s that 14-page preview that featured the first appearance of The New Teen Titans. When this was announced back in 1980, I was deeply skeptical. It seemed to me, even though I liked the late ’70s revival, the Titans had run their course. (I was not alone in this mindset.) And I just wasn’t ready to commit to another ongoing title.
But I picked this up to see what it was like — and OH MY GOD, I WAS TOTALLY IN AND COULD NOT WAIT FOR THE FIRST ISSUE! For the next several years, The New Teen Titans, by Wolfman and Perez, natch, was my favorite comic.
—
JSA #3. Hey, any you folks reading JSA? Is it good? Lemme know. Asking for a friend.
—
Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin, Marvel. Something tells me I should pick this up. I do tend to enjoy “early days” stories of my faves, and Spidey is certainly one of those. And it’s written by J.M. DeMatteis, to boot. Art by Michael Sta. Maria. Dig the groovy Paulo Siqueira cover. Collects the 2024 miniseries, plus a reprint of 1997’s Spider-Man -1, by Howard Mackie and Dan Fraga.
—
Scott Tipton, columnist, 13th Dimension
Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 8, Marvel. One of my favorite runs of Marvel Team-Up here, from Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema.
—
Justice League: The Atom Project #1, DC. I hope this is good. Poor Ray Palmer has never really recovered from the way Identity Crisis ruined Jean Loring’s character. First of six issues.
Dan adds: Me too. I really miss the Atom. And damn it all, I could come up with 13 WAYS THE WRETCHED IDENTITY CRISIS WAS A PUNCH IN THE MOUTH TO DC COMICS AND ITS FANS. But I like to keep things positive around here.
—
Micronauts: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 3, Marvel. I have to admit, I remember not being wowed by the final Micronauts series after Bill Mantlo left the book, but I’ll have to give it another shot.
December 30, 2024
I remember being super excited to read the New Teen Titans preview in DCCP #26. The series that followed didn’t disappoint either. It didn’t hurt that it featured my favorite Titan: Wonder Girl. NEW TEEN TITANS #38 has, for me, the definitive origin of Donna Troy. The first five years had superior storytelling.
Tell your “friend” that I’m reading JSA. While it’s not **my** Justice Society of America — I still miss the original Earth-2 (pre-Crisis) JSA — I faithfully follow each JSA series.
December 30, 2024
I didn’t like the ‘new’ Teen Titans’ … and I had hope that DC would do better stories of the originals…!!
December 30, 2024
JSA is good so far. I loved Jeff Lemire’s tributes to the history of superhero comics within the pages of Black Hammer. He understands how each generation of characters is distinguished from the last, he’s great at characterization, and he can keep you invested in the story.
It’s interesting that Captain Atom is front and center in The Atom Project, considering he is out of his freaking mind right now in the pages of the DC Black Label book Jenny Sparks. This just reinforces my belief that all Black Label books are not part of mainstream continuity (such as it is anymore).
I’ve always been wary of villain-led books. I just don’t care to root for them. But I really enjoyed the first issue of Two-Face, so I’ll definitely check out #2.
My dad got DC Comics Presents #26 when I was just a tyke and would read it to me. I think he finally gave it to me when I was 3 or so (which would have been ’84ish). While I think collectors would go nuts over the state of that issue (no more staples: all tape!), I believe Marv Wolfman, Jim Starlin, George Perez, Bob Rozakis, Jose Delbo, and the rest of the creators would be proud to see how loved that issue is.
December 30, 2024
The best Batman logo is still the 72-86 “Adams” one, with the 70-72 variation of the TV one (used for years on B&B) up there. Still the Lee-era logo is the hands down best since those two.
December 30, 2024
I never got DCCP #26. My first exposure to the New Teen Titans was as a 10-page special in one of DC’s Blue Ribbon Digests – number #18 (a story called “Reunion”, written by Marv Wolfman, but penciled by Carmine Infantino).
I didn’t really get into the Titans until I bought a second-hand B&W Australian Federal Comics reprint that included the Wolfman/Perez Brother Blood stuff that blew me away.
December 30, 2024
I remember reading the DC Comics Presents # 26 (maybe at a friend’s house) but I don’t think I ever had it. And I probably skipped over the Titans story and went right to the Sargon story. More fool me!
January 1, 2025
Identity Crisis is still one of the best selling collections in the DC Line-Up, there is a reason it never goes out of print
January 1, 2025
Doesn’t make it good.
January 1, 2025
Write the Identity Crisis thing. Eff that comic.
January 4, 2025
New Teen Titans: Some of the best DC stuff ever.
Identity Crisis: The exact opposite. Oh, how I hate it.