April Solicits

Sorry about taking the weekend off... I'm caught in one of those disturbing turns where I have nothing to do each day so I do nothing each day. And it creeps into the things I usually do.

Luckily, the DC April solicitations are out, giving me something to talk about! Quite a month it's looking to be. Final Crisis will be over, Battle for the Cowl will be humming along, and Trinity will be winding up. And to top it all, Blackest Night is right on the horizon. Oh, and don't forget The Flash: Rebirth.

TEEN TITANS #70
Written by Sean McKeever
Art by Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson
Cover by Andrew Robinson
“Deathtrap” Part 3 of 5! Straight from the pages of VIGILANTE #5, the team gets roped into Jericho’s insane plot to take out both Titans teams. But how can they fight back against a menace who can possess their bodies? Continued in TITANS #13, on sale in May!
On sale April 29 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Dammit. I hate it when a book I do buy (such as Teen Titans) crosses over with books I do not buy and have no intention of buying. Am I going to have to buy them anyway? Am I going to have to sneak a peek in the store? Will I have to imagine what happens?

THE OUTSIDERS #17
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art and cover by Lee Garbett & Trevor Scott
“The Deep” part 3 of 6! While The Outsiders find their hands full dealing with a new group called the Thrashers, a battle of the minds between Jack Ryder and his Creeper persona shakes the group to its core. And in the shadows, The Insiders make an offer to Deathstroke that he can't refuse. All this plus Owlman tries proving himself to the team!
On sale April 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Don't ask me why, but I loves me some Outsiders. I only wonder if Batgirl will still be around... She's on the cover of Battle for the Cowl, but I don't think she's in here anymore. Is Halo a fair trade off?

ORACLE #2
Written by Kevin VanHook
Art by Don Kramer & Jay Leisten
Cover by Guillem March
The Calculator will go to any lengths to save the life of his daughter Wendy – even if it means using remnants of the Anti-Life Equation to do so! But when Oracle intervenes, she soon finds out that the Calculator has been killing Internet hackers from across the globe to get his hands on the Equation, and the final name on his list is hers!
On sale April 15 • 2 of 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I'm really torn about whether or not to buy the Oracle mini> I'm not real familiar with VanHook's work, but I love Don Kramer. If they can manage to do an Oracle/Calculator story that hasn't already been done (no easy feat) I'll give it a whirl.

THE FLASH: REBIRTH #1
Written by Geoff Johns
Art and covers by Ethan Van Sciver
Through the decades, many heroes have taken the mantle of The Flash, but they all ride the lightning that crackles in the wake of the greatest hero the DC Universe has ever known, the man who sacrificed himself to save the Multiverse: Barry Allen!
Following the events of FINAL CRISIS, Barry has beaten death and returned to a fast-paced world that a man out of time wouldn’t recognize. Or is it a world that is only just now catching up? All the running he’s done before was just a warmup for the high-speed race that he and every other Flash must now run, because even though one speedster might have beaten death, another has just turned up dead! From Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, the visionaries responsible for the blockbuster GREEN LANTERN: REBIRTH and THE SINESTRO CORPS WAR, comes the start of an explosive and jaw-dropping epic that will reintroduce to the modern age the hero who single-handedly birthed the Silver Age of comics! DC history will be made, and the Flash legacy will be redefined!
Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 25 copies of the Standard Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Ethan Van Sciver). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.
On sale April 1 • 1 of 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US

Here's the big one, folks. Geoff Johns did the impossible in making me tolerate Hal Jordan. He's got an easier road here, but not by much. Here's hoping it's half as successful as the first Rebirth... And leaves all the Flashes alive.