It looks like the sun is about to set on five ongoing DC titles… and the casualties are lethal! Since relaunching its overall branding, the far-reaching effects of the recent “convergence” gave way to “the New 52” universe and opened up the DC You! The initiative was meant to inspire DC’s creatives to think outside the box and given lease to color their existence DC universe without abandon.
The result has been overall well-received giving all-new, all-different direction to token templates including the Man of Steel — who has been recently “de-powered” and is running around looking like just one of the regular joes you’d meet at the gym. Superman (as written by Gene Luen Yang and drawn by John Romita Jr.) has also had his secret identity revealed to the world by none-other than his would-be best friend Lois Lane.
Over in Gotham, Batman has been missing since his most recent endgame facing-off with the Clown Prince of Crime. The Caped Crusader has hung up the cowl, but it looks like its been up to Jim Gordon to keep the peace. So the former commissioner has suited up in major tech thanks to the GCPD and is slightly invincible packing some serious firepower.
Wonder Woman (as reimagined by Meredith and David Finch) has also had her hands full assuming the throne on Paradise Island as Queen of the Amazons and fully embraced the mantle of God of War, which hasn’t given her much time except to deal with the re-emergence of her soul sister Donna Troy. Unconvinced of Diana’s ability to balance her time between her duties to them and man’s world, the Amazons launched a revolt!
Things have been pretty shaken up and particularly unstable for the rest of the Justice League who have their hands full with “The Darkseid War” which is pitting the New Gods against one of the DCU’s most notorious threats; unleashing the Anti-Monitor. The DC You initiative launched solo titles for founding leaguer Cyborg and re-introduced Professor Zoom into the Flash’s speed force.
Overall the titles that premiered or were “rebooted” after the Convergence event have been pretty successful, but there are some titles that have just been announced to have run their course. Expect final issues in effect for Justice League United, Gotham By Midnight, The Omega Men, Lobo and Doomed.
“Lobo” may have met his match as the title featuring the DC Universe anti-hero faces cancellation along with 4 other ongoing titles.
The ragtag heroes that assembled after the defunct Justice League of America debacle at the end of “Forever Evil” never really coalesced under the leadership of Stargirl. The mostly “all-blond” membership roster had some highlights and included Animal Man, Green Arrow and Supergirl, but not even heavy-hitters like Martian Manhunter (who also launched a solo title) could keep them together. United they fall.
The anti-hero Lobo had a very interesting debut, but failed to keep an audience interested in his far-reaching, star-faring adventures. The cover price to keep “Lobo” running may have been just too much to upkeep, and something had to go. “The Omega Men” may have also suffered in the wake of the similarities to the competitor’s own galaxy guardians.
The popularity of the episodic “Gotham” tv series, couldn’t keep the latest iteration of “Gotham By Midnight” afloat. Horror stories may not be where its at for fans at the moment, and the newly powered “Doomed” was also given the boot. They the DC Entertainment editing staff insists that readership is up, it’s not that hard to notice that newsstand and specialty shop sales are down.
DC’s top seller remain the tried and true trinity and its team book featuring the Justice League, which just relaunched in a newly branded Justice League of America helmed by the stellar talent of Bryan Hitch. Exactly what’s in store and over the horizon as the fall season hits is still too soon to say, but with the advent of the film and television franchises taking off, will the DC comics titles have to reboot again to keep up with the trends?
