by rory midhani
My whole life I’ve loved the characters of DC Comics, but honestly, right now I’m only reading a few of their books. If 14-year-old me met today me, she would be absolutely shocked that I’m only reading four DC books to 13 Marvel books. Now, the DC Universe is relaunching itself for the next two years with DC Rebirth. But will this change make me (or other fans) actually read more of their books?
With the New 52 reboot, many fans, myself included, felt like DC set itself back, especially when it came to characters of color and queer characters. Favorites like Renee Montoya, Grace and Thunder, Cassandra Cain and Jaime Reyes were nowhere to be seen. Then came the DC You wave of books, which included solo titles for Black Canary, Midnighter and Poison Ivy. It looks like with this new rebranding, we’re loosing solo titles starring Catwoman, Midnighter and Poison Ivy, three queer characters, and Secret Six, which featured a bisexual male lead and a non-binary trans lead. There is some good news though, as some favorite characters will be returning and others will be getting new directions and new creative teams.
IGN has a really good article filled with details and creative teams for all the announced books; that’s where I got the information for this article. I’m definitely not saying that you should necessarily read all these comics, but these are the ones that I think will be your best shots for enjoying your weekly comics haul.
Art by Raphael Albuquerque
Batgirl
Written by Hope Larson and with art by Raphael Albuquerque, when Rebirth launches, Batgirl will have a new look. I’ve been loving her run in Burnside with Cameron Stewart, Brendan Fletcher and artist Babs Tarr, and honestly, I will be sad to see them go, but also I’m excited to see a woman back writing Batgirl. And it’s not just any woman; it’s Hope Larson, who’s written some great original graphic novels with some really terrific female characters. The story will feature Batgirl backpacking across Asia, but hopefully we’ll see some of Frankie and Alysia, Batgirl’s awesome queer friends and hopefully Larson and Albuquerque will be able to avoid the racist tropes and traditions that often come with stories that have this same premise.
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey
This is probably the thing I’m most excited for. Seeing Batgirl team up with Black Canary and Huntress (who’s a woman of color!) is super great, and I’m hoping that Batgirl’s friend Frankie Charles will soon join the title officially as Oracle. I’m really excited because this book has two women writers (Julie and Shawna Benson from The 100) and a woman artist, Claire Roe.
Blue Beetle
I’m not really planning on adding this to my pull list, but I will check it out in trades. I love Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle, and so I’m super excited to see him again. Keith Giffen is writing and Scott Kolins is doing art on this series that will see Jaime Reyes being mentored by the original Blue Beetle, Ted Kord.
Detective Comics
Batwoman is back! And she’s in a title with Cass Cain and Steph Brown! While I haven’t been a huge Batman fan for some years now, I’m going to give this book a chance just to see these three women that I love. Hopefully they’ll shine brightest in this book (and maybe even get solo titles because of it). James Tynion IV will be the writer with Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez on art.
Green Lanterns
I normally wouldn’t be interested in a Green Lantern book, but the two characters that are the main focus are really interesting to me. Just a few weeks ago I was tweeting about how sad the lack of prestige Latina heroes in DC and Marvel makes me, and here she teams up with Simon Baz to have a book starring two Green Lanterns of color. Sam Humphries, who’s writing the terrific Jonesy, will write this book, which makes me even more excited for it.
Harley Quinn
Really, the thing I’m most excited about with this title is that they said we’ll see more of Poison Ivy, which hopefully means that Harley’s queerness will be taken a little bit more seriously. Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti will continue to write this book, with artists Chad Hardin and John Timms coming onto the book.
The Hellblazer
Along with Harley Quinn, this is the only solo title featuring a queer lead in the DC Rebirth. I’m a huge fan of Alan Moore’s classic Swamp Thing comics where he teams up with John Constantine, and that’s what this series will be about, so hopefully it can recapture some of that great horror comic atmosphere that that series had. This time Simon Oliver will be writing and Moritat will take over on art.
Justice League
I’m interested in this book because it not only has Wonder Woman, but also the aforementioned Jessica Cruz Green Lantern is here too. Maybe this means Jessica will appear in the DC Cinematic Universe? We can only hope. Brian Hitch is writing this series with Tony Daniel and Fernando Pasarin on art.
Suicide Squad
It seems like DC is trying to tie this book in closer to the movie, as this title will star Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Deadshot, Boomerang and Katana. It’s been said that Katana will have a larger role, so I’m excited to see that. If you think the Suicide Squad trailer looks fun, you might want to pick up this title, which is being written by Rob Williams with art by Jim Lee and Philip Tan.
Supergirl
I’m absolutely loving the Supergirl TV show, and it looks like writer Steve Orlando and artist Brian Ching are taking this comic in that direction.
Superwoman
Not much is known about this title. Will it be about Lois Lane? Will it be the evil Superwoman from the Crime Syndicate? I don’t know, but if it seems cool enough, I’ll check it out. Phil Jimenez and Emanuela Lupacchino will be working on this book.
Teen Titans
Based on the preview art, it looks like this book will feature Robin (Damian Wayne), Beast Boy, Flash (Wally West, who’s a POC in this version), Starfire and Raven, so if you’re a fan of that classic lineup, this book could be the perfect thing for you. In this run, writen by Ben Percy and with art by Jonboy Meyers, Robin is going to fight the other Teen Titans to try to take over as their leader.
Art by Nicola Scott
Wonder Woman
Greg Rucka is back writing Wonder Woman! This makes me ridiculously excited, as he’s one of the all-time best writers of the characters. I’m hoping that since she has a movie coming out soon, DC is going to make sure that her book is as good as it can be. Artists Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott are going to trade off art duties, telling two stories, one that takes place in the past and one that takes place in the present.
Thankfully, DC Bombshells and Gotham Academy will also be continuing after the launch of Rebirth, so you know I’ll still be checking those out. In the end, I’m for sure going to read Batgirl and Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, and I want to check out Green Lanterns, but other than that, I might look at Wonder Woman and Supergirl, but I’m likely going to stay reading about the same number of DC titles. What about you?
New Comics (March 30)
Jughead #5 (Archie)
We Are Robin Vol. 1: The Vigilante Business TPB (DC)
Jem and the Holograms #13 (IDW)
Octopus Pie Vol. 2 TPB (Image)
Paper Girls Vol. 1 TPB (Image)
Saga #35 (Image)
The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 1 Year One (Image)
A-Force Presents Vol. 4 TPB (Marvel)
Darth Vader #18 (Marvel)
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #5 (Marvel)
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #6 (Marvel)
Welcome to Drawn to Comics! From diary comics to superheroes, from webcomics to graphic novels – this is where we’ll be taking a look at comics by, featuring and for queer ladies. So whether you love to look at detailed personal accounts of other people’s lives, explore new and creative worlds, or you just love to see hot ladies in spandex, we’ve got something for you.
If you have a comic that you’d like to see me review, you can email me at mey [at] autostraddle [dot] com.
Hmm, my thoughts on each of the titles.
Batgirl – try. I recently stopped buying the current series so I’ll give it another go for the first arc with the revamp.
Batgirl & The Birds of Prey – buy. It’s the traditional lineup, I was hoping to see them introduce some of the new characters here (maybe Harper Row) but I’ll still probably get it on an ongoing basis.
Detective Comics – buy. As of the latest rearrangement of the Gotham hierarchy, Maggie Sawyer is back in her old role as head of the MCU and Renee Montoya is also back as a detective. Kate hasn’t really been seen much since the Batwoman series ended, but assuming they keep the same continuity she is back with Maggie. It’s 2 issues a month so there is a possibility they will run 2 separate storylines at the same time (like they are with Batman), in which case I may only get the issues with Kate.
Supergirl – try. The last series was a bit of a disaster and really went off the rails towards the end, so hopefully this is improved. There is another digital first series staring the TV version of supergirl and that’s a good alternative.
The rest I’ll probably skip as there are a lot of great titles from other publishers that deserve my limited comics budget more.
Speaking of which, this week I think I’ll get,
– Jem and the Holograms #13
– Wayard #15
– Darth Vader #18
I really need to check out the Batgirl comics. I really like her in DC Bombshells and now want more (avoided her before despite rave reviews mostly cuz I could care less about batman comics, but she is obviously her own character!).
I hope you will do more round ups of which of these end up being worth buying TPBs for! I have never been led astray by Mey’s comic opinions!
Do you mean Batwoman? Batgirl isn’t in Bombshells.
If you do check out the earlier Batwoman comics, then the following collected editions are the best stories.
Batwoman: Elegy (must read)
Batwoman, Vol. 1: Hydrology
Batwoman, Vol. 2: To Drown the World
Batwoman, Vol. 3: World’s Finest
Batwoman, Vol. 4: This Blood is Thick
Batwoman Annual #1 (or Batwoman, Vol. 5: Webs)
The rest can be skipped, as the series went downhill from issue #25 onwards and the last volume in the series (issue #35 onwards is a travesty that should be buried for all time and not read by anyway, ever).
ooo thank you so much for this list! Will have to check these out.
I’m not sure which of these I’ll read. Like you, I’m reading way more Marvel than DC right now. I think the only DC comic I’m even reading on a regular basis is Bombshells, though I did really enjoy the Batgirl of Burnside paperback you suggested. Wonder Woman and Supergirl are strong contenders for weekly reading, but the rest, I’ll probably wait on your take before I buy.
New Squirrel Girl for me this week, and last week’s Hellcat, which I haven’t had a chance to pick up yet. Oh! And the next issue of Faith is out from Valiant!
GREG RUCKA IS BACK?!
WITH NICOLA SCOTT?!
AND NO BRIAN AZZARELLO?!
This is the best comics news I’ve seen in a LONG time.
Batwoman is back! And Greg Rucka is writing Wonder Woman! *swoon*
These all sound great EXCEPT Birds of Prey, which is written by Julie and Shawna Benson from The 100…who have engaged in some of the worst examples of queerbaiting I’ve ever seen. Basically, Shawna Benson went onto forums that were supposed to be LGBT safe spaces and, by misdirecting and, at times, outright lying, told fans who were concerned about Lexa dying that there was nothing to worry about. She did this after the decision had already been made to kill the character off. You can find out more info here: http://wedeservedbetter.com/post/141388433803/your-friendly-neighborhood-lurker. But I would respectfully submit that as someone who’s done irreparable harm to the LGBT community and, so far, faced no consequences, these writers’ work does not deserve your endorsement.
Was just coming here to say this.
Obviously it’s up to each fan if they want to see what Benson does with this opportunity and judge work by work, or if what she did was serious enough to merit boycotting her future work entirely or waiting for her to apologize sincerely for what she did. But I think it’s relevant info in helping queer women decide where they want to allocate their dollars.
Yep, not fucking with them.
I wouldn’t call The L Chat a LGBT safe space exactly…
Yeah, I’m not picking up her book.
There’s a lot of potential here, to be sure! Looks like I’ll be checking out Batgirl, Batgirl and the BOP (lol), Detective Comics, and Wonder Woman. I’ve literally never read a Wonder Woman comic but I’ve been meaning to, and I’ve loved just about everything I’ve ever read by Rucka.
I’m a trade-waiter, so if anything ends up being terrible as it’s being released monthly, I can cross it right off the list. That said, I would trade my eventual firstborn for another good comic with Kate Kane in it, so I hope beyond hope that she takes Detective Comics by storm.
Greg Rucka is one of the writers I trust the most in all of comics so this Wonder Woman is really exciting to me. I hope he fixes every mess the last creative teams made!
OMG Greg Rucka and Wonder Women!!!
I’m SO exited, I’m even using multiple exclamation marks!!!
I’m happy that Batwoman is back and they are finally integrating her more into the Batfamily like they should have done years ago. I’m really excited Cass Cain is back with them as well.
Greg Rucka writing Wonder Woman might actually make me start reading her again. As long as they keep her far away from Superman. I still hate that relationship with a passion and I’m not found of putting her with Batman romantically either. Nobody is going to convince me that Wonder Woman isn’t bisexual no more how many times over the years they have gone out of their way to tell us she’s straight. They even had her say it in her appearance in Batwoman’s title and it all came off rather “No Homo” to me.
In light of all the controversy surrounding Shawna Benson right now, I’m staying far away from anything she writes. And she has yet to really own up to what she did. The only writer from that show I’m willing to give a chance to at this point is Javier Grillo since he’s the only one who has told the truth about his part in LexaGate, apologized sincerely, and promised to do better with Xena. I have no love for Jason Rothenberg or Shawna Benson and never will since they continue to lie about all the queerbaiting they did online or that they knew about the trope, haven’t acknowledged The Trevor Project fundraising, and have even resorted to accusing fans of “bullying” them(which is an insult to actual real life bullying IMO). Javier already told everyone that they DID know about the trope in the writers room and just chose to go through with it anyway. He described the situation as “arrogant” on their parts because they truly thought their writing was brilliant enough to overcome comparison with that trope. I am living from all the indirect shade the cast is throwing on twitter though. I will follow Ricky Whittle and Adina Porter anywhere after this.
Ricky Whittle and Adina Porter have been amazing about this mess. And Lindsey Morgan has been more vocally critical of her boss than I’d ever thought any actor could be without getting fired on the spot. I hope they have long and successful careers away from Rothenberg. The entire cast looks so done with him.
I just read Ricky Whittle’s tweet “When u throw a ‘but’ into an apology,everything before it becomes void ?It’s no longer an apology,it just becomes another excuse” from the day Rothenberg’s non-apology went online. I officially love him.
With the peso crisis I can’t afford any more issues, so I’ll be waiting for trades. I hope they do a good job on Detective Comics, I’ve been holding on to Bombshells but we need to see Kate in a modern story. The artwork at least looks promising, without silly objectifying poses. DC has to be respectful of its female characters, let’s see if they’ve finally learned.
I can’t wait for Batwoman, Batgirl and Harley Quinn! ❤
Ugh, I’m so mad that the new Birds of Prey is being written in part by Shawna Benson. I was SO EXCITED for it, but I just can’t be with her at the helm. Her bullshit concerning The 100 has soured me on her forever. I unfortunately won’t be checking BoP out when it’s released. But everything else looks great! I’m stoked for more Batgirl and more Harley (especially if there will be more Ivy).