DC Comics, home of icons such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, is starting from scratch. The company is taking titles such as Action Comics, where Superman first appeared in 1938, all the way back to #1. This is a new universe featuring all of your old favorite characters and providing them with new opportunities for thrilling feats of daring do! But the creation of a new universe also means that within the context of these stories, all the DC adventures for these characters that you read and enjoyed as a child (or adolescent, or adult) didn’t happen. As such, this is a fantastic time to dip your toe in the superhero water without getting bogged down by decades of complicated continuity. Since there has been so much chatter recently about The New 52, I asked two of our resident comic book addicts, Dan Sai and J. Alex Briggs, to tell you about the few that they are most excited about picking up.

Alex

Justice League of America by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee

(Issue #1 out August 31st)

This is the title I’m most excited about. DC is trying to make Justice League their flagship book again. The League is really the grand daddy of team books with each individual member having the power to destroy the world. The challenge for Geoff Johns is not to keep finding gigantic threats that would be sufficiently challenging (he’s a comics writer and those guys think of 15 weird monsters before they finish their coffee), but to make the character interaction compelling. We all have a good idea about how Superman and Batman act, but how will Flash and Cyborg get along? There’s a lot of potential for new relationships there. Johns had a stellar run on both Justice Society and Teen Titans, particularly when it comes to the quieter moments, so I have high hopes for this one. Jim Lee is the penciller for the book,and has redesigned all the costumes. There’s been controversy around some of his choices: no red briefs on Superman and pants on Wonder Woman (that’s the kind of thing that passes for controversy amongst comics fans); but I enjoy how his drawings convey action and movement rather than leaving the heroes looking as though they are posed in every panel. With the classic lineup of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman, and new addition (and Teen Titans graduate) Cyborg, I have a feeling this book is going to be something I read again and again through the years.

(Issue #1 out September 28th)

Aquaman has always been a bit of a joke, but it has SO MANY things I love: Sword and Sorcery action, political intrigue, a protagonist that’s a little bit of a jerk, and a healthy dose of simple wackiness. That being said, the book has just never really clicked for me. There’s been some grave “heavy is the head that wears the crown” takes on the character, and of course the silly Silver Age run (for the best appreciation of these stories, listen to the delightful podcast "Tom vs. Aquaman"); but it has never felt like required reading. This title, however, I’ll definitely try for a few months to see if it takes. We know from Brightest Day that Reis can draw the crap out of Aquaman, and that alone is a big pull; but if he and Johns can move the king of Atlantis to the A-list, I’ll be very impressed.

Action Comics by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales

(Issue #1 out September 7th)

Grant Morrison loves Superman more than you. And me. And probably more than Jerry Seigle and Joe Shuster. This is a man who thinks about Superman, his mythos and character and symbolism, on a daily basis. He is responsible for All-Star Superman, possibly the greatest Superman story ever written. This will be a good book. This might be a great book. It takes place when Clark Kent is still a young man, just learning how to be Superman, not entirely confident in his powers and his quest for justice. I do have a few concerns, though. For example, I can get behind jeans and a Superman t-shirt, but what’s the deal with that tiny cape? It looks really stupid. And tiny. But in a new timeline, with Superman as the first-ever superhero, reading about a youngish Clark Kent will be a great way to explore and become familiar with the world. And watching the Man of Steel leap into new and different adventures (especially at the hands of such a good writer) is reason enough for me to pick this up.

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"The Coolest Writer in America is obviously Mr. Freeze, DC Comics villain and author of the memoir Early On I Made A Decision To Incorporate A Cold Motif Into My Crime Sprees: A Life." - Colson Whitehead