Older Comics Are Outselling New Comics. What Needs To Be Done Differently?

San Diego Comic Con was last weekend, and admittedly, there was nothing to write home about since DC didn't reveal any new details on their upcoming projects that we didn't know about already. However, there is one thing DC co-publisher Dan DiDio said at the con last Thursday that really got my attention:

'We do these Facsimile Editions where we reprint older issues of comics including all the old ads and stuff…and in some cases these are selling more than the new comics with these characters. People are more interested in buying the stories from 30 or 40 years ago than the contemporary stories, and that’s a failure on us. We should be focused on moving things forward, always pushing the boundaries and finding new stories to tell. That’s how we’ll survive and grow this industry.' (Source)

Earth-2 Heroes Join The Justice League In Upcoming Justice Doom War

Justice League #26 kickstarted the storyline that's going to lead into Scott Snyder's 'Justice Doom War' epic, and presumably the 'Year of the Villain' event.

Following the events of 'The Sixth Dimension', Superman has recruited the World Forger to the Justice League in order to help them save the DC Multiverse from dying as a consequence of the Source Wall breaking during the events of Dark Nights: Metal. However, when the heroes returned to their Earth, they soon discovered that their world has been in state of disarray during their absence.

The Best of the Huntress: Wonder Woman #320 Review

Title: Wonder Woman #320
Story: Flashbacks
Characters: Huntress (Helena Wayne), Tom Kelly, June Moorman
Creators: Joey Cavalieri (writer), Stan Woch (artist)
Publication Date: 03 October 1984
Available In: Digital

Summary: Helena Wayne has been having recurring nightmares of late, and they are beginning to affect her sleep. To 'cure' her insomnia, Helena decides to venture out into the night as the Huntress to investigate a series of robberies. As soon as she notices a cat motif to the robberies, Helena is immediately triggered and passes out. Upon waking up, she realises she isn't feeling well, and decides to seek professional help. She goes to the one person she feels she can trust: a new ally in the form of Tom Kelly!

The Justice Society Returns In Scott Snyder's Justice League This Autumn

Today has been an interesting, yet very weird day for me. For one, my day started out with a friend and I sharing our disillusionment with DC as of late, especially in face of some of the kerfuffles that have been taking place ever since WB and AT&T have been taking a more active role in managing DC's intellectual properties.

Then later in the day, I talked in-depth about Helena Wayne's core mythology as a character, why she fits in better with the Justice Society, and why she doesn't really fit into the narrative of the Prime Earth Bruce and Selina because of how profoundly different their journeys are.

Top 5 Times Helena Wayne Hinted She May Be Bisexual

June is Pride Month for the LGBTQA community, and for years I've been wanting to write about Helena Wayne's bisexual behaviour in the comics. Everything from pre-Crisis to post-Crisis to post-Flashpoint, there has been a treasure trove of evidence that seem to suggest Batman and Catwoman's canonical Earth-2 daughter may be attracted to more than one gender.

While Helena Wayne has historically only had one confirmed romantic partner—District Attorney Harry Sims—writers also couldn't resist teasing romantic attraction between herself and her father's ward, Dick Grayson, as well as writing her friendship with Power Girl in ways that play into romantic tropes. In the latter case, it's especially hard to overlook the queer subtext.

Despite neither DC Comics nor Huntress co-creator Paul Levitz ever explicitly confirming Helena Wayne's sexuality, there are plenty stories with the character for readers to examine and draw our own conclusions. Based on the way Helena Wayne has interacted with various characters as both the Huntress and as herself across three different continuities, I would argue that she is indeed bisexual.

From pre-Crisis to post-Crisis to post Flashpoint here are my Top 5 picks that—to some degree—support my conclusions.

Doomsday Clock vs Justice League: Two Competing Entities for the Evolution of the DC Multiverse

Doomsday Clock #10 came out this past week, and I have to say this is the first issue I've genuinely enjoyed since the series first launched in 2017. I won't get into Doctor Manhattan's role in this story too much in part because I feel Geoff Johns has been using the character in ways that don't fully understand the purpose of his character in Watchmen, and in part because I want to focus on the details that matter most to me in this story: the history of the DC Multiverse and specifically how that changed over a period of time.

Geoff Johns shifted focus back to the DC Universe in Doomsday Clock #8, but it is actually in Doomsday Clock #10 where we start seeing answers to some of the questions first posited in DC Universe Rebirth #1 in 2016, some of which seem to intersect with events happening in Scott Snyder's Justice League. There will be spoilers throughout this post for both Doomsday Clock and Justice League. If you aren't caught up on either series (or both) this is your stopping point to give you the chance to catch up. If you are all up-to-date, proceed to the next paragraph.

The Best of the Huntress: Wonder Woman #319 Review

Title: Wonder Woman #319
Story: The Ozymandias Solution
Characters: Huntress (Helena Wayne), Tracy Heather, Alfred Seraphin, Nightingale
Creators: Joey Cavalieri (writer), Stan Woch (artist)
Publication Date: 05 September 1984
Available In: Digital

Summary: Helena Wayne has finally unmasked her friend Myra's killer, and is ready to give the Nightingale the long overdue fight they've been craving for. But a showdown with the Nightingale isn't the only thing on Helena Wayne's 'check off' list. She still has to resolve her case with Myra's art dealer, Mr. Seraphin, who may be even more shady than he appears to be! Just what exactly is the origin of the Japanese statue he wants to sell Helena, and is it authentic? If fake, did Myra lose her life for nothing?

New Bronze Age Huntress Collection Coming in 2020!

HUNTRESS: ORIGINS
written by PAUL LEVITZ
art by JOE STATON
The earliest stories of Huntress, one of the Gotham City heroes featured in the upcoming Warner Bros. film Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, are collected in a new title. From the parallel world known in the DC Universe as Earth-2, the Huntress is a unique hero -- the daughter of a hero and a villain: Batman and Catwoman. Helena Wayne was trained by her parents to become a superb athlete, and studied law with the hope of bringing criminals to justice. But after Catwoman is killed by a blackmailer who tried to force her into returning to her life of crime, Helena dons a costume of her own. Now, with her crossbow as her chosen weapon, the Huntress vows to avenge her mother's death.

This title collects 1970s stories from DC Super Stars #17, Batman Family #18-20 and Wonder Woman #271-287, #289, #290, 294 and 295.

ON SALE 01.28.20
$19.99 US | 226 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1779500724
PREORDER NOW!

Bronze Age JSA To Be Collected In Full This August!

ALL-STAR COMICS: ONLY LEGENDS LIVE FOREVER
written by PAUL LEVITZ and GERRY CONWAY
art by JOE STATON, BOB LAYTON, WALLACE WOOD, KEITH GIFFEN and others
cover by JOE STATON and DICK GIORDANO
The classic 1970s run of the Justice Society of America is now collected in a single volume from the pages of ALL-STAR COMICS #58-74, ADVENTURE COMICS #461-466 and DC SPECIAL #29! Witness the continuing adventures of the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and Wildcat as they’re joined by younger heroes Robin, Power Girl and Star-Spangled Kid to battle the Psycho-Pirate, the immortal Vandal Savage, the Injustice Society and more.





ON SALE 08.28.19
$34.99 US | 448 PAGES
FC | ISBN: 978-1-77950-071-7
PREORDER NOW!

The Best of the Huntress: Wonder Woman #318 Review

Title: Wonder Woman #318
Story: Knee of the Idol
Characters: Huntress (Helena Wayne), Tracy Heather, Alfred Seraphin, Nightingale
Creators: Joey Cavalieri (writer), Mark Beachum (artist)
Publication Date: 01 August 1984
Available In: Digital

Summary: Myra Liebe has been murdered by a mysterious new foe, and it is up to Helena Wayne to put aside her own holiday to resolve her college friend's murder. Just who is the Nightingale and what does she want with an ancient Japanese statue? Why did its procurement cost Myra Liebe her life? What is Myra's relationship with art dealer Alfred Seraphin? Could he have had something to do with her death? These are all questions the Huntress must come to the bottom of, even if it means risking becoming the Nightingale's next victim!