The Comic Titles that VANISHED!

DC Comics announced last week that they were taking another four currently ongoing titles to the chopping block. 'Voodoo', 'Captain Atom', 'Justice League International' and 'Resurrection Man' will all be cancelled as of September of this year. Coming out to take their place will be four all new titles to expand DC's ever growing cast in the new 52.

Since the launch of the New 52, DC has made a point of transitioning the characters featured in their cancelled titles into still ongoing books, most notably O.M.A.C. into 'Justice League International'. With JLI getting the push into oblivion, fans have to wonder not only where DC will put fan favorite O.M.A.C., but where will DC place an entire team of heroes?

Like with the first wave of cancelled books from the popular comics company, four new titles will be thrust into the void left in the publishing lineup. 'Sword of Sorcery', 'Talon', 'Team Seven' and 'The Phantom Stranger' will each bring a unique twist into the DC New Universe (DCNU).

With 'Talon' capitalizing on the blockbuster success that is Scott Snyders 'Court Of Owls' storyline running through Batman, DC will introduce a renegade Talon to readers, allowing them to follow the character as he evades the Court and seeks to build a life for himself.

As the DCNU line-up gets another anti-hero, they also add another anthology title to their ranks with 'Sword of Sorcery'. The new title will primarily follow Amethyst, a character not unfamiliar to fans of the old DCU, as she discovers her true origins. The title will also feature a tale following Beowulf and Grendel. So where 'All-Star Western' corral's DCs western stories, 'Sword of Sorcery' will enchant readers with it's more fantastical tales and beautiful art.

DCs third new title comes in the form of 'Team Seven'. Now here's where it gets dicey for me. It's one thing to capitalize on a major success like 'Court of Owls' by opening another avenue by which to make more money (in this case 'Talon'). But such approaches have been tried in the past and have both succeeded and failed. 'Team Seven', however, capitalizes on the fans of the old DCU that seek to learn the "history" of this new universe. Now filling that need by fans is not altogether wrong, but their process in this book doesn't really garner the positive reactions DC was undoubtedly looking for. Consisting of a membership roster of Amanda Waller, Dinah Lance, Steve Trevor, John Lynch, Alex Fairchild, Cole Cash and Slade Wilson; the book makes a large portion of DC fans groan loudly...including myself.

Perhaps the title with the most potential in this new batch of books features one of my favorite characters in the entirety of comics, The Phantom Stranger. The new book, written by Dan DiDio, will showcase once and for all the mysterious origins of the Phantom Stranger. Historically the Stranger has never had an origin, in fact, it has long been held as cannon that he isn't supposed to have one in the first place. DC even went so far as to release an issue of 'Secret Origins' that provided four potential origins to the characters as an entertaining gimmick. As the book explores the origins of this longtime DCU observer, it will also setup more breadcrumbs to the history behind the estranged Pandora and lead into DC's first new major crossover of their new universe as seen in DCs Free Comic Book Day issue released this year (seen below).

(DC hints that The Phantom Stranger is actually Judas from the Bible)

So keep your eyes peeled this September for books full of potential from DC Comics!

The Strange Trial of Alan Scott...

End of hiatus. Why? Is it because I have more theories? Is it because I have a job now and can AFFORD comics? Nope. I mean, all of the above is true but there is something else prompting my comeback to semi-ludicrous theories.

DC comics decided awhile back to cancel a handful of their lower selling titles. So while titles like ‘Blackhawks’, ‘Hawk and Dove’, ‘Men of War’, ‘Mister Terrific’, ‘O.M.A.C.’ and ‘Static Shock’ got the axe, DC served up a few titles to take their place. ‘Batman Incorporated’, ‘Earth 2’, ‘World's Finest’, ‘Dial H’, ‘G.I. Combat’ and ‘The Ravagers’ stepped in to fill the gap signaling to fanboys everywhere that DC is dead set on keeping the fifty two in the ‘New 52’.

With the introduction of ‘Earth 2’, however, DC fans saw the return of the sorely missed J.S.A. Currently only one issue in, ‘Earth 2’ is already stirring up controversy with fans of the DC universe. The popular comic company hinted a few weeks ago that one of their characters releasing soon would be homosexual. Almost immediately fanboys leapt at the chance to theorize who DC’s new addition to their homosexual character ranks would be. Today the official announcement was made. Alan Scott of Earth 2 (an alternate Universe in the DCU) is gay. For those of you keeping track that means Green Lantern (the Golden Age one) is now gay.

Now this announcement, like much having to do with homosexuality these days, came with its fair share of controversy. Some fans are outraged, some think it’s about time and others think “Why change a time honored character? Just make a new one!” Now, since I over explain everything, let me say this: I’m a card carrying heterosexual male but I do not, in any way, believe that homosexuals should be treated differently nor given less rights. I fully support equal rights for all, not on the basis that we’re all American, but that we’re all HUMAN.

That being said, this announcement regarding the Golden Age Green Lantern irks me in only one regard. Change for the sake of change has never really been the herald of popular decision making. In fact a quote I just found by Edward Abbey says, “Growth for the sake of growth is the philosophy of a cancer cell”. Now I know that is extreme, but hear me out. In the 1970’s, when leftover race relation strained our country, Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams introduced a black character in their ‘Green Lantern/Green Arrow’ storyline. John Stewart went on to become so popular that he appeared as a main character in the acclaimed ‘Justice League’/ ‘Justice League Unlimited’ cartoon series. They didn’t suddenly change Hal Jordan and say, “Well, now he’s black now.” They said, “Check out this new character. Isn’t he awesome? I know right! So who cares about his race?” Now there will be those people who say, “Wait Chad. Homosexuality and the color of someone’s skin are not the same.” Isn’t it? I believe that neither is wrong nor is a factor that allows someone to be robbed of rights. I also believe that homosexuality can be just as much of a natural occurrence as someone’s skin color. So where’s the difference?

Now, will I swallow all of this natural uncertainty I get when I encounter change for the sake of change? Of course. Why? Because, I have no problem with ANY character being gay, let alone Green Lantern. I suspend my doubts because DC has done many progressive things for the homosexual community, most notably Batwoman and Kyle Rayners assistant and friend Terry Berg. There was an entire storyline, within ‘Green Lantern’ no less, that featured Terrance Berg getting beaten by a handful of individuals simply because he was gay. So homosexuality has been confronted and covered extensively in DC comics both then and now.

This leads me to my final point. Don’t fuck this up DC. If you ARE going to force feed us the idea that Alan Scott is gay, then play it cool. Don’t show Green Lantern kicking ass and taking names and then flash back every other page to a hey-don’t-forget-that-he’s-gay type of scene. I don’t need it every five seconds. Do you remind me every other panel that Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane are a couple? Nope. So why remind me that Alan Scott and Samuel are a couple just as frequently? As far as I’m concerned, if someone is a homosexual, it is a very SMALL part of who they are as a person. So treat it that way. “No big deal, let’s carry on.”

So there you have it, my long winded return to this blog. Are there any theories to speak of in there? Not really. Unless you throw in there that I believe Samuel will die VERY soon. This has nothing to do with the fact that he’s gay; this is just how DC does things. If you’re going to tell the origin of a superhero in the DCU, it’s commonplace to kill any love interests the protagonist has in their life before they become a hero or at least shortly thereafter. So, mark my words, Samuel will die by issue 10 of ‘Earth 2’ at the latest.

That's it Corps Conjecture fans! Be on the lookout for issue #3 of 'Earth 2' featuring the all new origin of Alan Scott, due out in July!