DC Relaunch: Batwing

One of the major concerns as news and solicits rolled out for the Relaunch was whether it was a full on reboot or what. Relief hit upon this title (as with a few others), because of its close ties to the current continuity and Batman Incoporated. On the other side of that, many people thought it odd that of all the titles to come out of Batman Incoporated, why this one? At the time, the character had made very few appearances. However, the more that Judd Winick talks about it, the more excited I am for the character and the book.

Batwing is generally considered the Batman of Africa. At the the same time, he has his own city and is established there. Just like Batman may go where adventure/crime takes, so it does for Batwing. It's interesting, the design is based off an old Batman story (that I have somewhere in an oversized collection), and somehow this has been pulled up out the dregs by Morrison & company. Since the character is new, I'm a bit behind on posts, and the writer taking this new direction is Judd Winick, I thought I'd direct you to where he's talked about it some with the comic sites:

with CBR
with Newsarama

Ben Oliver will be joining Winick on art. He's previously made his mark on Robert Kirkman's run of Ultimate X-Men, Christos Gage's issues of Thunderbolts, and The Ten-Seconders with Rob Williams (serialized in 2000 AD).

Later today, we get more of the Dark. Tomorrow, more of stuff in general!

DC Relaunch: Nightwing

As people, one of the more difficult things we often have to accept in our lives is that we have outgrown something. Whether it be something as simply watching a show that's not quite our age level as we progress up, or something more complex, where we feel embarrassed for our old attachments.  But we move on, and create new pieces for ourselves, new molds for us to grow in. In comics we often want our heroes for freeze in time and stay that same age we remember forever. But what ended up being a surprise move was the day that Dick Grayson grew up, threw off the pixie boots, put on some damn pants, and became Nightwing.

Nightwing is the Dick Grayson coming into his own. While many people may argue that his brief tenure as Batman would be this, I would say that his time as Batman is him holding up the mantle, waiting for the true bearer to come pick it up so he could go back to the life he felt he should be living. Nightwing represented Dick's freedom from the Bat, no longer being the necessary sidekick to the bat and cowl. And while at the time of the original self-transformation, there was an argument between him and Bruce, Dick has maintained his friendship with his old chum .

Usually as Nightwing, Dick Grayson has stayed somewhere other than Gotham for his personal adventures. Often early on this was wherever the Titans were. As time went on, he established himself as protector Bludhaven, and later in New York City when Bludhaven fell under a nuclear attack. This time he'll be staying in Gotham, and the dark mirror than was placed under him as Batman will only warp slightly in image. Despite these new villains, Dick's personality always shines through. Extremely friendly and light in mood at just about all times, Dick has been there as adopted son, surrogate older brother, mentor, and even lover. So now Nightwing dons again the shoes that feel most comfortable, albeit with a slightly different design, and returns to us as Nightwing.

DC Relaunch: Batwoman

As I've mentioned before, the world of Gotham is a big place, ever expanding. Very few villains go away, and new ones pile up all the time. So it's no surprise that there's some counter action to that as well. In the weekly year long series 52, we were introduced to Kate Kane, and her beginnings as Batwoman.

Batwoman does not handle the same type of adventures that Batman does. No, hers are much more surreal,  more dreamlike, and more deadly. Her primary opponents are those who follow the religion of crime, under The Crime Bible, and they've nearly killed her. Like Bruce Wayne, Kate Kane not only comes from money, but from old money, being one of the legendary families of Gotham. She is very hard-nosed, and still very new to the business of the superhero. In our brief looks into her world, she's taken some heavy hits, and has uneasily balanced her life as Batwoman and her life as Kate Kane. As she becomes enveloped in more of the former and less of the latter, both worlds become stranger.

I've made it this far and surely there's at least one person reading who has been adding to the end of every sentence he reads, "...and she's a lesbian." Well congratulations, here's your paragraph. Yes, Kate Kane is a lesbian. It's been handled rather gracefully, I think. Whenever the character was first announced, that was pretty much all some people caught. You'd wondered if they bothered to read the comics in the first place. "DC Introduces Lesbian Character, Batwoman," they'd read. And that was mostly it. It tells us about as much about the characters as does saying, "Batwoman likes pie." In both cases, we know what to expect. In the first, we do expect that at some point Batwoman will develop a romantic interest that will likely be a woman. In the latter, we expect Batwoman to be eating pies. In both cases, we are given background information, but nothing real about the character. DC and its writers have treated Batwoman better than that, and have portrayed not a stereotype, but a real person dealing with their life.

DC Relaunch: Batgirl

Many times, we as people give up on the small things. Something simple that we become frustrated enough with that we throw our hands up in the air. It's not worth it, right? And at the same time, we see these stories of people with huge problems that it is totally okay to throw your hands up about, and yet they persevered. They overcome, they move on. Barbara Gordon has rode the high, had the lowest of lows, and brought herself up out of it all to overcome all the odds, all while not moving physically from the place she was brought to. And now she gets to stand once again where she started, as Batgirl.

Barbara Gordon started her career as Batgirl. There's something that's intriguing about the Batgirl persona, no matter who's behind that particular cowl. Many people have expressed their devotion for every incarnation of the character, the very first one being an exception. She is unique in that she is allowed to carry the title/mantle of "Bat," something Robin does not do. Additionally, Batgirl grabs us as a reader because of the types of adventures she finds herself in. We frequently find the character of Batgirl in over her head. Whereas the story may start off as something well within her control, some element in that reveals itself, a snake revealed to be the head of a gorgon, which presents Batgirl, whichever one she may be, with the new and unprecedented challenge.  And without assist, Batgirl does the job. She leaps in headfirst. I think it's a great quality for the character to have, and I think it makes the dynamic between her and Dick Grayson, former high wire act, all the better.

Now, Barbara has been through alot. She was Batgirl, stepped down of her own free will, was paralyzed by the Joker and forced into a wheelchair, not only became the super info-source/hacker Oracle, but became perfectly capable of defending herself without any help whatsoever. It's another Batgirl story, just told in a different fashion, and in long form. We see with her return as Batgirl yet another step in that journey, and thankfully one of Barbara's biggest fans is guiding us.

DC Relaunch: Catwoman

Bruce Wayne is bad with women. I make a point of saying Bruce because it’s not just in the day job, it’s at night too, as Batman. He either can’t keep them around because of the problems of being Batman and not being able to devote the time necessary as Bruce to warrant a relationship where his secret identity is not known, or he meets them in his time as Batman. Which means that at some level or another, they’re a criminal. There’s almost a complete disregard for his fellow female heroes, relationship wise. But the bad girls, he can’t stay away. Enter suspect number one: Catwoman.

Catwoman has been hanging around Batman for some time, and has been popular enough as a villain to get in the shows and movies multiple times, and even to get her own non-canonical and terribly received movie, of which will speak no further. Selina Kyle (Catwoman, if you didn’t know) has in recent decades turned over a bit in terms of her criminal tendencies. Really, she’s still got a thing for diamonds. That’s not changing. But for the most part otherwise, she does what she wants in the range of the white hats. That doesn’t stop her from being seductive, and her on-again/off-again with Batman comes and goes. And while he may not approve of all her activities, she does enough good for him to keep a blind eye on those. Selina is also extremely sly, and does much more back and forth between the catsuit and the dress than Bruce between the tux and the cowl.

Judd Winick is good fit writing for the book, just as a personal opinion. He’s spent a fair deal of time at DC, working on Green Arrow for a long stretch, The Trials of Shazam! maxi-series, Green Lantern, The Outsiders, and Batman, where he wrote the story collected as Under the Hood, bring back dead Robin Jason Todd. He also worked for Marvel writing Exiles, and on his own creator owned stories in Barry Ween and the autobiographical graphic novel Pedro & Me.
Artist Guillem March has been working with Judd Winick lately on their 3 issue run on Batman & Robin. He’s been doing lots of cover work for the Batman books of late, and was doing interiors for Gotham City Sirens, which featured Catwoman alongside Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, and Azrael with writer David Hine.

Catwoman has had a number of series over time, though for me Brubaker's is tops. It’s worth noting that Batman: Year One serves well as a Year One for Catwoman as well…

Catwoman: The Dark End of the Street by Ed Brubaker & Darwyn Cooke
Catwoman: Crooked Little Town by Ed Brubaker, Brad Rader, & Cameron Stewart
Catwoman: Relentless by Ed Brubaker, Cameron Stewart, & Javier Pullido
Catwoman: Wild Ride by Ed Brubaker, Cameron Stewart, & Guy Davis

Tomorrow we visit an already controversial subject despite the book not even having launched yet, the return of Barbara Gordon to Batgirl!

DC Relaunch: Looking Around

I'm running a bit late on today's post (shooting for 5pm CST instead of my normal 12, which I'm 10 minutes past as it is). For a while I've been wanting to point people around to the rest of the internet, and what they're saying. More importantly, what the writers and artists have been saying about this new work. What I'd like to point out is that over at Comic Book Resources, they've just posted covers and solicitations, not only for issue two of Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo's Batman, but also for a mini-series, Penguin: Pain & Prejudice, by crime writer Gregg Hurwitz (Punisher, The Vengeance of Moon Knight), and Szymon Kudranski (Spawn, Repulse). Go take a look... http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=33191

Apparently all the ongoing Bat-solicits for October have been released, on DC's blog. Couple of books we haven't hit here yet, of course, and hopefully give you a better feeling on them as well.

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2011/07/11/with-all-these-new-villains-arkham-asylum-is-going-to-need-a-new-wing/

DC Relaunch: Batman: the Dark Knight

Batman has had multiple titles for a long time, whether you're referring to the original solo feature, to the various additional series throughout the years. When Bruce Wayne made his way back to Gotham, two new books were the ones that put him in the driver's seat. One was the Grant Morrison written Batman Inc. The other was David Finch's self-written and drawn Batman: The Dark Knight.

Batman: The Dark Knight was originally the Batman that could not get away. While he ran the globe with Catwoman and checked in on long time Batmen of the world Mr. Unknown and El Gaucho in Batman Inc, Batman: the Dark Knight was the Bruce Wayne that could not get away from Gotham. That couldn't help but find himself drawn back in the darkness of the city. David Finch's artwork and storytelling is dark and detailed. There's a certain grainy and grittiness that cannot escape the work he does, whether it be interiors or covers. The Penguin played a large role in Finch's stories thus far, and alot has changed with him over the years. These days, the Penguin runs the Iceberg Club. A legal front for his illegal dealings, he has found his hands in many more pots these days that Batman would prefer. However, Penguin's connection to this world and his weakness in telling Batman exactly what is going on (or at least, to the best of his knowledge) allows Batman a certain in to the crimeworld.

David Finch has worked extensively for Marvel, providing art for Avengers during the Avengers: Disassembled storyline with Brian Michael Bendis, and also following that in New Avengers with Bendis as well. He's also worked with novelist Charlie Huston in relaunching Moon Knight to new audiences back in 2005. He also did the art for Jeph Loeb's Ultimatum event in Marvel's Ultimate Universe. Finch will be assisted by Jay Fabok, as you might imagine, writing and drawing is a tough job! Fabok has being doing some work over at Aspen.

If you're looking for some of David Finch's Batman work now, get thee to a comic book shop! Batman: The Return and the first two issues of Batman: The Dark Knight may still be there!

Tomorrow we getting to the anciliary Batman titles, beginning with the brand new Birds of Prey!

DC Relaunch: Batman & Robin

Most superheroes, somewhere down the line, have had sidekicks. It's an interesting dynamic that many books have tried to imitate over the years. Sometimes just a goofy tag along, other times actually involved in the crime-fighting, it varied depending on how the writer decided to approach it. The kid sidekick was ever more prevalent, to the point that entire team, the Teen Titans, is composed of them. But the original kid sidekick is, of course, Robin.

Batman and Robin are frequently referred to as the dynamic duo, and they've certainly earned that name. There is literally a dynamic between the two, in terms of a light/dark balance, and in terms of approach to the fight that makes it interesting. Now the Robins have varied over the years as has Batman's personality, and it seems to fit well enough if you take that into account. Currently, Robin is Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, daughter of the R'as al Ghul, and involved heavily with her father's organization, the League of Assassins. Trained by the best in fighting, and learning how to live normally at a relatively slow pace, Damian has shown an incredible darkness that is markedly different than Robins of the past. And yet, there is a certain lightness all the same. Damian became Robin under the batwing of Dick Grayson, and now with Bruce back in the role as the only Batman, the dynamic changes again. Perhaps it is time for Bruce to change against the darker Robin, whether further down the spiral wil just have to be seen.

Pete Tomasi will write along with long-time partner Patrick Gleason on art. The two had worked together previously on Green Lantern Corps, and have also had a 3 issue run on the previous Batman & Robin title, where they introduced an odd new adversary. Now they take the reigns of Bruce along with Damian, and hopefully continue that amazing dynamic of their own. Pete Tomasi has worked with the Bat family previously, crafting a great run on Nightwing. He also co-wrote the year-long Brightest Day along with Geoff Johns.

Damian has really grown alot in the past few years. There's very little of the previous Batman & Robin series that's not worth checking out:

Batman & Son by Grant Morrison & Andy Kubert

Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, & Philip Tan

Batman & Robin: Batman vs. Robin by Grant Morrison, Andy Clarke, & Cameron Stewart

Batman & Robin: Batman Must Die! by Grant Morrison, Frazier Irving, & Cameron Stewart

And then tomorrow we'll look at David Finch's take on the Bat, in Batman: The Dark Knight

DC Relaunch: Detective Comics

One of the longest running DC comics is restarting. It's not the only one, ind you, but still. Detective Comics, a new number one. Who thought that would happen? And while it didn't start with him, and hasn't always been just him, it's still running with Batman in the lead. In recent years, DC has done a pretty good job of maintaining themes slightly separate from that of the Batman title and so on. In the past few years, we've seen Paul Dini's done in ones, as well as his more overarching Hush epic, Greg Rucka and JH Williams' masterful Batwoman stories, David Hine's bizarre dealings of Jeremiah Arkham, finally bringing us to Scott Snyder's exploration with Jock and Francavilla of the Gotham as mirrored against a Dick Grayson'd Batman.

Likewise, Detective Comics as written and drawn by Tony Daniel promises to be different from Scott Snyder's Batman, and no doubt will be different from the other two main books. Whereas Snyder promises to explore the ways that Gotham has changed in Bruce Wayne's absence at the primary Batman of Gotham City, Tony Daniel's exploration will be of darker matter altogether. And part of his exploration will directly involve the Joker. As Batman changes through the years depending on the writers, so too does the Joker to reflect that Batman. He can be deadly and psychotic, and he can be playful, annoying, and goofy. He definitely tries to cover any bases that the phrase "evil clown" could possibly garner. The Joker has never made his longstanding relationship easy for Batman, even going so far as to kill one of the Robins.

The Joker's relationship to the Robins is interesting with regards to his relationship with Batman. As his relationship with Bruce Wayne as Batman is directly oppositional, he is different with Dick Grayson as Batman. With Dick, he recognized that he was not his Batman. And rather than be directly antagonistic, he provided support, in his on sort of way. With the Robins, I feel like the Joker often sees them as bait. They aren't who he's fighting, he's fighting Bruce Wayne. The Robins are just part of the whole thing. But Dick made it all fun. It was a joke, it was a dance, it wasn't all grim and serious and deathy. Likewise, Jason Todd as Robin just didn't fit to him. And so he beat him to death with a crowbar. Tim Drake is very much a detective like Bruce. There's something about Tim's demeanor, his defiance of being just a leadup to Batman, and his association with friends that give him another response from the Joker, one of almost admiration and respect, despite him still being, in general, a potential hostage. Damian, I don't think he took seriously at first, and he made a mistake. He underestimated him. His interest in Damian outweighed that of Dick as Batman. I think there's a certain level of fear involved in that too. And that leads into tomorrow, with Batman & Robin.

Tony Daniel leads this along on both scripting and art. The cover indicates to me a new style he's experimenting with that may go hand in hand with the dark story he wishes to tell. Usually, Tony Daniel has very clean lines, and his recent Batman stories allow a certain level of colorfulness to the odd world around Batman. As we saw in his run on Batman with Grant Morrison as writer, the colorfulness can be even more disturbing, depending on the subject matter.

Here's a few of Tony Daniel's work with Batman and an excellent Joker story as well:

The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker & Doug Mahnke
Batman: The Battle for the Cowl by Tony Daniel
Batman: Life After Death by Tony Daniel
Batman: Eye of the Beholder by Tony Daniel

Tomorrow we investiage the Batman & Robin dynamic, and the current Robin, Damien Wayne.

DC Relaunch: Batman

I don’t feel like I should have to explain who Batman is to you. You’ve likely seen one of the movies, maybe the old Adam West TV show, one of the myriad animated series over the years, maybe your only experience is through Superfriend or the movie Batman & Robin. I couldn’t say. But if you’ve experienced Batman in more than one medium, then at some point you’ve noticed how different those Batmen were. And that is the case, that over time Batman has changed, and has been defined by those who write him and their motivations at the time. For the past few years, Batman and his vast gallery of rogues have gone through numerous changes which were reflected through the pens of Grant Morrison and Paul Dini. As we move on into a new era, and only the second Batman #1 in existence, I can’t help but feel that this book will set the bar for the other surrounding titles.

Batman, as you may well know, is the defender of Gotham City. Sometimes in shadow, sometimes in the light, he waffles between paranoia and clarity of mind, between a ruthless vigilante and a hopeful optimist. And the question every writer faces is how much of Bruce Wayne is still there? Is there only Batman, Bruce merely an act? To me, the juxtaposition is what makes the comic, just as the Joker provides the absolutely madness without an end goal, the far end of the scale. The Joker is scheduled to appear in Detective Comics, so I’ll talk more about him tomorrow.

I’d like to put a little more focus on the writer, Scott Snyder. Currently the writer of Detective Comics and weaving a great story involving the changing face of Gotham under the wings of Dick Grayson as Batman, and flipping the story to show James Gordon’s separate but related investigations that lead all paths together. The story, called “The Black Mirror,” has shown how the city of Gotham begins to reflect the charm and swagger that Dick Grayson brings to the Batman role, and spits back his muddy reflection of crime. Now Bruce Wayne is forced to confront these new elements as he make his return as sole Batman of Gotham.

Synder will also be writing Swamp Thing in the relaunch., He has been writing American Vampire, which feature contributions from Stephen King and art from Rafael Albequerque. On art will be Greg Capullo, who has been doing work for McFarland studios, working on Spawn and most recently Haunt in collaboration with Robert Kirkman.

Where to begin with Batman in the comics? I’d avoid the recent Grant Morrison epic until you’re read to experience some really weird Batman stories. So here’s the most basic, with Scott Snyder’s recent contribution included:

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and Dave Mazzuchelli

Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder, Jock, & Francesco Francavilla

Tomorrow we'll look at Detective Comics and the Joker!

DC Relaunch: Justice League International

The Justice League of America, as they were once known, seems like an awfully specific name for the world's most powerful heroes saving world-from amazing threats. Apparently that was the mindset in the late 80s, when "Justice League" was introduced, and later changed to Justice League International. Basically the diverse team handled global threats, and a tight bond developed between the mish-mash of characters. The run is also well known for bringing the "bwahaha"

The Justice League International has recently reformed independently in the pages of Justice League: Generation Lost. The group is often diverse and close knit, with friendships running deep to the point of tragedy at times. I'll talk briefly about a couple of the characters shown in the image, though I want to point out that writer Dan Jurgens has said this isn't the final lineup. Batman is of course notable here, and with his Batman Inc. organization and his prominent position in the original series, it makes sense. You also have this core of the JLI group, a people who's relationships are deeply intertwined in friendship, love, etc. They make up the character usually associate with the previous JLI: Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, and Rocket Red. Additionally in this image are a few international heroes: Vixen, whose totem is used to tap into the power of various animals, and August General in Iron, a Chinese hero of the group The Great Ten, his armor fashioned from alien tech. While these two have interacted with some of these other heroes before (Vixen has been Justice League on and off for a while now), it will be more interesting to see their interactions with this particular group.

Now, while there will no doubt be other heroes involved, and their missions more of an international nature (I believe they are sanctioned by the UN), this group's interpersonal relationships always stood out to me. That's the difference between them and the standard "Big 7" JLA.

Dan Jurgens will be writing this with Aaron Lopresti on art. Dan Jurgens I've mentioned before, and has long paid dues as both a writer and an artist. He's been working with Booster Gold and these members of the Justice League for a long time. So not only is he qualified, but he's familiar, and he has a consistency that is appreciated. Aaron Lopresti is fantastic artist, and handled this team along with Joe Bennett in their recent adventures in Justice League: Generation Lost. He also did much of the art for Wonder Woman during Gail Simone's run, with Brian Reed on Ms. Marvel, and on his own creation, Garbageman, which was serialized in the anthology mini-series Weird Worlds.

Now I mentioned way back when I started this but I was going to hold off on the JLI collections... and here they are!

Justice League vols. 1-6, by Keith Giffen, J.M DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Bart Sears.

Justice League: Generation Lost by Judd Winick, Keith Giffen, Aaron Lopresti, and others.

Later today I'm going to talk about Mister Terrific, a character who's never had his own ongoing series before (I'm not even sure he's gotten a mini!).

Also, I apologize about the tardiness. I had a rough night at my second job, and I couldn't manage to get very much typed out that wasn't gibberish. Thanks to whoever checked in at 8am, I hope I haven't driven you off with my unprofessionalism.

DC Relaunch Daily, Part one: Justice League

As many of you who may stumble across this blog are aware, DC Comics is preparing a massive relaunch of their titles, with 52 new books being released to the general public (that's right they're not just for nerds anymore (p.s., they never were!)), not only in shops, but online the same day. For those of you aware, thanks for stopping by. Please link this blog to a friend who could potentially be interested in reading comics. Because that's what I want to do here.


I've decided that I want there to be more people reading. I like the idea of reading comics as something that people do because they enjoy it, not something we wallow in as nostalgia, whether it be people like myself who are regular Wednesday release readers, to the people who whenever I bring up comics they think back to something they read as a kid, and how much they loved it (but you couldn't get them to pick up a book if you tried). As comic book readers, we have a negative stigma. So invite those reading this to forget about that. DC has given you a way around the comic book shop. Comics are now released online. If you've ever been interested, even remotely, I'd like to help open the door. But, I'd imagine, you don't really know where to begin. So day by day, I'll be going over these books that DC is providing for you. By no means should you try to read them all! That way lies madness. But if something catches your eye, why not?



So I'll begin with the first title being announced, and that is Justice League by Geoff Johns & Jim Lee.


Here's the first cover that was released:


The Justice League has always been a team that handled the largescale threats to Earth that as individuals may have been a bit much. But together, they're the heaviest hitters Earth has to offer, and it's hard to get very far against that.



Most of these characters should be pretty familiar to you: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Aquaman. Depending on your age, it may even be safe to say that you're familiar with Cyborg, as he was one of the main characters of Teen Titans (which was a great show for young and old, in my opinion). These are your Big 7, as they're usually referred to. The core of the Justice League. As you might imagine, being the biggest and most important characters in the DC Universe is a busy job in itself. A few members aside, these are protectors of their respective cities. So as per usually, there's a few more members that have yet to be revealed. Geoff Johns, the writer, has stated the League will boast up to about 13 members. So there's room for everyone.


I'd like to now talk about the creators working on the book, which can be, for many, as important as who the book is about.


Geoff Johns is a writer who's been working at DC Comics for sometime. Currently, in addition to writing, he is Chief Creative Officer at DC. He's well known for long runs on the comics The Flash, JSA (and later published as Justice Society of America), Stars & S.T.R.I.P.E., Action Comics, and for his very long run in revitalizing Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern, and expanding the Green Lantern franchise into multiple books and soon to be a movie. His works are known for having hints and seeds throughout a long run, while still being accessible to new readers jumping into the latest story. I myself started reading his Green Lantern about 25 issues in.


Jim Lee is an artist who has been in the comics industry for a long time. Part of the teams responsible for the immense popularity of the X-Men in the early 90s, he left Marvel Comics with other artists to start Image Comics. After a time, Lee took his properties and studio Wildstorm on its own, separate from Image. After a time it became enveloped as a line all its own within DC, publishing his Wildstorm Universe, licensed properties, and various creator owned works such as Alan Moore's ABC line of comics. Recently he was named with Dan Didio the co-publisher for DC Comics.



Just a few works by these two creators I'd like to recommend:


Green Lantern: Rebirth by Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver
The Flash: Dastardly Death of the Rogues by Geoff Johns, Francis Manapul, & Scott Kolins
Superman: Secret Origin by Geoff Johns & Gary Frank
Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee


And a few of my personal favorite Justice League storylines (excluding Justice League International, more about that later):



JLA by Grant Morrison & Howard Porter (vols. 1-4)
JLA: The Obsidian Age by Joe Kelly & Doug Mahnke (Books 1 & 2)
Justice League Elite by Joe Kelly & Doug Mahnke (vols 1 & 2)



Being as these are my personal favorites, I'd hardly say they are the easiest or the most representative of what you'll be reading in the new Justice League title. Merely representative of what I liked before. If you are interested in reading further, these suggests are here, and if any readers would like to further those, please do so in the comments! But I should say, do not feel pressured into reading these books as a primer for the new title. It should stand on its own.



Tomorrow, we'll be getting into the first of the solo titles announced, Wonder Woman!