THE BUZZ: DC Comics has announced that there will be a decent sized shake-up to the 52 title line up in this coming May. Although the number of monthlies they will be putting out there will still be 52, you will see six new comics come in and six of the launch titles get cancelled.
Amongst the new titles will be Grant Morrison picking Batman, Inc. back up. Also, we will see a re-imagining of a cult classic with the new Dial H for Hero, based off a DC comic from the 60s. Earth 2 and Worlds’ Finest will re-open DC’s thoughts on parallel universes, while The Ravagers will have a feel close to the Teen Titans book. And rounding out the new six will be G.I. Combat, a book that is a throwback to the old military and wartime comic books of years gone by.
Getting the axe to make room for these new titles though is Men of War, Static Shock, O.M.A.C., Hawk and Dove, Blackhawks, and Mister Terrific as they will disappear from store shelves after their eighth issues. This has caused some uproar in the African-American comic book reading community as now the only black superhero to seemingly have his own line now will be the Batman, Inc. spin-off Batwing.
EGM’S TAKE: We knew that Batman, Inc. was going to be returning sooner rather than later, especially after that epic recap one-shot to set it up just two weeks ago. And it is no surprise really to see Hawk and Dove and Static Shock to get the axe as they’ve failed once before, long before the New 52 re-launch was ever a possibility. Throw in Mister Terrific, who has always been in more of a support role in everything he’s ever done, it’s no surprise that unless it has a bat symbol on it that the DC Universe just won’t respond to it usually. Now if we can just get word on when Batman Beyond will hopefully come back.