DC Previews Picks: April 2015

“Convergence” is upon us!  The fill-in-as-event has arrived and normal service in the DCU has been interrupted for this and the following month with the weekly series continuing here and the first half of some forty-odd two-part miniseries kicking off as well.  I won’t lie, there are several miniseries that I’m interested in, but I don’t think they’re going to be releasing a “All the Ones Glick Wants to Buy” collection at some point.  An omnibus of the entire event is for certain at some point down the line, however.  Maybe I’ll pick up the main “Convergence” miniseries if it’s not too terrible.  I guess it’ll depend on how slow of a week it is on the shipping list if it comes to that (or, as these things also go, how deep of a discount Amazon is offering).

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Convergence:  The Atom #1:  Not buying it, though it’s worth noting that the variant cover for this features art by Steve Dillon.  Who has been an exclusive artist at Marvel for years and yet hasn’t had a title to draw since he left “Thunderbolts” a while back.  Could this mean we’ll be seeing more of him around DC in the future?  Does it also mean he’ll be working with Garth Ennis again to give us the promised-way-back-in-the-last-decade “City Lights” for Vertigo?  I’d bet on “probably” for the former, and “don’t hold your breath” for the latter.

Convergence:  The Question #1:  Here we go -- Greg Rucka returns to Renee Montoya as The Question with art from the talented Cully Hamner.  Over the course of several years, with his run on the Bat-titles, then “Gotham Central,” “52” and beyond, Rucka took Montoya on long and frequently surprising journey of self-discovery.  It was pretty entertaining most of the time as well.  I still need to pick up the “final” chapter of that journey, the “Final Crisis:  Revelations” miniseries.  However, it’s cool to see the writer back with the character for one more go-round.  A team-up I didn’t think I’d see again.

Convergence:  Superman #1:  In which Superman is called upon to protect Gotham City and his pregnant wife Lois Lane.

…This is going to end better than it did in “Injustice,” isn’t it?  Because I don’t think DC needed even one pregnant and dead Lois in the first place.

Convergence:  Hawkman #1:  So this was the DC title featuring a character he had worked on before that Tim Truman teased a while back.  I’m sure it’ll make some people happy, and since it’s being written by Jeff Parker, it’ll likely be good too.  I was personally hoping for Jonah Hex, but I guess we can’t have everything.

Convergence:  Infinity Inc. #1:  Well, this features the post-apocalyptic incarnation of Jonah Hex that was simply known as “Hex.”  Should I have been careful what I wished for?

Batman:  Arkham -- The Riddler:  To what do we owe the fortune of this collection of stories featuring the titular villain?  If I had to guess, the “Arkham” subtitle means that this is meant to tie into the latest “Batman:  Arkham” game.  Maybe the Riddler has a bigger presence in “Arkham Knight?”  I wouldn’t have a problem with that.  His collect-a-thon quests are the only ones I’ve actually enjoyed in this last console generation.  Particularly the one from “Arkham Asylum” where he grew increasingly angry with each one you found.  That was a great incentive to keep collecting, and the payoff was definitely worth it.  Oh… uh, as for this collection, I guess you could take it or leave it.  It’s more expensive, but if you’re looking for a definitive Riddler story, go read both volumes of “Batman:  Zero Year” instead.

Batman Adventures vol. 2:  This reminds me, I need to pick up the first volume…

Vertigo Quarterly:  SFX #1:  In which the stories all revolve around a particular sound effect.  It seems like a pretty thin, and possibly restrictive, premise for an anthology but maybe we’ll be surprised.  Then again, I’m actually surprised that Vertigo has to keep doing “themed” anthologies whenever they want to publish short stories.  Do they feel that these things absolutely need a gimmick in order to sell?  The fact that “Dark Horse Presents” has been doing the same thing for years without the need for a monthly theme would appear to prove DC wrong here.

American Vampire:  Second Cycle #8:  Yeah, about that cover -- specifically, the guy second from the right.  He doesn’t look too good.  I know that Russian spaceflight standards aren’t as rigorous as ours, but I don’t think he should be going up on any rocket.  Given this title, the best case scenario is that he dies on liftoff instead of everyone else dying later.

The Unwritten vol. 11:  Apocalypse:  A podcast for this?  Absolutely.  It’ll also be a volume to be read twice beforehand.  Once to see how it holds up on its own.  Then again after re-reading the previous ten volumes to see how it all fits together.  Given the quality of those previous volumes, my expectations for this are currently set at “high.”

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