Published on October 14th, 2012 | by Cosmic Comix and Toys

Looking Forward to December: DC Comics

Justice League #15 Since the purpose of this column is to "look forward" a couple months down the road, it seems the proper place to give you a little early warning about the fourth week in December, which happens to be the week of Christmas Day, and which the publishers have decided will be a "skip week" for comics. What that means is, that Wednesday, December 26, we’ll only get a handful of new titles. But the first two of our picks for Looking Forward today are among those titles!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #15

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ivan Reis & Various

Part 1 of "THRONE OF ATLANTIS," crossing over with AQUAMAN! Don’t miss the debut of IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO (AQUAMAN) as the new JUSTICE LEAGUE art team! Can the Justice League band together to battle the forces of Atlantis? And in the backup feature, Shazam comes face to face with Black Adam, and Billy makes a decision that will shock his friends

AQUAMAN #15

Written by Geoff Johns
Art by Ardian Syaf

Crossover with JUSTICE LEAGUE! Part 2 of "THRONE OF ATLANTIS!" Atlantis invades the surface world!

As you can see, Justice League #15 and Aquaman #15 act as parts one and two of "Throne of Atlantis!" It sounds like an army from the sunken nation of Atlantis is on the move and the Justice League is gonna have to make some tough decisions. From what I’ve read, there will also be new members in the League, like Shazam and Atom, and new relationships, like the much publicized Superman-Wonder Woman relationship. It also looks like artist Jim Lee takes his leave from Justice League while Ivan Reis is coming on! Should be a good year for the flagship title.

Next up is another big story arc in the New 52. (Sheesh! This is starting to shape up like last month’s Looking Forward: DC column!) This one’s called "The Black Diamond Probability," and we actually saw the first part of it in this past week’s Team 7 #1. And in case you didn’t know the history, the Black Diamond is the trapped physicality of God’s Spirit of Wrath and has many mysterious powers… none of them good.

CATWOMAN #15

Written by Ann Nocenti
Art by Rafael Sandoval

Following her standoff against The Joker, Catwoman takes an easy job: stealing Eclipso’s Black Diamond from The Black Room! The diamond’s power rises with the full moon…like on the night Catwoman sets out to take it!

TEAM 7 #3

Written by Justin Jordan
Art by Jesus Merino

From the pages of RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS, the mysterious Essence joins the team’s battle against the Heart of Darkness known as the Black Diamond! Before he was Deathstroke The Terminator, Slade Wilson was possessed by Eclipso! Is this the secret origin of a super villain? The secret history of the superhuman cold war is here!

ARROW #1

Written by Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg
Art by Mike Grell & Various

The first time in print for these digital-first adventures! Discover exciting new mysteries and plotlines for the ultimate Arrow experience! Written by the show’s creators and featuring covers and interior art from legendary GREEN ARROW: THE LONGBOW HUNTERS artist MIKE GRELL!

The series debuted on the WB this past Wednesday! Did you watch it? What did you think? The comic hits in December!

HUMAN BOMB #1 (OF 4)

Written by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by) Jerry Ordway

Ex-Marine and war veteran Michael Taylor discovers a conspiracy to use human bombs to destroy the United States! But how can he possibly stop them when he could be their ultimate bomb?

The Human Bomb began life as a Quality Comics character in 1941, created by writer/artist Paul Gustavson. As the name suggests he was indeed a human bomb, a hazardous hero able to cause anything he came in contact with to explode. Acquired by DC in the ’50s, the Human Bomb and his Quality compatriots were given a second life in the ’70s as the Freedom Fighters, heroes from an alternate world where the Nazis won World War II. Palmiotti and Gray reinvented the character in 2006 as the explosive Andy Franklin and made him part of their "Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters" ongoing comic book series. With this series he is welcomed into the New 52!

JSA LIBERTY FILES
THE WHISTLING SKULL #1 (OF 6)

Written by B. Clay Moore
Art by Tony Harris

A new series from acclaimed creators B. Clay Moore (Hawaiian Dick) and Tony Harris (EX MACHINA, STARMAN)! In 1940s Europe, the Nazi war machine is on the move…but crimes are still committed in even the smallest hamlets. Can one heroic duo solve the most bizarre mystery of all? From the world of the JSA: THE LIBERTY FILES, witness the birth of a new hero for the ages!

When DC closed its WildStorm imprint in 2010, many people worried about the future of properties that were previously announced under that heading. One was the mini-series called The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull by Tony Harris and B. Clay Moore. It had just been announced as a WildStorm mini-series, and the two creators had barely started putting it together after Harris finished up his artwork for the acclaimed Ex Machina series. But thanks to some quick thinking by Harris and some revisions by Moore, DC is still releasing the project, but now it’s an Elseworlds "sequel" to the 2004 series, JSA: The Liberty Files.