It’s the 24th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics June 12 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday June 11 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics June 5 2024 new releases.
(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)
This week in DC Comics: Simone’s Secret Six in omnibus, Waid’s Year One JLA reprinted, Gaslit Gotham revisited, Hal Jordan’s lantern revolt, Batwoman outside the Outsiders, Dreamer vs. Waller, and more!
The Krisis Pick of the Week: Outsiders (2023) #8! Last issue left me speechless as a major fan of Planetary. This book has major WildStorm energy, with a pinch of Grant Morrison meta-textual commentary.
This list includes every comic and digital comic out from DC this week, plus collected editions including omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!
DC Comics June 12 2024 Collected Editions
Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic Vol. 1
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525154 / digital)
This collects the complete Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing six-issue mini from 2023, continuing their run from a prior 2022 mini called “Neo-Year.”
JLA Year One
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525949 / digital)
See Guide to Justice League. This capitalizes on Mark Waid’s amazing resurgence in popularity at DC to reprint the 12-issue maxi-series exploring the Post-Crisis formation of the League that ran alongside his and Grant Morrison’s runs on JLA (1997).
Nightwing Vol. 3: The Battle for Blüdhaven’s Heart
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525222 / digital)
See Guide to Nightwing. This is one of the final “paperbacks of a hardcover” DC has left to release at a great delay before both formats begin to come out on the same day later this year. I really enjoyed this arc of Nightwing, which felt like one of the early peaks of the Tom Taylor’s ongoing plot.
Secret Six by Gail Simone Omnibus Vol. 1
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525956)
After many years out of print, Gail Simon’s run on this unlikely team of heroes gets the omnibus treatment! This volume collects Villains United (2005) #1-6, Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special (2006) #1, Birds of Prey (1999) #104-109, Secret Six (2006) #1-6, Secret Six (2008) #1-16, and stories from 52 (2006) #28 and Countdown [to Final Crisis [2007] #22.
There are still another 20 issues left to collect of this run, plus a crossover with Action Comics (1938) #897, Doom Patrol (2009) #19, and the Blackest Night revival issue of Suicide Squad #67. That’s pretty slim for an omnibus, so I suspect we’ll also get the complete Secret Six (2014) #1-14, also by Simone.
Read on for a summary of all of the DC Comics June 12 2024 single issues.
DC Comics June 12 2024 Physical Comic Releases
Batman and Robin (2023) #10 – See Guide to Robin(s). This Joshua Williamson series is tonally all over the place, both in story and art.
We have Batman in a tense showdown against a totally evil version of Man-Bat, whose excuse for his heel turn after a lengthy run IN THE ACTUAL JUSTICE LEAGE [DARK] is “Well, people kept trying to kill me.”
I am not joking when I say that when I look at a page of the art in this half of the story all I see are undifferentiated blobs. Truly, I wish I was joking. I looked at some past issues again just now to make sure I am not exaggerating. I could be looking at a totally blank page for as much as I am able to glean from the “artwork.”
If I sit and really stare for several minutes sometimes I can make out some of the figures and the action. All of the color values are the same, there is no bold linework to lead the eye, and the layouts are flat out terrible. The art is like one of those Magic Eye books, which have never worked for me, and that there is some secret to seeing some kind of action on the page that I just cannot figure out.
I am so happy this artist has fans, but… well, bless them. Bless them and their youthful eyeballs and their active imaginations.
(In my ongoing confusion about trying to make out the shapes on pages drawn by this artist, I tweeted an example of what has me so befuddled and lot of folks agreed that this artist is particularly undecipherable. Then, the artist name-searched himself, found my tweet (which wasn’t mean, just confused!), and decided to quote tweet me. That got very awkward, very quickly. So, now I can’t mention him by name here in my review.)
(Artists, do not do this.)
Then, we have a high school story about Damian and his girlfriend getting into food fights to try to expose the school staff, who are all secretly former members of the League of Assassins and/or apprentices of Batman’s enemies, but totally by coincidence.
That is draw in a totally remarkable, “YA comic released by a low-tier indie publisher” fashion. It could not possibly clash more with the art in the other half of the story, but at least I can see!
If it sounds like I am being hard on this comic, it’s because I truly cannot figure out who it is for or what it is trying to achieve. Joshua Williamson nailed the balance between silly teen energy and deadly repercussions on his Lazarus Island run on Robin and he’s written some cool Batman stories like his “Abyss” arc. The problem is in trying to mash them up – or, actually, not mashing them up at all.
Also: These dual plots have been going on since issue #1 and we’re not getting anywhere interesting.
I have seen folks out in the wilds of Twitter who are digging this book, so clearly there’s an audience for it. I usually vibe with Williamson’s plotting, but this one is a full-on disaster for me.
Batman and Robin and Howard (2024) #4 – See Guide to Robin(s). More serialization of the adorable kids OGN of the same name.
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight – The Kryptonian Age (2024) #1 – This is a sequel to the classic 1989 OGN Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. That book, created by Brian Augustyn & Mike Mignola (with P. Craig Russell inking!), presented a 19th century version of Batman as he faced off against Jack the Ripper.
We’re returning to that setting 35 years latter in this new series by Andy Diggle, Leandro Fernández, & Dave Stewart that explores the emergence of more superhumans into this Elseworlds setting – including one very specific one who arrives from outer space.
Blue Beetle (2023) #10 & Blue Beetle: Edición en Español (2023) #10 – When I last wrote about this comic, I said, “I have to respect the game of the entire creative team returning to write a complex ongoing run that doesn’t spend a second pandering to new fans.”
Well, guess what? After another issue I might be ready to be pandered to!
I think this probably continues to hit extremely well with pre-existing fans of Jamie Reyes as Blue Beetle from his prior run who know him and his extended cast really well. Me? After reading 9 issues I have not the slightest idea of who anybody is or why they are doing what they’re doing. I barely know what the scarabs are!
Also, I strongly dislike the lettering in this comic – which is maybe why I am having so many problems absorbing what it is about!
I don’t know what else to tell you, y’all. I think this is a book for existing Jamie Reyes die-hards, wherever you are. Ted Kord did pop back up, so maybe that will lend some coherence to this run.
DC Pride: Uncovered (2024) #1 – A 40-page art book collecting some of the best Pride Month covers from the past few years of DC Comics.
Green Lantern (2023) #12 – See Guide to Green Lantern – Hal Jordan. This book really has everything you’d want from the flagship Green Lantern title, but sometimes I wonder if it knows what to do with all of those elements to create a great comic book.
Xermánico’s art on this title has been unassailable and I love Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s color choices. We have Hal Jordan being tugged between trying to settle into a human life on Earth and becoming the leader of a revolution agains the United Planets. We have almost the entire supporting human Green Lantern cast in play save for John Stewart. We have Carol Ferris trying to contend with the way the rainbow of lanterns often interrupt her civillian life just when she thinks she has found happiness. And, the United Planets plot at the center of it all is genuinely compelling stuff!
If that all sounds awesome to you, you ought to be reading this book!
Yet, despite all of that being in one place, I feel like it could be so much more. We’ve spent several issues at the heart of the United Planets plot now, and it feels like we keep getting the same scenes of Hal storming into and out of rooms over and over again. The other Lanterns just feel like set decoration – Jo Mullein could be any random stranger, Jessica Cruz got shuffled off page, Baz barely has a single line, and Kyle Rayner has been reduced to set dressing.
Last issue devoted so much panel time to try to convince us Carol Ferris suddenly misses Hal and his heroic life after the first arc was adamant that she absolutely did not.
What remains is essentially a book about Hal Jordan being stubborn. And since willpower is his thing, that’s still pretty effective. Plus, it looks great! Yet, I feel like there’s a real “failure to launch” from Jeremy Adams’ scripting here, considering all of the positive elements he has to work with.
Outsiders (2023) #8 – See Guide to Outsiders. Y’all. Y’all! I am STILL freaking out about last issue of this comic book. It is a glorious love letter to fans of Planetary and, to a lesser extent, The Authority.
Issue #7 was a full-on epilogue to Planetary. What happened after the legendary Ellis / Cassaday / Martin series ended? What happened when Flashpoint whited out the entire WildStorm Universe and the Planetary cast along with it?
That question gets especially interesting considering that the Planetary team were the WildStorm characters who were the most plugged-in to the idea of the multiverse and meta-fictional narratives.
The result was a one-shot issue that recontextualized everything we’ve seen from this series so far, while also feeling like a companion piece to Doomday Clock (with a tiny sprinkle of Grant Morrison’s Animal Man).
That might feel like too high of a pedigree to assign to a lonely little supporting BatBook, and if you’ve never read Planetary I doubt any of those references will hit for you. But, if you have, this is a can’t miss series.
To me it’s made even more remarkable because I had no idea Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing were capable of this kind of fourth-wall-breaking narrative. I feel like we’re seeing them break loose in a way that a few years of great comics have barely hinted at.
Red Hood: The Hill (2024) #5 (of 6) – I appreciate what this book is attempting to do: making the community around Red Hood into a fully formed set of characters, each with their own non-super-powered motivations.
I think more comics ought to do that, and it’s aligned with DC’s general strategy of turning each one of their titles into a family title. The Hill is Red Hood’s family away from the Bat-Family, and I think he’s a better character for being surrounded by them.
Even if the motivations behind this story are the right ones, I question if the story itself is compelling. Last issue writer Shawn Martinbrough brought in the big leagues by having Batman intervene to save the day. I think that actively harmed the story.
We went from Red Hood being a tertiary character in his own book to him being upstaged by Batman with no real in-between where we could see him being his own hero to this beleaguered community. The issue had an ultra-cool villain that produced supernatural foes for Red Hood & Batman to combat, but the action was flat. Also, the outstanding vibes of issue #3 where we spent time with each community member to flesh out their identities went out the window to make room for Batman pages!
I know Batman sells comics, but I feel like the problems with this comic stretch back to the pitching stages. It can’t decide if it’s a Red Hood book, a book about The Hill, or a Batman book – and readers are stuck in the middle of that tug of war.
This holds together and Greene’s art is great, but the story is just boring as fuck. Like, we have a bad guy who can make psychic bloodhound demons, and Batman is just like “meh” and we barely get any of an actual fight and it’s all about the guy who owns a sneaker story. Okay, whatever.
Sinister Sons (2024) #5 (of 6) – I’ve been regularly hating on this sinister version of the Super Sons for the past few months. I’m not quite ready to retire my campaign, but last issue was definitely on the more enjoyable side for me.
After an entire arc of tooling around in a Teleporting Space Whale, issue #4 wrapped that up by steering us back into the main plot thread of the kids of Zod and Sinestro wanting to confront their deadbeat dads. That mean the two of them working together more despite their enmity, which is the secret sauce that made Super Sons great and what has been lacking from this book.
Also, artist Vasco Georgiev is proving to be a superstar of drawing some truly ridiculous panels of art, like climbing up a whale’s spine from the inside.
I’m always rooting for every book to be good, and this one could still get there. I think now that we’re past the initial ugly meeting between these two kids and moving into an “odd couple” blossoming of their friendship there’s more of a hook here than where we began. If Peter Tomasi can use Korg’s confrontation with Sinestro to spark some empathy or growth for Lor-Zod this could get very interesting in the final two issues – especially with Georgiev sticking around on art.
Suicide Squad: Dream Team (2024) #4 (of 4) – See Guide to Suicide Squad. This series focused on Dreamer as an unlikely (and unwilling) Suicide Squad member has a surprising amount of nuance to it. (And, also, terrific art, colors, and letters!)
Nicole Maines is exploring a complex connection between Dreamer’s identity as an alien on Earth, her duty to her people, and her idea of what it means to be a hero. Maine contrasts that with the rest of Amanda Waller’s unwilling squad, who are sympathetic to her plight but much more pliable to Waller’s whims.
This series is the place we’ve been allowed to get the closest to Amanda Waller and her plans that will tee up the upcoming Absolute Power (2024) linewide event from Mark Waid and Dan Mora. I think a lot of folks have no idea that’s the case. We’ve seen some of her machinations in Green Arrow (2023), Teen Titans (2023), and “The House of Brainaic,” but this is the book where we see her completely unfiltered.
I don’t think that makes this a must-read book – calling it a “prelude to Absolute Power” will just lead to disappointed readers. However, if you’ve wanted to see Dreamer step up into the DC big leagues and deal with the ramifications of being a proud hero who is known to the public, this book delivers.
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