Dynamite Entertainment has brought back The Lone Ranger in an all-new series, which for now is solicited as an ongoing title, but invariably it ends up being scaled down to a miniseries when initial orders don't meet company expectations. Either that, or Dynamite just likes to swerve readers.
Anyway, the Ranger takes a hand when some greedy landowners decide to create their own system of law & order, if ya will. Writer Mark Russell comes over from DC, and creates a tale where there has also been some friction between the Ranger and Tonto. Topps Comics tried that tack 25 years or so ago. It's been a while since Dynamite put out a Lone Ranger book, so figure that this is to keep the license in effect. Should be a good read.
Rating: A.
DC Comics made a splash at the NY Comic-Con Thursday, the biggest news being the launch of yet another imprint, Wonder Comics, which is being curated by Brian Michael Bendis. That doesn't mean Bendis will write every book (he won't), but he is introducing some new characters into the mix, including a present-day descendant of Jonah Hex and a teenage Green Lantern, the latter of which will tie into Grant Morrison's take on the Emerald Crusader, which begins next month.
Wonder Comics will also have an online presence with a book based on this....
Young Justice: Outsiders will launch on DC Universe soon, and the above trailer should whet your appetite. Wonder Comics will also serve as home to another revival of Dial H For Hero, which dates back to the Silver Age, and, for the first time ever, the Wonder Twins, Zan & Jayna, will star in their own book, written by Mark Russell (Lone Ranger, The Flintstones), drawn by Stephen Byrne.
Translated, there's something for everyone. January solicitations will go online October 22, so stay tuned.
Archie Comics decided to recap everything that has happened in the current series, while at the same time reverting to the series' original numbering. That means the new issue is #699, with issue 700, out next month, setting up a new story arc that figures to continue the series' change in direction, pulling it closer to the CW's Riverdale, which begins its 3rd season later this month. Nick Spencer, who has gotten a mixed reaction for some of his controversial work at Marvel, takes over as writer. I didn't feel enough of a vibe to return. Instead, I was left on a down note.
Rating: C (down from my original rating three years ago).
Archie is also pitting two of their horrorific alternate worlds against each other next year when Vampironica (Veronica) is pitted against Jughead: The Hunger. Frank Tieri, the scripter for the latter book, is writing the miniseries. At least those books are out regularly, since they're not being written by Riverdale show-runner Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who's refused to continue the books he was writing (Afterlife With Archie & Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the latter being adapted for television by Aguirre-Sacasa and Greg Berlanti, and debuting in three weeks on Netflix) with other writers picking up the batons. That could prove costly down the road.
What is up with all this Archie Elseworlds stuff???
ReplyDeleteAfterlife With Archie and Chilling Adventures haven't even finished their stories (although the latter will be a TV series) and now there's a vampire incarnation of Veronica and Jughead???
Make it stop!
Jug's a werewolf in the Hunger book. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, as I wrote, has refused to finish the stories he's writing for the comics, but he's also creative director for Archie, so they're letting him slide, which is wrong.
ReplyDeleteAll these alternate universes are meant to pull in readers who otherwise wouldn't touch an Archie comic with a 20 foot pole now that they've lost the licenses to Sonic the Hedgehog and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the last six years.