DC Solicits More Infinite Crisis Tie-Ins for September

DC Comics' recent solicitations for September 2005 include seven new Infinite Crisis tie-ins, along with the conclusion of two of those mini-series and the penultimate issue of the other two.

The OMAC Project concludes with #6. Details are scant, but we're told that "Brother Eye plays the ultimate trump card."

Wonder Woman #221 ties into The OMAC Project, both written by Greg Rucka. Here's the description: "In the aftermath of the recent events which have shaken the DCU, Wonder Woman goes on global patrol, saving lives and spreading her message of peace wherever she can. But Brother I and the Omac Project have other plans� ."

The penultimate issue of Villains United (#5) sees Catman face off against Deadshot as the Secret Six, out to stop the powerful Society of super-villains, argue amongst themselves, unaware of their commander's -- Mockingbird's -- identity.

Firestorm #17 ties into Villains United. In that issue, Firestorm, "trapped in a remote power installation by the Society, ... must defeat Black Adam's army of supervillains to escape!"

Day of Vengeance concludes with #6 and promises to finally reveal whether the Shadowpact, the ad hoc team of magical heroes who oppose the Spectre in his quest to destroy all magic in the DCU, will be successful. One hint: the story's called "The Death of Magic!"

Meanwhile, Blood of the Demon #7 is set to tie into Day of Vengeance as the Spectre, out to rid the DCU of magic, goes after the Demon. The issue is written by John Byrne and Will Pfeifer, with art by Byrne & Nekros.

The penultimate issue of The Rann-Thanagar War is also offered. According to the solicitation, "the course of the war takes a surprise turn as traitors and unexpected allies reveal themselves. As battle rages, a world is reborn -- but one warrior makes the ultimate sacrifice."

The concluding two issues (#118 and #119) in the 5-part "Crisis of Conscience" storyline running in JLA are both offered in September. The storyline, co-written by Identity Crisis scribe Geoff Johns, follows up on Identity Crisis and helps bridge the gap to the upcoming Infinite Crisis. #118 sees Superman intervene "in the Justice League's vote to mindwipe the Secret Society of Super Villains, and Zatanna makes a fateful decision." Also that issue, Martian Manhunter fights Despero. #119, we're told, sees the League battle Despero... in Wayne Manor! Also that issue, "the team will be forced to turn against one of its own� ."

Green Arrow #54 begins the 4-part "Heading into the Light" storyline, showing repercussions of Identity Crisis as Green Arrow battles Doctor Light. The JLA is set to guest-star.

And, as previously covered by Sequart.com, all three regular Superman titles tie into the Countdown to Infinite Crisis mini-series:

Superman's going to learn about the Justice League's mind-wiping (seen in Identity Crisis) in the presently ongoing "Crisis of Conscience" storyline in JLA. Following that, Greg Rucka and Karl Kerschl give us Adventures of Superman #644, in which Superman confronts the mind-wiper herself, Zatana.
The Infinite Crisis tie-ins continue: Superman #221, in fact, ties into all four of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis mini-series. Oh, and it also stars Bizarro.
Gail Simone and John Byrne's sold-out run on Action Comics continues in #831, which also ties into Villains United and features Black Adam and Doctor Psycho.

DC Unveils 52

DC has now confirmed the existence of 52, a weekly 52-issue series telling the story of the DC Universe�s planned one-year gap.

The one-year gap, as previously reported, will occur as a result of Infinite Crisis and will see all of DC's titles, in early 2006, jump forward one year in narrative time -- resulting in widespread changes, from relationships to costumes and even heroes' identities.

52 -- and that is only a tentative title at this point -- will cover 52 weeks in roughly real time, with one week passing with each issue. Even the seasons matching the real seasons at the time of publication.

The new weekly seems influenced by the TV series 24, which saw a season of 24 shows cover 24 hours of narrative time.

Present plans call for a single cover artist, to set a consistent tone, and a core group of writers and artists to keep the series running on time. A core set of characters not seen elsewhere will also help to ensure continued readership: those characters won�t be seen in DC�s titles after they jump forward a narrative year, and underlying 52 will be the mystery of what will happen to them.

Except for mini-series, DC has not attempted a weekly title since Action Comics became Action Comics Weekly for about a year during 1988 and 1989.

The 52-issue mini-series may well have a lower cover price and resultant page count in order to keep readers willing to follow the series. That was a problem for Action Comics Weekly, which ran about 40 pages and mostly featured 8-page strips.

DC is also collecting the series in trade paperback in new ways. These include lessening the time between the collection and the publication of the issues collected -- in order to encourage new readers to get caught up on a series that ships four or even five issues per month.

Comics rumor-monger Rich Johnston broke the story of the new weekly almost exactly a week ago. In his column yesterday, Johnston said that the story would be confirmed by this week�s Wizard magazine. But later on Monday, DC�s Dan DiDio confirmed the story and provided most of the above details in an interview with Newsarama.

In his interview, DiDio credited DC�s Publisher, Paul Levitz, with the idea.