Thursday night was preview night at the New York Comic Con and I was shocked at the amazing amount of new toys on display already. Typically at these conventions most of the announcements of new products are made during the toy companies’ panels and then they go on display. So you can imagine our surprise at how many cool products were already on the floor.

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DC Comics’ “New 52” campaign began at midnight with Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. I sacrificed some sleep to get my hands on it (along with Flashpoint #5) and overall it’s a decent issue that is very new reader friendly. However, even as an infrequent DC reader I felt I already knew or had seen many of the relationships presented here and the issue spends a lot of time establishing some of the principals. KevinMLD and I will be assessing this first issue of not only the Justice League series, but DC’s New 52 and whatever form the new DC Universe may take.

Spoilers for the issue and some aspects of the new DC Universe will follow.

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So tonight’s the night. At midnight, DC Comics releases Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1 and the DC Universe as we’ve known it will be washed away to some currently unknown extent and replaced by 52 new titles; many with brand new continuity.

I don’t know what to think about all of this. I’m excited to see what DC has up its sleeves, but I’m sad to know some piece of this universe I’ve loved for twenty years can never really ever quite be the same again. I have a great deal of distrust for DC publisher Dan Didio and his personal tastes. I know they don’t align with mine. But I love the grand ambition behind all of this. This is a giant gamble and I dig that.

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It’s been a crazy few weeks for DC Comics fans with the reveal that the current series Flashpoint would lead to a complete relaunch of the entire DC Universe in September as the company will be releasing new first issues for fifty-two titles. Interestingly, DC has promised a reimagined DCU featuring in many cases younger, more modern takes on their classic characters and a more diverse line overall in terms of both the ethnicity of their characters and the genres of books they publish. A previous attempt to comment on this news when very little was really known about the relaunch resulted in what amounted to a nasty letter to comic fans about their phony outrage and their tendency to rush to judge was out-of-date before I had typed the last word. As a result, I’ve recruited PTB to help keep the discussion grounded and offer his perspective as a non-DC fan.
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After a lot of hype and a lot delays, DC Comics’ newest Bat-title, Batman: The Dark Knight, arrived at comic book stores yesterday. Helmed by artist, David Finch, this title is the latest in a string of Batman books written by creators better known for drawing comics than writing them. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of the debut of Image Comics almost twenty years ago. As you’ll see, it isn’t a bad thing in this case, but it’s a rather bold direction for the publisher to take with their flagship character.

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