The story explores the different universes that Doctor Manhattan alias Jon Osterman simultaneously perceives. It also adds a notable new element to Osterman’s backstory by revealing him to be a half-Jewish German immigrant who escaped with his father from the Third Reich to America; in the original Watchmen series, he was not implied to be anything other than American. It debuted to positive reviews.
Judge Death makes a dimensional jump to Gotham City, murdering two lovers and a police officer. Batman defeats Death, who flees in spirit form. Among the remains of his host body, Batman finds a dimensional jump belt that he accidentally activates, transporting him to Mega-City One, where is confronted by Mean Machine Angel. As Mean Machine attacks Batman, they are both confronted by Judge Dredd. Mean Machine flees to Gotham using the belt, then wanders into the city looking for Judge Death.
“Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths“, originally “Dark Crisis“, is a 2022 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, comprising an eponymous central 7 issue mini-series by writer Joshua Williamson and artist Daniel Sampere, and a number of tie-in books. The event received critical acclaim, with critics praising Williamson’s writing, inclusion of characters, art, story, and action. The storyline takes place towards the end of Infinite Frontier, with the conclusion of the series leading into the Dawn of DC in 2023.
The title of the series was changed from Dark Crisis to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths on and after issue #4, which denoted how the series is a direct sequel to Crisis On Infinite Earths. The series results in the return of the DCU’s infinite multiverse which was destroyed in the original crisis in 1986.
To commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Sandman, Gaiman wrote a new tale involving the battle that had exhausted Morpheus prior to the beginning of the original story. Written by Gaiman and with art by J. H. Williams III, Overture tells the previously hinted story of Dream’s adventure prior to Preludes and Nocturnes, which had exhausted him so much that it made Burgess’ actions capable of capturing him. The limited series had six issues. Issue #1 was released on October 30, 2013, and although it was planned to have a bi-monthly release schedule, issue 2 was delayed until March 2014, which Gaiman explained was “mostly due to the giant signing tour I was on from June, and me not getting script written on the tour, with knock-on effects”. Special editions were released approximately a month after the original editions, which contain interviews with the creative team, alongside rare artwork.
Madame Xanadu eventually got her own ongoing solo book when Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley teamed up for it in 2008, followed by more Wagner stories with artwork by many other equally amazing artists. The series went for 29 issues, exploring key moments in Xanadu’s very long life and centering in on the details of her magical powers more than any story had before. After the first couple arcs, most of the issues revolved around Xanadu’s actions at the margins of DC’s superhero community in the ‘40s, which makes the run a must-read for fans of DC’s Golden Age.
In her solo series, we discovered that Xanadu’s given name was Nimue Inwudu, and she was the third sibling after Morgan le Fay and the Lady of the Lake in Celtic mythology. They were descendants of the survivors of the destruction of Atlantis known as the homo magi, and thus all possessed inherent magical skills. After a particularly ill-fated affair with Merlin, she traveled the world and gained her immortality by besting Death in a card game.
Green Lantern would know a number of revivals and cancellations. Its title would change to Green Lantern Corps at one point as the popularity rose and waned. During a time there were two regular titles, each with a Green Lantern, and a third member in the Justice League. A new character, Kyle Rayner, was created to become the feature while Hal Jordan first became the villain Parallax, then died and came back as the Spectre.
Swamp Thing returns in a new series that stars Levi Kamei as the next Guardian of the Green. Unable to control his transformation into the monstrous Swamp Thing, Levi is thrust into the harsh, unforgiving mystery of grisly murders committed by a supernatural desert legend. Levi must revisit past events in his homeland of India and face the deadly reality of a ravenous new villain in order to comprehend what he is truly, and horrifyingly, becoming.
Heroes in Crisis primarily deals with the emotional cost of being a superhero and explores “what violence does to a society”, a common theme in King’s work. King, a former CIA counterterrorism officer, believed this was an important subject that needed to be discussed. King described this creative decision: “Comic books, throughout the whole history of the medium, have been reflective of history. In World War II, there were comics about fighting in World War II. In the seventies, the comics were about psychedelic escape. Today, our moment right now is a moment of violence and living with violence and our comics have to address that”.
Preacher tells the story of Jesse Custer, a preacher in the small Texas town of Annville. Custer was accidentally possessed by the supernatural creature named Genesis in an incident which killed his entire congregation and flattened his church.
Custer, driven by a strong sense of right and wrong, goes on a journey across the United States attempting to (literally) find God, who abandoned Heaven the moment Genesis was born. He also begins to discover the truth about his new powers. They allow him, when he wills it, to command the obedience of those who hear and comprehend his words. He is joined by his old girlfriend Tulip O’Hare, as well as a hard-drinking Irish vampire named Cassidy.
The world of Batman: White Knight expands with this standalone tale! On the night of Bruce Wayne’s traumatic birth, Victor Fries must intervene to save the lives of Martha Wayne and the future Batman. As the evening unfolds, Victor distracts Thomas with the incredible tale of his own father figures-one a Nazi, the other a Jew-and their complex connection to Wayne Laboratories. As the Third Reich roars into power, the deep friendship and working relationship between the Baron von Fries and his research partner, Jacob Smithstein, is in crisis. Ordered by Himmler to speed development of their cryotechnology in service of world domination, Smithstein is forced to go into hiding and compromise his moral code in order to save his wife and infant daughter, Nora, from persecution and certain death. When the S.S. ramps up surveillance over the project, young Victor begins to question his father’s true allegiance. Both families are driven toward an impossible choice and a sinister standoff, and Victor makes a pact with Smithstein that will ripple through generations.
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