DC Comics May 2017 Solicitations Analysis

It’s the third week of the month. That means a brand new slate of new comic book solicitations. First up on delivering a preview of what is to come in May 2017 in the comic book world is DC Comics. And boy does DC have a lot going on for them with a huge crossover between the Teen Titans and Titans taking over May 2017. What other big things does DC Comics have in store for comic book fans? Let’s find out.

DC Universe’s New 52 History Being Re-Written?

Though the aftermath of Flashpoint continues to hover over the DC Universe, as seen with the upcoming Batman/Flash crossover, slowly DC seems to be re-writing some of the New 52 history. First we are going to learn what really is going on with Superman’s history in his Family of titles. Now we are seeing possibly another comic that is re-writing New 52’s history with Wonder Woman Annual #1.

As the solicit summary for this new Wonder Woman Annual states “In the days after “Year One,” Diana comes face-to-face with Superman and Batman for the first time.” This is a bit of change since Batman and Superman didn’t meet Wonder Woman until Geoff Johns’ Justice League #1, along with their other teammates. The other interesting note is that the solicit does seem to imply that this first meeting involves the pre-Flashpoint Superman rather than the New 52 Superman, given the lack of armor-look to Man of Steel’s costume on the cover.

Fractured Batman Family

The Batman Family has never been more united than they have been since DC Rebirth started. While they have hit a few rough patches, for the most part Batman has been able to keep his Family working together as a tight nit group. Now in May 2017 that all seems to change as DC is teasing a betrayal in All-Star Batman, Nightwing vs. Robin in the Titans/Teen Titans crossover and Spoiler going against Batman in Detective Comics.

All of this conflict looks to be the first sign of the Batman Family once again splintering off and not showing the same unity that they had at the beginning of DC Rebirth. This new split could actually help build on whatever Watchmen-related event DC Comics is building towards. It would at least help build more towards Tim Drake’s return being what brings everyone back together whenever he is let out of his limbo prison.

Major Green Lantern Corps Event Coming?

Up until now the two Green Lantern comics, Green Lanterns and Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, have kept their distances from one another by design. Jessica Cruz and Simon Baz have even taken over Hal Jordan and John Stewart’s place as the resident Green Lanterns for the Justice League. But now with Jessica and Simon heading up to space to join the Green Lantern Corps we may soon be in store for a big crossover between both books. Given DC Comics new approach of having crossovers between their comics rather than mini-series this wouldn’t be a surprise. It would certainly help build upon how Robert Venditti and Sam Humphries are reconstructing the Green Lantern mythos in together in their respective comic books.

The Lazarus Contract

While The Lazarus Contract was recently announced in a separate announcement it is still just as exciting to see it now part of May’s solicitation. The timing of this event is perfect as The Judas Contract is getting its own animated film. What is unique about The Lazarus Contract is that we will get even more details on the original Teen Titans history. This is something we have been getting details about since Titans Hunt. Now with Deathstroke is returning to the role of the Titans #1 villain as he is playing the main antagonist for this crossover.

Given the fact that Deathstroke is specifically targeting Wally West because of how he returned makes The Lazarus Contract an even more important event to the entire DC Universe. This could actually lead to more people finding out about the fact that they have lost memories due to whatever Doctor Manhattan has done to change the DC Universe. That could mean this crossover’s aftermath can have far reaching consequences for other ongoing comic books.

Injustice 2 Hype Begins

With Injustice 2 coming out on May 16th it’s not a surprise to see DC announce a comic book to coincide with the video game’s release. What makes this announcement so exciting is the fact that Tom Taylor is returning to write the new ongoing. The original Injustice comic book added so much more depth to the events of Injustice. There was a deep love and care to the comic that used the history of these characters history and made it work with the tone of the video game. Since then Taylor has grown even more as he is now writing All-New Wolverine and Justice League/Power Rangers, both fantastic comic books. With all this work it is going to be interesting to see how the Injustice 2 comic book works since it comes out 2 weeks before the video game hits a store shelves.

These are just a few things that stood out from a packed May 2017 for DC Comics. It certainly an exciting time to be a DC Comics fan as they make our wallets cry because of all the money we are spending on comic books. You can check out the rest of DC Comics May 2017 offering here.