DC Comics August 2022 Solicitation Analysis

DC Comics August is going to be going strong with Dark Crisis and Batman comics. This isn’t out of the norm as August 2022 is continuing what DC Comics is doing right now. Along with all the Dark Crisis and Batman comics, August 2022 does have some major turning points for Superman, Wonder Woman, and others as different franchises get set up for where they will be at with the Dark Crisis timeline. What else does DC Comics have ready for us in August? Let’s find out by taking a look at the notable things coming out of DC Comics August 2022 solicitations.

VILLAINS ONE BAD DAY CONTINUES BATMAN DOMINATION

There is no doubt a major narrative every month for quite some time when it comes to DC Comics is how Batman dominant they are. That is certainly the perception of DC Comics no matter how many other types of comic books they publish. And that perception really is reality when we see how many new Batman comics are added to the publishing line. Which we see with the addition of Batman – One Bad Day: The Riddler, Batman: Dear Detective, and Sword of Azrael to August 2022 releases.

That aside the one that stands out in this pack of new Batman comics is the Batman: One Bad Day series of one-shots focusing on various members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. To launch Batman: One Bad Day Tom King and Mitch Gerads will be working on a story for The Riddler. The 64-page one-shot format is honestly perfect for this type of focus on villains. Talent like King and Gerads will be able to focus on how The Riddler’s story where he is the protagonist still paints him as a villain.

BUILDING TOWARD BATMAN VS ROBIN EVENT

Staying on the Batman part of DC Comics August 2022 solicitations we now know the next Batman event will be Batman vs Robin. While technically part of the August 2022 solicitations we know that Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar will be working on this new five-issue mini-series that is said to spin out of the Batman/Superman: World’s Finest series, based on the announcement on PopVerse. That gives even more importance to what is going on with the titles starring Bruce Wayne and Damian Wayne leading into this new Batman event.

We’ve already seen that for over two years Bruce and Damian have been at odds with each other. The two have rarely operated as the Dynamic Duo, especially after the events of City of Bane with Alfred Pennyworth’s death. That is something that was brought up in the current Shadow War crossover event between Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke Inc. In particular, we saw that Bruce still has not gotten over the unintentional role Damian played in Bane killing Alfred. Though it does seem they have put those differences aside in the most recent chapter of Shadow War.

This brings the solicitation for Robin #17 into the spotlight. We see from the info for Robin #17 that we are going to be getting more teases of Damian possibly moving on from being Robin. That was initially teased before the current Robin series as Damian seemed to put his time with the Batman Family in the past. While that did not happen, and doesn’t look to happen this year given that Damian will be part of Jon Kent’s new Justice League in Dark Crisis as Robin, we could get some seeds planted for the post-Dark Crisis status quo in Batman vs Robin.

WAR OF THE UNDEAD GODS BEGINS IN DCEASED UNIVERSE

As much as I enjoyed DCeased: Dead Planet there was a big hanging plotline involving the Anti-Life Equation infected Darkseid arriving on New Genesis that was left unresolved. The way it was handled it came across as a forgotten plotline at the conclusion of DCeased: Dead Planet. Now we know that Darkseid’s plotline was to set up the final installment in the DCeased trilogy, which is titled War Of The Undead Gods.

Based on the information we have about DCeased: War Of The Undead Gods it appears as though Darkseid infected all of the New Gods with the Anti-Life Equation. That is not a good thing for the DCeased Universe. If the previous two DCeased events weren’t Crisis-level events before the War Of The Undead Gods certainly reaches and exceeds that.

Having Tom Taylor and Trevor Hairsine returning to DCeased is also great. These two have created a truly special Elseworld Universe. It is only right for them to conclude the story of the DCeased Universe together.

GREEN LANTERN VS DARK ARMY LEADS DARK CRISIS

Given the information provided in Dark Crisis #3, it looks as though Nightwing and the Titans will fall just like the Justice League did. This does not at all help the greater situation across the DC Universe as the villains of Earth, led by Deathstroke, appear to not stop trying to destroy everything even in the face of the death of their universe. Given this situation, it does appear that Jon Kent’s Superman will be stepping up even more and living up to his father’s legacy by assembling a new Justice League. The roster seen on one of the variant covers certainly speaks to how bad things are as it is a lot of random heroes banding together. Which those make you wonder if the new Superman-led Justice League can stop Deathstroke’s villain army.

While that is taking place on Earth there is still Pariah and the Dark Army to deal with. That appears to be where Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps will be stepping in. Hal was noticeably left out of the Death Of The Justice League story. So now it’s time to see if Hal can make up for what he missed and save the DC Universe. Though that will be much easier said than done given that John Stewart, who was using the full power of the Green Lantern powers, fell during Justice League #75. How well Hal and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps will fair is not looking good but at least they’ll try.

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OLYMPIC GODS RISE TO WONDER WOMAN FRANCHISE

The Olympic Gods have always been an important part of Wonder Woman lore. Though they’ve taken a back seat during Infinite Frontier, only making appearances in the recent Wonder Girl mini-series. To fix that Wonder Woman writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad are going to work on a new Olympus: Rebirth series. This is actually a timely series to have since from now until the end of 2022 it is important for different DC Comics franchises to strengthen their foundation. This new focus on the Olympic Gods will help with that as we could see these characters established in new ways that will help the post-Dark Crisis continuity.

Along with this, we are seeing more work put into getting over Nubia and Yara Flor, with the latter appearing in the former’s mini-series. This is also important since we don’t know how committed DC Comics will be to a world without the past Justice League, which includes Diana. Building up the rest of the Wonder Woman characters so they are ready to replace Diana is a major thing that needs to be addressed. Hopefully, in the future, we see Nubia, Yara, Donna Troy, and Cassie Sandsmark interacting with Diana in the main Wonder Woman series cause that is something that is still not happening post-Trial of the Amazons.

MARY MARVEL IS THE NEW CHAMPION OF SHAZAM

Finally after being promised a new Shazam series starring Mary Marvel we are getting that series with The New Champion Of Shazam. I know there will be fans that want to always see Billy Batson as the lead Shazam/Captain Marvel but it is good to mix it up once in a while. Mary Bromfield is also a great, underutilized character. Just like Billy, it has always seemed like DC Comics never knew what to do with Mary as a character. The biggest development her character got in the last few decades was becoming Dark Mary Marvel and then becoming one of Darkseid’s Furies in Final Crisis. That is not the best development to showcase Mary Marvel as a top-tier character.

The New Champion Of Shazam is a great opportunity to show DC Comics fans why Mary Bromfield is a great character. When it comes to Josie Campbell I am only familiar with her work on the Netflix She-Ra series, where she was the lead writer. The writing on She-Ra was something that constantly got better so hopefully, that work translates well to the comic book form. Even “Doc” Shaner being on The New Champion Of Shazam is a big win. Shaner is one of the best artists working for DC Comics so this new Mary Marvel series will look great. With that in mind, I am looking forward to picking up The New Champion Of Shazam.