In a few months, DC Comics will launch a new comic book series called All In. The big attraction is the brand new Absolute Universe, but the main DC Universe will continue with new creative teams at the helm, and in some cases, entirely new books will be included in the series.
DC is releasing four new comics that revolve around the popular heroes Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Black Canary and The Question (Renee Montoya). The former comes from Tate Brombal (House of Slaughter) and Takeshi Miyazawa (silk), and Cass fends off a random assassin attack that leads to her teaming up with her mother, Lady Shiva. Collaboration is her only option, and the ongoing comic has been touted by Brombal as a “stunning, martial arts-filled adventure” celebrating the character ahead of her 25th anniversary. It is also Cass’ first solo title under the Batgirl moniker in quite some time, and Brombal hinted that she will “kick ass like only Cass can. (…) The world won’t know what hit her.”
Next Tom King and Ryan Sooks Black Canary: The Best of the Best Dinah will face off against Shiva to see who is the better fighter. As she fights her way to that battle, she’ll learn some new moves from fellow fighters like her mother, Batman, and Wildcat. King further fueled the six-part book by calling it a “beautiful, epic, heart-wrenching, heart-warming miniseries that focuses entirely on what makes Dinah unique and uniquely great.”
I’m proud to share this. Spectacular, emotive, perfect line art by Ryan Sook for BLACK CANARY: BEST OF THE BEST. Sook designs every page in every issue. I’m so proud of this book. Out November 27th – Black Canary Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/pDJIyT3wKE
— Tom King (@TomKingTK) 15 August 2024
The question: Everywhere in the Watchtower by Alex Segura (Secret Identity) and Cian Tormey (injustice) lets Renee do her detective work on the eponymous space station of the Justice League. Set sometime after Absolute power, The Trinity challenges her to investigate a murder in a noir story inspired by the classics like Sherlock and Agatha Christie, as well as more modern crime fiction. Speaking to Polygon, Segura listed writers like Walter Mosely, Laura Lippman, and George Pelecanos as other influences. But when it comes to comics, he credited key figures for Renee’s success, like her co-creator Denny O’Neal, writer Greg Rucka, and artists Denys Cowan and Cully Hamner.
“I took to heart the stories they told about Renee, where we see her trying her best to overcome her own demons and do the right thing,” he explained. For him, Renee will “walk among a cast of heroes who are like gods,” in the style of superhero mysteries like Batman: Long Halloweenbut on a “much bigger and more surreal stage” with the Watchtower. Tormey said the channel will be “as much a character in it as Renee herself. (…) Believe me when I say that a lot of thought has gone into all that background that you can’t see under all the blood and shadows!”
Finally, Black Lightning by Brandon Thomas (Black Manta) and Fico Ossio (Mister Miracle: The Source of Freedom) puts Jefferson Pierce and his daughter Jennifer (Lightning) in charge of the Justice League’s new metahuman assistance program. Not long after his daughter Anissa seeks help with her new Thunder powers, a new version of the Masters of Disaster shows up in Metropolis’ Suicide Slum, and it’s up to the Pierces to put a stop to it. “As the Pierce family struggles to keep it all together, a mysterious rival consolidates his power and legitimacy,” Thomas told ComicsBeat, “weaponizing public opinion that ‘Waller was right’ to fear these power-hungry gods.”
Batgirl starts on November 6, followed by the five-part Black Lightning the following week on November 13. At the end of the month Black Canary: The Best of the Best begins its six-part story on November 27. At the time of writing, no specific release date has been set for Question: All along the Watchtower.
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