What We Learned From DC COMICS' July 2018 Solicitations

DC's July 2018 solicitations have some expected new series launches, from Brian Michael Bendis' new Super-titles to the “New Justice” line of titles.

Dick Grayson returning to the Bat-cowl? Yes.

Wonder Woman getting a new creative team? Yes.

Superman doing Superman-y things thanks to Brian Michael Bendis? Yes. There are several surprises that popped up in this week's solicitations from DC. Newsarama takes outlines some of the key Things We Learned from DC's July Solicitations.

Let's be honest. As much as DC is hyping the wedding of Batman and Catwoman, there's this nagging feeling among most comic book fans that the publisher won't go through with it. Becoming a married couple would be a huge change in the status quo of both characters. Something, surely, will prevent, right?

The solicitations for July's issues of Batman and the new Catwoman series sure don't support any hesitation on DC's part. In fact, the copy for both issues offers more evidence that Selina and Bruce really are going to tie the knot.

Future Quest Presents ends with #12, as writer Jeff Parker and artist Mauricet finish the mash-up of Hanna Barbera's action heroes with what the solicitation describes as saving "the biggest for last."

And it looks like New Super-Man and the Justice League of China is no more. Newsarama pointed out in last month's "What We Learned" list (for June's solicitations) that there was mention of a "final mission" for the team (even though there was no mention of June's chapter being a "final issue"). The series is missing from July's solicitations, so it appears to be ending.

Lastly, Raven, Daughter of Darkness is missing from the July solicits - issue #6 of a planned 12 was solicited June, with no previous notice of a change.

The solicitation for July's The Hellblazer #24 sounds like another possible ending for one of DC's ongoing series, although just like New Super-Man, there's no official indication of it being a "final issue."

The copy for Hellblazer #24 says the "final chapter" of this storyline might be the "final nail" in John Constantine's coffin, as he might be saying "goodbye to this mortal coil."

That sure sounds like some sort of ending. However, the story has John choosing whether or not to take someone's place in Hell. For anyone else, that probably would be an ending. But for someone like John, a place like Hell might just be a new story setting.

There are a few surprising names on unexpected titles in the solicitations for July. Readers will be pleased to see more work from Paul Dini, this time on Batgirl, an issue that also has work by Mairghread Scott and Marguerite Bennett (the latter returning to the title after once writing an issue during Gail Simone's run in 2014). Scott’s story (drawn by Paul Pelletier) is framed as a precursor to the two doing the series full-time.

Scott is also writing July's issues of Green Arrow, and Joe Bennett is listed as artist on The Terrifics #6, a series that has already seen several artists on board. (It's also notable that Bennett is drawing Immortal Hulk over at Marvel simultaneously to this.)

Steve Orlando is a "guest writer" on Wonder Woman #51 with Laura Braga, and Dan Jurgens and Mike Perkins are taking over Green Lanterns in July. (Perkins had already announced he was coming to DC, having worked for years at Marvel, although this is the first indication of a DC project.)

July's The Wild Storm #15 will feature a character named Marc Slayton, a familiar name to Wildstorm fans who know him better as Backlash. The series has been re-introducing Wildstorm characters, and Backlash appears to be the latest.

Readers have known for a while that the New Challengers book will introduce a brand new team to the DCU that is taking on the mantle of a much older team of heroes. According to Dark Nights: Metal, that team, the old Challengers of the Unknown, was lost in a mission years ago while investigating the Dark Multiverse.

Well, it looks like the original Challengers might be coming back. The solicitation for July's New Challengers #3 says that the new team will be fighting the "original Challengers" as "dark matter leaks from the Dark Multiverse."

OK, let's be honest. Scott Snyder likes to talk a little spoiler-y about what he's doing at DC, including his upcoming Justice League run. We already know about the new Hall of Justice, the Legion of Doom, and several story points for the run that starts in June.

But July's solicitations have a couple surprise names in them: "The Turtle" and the "Ultraviolet Lanterns." The former probably refers to the Flash villain who, like his name indicates, slows down the Flash. But the Ultraviolet Lanterns? They might be related to John Stewart's presence in the book, or another version of the many-colored Lanterns that the Green Lantern universe already has.

Detective Comics #985 introduces a new "side project" for Batman. He's apparently found something called the "Brainiac Files," and now he's trying to figure out what to do with them.

There's no indication what the Brainiac Files are, but Justice League: No Justice features the villain as a central part of the story. So this story by new Detective creative team Bryan Hill and Philippe Briones will probably follow up on some thread from No Justice, although with Batman's history of secret projects (think Dark Multiverse or Brother Eye), we're going out on a limb and predicting it's not going to end well.

The copy for Batwoman is teasing a "new partnership" between Kate Kane and Gotham police officer Renee Montoya. The two have history, not only having dated in current continuity, but also having a pretty extensive history together in DC's past continuity. Fans of the weekly series 52 will remember that Kate and Renee were a central couple in the series.

There's a brief note at the end of the solicitation for Batman #51: "What is Dick Grayson doing running around the city dressed as Batman?" And in Batgirl #25, it's explained that Dick is "subbing as Batman when Bruce Wayne is out of action."

Readers will remember that, just before the “New 52” began, Batman was presumed dead and Dick Grayson took over the mantle of Batman for a while. That run, which had him working with Damian Wayne as his Robin, became a fan-favorite part of the Batman history, as Dick surprisingly (and effectively) made the Batman mantle his own.

So even though Dick appears to only be donning the Bat-suit as a fill-in, it'll be good to see Dick back as the Bat, however temporary it might be.

Of course, Batman will also be fresh off a look at an alternate timeline where Bruce Wayne never became Batman and Dick Grayson wore the cowl (pictured here).