Marvel isn't the only one with good news for superpowered diversity today! DC comics has announced that Divergence will follow their Convergence event, less a story event and more a concerted effort to broaden its stable of characters and creators, along with 21 brand-new comics!
First of all, let's get to the new series that will be beginning in June and beyond. First the big ones:
• Black Canary, by Batgirl co-reinventor Brendan Fletcher, with art by Annie Wu and Irene Koh. Not only does it already look gorgeous, but Canary is now a lead singer in a girl band, which is pretty much the smartest, most obvious decision DC has ever made.
• Starfire, by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, who are currently rocking the Harley Quinn comic. Not only should this be gold, Starfire is now dressed in a manner that you could give her comic to a young Teen Titans cartoon fan and not feel gross! Awesome.
• Midnighter. The Authority member becomes DC's first gay superhero to lead his own series. Nice!
• Cyborg gets his own stand-alone series. FINALLY.
• Harley Quinn/Power Girl, also by Palmiotti and Conner. They had arguably the best PG run in living memory, and their Harley Quinn is fantastic. A comic — even a 6-issue miniseries —featuring both of them makes my heart flutter!
• We Are Robin, written by Lee Bermejo. Honestly, I don't know how the diversity angle will shake out here, but the idea of a Robin-inspired gang makes me really happy.
And that's just for starters! There's also: Batman Beyond, Bat-Mite (also a 6-issue miniseries), Bizarro, Constantine: The Hellblazer, Dark Universe, Green Lantern: Lost Army, Doomed, Earth 2: Society, Dr. Fate, Martian Manhunter, Mystic U., Omega Men, Prez, Red Hood/Arsenal, Robin: Son of Batman, and the Garth Ennis-written Hitman spin-off Section 8, which is another mini-series. Also, Justice League 3000 will jump ahead a year to become Justice League 3001, and Bryan Hitch will write and draw the return of the Justice League of America.
The new and relaunched series will be brought to you by a wide array of writers and artists, includig the National Book Award-nominated writer Gene Luen Yang on Superman, the fan favorite Ming Doyle writing Constantine and drawing Dark Universe, and several more. You can check out all the author/artist teams below.
It's also worth noting that I think this technically means the New 52 is over. N0w, before you get excited, the old DC universe isn't returning, it just means DC's New 52 branding is finally over. On the other hand, DC's announcement did include this:
DC Comics will be keenly focused on going back-to-basics with its legendary characters, like BATMAN, SUPERMAN and WONDER WOMAN, while also reinventing key characters, such as BLACK CANARY, BIZARRO, CYBORG and STARFIRE, with a new contemporary tonality to ensure a diverse offering of titles.
So maybe there's some kind of soft reboot in there for a few characters after Convergence? Or maybe Starfire will simply wake up one day and say, "Holy shit, I need to put on some clothes." It remains to be seen, but irregardless this is a fantastic announcement for a comics publisher that thought it was okay to hire insane homophobe Orson Scott Card back in February of 2013. Yay!
Anyway, here are all the new and returning titles, along with their writers and artists:
Batman Beyond
W: Dan Jurgens
A: Bernard Chang
Constantine: The Hellblazer
W: Ming Doyle
A: Riley Rossmo
Dark Universe
W: James Tynion IV
A: Ming Doyle
Green Lantern: Lost Army
W: Cullen Bunn
A: Jesus Saiz & Javi Pina
Earth 2: Society
W: Daniel Wilson
A: Jorge Jimenez
Dr. Fate
W: Paul Levitz
A: Sonny Liew
Harley Quinn/Power Girl (6-issue limited)
W: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner
A: Stephane Roux
Justice League 3001 (that's the awesome cover up above)
W: Keith Giffen
A: Howard Porter
Martian Manhunter
W: Rob Williams
A: Ben Oliver
Mystic U
W: Alisa Kwitney
A: Stay tuned for artist info!
Red Hood/Arsenal
W: Scott Lobdell
A: Denis Medri
Section Eight (6-issue limited)
W: Garth Ennis
A: John McCrea
Ongoing Titles:
Action Comics
W: Greg Pak
A: Aaron Kuder
Aquaman
W: Cullen Bunn
A: Trevor McCarthy
Batgirl
W: Cameron Stewart & Brenden Fletcher
A: Babs Tarr
Batman
W: Scott Snyder
A: Greg Capullo
Detective Comics
W; Brian Buccelato & Francis Manapul
A: Francis Manapul
Batman/Superman
W: Greg Pak
A: Ardian Syaf
Catwoman
W: Genevieve Valentine
A: David Messina
Deathstroke
W: Tony S. Daniel
A: Tony S. Daniel
The Flash
W: Robert Venditti & Van Jensen
A: Brett Booth
Gotham Academy
W: Becky Cloonan & Brenden Fletcher
A: Karl Kerschl
Gotham By Midnight
W: Ray Fawkes
A: Juan Ferreyra
Grayson
W: Tom King & Tim Seeley
A: Mikel Janin
Green Arrow
W: Ben Percy
A: Zircher
Green Lantern
W: Robert Venditti
A: Billy Tan
Harley Quinn
W: Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner
A: Chad Hardin
Justice League
W: Geoff Johns
A: Jason Fabok
Justice League United
W/A: Stay tuned for creative team info!
Lobo
W: Cullen Bunn
A: Cliff Richards
Secret Six
W: Gail Simone
A: Dale Eaglesham
Sinestro
W: Cullen Bunn
A: Bradley Walker
New Suicide Squad
W: Sean Ryan
A: Carlos D'Anda
Superman
W: Gene Luen Yang
A: John Romita, Jr.
Superman/Wonder Woman
W: Peter J. Tomasi
A: Doug Mahnke
Teen Titans
W: Will Pfeifer
A: Kenneth Rocafort
Wonder Woman
W: Meredith Finch
A: David Finch