Official : Bendis gets both books

[rpmaluki]

I love the Lex cover. I'm generally not interested in Lex but I'll probably give this a shot.

[Robanker]

Leave it to Didio to make villains a publishing initiative. Villains month. Forever evil. He loves this crap.

[Superlad93]

Ah, so this is that big story Bendis and Snyder teased that they were coordinating on last summer. Nice.

I think the only other thing we know that may be related to this is that Superboy Prime is coming back in both Justice League and Superman.

Dispenser of Truth had this pretty rad idea/hope that Prime and the Batman Who Laughs will form a sort of "Worlds Worst" team. I'm very much in favor of bringing his crazy ass back especially when it seems like the Batman Who Laughs is gonna be a long term foe.

[Yoda]

Ah, so this is that big story Bendis and Snyder teased that they were coordinating on last summer. Nice.

I think the only other thing we know that may be related to this is that Superboy Prime is coming back in both Justice League and Superman.

Dispenser of Truth had this pretty rad idea/hope that Prime and the Batman Who Laughs will form a sort of "Worlds Worst" team. I'm very much in favor of bringing his crazy ass back especially when it seems like the Batman Who Laughs is gonna be a long term foe.

But wasn't the Superboy Prime rumor hinged on that stuff that happened in Flash and the "Crisis" character? That doesn't seem to be the direction its going in anymore in Flash.

[Superlad93]

But wasn't the Superboy Prime rumor hinged on that stuff that happened in Flash and the "Crisis" character? That doesn't seem to be the direction its going in anymore in Flash.

Not to my knowledge. I'm going off the fact that Snyder had an interview with Comicstorian's (youtube) Benny, and he basically said that that Prime was coming back in his Justice League, and it will be linked with Bendis' Superman.

No idea about whatever this Flash business, but it seems like Bendis and Snyder have been planning this since the summit when he first got to DC.

[Yoda]

Not to my knowledge. I'm going off the fact that Snyder had an interview with Comicstorian's (youtube) Benny, and he basically said that that Prime was coming back in his Justice League, and it will be linked with Bendis' Superman.

No idea about whatever this Flash business, but it seems like Bendis and Snyder have been planning this since the summit when he first got to DC.

Ah ok, I didn't know about any of that. The only context I've seen the Superboy Prime rumors in has been with the aftermath of the Flash War and the prisoner they had codenamed "CRISIS." Everyone theorized that was Superboy Prime, but it's looking like it's not anymore.

https://www.cbr.com/superboy-prime-r...ory-flash-war/

[Superlad93]

Gotcha. Funny enough, I wasn't aware of the Flash rumors.

He's the interview if you're interested. I'm sorry but I don't remember where the Prime stuff is

[Miles To Go]

DC's official press release for Year of the Villain

DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN RELEASED IN TIME FOR FREE COMIC BOOK DAY

FEATURES ORIGINAL STORIES BY SCOTT SNYDER WITH JAMES TYNION IV AND BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, SETTING THE STAGE FOR HIGHLY ANTICIPATED EVENTS THIS SUMMER AND FALL

VARIANT COVER ARTWORK BY JIM CHEUNG, STANLEY “ARTGERM” LAU AND ALEX MALEEV, WITH MAIN COVER BY GREG CAPULLO

BURBANK, CA – (Feb 13, 2019) – DC announced plans today to release an exclusive original comic, DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN, on Wednesday, May 1, as comic book retailers nationwide prepare for Free Comic Book Day, Saturday, May 4. Available for only 25 cents, DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN spotlights several of DC’s most infamous super-villains, in stories written by celebrated authors Scott Snyder (JUSTICE LEAGUE, THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS), James Tynion IV (JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS: THE GRIM KNIGHT) and Brian Michael Bendis (SUPERMAN, ACTION COMICS).

This exclusive 32-page comic will feature breathtaking art from Eisner Award-winning illustrator Alex Maleev (Jinxworld’s SCARLET), Jim Cheung (JUSTICE LEAGUE) and Francis Manapul (THE FLASH, AQUAMAN/JUSTICE LEAGUE: DROWNED EARTH), with an original cover by acclaimed artist Greg Capullo (BATMAN, DARK NIGHTS: METAL). Hardcore fans will also want to contact their local comics retailer right away to check availability of any one of three beautiful variant covers by Maleev (Lex Luthor) and Cheung (the Batman Who Laughs), as well as popular cover artist Stanley “Artgerm” Lau (the Cheetah).

Following the events of Snyder and Tynion’s JUSTICE LEAGUE, Lex Luthor takes a major step forward, assembling his Legion of Doom for the final push to replace Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest of the League as the rightful leaders of not only mankind, but the universe itself, hoping to harness the power of Perpetua, the first being to be imprisoned within the Source Wall, now newly freed in the events of JUSTICE LEAGUE ANNUAL #1. Perpetua’s storyline and Luthor’s plans to rid the universe of heroes will continue to escalate throughout the rest of 2019.

Snyder continues this plague of villainy through his fan-favorite character the Batman Who Laughs. Fans should pay close attention to the current six-issue miniseries, as the events of the final issue will continue to play out in this pre-FCBD issue, leading into a master plan revealed in a to-be-announced new series debuting this summer.

Fans of Superman and ACTION COMICS will also have plenty to look forward to in this issue, particularly those following the “Leviathan Rising” story arc beginning with issue #1007. Bendis and Maleev will kick off a new status quo in DC’s dark world of espionage and terrorism; the repercussions of this new order will have major ramifications for the Man of Steel this Summer.

And in case you thought the Dark Knight would be getting off easy, guess again: DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN will also contain clues to Batman’s upcoming battle with the villains of Gotham in “City of Bane,” also slated to begin this summer.

On Free Comic Book Day, Saturday, May 4, DC will showcase its upcoming young reader imprints—DC Ink (young adult) and DC Zoom (middle grade). At no cost, fans can get their hands on exclusive early looks at UNDER THE MOON: A CATWOMAN TALE (DC Ink) and DEAR JUSTICE LEAGUE (DC Zoom).

Fans can check out dccomics.com for more information about Free Comic Book Day activities and offerings.

https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2019/0...-available-may

[HeroVladimir93]

DC's official press release for Year of the Villain



https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2019/0...-available-may

I assume the Superman books will keep out of the Year of the Villain event and will be free to tell their own stories.

[Vordan]

Bendis will contribute to a new 25 cent book in May: YEAR OF THE VILLAIN, which will kick off a new year long initiative for the company





https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/he...-issue-1186135

Don’t mind the villains getting more focus, but man I really wish we could get another Superman Rogue other than Lex leading an event.

On the other hand it looks like the Superbooks will be focusing on the fallout to Leviathan, which sounds interesting to me.

[DragonPiece]

I assume the Superman books will keep out of the Year of the Villain event and will be free to tell their own stories.

Yep, I think the Bendis contribution is him and Maleev doing a teaser for Levithan, which will be a separate event.

[HeroVladimir93]

Yep, I think the Bendis contribution is him and Maleev doing a teaser for Levithan, which will be a separate event.

Good, because I think Bendis already has his hands full trying to connect the events in the Superman books with whatever fallout Doomsday Clock will have on the greater DCU. I think Bendis has been trying to hard to advancing his storyline too quickly, lest he risks spoiling anything from Doomsday Clock, a story where Superman is supposed to be a major player. I, for one, am glad Bendis hasn't made any references to Scott Snyder's Justice League or Heroes in Crisis and kept the stories in Superman and Action Comics mostly self-contained. Comic book fatigue is a thing, you know.

[Superlad93]

Bendis gave his Superman run a shout out in his Detective Comics 1000 story. It's also a great indicator of what Maleev has in store for us with Leviathan.

Bendis' tweet here: https://twitter.com/BRIANMBENDIS/sta...87832732950528

Full story here: https://ew.com/books/2019/02/15/read...-share-article

The shout out in question: while trying to guess who Batman really is, someone brings up the idea of how much money it would take to be Batman, and they say "who's the rotted old lady who own the Planet?"

That's a shout out to the boss of the Invisible Mafia.

[Miles To Go]

Bendis gave his Superman run a shout out in his Detective Comics 1000 story. It's also a great indicator of what Maleev has in store for us with Leviathan.

Bendis' tweet here: https://twitter.com/BRIANMBENDIS/sta...87832732950528

Full story here: https://ew.com/books/2019/02/15/read...-share-article

The shout out in question: while trying to guess who Batman really is, someone brings up the idea of how much money it would take to be Batman, and they say "who's the rotted old lady who own the Planet?"

That's a shout out to the boss of the Invisible Mafia.

...Wait, if the events of Action Comics is canon to that story, then why is Selina there with Bane? Has Bendis spoiled something to come in King's Batman run? Is Selina turning heel? Or is this meant to be taken as out-of-continuity? (it also contradicts King's own flash forward ending for Bruce/Selina)

[Yoda]

...Wait, if the events of Action Comics is canon to that story, then why is Selina there with Bane? Has Bendis spoiled something to come in King's Batman run? Is Selina turning heel? Or is this meant to be taken as out-of-continuity? (it also contradicts King's own flash forward ending for Bruce/Selina)

I think this is kind of Bendis' version of King's Action 1000 story. Just some far future "what if" scenario. Not necessarily any type of canon. Just a neat little nod to his Action Comics run.