DC Unveils All-Star 'Black Label' Imprint

[numberthirty]

Ridley ain't no rookie to comics. He's written The Authority back in '04, The American Way series in '07 and just recently The American Way sequel. And that's in addition to all his movie and tv credentials. This guy has done it all.

Seriously.

You've got a lot of people where "Let me throw a hissyfit about this." is taking priority when "Let me take a minute to actually get the facts straight when it comes to this writer." should be.

[numberthirty]

That art for Batman: Damned looks great.

It's worth noting that the same artist was paired with Azzarello on a "Joker" trade and a "Batman/Deathblow" trade.

[Lady Nightwing]

Ugh. Both the Batman books have the Joker in them? Batman has one of the best rogue galleries in comics, why is it always the Joker? I get that he's *iconic* but I think I have reached Joker saturation point.

[numberthirty]

Ugh. Both the Batman books have the Joker in them? Batman has one of the best rogue galleries in comics, why is it always the Joker? I get that he's *iconic* but I think I have reached Joker saturation point.

If it's The Joker in the Azzarello book.

While it could be, I'm not certain that it is yet.

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

People are afraid that the Ridley book will hammer people's heads with left wing politics.

Ridley's book having political overtones is a certainty, and it isn't going to be subtle. Politically, the book is going to lean left.

Throwing around social justice as pejorative is also largely meaningless, because while his books fit under what people insult as "SJW" books, his books have glaring problems. The original The American Way got disgustingly misogynist when the Joker expy killed the Wonder Woman expy and carried her head around with him to use to masturbate with. The book was full of problems, but if it came out today it still would have been considered "SJW" because it confronts race.

It's a meaningless term when it comes to actually describing books.

I was left disappointed by Ridley's The American Way: TATB, because he brings up a lot of issues and then doesn't do a lot with them. There's a lot to criticize about political books like the ones Ridley has written, but stuff like "social justice nonsense" adds nothing to the conversation.

[BatmanJones]

Depends on what you're even arguing for. But yeah why not?

I won't deign to speak for Assam but I think they were saying that "social justice" is never "nonsense." And of course it never is. Saying "social justice nonsense" is not at all unlike saying "civil rights nonsense," though I know you didn't mean it in any bad way.

As for the label, I'm super hyped about it.

Not because of any one book or any one roster. I loved it when DC went "Mature" by creating the "Mature" Vertigo imprint and I love the idea of people being able to tell stories about our favorite superheroes in that way.

Anything that gives DC writers more freedom to write more mature stories is A-OK with me and actually greatly exciting. I don't expect to like any certain book but I love the fact they're doing it.

Obviously the hope would be that this would somehow allow for modern stories that are up there with DKR, Watchmen, Killing Joke, Kingdom Come etc. since every one of those was an "imaginary story" (a phrase that never fails to crack me up) though some were then adopted by DCU continuity (like KJ).

And obviously those stories were a matter of catching lightning in a bottle and one can't rely on a return to that kind of historic quality. But it makes it more possible and means more stories about the characters I love so I don't see any downside and all sorts of upside.

And of course, one benefit of these stories happening in their own imprint, is that one can choose to read any story or not without missing out on anything that's important to DCU continuity.

[BatmanJones]

Re: the announced titles I'm most looking forward to they are these:

Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo (I love this team)
The Other History of the DC Universe by John Ridley (I love this notion)

And actually Superman: Year One by Frank Miller & John Romita Jr. I don't expect it to be good but I expect it to be bold and I like that.

I deplored both Dark Knight Strikes Again and All-Star Batman and Robin when they came out but I recently re-read both of them and it didn't make me feel like they were good but they were damned entertaining once I wasn't expecting to actually like them. Once I let go of that I actually did like them, just for being way out there. And I especially enjoyed Dark Knight Strikes Again on a recent read. I was constantly going "No way!" and "That's actually hell of cool even though I thought it was dumb before." I loved the way he played with the Justice League once I'd given up on any expectations of it actually being any "good." And it did take me something like 20 years before I could enjoy it so there's that. Still...

Synder/Capullo can't stop talking about how "out there" Metal is and I find it totally entertaining though I'm quite ready for it to be over. But next to The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Metal seems rather meek by comparison. DKSA is a million times more "out there" than anything in Metal. ASBaR was a little TOO dumb to really enjoy but I found enjoyable moments in it once I could calm down about how bad the rest of it was.

So I'm actually looking forward to Miller's insanity even if while I don't think he's a very good writer anymore. He's certainly bold. And I always find that exciting.

[BatmanJones]

That art for Batman: Damned looks great.

Agreed. It's Lee Bermejo. He's always great.

[The Dying Detective]

Ridley's book having political overtones is a certainty, and it isn't going to be subtle. Politically, the book is going to lean left.

Throwing around social justice as pejorative is also largely meaningless, because while his books fit under what people insult as "SJW" books, his books have glaring problems. The original The American Way got disgustingly misogynist when the Joker expy killed the Wonder Woman expy and carried her head around with him to use to masturbate with. The book was full of problems, but if it came out today it still would have been considered "SJW" because it confronts race.

It's a meaningless term when it comes to actually describing books.

I was left disappointed by Ridley's The American Way: TATB, because he brings up a lot of issues and then doesn't do a lot with them. There's a lot to criticize about political books like the ones Ridley has written, but stuff like "social justice nonsense" adds nothing to the conversation.

So it's to be expected then. But these folk don't seem to be very aware of ridley's work otherwise they would talk so stupidly.

[dancj]

Lol, who thought Miller should do a year one for Superman?

People with different tastes from you. That's the one I'm most excited about.

Superman: Year One by Frank Miller & John Romita Jr - Absolutely YES!!

Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello & Lee Bermejo - YES! (I'm a little sceptical of John and Batman working in a story together, but Azzerello and Bermejo is enough for me)

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons by Kelly Sue DeConnick & Phil Jimenez - Not a fan of Jimenez. Bitch Planet was decent, but Pretty Deadly felt like a second rate Sandman wannabe. I'll watch with interest.

The Other History of the DC Universe by John Ridley - Authority: Human on the Inside was okay. The American Way was excellent. I'll watch with interest.

Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo - The Black Mirror was pretty good, but I'm mostly unconvinced on Snyder.

Wonder Woman: Diana’s Daughter by Greg Rucka - Rucka = yes.

[Carabas]

Wow. These all seem pretty amazing (okay, not the Frank Miller one. They really couldn't find anyone better for Superman?).

I'm sold. And it has been a while since DC has been able to make me look at a book not written by Greg Rucka.

[j9ac9k]

I like the idea behind the imprint, but none of these interest me. I also hope that the next round will include a few more unexpected choices - I guess people can't get enough of the Trinity, but c'mon... They mention "The Dark Knight" as an example of this kind of project, but so was the amazing "The Golden Age" - I'd love to see some JSA or The Atom, or The Question, etc.... At the very least Green Lantern and The Flash...

It's interesting that "Other History of the DCU" is out of continuity ... was it always intended to be? I feel it might take away some of the impact of it knowing it doesn't really affect the characters highlighted in the book.

[HandofPrometheus]

It suck that "Other History of the DCU" us out of continuity because the one time we get to see the DCU through the eyes of diverse characters it won't matter or will most likely not be incorporated in the main DCU. Hopefully it's a good read.

[Assam]

I won't deign to speak for Assam but I think they were saying that "social justice" is never "nonsense." And of course it never is. Saying "social justice nonsense" is not at all unlike saying "civil rights nonsense," though I know you didn't mean it in any bad way.

That's exactly what I meant.

[Carabas]

It suck that "Other History of the DCU" us out of continuity because the one time we get to see the DCU through the eyes of diverse characters it won't matter or will most likely not be incorporated in the main DCU. Hopefully it's a good read.

The Killing Joke wasn't in continuity either at one point. There are a lot of books that weren't or aren't canon that nevertheless have a lot of their content integrated into the DCU.