52 Recommendations Part 1

As DC's New 52 is approaching, the Tribe is going to post what they're looking forward to the most in September and beyond. If you don't want to miss anything, you can get all 52 titles for 25% off, or all a certain week's titles in the 52 for 15% off.

First up is me, Paul Harrison, the guy who currently maintains this website.

Birds of Prey (Duane Swierczynski/Jesus Saiz)

A noir novelist, and awesome (former) Marvel writer, Swierczynski's work is universally tense and action-oriented. Birds of Prey seems like a good fit - the team made up of normal, trained people, fighting real crime. Without Oracle in the new DC Universe, who knows what their backstory is, but it's sure to be a fun ride.

Legion Lost (Fabien Nicieza/Pete Woods)

I haven't read a Legion book in over a decade, but Nicieza's runs on Marvel's Thunderbolts, and DC's Red Robin has convinced me that I should buy everything he writes. It certainly doesn't hurt that it definitely looks like it's going to be a smart sci-fi superhero story, and takes its name from a Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (The Kings of Cosmic!) storyline that is now available in a trade paperback.

 

Mr. Terrific (Eric Wallace/Gianluca Gugliotta, cover by J.G. Jones)

Mr. Terrific is one of my favorite characters in the DCU, and this is his first solo series ever. Introduced in John Ostrander's old Spectre series, Mr. Terrific went on to be a member of the JSA, and later was the White King of DC's spy organization Checkmate. This new chapter in his life has him running his own corporation and think-tank, so I expect some pretty awesome super-science.

Justice League International (Dan Jurgens/Aaron Lopresti)

Partially spinning out of the amazing Justice League: Generation Lost, JLI represents a new take on one of the best Justice League comics of all time. JLI was razor-sharp wit, relevant stories, and just awesome stories. Dan Jurgens, creator and writer of Booster Gold, is someone that I definitely trust to continue these fine traditions. I know they're continuing the tradition of mysteries at least, since there used to be someone in the lower left in that cover. Hmmm?

Suicide Squad (Adam Glass/Marco Rudy, cover by Ryan Benjamin)

Despite these costumes (Which I hope don't make it past the cover), and despite Gail Simone's wonderful Secret Six ending, a new Squad title has been a long time coming. Politically relevant, hilarious, and incredibly brutal, the 80s Suicide Squad (First volume available now!) was one of the greatest comics ever made. Adam Glass's previous experience seems to mostly be with Deadpool titles, which I hope is a good fit.


Blue Beetle (Tony Bedard/Ig Guara/Ruy Jose, Cover by Taylor Kirkham/Sal Regla)

Jaime Reyes from El Paso, TX is one of the few superheroes Texans can call their own, and his previous adventures under Kieth Giffen and John Rogers (Collected starting in Blue Beetle: Shellshocked) were some of the best teenage superhero books you could ever want. Tony Bedard can be an inconsistent writer, but when he likes and knows characters, he's one of the best. I hope this is a breakout title for Blue Beetle, and Bedard since they really deserve one.


Animal Man (Jeff Lemire/Tarvel Foreman and Dan Green)

Animal Man is one of those characters that only a certain amount of people know is awesome, and that can be said for Jeff Lemire as well, who is a writing superhero. Jeff Lemire's creator-owned Sweet Tooth is one of the best things going, and if he bring half the drama and weirdness to Animal Man that Grant Morrison's definitional run did, without treading old ground, this could be the best title on my list here.