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Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman lead the new All In line-up for DC's comic book rebirth this fall

Meet the new Absolute Universe... and see what changes are coming to DC's core DCU books, as well, as the publisher starts to pull back the curtains on the new era of DC comics

Features by Graeme McMillan, Editor

Published on Thu Jul 18 2024

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A day after it was officially announced, DC is unveiling new details about DC All In, the publishing initiative that will include new beginnings for DC’s core DCU, as well as the all-new Absolute Universe — a ground-up reimagining of iconic characters such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.

As previously announced, DC All In begins October 2 with the DC All In Special, which will reintroduce Darkseid, Jack Kirby’s famous villain from his 1970s Fourth World Saga titles, as the biggest bad of DC mythology, as well as introducing the Absolute Universe for the first time. That 64-page issue will be co-written by Scott Snyder and Joshua Williamson, with art from Daniel Sampere and Wes Craig. It also serves as the launching pad for everything that follows…

Who’s Who in DC’s Absolute Universe: Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman

The first three titles in the Absolute DC line will begin October 9, with the release of Absolute Batman by Snyder and Nick Dragotta; that will be followed two weeks later by Kelly Thompson (Birds of Prey) and Hayden Sherman’s Absolute Wonder Woman #1, and then two weeks after that, by Absolute Superman #1 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval.

In its initial promotion of the line, DC is concentrating on what these new versions of the heroes don’t have: Batman “doesn’t have the money, mansion, or butler of his core-line counterpart,” while Wonder Woman has “no island paradise, no sisterhood to shape her, nor a mission of peace.” Absolute Superman, additionally, has “no family, no Fortress of Solitude, and no home,” with DC asking, “Will he still stand for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow in this new universe?”

The current checklist for the Absolute DC line is:

DC All In Special #1 (October 2)
Absolute Batman #1 (October 9)
Absolute Wonder Woman #1 (October 23)
Absolute Superman #1 (November 6)

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Classics Revisited: What’s happening in the DCU

At the same time that the Absolute line is launching, DC All In is impacting the core DCU publishing line with a number of new storylines and new creative teams arriving on long running titles. While some remain under wraps (something has to be saved for San Diego Comic-Con, after all), this is the information DC is currently releasing about changing coming to its DCU line.

Action Comics will get a new creative team of Mark Waid and Clayton Henry as the series runs weekly in October — yes, there are issues out October 9, 16, 23, and 30 — and deals with the aftermath of Absolute Power as Superman returns to the Phantom Zone to save not just Metropolis, but perhaps the Phantom Zone itself. Meanwhile, Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge join the series to create a Supergirl back-up strip.

Action isn’t the only series playing around with its publishing schedule; Batman will go twice-monthly, as Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jimenez, and Carmine Di Giandomenico introduce a new superhero and bring back the Riddler. Batman’s other comic book home, Detective Comics, gets a new creative team as Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin step onboard to uncover new secrets surrounding Bruce Wayne’s parents and what happened that night in Crime Alley…

DC All In architect Joshua Williamson continues his Superman run with a new storyline reintroducing Doomsday and bringing in Superwoman — who happens to be none other than Lois Lane, as it turns out! But what is behind her surprise power-up?!? Maybe new artist Dan Mora can offer some guidance. Also needing some advice will be Wonder Woman, where ongoing creative team Tom King and Daniel Sampere bring Steve Trevor into the fight between Diana and the Sovereign… with potentially deadly consequences. Oh, and if we’re talking about consequence, let’s look to Green Arrow, where Oliver Queen faces up to what he was up to in Absolute Power in an oversized issue that not only has a story from Joshua Williamson, but also introduces the new series creative team of Chris Condon and Montos, and resumes legacy numbering as #350 of the title!

There will be many more announcements to come — don’t think we didn’t notice that DC All In’s announcement video revealed that there’s going to be a new Justice League — but, for now, here’s what we know about the launch DC All In DCU books:

DC All In Special #1 (October 2)
Batman #153 (October 2)
Action Comics #1070 (October 9)
Wonder Woman #14 (October 16)
Detective Comics #1090 (October 23)
Superman #19 (October 23)
Green Arrow #350 (October 23)

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Expect much more on DC All In across the next few months.

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Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.