Martian Sightings for April, 2012

DC Comics have had Martian Manhunter making a bunch of unannounced guest appearances, so we'll start off with some retroactive alerts:

JANUARY:

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #5
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by FERNANDO PASARIN and SCOTT HANNA
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
On sale JANUARY 18
32 pg, FC, $2.99 US
RATED T
Guy Gardner must assemble a strike force to invade the genocidal Keeper’s dimension and rescue his imprisoned teammates, John Stewart and Vandor! And Guy’s recruits are the nastiest Green Lanterns to ever put on a ring! Don’t miss the spectacular art by rising star Fernando Pasarin!

J'Onn J'Onzz introduced himself to Guy Gardner during a telepathic interrogation in #4, and will presumably return for the follow-up.

FEBRUARY:

LEGION LOST #6
Written by FABIAN NICIEZA
Art and cover by PETE WOODS
On sale FEBRUARY 8 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Since the first issue, this time-lost band of Legionnaires has been operating in the shadows out of fear of corrupting the timestream. Now, their secret is out! Timber Wolf is captured and interrogated by a shadowy organization! Will he be able to maintain the team’s cover? Or is their future doomed?

That "shadowy organization" appears to be Stormwatch, based on the Alien Atlas catching Timber Wolf at the end of #5. Maybe Nicieza's run ends with a SW/Legion throwdown?

APRIL:

STORMWATCH #8
Written by PAUL JENKINS
Art by IGNACIO CALERO
Cover by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA
1:25 B&W Variant cover by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA
On sale APRIL 4 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. The variant cover will feature the standard edition cover in a wraparound format.

Apollo has fallen – and the invasion of the gravity miners rages on! As the Earth ruptures from within, Stormwatch must scramble to unravel the mystery of the unstoppable gravity miners, creatures so alien they defy the laws of science! In Stormwatch’s most desperate moment, what secret from Martian Manhunter’s past offers the first ray of hope in this war?

So let me get this straight-- the Superman analogue gets jobbed, and the Manhunter from Mars saves the day? Um, why don't you stick around a while longer, Mr. Jenkins? You can make J'Onn secretly black, give him a corny surname like "Redman," and you can insert him into as much retroactive continuity as you like. On J'Onn, it works.

GRIFTER #8
Written by NATHAN EDMONDSON
Art and cover by SCOTT CLARK and DAVE BEATY
On sale APRIL 11 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The Daemonites have taken everything from Cole Cash, and now the world’s greatest con artist will find himself the victim of an absolutely alien grift, forcing him to make a choice: die at their blue hands, or kill his own brother. Cole will fight his way to his own finish line in the streets of Paris, amid the fires of burning alien bodies.

Is this one of the books Liefeld's doing? I would pay money to see Rob Liefeld draw Martian Manhunter. Not good money, mind, or I could have talked to him about it at Comicpalooza 2010 when I was getting that commission from Marat Mychaels. Maybe a c-note for a full body, but preferably $2.99 for an issue of Grifter.

SUPERMAN #8
Written by KEITH GIFFEN and DAN JURGENS
Art by DAN JURGENS and JESUS MERINO
Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:25 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
On sale APRIL 25 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. The variant cover will feature the standard edition cover in a wraparound format.

Superman, agent of the Daemonites?! How has Helspont bent The Man of Steel to his will?

That cover is sick. Imagine Starro doing that. It would be a way better revamp than turning him into a Frazetta barbarian.

STORMWATCH VOL. 1: THE DARK SIDE TP
Written by PAUL CORNELL
Art by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA and AL BARRIONUEVO
Cover by MIGUEL SEPULVEDA
On sale MAY 23 • 144 pg, FC, $14.99 US

Stormwatch returns in this DC Comics – The New 52 title collecting the first six issues of the team’s new series! Jack Hawksmoor, Midnighter, Apollo, The Engineer and Martian Manhunter comprise a dangerous super human police force whose existence is kept secret from the world. This covert team of sci-fi super heroes must battle the Earth’s moon itself and find a way to hide its monstrous metamorphosis from the rest of the Earth! Featuring writing from Doctor Who and SUPERMAN: THE BLACK RING scribe Paul Cornell, and art from rising star Miguel Sepulveda.

That last issue will really need to kick butt to make this worthwhile. Same cover as #1, so those Chris Burnham covers continue to go to waste.

THE INFINITE CRISIS OMNIBUS HC
Written by BILL WILLINGHAM, DAVE GIBBONS, GEOFF JOHNS, GREG RUCKA and JUDD WINICK
Art by JUSTINIANO, RON WAGNER, IVAN REIS, MARCO CAMPOS, JOE PRADO, MICHAEL BAIR, JACK JADSON, JOE BENNETT, RAGS MORALES, JESUS SAIZ, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, PHIL JIMENEZ, ANDY LANNING, CLIFF RICHARDS, DAVID LOPEZ, TOM DERENICK, KARL KERSCHL and others
Cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
On sale JUNE 27 • 1,152 pg, FC, $150.00 US

This incredible omnibus hardcover collects the many titles from the 2005 event that rocked the DC Universe, including DAY OF VENGEANCE #1-6, the DAY OF VENGEANCE INFINITE CRISIS SPECIAL #1, RANN/THANAGAR WAR #1-6, RANN/THANAGAR WAR INFINITE CRISIS SPECIAL #1, THE OMAC PROJECT #1-5, DC COUNTDOWN #1 and WONDER WOMAN #219.
OMAC robots are rampaging, magic is dying, villains are uniting, and a war is raging in space. And in the middle of it all, a critical moment has divided Earth’s three greatest heroes: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. It’s the DCU’s darkest day, and long-lost heroes from the past have returned to make things right in the universe...at any cost

This was the Crisis event where they took J'Onn out of the action in a prelude issue of JLA that isn't reprinted here, as opposed to the one where they actually killed him in the first issue. In retrospect, Zero Hour: Crisis in Time was comparatively good to him by way of a token cameo.

BRIGHTEST DAY VOL. 2 TP
Written by GEOFF JOHNS and PETER J. TOMASI
Art by IVAN REIS, PATRICK GLEASON, ARDIAN SYAF, SCOTT CLARK and JOE PRADO
Cover by DAVID FINCH and SCOTT WILLIAMS
On sale MAY 9 • 240 pg, FC, $19.99 US
Once dead, twelve heroes and villains were resurrected by a white light from deep within the earth. Now, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman, Jade, Osiris, Hawk, Captain Boomerang and Zoom must discover the mysterious reason behind their return and uncover the secret that binds them all.
In this second volume, collecting issues #8-16 of the series, learn whether Deadman is truly destined to wield the White Lantern and who the new Aqualad is. Plus, Firestorm’s dueling alter egos take a bizarre journey, while Martian Manhunter returns to Mars to learn about the strange creature that is stalking him.

The meat of the D'Kay story is here, but it's Carl Budding, and it's from the dollar store. The tacked-on ending and the d.u.m.b. Elemental League won't come until the next trade.

DC UNIVERSE: LEGACIES TP
Written by LEN WEIN • Art by SCOTT KOLINS, ANDY KUBERT, JOE KUBERT, GEORGE PEREZ, J.H. WILLIAMS III and others
Cover by ANDY KUBERT and JOE KUBERT
On sale MAY 9 • 336 pg, FC, $24.99 US
Acclaimed writer Len Wein chronicles the DC Universe’s epic history in this title spanning five generations of heroes starring Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Justice League of America, The Teen Titans and more. Collecting the ten-issue miniseries!

It's that bland mini-series that mildly revised a continuity that has now ceased to exist! It's way less irrelevant than those Flashpoint tie-ins!

Miss Martian

YOUNG JUSTICE #15
Written by KEVIN HOPPS and GREG WEISMAN
Art and cover by CHRISTOPHER JONES
On sale APRIL 18 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED E
Ocean-Master’s plan to purify Atlantis brings Aqualad to death’s door and forces his former schoolmates to choose sides. Can even Superboy and Ms. Martian help him?

Ms? Does this have something to do with the tail?