Horror comics provide highlights of DC’s ‘New 52’
DC impressively revives beloved cult comics ‘Animal Man’ and ‘Swamp Thing.’
- Courtesy of DC Comics
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DC Comics inaugurates its new title Grifter, written by Macon’s Nathan Edmondson and drawn by CAFU, as part of its “The Edge” line of gritty titles that blur the line between superheroes and other genres. Edmondson describes Grifter as “’The X-Files’ meets Die Hard, with a little They Live thrown in.” The Edge titles also touch on aviation and espionage with Blackhawks and gunslingers with All-Star Western, while Suicide Squad revamps a Dirty Dozen-style group of supervillians drafted to perform dangerous missions.
In my admittedly limited sampling, some of my favorite titles in DC’s “New 52” come from “The Dark” line of comics with supernatural themes. The standouts — among the most critically acclaimed titles of the relaunch — are Swamp Thing (written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Yanick Paquette) and Animal Man (written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Travel Foreman and Dan Green). Both revive characters that had their heyday at least two decades ago, and if “The Dark” lives up to their standard, it even ushers in a revival of horror comics. (Note: For an exhaustive summation of all the first issues, check out Keith Phipps and Oliver Sava’s five-part Crosstalk at The A.V. Club, which makes a helpful shopping guide.)