DC Comics announced this morning that Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski will have his hands full with Superman and Wonder Woman later this year, aiming to return the icons to their rightful places at the top.
Starting in July with Superman #701 and Wonder Woman #601 JMS takes over as writer on both titles. (Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone recently announced her departure from the title to work on other DC series.) He’ll also have a story in each of the anniversary issues (issue 700) to lead into his new ongoing runs. DC’s Source Blog is promising more details regarding the direction of the titles and the artists joining him in the coming months, along with an essay penned by the writer later today.
Superman will hit issue #700 in June, just after the War of the Superman weekly event wraps in May. Wonder Woman returns to its original numbering with May’s #600 after a DC-promoted post card campaign proved effective.
JMS had this to say:
“For as long as I’ve been doing conventions (starting in the early Cretaceous period, when it was just me and a handful of pterosaurs on a panel debating whether or not mammals with opposable thumbs were really necessary to the writing of quality comics, a point still hotly debated today), there has always been the same question from folks in the audience: “Is there any one character who is your dream character to write for?” The answer has always been the same: Superman. When I first came over to DC, that dream was realized in part by Dan DiDio’s gracious invitation to write the first of potentially many Superman original graphic novels. Now the dream has come fully true with the opportunity to write for the mainstream title, in a story that returns Superman to his roots in a way that will have the whole country talking about him in ways that we haven’t seen in a long time.
Similarly, the chance to write Wonder Woman — the nearest analogue to Superman in the DCU — is massively exciting. She’s a vital, powerful character, and we hope to bring a more contemporary sensibility to her character will retaining everything that makes her unique.
That DC is willing to jump-start these two runs in the pages of their respective anniversary issues is a great opportunity and a vote of confidence in what we have planned for these characters. I’m looking forward to this with more excitement than words can convey.
It’s gonna be a blast.”
I’m excited about this news and I hope JMS can do something interesting with these mammoth characters. What do you think?
[Source: DC Source Blog]
