DC Comics announced eight more new titles on Tuesday showcasing the darker side of their publishing line. The titles that were announced were a strange assortment of titles that focused on demons, former Vertigo characters, magicians, vampires, and monsters. And as weird as the concept of introducing these characters with ongoing titles is, the creative teams attached to these projects are some of the best names from up-and-comers in the comic books industry. Names like Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Sami Basri, and Joshua Hale Fialkov are only the tip of the iceberg, and if that doesn’t have you excited about these books, then you should probably read some of their work. Also, I’m a big fan of supernatural and crazy comics, so it’s almost like DC plan these announcements just for me. Continuing my ongoing coverage of the DC Relaunch, I’ll list each one of the titles announced with running commentary for each, so let’s get to it!

Swamp Thing #1 – It’s hard to say which of these titles I’m most excited for, but with writer Scott Snyder and Yannick Paquette on art, this is definitely a front runner. Honestly, I was less than pleased when Brightest Day revealed Swamp Thing as the Avatar of nature, bringing Alec Holland into the fold of the main DCU, but for me… this title is all about the creators. I’m a huge fan of Paquette’s art, whose recent work on Batman, Incorporated made me an even bigger fan, but Scott Snyder started off strong and has only gotten better since he start on American Vampire to his run on Detective Comics. Scott Snyder has a beautifully twisted mind, and I can’t wait for more.

Justice League Dark #1 – Justice League Dark has been a rumored title for a long time, but I don’t think anybody understood what it truly meant. The team of characters on this book is the most interesting part of this book, to me, as it features John Constantine from Hellblazer, Shade The Changing Man who is featured in the current mini-series Flashpoint: Secret Seven, Deadman, Madame Xanadu from Vertigo success, and who appears to be Zatanna. This book feels very bizarre and fun, and with Peter Milligan writing, I have faith. And although I haven’t seen much from artist Mikel Janin, his work in the recent JLA 80-Page Giant was nothing short of impressive. This is going to be a book to pay a lot of attention to.

Animal Man #1 – This is going to be amazing. Jeff Lemire has this crazy ability to take bizarre characters that are far away from the norm, and make the reader identify in a truly encapsulating and heartfelt way. Jeff Lemire on Animal Man has the potential to be the best work the character has seen since Grant Morrison’s legendary run. I can’t stress enough how excited I am for the the title, and the addition of Travel Foreman and Dan Green as artists gives me nothing but unadulterated glee and anticipation for the September relaunch of this title. I can’t wait.

Demon Knights #1 – Honestly, when I saw the initial introduction of Demon Knight #1, which features one of my favorite characters, Etrigan the Demon, I was a little less interested. The main reason being that a lot of the other titles in this list feature characters that we haven’t seen in any real capacity for a very long time. Etrigan, however, has been guest starring in several titles recently including Secret Six, Batman: The Dark Knight Knight, and various other supporting roles. It is important to mention, though, that I was elated to find out that Paul Cornell will be the writer on this book. Cornell has this amazing style to his writing that takes extremely dark subject matter, but uses that to write fun, witty, and damn good dialog. And with a subject matter surrounding and on this book that places Etrigan in the middle ages, fighting for Camelot. Finding that out made this a perfect book for Cornell’s abilities. Add that to the art team of Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert, and this sounds like a pretty much perfect book.

Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #1 – I could pretty much copy and paste the description from Animal Man #1, but I won’t! I will mention, again, that Jeff Lemire is an amazing writer who has the ability to take an insanely strange character and make readers love the character in question, but I’ll also mention that Frankenstein is a very rarely used character, and the last time I can remember him being used was in a very small role in the Superman/Batman Blackest Night tie-ins, but the best that I’ve seen him handled was in my go to showcase of talent, Seven Soldiers of Victory. I have no doubt that Lemire will write and handle this character with great care and appreciation, but we can find out for sure when his Flashpoint tie-in Flashpoint: Frankenstein and The Creatures of The Unknown #1 (of 3) comes out this Wednesday! The artist on the scheduled-for-September book is Alberto Ponticelli, and although I’m not very familiar with his art, what I’ve seen from him is wonderfully bizarre and fits the style and mood of this character.

Resurrection Man #1 – Now, I’m not super familiar with the character, nor am I familiar with the creative team Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, but I do know artist Fernando Dagnino from Justice League: Generation Lost, and his art was great. Again, I’m not really familiar with this project, at all, but after seeing all the other amazing names and titles associated with these other titles showcasing the dark side of the DCU, I’ll at least give the first issue a shot. It may not make it to my monthly pull list, but why not? I’ll pick it up.

I, Vampire #1 – Three Words. Joshua. Hale. Fialkov. If you haven’t read this writers creator owned projects Tumor, or Echoes, then I feel really bad for you. Fialkov is one of the best up and coming writers in the business today. I’m currently buying everything that his name is attached to, and this will be no exception. I’m sure of it. Obviously, the title focuses on vampires, but with Fialkov’s name attached, I’m sure it’s more American Vampire than Twilight, so don’t don’t be afraid comic fans. And after checking out Andrea Sorrentino‘s art on the God of War series, I’m convinced these two will be making magic.

Voodoo #1 – Industry veteran writer Ron Marz and relative newcomer Sami Basri, who you may know from recent issues of DC’s Power Girl, will be the creative team on this book, and really… that is all I need to know. Ron Marz’s scripts with Sami Basri’s haunting art on a mystic book about a monster woman that’s half human and half alien? I’m sold. $2.99 right? Where do I sign up for a life long subscription?

I haven’t been the biggest supporter of DC’s Relaunch, although I’ve tried to keep an open mind, but after this news? After this title? If they keep showing promise like this, I may have to change my mind!