DC "Retro-Active" One-Shots

[The Toyroom]

DiDio announced DC "RetroActive," with stories this summer hearkening back to the '70s, 80s and '90s (complete with a graphic featuring retro DC logos). From DC, we got the full list of books and details:

"RETRO-ACTIVE reunites classic writers and artists with classic characters Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and Justice League of America, returning to the interpretations they are best known for. Each of these series will have 3 one-shots that pay homage respectively to the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.

Superman's one-shots will be written by: Martin Pasko (‘70s), Marv Wolfman (‘80s), and Louise Simonson (‘90s).

Wonder Woman's will be by: Dennis O’Neil (‘70s), Roy Thomas (‘80s), and William Messner-Loebs (‘90s).

The Flash will be written by Cary Bates (‘70s), William Messner-Loebs (‘80s) and Brian Augustyn (‘90s).

Justice League of America will be written by Cary Bates (‘70s), Gerry Conway (‘80s), and Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis (‘90s).

Taking on Green Lantern will be Dennis O’Neil (‘70s), Len Wein (‘80s), and Ron Marz (‘90s).

And writing the Batman titles will be Len Wein (‘70s), Mike W. Barr (‘80s), and Alan Grant (‘90s).

Each one-shot will have 26 pages of all-new story, plus 20 pages of classic stories, and run $4.99 a pop.

Sorta looking forward to this, though the price is scary ($80 if you buy everything). A lot of these guys were my favorite writers back-in-the-day...Hopefully they get paired up with iconic artists as well. And hopefully these writers still have the chops...I know Len Wein does...His "DC Legacies" was great.

I wish DC took this philosophy forward instead of just a series of one-shot stunt books....It'd be nice to see some of the old guard still getting work in this industry on a regular basis...As well as seeing stuff that isn't always necessarily written and paced for the trade paperback market.

[johnnystorm]

I think I'll hold off until I see who the artist is for each. I'm very interested in the 70s books, and a O'Neill /Adams book GL book would about make me pee my pants! But an O'Neill/Scott Kolins book I wouldn't buy.

It's a shame that so many of the 70s artists associated with the characters are gone or retired. Swan on Supey, Dick Dillin on JLA, Novick on Flash, Giordano on WW...all these can no longer be.

My choices with active artists?

Superman: Martin Pasko & Mike Grell (‘70s), Marv Wolfman & Alex Saviuk(‘80s), and Louise Simonson & Walt Simonson(‘90s).

Wonder Woman: Dennis O’Neil & Rich Buckler(‘70s), Roy Thomas& Gene Colan (‘80s), and William Messner-Loebs & George Perez(‘90s).

The Flash will be written by Cary Bates & Joe Staton (‘70s), William Messner-Loebs & Adam Kubert (‘80s)

Justice League of America will be written by Cary Bates & Brian Bolland(‘70s), Gerry Conway & George Perez(‘80s), and Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis & Kevin Maguire (‘90s).

Taking on Green Lantern will be Dennis O’Neil & Neal Adams(‘70s), Len Wein & Joe Staton (‘80s), and Ron Marz & Darryl Banks(‘90s).

And writing the Batman titles will be Len Wein & Ernie Chan(‘70s), Mike W. Barr & Gene Colan(‘80s), and Alan Grant & Norm Breyfogle(‘90s).

[samurainoir]

Terrific! I always thought William Messner-Loebs was hugely underrated on his Flash and Wonder Woman runs. He had a great deal of financial trouble a while back (I think he was either homeless or on the verge of losing his house) and here's hoping he's back on his feet again.

Looking forward to seeing him paired with Perez!

And of course I"m always giddy whenever the JLI trio get together on any project. I know folks thought The Defenders, Can't Believe it's not the JL and Metal Men were too wordy, but they still make me laugh out loud when I read their books.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I dunno; stuff like this seems way too gimmicky to me. I'd be concerned that you're not gonna get these guys producing works at the top of their games, but rather guys pressured into doing what the CURRENT editorial staff THINKS comics were like back in the appropriate day. Or worst, what they think the oldster fans want. So you're getting a third gen copy, or a pseudo-parody.

....and I think WM-L is underrated in general. He's a decent guy, too. (One of the few that ever offered me any real encouragement or useful advice back in the day.)

Don C.

[samurainoir]

....and I think WM-L is underrated in general. He's a decent guy, too. (One of the few that ever offered me any real encouragement or useful advice back in the day.)

Don C.

Journey was terrific. I always wished he had continued with that while working on his mainstream superhero stuff. They were working on getting that back into print, hopefully they succeed (with a growing education/library audience in particularly for historical fiction) and he benefits financially.

I can't for the life of me remember the name of the pre Vertigo DC horror anthology he did with Del Close, Don Simpson and DAvid Lloyd, but that is material that deserves to get back into print as well.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Wow, new DC comics I may actually buy (other than Tiny Titans)!

Chris

[Rat King]

I'll wait and see...It sounds like a good idea

[The Toyroom]

You talking about Wasteland?

Wasteland! That was a cool book! Definitely should be a trade....

[The Toyroom]

Yeah those issues were around 5/6 I think...I'm not sure I have more than 8 or 9 issues tops of that title. Was that all there was?

[The Toyroom]

Art teams announced for the 70s issues:

In July, the titles to be released will all pertain to the '70s: Batman by artist Tom Mandrake and writer Len Wein; Justice League of America by artists Andy Smith and Gordon Purcell with writer Cary Bates; The Flash by artist Benito Gallego and Cary Bates; Green Lantern by artist Mike Grell writer Dennis O'Neil; Wonder Woman by artist J. Bone with Dennis O'Neil; Superman by artist Eduardo Barretto and writer Martin Pasko.

The only one that REALLY works for the era is Mike Grell on GL, although I think Mandrake and Barretto can pull off their respective titles also....

[VintageMike]

Will pass on the 90's ones most likely but will definitely pick up the 70's and 80's ones as those are my personal favorite eras of comics.

[aquatroy]

Not interested in any of this

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I'll be interested to see these. I like that they are throwing in some re-prints with the new stuff, too. It will be neat to compare and contrast "retro new" with "oldie"

[Earth 2 Chris]

Fan of Barreto and Mandrake did some good Batman stuff. But he worked on Batman in the 80s, so why not put him there?

Chris

[Janson]

DC, drawing the line @ 4.99...pass.