AUTOMAN - yeah, this robot isn't going to make any sort of come-back.
AZRAEL - no, not the Jean-Paul Valley ex-Batman one but the original one from the Teen Titans. The one no-one remembers. Or cares about. So no, I don't think he'll be turning up.
BABE - not the pig, the big purple alien from Atari Force. Just those two words mean we'll never see him again.
BALLOON BUSTER - unless Men of War starts doing World War I stories, I think it's unlikely Balloon Buster will be taking to the skies any time soon.
BARON BEDLAM - a Geo-Force villain. Does that give any indication to the likelihood of his return?
BARON BLITZKRIEG - and another Baron although this one has a slightly stronger chance of showing up. Linked with the All-Star Squadron, Blitzkrieg was a recurring villain in that series so, depending on when James Robinson's Justice Society title actually takes place, there's is an outside chance we might see the Nazi hero take up arms against them again. Wouldn't bet on it, though.
BARON WINTERS - pretty sure that the collection of Night Force will be published sometime in 2012 which may garner a little more interest in dear old Baron Winters. Maybe look for a cameo in Justice League Dark?
BARREN EARTH - a spin-off alternate future from Warlord. Don't think we have to worry about this one.
BAT LASH - as I mentioned about Arak, Son of Thunder last week, not so long ago I would have seriously doubted the possibility of Bat Lash turning up in the New 52. As it is, I think we can pretty much guarantee he'll be seen in the pages of All-Star Western before the year's out.
BATMAN - now of course there was always going to be a Batman in the new DCU. It would be foolish to suppose otherwise, but while we already have the new Batman wandering around in the pages of his 84 titles as well as sundry Justice League books, I'm wondering, like Baron Blitzkrieg up there, whether we'll see the Earth-2 Batman. If James Robinson (and I apologise for bringing this up in pretty much every one of these articles so far) is re-doing Earth-2 and the JSA, theoretically there's going to be nothing to stop him using a Batman in his title. Unless DC editorial subscribe to that ridiculous idea that we readers can't handle the idea of two different versions of the same character and veto the use of an E-2 Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman etc. My guess is that we won't see an Earth-2 Batman in the new JSA series for that very reason.
BAT-MITE - sadly, I think the days of Bat-Mite are long gone.
BATWOMAN - and here's another one that's already out and about. True, it's a different person under the cowl and she doesn't sport the wildly impractical red handbag with a shoulder strap that's eight feet long, but the character's survived in essence.
Summary: one possible (Baron Winters), three all ready out there (Batgirl, Batman and Batwoman) and one prediction by the end of the year (Bat Lash).
Ah, early December ... I wondered why you didn't seem to know about the coming Night Force mini - you're a dangblasted time traveller. And now you'll be optimistic Earth 2 Batman will be showing up, at least in flashbacks, in the World's Finest book.
ReplyDeleteIt's a timey-wimey thing!
DeleteAnd yeah, Earth-2 increases the chances of E2 Batman, particularly if the Huntress turns out to be the daughter of Bats and E2 Catwoman.
I think automan sounds right up Robinson's street. But agree with you on flying, crying Azrael. Remember when Marv Wolfman use to bang on in Titans lettercols about his great new character, Janus? As if we didn't remember he'd done the angel with that name in Dracula?
ReplyDeleteIf Robinson proves me wrong, I shall print this post out and eat it.
DeleteActually, DC is running an all new 7-issue Night Force minseries starting in March, by Wolfman and Tom Mandrake. So chalk up Baron Winters as a definite hit.
ReplyDeleteCheers, snell, but that news came out after I wrote this post back before Christmas!
DeleteWon't stop me from claiming Baron Winters as a correct prediction, though.