COMMENT: Moon Knight Hype; WonderCon News

Joe Quesada's hyping the new Moon Knight series, and while he's been on point lately - at least with the examples he gives here - I have to admit to cringing a little bit whenever he goes in to spin mode in connection to anything I'm looking forward to.

NRAMA: "Scribe" - If you had to pick ONE new ongoing title coming out sometime this year as your own "One to Watch", which would it be and why?

JQ: That book is simply called, Moon Knight! It is everyone's favorite new title up here at Marvel. Charlie [Huston] and David [Finch] are rocking on this book. I said it with Young Avengers, I said it with Nextwave, I'm saying it again, do not miss out on the first issue of this series!

Many of you have seen the preview and that's just a small taste of what's happening in the first issue and story arc. This title is hardcore and Marc Specter is going to be a major player in the Marvel Universe in short order.

I also have to admit to not being thrilled with David Finch's artwork that's been previewed so far. A little too 90s Image / Stephen Platt for me, especially the Batman as gargoyle knockoff for #2's cover. The hyper-steroidal look is really disappointing, as is the weird texture of the cowl. I don't hate it, but as a fan of Bill Sienkiewicz' take on the character, I don't love it, either. I have faith in Charlie Huston's ability to tell a strong enough story to make it work for me, though.

In other news, it's been announced at WonderCon this weekend that the universe is playing a cruel joke on me as none other than Grant Morrison will be taking over Batman:

Morrison said that he's already plotted 15 issues, and in his first issue alone, he has 15 ninja man-bats as well as Talia, and the story is called "Batman & Son". Morrison said Batman coming out of 52 OYL will be a more of a "fun guy, more healthy", more like the "Neal Adams, hairy-chested, love-god" version of Batman.

So I guess Morrison gets one more chance to impress me after all, because I'm really hoping to add some ongoing Batman stories back to my list after Infinite Crisis is done cleaning the slate. There's a good chance I might get the Teen Titans of the first 15-18 issues back as it was reported that, "Robin and Wonder Girl will on the new team roster come OYL as has been made obvious by the covers, but [Johns is] going to take a new approach in how he writes the book and make it more character-driven." Amen to Johns putting away the plot hammer and getting back to the characters. My fingers are crossed that Son of Vulcan joins the team before the end of 2006.


Finally, Brian K. Vaughan's Pride Of Baghdad was officially announced, a Vertigo OGN coming out in September that tells the story of "an escaped pride of lions in war-torn Iraq." Word from the inside is that it's being eyed for a big mainstream push, and Vaughan's shown a knack for tackling political issues with a relatively steady hand, so that's one I'll be keeping an eye on.