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OK, some very interesting choices here.

But also …

Thank you so much Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti for giving Starfire the best costume she’s ever had in print media.

Alisa Kwitney?!

Hmm… a few titles featuring cartoonists, not author/illustrator teams…

Yay, Batmite!
Now if they would just do a Super Pets comic…
…and publish the next four volumes of the eighth-grade Supergirl!

I’m not surprised at the de-emphasis on continuity.
It marginalizes the “continuity cops” who also tend to be hypercritical of whatever is done.
(I think I hear their heads exploding right now…)

With digital comics and long tails on the backlist, self-contained volumes are easier to sell.

They must also grab attention immediately, especially in this media-saturated age.
(Will we see the return of the Donenfeld Method of comics cover design? Actual captions on the covers? Crazy questions? Crying apes running from dinosaurs? Motorcycles aflame?)

Also, this will revitalize DC’s stagnant backlist. Aside from Earth One, there have been very few “classics” published during the New 52 which sell year-after-year. (Most of those backlist titles are “Elseworlds” stories, done-in-one.)

>> “In other words, the winds of changing rattling the have even been felt at DC comics and now we have National Book Award nominated writer Gene Luen Yang writing Superman.”

Come on, I know it’s just a press release repaste, but have some pride.

I wonder if they’re doing this now to head off Marvel, who likely has a similar stylistic relaunch planned for after Secret Wars.

Hmmm I am under whelmed so far just based on the titles being offered. I need to wait until there is a previews description and promo art to get a better grasp on what would even be worth reading to me. As it stands I will have only 2 books left after Convergence and out of the new ones only 1 looks certain with 3 maybes so far based on the offerings. Maybe Marvel will shock and awe and provide enough details to build some genuine excitement with their unveiling.

[…] DC Comics let loose with their June comic slate, introducing twenty four new titles to appear with twenty five returning titles. While that still doesn’t bring their line-up to […]

While I’m always willing to be pleasantly surprised, DC’s trend of assigning writing duties to artists hasn’t really worked out that well (for me) so far. So I meet all of those titles with skepticism.

More Scott Lobdell and Dan Jurgens books? I just can’t get excited.

And then there are the books that are just the same but with different titles. Justice League 3001? Please…

Hunh. I think I’m most excited about Section 8.

I wonder how many of these books are just there because of some TV pilot that’s in the works or something on Cartoon Network.

I believe that Justice League and Batman should be books concerned about continuity and the momentous epic plot driven defining stories. Batgirl and Harley Quinn (and soon to be added Starfire and Black Canary) are not/nor should not be worried about the macguffin that keeps the world from falling into Dimension Z. There are probably very few people with the resources (and willingness) to go all-in on a line of titles. I am glad that DC is taking a more balance approach and hope they are taking the motto “something for everyone” to heart.

Love the emphasis on more fun (hmmmm, ‘more fun’, that would be a good name for a comic!)

Torsten, I also like your ideas of using the 50’s and 60’s approach to cover the books. Let’s keep the the entertaining comics coming! Just imagine: The Bizarre New Adventures of Jimmy Olsen, The Grodd Squad, Hell on Wheels with Oracle and Niles Caulder, Wonder Women (with every DC lady hero that could fit) and Mister Miracle’s Magic Circus.

What the hell with all this hiring of artist to write? Didn’t DC learned on their own experience that in 90% it results in complete unreadable crap. WTF, seriously, WTF, dudes?

This is great news! Like Torsten and (and I suspect other people here), I think DC’s fixation on continuity has kept them from developing more backlog items of any merit. (Was Before Watchmen the last real attempt at such a project?) Scott Simmons and I were championing something like this approach in a blog post several weeks ago: http://www.flashbackuniverse.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-would-you-fix-dc-universe.html

@Mo Walker – Yeah, I’m right there with you on the Harley Quinn, Batgirl, ect titles – they should totally be divorced from main events. I’d actually like to see this approach applied to other titles as well but that may not be economically viable with current market conditions.

Looks like fun! Gene’s the perfect writer for Superman–I can’t imagine him doing anything with that character that he wouldn’t share with his kids, and that’s exactly the approach that you need on Superman.

And Gustavo Duarte’s a phenomenal talent. That Bizarro book is going to be TERRIBLE. ME HATE IT ALREADY.

This looks way more interesting to me than their original “New 52″ line-up of books. It would have been nice if they had release a small description of each book with these but we’ll get those soon enough, I suppose.

Interesting that “Supergirl” is nowhere on here and the March solicit didn’t list the last issue as the final issue. Not surprising that they’d relaunch that with the TV show coming up.

Also, that “Divergence” cut-and-paste cover is hideous.

Whoa, looks like I will suddenly be buying a lot of DC comics. Live and learn eh, Dan Didio?

Looks like an attitude of fun and experimentation is catching hold. Bravo, and let’s see some comic stuff that we can buy and enjoy!

So bummed about the Today Show. I hope they find some way to interview the winners soon.

DIYA sounds awesome, and so does the 90-Second Newbery! Thanks for being such a good source of news.

David Elzey actually wrote (https://fomagrams.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/actual-email-i-sent-to-the-today-show/) a letter to the show congratulating them for doing nothing, because to his mind, their five or ten minutes of ill-informed fumbling is actually worse than no mention at all.

Don’t know if I agree.

I wish that the media outlets WOULD celebrate books with us. We went to Iceland over the holidays and do you know they have something they call jólabókaflóð — which is the Christmas Book Flood. Right before the holidays, the publishing houses have major releases which are discussed on the news and radio talk shows. There’s a HUGE buzz, and books are the Numero Uno gift for Christmas (and Dec. 26 is set aside to read and eat chocolate. Do you not want to live there now? It’s at least good for a visit; four hours from NY!). An entire country actually makes a point of CARING about books. Could we perhaps try that on a smaller scale in the U.S.?? What would it hurt???

Yes, I like my “insinuating” ways,

Regarding that Chicago Tribune pic, between Walter and Barry are Nancy Werlin and Jennifer Richard Jacobson. Obscured by Barry’s mad clapping hands is Lynn Rutan. Next to her is Cindy Dobrez and then me (which is why I am so sure of the line-up).

I shall now refer to you solely by the moniker The Insinuator from hereon in. Consider it your superhero name. And Mr. Elzey’s letter is indeed amusing. Thanks for that, Tanita.

Why would they ever have to call the Today Show to pitch the winners? The ALA Awards are a scheduled event. The Today Show should automatically hold a slot open.

So I have a suggestion. Agents who handle picture books should contact Snooki.
She can write her PB in the spring. Then they can hold the slot open six months in advance.

after seeing all the fallout over the today show thing i’ve been half wondering if they didn’t do it to gauge the response. after 11 years they might have wondered if, indeed, anyone cared. or perhaps because of al roker’s raised profile on kidlit (which i forgot about) they figured they had their bases covered and didn’t think the loss of the ala winners was a big deal.

once the noise got to the point where people were tweeting and retweeting the snub and the today show’s email address i felt like things were getting a little shrill. i started feeling sorry for that poor intern whose job it was to filter through the emails and keep a tally of the responses and make a general report to their boss. “gee, seems like some people are upset about this thing…”

but the last time i saw the today show do a segment on the ala winners each author was given about 30 seconds to talk and the hosts spoke more than the guests. i felt frustration on behalf of the authors at not being able to do more than smile and nod and answer a non-substantive question about my book, which they haven’t read.

as to the point where ms. davis might not agree with my thinking that no coverage is better than crappy coverage, wel, of course i would have rather they did the segment because i know that any media exposure means sales for an author. i just don’t happen to think their coverage of the awards is that great and perhaps we ought to push for more. is there any way to make the anticipation about the awards reach oscar fever pitch?

They should just have the Newbery and Caldecott Medal winners on TV and ditch the ALA representative, who, really, is just one more person clogging up the set and slows down the segment. And publicists should give the winners some quickie media training before going on TV! Did you see the 2009 coverage? The Newbery winner actually ROLLED HER EYES when an overly- nervous Ann Curry held up a newspaper photo of her taken right after she heard she’d won.

Seems to me the best way to reach an “Oscar fever pitch” would consist simply of a pre-Media Award segment on the show about the possible winners. That way the show would reach a wide swath of authors and illustrators rather than just two. Then when the winners spoke the Today Show could bring in some hand-picked “expert” who could interview them for a bit. Roker was the closest thing they had in the past, but bring in an outsider! Bring in someone who has actually (god forbid) READ the books!

Thanks for the shout-out to DIYA! We’re looking forward to putting some diversity in ya. *collective groans*

Is it possible that the Today Show wasn’t expecting the awards to be so early in January? If it was held a week later like usual, maybe the space would have been there. Why didn’t ALA pitch another day? The next day is great, but there’s no time limit on when people should hear about the winners! They will still be here next week or the week after.

I only wish I could collect the 20 points for not knowing who Snooki is, but I live at the Jersey Shore! (a very nice place, sans Snooki, BTW)

LOVE that new cover for Mare’s War! Wow! I hope we can get some paperbacks for the library — I think that new cover is much more enticing.