For the past few years DC Comics has been criticised that their comics have lacked diversity in a variety of fields. With the launch of the New 52 reboot many of the comics fell into a house style of art and there was a consistent tone in order to establish a new universe. The problem is that it meant that many comics felt the same. But there has been some slow change in recent times. In the past 9 months things have started to slowly diversify with series such as Harley Quinn, Gotham Academy, Gotham by Midnight, Gotham by Midnight and Batgirl.

In June we will be seeing an explosion of diversity with DC Comics’ output with 24 exciting new series announced recently. What makes these new comics exciting is the amount of variety in stories and voices present. There will be a greater mix of art styles and tone but also in regards to the diversity of creators creating these comics. There are more female creators along with creators who are of minority backgrounds. Overall it builds a catalogue for DC that has something for everyone and is more creative.

Below is the How to Love Comics guide to these new series that start in June. Along with listing the creative teams I have given some information about each series as well as background on some of the more obscure characters. As there it’s a long way between now and June there will plenty time for more information to be revealed. So keep coming back to this to find out more about each comic as I update this regularly.

New Series

Batman Beyond

Written by Dan Jurgens. Art by Bernard Chang.

While still set in the future, this will be a little different to the Batman Beyond that many would be familiar of. With the Justice League missing a new Batman has to stand-up and defend the world that has fallen into dystopia. There looks there will be a large group of supporting characters included as well making this series very different to the Batman we know.

Th identity of Batman hasn’t been revealed as of yet so you will have to read issue #1 to find out.

Bernard Chang on art is pretty exciting as he has a pretty strong portfolio at DC, including art on the underrated Demon Knights.

Black Canary

Written by Brenden Fletcher. Art by Annie Wu.

It’s been a little while since Black Canary has had her own solo series, but with her regular appearances in Arrow it makes a lot of sense for to have one. Even better is that Brenden Fletcher (writer of Batgirl and Gotham Academy) is writing it and Annie Wu (Hawkeye) is on art and is giving it a punk rock vibe.

In this series we see Black Canary start a new chapter in her life as she hits the road with her rock band. Although, it appears that her troublesome life has joined her on tour.

If you are not familiar with Black Canary, she is a cool street-level hero with the ability of a supersonic scream. Throughout her history she has been professionally and romantically linked with Green Arrow and has prominent member of the all-female team of Birds of Prey and has been a member of the Justice League.

Constantine: The Hellblazer

Written by Ming Doyle and James Tynion IV. Art by Riley Rossmo.

Constantine will be relaunched with a new creative team and a familiar name. The previous series. Since moving John Constantine from the more adult Vertigo imprint to the regular DC universe there has been criticism of the watered downed tone and themes. With Hellblazer in the name, the could a swing closer to the old Vertigo series which made John Constantine famous. While you wouldn’t be able to have the same level of drugs, violence, sex and swearing it might see certain elements return that made the character so great.

Cyborg

Written by David Walker. Art by Ivan Reis.

Since the start of the New 52 Cyborg has been a member of the Justice League, but also the only member not to have their own series. Although, this has now been rectified with this new series.

Just like his name suggest Cyborg is half-human half-machine and is the most prominent technology based hero in the DC Universe.

According to Bleeding Cool Cyborg #1 has been delayed until July.

Dark Universe

Written by James Tynion IV. Art by Ming Doyle.

This series will replace Justice League Dark, which was a series that featured many of DC’s supernatural and magic based heroes, who take on threats other heroes could not. It will be interesting to see the tone or format will change much from JLD and who will be featured in the team. Stay tuned for more information has it comes to hand.

According to Bleeding Cool Dark Universe #1 has been delayed until later in the year.

Green Lantern: Lost Army

Written by Cullen Bunn. Art by Jesus Saiz and Javi Pina.

Green Lantern: Lost Army will be replacing not just one title but three Green Lantern titles which will be ending in March. Expect many elements from those series to be put into this series. It can also be assumed that it will act as a sister series to the current Green Lantern series.

Doomed

Written by Scott Lobdell. Art by Javier Fernandez.

In Superman: Doomed, Superman ripped villain Doomsday in half in order to stop him. The problem was that in the process of doing this it launched millions of spores which infected Superman in the process. While it was thought Superman absorbed them all it appears that was not the case with spore escaping and infecting and creating a new Doomsday. This series looks like it will follow this Doomsday and most likely follow his new evolution.

We will update this when more information is available.

Earth 2: Society

Written by Daniel Wilson. Art by Jorge Jimenez.

This new series looks to be the new chapter, and hopefully a good jumping on point, in the ongoing saga of Earth 2. For those not familiar with the Earth 2 setting it’s a parallel universes which features familiar characters in an unfamiliar way.

Dr. Fate

Written by Paul Levitz. Art by Sonny Liew.

Dr Fate is the DC Universe’s master of magic which has an Egyptian influence to it. If you have been watching Constantine you might have seen Dr Fate’s signature helmet in the pilot episode.

The ancient Egyptian God of Death, Anubis, wants to wash the world away with a giant flood. The only person who can stop this horrible fate is an overwhelmed Med student who has come accidentally come across the Helmet of Fate and has no idea how to use it.

What is extra exciting is that Sonny Liew will be handling the art. His art is lots of fun and should look great with all the surreal magic that will be featured.

Justice League of America

Written and art by Bryan Hitch.

In this batch of new titles there will be a new Justice League title which looks like it will  star the core team that was established in Justice League #1. In an interesting movie Justice League of America will be written and drawn by Bryan Hitch who has had successful runs on JLA and Ultimates. Bryan Hitch has never been know for keeping a monthly schedule, but it’s reassuring to know that he has been working on the title for past two years. That should be enough lead-time to keep the title on a monthly schedule.

Justice League 3001

Written by Keith Giffen. Art by Howard Porter.

Justice League 3000 will be replaced by Justice League 3001, which we can only assume is set a year after the previous series. The previous series featured a Justice League team made up of genetic material of Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash as well as the Wonder Twins. As to whether the same team will be featured in this new series is unsure but when we find out more we will keep you posted.

Martian Manhunter

Written by Rob Williams. Art by Eddy Barrows and Eber Ferreira.

Another Justice League member who is well overdue to getting his own series is Martian Manhunter. Martian Manhunter is a really interesting character who has been under utilised for many years. He is extremely powerful and has wide range of abilities which could open up to a range of different stories.

In the opening arc Martian Manhunter has to stop a group of shape-shifting alien terrorists from destroying everything on Earth. But when the aliens look like humans who can you trust?

Rob Williams is a great writer of science-fiction comics which have featured some crazy concepts. With this in mind this series will most likely feature lots of big and crazy ideas.

Midnighter

Written by Steve Orlando. Art by ACO.

When DC Comics announced that Batwoman was to be cancelled in March people were upset as she was a prominent homosexual character at DC. Although this hole has been filled with another homosexual character with Midnighter.

For those unfamiliar with the character he first appeared in late 90s in a series called Stormwatch which was a secretive Superhero team which thought took on missions unknown to the rest of the world. He was originally created to be an analogue of Batman, but has since then evolved to become his own character. But unlike Batman, Midnighter has no problem with killing and often will.

If you are looking for a taste of Midnighter, he recently popped up in Grayson.

Mystic U

Written by Alisa Kwitney. Artist to be revealed.

Out of all the titles that were announced this is the one which is the most mysterious. Based on the title it appears that it will follow the mystical side of the DC Universe in a similar manner to that of Dark Universe and Constantine: The Hellblazer.

According to Bleeding Cool Mystic U #1 has been delayed until later in the year.

Omega Men

Written by Tom King. Art by Barnaby Bagenda.

Originally appearing in Green Lantern in the early 80s, The Omega Men is a team of alien fugitives from a variety of different planets. During that period they had their own series which spawned the popular character Lobo, but since it ended in the mid-80s have been rather underused. Although, this comes as an advantage as you should be required no prior knowledge of the characters and will allow the creative team plenty of creative freedom.

Omega Men kicks off with the group on the run with the group having murdered White Lantern Kyle Rayner. Now the entire universe want a piece of them any way they can. Along the way we will find out more about this group of fugitives and that there might be more to their actions than meets the eye.

Red Hood/Arsenal

Written by Scott Lobdell. Art by Denis Medri.

Replacing Red Hood and the Outlaws, Red Hood/Arsenal appears to be a team up of the two characters in stories which I assume will be similar to the previous series. If you are unfamiliar with the characters of Red Hood or Arsenal then here a quick explanation of each:

Red Hood aka Jason Todd was originally the second Robin until he was killed by The Joker. After many year dead he rose from the grave bitter and twisted against Batman for not taking revenge. From then on he has known as the anti-hero Red Hood.

Aresenal aka Roy Harper was originally Green Arrow’s sidekick. He was kicked out of that position for reasons that have yet to be explored and developed self-destructive behaviors afterwards. After getting into a bit of trouble he joins up with the Red Hood and the Outlaws and sets himself towards a better path, although still not quite staying out of trouble.

Robin, Son of Batman

Written and art by Patrick Gleason.

Robin, Son of Batman looks to replace Batman and Robin but will put the focus solely on Robin. The Robin starring in this series will be Damien Wayne, who is Batman’s son. Recently Damien died and was later resurrected after Batman found a way to bring him back. On his return he came back differently and now possesses powers similar to Superman.

You shouldn’t be required to have read Batman and Robin to appreciate this series and should be full of adventure while also exploring the character of Robin and his new powers.

Starfire

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner. Art by Emanuela Lupacchino.

When the New 52 launched the over sexualisation of Starfire was heavily criticised. In her own series written by the Harley Quinn team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner a lot of these criticisms look like they will be amended. She’ll have a new, less revealing, costume and based on the Amanda Conner cover above looks to be more of a light humourous tone. If you are a fan of Harley Quinn or the writers run on Power Girl then Starfire could easily be to your liking.

Starfire is an alien princess who escaped her homeworld due to the threat of execution from her sister who was jealous of her claim to the throne. When she arrived on Earth she hung out with the Teen Titans and in recent times has been in Redhood and the Outlaws. Her planet has different customs in regards to intimacy which has created awkward moments to sometimes amusing results.

We Are Robin

Written by Lee Bermejo. Art by Rob Haynes and Khary Randolph.

We Are Robin is a series that will star Duke Thomas, who recently was seen in Future’s End, as he starts the Robin Movement in Gotham City. Sworn to protect Gotham City, the Robin Movement will see him lead and recruit teenagers who feel like the only way to make a change is to go out do something.

This new series will focus more on Duke and a set of diverse new teenage characters instead of any existing or previous Robin. Instead, they take their inspiration from Robin as they feel like their cause is helping Batman.

You can read more about this series over at USAToday.

Miniseries

Bat-Mite

Written by Dan Jurgens. Art by Corin Howell.

Bat-Mite is a impish character similar to Mister Mxyzptlk who idolised Batman. Although instead of being a bad guy he used is impish abilities to to test Batman so he could see him in action. Being a character created in the late 50s, when the Batman comics could be quite silly, he was very much a product of his time. In modern comics has has been mostly appeared in hallucinations

It appears that Bat-Mite will be well and truly back in continuity with his own 6 issue miniseries. Based on the image above and the background of the character it will have a light, more humorous tone which I have been told is suitable for all ages.

Bizarro

Written by Heath Corson. Art by Gustavo Duarte.

Another all-ages series that looks to have a humourous tone will be a 6 issue Bizarro miniseries. Just like Bat-Mite, Bizarro is another character that was created in a time when comics could be quite silly.

Coming from a universe in which everything is backwards, Bizarro is the Superman of that world and often acted as a villain to Superman. Due to his backwards nature, Bizarro has often been used for humourous Superman stories.

It’s unsure yet if this series will be set of the Bizarro World or if Bizarro will visit the main DC Universe but whatever the case I am sure there will be plenty of laughs to be had.

Harley Quinn/Power Girl

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner. Art by Stephane Roux.

Harley Quinn and Power recently teamed up for a 3-part story in regular Harley Quinn series and it looks like they at it again with a 6-issue miniseries. Considering this has the writers as the regular Harley Quinn series you can expect more of the same.

Section Eight

Written by Garth Ennis. Art by John McCrea.

Featuring characters from their much loved series Hitman, Section Eight is 6 issue miniseries.

Hitman was a fan favourite series that ran primarily in the second half of the 90s about Tommy Monaghan – a super powered contract killer. Instead of using his abilities in the criminal underworld he decides to target those with superpowers and supernatural threats. The downside to his abilities (X-Ray vision and telepathy) is that he can only use them selectively otherwise who would get sick. Section Eight were and oddball and dysfunctional superhero team that was featured in that series.

Hitman was an oddball kind of series with a mature edge to it so it can be assumed that Section Eight will be too.

Prez

Written by Mark Russell. Art by Ben Caldwell.

Prez is another underused concept, this time from the 1970s. Prez was a four issue mini series back in the early 70s about a teenager who was elected President of the United States.

This time around a teenage girl will be elected president. 19 year-old Beth Ross, a Twitter sensation has been elected president by the people and she is going to run the country her way. While many would assume that someone so young is not ready for politics it appears that politics might not be ready for her. It’s safe to assume that there will be some unconventional leading and some crazy ideas in this series which looks like will be very fun.

This new series has been solicited to run for 12 issues which should be long enough to have this Beth Ross to established into the larger DC Universe – making her influence felt in other titles.

Continuing Series

Along with all the new comics there are still plenty of existing series that will be continuing on with June acting as a great jumping on point. June will see new stories and accessible stories starting which will make it easy to jump on.

While many of the creators will stay the same there are some with new creators which should see certain series go in interesting directions.

These will be given a write-up once more information is available for them – especially if there are major changes to the series.

Action Comics

Written by Greg Pak. Art by Aaron Kuder.

Aquaman

Written by Cullen Bunn. Art by Trevor McCarthy.

Batgirl

Written by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher. Art by Babs Tarr.

Batman

Written by Scott Snyder. Art by Greg Capullo.

Detective Comics

Written and art by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccelato.

Batman/Superman

Written by Greg Pak. Art by Ardian Syaf.

Catwoman

Written by Genevieve Valentine. Art by David Messina.

Deathstroke

Written and art by Tony S. Daniel.

The Flash

Written by Robert Venditti and Van Jensen. Art by Brett Booth.

Gotham Academy

Written by Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher. Art by Karl Kerschl.

Gotham By Midnight

Written by Ray Fawkes. Art by Juan Ferreyra.

Grayson

Written by Tom King and Tim Seeley. Art by Mikel Janin.

Green Arrow

Written by Ben Percy. Art by Patrick Zircher.

Green Lantern

Written by Robert Venditti. Art by Billy Tan.

Harley Quinn

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner. Art by Chad Hardin.

Justice League

Written by Geoff Johns. Art by Jason Fabok.

Lobo

Written by Cullen Bunn. Art by Cliff Richards.

Secret Six

Written by Gail Simone. Art by Dale Eaglesham.

Sinestro

Written by Cullen Bunn. Art by Bradley Walker.

New Suicide Squad

Written by Sean Ryan. Art by Carlos D’Anda.

Superman

Written by Gene Luen Yang. Art by John Romita, Jr.

Superman/Wonder Woman

Written by Peter J. Tomasi. Art by Doug Mahnke.

Teen Titans

Written by Will Pfeifer. Art by Kenneth Rocafort.

Wonder Woman

Written by Meredith Finch. Art by David Finch.

Justice League United

Creative team to be announced.

Have Your Say

Which of these new series will you be reading? Do you like that DC has diversified their output? You can let me know in the comments or via Facebook or Twitter.