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DC is smack-dab in the middle of three major events: Flashpoint Beyond (the finale of the six-issue series goes on sale October 18), Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths (issue #6 of 7 goes on sale November 8), and Batman vs. Robin (issue #2 of 5 went on sale October 11).
Plus Superman returns to Earth (in the pages of his family of titles at least) as of November 29's Superman: Kal-El Returns one-shot special which leads to an extra-sized Action Comics #1050 on December 27.
With the very nature of time, space, reality, and life and death on the line, all four of these titles promise to rewrite (or at least heavily edit) the nature of the DCU in 2023 and beyond.
Here's a wrap-up of what each storyline leads to:
The New Golden Age
Geoff Johns' Flashpoint Beyond, which is somewhat cross-pollinated with Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths and similarly focuses on the meta-nature of the DCU and how its various incarnations and conflicting timelines co-exist, leads to what the publisher is calling 'The New Golden Age.'
Launching with a November 8 one-shot titled, appropriately enough, The New Golden Age #1, the special promises to "unlock DC's epic and secret-ridden history of heroism" and lead to a new group of titles "set firmly" in the DCU.
The first of those titles will be a Stargirl limited series and a Justice Society of America ongoing series and all three are written by Johns.
The Dawn of the DCU
The New Golden Age seems like something of a sub-set to what DC is calling 'The Dawn of the DCU,' which is the end result of Joshua Williamson's Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. A little less is known about 'The Dawn of the DCU' other than it's the publisher's next editorial era, after what DC called the 'Infinite Frontier' era for about two years.
"It's always darkest before the dawn...and now we're there," Williamson said in the initial announcement. "A new dawn of the DC Universe.
"This whole event started with death, so here we end with life. Our epic last issue shows why the DC Universe is at its best when it's adding and growing the mythology."
Expect to hear more about 'The Dawn of the DCU' when DC's January solicitations are released later in October, along with more information about 'Lazarus Planet.'
Lazarus Planet
This Mark Waid-driven event launches directly from Waid's Batman vs. Robin #4 (of 5) on December 20 and is a mash-up of DC's magical/mystical side with its superhero side.
Announced under the tagline, "Heroes transformed. Secrets revealed. Powers unleashed," the January and February event seems to dabble in the Silver Age-ish/"Illusion of change" tone exemplified in Waid's Batman/Superman: World's Finest ongoing series, and we'll see how much the alteration of heroes and their powers sticks after the event. There is some early indication some of the changes might have a longer tail than the event itself, and we'll get to that in a moment.
Waid also seems to be one of the more likely candidates to launch a new Dawn of the DCU Justice League title, so that's something else to keep an eye on.
New Superman Era
Finally (for the moment), there is Superman's (the Clark-Kal-El Superman, that is) return to Earth following an extended adventure in space in the pages of Action Comics that left his son Jon as Earth's Superman in his own ongoing series.
The storyline of this return began last month in a six-part storyline called 'Kal-El Returns,' which crosses over Action Comics #1047-1049 and Superman: Son of Kal-El #16-18 through the Fall and includes the Superman: Kal-El Returns special, all leading up to Action Comics #1050.
And that leads to the promised new era for Superman, which will emphasize and expand the Superman family and includes a reformatted Action Comics, the end of the Superman: Son of Kal-El ongoing series, and two new Superman series.
And speaking of Jon, changes that take place in the pages of 'Lazarus Planet' will bleed over into the new Superman era as the younger Superman's transformation into a version of the elder Superman's 'Electric Blue' era in the former event (seen above) will continue in the latter.
Power Girl will also have a role in the new Superman era as well as The New Golden Age.
Check out all the links for more information on and preview images each leg of DC's 2023 plans and stay tuned for more. DC is still lacking ongoing Justice League, Green Lantern, and Aquaman series, we're expecting more from Titans (who are playing a key role in Dark Crisis) in the new year, we know Joe Quesada will design covers, and we're likely going to learn more about the happenings in the Batman (we know artist Jorge Jiménez will "briefly" step away from Chip Zdarsky's Batman to be replaced by Mike Hawthorne), Wonder Woman, and Flash families of titles too.
