DC postpones plans to reprint Gen 13 origin story back to 2022

DC has postponed plans to re-publish the first Gen 13 story arc, with the long-out-of-print Gen 13: Starting Over collection now scheduled for a 2022 release.

Originally announced for a May 4, 2021 debut, the collection is now listed on Amazon for a January 11, 2022 release date.

(Image credit: J. Scott Campbell/Alex Garner (DC))

"Under the leadership of their mentor Lynch, the super-powered teenagers of Gen13 live a life of fighting evil, saving the world, and partying hard," reads the solicitation for this collection. "Featuring strong characterization and wacky humor, this trade paperback presents the offbeat adventures of Fairchild, Burnout, Freefall, Grunge, and Rainmaker as they deal with typical teenage problems while combating violent villains and would-be world conquerors. Rebellious and headstrong, this atypical collection of heroes trots the globe in search of adventures and excitement."

Gen13: Starting Over is a collection of roughly the first two years‘ worth of stories created by J. Scott Campbell, Jim Lee, and Brandon Choi. It includes Gen 13: Lost In Paradise #1, Gen 13 #1-5, Gen 13 European Vacation #1, Gen 13 Backlist #1, Gen 13 #0-5, Wildstorm Universe Sourcebook #1, and Gen 13: Encore #1.

Gen 13 is part of the dormant WildStorm Universe, a line of comics initially created by DC publisher/chief creative officer Jim Lee during his time at Image Comics. DC acquired WildStorm in 1999, and continued to run it as a subsidiary until 2010. For the past few years appearances by WildStorm characters in the DCU have been relatively nil, however recently that changed with the inclusion of the Authority's Carrier in Dark Nights - Death Metal: Multiverse's End #1 and the planned re-introduction of Grifter in Batman #101 later this month.

Last month, Lee said that elements of WildStorm would be integrated into the DCU in the next 12 months in "a thoughtful, deliberate, creative way..."

Learn about this returning universe of characters in our rundown of the best WildStorm characters of all time.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)