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After a seven-month delay, DC has finally resolicited Danger Street, a 12-issue Black Label series from the reunited Rorschach creative team of writer Tom King, artist Jorge Fornés, and colorist Dave Stewart.
Danger Street digs deep into the publisher's catalog, and issue #1 hits shelves in December.
The "multicharacter, deeply layered crime drama" starring "reimagined" versions of characters like Starman (the blue one), Metamorpho, and Warlord is inspired by the mid-1970s DC's 1st Issue Special series.
Yeah, we looked it up so you don't have to.
The 13-issue series published between April 1975 and April 1976 was based on legendary DC editor and publisher Carmine Infantino's idea of an ongoing series of nothing but first issues, which sold better than subsequent issues.
The result was a baker's dozen issues of unrelated, sometimes obscure concepts like the Jack Kirby creations Atlas and the Dingbats of Danger Street, for which the new series takes its title.
Danger Street follows the Mikaal Tomas Starman, Metamorpho, and the fantasy character Warlord as they vie for membership in the Justice League.
Their plan: summon Darkseid to Earth to defeat him, apparently to prove their mettle.
Sure, what could go wrong?
Their boneheaded plan puts the Earth on a path to a "crisis," and according to DC their quest to save the day will be a "treacherous one filled with princesses, knights, and all kinds of monsters."
The main heroes encounter other supporting characters - the full cast includes 21 characters - also culled from the pages of DC's 1st Issue Special including the aforementioned Dingbats of Danger Street, the New Gods, the Outsiders (no, not Batman's team, an earlier, weirder, more obscure team created by Joe Simon), Doctor Fate, Manhunter (Mark Shaw), Lady Cop (a police officer who's also a woman, appropriately enough), Code Name: Assassin (he's what he sounds like), the Green Team (pre-teen billionaires who offer cash for adventures), the Creeper, and oh yeah, Darkseid.
Here's a gallery of some of Fornés' updated designs for some of the characters, along with comments King tweeted about them:
They all play a crucial role in what DC calls a "sprawling yet gripping narrative that is a little bit silly, a whole lot dark, and completely cool."
King tweeted that the series "explores the good and the evil lurking in all the forgotten corners of the DCU," and a story "with a lot of characters who at times violently collide into each other."
"Think Game of Thrones or Fargo."
Danger Street Book One (of 12) goes on sale December 13 with a main cover by Fornés. Variant covers spotlighting characters featured in both Danger Street and the original DC 1st Issue Special series include an Atlas cover by Steve Rude, a Lee Weeks cover featuring The Creeper, Metamorpho, and Warlord, and a Dr. Fate cover by Ben Oliver.
"No one will see it coming, but everyone will want to see where it goes!" says DC.
Probably right about not seeing it coming, we'll have to see about the rest.
Check out a gallery of black and white interior preview images, along with the Rude and black and white version of Weeks’ variant covers.
Nothing from DC's 1st Issue Special series makes Newsarama's list of the best DC stories of all time.
