John Severin, 1921-2012

My all-time favorite sequence by the incomparable John Severin, from Mad #5, June-July 1953. From the lovely Nanuk the Canuk to Miltie the Mountie delivering his dying words as he hangs over the panel border, there was nothing Severin couldn't draw.

Just thinking

AKA O.M.A.C. #9?

DC Universe: The Source » Blog Archive » JUSTICE LEAGUE Group Solicits

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #9
It’s the JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL against O.M.A.C in a fight to the finish!

Now I'm getting the idea that O.M.A.C. was always meant to be an eight-issue mini. The alternative is that DC is disorganized enough to have coincidentally cancelled a title written by their editor-in-chief one month before a scheduled crossover with JLI. I mean, if they thought the crossover would do O.M.A.C.'s sales numbers any good, wouldn't they have made sure that the title would continue long enough after to reap the benefit?

So where are all the
characters who are
supposed to be on
Earth-2?

The same reasoning applies to Mister Terrific being cancelled the month before the appearance of Earth 2 and Worlds' Finest, all the more so since Karen Starr has been seen (briefly). So far, I haven't seen anything going on there to indicate that Mister Terrific has to inhabit the same earth as the Justice League. He did mention Superman once, but now that we know to expect a Superman on Earth-2... perhaps it has been an Earth-2 title all along.

Now, if O.M.A.C. and Mister Terrific really were meant to only run eight issues, I don't have any problem with that. In fact, I think it's a great use of the flexibility of storytelling 22 pages at a time.

But if it really is just a coincidence, and these titles aren't building on each other to create a larger cohesive story, I'm going to be really disappointed.

But then, we're already getting an indication that the New DC really isn't that organized, since the "New 52" is actually 55 or 56 titles.

On another subject, if I wanted to buy a Batman story but am unable to work up any interest in the Court of Owls, I'm pretty much out of luck, aren't I? I mean, is this storyline really worth ten comics each month? And if it is, why not publish it as a monthly $30 trade? If DC really wants to expand the niche that comics occupy, that would be a heck of a statement.

Hm. I wonder if Pandora (the new 52 mystery woman) will appear in the second wave #1s?