DC Comics’ January loaded with Justice League… and Kamandi?

DC has just taken the wraps off their January 2017 solicitations and there’s some very interesting books on tap. The Justice League solo one-shots we knew about, but Kamandi?

A Justice League kind of month

First, there’s plenty of your favorite DC books coming in January. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and all the rest will be present and accounted for. Some of them are looking pretty great too, like Batman #’s 14 and 15, which bring in Catwoman. She’s been gone for way too long in the bat-books.

Even so though, its not solo titles that are the focus of January’s releases (though there are bunch of them too). Instead, the month squares its spotlight directly on the Justice League. There are piles of League themed books set to arrive in the first month of 2017. And I mean piles.

Some of those are solo comics to be sure. One-shots for Killer Frost, The Ray, Atom, and Vixen will all be not he racks. While they’re all solo stories though, they’re also being brought to retail with a purpose. All four of the starring characters are part of the all-new Justice League of America book that’s set to arrive a month later.

As for the League as it currently stands, it’s going big in January too. Justice League vs Suicide Squad begins in December, but will have no less than eight releases in January. Yep, that’s a lot. That’s also the entirety of the event, so it’s all wrapped up in a little over a month. As a long time comic fan, I have to say I dig that big time.

The Last Boy on Earth

There are some other big things going on in the coldest (and traditionally, dullest) month on the calendar outside of the above though. For starters, there’s Batman ’66 meets Wonder Woman ’77, the continued re-emergence of the Joker in Batman Beyond, and more from the Young Animal brand. The Justice League (there they are again) even meet up with the Power Rangers!

Even with all that, there’s something else that should get your attention. And that’s The Kamandi Challenge #1.

If you’re not familiar, Kamandi is a post-apocalyptic story from the mind of Jack Kirby himself. It’s been around for a long time now, and never really played into the DCU proper in any huge way. Still  though, it’s quite popular with hardcore fans, and has managed to get a following.

So what’s with the oddly named book? Well, The Kamandi Challenge is a 12 issue mini-series. And while there’s nothing unusual about that, the way that those 12 issues will play out are indeed pretty unique. There’ll be a brand new creative team for every issue, and each one will start off and end with a cliffhanger. Here’s the trick- it’s up to the following issue’s team to figure out how to continue the tale and how to leave readers dangling at the installment’s close.

So you don’t know where it’s all going, and for once, neither does the creative team. Pretty cool. It’s also a way for readers to get into the character, which DC might have plans for down the line. Seems kind of strange to use him here otherwise.

Anyway, those are some of the highlights for what’s on tap for January. Click here for the full rundown.