Comic fans hear the word “redesign” a lot. It’s a tale as old as time, and every fan knows that no matter what crazy-ridiculous new look Jim Lee or Rob Liefeld can concoct, our beloved heroes are likely to be back in classic duds within a year. But what if they weren’t? What if these redesigns were actually both different and good enough to stick around for the long haul?

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s this little game that just came out called Injustice: Gods Among Us. This features the DC Universe in an Elseworlds-esque setting where Superman is tricked by The Joker into killing Lois Lane and all of Metropolis, and subsequently imposes a global ceasefire. Since this is billed as a non-canon Elseworlds story, there is no weight of continuity, no standards to adhere to, and free reign to go crazy with the status quo. (Wait, wasn’t that the point of the New 52?)

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For the past 9 years, (starting with Green Lantern: Rebirth in 2004) Geoff Johns has been a key writer on Green Lantern titles. If you've noticed a lot of Hal Jordan in DC lately, it's because of Geoff Johns. That whole multi-colored lantern spectrum? That was him, too. And then there's Peter Tomasi, who first worked as an editor alongside Johns, then as a writer, primarily of the Green Lantern Corps books. Between the two of them, Green Lantern's universe has been expanded and changed in ways that will last for decades. And now, these two architects are stepping down from their luminous Lantern legacies. New creative teams are taking over all of the GL books. It's the end of an era.

As we move forward into the next chapter of the Book of Oa, I want to celebrate some of the great moments of the last 9 years of Green Lantern, the state of the franchise now, and the future of the Corps.

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DC’s New 52 initiative has garnered mixed reactions for the main Green Lantern title. Sinestro is wearing green, Hal Jordan has no ring, the Guardians are evil, and Black Hand returned to... death. However, perhaps the most ground shaking change was introducing the new Green Lantern of Earth: Simon Baz. As a person of color, I couldn’t be happier that there’s another minority character at the helm of a Green Lantern book joining African-American John Stewart and half-Mexican Kyle Rayner.

However, there still is something missing from my Green Lantern books that DC should be paying more attention to: female Lanterns.

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I was just surfing around online yesterday and I saw this trailer for this movie that looks kind of cool. It's called "The Dark Knight Rises." Anyone heard of it? Is it supposed to be good?

Less than 3 weeks remain before the ridiculously-hyped and highly-anticipated final installment of Christopher Nolan's critically-acclaimed Batman trilogy reaches theaters. In my final installment of the "What You Should Read" series for summer 2012, I have prepared a few titles that could enhance your experience with The Dark Knight Rises. These should help familiarize you with some of the stories and characters that may have inspired TDKR. Or, perhaps you're like me and just can't wait.

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Comics have gotten a little gay recently. The comics industry, in true form, has taken notice of an already-explosive topic and made a spectacle out of it, perhaps capitalizing on controversy, or helping to fight for a cause.

On May 15, President Obama publicly declared his support of gay marriage. On May 23, Astonishing X-Men #50 hit shelves and digital storefronts featuring longtime hero Northstar proposing to his boyfriend. On June 1, DC Comics revealed that Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott will be a homosexual man in The New 52. On June 7, Earth-2 #2 featured Alan Scott proposing to his love interest. On June 21, Astonishing X-Men #51 will feature the first gay wedding in superhero comics.

It's very easy to get cynical about all these events taking place soon after Obama announced his support of gay marriage. Whether or not you believe it's a media stunt, exposure of the topic was increased by the media frenzy that occurred. News outlets from The View all the way to TMZ and local radio stations reported on the burgeoning gay stories. This is the start of huge social change.

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We're in month nine of DC's New 52 initiative. We've seen mega hits in Batman and Action Comics, severe flops in Static Shock and Hawk & Dove, and sleeper hits in Birds of Prey and I, Vampire. The "First Wave" ended last month, and six titles (Static Shock, Hawk and Dove, Mister Terrific, Omac, Blackhawks, and Men of War) were axed. With their end come six new titles in a "Second Wave."

With more new titles on the way, I'd like to recognize some of my favorite surprises from the past eight months. Each of these titles has shown enough promise to earn continuation, but their true quality is not so easily gleaned. For me, a comic's priority is story, and these titles have delivered on that ground with each installment since they began. These are those stories you wouldn't expect to be great - those that provide a nice surprise.

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Around this time last year DC Entertainment announced that the conclusion of Flashpoint would reboot the entire DC Universe. In a letter to retailers, Senior VP of Sales Bob Wayne said that DC's goal was to "make jumping into the story extremely accessible to first-time readers...". DC hired A.C. Nielsen to do a case study on the readership of The New 52. We already knew that The New 52 initiative focused on attracting the 18-34 male demographic. That's hilarious, because it was a demographic they already had control over. But the most disheartening statistic in that entire survey was that the overwhelming majority of New 52 readers were either avid comic fans or lapsed readers. This is not what comics needed. DC may have made accessible stories, but they failed miserably in their outreach and marketing campaigns.

Comic book publishers as a whole need to seriously reevaluate their marketing strategies if the comics industry is to survive. Marvel and DC are lucky if they get into Entertainment Weekly twice a year. And the smaller publishers? Forget it. Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard published a short Michonne story from The Walking Dead in April 2012's issue of Playboy, but such publicity stunts are rare. There are so many missed opportunities that DC and Marvel (or any comic publisher) can take advantage of across all media.

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