Letters to DC2 Most Wanted #1

This was a very fun read. One thing that did bother me is that June Moone and Enchantress are combined again as they had split into two different beings during Arcalian’s run on Suicide Squad, but that’s a minor gripe. I also noticed that the next issues are no longer in the upcoming events area, so I hope this series gets continued.

I liked this. I'm always down for a good Suicide Squad story, and this did not disappoint. If anything, I would've liked more, but the action was solid, there were strong character beats, and that's a hell of a cliffhanger ending to leave me wanting more. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

If there's anything I'd change, it's to just take an editor to this; add a few missing words, clean up some sentences, etc. Overall, though, this was a good read and I hope you keep it up!

-UDC

Quick update!

With the announcement of DC's own Justice League Vs Suicide Squad event coming next year, I've taken another look at what's going on here, and I figure what I'll do is put it on a bimonthly schedule next year, so we get one issue of Omega Crisis one month and then one of DC2 Most Wanted the next. 

I might have mentioned this elsewhere, but one of the idea behind this miniseries was to fill in some gaps that I left when I made a conscious "time jump" to start my latest run on the site last year. That meant certain things happened that we haven't seen the cause of, and I wanted to go back and fill in the blanks. I won't say what, because obviously it'll spoil the events of the book, but I hope you enjoy them when you see them. 

In addition, we had two films out in 2015-- Batman Vs Superman out at the start of the year, and then Suicide Squad half a year later. When I came up with the overall plot, I wanted a DC2-centric story that used the toys the films were using, to act as a bridge between the two films but with our own spin. ArtTeach delivered the covers brilliantly within a month, and then... I lost some steam, because I had a dozen or so projects on the go at the time, and Justice League and Green Lantern Corps were the priority. I still felt bad, because 'Teach did the art, and I hate sitting on content. 

Anyway, like I said, I'll try and get this all wrapped by early next year for a bi-monthly release. I've said previously I have bits written for each issue, and that's true, it's just building on it and getting it bulked up. 

The much anticipated return of...



We are back! I've made a few minor changes to the first issue, so I reposted it as a "REMASTERED" version of the original, with a sexy disco hot black and white cover. 

We'll be posting a new chapter the first week of each month, and I've written up to the third instalment. Just wrapping up some other commitments on ongoings and I'll get back to the fourth issue shortly! It's all plotted, so I just need to get writing!

Thanks, O! Most Wanted was intended as a project to take advantage of the spotlight being cast by Suicide Squad and Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, with the first issue supposed to launch when BvS came out, and the last issue landing when SS hit cinemas. Very quickly I hit quite a few roadblocks on the way, but I’m pleased to be working on it again, as it has some massive implications on the shape of the DC2 as I’m currently writing it!

I really like the structure of things to be clear, so anyone can pick it up, but also for them to make logical sense. Having a military operation like Task Force X actually run like a military operation made perfect sense, and having to put that out there on paper was a lot of fun. I actually intended to write a Task Force X title in 2010 involving a new take on the operation, but it never came to fruition. This is as close as I think we’re going to get to seeing that!


As you might have picked up over in the Justice League title, I’ve tried desperately to par down the intelligence side of the DC2 as there were so many ill-defined agencies, but there’s something about Checkmate that really appeals to me. I loved Greg Rucka’s post-Infinite Crisis Checkmate ongoing, and his work is something I always want to see adapted into the DC2niverse.

This is the pre-Stormwatch Global Peace Agency, before they restructured into something more akin to Jack Kirby’s faceless vision of the group. I wanted to make sure all intelligence agencies would be involved in this, and that also allowed me to re-use King Faraday, who has appeared in Green Lantern Corps as a member of the FBI. Oh, how the mighty have fallen since the days of the DEO.

That said… who the hell are Checkmate? I hope that by the end of Most Wanted, everybody knows, and after writing them in the first three issues, I’ve gone and introduced them into the plot of Justice League #74 in a really cool and hopefully interesting way. I want it to be that you could say “Oh, this is what the Black royals do, and here’s their hierarchy”, because without me researching constantly, it’s really hard for even me to know!

I was hoping that Amanda’s speech was “evergreen”, like… you know the world is big and loud and scary, and we need to do something about it. I originally approached this title like my editorial mandate was to write it for people who came to the site after seeing the DC movie slate from the last few years, but when the Parasite thread started spinning in my head… I wouldn’t be surprised if it got densely DC2 again!


Parasite became the boogeyman of the DC2 through the events of my twelve-issue run on Secret Society of Super Villains, which is something I’m so proud of, even now. There are story threads still loose from there that will appear in Justice League RIP and beyond, so it clearly means a lot to me, even now.

Who murdered Amanda Waller? Well, Batman, clearly! The repercussions of this one act will continue to be felt as the miniseries continues, and they aren’t pretty for the denizens of Gotham City, and those who choose to protect her…


Steve and Flagg’s roles are interesting to me, and I think I like the challenge of writing the former under this lens that isn’t identifying him directly with Wonder Woman. Flagg is great, but I’m taking a different approach to him, that should become clear in the second and third issues. It’s going to be rough for everyone involved.

I would be remiss not to mention ArtTeach’s amazing covers. There was a great moment a couple of years back when he was here, working on projects again, and he churned out all five covers for the story very quickly, after a loose framework from myself. Having these covers in the bag meant I felt an added pressure to come back to the miniseries, and I felt bad for not getting the covers out into the world!

Your feedback first time around was actually really helpful in building a plot thread that's become quite important now, so I'm glad you're still here, Steve! It'll become clear with #4, which I'll probably start working on tomorrow, but I'm really happy to be producing work that features characters I've never really used before. The Parasite always scared me in every version he's been presented in, and I'm just wanting to spread that fear to our readers, so it's good it's working!!

Hopefully I can establish the espionage parameters of the world between this and the current Justice League arc. There's a confluence of intelligence agencies in #74!


Oh, I get you! I actually had to make a conscious decision as to where this story sits because I wanted to feature Chloe's first iteration of the Global Peace Agency, which was more of a SHIELD-type organisation, as well as the classic Big Seven in the second issue. It's literally set before Justice League #41, as that's the issue where the Martian Manhunter leaves the planet, and before the Kobra plot boils up and causes the team to restructure!


ArtTeach is always a fantastic talent and I hope he finds his way back to us sometime soon! I've reached out to him but to no avail. People do move on... and others stay...  and we just have to adapt to circumstances!