“Everything you know is about to change!” is right up there with “dead means dead” in the comic book cry-wolf hall of fame, but DC Comics put (our) money where its mouth was in 2011 when it rebooted the entire line under the New 52 label, designed to modernize its characters, shake off cumbersome continuity and create accessible jumping-on points for new and lapsed readers alike.
The New 52, for all of its initial commercial success, has often had a rocky relationship with critics as well as longtime fans up in arms over changes to decades-old characters. Nearly four years after its debut, DC is using its cross-country corporate move to Burbank, California as an opportunity to officially end the New 52 banner and do another reshuffling, wrapping up all but 25 of its current ongoing titles and debuting 24 new series in June once the Convergence crossover wraps up.
The primary Convergence mini-series and its army of tie-ins look to be an unabashed celebration of the continuity and history that the New 52 was meant to discard, with little impact on the line going forward. The first batch of tie-ins hit shelves this week, making now a perfect time to look at the titles we’ve lost between Justice League #1 in August 2011 and Convergence #0 in April 2015.
As of April 2015, DC has launched and concluded 68 ongoing titles, encompassing a handful of books that have already relaunched (Teen Titans, Deathstroke) , a host of spiritual successors (Justice League Dark into Dark Universe), a few strong sellers that were allowed to end when their creators stepped away (Batman, Inc., Superman Unchained), and a healthy mix of fan-favorites and perplexing attempts that didn’t find a sustainable audience.
The gallery above covers every concluded ongoing series since September 2011 (including annuals, zero issues and relevant villain’s month issues) and all solicited writers and artists involved. For the sake of space and lack of consistent solicit credits, inkers and colorists are unfortunately excluded. One of DC’s initial goals with the New 52 was strict adherence to monthly schedules, which has resulted in a veritable army of fill-in pencillers, last-minute finishers, unsolicited replacements and issues with upwards of five inkers; all reasonable attempts were made to match DC’s solicit text with the actual published creative teams.
The list does not include mini-series, maxi-series or weekly series with established ends. Every limited series published since the New 52 began has been allowed to finish its projected run.
1 of 68
All-Star Western
Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray
Artists: Moritat, Staz Johnson, Phil Winslade, Jordi Bernet, Cliff Richards, Scott Kolins, Patrick Scherberger, José Luis García-López, and Darwyn Cooke
Run Dates: September 2011 - August 2014
2 of 68
Animal Man
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artists: Travel Foreman, Steve Pugh, , Rafael Albuquerque, John Paul Leon, Timothy Green II, Francis Portella, Cully Hamner, and Jeff Lemire
Run Dates: September 2011 - March 2014
3 of 68
Aquaman and the Others
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Lan Medina and Sean Chen
Run Dates: April 2014 - March 2015
4 of 68
Arkham Manor
Writers: Gerry Duggan and Frank Tieri
Artists: Shawn Crystal and Felix Ruiz
Run Dates: October 2014 - March 2015
5 of 68
Batman: The Dark Knight
Writers: David Finch, Paul Jenkins, Gregg Hurwitz, and Judd Winick
Artists: David Finch, Ethan Van Sciver, Alex Maleev, Ed Benes, Szymon Kudranski, and Alberto Ponticelli
Run Dates: September 2011 - March 2014
6 of 68
Batman Inc. Vol. 2
Writers: Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Joe Keatinge, and Dan DiDio
Artists: Chris Burnham, Jorge Lucas, Jason Masters, Andrei Bressan, and Ethan Van Sciver
Run Dates: May 2012 - August 2013
7 of 68
Batman and Robin
Writers: Peter J. Tomasi and Ray Fawkes
Artists: Patrick Gleason, Tomás Giorello, Lee Garbett, Andy Clarke, Cliff Richards, Guillem March, Doug Mahnke, Adrian Syaf, Juan Jose Ryp, and Dustin Nguyen
Run Dates: September 2011 - March 2015
8 of 68
Batwing
Writers: Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Judd Winick, and Fabian Nicieza
Artists: Eduardo Pansica, Ben Oliver, Marcus To, Fabrizio Fiorentino, Dustin Nguyen, ChrisCross, Jason Masters, and Allan Jefferson
Run Dates: September 2011 - September 2014
9 of 68
Batwoman
Writers: J.H. Williams III, W. Haden Blackman, and Marc Andreyko
Artists: J.H. Williams III, Trevor McCarthy, Jeremy Haun, Amy Reeder, Georges Jeanty, Jason Masters, Andrea Mutti, Pat Olliffe, and Jim Fern
Run Dates: September 2011 - April 2015
10 of 68
Birds of Prey
Writers: Christy Marx and Duane Swierczynski
Artists: Romano Molenaar, Robson Rocha, Jesús Saíz, Javier Pina, and Travel Foreman
Run Dates: September 2011 - September 2014