SCOTT KOLINS

Every month, comic publishers release their solicitation announcements to provide information to readers and retailers on comics that are coming out in three months’ time, but there’s so much information dropped at once that a lot can slip through the cracks. This month in DC's June solicitations, DC Rebirth brings back some more old favorites in a more traditional setting, some New 52 standout stars get a chance to return, some Golden Age heroes appear in the least likely place, and Aquaman gets hot!

In Blue Beetle #3, by Keith Giffen and Scott Kolins, Jaime Reyes is one young man facing 150 alien bugs. Fortunately for him, he's a bit of an alien bug himself, thanks to his extraterrestrial Blue Beetle armor. But he's still outmanned, or "outbugged" as the cover puts it, and he's missing the support of his mentor, Ted Kord. It also doesn't help that these vaguely human-shaped space bugs, known as Horde (no article), share a hive mind, which means the attack as one. Despite their number of bodies, this might make them more coordinated than Blue Beetle, considering Jaime and his armor don't always agree on what to do.

I think it's safe to say that Jaime Reyes had a pretty rough go of it in the New 52. Despite being in one of the launch titles of the new universe, Blue Beetle never seemed to click with readers or the viewers that knew him from Batman: The Brave and the Bold. That said, his predecessor, Ted Kord, might have had an even worse time in the previous universe, being unceremoniously shot in the head to kick off the events of Infinite Crisis. Now, though, both characters are getting another chance. In September, the all-new Blue Beetle: Rebirth #1 hits shelves from Keith Giffen and Scott Kolins, with Jaime and Ted teaming up as the two-man team of mentor and hero that readers got a glimpse of in the DC Rebirth special. Check out a preview!

DC Comics hosted a special livestream event at WonderCon in Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon to unveil the creative teams behind its DC Rebirth event, which relaunches the entire DC Universe line with new issue #1s and multiple double-shipping titles. The relaunch will set the future course of DC Comics at a time when fans are wondering whether the company will embrace a new and diversifying audience or double down on serving a shrinking core audience. The event was introduced by DC All Access host Tiffany Smith, with DC co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio and chief creative officer and Rebirth chief architect Geoff Johns introducing and interviewing the creative teams as they joined them on stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Dark Horse Comics brought a heap of new comics to ECCC this year, mixing up its familiar line of licensed comics with an increased focus on creator-owned projects. This weekend they unveiled ten new comics that will launch across 2015, offering up an appealingly diverse range of styles and content aimed at a broader audience. Here's a better look at what you can expect from Dark Horse in 2015.

Over the last twelve days, Dark Horse has thrown a spotlight on twelve new creator-owned titles that they plan to promote at this year's San Diego Comic-Con. The series include the Fight Club sequel from Chuck Palahniuk and Cameron Stewart, a new Hellboy series from Mike Mignola and John Arcudi, and Joëlle Jones and Jamie S. Rich's Lady Killer. Also in the mix; new series from Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, Rafael Albuquerque, and Cullen Bunn, and sequels to Colder, from Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra, and Alabaster, from Caitlin R. Kiernan and Joëlle Jones.

The comic book, animation, illustration, pinup, mashup, fan art and design communities are generating amazing artwork of myriad styles and tastes, all of which ends up on the Internet and filtered into ComicsAlliance’s Best Art Ever (This Week). These images convey senses of mood and character — not to mention artistic skill — but comic books are specifically a medium of sequential narratives, and great sequential art has to be both beautiful (totally subjective!) and clear in its storytelling (not so subjective!). The words and the pictures need to work together to tell the story and create whatever tone, emotion and indeed world the story requires. The contributions of every person on a creative team, from the writer to the artist(s) to the letterers, are necessary to achieving a great page of sequential storytelling. It is the special nature of comic books that we’re celebrating in this recurring feature: Best Sequential Art Ever (This Week).

Scott Kolins has been illustrating tales of DC Comics' iconic characters for more than 20 years. Perhaps best known for his collaboration with writers Geoff Johns and Bryan Augustyn on The Flash, the artist has worked on Wonder Woman, Superman/Batman, The Legion Of Superheroes and Young Justice for DC, among others. In recent years Kolins has tried his hand at writing and illustrating stories, mo

Flashpoint is DC Comics' summer event of 2011 that promises to change the DC Universe unrecognizably until the event's climactic finale, when the DC Universe will instead be left changed somewhat recognizably. In support of the event, DC is releasing 60+ issues of comic books across 22 titles in just three months...

Flashpoint is DC Comics' summer event of 2011 that promises to change the DC Universe unrecognizably until the event's climactic finale, when the DC Universe will instead be left changed somewhat recognizably. In support of the event, DC is releasing 60+ issues of comic books across 22 titles in just three months...