WildStorm and DC Integrate in ‘The Edge,’ ‘Blue Beetle’ and ‘Suicide Squad’ Announced [UPDATED]

DC announced their "Edge" lineup of titles this morning, featuring a huge number of the former WildStorm properties, as well as DC's, well, "edgier" characters, such as Deathstroke and their war and western franchises. Click below the jump to see the info, covers and creative teams to the new Stormwatch, Blackhawks, Sgt. Rock and the Men of War, All-Star Western, Deathstroke, Grifter and OMAC series, as well as a chance to vote on the most interesting-looking debut.

UPDATED: DC has also announced Blue Beetle and Suicide Squad!

Newsarama and CBR have posted information about two new "Edge" titles. The first is Blue Beetle by Tony Bedard (Green Lantern Corps, R.E.B.E.L.S.) with art by Ig Guara (Marvel's Power Pack all-ages miniseries, Flashpoint: Grodd of War). It will star fan-favorite character Jaime Reyes, who was the protagonist of a hugely critically acclaimed run by John Rogers and Rafael Albuquerque - best of luck to the new team.

It's not easy being Jaime Reyes. He has to deal with high school, family and all the drama that comes with being a teenager. Also, he's linked to a powerful scarab created by an alien race who seek to subjugate planets – or annihilate them. It's up to one teen hero to turn this instrument of destruction into a force for good in BLUE BEETLE #1

The second is a relaunch of Suicide Squad by writer Adam Glass (Deadpool: Suicide Kings, Flashpoint: Legion of Doom) and artist Marco Rudy (Final Crisis, The Shield, Superboy). Featuring Harley Quinn, Deadshot and King Shark, it looks to fill the hole in DC's schedule left by the apparent demise of Gail Simone's Secret Six.

Harley Quinn! Deadshot! King Shark! They're a team of death-row super villains recruited by the government to take on missions so dangerous – they're sheer suicide! Who will be the first to crack under the pressure? Find out in SUICIDE SQUAD #1.

(Formerly) starting things off with a bang is the all-new Stormwatch series, reinvigorating WildStorm's premier superhero team (that, under the watch of Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, eventually evolved into The Authority). Paul Cornell (Action Comics, Knight & Squire, Demon's Knights) will write with Miguel Sepulveda (The Thanos Imperative, Superman/Batman Annual #5) providing art. The cover is particularly interesting, confirming the full-out integration of the DC and WildStorm Universes by featuring Apollo, Midnighter, and ... the Martian Manhunter?!

Stormwatch is a dangerous super human strike force whose existence is kept secret from the world. Jack Hawksmoor and the rest of the crew look to recruit two of the deadliest super humans on the planet: Midnighter and Apollo. And if they say no? Perhaps the Martian Manhunter can change their minds. Featuring a surprising new roster.

Meanwhile, WildC.A.T.S. breakout star Cole "Grifter" Cash will star in his own ongoing series written by Nathan Edmondson (Who is Jake Ellis?) and drawn by CAFU (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents).

Ex-black ops agent Cole Cash is a charming grifter that few can resist. And yet he's about to be branded a serial killer when he begins hunting and exterminating inhuman creatures hidden in human form – creatures only he can see. Can the biggest sweet talker of all time talk his way out of this one when even his brother thinks he's gone over the edge?

Critically acclaimed Jonah Hex writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti will transfer to the new All-Star Western, starring... Jonah Hex, drawn by Moritat (The Spirit). DC's description makes it sound far more tied in to the backdrop of the DC Universe, with Hex arriving in Gotham City and running into both Amadeus Arkham and the Gotham Police Department. DC's description:

Even when Gotham City was just a one-horse town, crime was rampant – and things only get worse when bounty hunter Jonah Hex comes to town. Can Amadeus Arkham, a pioneer in criminal psychology, enlist Hex's special brand of justice to help the Gotham Police Department track down a vicious serial killer? Featuring back-up stories starring DC's other western heroes.

Sgt. Rock also returns in the form of his grandson in Sgt. Rock and the Men of War, a modern-day war comic also tied into the fabric of the DC Universe written by Ivan Brandon (Nemesis: The Impostors, Viking, Doc Savage) and drawn by Tom Derenick (Justice Society of America).

The grandson of the original Sgt. Rock assumes the command of Easy Company, a team of crack ex-military men financed by a covert military contractor, as they brave the battle-scarred landscape carved by the DC Universe's super-villains. SGT. ROCK AND THE MEN OF WAR #1 is contemporary military story fighting under modern conditions.

Meanwhile, DC's toughest mercenary, Deathstroke, gets a new costume and a new title after his starring role in the soon-ending Titans book. This one will be handled by writer Kyle Higgins (Nightwing, Supreme Power, Batman: Gates of Gotham) and penciller Joe Bennett (52, Checkmate, Justice League: Generation Lost).

A metahuman mercenary who made a living taking out the toughest targets, Deathstroke will reclaim his fearsome legacy by any means necessary in DEATHSTROKE #1.

Former World War II fighting squad the Blackhawks will be reimagined as a mercenary squad for the modern day DC Universe by writer Mike Costa (G.I. Joe: Cobra) and artist Ken Lashley (Flash: The Fastest Man Alive).

Blackhawk is an elite group of mercenaries made up of brave men from around the world equipped with the latest in cutting-edge hardware and vehicles. Their mission: Kill the bad guys before they kill us. A set of contemporary tales that battle the world's gravest threats.

DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio and writer/artist Keith Giffen will continue their working collaboration from the current Outsiders series on OMAC, returning the OMAC appellation to the original Jack Kirby character rather than the 2005 military-industrial revamp for Infinite Crisis. DiDio will co-write alongside Giffen, with Giffen providing art.

A man loses control of his life as the omnipresent Brother Eye transforms him against his will into a powerful killing machine in OMAC #1.

For those of you keeping track at home, this brings the total number of officially announced DC titles to 46 out of the total 52, with the last six being, presumably, the Superman books. While it's known that Scott Lobdell is writing Superboy due to an interview with Newsarama, the other five Superman books are completely up in the air.

%Poll-65103%