61. Nearing the end of DC: A New Dawn... in its original form
Nicholas Ahlhelm's Pulp Empire Newsletter
Greetings from the banks of the Cedar River, where every day has offered more and more sun beating down upon us. Most of the United States looks to be in the middle of an oppressive heatwave. Mixed with frequent high winds, this weather hasn’t been the best to get out and move around, even when I wish I could find more time out and about. Most of my time outside of work has been spent at home, where I’ve been focused on catching up on my giant stacks of unread books and comics.
I’m also using that time to put the finishing touches on DC: A New Dawn in its original form. I crafted this project to cover the run of DC Comics from the end of Legends through Millennium and to its end in Invasion! As I’m writing this, I’m also working on the final issue of that saga, the battle to save the heroes of the world from a dangerous “genebomb.” The final installment of our saga drops on the 1st day of August, concluding this experiment.
Once I’ve finished my coverage of the event, I plan to take the rest of August to work on the final “Looking back at Legends” chapters necessary to complete the two manuscripts that I’m preparing to print this coverage in book form. From there, I will start the task of turning hundreds of blog posts into a coherent book, looking at the first two years of the modern DC Universe.
In September, you will see the “Looking back at Legends” features in place of regular installments, including me reprinting the originals that rested behind a paywall. I will also continue my coverage of the final seven issues of Action Comics Weekly.
September will also see Midweek Marvels continue with the final issues of Wolfpack and Havok and Wolverine, as well as coverage of the Daredevil: Man Without Fear limited series and the last issues of Conan the King.
That will fill much of the second half of the year, paving the way for DC: The New Dawn to return with the beginning of 2026. That will coincide with the beginning of issues published in 1989. The blog will get a revised format, but I’ll have more on that as we get closer to the end of the year. Midweek Marvels will return to regular coverage in January as well, looking at the post-Inferno Daredevil and adding coverage of Marc Spector: Moon Knight and Doctor Strange by Roy Thomas.
Content will drop a bit slower after August, but don’t worry, as I’m not going anywhere as I continue my look back at a criminally underrated golden era of comics history.
What’s on deck?
While the blog will go on hiatus at the beginning of August, we still have a few weeks of coverage ahead of us. This week sees the return of Conan Corner with three different comics covered featuring the world’s favorite barbarian, including the next chapter of Christopher Priest’s Conan the King epic.
DC: A New Dawn sees the revelation of Gangbuster’s secret identity, the fate of Swamp Thing, and a brief aside that serves as the New Titans only link to the event. Plus more from The Atom and Starman, as the latter series really starts its rise as a truly great series.
Next Monday sees the second half of KITH 1: Attack of the Demon. I’ll continue to drop the paid subscriber-only chapters approximately every other week in the same format.
What’s up?
Currently reading: Fort Freak edited by George R. R. Martin.
Currently playing: Sea of Stars.
Currently listening: Alligator Bites Never Heal (Extended) by Doechii. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack. Metro Boomin Presents Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Soundtrack.
Currently watching: Mostly All Elite Wrestling shows (both old and new) and WNBA games with a bit of new Phineas & Ferb episodes sprinkled in.
I’ll be back in fourteen days with the next installment of the Pulp Empire Newsletter. See me then.