Comics 411: Thoughts on the Return of Milestone Comics

Welcome back! I’m Steve Gustafson and if you enjoy discussing anything comic book related, you’ve come to the right place. Each week we cover something in the industry and I always enjoy your input in the comment section below.

Previously on…

 
Last time we discussed our Favorite Superhero Rivalries Here’s what some of you had to say:

Erick Rowan’s Beard: “It’s usually fun to have heroes with different ideologies at each other’s throats.

Wolverine and Cyclops are a good representation of the good boy vs. bad boy dichotomy. Cyclops is the “good boy” in that he’s reserved, does what he’s supposed to, says and does all the right things, etc. while Wolverine is the “bad boy” who does things his way, says what he wants, views the world the way he views it and makes no apologies for any of it. It’s order vs. chaos in a lot of ways. Cyclops is the guy the good girls are supposed to marry while Wolverine is the guy the good girls have a one night stand or a fling that lasts for a few weeks before going their separate ways.

It’s sort of similar to Superman and Batman, just without the romance angle. Superman is often seen as the big blue boy scout, the righteous, forthright defender of truth and justice. Batman sees the world differently because the world isn’t as black and white as Superman has, at times, tried to make it out to be. Superman grew up in an environment that comes right out of a Normal Rockwell painting of small town America. Everyone knew each other, everyone got along, crime was nonexistent and Smallville was simply the perfect small, midwestern American town. Batman grew up in the gloomy, dark shadows of Gotham City and was traumatized at a tender age due to witnessing the murders of his mother and father.

When I think of Hulk and the Thing, I generally think of a couple of lunks in the gym arguing about who has the bigger biceps or who can bench press more. Of course, it’s a little deeper than that as both are considered monsters. Hulk, for the most part, looks human except for his green skin and monstrous size where as the Thing looks like a pile of rocks come to life. Hulk doesn’t care that he’s a “monster” while Ben’s general hatred of his appearance has always been a central theme to who he is.”

Benjamin Kellog: “Superman vs. Captain Marvel/Shazam, one of the most exciting visuals in vintage comics, the original cross-town rivalry that took a few decades to actually come to blows. One of the smartest things DC did with Billy Batson after purchasing the rights to his character was to match him up against the very one who inspired him in the first place, Superman. Sure, there were a couple of parody characters Supes handily defeated in the years leading up to the “Big Red Cheese’s” proper introduction to the DCU, but there was something palpable about the two characters finally meeting for real and the reveal that Marvel would always have a slight edge because he technically represented one of “Big Blue’s” biggest weaknesses, magic. The post-Crisis personality flip with Billy’s mind still controlling the grown-up body provided a fun twist testing both heroes’ morality on subsequent meetings. No wonder it always seems to be one of the first story possibilities whenever Shazam’s solo series gets revived. Another plus is that this one’s had some exemplary animated appearances, namely JLU’s “Clash” and the DC Showcase short, “The Return of Black Adam.””

Richard C: “The fire and water rivalry that defined an era — Human Torch (Jim Hammond) v Namor the Sub-Mariner (Namor McKenzie).”

poopsadaisy: “I always enjoyed Punisher vs Daredevil, both in comics and the Netflix series. Again, clashing ideologies”

Steed: “Superman/Batman
Spiderman/Human Torch
Daredevil/Punisher
Wolverine/Cyclops
Hulk/The Thing
Hulk/Thor
Hulk/Wolverine”

Al Lobama: “Well, technically, you could say “Guy Gardner vs. [insert name here]” and it would make the list. ; ) I remember Beau Smith saying in an interview that he pitched a story when he was writing the Guy Gardner series where Guy redeems himself by saving Batman’s life during a JLA team-up. The two would then shake hands and put their rivalry to bed, but of course DC editorial nixed that idea.

Speaking of the one punch knockout, Batman had an even more intense feud going with Hal Jordan, with Batman never truly forgiving Hal for his actions as Parallax and having no problem letting GL (or anybody else, for that matter) know about it. Geoff Johns wanted to put THAT rivalry to bed by having Batman get possessed by Parallax, so he could find out first hand that GL was not in control of his actions when he tried to destroy the universe. DC editorial nixed THAT idea, too, but they did, ironically, agree to let Hal knock out Batman with one punch. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The most famous Marvel hero rivalry I think of off the top of my head that wasn’t covered here was Daredevil and the Punisher, but like Guy Gardner you could technically say that about Punisher and any hero. I’m not sure if you can count Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost, as even now after two decades I can’t think of Emma as anything but the villainous White Queen that I grew up with. Does Thing and Human Torch count as a rivalry, or just good natured ribbing?

I think I mentioned this before in previous columns about this subject, but my personal favorite hero rivalry that I’m sure no one else but me appreciates is Hawkeye vs. U.S. Agent. I was (and still am) a diehard West Coast Avengers fan, and the way they set up the feud with Agent replacing Hawkeye as leader of the team at the behest of the government was very masterful, given that one of Clint’s character traits was the fact that he had become so accustomed to be a leader that he couldn’t handle NOT being leader. For two years, the feud festered back and forth until it finally boiled over in issue # 69 when Hawkeye was voted back in as leader. Both guys were immense jerks to each other about the promotion/demotion and they finally had that epic fist fight that was drawn beautifully by the late Paul Ryan. Unfortunately, Agent is a super soldier, so that didn’t go very well for Hawkeye, but Clint put forth a better showing than most non-powered heroes without their weapons would in that position.”

Ken Wood: “Emma Frost versus Jean Grey.
Emma Frost versus Kate Pride.
Legion versus X-Men.
Spawn versus Batman.”

Crystal Shepard: “Squirrel Girl and the Marvel Universe.”

So many great comments! Big thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts!

This week we discuss our…

Thoughts on the Return of Milestone Comics

The rumors have come and gone over the years but it looks like we’ll finally see the return of Milestone Comics with three new digital-first comics series that offer new takes on their superheroes. The publisher has announced the creative teams for their rebooted titles Static, Hardware, and Icon and Rocket.
Some of you reading this may not remember Milestone Comics but they were a pretty big deal back in the day. Founded in 1993 by a coalition of African-American artists and writers, Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle believed that minorities were underrepresented in comics and wanted to change that. Sounds pretty familiar and something that’s still prevalent in the headlines today.

The comics were set in the “Dakotaverse”, Milestone’s first wave of comics consisting of Hardware, Icon, Blood Syndicate, and Static. While DC took care of the distribution and marketing, Milestone existed free from their continuity and were able to focus on a demographic that was largely ignored. Milestone had a number of things going for it but came at a time when the comic book industry was going through fluctuations and Milestone cancelled a number of low-selling titles in 1995 and 1996. Milestone closed down its line completely in 1997.

It didn’t entirely disappear though.

Milestone Media was reformed in January 2015 by Reginald Hudlin and two of its co-founders, Denys Cowan and Derek Dingle. DC announced they would once again license the Milestone IP for usage as a comic book line and in other media. Fast forward to 2017 and DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Jim Lee shared that the planned relaunch and reboot of the Milestone line that was announced is still going to happen. Eventually.

“We couldn’t be more proud and excited about the opportunity to bring the ‘Dakota’ Universe back to DC,” said Lee. “This is a huge step forward for us in bringing readers a more diversified lineup as part of the new DC Universe, and we’re anxiously looking forward to telling new stories that are socially and culturally impactful and representative of the world in which we live.”

DC’s plans were for a separate line co-existing in the broader DC Multiverse but in a separate dimension, ‘Earth-M’. There was a plan for titles including Static Shock, Icon, Rocket, and Xombi, with creators including Hudlin, Cowan, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ken Lashley, and Christopher Priest.

Unfortunately the line hit some legal speed bumps but beginning in early 2021, DC will revive Milestone via a number of different projects scheduled for release. 

Coinciding with the release, DC Comics and Milestone have revealed covers for the first issues of Icon and Rocket, Static, and Hardware, alongside the new creative teams who will carry on the publisher’s legacy. The announced teams bring together a number of respected creatives of the industry, with returning members of the original Milestone Media, accompanied by new talent. 

Static: Season One will be written by Vita Ayala, with layouts by ChrisCross, finished by Niklas Draper-Ivey, and covers by Khary Randolph. Static’s first season will span six issues and releases digitally on Monday, April 11. 

Icon and Rocket: Season One will be written by returning original Milestone member Reginald Hudlin, alongside Leon Chills, with art by Doug Braithwaite and covers by Taurin Clarke. Icon and Rocket will release digitally on Monday, June 27. 

Hardware: Season One is being written by Brandon Thomas, with art by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz, and covers by Mateus Mahanini. Hardware’s first season will release digitally on Monday, August 15.

I believe the timing is right for Milestone to get that deserved second chance. The characters still have loads of untapped possibilities and if the marketing is done correct, this could be a solid line of books.

Looking at the creative teams really has me excited as it looks like they are serious about putting about great stories with great art. I’m hoping they really hit the right notes with marketing and giving these books every opportunity to find their audience. 

That’s all the time I have. See you next week!