DC Comics Announces Forever Evil Villain Month Crossover

DC Comics announced today that Forever Evil will be the first crossover miniseries of the New 52. The event, which will run through DC's titles in September, has long been rumored as a "villain month," where DC's monthly comics titles will be replaced by comics starring the heroes' archenemies. "When we launched the New 52 in September of 2011, we decided to do something different and daring each September to draw attention to our line and really focus on what our goals are for the year," explained DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio in an interview with Buzzfeed. "What we did back in 2011 was relaunch our entire line. In 2012, we went back and looked at all our heroes with Zero Month and told some early stories and origins. This September we wanted to try something a little different and really explore our villain base, and show the challenges our heroes face with every story and every issue, because of the strength of the characters taking over their books in that month." The issues will also feature 3-D motion covers, as seen at right and below in a number of animated GIFs for Bizarro #23.1 (Superman), Poison Ivy #23.1 (Detective Comics), Grodd #23.1 (The Flash) and more. Click through to see the "motion" version.

He and Jim Lee also confirmed that Forever Evil, besides taking over the monthly titles, will run as a seven-issue standalone limited series spinning out of the events of Trinity War. Darkseid will also return to the DC Universe for the first time in two years, starring in his own #23.1 in place of Justice League while his lackey Desaad takes over Earth Two. The existence of villain month pushes Earth 2 #16, writer James Robinson's final issue on the series, back an extra month. DiDio added that while both he and Jim Lee felt Hush should have been represented in the crossover, "we have such big plans for Hush later, down the line, that we didn't want to premiere it with this story. It was a little too early." Newer DC Universe villains like First Born, H'El and Relic will also return for the story, but no new villains will debut in Forever Evil. Joker and Lex Luthor will also get their own #23.1 issues. "We didn't want to go with just the top fifty-two, but also with the villains that we felt truly resonated with the style and tone of the stories we're telling right now," DiDio said. "We also put the spotlight on a number of villains that are going to be very prominently showcased in the Forever Evil miniseries." [gallery columns="4" ids="51873,51880,51879,51878,51876,51875,51874,51872"]