DC’s New 52 Artists On the Move in May

Last week, DC Comics announced a series of writer moves across their “New 52” superhero publishing line, including Jeff Lemire leaving Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. to be replaced by Super Spy and Mind Mgmt’s Matt Kindt, who will be interviewed about the move on Panel Discussions Monday. This week, it was the artist’s turn.Early this morning, DC announced that fan-favorite artist Jesus Saiz was leaving his comfortable perch among the Birds of Prey to take over penciling duties on Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s Resurrection Man relaunch. This led to the announcement that Lemire would lose Travel Foreman, his penciller on the critically-acclaimed Animal Man, as Foreman moved to fill Saiz’s departed role on Birds of Prey. The publisher also announced that current Resurrection Man artist Fernando Dagnino would move over to Suicide Squad, where he’ll ease into the transition by featuring Mitch Shelley, the hero of his old book, in the first issue. Foreman’s sizable shoes will be filled by Steve Pugh, whose name has been synonymous with Animal Man since the 1990s.”For me, it’s awesome to be returning to a book that was such a milestone in my creative life and with Jeff, a killer writer who’s been punching Animal Man through the ceiling!” said Pugh. “Yeah, I was buying the book already but now I don’t have to wait so long to find out what happens next!””Having Fernando leave the series is bittersweet, but gaining a talent such as Jesus will give Resurrection Man a decidedly different look,” editor Brian Cunningham told The Source. “His style brings a very iconic superhero look. His heroes are very heroic, his villains are as nasty as they come. I can’t wait to get him started.”For Dagnino’s part, his new editor offered a hard sell. “What’s more fun: figuring out creative new ways to resurrect someone, or finding splat-tastic new ways to kill them?” Pat McCallum, editor of Suicide Squad asked. “Fernando’s gonna find out in a hurry. His style has just enough menace to keep the team looking dangerous, and he’s joined at the perfect time to help with the heavy lifting: we got a lot of body bags to fill.”And while the grotesque and bizarre tableau that Foreman has presented in Animal Man has made him a household name among comic fans, Birds of Prey editor Bobbie Chase spoke briefly to The Source about challenging the artist in a different way. “Animal Man is one of my favorite books of The New 52, in no small part because of Travel’s awesome art,” said Chase. “We’re really challenging him to go against his animal instincts in his first issue; from the woods to the city streets, from a single super character (OK, with family) to a team book, from one small corner of the DC universe right into the big Bat landscape. It’s going to be exciting!”