Over the years, the pages of DC Comics have introduced some truly compelling characters and concepts, with heroes and villains who have become fan-favorites in their own right. If you’ve been waiting to see your more under-appreciated favorite get the spotlight, DC is here to help — but with a twist. On Tuesday, DC announced the first details surrounding its 2022 Round Robin tournament, which allows fans to vote on which potential title they want to see become a series. This is the second year DC has held the contest, after the 2021 vote resulted in a six-issue Robins miniseries from Tim Seeley and Baldemar Rivas.
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The first round of this year’s festivities present sixteen different possible DC titles, with fans able to vote based on the titles and concepts via Twitter, Instagram, and the DC Universe Infinite Community forums until April 3rd. This time around, the titles deal less with the main tentpoles of the DC universe (outside of Vampire Batman factoring into this year’s Suicide Squad pitch), and focusing instead on a number of mainstay characters. These include Hawkman and Hawkwoman, Black Canary and Green Arrow (although surprisingly, they’re not in the same book), and even a Captain Carrot and Darkseid team-up.
After eight books are chosen to move to the second round, DC will reveal their respective writer, artist, pitch, and cover art. The second round of voting will last from April 5th to April 10th, with the contest as a whole running through May 17th.
Keep scrolling to check out the initial match-ups from DC Round Robin 2022, and share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Hawkman & Hawkwoman vs. Wildcat
HAWKMAN & HAWKWOMAN: THE CHANGELING: Hawkman and Hawkwoman have never had children together. They know that for a fact. Then who is Hektor Hol, the hotheaded, razor-winged teen who claims to be their son? Can they trust their own memories-or each other?
WILDCAT: NINE LIVES: Wildcat’s spent eight of his nine lives showing the ropes to some of the DC Universe’s heaviest hitters, and he’s got the scarred knuckles and reset bones to prove it. But now he’s only got one more life to go. How fearless would you be if you knew it was your last round in the ring?
The Questions vs. Constantine and The Demon
THE QUESTIONS: GRAND SOLUTION: What happens when people from all walks of life are activated as faceless vigilantes, each forced to solve an Alternate Reality Game where the stakes are life and death? That’s THE QUESTION, but does RENEE MONTOYA have the SOLUTION?
CONSTANTINE & THE DEMON: VACATION FROM HELL: Arcane guile meets hellish fury! John Constantine is forced to play host to Etrigan the Demon and the pair embark on a deeply personal-and potentially apocalyptic-mission. Journeying back home to Liverpool, Constantine must confront ghosts from his past, and Etrigan isn’t exactly his first choice for an ally!
Suicide Squad vs. Justice League
SUICIDE SQUAD: DARK: A team of occult misfits and monsters, assembled by Amanda Waller and led by Vampire Batman, are forced into a mind-melting suicide mission to assassinate Earth-13’s League of Shadows.
JUSTICE LEAGUE [REDACTED]: Green Arrow has watched many heroes-the great, the good, the kind-be forever scarred by the darkness they swear to fight. Rather than sit by and let any more of his friends fall to the festering abyss, he decides to create a Justice League black-ops team of fighters who can survive a few more shadows-because as far as he’s concerned, they may already be lost. Green Arrow’s team of Nemesis, Killer Frost, Manhunter, Metamorpho, and Cheshire are needed more than ever. Green Arrow was worried about what happens when you look the abyss in the eye? That goes double when Johnny Sorrow and Merlyn team up.
Firestorm vs. Kid Flash
FIRESTORM: FOURTH WORLD PROBLEMS: When Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch make the startling discovery that the Firestorm Matrix contains a spark of the Life Equation, Darkseid and his army turn their sights toward the teenage nuclear heroes. But can Ronnie and Jason put their differences aside and combine into Firestorm, or will Darkseid claim the matrix for himself and Apokolips?
KID FLASH: THE SPEED OF FEAR: REVERSE-FLASH melds with PARALLAX in an unprecedented combination of the Speed Force and the fear-based yellow power ring to create a deadly SPEED RING to shatter OA’s central Green Lantern battery. A confused and isolated Kid Flash (Wallace West) must chase Thawne across a variety of alien worlds to stop him and the Sinestro Corps while his own powers die because of Kid Flash’s slow disconnection with the Speed Force.
Black Canary vs. Green Lantern
BLACK CANARY: WHEN CANARIES CRY: When Black Canary intercepts an intelligence operative trying to deliver sensitive material on an encrypted disk, she finds herself plunged into the world of espionage to contend with an international consortium known only as Mysterium. With the help of a French spy, Dinah must stop this shadow organization from instigating war for their own profit.
GREEN LANTERN: THE LIGHT AT THE END OF FOREVER: A dark far-future. A galaxy gripped by tyranny. When an elderly farmer in a backwater system is brutalized by the latest thugs with jetpacks and jackboots to call themselves lawmen, he remembers a forgotten past. An era of champions. A cadre of noble peacekeepers, long since vanished. His name-he’s sure of it-is JOHN STEWART. Whatever happened to the Green Lanterns Corps…and is it too late to reignite the light…?
Ghost Tour From Hell vs. Animal Man
DC HORROR PRESENTS: GHOST TOUR FROM HELL: A frantic mother begs for Madame Xanadu’s help in finding her missing son-last seen on a ghost tour with friends. Xanadu’s reading reveals there’s a nefarious being behind the disappearances in New Orleans. Enlisting the help of the Demon Etrigan and Deadman, the trio quickly realize that they’re on a Ghost Tour from hell and they’re no match for these supernatural kidnappers.
ANIMAL MAN: THE METAMORPHOSIS: Buddy Baker, aka Animal Man, has serious problems. His home life is in shambles, his daughter’s powers are awakening, and the world needs him, but he’s stuck. He needs change. Soon Animal Man will enter a cocoon…but when the metamorphosis is complete, what will emerge?
Green Lantern vs. Captain Carrot & Darkseid
GREEN LANTERN: THE BIRTH OF CONSPIRACY: In 1947, three events kindled America’s fascination with UFOs: the men in black, flying saucer sightings, and the Roswell crash. Three low-level government employees, tasked with monitoring superheroes, realize that one person was at all three events: the Green Lantern, ALAN SCOTT. He hasn’t been seen since.
CAPTAIN CARROT & HIS BEST FRIEND DARKSEID: The interdimensional space epic no one asked for! DARKSEID is trying to eliminate the newest New God, but the EXTREMELY FUR-IOUS (yes, we hate us too) ZOO CREW is determined to reach their long-foretold CAPTAIN CARROT first…before FRIENDSHIP ruins everything!
Superboy vs. Cyborg
SUPERBOY: THE MAN OF TOMORROW: Determined to find his place in a strange universe, Conner Kent/Superboy leaves Earth behind. But his journey of self-discovery brings him face to face with a group of freedom fighters who challenge not just everything Conner stands for, but what it means to bear the Superman crest.
CYBORG: CYBER GODS: Cyborg has grown so powerful he no longer needs to leave his cold metal lair. He fights the good fight, but only virtually, with Cyborg replicas. When the super-villain Gizmo and Klarion the Witch Boy mix magic and tech, they become powerful technomancers. Cyborg is joined by Beast Boy, who tries to remind him of his true power: his human spirit. Cyborg must reconnect with his human side and face the world, or Gizmo will become an omnipotent, unchallenged cyber-god and Klarion will get what he’s always wanted: chaos and destruction.
