New 52's second wave: Why you should be PUMPED

DC Comics has decided the time has come for the first shake-up of the New 52 titles since the semi-universal reboot this past September.

Six titles will be eliminated after they complete their arcs with Issue #8 in April, and then in May, six new titles will replace them.

OK, I am a HUGE fan of this idea. To start with, if DC is serious about not overwhelming their already complicated universe, they can't go bigger than 52 titles. Moreover, it makes sense to kill the titles that are not selling (why you'd give SO MANY titles to Batman is beyond me. Seriously, I can't buy all of these! Do we really need Batwing and TDK?)

Anyway, this has been talked about quite a bit. Here is a good piece regarding it and whether it was planned or whether the poor sales of the six slated for termination was the impetus.

The six going away will be: O.M.A.C., Hawk and Dove, Static Shock, Mister Terrific, Men of War, and Blackhawks. That should not be too bad for the fan base. As these are six of the lowest-selling franchises, they're characters can be placed in other books.

Now, as to the six new titles: The Ravagers should be an interesting title for those who follow the Teen Titans, as this will be a direct spin-off from their crossover with Superboy.

GI Combat will be taking readers back to the old The War that Time Forgot storylines, and along with some other side stories, should be a good way to combine a few GI-based titles.

Dial H was a cult classic in its time, and will provide another string of storylines about regular humans being given random powers for a short time. It should be a fun read, especially for the hardcore fan base.

World's Finest will be one of the titles I think I'll have to at least keep tabs on. Huntress and Power Girl, as will be revealed at the end of the latest Huntress mini-series, are actually from Earth-2 and the two are working to get back. This book will be one of two actively using the multiverse, and I have to say I am excited.

Earth-2 is the other one and is the title I'm actually most excited for. This book will focus mainly on the Justice Society of America, and I personally can't wait to see how Earth-2 has changed since the last glimpse of the world.

Batman Inc. concludes the preview, and I am interested in this one simply to see the exploits of the other international Batmen. Batwing was kind of a hard sell for me when it came to getting his own book (mainly because Cassandra Cain's exploits in Asia as Black Bat would be far more interesting to me), but this is where the international presence shines, and so I'm willing to see how this international war with Talia al Ghul turns out.

I will say that because all these titles will be building the parameters of the new multiverse, new fans may struggle with these titles unless the opening arcs are done properly. That said, there's so much out there in DC at the moment that there should be something for everyone now.