Well, that’s another year gone by in my comics reviews and it’s time for my 1986 preview. 1985 was a big year at DC, with the Crisis turning everything upside-down. 1986 will finish that process and give us the first steps into the new, amalgamated universe that came about as a result of Crisis. The real changes don’t start until 1987, but the die was cast and the differences could be felt in 1986. As always, I’ll break my preview into blocks corresponding to the way I’ll be doing the reviews.
Batman, Detective, Adventures of the Outsiders, Outsiders: Batman will be facing foes such as Night Slayer (and Nocturna), Two-Face, and new baddie Film Freak. We’ll also see the return of Catwoman, but will she be friend or foe? The Outsiders will fight the Force of July again and we’ll see the rest of Looker’s origin. They’ll also lose their founder when Batman decides to leave the team, which precipitates a move to the West Coast. Batman is in for some changes (mostly to his origin) in 1987, but for ’86 it’s pretty much business as usual.
Superman, Action, DC Comics Presents, JLA: The Superman titles will be
ending this year in preparation for John Byrne’s big Man of Steel revamp (which I won’t be covering). Supes will face some strange adversaries this year (like Asterix and Dracula) and will team up with such diverse partners as the Omega Men, Captain Comet, Vigilante, and Blue Devil. The JLA will have a major fight against Despero and we’ll see some of the original members return, as the team slowly gets dismantled (something that’ll culminate in a new team forming in 1987).
Legion of Super-Heroes, New Teen Titans, All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc: The Legion will fight villains like Infinite Man, Tyr, a revived Fatal Five, and 
a new Starfinger. They’ll also find out who Sensor Girl really is. The Titans will deal with the conclusion of the Starfire/Blackfire storyline on Tamaran, Raven’s return, and we’ll find out the identity of Cheshire’s baby-daddy. The All-Stars will finish their fight with the Monster Society of Evil and face Mekanique, who (thanks to the convolutions of time travel) we already saw in the pages of JLA. The Infinitors will welcome new members Hourman and Dr. Midnight, as well as a new version of Wildcat. They’ll face Helix again and learn more about their origins, plus meet a new baddie named Carcharo. (After the Superman titles end, I’ll be moving All-Star Squadron and Infinity Inc to that block to even things out a bit.)
Firestorm, Green Lantern, Vigilante, Warlord, Wonder Woman: Firestorm will explore his new setting in Pittsburgh and face some old foes like
Typhoon and Multiplex, plus new villain Moonbow. Green Lantern will feature multiple GLs (Hal, John, Guy, Katma) running around and vying for the honour of being the Lantern of Sector 2814. Vigilante will deal will the murderous copycat version of himself and try to reconcile his beliefs on justice and the law. Warlord will deal with Travis Morgan’s quest to help his daughter Jennifer end her curse. And Wonder Woman comes to an end, as the Crisis retroactively wipes her out of existence, paving the way for the new series in 1987.
This year features a number of anniversary issues (Batman 400, JLA 250, GL 200, Firestorm 50) as well as the final issues of Wonder Woman and the Superman titles. I’ve read a few of these, but most of them are new to me, so I’m looking forward to checking them out. I hope you’ll join me and don’t be afraid to chime in with your opinions. I’ll see you next week with my first reviews from 1986.