By Lan Pitts and Zack Smith

Two years ago, Wednesday Comics took the business by storm with its breath of fresh air approach to comics as it collected stories from various creators, touching on characters from Superman to Batman, to lesser known characters like Kamandi (well, lesser known to most people outside comic readers). It is confirmed that there is a sequel in progress, with Steve Rude working on a New Gods story. With that in mind, we took the liberty to come up with some pretty interesting combinations and dream teams that we’d love to see in the upcoming WC2.

Evan “Doc” Shaner on Captain Marvel: Shaner came to my attention last summer when Jeff Parker told me he was going to be huge; shortly after that, I was alerted to his gorgeous Captain Marvel pieces on his site and on ComicTwart. Not only does he have a great style for the character combined with a deep and abiding love for his mythology, but several of his pieces work as beautiful stand-alone Sunday pages themselves — just check out this masterpiece from last September. The man’s practically doing the job already. Might as well pay him for it.  – ZS

Mike Carey and Fiona Staples on Zatanna: It’s hardly any secret I’m a fan of Zatanna. While she finally has her own ongoing, I’d love to see Mike Carey (The Unwritten, X-Men) teamed up with Mystery Society artist Fiona Staples. Staples has been on the cusp of superstardom for a while now as she also worked on DV8 with Aaron Williams and a few covers for Superman/Batman. Both Carey and Staples have dabbled with supernatural forces on their resume and I would love to see them work together on a Zatanna strip. It could be quite magical. — LP

Paul Pope on the Atomic Knights: All right, this is a repeat creator from the first round, but Pope’s Adam Strange was one of the absolute joys of the series — a creator bringing his voice and visual style to a classic character, with surprises and fun throughout. Afterward, it occurred to me that he would be a perfect fit for the characters who shared reprint space with Adam Strange in STRANGE ADVENTRES in the 1970s — the absolute weirdness of their one cover appearance has haunted me since I was a kid (I’m meaning to commission Matt Kindt to do a recreation of it next time I see him at a con).

So obsessed am I with Paul Pope rendering giant Dalmatians and mole men that I started a Facebook group for this last year. As it happenes, I asked Mark Chiarello about this at one con, and he loved the idea — as did Pope when I brought it up to him at another show a few months later. In fact, he raved about DC’s hardcover reprint of the series, and even drew a quick Atomic Knights doodle. There’s only two caveats — first, Pope wants to get his long-gestating Battling Boy done, and second, Pope says that Dan DiDio is protective of the Atomic Knights and Kamandi, and already turned down a Pope/Brian Azzarello Kamandi proposal (you can see those pictures onlinehere). Give the man a chance, Dan — he’ll craft the most memorable story with those characters since the Silver Age.– ZS

Judd Winick and Ted Naifeh on Catwoman: While there was a Catwoman/Demon story with contemporary legends Walt Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze at the helm, I’d like to see her doing a solo adventure. Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin, Good Neighbors) has had bats on the brain as of late, his Silver Age Catwoman has me wanting to see more. Possibly paired with Judd Winick on the script, who I think, handles the character of Selina well, and combined with Naifeh’s visuals would be stellar. — LP

Tony Harris on Swamp Thing: Think about that for a second. Let that sink in. You good? Good. The more I thought about this, the more I thought I would genuinely buy this as a monthly. I could have sworn I’ve seen Harris tackle the character before, maybe even as a con commission and I remember thinking “that is what Swamp Thing is supposed to look like”. Ole Swampy has sort of been absent as of late, with his last ongoing lasting only 29 issues. Truly, an under-appreciated character that could rock again in Harris’ hand. — LP

Kate Beaton on, well, anyone: Here’s another case of the cartoonist already doing the work for you. On her hilarious webcomic Hark, a Vagrant!, Beaton has done such DC riffs as Wonder Woman, Aquaman and most recently, “Sexy Batman“. True, DC has plenty of humor characters she’d be great for, such as Sugar and Spike, the Inferior Five, the Legion of Substitute Heroes or the original Red Tornado, but give her anyone she wants and you have a recipe for comedy. — ZS

Paul Dini and Tom Feister on Robin: Continuing on my bat-familyesque theme, I think it’d be cool to see a young Robin story. Now I know there was a Teen Titans story in the last volume, but why not just one dedicated to Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder. Although it’s beyond outdated, there is still something flashy about Robin’s old costume. The bright colors, the youthfulness of it, and quite honestly it’s just classic. It’s the first image that comes to find when I think “Robin”. Now, while Paul Dini would have been most people’s first choice in tackling a Zatanna story, I’d like to see what he could do here. Dini is hardly a stranger to Bat-mythos, and him on this could be a blast. Combined with the art style of Tom Feister (GI JOE, Ex Machina), could be entertaining.  His GI JOE covers are under-looked and he could bring the right mix of flashiness to the story. – LP

Francesco Francavilla on Jonah Hex: Another Comic Twart find, Francavilla’s been doing great work for DC lately, but his recent piece on Jonah Hex shows a real mastery of the comic strip format. The rotating artistic lineup of the regular Jonah Hex title means he could always work on the regular-format book, or even do another DC Western hero such as Bat Lash, Scalphunter or El Diablo. Whatever the case, his atmospheric work and eye for period details make him a no-brainer for a Western hero. — ZS

Keith Giffen and Eric Canete on Bizarro: If you’re not familiar with Eric Canete, allow me to do a proper introduction: Simply. Uncanny. With his approach to stylized anatomy would be perfect for Superman’s foe, Bizarro. I mean, this just seems like something should be on Match.com. In addition to Canete on art, let’s put Keith Giffen (Ambush Bug) supplying the script. Perfect mix of humor and possible morose for the creature could be great a read. I mean, if it’s anything like Bizarro in the Silver Age, I’d consider this potential anything but bizarre. — LP

Mike Allred on the Doom Patrol: Another holdover from the first Wednesday Comics, Allred has long-cited original Doom Patrol artist Bruno Premiani as an influence on his work, and he already did a great job depicting the characters in his issue of Solo. An expanded story featuring such Silver Age villians as Garguax, the Animal-Mineral-Vegetable Man or the Brain and M. Mallah is tailor-made for his colorful retro-yet-modern artwork — and odds are he’d be more than happy to do it. –ZS

Christos Gage and Niko Henrichon on Aquaman: While Gage is most notable for his Marvel and Wildstorm projects, I think it’d be interesting to see him handle the Sovereign of the Seas. Absolution and Avengers Academy are just terrific reads, and while something like Aquaman might seem out of sorts for him, I think that is the best thing about a production like Wednesday Comics. Thinking about an artist that could handle the majesty of the ocean didn’t take long to pick. Niko Henrichon (Pride of Baghdad, Fables) has a beautiful style that could easily capture the nature of the sea and its king. — LP

It was more than difficult to narrow down our selections of both creators and titles. So, readers, what do you think? Who would you like to see make it to the pages of Wednesday Comics 2?

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 5th, 2011 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Creators, DC Comics, News & Views, Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.