2012 starts with the Second Wave, replacing six struggling titles with new ones. One of the new ones is Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated (Volume 2), a continuation of his larger storyline started in the previous volume. A Third Wave of cancellations and new series follows in the summer, along with a new Zero Month: all series get a #0 origins issue like it had been done with Zero Hour.
Night of the Owls sees tie-ins across the Batman group, while H'el on Earth crosses over in the Superman titles. Interest in the Watchmen line is revived with the Before Watchmen events, which features several miniseries with early career stories of the heroes introduced in Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
Creators[]
The following creative talent passed away in the year 2012:
- Al Rio
- Dan Thompson
- David Chantler
- Ernie Chan
- Fernando da Silva
- Harry Harrison
- Hector Collazo
- Henry Colman
- Joe Kubert
- John Celardo
- John Severin
- Marc Swayze
- Moebius
- Ray Zone
- Robert L. Washington III
- Ron Muns
- Sheldon Moldoff
- Stephen Lord
- Tony DeZuniga
- Winrich Kolbe
Titles
The following comic titles debuted with a 2012 cover date:
- Ame-Comi Girls (Volume 1)
- American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares (Volume 1)
- Batman Beyond Unlimited (Volume 1)
- Batman Beyond (Volume 1 (Digital))
- Batman Incorporated (Volume 2)
- Batman: Arkham Unhinged (Volume 1)
- Batman: Earth One (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Comedian (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Doctor Manhattan (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Minutemen (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Nite Owl (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Ozymandias (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Rorschach (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre (Volume 1)
- DC Nation (Volume 1)
- Diablo (Volume 1)
- Dial H (Volume 1)
- Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child (Volume 1)
- Earth 2 (Volume 1)
- End of Nations (Volume 1)
- Fairest (Volume 1)
- G.I. Combat (Volume 3)
- Green Lantern: The Animated Series (Volume 1)
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (Volume 1)
- Joe Kubert Presents (Volume 1)
- Justice League Beyond (Volume 1 (Digital))
- Legends of the Dark Knight (Volume 1)
- Lot 13 (Volume 1)
- National Comics (Volume 2)
- New Deadwardians (Volume 1)
- Night Force (Volume 3)
- Phantom Lady (Volume 1)
- Punk Rock Jesus (Volume 1)
- Ravagers (Volume 1)
- Saucer Country (Volume 1)
- Smallville Season 11 (Volume 1)
- Spaceman (Volume 1)
- Superman Beyond (Volume 1 (Digital))
- Superman Family Adventures (Volume 1)
- Sword of Sorcery (Volume 2)
- T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (Volume 4)
- Talon (Volume 1)
- Team 7 (Volume 2)
- The Phantom Stranger (Volume 4)
- The Ray (Volume 3)
- Uncharted (Volume 1)
- Worlds' Finest (Volume 1)
The following Comic titles were last published with a 2012 cover date:
- All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold (Volume 1)
- American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares (Volume 1)
- Batman: Odyssey (Volume 2)
- Before Watchmen: Nite Owl (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Ozymandias (Volume 1)
- Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre (Volume 1)
- Blackhawks (Volume 1)
- Captain Atom (Volume 3)
- Cartoon Network Action Pack (Volume 1)
- DC Universe Online Legends (Volume 1)
- DMZ (Volume 1)
- Diablo (Volume 1)
- Doc Savage (Volume 3)
- Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child (Volume 1)
- End of Nations (Volume 1)
- Gears of War (Volume 1)
- Green Lantern Super Spectacular (Volume 1)
- Hawk and Dove (Volume 5)
- Huntress (Volume 3)
- IZombie (Volume 1)
- Justice League International (Volume 3)
- Legion: Secret Origin (Volume 1)
- Men of War (Volume 2)
- Mister Terrific (Volume 1)
- My Greatest Adventure (Volume 2)
- National Comics (Volume 2)
- New Deadwardians (Volume 1)
- Night Force (Volume 3)
- Northlanders (Volume 1)
- OMAC (Volume 4)
- Penguin: Pain and Prejudice (Volume 1)
- Resurrection Man (Volume 2)
- Scalped (Volume 1)
- Spaceman (Volume 1)
- Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 1)
- Static Shock (Volume 1)
- Supernatural (Volume 1)
- T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (Volume 4)
- The Boys (Volume 1)
- The Ray (Volume 3)
- The Shade (Volume 2)
- Tiny Titans (Volume 1)
- Uncharted (Volume 1)
- Voodoo (Volume 2)
The following One Shots were published with a 2012 cover date:
- A Flight of Angels
- Aaron and Ahmed
- Arrow: Special Edition #1
- Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes! #1
- Batman/Scooby-Doo Halloween Fest #1
- Batman: Death by Design
- Batman: Earth One Special Preview Edition
- Batman: Noël
- Beyond the Fringe #1
- Craftsman Bolt-On System Saves the Justice League #1
- DC Comics Presents: Elseworlds 100-Page Spectacular #1
- DC Comics Presents: Wonder Woman Adventures #1
- DC Nation FCBD Super Sampler/Superman Family Adventures Flip Book #1
- Get Jiro!
- Ghosts (Volume 2) #1
- Gone to Amerikay
- Lego DC Universe Super Heroes #1
- Masters of the Universe: The Origin of Skeletor
- Mystery in Space (Volume 3) #1
- National Comics: Eternity #1
Characters
Selected 2012 character debuts. See all.
- David Hyde (Prime Earth)
- Shazam (Billy Batson)
- Orm Marius (Prime Earth)
- Teth-Adam (Prime Earth)
- Bane (Prime Earth)
- Barbara Minerva (Prime Earth)
- George Harkness (Prime Earth)
- Grodd II (Prime Earth)
- Garfield Logan (Prime Earth)
- Mary Bromfield (Prime Earth)
- Leonard Snart (Prime Earth)
- Mongul (Prime Earth)
- Vril Dox (Prime Earth)
- Malcolm Merlyn (Prime Earth)
- Anton Arcane (Prime Earth)
- Ra's al Ghul (Prime Earth)
- Shayera Thal (Prime Earth)
- First Born (Prime Earth)
- Larfleeze (Prime Earth)
- Joseph Wilson (Prime Earth)
- James Corrigan (Prime Earth)
- Nicolas Nolan (Prime Earth)
- Jason Woodrue (Prime Earth)
- Phantom Stranger (Prime Earth)
- Simon Baz (Prime Earth)
- Jor-El (Prime Earth)
- Jefferson Pierce (Prime Earth)
- Trigon (Prime Earth)
- Daniel West (Prime Earth)
- Anthony Zucco (Prime Earth)
- Natalia Mitternacht (Prime Earth)
- Lana Lang (Prime Earth)
- Thaddeus Sivana (Prime Earth)
- Frederick Freeman (Prime Earth)
- H'el (Prime Earth)
- Steven Trevor (Prime Earth)
- Jervis Tetch (Prime Earth)
- Axel Walker (Prime Earth)
- Siobhan Smythe (Prime Earth)
- David Graves (Prime Earth)
- Natasha Irons (Prime Earth)
- Etta Candy (Prime Earth)
- Roman Sionis (Prime Earth)
- Violet Harper (Prime Earth)
- Lisa Snart (Prime Earth)
- Felix Faust (Prime Earth)
- Ignatius Ogilvy (Prime Earth)
- Death Man (Prime Earth)
- Steven Dayton (Prime Earth)
- Calvin Rose (Prime Earth)
Teams
Selected 2012 team debuts. See all.
- Teen Titans (Prime Earth)
- Secret Society of Super-Villains (Prime Earth)
- Royal Flush Gang (Prime Earth)
- Trinity of Sin (Prime Earth)
- Order of the Van Helsings
- Outsiders II (Prime Earth)
- Circle of Eternity (Prime Earth)
- Parliament of Limbs
- Rogues (Prime Earth)
- League of Assassins (Prime Earth)
- Challengers of the Unknown (Prime Earth)
- Team 7 (Prime Earth)
- Red Hood Gang (Prime Earth)
- Worldkillers (Prime Earth)
- Church of Blood (Prime Earth)
- Untitled (Prime Earth)
- The Others (Prime Earth)
- Night Force (Prime Earth)
- Templar Guardians
- Intergang (Prime Earth)
- The Murder of Crows
- Mean Machine
- Whisper Gang
- Ravagers (Prime Earth)
- Omega Men (Prime Earth)
- August 7 (Prime Earth)
- Penguin's Lieutenants (Prime Earth)
- Burners
- Mutants (Prime Earth)
- Skullgirls
- Army of the Dawn
- Terminauts