DC has already announced a handful of titles coming later this year as part of the publisher’s Next Level initiative, with new series Batwoman, Lobo, Deathstroke, The Fury of Firestorm, and Zatanna all set to debut in the coming months. During today’s ComicsPRO presentation, DC debuted a new trailer for the initiative, and announced a trio of new Next Level titles arriving in May and June, including Barbara Gordon: Breakout, The Deadman, and Teen Titans.
DC’s Greg Gustin is up to talk about DCU stuff – including Next Level which is “characters doing things you would not expect to see.” A new trailer is debuted which looked exciting! Hopefully we’ll have the link to that. New titles include Lobo, Batwoman and Deathstroke. #comicspro26
— Heidi MacDonald @ ComicsPRO (@comixace.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 12:32 PM
Next Level is meant for people who came in from Absolute and can find a place to jump in. Batwoman is back from Greg Rucka Deathstroke is as you have never seen him before! First time hearing that phrase today – take a chug of espresso. #comicspro
— Heidi MacDonald @ ComicsPRO (@comixace.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 12:32 PM
New announcement: Barbara Gordon Breakout from Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan
And The Deadman #1 from W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo, coming out of DC KO.
AND New TEEN TITANS by Kyle Higgins and Danielle Di Nicuoulo
#comicspro26
— Heidi MacDonald @ ComicsPRO (@comixace.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 12:36 PM
Barbara Gordon: Breakout was among a slide of titles teased back when Next Level was first announced. The series, which launches in May, is written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Amancay Nahuelpan. Here’s how DC describes the series:
Framed. Outlawed. Hunted. The extralegal activities of Gotham City’s vigilantes have never been more dangerous. After Barbara Gordon is arrested for aiding the Bat-Family, she is shipped off to Supermax, GCPD Commissioner Vandal Savage’s pet-project prison for all who oppose him. She will find herself alone, surrounded by dangerous criminals and equally dangerous guards, in a place where nothing is what it seems. The true danger is just beginning.
DC debuted a main for the first issue of the series by Karl Kerschl, along with variant covers by Yanick Paquette, David Nakayama, Jorge Corona, and Nahuelpan.
The series marks Mariko Tamaki’s return to world of Batman. Tamaki previously wrote a 28-issue run of Detective Comics in 2021-2022, on which she teamed with Nahuelpan for four issues during the weekly “Shadows of the Bat” storyline.
The Deadman will debut in June 2026. The series comes from the creative team of W. Maxwell Prince, MartÃn Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran. Here’s DC’s description for the series:
In the aftermath of DC K.O., the balance between life and death has been thrown into chaos, leaving souls trapped in a dangerous loop of ghostly derangement. Only Boston Brand—the one and only Deadman—can possess the living and the metahuman alike to uncover the source of the disruption and restore order before the entire world slips into spiritual freefall.
DC showed retailers covers for the first two issues of the series by Morazzo and O’Halloran.
The Deadman marks the latest DC work for the acclaimed Ice Cream Man creative team, who previously produced the acclaimed Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum Black Label miniseries. This will be the team’s first in-continuity work for the publisher.
DC also teased for retailers a new Teen Titans series set to debut this summer from the Power Rangers: Shattered Grid team of writer Kyle Higgins and artist Daniele Di Nicuolo. The series offers a new take on the iconic team, with Red Hood joining with a group of “plugged-in, hyper-capable young heroes” to find missing teens with superpowers. DC shared design artwork for the series’ characters, which looks to include Cheshire Cat and Flatline.
AND the roadmap for the rest of ’26 – many characters are you’ve never seen them before so drink more expresso.
#comicspro26
— Heidi MacDonald @ ComicsPRO (@comixace.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Other titles yet to be formally unveiled were also promoted to retailers, including Legion of Super-Heroes, Doom Patrol, Jonah Hex, The Demon, and Batman: Shadow of the Bat. Details on creative teams and storylines for those titles is said to be due out in the coming months.
Stay tuned for more ComicsPRO coverage from The Beat!
Looking at Teen Titans and sees Red Hood
Thanks. I hate it.