Today during DC’s “Explore the Multiverse” panel, the publisher announced Lazarus Planet, a new event storyline arriving in January 2023 and spinning out of the currently-running Batman vs. Robin miniseries. The story finds the residents of the DC Universe transformed by the eruption of the volcano on Lazarus Island. It will be showrun by Mark Waid, with other involved creators including Riccardo Federici, Gene Luen Yang, Billy Tan, Nicole Maines, Skylar Patridge, Francis Manapul, Dan Watters, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Josie Campbell.

Here’s how DC describes the upcoming storyline:

Following the events of Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar’s Batman vs. Robin #4 this December, the Lazarus Volcano has erupted—spewing dangerous and transformative chemicals into Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in chaos across the DC universe! As these Lazarus clouds rain down upon the planet, people across the globe begin to develop strange new abilities, watch their already-extraordinary abilities change, and witness a whole host of chaos unlike anything the DCU has experienced before!

DC first teased the new storyline in a social media post yesterday:

The new storyline will play out across a series of seven weekly one-shots, with an Alpha issue set for release on January 10th. Here’s the full list of one-shots and their release dates:

  • Lazarus Planet: Alpha (1/10)
  • Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton (1/17)
  • Lazarus Planet: We Once Were Gods (1/24)
  • Lazarus Planet: Legends Reborn (1/31)
  • Lazarus Planet: Next Evolution (2/7)
  • Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate (2/14)
  • Lazarus Planet: Omega (2/21)

DC also posed a series of teaser questions for characters and events that will feature in the story, from Power Girl to Dreamer to Monkey Prince:

      • Can Power Girl free herself from the out-of-control Omen?
      • Who are the mysterious trio claiming to be resurrected siblings of Raven?
      • Will Dreamer’s visions guide our heroes to the path of victory?
      • Can Mercy Graves survive the transformation she’s undergone?
      • Will Martian Manhunter survive a psychic link to a Doomsday nest?
      • Can new hero City Boy hope to commune with Gotham in time to save it?
      • How far would the Question go to chase a lead across a transformed Gotham City?
      • Will the flame of Firestorm burn out yet another horrific host?
      • And what does DC’s Monkey Prince have to do with all of this?

Here’s a hint for the last one—Damian Wayne puts out a distress call for whoever can still hear it: come to the ruins of the Hall of Justice and help save the world! Blue Beetle, Power Girl, Cyborg, Batman, and more answer the call…but why could the fate of all life as we know it rest in the hands of…Monkey Prince?

Keep an eye out for our recap of the full “Explore the Multiverse” panel, with additional insight on Lazarus Planet from its creators, soon.

Miss any of our other NYCC ’22 coverage? Find it all here!

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