Five DC Black Label Books I'd Like To See

 I've been a big fan of a number of the DC Black Label books. They remind me of Marvel MAX. Creators can take beloved characters and do different things with them as they are not (at least I don't think) set in the DC proper. This means they don't break one of the rules, which I think creators should largely follow, with rare exceptions, in that they should put the toys back the way they found them. Someone can remind me who to attribute the quote, I'm paraphrasing, to. Anyway, one of things I enjoy doing is "fantasy booking" so I've decided to come up with 5 Black Label books I'd like to see.

SECRET SIX / JOKER'S SIX / RIDDLER'S SIX

Declan Shalvey (a) Gail Simone (w)

Yeah I know Gail has done a long run on Secret Six but I LOVE that series SO much. Also, I kind of want to see what she would do if she could pick a new Six from any villain on the DC books. She did wonders with Bane so I'd like to see her work on say Riddler's Six or Joker's Six and what crazy reason they have for creating a team. Also, if you read Gail's creator-owned books like Leaving Megalopolis (with Jim Calafiore) and Clean Room (with John-Davis Hunt), you know she can go to a darker place.

I picked Declan Shalvey as I love his work. I know he is busy with creator-owned work like Time Before Time and Old Dog but I'd hope he could fit in a short series or one-shot. Also, he can draw some creepy stuff. I think of some of the things in his Moon Knight run and a particularly creepy villain from his Venom run.

THE HAUNTED TANK

PJ Holden (a) Jimmy Palmiotti (w)

PJ Holden may hate me for wanting him to do another war book but nobody can deny that he is very good at them. I'd hope that the "haunted" aspect would allow him to go in a bit of a different direction or maybe the angle would intrigue him.

Jimmy Palmiotti has moved into doing a lot of Kickstarters as it allows him (and his co-creators) the freedom to go in a more adult direction as he believes that there is an audience for that (the success of his campaigns seems to bear that out and I've backed a lot of them). The title of his book Sex & Violence sort of says it all. The Haunted Tank seems like the quirky kind of book that Jimmy could do some fun stuff with. If I was the editor, I would just say "Have at it!"

HELLBLAZER / CONSTANTINE

Donna A. Black (a) Maura McHugh (w)

Donna A. Black has a style that screams emotion and darkness and horror to me. There's a psychology to it that feels like would suit the world of John Constantine. I can only imagine that physical horrors she could create for him to face or how she could show the things the haunt his mind.

Maura McHugh is known for her horror writing and she has done some great stuff with Judge Anderson. I feel there is some crossover with these characters in what they face in their lives. Also, with two Irish creatives involved, could we see John face the Sidhe or some Irish horror? It would be fun to see something authentically Irish go after him. The titles "Irish Eyes" just popped into my head.

HAWKMAN / HAWKWORLD / HAWKUNIVERSE

Cian Tormey (a) Michael Carroll (w)

Michael Carroll's writing experience on Judge Dredd and more recently on Proteus Vex means that he suitably qualified to take this book in a several directions: the cop / detective style of Hawkworld series I love or a grand space opera. Indeed, his superhero book series, the New Heroes / Quantum Prophecy series, shows he how well he does superhero stories too. All these works also show he can go in a darker direction too. I'd be interested to see what Hawkman he would want to do.

Cian Tormey has really made his name for himself and he recently signed an exclusive with DC Comics. Everyone can see his superhero skills quite plainly on Superman but he has also done some darker stories with the likes of Doctor Doom in The Darkhold. I'd be curious to see what he would do with Hawkman and what he and Mike would come up with together.

THE DEMON / BLOOD OF THE DEMON

John McCrea (a) Garth Ennis (w)

I know we've seen this before but, in my experience, if you let Garth Ennis be Garth Ennis (e.g. Punisher MAX and Batman: Reptilian), you get some really dark, interesting and entertaining books. Pushing the Demon into darker areas seems like a way to make that happen. Being Garth Ennis, I'd imagine he might pull in some quirky, obscure characters from the darker side of the DC Universe.

John McCrea did some great work on The Demon but I think it would be cool to see what he would do with the gloves off. His many collaborations with Ennis show that his art really meshes with Garth Ennis' dark sense of human and I can only imagine the kind of characters they could cook up. Or who else might show up from their previous collaborations.