Wednesday is always my favorite day of the week, but July 15, 2026, was a special one. The moment we opened the shipment boxes at the shop, I knew Dark Knights of Steel II #1 was going to be the big topic at the register. Picking up DC’s medieval Elseworlds saga, this debut issue sets up a patient, intrigue-heavy story where a fragile truce between the kingdoms of El, Wayne, and the Amazons is suddenly threatened by internal treason and the arrival of Arthur Curry from the ocean depths.

When customers ask me about the creators on the book, I love sharing the fun facts:

• The Writer: Melbourne-based Tom Taylor (47), famous for Nightwing and Injustice, who actually worked as a professional fire-twirler before he ever wrote a comic script.

• Interior Artist: Siberian artist Otto Schmidt (53), who drew fan-favorite runs on Green Arrow and draws these pages from a beachside home studio in Cyprus.

• Cover Artist: Yasmine Putri (35), a Jakarta-based artist who DC originally discovered after an editor randomly stumbled upon her fan art online.

From a retailer’s perspective, it’s always a relief when a high-profile sequel doesn’t rely on cheap gimmicks or non-stop noise to make a splash. Taylor and Schmidt favor deliberate pacing, heavy armor, and political intrigue, giving my pull-list subscribers a rich high-fantasy world to dive back into. If you haven’t picked up your copy off our new-releases rack yet, make sure to grab one before we sell out!