DC Comics launch Forever Evil villain month with 3D covers in September 2013

Buzzfeed spoke with DC Entertainment co-publishers Dan Didio and Jim Lee this morning about their upcoming event for September 2013: Forever Evil. In addition to a 7-issue mini-series called Forever Evil, leading directly out of the Trinity War, all of the titles will be ‘taken over’ by a villain for the month.

The special covers will be 3D motion covers, printed on premium stock and creating the illusion of movement when they are held up.

Didio commented:

When we launched the New 52 in September of 2011, we decided to do something different and daring each September to draw attention to our line and really focus on what our goals are for the year. What we did back in 2011 was relaunch our entire line. In 2012, we went back and looked at all our heroes with Zero Month and told some early stories and origins. This September we wanted to try something a little different and really explore our villain base, and show the challenges our heroes face with every story and every issue, because of the strength of the characters taking over their books in that month.

Some new villains will be introduced, such as the Green Lantern #23.1 villain, as well as some old favourites perhaps turning up for the first time in the New 52.

Is this another in a long line of gimmicks for DC Comics? The fact that these are all labelled “.1” through “.4” issues suggests a neat side-step of the main line, much as the “Zero” issues did a year before. It will also mean that between issue 23 and 24 (or the equivalent for the more recent titles), there will be an additional 4 issue for completists to collect. Plus, what essentially amounts to a lenticular cover smacks of the kind of behaviour we saw from the major studios during the 1990s. Perhaps the biggest villain looming in September is flagging sales, but at least we have some classic characters returning to the fray and the Forever Evil mini series is the first major event of its kind since the launch of the New 52.

Look for more information when September solicitations are released later this month.

A selected of the 3D motion covers can be found as animated GIFs below. Click to enlarge.