This title's just six words long...

Sorry I haven't been as regular lately, folks, but there have been some work related things going on lately, and it's just been hard to get on here as much as I want to. Hopefully, after I get all of my stuff straightened out, I'll get back in the groove!

A very strong week at DC this week, possibly my favorite week of the month. It washard for me to choose which titles to review for you guys this week, there were just so many!

Of course, no week is going to be 100% perfect, so here's my un-recommendation of the week: This one's a little sad for me, because I liked how the book started, but three issues in, Deathstroke has become a little formulaic. Slade goes, kills about 73.67 enemies, and then angsts over what's in the suitcase. At this point, I barely care what it is, but at least they give you an inkling this issue. The art's fine and fits the story well...it's just too bad that said story is kinda weak. It's really not the worst comic out there, but for my money, it's not worth keeping up with.

On to the real reviews!

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa

Let me start off by apologizing for not getting my reviews up last week. Between chores and not feeling well (Stupid cold and flu season.), it just wasn't a good week for me. It WAS a pretty good week for DC, though.

I'm changing things up in order to keep up with that. I'm only going to do the two or three best titles in a given week, but I'll still let you know what else is good to read.

I'll ALSO let you know what titles to run away from, fast. I'm going to go ahead and get this one out of the way: Until Liefeld is off of it, DO NOT PICK UP HAWK & DOVE. In fact, until the entire creative team is taken off of it, it is best avoided. Juvenile writing, bad pacing, horrendous plotting, there is absolutely nothing redemptive about the book. So that one's on perma-ban.

This week, the book to avoid, quite unfortunately, is Men of War. I loved the first issue of the title, but in the intervening issues, it's devolved from a pretty cool story of the men who go to war for our country to a book dealing with superpowers. Nothing inherently wrong with that, obviously, but I was actually impressed with the poignancy of the first issue, and how much you ended up caring for the men of this troop. Even with the metahuman in the distance, it was still primarily about these men in battle. However, in the second issue, they added a direct metahuman influence, and it just went down from there. It doesn't help that the back up story, about a group of SEALs, I think, hunting down a group of extremists in a Middle Eastern town wasn't good to begin with. All told, it's not a book I can, in good conscious, recommend to any one.

HOWEVER, I can recommend the following titles:

BOO!

Hey, folks. As you may have noticed, I didn't get a post up yesterday. Sorry about that, but it was just one of those days. There were a lot of good books, especially Aquaman, this week, but I just ran out of time to blog it up. I hope to have it done Tuesday for y'all.

So, I'm a little behind on my comic book movies, but I'm working my way through them. I really enjoyed Thor, even if it was a little weak. But it was about building the workd of these interconnected movies, and I think it accomplished that well. I'd like to know something about the post-credits scene, but I'm holding out for The Avengers to explain it next summer.

Captain America: The First Avenger was a blast! I think I liked every single thing about it. He's a character I vascilate on, but this was a good interpretation. It had a nice mix of 616 and Ultimate Universe Caps. My favorite part was the successful implementation of his comic book costume into a sequence. Worked well, I felt.

Anyway, like I said, I hope to have the reviews up Tuesday afternoon, sometime. If you're hankering for a book, go for Aquaman, The Flash or Teen Titans. All good reads.

Keep reading and see ya next time!

Do-do do do dit do, DO! (Think Mario.)

It was kinda hard for me to get these reviews going this week. Dunno why. I've had some nice days off with my family, so maybe that's it.

But I've also been reading some non-comic book fiction.

Two books have been finished or started this week.

First was one of my favorites, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, By Michael Chabon. It tells the story of two young cousins who helps launch the comic book era, their lives and how their work changes not only who they are, but how comics are percieved. It's a Pulitzer Prize winner, folks, and one of those books I read every few years. Chabon develops his characters well, and you actally learn quite a lot about how the very first publishers screwed their creators, which actually ended up leading to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. It's an intriguing blend of non-genre fiction that somehow manages to also show how a genre works.

Next, I'm about a third of the way into the decidedly geektastic Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's about the hunt for a treasure, buried by an eccentric billionaire...within the world of a video game he created. The author is very much enamored of the 1980's, and sure does love referencing them at the drop of a hat. That's not normally something I'm a fan of, but here, given the plot, it works really well. I can't wait to find out if some of the hunches I have about plots and characters are going to prove true or false. It's a decidedly quickly placed novel, and one I have a hard time putting down. I can't wait to finish it!

Right, now on to the comics!

And now for a nap...

All told, mostly a good week in comic land, with lots of strong books coming out, and stories deepening. I decided to drop a comic this week, without even bothering to review it.

I dropped Mr. Terrific. It was really starting to come off as cliched writing and villainy 101, and it take a lot, a LOT to get me to read that. The villain even did the cheesy "Call me Brainstorm, prepare to die!" riff that I remember not liking even when I first read comics. I'll be honest, I just didn't want to read it, but forced myself to, and decided it was out. Sorry guys.

Batgirl #2 – Another swimmingly good second issue. I gotta say, I was never huge on Batgirl in the past, but I did dig Batgirl: Year One. So it’s quite interesting to me to see her remembering how to be a hero. I also dig “start of darkness” stories and where villains and antagonists come from, and Mirror, the villain here, has a suitably tragic backstory. The motivation is an interesting one, in all honesty, and only serves to beg a question: Namely, how did he get his list of survivors? I hope it’s got a good answer. One of the nice bits that I liked was with Bab’s new roommate, who thinks that Barbara is being beaten by a guy. The vehemence behind her scene is…interesting and somewhat jarring. I look forward to finding out more about her. All told a pretty good issue. The artwork is pretty decent, and the story advanced nicely.

                Recommendation: Trade, because while everything’s good, there’s something here which, for me, stops me from putting it in my pull box.

Batman & Robin #2 – My first thought about the cover? Na na na na na na BATPIG! Apparently the new Batmobile has a very porcine design. Once we get into the issue, though, we have a pretty good story that furthers last month’s plot nicely.  My favorite bit, though, was the way Damian’s origin was told…in a nicely laid out 2-page spread. The other thing I liked was seeing Bruce trying to be a father, and getting lessons from his surrogate father, Alfred. This book is actually shaping up exactly like I wanted to see. It’s quite gratifying to see the interplay of Bruce and his son, and how he’s a somewhat less than ideal father, but still trying. It’s better than nothing. The main plot of the arc, who and why someone is killing Batman franchisees, deservedly takes a back seat to the emotional interplay between the two leads. This may be my favorite of the Bat-titles. Um…that is, the Bat-titles featuring Batman.

                Recommendation: Pull box. Like I said, it’s the strongest of the Bat-books, with a decent mystery, and wonderful relations between the titular characters.

Yet another minor update!

Just wanted to let you guys know a few things.

First off, this week's reviews are going to be late. I've got to go be in a commercial today, woo hoo! I'll try to have it up tomorrow. Some good stuff this week, continuing and deepening a lot of stories. (Green Lantern is, I think, particularly good this week.)

Also, I've been thinking about how I want to do things and I've come to the decision that, after the first arcs, I'm going to cut back severely on reviews, and only do 3, 4 a week. Simply put, there's too much good stuff to read from DC right now, and as much as I'd like to review them all, it's going to be a lot easier on my sanity to pick what I think are either the best books or the absolute worst one of a given week. I'll still try to do other, non-DC reviews, like Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9. (Very good this week.)

That said, I'm also going to regularly put up those family life posts. Or, at least, try to. :-) I'll also try to get my to cents in on various comic book related stories that float around in the aether.

Which reminds me.

Another chain has pulled DC comics from their shelves, Books-A-Million. Now, BAM did that because they're owned by Barnes & Noble, so it's not like companies are jumping on a bandwagon yet, but it is a slippery slope. I'm hoping that Local Comic Shops sieze this opportunity and advertise that they're carrying DC books. Anything to pump some money back into their stores. Although, given the prevelance and popularity of online sales, and the fact that these stores still carry DC in that format, I'm a little doubtful as to how much this will hurt Barnes and BAM.

Be interesting to see how this plays out.

Also, if you needed an excuse to buy something like Trix or Lucky Charms, I suggest you read this story and drool: 'Justice League' Comics Getting Packed In General Mills Cereal Boxes Through The Fall I'm really looking forward to eating the heck out of some cereal! :-)

Keep reading and see you next time!

These are the Star Wars, they never end!

Two semi-big things to talk about this time. First, the truly important one: I got at least one kiddo watching Star Wars! Yay!

After some false starts in watching it, I got the elder of my children to watch Star Wars with me Sunday. At first, despite earlier in the week having agreed to and said they were excited about watching it, when it came time to watch, they seemed reluctant. Can't say I was surprised, but I talked them around. And, at first, I thought it was going to be a little different, with the elder not wanting to watch and the younger sitting around for the cuddles. But, no. The younger child's reluctance showed up right as I stuck the movie in. She went off to play upstairs and do other, thoroughly important things. :-) Can't blame a guy for trying.

Elder, though, seemed to get into it. She said that her favorite part was at the end, when Leia was dressed like a princess, which, I gotta say, doesn't even surprise me a little bit.

All told, though, neither of the girls really sat down and watched it, so I can't really say whether or not they enjoyed it. Maybe another time.

That's one of the things with children. You can't force them to like the things you like. My daughters geek out over different things. Younger, right now, loves Starwberry Shortcake. Elder loves reading. Whatever keeps them happy and learning is fine by me.

Besides...we'll always have Phineas & Ferb. :-)

No cover to get in!

Okay, so I fibbed. I won't be talking about all of the DC covers this post. Between working a somewhat soul-crushing temp job, and some familial medical drama (Nothing bad, don't worry, just stressful.), it just hasn't been good. So, from here out, I'm going to talk about covers in my reviews, if I feel I need or want to. I'm also going to work on getting some non-review blog posts going.

That said, let's get into it!

Action Comics #2 – Okay, three variant covers, one of which is a sketch version of one of the other two. And I’ve gotta say, while I like them all, I’m partial to the non-sketch original variant. And that would be a sentence I didn’t expect to see outside of the 90s. As to the meat of the issue, here we see little more than a whole issue action sequence, but it is a fairly awesome one, with Superman basically beating his way out of the underground secret prison he’s being held in by Lex Luthor. By the way, this is one of the best characterizations of LL I’ve seen in the comics in quite some time. Arrogant, dismissive of anyone who isn’t him, and obviously well on his path to villainy, his insistence on calling Superman “it” because of the fact that he’s an alien feels absolutely perfect to me. There is a lot of interesting stuff in this issue, especially towards the end, where we learn that Luthor is getting his info on Supes from a mysterious source. Okay…it’s Brainiac. How could it not be? I’ll eat my hat (The nice, Superman one.) if it isn’t. All told, a strong, action-oriented issue that nicely progresses both the story and the characterizations nicely.

                Recommendation: I’m still leaning toward trade, honestly, but it’s really starting to make me want to put it in my pullbox.

Animal Man #2 – And the creep factor of this issue continues. Yeesh. The little sister gets powers, much to the chagrin and annoyance of both her older sister and Buddy’s wife. We learn more about the Red and how it affects the world around us…well, kinda. In true horror movie fashion, we only get glimpses of the true nature of the beast. Is it evil? Does it have any morality aside from survival? What does it have to do with Maxine’s powers? Does it have anything to do with them? Man…lots of questions, not too many answers, but man, what a ride. There’s a lot of semi-exposition, that I’m not sure about reliability, because, let’s face it, it’s coming from a little girl. She may be misinterpreting things, or simply parroting a lie the Red told her. But the stage is set, the mission given and the heroes off on their adventure. I’m sure Joseph Campbell couldn’t be any more proud. As an aside, this one and Swamp Thing seem to be heading toward a crossover, with the Red being set up as a malevolent enitity over there. Which is true? We’ll see.

                Recommendation: There’s too much awesome here to wait for the trade, so go on and put this one in your pull box.

A whole new beginning!

As the first month of DC's New 52 draws to a close, they put out a decent, if not overly strong, week of titles. Honestly, there were more hits than misses this week, but none of this week's titles really stuck out for me, aside from Aquaman.

Yeah, Aquaman. Go figure. The laughingstock of the sea has this week's strongest, in my opinion, book.

So, on to the reviews, and then I'll let you know which titles I'm keeping, which are in danger of being dropped, and which I'm definitely dropping. This is a feature I plan on keeping, and doing once all of the month's titles are out. That is, between the #1's and #2's, I'll do this, between the 2's and 3's, etc.

So, without any further ado, the reviews:

All-Star Western #1 – Well…it’s hard to really call this a western, honestly. The only western thing it has, really, is Jonah Hex. Everything else about it, from the location in Gotham to Dr. Arkham helping Jonah Hex, is distinctly…well, not western. All told, though, that is about the only real issue I have with this one. A nice mystery being set up, a serial killer targeting prostitutes, a mysterious society which may, or may not, be involved at some level, even Jonah Hex’s characterization all work together to create quite a nice little book. Something that took me a minute was the florid, purple prose at the beginning, with no accreditation. It’s not until you realize that it’s from Dr. Arkham’s journals that it all kind of clicks together and meshes. Of course Arkham would speak like that. It was nice, for me, to see some of the names mentioned, from Cobblepot to Cyrus Pinckney (Solomon Grundy.)…all of which gave me a little thrill each time I saw them. Jimmy Palmiotti’s art fits perfectly here, with a nicely limited color palette, which really evokes the 1880s when the story takes place. I look forward to the next issue immensely.

Aquaman #1 – I did not realize before going in that Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis were working this book. It feels, structurally, a lot like Green Lantern: Rebirth, in that Johns seems to be going for a revamping of the character. They’re aware going in, and highlight a lot of the jokes that have been made in the past about Aquaman, which was nice for me, honestly. I’ve never really gotten the hate. One of the things that worked for me here is how nobody, cops, criminals, citizens, take Aquaman seriously. And Ivan Reis’ artwork really captures his resentment at being treated like a lesser hero amidst Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc, when it’s freaking obvious how strong he is. I mean, upending a secured van is no mean feat. The nicest thing about this issue? We finally find out how Aquaman manages to get by on land. All in all, a good issue, and I look forward to many more.

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 – Something I realized reading this issue was that DC has apparently decided to turn Batman into a kind of internal Chatty Cathy. I mean, he’s terse and laconic as Batman, but the narration boxes, usually from his point of view, go on forever! Anyway…here, as opposed to the other Batman titles, Batman is taking on evil, both as Batman and as Bruce Wayne. Look, I’m not even going to try to summarize or review this one. There are simply too many Batman titles where he is the star. I understand, Batman’s cool. He’s one of my favorite characters, and, more often than not, one I gravitate towards. But with ten of the New 52 titles focusing on or featuring him, I’m more than a little sick of it. I don’t even like the story set up in B:TDK, at least not the supervillain part. The GCPD part is intriguing, though, with Internal Affairs trying to figure out how Bruce Wayne is funding Batman and who in GCPD is giving him information. It’s a good mystery set-up. But, honestly, there’s no reason this story needs its own title. For me, calling the book The Dark Knight should imply more of a horror slant, or at least a thriller/noir-ish set up. I guess my biggest problem is that all of the main Batman titles feel absolutely the same. How would I do it, you ask? I’m glad you did. What I would do is this: Batman would be about the more fantastical, superhero-supervillain stories. Detective Comics would be about the mystery-solving detective Batman who, in all honesty, is rarely seen anymore. Batman and Robin I would use to explore the dynamic of how he interacts with all of his Robins, past and present. This one I discussed above. The other ones, where he’s just featured? I’d probably pull him from all but Justice League and JLI, honestly.

This post brought to you thanks to MC Frontalot and Jonathan Coulton.

So we're now three weeks in to DC's New 52 universe. A lot of good titles this week, but before we get to that, I thought I'd tell everyone what I think New 52's trying to accomplish.

Of course, there's the PR version: According to Bob Harras, Editor-In-Chief for DC Comics, New 52 is a way to "continue the stories of these characters, to present them in new ways for new audiences...a way for readers to jump aboard, to come join the party that is the DC Universe." And, of course, Grant Morrison chimes in: Things that are familiar will be unfamiliar. Things that may have been stale or boring are revitalized and plugged into feelings that people are having right now. Another thing they've done is made these titles available online the same day they're available in the stores, which is nice for people who may not have brick and mortar stores to go into. And I think the best summation comes from artist and co-publisher of DC, Jim Lee, "We're trying to get new fans. We're trying to get people that have never even bought a comic book before excited about the medium, excited about these stories, excited about these characters."

There you have it. What does that mean, in practical terms? Well, most obviously, a lot of Number One Issues, which are good jumping on points for new fans. It's way too intimidating to see issue 163, "A new chapter starts here!" It's also a nice way for DC to broaden its potential pool of characters, by highlighting lesser known characters like Resurrection Man or newer characters like Static Shock, and new titles that might otherwise fall through the cracks like Demon Knights or Men of War. I can honestly say that they've hit on this far more often than they've missed. There are only one or two titles that seemed to rely too heavily on previous continuity. To highlight two different titles that have already been released, there's Green Lantern and Legion Lost.

In the former, we have a very continuity driven story that gives you enough bits of the previous story to let you know what's going on. The characters are well fleshed out, and you care about them. Even without much dialogue, you can understand why all of the characters want to do the things they state.

In the latter, you're lost almost from the get-go. There's no emotional investment. You don't know what's going on. When characters die, you don't care that they're gone, nor that the remaining ones seem broken by it. You don't understand where they came from or what they're doing here in anything other than a superficial sense, despite the pages of dialogue.

Now, part of the problem with the latter could be the story, and may even work itself out. I'm willing to give it that, which leads to another thing that early issues are good for: People are far more forgiving about early issue confusion, and having not a lot of information to work with. You can't get all of the information, exposition and characterization-wise, into one issue anymore. A lot of readers like the decompression of stories and origins. It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. I hope that DC doesn't cave in to fanboi pressure and keeps the New 52 Universe. It's an interesting place, and I look forward to its exploration.

Whew...that was a lot. On to the reviews! It is, apparently, Batman week in the New 52.

Minor Update!

Not done with this weeks' capsule reviews yet. (Seems like it's Batman week at DC!) I hope to have them all done by Saturday.

That's not the main thing that I wanted to mention.

You may have noticed some big overhauls to the site. Namely, adding both the tip jar and advertisements, as well as some other, mainly cosmetic changes. I know it's annoying when people essentially beg for money, but, hey...if you like my site, send some love my way. If you don't like it, you aren't likely to be reading this, so I can say, unequivocally, sod off, you badger buggering fanny face.

I just wanted to let you know that, aside from a few tweaks, I should be done for now. I know I hate it when blogs I read switch things up on me all the time, but I'm just trying to find a format that both works for me as a blogger, and you as a reader. If there's anything I've done that you don't like, feel free to let me know. (I could use the laugh...you thinking I'd change something. Pshaw!) Likewise, if there are changes you wouldn't mind seeing, please let me know that, also!

I'm here as much for your enjoyment as mine!

Thanks, all, see ya next time!

Onward and upward! Or at least laterally...

Here we are in week two, lots of good titles this week, again! So let's get right to it, shall we?

Batman and Robin #1 – This one just jumps right into it. In the first three pages, which I think are going to end up acting as a prologue for the story, we meet the villain. Honestly, I kinda like when that happens. Not a big fan of vague, mysterious threats. Anyway…this book is a good one to highlight one of the other things DC’s New 52 is doing. It’s not undoing the  entire history of the past 25 or so years since Crisis on Infinite Earths, but it will show you those events through a different prism, twisting them. The titular Robin isn’t one of the ones I’m familiar with, but Damian Wayne, Bruce’s son, apparently, by Talia al Ghul. Yeeeeaaahhhh…not sure what to make of that origin, but this kid is arrogant, impulsive, brash and obnoxious…so, pretty much a teenager. We get to find out a lot about Batman’s psychology in this issue, and what drives him, as well as how that’s changed with his son started helping him in his work. It’s a nice bit, honestly, and lets you find out Batman’s origin in a new way. You also get a not so quiet scene, with Bruce and Damian working together, which I think highlights quite nicely their different methods. The arc of the first story is picked up in the last pages, and it looks like it’s going to end up being a good one, as someone is out to destroy Batman Inc, and Bruce Wayne personally. Having always been a Batman fan, I think Peter Tomasi’s characterization is a good one, and Patrick Gleason’s pencils work well in the darkness that is Gotham.

Batwoman #1 – Well, this was a quick comic. With seven two-page spreads over the course of the issue, the plot moves along rapidly, and that’s not a bad thing. There’s a very creepy vibe to the comic, and a lot that seems to be going on here. We don’t get any detailed sort of origin story for Kate Kane, aka, Batwoman, only allusions to her sister being a villain, and her dad being military. We get a lot of focus on the arc of the first story, which seems to be a supernatural missing kids story. I like the story idea as well as the writing for this issue, by JH Williams and W. Haden Blackman, and can’t wait to see where it goes. They even have quite a nice last line to really hook you in. The art, I have to say, is 99% GORGEOUS! The only thing I have an issue with is how grey and chalky Kate Kane looks out of costume. It throws me every time I see her. I think I’ll get used to it, though. I hope I do, because this could quickly become one of my favorites, not just as a comic, but as a reading experience.

Deathstroke #1 – Again, a pretty good first issue. You get to find out Deathstroke’s origins pretty quickly, through the eyes of the, quite literal, young guns he’s forced to team up with. Well paced, it has a lot of action. I know I risk sounding repetitive, but this issue sets up the arc nicely, while giving you just enough background info to learn what you need. Here’s the problem I have: I don’t like Deathstroke’s new costume. It screams 90s excess to me. It seems to be feeding into his, as well as his clients’, insecurities about him being too old to handle his job anymore. The art itself, though, is quite nice, lots of detail, good lines. (Yeah, just pretend you know what it means. That’s what I’m doing!) Hopefully, the story, which I’m guessing will be called Back to Basics, after this issue, when it’s collected, will see the re-emergence of his classic costume.

In which I set myself a task of Herculean proportions!

So, I know I've been away a while. Sorry 'bout that. I'm going to try to be better. Mainly because I've given myself a goal: Read all of DC's New 52 titles and review them. I'll then give a recommendation based on that review, telling you if you should put it in your pull box, wait for the trade to come out, or just drop it completely. I normally give a three issue trial to all new titles, but I'm going to stick it out until the end of the first arc for each of these, despite the pain a couple of the titles gave me. (Razzum Hawk & Dove frazzum.) This post will be weeks 0 (Which, yes, was only one issue...but what an issue!) and 1. I'll try to get week 2 up in the next couple of days, and then, hopefully, I'll get on track to do the reviews weekly. I'm also going to try to do one Bonus Review, of something non-DC, depending on whether or not there's anything good in a particular week. Given the improved quality of story telling lately, it seems unlikely that there will be a week that goes by without a bonus review. Okay...all that said, here we go!

Justice League #1 – First off, the art is GORGEOUS. I’m a big fan of Jim Lee and always like seeing his character designs. Second, Geoff Johns is like unto a GOD, as far as story-crafting is concerned. So, you may see how my opinion might be a little bit biased. I’ll say this, I dig the story set-up going on here. It seems like it’s going to show how the world used to “hate and fear” supers, but gradually, through, I’m guessing, saving the world a time or two, come to be seen as beings to be trusted. Hence, “Five years ago…” I’m a little unclear as to who’s supposed to be narrating this, but my money’s on Cyborg, simply from the design of the first two speech bubbles. We’ll see. But, seeing as it’s the first issue, I don’t mind not knowing who’s setting up the story. I also like how DC’s current two biggest properties, Green Lantern and Batman, are the first two heroes we meet, both chasing and fighting a…something, which leaves an alien doodad, which leads them to Superman…who is not our Superman. At least, not yet. There’s a nice set-up of the conflict, and a name drop of “Darkseid,” which, of course, our heroes mistake for “Dark Side.” There’s also the standard “fight between heroes.” It’s clichéd, but it’s also usually there for a reason, and, like I said, I’m a huge Geoff Johns fan, so I’ll give it a chance.

                Recommendation: Pull box

Action Comics #1 – Here’s the thing: As much as I try to like Grant Morrison, I just have a hard time. I get into his stories, and then he either goes deep into one of the most obscure parts of a characters' history, or gives the “book flap” version of a philosophical idea. I’ve made the argument before to people that while Morrison’s writing may be dense, dense does not equate to deep…or even good. So, that said, I’m still giving him a try on Action Comics, because, supposedly, this will tell how Supes gets the New 52 armor. I’ve seen a rumor that it’s a tribute to Krypton, so it’ll be nice to see if it plays out that way. One aspect of this issue that I have no problem whatsoever getting into is Rags Morales’s art. It’s exactly the beautiful semi-realistic style that I appreciate in comics. As to the story, it seems to be taking place a few years, or maybe months, before JL. Superman is much more aggressive than we’re used to, dangling, and then dropping and catching, a big name citizen…who “used illegal child labor…no safety standards…[he] bribed city officials.” (Gotta wonder about the legality or allowablility of that confession. Likely, even if a court rules it inadmissible, the Court of Public Opinion will likely crucify him.) It’s a much more activist Superman, courting the “little people” of Metropolis. I kind of like this take, so far. I can’t wait to find out how he becomes the “Big Blue Boy Scout” again. Lex Luthor is, thankfully, in full evil genius mode. He manages to turn Superman’s original catchphrase into a weapon…and it is pretty awesome. So, I suppose, I should give Morrison props on that. I just hope that this doesn’t turn into something I’m going to regret reading.

            Recommendation: Trade Paperback (Yes, I know it’s early to say this, but judging from Morrison’s previous work, his stories read better collected.)

Animal Man #1 – Okay, here we have the first of the comics where I’m kinda, sorta familiar with the character, but haven’t read him in any depth before. Also, the same can be said of the writer and artist. Travel Foreman’s art in this book only takes a page or two of getting used to, but once you do, and especially at the end, you can see how it fits the story so well. What I like about the story is that it gives you a good glimpse into Buddy’s family, one of the more realistic ones I’ve read. His wife obviously loves him and wants him to be happy, but also wants to make sure he pays attention to his family. It’s an interesting dynamic in the family, too, one which I’m sure will have repercussions, especially with Buddy openly being a superhero. The nightmare sequence starting on page 15 is, like I mentioned before, where Foreman’s art style really kicks in, and goes strong into the last page, one which is quite disturbing. I’ve never read Jeff Lemire before, but if the rest of his stuff is anything like this, I think I might dig him.

                Recommendation: Pull Box

Batgirl #1 – And this is one of the more controversial titles in DC’s New 52 line-up. The controversy, in case you were wondering, is that they took Barbara Gordon, who’s been in a wheelchair since 1988’s The Killing Joke, when she was paralyzed by the Joker. This caused her to find other outlets of superheroics, and so she became the Oracle, DC’s super information collator. The only thing I have a problem with is that there’s just a handwave as to how she’s able to walk again, “a miracle.” Nothing else. Maybe they’ll come back to it. I hope they do. Back to the story. It’s a good one, I think. A serial killer is targeting people who shouldn’t have lived through…something. No reason is given, yet, but there doesn’t have to be for two reasons: It’s the first issue, and it’s Gail Simone. I trust her writing. A lot. What’s going to be nice to see is the upcoming conflict between Batgirl and the GCPD that arises from the last few pages of the book. That’ll be interesting to see play out, given who her father is. As for the art, Adrien Syaf, from what I can see, is a pretty gifted artist. His style plays well with Simone’s writing, which is something I really appreciate. Something I noticed is that they seem to be going with a mix of Barbara’s original costume and Cassandra Cain’s, which I don’t actually have a problem with. Just something I noticed.

                Recommendation: Pull Box

Batwing #1 – Now here’s one I’m really excited about. Batwing follows a member of Batman INC, an organization set up by Batman in order to fight crime all over the world. Batwing is stationed in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an area that seems to be having some problems, and where a Batman would likely be quite effective. The hero, David Zavimbe, is a police officer, and seems to be, with Kia Okuru, one of the only ones to be fairly uncorrupted. So…basically, they work in an African version of Gotham City Police Department. It works, but, again, as with all of these titles, it’s the first issue. We’ll see how it plays out. The plot is still forming, as a super, or at the least costumed, maniac is massacring disparate groups. The last page is kind of shocking…or would be, if you didn’t know it was a flashback. Which brings me to Judd Winick. He’s a good storytelling when he’s on, and one of my favorites. But he does have some tendencies which I’d hoped would be gone after so long in the industry, but I guess there are some things you just can’t unlearn. I wonder when he’s going to introduce a character who’s gay and/or has AIDS. (Although, this being Africa, I’m a little more willing to overlook that particular habit of his.) The art, by Ben Oliver, seems to be striving for a kind of Alex Ross painted quality, and mostly achieves it. I’m not a huge fan of the style in on-goings, but I like it here.

                Recommendation: Pull Box

Detective Comics #1 – I’ll be honest, this one borders on too much for me. Tony S. Daniel and Ryan Winn (Who also pencils this issue.) seem to be Acolytes of the Chris Claremont School of Writing, aka, the Wall O’ Text. They set up the main, and subsidiary, conflicts well, but…I’m more of a “Show, don’t tell.” guy, I guess. Although, there are worse ways of giving exposition than a conversation. As for the main conflict, it’s a little unclear, but there seem to be identity theft or appropriation issue going on. I also see something about shady dealings at Arkham Asylum being a factor in the story. The subsidiary conflict, though, are easier to figure out: GCPD and the politicians of Gotham do not like Batman, whose only friend on the force is Jim Gordon. This does kinda run up against logic, with there being a Batsignal in Gotham, but I assume that’ll be explained. The other, even more minor, conflict has to do with Batman ruining Bruce Wayne’s social life. Of course, this feeds into the Batman/Bruce Wayne identity crisis, but that seems to be glossed over for now. I like Ryan Winn’s art in this book. Like Jim Lee’s, it’s the cartoony realism that works so well for comics. And, I have to say, the last page is suitably creepy.

                Recommendation: Pull Box. Tell ya what…unless I say otherwise, just assume they’ll be Pull Box for now. I feel kinda odd saying whether or not a story should wait until the trade on the first issue of it. I’m also not going to recommend any drops yet. I usually give books a three issue trial, but I think I’ll give all of the New 52 stuff until their first story to decide.

Green Arrow #1 – Again, a character I love and have for quite some time. A social activist superhero, who actually uses his secret identity of industrialist Oliver Queen to do some good also, GA feeds right into my appreciation of Robin Hood. This book, however, seems to be hitting a lot of the clichés: Superpowered villains who underestimate the hero because he doesn’t have powers, just "toys." Said superhero still kicking their keisters from here to the Champs Elysees. (No, I mean that, they fight in France.) The reluctant weapons designer. The hero’s dark past, only alluded to, to be explained (Hopefully.) later. There’s a lot of talk of motivations of the various heroes, but, aside from one fight scene, not a lot of action. We see that Ollie’s not usually present for and disdains board meetings, but that’s nothing new. J.T. Krul isn’t a writer I’m familiar with, and I hope that, as the story moves along, the action moves at a better pace than this first issue. Dan Jurgens style reminds me a lot of Mark Bagley, whose run on Ultimate Spider-Man remains one of the best, and longest, runs on a comic. Jurgens fits well here, I think. Legendary inker George Pérez really makes Jurgens pencils pop. All together, it works well. I’m really looking forward to where the story goes, and finding out what, exactly, it is that caused this Ollie to take up the mantle of Green Arrow. One thing I just noticed flipping through, Jurgens is making Ollie look an awful lot like his son, Connor Hawke. Hmmmmm…

Hawk and Dove #1 – A fairly ho-hum comic, in all honesty. Hawk is an angry man, and his secret identity isn’t much better. Dove is a peaceful lady, and her cover has a secret. There’s an otherwise interesting plot going on, which is essentially abandoned not even halfway through the issue so we can find out how Hawk became Hawk, and the original Dove, his brother, died. I may be dropping this before the story’s done, in all honesty. A weak story can be propped up by beautiful art, but Rob Liefeld hasn’t evolved or changed in all of his years in the field. No…I take it back…his feet look like feet. The art seems to be stuck in the 90s, the story telling is weak. Sorry, but it's all so off-putting I don't really have much to say about it. I will say this: The art and story work well together. Unfortunately, that's like saying that SPAM goes well with saltines. Works for some people, I guess, but isn't something that most people will like.

            Recommendation: Trade Paperback. But it's not one I can, in all honesty, recommend actually purchasing. Get it from the library or borrow a friend's.

Justice League International #1 – Here’s another one I’m fairly excited about, and I have to say, it delivers pretty well. It seems to be taking place in the present, or at least after the Justice League is fully formed. Here, a group is being pulled together by the UN, in order to have a group that people can hold accountable, unlike the League. There is the requisite “image of heroes” pages, discussing who’s in, who’s out, etc. What’s nice in this issue is that the people discussing the team are also discussion the geo-political repercussions of having hero X and not Y, and how they’ll ALL love Z. (There’s a nice bit that I hope ties into GA, where they say that he’s “too likely to cross a line." It’s nicely ambiguous, but hints to that mysterious origin of his.) Unfortunately, the team doesn’t gel like they wanted to, and it’s up to the leader, Booster Gold, to make it work. He already had a walk-out, though, Green Lantern Guy Gardner. They get their first mission, which, of course, goes pear shaped almost immediately. You also have a sub-plot where people don’t seem to appreciate that the JLI has, essentially, co-opted a certain building. That’s the story I’m interested in, seeing what this building is, and why it’s so important to everyone…I mean, aside from looking like the Hall of Justice from Superfriends. The art and story are both good, and seem to fit well together. Of course, the writer also being an artist (Although not on this book. ), Dan Jurgens, probably helps smooth matters quite a bit. Aaron Lopresti’s style, again, is one I consider perfect for comics. I like this, and look forward to figuring out how Batman saves the day. (Did I not mention he was in this? Oh, well, he’s a ninja, he’s always there, especially when you don’t see him.)

Men of War #1 – Normally, I’m not one for realistic comics, especially war/military based ones, but I dug this. It’s pretty intense, and once the action picks up, it doesn’t really stop, even with the last panel. This military comic, though, seems to be folded into the larger DC universe, as, after Cpl. Rock (Who doesn’t want to be a Sergeant.) and his men land, things go wahooni shaped (Pear shaped, but moreso.) when a red and blue blur totally destroys their LZ. Okay...so I guess it's not TOTALLY realistic. This book kinda drives home for me the point that, had I not forced myself to try all of DC’s New 52 books, I wouldn’t have been likely to pick it up. I’m glad I read it, and look forward to it. The art is a style I associate with military comics, and actually does call back, for me, anyway, other military comics I’ve read. As for the writing, it’s tight, works the format well, and pulls you in quite nicely. It’ll be nice to see how Ivan Brandon and Tom Derenick work together for the rest of the story. There’s a backup story in here, focusing on a group of SEALs trying to clear an area in…some vaguely Middle Eastern city. Dunno. This I’m not a fan of. Everything about it screams CLICHÉ, yet I’m hoping there’s something else going on.

O.M.A.C. #1 – If there’s a more quickly paced book in the New 52 titles, I haven’t read it. The action starts on page 2, and doesn’t let up. We quickly learn that the OMAC of the title has been sent to break into CADMUS lab’s mainframe for some as yet unexplained reason, and that nothing, even CADMUS’s big guns Dubbilex (Yay, I haven’t seen him in ages! One of my favorite psychics!) and Build-A-Friend can’t stop him. We learn that somehow OMAC is actually two beings. And suddenly, we learn that OMAC is the guy who’s been missing since the start of the issue, Kevin Kho. Dan Didio, current co-publisher/head honcho of DC, had to have a reason for writing this one himself. Can’t wait to find it out. It’s tightly plotted, so far, and sets up some interesting concepts. As to the art, Keith Giffen is a legend, and I will hear no ill about him. He’s one of the most expressive artists working today, and that comes across throughout the issue.

Static Shock #1 – A title I wasn’t expecting, since I didn’t know that the cartoon had been folded into the DCU a few years back. But, like a lot of things that are unexpected, this was quite a pleasant surprise. There’s no baggage, for me, associated with it, and I was able to figure out who was who, and why they were doing what they were doing, very easily. Scott McDaniels (Who also penciled.) and John Rozum set up the Peter Parker work/high school/super-heroics balance that Virgil Hawkins has to accomplish really well, while still showing the reader just how dangerous this world is. It’s an almost ideal first issue, setting up the characters and conflicts really well, and making you care about what’s going to happen to Virgil because of the cliffhanger last page. McDaniels art style is reminiscent, to me, of John Romita, Jr’s, which is one of my favorites, and captures the youth and energy of both Virgil and Static. Can’t wait for #2!

Stormwatch #1 – I’m not sure what to make of this one, which is both the blessing and the curse of a new comic. Stormwatch seems to be about pulling one character, Apollo, into a team, but then takes a hard right at the very end, showing you that it’s actually about something else entirely. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the issue, and I’m intrigued to see where it’s going to go from here. But otherwise, I didn’t have any strong feeling about it. I take that back, there IS one thing I didn’t like, and that’s the Editor’s Note on page one, exhorting you to buy Superman #1, on sale Sept 28! Maybe it’s just me, but something about that irritated the ever-loving crud out of me. Aside from that, again, it was a decent #1, interesting enough to make me want to read on. And the art was decent, nothing spectacular for me, but I think it fit both the characters and the story well.

Swamp Thing #1 – Like a lot of children of the 80s, I’m only really familiar with Swamp Thing from the movies, which are cheesetastic 80s fun-o-rama! This Swamp Thing, however, is…different. Seems like it was a lot more mystical. This issue, for me, showcases what new volumes of comics are all about. It encapsulates the character's history quite well, giving new readers a sense of who we’re getting ready to read. (Animal Man #1 did this well, also, I thought.) We seem headed toward a hero reluctantly returning to save the world plot, but given that Swamp Thing’s connection to “The Green” seems to literally allow him to do that, I’m interested to see where it goes. The art, especially the last three pages, is gorgeous. I’ve a feeling I’m going to dig this one. Another nice thing is that I can tell that this one is supposed to be taking place in the “now” of the new DC universe, mainly because the Superman who cameos in this issue is a lot more mature seeming that the one from JL and Action. I wouldn’t mind seeing a timeline of where the comics fall, and I’m sure that some industrious nerd or geek will come up with one.

BONUS REVIEW: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 – Reboots are tricky things. When they work well, they can overshadow the original work to such a degree that anyone who sees that will wonder how the reboot came along. When they don’t work (Superman Returns, I’m looking at you!) they make people flock to the original in droves. It’s a rare reboot that managing to straddle that line, of paying homage to the source material in such a way that makes both enjoyable. Such is the case with TMNT #1…of course, this one is helped by the fact that Kevin Eastman, one of the creators of TMNT, helped with the story on this! The characters feel familiar, while still being distinctive from their original counterparts. Raph is still the troubled, dark turtle, and starts out independent from the rest of the group. Leo is still the leader. Mikey and Don seem like their counterparts. Splinter, while younger, is very much a father to the boys. April is back to her original (Original original, not movie original.) job of lab assistant for Baxter Stockman. The only one who’s substantially different is Casey Jones, but as he’s only in a few pages, I’m sure we’ll see him develop into something akin to the butt-kicking Casey we know and love. Even the art pays homage to the Turtles B&W roots, even though it’s in color. All in all, a fun read, and something I’m going to anticipate each month.

So there you have it. Lots of good stuff to read! So go on, visit your Local Comic Shop, and get to reading!

See ya next time!