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!
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