DCNu 52
My life is currently all about work and finding a new job but I'm taking the day off so thought it would be a good chance to indulge in my geekiest of obsessions - superhero comics.
When DC comics announced they were relaunching their entire catalogue several months ago I responded in true fanboy fashion of "I'm going to quit reading them". Then it became clear that DC started to backtrack and essentially said that there solid selling titles would remain unchanged such as Batman and Green Lantern. I also liked the idea of them merging the Wildstorm characters into the DC universe as there are some strong characters from Wildstorm but it had proven to be unsustainable in the current market.
As it's comics the relaunch was a story in itself. I was already reading the main "Flashpoint" title and started reading more and more of the companion titles. I'm pleased i did this as the side-stories have been far more rewarding than the main event - Batman being the highlight in which [spoiler] Bruce Wayne was shot and killed instead of his parents resulting in Daddy Wayne becoming a harsher Batman and Mummy Wayne becoming the Joker [/spoiler]. I'd say it was the most entertaining alternate reality comic series since "Age of Apocalypse". Not so entertaining was the ending of the series which pretty much tagged on the ending that "explains" the relaunch. Some previously unseen character pops up and says she is restoring the timelines - that's it. The other worrying problem I had was that it was implied that the Flash (Barry Allen) was responsible for remembering what the timeline shoudl be restored back to. So in many ways any major differences eg Superman is due to Barry Allen forgetting about Superman. This becomes really insidious when Barry's mentor (Jay Garrick) and protege (Wally West) no longer exist in the new continuity.
So the relaunch kicked off last week with the release of Justice League. My plan is to try and drop my thoughts on the titles I bother buying. Some i'll probably avoid until they become cheaper as digital releases or avoid all together. He's a quick summary of the new series I've checked out.
Justice League
I tried to remain strong and veto this book. I really like Jim Lee's pencils but the guy is possible the most unprofessional in the business in terms of being unable to finish any of his books (wildcats, Batman and robin; boy wonder). Even worse is the fact he's one of the head people at DC comics which i feel essentially sends the message that it's ok for other artists to behave the same way. That said my resolve broke when I was in Forbidden Planet and I ended up buying the book. It's probably poetic that my overall impression is that I should have waited for the trade collection as this is going to be an incredibly slow burn of a book (most probably made worse by art delays). I'm sorry but if a first issue of a book has seven of DCs "biggest" heroes on the cover, then they should appear in the first issue. Instead we get 20 pages of Batman meeting Green lantern for the "first time" and a brief cameo of Superman. At this rate we'll be lucky to see the entire team together before issue 6 which will most likely be in 2014. The art is excellent though for fans of 90s super scratchy-shading superheroics. Geoff Johns's scipt is fairly pedestrian and it's clear he's decompressing the story so that Lee can show off his heart.
Good first issue? No - most of the cast doesn't appear and the justice league doesn't even exist. Jim Lee shows off his art though.
Buy issue 2? No - I'll settle for the trade or cheap digital release down the line.
Animal man
I really loved Grant Morrison's run in this title in the 90s ( I read the trades a few years ago). That was a very trippy 4th wall breaking story. With this relaunch writer, Jeff Lemire, has wisely avoided mimicking Morrison but has decided to focus more on the horror aspect of the character. The art by Travel Foreman is a mixed bag. The domestic scenes are incredibly sketchy and characters tend to look ugly. The more fantastical scenes are absolutely amazing and really dial up the horror factor. My overall impression is that this feels like a vertigo book but without the profanity and nudity and as such this will probably be a clever book. It will be interesting to see whether it can maintain higher sales than a vertigo title though. Another thing i'll be very interested in seeing is whether there will be any crossover with Swamp Thing as it appears that animal man will deal with the "red" the animal morphogentic field/force while Swamp thing handles the "Green" which is essentially the plant equivalent.
Good First issue - yes, new readers should know who Animal is, what his powers are and what the book is going to be about.
Buy issue 2? Yes - i'm interested to see where this arc goes.
Swamp Thing
Speaking of Swamp Thing his new title is also a pleasant surprise. It seems as though this is a series that is following the continuity of last years new Swamp Thing continuity in which Swamp Thing is (and possibly always was) a separate entitiy from the plant biologist Alec Holland. The first issue is largely scene-setting and getting us up to speed with Swamp Thing's status and as such makes for a good introductory issue. The art is pretty damn good too and even nicer is the fact it's not standard superheroics and again gives a Vertigo vibe. I look forward to seeing more of the Swamp thing.
Good first issue? Pretty good. Nice set up although there's very little of actual Swamp Thing in the book which may disappoint new readers.
Buy Issue 2? Yes - Scott Snyder is a rising star in comics at the moment and Yanick PAquette gives the book a distinct look.
Batgirl
I only checked this out because there were several good online reviews. To be honest I wish I'd avoided it. I don't really like the new status for the Barbara Gordon character and i think it's a real cheap shot to dangle the "how did she get out of her wheelchair?" over us. The art was good but was lacking anything that makes it stand out from the general crowd. I think this is going to be a highlight of how the soft reboot can completely backfire.
Good first issue? It's a tricky one. I think for anyone who has never read the character it will work. For those who knew the character beforehand it's very frustrating.
Buy issue 2? Not going to happen. It's not bad but I can't pick a single thing that makes it great.
Stormwatch
It's arguable that Warren Ellis's Stormwatch and it's evolution into "the authority" set the tone for a decades worth of widescreen comic storytelling. It was definitely one of the highlights of the late 90s and early 2000s unitl DC apparently neutered the comic (some say over the fact the batman and superman analogues were gay lovers). Both titles tried to continue but they always seemed to fail mainly because they didn't seem to have that no holds barred appraoch. So it was great to see the characters becoming part of the DC universe whilst simultaneously being a bit sad that they were potentially playing second fiddle to DCs core heroes. Having read the comic I can safely set aside the latter fear, the cast of Stormwatch are being treated with a lot of respect - in fact they are given more "authority" than the justice league in many respects. They key thing here is that Stormwatch has existed for centuries as a secret society of super-powered (note they aren't heroes) that have been saving the world from the big threats. They actually see the superheroes as a bit of a joke and while I'm pleased they are giving Stormwatch such a high status it does strike me as odd that they are effectively undermining their flagship title.
Another plus with this issue is that Stormwatch are fighting insane threats, in this case the moon. Brilliant. So in terms of style Paul Cornell is showing yet again that British writers seem to be the best choice for stormwatch and I think this has the potential to make him comics A list. There is a downside to this issue though and that's accessibility. It makes mistakes on the other side of the spectrum from Justice League in that it introduces a lot of characters but some aren't even mentioned by name. To make matters worse the artist doesn't really make any of them that distinct. This left me wondering who the hell everyone was and this is someone who has been familiar with the cast for over a decade. I have no idea how genuinely new readers will cope. It's a case where they really good have done with those little caption boxes next to each character as they debuted saying who they were and what their power is. I get the impression they don't want the comic to feel too "superheroey" and while this would work fine by issue 6 it makes for a slightly confusing start.
Good first issue? Good in terms of delivering the style and threat. Very bad in introducing the main cast. It may scare off superhero fans.
Buy issue 2? I'm going to stick with it. Despite it's flaws as a first issue there is something about this title that has me thinking it could become the flagship title of the new line and the approach makes it feel unique amongst the other super titles so far.
There's a few other comics I'd have reviewed such as Action comics and Detective comics but they are on my pull list from my old comic shop so it will be a while before i get to read them. Most of the other titles are on the "check out at a later date" list.
My initial impressions of the relaunch are that they've succeeded in getting me interested in titles i wouldn't usually give a chance to. It also seems that the stronger titles are those with a distinctive voice or art team - while the business as usual books are pretty much the same old (and probably doomed to the same old sales).
When DC comics announced they were relaunching their entire catalogue several months ago I responded in true fanboy fashion of "I'm going to quit reading them". Then it became clear that DC started to backtrack and essentially said that there solid selling titles would remain unchanged such as Batman and Green Lantern. I also liked the idea of them merging the Wildstorm characters into the DC universe as there are some strong characters from Wildstorm but it had proven to be unsustainable in the current market.
As it's comics the relaunch was a story in itself. I was already reading the main "Flashpoint" title and started reading more and more of the companion titles. I'm pleased i did this as the side-stories have been far more rewarding than the main event - Batman being the highlight in which [spoiler] Bruce Wayne was shot and killed instead of his parents resulting in Daddy Wayne becoming a harsher Batman and Mummy Wayne becoming the Joker [/spoiler]. I'd say it was the most entertaining alternate reality comic series since "Age of Apocalypse". Not so entertaining was the ending of the series which pretty much tagged on the ending that "explains" the relaunch. Some previously unseen character pops up and says she is restoring the timelines - that's it. The other worrying problem I had was that it was implied that the Flash (Barry Allen) was responsible for remembering what the timeline shoudl be restored back to. So in many ways any major differences eg Superman is due to Barry Allen forgetting about Superman. This becomes really insidious when Barry's mentor (Jay Garrick) and protege (Wally West) no longer exist in the new continuity.
So the relaunch kicked off last week with the release of Justice League. My plan is to try and drop my thoughts on the titles I bother buying. Some i'll probably avoid until they become cheaper as digital releases or avoid all together. He's a quick summary of the new series I've checked out.
Justice League
I tried to remain strong and veto this book. I really like Jim Lee's pencils but the guy is possible the most unprofessional in the business in terms of being unable to finish any of his books (wildcats, Batman and robin; boy wonder). Even worse is the fact he's one of the head people at DC comics which i feel essentially sends the message that it's ok for other artists to behave the same way. That said my resolve broke when I was in Forbidden Planet and I ended up buying the book. It's probably poetic that my overall impression is that I should have waited for the trade collection as this is going to be an incredibly slow burn of a book (most probably made worse by art delays). I'm sorry but if a first issue of a book has seven of DCs "biggest" heroes on the cover, then they should appear in the first issue. Instead we get 20 pages of Batman meeting Green lantern for the "first time" and a brief cameo of Superman. At this rate we'll be lucky to see the entire team together before issue 6 which will most likely be in 2014. The art is excellent though for fans of 90s super scratchy-shading superheroics. Geoff Johns's scipt is fairly pedestrian and it's clear he's decompressing the story so that Lee can show off his heart.
Good first issue? No - most of the cast doesn't appear and the justice league doesn't even exist. Jim Lee shows off his art though.
Buy issue 2? No - I'll settle for the trade or cheap digital release down the line.
Animal man
I really loved Grant Morrison's run in this title in the 90s ( I read the trades a few years ago). That was a very trippy 4th wall breaking story. With this relaunch writer, Jeff Lemire, has wisely avoided mimicking Morrison but has decided to focus more on the horror aspect of the character. The art by Travel Foreman is a mixed bag. The domestic scenes are incredibly sketchy and characters tend to look ugly. The more fantastical scenes are absolutely amazing and really dial up the horror factor. My overall impression is that this feels like a vertigo book but without the profanity and nudity and as such this will probably be a clever book. It will be interesting to see whether it can maintain higher sales than a vertigo title though. Another thing i'll be very interested in seeing is whether there will be any crossover with Swamp Thing as it appears that animal man will deal with the "red" the animal morphogentic field/force while Swamp thing handles the "Green" which is essentially the plant equivalent.
Good First issue - yes, new readers should know who Animal is, what his powers are and what the book is going to be about.
Buy issue 2? Yes - i'm interested to see where this arc goes.
Swamp Thing
Speaking of Swamp Thing his new title is also a pleasant surprise. It seems as though this is a series that is following the continuity of last years new Swamp Thing continuity in which Swamp Thing is (and possibly always was) a separate entitiy from the plant biologist Alec Holland. The first issue is largely scene-setting and getting us up to speed with Swamp Thing's status and as such makes for a good introductory issue. The art is pretty damn good too and even nicer is the fact it's not standard superheroics and again gives a Vertigo vibe. I look forward to seeing more of the Swamp thing.
Good first issue? Pretty good. Nice set up although there's very little of actual Swamp Thing in the book which may disappoint new readers.
Buy Issue 2? Yes - Scott Snyder is a rising star in comics at the moment and Yanick PAquette gives the book a distinct look.
Batgirl
I only checked this out because there were several good online reviews. To be honest I wish I'd avoided it. I don't really like the new status for the Barbara Gordon character and i think it's a real cheap shot to dangle the "how did she get out of her wheelchair?" over us. The art was good but was lacking anything that makes it stand out from the general crowd. I think this is going to be a highlight of how the soft reboot can completely backfire.
Good first issue? It's a tricky one. I think for anyone who has never read the character it will work. For those who knew the character beforehand it's very frustrating.
Buy issue 2? Not going to happen. It's not bad but I can't pick a single thing that makes it great.
Stormwatch
It's arguable that Warren Ellis's Stormwatch and it's evolution into "the authority" set the tone for a decades worth of widescreen comic storytelling. It was definitely one of the highlights of the late 90s and early 2000s unitl DC apparently neutered the comic (some say over the fact the batman and superman analogues were gay lovers). Both titles tried to continue but they always seemed to fail mainly because they didn't seem to have that no holds barred appraoch. So it was great to see the characters becoming part of the DC universe whilst simultaneously being a bit sad that they were potentially playing second fiddle to DCs core heroes. Having read the comic I can safely set aside the latter fear, the cast of Stormwatch are being treated with a lot of respect - in fact they are given more "authority" than the justice league in many respects. They key thing here is that Stormwatch has existed for centuries as a secret society of super-powered (note they aren't heroes) that have been saving the world from the big threats. They actually see the superheroes as a bit of a joke and while I'm pleased they are giving Stormwatch such a high status it does strike me as odd that they are effectively undermining their flagship title.
Another plus with this issue is that Stormwatch are fighting insane threats, in this case the moon. Brilliant. So in terms of style Paul Cornell is showing yet again that British writers seem to be the best choice for stormwatch and I think this has the potential to make him comics A list. There is a downside to this issue though and that's accessibility. It makes mistakes on the other side of the spectrum from Justice League in that it introduces a lot of characters but some aren't even mentioned by name. To make matters worse the artist doesn't really make any of them that distinct. This left me wondering who the hell everyone was and this is someone who has been familiar with the cast for over a decade. I have no idea how genuinely new readers will cope. It's a case where they really good have done with those little caption boxes next to each character as they debuted saying who they were and what their power is. I get the impression they don't want the comic to feel too "superheroey" and while this would work fine by issue 6 it makes for a slightly confusing start.
Good first issue? Good in terms of delivering the style and threat. Very bad in introducing the main cast. It may scare off superhero fans.
Buy issue 2? I'm going to stick with it. Despite it's flaws as a first issue there is something about this title that has me thinking it could become the flagship title of the new line and the approach makes it feel unique amongst the other super titles so far.
There's a few other comics I'd have reviewed such as Action comics and Detective comics but they are on my pull list from my old comic shop so it will be a while before i get to read them. Most of the other titles are on the "check out at a later date" list.
My initial impressions of the relaunch are that they've succeeded in getting me interested in titles i wouldn't usually give a chance to. It also seems that the stronger titles are those with a distinctive voice or art team - while the business as usual books are pretty much the same old (and probably doomed to the same old sales).