The New 52 #1's... your thoughts?

[Bruce Banner]

Picked up Action and Detective this week, and JLA last week.
Not bad, although I'm still generally against the universe wide reboot.
Will see how the flagship titles go over the next few months.

[fallensaviour]

I'll just be getting Weird western and maybe swamp thing.

[aquatroy]

Action Comics #1 is a very good funny book. This will be a fun ride.

[aquatroy]

OMAC was surprising good as well. Very Kirbylicisious!

[madmarva]

Got my comics shipment Friday, including 13 DCnU titles (my mail order service had a half price deal for buying all 52). Here's my thoughts. (Comics are in the order I read them, not how I enjoyed them.)

Action Comics No. 1 — I liked this one a lot. It's basically Morrison's version of the Golden-Age Superman, which is cool to me. The cast is young. The cops, military and Luthor are out to get "Superman," whose powers are on Spider-Man like levels. I've always like a rough and tumble Superman. Clark is a young crusading journalist for a competitor of the Daily Planet and comes off a little Peter Parkerish. Lois is Lois and Jimmy's not an idiot. Sam Lane and Luthor seem to be what they have been. Didn't care for Superman's choice of swears. But this was a fun book that left me wanting more. Rags Morales' art was crisp and clean and told the story. Grade:A-

2) Stormwatch 1 — I was only vaguely familiar with the Wildstorm version of this comic, so I really went into it with no expectations. Loved the art by Miguel Sepulveda. Paul Cornell set an interesting plate with Stormwatch being the professionals and the super heroes being the amateurs at handling world-threatening events. The main thread of the issue is three members of Stormwatch — Jack Hawksmoore, Martian Manhunter and Projectionist(?) — recruiting Apollo to join the group. Midnighter shows up. There’s also an interlude on the Moon that gives some background on Stormwatch and one to the Himalyayas that introduces a couple of more characters that are probably familiar to readers of the old series. This is an intriguing series with really nice art. I was surprised I liked it so much. Grade: B

3) Batgirl 1 — Gail Simone gives us a Batgirl who is just back in action after being on the sidelines for three years due to the “Killing Joke.” It’s not clear if this Barbara was ever Oracle from this issue. No mention of computers whatsover. Ardian Syaf’s art is really nice, although some of the coloring choices could be questioned. This is a very bright “Bat” related book. Don’t really care for the armored-up version of Batgirl’s uniform. There is a really thrilling save and fight scene and a some-what interesting new villain introduced.Good solid book. Hard to go wrong with a Simone-written series and Syaf’s art is really nice. Grade: B

4) Animal Man 1 — The theme of DC New52, thus far, is internal monologue. But it’s working well for me. Animal Man follows suit. Writer Jeff Lemire is channeling Stephen King in this book. It starts off as normal as book starring a family man with super powers can, but once Buddy Baker begins to dream it gets freaky deaky on an Alan Moore Swamp Thing level. Interesting start. Very Vertigo. Travel Foreman tells a good story with his art, but his style is not my cup of tea. Folks who dig indies and 1980s or early 1990s Vertigo-type material might really did this. It was good, but I’m a super-hero guy at heart with my comics, so I’m not so sure I want to get too interested in this title. But it was good. Grade: B+

5) Men of War 1 The lead story by Ivan Brandon (writer) and Tom Derenick (art) features the grandson of Sgt. Frank Rock, Joseph. War books have never been my favorite, although I read every issue of The Nam and have enjoyed some Rock, Fury and Blackhawks in my time. But in the lead there is some kind of super-powered combatant and that really turned me off. The art’s OK, kind a Sal Buscemaish The back-up by Jonathan Vankin(writer) and Phil (Winslade) is Navy Seals: Human Shields Part 1 of 3. Struggled to make it through the introduction-laden story. Winslade’s art is nice, but I’m just not interested in reading a modern war comic. Grade: C-

6) OMAC 1 — In seeking to build for the future, Dan Didio and Keith Giffen reached back into the past with this one. The Kirby-clone art does have some charm, but I was over the aping of King Kirby’s style before the 1980s hit. And who didn’t have enough of Brother Eye in the old DC Universe. I had to force myself to finish the comic. I’m not a good judge of this material. I didn’t really care for OMAC or Kamandi or the Demon when Kirby created them, and this certainly didn’t hit the spot for me. Grade: D

7) Static Shock 1 —Scott McDaniel (plotter/artist) John Rozum (co-plotter/scripter )put together a rather generic teen-age super hero comic. I like Static Shock. Smart kid, but immature, but this kind of stuff has been done better in many other comics and other mediums. Not bad, but nothing to get excited about. DC should have used Static Shock in the Teen Titans in the DCnU. Not terrible but pretty bland. McDaniel's art was sketchier than normal. Grade: C-

8) Hawk and Dove 1 — Never been a big fan of the characters or of Rob Liefeld for that matter, but the first issue was a perfectly mediocre super-hero comic. Writer Sterling Gates might make something out of this, but I just don't like the characters, concept or the art enough to stick around and find out. Grade: C

9) BatWing 1 — O.K., I figured this would be a book I would drop like a rock, but after the first issue, I don't know. The comic was good. Certainly in the top half of the new titles I've read thus far. Writer Judd Winick has a spotty history among fans, but I enjoyed this angle on a fledgling Bat character in Africa. Ben Oliver's art was nice. I'm not sure if I've seen his work before. The book's violent and has a nice mystery. It deserves a second look if my budget can afford it. Grade; B+

10) Green Arrow 1 — This is a whole different take on Ollie Queen and Green Arrow from what we've seen in the comics. think Smallville. No cap and stubble instead of a goatee, for the time being. Green Arrow's kind of a Batman lite but a lot more dependent on gadgets. This is really the direct opposite of the direction Mike Grell took the character with Longbow Hunters in the late 1980s. His bow actually morphs out of a small hand-held device and the trick or maybe techno arrows are front and center. He multitasks as hero and owner of Queen Industries and Q-Corps and he has a support team of at least two characters I've never heard of who help him from a base when he's out in the field. It wasn't bad for a super-hero comic, but it really was like let's throw a little Batman in with Iron Man and Daredevil and Green Arrow Smallville and paint it green. I liked the art team of Dan Jurgens and George Perez, but is it really wise of DC to spend such talent on this series? J.T. Krul's plot and script were very super-heroey. Saying that, and it might have been the Perez influence, but it did kind of have the feel of Marv Wolfman Teen Titans story from the early 1980s. The book seemed very tried and true and formulaic, but you know McDonald's tastes pretty good sometimes. Grade:C

11) Swamp Thing 1 — This was an excellent start. Scott Snyder's currently my favorite comics writer (read Gates of Gotham and his Detective Run for some good stuff). He's obviously been influenced by Alan Moore's Swamp Thing with the way he's structuring his story and it works here. But with Alec Holland front and center in the book, it is a different take on Swampy series than really has been published, and Snyder is using it well. Superman guest stars in the book and other than the funky new threads the Man of Steel wears, Superman is as in character as we have seen in any book for a long time. Yanick Paquette's art is excellent. My favorite art job of the DCnU books. My favorite book so far and that's saying a lot because I really enjoyed Action 1 and Batwing. Grade: A-

12) Justice League International 1:Well, I like Aaron Lopresti's art and I like Booster Gold as a character and Fire and Ice are O.K., but this issue was primarily set-up and Booster and Guy whining about this not being the real Justice League. The art is good super-hero artwork, but who knows if this will work down the line. We'll see. Grade C.

13) Detective Comics 1 — I enjoyed Tony Daniel's artwork a great deal. In fact, it leaps ahead of Paquette's work on Swamp Thing as my favorite art job on these 13 issues.He told a story as well as incorporated in a two-page and one-page splash for effect. His Batman is a hulking figure, much like Miller's in Dark Knight Returns. There is a nice battle with Joker on train which is an homage, I believe, to Batman No. 1 from 1940 and the gruesome introduction of a new villain named Dollmaker, that reminded me a bit of a scene from the 1989 Batman film. It seems Batman has been operating for at least 6 years in this comic. I read somewhere that Detective was taking place 5 years in the past like Action Comics, but that is not mentioned in this comic, nor was it mentioned in Action that the story was in the past to my recollection, either. Really doesn't matter, though. This was a cool Batman story, thought the art was better than the plot or script. But, hey, I'm OK with that. Grade: B.

[aquatroy]

I know there's a big hullabaloo about Supes dropping a GD. Honestly, when I read that I thought it was a sound effect. If I was hit ________, I don't think I would have the breath or the wherewithal to utter a swear word.

[aquatroy]

The Bard has spoken ... er written.

“It should go without saying that the offending panel and caption, a mere ‘GD’, is a sound effect grunt – to suggest Superman’s breath being forced through gritted teeth – much like ‘DHH’, ‘GNUHH’ or the many others used throughout this book and in general in the comics business. It’s not in any way representative of God or a curse.”

[madmarva]

View users eBay profile
The Bard has spoken ... er written.

“It should go without saying that the offending panel and caption, a mere ‘GD’, is a sound effect grunt – to suggest Superman’s breath being forced through gritted teeth – much like ‘DHH’, ‘GNUHH’ or the many others used throughout this book and in general in the comics business. It’s not in any way representative of God or a curse.”

Sounds like backsliding to me.

[madmarva]

sorry for double post

[Riffster]

now why would someone who's god is Rao say god damn? it doesn't track.

[madmarva]

now why would someone who's god is Rao say god damn? it doesn't track.

DC's restarted its universe. The character doesn't know he is from Krypton, yet. Rao may not even be a god in this universe.

[VintageMike]

So far I've read JL, JLI and Batgirl and they at least have me interested enough to continue. Also had a friend of mine who is a casual reader at best ask for me JL and after reading it, has requested I let him know when I get my comics as he wants to start buying it. So far it appaers this is working.

[emeraldknight47]

now why would someone who's god is Rao say god damn? it doesn't track.

Why would he even say "damn?" I'm sure Kryptonians have/had their own versions of "potty" words, much the same way Battlestar Galactica had "Frak" and "Felgercarb" and Farscape had "Frell" and "Dren."

Perhaps he should've uttered something like "Rao Oorted" or something like that....!

[aquatroy]

Or, why couldn't it just be what Morrison said it was? Nothing more then a sound effect.

Come on guys. This controversy is much ado about nothing.

[emeraldknight47]

Just finished reading SWAMP THING #1. Interesting. I can definitely see the influences of both Len Wein and Alan Moore at work here (BTW, I loved the little "Totleben Hotel" touch---that was great). I will pick up issue two and see where it goes.

One thing this book confirmed for me is that I HATE the new Superman outfit. He looks like a walking, talking (and flying) action figure. I certainly do hope DC comes to their collective senses and brings back his original duds....