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

[madmarva]

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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.

[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.”

[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.

[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]

OMAC was surprising good as well. Very Kirbylicisious!

[aquatroy]

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

[fallensaviour]

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

[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.

[boynightwing]

Just finished Static Shock. I enjoyed it. Though I'm biased as Scott McDaniel is one of my favorite artists and all around good guy. It was a fun read anyway.

I might go back to the comic store for JLI.

[samurainoir]

Just read Men of War starring Sgt Rock's grandson. It's probably a great book if you like all the hardware and military terminology, but there isn't much in the way of any characters that I really have enough information to care about through their big military conflict. Add in the cameo of some kind of Super-type, and it gets even more schizo.

Probably spoiled by how great Garth Ennis War Comics are for the most part. Won't be continuing with this one.

[samurainoir]

I really enjoyed Batgirl, Animal Man and Swamp Thing. Gail Simone has a really great handle on the character of Barbara, and becoming Batgirl again after her time in the wheelchair is turning out to be really well written. Particularly the rather haunting part about the fact that Babs has a "photographic memory" and can remember every single detail of her crippling. I did like the fact that like anyone, she doesn't jump right back into the superhero game so easily after that kind of trauma.

Swamp Thing and Animal Man feel like old school Vertigo titles and hint at some interesting developments. Animal Man could even be considered to be starting off where Grant Morrison left in the ongoing series. As for Swamp Thing, after the last Muck Monster retread, it's kind of refreshing to get to know Dr Alec Holland himself... a character we have never really followed given the Alan Moore revelations. I'm also a big fan of Yanick Paquette's art and he's really got a very unique version of Swamp Thing.

As much as I like some of Paul Cornell's other stuff like Wisdom/Captain Britain, and the recent Lex Luthor run of Action comics, Stormwatch (really The Authority) is really tough for anyone to follow up on basically what was some of the best writers in the industry unleashed on these characters. Warren Ellis, Mark Millar, Ed Brubaker all had really great runs, so anyone even doing a pretty good job (as Cornell has done, with all the quirkiness that I generally enjoy with his writing), is inevitably going to be compared with the others who were having a constant game of one-upmanship with each other. I also can't help but compare the new Stormwatch premise with Torchwood and SHIELD, and again SHIELD is currently one of my favourite series over at Marvel right now.

As for Detective #1... meh. I totally accidentally picked this one up thinking it was the one that Scott Snyder was writing. Tony Daniel is obviously of the Image/Spawn school... particularly with the rather grisly "twist" ending. Seemed like a typical Batman/Joker grimace-grit-fest to me. Will not be continuing this one.

[emeraldknight47]

I managed to snag the VERY LAST copies of both BATGIRL and SWAMP THING at my LCS on my way home from work, but haven't had a chance to look at them yet. The guy who runs the shop said that he had ordered, I think, 125 copies of each new #1 and the only thing left when I was there was one issue of Hawk & Dove, one issue of Green Arrow and the two I picked up. DC's marketing campaign must be working pretty damn well....

[Boshek]

I was a subscriber to JSA and I got a letter saying it would switch over to JLI. However, I didn't get the first issue yet. I am very anxious to read it.

[Nostalgiabuff]

I am giving it all a pass. i don't want to see characters I have known all my life rewritten and starting all over

[Riffster]

I'm a sucker i grabbed everything- so far i liked Action alot, Hawk and dove was ok