Monday, October 3, 2011

Brief Thoughts on Each of DC's New 52

Adding to Pull List
Action Comics
Here's a shocker: I actually give a shit about Superman.  Who would have guessed?!

All-star Western
I've been wanted to get into Jonah Hex for awhile, since I heard it's good, but never knew where you jump in and wound up never making the plunge.  This is better than I expected, in fact, one of my favorites from New 52.  I need to take that plunge and find some Hex trades.

Batman
Batman and Harvey getting along?  Madness.  Capullo is perfect for this book, and I was a huge fan of Snyder's last arc before the reboot.  A book I instantly knew I was adding to my pull list.

Batman and Robin
I was a big fan of the dynamic between Dick and Damien, but Bruce and Damien are great too.

Batwoman
I'm really just happy to be getting more Kate, since the previous series was so fantastic.

Detective Comics
Brutal, gorgeous, and awesome.  The first book I knew I was adding to my pull list.

Justice League
Decompressed storytelling, sure, but not in a annoyingly Bendis way.  Great interaction between Batman and Green Lantern, and a killer last page.  Definitely looking forward this.




Will continue for first arc, then decide
Animal Man
Creepy, but in an intriguing way.  I'll ride along and see where this thing goes.

Aquaman
Much like Action Comics, Aquaman is suddenly entertaining?!  What is happening?!

Batgirl
I'd like to see this go somewhere... I'm just not sure where.  It would be great is Barbara realized she did and could continue to do more as Oracle than Batgirl (with or without use of her legs, I really don't care), but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Batman: The Dark Knight
The weakest the Bat-titles, in my opinion.

Batwing
That's one helluva last page.  The concept is weird, but I'll hang around a bit and see if this thing has staying power.  It could really use some more backgrounds, though.

Birds of Prey
It's just good.

Blue Beetle
A couple of things... really kinda creeped out that so many old-looking dudes want to have sex with a 14 (almost 15!) year old girl.  Not cool.  Two, if you're going to "translate from Spanish" TRANSLATE FROM SPANISH.  Otherwise, kill the asterisk and keep the Spanglish.  Pick one.  Also, why is the short-cut to the girl's house through the warehouse district?  That makes no sense.  And finally, why did Blue Beetle get turned into a Green Lantern stand-in?  That's really unnecessary.

Captain Atom
Really, the only things I know about Captain Atom are him blowing up in Kingdom Come (was that him?), and blowing up again in the Wildstorm universe.  I was kinda hoping for a Dr. Manhattan take on the character, but it was still pretty interesting.

Catwoman
Unlike everyone else on the Internet, I liked Catwoman.  The sex scene was not gratuitous and make perfect sense.

DC Universe Presents
Real surprise here, since I was totally prepared to continue not giving a shit about Deadman.  But this book was compelling in a way practically requires me to continue reading.

Deathstroke
This is what Grifter SHOULD have been.  Title character beating ass and being awesome.  Well done, sir.  Please continue.

Demon Knights
Solid first issue.  I'll be sticking around awhile to see where this thing goes.

Green Lantern Corps.
I've always liked John more than Guy, but in this, they work together in a way that makes both shine.  Also, way to work educating the audience on the characters without it being weird.  Some of the other books should take note.

Green Lantern
I've never liked Hal, and really don't care why Sinestro has a green ring.  Still, the stuff between Hal and Carol was priceless.

I, Vampire
I don't know what the fuck is going on, but will shell out at least a few more bucks to try and figure it out.

Justice League Dark
I have no idea who most of these characters are, but it was cool to see a partial Justice League get schooled by magic.  I'm already intrigued by Zatanna telling Batman "no," and would like to see more.

Justice League Int.
Another book where I have no idea who most of these people are.  The trouble is, I don't know if I'm supposed to, or if they're new creations.  Not that I'm overly concerned, because I assume we'll learn.  Still, I though more highly of the book during week 1 or 2, before more of the books had launched.  It may not last long, but the interactions with Batman between Guy and Booster were great.

Men of War
I wasn't expecting much from this before reading it, but after getting past the awkward first pages, it was pretty cool to see a human level take on super hero activity.

New Guardians
A great first issue, once we got past the Kyle origin.  Take a lesson from Green Lantern Corp and work the origins into the story itself.

Nightwing
Not real clear on how Dick can go from whooping ass as Batman for a year, and then get stomped at the end of this issue.  He should be better than this.

Red Hood & the Outlaws
The Starfire thing is regrettable, but the interactions between Arrow and Hood are fantastic.

Red Lanterns
The feral space cat is my favorite, but this book will need to up its game to keep my interested.

Teen Titans
See Superboy, below.  The book is pretty pretty much Justice League #1, and I'm still trying to figure out which character is Kid Flash.  I'm guessing Bart.

The Savage Hawkman
The last page didn't carry as much weight as I think the writer was trying for.  Mostly because the antagonist isn't built up properly.  Skipping over that awkward fight scene, the rest of the issue was tense and interesting.

Stormwatch
I was hoping for more Authority, and less of... whatever we got.  Still hoping Apollo and Midnighter ditch those terrible new costumes they've been given and put some decent clothes on.  Also, Jack has tread hands?  Was that always true and I missed it until now?

Superboy
Still trying to figure out the timeline of Teen Titans/Superboy, since the Teen Titans don't exist yet, but Superboy was created to destroy them...

Supergirl
I'm curious how she got powers so quickly after arriving on Earth, or why she heard two lines of text from Gotham, but whatever.  It's cool.

Superman
Easily the densest book this book; there's just straight-up a whole lot of words in this book.  That's not a complaint, it's actually a compliment.  By far, of all the 52 books, this felt like the most happened.  A two-hour premiere versus the

Swamp Thing
I had planned to skip this book until I saw it get four stars on CBR. Turns out to be pretty interesting.

Wonder Woman
I've never read an issue of Wonder Woman, except the one where she kills Max Lord.  I'd still prefer if she was in pants instead of Star-spangled underpants, but I'm willing to give Azzarello some leeway.




Unlikely to continue purchasing.  Not much to say about any of these.  They all used to be higher, firmly in the Maybe group, but wound up here after reading all 52.
Frankenstein, Mister Terrific, Voodoo, Legion Lost, Legion of Superheroes




Won't be Purchasing
Blackhawks
Not sure who these people are, and at the end of the issue, I still didn't care.  I think the writer wanted to make a TV series, but wound up writing a comic instead.

Firestorm
I tried to read this but gave up about 1/3 of the way in.  Flipped through the rest, read the last few pages, and I'm sticking with my decision.

Green Arrow
Interesting, but not good.


Grifter
Just awful.


Hawk and Dove
Liefeld?  Fuck no.

OMAC
Weird, but not in a good way.

Resurrection Man
Interesting, but not good.


Static Shock
Zero Interest.


Suicide Squad
Torture porn?  No thanks.