The Flash #1 - Eric's Review

I miss Wally West as much as anyone, but the writer/artists Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato do a good job of reminding you that Barry Allen—albeit a rebooted Barry Allen with few ties to his own distant or recent past—can be just as compelling.

The story follows a slightly younger Barry than we’re used to, juggling singlehood, his day job as a criminalist and his alter ego as the fastest man alive. His life is further complicated when an old friend appears to be complicit in, and to die during, a robbery attempt. Barry investigates. Unsurprisingly, all is not as it seems.

There’s nothing particularly special about the story, really; the magic’s in the telling. What we may – may – be witnessing here is the arrival of the next Frank Miller (and I absolutely need you to forget about pretty much every single thing Frank has said or done over the past decade when I say that). These are creators in full command of the comics page and all the visual invention made possible upon it, and they’ve been given license to tell the stories they want to tell. A few decades ago, Frank Miller, given the same freedom on Daredevil, turned that comic into a crime story. Here, Manapul and Buccellato have crafted a unique science fiction adventure yarn. The result, in either case, is a joy to behold. Along with Batwoman and Marvel’s Daredevil, The Flash is one of the most inventive comics on the market.

All-Star Western #1 - Eric's Review

The reboot here is a soft one, as the same Jonah Hex we’ve come to know and love arrives in Reconstruction-era Gotham City. The bounty hunter’s methods are ill-suited for, well, civilized Gotham, and so he partners with Amadeus Arkham, future namesake of the asylum, to solve a series of murders.

Since it’s a Western–although, since it takes place in Gotham, an analog for New York City, that’s subject to debate–here’s an appropriately quick and dirty review:

The Good: Writers Palmiotti and Gray have been writing Hex for years, and therefore understand the character intimately, and they've accepted the herculean task of revealing how this Gotham City will evolve into the kind of place, 150 years hence, that needs a guy in a bat costume to keep the peace.  The density of the story is a welcome relief from the flimsiness of other relaunch titles. Moritat provides fantastic art.

The Bad: The book has seemingly abandoned the done-in-one format that made its previous incarnation so appealing. Moritat replaces a rotating crew of artists that included such luminaries as Phil Noto, Jordi Bernet, Darwyn Cooke and others. The book has ties to current (pre- and post-relaunch) Batman titles, including references to the crime bible, which may be a distraction to those who are not deeply immersed in DC continuity.

The Ugly: Jonah Hex, of course.

I, Vampire #1 - Eric's Review

A friend of mine refers to something as "the dog's ears" if it's the best part of something that's already great. I, Vampire -- and I'm tempted to rechristen it iVampire in the wake of Steve Jobs' passing -- is the dog's ears. 

Andrew believes vampires' survival demands subterfuge, peaceful coexistence with mankind means hiding from them. Andrew loves Mary, who whimsically calls herself the Queen of Blood and wants to go to war against humanity, even if humanity has "Superman and a half dozen Green Lanterns" on its side. This is, after all, the DC Universe. 

Writer Josh Fialkov (whose Elk's Run should be required reading) and artist Andrea Sorrentino craft a vampire story that is structured with infinitely more complexity than Twilight. Good and evil wear unlikely faces, beautifully rendered by Sorrentino in a style that conjures Jae Lee, but they do not sparkle. 

Superman #1 - Eric's Review

Writer George Perez and illustrator Jesus Merino have crafted an issue with quite a lot in its favor.

This is a dense book. Unique among the New 52, Superman will take longer than thirty seconds to read through, which adds at least the perception of value, and the conflict here, between Supes and a fire-based villain of unknown origin, is at least temporarily resolved, which makes the contents feel, if not like a complete story, at least a complete experience. In addition, Perez has the Herculean task of establishing a new status quo for the Superman universe. The Daily Planet is now owned by a Rupert Murdoch-like mogul. Clark Kent is no longer married to Lois Lane, who no longer knows his secret identity and who now works as a television news producer instead of a reporter. Regardless of all the arguments for or against these changes, Perez at least calls your attention to them, and in so doing, shows that they may be interesting additions to Superman's mythology in issues to come.

Unfortunately, the story owes its density to at least two modest sins committed by Perez. The writer juxtaposes the action with a newspaper article, a supposed piece written after the fact by Clark Kent for the Daily Planet. However, wherever the article explains the same action as it happens on the page, it feels redundant, and almost as if Perez, a talented artist himself, didn't trust Merino to convey the necessary emotion on his own. Additionally, Kent's article doesn't read like the work of a newspaperman. Apparently, neither Perez nor his editors bothered to research the stylistic restrictions of writing for a newspaper. Not that anyone reads newspapers any more, but for both of us that do, Perez's technique threatens to pull us out of the story.

Detective Comics #1 - Hobo's Review

Now this is what I’m talking about! 

Tony Salvador Daniel has set the bar for the rest of the New 52.  Detective Comics #1 is can only be described as a beautiful marriage of words and pictures.  It IS sequential art.  And I think I know why.  More on that later.

The story begins as one may expect of a reboot of a Batman comic--with the Joker.  However, it is immediately apparent that the Joker is not in a position that we normally find him.  He appears to be the victim of someone higher on the criminal food chain. 

After that one page teaser we see Batman on the hunt for the Joker as he is investigating a fresh string of murders in which the victims’ organs and faces were removed (spoiler alert), which is not the Joker’s modus operandi because the Joker’s modus operandi is that he has no modus operandi (try writing that three times fast). 

Back to the Joker.  As we return, we see that Joker is fighting in tenement apartment with what appears to be the mutilator responsible for the recent rash of killings.  He alludes to a larger plan just before the Joker turns the tables on him and stabs him to death with a knife.  That is when Batman enters.  Batman begins to follow the Joker as he attempts an escape when he notices a young girl in the apartment.  Despite Batman’s clear excitement at the prospect of finally capturing the Joker – implying that he has never done so before – there is no question in Batman’s mind that he should stop and take care of the child instead.  Indeed, Batman counts himself “lucky” that he noticed her before he left.  The police then arrive and treat Batman as a vigilante.  Putting the ungrateful police officers’ safety first, he leads them on a chase out of the building so that they will be out of danger. As they open fire on the Gotham’s hero (that’s right, “hero”), a man that you and I will recognize as (Commissioner?) Gordon tells them to stop.

Batman escapes to the Batcave.  After some light well-placed references to Bruce Wayne’s social life and a relationship with a woman of the feline persuasion, Batman is focused again on his hunt for the Joker. 

The next scene opens at the Gotham City Police Department with the narration of Gordon, rather than Batman.  Gordon laments the actions of his officers against Batman as he uncovers the familiar Batsignal from a sheet.  No sooner does he illuminate the Batsignal than Batman appears behind him on the roof, showing that their relationship is well-established and their meetings understood and expected.  Gordon tells Batman that the girl was the niece of the maniac that the Joker killed.  She knew the location of the Joker’s hideout, which Gordon gives to Batman.  Batman leaves for the hideout, suspecting that the Joker purposefully divulged the information to the kid so as to set a trap. 

Batman arrives as the hideout to find the police already there.  This provides an important limitation on his relationship with Gordon.  Gordon sees Batman as an asset but will not side with him over the Mayor and the department.  The police see Joker inside the hideout and approach him.  Batman’s suspicions of a trap are confirmed as what the police thought was the Joker turns out to be a dummy filled with explosives.  SKABOOMs ensue.  There is much death.  Batman, using his super power of observing and reasoning, looks for anyone not gawking at the explosion and death.  He finds the Joker and follows him onto a train.  Again looking out for the safety of civilians, Batman fights Joker as the nerve gas that Joker sprays on him begins to take effect causing his body to shut down.  Despite the several knives to the body and an electro shock joy buzzer, Batman incapacitates the Joker.  Just before he does, however, the Joker implies that Batman is missing some larger evil going on in Gotham that Batman has failed to see.  Furthering the mystery and the anticipation, just before Batman knocks him unconscious, the Joker states that it was a “fun ride.”

Joker is in Arkham Asylum (presumably for the first time ever) under the care of Dr. Arkham himself.  After the staff leaves the Joker’s room there is a knock at the door.  Enters an unidentified man – the plot thickens.  We learn that the person that the Joker killed at the beginning of the issue was this person’s son, who was to perform some type of operation on the Joker.  The Joker killed him because the Joker demanded only the best for what he is up to – again referring to a much bigger picture.  As a scalpel is brandished by the man, we learn that the unknown man is the Dollmaker.  The issue ends with a splash page of the Joker’s scalped face nailed to the wall in Arkham Asylum as the Dollmaker says “Tonight we will both celebrate our rebirth.”

The fact that the Joker is willing to go back to the Dollmaker after killing his son shows that either (1) the Joker is even crazier than I thought, (2) the Dollmaker is crazier than I thought, or (3) while they are both crazy, it is not their craziness that dictates their actions here (for the most part), but rather that the stakes are so high that these two professionals appreciate that they both demand the best.

As you may notice from my previous reviews I have been under-whelmed by many of the New 52.  There has been forced story telling, lots of exposition and many of the same old tropes paraded out in slightly new packaging.  This had none of that.  The story progressed with a natural flow.  While Mr. Tony Salvador Daniel touched many of the required bases – which based on my reading of many of the other comics appears to be a directive from his bosses – he did so without breaking the flow of the story.  There were references to Batman, Joker, Alfred, Catwoman, Gordon, Bullock and others but none of them (with the possible exception of Bullock) felt shoe-horned in.  It was a beautiful thing to witness.  The story also maintained a simple rule of writing, never answer a question without raising another. 

Two big picture points.  First, this story is such a standout that I stopped to ask why.  Aside from the simple (but quite possibly the correct answer) that Mr. Tony Salvador Daniel is very talented (which he is), I think that the fact that he wrote and drew the issue did wonders for the fluidity of the story.  Nothing was lost in translation from the writer’s vision and the artist’s rendering.  It makes me want to propose that for one month that every writer draws his own story, no matter how crude to see what it looks like. Or more practically, have the writer do sketches of all the panels as guidelines for the artist, and upload those onto the internet as free additional material.

Second, with a grittier Superman premiering in Action Comics #1, the question was raised (to me at least): If Superman is no longer the pure hero of the DC Universe then is anyone?  I say it is Batman.  It was Batman that let the Joker go to save a child.  It was Batman that risked himself to lead the police to safety.  It is Batman that believes in the people of Gotham.  I recognize that it may be an extreme position but I say that with the rebirth of the DC Universe Batman and Superman have switched positions.  Now it may be that writers have independently tweaked each hero’s personalities (granted Batman is not that different than before) and the executives atop the DC ivory tower have not given the larger picture any thought.  That is definitely possible.  But if they have not given it any thought, they should.  Because not giving it any thought is what required the launch of the New 52 (and Crisis on Infinite Earth, and Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis etc.).

But the main point is . . . good comic.

Action Comics #1 - Hobo's Review

There are a few phrases that should never be used by any character in any story, whether seriously, ironically or otherwise.  One of those phrases appears on the first page of Action Comics #1.  After Superman interrupts the deal of two presumably evil businessmen he sniffs the air and says “Rats.  Rats with money.”  When the businessmen’s thugs train their guns on Superman, his eyes glow red and he continues “and rats with guns.  I’m your worst nightmare.”  Aside from being cliché, it is a clumsy and heavy handed way of letting the reader know that this is not your father’s Superman.  The rest of the issue was a process of redeeming itself for this giant eye-roll of an opening.  And for the most part it succeeds.

There are several subtle and more effective indications of the Superman’s grittier persona.  This is accomplished both by the skilled writing and direction of Grant Morrison as well by the fantastic artwork of Rags Morales, Richard Bryant and Brad Anderson.  When Superman first appears we see he is not wearing the traditional Superman costume.  Indeed, he not wearing what most superheroes would call a costume at all.  Donning jeans and a Superman t-shirt, it is only his cape that distinguishes him from a comic book fan you may see walking down the street.  Well, the cape and the superpowers, buff bod and clear skin.  It’s not just his outfit.  His gait and posture are different.  He lurches more.  There is a swagger in his step.  His movements are rougher and less polished.  These subtle indications culminate at the end of the opening scene when Superman holds an evil Donald Sutherland look-alike over his head as he balances on the edge of a building, with a SWAT team taking aim at him and telling him to put the man down.  Superman’s eyes glow red in the night as he state that he will put him down “as soon as he makes a full confession to someone who still believes the law works the same for rich and poor alike.  Because that ain’t Superman.”  He then jumps and crashes to the ground.  The evil Donald Sutherland barely survives and makes a full confession to Superman. 

Everything that Superman says and does in this opening scene is contrary to what Superman has always stood for.  From torturing a confession from a man to using the word “ain’t”.  And while Superman is clearly younger, these differences in character cannot be dismissed as the recklessness of youth.  The young Clark Kent of old would have known that a hero does not act in such manner as sure as he knows the wonders of mom, apple pie and crop rotation.  It is a daring revamp of Superman’s character.  He is one part Robin and one part Punisher.  The story continues but the story takes a back seat to the lingering uneasiness from such a dramatic shift in character.  Over the years so many characters have gotten darker and grittier.  Superman was always the one character that we could count on to be the unwavering standard of morality and justice.  Now that certainty and simplicity of Superman’s moral compass has been compromised, I am looking to the new DC Universe and asking a question I never thought I would: Are there any heroes?  If Superman is no longer Superman than who is?  And if the answer is that there are no more idealistic heroes in the DC Universe then I have to ask what I think is a more interesting question: Did DC intentionally design the new universe that way or is it just a result of changing each character one by one to succumb to the short term bump in sales that results each time a hero falls? 

The actual story that follows is a bit disjointed, confusing and common.  After Superman gets the confession from Mr. Glenmorgan (aka Evil Donald Sutherland) he runs away from the police.  After a one-page interlude establishing that our old pal Lex Luthor and Lois Lane’s father are behind whatever evil-doing is afoot (along with Mr. Glenmorgan) in an attempt to capture Superman, we see Superman saving people from a wrecking ball from hitting their tenement home.  How or why Superman ended up at this location is a mystery.  Did the police chase him? Are the police controlling the wrecking ball? Or did Superman detect the injustice while he fled the police?  All we do know is it is part of a trap by Lex.  Indeed, Lex even has a camera located inside the building that is getting demolished.  Needless to say, Superman saves the people and destroys the wrecking ball as well as two giant tanks that Lex had stationed in the city.  As the police arrive, Superman leaves the scene once again and returns to his own Peter Parkeresque tenement of an apartment that he calls home.

Just as the reader is getting their head around what just happened the story jumps to Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane about to get on a train following a thug that works for Mr. Glenmorgan (Evil Donald Sutherland).  We don’t know why they are following him but Clark has urgently called them to not get on the train.  Again, we don’t know how he knew they were getting on the train or why Clark knows that the train is dangerous.  Regardless, they of course get on the train.  The train goes out of control and becomes a giant speeding missile that Superman must stop.  As Superman jumps in front of the train to slow it down we have another interlude with Lex Luthor and Lois Lane’s father in which they reveal that the runaway train is another part of their elaborate and absurdly circuitous plan to trap Superman.  The story ends with what appears to be a success for Mr. Luthor.  Superman is pinned to a wall by the runaway train – unconscious.

After you take away the reboot of Superman’s character the story itself is not particularly inspiring or original.  It boils down to a familiar Superman story in which Lex Luthor puts innocent lives in danger in the same old fashioned way in order to trap Superman.  I almost couldn’t believe that Grant Morrison relied on not just one but two common superhero distress scenarios in the opening issue.  I get the feeling that Grant Morrison wrote a brilliant 50 page story that he was told to cut down to 30.  Indeed, if you look at the variant cover by Jim Lee Superman is surrounded by giant Lexcorp robots.  These robots appear nowhere in the comic.  My guess is that the most interesting story regarding this issue is not in the comic itself but rather how this issue came to be.  I am still hopeful for issue two.  However, that hope is tied to my faith in Grant Morrison’s ability as a whole and not on the execution of the first issue. 

Blue Beetle #1 / Supergirl #1 / Captain Atom #1 - Eric's Mini-Reviews

Blue Beetle begins with a novel enough premise: the scarab that grants Blue Beetle his powers is actually a world-destroying weapon used by a group of intergalactic conquerors. However, this particular plot twist is revealed on the first few pages, and my writerly instincts tell me that scripter Tony Bedard should have approached the story from the opposite direction, establishing Jaime Reyes as a teenage hero first and then slowly teasing out the true nature of the scarab. As it stands, the issue is too crowded, not only introducing Reyes and the scarab, and them to each other, but also supporting casts of friends and enemies for Reyes in both his civilian and heroic identities. Artist Ig Guara deserves applause for juggling everyone as best he can, but in the end, there's simply too much noise. Reyes does sport a Rise Against t-shirt, however, thus awarding the book at least one check in the plus column.

Who knows, Supergirl, from co-writing Michaels Green and Johnson and artist Mahmud Asrar, could be the breakout hit of the DC relaunch. Seriously, who knows? It's impossible to tell, given how little information is conveyed in this first issue, which comprises exactly one scene over the course of its twenty pages. Those pages, in which a disoriented Supergirl lands on Earth for the first time, in Siberia, and battles Russian soldiers until her more famous cousin shows up, are heavy on action, but light on plot. In its favor, the writers seem to have a solid grasp of the character's voice, shown here in a series of narrative captions since Kara doesn't speak English (or Russian) yet, and the art does its job well enough without ever seeming exploitative. It could be great, but we'll have to tune in for a few more months to find out.

J.T. Krul desperately wants his Captain Atom to be Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen. That is, not merely a nuclear-powered hero, but a hero in command of the nuclear forces that bind the universe together; a captain, if you will, of atoms. Unfortunately, Krul is no Alan Moore, and his science reads like gibberish instead of poetry. Further muddying the waters is Freddie Williams II, a fine artist but surely no Dave Gibbons. Williams' work is ill-suited for the grandeur that Krul flirts with here, which is a shame, since some of the other titles in the relaunch would've fit Williams gritty style perfectly.  

Batman & Robin #1 / Green Lantern #1 / Green Lantern Corps #1 - Eric's Review

When DC announced its New 52 initiative, certain promises were made: successful DC comics titles would be subject to far less meddling than those facing cancellation. Batman and Green Lantern, each of them backed by a modestly successful film franchise, were cited as two characters whose titles and histories would only be minimally tampered with.

For better or worse, DC kept its promise. Each of these titles is starting over with a new #1 on the cover, but that's about as deep as the changes go. Each writer is already a veteran of his assigned title, and each carries over story elements from the previous iteration of these titles.  Unfortunately for new readers, and especially for those whose only familiarity with the characters comes from the movies, the result is quite disorienting.

Green Lantern, written by Geoff Johns and superbly illustrated by Doug Mahnke, finds Hal Jordan without his ring, adjusting to life as a mere mortal, facing eviction and a middling credit score. For those who know Hal, it's actually not a bad approach to the character, bringing him (and his ego) back down to Earth both literally and figuratively. Unfortunately, Johns doesn't seem eager to dwell on Hal Jordan's new status quo for long. By the end of the issue, wheels are already set in motion to get him his ring back.

Green Lantern Corps does not feature Hal Jordan at all, but it does find two other human Green Lanterns having just as much trouble adjusting to life on Earth, even with their rings. Uncomfortable in their civilian identities, John Stewart and Guy Gardner head off to space in search of something Green Lantern-y to do. An unseen villain quickly raises the stakes, committing genocide strictly to get the Corps' attention. The exact nature of the genocide might make you laugh, even as you realize what's happening; maybe you'll feel bad about it later. Either way, writer Peter Tomasi and artist Fernando Pasarin leave enough questions unanswered to entice a reader back for another month. Foremost among them: Where the f*** is Kilowog?

Batman & Robin, also by Tomasi, who wrote several issues of the title's previous incarnation before handing it over to Judd Winick, and artist Patrick Gleason, finds Bruce Wayne back as Batman. (He was dead, replaced by Dick Grayson, who was the original Robin before becoming the hero Nightwing. Eventually, Bruce came back to life, and decided to fund an international team of Batmen -- Batman, Inc. -- thus allowing Dick to stay Batman, but new readers would have no idea how Dick became Batman or whatever happened to Bruce Wayne, who everyone knows is Batman, and so Dick resumed his role as Nightwing...And then there's the matter of Bruce Wayne having a son, who's the current Robin and also the grandson of Ra's al Ghul, the villain played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins, and, well, you can see why DC needed to relaunch its titles and streamline its continuity, yeah?)

Anyway, the Gordian knot that is DC Comics' continuity is cleanly severed here, mostly swept under the rug or dismissed with a sentence or two: Bruce Wayne is Batman. His son Damian is Robin. This book, as the title suggests, is as much about their relationship, both between hero and sidekick and father and son, as it is about costumed crime fighting, and that alone elevates the book above standard superhero fare.

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 - Eric's Review

Pretty much everything I said about Legion Lost applies to LoSH as well: it's a perfectly competent superhero yarn that is muddled by the amount of information that gets thrown at a new reader all at once: a dozen heroes, some with complex histories that are only obliquely hinted at -- Mon-El had a Green Lantern Ring? Who was Oaa and how did he/she die? -- and an archvillain that gets only a vague definition. What is a Dominator, and why, aside from our natural human instinct not to be dominated, should we care about the Legion's attempts to stop them? After a few missteps early -- I read page two at least three times before I realized that the soldier in the second panel was Chameleon Boy, using his powers --  artist Francis Portela settles into a nice rhythm and delivers a solid interpretation of veteran Legion writer Paul Levitz's script.

As with Legion Lost, I imagine Legion of Super-Heroes will appeal to longtime LoSH fans familiar with the sprawling cast of characters, locales and situations, but for the rest of us, a more detailed road map would have helped.

Suicide Squad #1 - Eric's Review

This is The Dirty Dozen for super-villians, and they've just botched their first mission. The book can be read as a nifty little done-in-one, providing a succinct explanation of Task Force X, known colloquially as the Suicide Squad, and introducing some of the characters, focusing especially on Deadshot, El Diablo and Harley Quinn (sporting her outfit from the Arkham Asylum video game, much to the dismay of some). These are not good people, but Adam Glass still manages to tug on your heartstrings a little, and by issue's end, when a clever twist gets the team out of one jam before literally dropping them into another, he just might have you rooting for the bad guys.

Blame for Harley Quinn's costume and Amanda Waller's slim appearance should not fall on the shoulders of Federico Dallocchio, who handles the art chores more than adequately. He manages to capture the emotion necessary to execute Glass's script, elevating Suicide Squad from a merely good book to one of the better titles of the New 52 so far.

I am unashamed of how much I enjoyed this book.

Legion Lost #1 - Eric's Review

With all the drastic changes taking place in the DC Universe, it seems that a bone or two had to be thrown to the longtime readers, some of whom have been less than positive about this New 52. The Legion of Superheroes -- a team of teenage heroes from the 31st century -- remain untouched, or so this reviewer, who has never read the  LoSH, assumes. This book is one of the few that was clearly not intended for new readers, which makes an objective review difficult. A group of heroes, ostensibly members of the Legion, have traveled back in time to stop someone named Alastor, who may or may not have unleashed a pathogen on the hapless 21st century. These characters and their powers, Alastor and the destructive potential of the disease he carries; none of it is explained well, but one supposes that a reader familiar with the Legion would already have the answers.

The art is pretty, though. 

Red Lanterns #1 - Eric's Review

With such titles as Enigma, Shade, The Changing Man, Skreemer, Human Target, Hellblazer and X-Statix, Peter Milligan has proven himself to be an architect of some of the most intelligent comics of the last quarter century. And he happens to be one of my favorite writers, which makes Red Lanterns an even greater disappointment.

As great as his more offbeat work has been over the course of his career, Milligan has never thrived as a writer of mainstream superhero comics.  His work on X-Men is forgettable and his work with Elekra is best forgotten. Red Lanterns proves no different. He appears to assume that none of the readers of his more intellectually challenging work would follow him into the DC Universe, and so he writes for an audience of twelve year-old boys with poor attention spans and who might possibly have ingested bottles of paint thinner before approaching the comics. 

An excessive use of narrative captions breaks one of the cardinal rules of storytelling -- show, don't tell -- and represents a disturbing lack of faith by the writer, both in his collaborator Ed Benes, a veteran artist, and his readers.

Consider this:

"I am allowed to look into the viscera of time itself. And I see...I see all the pain that there is and will be... so much suffering. So much brutality."

Now, consider this:


"On a mountain of skulls, in the castle of pain, I sat on a throne of blood! What was will be! What is will be no more!"

One of the above quotes is from Red Lanterns #1. The other is from Ghostbusters II. Only one of the two was intended to be funny.

If Eric Wrote Green Arrow

The rumor mill is already grinding its grist. I don't care to speculate on whether DC has really removed writer JT Krul from Green Arrow, but I do know that the book has delivered one of my biggest disappointments of the DC relaunch so far (please, Blackhawks, don't let me down!).

I also know that a character with such a specific combination of political beliefs and economic status and who draws his inspiration so heavily from Robin Hood should not be squandered as another vanila-flavored superhero.

Instead, why not position him as Robin Hood, or a uniquely 21st century version thereof, redistributing technology instead of riches? The New 52 have already started building towards a superhuman arms race, with Cadmus, S.T.A.R.Labs, N.O.W.H.E.R.E., S.H.A.D.E and others (we've not really heard from LexCorp, yet) positioning themselves as major players. Perhaps Green Arrow, recognizing that this technology they're cultivating could just as easily cure cancer as it could level cities, could be a thorn in the sides of them all.

As Oliver Queen, Green Arrow is already in a position to launder whatever weird technology he manages to acquire through artifice, espionage or theft, and to distribute it to the masses.

Just thinking out loud.


(Eric occasionally writes his own comics, and posts them at www.ericpalicki.com)

Batwoman #1 - Eric's Review

An almost inconsequential story provides J.H. Williams III with another opportunity to prove that he is the most profoundly talented artist working in comics today. Juggling varying art styles just as Kate Kane juggles her multiple identities, Williams deftly weaves together different points of view to create a cohesive narrative surrounding the disappearance of children in Gotham City. Entire pages -- and sometimes multiple pages -- are assembled as singular works of art, including, most brilliantly, a montage of events comprising Batwoman’s secret origin, relegated to background noise during a mostly unrelated conversation.

The story itself may be par for the course, but its execution is anything but. Batwoman is sure to be the prettiest book in the New 52.

Deathstroke #1 - Eric's Review

Those familiar with Deathstroke as a character inform me that this issue “sucked.” One close friend issued forth a steady stream of expletives about the new costume, complaining especially about the shoulder pads and finned gauntlets. To be fair, however, this is a character whose costume has always been blue and orange spandex and who previously wore buccaneer boots. The costume change is, at worst, a lateral shift.

As a reader completely unfamiliar with the character, aside from his occasional descents into pure villainy in books like Batman & Robin, I rather liked the book. Writer Kyle Higgins explores the character’s nature a little further than I personally have seen in the past. Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, is a man whose livelihood depends not only on his skills but on his reputation. A challenge to that reputation, due in part to the Deathstroke’s age, seems to be the fuel that will propel this book along, moving forward. For now, however, Deathstroke has a mission to complete, which he does in unique fashion over the course of 20 pages that can be read as a neatly contained done-in-one, a format that has been sorely lacking among DC’s 52 re-launches so far.

If I have one minor complaint, it would be the McGuffin: Pulp Fiction called and would like its mysterious briefcase back, please…

…

…okay, seriously, what’s in that briefcase?

Justice League International #1 - Eric's Review

With all of DC's most powerful heroes attached to the Justice League, the United Nations attempts to recruit lesser known heroes for a team of its own. Batman joins the team as a liaison from the actual Justice League, to keep tabs on these also-rans (and presumably also to sell more copies of the book).

Aaron Lopresti draws the roster well enough. Unfortunately, these characters are not given enough to do in Dan Jurgens' script to distinguish themselves from one another. Aside from some unfortunately timed banter between Rocket Red and the Chinese superhero August General in Iron about the reliability of Russian-made airplanes, nothing memorable happens to the heroes. A subplot involving anti-government protesters blowing up the JLI's new headquarters is much more compelling than anything that involves the actual stars of the title.

Detective Comics #1and Action Comics #1 - Eric's Review

Grant Morrison penned the script to Action Comics while Rags Morales handled the art chores. Tony Daniel both wrote and drew Detective Comics. I've lumped these titles together because they both get one thing right that so many of the other books this week did not:

The villain.

Morrison's Lex Luthor squares off against a younger, more inexperienced Superman who's more concerned with confronting social issues than alien menaces. Luthor sees himself as the hero rather than the villain, and thanks to Morrison's careful scripting, he makes a convincing argument. What's more, he has a plan to take down this Superman and to prove that the strongest man in the world may be no match for the smartest.

Tony Daniel hits all the necessary beats with his Batman story, giving us glimpses of the Batcave and the Batsignal and giving Bats an opportunity to interact with Commissioner Gordon and with Alfred. More importantly, Daniel writes a convincing Joker who is every bit as relentless and driven as Batman and (probably) even more insane. The Joker's escape from captivity early in the book is rather inspired, as is the revelation that the issue-long game of cat-and-mouse he plays with Batman is part of a larger agenda.

The interplay between hero and villain in both Action and Detective leads to two of the better last-page cliffhangers you're likely to find among any of this week's DC titles. 

The last page of Detective Comics is particularly brutal and not for the squeamish.

Men of War #1 - Eric's Review

Once upon a time, DC comics published a title called Gotham Central, about ordinary cops attempting to go about the ordinary business of police work in a city where the criminals sometimes dressed as clowns or cats and where a man in a bat costume made the work harder than it had to be.

With Men of War, writer Ivan Brandon and artist Tom Derenick seem to be attempting to do for soldiers what Gotham Central did for cops. And it works. Narrow panels feel claustrophobic and add a sense of urgency to the combat scene around which the narrative is built. Meanwhile, a legitimate superhuman threat looms in the distance. Who is he? Is he on our side or theirs? These questions are never answered, and it's frankly not important. This is a book about soldiers, not superheroes, and those soldiers have a job to do.

Hawk & Dove #1 - Eric's Review

Alexander Quirk, the ‘science terrorist’ whose villainy anchors the first act of Hawk & Dove, looks disturbingly like Cillian Murphy. His motivation for, er, science terrorism is clearly but hastily defined. In spite of some obvious tension between the two heroes, which is explained later in slightly greater detail, Hawk and Dove manage to stop Quirk’s threat and save Washington DC, save for a little collateral damage to the Washington Monument. Characters’ origins are revisited just in time for a threat greater than Quirk to show up. To be continued next issue.

In the capable hands of Sterling Gates, Hawk & Dove has all the makings of a solid if slightly by-the-numbers superhero comic. Unfortunately, any enthusiasm I might have for the book is tempered by a personal bias against artist Rob Liefeld, who, to his credit, does a better than average job here. Better than average for Rob, anyway. Rob is like garlic: he adds a strong and distinct flavor that's impossible to ignore in any recipe, but not everyone will enjoy the taste.

And Hawk delivers what might be the most truthful line of the whole week:

“NOBODY likes zombies anymore.”

Static Shock #1 - Eric's Review

The last time I paid much attention to Scott McDaniel, he was drawing Daredevil comics for Marvel in the early 1990s, and this book reads like any other from that era. The art is busy, bright and gauche. The artist doesn’t trust himself to construct a convincing narrative using only pictures and so he further busies the page with captions explaining what the reader is supposedly seeing on the panels, resorting at least once to thought balloons -- a long-thought-dead technique that not even Stephen King was allowed to use when he did work for DC last year. Neither villains nor hero is given much depth or motivation aside from their names and appearance -- and hell yes, if I looked like a fish, I’d be a villain, too.

Writing thirteen reviews in the space of a week does not entitle me to snark, but if it did, my review of Static Shock #1 would be this: “If you're looking for a well-written, well-drawn story about a teenage superhero, check out Ultimate Spider-Man #1, on sale September 14.”

Batgirl #1 - Eric's Review

In the beginning, there was Batman. Then, with the inevitability of New Coke or CSI: Miami, there was Batgirl. A lot of noise has already been made about DC’s decision to give Barbara Gordon her legs back and put her behind the mask, and both sides make compelling arguments. It’s probably better to review the comic book on its own merits rather than as ground zero for a Batgirl/Oracle debate.

Of course, the fact remains that Barbara Gordon became a character with significantly more depth after she lost the use of her legs and became Oracle. Thankfully, Gail Simone, who played a large part in shepherding Barbara Gordon into her role as Oracle and who made her one of the strongest female characters in comics, is on hand to shepherd Barbara Gordon back into the batsuit.

Rather than shying away from the debate surrounding the return of Babs’ legs, Simone makes it a more than a plot point. Barbara Gordon’s loss of her legs, and the ensuing ‘miraculous recovery that gave them back, becomes to her a driving force behind not only this new version of the character but also, presumably, new villain The Mirror as well. This new-slash-old Batgirl may be the first superhero with PTSD.  

The title shares its only shortcoming with too many of the New 52 books that I’ve read so far: like reading the first 20 pages of a novel or seeing the first 30 minutes of a film, the experience feels woefully incomplete.

On the other hand, Ardian Syaf draws the best Batgirl since Yvonne Craig.

Batwing #1 - Eric's Review

Seriously, has no one in DC's editorial office seen Waiting...? I can barely reference this book's title without conjuring a mental image of Luis Guzman stretching out his, er, well...I'd hate to spoil the surprise if you haven't seen that movie, either.

Batwing catches up with the African member of Bruce Wayne's international Batman, Inc. in what would be a by-the-numbers superhero romp if not for two qualities that lift it above the mundane. First, Ben Oliver's fully rendered and painted art is gorgeous. Most painted comics have the inherent stiffness of portraiture, rather than the fluidity and expressiveness displayed here. Batwing is worth a second look for the dynamic art alone.

More importantly, Batwing does not shy away from its setting. This is not another fictitious stand-in for a real place. This is the Congo, full of violence and corruption. One can safely assume that the villain of this opening story, a masked man called Massacre who is killing off the heroes of Africa, is meant to be a stand-in for all the worst that you'll find in the Congo. One can also assume, then, that Batwing is a manifestation of the best.

Stormwatch #1 - Eric's Review

When Catwoman robs the Gotham Museum of Art, you call Batman. When Metallo holds the Daily Planet hostage, you call Superman.

When the moon has come to life and threatens to destroy the entire planet, you call Stormwatch.

Except, of course, that you don’t know Stormwatch exists, and they’ll probably have stopped the moon before there’s anything to worry about. Stormwatch is a clandestine organization of superhumans dedicated to protecting the world against alien threats. They’re not superheroes: “They’re amateurs. We’re professionals.”

Stormwatch, the comic book, has been around for years, but this is the group’s first appearance as part of the DC universe. We catch up to the team in the middle of a recruiting mission, trying to track down Apollo, a character whose power rivals Superman’s. Longtime readers of Stormwatch will recall that Apollo has been a member of previous iterations of the team, but because this is the everything-old-is-new-again DC Universe, and because, frankly, there have never been too many longtime readers of Stormwatch, we’re introduced to Apollo again for the very first time, as well as to the other members of the team. Some of those additions are surprising, including Martian Manhunter, a DC mainstay who’d previously been a part of the Justice League.

Those not on the recruiting mission are investigating the moon, which has come to life and threatens to destroy the entire planet. Hopefully, Stormwatch can stop it before there’s anything to worry about.

Paul Cornell has the unenviable task of introducing a dozen or so new characters in the space of 22 pages, and he handles it as well as can be expected, favoring action over exposition, and providing the latter only when it feels organic to the story. Unfortunately, ‘organic’ is not a word I’d use to describe Miguel Sepulveda’s artwork, which seems stiff and unnatural at times. Still, this is fun comics, filled with big ideas in the tradition of Stormwatches past.  

Green Arrow #1 - Eric's Review

When asked to name a superhero with a billionaire alter-ego who uses an array of quirky gadgets to fight crime, even casual readers, or those who don’t read comics at all, can probably name at least two. It’s a well-worn trope, and so any new -- or at least, new to new readers -- character ought to have some greater hook to establish him as something other than another Batman or Iron Man.

Green Arrow is a character with a rich history and writer J.T. Krul introduces nor reestablishes none of it here. There’s no mention of his secret origin or his famously progressive politics. Krul and veteran artist Dan Jurgens have even removed Oliver Queen’s goatee and mustache, which were directly inspired by Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood and would’ve given new readers a shorthand explanation of the sort of character Green Arrow was intended to be.

Instead, Krul and Jurgens deliver a vanilla-flavored superhero story in which Green Arrow apprehends a trio of villains who have no clear motivation but codenames that match their super powers. With so little at stake, it’s impossible to care about what happens next. And being boring is a far greater sin than being bad.   

Justice League #1 - Eric's Review

The first comic I ever bought with my own money was Uncanny X-Men #275. You could buy comics at 7-11 in those days, off of a spinner that was kept segregated from more overtly adult fare on the other magazine racks. Guns, girls and fast cars were kept over here, but comics are for kids and were stocked on the spinner rack over there. This separation seems necessary unless you actually knew what was inside the comics.

It was 1991. I was 12 years old. I had enough cash on hand to buy one comic, and I picked the X-Men book out of the bunch because I was drawn to the artwork, done by a rising star named Jim Lee.

I can’t help but feel a slight tinge of irony, knowing that the one of the architects of a brand new DC universe is part of generations past and has been working in comics for more than 20 years. On the other hand, maybe Lee’s involvement makes perfect sense. If heroes and villains and stories can be reinvented, why can’t the creators themselves?

Lee’s collaborator, writer Geoff Johns chooses to set this everything-old-is-new-again introduction to the Justice League five years in the past, a gambit fraught with danger since we don’t really know what the present looks like in this everything-old-is-new-again DC universe. The story opens with a police chase and a caption: “There was a time when the world didn’t call them its greatest super-heroes. There was a time when the world didn’t know what a super-hero was.” The Justice League doesn’t exist yet. This will be the story of its creation.

Soon, the object of that police pursuit becomes clear. Johns wisely chooses to begin his story with the one member-to-be of the Justice League who legitimately needs no introduction. Batman is arguably the most popular superhero in the world, and if you don’t already know that billionaire Bruce Wayne dresses as a flying rodent and fights crime in Gotham City, then you’ve probably spent the last dozen years or so living in a cave, possibly a Batcave.   

Batman mostly ignores the police as he continues his own pursuit, of a seemingly superhuman entity. Green Lantern shows up, introducing himself to Batman again for the first time. Hijinks ensue before the pair heads to Metropolis to enlist the aid of another hero. That hero, sans red trunks for the first time in more than seventy years, appears on the last page, promising a showdown with Batman, to be continued next issue.

The issue is not without its faults, but Johns and Lee handle this Herculean labor effectively enough. The story works best when they keep it moving forward, playing to their strengths as writer and artist. From the police chase to the pursuit of the superhuman-extraterrestrial, it turns out-entity to the appearance of the JL’s third charter member, the comic moves at a frenetic pace, only slowing down long enough to introduce Vic Stone, a high school football player whose father is somehow involved in superhuman research. Longtime DC comics readers will understand Vic’s eventual significance, but to the new readers that this Justice League and this whole New 52 initiative are targeting, this pause in the action may seem like an awkward and unnecessary digression.

Johns’ economical use of dialog to develop characters is another of the book’s key strengths. Green Lantern is brash. Batman is, by necessity, kind of a jerk, but he does his research. He’s the world’s greatest detective, an aspect of his character that is all too often ignored by other storytellers. Johns use of dialog to explain how Green Lantern’s ring works fits organically into the story and is one of the high points of the issue. However, whenever Johns relies on dialog to advance the plot or provide exposition, the story falters. GL’s references to himself in the third person quickly become tedious. The guy in green with the lantern symbol on his chest is the Green Lantern? Got it. Let’s move on.

The issue’s biggest shortcoming, however, is that it feels woefully incomplete. Justice League will likely be someone’s first comic book, and as such should’ve been structured to give the reader a complete experience, with a beginning, middle and a satisfactory ending. This is not to say that Johns and Lee needed to introduce the entire roster. On the contrary, they should be commended for their approach, easing into the story and taking time to establish each character. However, it would’ve been nice to see Batman and Green Lantern do something besides bicker while the extraterrestrial menace they’d been chasing conveniently self-destructs.  Jim Lee is one of the most dynamic artists in the medium; putting his skills, and those of Batman and GL, to the test with a big damn fight could’ve provided a little more content and might have done wonders in making the book feel like a complete experience.  

Justice League #1 is not perfect, but it’s a perfect place to start, and it represents a solid first effort from the architects of this new DC universe. However, after spending most of the long holiday weekend in search of a sugar-free Slurpee (such a thing DOES exist), I noticed that those comic book spinner racks are conspicuously absent from 7-11s these days. I can’t help but wonder if maybe there’s a better, easier way to put comics in front of new sets of eyes.

Justice League #1 - Hobo Booth's Review

What follows is a recap of Justice League #1. Don't blink or you'll miss it.

BATMAN: "Green Lantern, I've heard of you. You are a superhero from Coast City."

GREEN LANTERN: "Batman. You are nothing to me. I am a cosmic policeman with a ring that lets me make anything I can imagine. And I am also a dick. A huge dick."

BATMAN: "I am just a man in a bat suit but I am smart and serious. I have heard of a guy called Superman in Metropolis. I hear he's super."

GREEN LANTERN: "Super. Do you want to go see him together for no particular reason and even though we hate each other?"

BATMAN: "I don't see why not. . . Also this thing planted a bomb and said "Darkseid."

Now I know that is a little unfair. But only a little.

When DC announced that they were starting the Universe over, I didn't think they meant in 1970, or 1975 or 1980 -- because this story is of the same formulaic and lazy nature from which the "reboot" was supposed to depart. There were too many panels relying exclusively on explosions, forcing the remaining panels to rely on exposition to move the story and character development along. Explosions and exposition.

Let's take DC at its word. Pretend this was not a superhero story published by DC but rather by an unknown independent publisher. Treat this comic as if it did not contain familiar beloved icons from our society's collective childhood but rather characters that you wouldn't know from the Yellow Kid. Would you find the story compelling? Of course, the artwork of Jim Lee, Scott Williamson and Alex Sinclair was mind blowing as expected, but would you want to read the next issue? It's ironic, DC wanted a rebirth of the Universe so that the characters and stories would not be beset by the weight of their history. However, it is that very history and familiarity on which they are now relying to bring readers back for a second issue.

It wasn't a terrible story. I may have been happier if it were -- if Geoff Johns shot for the stars and missed.

But there was nothing. Justice League is the flagship title of the new universe. It was the lack of originality at the origin that bothered me. Even the character building football scene was pulling on heartstrings that were broken years ago by the same cliche. It makes me think of a phrase that I heard from many teachers during my life: "I'm not angry. I'm disappointed."

It Begins

Don’t believe the hype.

Justice League #1 arrives on shelves in just a few short hours, heralding a brand new DC Universe. For those who may not know, DC Comics --  home to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other heroes of varying obscurity -- has existed since before the second World War and has been publishing some of its titles uninterrupted since the 1930s. As of August 2011, the publisher has canceled every one of its titles, and will be launching fifty-two brand new monthly volumes, some familiar, some not so much, each with a new #1 issue, beginning August 31st. More importantly, the fresh number one on the cover is merely an external indicator of the fresh content behind it. These characters, whether new or old, iconic or obscure, are getting a fresh coat of paint. Longtime readers can expect new costumes and streamlined origins, while new readers can approach these books without having to navigate the characters’ labyrinthine continuity or 80 years of history.

This is a bold move, designed to attract new readers and reclaim market share from rival Marvel Comics. Media outlets have proclaimed that DC has gone “all in” or “bet the house.”

But…don’t believe the hype.

Those poker metaphors imply that DC Comics has something at stake. In reality, neither the publisher nor the industry has anything to lose. The worst possible outcome would involve all of these titles - this ‘New 52’ - failing in their mission to secure new readers and market share. The whole endeavor would be dismissed as a noble but fruitless experiment, and the comics industry would return to where it was before.

That is, dying.

The comics medium has been hemorrhaging readers for years. Twenty years ago, the best selling titles would routinely move over a million units in a single month. Several months have passed so far in 2011 when the best selling comic failed to move a hundred thousand. DC’s gambit aims to change that, to recapture some of those lost readers from the ‘90s and to infect a new generation of readers.

They’ve untangled continuity and history. They’re making all of these titles available for purchase electronically, for your PC, iPad or mobile phone, on the same day-and-date that the physical book is available in stores. The publisher is taking steps to keep these books on a consistent monthly schedule. They’ve expanded their line of superhero books to include elements of horror, espionage and science fiction. There is no longer any excuse not to explore the ‘New 52’ titles of the DC Universe…

…provided, of course, that the quality of these books is as good as advertised. Don’t believe the hype.    

For the next year, I’m going to chronicle this new DC Universe and these new titles. I love comics, and I want desperately for this re-launch to succeed. So I’m going to do what I can to spread the word. For the first three months, I will post reviews of each and every one of these fifty-two books, emphasizing whether each title is accessible to new readers and whether, frankly, it’s entertaining.

After the third month, I’ll be winnowing away the titles I’m not enjoying or which just aren’t working. When a title falls off my reading list, you’ll know it, and you’ll know why.

I’ve invited some friends to join me and to post reviews of their own, and they’ll be along shortly to introduce themselves.

DC’s ‘New 52’ just might change the face of a medium and an industry. Don’t believe the hype.