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The End of My Run With the New 52: Swamp Thing and Animal Man #7s

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Walt

Animal Man and Swamp Thing were my final DC holdouts. From around 30 of the New 52 #1s in September 2011, these were/are my March 2012 DC pulls. And it’s with these that I’ve pretty much made the decision that on the whole, the New 52 is not for me.

In Animal Man, we’ve seen the reintroduction of Buddy and his family. We’ve been introduced to the idea of his daughter as the new champion of The Red, and that they’re all going to be facing The Rot. After an adventure in The Red where things have been set up, this issue finds the Baker family on the run, just trying to survive and figure out what comes next. Of course, any proactivity as to “what comes next” is out the window when they find a less than pleasing sight outside their RV.

In Swamp Thing, we’ve had the reintroduction of Alec Holland and Abigail Arcane, the reintroduction of The Green and the idea of them having to face The Rot. Seven issues in, and we seem to finally find Alec Holland once again being placed into his most well known form–as the Swamp Thing. And by issue’s end, something new has been set in motion, as this title finds itself on a collision course with events being set up simultaneously in Animal Man.

Where Swamp Thing was one of my original “picks” of the New 52, it was positive buzz over Animal Man and the realization of it tying in to Swamp Thing that helped draw me into that book. Yet, seven issues in with both titles…I find myself simply uninterested. The issues feel fairly short. I’m not a huge fan of the art on either title–the art on Animal Man is rather disturbing–in a way that fits this version of the title, but it’s not to my tastes; while on Swamp Thing it’s pretty to look at but still has something “off” about it. I don’t really want “surreal” in the visuals, and neither book seems to just flow visually, distinctively.

And at this point, I’d just as soon wait a few months and snag the issues from bargain bins, or perhaps sometime next year or in a couple years double back for the collected volumes–if there are any, at DC’s glacial collecting pace.

These aren’t bad titles–there’s loads of potential, and I still have an interest in where things are going. Just not enough interest…not for going month by month when I have to basically force myself to read the single issues.

Fitting, I suppose, that what look to be my final “regular” DC purchases for the foreseeable future were two of the first books to sport DC‘s new Get Glue-ish “hey, everyone’s all about these ‘stickers’ things!” logo.

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Superman #6 [Review]

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Walt


Full review posted to cxPulp.com.

Story: 2.5/5
Art: 3.5/5
Overall: 2/5

Filed under: cxPulp.com, DC, New 52, The, Superman | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

A little on a lot: New 52, Comic Book Men, and Spidey

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Walt

As I’ve not been blogging regularly lately, there are a number of things I’ve been thinking about, had thoughts about, and generally considered blogging about/retreading, but haven’t. I sat down Saturday morning for awhile and typed a lot more than I intended. So I’ve broken that into several posts (this is one of those posts).

NEW 52 IN GENERAL

justiceleague001I gave the “New 52” a much bigger chance than I’d intended to–I think I’d ultimately picked up 28-30 of the books. Dropped sharply for the #2s going down to only about a dozen, then I cut to Superman, Batman, Animal Man, and Swamp Thing; now I’ll be down to Animal Man and Swamp Thing…and even those are honestly on shaky ground with me. I don’t know if this “environment” of all these titles is anything like early post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DCU, but right now I’m not “sold” long-term for DC. I suppose I’m looking at the reboots of the entire Wildstorm line and wondering (still) if there’ll be another reboot, or a regression back to the “old” DCU (despite DC’s current protestations to the contrary). With the addition of the Earth-2 stuff, at the least there seems to be enough of a breakup of things that I don’t really “get” a feel of a “unified whole” for the current DCU…more a vehicle for various creators to tie in or not to stuff.

And frankly, rather than grudgingly purchase monthly titles and grouse that this isn’t “MY” DCU…since I’m so entrenched in the 1980s/90s/00s DCU, I may as well put my efforts toward tracking down runs of the Bat-books, and reading those instead.

I’m not actively opposed to the New 52/etc…but it seems to me DC should have gone “all the way” and fully relaunched even the Batman and Green Lantern books, such that the New 52 would be a truly full start. Because of the mixed bag of stuff, it creates a sense of half-assedness for me. I’m not actively opposed to giving parts of the New 52 a chance; the problem is that I am not all that actively INTERESTED in much of the New 52.

COMIC BOOK MEN

comicbookmenI watched Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Men last Sunday, and will probably watch again this week. I’m not all that enamored with it…but it’s tv involving an actual comic store with actual comics and such. As so many others have said…it’s like Pawn Stars meets Comic Shop. I’m not sure what I expected, but this wasn’t really it. Still, it’s on immediately following The Walking Dead which I’m going to be watching anyway…so CBM has a prime timeslot to retain me as part of its audience.

UNINTERESTING SPIDEY

newwaystodie01Two years after a friend loaned me a stack of comics (which I’ve been remiss in taking so long, but that’s another issue) I still can’t get myself truly interested in Spider-Man. It’s taken several spurts of self-forced reading to make any real headway into the “Brand New Day era” and even any positives I’m finding are pretty incidental. Initially I stayed away specifically because of Marvel doing away with the Peter/MJ marriage. But however solid the writing for the BND stuff may be, I’m just finding myself having a problem connecting with any of the characters; even if I don’t miss the marriage itself amidst the stories so far, this take on Spidey is just NOT INTERESTING to me.

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Catching up on comics reading

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Walt

Finally catching up on my comics reading, neglected these past weeks for reading the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, and George R. R. Martin‘s Game of Thrones.

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The Rest of the Stack: Week of November 16, 2011

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Walt

image

The Rest of the Stack is my general mini-review coverage of new comics for any given week. It’s in addition to (or in place of) full-size individual reviews. It’s far less formal, and more off-the-top-of-my head thoughts on the given comics than it is detailed reviews.

BATMAN #3

batman003I still can’t get over how great it is to see that Bruce Wayne–the man UNDER the Batman cowl–is actually being treated as a useable, viable character again. After so many years of being a virtual non-character, here we see that yeah, Batman is a huge part of him…but there’s still SOMETHING to Bruce Wayne. And his life AS Bruce Wayne, as a Wayne, plays into his life as Batman. This issue sees Bruce/Batman learn more about whatever this stuff going on with the Owl imagery is, including a costume that (well ahead of me reading this issue, I saw over at Bleeding Cool with that site’s comment on the costume being obviously like Owlman from Watchmen) I agree would have at least put me in mind of Watchmen, though having it spoiled I don’t feel like going to actually look up the comparison. I like the dynamic between Bruce and Alfred…Snyder definitely has a good feel for this character, and builds a story that doesn’t feel like I turn two pages and find a to-be-continued. There’s more substance here, it seems, than a lot of other comics…though this still feels rather short. At least the issue is only $2.99, and does NOT include one of those stupid 5-7 page “previews.” The art continues to also be quite good…and I’m coming to very much enjoy Capullo‘s take on these characters. I was curious if this week’s issue would change my mind at all, but this issue keeps me interested enough that Batman will survive a likely culling of my already-limited pull-list in the coming weeks. (8.5/10)

GHOSTBUSTERS #3

ghostbusters003I’m really tired of variant covers in comics today. I can understand, possibly even condone variants in actual special circumstances…but not on every freaking issue. Combine that with a $3.99 price point, and the physical package of this issue has a lot going against it in my mind, with a good dose of grouchiness before I’ve even opened the issue to read it. Shaky ground on principle, that. But actually reading the issue…I’m enjoying the story. I like the story itself, and I like the visual style. This feels like the story is firmly rooted in the movie continuity, and yet is delving deeper and building from there. Yeah, elements come FROM the films…but this is not trying to BE the films, nor is it trying to be a third film. This is something that is working well as a continuation of that universe and its characters…and for now, I’ll stick around. At present, even if I would drop this title…it would be a statement on IDW‘s constant use of variant covers every single issue and the price point, and not at all due to the quality of the content itself. (8/10)

JUSTICE LEAGUE #3

justiceleague003I hate Darkseid. Offhand, I cannot think of one single story involving Darkseid that I’ve particularly enjoyed…except perhaps Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey, wherein Darkseid was giving quite a beating by the beast that had killed Superman. For me, the Fourth World stuff is a huge bore–I won’t debate that a lot of people enjoy it, and I’m not speaking on its technical merits. I just don’t enjoy it. So the Fourth World elements to this story do nothing positive for me. Wonder Woman feels like a caricature here with little/no depth. And if this first arc is only 5-6 issues, we’re at least halfway through now, with no room for actual, deep character development…which as such makes it feel so pointless to have just this one story to “introduce” these characters, especially with the title launched as “the” flagship title of the New 52. That there are 22 content pages is diminished by the splash pages. And the back matter neutralizes it as well–put the darned sketches and such online, instead of wasting pages with them in-print…or save them for the collected edition or inevitable “Absolute” edition. The History of Atlantis pages are not at all cute–if they were on top of a 30ish content-pages story, sure, the effect would be kinda entertaining. But wasting time with a “cover,” a library-card page, a dedication, a table of contents (of stuff we won’t even get to see) and so on feels like a complete waste of space, padded out to fill this thing to claim it justifies $3.99. Johns‘ characterization is missed on this book, and Lee‘s art–while not bad to look at–doesn’t seem his best, and doesn’t begin to make up for the steep cover price. (5/10)

WALKING DEAD #91

walkingdead091Something about this issue felt a bit more substantive than usual for a single issue. We check in on several different plot points and character groups, moving stuff forward. And there’s some definite development between Rick and Carl…somehow, feeling like Carl shows more personality here than I can recall for years of reading this title. The art of course is the usual high quality; zero complaints there. And given we’re 91 issues in and Kirkman‘s still at the helm of his creation…zero complaint there as well. I’m pretty sure this is the first issue of a new six issue sequence, so is as good a jump-on point as any. And the entire rest of the series is available in-print through 14 TPBs (15th coming next month, I believe) as well as a couple different hardback formats, and a 48-issue compendium edition. So…I’m probably not going to change your mind yay or nay on this title. But I enjoyed this issue…and continue to enjoy the series even after 90 issues. This isn’t perfect…but I don’t expect it to be. 90+ issues and I still want to keep reading. Not every comic series has that going for it. (7.5/10)

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Shades of Pricing

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Walt

shadehulkvsdraculaI managed to miss Hulk vs. Dracula #3 this week in my regular visit to my local comic shop. Didn’t notice til I got home, so wasn’t particularly worried about it.

Friday night, out of town, I stopped by another shop to grab the issue. Having all of $1.37 in cash on me, of course I had to use my card. Which, at this store means a $5 minimum. Not a huge deal. Just gotta grab one more comic of at least $1.99, basically. Given those don’t really exist, my next option’s a $2.99 comic. Given I’ve settled with what I’m buying of the New 52 for present, and that I pretty much associate Marvel Comics with $3.99, my choice was pretty simple.

The Shade #1. Yeah, it’s 1 of 12, so a finite thing. And no, I have only read whatever’s contained in the Vol. 1 of The Starman Omnibus by way of Robinson‘s Starman work (oh, and the Blackest Night issue).

Yet another example (to me, myself, at least) of where I’m totally willing to try a new comic, or at least that Marvel has SO trained me to “assume” that any of their new comics are $3.99, that I really don’t even give their books a second glance unless–like the issue I was in this store specifically to buy–I already plan to buy the issue.

No clue if I’ll grab another issue of The Shade or not–if I write reviews this weekend, maybe it’ll be in there. I sort of have to read the thing before I make any decisions.

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Falling Action – $3.99 for 20 pages of story?!?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Walt

justpastthestapleI read on Bleeding Cool this morning that apparently Action Comics #2 was–at $3.99–only going to have 20 pages of actual story. I posted to Twitter my knee-jerk reaction/thoughts: “Well…ok. Mood I’m in this morning, if Action # 2 really is only 20 pages of actual story content for $3.99, I’ll most likely jump ship.” “extras” are NOT “extras” when you’re paying for them. Back matter is NOT special when it’s INSTEAD OF story pages.”

That was sight unseen.

This afternoon, I bought my new comics as usual for Wednesday. And I read Action Comics #2. And it was a really fast read, albeit actually enjoyable. But it ended SUDDENLY.

You get to the staples, the MIDDLE of the issue (and there are ads scattered throughout, this isn’t like an indy book where you get a full story and then the back section packed with ads) and the NEXT PAGE is the end of the story.

There’s no “backup story” or “co-feature” even with some other character having a short story piece.

There are 8 pages following the actual story, with “behind the scenes” crap–the sort of extras that feel like a waste of my time/money. Sketches, SNIPPETS of comments from creators, FLUFF. And 2 of those pages are sketchy stuff looking “ahead” to stuff by another artist.

And of course the usual 5-7ish paged “preview” for something I’m NOT going to suddenly decide to buy just because the same thing’s in every freaking issue DC put out this week or this month.

Morrison‘s always been hit or miss for me. And though I don’t terribly care for this new take on Superman, I figured I’d go along with the ride. Even if this isn’t a Superman I embrace, I can NOT deny the story’s got a certain hook to it, and I want to read it.

Top that off with the fact that Action Comics is a title that I just the other day decided I would continue with beyond the #1, and it would get the “free pass” that several other titles did NOT in my deciding against simple clinical judgment for this.

But, this is a principle thing. $3.99 for 20 pages of story is absolutely unacceptable to me from DC. When just last week I paid $2.99 for 25 pages of story in Superman (although I didn’t even realize at the time it had those several extra pages).

So…no Action Comics #3 for me. Not from the primary market, anyway.

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DC’s The New 52 – Buy/Borrow/Pass

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Walt

batman001I’ve been listening to Comic Geek Speak’s coverage of the New 52 this month, and I rather like their ratings–rather than giving some hard number out of a total number, they rate the issues with whether they’d recommend one buy the comic, borrow the comic, or “pants” (pass) on it.

superman001As this week begins the second month, I’ve had a chance to try the titles I wanted to (actually wound up 16-17 beyond the 12-13 I’d originally intended). Ultimately, there’s no way I can afford to buy 29 titles from DC every single month…so while there ARE some titles I’d otherwise be “willing” to give a longer chance, I’ve made my decisions based on the first issues and varying factors involved with those.

BUY

  • Action Comics – It’s got history behind it. And it’s Superman. I’ll let it go on “habit.”
  • Animal Man – a great read, and really interested in where it goes.
  • Batman – Included Dick, Tim, Damian, and Bruce as well as Batman..basically was what these #1s should be.
  • Batman and Robin – Can’t quite see resisting a second issue. Giving Superman 2 books, I’ll allow 2 Batman books as well.
  • Demon Knights – Didn’t much care for this, but then heard CGS’ analogy that it’s D&D with the DCU. THAT I’m all for.
  • Fury of Firestorm – Lotta potential here, and with Ronnie AND Jason.
  • Green Lantern – Just ‘cuz. It’s GL, and if I’m gonna follow stuff in the GL-side of things, this is the title I’ll go with.
  • Justice League – Got my quibbles with it, but I’ll give it another issue before I completely give it up for decompressed.
  • Justice League International – Has Booster Gold, it got the team together in the #1 issue, and it’s got potential.
  • Resurrection Man – Abnett and Lanning, a fairly original (compared to what I’m used to) concept, I’m interested in where it goes.
  • Superman – In context of the New 52, my favorite of the #1s…I was excited enough to give it the full review treatment. ‘Nuff said.
  • Swamp Thing – After reading #1, I’ve now read the first volume of Alan Moore’s stuff. I soooo want to like this after all these years.
  • Teen Titans – Loving the Tim Drake stuff, the costume, etc. With Tim as the lead…I’m all for seeing where this goes.

BORROW

  • Batgirl – A morbid curiosity about Babs’ “miracle” and how her history post-Killing Joke is handled.
  • Blue Beetle – Might be persuaded to bump it to a buy, but for now just thinking I may go for the collected volumes.
  • Detective Comics – Already going with 2 Bat-titles, and not interested enough in the villain and other “WTF” stuff to it.
  • Green Lantern Corps – Used to be a “given” as a companion book to GL, but I’m hesitant to fully re-invest in single issues on the GL stuff.
  • Green Lantern New Guardians – I’d love to read a Kyle book, but not interested enough anymore in the rainbow corps stuff monthly.
  • Nightwing – Has potential, but I’ll likely grab the collected volumes; and already got 2 Bat-books for present.
  • Red Lanterns – Can’t quite see this lasting longterm, so I’ll get it in collected format if anything.
  • Static Shock – A fun book, but just can’t quite see bumping any of my Buys for this. I’ll be interested to see/hear where it goes, though.

PASS

  • Batman: The Dark Knight – Already have other Bat-books to go with, and just not a title I feel like following. It’ll have to get through the Borrows before it’d make it back to a Buy.
  • Captain Atom – Did not care for it, and don’t really have any active interest even in where it goes.
  • Deathstroke – Pretty much same as Captain Atom, though it’s got a much better shot of making it to a Borrow.
  • Flash – Most likely to make it up to a Borrow, but seems I’m most likely to be able to “get” what I care for via wikipedia or such.
  • Grifter – zero interest after #1 in where this goes.
  • Justice League Dark – Actively turned off by the opening issue and its lack of Constantine, among other things.
  • Stormwatch – Might be well written, but just did not interest me. If it becomes as major as rumours say, I can always play catch-up or get the beats via wikipedia.
  • Superboy – No pretense at being the character I care about in any shape or form, and I hear I’ll get a dose of him in Teen Titans, anyway, so no need to follow the solo book.

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Superman #1 [Review]

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Walt

What Price Tomorrow?

Script & Breakdowns: George Perez
Pencils & Inks: Jesus Merino
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Cover: George Perez & Brian Buccellato
Associate Editor: Wil Moss
Editor: Matt Idelson
Published by: DC Comics

What do you think of when you think of Superman? And more to the point, what do you expect to see in a Superman comic? Speaking for myself–especially for a premiere issue of a new series–I tend to expect to see Superman…but also Clark Kent. Ideally, Lois Lane would be there, and I don’t mind if we have something with Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, and other staffers of the Daily Planet…to say nothing of the Daily Planet itself. I expect to see Clark Kent interacting with people, just as I expect to see Superman being…well, super. Have those elements, and I’m pretty much going to be one satisfied camper.

I came to this relaunch this month with a lot of mixed feelings. Probably the strongest was–has been–regarding Superman, and not knowing what he would be in this relaunch…knowing only that the character is one that DC felt the need to change quite a bit from the existing status quo, to update and bring back in a different way (unlike, say, Batman or Green Lantern). Action Comics left me rather cool–especially in retrospect…and there was but a cameo of Superman in the new Justice League book. So, there’s a lot of weight put upon this issue, the first issue of the new Superman comic itself. After Action Comics, and generally lukewarm if not hopeful feelings on a lot of the other #1s, I was prepared to dislike this issue, or at least find a lot of fault with it in and of itself.

The issue opens with a voiceover, discussing the history of the Daily Planet building. We follow the narration to find it’s live coverage of the unveiling of the NEW Daily Planet, recognition being given to the original. At this point, the Planet is an acquisition of Morgan Edge, and in moving things into the present, readying for the future–the newspaper is now “just” a part of the overall media corporation Edge owns. We’re introduced to Lois Lane and Perry White–familiar names and faces (though White looks a good 10-15 years too young), and find out their new roles moving forward with the new Planet. We learn some backstory about Clark’s opposition to the Planet’s acquisition, and that Superman is only just now back in town after some sort of noticeable absence. We get snippets on attitudes toward Superman in this new DCU. We see Jimmy Olsen at work–not as a bumbling cub reporter but as a competent video reporter working as part of a street team. We’re also introduced to new characters that will presumably be a regular part of the supporting cast.

When an alien fire-entity explodes onto the scene, it’s clearly a job for Superman. While the battle unfolds, we learn further detail about Superman–his powers are continuing to grow/develop, and no one knows for sure what can really hurt him…and there’s still a certain amount of distrust…or at least, willingness to believe that he doesn’t care about the very people he’s trying to protect. After the battle, we see the aftermath in the people involved, as we’re introduced to the current status quo of the Lois/Clark relationship.

I love the art on this issue. I don’t recall specifically enjoying Merino‘s art like this before, but in this issue, it feels like he was born to do this. I just paged through the issue again, and I can’t find a panel to dislike. The characters–if looking a bit young, but I knew they’d be, going in–all look recognizeable, and just simply…are. This is Superman–and I actually really enjoy this new costume–it just works, to the point that the ads in the issue showing the classic costume actually look dated. I hadn’t realized how much I like this costume until now.

Story-wise, Perez presents a new Superman with plenty of echoes of the classic. Though this Morgan Edge reminds me of Samuel Jackson‘s Nick Fury from Marvel…this works, too. The character seems to be what he is, or for longtime readers familiar with the name–there’s an extra layer to consider. The opening–the history of the Planet, its being swept away in favor of the new, and even some of Edge’s early comments in the issue–felt like a direct parellel to this entire new DCU thing…which adds levels of depth in and of itself to the story.

Unlike most of the other DC issues I’ve read this month, this issue does what I expect of a #1. We’re introduced to the setting, the characters–main and supporting. We’re introduced to what’s recently happened and given some slight hints as to what may be coming. We get a seemingly arbitrary scene, but a classic-style “footnote” directing us to Stormwatch #1 for more detail (which reminded me that Stormwatch #1 had a footnote itself directing us to Superman #1) which sets up some official continuity between this and another DCU book. And–best of all–despite the huge threat, that seems to be an actual challenge to Superman, we’re not left on some to-be-continued, left dangling to have to buy another issue to find out the (obvious) “fate” of the “hero” (sorry if that’s a spoiler, Superman doesn’t die in this issue).

By the end of the issue, I actually CARE about the status quo. I’m interested more, really, in all the “regular” characters–old and new–than I am Superman himself…and yet, I’m not actually disinterested in this Superman. He’s different from the Superman I grew up on…and thankfully, he’s different from boring post-Infinite Crisis caricature of the last few years that saw me walk away from the character for most of the past couple years. I think I like this character, and this issue. In fact, this has got to be just about my favorite issue of the relaunch so far.

If you’ve never read Superman before…give this issue a chance. It’s well worth it. And if you find you don’t like what you’re introduced to…you’re out a single issue. Only $2.99. No $3.99 let-downs, and no to-be-continued. This is a great single-issue story, and I really think that THIS should have been the “flagship” title of the new DCU. As-is, it certainly lives up to its title…Superman.

Highly recommended!

Story: 9/10
Art: 9/10
Whole: 9.5/10

Filed under: DC, DC Universe, New 52, The, Superman, Superman | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

From the back of the bandwagon: My DC New 52 thoughts, Week #3

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Walt

BATMAN #1

batman001I rather like the various “new” gadgets Batman’s got here–especially the linkup to the Bat-computer in the cowl. I also liked the way this issue starts, with the words describing Gotham. Getting this info from Batman’s POV. I was also QUITE glad to see Dick and Tim along with Damian, and to find out that Yes, Tim was indeed a Robin, and is now Red Robin. I’m less thrilled with the direction the story took by issue’s end, as it reminds me just a bit too much of Frank Miller‘s Dark Knight Strikes Again. But as far as the bat-books so far go, I certainly enjoyed this one more than I did Detective Comics, and found this to–in its own way–be probably the most-accessible of the bat-books so far, offhand. I think I was always gonna get this, being one of the Old Titles: Action, Detective, Superman, Batman. I’m not convinced I’ll keep with this title long-term, though…but while I’m not blown away, I’m not entirely unimpressed. (7.5/10)

BLUE BEETLE #1

bluebeetle001This issue wasn’t part of my original plan. But I figured that I skipped on the debut of the last BB series, so might as well check this one out. I was somehow kind of surprised to find that this basically gives us a whole new origin for the character–but I actually like that, I think. Reboot, relaunch, whatever the term–as the start of a new DCU, it makes sense to give the character a fresh start. If the old origin was kept, there’d be a LOT of explaining to do by way of Ted Kord and Infinite Crisis (and Booster Gold), so this steps free of those loose ends. I’m only tangentially aware of the animosity between the scarab and the Green Lanterns (there was that Sinestro Corps War tie-in in the last BB series, and at least one episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold). No real problem with the art…and the story’s decent. I haven’t quite decided for certain if I plan to keep up with this series–but it’s definitely worth checking out! (7/10)

CAPTAIN ATOM #1

captainatom001.jpegAnother issue I had not originally planned on checking out, but added last-second. Offhand, this is probably the stinker of the week for me–though I’d read this, I couldn’t even remember what happened in it. And paging back through it, I feel like I didn’t even read it to begin with, despite knowing I actually did. This is certainly not the Captain Atom that I’ve known for the last two decades. As far as restarts go, and as a debut issue, I’m not even slightly impressed. The art is very stylized, and not in a way that I particularly enjoy. I don’t like the new visual design for the character, either, though I don’t know if that blame lies wholly on the design itself or this particular stylized interpretation. The story really does not feel accessible–not only do I not know this character, we start out right away with his powers acting weird on him, which feels like it should be at LEAST a second arc, or something saved for later. I don’t know what CA’s powerset is to begin with, and so him not being able to control it or it changing on him means nothing. Not planning on coming back for #2. (4/10)

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1

greenlanterncorps001Though it’s been cool getting back into the GL books after a year and a half “off,” I’m not entirely thrilled with this one. And yet…this wasn’t horrible. I definitely enjoyed seeing Guy and John interacting, and the issue’s story did a good job of setting up both those characters, and that this ultimately involves the GL Corps as a whole, and is not limited to just the Earth-GLs. I especially enjoyed seeing Guy at the job interview; John’s interview scene was interesting as well. I never cared for either character until Rebirth and Sinestro Corps War…and I’ve found Guy’s development to be the most compelling, as I actually like reading the character now. The art for the issue isn’t really up my ally–it feels far too much like Gleason‘s style, which has always been my main turnoff to reading Green Lantern Corps. I’d intended to keep out of the GL corner of the New 52 and stick to the attempt of waiting for the collected volumes to read the stories, but the fresh/specific jumping-on point might just manage to suck me in for a brief time. (7.5/10)

NIGHTWING #1

nightwing001.jpegYet another title I hadn’t originally planned on picking up. But it’s Nightwing. And it’s #1. And despite being into comics at the time, I never did pick up either of the previous Nightwing #1s. Heck, other than the crossovers with the big Batman stories, I never really followed Nightwing, period. Unfortunately, I don’t know that that’s going to change all that much…but I think this has me hooked, at least for this first arc. The art’s good, which was quite enjoyable. And I like the idea of Dick revisiting Haley’s Circus, though I’m pretty sure this’s been done a few times before. At the least, I’m reminded a bit of Batman: Year 3, the final issue of which was my very first Batman comic, EVER. And just after that was the Lonely Place of Dying arc…both stories holding a key piece of my introduction to Dick Grayson as Nightwing, and all that. I think I’d’ve enjoyed this issue even without the new villain; and I am tired of seeing Dick getting so (physically) beat up all the time…seems he’s always getting these disastrous injuries, and yet keeps right on going…worse than Batman. I haven’t decided how I feel about swapping the blue for red in the costume…but given it’s been more than two years since seeing him in the previous costume, I don’t have any huge problem with this change. If anything, the blue maybe tied him more to Batman, while the red ties him more to Robin. I’ll be back for #2, though probably taking the series on an issue by issue basis. (8/10)

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