1930 replies to this topic

[Rollerball]

Ha. Grant Morrison... straight edge. It's not a catch all term for people who don't drink, smoke or do drugs y'know?

[SDAusmus]

Morrison has used the term to refer to himself until his early 30's at which point he decided to get deeply into psychedelics, which corresponds with his 90's work like Flex Mentallo and The Invisibles. By 2000, he had stopped all that and morphed into "corporate cool" Grant, working to revitalize the X-Men, excavate the Seven Soldiers characters from obscurity, and tell his definitive Superman story.

[Rollerball]

I forgot you can turn it on and off when you want...

[Kronos]

It occurs to me that if Clark and Hal are the same asshole and idiot in their own titles that they are in JL #1, I might not want to read them. I have faith in Morrison, so Action is a definite buy, especially with Morales artwork (maybe I should get it instead of Batgirl today?).

I don't mind Bruce, because his character is the only one of the three that felt right, so the Batman books are no question for me.

[The Unholy Dragon]

So um, Action Comics is absolutely fucking awesome and a must buy.

Pretty much everything else from DC this week was at least 'good' as well.

Animal Man is pretty much what you'd hope for from an Animal Man series, with Lemire really grasping the family aspects while also throwing a little conflict in there and building toward a big villain down the line. Probably as much a horror book as a superhero book too, which is cool. I can't help but think that this and Stormwatch will be hugely important books as relates to the new 52 mystery as well.

Detective shocked me by being really, really good. I don't think Daniel has ever written this strongly or confidently, and it's not his usual high action style artistically either. I had middling to low expectations here, but the book really blew me away, honestly.

Batgirl was fun. It wasn't great and it definitely feels like Simone is struggling to find Babs voice as Batgirl, but Simone at her worst is better'n a lot of creators at their best. The villains of the week were right out of Funny Games or the Strangers, with that creepy home invasion and murder just because motif, and the bigger villain is also a really great concept. The ending is a little overplayed but a GREAT hook. One of the better books.

Batwing was pretty darn solid too. They did a lot to establish him as a person, and very much one Batman would trust and work with. It's funny, because he's not just Batman. He's also Gordon, a totally clean cop in a wholly corrupt system. The issue does a great job building Batwing's world and punctuates it with an ending that's totally shocking and effective. Might be Winnick's best work in years.

Green Arrow...man, they just said 'fuck Oliver Queen' here and totally revamped the character to be more like Smallville Ollie...kind of halfway between Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark. It's weird because while it creates an interesting character in his own right, I can't help but think of how much less interesting and unique he is than the previous incarnation. He just feels like this derivative knockoff of a couple better characters whereas Ollie was one of the most complex and interesting characters DC had to offer. On its own merits, the book isn't bad, but it's a shame they retconned one of their best characters into The Web v2.

Hawk and Dove is fun, and really delves into the characters while still balancing a fun superhero book. They're also keeping the Dove/Deadman thing going, which was surprising/awesome.

JLI was a lot of fun. Putting Booster in as leader is a great hook, and the fact that Batman supports him (repeatedly) throughout the issue makes it that much more effective. There's a lot to like here, with great dialogue and fun action stuff down the pike. But it's the Booster/Batman stuff that makes it work. Fun book.

Men of War is wartime Gotham Central. It's all about what it means to be a soldier in a world full of supermen. The writing keeps things tightly focused around Sgt. Rock's grandson who seems determined to avoid living up to his namesake, even as he proves himself to be one of the best in the field. He gets deployed with a special group on a mission that goes tits up when they end up getting hit by someone with Superman level powers. It's really, really great with fantastic character work and a strong hook. Those who miss Gotham Central should give it a look. Oh, and it's got a really solid backup as well.

OMAC was honestly a fun little tribute to Kirby. It's nowhere near as good as Kirby, but the close styling of it makes for a fun read. I had low, low expectations for this going in, and while it's not as brilliant as Action or as smartly written as Men of War, it might be the most pure fun of the DCnU so far.

Static Shock was pretty good too. Good superhero action with a fun hook. Kind of reads like Spiderman if Peter Parker were sponsored by Tony Stark (Static is a science whiz who works for STAR Labs under Hardware). The writing is by John Rozum, fresh off the excellent Xombi, so it's well written and Scott McDaniel's art looks better and cleaner than it has in years. Another really fun book.

Stormwatch is terrific. Martian Manhunter still has the Justice League connections and the whole thing circles around half the team trying to recruit Apollo while half the team deals with the moon being possessed by an entity which uses destruction to prepare worlds for 'their' coming. Seems like this is going to be an essential book to the greater DCnU saga. Oh, and when Midnighter shows up, it's totally awesome. Very much the kind of cutting edge, crazy sci-fi superhero-ish book that Stormwatch/The Authority were known for being.

Swamp Thing is really, really great. It picks up post-Search with Alec still being human and trying to avoid anything related to his afterlife as Swamp Thing. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoiling it, but if this can maintain this level of quality, I expect it to be spoken of in the same light as great Swamp Thing runs past. Fantastic book.

[Eivion Thanotos]

Read Batwing and Static Shock.

The science talk in Static is a bit much for me as it becomes slightly jumbled in my head (probably just reading too fast). Decent enough intro though nothing great. Would have been a little nice to get more of a look at Virgil's normal life, but what was shown works for now. Still it has me interested enough to continue.

Batwing starts off with a halfway into a fight between our protagonist, David, and the villain for the first arc, Massacre. Then it goes back six weeks at the start of the current case. We see Batman helping out on the case. We introduce some of David's cast. And we see a little of David's hope in reforming the police, focusing on one particular officer he seemingly believes he can push to become better. The ending of the book is pretty decent, but negated a bit by beginning. Still this was a pretty solid read all in all. Definitely pleased with this one so far.

[The Natural]

Thanks for these reviews. I won't have a chance to read them so it's nice to read what others think about them. Does Batgirl deal well with the spoilers Brian posted?

[The Unholy Dragon]

That the Killing Joke still happened and whatnot?

It pretty much says "Was shot here, paralyzed for three years, now at the end of a slow and arduous recovery."

The book starts with her first foray back into superheroics. And there's a great bit at the end, where...

Spoiler

The villain points a gun at her, toward the same area she was shot in and she freezes, allowing him to murder a dude.

It ends up being kind of overplayed, but still a cool moment.

[odessasteps]

I tried to skim Batgirl at the LCS but it was dense and hard to quickly read. I see Babs talking with someone and there was a wheelchair present. That's when I put it back.

I couldn't even bring myself to skim the rest staring me in the face.

[Kronos]

Batgirl #1 is great.

Funny and dark and full of great dialogue and character moments. The whole issue of her spinal injury is handled really well, under the circumstances. I liked the final scene. Also, I thought  for a second that the lady cop was Renee Montoya, which would have been cool.

Gail saves me for the NuDC, as Justice League #1 just about put me off for good.

[The Unholy Dragon]

So for anyone either on the fence or outright uninterested in Detective Comics, I present this to potentially change your mind:

http://www.bleedingc...ctive-comics-1/

Because honestly, it was a huge shock to me that it was REALLY fucking good. Which is to say, I'm not a huge fan of Tony Daniel on the character generally but he KILLED IT here.

[Hoardak]

The Unholy Dragon, on Sep 7 2011, 03:55 PM, said:

So for anyone either on the fence or outright uninterested in Detective Comics, I present this to potentially change your mind:

http://www.bleedingc...ctive-comics-1/

Because honestly, it was a huge shock to me that it was REALLY fucking good. Which is to say, I'm not a huge fan of Tony Daniel on the character generally but he KILLED IT here.

It was a jump the shark moment for me, personally.

Spoiler

I'm assuming this is meant to move away from the "bleached skin" concept and move Joker closer to Heath Ledger version of a guy who wears white makeup

[Brian Fowler]

'Tec was way, way better than I expected, I'll give it that.

Action Comics.  It was Grant Morrison and Rags Morales, which guaranteed a high quality book.  Still not sold on this direction for Superman in even the slightest little bit, but that aside, taken by itself, damn good comic book.

Stormwatch was pretty solid, and did nothing to change my expectation that it could be the breakout classic from this line.  

Haven't read anything else yet.

[davidb]

Pretty much enjoyed the stuff I'd grabbed, but I'm still not sold on the "new" Superman angle either.  Still, it was what it was.  Probably enjoyed Hawk & Dove and Animal Man the best.

And the DCnU seems to be working.  My LCS didn't order super-heavy on the new #1s, and they've been fielding calls all week looking for Justice League.  They said yesterday that the only #1 that would make it to the racks after pulling all the pre-orders was OMAC.

[SolidGoldBomb]

Brian Fowler, on Sep 8 2011, 06:23 AM, said:

'Tec was way, way better than I expected, I'll give it that.

Action Comics.  It was Grant Morrison and Rags Morales, which guaranteed a high quality book.  Still not sold on this direction for Superman in even the slightest little bit, but that aside, taken by itself, damn good comic book.

Stormwatch was pretty solid, and did nothing to change my expectation that it could be the breakout classic from this line.  

Haven't read anything else yet.

Tec was good, but reminded me a LOT of Year One, Daniel seemed to be aping that style on everything from his Mazzuchelli-styled art to the Miller-esque internal dialogue.  Other than that I thought it was a great Year One homage up until the ending actually, where I have to agree with my favorite supercomputer HARDAC, who said it kinda jumped the shark there.

[blitzkrieg]

Yesterday I think I realized that I simply have no interest in reading Batman and Joker stories anymore. I feel that the dynamic just doesn't change at all. At this point I just kinda wish DC would have the balls to kill The Joker off.

[The Natural]

The Unholy Dragon, on Sep 7 2011, 07:33 PM, said:

That the Killing Joke still happened and whatnot?

It pretty much says "Was shot here, paralyzed for three years, now at the end of a slow and arduous recovery."

The book starts with her first foray back into superheroics. And there's a great bit at the end, where...

Spoiler

The villain points a gun at her, toward the same area she was shot in and she freezes, allowing him to murder a dude.

It ends up being kind of overplayed, but still a cool moment.

Thanks.

The Unholy Dragon, on Sep 7 2011, 08:55 PM, said:

So for anyone either on the fence or outright uninterested in Detective Comics, I present this to potentially change your mind:

http://www.bleedingc...ctive-comics-1/

Because honestly, it was a huge shock to me that it was REALLY fucking good. Which is to say, I'm not a huge fan of Tony Daniel on the character generally but he KILLED IT here.

Not sure what to make of that, it's...something.

blitzkrieg, on Sep 8 2011, 02:37 PM, said:

Yesterday I think I realized that I simply have no interest in reading Batman and Joker stories anymore. I feel that the dynamic just doesn't change at all. At this point I just kinda wish DC would have the balls to kill The Joker off.

The Joker should never be killed off. The Joker's the greatest super villain of all time and a world wouldn't seem right without Batman going up against his greatest nemesis.

[Hoardak]

It wouldn't hurt to do a five or seven year moratorium on any Joker stories.  He has been overused to the point of absurdity the last few years, to the point where Morrison had to have him slice his tongue in half to get any type of shock value.

I'd like to maybe see Mighty Lord Deathman head up the Rogues gallery until 2017 or something, than bring back The Joker.

[blitzkrieg]

The Natural, on Sep 8 2011, 10:58 AM, said:

blitzkrieg, on Sep 8 2011, 02:37 PM, said:

Yesterday I think I realized that I simply have no interest in reading Batman and Joker stories anymore. I feel that the dynamic just doesn't change at all. At this point I just kinda wish DC would have the balls to kill The Joker off.

The Joker should never be killed off. The Joker's the greatest super villain of all time and a world wouldn't seem right without Batman going up against his greatest nemesis.

I feel the Joker's M.O. prevents actual character growth. I feel that since the Joker stopped being a joke, no pun intended, he's been basically put in a rut that allows the character to neither move forward nor backward. Plus I think the character has just been written as having done too many bad things to keep him around. I don't know how you can write Batman saying that he has to capture The Joker or there will be more blood on his hands when there's no way that he doesn't know that by the Joker simply living that someone else is going die.

So if it was up to me I'd kill him off and as long as I was in charge I'd keep him dead. It's comic books so it's not like he'd be dead for good or that someone wouldn't make a new Joker but for a while he'd be gone.

[The Unholy Dragon]

http://www.bleedingc...-action-comics/

Ahahahaha.

A lot of people are on this guy for boycotting a book based on religious beliefs. I'm more amused by him stocking Crossed with those same beliefs.

Oh, and I'm totally disgusted by his whole "I'm lenient because I've tolerated comics with THE GAYS!" attitude. But yeah.

Weirdest point for the first bit of controversy to jump from.