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Now. Here. Man.
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Okay, so I read Week Four's comics to round out the New 52:
All-Star Western:
I love Jonah Hex. Even though the comic isn't even set in the West and therefore kind of subverts its own title right off the bat, Hex never ceases to entertain. The story was pretty cool, Jonah having to team up with Amadeus Arkham to take on sort of a pastiche of Jack the Ripper, which reminded me a lot of the old "Gotham By Gaslight" Elseworld story. Good times are had by all, except for those who get brutally murdered. I may never live this down, but.......Aquaman was my favorite book this week. It did a great job of showcasing him as an actually effective badass without making him a tool or a Namor ripoff, and hilariously poked fun at the common perception of him. Also, Anglerfish-people? Thanks, now one of my actual recurring nightmares has been committed to print. Whew, this one was a stinker. The artwork was sloppy, the story was clunky, and the whole thing just felt completely unnecessary. This was one Bat-book too many, and it shows. I actually kinda liked it. It had sort of a GI Joe feel to it, which I thought was fun, even if the organization is yet another to pile onto DC's overcrowded market for shady top-secret societies. At the very least, everyone on the team seems to like each other more or less, which is a refreshing change from every team being a giant never-ending pissing contest. Really fun comic. The artwork is perfectly suited for Flash, and while I see Barry and Iris have been separated by DC's apparent revulsion to the idea of couples being married, the character interaction works. Not a whole lot of action, but it does a nice job of setting everything in place for when it does start to pick up. I really, really could not get into this book. Maybe it's because it starts with yet another shady secret organization trying to chase down the superhero. Maybe it's because of the very-special-episode vibe I got when Raymond asks his mom "why don't we have any black friends?" Maybe it's because Firestorm has always looked fucking ridiculous and now there's two of them. Either way, I didn't care about this book before, during, or after reading it. On the plus side, Kyle Rayner finally gets his own book again. On the down side, it's really weak. Kyle's suddenly a ring-magnet, and apparently all the different Corps are out to get him. It's a decent enough concept, but overall the execution is just kind of meh. Plus, I know a lot of people like it, but I hate that mask they keep giving Kyle that makes him look like he doesn't have a nose. Very cool concept, very cool artwork, very cool book. I like the idea of vampires having to sort of scrape by in the shadows because the world's population of superheroes would just wipe the floor with them; it actually makes sense, as opposed to lots of vampire franchises where they stay hidden just because. I wasn't expecting much of anything out of this book, and was very pleasantly surprised by it. The DCnU seems to have an awful lot of these 'sleeper hit' comics, at least in month 1. I like the idea of having a division of the Justice League specifically devoted to occultism. Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about any of the members except for Zatanna and Constantine (and Deadman, but he isn't actually in the book yet). I do think they kind of missed the boat by not including a few more famous magic-powered heroes like Captain Marvel or Raven (not to say Zatanna isn't famous) or some really heavy-hitters like Phantom Stranger or Doctor Fate. It was interesting and crazy, but I don't think it was interesting enough to keep reading. Gotta agree with Lock Jaw, in that it really should have been Shadowpact. Okay, I didn't read this one. But I'll wager good money nobody else did either. I mean, c'mon, it's freaking Hawkman. My first impression was "Good God, that is a horrendous cover." I still hate Superman's stupid new armor look, and the shoddy cover art really doesn't do it any favors. Inside, the artwork is much better, fortunately, and I actually really like the potential the new status quo has: Perry and the Planet crew have to deal with the phasing-out of print in the digital age, Jimmy's got a sidekick of his own, Lois has to struggle balancing her journalistic integrity with the perks of working for Morgan Edge, etc. Clark didn't come off as particularly likeable, as he was either whiny or angry the whole time (On the great big list of Things Superman Should Never Ever Say, yelling out "Bull!" isn't quite up there with "I'm your worst nightmare," but it's in the top ten). Unfortunately, it's also really, really talky--nobody shuts the hell up, even while Superman's fighting a giant fire-monster. It gets from point A to point B, but it takes so goddamn long to get there that what could have been an excellent comic is merely a mediocre one. Again, more superheroes being chased by shady g-men types. Apparently Tim Drake (who at one point stops to fondly reminisce about when he was actually allowed to be part of the Batman franchise) is the only one of the Titans who was an actual sidekick, as neither Kid Flash or Wonder Girl is associated with their namesakes (which makes me wonder why the hell Kid Flash isn't Impulse). I wouldn't go so far as to call it a bad comic, but it's a very forgettable one. A bisexual stripper who dances and shows off her tits for men's enjoyment, but then is revealed to be a shape-changing man-eating monster from another planet, who can't be trusted because she'll eat you alive when your guard is down. Y'know....this speaks volumes about DC's attitude towards women. |