DC's New 52: Reviews and Discussion (Spoilers welcolme and likely)

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah Action Comics takes place before Justice League does...and it's not six months that Clark has debuted but "several months" IIRC. Morrison has stated that at this point Clark hasn't uncovered his Kryptonian heritage yet so he doesn't know where his powers come from or where he is from. Martha and Jonathan are dead but we don't know for how long at this point. He also stated at SDCC that the Legion of Superheroes will be touched on in some way (he wouldn't say how) and that Jor-El and Lara would make an appearance in issue three.

I didn't think Clark was being a dick or arrogant at all. He's just very naive and idealistic as well as direct. He isn't at the point in his career where he thinks about the consequences of his actions. Morrison is very much playing on the word "Action" in this book.

[Nowhere Man]

ncc71877 wrote:

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I think Action takes place '6 months' before JL. I remembering reading, and I can't recall where I read it, that Action's first arc also tells the story of how Superman gets his suit. So, the thing in space has to be Kryptonian, right? I guess Supes has been in action for six years then.

ncc71877

At the end of JL they give character details to the big 5 (so far )and it reads something like," See how Superman gets his new suit in Action Comics bla, bla, bla."

[Allyn Gibson]

Batgirl.

I wasn't wowed by it. For a Batgirl book, it was surprisingly grim with a high body count. (Two people get murdered, and two more people are almost murdered. In the span of twenty pages, no less.) Gail Simone's writing was merely average, and it suffered from the Eric Saward problem (in his Doctor Who scripts, he had a tendency to introduce major characters and then never ever name them -- for instance, I don't think we ever learn the name of Barbara's roomie in Batgirl #1).

In a lot of ways, I think this was the book of the New 52 that had the most to prove -- it had to follow the Bryan Q. Miller run (which I loved), and it had to justify undoing twenty-plus years of the Barbara Gordon status quo. And it doesn't do either. Miller's Batgirl was the "fun" Bat-book, and there's no fun here. (Maybe Barbara meeting her roomie, but that has the Saward problem. Also, it doesn't make much sense if Barbara had a life as Oracle; whatever happened to her base of operations?) And as for the past, it's all glossed over. (There's a one page flashback to The Killing Joke and its important detail insofar as Barbara is concerned; otherwise, it's limited to a line of dialogue that goes, basically, "And then a miracle happened.")

For a book like this, the best thing to do would be to start in the middle of the action (which it does) and establish a tone (which it also does), so in that sense Batgirl #1 works. It when you think about it in the larger context that it falls down.

Based on the first issue, I don't know what this book wants to be. If it's going to be a somewhat grim comic about a redheaded female Bat in Gotham, I don't see why this Batgirl needs to exist -- Batwoman fills the same niche and is bound to be the better written and more artistically interesting book. But I should be fair -- I didn't like Miller's Batgirl off the bat, either; it took until about issue #3 for its tone and premise to establish themselves and for me to really "get" the book.

If you have no connection to the previous Batgirls, if you've only ever known Barbara Gordon as Batgirl (thanks to Adam West reruns or the Batman animated series), this book is probably fine, if a little dark.

[Derishton]

Allyn Gibson wrote:

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Batgirl.

In a lot of ways, I think this was the book of the New 52 that had the most to prove -- it had to follow the Bryan Q. Miller run (which I loved), and it had to justify undoing twenty-plus years of the Barbara Gordon status quo. And it doesn't do either. Miller's Batgirl was the "fun" Bat-book, and there's no fun here.

I'll probably pick up Batgirl after the pricedrop, on the strength of Simone's other work. I think you're right that Batwoman will very likely be better, but I suspect that won't be Simone's fault. |for the reasons you suggest above, Batgirl has too much working against it and no real reason to exist beyond "that's how it was in the Silver Age."

Of all the new 52, only Flash comes close to the status of pure nostalgia without anything else compelling - and even Flash has jettisoned almost eferything that made Barry Allen interesting in the Silver Age (and there was precious little of that to begin with - he had nephew with the same powers and was in a stable relationship).

[A beaker full of death]

Hilbilly Rage wrote:

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I remember them bieng lika $1.50 or something.

What, they're more than that now?
That's obscene. In my day they were 25 cents.

[Nerys Myk]

A beaker full of death wrote:

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What, they're more than that now?
That's obscene. In my day they were 25 cents.

12 cents, baby.

[Misfit Toy]

If you want a laugh, page through Hawk & Dove. Liefeld's work is dreadful. Worse than usual, IMO. You'd think that he would put forth his best effort on this, but wow, he really doesn't.

[Captain Craig]

^^^
Over at the DC boards I was honestly surprised to see a handful of people say that liked the artwork.
My guess is they haven't really seen Liefeld and it's "newness" to them was more oddity than like. Their posts counts indicate they aren't comic newbies nor the way the spoke of comics.

It's the same dreadful artwork he's been doing for 20 yrs.

[Admiral_Young]

@Allyn I too was surprised at how dark Batgirl #1 is but Gail Simone this book is going to be different than any other Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. It is going to be exploring mature issues and Babs making critical mistakes. She hasn't been Batgirl in a very long time and is rusty. So we'll be seeing her make mistakes, second guess herself, and genuinely go on a journey of self rediscovery. I thought it was okay. It's not Simone's best writing but we have a long way to go yet.

Previews for "Superboy" and "Legion Lost" both books are more interesting than I originally gave them credit for, especially "Superboy".

[Nerys Myk]

Misfit Toy wrote:

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If you want a laugh, page through Hawk & Dove. Liefeld's work is dreadful. Worse than usual, IMO. You'd think that he would put forth his best effort on this, but wow, he really doesn't.

I couldn't even read it the art work was so bad. And I usually like Sterling Gates work.

[Trekker4747]

Well, I've bought Action Comics #1 and subscribed to the rest of the AC line to follow what this new Superman is going to become.

Here's hoping for the best.

:worried smile with fingers crossed:

Ah, Liefeld. The man of pointy, tip-toed tiny feet, tapered pointy fingers and pouches. Pouches everywhere!

[theenglish]

Nerys Myk wrote:

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12 cents, baby.

My first comic was an issue of Iron Fist that was STILL ONLY 15 CENTS!

[Professor Zoom]

ncc71877 wrote:

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I think Action takes place '6 months' before JL. I remembering reading, and I can't recall where I read it, that Action's first arc also tells the story of how Superman gets his suit. So, the thing in space has to be Kryptonian, right? I guess Supes has been in action for six years then.

ncc71877

See that's what annoys me. It's not clear in the book. You have to read "somewhere" at what point these books are taking place.

Would it have been that hard to put a little addition to the location. "Metropolis, 6 years ago."

Or whatever. Rather than having to piece it together from outside interviews and internet boards, put it in the fucking book.

[Nerys Myk]

I really liked Action Comics #1. Good stuff. As someone said, the Golden Age Superman is back. Especially with Kent working for Mr. Taylor at the Daily Planets rival paper.

Green Arrow #1 was another good one. I like this take on GA, has a n Iron Man feel to it.

JLI #1 was okay. Took a while to get rolling because they had to set it up and introduce several characters.

Stormwatch #1. Not all that familar with the Wildstorm characters but it was a good start. Be interesting to see how it ties in with Cornell's Demon Knights. I like J'onns new look. The head reminds me of Dr Lazarus from Galaxy Quest.

Static Shock #1. Again not a character I'm familar with, but a solid effort.

Hawk and Dove #1. Pretty much unreadable.

[A beaker full of death]

Misfit Toy wrote:

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If you want a laugh, page through Hawk & Dove. Liefeld's work is dreadful.

Oh dear God, is he still getting work?? Why? How? All those Kubert graduates are spinning in their graves.