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

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by JD, Aug 30, 2011.

  1. shivkala

    shivkala Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'd reorder this list as

    1. DC One Million
    I feel that the story opened things up for the individual titles to really be imaginative. The actual mini-series is Grant Morrison at his best. He introduced some of his high-level concepts, but nothing too out-there. Also, there were so many great moments from the "lesser"-JLA members and some non-members. Nightwing answering Oracle with a crack about his "Batman voice," Ray Palmer & Barbara Gordon playful flirting, Steel's "S-shield comment," Kyle's "feat," and Batman chalking things up to a learning experience, the perfect ending for Vandal Savage, and "Duty roster's on the fridge."

    2. 52
    A great story that made some major changes and introduced a lot of great concepts to the DCU. While World War III kind of diminishes it a little, overall, it was great.

    3. Final Crisis
    Okay, I admit it, I love Grant Morrison. While always menacing, Darkseid reborn in Dan Turpin (though I miss "Terrible Turpin," I have to say, it was a great choice, given their history) was terrifying. Unfortunately, Morrison went too high concept with Superman Beyond (though Limbo was awesome) and its effect on the ending.

    4. Blackest Night
    Like some of Johns' work, I think it went on a tad too long. The delay between issues didn't help. Neither did the fact that you really needed to read the main mini-series, and both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, at the very least to follow the story (not an issue for me, since I already followed both, but a bit much for someone who only collected one or the other, or was interested in the miniseries).

    As for Crisis on Infinite Earths, while I admire what it accomplished and the fact that it set the tone for the crossovers to follow, I think Marv Wolfman is a bit lacking as a writer. It kind of drags in parts and his dialogue leaves a lot to be desired. However, I am a bit biased after reading Scipio Garling's take down of CoiE.

    I would also rate Armageddon 2001 a bit higher, but that may be nostalgia. Detective Comics Annual #4 is one of my favorite Batman stories, ever.

    And, no love for Eclipso: The Darkness Within? The interesting thing about this crossover, to me, is that when it started, Guy was a Green Lantern, but he had his Sinestro ring when it ended. Not sure how they accounted for that, but it did lead to a great moment where Guy arrives with plasma from the sun itself to free Superman from being possessed by Eclipso. It's one of my favorites, again for nostalgia reasons, but it does have some weaknesses (the Justice League Europe and Flash annuals were barely coherent stories, despite the latter being one of the first Flash comics by Mark Waid). Also, they were inconsistent about those who were possessed. In some comics, Eclipso took over as soon as they were possessed, in others, the possessed had to seek vengeance on whatever made them angry while holding the black diamond.
     
  2. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    I haven't read Legends in at least a decade but I remember it being terrible... Darkseid's evil master plan to conquer the Earth is... bad publicity?

    And I don't see why 52 is being counted as a crossover. It was a self-contained weekly series that didn't have tie-ins outside of WWIII. It didn't interact with the monthly titles. At least the abysmal Countdown constantly tied in to the monthlies....
     
  3. theenglish

    theenglish Vice Admiral Admiral

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    And it was complete ignored the week after the series ended.

    Oh, and Forever Evil would have been a great Justice League story if editorial didn't try to change it into a line-wide crossover. If it had been relatively self-contained like Snyder's Batman stories or JL: Throne of Atlantis then it would be much more highly regarded. Instead, I keep thinking that Aquaman is still in a coma and some imposter is running around the rest of the DCU.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2015
  4. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    what's JL Throne of Evil?
     
  5. Saga

    Saga Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    well, at least no one mentioned Genesis...
     
  6. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's also precisely the reason that Countdown sucked too. It was entirely a book run by editorial and based on their whim to connect all the crossovers (such as Death of New Gods, Amazons Attack or Return of Ra's Al-Ghul, or Salvation Run) to boost sales with little regard for the actual book's creative direction and seeing how it pretty much did nothing for sales, it can qualified as an unmitigated disaster and likely was one of the reasons for Carlin's departure from DC.
     
  7. theenglish

    theenglish Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Fixed--thanks.
     
  8. shivkala

    shivkala Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I thought we all agreed never to speak of it again! Countdown was bad in a "so bad it's good" kind of way. Genesis was just pure bad.
     
  9. Savage Dragon

    Savage Dragon Not really all that savage Moderator

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    Just finished reading Superman #38. The new power Superman discovered is pretty neat and is a logical extension of his current abilities. There's also a huge reveal on the last page. The new costume doesn't look very different. Aside from the tweak to the belt and the boots I didn't notice much change.

    Edited to add: It looks like they cut back on all the seams and lines on the suit too.
     
  10. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Belt, boots, and hand cloves seem to be the major tweaks.
     
  11. theenglish

    theenglish Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm sure that DC artists are probably cursing a lot of those lines and seams on the various nu52 costumes. I do like the depth that a lot of chest insignia's get though.
     
  12. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Yes...it was reported I believe by BC that John Jr hated the seams on the costume and that they drove him crazy while drawing them.
     
  13. Doctorwhovian

    Doctorwhovian Fleet Captain

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  14. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I'm also wondering then if this means the continuity going forward could/will also sort of reincorporate some of the pre-nu52 continuity?
     
  15. Icemizer

    Icemizer Commodore Commodore

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    Well after reading the list of titles I am in for a solid 26 titles a month with a possible 10 to 12 additional after I see what the look like. No interest in Batmite, Bizarro or Cyborg. Prez is a dumb sounding title as is Mystic U. Doomed and Dark Universe? I just dont know.
     
  16. Hartzilla2007

    Hartzilla2007 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Which one?

    Because near as I can tell this theory is usually based on Convergence having the pre-nu52 continuity, and not noticing that Convergence will have every continuity from before every reboot.
     
  17. Doctorwhovian

    Doctorwhovian Fleet Captain

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    DC's continuity is kind of weird (Then again, that could be said of all superhero comics :). It seems that almost every time it's done, Batman and Green Lantern more or less remain the same with a few changes to the time scale and origins, while other titles such as Superman and Wonder Woman seem to be completely revamped. Even then, stuff from earlier continuity makes it's way into current stuff-such as Superman's dog Krypto and the Kara version of Supergirl.

    I'm not as big a fan of DC as I am of Marvel, so I apologize if that's not quite right...
     
  18. Saga

    Saga Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    what DC is really saying: we've already screwed up our brand new universe. write whatever the hell you want!
     
  19. Captain Craig

    Captain Craig Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I don't have a particular one in mind. It's like once we got the nu52 it was evident what they pick and chose to make relevant and what they left out, they left out. I was thinking it may be one of those things where it takes 7-9 issues into this launch that we start suspecting/confirming that 'x' is once again continuity.

    I notice Justice League Dark is cancelled. I've seen speculation on FB that perhaps Dark Universe is a rebranding of that title.

    Bat-Mite, I give it 8/9 issues.

    Martian Manhunter I'm curious about. I loved the 90's series by Ostrander so curious where this title might go, need more details.
     
  20. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I know that seems to be what you desperately want to believe, but it seems clearly this streamlining and revamping is due to the Burbank move and the restructuring of the editorial offices. If you look at the the books who maintained their writing teams, the Batbooks come out on top (due to mainly the fact they have retained most of the editors) while the books who have lost editors seem to be the ones undergoing major creative team shifts.