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

[Hound of UIster]

Read Animal Man and Swamp Thing #9 over the weekend.

Animal Man #9 - Has buddy traveling inside the Rot with The Shepherd(think ferryman from Greek myth) to try and locate the Totems. He needs to talk to them about his daughter Maxine. Meanwhile back on Earth his family is trying to stay ahead of the Rot's army chasing them. This is where John Constantine shows up to help out. A better issue than the last few at least.

Swamp Thing #9 - this series stays on it's high paces. Abigail is back to human form but I suspect will likely continue to have ties to the Rot. The last page teasing the return of Anton Arcane is the big news.

I think it's pretty clear Abby is going to be the new Black Orchid in Justice League Dark since she is not back to normal and they mentioned that Alec freed her via orchid seeds.

 

[Captain Craig]

Ah, I'm only familiar with Black Orchid in name only.
So that's where they are going? I guess I should read up on Black Orchid then.

 

[Mike Farley]

And now suddenly DC's recent re-release of a hardcover of Neil Gaiman's Black Orchid mini makes sense.

 

[Captain Craig]

I did a quick perusal of the wiki entry for Black Orchid. Since Abby is going to be her own thing as Black Orchid I should probably not read the Gaiman material so as to not be muddled.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Actually, she talks about her tits hanging out in those Geoff Johns minnies from a couple years back.

She claims that they distract people with guns from aiming well or quickly.

Her tits save lives.

She's bullet proof.And she's fast enough to catch bullets out of the air. She does not need to distract people with guns.

Since neither character exists in the real world those examples would only happen if the writers wanted them to happen. Might as well be talking about Batman's cape getting tangled or pulling Green Arrow's hood over his eyes.

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ That thing is pretty funny.

 

[Snaploud]

Action Comics #9: Wow. That's probably one of the worst comics I've ever read. I'm a big Obama supporter, but even I was practically gagging by the end.

 

[Hound of UIster]

A black Superman as president doesn't automatically mean he is Obama. And if that is all you took away from the story, you seem to have been overly fixated on only that element.

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's called "ricochet".

Someone unloads a couple clips into Power Girl.

Unless she catches all those bullets, just one of them could wind up in the head of a child.

I think if (paux)kryptonian flight is about telepathically controlling gravitons (Something Byrne said in the 80s) or the control of weak forcefields... I think that the real problem with huge boobs is that it's not wind sheer pushing her boobies backwards but what every force is pushing 'every cell in her body" forward though the air during flight that is also pushing her boobies forward too, is pushing her boobies more forward ahead of even her face.

 

[Snaploud]

A black Superman as president doesn't automatically mean he is Obama.

The only way they could have been more blatant is by changing the S symbol to a big "O."

And if that is all you took away from the story, you seem to have been overly fixated on only that element.

It didn't get really terrible until the end where all the supposedly powerful people decide to give President Dreamie a chance to talk to Iran...given that he's basically solved all their other problems and has sky-high approval ratings.

 

[Derishton]

I thought the powerful people were his cabinet? I thought Action 9 was good, although an entire universe (not just Earth) where the key difference is melanin distribution is a little weird.

 

[hyzmarca]

It's called "ricochet".

Someone unloads a couple clips into Power Girl.

Unless she catches all those bullets, just one of them could wind up in the head of a child.

And she can. Kyroptians rival the Flash in terms of speed. Catching every bullet out of the air is a trivial feat for her. Disarming any non-speedster enemy before he fires is a trivial feat for her.

 

[Hound of UIster]

The only way they could have been more blatant is by changing the S symbol to a big "O."

There was already a black Superman pre-Crisis. The only difference is he is also the president, which we have had several variations.

It didn't get really terrible until the end where all the supposedly powerful people decide to give President Dreamie a chance to talk to Iran...given that he's basically solved all their other problems and has sky-high approval ratings.

Holy cow, you do realize the "end" part was 1) a different story altogether and not continuation of the first and 2) those powerful people were his National Security Team.

I thought the powerful people were his cabinet? I thought Action 9 was good, although an entire universe (not just Earth) where the key difference is melanin distribution is a little weird.

Not really you have a universe like the anti-matter universe where evil will always triumph. This is along the same lines, but with a different parameter.

 

[Derishton]

I don't know. Matter and anti-matter feels like physics or meta-physics, especially when it becomes linked to good/evil. Race is largely a social construction outside of a few physical features, but Earth-23 actually makes a case that race is essentialist because it can be "reversed". I can see why people think this is an Obama thing, since it has a sharp social point to make - especially in this latest iteration, Earth-23 is allegorical. That's part of what I paradoxically liked about Action 9, I suppose.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

PowerGirl's old outfit was less stupid-looking than her new one, period. Who cares if her tits hung out?

I mean, other than caring in a good way?

I kind of hoped Huntress and PowerGirl were going back to their own Earth. They're kind of redundant characters here, but they'd be interesting in their original setting.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Didn't care much for the "Hellspont" issues of Superman, though I somewhat enjoy the portrayal of Clark and his difficulty dealing with the people in his life. I like that his cluelessness seems less of a pose and more a part of his actual personality - can't be all that easy living two lives; he gets distracted and confused.

Supposedly Lobdell is replacing Jurgens/Giffen, which probably is a good thing.

 

[Hound of UIster]

There has been like 11 writers for the 2 Superman books just in the past 3 years. There is a dysfunction at the editorial level that needs to be fixed here.

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's not the 70s.

Writers/artists don't just write their stories around the trade, but they're hired for the trade. you don't think they sign up for 6 month contracts with an option to renew?

I wouldn't be surprised if the editors have a colour coded huge list of all the 6 month blocks writers and artists have agreed, or been forced into on all the available titles for the next three years...

Holy shit.

Editors trade and hustle over creative teams like they were baseball cards or slaves.

Like an open meat market or a discerning eye in a brothel.

You know who I blame for this?

Claefuckingmont.

Stupid fuck would not leave uncanny.

22 years and change.

 

[Snaploud]

The only way they could have been more blatant is by changing the S symbol to a big "O."

There was already a black Superman pre-Crisis. The only difference is he is also the president, which we have had several variations.

I'm more referring to the several references to President Dreamie solving all of Obama's current/recent problems (budget crises, Libya, Iran/Qurac) with a State Department representative who looks like a dead ringer for Hillary Clinton. Regardless, we'll just have to agree to disagree regarding how blatant it was...

It didn't get really terrible until the end where all the supposedly powerful people decide to give President Dreamie a chance to talk to Iran...given that he's basically solved all their other problems and has sky-high approval ratings.

Holy cow, you do realize the "end" part was 1) a different story altogether and not continuation of the first and 2) those powerful people were his National Security Team.

You're playing semantics. 1) I was talking about Action Comics #9 as a whole, and both story-lines involved the same character. The "end" referred to the end of the book. 2) I referred to them as supposedly powerful people because their roles were only hinted at (a member of the CIA, a general, and a white house spokesman). Call them whatever you want, but the back and forth over giving the president a "chance" to talk to Qurac/Iran had me rolling my eyes.

 

[Derishton]

Debating the president's course of action (ha) would be their jobs, though.

Tomorrow:

DC Universe Presents 9 (Vandal Savage, and hopefully some clues that Scandal is still or around or is Kass); Wonder Woman 9; Justice League 9 (I liked the last issue, although apparently I'm alone in this); Red Hood and the Outlaws 9; Frankenstein 8.

Apparently I have my weeks messed up. Tomorrow: Frankenstein 8 and 9; Demon Knights 9.