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

[Myasishchev]

I still love Manapul's art, but something is different this time around. The look is a little more gloomy whereas his earlier Flash run was brighter. I wonder how much of that was intentional versus the fact that Buccellato is coloring it this time around.

I also love how the title of the first issue of The Flash is "The Flash".

Could be worse: Ultimate Comics Ultimates.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Also picked up All-Star Western this week.

Aquaman > All-Star Western > I Vampire >>>> Teen Titans >>>> Blackhawks >> JLD

Firestorm and New Guardians turned out to be just as bad as I thought.

Biggest disappointment was Blackhawks. I was expecting so much more from Costa especially after his Cobra comic.

Aquaman and All-Star Western were easily the best. Johns was in top form in setting up the new status quo for Arthur and addressed what he wouldn't do with Aquaman. Hope he stays on a for along time for this book.

All-Star Western on the other hand is really a sudden departure for Hex. Instead of done-in-one stories set in the Wild West, it's now a multipart saga set in Gotham. Lots of nods to Gates of Gotham and also Arkham Asylum (Amadeus is Hex's Watson). I'm curious if the Court of Owls and the secrets of Gotham's past in Batman is going to connect with the stuff in ASW.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Is it just me or do the vast majority of the DC #1s have no story in them? It's like brief character introduction, tons of splash pages for no reason, introduce baddy at the very end for a cliffhanger.

Every book I've read has had a story - some simple, some more involved.

In fact, I think one of Superman #1's problems is a little bit of "pilot-itis."

Supergirl and Superboy are meant to introduce characters who as yet know nothing about their new worlds - it's all about their initial discovery of themselves.

Superman is about the whole new continuity of Supes and all the important parts of his world. Like a TV pilot, the story's job is (to use the cliche) to "show the viewer where the bathroom is."

Here's the city where Clark lives. Here's where Clark works. Here's how people see Clark, and how they see Superman. Here, in fact, is who Clark and Superman are right now. Here are all the important people in Clark's life, and here is how he relates to the most important one. And so on, etc.

It's all somewhat important for a new reader but, in the case of this character, perhaps even more important for us folks who already knew a different version of all of this.

As to Carroll's douche-atude - we don't know for sure that he's a bad guy at all; we know that he does come across as arrogant in his initial meeting with Clark. Well, hell, he's banging the drop-dead gorgeous Executive Veep of a huge media conglomerate, so maybe he's a little more self-impressed than he should be. And the very latest thing he's heard about Clark is probably that he's been very unpleasant to Lois today.

Also, though, there's a subtext - whatever Lois thinks, Jonathan immediately senses that Clark is a potential rival for her. Look at the three things he says as soon as the door is closed:

1. "He's a lot taller than I thought he'd be..." - Yep. Also bigger in the shoulders and better looking, no doubt. A lot more everything, in fact, than Lois has seemingly let on - and she apparently has talked about him. Which leads to...
2. "You and he ever...?" - He sure turned up at Lois's apartment pretty easily to mend fences, after all. So, is this a guy J.C.'s being compared to?
3. "Maybe he's pining for you." - Still looking for information, a reaction - anything. Jonathan, let it alone about the whole Lois & Clark thing, okay? It's all you talk about.
   
   
   
   

 

[Myasishchev]

Unless there was stuff other than in the preview I read, I still say Carroll comes off as a nice, pleasant man.

Which would actually be a good thing. If there's one thing I hate, it's the third act reveal of the antagonist suitor as a total prick. Exhibit Aleph: Run Fatboy Run. They spend all this time building Hank Azaria up as frankly a far better person than Simon Pegg, by any metric, and it's like they suddenly realize seventy minutes into the movie that he has to lose (for whatever reason, narrative convention I guess) and he starts acting like a dick for no reason.

I mean, if they needed to have Simon get the girl--you know, the girl he basely betrayed--it's not implausible that she simply chose him. People make mistakes all the time. Instead, they have to tear down Hank. It makes no one look better, and in fact only succeeds in making the female lead look worse, as being a poor judge of character, and Simon as someone who can only succeed against a abject villain.

This has nothing to do with Superman, does it?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Unless there was stuff other than in the preview I read, I still say Carroll comes off as a nice, pleasant man.

Yeah, I think people can easily read his few lines of dialogue in different ways. Probably the line that makes him seem a little braggadocio to some is his kind of possessive boasting about Lois's accomplishments and their celebration. Given the situation it's almost too much strutting - he's showing her off, to someone he's just met but who works with her, and who is he to do that?

Which would actually be a good thing. If there's one thing I hate, it's the third act reveal of the antagonist suitor as a total prick.

Absolutely agreed. For one thing, it makes Lois's eventual choice a foregone conclusion; the only reason she doesn't see yet that she's with the wrong guy is that she's naive or lacking some information. That is every pathologically shy would-be suitor's fantasy about the guy his object of affection adores, and in fiction it tends to be either bathetic or humorous (or both, ala Sandler's The Wedding Singer).

 

[Myasishchev]

I dunno, I thought it came off as justifiable pride. I mean, it's bragging I guess, but if you're gonna brag, doing so about your girlfriend's professional accomplishments is one of the classier ways to go about it.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I dunno, I thought it came off as justifiable pride. I mean, it's bragging I guess, but if you're gonna brag, doing so about your girlfriend's professional accomplishments is one of the classier ways to go about it.

Well, that's what I said - people can read it different ways.

You know, he could have left off the obvious "we're celebrating, nudge-nudge-wink-wink" - but actually, it's Perez who could have done that. We should probably chalk it up to an "He has thrown a car at me!" authorial moment.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Here's an annoying thing that happened to me. I went to the store today early to pick up a copy of Superman #1 and waited in my car until the store opened at 11. The minute it opened I went inside only to find out there were NO copies of that comic book! That was a big WTF moment for me, which is why I'm just going to buy the download later.

UPS doesn't come the instant the store opens.

.

Unless something has changed since I last worked in "entertainment retail" the books/videos/games/magazines usually arrive before the onsale date. Looks like the store underordered

The whole Johnathon Carroll scene reminded me of how Morgan Edge used to treat Clark in the 70's. It was very retro.

Perhaps you mean Steve Lombard? Edge treated Kent the way bosses always treat him.

He's still quite the disheveled, ink-stained wretch we saw in Action, BTW - unruly hair, Harry Potter glasses and occasional sweater. I like the look.

I was thinking Peter Parker, especially in that scene where Clark walks away from Lois's apartment.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

He's still quite the disheveled, ink-stained wretch we saw in Action, BTW - unruly hair, Harry Potter glasses and occasional sweater. I like the look.

I was thinking Peter Parker, especially in that scene where Clark walks away from Lois's apartment.

Yeah, that influence is pretty evident, here but particularly in his interaction with /A/u/n/t /M/a/y his landlady in Action #1.

As story telling it would be a lot more fun than the old status quo if Lois & Clark's relationship is never a sure and steady thing. Let them get together and get pissed off at each other and go off with others on the rebound etc. etc. and so forth...for, like, ever.

Because they're a couple, no matter what the pre-launch hype suggested. Supes will go with Wonder Woman at some point, yeah, and maybe Clark will even have another girlfriend - just like Lois has Jonathan right now.

 

[Trekker4747]

Superman #1:

This one I really liked, it seemed nicely packed with story or whatever though at one point it there were several different on page dialogues going on. We had the word balloons from the various characters in several different places, we had Superman's "thought boxes" and we had the "narrator's dialogue"/Clark's news-story text.

It seemed.... "Overly wordy" as I think others had said, but overall it seemed like a good story.

The Dark Knight #1:

I was a little less impressed with this one. Compared to Superman #1 it seems like "less happened" in this book as opposed to the Superman issue. The splash pages were also way over done. I can accept the one for the title reveal, but there were a couple of others that just looked silly. The first one sticking out in my mind is the one of a huge Batman standing over the SWAT team outside Arkham and then the last page of Batman looking at a very large, very veiny/muscular Two-Face. Just looked bizarre and like too much, Two-Face I don't see as a very huge muscular guy.

Both pretty good books, though. I may have to subscribe to TDK or at least make sure I pick up the issues when they hit the streets.

(And, yeah, the way Clark was shown in Action Comics #1 did seem very Peter Parker-ish with him living in the tenement as a poor young boy.)

 

[Admiral_Young]

I loved Aquamann #1...both the art and most of Johns' writing. It is frustrating when you can tell which characters he really cares about and those he doesn't by how he writes them.

Teen Titans #1 is rather interesting...the plot or theme of teenagers vs the establishment or adults that hate them reminds me of the "threeboot" Legion. The art was okay.

 

[Hound of UIster]

It really shows how much he loves Arthur as compared to Barry.

I was also really surprised by how restrained Johns was in cutting back on the gore. The review posted here made me think that there was going to be a bloodbath.

 

[Saga]

All Star Western #1 was good. even though its kind of Jonah Hex meets From Hell its still a good comic.

Savage Hawkman #1 i liked. even though some stuff like the Nth metal coming from under his skin was a bit odd i liked the comic overall. i've always liked Hawkman and i'm curious where the story is going and just what kind of person this 'new' Carter Hall is.

 

[Hound of UIster]

All Star Western #1 was good. even though its kind of Jonah Hex meets From Hell its still a good comic.

I think it could be a tie-in with the current stuff in Batman and Nightwing thats also delving into the history of Gotham.

 

[Professor Zoom]

In Teen Titans, is that Bart or Wally? In the book the League says there's "no connection" between the Flash and Kid Flash... of course, they could be lying.

That said... is this Bart or Wally? If it's Bart, where's Wally...? IS there a Wally? I would be pretty disappointed if there was no Wally. Bart... I like Bart... but, oddly, I would be fine if there is no Bart...

But, would it be weird if Wally is in THIS Teen Titans as a new hero? (Yeah, weird only to the old fans, not the "new readers."

I have a feeling there's no Wally in the nuDCU.

 

[Admiral_Young]

It's Bart. Remember they've said they have no plans for Wally. We discussed this in the build up thread.

 

[Myasishchev]

I want to think someone, maybe even DiDio, said that Wally was retired, with his wife and kids.

I loved Aquamann #1...both the art and most of Johns' writing. It is frustrating when you can tell which characters he really cares about and those he doesn't by how he writes them.

You know what disappointed me the most there? When I read the preview page, it looks like the "Do you want a glass of water" line is far more nuanced. Like, yeah, it's a joke about Aquaman's old limitations, but it looked like it was coming from a place of concern and respect instead of simple mockery. Why wouldn't Aquaman like a glass of water? I'd sure like a glass of water after I lifted a truck. And of course, this actually makes it less funny.

I'm also not sure that I like the new exploitative tint to Aquaman's powers. It used to be he persuaded sea life to help, and they did because he's Aquaman and he's great. Now Aquaman is a sort of sea life dictator? Aquaman used to be the greenest hero that wasn't Animal Man or Swamp Thing, and to a degree was a lot more thoughtful about it than even vegetarian Superman, and I really liked that. About my favorite moment in Justice League: Year One is when Aquaman breaks into the Rhode Island Aquarium or whatever it is to make sure the fish are happy, and at first everybody's pissed at him, but one of the biologists/fishkeepers there catches his attention before he leaves and asks him if the fish are all right, and he says, yeah, basically, they're cool. This is what superheroism is to me. It's more interesting and meaningful than stabbing some dude with a pitchfork.

Like Tom Spurgeon says:

I still find it fascinating that this guy talks to fish. I know how to swim and how to punch people I don't like and I've worn at least one bright orange shirt in my lifetime; I've never, ever talked to a fish, let alone had one talk back to me. You can keep your harpoon hands, palace machinations and sunken San Diegos: I'd read hundreds of pages of straight-up conversations with sea creatures and pay for the opportunity to do so.

Indeed. That's truth to power right there. I hope the fish launch a coup d'etat.

 

[Admiral_Young]

It was DiDio but I don't know that he said what Wally was doing except that they had "retired" the character for now.

Yeah the forced mocking pages were a little overkill in Johns attempt to build up the fact that Arthur is a bad ass. I think most "true" Aquaman fans already know how bad ass he is. I suppose that the scenes in the restaurant were just Johns getting all the fans old jokes and mocking out of his system. What Johns really should have done is given Mera her own book. I would have read that!

 

[JoeZhang]

So now all the first issues are out - what's going to be cancelled first?

I think Mister Terrific has to be up there.

 

[Admiral_Young]

^ On what basis? I thought it was a pretty decent book myself. All of them as mention seemed to have sold out so it's gonna take a few issues before we get cancellation announcements. In fact...I'd not be surprised if we continue to get more books.