posted
So I didn't get this week's comics (Week 9, or the final week of Month 2 if you're keeping count), but I'm making my way through the others. What I'm finding so far is that all the comics I really enjoyed, which are the ones I read first, are maintaining that level of enjoyment in a big way for me in month #2. Some are even improving. I had hoped to eliminate a few stragglers this month but thus far haven't found one I'm willing to drop; Catwoman was a contender but #2 was actually strong enough to convince me to keep buying it. Look out Batgirl & Mr. Terrific, when I get to you.
Grifter was again a solid outing with #2 and I'm curious where this is going. I do hope we'll get *somewhere* by #3 though or I might start to lose my patience.
The Deadman story in DC Comics Presents continues to be excellent. It's less metaphysical and more 'versus magical bad guys' but it works as a nice change of pace from the opener. I'm really enjoying it still.
I finally picked up Ressurection Man #1 since I felt bad that it and Deathstroke were the only ones I didn't buy in month #1. Why in the world did I feel bad? Who knows, I'm weird like that. Anyway, it was really just "okay" and I'm collecting like 45 DCnU comics in month #2, so it wasn't enough to add it to my pull. Sorry DnA, just not my bag.
That also makes Deathstroke #1 the only series I did not sample.
I also grabbed the Shade #1 and totally loved it. Best James Robinson story since the last issue of Starman to be precise. I can easily forget about all the badly written comics in between and Robinson gives us the story he was meant to do when he came back to DC. Killer ending too.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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A perfectly serviceable story full of action and nice artwork, but I am just not in a place where I enjoy reading about bad men shooting their failing henchmen in the head all willy-nilly and selling girls into prostitution by the boatfulls. I seriously doubt I've ever been in that place come to think of it. I will pass on the remainder of this miniseries.
ACTION # 2
**FINALLY** I have broken into the # 2s from the relaunch... gads, I'm behind.
I have a major crush on jeans and t-shirt "take no bullcrap" Superman... I wish I could watch him kick ass in this style for many many months to come.
Here is the status quo of where I stand regarding the DCnU after the second month. There have been some dramatic shifts...
1. Never tried and never will: Batwing, Hawk and Dove, Men of War, Omac, Static Shock, Batman and Robin, Deathstroke, Grifter, Mister Terrific, Captain Atom, Dark Knight, Blackhawks
2. Dropped after one issue -I Vampire: Did not understand it, and was not inclined to re-read it to find out what I missed. -Resurrection Man: Nah. Just not interested. -Suicide Squad: I just hated the whole thing.
3. Dropped after two issues -Stormwatch: Only decided to try it out in the second month, thus the two issues. I wish I hadn't bothered. -JLI: I bought a second issue, but never again. I hate this team.
4. Will buy the third issue, but I'm very likely to drop the title afterwards -Supergirl: Two issues and hardly any story. If nothing happens in the next issue, again, the title is gone. -Green Arrow: Not very impressed with the whole thing, will probably forget that the comic exists the minute I drop it, which will be soon. Mildly intrigued with Black Canary next issue, that is the reason I haven't dropped it yet. -Red Lanterns: Boring. Will get #3 to check out Bleez's spotlight, but then I'm gone
5. Will probably finish the first storyline, but will drop afterwards -Hawkman: I'm very disappointed with this title, this was one of the ones I thought I might end up buying regularly. The art is good, but I hate the whole concept of fighting the alien of the month. I also find Carter really boring as a character. -Frankenstein: The first major shift in my new list. This comic was much further up in my first review, but I have decided that I don't like the art and don't care for the characters. I will finish this story, I guess, but then it's gone. -Detective Comics: I am just not that much into Batman. I will probably finish this storyline, though. -Swamp Thing: Not that it is a bad comic, but I am not into horror and this is definitely that. Will finish the first storyline, though. -Animal Man: See above. Nevertheless the storyline here is very innovative, and I do want to see where all of this goes. -Red Hood and the Outlaws: Major drop this month, not because of Starfire but because of where the storyline is going. I have decided that I hate Jason and don't care at all about Ducra or his life in the Tibetan monastery. Maybe the interactions between the three main characters will save this title for me, but at the moment it really doesn't look like that. -Superboy: Another major drop this month. Superboy-agent-of-the government? Don't think so. -Green Lantern Corps: I have collected this title for a while now and I guess I am just bored. I don't really care about any of the characters, and that makes the comic easy to drop. Good art, though -Superman: Meh. I guess I am just not a fan. Superman stories bore me. -Batwoman: I'm having conflicting feelings about this one. The art is exceptionally good, but unfortunately I don't seem to be able to connect with the main character. This one is teetering on the edge of a major drop... -Batman: Not really a big Batman fan. But this one is the best of the Batman titles that I've sampled, and I'm willing to give it a little more time.
6. Intrigued. Let's see how things develop. -Catwoman: Never been a fan, but I'm finding that I want to know where all this goes. Could easily fall into the first-arc-only category, though. We'll see. -Huntress: Lovely art. Will probably get the whole miniseries. -Blue Beetle: Got this one on a whim, and I think I quite like it. Detest the use of pseudoSpanglish in the comic, though. That isn't Spanglish, that is English sprinkled with Spanish words. If the comic was written in real Spanglish, English-speaking readers would have trouble understanding it. -Teen Titans: Another big drop this month. They better make me care about all these new characters, and soon. -Nightwing: Big surprise: I like this. The mystery of the circus has me hooked. Never been a fan of the character, though. -Wonder Woman: Oh, so that's where we are going... I like the concept of having the gods involved in human affairs, and of Diana being Zeus' daughter. OK, I'll bite. But am not into the art, at all. -New Guardians: Now, this is interesting. Much more interested in these characters than in the Green Lantern Corps. -Flash: This may be the first time I buy a Flash comic, but I am intrigued enough to stay on board for the foreseeable future. -Deadman: Less interested after the second month than I was after the first one. Still am willing to stick with it. -Justice League Dark: Major jump up this month, probably because I am starting to find out more about the different characters. Not really a fan of magic comic books, but we'll see where this one goes. -Firestorm: I'm quite intrigued by the two forms of Firestorm and by the mystery of Prof Stein. I'll keep at it for now. -All Star Western: Like the main story a lot. Don't like the fact that we are apparently going to be getting short second stories a lot of the time. Still, this is much better placed than I would have predicted.
7. On board for the foreseeable future
-Voodoo: Oh, I'm liking this. Everything is so mysterious... And now we find out that Voodoo is firmly entrenched in the DCU... -Demon Knights: Well, this was surprising. I'm liking this! -Green Lantern: Very interested in where this business with Siniestro is going to lead. -Birds of Prey: The largest jump up ever! Love BC and Katana, and am very intrigued with the possibility of having Poison Ivy in the team. If they want to be really groundbreaking, they should add one token male to the team :-) -Batgirl: I've been a fan of Barbara since I was a child, and am finding that this story, for better or for worse, reminds me of that time. Mirror is an incredibly interesting villain, and the roommate is also intriguing. -Aquaman: This is the Aquaman comic that I've always wanted to read. Loving Mera. -Justice League: I am just loving this comic, especially the interactions between the characters. Looking forward to WW. -Action: Number one spot this month. Love reading about Superman's early stories.
I'm not really going to include the Legion titles in this because, well, it would take a catastrophe of Legion on the Run proportions to make me stop buying the titles. I'll just say that I loved the Origins book, am still waiting for Paul to hit his stride in the main title but have hope (denser writing might help, I feel that the comic is a bit light), and am worried about Legion Lost. Are we getting a villain-of-the-month kind of comic? That wouldn't be good.
These are a lot more comics than I have bought for many years. At least with respect to me, their gamble worked big time.
[ October 30, 2011, 08:22 PM: Message edited by: Doctor One ]
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Justice League Dark #2 left me, well, kind of in the dark... I really wanted to like this book, if only because it's my only dose of Zatanna, but the interplay (and how long it went on) between Dove and Deadman was kinda bizarre (if not totally realistic from a guy's point of view) and I didn't really care about any one else... I'll give it one more issue than I'll probably jump ship...
1 1/2 fins up
-------------------- Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...
From: The waters off eastern Long Island | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
So I picked up My Greatest Adventure, which is kind of a continuation of the last anthology series DC did but with a slight twist. I’ve always loved the old series titles DC used in the 1950’s, and so seeing “My Greatest Adventure” as a title is a nice little treat. I also really would love it for DC could have a successful anthology title with ongoing success for more than one year.
My initial impressions are that it’s a mixed bag, and that’s always the downfall of anthologies. But more than even that is that while none of the stories are that bad, none of them are “must read” / “edge of my seat” stories that have me demanding to see more. All in all, two of the three are slightly above average and the third is just mediocre.
Robotman, the character I have the most attachment to, had a good intro by Matt Kindt, who if you don’t know, is a true comic book genius. His Vertigo graphic novel Revolver is one of the best things I’ve ever read in any medium. He’s a fantastic story teller, both writer and artist, and I’m thrilled he’s taken the reigns of a fantastic character like Cliff. Plus, I love the idea of Robotman having his own ongoing feature again (as in the Golden Age and early 50’s) but even more, I love that its Cliff-Robotman having the lead feature, instead of the Golden Age Robotman. The setting outside Las Vegas is rife with plot potential and I’m surprised there aren’t more Vegas-centered comic book series. I’d love it if Super-Hip showed up as he did in Giff’s Doom Patrol series. This was my favorite of the three, as it was quirky and fun with a nice introduction that didn’t drag out at all.
Up next was Ariel Olivetti’s Garbageman, which started in Weird Worlds last year. Clearly, the best part of this feature is the incredible artwork by Olivetti—he’s putting everything he’s got into this story and it shows. The story is something that hasn’t quite interested me totally yet and if this were a solo series, I would not be returning. The Swamp Thing similarity is too noticeable not to mention and while you can kind of see Olivetti trying to clearly demonstrate this is something different, I’m just not believing it yet.
The last feature was Kevin McGuire’s Tanga, which was also begun last year in Weird Worlds. Of the three, this was the weakest of the features. While McGuire’s artwork is simply stunning—and I’ve been a huge fan throughout his career from his Justice League stuff to Captain America mini to other things—the basic storyline isn’t really grabbing me. There’s a lot of talking heads and while the dialogue is somewhat amusing its just not laugh-out-loud funny. I was losing interest midway through and its only an 8 page story.
The real issue here is this series is $3.99; American comic books seem unwilling to squeeze their margins in any shape or form and that’s a shame. If it was $2.99 I might give it more of a go, but at that price and the level of enjoyment I have, I probably won’t continue. Plus, I’m simply buying too many DC’s already with real trouble figuring out if any are going to be cut at all. This isn’t quite on the level of the massive list of DC comics that I’ve kept.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
As I've said a few times, month #2 had me trying to see which of the DCnU I could cut from a far too large pull list. Some, like Catwoman, secured a place on my while others, like Batgirl, are dropped. The other one I fully expected to drop was Mr. Terrific. And after #2, I'm pulling the trigger on the cut.
As I've said before, Mr. Terrific is a big favorite among the new JSA characters introduced in the last 15 years. So this was a tough call. It was made easier though by a slight change in how Michael is written: namely he's coming off way too arrogant and uber-cocksure. That's not the Michael I know from JSA and rather much more like Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark.
But honestly that's not too big a deal. Nor is the usage of Karen Starr which is more distracting and annoying than anything else. Simply put, there's simply too many better comic books out there by DC, Marvel and independents. This isn't a bad book by any means; it's actually not bad. But it isn't *great* and too many others are.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Cobie, like you I was hoping for better from MR. TERRIFIC. In addition to the things you mentioned, I also think the art was particularly weak in some places. That said, I liked #2 better than #1, but still not enough to keep buying the book.
-------------------- "Been killed--didn't like it." (Duplicate Damsel, Legion of Super-Heroes #10)
From: Groga | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I put thoughts on Animal Man, Action, Swamp Thing and Red Lanterns in their respective threads. Overall still a strong week, though some titles are faltering a little.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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I kinda liked all the digital/internet stuff going on... made it more interesting to me. Art continues to be very good. With Giffen coming, I ain't leaving.
HAWK & DOVE # 2
Could not read completely... skimmed stuff in the middle... I have bought my final issue of this lukewarm mess.
posted
Totes plowing through some # 2s now! Some on the bubble titles have made the cut, some have not.
WONDER WOMAN... # 2 has made me a fan of this odd incarnation. I'm onboard.
CATWOMAN # 2 was really really good...
I'm still on the fence with BATGIRL. It has 1 more month to convince me I want to keep it, or it gets dropped. Not Gail's strongest work, for certain. In the boat with Babs is SUICIDE SQUAD... 1 more issue will tell the tale.
I'm pretty sure I'm onboard BIRDS OF PREY and RESURRECTION MAN after the # 2 issues.
However, joining HAWK & DOVE on the AXED list following the # 2 issue is DEMON KNIGHTS. It just isn't grabbing me, not even semi-grabbing like BATGIRL or SUICIDE SQUAD. It's gone.
posted
Frankenstein #3 - I think this is a book where the concepts outpace the execution to a large degree. "Frankenstein and the Commandos take on an entire planet of monsters", sounds crazy cool and fun, but its so far been a little underwhelming. The art is still a bot of a turn-off for me as well. This is slowly drifting to the bottom of my reading list.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Demon Knights #3 This was the most I've enjoyed this book since it launched (and I enjoyed the first two issues). The "team" is stuck int eh village under siege by the Horde. Madame Xanadu sacrifices her youth to buy them some time and the various players use it to prepare for the bloody conflict to come.
We finally get some better character pieces, more Shinning Knight (hooray!), Etrigan proving he's no hero, and Vandal Savage shines again. This book is really hitting its stride and my nitpicks about pacing and voice in previous issues have melted away. Book of the week for me.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Really excited to hear Challengers of the Unknown is going to be the second story arc in DC Comics Presents (#6-10)! It's always been one of my favorite concepts!
And with Jerry Ordway as artist and co-writer, it actually should be quite good! Dan Didio is also co-writer but his teaming with an excellent creator is working on OMAC, so I'm okay with it. It really looks like they're going to make this work in the same spirit of Kirby's original with modern sensibilities.
I also expect Deadman will spin into his own ongoing, which I'll definitely get as it's well-deserved: it's been an utterly fantastic series so far!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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