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FINALLY ... was able to read a Batwoman story after hearing so much about this title.

Batwoman #1 is definitely not a book you flip through. Each page is intricately embellished.

That said, I think the issue did an awesome job of introducing characters and the world Batwoman operates in. And in fact, I think it made simple sense of her place in the new DC or irrespective of it.

Not sure how I feel about Bette being her protege ... seems a bit like tearing bette down to build up Batwoman.

The art is really all over the place, we've got Batwoman painted in costume ... A dark traditionalism for the majority of the book (ala Sandman, Manhunter, or Starman) .. and some Alred-esque flashback panels.

I think the art is a hugely ambitious ... and some minor things fail in the details ... but overall I'm *loving* how much is on the page.

The story was a whopping intro but ... not a story in of itself IMO. The La LLorona villain comes off IMO as a *setting* for the interesting bits of Kate and her cop love interest, dad, and Bette ... which strike me as trade length stories rather than a single issue concept.

Overall, there is a rich atmosphere created by the partnership of art and text.

My summary:

Batwoman is poised to be my new Manhunter or Starman book.

One: Batwoman was AMAZING. I'm actually glad they pushed it to the reboot, otherwise, think about it, the series would probably have ended permanently once the other books were rebooted, or they would restart at number one.

Two: What the HELL did they do to the Wall?

Flipping through this weeks' books covers (plus BATWING)... the only title that interests me is LEGION LOST, which explains why I haven't started reading and reviewing... Grifter? Deathstroke? Red Lanterns? *shudder*

I hope this weeks' books offer as many surprises as last week's did.

Because this lot of titles looks... well, pretty crappy based on titles alone.

I also feel a little of that but some of what I've read may change my mind a bit. Grifter especially looks good and I even heard Superboy exceeds expectations.

I just keep thinking: Men of War, Static Shock, OMAC and Batwing all blew you away! Who knows what gems lurk among this pack?

True, Cobie! Plus I was told tonight by someone on FB whose opinions ususally are close to mine that this week's books ROCK for the most part.

So now I'm gonna start reading them

Well I have read 8 of the books so far...

By far the one that has interested me the most has been FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE. I know, I'm as surprised as you are.

Essentially it's a new CREATURE COMMANDOS. Lots of tech-talk while we learn about SHADE's new HQ and then we have a major slugfest, and then a cliffhanger ending that knocked my socks off, insuring I'll be around for # 2.

Also reeling me in so far for number 2 issues:

GREEN LANTERN and DEMON KNIGHTS.

In DK, is Shining Knight a woman or a very VERY feminine man? I honestly wasn't sure. Mordru being the villain is enough to keep me around for at least a few issues, but I'm also intrigued by Etrigan's romance with Xanadu.

GL as Sinestro has hooked me for the first arc, unless the whole thing just goes tits up before it ends.

LOSING me for the # 2 issues:

BATWING... It was a fine comic, but I'm just not so interested in Bat-stuff. Also, it was a smidge too bloody for my taste.

GRIFTER... he's handsome and all, but I'm just not vested in this character.

RED LANTERNS... they *almost* had me with the Cat-Lantern... that was pretty cool... and Milligan is writng... but again, I'm just not vested and cuts must be made. And, uh... again with the bloody, even if this time it was grody aliens who deserved it (yes I'm bringing "grody" back)!

DEATHSTROKE... Good art, story fine for what it was... but I just don't like the title character, so this is an easy cut.

BATMAN AND ROBIN... that Damian kid is BEYOND annoying. Easy cut.

SO, thus far I am NOT as impressed with week 2... but am still glad I'm trying everything otherwise I probably would have missed FRANKENSTEIN...

I read 3 more last night...

BATWOMAN was beautiful... I'm onboard!

RESURRECTION MAN... with the artwork that reminded me so much of Butch Guice, this was like it hadn't even been 10-plus years since the first series. I like Mitch, I'm onboard here too.

MISTER TERRIFIC... Not as into this one. This character belongs on Earth-2 with the JSA (and maybe this book is set there for all we know, for now)... this is a cut for me; maybe I'll check back in later if reviews for future issues are good...

Shining Knight is definitely a woman (more a teenaged girl actually), masquerading as a male knight. She was my favourite character from Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers mega-series.

Basically, Ystina is from the original Camelot, tens of thousands of years in the past. Camelot has since "repeated" itself throughout the ages, almost as an echo of the original.

Ystina's Camleot was destroyed by the Sheeda, a time-traveling race of "history parasites" who attack and gobble up dying cultures, leaving little or no trace. In pursuit of their Queen, Ystina was thrown through time, ending up, last we saw, in modern times.

Not sure how she got to the Dark Ages, but I'm just happy she's back in comics again.

Though I *LOVED* the Seven Soldiers series, Ystina was definitely my least favourite of the characters it gave us. To me, she just seemed a weird retcon to replace Sir Justin as the Shining Knight.

I never realised her Camelot was meant to have occurred centuries before his though. I totally mustn't have been reading closely enough at that point.

It's a cool idea though and makes me like her a bit more. My problem though, is that even if her Camelot was meant to have occurred before his, for all intents and purposes her existence just serves to push Justin off the DC map. Demon Knights seems like the perfect place to see him get some attention, but instead it sounds like Ystina is the star.

As a Sir Justin fan that saddens me.

One of the first DCnU comics I read this week is Grifter #1, which I was actually excited about. Now, I don’t know anything at all about Grifter, WildCATs and really the Wildstorm universe in general. I have no prior experience with them, and have always just assumed Grifter was the Gambit / Wolverine mash-up character Jim Lee inserted into his premiere franchise. However, what this series has is an excellent pedigree from a creative standpoint: its got Nathan Edmondson, who blew me away with his awesome creator-owned miniseries Who is Jake Ellis?. And its also got CAFU, the hugely talented artist of the first arc of Thunder Agents, which quickly put him on my top artists in comics list.

So, with that in mind I came in with an open mind and by issue’s end I was suitably impressed. After one issue, Grifter has differentiated itself from the rest of DC’s line so far by being equal parts weird and mysterious, with a tightly written first issue leaving me curious about what will happen next. Of all the #1’s so far, this one had the best ‘Lost’ vibe that the aforementioned Who is Jake Ellis? and the awesome Morning Glories do so well. You get larger hints about what is going on, but its all contained in a very realistic and down to Earth level.

Grifter himself seems pretty interesting to me, and I like the con man element of the character (which I’ve read was not a part of his personality pre-DCnU). But you get a solid starting point of who he is while leaving a great deal of mystery to his back story. Plus he’s got that cool mask thingy.

One sequence I really enjoyed was the plane sequence. Being a person that flies for business quite a lot, I can appreciate the eeriness of seeing someone flip the f*ck out on a plane like that. It would be beyond panic-inducing, and so that worked for me—probably a scarier sequence than tons of other limb-cutting and blood-splattering pages I’ve seen from dozens of other comics in recent weeks.

In addition to Edmondson’s tight script and dialogue was the beautiful art by CAFU who did not let me down. It’s a very exciting, clean style that makes it obvious this guy will eventually be drawing JLA or Avengers or something.

Cobie Comparison: Did I enjoy it more than Justice League #1? Big time! While not my absolute favorite, this is already up there among my the better comics of the DCnU catalogue.

I'll try and post longer reviews ASAP, but, for now, here are the quick hits of what I sampled in Wave 1 of DC's New 52

DETECTIVE COMICS (A):
Just a really solid book all the way around, from the moody, evocative art to the compelling take on this new, less clownish Joker. I’m not quite sure what’s up with Compu-Alfred, but Batman really sounded right – driven, determined, but not a dick. I had only planned on getting #1 because, after all, it is Detective Comics #1, but after that shocker of a last page, on top of the overall quality of this book, I’m all in.

ACTION COMICS #1 (A-)
I really loved the artwork in this issue, which was not only a joy to look at, but also serviced the story particularly well, IMHO. I’m not quite sure what to think of the meterosexual fop that is the DCnU Lex Luthor, but I got a huge thrill from the crusading champion of the oppressed that is, or maybe more correctly, was, the new Superman. I liked the additional Golden Age nods, such as editor Taylor and mighty leaps, and almost hope Action will stick to the early years of the DCnU for longer than an initial story arc. I expect to stick with this title for a while.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 (B)
My biggest problem with this book was the read time (7.5 minutes), which seems kind of a gyp at $4 for an issue, and the usual glacial pacing of Johns, which almost guarantees I’ll have shelled out $30 or more if and when we get to the end of this story. A lot of things in this issue were oversold, such as Vic’s unfeeling dad and GL’s cocksure attitude, leaving little room from much to happen outside of chasing Darkseid’s minion to no effect. Lee's art was nice though, even if I tend to prefer a cleaner, less cross-hatched style. I'll be in through the initial arc, at least.

MEN OF WAR #1 (B-)
I’m probably giving this book a higher grade than I should, just because I *wanted* to like it so much. The scripts were a little heavy on action-movie clichés in the first story, and explanatory exposition in the second (these guys who trained and toured together are just now explaining their nicknames to each other??). Still, the art was nice, particularly in the second story, although a tad confusing story-wise, in both. But, at $4 a pop, I’ll need a serious jump in quality to stick it out much past issue #3.

GREEN ARROW #1 (C+)
It looks like the DCnU Ollie is something much closer to his Van Dyke-less, pre-bankruptcy self, probably inspired, at least in part, by the character’s depiction on Smallville. This given his apparent origin and Watchtower-esque back office support. Personally, I'd have made the new GA a Native American eco-warrior, thus a real "Green" Arrow. The Jurgens/Perez combo was much more inspired than anything either artist has put out individually in recent years, IMHO. I like how Ollie was depicted as a genuine hero, but both the villains and the supporting cast fell flat for me, as if everyone came straight from central casting. I’ll try issue #2, but may drop the book after that.

O.M.A.C. #1 (C)
Although only a C, this book ended up being a LOT better than I expected it to be. Some of the dialogue form the villain was on the clunky side, but I got a huge kick out of Giffin’s Kirby-esque art and, particularly, his character designs. My biggest problem, however, is the relative paucity of plot. Really, this issue should have been compressed into the first eight pages of a longer story. I read this book in about seven minutes, and will dump it soon if I don’t start to get some value-for-money.

BATGIRL #1 (C-)
I did not love this book, and probably will not bother with #2. The artwork had nice drawings here and there, but the storytelling got confusing in the action scenes. Worse, so much just didn’t make sense. A bat-a-rang stab to the hand is enough to hospitalize a dude? Babs is so broke she needs an annoying 2-D roommate, but can still afford that super-cycle? How long will she get away with storing it in her van where, apparently, nobody can see it behind her old wheelchair-lift? Plus, while I don’t mind Babs being up on her feat, I would have preferred some explanation beyond, “Miracles do happen, Yay!”

Books I sampled in Week 2 were BATWOMAN (A-), FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. (A), GREEN LANTERN (C+), LEGION LOST (C), MR. TERRIFIC (C) and, SUPERBOY (B-)

Yes! LW needs more reviews from Pofo!

Duke, you always bring some insight I hadn't considered to your reviews so please keep 'em coming (and do those more detailed ones you mentioned!).

Pofo's back??? AWSEOMETITSAUCE!!!!

YES! Despite the misspelling, Lash used my mash-up of his trademark exclamations! :swoon:

And, uh, another YES for Pofo!

Another surprise for me this week is how much I enjoyed Demon Knights #1. It wasn't a perfect comic by far, but there was enough there to make me glad I bought it and want to get #2.

I love Madame Xanadu, love Etrigan and really enjoyed the S7 Shining Knight, ^So seeing them together is enjoyable. I'm interested in the newcomers too. My only worry is I don't know how much I'll like Vandal Savage in this role. 

An element I really like is the sense of history Paul Cornell is building. It took me a minute to realize the prologue / fall of Camelot *was* in the proper time period and the 'modern era' was the very ambiguous term 'Dark Ages'. Cornel is also working to establish Stormwatch's origin here, as well as Mordu's history.

The writing itself had both high and low points. It felt very choppy and rushed; yet it certainly had a lot of forward moving every which was fun. Cornell was trying to get most of the team in #1 (unlike JL which is one of the biggest complaints there) but in doing so it felt a little info-dump-ish.

Not perfect, but I liked it.

Cobie Comparison: did I like more than JL #1? about the same.

Without getting too in depth, but introducing my own new rating system...

Batwoman #1 - the art is simply beautiful; love Bette Kane getting some 'screen time' - 3 fins up

Superboy #1 - intriguing, very intriguing; not thrilled about a new origin for Superboy, but I like what they've got going on so far - 3 fins up

Batman & Robin #1 - here they go making Damien all dislikable again - 2 1/2 fins up

Legion Lost #1 - what can I say, I loved it, flaws and all... and there were quite a few flaws... 3 fins up

Deathstroke #1 - not worth the paper it was printed on; utter garbage - 0 fins up

Grifter #1 - didn't love it, didn't hate it; pretty art but that's about it - 1 fin up

Frankenstein #1 - a nice little surprise; kinda fun and funny; worth a second look - 2 1/2 fins up

Demon Knights #1 - I defer to the most legendary Cobalt Kid's review above; again, a nice little surprise; definitely worth another look - 2 1/2 fins up

Resurrection Man #1 - can't remember what it was about; pass - 1 fin up

Red Lanterns #1 - seems awfully unnecessary - 1/2 fin up

Green Lantern #1 - surprised how dull I found this; though I'm not a GL fan, I expected something of interest; this was not the case - 1/2 fin up

Suicide Squad #1 - I wanted to like this, I really did, but the art did nothing for me and the story was kinda revolting at best; did love King Shark though ("MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!"); may get issue #2 just to see if it picks up - 1 fin up

Mister Terrific #1 - not so terrific it turns out; art was hit or miss; story kinda bland - 1/2 fin up

Your above mention of Deathstroke #1 makes me glad I didn't get it. So far I've yet to see a positive review of it on LW.

DCnU WEEK TWO IN REVIEW


Definitely NOT as strong for me as week 1!

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. and BATWOMAN

KEEPING ME AROUND FOR # 2

I'll be revisiting DEMON KNIGHTS, RESURRECTION MAN, LEGION LOST, GREEN LANTERN, SUPERBOY, and SUICIDE SQUAD next month.

DROPPING THE AXE

it's farewell to BAT-WING, GRIFTER, BATMAN & ROBIN, RED LANTERNS, DEATHSTROKE, MISTER TERRIFIC

So this week 5 titles did not make my cut for # 2 (BATWING being a holdover from last week).

Week one only has two definite non-returnees for # 2 for me: MEN OF WAR and BATWING and one possible non-returnee in GREEN ARROW.

Still, that's quite a few titles DC has roped me into so far.

Interesting week in reviews, everyone! Along Lash's lines, I want to rattle off what I'm keeping ... so far.

WEEK 1 KEEPS
Action Comics, Animal Man, Batgirl, Batwing, Detective Comics, Hawk & Dove (iffy), JLI, Stormwatch, Swamp Thing

WEEK 2 KEEPS
Demon Knights, Green Lantern, Grifter, Legion Lost, Mr. Terrific, Red Lanterns, Resurrection Man, Superboy, and Suicide Squad

Nine each week! Though I must say I can see myself dropping more titles from week 2 in the months to come than week 1, depending on how the stories go.

I like a solid dose of 'the weird' in my comics sometimes. And no one does it better than Grant Morrison; case in point: his ressurection of DC's Frankenstein franchise during Seven Soldiers, which was simply brilliant. And now Jeff Lemire, who also excels in the weird, is recapturing that brilliance with Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE.

Lemire just goes for it in #1, embracing the off the wall nature of Morrison's revamp. Each page makes things weirder and weirder and at the same time more and more fun. Artist Alberto Ponticelli seems well-suited to this with a gritty, working man's style of art that keeps it anchored as possible.

This issue was packed with goodies! You not only get the awesomeness of Frank, you get SHADE; Father Time in the body of a prepubescint girl; Ray Palmer doing his scientist thing; the Bride of Frankenstein; and the Creature Commandoes! The latter includes an awesome Living Mummy whose story already looks like it will be awesome.

I'm especially happy to see Ray Palmer in action here. Clearly, his role as the first Atom is in continuity. If Ryan Choi is the Atom as rumored, I'm glad Ray has a home, and under the watch of Jeff Lemire to boot (who did a great job on the Atom back-ups in Adventure).

Cobie comparison: did I enjoy more than JL #1? YES! honestly, how can you *not* like this issue? It was pure awesometitsauce.

YES!

Egad! Too many I want to keep. Must go through the list again, since there's another two weeks yet worth of books. Overall, the books are better than I expected. My high hopes for a decent Aquaman book may be realized after all.

After reading reviews here I went back and picked up two books from Week One -- ANIMAL MAN and STATIC SHOCK. Scores for the Number Ones I've read so far:

ACTION (A)
BATWING (A-)
ANIMAL MAN (B+)
JUSTICE LEAGUE (B)
LEGION LOST (B)
SWAMP THING (B)
STATIC SHOCK (B-)
MISTER TERRIFIC (C)
STORMWATCH (C)
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL (C-)

From the Week Two books I didn't get, I'll take another glance at BATWOMAN, DEMON KNIGHTS, FRANKENSTEIN, and RESURRECTION MAN. None of them are books I would usually consider, but reviews have caught my interest.

For Week Three I've pre-ordered only two--CAPTAIN ATOM and LEGION--but RED HOOD has me curious.