It’s only fair that, as I’m picking up all the DCnU books this month that I try to post some quick thoughts on them…

Action Comics #1 – I’ll be honest I have pretty strong feelings about Grant Morrison’s writing and they’re not all positive. While I think as an ideas man and plotter he’s top-notch I have real issues (ho-ho) with his execution a lot of the time. Much of his books seem to have little leaps in narrative that require you to go back and re-read to tell what exactly is going on. While many like that, I don’t – especially not in the middle of the book. Here, Clark’s insistence that Jimmy and Lois not board the train required a few leaps in logic, as do Lex’s apparent engineering of the whole thing to capture Superman at the appointed time. What little we see of Lois and Jimmy isn’t very encouraging either, character-wise. I’ll read it again, but Morrison is up to his old tricks here. On the art side, Rags Morales can’t seem to get a handle on the appearance of young-ish Clark – sometimes he looks like an adult, sometimes he looks like a teen. Overall, a slight disappointment – but I suspect many will love it.

Animal Man #1 – Very good. Yes, a little too much set up before we get to Buddy donning his new (horrible) costume, but all very good stuff. Clearly Buddy’s marriage is in trouble but he’s got blinkers on, but the main conflicts seem to be from the threat to the Red and perhaps his daughter herself. Lots of story to sink your teeth into, and Lemire and Foreman make for a strong team. Suitably creepy and foreboding – should be a fun ride.

Batgirl #1 – The winner of the week for me. Gail Simone and Adrian Syaf fired on all cylinders. We get a younger Barbara, clarification that yes, Killing Joke happened, yes she was Batgirl before, and yes, she was paralyzed for three years before being miraculously healed – but it all fades into the background as she sets about re-establishing herself as a hero. A great start to the series and one I’ll definitely be sticking around for.

Batwing #1 – Surprisingly enjoyable, if let down a little by the fact that the impact of the surprising last page (which was spoiled on the internet a while ago) is watered down by it being a flashback. Still, David Zavimbi is nicely established, even if I still don’t know why he’s chosen to go into business as a superhero, and villain Massacre is suitably irredeemable. Winick and Oliver work well together, and while Winick’s script is workmanlike, Oliver’s art is pretty damn good. A pleasant surprise for me.

Detective Comics #1 – I know people slam Tony Daniel’s writing but I really enjoyed this issue, and the last page is more than a bit of a shocker. His art is strong, his Batman is smart, and his fight choreography clear. Absolutely no complaints here – and I enjoyed this a lot more than Action. Did I mention that last page? Wow.

Green Arrow #1 – Exactly what I thought it would be; lightweight and breezy. Jurgens’ art always evokes strong memories of DC past for me (in a good way) and Krul proves he’s better at solo books than team books. Having Ollie with a back-up network of support staff and engaged in some boardroom stuff on the side is a big departure for the character but it works here. This isn’t going to win any awards but it’s good, fun superheroing. The only downside is that I still miss grouchy sourpuss Ollie.

Hawk And Dove #1 – Okay. This is not a good comic on any level. At all. I get the impression that Sterling Gates is trying to weave a coherent story together from Liefeld’s art and having a damn difficult time of it. Look, I’m a cheerful Liefeld apologist most of the time but this is a painful, painful book to look at. Messy dis-proportioned art, bare-bones backgrounds and difficult;t to follow at times. Adding an additional layer to Dawn’s backstory seems a bit pointless, too, and just there to increase the conflict between the two leads. Just…bad. So I’ll probably pick up the next issue.

Justice League International #1 – A good start for the book, and a decidedly different tone from the main Justice League book and the best known bwah-ha-ha incarnation of this one. Jurgens knows his superheroes, and Aaron Lopresti can deliver solid if uninspired art. There’s a nice mix of characters (and I really hope some of the ones that didn’t make the cut show up soon) and some good conflicts, but Jurgens’ heavy-handed swipe at fans complaining about the DC reboot is, well, heavy-handed. Godiva got to say both ‘mate’ and ‘sod off’, though, so I’m good.

Men Of War #1 – Not really my cup of tea, if I’m honest, but the lead story has enough of a pull for me to come back for the next issue. Having Rock and company being men on the ground in a superhero battle where we don’t see the combatants is a pretty neat narrative trick, but I don’t feel there’s enough characterization of Rock just yet. Wasn’t fond of the back-up, which read like a generic strip from a UK war comic when I was growing up.

O.M.A.C. #1 – Okay. I’m very, very surprised how much I liked this. It’s almost entirely down to Keith Giffen’s art, which has adapted into a near-Kirby style that suits the book down to the ground, and the colors here really, really pop. I also like starting off with our hero off-screen for most of the book (all Hulk, no Banner) and just jumping in as shit goes down. I’m in.

Static Shock #1 – Scott McDaniel’s work here is as solid as ever, and John Rozum’s story is pretty straightforward. There’s nothing revolutionary going on, but this is very much a fun book. Having Static working at S.T.A.R. Labs for Hardware provides a nice basis for superheroing, and having Virgil at college seems like it’s going to be fun as we see more of it. Good, strong start.

Stormwatch #1 – I’m torn on this. It felt like a very quick read with not much going on, if I’m honest, but in retrospect quite a lot actually happened. Part of the team tries to recruit Apollo, shit happens. Another team member heads to the moon, we get filled in on a bit of history (apparently tying Stormwatch to Cornell’s other book, Demon Knights, not to mention old Milestone property Shadow Cabinet), and shit happens. Another part of the team investigate a big horn that Superman may or may not be blowing in a few weeks time, and shit happens. Oh, and the moon appears to be growing a claw or something. So yes, lots of shit happening and a lot of characters being introduced including an immortal named Adam, Jenny Quantum, J’onn J’onnz – who is a former JL’er – and more. Huh. I liked this quite a bit more than I thought I did the more I think about it.

Swamp Thing #1 – A very good read. Swamp Thing is very much centered in the midst of the DCnU here, with writer Snyder providing us a first proper look at the modern-day Superman providing Alec Holland with a pep-talk, and cameos from Batman and Aquaman. We also get a nice backstory and entry point into the character for new readers, which is important, and an extremely nasty threat (people having their heads twisted around and shambling on works much better in comics than, say, Torchwood). Great work from Snyder, and Paquette’s art supports the more horrific elements of the story. I’ll be back.

So there you have it; only one real stinker (Hawk and Dove), some real winners (Animal Man, Batgirl, Detective and Swamp Thing), a lot of ones that show promise (Batwing, Stormwatch, Static Shock, O.M.A.C., JLI, Green Arrow), one that’s okay but not my thing (Men of War) and Action which everyone but me probably loved.

All in all, the new DC looks pretty promising so far. I’m not saying it’ll stay this way but I’m generally impressed, being one week in.

Everyone else posted it yesterday, so why not?

The image below was released by Toon Tumblers to promote their SDCC exclusive, and appears to feature the newly rebooted Justice League membership in it’s entirety.

For those keeping a checklist, in addition to the big seven of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and MartiaCyborg, it looks like Deadman, Atom, Element Woman (a new Flashpoint character who looks a lot like Metamorpho, so I assume she found the Orb of Ra before Rex Mason), Green Arrow, Hawkman, Mera, and, er…Power Girl?

Well, no, that’s not Power Girl. And according to Geoff Johns, she isn’t blonde – her hair is definitely light though, so maybe…white?

Zealot would certainly make sense – the Wildstorm characters are integrating fully with the DCU, and Lee has an affinity with her since he created her originally. So yes, let’s say Zealot until we hear further.

It’s a largely traditional line-up with a few curve balls thrown in – and all those curves belong to women.

Wait that came out wrong.

Anyway, there you are – and I have to say, now that I’ve got a good look at the full segmented redesigns of Superman, Green Lantern, Batman and Flash costumes, man they look dumb.

SUPERMAN/SHAZAM!

THE RETURN OF BLACK ADAM ANCHORS DC SHOWCASE Original Shorts COLLECTION

THE SPECTRE, JONAH HEX, GREEN ARROW INCLUDED ON COMPILATION DUE NOV. 9 FROM warner home video

I’m going out on a limb here by saying that I think I’m in the minority here, but I won’t miss Lian Harper and she may just be a better character dead than she was alive.

Over the past ten or fifteen years, very little has been done with Lian and Roy’s relationship aside from some scenes where Lian says something cute, meets Roy’s latest squeeze, is responsible for Roy feeling guilty about spending time super-heroing, or is the object of a tug of war between Roy and Cheshire.

The most interesting thing that was done with her was towards the end of the last Titans book where it seemed she was inheriting some of her mother’s proclivities, pushing a bookcase onto some of the kids who were hanging out with the Titans at the time.

Or I may be inventing that.

The point is that no writer has really used the character, or her relationship with her father to any great effect.

It’s difficult, writing a superhero as a parent. Balancing the fact that they have responsibilities to their children as well as to the world at large takes some finesse and, more crucially, isn’t always that interesting. I think it’s the reason that the last take on Wally West didn’t really take off sales-wise.

I’m not saying it can’t be done, I just can’t think of a time when it’s been done consistently and interestingly.

Off the top of my head I can’t think of any other superheroes who lost their children aside from Donna Troy (I’m probably just being a little dense and there’s dozens of them ). Whereas before, Roy’s philandering and running around in tights could be construed as immature and potentially irresponsible when he should be home looking after Lian, now there’s the opportunity to have him come through the other side of this as a much more interesting, mature character.

I’m not sure it’ll work, of course – a lot depends on how well written the Rise of Arsenal miniseries is, and how much those who hate the idea of killing off a child character are willing to give it a chance.

I am – and for the first time in years, I’m interested to see what Roy Harper’s future holds. Although I do think the losing of the arm on top of Lian was overkill…

I posted this on my Tumblr earlier, but since I have marginally more people coming here than I have following me there….

I do love me a good homage.

DC’s had a lot of bright and shiny announcements coming out the past few days. They kicked off with the Brightest Day bi-weekly series, but have followed that up with what amounts to the return of the JLI in the also bi-weekly Generation Lost, and now they’ve announced the return of Birds of Prey under Gail Simone and Ed Benes, the team who gave the original run of the book a kick in the ass a few years back.

They’ve also said that the new Flash book (sadly without the originally promised Johns/Kolins Wally West back-up) and the Justice League of America will carry ‘Brightest Day’ banners, presumably so everybody realizes that the books are relevant and central to the DCU and have to be bought, dammit!

It’s not all shiny though – DC has also confirmed that Deathstroke will be running a team of villains taking over the Titans book (although didn’t Final Crisis establish the new Tattooed Man as a reluctant hero? I’m confused!). As the tag line for the special that kicks off this run is ‘Villains for Hire’, I do wonder how this impinges on the Secret Six book – and whether Gail Simone is returning to Birds of Prey partly because she’ll have a hole in her schedule pretty soon…

Not only that but don’t forget that amongst all the bright and shiny, and even with Black Canary seemingly relocating to Gotham, you get her erstwhile husband apparently descending into villainy – and poor old Roy Harper running around with one arm (well, at least till he remembers that Cyborg can hook him up).

Man, you’d think Roy would get that bandaged up before he goes running around, wouldn’t you?

So it’s not all bright and shiny in the DCU next year – but it does seem like there’s going to be enough to go around…

I’m doing one of those things that I do.

You know, the ones where I put together random pieces of information and postulate on what they mean.

And, more often than not, I’m completely, utterly wrong. In this case, I certainly hope I’m wrong.

Anyway, Dan Didio has been saying for a while now that Green Arrow is a character to watch in 2010. I think he said the same about Blue Beetle in 2005, so take that as you will.

Then in one of his weekly Q&A’s, Didio was asked:

What is the next villain we should keep our eyes on to get an upgrade in the manner which we have been of late with Brainiac and Starro?

DiDio: Let me think. Good question. I mean, Prometheus is front and center because of Justice League: Cry for Justice right now. But that’s a more immediate story, not something that’s playing out in the foreseeable future. Because Brainiac comes back in a big way.

You know, I really can’t answer that question because the person who might be deemed the next villain isn’t actually a villain just yet.

Nrama: So there’s somebody who’s not a villain now that will be an important villain – when?

DiDio: By the end of next year.

A month later, he was asked about the status of some characters in 2010:

Can you give one sentence hints as to what 2010 holds for the following characters?:

DiDio: Wow, and multi-part answer. OK.

-Green Arrow?

DiDio: On the run.

- Black Canary?

DiDio: Reunited with old friends.

Okay…meanwhile the unintentionally amusing Justice League: Cry for Justice has long been said to end with something earth-shattering – and that’s certainly what the new solicit suggests -

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE #7

This is the big one! After the catastrophes seen in issues #5 and #6, a hero loses control, leading to an unexpected ending that will fundamentally change the lives of the World’s Greatest Heroes forever. This issue launches a major storyline in the DC Universe and is not to be missed!

That certainly looks like Green Arrow on the blacked out cover, doesn’t it? And ‘loses control’, eh?

Meanwhile, over in the regular JLA book that month…

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #42

In the aftermath of the horrific events of JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE, a member is comforted by his friends and fellow Justice Leaguers over his tragic loss.

I’m probably reading too much into this, but still…

- A blacked out Green Arrow who appears to be trailing blood and a hero losing control;

- A JLA’er coping with his tragic loss;

- Black Canary reuniting with ‘old friends’. What, like some dead JLI’ers?

- Green Arrow being a character to watch in 2010, and being on the run in 2010.

- A hero turning into a villain in 2010. Maybe a hero who’s grieving and ‘loses control’?

I mean, I may be adding 2 plus 2 and getting 17. I probably am.

Because there’s no way that DC would kill off Black Canary and spend a while turning Green Arrow into a villain, right?

Right?

Warner Bros hit the headlines this week saying that they were essentially rebooting the Superman movies after the disappointment of Superman Returns. Instead, the studio is going to build individual movies towards a Justice League movie.

There was a rumor a while back about a movie called Supermax which was to star Green Arrow thrown into prison with a bunch of supervillains that he helped put there.

Well, Newsarama is reporting, via ISB, that the movie will simply be called Green Arrow now as Warners/DC have apparently been inspired by Iron Man‘s success to start moving forward with their second-string properties.

I’m all for it – and I may be in the minority but I wouldn’t mind seeing Justin Hartley continue in the role from his time in Smallville (I understand he’s back next season, too).

I just think he’s got the requisite amount of charm and cockiness to pull off the Emerald Archer on the big screen, and I wouldn’t mind a younger take on the character in the mainstream – what do you think?

EBay has returned to blight me after a good solid six months without purchases (some of which I haven’t even read yet) – I picked up The All-New Atom #1-11 for a song recently and loved every issue. I don’t know why I skipped this first time round – possibly because the captions in the Brave New World story annoyed the crap out of me.

Other recent purchases include the OYL issues of Firestorm – a book I supported since #1 that I felt lost a little steam. When I saw the last issues on Ebay I couldn’t resist – and I suspect the same thing will happen shortly with Green Arrow and Hawkgirl; I just can’t resist completing runs.

I also picked up Ion #1-12 but haven’t had a chance to read it yet – I’ve always preferred Kyle to Hal (I’ve said before that Kyle really got me back into DC just prior to Zero Hour) so this was a no-brainer.

Showcase ’93 – ’96 was another pick up – basically all of 1994-1996 and a few 1993′s. I love anthologies, especially those that highlight characters that don’t get used too often. I’ve also been picking up the Thunderbolts variants of eBay, much as I did the New Avengers ones.

There’s been one other purchase – a dirty secret, really – and that’s Secret Defenders #1-25. It’s not as though I’ve forgotten how creatively bankrupt a lot of the 1990s were, or that I’d forgotten how bad the one issue I picked up at the time was – it was just that it seemed like a good idea.

Good grief. I know this was knocked out at a point where quantity ruled over quality but it is awful. And the really bad thing is that I’m kind of enjoying it….

There’s a few more things that I’m always looking out for – Action Comics Weekly, a complete low-cost run of Sub-Mariner #1-72 (which only exists in my head), and a whole host of recent DC minis – Tales of the Unexpected, Mystery in Space, Omega Men - and regular titles such as Checkmate.

So is there anything you’ve picked up lately?

Hold the Front Page

The New York Daily News carries a spoiler-filled article on Captain America #25 here. I haven’t read it, but I am impressed that they carry the comic’s cover on the front page of their website – the front page.

Can’t get better publicity than that. I suspect Ed Brubaker may be right about multiple printings – and looks like one rumor is true…

Breaking up is hard to do

Anyway, crosstown (well actually at WonderCon), DC confirmed that Green Arrow will end with #75 – and that the last page will end with a proposal. Let’s just hope that Black Canary has the good sense to stick the moustache-twirling ass out on his, uh, ass and doesn’t say yes.

Does whatever a Spider can

Looks like Topher Grace really had to think about his character Eddie Brock in the upcoming Spider-Man 3 (did I mention I won’t see the film in its first week as I leave to go back to the UK for a wedding on May 4th? ARRGH!)

Aint it Cool has more production shots online here.

Moving House

ComicAddiction may be down right now (temporarily?), but the site’s founder can be found at Short Fuse Reviews reviewing Dynamite releases. That shill! Is he getting them for free?!?

Also, longtime readers may recall the Collector’s Mentality, that chronicled an old colleague’s (and current Postcards Assistant Editor and contributor) battle with collecting. It closed in September, but James Powell is back with a completely (so far) non-comics related blog on his own site – Raising the Steaks kicked off recently.

Meanwhile, Comicbook Christian is exactly where it’s always been, and none the worse for it!

Until later…

I’m busy avoiding spoilers this week so just a few thoughts this morning;

Note: There are some spoilers towards the end of this entry about the 2/20 episode of Veronica Mars – sorry, Nick!

Wedded Bliss

Over at Lying in the Gutters, Rich Johnston reports that Green Arrow might be being cancelled and replaced with a Green Arrow/Black Canary title following their wedding later this year.

I see.

Not that I have anything against this in principle, having jumped off GA after OYL, but it doesn’t ring true to me for either character. I just don’t see how Dinah could possibly bring herself to trust him again after the number of times he’s cheated on her. Ah well…here’s hoping at least that they don’t forget Sin as they have in Justice League of America.

If we’re going to have a married couple comic, can’t we just have a Lois Lane solo mini? Please?

Where be Onslaught Reborn #3?

And more importantly, do you really need to know when you can see Rob Liefeld showing it all here with Liefeld-tastic sound effects??

Genius.

I know Rob takes a lot of heat on account of…a lot of things, but I still kinda like the energy he brings to stuff – and these original pages look a lot better than the printed ones.

And hey, now I don’t need to buy it!

There’s a Word for that…

I forgot to mention that I had an email last week from the New York ComicCon (this weekend!) that read:

Hayden Panettiere, who currently stars as Claire Bennet in the hit NBC series
“Heroes” as a high school cheerleader with a healing factor, will be appearing
at New York Comic Con.

A limited number of tickets are available for Hayden’s Meet & Greet reception are now available to advance ticket holders. Meet Hayden, get her autograph, spend an hour with Hayden at her New York Comic Con Meet & Greet reception on Saturday and receive the limited edition New York Comic Con exclusive World War Hulk T-Shirt and Variant Sketch Cover Sensational Spider-Man #35 Comic Book. This package is only available to New York Comic Con ticket holders for $250 and is limited to only 30 fans.

Er…so you can pay $250 to spend an hour with a pretty blonde 16 year old? I’m fairly sure that there’s a word for that but I can’t quite put my finger on it…

It’s almost worth doing just to see (a) the people who would do that, and (b) the poor girl’s reaction to them.

Ah, Veronica (Spoilers from Last Night)

TOLD YOU THEY WERE COMING!

HERE THEY ARE!

I can’t believe they killed off Sherrif Lamb.

And I really can’t believe that Booker did it.

Also – Caged Heat starring Kristen Bell? Yeah, I’d watch that. (Oh, I’d kill for a whistling smiley about now.)

Will the real Thor please stand up?

Someone at CBR has come up with a great theory on the ‘real’ identity of Civil War’s Clor. If only Marvel thought of that.

And hey, doesn’t President’s Day delay comics til tomorrow? Gah!