I’ve been a DC fan since I was a kid. I grew up on Eclipso annuals and “Bloodlines” and way, way too many books featuring Lobo. I’ve been with DC through the breaking of Batman, the Death of Superman, and what some months feels like the heat death of the universe.
So, of course I started reading the New 52. And, out of the thirteen or so titles that hit this week? Only one is making it to the pull list, and two I’ll give one more issue.
In a way it’s frustrating because it’s been DC that’s lead mainstream comics artistically for the past two decades. They published “Watchmen”, they put out “Sandman” and then started the Vertigo imprint…where Marvel has been content to stay in one place artistically for what feels like decades, DC has actually tried to push the form in the mainstream.
As you might have guessed from the page image, good luck finding ANY of that in the first thirteen titles. Let’s take it title by title:
Action Comics
Remember Superdickery? Apparently that’s the new character direction.
Detective Comics
I always wondered what Grant Morrison phoning it in would feel like. Now I know. EDIT: This book is written by Tony S. Daniel: for some reason, the second line of my Action Comics dismissal got filed under Detective. Unfortunately, the book still stinks.
Batgirl
I love Gail Simone, and I want to like this book, but there’s nothing that really grabs me here. It’s your fairly standard “fresh start with a mysterious villain” plotline. I’ll give this one more issue, but I’m worried that Simone is better off doing more edgy stuff like “Secret Six”.
Green Arrow
Did they just repackage a Nightwing book or something for this? Seriously. This is terrible. The hacking arrow is the new boxing glove arrow in terms of how retarded it is.
Justice League
Soooo, Batman’s unchanged, and Green Lantern and Superman are overly cocky, unlikeable jerks. Well, that’s four bucks I won’t get back.
Justice League International
Dan Jurgens is really, really underappreciated: just check out his great run on “Thor”, his work on “Booster Gold”, or the fact that he pretty much singlehandedly kept the Superman books interesting for most of the ’80s. But this is just your standard team book and he’s got absolutely nothing to work with here. Also, shouldn’t “Godiva” there being wearing a red shirt? It’s pretty obvious she’s the Thunderbird of this team.
Hawk and Dove
Hey, Rob Liefield can finally draw feet! And the character designs lack pouches! And the anatomy, while still exaggerated, is at least somewhat reasonable! Beyond that, eh.
Swamp Thing
Out of all the books, this is really the one that takes the big fat dump on previous beloved work. Oh, great, Alec Holland is no longer Swampie and vaguely remembers Abby Cable. That’s…that’s just great. Somewhere, Rick Veitch and Alan Moore are holding a wake.
Batwing
I’ll give this credit, it’s a really good attempt to bring something new to the Batman franchise. At least it’s more interesting than the other Batbooks this week. Still, it’s not different enough and the character isn’t interesting enough to get me to care.
Men of War
This has potential, and seeing Sgt. Rock is always a pleasure. That said, something about this book didn’t click with me. It’s not bad, certainly, but I’m on the fence about getting another issue. Especially at four bucks. Seriously, DC, what’s with this crap?
Stormwatch
I thought Apollo and the Midnighter were only interesting when they weren’t killing people. So of course this book has them killing people. On the bright side, it does have the good idea of Martian Manhunter playing both sides of the street, and they might have finally found a place for John Jones in the DCU. So there’s that. Still not buying the second issue.
Static Shock
I’ll admit, this made me a bit nostalgic for all the teen hero books in the early ’90s DC flooded the market with to get kids reading comics. And it’s a solid book, I’m just not the market for it. Still, a good attempt and I hope it clicks.
OMAC
The art, which is pretty much Jack Kirby all the way, is nice, and seeing Dubbilex is always fun, but the reason I’m giving this book a second issue, after the fairly standard “OMAC trashes Cadmus” plot, is the final line, delivered by Brother Eye. It’s classic Keith Giffen, and if the book offers more of that, I’m sold.
Animal Man
And here’s the book I’m definitely reading next month. Here’s where DC could learn a few lessons: “Animal Man” is a solid book as a superhero book, but it doesn’t center around some abstract problem: Buddy Baker has a family, and most of the book is how he balances his powers and his family life. He’s grounded, flawed, his relationship with his wife is realistic, and the writing makes you feel the absolute horror Buddy must be experiencing as he sees the final panel, something that offends everything he believes in and involves someone he loves.
So, What’s the Verdict?
Overall…this is not a good launch. Here’s the thing: a relaunch should really be…well…a relaunch, a restart of everything. This is just the same old stuff, repeated. There’s very little daring or unique here, and frankly I’m a little worried that the daring and unique stuff that IS here isn’t going to last long. I don’t have high hopes for week two right now, I’ve got to admit.