DC
Comics is now nine months into their big, sweeping re-launch of the entire
line, the project they call “The New 52”. And despite the early naysayers, it’s
proving to be more than just marketing hype. Over all—at least on most of the
core titles—it’s been a real success, commercially and creatively.
Not
that it’s been without the occasional crash-and-burn utter failure. Of the 52
titles that launched the first month, I was able to check out about 20 of them,
so I can’t speak for the quality of the majority. But of the titles I read,
only a few were disappointing. A quick run-down on those before getting to the
good (and great) stuff.
SAVAGE
HAWKMAN was a disaster from the get-go. I’ve always had a soft spot for the
character, but very few creators have done good work with him. Tony Daniels and
Philip Tan continue the tradition of mucking Hawkman up. Lately, DC is allowing
artists like Daniels to write as well, and this title illustrates perfectly why
that’s not such a good idea. Daniels is a decent artist, but his writing leaves
much to be desired.
BATMAN:
THE DARK KNIGHT came almost solely from artist David Finch—again, a case of a
very good artist being given the reins as writer, with poor results.
DETECTIVE
COMICS is also written by Daniels, and also fails to be interesting.
All
three of the above mentioned titles have just been handed over to different
creative teams, so hopefully they’ll get on track.
GREEN
ARROW is another character with loads of potential, but the New 52 re-launch of
the character takes away everything that made him interesting and replaces it a
with shallow, dull-witted Tony Stark impression. The art is static, the story
is predictable. Again, a new team has taken over, so maybe they can salvage it
yet. It would be nice to see Green Arrow get the treatment he deserves.
CATWOMAN
has had her ups and downs over the years, but Ed Brubaker showed that
tremendous things can be done with her. There’s a fine, fine line between
writing Selina Kyle as a complex anti-hero with more than her share of sexiness
and writing her as a total sexpot. Judd Winnick (who is normally a decent
writer, I think) goes the exploitive sexpot route, to such a degree that it’s
hard to take her seriously. And the ridiculously exaggerated art of Gulliem
March only accentuates it. This one was especially disappointing.
SUPERMAN…
the super-hero of all super-heroes should NOT be boring. And yet he so often
is. The re-launch changed many things about Superman, but not that. The first
couple issues were busy, busy, busy, cluttered with unnecessary prose and about
a million panels per page. Yet again, the original creative team here has been
replaced, so this titles future could still be bright.
RED
HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS was sort of a mess.
BLACKHAWKS
had a lot of potential to be a sort of DC Universe version of G.I. Joe, but
missed the mark.
Now,
the titles that were decent, but not quite special enough to make my pull-list
(although, if money wasn’t an issue, I would still consider hanging around to
see where they were going)…
NIGHTWING
is written competently and the art is solid, but over-all it felt fairly rote.
Nightwing is a great character, though, and as part of the Batman world, not
much has changed (not much that is apparent yet, anyway).
BATWOMAN
is one of DC’s best new characters, and the initial run (in Detective Comics),
written by Greg Rucka and with amazing art by J.H. Williams was fantastic. The
re-launch more or less picks up where the first run left off, except this time
it doesn’t have the saving grace of Rucka’s script. Artist Williams has taken
up the pen, and unfortunately his skills as a writer don’t match up to his
skills as an artist. Still, the book would still be worth picking up if it
still featured his art… but it doesn’t.
JUSTICE
LEAGUE, written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Jim Lee, is a fan-boy wet
dream. I liked it enough to stick around through the first six-issue arc, but
almost immediately after that it began losing its appeal for me. I’m not crazy
about the new team dynamics here, the way the heroes interact with one another.
But that’s just me.
And
now, the winners:
BATMAN,
written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo, is an absolute gem. The core
Batman books don’t seem to have been affected much by the re-launch, so Snyder
is able to draw on Batman’s recent history to tell a terrific and involving
story, and Capullo’s art is really fresh and dynamic.
ACTION
COMICS—Grant Morrison gives us the Superman we deserve here. His first arc is a
reimagining of Superman’s early days in Metropolis as a brash, headstrong young
hero out to help the common man. He’s likeable and fun and the story is just
jam-packed with great action and mind-blowing ideas. If you’ve read Morrison’s
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, you know what to expect. Great stuff.
THE
FLASH is pure super-hero fun, with a focus on crazy science and flat-out
action. The art by Francis Manapul is gorgeous. I didn’t think anybody could do
justice to The Flash after the great run a few years ago from Geoff Johns and
Scott Kolins, but the new team is kicking all kinds of ass.
WONDER
WOMAN is a book I never thought I’d be reading, but so far, month after month,
Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang are blowing me away with this title.
Incorporating Greek mythology, horror, and dynamic super-hero action, Wonder
Woman is one of the best new surprises to come from the New 52.
Now,
as for the non-core titles that really nail it:
ALL-STAR
WESTERN was a no-brainer for me, as I loved the ongoing JONAH HEX title that
this one replaces. It’s the same writers, with new artist Moritat—and they’ve
gone in a decidedly “weird western” direction. I sort of miss the old single
issue story format of the old title, but they’re doing a very nice job of
keeping me invested in the new version. I do hope, though, that our man Hex
gets away from Gotham City and back out West again soon.
ANIMAL MAN is probably the smartest, weirdest
book to come out of the New 52. Writer Jeff Lemire is forging a bizarre,
horrifying epic here and I hope more people pick it up because it’s just
amazing.
SWAMP
THING, newly re-introduced to the DC Universe after a long stint in their
“adult” pocket Vertigo, is written by Batman scribe Scott Snyder (you should
also check out his AMERICAN VAMPIRE, it’s aces), and seems to be closely
related to Animal Man. I was dubious and a little annoyed that they were
reincorporating Swampie into the mainstream DC Universe, but I needn’t have
worried. Aside from “younging up” the characters, they don’t seem to have
changed much of the rich back-story.
FRANKENSTEIN:
AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. doesn’t seem like it would be worth reading, does it?
Wrong. It’s flat-out brilliant. Jeff Lemire has the reins on this one as well,
and gives readers a bizzaro saga packed with great ideas and almost pulp-style
action. Some readers have pointed out that the premise has more than a little
in common with Hellboy and his BPRD, and yes, that’s true—but I don’t see a
problem with that.
So
that’s my take on the New 52. Over all, I’m really pleased with the re-launch.
DC as a company seems committed to telling the best stories possible, and even
though they may have stumbled a little bit out of the gate with a few titles,
I’m invested enough in many of them that I’m sure I’ll be there for the long
haul.
What’s
your take? And are there any that I didn’t mention that you think are worth
reading?