DC Comics had an eventful September revealing all their 52 titles just as they release their December solicitations. The mysterious cloaked character within Flashpoint #5 who brought the Wildstorm,Vertigo, and DC Universe together showed up in all 52 new titles. Looking at the September releases of the new 52 titles will reinforce which titles will be purchased for December from DC Comics.
However it would have been nice to have the first six issues of each title to tell self-contained stories so we get to know the characters intimately like Superman #1 from George Perez. Instead we got a series of cliffhangers from various writers hoping the readers will jump on broad for the next issue. Some of the writers had successful payoffs while others were complete duds.
Superman
Grant Morrison reinvents Superman for the current generation by representing social justice instead of just following the law in Action Comics, while George Perez examines the modern day Man of Steel within the pages of Superman.
Scott Lobdell is bringing his best by writing Superboy,Teen Titans, and Red Hood and the Outlaws. Superboy has wonderful artwork by RB Silva (JimmyOlsen) and story leading to a confrontation with the Teen Titans, which Lobdell is also writing.
Batman
The Batman titles bought the Joker back within Detective Comics as Tony Daniel reinvents the character as we have never seen before on the final page of the first issue. Gail Simone brings back Barbara Gordon as Batgirl as she takes on the villain the Mirror. Batwing follows an African-Batman from Grant Morrison’s Batman Incorporated title while Batwoman returns following last year’s zero issue bringing top notch quality and art.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern books starts with Sinestro taking on his own Sinestro Corps within the pages of Green Lantern. Peter Milligan (Hard Target) gives a new purpose for the Red Lanterns as they become Marvel-style Punishers of the Universe. Meanwhile both Green Lantern Corps and Green Lantern: New Guardians take on unknown threats expanding the Green Lantern-mythos.
The New 52 – The Good
Milestone Media’s Static Shock brings back the nostalgia of the 1990s with cameos of Hardware.
Former Wildstorm title Stormwatch reintroduces the characters and grounds them to the DC Universe by adding the Martian Manhunter to the team.
The Vertigo titles are reinvented with Animal Man and Swamp Thing. Animal Man had a wonderful run under writer Grant Morrison and a worthy successor has finally risen in the form of Jeff Lemire.
The New 52 – The Bad
Dan Jurgens the architect behind the Death of Superman in 1992 takes on the Justice League International. After experiencing their best incarnation in the form of Keith Griffen, J.M.DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire, every other Justice League title seems inferior. When Marvel’s Brian Michael Bendis creates great dialogue between his Avengers’ characters, DC Comics need to take notice of their competition and pump up quality of their writing.
Writer Peter J. Tomasi lost his momentum when he took over Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors and Batman and Robin. Tomasi did a wonderful job on the Green Lantern Corps however his Batman and Robin characters doesn’t seem to be too grounded. His first issue of Batman and Robin failed to hold up as the dynamics between the father and son relationship seem to be unrealistic. DC wanted to bring younger characters however Batman seems older since he now has a son.
Batman: Gates of Gotham co-writer Kyle Higgins fails to uphold his Deathstroke title as the character of Slade Wilson seems nothing more than a straight mercenary. Wilson seems to be a character without any inner conflict or consequences to his actions therefore the series lacks any real substance.
Sterling Gates failed to win me over during Supergirl and now teaming up with artist Rob Liefeld fails to win me over Hawk and Dove. Gates doesn’t build enough mysterious to justify another issue of Hawk and Dove which only seems to showcase Rob Liefeld’s art rather than good storytelling.
DC introduces the Joseph Rock who grandson of Sergeant Frank Rock in Men of War. The title brings war comics to the DC line however the issue itself is filled with dialogue and maneuver talks suitable for Ghost Recon games.
Legion Lost is about a group of Legion of Super-Heroes traveling back in time to stop an outbreak. The issue starts out convoluted as the characters are thrown around without any significant introductions. Writer Fabian Nicieza who once wrote team books like X-Men fails to produce any lovable characters as they are lost in the background.
Supergirl is the weakest of the Superman titles as it introduces thecharacter after she arrives on Earth leading to a fight scene continuing into the second issue.
Some issues seem too much like an introduction like Justice League, Supergirl, Nightwing, and Blue Beetle. Nothing happens within these first issues to warrant a look at the second issue. Supergirl lands on Earth for the first time and we see Jamie Reyes within the alien Blue Beetle armor for the first time. If you are familiar with these characters then the future issues within the first arc are predictable and serve only as an introduction. What makes a character is the supporting cast.
What Comic Readers Want
1. An origin story reinventing the character for the current generation
Action Comics, Superboy
2.Cliffhangers and surprises endings leading readers to pick up the next issue
Action Comics, Animal Man, Detective Comics, Batwing, Batman
3. Let the story grow organically before heading towards a fight scene
Swamp Thing, Green Lantern, Batwoman, Red Lanterns, Catwoman, Wonder Woman
4. Bringing back older characters and breathing new life into them
Animal Man, Batgirl, Static Shock, Stormwatch, Swamp Thing, Flash
What Comic Readers Do Not Want
1. Rehashing old stories and packaging them like new leading to predictable stories
Justice League International, Deathstroke, Demon Knights, Legion Lost
2. Decompressing stories leading to nothing happening until the fourth or fifth issue
Justice League, Deathstroke,Suicide Squad, Nightwing, Supergirl, Birds of Prey
3. Just don’t give a shit pile
Green Arrow, Hawk and Dove, Men of War, Frankenstein, OMAC, Grifter, Mister Terrific, Resurrection Man, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Firestorm, Blackhawks
If writers care about the characters, story, and the audience they are writing for then you will get superb stories worth reading and collecting. Writers Tony Daniel, Judd Winick, Scott Synder, Paul Cornell, Scott Lobdell, and Peter Milligan have all brought their A-Game as they tackle the New 52. While other writers including Sterling Gates (Supergirl), Kyle Higgins (Nightwing), Fabian Nicieza have not not shown any improvement after the new 52. Overall the New 52 has brought life back to a starving comic industry however not all will be winners.
DECEMBER 2011 PULL LIST
12/7
Action Comics #4
Animal Man #4
Batwing #4
Detective Comics #4
Red Lanterns #4
Static Shock #4
Stormwatch #4
Superman #4
Swamp Thing #4
2/14
Batgirl #4
Batwoman #4
Green Lantern #4
Superboy #4
12/21
Batman #4
Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes
Catwoman #4
Green Lantern Corps #4
Justice League #4
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2
Wonder Woman #4
12/28
Aquaman #4
Batman:The Dark Knight #4
The Flash #4
Green Lantern: New Guardians #4
I,Vampire #4
Justice League Dark #4
Legion: Secret Origin #3
Teen Titans #4
Voodoo #4
