Terrible. Just terrible.
While there are a number of good, even great, titles that somehow slipped past the current management cesspool and got mixed into the bunch, my over all feeling is that DC has gone to pot.
Poor characterization, inane dialog, atrocious artwork and just plain dumb ideas not withstanding, DC has once again missed the point of being DC. My biggest complaint with the new 52 is that this new universe doesn't interest me. It has lost it's unique flavor and is now nothing special. As I noted on the message boards of one of my favorite comic book news sites...
If Marvel is making Marvel Comics
And DC is making Marvel Comics
And I don't like Marvel Comics,
What is there for me to read.
Who will be DC Comics if DC Comics won't?
Strangely enough, on further inspection I may actually be buying more Marvel soon. Terry Dodson, one my all time favorite artists, is going to do pencilling a new Defenders series. Hmmm...Marvel, eh?
I started reading comics at a very young age and continue to do so to this day. That's a long term customer. It's also a customer who has purchased (at one time or another) action figures, t-shirts, mugs, video games, trade paperbacks and graphic novels and gone to see movies about DC's characters.
As it stand with the current 'New DC Universe', I would be very hard pressed to hand any of the 52 #1's to anyone under 15. There is probably not a single title I would recommend to a child under 10.
NOT ONE IN FIFTY-TWO!
That is extremely disappointing.
Instead of reviewing the titles individually I will simply approach this by saying the vast majority are so bad that are not worth individual reviews. The following titles are good, at least well written and/or drawn, but I will not be collecting them*:
Action Comics
All-Star Western
Animal Man
Nightwing
Wonder Woman
The next set are ones I am on the fence about. They are titles I really want to like enough to purchase but with limited funds and the alterations to the DC Universe as a whole I can't quite bring myself to commit:
DC Universe Presents: DeadmanJustice League Dark**
Legion Lost
Legion of Superheroes
OMAC
Static Shock
These are titles I am actually going to buy as it stands right now:
Aquaman***
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Batwing
Batwoman
Note that DC Comics head as...um...honcho, Dan DiDio, is committed to getting these books out on time every month so some issues may have fill-in artists. 'Cause, y'know, we need our next issue of Voodoo or we go into diabetic shock. Well Dan, if you change up the artist I like and would gladly wait for once too often, I will drop the book. Do shorter arcs and then go to another creative team or a new artist but don't do it half way through a story.****
Oh and should I catch you reading and/or recommending the following titles to anyone other than your arch-nemesis, I will personally come to your house and beat you will a vintage Superman Lunchbox:
Justice League
Red Hood and The Outlaws
Stormwatch
Teen Titans
Voodoo
Many of the books were bad but these made week old, burning crap look good.
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Barking Alien
*In some cases these books are actually well worth a look. For one reason or another they are just not my thing or just aren't my thing enough to make me not want to spend my money on at this juncture. Animal Man and Wonder Woman were especially cool and you should definitely check them out at the very least.
**While Justice League Dark wasn't bad, I am waiting for Justice League Almond and Justice League Lite which I understand will have fewer calories.
***Yes Aquaman. I was as surprised as you are. My friend Dave and I have an idea for a relaunch Aquaman that, in all honesty, trumps what they are doing and what has ever been done with the character. In a way, this goes in the opposite direction from our idea and yet in spite of that (or perhaps because of it), I think this was a very cool take on the character. I want to see what happens next.
****It's amazing to me that I've read a number of fans actually like this idea, feeling that the book coming out on time is more important than it looking good I guess. Boggles my mind. Then again, I am used to Japanese Manga and independant comics which come out when they're done.
Please Adam Warren, take forever on Empowered Vol. 7! I don't care. Why? Because in the end I will get the awesome seventh volume of Empowered. It's not food. You don't need it to survive. Learn patience and get rewarded you twitter addicted jackanapes.
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Barking Alien
I thought OMAC would be okay for a kid under 10. Certainly better than any of the in continuity Marvel stuff I've seen lately. Whatever, though, virtually everything Kirby did at Marvel and DC is available in reprint- and those are the comics I give my kids (8 and 10).
ReplyDeleteStill waiting for the relaunch of that classic DC series where Jonah Hex is timewarped into a post-nuke war ravaged Earth: HEX. Sounds pretty good in comparison, now, doesn't it? :)
ReplyDelete@Aos - True, OMAC is the best of the bunch in that regard but a very confusing read in some ways. Also, while I love Keith Giffen's art, I'm not sure how well it would appeal to a youngster.
ReplyDelete@RavenFeast - While I think Jonah Hex is best served by placing him in his native habitat (the 'Weird Wild West'), I must admit that the HEX series had some seriously good and fun elements.