Review - The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales

by Geoffrey Chaucer
adapted by Seymour Chwast
Bloomsbury

It’s been a long time since I’ve even thought about the Canterbury Tales, at least since High School. But this volume is retelling of the ancient tales in a graphic format.
I didn’t know by name Seymour Chwast, but I recognized his work. Strong lines with silly caricature designs. I have seen his work in both commercial art and even some illustrations in children’s books here in the library.
As the book starts after the introduction telling the reader about the characters, we read the Knights Tale. Where two knights were imprisoned and both seeing the daughter of their captor fell in love with her. Of course, there is a battle between the two to determine who the daughter will go to.
At the end of this tale, we meet the pilgrims traveling to Canterbury riding motorcycles while they tell their stories to pass the time. Chaucer is also traveling with them and interjects comments during the stories. All very clever and quite fun to read.
But much like the original tales (as I recall), some of the stories are kind of raunchy while others are quite profound. Some are pretty silly while others are somewhat sad. And there was a funny page where is shows Chaucer’s notes to wives. After being told a handful of tales with different types of wives. Some where the woman is kind and giving. Others where the wife is either mean, angry, jealous or lusty, we get to see all the different ways women are portrayed in the Canterbury Tales.
I certainly wouldn’t give this book to someone as a shortcut for their homework assignment. And I can’t imagine a person who loves superhero book or manga reading this. It’s one of those artistic graphic novels that I wouldn’t think would appeal to normal comic book readers, which is a really tough thing for libraries to have in their collection.

DC Comics New 52 - Week Four

I've looked at how many people actually look at this blog, which is basically 2 people, so I'll not be as complete in my analysis of this weeks books. I'm tired of trying to describe mediocre books, so I'll just explain what I liked or didn't like about them and tell you if I'll continue getting them.

The run of the first 52 issues is done and I'm tired of reading too many comic books. It's kind of like sitting in the movie theater watching previews only. The incomplete stories have almost made me angry at DC for this. But the mood will pass and I'll continue getting comics from this reboot that I like.

All-Star Western #1 - Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti with art and cover by Moritat.I liked this book. The art was bold and grey while Jonah Hex was a bastard who killed people. All I expect from a good western book. I'll continue to get this one for at least the first story arc.

 Aquaman #1 - Written by Geoff Johns with art and cover by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado. The big guns are on the creative team for this book. I really liked it. The humor was great and the way the character is going looks like it could be interesting. And the art is top notch. But with so many comics, I'm not going to pick this one up. Maybe I'll grab the trade paperback for the library and read it then.

 Batman : The Dark Knight #1 - Written and art by David Finch with Rihard Friend. This bat book is a typical Batman story. He is charging through Arkhanm Asylum with a group of police officers trying to locate Twoface. There was one intersting thing, there was a bunny girl running around the asylum for some reason. She was way out of place but I'm sure important to the plot. The art was bold and strong, but with so many Batman titles, I'll decline from continuing it.

 Blackhawks #1 - Written by Mike Costa with art by Ken Lashley. This is really derivative. I like the old Howard Chaykin Blackhawks, but this was just a redo of G.I. Joe (which I have read in almost every other review). I will not continue reading this book.

 The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 - Written by Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone with art by Yildiray Cinar. A moderate book again. I don't recall anything that was too engrossing about it. The art didn't strike me as being terrible, but I don't remember any particular panels that striked me as being phenominal. And the story seemed rather common too, with a high school rivalry. But the one interesting thing that might be worth reading more about would be the race issues. But that isn't enough for me to continue.

 The Flash #1 - Created by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. The artwork is what's best in this book. Manapul's style is fluid and full of energy. Unfortunately, I didn't find the plot too engaging. The Flash ranks a little higher in my like pile than Green Lantern, but not much more. Though interesting and one of the more well known characters in the DC Universe, I'll pass on issue 2 of this book.

 The Savage Hawkman #1 - Written by Tony S. Daniel with art by Philip Tan. This is an ok book. Carter Hall wants to get rid of his Hawkman weapons and armor, but can not. I liked the art for this book more than the writing. There is potential with the "reluctant hero" bit where Hall doesn't want to be Hawkman. But I've read that story too often with better characters. I'll not continue this book.

 I, Vampire #1 - Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov and art by Andrea Sorrentino. The most interesting thing I found with this book is the naked woman on the cover painted by Jenny Frison and the lack of imagination of the title. I love the Vertigo book I, Zombie. But I, Vampire is not the same thing. Basically its a battle between two vampires who were lovers for centuries. But the lady vamp want to eat everyone while the guy vamp want to stop her. Ambitious in its vision, I think it misses the mark. I'll pass on this one.

 Justice League Dark #1 - Written by Peter Milligan and art by Mikel Janin. I was really hoping for a fun, supernatural book with this one. And it might be that. But one issue isn't enough to find out. We With a writer I have liked in the past and interesting characters in the DC Universe, I'll get this one though the first issue wasn't the strongest.

 Superman #1 - Created by George Pérez and Jesus Merino. Superman is new! Newspapers are dying and Lois is romping with some other dude. Clark is dpressed and an alien thing is burning up Metropolis. This story has all the required Superman bits. (Along with people reciting the "leap tall buildings" trope) And it might be a really good book for the long haul to see how different, yet recognizable, the Superman story can be. I also liked the art. It had all that was necessary and made him look younger. But I'm not going to read on. I'll see about getting this for the library when it's released in a collection, but I can't afford more books.

 Teen Titans #1 - Written by Scott Lobdell with art and cover by Brett Booth and Norman Rapmund. I kind of liked this book. Red Robin is trying to gather super-teens before some shadowy organization gets them. He is able to locate Wonder Girl, but as we know from the end of the Superboy comic, there is going to be a showdown between them. This was one of the better books this week, and I've been getting the Teen Titans book before the reboot. But I fear that there will be too many ties with other titles which kind of ticks me off these days. So unfairly, I'll be passing on more from this book.\

Voodoo #1 - Written by Ron Marz with art by Sami Basri. I picked up old versions of this book based on the pinup covers from Adam Hughes. And luckilly they were even written by Alan Moore. But this Voodoo book isn't how I remember the old ones. It is still interesting. An alien is posing as a stripper to gain information about humans. I have to admit, there aren't too many other books that have that kind of plotline. Ron Marz has done some writing in the past that I liked, but nothing I remember offhand. And I'm not familiar with Sami Basri, but his art seems good. I might continue getting this one for another issue or two if its a slow week for the other books.

DC Comics New 52 - Week Three

I don’t know if I’m getting tired of all the new books, or if the quality isn’t quite as good, but it took me a little while to finish this weeks selections. There were some big titles like Batman and Wonder Woman, which I was picking up before the reboot along with other books that I was looking forward to, like DC Presents Deadman and Birds of Prey.

Batman #1 - Written by Scott Snyder with art by Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion. I like Snyder’s work. The books in the Batman family are strange. They haven’t been rebooted from a fresh start. Instead, they build upon Grant Morrison’s stories. In this book, it starts with Batman in Arkham Asylum beating up his usual villains. He’s there to try and locate a weak point in the asylum’s security. But after the battle, we are reintroduced to the Bat Cave and all the different versions of Robin: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. Snyder does a clever way of introducing all the main characters for the new readers, and yet keeps it interesting for long time fans. He has Bruce Wayne use facial recognition software and we read what he sees. So when Vicky Vale appears, we see that she is a reporter.

I liked the art in this book. It isn’t a clean style, but effective. The inking Glapion uses consists of fine lines, but still manages to show a level of disorder to the scenes. For the fight sequence at the beginning of the book, Capullo shows a level of energy that is just right. I liked this book more than Detective Comics. I’ll continue getting this one a little longer.

Birds of Prey #1 - When Gail Simone was writing the previous iteration of this book, I liked it. Not so much this time. Written by Duane Swierczynski, we are reintroduced to Black Canary and some girl with a arm sleeve tattoo and corset named Ev Crawford. After unsuccessfully trying to recruit Barbara Gordon, who was the brains of the group back when she was Oracle, we meet only two members of the group in this book.

The art by Jesus Saiz is good. The characters faces are done well with a wide range of expressions. But his figures are kind of generic. And even though the book could lend itself to being a pinup page special, he doesn’t go there and keeps it pretty straight. But it is unfortunate that there really wasn’t enough to keep me interested in continuing this book.

Blue Beetle #1 - With this book we meet the new Blue Beetle, who has been around for a couple years. A normal Latino teenager named Jaime Reyes who stumbles upon an alien blue scarab which then joins with him creating a super exoskeleton. Written by Tony Bedard, I thought this was one of the better reboots. The story is a true origin tale. Jaime doesn’t get his powers until the end of the book and we are told how dangerous and valuable the scarab is to some bad people. I thought the pacing and amount of information given in the book was excellent.

The art by Ig Guara and Ruy Jose is good too. There isn’t anything that is too radically different or unique about the pictures. The characters are well done and the story flows along with the images. The book was technically well done, but with 51 other books contending for my money, I think this one is on the bubble for continuing.

Captain Atom #1 - Written by J.T. Krul and art by Freddie Williams II. This book isn’t on the bubble for me. I won’t ask for the second issue from my comic shop. This book starts out with Captain Atom beating up a guy in a big robot suit. And he starts to manipulate the atomic structure of the metal (isn’t that Firestorms gig?). One the battle is over, he heads back to some research facility to meet up with some Stephen Hawking like character named Dr. Megala. But unlike Hawking, Megala isn’t charming and doesn’t have a sense of humor. But by the end of this book, Captain Atom needs to stop both a nuclear meltdown and volcano eruption in New York. Sounds like a SyFi movie plot. The art by Williams was good. I get a Dr. Manhattan vibe from Watchmen when I look at Captain Atom. But like most of the other books in this reboot, there isn’t anything too special about it.

Catwoman #1 - I’ve seen the name Judd Winick as writer on many books I’ve bought. So I know he has chops to write something good. And I’ll admit that I liked Catwoman. We meet Selina Kyle first fighting off intruders in her home. After escaping, her apartment is blown up. From there we meet her friend and fence where she gets a tip about some Russian mob connection. And at the end of the book, a seemingly non-Morrison Batman show up and the two of them get it on.

Like Batwoman, the artwork in this book is unique and well done. Guillem March has a fluid style that’s pretty sexy too. Perhaps there might be too much cheesecake for some readers, but Catwoman is like a superego of the Batman books. She is a creature of wants and passions. And when we see her jumping around or getting nuzzled by Batman, we sense her feelings from the art. I think I’ll continue getting this book. At least until there is a new artist assigned to it.

DC Comics Presents Deadman #1 - I wanted to like this one. Really. I think Deadman is one of the cooler characters in the DC Universe. But with this version by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang, I don't get the same vibe as the Deadman from the past. In this book, we are told Deadman's origin as Boston Brand, aerialist, who is assassinated while in the middle of his act. Then we go into the metaphysical where he meets Rama Kushna who puts Boston in a position where he can posess people. And in doing so he is to perform good deeds to build up karma so he can die peacefully and whole.

I liked this book a little. But as I said, I was expecting something more. I can't define what that is and it isn't really fair of me to disregard this book on expectations not met, but there are too many other books to consider before I put out to continue this one.

Green Lantern Corps #1 - Written by Peter J. Tomasi with art by Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna relates the story of the other Green Lanterns who’s patrol area consists of Earth. We meet again Guy Gardner (who is in Justice League International) and John Stewart. We find that they are separately trying to maintain a normal civilian life while still being Green Lanterns with unfortunately results for them. The two end up going to OA together commiserating with each other when they are sent on a mission with some other Green Lanterns. I like the direction Tomasi is taking. Guy Gardner isn’t a huge dick like he was before the reboot. And John Stewart isn’t the same as in the Justice League cartoons where I was introduced to him.

The artwork is good. The panoramas of OA are highly detailed while the underwater planets look really cool. And the characters expressions (even the alien ones) are interesting. I like that Pasarin has done with the book. But this book isn’t one that I’ll continue. Again, with the glut of new titles, this one unfortunately didn't make the cut.

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 - I never understood the Legion of Super-Heroes. I know they are from the future and that there are scores of members with really silly names. But other than that, I’m not exactly sure what they are supposed to be doing. And this first issue by Paul Levitz and Francis Portela didn’t really help me understand. The book drops us in on a Legion mission where a couple of veterans , Chameleon Boy and Phantom Girl, are out with some rookies, Chemical Kid and Dragonwing. They are trying to break into some place to find something. Meanwhile there is contention back in the base between Brainiac 5 and Mon-El. Got it? Because I don’t.

The art is good and shiny. Like anime characters, they all have different hair styles and costumes so you can keep track of who’s who. But needless to say, this is a book I won’t be continuing.

Nightwing #1 - This is one of the post-Morrison Batman books. Written by Kyle Higgins, we meet Dick Grayson taking off the Batman costume and returning to his new Nightwing garb. In this story, we are told of his background in flashbacks as the circus he used to perform with his family as a child is in Gotham. He visits them the performers and is attacked as he is leaving as Dick Grayson, not Nightwing.

This is a good book and there is a tie in to the end of the Batman book. So if I get Batman, I should also pick up this one. The art is good but as I recollect not too remarkable.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 - By Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort, Red Hood and the Outlaws is one of the more unique books this week. Notice I didn’t say good. Red Hood is a former Robin, Jason Todd, who was killed by the Joker in the infamous “Death in the Family” storyline. He got better and lost his moral direction while keeping all his bat training. This book starts with him breaking out of a middle eastern prison Roy Harper, who was Green Arrows former sidekick who went through tough times also (but at least wasn’t killed). Together with Starfire from Teen Titans fame, the three of them are a group of amoral good guys, if there is such a thing. Unlike the Starfire from before the reboot who was always had an innocent eye when it comes to humans, this new Starfire treats humans more like inferior beings.

The art by Rocafort is interesting in a Michael Turner mixed with Jim Lee kind of way. There is a page where Starfire is frolicking in her bikini and it looks like it from a Aspen book. Not that its a bad thing, but I don’t know if its something that brought more narrative.

Supergirl #1 - This book has two writers, Michael Green and Mike Johnson along with artists Mahmud Asrar and Dan Green, where we first meet Kara. She lands on Earth, but instead of landing in Kansas, she goes through the planet ending up in Siberia where a bunch of government mechas try and subdue her. And that is pretty much all for the plot of this issue. She doesn’t understand what’s happening and robots are trying to subdue her. It’s pretty sweet action with kinetic artwork to show the fights. I’d talk more about this book, but there unfortunately isn’t anything else to tell. However, I won’t continue reading this one.

Wonder Woman #1 - Along with Batman, this is another one of the flagship titles this week. Writer Brian Azzarello is always interesting and with Cliff Chiang, we meet Wonder Woman again in a new story. It’s not an origin story like Blue Beetle, this is more like the Batman story where we Wonder Woman is established and part of the world. In this story, Diana is dragged into the plot instead of actively seeking it. We first meet her in a bed where a woman gets teleported into her room needing help. And tying Greek mythology into the mix, we are now on an epic journey that hopefully will be satisfying.

I liked the art too. Chiang does have a unique style, Not as visually interesting as Guillem March or J. H. Williams III, but still eye catching and appropriate for the story. The mythical beasts look menacing, and the characters (with out without long pants) fit in the narrative. I’ll continue getting this one for the first story arc and see where it ends up.

DC Comics New 52 - Week Two

Batwoman #1 - With credits for co-writing for J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman and art by J.H. Williams III, this was the book I was most looking forward to this week. I loved the run Batwoman had in Detective Comics a last year and when I heard that she was getting her own series asked the comic shop to pull it for me. And though I wasn’t disappointed, there are things I think a new reader would not understand about this book. The story alludes to many things that happened in the Detective Comics storyline and even some events before that.

Batwoman is one of the most unique characters coming out of all these new books. First she’s a woman and gay. Kicked out of the military on the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy, she puts on the Batwoman costume a couple years ago when Batman was lost in time and thought dead to help fight crime in Gotham. And this new series sets itself up well with a good mystery and interesting side characters which hopefully will be brought to its full potential. But the one thing that makes this book is the fantastic art. Surreal yet rational. Kinetic but still understandable. Even if you don’t read this book, flipping though its pages is almost worth the cover price.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 - Written by Jeff Lemire (who I liked with his Animal Man comic last week) and art by Alberto Ponticelli, I was hoping this book would be good and I wasn’t disappointed. After I finished this, I thought “wow, that was a pretty cool Doom Patrol comic.” There are strange characters fighting weird monsters with mad scientists thrown in the mix. So, like Doom Patrol or B.P.R.D from Dark Horse Comics, I like the idea of monster secret agents fighting monster menaces. The art is ok. Ponticelli uses a rough style in his lines, but it’s consistent so I can live with that. And he is able to convey a sense of the darkness the characters display with his art. I think I’ll continue picking this one up.

Superboy #1 - Superboy was a comic I was getting before the reboot, but now I’ll stop. Not that there is anything wrong with the book. The writing by Scott Lobdell and the art by R.B. Silva and Rob Lean is good. But with so many new books, I can’t get them all.

This story is one of the complete reboots without too many previous story elements carried over. We meet Superboy for the first time in a tube of liquid thinking to himself about his situation. We do find out he is a clone using both human and Kryptonian DNA, but the scientists studying him don’t know where the original human material came from. There is many plot point that need to be reveled in this book and I suspect the path to these revelations would be interesting. But this one just missed my cutoff for retention.

Green Lantern #1 - This is one of the big titles this week, but I have never been a huge Green Lantern fan. However, Geoff Johns is one of the top DC guys right now and the brain behind the previous Blackest Night/Brightest Day events. So I was expecting good stuff, and I wasn’t super impressed. I thought the story was good, and I did like the art by Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy. But again, Green Lantern doesn’t really rank high personally as an interesting character for me. And this issue didn’t really change my mind.

Batman and Robin #1 - I collected Batman and Robin before the reboot and was looking forward to this new direction. In the old book, Bruce Wayne was gone so Dick Grayson (the original Robin) stepped up and put on the Batman costume. And for Robin, Damian Wayne (Bruce Wayne’s son) becomes the young sidekick. But in this new book, written by Peter J. Tomasi, has Bruce Wayne back as Batman and his son Damien is now his sidekick. And the dynamic between the two is less mentor and apprentice and more emotionally distant father and rebellious son. And I didn’t like it too much. I love Damien as a character, and I don’t like the direction it seems they are alluding to in this first issue.

Demon Knights #1 - Written by Paul Cornell with art by Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert was a pleasant surprise. I have liked the Demon and bought several of his books in the past. But this book is a medieval superhero group book. After a brief prologue showing the fall of Camelot and how Jason Blood was tied to Etrigan the Demon, the story fast forwards a couple decades where we meet Madame Xanadu and Jason Blood are travelling and meet up randomly with a bunch of other immortal super-powered beings. I liked the art and the interaction between Blood and Xanadu (though its different to the fantastic Matt Wagner Madam Xanadu series which recently ended, I think Cornell’s version of her works well.) I’ll continue with this series for the first story arc to see how it plays out.

Red Lanterns #1 - Red Lanters are full of rage. They are the soccer hooligans of the ringed wearers. But their leader, Atrocitus, wants to change the rage into vengeance. Most of this book is a flashback into Atrocitus’ past to see how he became what he is and how he has reached the conclusion to change.I do like works by the writer Peter Milligan, but this one didn’t hit me. (Again, this might be my Green Lantern bias.) The artwork by Ed Benes and Rob Hunter is good. Red and angular, the rage is displayed on almost every page. Gritted teeth, clinched fists and glaring eyes are on almost every page. I kind of like the idea that an individual will try and redirect his entire being and drag unwilling followers along. But it isn’t enough to keep me reading this book.

Resurrection Man #1 - The owner of the comic shop said he was looking forward to this one. He liked the original book when it was released in the 90s. In it, the main character Mitch Shelly can not die. Instead he gets resurrected with a different superpower each time. And in this new version, the creative team of Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Fernando Dagnino has the same plot. But this time he is being hunted for his soul which due to his condition is very special. I liked this book. It isn’t really a superhero book nor a horror title. So I’ll continue getting it for a while.

Suicide Squad #1 - What’s with the cover of this issue? Who is that? Oh, it’s a new look for Harley Quinn. Cool. Written by Adam Glass and art by Marco Rudy, we meet a group of felons who are recruited in a very unique manner to head a strike force. A couple regular characters like Deadshot and Harley are here along with some silly characters like King Shark and a flaming tattoo guy. I guess, like all the other team books so far in this reboot, the story will be the relationship between the characters. And from this single issue, there hasn’t been any. If there weren’t 51 other new books this month, I would consider getting this one. But it didn’t make the cut for me to continue it.

Death Stroke #1 - Bad guys as main characters isn’t a new thing at all. But for this New 52, I think this is the only one where a super-villain is the title character. Written by Kyle Higgins with art by Joe Bennett and Art Thibert, Slade aka Death Stroke is hired to do a hit along with a new, young mercenary group. And he scowls and squints through the book like a Clint Eastwood clone in an eye patch. I was entertained with the decapitations and gore, but not enough to get the second issue. Though there was a cliffhanger, if Death Stroke isn’t plotting against the Teen Titans, I’m not going to continue reading this one.

Legion Lost #1 - The Legion of Super Heroes is from the 31st century or something way in the future. A group of legionaries come back to our present day looking for someone who is going to mess up the timeline. And once they find him, they get stuck. It’s a pretty cool idea by Fabian Nicieza and Pete Woods and it has potential to be really interesting. But I’m not sensing a really cool time travel type vibe from this book. Instead we get that this period is marked with great uncertainty. A way to eliminate the mind bending paradoxes and crosses a good time travel story should have. I’ll not continue reading this title.

Grifter #1 - I came into the book without any pre-knowledge of what it was about. I assumed that the main character would be a grifter of some sort, but other than that, nothing. With art by Cafu and writing Nathan Edmondson, the book starts out with a plane hijacking (Much like Hawk and Dove and Resurrection Man). During the mid-flight battle we get a flashback where the main character Cole Cash gets kidnapped and wakes up during some procedure. This allows him to hear their thoughts of the possessed people who are trying to capture him. But there was one thing I had to go back and double check. They mention three different time periods Cole was unconscious. It’s either 17 minutes, hours or days. I hope they will explain this, but unfortunately this book isn’t interesting enough for me to find out.

Mister Terrific #1 - This one the one book I was thinking I would like the least this week and I believe that my notions were correct. Mister Terrific is the third smartest man in the world and a founder and president of a high tech company in California. (How many super rich executives who are also super heroes are there in this new universe?) Written by Eric Wallace and artwork by Gianluca Gugliotta and Wayne Faucher, this read like a pretty generic comic to me. Mister Terrific doesn’t have any super powers other than is intellect and his tech. With a personal tragedy in his past to guide him into helping people, he fights to try and protect everyone. I can’t see how this one character can support a book for long. And needless to say, I won’t be picking it up further.

My thoughts on the 13 New DC #1 Books

The first real week of the New 52 has come. 13 issues of new stories, characters and plots. After reading them, I have some general observations. First off, for the most part I find the stories pretty well done. They do a good job introducing the characters and defines them in their place in the new DC Universe. And each issue ends in some kind of cliffhanger forcing the dedicated comic book aficionado to pick up the second issue. But thinking back to other starts of series’ in the past, this is pretty normal and it takes 4 to 6 issues to complete the first story arc.

I won’t go into as much detail as I did with my discussion of the Justice League book, but here are some thoughts on these issues.

O.M.A.C. #1 - By Dan Didio, Kieth Giffen and Scott Koblish, I found this book to be confusing. The entire book is about some big blue guy, with the urging of a disembodied voice, to break into Cadmus, a genetic research facility, to merge with a mainframe. What’s the most striking is the artwork. From the first page, I felt like I was reading a book from my young childhood. It was so close to a Jack Kirby style, I took a double long time looking at all the panels. The layouts, designs, caricatures, everything reminded me of reading the old Marvel origin books. Will I continue getting this book? No.

Stormwatch #1 - Written by Paul Cornell with art by Miguel Sepulveda, this book is about a covert team of super-powered being (not heroes) who consider themselves soldiers. We get introduced to several characters that I haven’t seen before as they try and recruit a new member who is supposed to be more powerful than Superman. Not until the end of the book do we meet Martian Manhunter, who kind of explains what the group does a little bit. The art is pretty good, but there is nothing too extraordinary or unique to it. I kind of get a Planetary vibe to this book, but it’s not enough for me to continue picking it up.

Batwing #1 - Written by Judd Winick with art and cover by Ben Oliver. This book is an offshoot of the Batman Inc. book. Set in Africa, we meet David Zavimbe, a supervisor at the police department and Batwing. There was a massacre with no definitive clues, but the Batman Inc. resources help guide the investigation which leads to a machete wielding bad guy named fittingly enough Massacre. The story has potential and the setting is not in Gotham and the art work is very good. But the story seems a little thin at this point for me to continue picking it up.

Men of War #1 - Written by Ivan Brandon and Jonathan Vankin with art by Tom Derenick and Phil Winslad, this is a book that has two stories in it. The first is about Sgt. Rock, who at the beginning of the story is Lt. Rock being chewed up by his superiors. The back up story is about two SEAL members in a Middle Eastern city trying to flush out a sniper. Both stories are fine, but not great. The Sgt. Rock story has an intriguing aspect where there are super-beings fighting on the battle. And in the “fog of war” we don’t get a clear view of them or what their objectives are. But I don’t think this is enough to compel me to continue reading this title after the first 3 issues.

Swamp Thing #1 - I wanted this book by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette to be really good. But I’m comparing it to the only other Swamp Thing books I’ve read, which are the Alan Moore and John Totleben issues many years ago. However, this comparisons isn’t fair. DC is trying to redefine all these characters and I’m coming in with the baggage of the past. However, I sense that Snyder is trying to get back to that type of story Alan Moore did. He is raising both global and individual problems for the main character, Alec Holland. The world needs to consider plants (The Green) and how animals need to live together with them. Also Alec needs to find his identity within being the omniscient avatar for The Green. As I said, I wanted this to be a phenomenal book, but it’s seems par for the course to me. I’ll not be continuing this one.

Animal Man #1 - On the other side of the the spectrum is this book by Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman and Dan Green. Instead of plants in Swamp Thing, Animal Man taps into The Red, which grants him powers of any animal. I missed out on the Grant Morrison run with this character. And perhaps if I did, I’d have the same problem I had with Swamp Thing. But coming fresh to this book, I was pleased with how it presented itself. It starts off with a full typed page of an interview with the main character, Buddy Baker. This gave all the background needed to jump right into the story. As far as the artwork is concerned, I really like it. Unlike most typical comics, Forman uses a style that isn’t seen too much in comics. Fine lines and bold blacks make this book interesting to look at as well as read. I’ll continue picking this one up each month.

Green Arrow #1 - Written by J.T. Krul with pencils by Dan Jurgens with inks by George Perez, I was hoping for a lot from this book. Oliver Queen runs his multinational corporation while jaunting around the world stopping crime. With the help of some close friends, Naomi who is an uber-hacker and Jax, a pacifist who is the Green Arrow’s weapons developer. I’m not sure about this one. Unlike Swamp Thing, Krul isn’t pulling out the Mike Grell version of Green Arrow. Instead, it’s kind of like a Batman theme. Rich guy. No powers. Uses technology and a powerful network of friends to help solve crime. Sure there are differences, and that’s the interesting part, but it’s not interesting enough for me to continue reading.

Detective Comics #1 - This is one of the big titles this week. Written and drawn by Tony Daniels with inks by Ryan Winn, this book starts with Batman hunting a serial killer for the first time. The Joker. So that sets the tone of the book. We’re meeting Batman starting out. Gotham Police don’t know if hes a good guy or not. And we’re seeing him find out just how crazy/evil/unpredictable the Joker is. But after reading this book, I only really had one thing to say. “Yuck”. The level of violence in this book I think has been ramped up. Sure, the Bat books always had a dark side, but when I finished this issue, I had to look at the rating on the cover again to make sure it wasn’t for mature audiences. As for continuing this book, I’ve been getting Detective for many years, so I’ll continue even though I don’t think this was a particularly strong first issue.

Hawk and Dove #1 - By Sterling Gates and Rob Liefeld, I wasn’t really expecting much with this book and I wasn’t too surprised by what I read. Hawk and Dove are avatars of war and peace on Earth and the story starts off with them trying to stop a hijacked plane from crashing somewhere in Washington D.C. As the story fills in, we learn that Hawk’s (Hank Hall) brother was the original Dove, who died sometime in the past. And he doen’t like the current Dove (Dawn Granger). But we find out that Dawn Granger had a past with the old Dove and that she is dating Deadman (who we haven’t met yet in this new reboot). Got that? I think I do, but I’m not interested enough to see how this might play out.

Justice League International #1 - This book is written by Dan Jurgens, penciled by Aaron Lopresti and inked by Matt Ryan and is about a multinational superhero team put together by the United Nations to be a counter to the regular Justice League. By having diplomats pick the member of this team, we get a bunch of relatively minor heroes bunched together. And that is potentially the most interesting part. If written well, the characters interactions could drive the book and make it really interesting. And I’m not sure if one book is enough to see this dynamic happen, but even though there is potential here, I’ll let the comic shop know I won’t need this one pulled.

Batgirl #1 - Written by Gail Simone with art by Adrian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes, we get re-introduced to Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. For the past decade or so, Barbara Gordon has been confined to a wheelchair after the Joker shoots and paralyzes her in the book The Killing Joke. And that still happened in this book, but in this new book, she gets better. But the pain of the shooting is still raw in Barbara’s psyche. Her thoughts and actions still are effected by this event. And that’s what’s kind of cool about this book. It does take an event that happened in the DC Universe past and uses it to define the actions of the character. But unlike the Hawk character lamenting over his dead brother, Simone takes the Joker attack and makes it the defining moment in Batgirls persona that she must overcome to survive. I don’t know if I’ll continue this one forever, but I’ll keep getting it long enough to complete the first story arc.

Static Shock #1 - This book is written by two people, Scott McDaniel and John Rozum with artwork done by Jonathan Glapion and Le Beau Underwood. My knowledge of Static Shock comes from the Saturday morning cartoon and a brief stint he did in the latest Teen Titans book. In this book, he still is a teenager named Virgil Hawkins, but now he is working at S.T.A.R. labs after-school. This is so he can keep an eye on them for some reason. For this first issue, he stops someone from stealing a plasma suit for a shady group of baddies. I found this book to be pretty average. There were some interesting points, but not nearly enough to make me read more.

And finally, this week:

Action Comics #1 - Written by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales and Rick Bryant doing the artwork. Like the Detective Comics issue, this one starts with the beginning of Superman's career. So much so that he wears a blue t-shirt (with the Super S on it), jeans and work boots as his costume. This is a throwback to the 1939 Superman who was more a strong guy who instead of flying could “leap over tall buildings.” And unlike the other books here, Morrison didn’t have to tell us who Jimmy Olson, Lois Lane or Lex Luthor were. Rather he had to define them in this new DC universe. The art of Morales is strong and I like that Morrison relies on the art to convey parts of the story. There are several pages with little dialog. You see the boredom in Luthor’s face. You are shown the chaos of the climax of this story without any words cluttering the panels. Though Superman isn’t my favorite, and I haven’t been collecting his books for a long time, I think I’ll continue this one for a little while.