DC’s new lineup.

I’m going to do it. I’ve asked the comic shop to pick up all 52 issues of the new DC reboot. Some I wouldn’t normally consider, others I’m kind of looking forward to reading. Here’s my first thoughts on what I hope will be a fun ride.

Titles I’m looking forward to:

Batwoman #1 - With the art of J.H. Williams III, if nothing else, I can look at the pretty pictures without reading the dialog.

Justice League Dark #1 - Combining all the supernatural DC characters that get little coverage, I’m hoping this one will be a page turner.

Voodoo #1 - Ron Marz is a name that keeps popping up in books that I’ve liked. I’m curious to see how they will take an unknown character into an ongoing series.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 - After discovering Jeff Lemire with his book Sweet Tooth, I’ve become a big fan of his and will pickup pretty much anything he does.

Titles I normally wouldn’t get:

The anciallary Batman titles like Red Hood and the Outlaws #1, and Nightwing #1.

All the Green Lantern books since I find the character kind of silly. Green Lantern #1, Green Lantern Corps #1, Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 and Red Lanterns #1.

Mister Terrific #1 - The third smartest man in the world advocating fair play for everyone? Is this really a comic?

Hawk and Dove #1 - Art and cover by Rob Liefeld...

Titles that could be meat/could be cake:

Green Arrow #1 - I’ve like the Mike Grell Green Arrow from the 80s. But Green Arrow has gone though a bunch of shit since then that I don’t know about. But with art by Dan Jurgens and George Pèrez, I’ll be interested in seeing this book.

All Star Western #1 - I normally don’t buy western comics, but that’s because I never really had a good place to start. I actually really like them.

So each week when I get a stack of new DC books, I’ll read them first and try to say something about them before the following weeks books come.

Review - Justice League of America #54 - #59

The recent Justice League story line has had me scratching my head and feeling really frustrated. Cosmic level supervillian Eclipso has taken control of all the shadow characters of the DC Universe is using them to do something evil. I’m not exactly sure what something with a star heart in the Emerald City, but he did split the moon in half.

The feeling of only getting half the story is my biggest problem with the last couple years of Justice League. And this might be the case because there were tons of crossovers. But I have made a personal vow not to purchase additional titles where the storyline continues in a different book. I the recent issues of Justice League are guilty of having many editors notes “*see JSA #45” or some such other rot.

I initially started picking up the Justice League comic because novelist Brad Melzer was writing it. Unfortunately, he was only around for about a dozen issues or so. And slowly the book degraded into a confusing mess of characters, crossovers, and guest appearances.

The art however for these Eclipso issues is pretty. But much like to plot and dialog, I really can’t follow the action from the images. Donna Troy and Batman look cool. And the fight scenes have tons of bodies in each panel. But again, it’s so confusing to me I just kind of gloss over the page.

So I’m hoping that the rebooting of the entire DC Universe will help end this slog to incomprehensibility to something I can understand.

Comics for the Week of August 3

It's an unusually thick week. Actually, it's three weeks since I was at the San Diego Comic Con two weeks ago and at Humbold State University for a brass instrument music camp last week. So I've got a lot of reading to do!

Uncanny X-Men #541
Astonishing X-Men #40
Incorruptible #20
American Vampire #17
Detective Comics #880
Irredeemable #28
Wolverine #13
Sweet Tooth #24
Izombie #16
Superboy #10
X-​23 #13
Wonder Woman #613
Batman #712
Zatanna #15
Moon Knight #4
S.H.I.E.L.D. #2
The Punisher #1
Elric: The Balance Lost #1