The DCU reboo….err vamp

Last week DC entertainment confirmed that following the current event comic “Flashpoint” the DC universe would be “revamped” and “different”.  Fans will see new creative teams on several books, a few updated costume designs, and DC is relaunching their entire line of books at issue number ones.  In fact from what I have been reading everywhere DC is going to launch 52 new titles in September. My first reaction to the news was a loud “noooo!” After which I contemplated dropping all of my DC books except Flashpoint until the September relaunch. Well I didn’t drop my DC books and after thinking on it I decided that there were a few good things that could come out of this relaunch.   First off a new Justice League America series will be written by DC superstar writer Geoff Johns with Jim Lee on art.  What fan wouldn’t want to read a book with that team on it?!   Plus Geoff is also DC’s creative director so hopefully this book won’t suffer from the editorial nonsense that has harmed it in the past.  No one at DC is going to tell Geoff how to write a comic book. If they try they should be tossed out of a window.

From what info they have released so far I think that I will once again have a readable Green Arrow book to follow.  I love GA but I haven’t really enjoyed his book since back when Judd Winnick was writing it.  I also didn’t like last years relaunch with him becoming protector of the star city crazy forest during Brightest Day. I like him best as a crime fighter with a bow and a big mouth. JT Krul will be penning this series. I have enjoyed everything I have read by him so I am optimistic about this series.

I have a friend that is a huge Aquaman fan. So I am happy for him that a new Aquaman series written by Geoff Johns the awesome will launch in September.

Despite the good that could come out of it I do have a few questions about this move:

1- What will become of Dick Grayson? Will he be de-aged back into Robin? If so what becomes of Tim, Damien and Jason?

2-  Is it wise to relaunch 52 comics  in one month?  So far of the ones i’ve seen mentioned I know for sure that I will read JLA, Green Arrow and Teen Titans.

3- Are the stories I am currently reading useless or will they become events of an alternate universe where Dick and Bruce are Batman? etc.

One thing is for sure about this. It is a ballsy move on the part of DC.  I am just wondering how many of the 52 titles will be able to find an audience.  I suppose that only time will tell and hopefully some things will get clearer the closer we get to the last week in August… When the final issue of Flashpoint drops and nukes the entire DCU.

On a side note Flashpoint is really good.  Read it. Now.

 

 

Fear Itself Review

I’ll confess that I am not a big fan of event comics.  In the past 10 years the only ones that I have enjoyed have been Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night and Civil War.   When it comes to event comics I normally know better than to buy into Marvel’s hype machine and pick up a book like this. Still, the interviews with writer Matt Fraction intrigued me.   Even though it was Fraction’s horrible writing that made me drop Thor.  I figured that he is a “hit and miss” writer for me since I enjoyed what I read of his Iron Man run.

Fear Itself is a giant miss.  The story moves at a snail’s pace. Halfway through this comic I started flipping ahead wondering how much longer this comic was going to lacerate my brain.   The worst part of this book was the scene where the family in Broxton Oklahoma have to leave their home behind because they couldn’t pay their mortgage.  What could have been an emotional scene that added to the overall narrative came off like a third grader trying to put political commentary into an episode of Power Rangers.  This is just one example of how this book is an utter failure.

The art in this comic is hit and miss. Some of the pages look great while others don’t seem to have been inked well.    The scenes with a large cast of characters are eye sores .  A lot of the characters have less definition and detail then I would expect.

With ” Fear Itself” Marvel has once again shown that they cannot put out a good event book.  I will be avoiding future issues of this.

Rating:  2 out of 10

 

My Pulls For 2-16-11

Three comics landed in my box at my Local comic shop this week- Justice League of America #54, Uncanny X-Force #5, and Dungeons and Dragons #4. So how were they? I’m glad you asked….

 

 

Justice League has become the DC book I most look forward to reading every month.  This month’s issue once again kept me wanting more. This is a great “jumping on” point for people that haven’t been following this book. It gives you a brief look at what the JLA has been up to the last couple of months and then it jumps right into the new arc which sees the return of Eclipso.  The focus of this book is Eclipso as he gathers minions for a nefarious plot that has yet to be revealed.  The dialogue between the possessed host and Eclipso not only keeps the story moving forward but it also serves as a great introduction to the motives and origin of the villain.  The art is the best i’ve seen in this book. Rapmunds  inks perfectly compliment Booth’s pencils which creates visually captivating panels that guide your eyes through this brilliant issue.  This was my favorite book of the week.

Uncanny X-Force is the only main Marvel universe book that I am reading right now.  In fact this is the only “X” comic that I have ever had any interest in. I picked up the first issue on a whim and it continues to be a great read. Rick Remender begins a new arc in this issue. It also deals with the ramifications of something that happened at the end of the last issue. Great character work, great artwork, and great stories keep this book on my subscription list. This is THE marvel book that everyone should be reading.

Finally, we have the fourth issue of the new Dungeons and Dragons comic from IDW.  What I love most about this comic is that it truly captures the feel of the game.   I could totally see some of this stuff happening during a tabletop session of D and D.  So far it has been a wild ride for the adventuring party that is featured in this book. They’ve braved Zombies, Orcs, and traps to get to the bottom of the Shadowplague.  I am looking forward to the conclusion of this arc next issue.  This book continues to have a perfect mix of comedy,action and drama.  Another great comic worth picking up if you have a few extra gp handy.

Overall this was a good week for me. I loved all of the books I picked up. It was difficult for me to decide which one was my favorite. Justice League only slightly won out over the other two.

Halloween Goodness: Zombies

In celebration of Halloween I am going to do daily posts that highlight my favorite movies, comics and whatever else I can think of based on the creature I pick.  Today’s Halloween monster is the zombie. If  glittery Vampires populate pop cultures wet dreams than surely Zombies are in its worst nightmares. After all it is difficult to romanticize a lumbering creature that just wants to eat you and not copulate with you.  So without further ado here are my favorite pieces of zombie goodness.

By far my favorite zombie movie is 28 Days Later. The movie has a great cast and some truly terrifying zombies. Although in the movie we find out that sometimes human nature can be worse than zombies when it is pushed to the limits.

As far as Zombie comedies go “Zombieland” is my favorite.  The Bill Murray scenes alone make this movie worth seeing.  Honorable mention goes to “Shaun of the Dead”.

My favorite piece of music inspired by Zombies is the “Zombie EP” that was put out by The Devil Wears Prada earlier this year.  There aren’t enough Zombie concept albums in music.  This record is good and heavy. It is the heaviest thing that i’ve ever heard out of these guys. They should write this way more often.

My favorite Zombie board game is “Last Night on Earth” . This game is a regular zombie hootananny!

Finally my favorite Zombie comic book event is Blackest Night. That story line was awesome and it put to shame Marvel’s lame attempts at zombie stories.

What are some of your favorite zombie items/movies/whatever?

 

 

Thor #615 Review

2010 has not been kind to Asgard.   Thanks to the events in ‘Siege” the shining city lies in ruins on a field in Oklahoma. The Asgardians are trying to salvage and rebuild. In the midst of this we see a brutal new threat emerge and the question is posed ” If Asgard is on Earth than what occupies the space where Asgard used to be”.

While the premise sounds cool the metaphysical rambling of a random scientist at the beginning of this comic left me cold.  Reading the pages where he poses that question and tries to explain quantum physics was torture.  Writer Matt Fraction tried to make it humorous and interesting but instead I just rolled my eyes and rejoiced when that part of the book was over.  The rest of the book is alright. The artwork is more cartoony than in previous Thor books and the costumes have taken on more of the sci-fi feel that the asgardians had in the early Marvel comics. It’s not bad but it doesn’t wow me like some of the art in past Thor books.

By the end of the issue Fraction manages to grab my interest and make me want to know where he his going with his Thor run. So in that respect Matt was successful.  Still, I wish I didn’t have to sit through that annoying scientist! I’m sure that what he explained will have significance later on. At least I hope so.

If you are already a Thor fan or a Matt Fraction fan than you will enjoy this book. If you are just looking to check  Thor out and see what his book is like than keep your money. This one isn’t going to “hook” you.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Ultimate Thor Gets his shot at a solo book

Like most geeks that were unable to attend San Diego Comic Con I have been scouring the web for as much coverage of the event as I can find.  Several sites covered a Marvel panel where it was announced that Ultimate Thor is getting his own solo book this fall. The book is going to be written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Carlos Pacheco.  I became a fan of Carlos when I read the first arc of Ultimate Avengers for which he handled the art duties.

The original rumor was that this was going to be an ongoing. Now it seems that it is going to be a four issue mini series which I think works much better for Ultimate characters(With the exception of Spider-Man).  The art from this book that Marvel released looks awesome. I’ll probably end up picking up at least the first issue.

Here’s a look at Ultimate Thor:

and Ultimate Volstagg:

I’m curious to see how Hickman manages to combine the “hippie Thor” that Millar wrote with the current more warrior-esque Thor that Loeb has in his Ultimate books.

Marvel also released some teaser art for the upcoming Ultimate Doom mini that will wrap up the “Ultimate enemy” trilogy of minis. I think I’m going to have pick these up. The Ultimate version of Captain Marvel is one of my favorite characters in the Ultimate U and he is in this mini!  The last thing he was in was the Ultimate Galactus trilogy. Check it out:

Awesome!!!!

Character Fatigue: Wolverine

In the Comic book subculture a lot of people talk about event fatigue. Event fatigue is basically how everyone gets sick of special “Universe spanning epic changing” mini series.  Now I have done my fair share of griping about events over the years but I also suffer from character fatigue regarding certain characters.  In my mind Marvel is the worst about throwing their most popular characters into every book they can. Case in point- Wolverine.

I won’t deny that he is a cool character. He’s short, hairy, has an attitude and has claws that come out of his hands. Not to mention that his healing factor enables him to take massive amounts of abuse.

He must be one of the busiest men in the Marvel Universe.  He is featured in four team books and he has at least two solo ongoing books. Wolvie is also in several minis.  Does Logan ever get a break!?  Wouldn’t it make more sense to put him in  fewer books and make him a commodity then to throw him into everything? I think that when a character is in too many places he loses some of his “specialness”. I remember back in the day the only place to read about Wolverine was in either Uncanny X-Men or his own self titled book.  Within the last couple of years Marvel has placed him everywhere that they could. He’s even an Avenger!

Despite all of my fan griping I still find him to be a fun character. I just wish I didn’t have to see him everywhere.  That is one of the reasons I like Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. Wolverine is very dead there.

Then again what do I know? Books with Wolverine still fly off of the shelves. Marvel is making lots of money while I sit here whining.  Good for you Marvel! Would less Wolverine hurt sales? Wolverine fans do you buy books just because Wolverine is in them?

My Pull List for the rest of 2010

My “pull list” at my local comic shop is going to be undergoing some changes over the next couple of months. You see like most adults I have to try and survive on what money my employer graciously gives me. Out of that chunk of change I budget around 20 dollars a month for comic books. Sometimes I’ll spend more and sometimes less. My comic shop let’s regular customers have subscriptions or “pull lists” where they will hold books for their customers every month.  As I only budget 20 bucks a month for comics I only have my local comic shop(LCS) hold 20 dollars worth of books for me a month. Makes sense..right?

So here is the way my pull list is shaping up-

I am going to go ahead and collect The Shield and The Web until their final issues drop in June.

Next month DC will launch Zatanna’s long overdue solo book-

and they are relaunching Bird of Prey-

The only Marvel book on my pull list is going to be New Ultimates which is bi-monthly.

I love Marvel’s Ultimate universe and I loved the first issue of New Ultimates!…Internet trolls and critics be damned!

In July The Web and The Shield are going to be in the Team book “The Mighty Crusaders” which will replace The Shield and The Web on my monthly pull list.

Here are a few titles that I will pick up as I am able:

Justice League of America- James Robinson is knocking it out of the park with this one. My LCS gets tons of copies of this book! So when I have the money I will grab it off of the rack. I may add it to my pull in July. I’ll just have to see how things go.

Ultimate Enemy/Ultimate Mystery/Ultimate Doom trilogy of minis- I’ve liked this series OK……Just not enough to make it a priority. That may change when Ultimate Mystery begins.

So in May and June I’ll be getting The Shield, The Web, Birds of Prey, Zatanna, New Ultimates and maybe JLA. From July on I’ll be getting The Mighty Crusaders, Birds of Prey, Zatanna, New Ultimates and I’ll probably go ahead and add Justice League of America to my list at that point.

The Red Circle Returns!

In an earlier post I mentioned my sadness over the fact that the Red circle books “The Shield” and  “The Web” are being canceled in June. Well, it turns out that in July DC is putting all of the established DCU Red Circle heroes into a government sponsored super-hero team called “The Mighty Crusaders”.    Not only will this team feature Shield, Inferno, Web and Hangman but it will also introduce some new faces as well.  Originally DC was going to have this be an ongoing but they decided to make it a six issue mini series instead. While I would have preferred an ongoing I can understand why DC chose to do this as a mini. It’s safer to give a fledgling series a start as a mini than to commit to an ongoing.  The first issue of the mini series drops in July. Until then be sure and pick up The Shield and The Web as well as The Mighty Crusaders over sized one shot that comes out in May.

The Mighty Crusaders:

Avengers Assemble

This May Marvel begins its self proclaimed ‘Heroic Age”.  They seem to be moving away from darker more depressing stories and moving back towards more upbeat fun stories.  As part of the “Heroic Age” branding effort Marvel is relaunching their Avengers line of books. Three of those titles look really good. 

Avengers-

This one will come out in May and it deals with the “big guns” coming together to take on the major threats to the Marvel U. Much like the Avengers originally did  in times past. This series starts in May-

The next Avengers series that is launching in May is “Secret Avengers”. This is apperently going to be some sort of black ops Avengers team. The line up for this team could be pretty brutal for whatever baddie experiances their wrath-

Finally, In June Marvel will relaunch its popular “New Avengers” series. From what I gather this team is going to deal with more street level and mystical threats.

With all of these sick new titles launching i’m left to scratch my chin and wonder which ones to buy… They all look like they are going to be awesome.

I haven’t been this excited for Marvel books in years!  If you had to pick one which one would you pick?