I find if you distinguish between the two it's fine. It's not like he "ruined" Batman because he's like an elseworlds Batman. It's like Ultimate Captain America (he's kinda an a-hole).
2. Action Comics #1 by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales
3. Superman #1 by George Pérez
4. Superboy #1 by Scott Lobdell and…
5. Batman #1 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
6. Detective Comics #1 by Tony Daniel
7. Batgirl #1 by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes.
8. Batwoman #1 by J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman and Amy Reeder
9. Catwoman #1 by Judd Winick and Guillem March
10. Red Hood And The Outlaws #1 by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort
11. Batwing #1 by Judd Winick and Ben Oliver
12. Nightwing #1 by Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows
13. Batman And Robin #1 by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
14. Adventure Comics DC Universe Presents #1 by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang
15. Green Lantern #1 by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy.
16. Green Lantern Corps #1 by Peter J. Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna
17. Green Lanterns: New Guardians #1 by Tony Bedard, Tyler Kirkham and Batt.
18. Red Lanterns #1 by Peter Milligan, Ed Benes and Rob Hunter.
19. Animal Man #1 by Jeff Lemire and… Travel Foreman and Dan Green
20. Swamp Thing #1 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette
21. Legion Lost #1 by … and Chris Batista?
22. Birds Of Prey #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz
23. Teen Titans #1 by Fabian Nicieza Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund
24. Savage Hawkman #1 by James Robinson Tony Daniel and Philip Tan
25. My Greatest Adventure #1 by Kevin Macguire and Aaron Lopresti (possibly for October)
26. Supergirl #1 by Brian Wood
27. Wonder Woman #1 by Brian Azzarello #1 and Cliff Chiang
28. Fury Of Firestorm #1 by Brian Clevinger Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver and Yildiray Cinar.
29. Aquaman #1 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis
30. Mr Terrific #1 by Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson
31. Flash #1 by Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul
32. Green Arrow #1 by JT Krul and Dan Jurgens
33. Justice League International #1 by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti
34. Captain Atom #1 by JT Krul and Freddie Williams II
35. Grifter #1
36. Unnamed Legion book by … and Chris Batista?
37. OMAC #1 by Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen
38. Batman: The Dark Knight #1 by David Finch
39. Vigilante #1 by Darwyn Cooke?
40. Justice Society of America #1
41. Justice League Dark #1 by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin
42. Demon Knights #1 by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert
43. Frankenstein: Agent Of SHADE #1 by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli
44. Resurrection Man #1 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Fernando Dagnino
45. I, Vampire #1 by Josh Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino
46. Voodoo #1 by Ron Marz and Sami Basri.
47. Supergirl #1 by Michael Green and Mike Johnson
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
A number are clearly suspect – Chris Batista can only draw one Legion bok, the Vigilante project may be for a different project, possibly an anthology like DC Universe Presents, and My Greatest Adventure could be for October. But it’s a start. This page will update, so keep coming back!
..some of those are well out of left field, and some are sounding very tasty indeed. I'm fairly certain that some of these are intended to just be mini series, to help establish the new background and setting.
And he calls Miller's Batman Crazy Steve? I'm ok with that. He seems to prefer "The GodDamn Batman" but Crazy Steve seems to do a better job of seperating the two.
Anyway, I'm guessing they will go to the (M) Hawk and (F) Dove combo?
So the artwork would appeat to indicate.
I guess I'm a bit partial to the hawk and dove I read about in Blackest Night... I wonder how much they're gonna change from that.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
reds8n wrote: I would look at the anthology/multiple character books as being your best bet IMO.
Wonder which ones to look at? The industry doesn't do a very good job of making it very easy to keep up with, if you're trying to follow a specific character that doesn't have their own book.
Hell even Birds of Prey had a lot of really damned annoying tie-ins with other comics. So I read a story, and then bam, it's resolved elsewhere. Well you know what DC? FETH YOU TOO. I'm not getting that comic, and I'm hating you for doing this to me so often.
In March, 2006 an adaptation of Magician began to be released by Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel Comics. Currently they are publishing the adaptation of Magician: Apprentice in its entirety, and the first six issues have been released as a graphic novel hardcover. After almost one year of collaboration, Dabel Brothers Productions and Marvel parted ways, with all the books, including Magician, being retained by Marvel. In 2008, issues seven through twelve have also been released as graphic novel hard cover (Volume 2) by Marvel. Issues 13-18 are planned to be released under the title Magician:Riftwar
I'm not over thirty, so I can hardly call myself a true comics veteran... but I have been reading comics, off and on, since I was in my single digits.
These outfits hav always irked me. They irk me in anime too, long sleeved schoolgirl uniforms... with skirts so short that they have to magically lengthen at times to not flash anything (to say nothing of the atrociously common and overdone fanservice based on this). But there, it's even creepier cause of the age. which is also part of the reason why Mary Marvel's stint in Countdown to Final Crisis was also so abhorred.
Justice League and JLI I'll pick up at least initially, higher hopes for the former here, Jim Lee better not blow his deadlines.
Aquaman I'll give a try too -- Johns is a good writer and the character has always had potential.
Captain Atom and Firestorm -- always had a soft spot for these 2 so they're in, initially anyway.
Mister Terrific.. hmm.. the current character is cooler than the Fonz.. might try it see how it goes.
Both the LoS titles are a given. Sue me, I've never recovered from the Great Darkness saga or the majesty of the 5 year gap stories. I'll defend Giffen and Bierbaum to the death.
Reseurrection Man -- dig the writers so it' s a buy for me.
Swamp Thing and Animal man both sound interesting, sample them at least.
Demon KNights sounds too good to miss, loved the writers recent Knight and Squire series, if your British especially you must pick up the tpbk as/when.
Stormwatch is also sounding kind of cool.. be intrigued to see how they fold MM into that book.
.. crap that's a lot of books. Green Arrow is also kind of tempting..
KamikazeCanuck wrote:Off topic for a sec, but I apparetlly just noticed some kinda in joke. How come all you Mod guys "work" for GW now?
Because they'd all do a better job then the current employees?
On-topic: I just don't enjoy reading single issues as much as I used to. I prefer buying tradepaper backs.
I'm still confused by some of this reboot stuff. I thought they would start every character "from scratch" with retelling the origin stories and whatnot. But now I read there will be a Nightwing book, Batman inc. will continue, an African Batman gets his own series and Tim Drake is now a new Red Robin in the Titans team. What is going on?
What annoys me most is the quality of the paper in monthlies.
And there was one other thing I recently realised. I've been reading Superhero comics since Marvel's Heroes Reborn and that's at least 10 years old. I still enjoy quite a lot of books. Deadpool is always great (as long as there's only one of him) and Hush still looks as awesome today as it did the first time I read it.
But there used to be a very special feeling that I miss these days. Since I stopped reading Spider-Man there's been something missing. JMS's Spidey was my favourite series of all time and I never quite had that same feeling again.
JMS's spidey run was great one indeed. Your alienation is a good example of why trying to rewrite history is a bad idea.
I'm reading ASM and FF right now which are currently following the same story and it's quite good actually. I usually don't like extreme craziness in my comics but for some reason it just works with the FF and always has. Last month, I think it was, they travelled to the year 38,000,000 AD and saved the entire multiverse (not just a universe anyone can do that) 2 1/2 times in one comic! Also Reed Richards has invited all of his worst enemies to the Baxter Building to create a think tank for solving the riddle of how to "finally destroy Reed Richards" chaired by Doom himself. The whole thing is so ridiculus its funny. Anyways, although I'm enjoying it I'm not saying "OMG it's so good it's undoing all the ill will garnered by Brand New Day."
Also, maybe it's because you were reading ASM back in the day monthly?
Psychologically I think when you read a monthly title you (by you I mean me and people in general) fell like your on the cutting edge of things. Like anything can happen.
A TPB feels like your reading a book.
A monthly feels like you're reading a newspaper.
Not so sure about that. There's definately been some dry spells.
On the other hand the power of stickyness can be a two-edged sword. I think I was on dakka for like 6 months before I realized there was a comic book thread. My eyes kinda gloss over the stickies because I just assumed they were all policey and procedures type stuff. We shall see I guess.
I find it strange that one of the reasons DC gave for this was to try to catch up to Marvel. Whenever I see the top 10 DC usually has like 6 of them. I guess it's what's happening after the top 10 ten that's bothering them.
I just hope these changes are sincere and not a cash grab. Surely, Superman's costume will go back to normal when the new movie is coming out. Anyone remember the last time he changed his costume and became some sort of weird energy being? No? Nevermind.
Forgot to mention I saw Thor and X-Men. Liked them both but X-Men was better.
Green Latern's only got a meesly 25% on the Tomatometer but I think I'll still check it out.
Green Lantern won't be released in Germany until August, but my favourite online movie critic (not because I agree with him, but because I enjoy the show) completly destroyed it.
How do you guys get your funny books? Do you have a subscription box/saver thing were the store owner puts your designated books in for you? Do you just go to the shop and grab what looks good? The mythical newstand edition perhaps?
We have a local comic book store where I buy all my German comics. My brother reads a few things monthly, I only check for trade paperbacks once in a while.
Ordering English books over the store is a bit too expensive for my taste though, so I order those from Amazon.
KamikazeCanuck wrote:How do you guys get your funny books? Do you have a subscription box/saver thing were the store owner puts your designated books in for you? Do you just go to the shop and grab what looks good? The mythical newstand edition perhaps?
Pull list at my local shop.
I used to do the whole mail order thing for deeper discounts, once a month shipping.
But I got tired of paying for books that didn't ship months and sometimes YEARS later...
KamikazeCanuck wrote:How do you guys get your funny books? Do you have a subscription box/saver thing were the store owner puts your designated books in for you? Do you just go to the shop and grab what looks good? The mythical newstand edition perhaps?
Pull list at my local shop.
I used to do the whole mail order thing for deeper discounts, once a month shipping.
But I got tired of paying for books that didn't ship months and sometimes YEARS later...
They make you pay for books they don't ship? Dirty pool.
Alpharius wrote:I don't think these are gimmicks in the 'costume change' sense, like a lot of bad series shake ups i the past.
This is DC trying to generate interest and increase sales in what has been a really bad period for comics as of late.
The aging population that cares about these things is... getting older.
DC wants to 'freshen up' the characters.
For instance...
Spoiler:
Word is that Superman will no longer be married to Lois Lane.
Holy Mephisto! I don't know if these things increase sales. Sure you get a sales bump for having a bunch of new number ones but you may end up losing more long time fans. Anung Un Rama for example. He's a bitter ball of dissapointment because of this stuff. They lost me too for a while.
It's just....you can't change Superman's costume. It's Iconic. Same with Flash. I know he used to be different and have a bucket on his head but his current look is the iconic one. It's a problem that may be unique to DC especially Superman. He's just so engrained in our mind as to what he should be and look like.
KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Holy Mephisto! I don't know if these things increase sales. Sure you get a sales bump for having a bunch of new number ones but you may end up losing more long time fans.
See, DC (and other comics companies) feel as if the 'long time fans' are, for the most part, always going to be there.
They may see a slight drop off, but that will, in their plans, be off-set by the influx of new fans, who will then stick around...?
At $2.99 to $3.99 a pop, I think they're fighting a losing battle for the attention span of today's youth though.
Plus, the medium itself is up against stiff competition in the form of video games, the Internet and other more immediate and interactive distractions.
I thought they might close shop on the Ultimateverse but now what I think what's going to happen is Peter Parker will stay dead and then someone else will be Spider-Man. The move to violently destroy all resemblences between the two universes is complete with this one.
It was time. The Ultimateverse had lost it's original purpose: being new and light on history. Technically, because of Brand New Day Ultimate Spider-Man has a longer consistant continuity than the Amazing Spider-Man. That's why when I think about it I prefer the Ultimate Spider-Man these last few years.
They either had to shut down the whole universe or finish what they started in Ultimatum and break every last resemblance to the main universe. Honestly, the former would have been ok with me but we'll see what happens with the latter. It's going to be weird. We'll never actually see Spider-Man become....a man. Even though 160 months have passed in IRL only about 16 months have passed in that universe. He's was still just a kid when he died.
I haven't read the issue (it is still sitting in my pull box at the store!) - is it a 'definitely dead', or is there a way to eventually 'comic book' their way out of it?
You can "comic book" your way out of anything of course but he seems pretty dead. When you read it though you'll see what I mean about it's somewhat not-totally-conclusive ending. Peter seems quite dead but a certain greenish fellow...well post and let me know what you think.
Uh oh. One of my favorite writers is making a comic with The Liefeld...not sure what to do.
I was pretty amused to see Vancouver destroyed in Alpha Flight. This article is pretty funny http://comics.ign.com/articles/112/1120652p1.html but I can not agree with the rankings. There's no way Marvel's New York is not number 1. Honestly if you could actually chart the Marvel universe timeline, some or all of NYC is destroyed every 33 minutes.
Okay, so is anyone else reading Fear Itself and feeling confused about the main villain?
He's referred to as the Serpent and was entombed in the ocean. He's also tied into an apocalyptic prophecy. Check, check and check...sounds like Jormangandr, the Midgard Serpent of Norse myth. In the myths, Thor is Jormangandr's arch-enemy and Thor is prophecied to die after killing it. This would makes sense of something in the comics, as
Spoiler:
Odin seems very keen on keeping Thor out of the fight. It looked like Odin was just being a jerk, but in this context he may actually be trying to save his son's life. Jormangandr also is the son of a giantess (and Loki) and giants feature prominently in some of the myths. And note that many of the "worthy" are giantlike...Hulk, Thing, Titania, and Juggernaut. Attuma and Absorbing Man aren't really giantlike, but they're at least brutes.
Trouble is, Jormangandr has appeared in Marvel continuity before, but in the form of a giant serpent. That's not a big deal from a continuity standpoint, but Marvel is apparently saying that the Serpent isn't Jormangandr, but a new character and the god of fear.
I'm not suggesting Marvel can't take liberties with Norse mythology...they've done plenty of that. But doesn't it seem a little convoluted to establish this as a new character but give it a backstory that clearly fits another character? Maybe this will all be resolved, but in the age of unsatisfying comic "events" I'm really not expecting any explanation.
It just seems like the writers are spinning a web that goes nowhere. I dunno, maybe it's just me. *shrug*
gorgon wrote:
It just seems like the writers are spinning a web that goes nowhere. I dunno, maybe it's just me. *shrug*
No, I think you're on to something - and it sounds very plausible, and good!
Trouble is, writers these days spend a lot of time on trying to "M. Night Shyamalan" us but usually end up being too clever by half and the overall story suffers because of it, oftentimes not making sense, or not having a proper ending.
We'll see where this goes, but this whole series seems set up for the express purpose of making sure certain... things happen, cohesive story be damned!
Today I read the 3rd Gotham Sirens tradepaperback. What I like about this series and any other Gotham story I've read in the last 3 years is, that they really feel conected. Characters change and grow. New characters are introduced and show up again later or are only mentioned. But it really helps to create this own little pocket universe with Gotham City, a feeling I never quite got from Marvel stories.
And is it just me, or has Paul Dini have a thing for bondage? Seems like every other issue Ivy has someone bound and gagged with her vines. Not that I'm complaining.
Automatically Appended Next Post: For anyone who's interested, Young Justice is back.
...and I was correct. The Serpent has many facets of Jormangandr's myth -- including the prophecied fight to the death with Thor, followed by Thor taking nine steps and expiring -- but isn't Jormangandr. He's a brother of Odin, kinda Zeus/Poseidon/Hades-style.
Again, they can write whatever they want, but it still seems...odd to me. It's like introducing a new god in the Greek pantheon who throws lightning bolts and overthrew the Titans but isn't Zeus, who is an established god that apparently doesn't/didn't do any of the above. Why so convoluted? Ah whatever.
The issue does set up a fight between Thor and the possessed Thing and Hulk. That should be a nice little scrap. And I guess that's more important than story logic, etc.
Not yet, at least. Facing down both the possessed Hulk and Thing -- each with his own hammer -- doesn't look too promising, although again the prophecy is that he and the Serpent will fight to the death. But I'm guessing Thor will find a way to circumvent the prophecy. IIRC, isn't that what happened with him with Ragnarok -- that he changed/broke the cycle? And I think he never actually died before but went into hibernation.
after the past couple years, i've started to lose faith in Marvels summer event. I think shadowland being a rehash of the only good daredevil story really showed me that they've got nothing.
I think the summer events on both sides mostly exist to make a certain thing(s) happen, as someone said earlier. In the case of Fear Itself...
Spoiler:
...two of those things appear to be 1) a focus on Thor/Asgard in the wake of the Thor movie, and 2) Steve Rogers being a prominent player and donning the Cap uniform again just in time for the Cap movie.
Definitely seems like more of a cross-promotional/marketing bent with the Marvel events, but DC's been guilty of this in the past too. Witness the rushed Superman-Lois wedding special done to tie in with the Lois and Clark wedding episode. Which seems like something DC's eager to undo, given what's going to happen after *their* summer event...
Yeah "Fear Itself" is definitely just a promotion for their summer movies. It's got Viking Nazis. What are the two Marvel movies out this summer? The ones with Vikings and Nazis. I think by the time it's all said and done it won't totally suck but it's quite the the slow burn.
Lot of people seem to have similar issues with regards to the Fear event.
.. wait for the trades I guess.
My initial pull list for the DC re boot : JLA, Action Comics, Legion Lost, Fury of Firestorm, Legion of Superheroes, Animal man, Captain Atom, Demon Knights, Frankenstein, Resurrection Man.
Stoked to see the "Shade" mini series as well... Robinsons' Starman series was flawless, a work of class that still reads well to this day.
Hey, there is a comic book thread. How about that.
I still read them once in a while, but I seldom find them as compelling as I once did. I've been reading The Walking Dead, but find it a little hard to stomach sometimes - not the gore, but the bleakness. There aren't any emotional highs to balance things out.
I also greatly enjoyed the relatively recent Ghost Rider 4 shot - Road to Damnation. Great art, good story.
Also, Marvel Zombies, though the quality has been on an exceedingly steep downward slope after the Ultimates into and first series.
It's pretty good. Trust me I'm not one of "those guys" who always says "the book is better" but.... The book is better.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
reds8n wrote: Lot of people seem to have similar issues with regards to the Fear event.
.. wait for the trades I guess.
My initial pull list for the DC re boot : JLA, Action Comics, Legion Lost, Fury of Firestorm, Legion of Superheroes, Animal man, Captain Atom, Demon Knights, Frankenstein, Resurrection Man.
Stoked to see the "Shade" mini series as well... Robinsons' Starman series was flawless, a work of class that still reads well to this day.
* This Superman is very much an alien, one struggling to adjust to his adopted home. In the series, he must come to terms with both the loss of his home world, as well as the loss of both of his adopted parents. He is more Kal-El from the planet Krypton than Clark Kent from Kansas. He’s a loner trying to find his place in the world.
* The series’ first storyline will explore the origins of Superman’s costume, as it evolves from a look that includes jeans and work boots to a new look: a suit of battle armor that pays tribute to his Kryptonian past.
* His great powers have limits. When the series begins, Superman can leap tall buildings, but his ability to fly is in its infancy.
And in the SUPERMAN ongoing comic book series, by writer George Perez and artist Jesus Merino, will be set in present day continuity and will unleash a series of new challenges for Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent.
* Clark Kent is single and living on his own. He has never been married.
* Lois Lane is dating a colleague at the DAILY PLANET (and his name isn’t Clark Kent) and she has a new position with the paper.
Timeless and modern, classic and contemporary, but younger, brasher and more brooding, this is Superman. The New Man of Tomorrow.
2. Action Comics #1 by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales (read more)
3. Superman #1 by George Pérez and Jesus Merino (read more)
4. Superboy #1 by Scott Lobdell and R.B. Silva and Rob Lean (read more)
5. Batman #1 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. (read more)
6. Detective Comics #1 by Tony Daniel (read more)
7. Batgirl #1 by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes. (read more)
8. Batwoman #1 by J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman and Amy Reeder (read more)
9. Catwoman #1 by Judd Winick and Guillem March (read more)
10. Red Hood And The Outlaws #1 by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort (read more)
11. Batwing #1 by Judd Winick and Ben Oliver (read more)
12. Nightwing #1 by Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows (read more)
13. Batman And Robin #1 by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason (read more)
14. Adventure Comics DC Universe Presents #1 by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang (read more)
15. Green Lantern #1 by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy (read more)
16. Green Lantern Corps #1 by Peter J. Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna (read more)
17. Green Lanterns: New Guardians #1 by Tony Bedard, Tyler Kirkham and Batt (read more)
18. Red Lanterns #1 by Peter Milligan, Ed Benes and Rob Hunter. (read more)
19. Animal Man #1 by Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman and Dan Green (read more)
20. Swamp Thing #1 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette (read more)
21. Legion Lost #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Chris Batista? Pete Woods (read more)
22. Birds Of Prey #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz (read more)
23. Teen Titans #1 by Fabian Nicieza Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund (read more)
24. Savage Hawkman #1 by James Robinson Tony Daniel and Philip Tan (read more)
25. Blue Beetle #1 by Tony Bedard and Ig Guara
26. Supergirl #1 by Brian Wood Michael Green and Mike Johnson (read more)
27. Wonder Woman #1 by Brian Azzarello #1 and Cliff Chiang (read more)
28. Fury Of Firestorm #1 by Brian Clevinger Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver and Yildiray Cinar. (read more)
29. Aquaman #1 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis (read more)
30. Mr Terrific #1 by Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson (read more)
31. Flash #1 by Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul (read more)
32. Green Arrow #1 by JT Krul and Dan Jurgens (read more)
33. Justice League International #1 by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti (read more)
34. Captain Atom #1 by JT Krul and Freddie Williams II (read more)
35. Grifter #1 by Nathan Edmondson and CAFU and BIT (read more)
36. Legion of Superheroes by Paul Levitz and Chris Batista? Francis Portela (read more)
37. OMAC #1 by Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen (read more)
38. Batman: The Dark Knight #1 by David Finch (read more)
39. All-Star Western #1 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Grey and Meridat. ( Vigilante #1 by Darwyn Cooke inside?) (read more)
40. Justice League Dark #1 by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin (read more)
41. Demon Knights #1 by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert (read more)
42. Frankenstein: Agent Of SHADE #1 by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli (read more)
43. Resurrection Man #1 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Fernando Dagnino (read more)
44. I, Vampire #1 by Josh Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino (read more)
45. Voodoo #1 by Ron Marz and Sami Basri. (read more)
46. Static Shock #1 by Felicia Henderson, John Rozum, Scott McDaniel and Jonathan Glapion. (read more)
47. Hawk And Dove #1 by Sterling Gates and Rob Liefeld
48. Sgt Rock And The Men Of War #1 by Ivan Brandon and Tom Derenick.
49. Stormwatch #1 by Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda.
50. Deathstroke #1 by Kyle Higgins, Joe Bennett and Art Thibert.
51. Suicide Squad #1 by Adam Glass and Marco Rudy
52. Blackhawks #1 by Mike Costa and Ken Lashley
.. there are/also will be other titles and mini series coming out. I'd expect some of the initial titles to be cancelled to.
.. So.. I'd maybe go for the other lantern related titles, especially the Red Lanterns by Milligan. I would suggest that Batwoman title might also be good for Batfans, the artwork is gorgeous. I also have a good feeling about Animal Man and I am tempted by Swamp Thing as well.
I wasn't going to pick up the JLA or Batman restarts.
Until I saw the previews.
Damn it!
Also, believe it or not, I actually would be happier if they just said "F' it! We're restarting EVERYTHING!" instead of this strange pseudo-reboot where some stuff is the same and some... isn't?
They're just different takes/approaches on the character really. There will be, of course/eventually, a crossover between some of the books.
But I think you've picked the strongest/best staffed Bat-family book there, Snyder has been writing Detective Comics recently and has been attracting huge plaudits for his work.
Hmm, can any Brits here recomend a good online service for comics.
After my last post I have figured out which DC characters I'd like to read about and I'm limiting myself to about a tenner a month, so I'll be getting.
Batman
Batwoman
Catwoman
Suicide Squad
Depending on story arcs, I'd also grab any cross over issues from comics I wouldn't be collecting, but hopefully that won't happen too often.
Anyone looking forward to Brian Azzarello's Wonder Woman as much as I am? I've always been a Wonder Woman fan and a Brian Azzarello fan, so this is a very exciting combination for me.
* This Superman is very much an alien, one struggling to adjust to his adopted home. In the series, he must come to terms with both the loss of his home world, as well as the loss of both of his adopted parents. He is more Kal-El from the planet Krypton than Clark Kent from Kansas. He’s a loner trying to find his place in the world.
* The series’ first storyline will explore the origins of Superman’s costume, as it evolves from a look that includes jeans and work boots to a new look: a suit of battle armor that pays tribute to his Kryptonian past.
* His great powers have limits. When the series begins, Superman can leap tall buildings, but his ability to fly is in its infancy.
And in the SUPERMAN ongoing comic book series, by writer George Perez and artist Jesus Merino, will be set in present day continuity and will unleash a series of new challenges for Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent.
* Clark Kent is single and living on his own. He has never been married.
* Lois Lane is dating a colleague at the DAILY PLANET (and his name isn’t Clark Kent) and she has a new position with the paper.
Timeless and modern, classic and contemporary, but younger, brasher and more brooding, this is Superman. The New Man of Tomorrow.
Nailed that guy with a Green Fire Engine! Nicely done.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
malfred wrote:Is it bad that I can't get into most comics and the comic I
most look forward to is The Boys?
Hm. I've kinda lost interest in comic books again :( I was really getting into it, but the changes to birds of prey and just the relaunch in general is making me feel a bit meh.
I do read other things, I just don't want to read comics waiting
for a good storyline to come along. So I mostly just pick up
things based on author name recognition or if they're creator
owned projects.
DarkDrgon wrote:Like the new DD run, that just released today *fanboy hat on*
Im happy to have the real man without fear back, i'm not a fan of the black panther as a character
EDIT: If your just tired of the plain superhero stories, I can't praise Atomic Robo enough. Pick any of the trades, and you will not be disappointed.
I like Black Panther but avoided that entire shadowland thing. Don't know a single thing that happened in it other than somehow Black Panther became Daredevil for a while.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
malfred wrote:I do read other things, I just don't want to read comics waiting
for a good storyline to come along. So I mostly just pick up
things based on author name recognition or if they're creator
owned projects.
Time for my daily recomending of The Walking Dead and Invincible.
Dunno, Marvel hasn't done a good job making good, intelligently written storylines for me... especially with x-men or spiderman....
Most of what I read nowadays are webcomics, heh. I LIKE superhero settings, I like the idea of a pure and godo hero facing challenges while trying to save the innocent/the city/the nation/the species/the world. Hell my favorite MMOs are CoH/V and CO....
Dunno, Marvel hasn't done a good job making good, intelligently written storylines for me... especially with x-men or spiderman....
Most of what I read nowadays are webcomics, heh. I LIKE superhero settings, I like the idea of a pure and godo hero facing challenges while trying to save the innocent/the city/the nation/the species/the world. Hell my favorite MMOs are CoH/V and CO....
Dunno, Marvel hasn't done a good job making good, intelligently written storylines for me... especially with x-men or spiderman....
Most of what I read nowadays are webcomics, heh. I LIKE superhero settings, I like the idea of a pure and godo hero facing challenges while trying to save the innocent/the city/the nation/the species/the world. Hell my favorite MMOs are CoH/V and CO....
Do you prefer team books are solo heroes?
I'm going to budge in and say that I like well written stories with creative ideas.
Dunno, Marvel hasn't done a good job making good, intelligently written storylines for me... especially with x-men or spiderman....
Most of what I read nowadays are webcomics, heh. I LIKE superhero settings, I like the idea of a pure and godo hero facing challenges while trying to save the innocent/the city/the nation/the species/the world. Hell my favorite MMOs are CoH/V and CO....
Do you prefer team books are solo heroes?
I'm going to budge in and say that I like well written stories with creative ideas.
I've already made my usual daily recommendation. I must wait at least 24 hours before saying the same thing.
I usually find team books a little bit less interesting... Honestly the only "team" book I've really gotten into was Birds of Prey, and that was still practically a solo book anyway the way it was executed.
Was thinking the other day about why I'm not totally into X-men anymore and I think it's because Cyclops cheated on Jean Grey. I guess that's pretty corny but I must be an old romantic. Those two were like the heart of the team that made it a family. It really changed Scott's character completely and then Jean left and was replaced with Emma Frosst. Not only is Emma a homewrecker but seriously she's a total bitch and always has been.
Anyways I think the X-Men are going to have their own mini-civil-war. Might pick up a few to see who punches whom.
@Melissa: Have you read the Spider-Man run by J. Michael Straczinsky? Those are still the best Marvel comics I know (excluding Deadpool).
@DarkDrgon: Can you explain me who's that black Daredevil in your Avatar? Because appearantly he's sitting in the background in a stage in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
He's "evil" Daredevil, who was corrupted by his use of the Hand as his personal army of justice which turned out to not be such a good idea, as you might imagine...
Melissia wrote:Hm. I've kinda lost interest in comic books again :( I was really getting into it, but the changes to birds of prey and just the relaunch in general is making me feel a bit meh.
BTW , I have a site you should check out : http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/ t'is very good. Raises some good points about Batgirl/Oracle too. YMMV of course.
... be sure to all check out the gorgeous Batwoman promo stuff too.
... There are, long term, plans afoot for the Question one gathers. In the meantime I would point you towards the forthcoming "Voodoo" #1 from the DC relaunch or, for non superheor related stuff, the sublimely great "I, Zombie", which is just peachy.
I've been looking for a online Comicbook store that does subscriptions and found two that stand out, anyone here had any experience with either, or have a good alternative?
Yeah, thats what worries me, dealt with stores in the past, with slipping comics, or missing ones. Which becomes a pain when they double or triple in price once missed, if you can get them at all.
Nearly always happened with the big numbers as well.. 25, 50 etc.
[Superman will be] more Kal-El from the planet Krypton than Clark Kent from Kansas.
What... that's completely re-writing the character. Superman is DEFINED by his Kansas upbringing, that's who he is. He accepts his Kryptonian heritage, but first and foremost he's just a nice country boy trying to do what's right...
To make him a whiny brat who lost his home planet, lost his parents, has no loved ones, and is given ten thousand reasons to angst instead of someone people actually like?
Oh god. They're turning Superman into Superboy Prime.
Has anyone or anything said he's going to be a whiny brat? I don't think it could be clearer what they're going for...a younger Clark/Kal-El coming to terms with his place in the world...which is awfully unique on a variety of levels. For decades Superman has been a pretty inaccessible character, which is why so many writers have struggled to make interesting Superman stories. Any attempt to humanize and ground him more is IMO a great thing.
Regarding the Clark vs. Kal-El thing, I think people are reading too much into that. I look at it like this...no matter how well the Kents raised him, it'd be pretty hard to be aw-gee-whiz-shucks Clark Kent, regular guy who just happens to have epic abilities. He's an alien -- in fact his abilities make him completely and utterly alien no matter what his outward appearance is -- and he'd be aware of his alien nature every second of every day. You could not be like him and NOT be very self-aware of your alien heritage. Doesn't mean the Kents didn't raise him with good values, etc. Just means he's painfully aware of how adopted and alone he is, which IMO is very realistic.
gorgon: None have said that specifically, but frankly that's the interpretation I get. They're emhasizing the difference, why do you assume there won't be any?
Melissia wrote:gorgon: None have said that specifically, but frankly that's the interpretation I get. They're emhasizing the difference, why do you assume there won't be any?
I thought I just outlined what was going to be a little different. There are other possibilities between whiny kid and the aforementioned "man-god," right?
In other news, the Cap movie is getting decent reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Not stellar, but solid and better than most of the other genre films this year.
In other news, the Cap movie is getting decent reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Not stellar, but solid and better than most of the other genre films this year.
This is good news!
Especially as it is a 'necessary' film to set up next year's AVENGERS movie!
THOR was a lot of fun, I'm hoping this one will be too - a summer romp in the Indiana Jones style, I hope!
The LoS stuff looks gorgeous, and it seems the WW pants/no pants debate has been settled then.
Paul Cornell describes Demon Knights as The Malificent Seven, shows us the fall of Camelot, in a very messy fashion, as he explores the DC Universe in Medieval times. And the Horsewoman will be Paul Cornell’s Oracle. Oh and in Stormwatch, the superheroes who don’t like superheroes are fighting the moon.
I'm still confused on how this reboot thing is supposed to work. Some characters are getting an complete overhaul and new origins and whatnot, but other's are just taken right out of the current continuity.
We have a "new" Superman who was never married and is struggling with his Kryptionian herritage, yet Bruce Wayne Batman has his son as Robin and Batman Inc. still happened.
Well, I guess that's the beauty of an altered reality.
It's always been funny to me how the big two confuse their readers in completely different fashions. DC is all about the large-scale, universal reboot that throws everything into a tizzy. Marvel prides itself on continuity, but then that leads to convoluted histories and the occasional mini-reboot within a continuous universe (see Spidey).
Ultimately I think the lesson here is that they need to shake things up now and then to drive sales, but have a narrow band in which to work. So you have reboots and changes that seem major at first but end up being kinda underwhelming when all is said and done.
Edit: And to be fair, some of the changes to Superman are things that were canon at one time...Kents being dead, jumping over buildings instead of flying, Lois and Clark not involved, etc.
Cap reviews are still trending up...72% positive now on RottenTomatoes.
Saw Captain America. It's ok I guess. They did a good job of not making him silly. That was the biggest hurdle with Thor and Cap. These are not characters that easily translate into film but I think they've succeeded on both. For example, Cap's uniform came from the War Bond drive/USO show he was forced to be on where he had to be as American as possible. For whatever reason I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other Marvel movies. Can't quite put my finger on it but it's probably because Captain America actually doesn't do anything that cool in it.
Also the Howling Commandos are in it but not Fury (in WWII anyway). Like what the hell? They weren't called Nick Fury & The Howling Commandos because of the lack of Nick Furies.
KamikazeCanuck wrote:Saw Captain America. It's ok I guess. They did a good job of not making him silly. That was the biggest hurdle with Thor and Cap. These are not characters that easily translate into film but I think they've succeeded on both. For example, Cap's uniform came from the War Bond drive/USO show he was forced to be on where he had to be as American as possible. For whatever reason I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other Marvel movies. Can't quite put my finger on it but it's probably because Captain America actually doesn't do anything that cool in it.
Also the Howling Commandos are in it but not Fury (in WWII anyway). Like what the hell? They weren't called Nick Fury & The Howling Commandos because of the lack of Nick Furies.
Having Nick Fury be in the Howling Commandos would have been problematic, as it is now 2011/2012 for THE AVENGERS, and Nick ain't anywhere near 90+ years old here!
This is more of an "Ultimates" approach to THE AVENGERS, and that's OK!
I saw it and liked it a lot. I still think THOR was 'better' and 'more fun', but this one sets everything up nicely.
And they do NOT fool around or waste any time in setting up THE AVENGERS, that's for sure!
KamikazeCanuck wrote:Saw Captain America. It's ok I guess. They did a good job of not making him silly. That was the biggest hurdle with Thor and Cap. These are not characters that easily translate into film but I think they've succeeded on both. For example, Cap's uniform came from the War Bond drive/USO show he was forced to be on where he had to be as American as possible. For whatever reason I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other Marvel movies. Can't quite put my finger on it but it's probably because Captain America actually doesn't do anything that cool in it.
Also the Howling Commandos are in it but not Fury (in WWII anyway). Like what the hell? They weren't called Nick Fury & The Howling Commandos because of the lack of Nick Furies.
Having Nick Fury be in the Howling Commandos would have been problematic, as it is now 2011/2012 for THE AVENGERS, and Nick ain't anywhere near 90+ years old here!
This is more of an "Ultimates" approach to THE AVENGERS, and that's OK!
I saw it and liked it a lot. I still think THOR was 'better' and 'more fun', but this one sets everything up nicely.
And they do NOT fool around or waste any time in setting up THE AVENGERS, that's for sure!
It's no more of a problem than it currently is. Nick gets juvenate treatments. That's one of the things I don't like about Ultimate Nick Fury: He's a Gulf War veteran. Wow, fought in all 100 hours of that war did ya? Whooptie do. Being a WWII veteran is an integral part of Nick Fury's character, like Vietnam was for Frank Castle.
Spoiler:
Don't you think the ending would have been way cooler if Fury had been fighting with him the whole movie and then when he busts out of the recreation into Times Square it would have been his old friend Nick Fury there to calm him down?
Agree about Thor. Would have thought it was the other way around going into the summer.
It's not a time sense thing. Seriously, Fury gets 40k juvenate treatments. Normal Fury beats Ultimate Fury in coolness even if the later in mother fething Samuel L. Jackson.
KamikazeCanuck wrote:I wonder how it will do? Do Germans like Captain America? He's quite American and hits Germans in the head with a big saucer a lot.....
I'm afraid you're right. What really worries me is, that the lack of interest could lead to the movie not shown in 2D at all.
They VERY cleverly make this about the Red Skull and Hydra.
"Real" Germans aren't in it much at all - in fact...
Spoiler:
The Red Skull kills a bunch of German Higher Ups and is threatening to wipe Berlin off the map as well - he is out to conquer the World, Germany included!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
KamikazeCanuck wrote:It's not a time sense thing. Seriously, Fury gets 40k juvenate treatments. Normal Fury beats Ultimate Fury in coolness even if the later in mother fething Samuel L. Jackson.
You're mixing up your fictional universes - 'juvenat treatments' don't commonly exist in the 616!
KamikazeCanuck wrote:I wonder how it will do? Do Germans like Captain America? He's quite American and hits Germans in the head with a big saucer a lot.....
I'm afraid you're right. What really worries me is, that the lack of interest could lead to the movie not shown in 2D at all.
Alpharius wrote:They VERY cleverly make this about the Red Skull and Hydra.
"Real" Germans aren't in it much at all - in fact...
Spoiler:
The Red Skull kills a bunch of German Higher Ups and is threatening to wipe Berlin off the map as well - he is out to conquer the World, Germany included!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
KamikazeCanuck wrote:It's not a time sense thing. Seriously, Fury gets 40k juvenate treatments. Normal Fury beats Ultimate Fury in coolness even if the later in mother fething Samuel L. Jackson.
You're mixing up your fictional universes - 'juvenat treatments' don't commonly exist in the 616!
They cleverly make this not about Nazis but they're still Germans.
They're not common but Fury has everything. He's been alive and active the entire time. The current Avengers storyline has him working as a spook in the mid 50s with Namor and Sabretooth......fighting Nazis. Damn those guys!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
reds8n wrote: I believe it's a side effect of the "Infinity formula" that he took that has slowed his aging.
If by "side-effect" you mean "exact-desired-effect" then yes.
Just throwing in a couple more...
I started picking up compilations and graphic novel formats of comics.
Top 10 - Very good alt sci-fi setting, especially for players of RPGs.
Eternals - Neil Gaiman's take on an old comic series. Includes mention of the Avengers.
Well at least I now know what Fear Itself is about.....Fear. Fear is the bad guy. Fear being a previously unknown Norse God which is pretty cool.
The main title has been criticized for not actually having a coherent storyline, most of the action seeming to take place elsewhere and I'd agree. I collect 3 Avengers titles and I don't completely know what's happening.
Mainstream media is apparently unaware that you are supposed to use spoiler tags. Anyways, I support the decision to make the new ultimate spider-man a non-white guy. Once again, the goal is to try to break all resemblances to the Marvel Universe and this helps accomplish that goal. Otherwise he would simply be mistaken as Peter. Still love the fact that Reed Richards is evil.
Who do you think is winning in the all-time Batman vs. Superman showdowns? I could have sworn Batman was ahead but now I don't know. He won in The Dark Knight Returns but Supes won in Red Son. That's 1-1. Did Superman go up against Batman in Kingdom Come? I guess he won that one too.
remilia_scarlet wrote:Nobody here has read johnny the homicidal maniac, have they?
Yeah. I have. Didn't care for it too much, though, kind of read like self-indulgent revenge fantasy. Of that kind of genre, I would go for Lenore any time. I'm more into Transmetropolitan, 100 Bullets, Criminal, DMZ, Garth Ennis stuff, that kind of thing. I read a fair bit of DC, I tend to borrow it from my brother-in-law who's really into it, and I thoroughly enjoy it.
Blackest night series, except I didn't care for superman too much.
Walking dead.
Squee.
The dark tower adaptations.
Usagi yojimbo.
Creature tech.
Deadpool.
rising stars.
The crow.
Everything else I've seen so far is ok, I don't care too much for marvel for now, but that might change, I've lost interest in darkhorse, and DC is the ok too.
Just placed my pull list for the DC relaunch.
All three Justice League comics (JL, JL International and JL Dark)
Both Legion books.
Mister Terrific
Men of War
All star Western
Stormwatch
Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
More comics than I've pulled ever before. I'm sure I'll prune half out and if any show the excessive violence that DC has been putting in their comics lately I'll drop those quickly.
Alpharius wrote:It was very JMS in that it started out great, and finished (if at all) badly.
He seems to lose interest about halfway through a lot.
I've been reading the current Supreme Power miniseries, which is another once-great title that JMS abandoned. And one that went profoundly downhill after he left. Anyway, the current series is much closer to the original JMS series in tone, and in fact it seems to mostly gloss over the whole Ultimate universe tie-in disaster. I hope the current creative team gets to continue on this path, but I fear a lot of readership just won't return after getting burned so badly.
With the DC relaunch, I'm most excited about Action Comics #1...that has a chance to be truly epic, IMO. I'm also looking forward to JLA #1 and the accompanying origin reboot.
So does anyone have any idea what's going to happen with the Batman Inc./Leviathan storyline? Maybe I'm the only one, but I liked where that was going. I'm guessing it's now headed nowhere with Morrison off the Bat-books.
Batman Inc. as it was described to me sounded completely slowed.
I'm still waiting for a decent bat-book to come out of the mess DC have made of their best book the last few years.
The new Venom comic looks okay though.
Alpharius wrote:It was very JMS in that it started out great, and finished (if at all) badly.
He seems to lose interest about halfway through a lot.
I've been reading the current Supreme Power miniseries, which is another once-great title that JMS abandoned. And one that went profoundly downhill after he left. Anyway, the current series is much closer to the original JMS series in tone, and in fact it seems to mostly gloss over the whole Ultimate universe tie-in disaster. I hope the current creative team gets to continue on this path, but I fear a lot of readership just won't return after getting burned so badly.
I'm reading that too. It's good. Only a 4 part series so far though, hopefully they'll make more. Couldn't agree more with how it went off the rails after JMS left.
I like him because he made his name in television before doing comics.
Ya, I guess I'm doing it a bit backwards right now. I'm watching Babylon 5 now because of his comic book work. On season 2 right now, It's ok. It hasn't really aged well.
Almost finished Garth Ennis' Punisher run. He's slaughtered every Irish, Italian, African American, Russian and other gangsters/mobsters in New York but he only only really hates group furiously: The Moldovians! God damn, he hates the Moldovians!
KamikazeCanuck wrote:Almost finished Garth Ennis' Punisher run. He's slaughtered every Irish, Italian, African American, Russian and other gangsters/mobsters in New York but he only only really hates group furiously: The Moldovians! God damn, he hates the Moldovians!
I take it you haven't read this?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
reds8n wrote:
been reading Grant Morrison's "Supergods" book which I can thoroughly recommend , almost essential reading really.
I'm not so sure.
It's a good read, to be certain, but I think you have to be a Morrison
fan to really get the most out of it. My favorite parts have to be the
ones where he describes the King Mob/Magic/Invisibles stuff, but I
hear that was already pretty well known before that.
Some of the history is fascinating, and some of it is just a big
rambling mess inter-stitched with stories of his own coming of age
as a comic book writer/counterculture musician/magician.
I'm also surprised that for all his love of superheroes as mythical
figures he doesn't say a single word about Busiek and Astro City.
Have you seen the new Superman movie screenshots? Underwear on the inside of the pants!!! Basically it looks like the new comic book. I bet they knew all along and that's why they changed it in the comic.
Found a site that seems legit on subs, plus I like the fact they invoice you each month and you pay for the comics being held plus postage and then they send it out.
Seemed a much better plan than pre-book six monthly spreads on a couple of others. So yeah, gone with Economic Comics, haven't found any horror stories about them, but if anyone has dealt with them on Dakka and whats to throw in an opinion I'm all ears to hear it.
Really not sure where to go in the end, so got Batman, Catwoman, Batwoman, Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad on pre-order. Pretty much covers all my fave DC characters, so I'll see where they go.
reds8n wrote:
been reading Grant Morrison's "Supergods" book which I can thoroughly recommend , almost essential reading really.
I'm not so sure.
It's a good read, to be certain, but I think you have to be a Morrison
fan to really get the most out of it. My favorite parts have to be the
ones where he describes the King Mob/Magic/Invisibles stuff, but I
hear that was already pretty well known before that.
Some of the history is fascinating, and some of it is just a big
rambling mess inter-stitched with stories of his own coming of age
as a comic book writer/counterculture musician/magician.
I'm also surprised that for all his love of superheroes as mythical
figures he doesn't say a single word about Busiek and Astro City.
Some of the Invisibles/magic stuff had been talked/gossiped about before, nice to get a "definitive" account though.
The comic history, combined with his analysis of some of the heroes and stories is what i really enjoyed.
..well.... that and the partial retelling of the Robbie Williams, Frank Quitely, LSD and him story too .
Especially his thoughts about the changes to Batman and Superman, especially with regards to their placings in American society and their comparative successes. Bodes well for the Action Comics reluanch methinks.
... Bleeding Cool is reporting that Justice League #1 has broken the 200,000 mark with regards to pre orders !
Yeah, when the new X-Men #1 came out they were talking about how the old X-Men #1 in the 90s sold 8,000,000 copies. The industry will never get back to that.
I think a lot of the reason for that is that comics are being written by fans, for fans. They're too layered in complexity and reference obscure older characters too much to be recognisable to the average reader. I mean, the batman movies were very popular, and when a kid picks up a batman comic, he's going to be expecting something like that. If he gets a pile of Morrison garbage instead, he's not going to keep reading.
I dislike Morrison and his ilk intensely because I feel they are marginalising super hero comics.
Alpharius wrote:Go back even further and look at the circulation numbers for comics like Action, Detective and even the early Marvels from the 60's!
...but I don't want to. Can't you just tell me? Use spoiler tags for those who don't like the ending ruined.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Da Boss wrote:I think a lot of the reason for that is that comics are being written by fans, for fans. They're too layered in complexity and reference obscure older characters too much to be recognisable to the average reader. I mean, the batman movies were very popular, and when a kid picks up a batman comic, he's going to be expecting something like that. If he gets a pile of Morrison garbage instead, he's not going to keep reading.
I dislike Morrison and his ilk intensely because I feel they are marginalising super hero comics.
Well that's kind of the whole point of the DC relaunch. Though I think the Batfamily stuff might still be a bit complicated even afterwards.
Yes, but did you notice my X-Men factoid had 6 zeros?
Automatically Appended Next Post: Fine, you made me look it up. Here's an interesting thingamabob about comic sales over the ages: http://enterthestory.com/comic_sales.html Apparently back in the days of WWII DC was selling some titles in the 1-2 million range. Probably due to the lack of television...
I think it's off to a good and measured start. Darkseid is obviously a villain worthy of the team origin story, and I liked their take on Paradaemons.
Clearly they're going to take some time to develop the team and the personal interactions, which is fun to read already and should get even better (Supes vs. Bats next ish!). I think some might be put off by certain characterizations -- namely GL being exceptionally cocky and overconfident -- but IMO it works and makes sense. At that point in time, Hal Jordan probably has reason to think he's invincible. He's carrying the ultimate weapon, trained by the Guardians, backed by an army of other GLs, etc. He just hadn't quite run into anything like a Kryptonian yet. And I expect Darkseid and company to humble him even more.
And although Supes has two lines in the entire issue, they're good lines. "I don't handle easy" is perfect...confident but not cocky, and plain spoken like you'd expect from a Kansas farmboy. I'm very excited for Action Comics #1.
One small criticism is that I don't see how Cyborg fits this team...at least not yet. I think they're right to try to make the DC universe more diverse and multicultural. But my gut reaction looking at the lineup is six icons plus a Teen Titan along for the ride. Cyborg's a fine character, but he's simply not at the right level. I suppose the root of the problem here is DC's somewhat embarrassing shortage of A-list nonwhite heroes. So since this is a reboot after all, perhaps this will be about elevating Cyborg (and eventually others) to the proper level. And I'm cool with that.
Will be interesting to see how long they take to assemble the lineup, and then see if they stick with it. At first I thought Morrison erred to expand his JL lineup so quickly, but then grew to really like his "Olympian" take.
I will say I hope J'onn makes it over to the JL sooner rather than later.
.. No problem as such with Cyborg being "bigged up", but did strike me as something of an odd choice possibly. One would suggest that Blue Beetle would perhaps be a better fit here, he'd fill the same "tech guy" type roll and of course he has his own series too.
Great art by Mr. Lee and some great lines.
.. was a bit odd, almost had to keep reminding myself that this is the first time these guys had ever met.
Did you note the odd little cameo in the crowd during the football game ?
Spoiler:
Box out panel with the " You have to see this kid" line. Right corner, the woman with the purple hood/cloak. She seems to be ain most/all of the new books somewhere or other..
.. is she the cosmic entity type being from Flashpoint who fuses this new universe togther ?
Beetle woulda been an interesting choice. I thought Steel was terrific in that role in the Morrison team, but then I guess Steel doesn't exist at the "time" of the book. And will he exist going forward? Will the Death of Superman storyline even have taken place? Curse you, rebooted universe.
Spoiler:
Didn't know that bit about the woman. Maybe she's observing/judging the new universe, and if it's found wanting, she'll reboot everything and restore old continuity...but with a few changes...again...for the Nth time.
Edit: Maybe she's just the new Time Trapper? It's a purple hood...
I don't know how long it'll take for the reboot to start over here, but I have to say I'm tempted to buy single issues again. Then again, the time they'll show up here, I can probably get English trade paperbacks.
When I picked up my comics, the store owner said, "Not getting
any reboot, huh?" I told him I was never really interested in
DC Comics outside of their one shot series like Red Son or
Dark Knight Returns, etc. Ongoing continuity? No thanks!
Good point. They say they make most of their money on trades nowadays anyways. So maybe a price drop is in order. Especially for marvel who costs a buck more I believe.
I was in Ipswich on Friday and thought what the hell and picked up JL #1 from the local comic store.
Spoiler:
Liked it quite a lot, although a few brain 'wtf' moments with all the not knowing one another thing.
In general, interested by the story, and now caught with the ponder on if I should add JL to my subs to make a total of six.
It might be nice to see other DC characters like Green lantern and Flash, where I would normally not be interested in their standalone efforts.
On a side note, I really liked Cyborg in the Teen Titans cartoon, so i'm eager where the go with him. If he he gets boosted up to the same level as the rest of the JL I won't be complaining.
At the very least its got me excited for the ones I have pre-ordered.
Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:Found a site that seems legit on subs, plus I like the fact they invoice you each month and you pay for the comics being held plus postage and then they send it out.
Seemed a much better plan than pre-book six monthly spreads on a couple of others. So yeah, gone with Economic Comics, haven't found any horror stories about them, but if anyone has dealt with them on Dakka and whats to throw in an opinion I'm all ears to hear it.
Really not sure where to go in the end, so got Batman, Catwoman, Batwoman, Birds of Prey and Suicide Squad on pre-order. Pretty much covers all my fave DC characters, so I'll see where they go.
Economic Comics are just AMAZING.
Very good customer service. If they don't get a comic in for you they let you know right away. I got a free massive poster because they couldn't get any in. Not only that, but they occasionally make very good suggestions. Also; if you're away (I was in hospital), you can email the guy and he'll add comics to your subscription.
It took a while, but The return of Bruce Wayne is finally done. And while I'm really looking forward to Batman Inc. there's one thing that really bothers me about Morisson's Batman. I like his heroes, especially the character dynamic between Dick and Damian, but his villians suck. I just don't like Black Glove and Professor Pyg has to be one of the most annoying villians ever. Morisson is heralded as the comic writer of our time, but I have some real problems understanding why.
And while we're at it, can someone explain to me why All-Star Superman is so good? Because I don't see it.
I'm really looking forward to this month's reboots. I think it's a great idea, especially from the perspective of the Bat family and GL Corps fans.
@Anung Un Rama: Morrison really is very good but it doesn't help that everyone is always screaming it at you (comic nerds being naturally contrarian and anti-mainstream). The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh angle, for example, was brilliant fun. If you ever doubt the degree to which he has spoiled you, (re)read Cacophany and Widening Gyre. As to his villains: you have to consider them in light of their context rather than as fully-developed archetypes like the Joker or even someone like Deadshot. Black Glove was more of a plot point than anything and the absurd horror of Pyg works really well contrasted to Dick's sense of humor.
I'm really going to miss Dick wearing the cowl. That's some of the best Batman I've ever read.
Cacophany was gak. After writing Widening Gyre, Kevin Smith said it was the second-best Batman story he could possibly write. Given that Widening Gyre may be the worst Batman story ever written ... well, yeah. It was bad. There's a review out there on the web somewhere that makes a great point about Smith's Batman obliterating the line between fanfiction and professional work.
Remember this, for example?
Seriously.
Thank goodness this was all just a bad dream. "Out-of-continuity" is a precious, precious phrase! OTOH, I think Smith did one (and only one) thing really well in that book: the dialog between Bruce and Selina is as good as it has ever been and maybe better. Everything else ranges from serviceable (his portrayal of Deadshot and Tim) to flat-out awful (the "humor" is particularly painful).
So Wydening Gyre was the story after Cacophony, I wasn't sure, it's called "Der Teufelskreis" in Germany. Did he ever finish that storyline? Because the first Tradepaperback ends with
Spoiler:
Cacophony stabbing Bruce's fiancee in the throat
What I noticed about Wydening Gyre is that Smith likes to make a lot of jokes about comic contiuity. Like Selina talking that she wore her old stupid costumes just for him.
It also has that one scene we're Batman gets knocked out, tied up and has to be saved by Nightwing, which is just embarassing.
Give me a minute...
*skips through Cacophony again*
Okay, I can see what some people don't like about it. Smiths characters are very vulgar, which is unusual for the Joker and really off for Batman. I do however like the finale
Spoiler:
in which Batman has to save the dying Joker and the "talk" they have after that. Some people hate that scene, I kinda like it.
I'm not sure I ever read Smith's Spider-Man, but I liked his Green Arrow story Quiver and I think I enjoyed his Daredevil as well, but it's been a while since I read those.
I thought the talk between Bruce and the Joker was entirely off. It didn't feel like either of them were handled anywhere near to correctly -- as with the rest of both books, excepting only those two conversations between Bruce and Selina in Gyre. I think Smith is writing Batman and the rest as if other people than Bruce, etc, are in the costumes and trying to figure out how the real characters might think and feel -- and there's a lot of the author inserting himself or, if not himself, then people who are definitely not the real characters. It's almost as if the cast of Friends was doing a Batman episode. Everyone is way too happy with being vulnerable and out there but that's just the most obvious problem. (This is probably why the Catwoman scenes work well -- it's well-established that Bruce allows himself to be a little open around her.)
And Morrison does the reference thing. The trouble is that he knows comics so well that the vast majority of his readers miss the references completely -- like the Batman of Zurr-En-Arrh, for example. Smith may have read a lot of comic books but he can only seem to remember ones written by Alan Moore, which he obviously loves enough to try and force into Batman. That and Star Trek, apparently.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
It also has that one scene we're Batman gets knocked out, tied up and has to be saved by Nightwing, which is just embarassing.
You mean where Tim has to save Bruce? That was another example of why Smith is more of a fanfiction author than a professional one. These are stories about detectives. Batman getting knocked out and then saved is a great narrative structure: for telling the story of how Robin, following in his mentor's footsteps, fit the pieces together to save him in the knick of time. But with Kevin Smith all we get is Tim scolding Bruce. What? What kind of guy writes Tim Drake as casually telling Bruce Wayne how to handle himself? We get no detective story and not even a fight scene (just a box saying that Tim handled Stirk with no problems -- how exciting is that?); just melodrama that doesn't even apprehend the established contours of the characters.
This is what one would call bad fanfiction. I'm surprised that scene between Bats and the Joker didn't go full-out slash. And I don't mean in the good ole Joker-slits-somebody's-throat sense, either. Yuck.
Well, my problem wasn't so much with Batman being the one who has to be saved, but more how Smith seemed to be referencing Pulp Fiction in that scene. Batman with a ballgag just looks... wrong.
But I gotta admit, I liked the idea of Bruce finally setling down. I mean, it was obvious from the beginning that it wouldn't work, but after all these years it seemed like something he deserved.
Then again, it is a pretty strong contrast when compared to his other "relationships".
I want to read Hush again. Still my absolute favourite.
Anung Un Rama wrote:I started reading Batman with R.I.P. and Batman was running around in that purple/yellow/red outfit. That's Zur-En-Arrh, right? Whatever that is.
It's a reference to an old, old, OLD, batman story from the 1950s
One of Morrisons' goals was to try and fold into continuity , as much as possible, as many of the Batman stories as he could. So most of these err..... zany.... tales it was hinted at were in fact hallucinations/similar, caused by one of the many,many, foes he fought/fights who use drugs or chemicals in their arsenals.
This was folded neatly into the modern background by having Bruce, as the worlds ultimately prepared man, having prepped up a back up or emergency "copy" of the Batman personality, which would kick in.
The Zur - en - arrh being taken now to be a reference to "Zorro in Arkham" which was pretty much the last thing his father ever said to Bruce before being killed.
The Zur-en-arrh Batman, originally, had superman like powers, so this ties in nicely to the back up personality being both some Nietzschesque ideal and a combined idealised father figure/reference.
there's a tip of the hat to it in the Brave and the Bold as well
I can only concur with the general consensus on Smith. I dug his Green Arrow work, and some of his films very much. But he does have a tendency to write all his characters as extensions of what he wants to say and/or needs for the plot, past history and characterisation be damned.
Just got this weeks DCnU titles. I had Stormwatch, Men of War and JLI on my pull list and decided what the heck and grabbed all the others (Yes, even the crappy Liefeld Hawk and Dove). Well all save Detective comics, Batgirl and Animal Man which were sold out. Comic guy said he could get them for me though.
I figure the 10-12 I have on my pull list I'll collect for six months before deciding on whether to keep or dump. The others I grabbed to see what they're like and if I really want them.
Have to wait until I go home to read them though.
I'm looking forward to Batgirl, Batman, Batman & Robin, Batman: The Dark Knight, Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, Detective Comics, Catwoman, Nightwing, Red Hood & The Outlaws, and Teen Titans.
That last title especially has already raised some eyebrows for its cover preview. I'm buying in mostly for Tim Drake (if you couldn't tell by my pull list ).
Yeah, I've been boycotting DC for a long time now, but I might have to look at the reboot. There again, it's been no time at all since the last reboot, so I'm not all that convinced this'll be any good.
I also don't seem to be the target demographic for Marvel or DC comics anymore. Oh well, plenty of other things to spend money one I guess!
Yeah, I'm going all out comic ho for this month. Saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. hard back at the store as well. Told the owner if it comes in soft cover he has a sale.
Red Hood and the Outlaws has been tempting me just because I like Starfire, but sadly have no idea who the other two are. Does anyone have a recommendation on them for being interesting characters?
Well the Red Hood is POTENTIALLY extremely interesting. I strongly recommend hunting down the animated movie "under the Red Hood" and watching it MDS, and judging from there.
Da Boss wrote:Yeah, I've been boycotting DC for a long time now, but I might have to look at the reboot. There again, it's been no time at all since the last reboot, so I'm not all that convinced this'll be any good.
I also don't seem to be the target demographic for Marvel or DC comics anymore. Oh well, plenty of other things to spend money one I guess!
I thought Under the Red Hood was thoroughly okay. The guy who did Joker's voice left me pretty unimpressed. Otherwise, it does a good job of condensing Winick's arc. Jason is truly awesome by the time Morrison gets a hold of him in B&R, a much more sympathetic, faux-media-saavy nutjob. That comes out somewhat in the movie (although the movie is about Winick's arc rather than Morrison's) and Jensen Ackles is perfect for the role. One key thing to know about Jason is that he is exactly opposite to Batman in at least one respect: he employs guns and lethally so.
As to the other dude -- that's Arsenel (f/k/a the first Speedy), who is Ollie Queen's adoptive son Roy Harper. Like Jason, Roy is his adoptive father's ex-sidekick. The Green Arrow cast him out when Roy got addicted to smack. He was one of the original Teen Titans and a founding member of the Outsiders. He eventually joined the JLA as Red Arrow but he got his arm chopped off and his daughter gets murdered -- so it was back to the heroin and calling himself Arsenal. He shows himself to be pretty cold-blooded in his vengeance.
Between Jason and Roy, there's a lot of gritty, complicated, violent potential. I'm not totally sure what role Starfire plays (group conscience? weirdo love interest?) but hey, sounds good to me.
Those guys are definitely the tops but I like Diedrich Bader better for the more humorous (and thoroughly excellent) BTBTB cartoon. Bruce Greenwood did a pretty good Batman, I thought.
The Animated Batman series is the iconic one for me. Batman, Joker, Mr. Freeze, Riddler; all these guys are who I think of when I think about the characters. It also introduced Harly Quinn, who I'm so PO'd that they made such a radical change of her look for the relaunch. Now she looks psychotic with her bustier and sledge hammer instead of her fun loving pyscho persona with tights and a mallet.
Well, yeah I talked about the movie a bit but it's really the potential of the characters mixed up together that sold me on the sub. So, MDS, if I've lead you astray then I'm in the same box, too.
Yeah I weas just literally reacting about Manchu's description of Arsenel and Hood characters, I didn't know anything about them, I'll also try and catch the movie, but I like the sound of characters with serious issues. How does Starfire fit in with that, colour me intrigued.
KamikazeCanuck wrote:They should pass a law where only Kevin Conroy can be Batman and Mark Hamill Joker.
Mark Hammil stated that Batman: Arkham City will be his last gig as the Joker. He wants to go out with a bang, so to speak.
Da Boss wrote:Well the Red Hood is POTENTIALLY extremely interesting. I strongly recommend hunting down the animated movie "under the Red Hood" and watching it MDS, and judging from there.
Agreed. The movie brilliant.
And I enjoyed Jason Todd more in Battle for the Cowl than in the Morrison arc where he donned the classic Red Hood costume.
reds8n wrote:Batgirl has had excellent reviews too, yesterday copies of this were selling on ebay for $16.. for a comic that's not even out yet ? !
What?! I'm super excited to see Babs walking (and swinging, and gliding, and doing backflips, etc) again. Still, that's kind of a rip off. So what's sold out so far? I've heard Batgirl, Justice League, and Action Comics.
Justice league is going to a 3rd print run, aside from the above JLI, Batman and Robin, .... and Hawk and Dove (!?! ) have all sold out as well.
..scuttlebutt at the moment is that Swamp Thing and Animal Man are also going to be hard to find as pre orders have snapped up most of the print run.
.. seems all the titles are selling out, and at a fast rate too.
given that JLA had pre orders of over 200K, and at least 6 other titles had over 100K orders each..... Dc are shifting some product this month for sure !
)
..well... it's gutsy anyway.
that is a fine book indeed, well worth picking up.
) have all sold out as well.