Two Years (ish) of DC Comics’ New 52

Someone asked me on Twitter if I was still reading comics (they pointed out I hadn’t posted many reviews of them lately). I have been, but because I’ve been reading them in big chunks, interspersed with work reading, as well as both fiction and (future-work-related) non-fiction books, I’ve been letting the comics reviews slide a fair bit. There is another reason, of course: not all of the comics have been single storylines, or complete storylines, which makes reviewing them really tricky. Once you get to around issue #10, anything you write about the story is likely to throw out spoilers. This, I think, is maybe a weakness of reading and reviewing comics on a weekly basis – and is really why I stopped doing that almost a year ago (that and financial considerations). Regardless, my insatiable need to read All The Things With Words means I have been reading a good number of comics via ComiXology’s app on my iPad. With the exception of the frankly phenomenal Hawkeye, I do not buy any issues full-price. I just can’t afford to. So, as and when things go on sale or are discounted (either one or two months after release), I’ve been collecting issues to read in bursts.

That being said, the number of series I’ve been reading has also been steadily culled. I usually give each series a single “volume” – that is, what would appear in a collected, printed trade hardcover or paperback. It’s been a useful way of separating storylines, as well as providing a “book’s worth” to review. (Ahem, if I bothered to review them, that is…)

So which of DC’s New 52 have I kept reading? Which ones will stay? And which will have to go, and why? Below is a brief run-down (by no means exhaustive) of the titles I’ve been reading, collected by theme/larger series…

[I may add to this, over time, as I remember other titles I’ve tried, or just think of something else I’d like to add.]

DC Villains Month: Mr. Freeze, Joker & Court of Owls

I don’t really know what’s going on with “Villains Month” (I haven’t been following comics news as closely these past couple of months, partly because I’ve been reading my favourite series a couple months behind). It seems to be a way to release three extra issues of certain DC comics in a month. Not sure if they’ll tie in directly to the main series story-arcs, or if they’ll work as interesting asides, or side-stories for fans who would like a little bit more.

Whatever the reason/purpose of these issues, I was browsing DC’s press site, and found some interesting artwork, which I thought I’d share here.

First up, this rather good domestic Mr. Freeze page, from Batman: Dark Knight #23.1 – Mr. Freeze:

Writer: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Jason Masters
Cover: Guillem March

Next, two twisted and intriguing pages featuring the Joker and the Ape House, from Batman #23.1 – Joker…

Writer: Andy Kubert
Artist: Andy Clarke
Cover: Jason Fabok

And finally, this very moody, sinister page from Batman & Robin #23.2 – Court of Owls:

Writer: James T. Tynion IV
Artist: Jorge Lucas
Cover: Patrick Gleason & Mick Gray

Batman & Robin, Vol.2-3: “Batman vs. Robin” & “Batman and Robin Must Die!” (DC)

I’m still catching up with a huge backlog of comics/graphic novel reviews, but I decided to collect these two books together. Partly because they’re obviously connected, but also because I wanted to get the reviews out of the way. After liking the first volume in Grant Morrison’s Batman & Robin run far more than I anticipated (I’ve written plenty of times how I think he’s highly over-rated), I dove in to the second and third volume pretty soon afterwards. (Told you I was being slow with reviewing…) Sadly, my pleasant surprise at the quality of volume one evaporated with these two books. These are, frankly, not so good.

Batman & Robin, Vol.1 – “Batman Reborn” (DC, pre-New 52)

Writer: Grant Morrison | Artist: Frank Quitely (#1-3), Philip Tan (#4-6) | Inks: Jonathan Glapion (#4-6) | Colors: Alex Sinclair (#1-3,5-6), Pantazis (#4)

The new Dynamic Duo hit the streets with a bang in their new flying Batmobile as they face off against an assemblage of villains called the Circus of Strange. They also tackle their first mission investigating a child who’s been abducted by the mysterious Domino Killer. But will everything go smoothly? And who exactly are the new Batman and Robin? The newest era of The Dark Knight begins here!

Collects: Batman & Robin #1-6

Grant Morrison has the tendency to be awarded the privilege of writing momentous moments in the ongoing DC chronology. Sadly, I have yet to read any that have lived up to expectations. With the recent publication of the New 52 Batman Incorporated #8, I decided to catch up on some more of Damian Wayne’s tenure as Robin, and chose this as a starting point. It’s not terrible, but nor is it as strong as I would have liked. In other words, it’s exactly what I should have expected from a Morrison-penned comic…

The Next BATMAN “Epic” Event (DC Comics)

Following less than a year after the (admittedly successful) Night of the Owls Batman series event, DC Comics is unrolling yet another – and this one’s even bigger. It is, however, the return of the Joker, so it will undoubtedly be pretty epic (especially considering what happened to the psycho at the start of the New 52). Here’s what Scott Snyder told LA Times’ Hero Complex, when asked about the Joker’s relevance to the series:

“To me, he’s the greatest villain of all time, because what he does is he forces us more than any other villain in comics, and any villain I can think of in really any medium, to look at our own worst fears about ourselves. So that’s the power he has over his enemies, is that he looks at you with these very cold eyes, and he sees the things you’re most afraid of in yourself, the things you’re most afraid are true about yourself, and then he gleefully brings those things to life and makes a case as to why those things are the total of who you are, and why you’re no good. You know, we’re only as good as our villains.”

I’m not sure that all fans will be particularly happy with the extent of the series, and there will be inevitable moaning about “having to buy so many extra/more issues/comics”. Well, that’s true, if you must have all the issues. I’m sure (at least, I hope) the overall story will be written in such a way that it won’t be absolutely necessary to read every single one of the issues. I’ve included the publishing schedule below – although, the cover images available and included below may contain minor spoilers.

(Images of the Joker leaked months ago, much to the chagrin of Snyder and Capullo, so I figured because they were already out there – and also on DC’s website – it wouldn’t be a problem to include them in this post.)

DC Comics New 52 #0s…

There’s been much discussion in the comics community about the New 52 “#0” issues, and so I decided I’d try to get a few of them read and reviewed for the website. I thought of them as another chance to get started with a new series and also some extra information and back-story for series I’ve already read a good deal of and enjoyed. I wasn’t able to get as many as I was interested in, but I’ll keep trying to find more (I just don’t have as much time as I used to, when the New 52 were first launched). I’ll certainly attempt to get the #0 issues for some of the series I never tried, but always wanted to (the Green Lantern series, for example, of which I’ve tried none; and also Flash; and a selection of others).

What I would say, though, is that these issues don’t all appear to work as proper introductions – a few of them lay out future storylines, or make allusion to events that have already happened in the main series chronology. In addition, there are some more revelations about how the New 52 is meant to be interpreted – especially on the Batman side of things, which appears to have been rather messed up by these zero issues… (which Newsarama has compiled in a handy post).

Reviewed: Action Comics, Batgirl, Batman, Batman & Robin, Batwoman, Catwoman, Detective Comics, Green Arrow, Justice League, Nightwing, Phantom Stranger, Superboy, Supergirl, Wonder Woman

Comics: “Night of the Owls” & “Avengers vs. X-Men”

Here’s a quick, extra comics round-up for four issues I managed to catch up on recently. As you can gather from the title, it focuses on two on-going story “events”, one from DC and one from Marvel. I have very different feelings for the two of them.

Reviewed: Avengers vs. X-Men #3, Batgirl #9, Batman #9, Batman & Robin #9

Comics Round-Up (Apr.18)

A pretty solid collection of varied comics: twisted fairy tales, fantasy, super-heroes, and horror. I wasn’t organised enough to get them all reviewed for a Tuesday post, so I was able to add a few more titles. There were actually going to be more from last week, but both of my go-to comic stores in New York had completely sold out of Saga #2 and Resurrection Man #8. I decided to cut back on a few of the others, too. For example, I decided that I’ll wait for Suicide Squad, Grifter and Demon Knights to be available as collections.

Reviewed: Alice #4, Batgirl #8, Batman & Robin #8, Batwoman #8, Dungeons & Dragons 2012 Annual, Irredeemable #36, Jungle Book #2, Secret Service #1, Star Wars: Agent of the Empire #5, The Theater #5

Comics Round-Up (Mar.14) the Third

Now that I’ve caught up with DC’s New 52, a few of them will start popping up in these post-release round-ups again. I should, therefore, be able to start offering more diverse and less DC-heavy round-ups and reviews in the future. That being said, they still release a lot of great titles and some of my favourites. And this week’s releases – DC and otherwise – were pretty awesome on the whole. A very happy reader, here.

Reviewed Herein: Batgirl #7, Batman & Robin #7, Batwoman #7, Demon Knights #7, Grifter #7, The Ray #4, Resurrection Man #7, Saga #1, Saucer Country #1, Star Wars: Agent of the Empire #4, Suicide Squad #7, Thief of Thieves #2

[Demon Knights & The Ray were last-minute additions to the round-up.]

DC Catch-Up: Batman

In this post I’m focusing on just the Batman-specific titles, and not the extended “Bat-family”, which will follow in a day or two. So, here are my thoughts on issues #4-6 of Batman, Batman & Robin and The Dark Knight, as well as issues #5-7 of Detective Comics. All of these titles are great, but three of them in particular stand out above pretty much all DC comics I’ve read.

New 52 Catch-Up: “Batman & Robin”, “Batgirl” & “Batwing”

Three more of DC’s new Batman-related reboots

These three titles I decided to check out very much on a whim. I’d read the synopsis for Batman & Robin, and thought it sounded pretty interesting – Batman’s concern for this incarnation of Robin (his son) could bring a new and interesting aspect to the dynamic and his own actions that we don’t see in the other Batman titles. Batgirl… well, I knew nothing about the character, but the author of the series has a superb reputation (deserved, as it turns out), and someone at Forbidden Planet said it was a fun title. So onto the pile it went. Batwing was simply the last of the Batman-related New 52 titles that I hadn’t picked up (bar one – see the end of this post), so being the OCD fellow that I am, I decided to try that out as well. Thankfully, I felt that all three of these titles have something to offer, so they will possibly make frequent appearances on this site.