I know everyone has already run around talking about what they thought of the second week of the release and sure everyone’s now talking about the third week, but we were a little busy reading and talking about something other than DC and all of its critical darlings. Still, I’ve got an opinion about the issues I’ve read thus far and instead of the grueling process of reviewing them all at once we’re splitting them up. Frankly it’s less to write and read in one sitting and we can all agree by now that is a good thing. Too bad DC didn’t take this in to consideration when doing its scheduling. If you need a recap of the first week you can read that here. The grading is simple, it’s either Buy or Pass and nothing in-between so let’s get started.
Batwoman #1
How the hell can they call this a relaunch title? We all know that this has been sitting in the can for six months due to“delays” and all they did was change a couple of lines of dialog and slapped a one on the cover. The story was boring, the art was decent and Black Mask was the only thing interesting about this title. This series will not make it because it only appeals to a niche group of DC readers that will support it to the end of time, but it never grows outside of that niche. Also Batwoman as a character is flat and uninteresting. Is this book even needed when you have Babs as Batgirl again? Answer: No.
Score: Pass, I’m 50/50 on this books survival.
Legion Lost #1
Here’s the thing about the Legion, it worked in the 70’s and 80’s because DC’s continuity was so jacked up they could pull a Back to the Future and screw around with crap. But DC’s launched a brand spanking new continuum so I have no idea what they would fuck it up by having the Legion exist. The Legion always shows up and pretty much writes out the future for DC and guess what? It makes the DCU cheesy and predictable. Well this book is no different; except the Legion finally has costumes that aren’t stuck in the 70’s and this particular batch have been trapped in the past. It’s not interesting, it’s not new and Pete Woods’s art can’t save it. I hope this book is cancelled and the Legion is just forgotten about since they’re archaic characters and terrible storytelling devices. I can’t express how much this book annoyed me and how little the story did. Just terrible and not what DC should have done for a reboot.
Score: Pass, fuck the Legion.
Batman and Robin #1
Prior to this book, we’ve had Batman show up in three different comics. In each one he’s been younger and bit more inexperienced. This issue makes him an old man again. Not only does he still have a son, but this issue 100% acknowledges all of the previous Robin’s and Dick’s time as Batman… here’s the problem with that: Justice League, Action Comics, Green Arrow and basically every other book has acknowledged that this is the start of the superheroes in that world. Meaning that even though some books are set in the very beginning and others ahead in the future, they’re all still starting new. By having this sordid past still exist for Batman you completely change everything and basically screw up the timeline. Aside from that this issue is pretty terrible and showed that there are too many Bat books in the reboot. Tomasi writes Batman as that guy that shows up without a girlfriend to a couples hang out and tries to impress everyone else’s significant other with his sensitivity, but every knows he’s just a douche. You sir have made Batman a douche. Also Damian isn’t even annoyingly cool anymore, he’s just annoying. I remember the art being okay…yay!
Score: Pass, look at that three in a row!
Deathstroke #1
I liked it. I felt that was important to say straight from the beginning. Deathstroke is still a bad-ass, but the world doesn’t know he’s a bad-ass. He’s considered over the hill even though he takes crazy missions and always gets the job done. His handler sets him up with a young team of killers at his employers request and Deathstroke is none too pleased. Kyle Higgins nails Deathy perfectly and all he did was kept him the same. What he did was eliminate the crap from his past that always had him looking stupid. No more Titans business or fretting about his children, he just kills. I always thought it was out of character for him to care so much about his kids when he more than likely was just going to produce another. This was one of the first books I really liked and hopefully fans of Deathy’s last series will latch onto this one and keep it going.
Score: Buy!
Superboy #1
Have you seen the new Young Justice cartoon? Then you know Superboy’s origin! This book seemed more like what I call an “editor’s book” in which the editorial team has more control over the content than the creative team. They’re just there to write the script they want and be the name on the cover. Lobdell does a decent job with it and the new angle for Connor is interesting since he’s not constantly worrying about being a clone and feeling inferior to Superman, but it’s not his best work. You can tell that this story is very neutered and that’s a shame. Still better than the last series though, that was an utter piece of shit. The art is good, but I can see it getting really sloppy and loose if the deadlines get tighter.
Score: Pass. Better than the last series, but still not worth the money.
Resurrection Man #1
This book has two things going for it,an awesome premise and strong creative team. Unfortunately neither of those two things turned out to be very good which is a shame. I missed out on the original Resurrection Man series, but always heard how cool and interesting it was. This series is basically just an escaped soul from Heaven or Hell finds its way back into its body after each death and has a new power after each resurrection. The power basically helps them out of that current situation so they can stumble on to their next seemingly coincidental mission. Abnett and Lanning have become formula writers and basically deliver the same goods they always do. There was nothing exciting about this book and that really bummed me out. I expected them to come with a fresh angle to their first DC book, but instead I got the whole “Heaven and Hell fighting over this soul” bit and I can’t even begin to be interested in it. I’ll give it another shot, but I’m not expecting much.
Score: Buy, for now.
Well there you have it for this first set. I’ll keep pumping them out so long as I don’t blow my brains out from reading essentially the same story over and over again. I hate origin stories and that’s all these first issues have been so far which is too bad really. Stay tuned for part 2!