Aldo reads DC's New 52 (So you don't have to)

m assuming that's as long as he's on the book and DC just aren't announcing it yet. (PS Gossip says Dan Jurgens is writing both)

{Continuing the previous post which got posted G_d knows why)

Animal Man #3: Do I like this? I'm really not sure any more. This seems confused at times, but then Buddy realises he is slave to his daughter and it kicks off into a level of awesomeness. I don't care at all for the Ellen and Cliff stuff and I'm not sure at all how the 'real world' pans into the Red at all but I'm not really bothered. I guess the big problem is this is all based on Old Universe DCU stuff so I'm reading it for the second time. Hmm.

but since the 5 year gap is consumed by #7 I'm assuming that's as long as he's on the book and DC just aren't announcing it yet.

god I hope so, the pricing makes me actually angry

Batwing #3: This almost does enough. Really nearly makes me want to keep on buying it. Then I remember Ben Oliver is off it with this issue and I'm convinced the other way. Arguably not enough happens during the issue, but the hints of The Kingdom being a big thing which fucked up really badly and sold out a continent could be a great thing. But Ben Oliver is what makes the book and this is the end of his involvement and also mine. I might torrent the next couple to see where the plot goes. SO HOW'S THAT STRATEGY WORKING, DIDIO?

Detective Comics #3: I actually kind of love the writing on this. Ultimately, The Dollmaker isn't nearly as good as I thought he would be last month but I can put up with it because the characterisation of Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock is the best in the reboot. Still not sold on the art but this is the New DC - I might not even have to put up with it till the end of the next issue! Still onboard and will stay that way.

Green Arrow #3: I'd love to be able to say the writing on this became competent with my last issue. I'd love to say the art doesn't look like the worst kind of 80s throwback. I'd love to be able to say what has passed to date for a plot is resolved satisfactorily. I'd love to be able to say the fake Steve Jobs characterisation becomes realistic. Unfortunately this is still the same bag of shite it has been since the first issue. Maybe even worse. If JT Krul ever works again it will be too soon.

Hawk & Dove #3: This ends with the phrase "He's not too old to answer some questions though... and I've got plenty." I only have 2: "How is Sterling Gates in work?" and "How is Rob Liefeld in work?" The answer to the first appears to be that he is good mates with Geoff Johns. The second is a challenge up there with Fermat's Last Theorem. Every line is delivered between gritted teeth. Barack Obama looks like a chocolate popsicle. There's a panel with Swan and Dove where they have the same face. Not similar faces, IDENTICAL ones. Woeful.

Justice League International #3: http://www.clashmusic.com/files/imagecache/big_node_view/files/Jaz-Coleman-Killing-Joke.jpg EIGHTIES. I'M LIVING IN THE EIGHTIES. You know what the highlight of this is? Vixen uses the powers of a badger. Some people would say this is damning with faint praise. I'm characterising it as reaching to find anything worth enjoying. Average is a compliment.

Men of War #3: What was the Rock section of this has turned to shit. Absolutely nothing happens in it. It's a completely failed attempt at a Two Fisted Tales type effort and totally worthless. Can it be save by the completion of the SEALS backup story? No. It's shite as well. Deserves to be cut andhas been.

OMAC #3: The writing in this really isn't that great is it? And I'm beginning to think the art isn't either. I hate this reboot. Still entertaining enough, but that probably says more about the other books than this one. I'm already looking forward to next month when I am reading less new comics.

Red Lanterns #3: WHAT A SURPRISE. The character I predicted last month is made clevererer is the one that is made clevererer. Unfortunately, because she is A WOMANG she has to be better than 'the hero'. This doesn't work at all. The issue ends with a gratuitous arse picture. One that makes Red Hood #1 look like Andrea Dworkin. You're better than this, Pete Milligan.

Static Shock #3: No. No. No. Static Shite. Features a piss-poor joke about someone not knowing what The Joker looks like. Losing the will to live here.

Stormwatch #3: So we don't get the villain reveal the last issue promised... I can put up with that because this is still a pretty servicable comic. Filler, yes, but servicable. Plot doesn't get advanced much and Jack's foot/ankle about halfway through is one of the worst pieces of art in the reboot (I know, a huge claim) but NOT AWFUL.

Swamp Thing #3: In which our hero compresses over 70 issues of a comic into a VERY short narrative. But the ACTUAL PLOT is great when it kicks in, even if it does rip off SoST 23-26 (the Floronic Man/JLA issues). LET'S GO WITH BRILLIANT mainly because we don't have any competition.

You can't reference the worst panel in the reboot and not share a bad scan!

Otherwise, kudos.

Yeah, I'll find the panel tonight. I realised as I was typing it I would need to. Also, two Liefeld montages to do.

have you dropped wonder woman aldo? my roommate & i are subscribed to omac, wonder woman, action comics, animal man thru a joint reservation account, should be caught up in a week or so

The first WW was great, the second smacked massively of the Perez 80s run. Am sticking with it until #4 at the moment but I know where it needs to go.

is there even a royalty system still in place?

now less than ever

okay I broke down and bought Suicide Squad

this is so exactly my type of shit

also Harley is hilarious

Fabian Nicieza discusses the valuable creative input of DC editorial into New 52 plotting:

Nrama: You know, Fabian, a lot of people picked up the first issue and got the idea that this book was going to be all about action and character peril, but you seem to be doing a lot more with this comic now. As a writer, were you planning from the start that the first issue should be fast-moving to grab readers with the perilous situation and confusion of the characters?

Nicieza: Actually, as a writer, I wasn't. This is the first time I'm even talking about it, so I have to be diplomatic about it. It was not my original intention to break the story down that way. After we did a six-issue outline, we had lunch and a meeting editorially, and we all talked about it. There were aspects of my original six-issue outline that they didn't want to do yet. They thought it was too soon, too fast. They wanted a slower burn for some of the things, like the spread of the disease and the Legionnaires themselves having options available to them.

So I had to go back reconfigure my six-issue plans to kind of create more of a slow burning fuse to their presence here on Earth.

Part of that meant that, instead of opening it the way that I'd envisioned, which was them here for a few days already, them contacting Superman for help, and clearly putting out on the table exactly what's going on within the first eight pages of the book -- that changed.

What they wanted, and I understand why they wanted it, they wanted the first 20 minutes of the Lost TV pilot.

Nrama: Ah, yeah. The peril is similar, with the crashed airplane.

Nicieza: Exactly. They wanted a sense of frantic, chaotic turmoil and uncertainty. That, in and of itself, is twisting the usual "Legion in the past" story. And they wanted a twist on the usual "Legion in the past" story. And I get that.

So I turned the dial on my head a little bit and reconfigured it, and this is what we got.

There's a lot of good to that, but there's some bad to that too. And I do think clarity is one of the things that got sacrificed in that first issue, which is a bit frustrating, because I felt that it was an important aspect that we needed in that first issue.

So, by publishing solicitation details for the first New 52 collections, DC have not only given more hints into their focus but also spoilered some more as-yet-unannounced team changes.

Dig through to note what's being given hardcover prestige, how worthy-of-colllection every single title appears to be considered even before they're written or drawn, and how evidently everyone's stories must be no less than 6 issues and no more than 8.

The pricing disparity on Action gets tilted the other way on the collection - while buying the floppies costs $8 more than any other series for the same number of pages, the collection gives you 40 pages more than any other HC for only $2 extra. SURE, THAT MAKES SENSE, WHATEVER.

Writer: Grant Morrison
Artists: Rags Morales, Rick Bryant, Brent Anderson, Gene Ha, Andy Kubert and Jesse Delperdang

Obviously Kubert isn’t so excited about drawing those two last-minute story-derailing issues that he can do them by himself. This shows amazing confidence that Morales will have his shit together enough to draw #7 and #8 though!

GREEN ARROW VOL. 1 TP
Writers: J.T. Krul, Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens
Artists: Dan Jurgens, George Pérez, Ignacio Calero and Ray McCarthy

Let’s see if it manages to hold to a mere four artists in six issues.

BATWOMAN VOL. 1: HYDROLOGY HC
Writers: J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
Artist: J.H. Williams III
Collects: BATWOMAN #0-5
$22.99 US, 144 pg

Sure, don’t bother looking inside those comics to see if anyone else, say Amy Reeder, may have drawn half of every page of one of them. Or reading the cover. More evidence of Dan DiDio’s frenzied campaign to drive out all female creators from the halls of DC!*

Also, this means that the three issues of Detective Batwoman by Rucka and Jock that go in between BATWOMAN VOL. 1 HC and, er, BATWOMAN VOL. 1 HC (well done, there) are being completely orphaned. YOU NO WORK FOR US NO MORE, YOUR COMICS NEVER EXISTED.

*actually holy fuck, this may be more accurate than my mockery intended: DC paid for and scrapped EIGHT covers by Reeder this year, including VARIANTS FOR EVERY ISSUE OF BATWOMAN.

And I guess DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS was always meant to be rotating teams, but with #1-5 still coming out, this solicitation is a sneak reveal of what an amazing team they were able to line up by working five months ahead of the rest of the entire line!:

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS VOL. 1 TP
Writers: Paul Jenkins, Dan DiDio and Jerry Ordway
Artists: Bernard Chang and Jerry Ordway
Collects: DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #1-8

Oh.

And my favourite one to track the creators on...

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT VOL. 1 HC
Writer: Paul Jenkins and David Finch
Artists: David Finch and Richard Friend
Collects: BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #1-6

So either the solicited fill-in penciller from #2 and #3 wasn’t needed (!) or Finch managed to have him wrestled back to proper, uncredited ghosting by the time the issues came out. Or the people in the trades department don’t know what the fuck they’re doing, which is not implausible at this stage I'll grant you.

i love the updates in this thread, DC sounds utterly out of control

I checked BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #2 in the shop and Jay Fabok is not credited inside. I'm putting my money on 'ghost'.

i love the updates in this thread, DC sounds utterly out of control

Me too. THis whole thread is hugely fun to read.

Batgirl #3: The biggest problem about this issue is contained within the spread page internal DC advert and the MTV quote therein: "DC is actually delivering what they promised... these books give you everything you need to know, right there, in the first issue." So why do I spend all this issue wondering when the "how Babs left her wheelchair" is going to get resolved? The book spends the entire time CULTIVATING mystery about what happened prior to the reboot, not resolving it. And it just isn't that good at it - I enjoyed #1, disliked #2 and have no real opinion on this so I'm going to read the next one (which apparently finishes this storyline) then cut it. Good work, DC.

Batman and Robin #3: Umm... what? I have read this three times now and it still makes very little sense. Damian is bad at chess and disobedient. The guy from the last issue has a cool costume. Batman doesn't know the Green Cross Code. BatDog is a cutesy dopey love. Yes he is. Who's a cutesy dopey love then? It's you, isn't it? Yes it is. What is the film going to be in the next issue? FIND OUT IN A MONTH. I hope it's The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Claus.

Batwoman #3: KEEP FOCUSING ON THE ART. The first half of this is maybe some of the most beautiful stuff JH Williams has done. The second half, the part that's more like a regular book, not so much. The first half flows perfectly, the second half is stilted and awkward. But it looks so lovely I can forgive it all of this. I'm so shallow.

Deathstroke #3: HOORAY! MY LAST ISSUE! And it's possibly the worst of the three, with no plot to speak of and confusing art that presumably to even up the gender issues in some of the #1s has a load of upskirt style shots of MANLY MEN BEING MANLY AND KILLING EACH OTHER WITH KNIVES. Anyway, now we're at the end I can summarise the first three issues as follows: blah FITE blah FITE FITE blah blah FITE FITE FITE FITE HEAD IN A BOX.

Demon Knights #3: What is this, severed head month at DC? Anyway, this doesn't quite live it to the first two issues but the plot barrels on with a near-death Madame Xanadu, a Jason Blood returned from Hell, a priest Etrigan has put there, some joke about the Seven Soldiers version of the Shining Knight and Vandal Savage, Leader Of Men. Somehow this has become the book I look forward to reading most every month. I have no idea how this took place.

Frankenstein #3: Another month on, another month of low quality BPRD rip-off. It's no use ramping up the excitement with TWO (count 'em) new threats at the end of the story, you're still a poor man's Dark Horse product. I think I'll stick with this as it puts me in the price break that my LCS give me as it keeps them in Diamond's sale-or-return bracket, but I'd much rather be reading something by Mike Mignola or Guy Davis.

Green Lantern #3: I don't EVER want to see Doug Mahnke drawing Sinestro laughing again. Is he secretly having sex with Geoff Johns or something? How does this man hold a job down? Although he's not the worst thing about this book, Geoff Johns is. You know what his plan is now? The Guardians have decided that after creating the Green Lanterns (plus all the other colours that make up the Lantern Pride Alliance) and the Manhunters they now need to create a Third Army (I guess answering the question about whether Millenium/New Guardians exists in the the new DCU with a resounding NO). And he has a paradox in this issue that Hal Jordan points out and has a fight with Sinestro about. And a character called Arsona. Can anybody actually want to read this? I don't think I could even muster the enthusiasm to t0rr3nt it in future.

Grifter #3: Inexplicable. This cannot be explained. Next month it involves a Green Arrow team up. There is no way this can make it better. GRifter shouts a Platoon-style NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO in the middle of this. It's how I feel about the title too.

Legion Lost #3: It's like watching the footage from Bottom Live 3: Hooligan's Island - OH WE'VE GOT A PLOT THIS YEAR, HAVE WE? After the slight disappointment of last month this is really going somewhere, and the revelation at the end is cracking. Yes, the second half of the issue is a lengthy Timber Wolf fight but SO WHAT. Fabien Nicieza might not like the pacing of this, but I think it's just fine. #1 set up the scenario and introduced the characters, #2 brought in the real bad guy, #3 developed it all further and gave you something to make you really care about. All while bringing the THRILLPOWER. Give us more of this sort of thing.

Mister Terrific #3: This features a bad guy called Brainstorm who was a computer scientist and is now a blue bloke with a WiFi symbol on his head. He can shoot USB cables - sorry, 'Intelligence Spikes' out of his arm to hard wire himself to people and download the things they know. Some kids film Mister Terrific beating him up on their iPhones because it turns out he was having mental sex with the satnav in her car which caused her crash and subsequent death. I really wish I was making this shit up. I'm done with this.

Resurrection Man #3: The weird sexualisation of the previous issue continues in new, even more bizarre ways (I mean was there really any reason to show us those heart-covered panties?) and despite the whole Limbo bit of dialogue nothing is actually progressed. It feels like a filler issue, which for only the third is a horrible accusation. If this gets to #10 I'll be amazed, as I would guess will the writers because it doesn't feel like it's supposed to.

Suicide Squad #3: I love Harley Quinn and the way she's written here. Can you guess what may or may not be happening when she says "This reminds me of a joke about a clown car..."? Between this and King Shark "keeping a low profile" this is hands down the most FUN in anything DC are publishing for the third month in a row. And at the end? Two words. CAPTAIN BOOMERANG. This just keeps getting better. MORE FUN COMICS (not More Fun Comics though).

Superboy #3: "I am so not following any of this." You and me both, Superboy. I think I like this but I have no idea why. Apparently next month Superboy destroys a Christmas tree. Doesn't that sound worth your money?

I can't wait for all the six-month postmortems. And the one-year should be HILARIOUS.

I am on board for buying about 25 #4s at the moment. That doesn't mean I won't keep up by t0rr3nt with the rest just for you lot.

The panels from last week that wound me up:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6052/6337730959_a50ee96baf_z.jpg

I know in relation to some of the other things you see this doesn't seem that bad, but THESE ARE HIS ACTUAL FEET AND ANKLES. You know, there isn't a boot or something in the way that changes the shape, this is just poor drawing skills.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6035/6337731055_6a59c6fd21_z.jpg

You see what I mean about it being hard to credit this was Pete Milligan's direction? I have also realised in the week since that the two text boxes make it look like she's been holding a lottery for who gets to give her anal. WHY DOES MY BRAIN WORK THIS WAY?

It's the ROB LIEFELD CAN'T DRAW FOR SHIT EXTRAVAGANZA. Hawk & Dove #2:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6107/6338685160_a2e30d733f_b.jpg

Ask if you want it biggerer.

lol i don't know from comics but this is god's work yr doing

That Stormwatch panel is all kinds of twenty colors of crap.

And from H&D#3:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6031/6338074655_5ec0ebf5bc_b.jpg

Yes, that black gentleman is Barack Obama.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJhoa2SVGNA
so rob...you had any formal art training?

To be fair maybe he twisted his ankle and it's gone all swollen

re Batwoman #3: Maggie Sawyer is meant to be a tough cop, and not a sook in matters of romance, I take it from her other appearances in this series? So why is she such a marshmallow pushover for Kate's bullshit? This is the only thing that bothers me about the writing so far.

Wish it was still Rucka writing, tbh

happy for him that he fled the sinking ship before getting dicked around even more, if I have any opinion

I'm not completely familiar with what was done to him, but I applaud anyone who felt it a good time to bail before this relaunch business.

me neither, Batwomang was prob the first thing I'd read by him in ten years, but he made hints and allusions at the time. that now seem more illuminated, yeah.

I liked Gotham Central, although I read it after publication

I fully intend to read it if they ever do a complete TPB series.

Ty Templeton, back in launch month:

http://tytempletonart.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/websized-revised1.jpg

UPDATE!

Birds Of Prey #s 1-4 were all solicited with Duane Swierczunski as writer and Jesus Saiz as sole artist. Once #5 is solicited with Saiz needing an inker to help out, a fill-in issue is promptly commissioned from George Perez and Writer TK.

Tonight, as I get closer to finishing my run on SUPERMAN and prepare for my next project (still only in the negotiation stage right now) I am starting to pencil an inventory issue of BIRDS OF PREY-- just so I can draw some nice looking babes!

so rob...you had any formal art training?

this guy is totally a real-life Liefield drawing
http://i39.tinypic.com/9j0ocg.gif

I saw a changed teams list for #6s but I can't remember where. Basically there's barely half of the original line-up doing the same jobs iirc. I kind of fail to see how that encourages anybody to buy the books.

Batman #3: Hot damn. Yes, this introduces another OH NOES GOTHAM HAS ALWAYS EVER ALWAYS HAD DARK SEKRITS mythology, and I'm still not completely sold on the art, but this is quite brilliantly written. The history of the Owls and the ties to Alan Wayne AND THEN THE DENOUEMENT, holy crap. Read this at all costs.

Birds of Prey #3: This is very nearly good enough to make me reconsider cutting it. Poison Ivy is re-cast in the Johnsiverse as a superpowered Earth First activist and the plot threads laid down in the first two issues begin to come to fruition. The issue ends with a BLACK CANARY IS ABOUT TO DIE cliffhanger which, as we've learned from the Johnsiverse (or in fact basic comics theory) means it won't happen but the nagging reality doesn't prevent you getting swept up in it. Apparently the inclusion of Batgirl as the lead character is imminent, which can also only mean return of The Simone. Shame, as the writer here is starting to find his feet.

Blue Beetle #3: After one of the least surprising reveals of the reboot (I mean, really? You think we didn't know it was the Auntie all along?) this rumbles along trying to find its feet. The Hispanic histrionics in dialogue make me grateful for all that time I put in with Amor Y Cohetes and the possibility of the Scarab Lanterns or whatever the fuck they are destroying Earth might be a thing, but ridiculous poses and HANDS DOWN THE WORST NEW CHARACTER DESIGN I HAVE SEEN IN MANY YEARS (seriously, this Silverback dude is like the worst excesses of the 90s. He's Cable invented on crystal meth.) makes this a dung beetle.

Captain Atom #3: The moment we all waited for - JT Krul writes the Flash. No, wait, the moment we were waiting for was Captain Atom and the Flash solving the conflict in Libya. Until Gadaffi sets off a nuclear bomb to destroy the country. Captain Atom sucks in the energy and Flash outruns the blast picking people up on the way. Did I mention Captain Atom turned himself into God in the first couple of pages? It makes me pine for the good old days of Qurac. Please don't let any of this make you think you should look at the book because it's really not worth your time.

Catwoman #3: Torture porn! Strippers! Visible labia! At one point Catwoman's thighs are bigger than her waist! Holy BatSnogging! Awful, awful, awful.

DCU Presents Deadman #3: I really wish this was ready to move on to the next story. Basically this issue rehashes the last one and doesn't advance the plot apart from the first and last pages. Consequently, it does nothing for me. I can't help thinking it's a wasted opportunity but I can't offer any suggestions as to how it could be improved as it's just a whole pile of nothing.

Green Lantern Corps #3: "Beware the Ring Slayers!" Sounds like a porn film to me. Yadda yadda ring fites (although since inventiveness was always supposed to be a thing, why they all will guns into existence doesn't show much imagination) and it turns out the titular Ring Slayers are in fact an unknown species comprising vast reserves of raw willpower. Glad that's all cleared up. The best dialogue on the first page is "RRAGHH!" and comes from the dinosaur GL that had his arms and legs cut off in the last issue. Presumably he can only say RRAGHH because he is wearing his ring on his tongue now he is limbless. I wish I was making this up. I might start putting in some fake details from now on.

Justice League #3: "Steve, this place, your home, is filled with so many wonderful things. Ice cream and Rock and Roll and... many wonderful things." FUCK YOU GEOFF JOHNS. How can you have the gall to write this shit? Wait, Superman's just managed to cleanly slice off a Parademon's arm with a car tyre. Hal Jordan's just claimed shagging rights on Wonder Woman. This could be a triumph but instead is a disaster. Vic Stone's heart races up his spinal cord (according to the dialogue, but that can't be right) then he screams one of the most epic pieces of dialogue from the reboot - "AAHH01010101000010111". And finally Aquaman turns up. I don't think I can look away.

LoSH #3: Yes! The return of the Dominators! How to subdue Daxamites! This is pointless crap for the rest of you. It's still a fanboy's book. I wish I could actually judge the quality of this title.

DCU Presents Deadman #3: I really wish this was ready to move on to the next story.

note this folks, aldo now CANNOT WAIT to read a Dan Didio comic sight unseen. IS THIS WHAT WE'VE DONE TO HIM?

I just wanted to say that I don't give a shit that its moving at a snail's pace and is predictable as hell, I love Red Lanterns!

Catwoman #3: ... Visible labia!

Waitaminute, surely not?

Maybe a slight exaggeration, but there's one panel where you can see exactly what Catwoman's packing down there, if you see what I'm saying. Every contour.

Nightwing #3: This book just keeps getting better and better. A new bad guy (although, it has to be said, one that Dick appears to completely have the better of after their first encounter, so probably no staying power there) and great pacing as the storyline builds and Dick's life - the one that he never had, since he was with Bruce - is laid out for all to see. Maybe this always happened in the Nightwing book? All I remember about it was that city got destroyed when Chemo got dropped on it. Plus Dick gets to make the sex with the hawt redhead. UNLEASH THE NIGHTWANG! What could possibly make this book better? "Next issue: Batgirl". Because she's only in about half a dozen books already next month. Babs is going to have a busy old time of it.

Red Hood & The Outlaws #3: WHY DID #1 OF THIS COME OUT.

Obviously this is a rhetorical question, since if #1 hadn't come out then neither could #2 or #3. Fact-checkin' Ed.

Supergirl #3: We get plot development (but not anything we haven't seen before). We get a new bad guy (who is basically Kara's version of Lex Luthor, which makes you wonder how he existed for so long with nobody noticing). We get a new artist (who isn't as good as the previous one). We get a real sense of deja vu (and a slight sense of boredom).

Wonder Woman :3 I have no idea why crab claws are so important, or what they're a metaphor for, but they feature really heavily in this issue. And they're really tasty, which is presumably a subliminal message to get me to like this. Luckily I like it anyway. It's still more Perez than Lovecraft (which was what we were promised) and OH LOOK, SOME SEXING but it feels like it's going somewhere and next month seems to see us back of Paradise Island which might improve it. A slow burner.

CATCHUP:

All Star Western #3: The Gotham Butcher plot concludes just as the cover promises, with guns and gore. This has been the best Hex storyline in a number of years - Doctor Arkham mans up and we see a whole pile of retribution but the sides appear able to co-exist after the resolution. But just when it looks like Hex is leaving (and his interplay with Arkham and Gotham itself as he tries to get out is really well done) he gets sucked into something else... I guess he may be sticking around the city for a bit longer. The backup El Diablo strip is neither here nor there, to be honest, but it's nice to see some second (third?) string Western characters get a run out. I still can't decde whether this is one of the highlights of the reboot or not, since it's still pretty much the same book it was before the reboot.

Aquaman #3: Arthur Curry is a dick, everyone knows it and his powers are so shit everyone laughs at him. That's pretty much all you need to know about Geoff Johns' take on him. There's a fight with last month's new baddies and a bit of development for them where we find out some genetic stuff about them (with another cast-iron opportunity for Aquaman to be a dick and show off his new power of flight) but there's not really enough in this to make it endearing - there's always the hint of Johnsiness about it to put you off - but maybe the mystery of whose trident it is might be worth keeping up with.

Batman The Dark Knight #3: Disappointingly, the Joker elements of this (which have been the most entertaining parts) are wrapped up in the opening pages which leaves us with David Finch trying to puff up his own new David Finch character, the White Rabbit. Who, surprise, surprise, is an sexey womang in an impractical and ridiculous outfit. Flash appears and is immediately sidelined so he plays no further part in the story, and we get one of the most bizarre lines of dialogue in the Johnsiverse: "Thank God for small mercies and lace panties." Is this really something people say? Google suggests it's only ever appeared in amateur pr0n fiction and I think I believe them. The Bat-stuff in this is good, the rest not so much. I'm sure the actual David Finch content in David Finch's own book will soon dwindle to nothing. Will this improve it? Who knows. Or possibly cares.

Blackhawks #3: I like the talking dogs. I don't care about the rest of it. It has the heart of a decent espionage book but it just tries too hard, throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks - the only propblem is that when you get to the end you realise it's ALL supposed to have stuck which just makes it a confused mess. Still, talking dogs, eh?

Firestorm #3: OH NOES, THE TRAGEDY OF A SUPER-SOLDIER! Oh noes, the tragedy of this book, more like. Helix could have been pretty good, and the world through his eyes is the one memorable thing about this, but we get minor plot development and a HUGE fight which at times appears to have been blown up to make it fill the page more. This is really going nowhere.

― aldo, Friday, 2 December 2011 12:31 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Permalink

Flash #3: I hate to bring the ghost of Eisner into this, but from the title page onwards this reminds me of nothing more than The Spirit. Has the Flash ever landed a plane that way before? I'm not sure. But the cliffhanger! THRILLING!

Green Lantern New Guardians #3: What's that you say? Kyle Rayner is the most powerful bestest Lantern ever? Careful now, Hal Jordan will covet his ring... Bleez has clearly been through the process from Red Lanterns, but has degraded back to being a typical Red Lantern, it looks like. Really, you'd think there should be an editor in charge of the whole thing to ensure continuity, or something. In top JRJr-biting, some panels of this could have been in Kick-Ass. Anyway, it turns out the whole plot WHICH WAS GOOD ENOUGH TO TRICK EVERYBODY IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, INCLUDING EVERYONE ON OA was just a construct of the Orange Lantern (no, me neither) Glomulus. Or maybe Larfleeze. Who may also be called Agent Orange. OH WAIT, IT A GEOFF JOHNS CHARACTER.* Kyle says "God, this just keeps getting worse..." and I know how he feels.

* Amongst other appearances, there is this. My head hurts.

Larfleeze Christmas Special

On Christmas Day, Larfleeze is outraged to discover that Santa Claus hasn't brought him anything that he asked for. He attacks every costumed Santa in the nearby town, and tries to melt the North Pole, only to be stopped by Hal Jordan. Jordan tells Larfleeze of Christmas spirit, and how it comes from giving. On Hal's suggestion, Larfleeze gives away every item in his mountain of possessions, but afterwards declares that he doesn't like Christmas spirit. Jordan then suggests that he look over his Christmas list and see if he actually needed anything there. That night, Larfleeze stares at a part of his list, on which he had written "my family".

I, Vampire #3: This is still beautiful but I'm not sure why it's being shoehorned into crossovers. Next month sees us in Gotham City, and features John Constantine (presumably the Johnsiverse Constantine from Justice League Dark and not the Vertigo one). I'm finding less reasons to stay with this month on month, but staying for now.

Justice League Dark #3: Constantine and Zatanna have the sex! Deadman desperately tries to get his end away with June Moon! The M-Vest tries to make a new Kathy for Shade to have the sex with! There's almost a plot! GET ON WITH IT! (NB this review only has slightly more exclamation marks than the cover of this book)

― aldo, Friday, 2 December 2011 13:23 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Permalink

Savage Hawkman #3: No no no no no. A confused mess again. The muddy art doesn't help one jot, but Morphicus seems to be alive, then dead, then cut up, then never have existed, then alive again. And Hawkman? Fuck knows. Anyway, next issue promises "The Final Showdown". Pity I won't be there to see it.

Superman #3: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ACTION COMICS. I mean, seriously, why print what happens in Action #4 onwards as part of this issue? IF ONLY THERE WAS A JOHNSIVERSE EDITOR. Anyway, back to the comic itself and this still has lots and lots and lots of words. Far too many. Yet again, this book concentrates about half the page-count to a fight which is part of a bigger overarching plot and still overlays it with so many text boxes you can't see it properly. This will convert nobody.

Teen Titans #3: This is still a joy from front to back. As I've said before, Kid Flash is the undisputed star of the book but Red Robin begins to come into his own in this as well and the team looks mostly complete. I'm still not absolutely sold on the Jim Lee-lite art (especially Wonder Girl in the hospital, which just looks... odd...) but I can get over it. I'm very pleasantly surprised how much I'm getting out of it and very happy that I am.

Voodoo #3: This doesn't really go anywhere. There's a whole load of plot (which doesn't actually make anything much clearer) and some kind of distinction between whatever Voodoo is and whatever the other aliums are which is good enough to get one over on Kyle Rayner (who, let's not forget, is shown elsewhere this month to be the bestest Lantern ever). And then somebody dies in the end. Oh well.

― aldo, Friday, 2 December 2011 13:45 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Permalink

Thanks aldo! I'll take your word on Titans - I dislike the characters and the art so can't even try it.

Flash is so good it overcomes my natural anti-Flash bias (I've never liked the character (or the derivatives) except in his Golden Age incarnation).

― EZ Snappin, Friday, 2 December 2011 14:45 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Permalink

So, we reach the end of 3 months and I start cutting books. I'm down to just under half, from memory, but my observations on the experiment thus far:

I had really fallen out of the habit of reading comics. I know we'd discussed it before in ILC, about how we'd cut down to 4 or 5 floppies a week, but the sheer volume overwhelmed me to start with. I ended up having to read them alphabetically because any other way would have been detrimental to the books I was enjoying less - otherwise I would have read the ones I liked and then just left with a pile of dross to plod through (which, truth to tell, was the case some weeks anyway). But then in order to get these reviews out, I was having to read them straight away so I could find the time to do this at the weekend. Discipline was very much the order of the day, and this may have made me less tolerant of the lesser quality books to be honest.

It's important to pick up comics every week. The week of the Diamond fuck-up with my LCS caused me great pain. I was finding one week hard going, now I had to do two in the same timeframe. That almost killed me. I have no idea now how I would have done this on the month I'm on holiday next year.

This process has made me far more judgemental. I had written off Red Hood after the first issue, yet it turns out I actually really quite like it. I proclaimed the first issue of Aquaman to be brilliant, but it fell off a massive cliff edge. And I ended up comparing books to the other ones out that week, probably unfairly.

Three months isn't long enough to judge comics on. See the above. But also see complaints through the process about pacing. They've been uneven but that's only through comparison to each other - since they all started at the same time you'd expect them to be consistent, however, some have raced forward with plot with no hints of backstory, some have concentrated in minutae over things past which may or may not have happened and some are just glacial. It's the change that's jarring though, as some of these books were at #2-300 when this started and the pacing would have been fine on them. So I would have welcomed the opportunity to do this for longer but Diamond set their sale or return at that level. Was this within DC's influence? Probably.

This hasn't really been a success for existing customers. Looking round the internet, it seems people have generally reverted to type. People who were buying Batbooks are still buying Batbooks (irrespective of quality). People who were buying Superfamily books are still buying Superfamily books (irrespective of quality). People who were buying Geoff Johns books are still mad. Nobody is more inclined to pick up Jonah Hex than they were. I'm even aware of one online trend to deliberately cut to only 8 books by month 4. A failure then.

This hasn't exactly been a success for new customers either. OK, so Justice League #1 is on the 5th printing. You don't get sales across the line, you haven't brought in new readers. And in the week James Robinson notes that his Shade mini-series will probably be cancelled before #12 because of sales* it seems like general interest in the new line hasn't transferred into curiosity about things they don't already know about.

Comics professionals aren't what they used to be. I know it looks like I'm being picky, but some of the artwork in the reboot has been exceptionally shoddy. I'm currently reading Prince Valiant Vol 4 and the gulf in quality is amazing, but even in comparison to some of the dailies (Dick Tracy for example) the gulf in quality is astonishing. And what is it with the staying power of these people? The sheer volume of creative changes is overwhelming, and then you remember this was PLANNED. And then you remember David Finch and what's happened with David Finch's Batman The Dark Knight. That's sitcom territory.

Rob Liefeld is exactly what he used to be. Seriously, how is he still employed?

The Johnsiverse is all about the sex. I mean we all know the controversy about Catwoman and the first Red Hood, but really, they've been like rabbits across the line. Is this what it's come to?

I'll keep going with this via t0rr3nt for the titles I'm not sticking with, but it may well be more sporadic (and some may just say "still shit").

* I mean OK, a Golden Age Flash villain might not be the best of choices but it sort of spins off out of Robinson's Starman series and is probably better than 80-90% of the Johnsiverse. You're in the shop already, why not buy something good when you're in there?

― aldo, Friday, 2 December 2011 15:52 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Permalink

I don't know why Grifter and Voodoo are resonating so hard with me, esp. considering I never was a WildC.A.T.S. fan, but the direction they're talking the whole Kherubim/Daemonite conflict and how it seems both sides are now leaning anti-human is very interesting to me. Also, I can't believe how much I disliked that first issue of Stormwatch (possibly because it was The Authority with all of the minorities associated with Stormwatch/The Authority removed)

― OH NOES, Friday, 2 December 2011 16:07 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Permalink

I mean, I'm not screaming for token representation; Battalion and Fuji have been associated with the team since its inception and Flint and Swift have been mainstays since '96.

― OH NOES, Friday, 2 December 2011 16:13 (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Permalink

And after DC inexplicably take a week off...

Action #4: The premise of this is great - Earth is being harvested by the same guy who put Kandor in a bottle last month - but the execution not so much. The main part of the comic is a fun read (although it does smack slightly of Disco Dad at times; "your favourite band is the Red Hot Chili Peppers"? Really?) but the worst part is undoubtedly that GMoz can't even be arsed writing it all himself.

"So, Steel's turned up to fight the Terminaut. At the end I want Steel there, but I don't care about any of the rest of it. I'm not bothered who writes it either. Sholly Fisch? Who he? He writes DC kids' books, huh?"

Is it just me who finds that lazy and slack? Oh and the next two issues are a different story before we come back to this one. Except that takes us to #7, where DC have already said Action and Superman are in the same time. So 6 years elapse between this issue and the next part. Hmm.

Animal Man #4: This continues to be a confounding read. The art is still sketchy - I love it when it's doing wilding impressionistic swathes of... weird... but don't get on with it when it's supposed to be real. In terms of plot, basically Maxine could have meant the last issue didn't need to exist, there's a sentient cat from The Red living with the Bakers now and Cliff might be dead having been eaten by Mr Potato Head. I already feel the groan for next month when Maxine makes it so it didn't happen. Poor Cliff. I hope he becomes the Kenny McCormack or Rory Williams of the Johnsiverse.

Batwing #4: I thought I had cut this but it appears the LCS still want me to take it, which isn't really a problem since the story has got better now the art has got worse. That said, you or I could write a SEKRIT ORIGIN OF AN ARFRICAN BOY GROWING UP WITH GUNS AND STUFF and it would look pretty much like this, except we wouldn't be getting paid thousands of bucks to do it. This is now not doing anything the recent run of Unknown Soldier by Josh Dysart wasn't, which was cancelled through lack of readers. HOLY BAT-FRANCHISE! It's the only explanation.

Detective Comics #4: The previous issues of this have been great, but this is a mess of ACTION shots and JUMPING and GRIMACING. Jim Gordon looks and acts like a stoner. The issue ends pretty much exactly where we were at the end of #1, which makes it feel like it's been kind of a waste of time. Looks like the Penguin next. My curiosity will keep me reading but this is a book on the brink of being dropped after this issue. Oh fickle me.

OMAC #4: In which Didio and Giffen embrace the fact they're doing nothing clever here and go all out for the Kirby. GIANT ALLIGATORS WITH ROBOT NUCLEAR HEADS! It looks like Frankenstein shows up next month and the books cross over. This seems to be a trend in the first of the #4s, setting up crossover events early. I suspect this is all pointing to a giant X-Over event next summer (the traditional point for EVENTs) during which the Johnsiverse will be re-integrated back into the 52niverse. Maybe. This is a blast in the meantime, as usual.

Red Lanterns #4: Atrocitus finds out about Bleez' possible deception that's been apparent from the start, given she's been in other books and it's been mentioned in the editorial, but being a creature of RAGE GRRRR reacts by throwing three other Red Lanterns in the sea like he did with Bleez to have more smarter ones. No, I don't understand how having more smart ones will help him if they were plotting against him even when they were stupid either. (He finds this out, by the way, in the time-honoured telepathic manner of biting their necks. Anyway, since the three he chooses aren't SEXEY RED ALIUMS (they are, in fact, a goat, a floating brane and MODOK the rubber ball aliums) they don't get nearly as much character development as Bleez does. In the end Atrocitus' nemesis and confidant Krona appears to have risen from the dead in a stunning cliffhanger. Or at least it would have been if Pete Milligan hadn't said it in the interview in the back of every book this month. You'd think they'd learn by now.

Stormwatch #4: Blah blah blah blah blah. The villain turns out not to be "The Dark Side" after all, but a city swallowed by an alien force which means Jack Hawksmoor can solve it in a page. Then Apollo gets blasted by the power of the sun and frees everyone by punching a hole in its stomach. All that plot takes about 2 pages, so G_d knows what fills the rest. Ho hum.

Swamp Thing #4: This trundles along being entertaining and pulling all the strands together, neatly tying up pretty much all Rick Veitch's writing on the book in a page. It's going somewhere, definitely, but the fact this issue has THREE different inkers can make you wonder whether you want to go there with it. There's a big Animal Man crossover soon, you know. That might be where it gets into fanboy only territory.

― aldo, Sunday, 11 December 2011 14:02 (1 week ago) Bookmark Permalink

And the books I am only reading on CBR...

Green Arrow #4: Giffen and Jurgens don't make this much better. There's a character called Blood Rose, who seems to have become Asian since her cameo at the end of last month and her boss (who in one panel seems to have had the lower half od his body replaced by a chair) who tells her he is ABSOLUTELY 100% CERTAIN there is no link between Green Arrow and Ollie. She appears not to think so either, even after virtually watching him change into his costume in front of her. She also has super-strength, which she doesn't use until after GA's escape - which confuses him as much as it confuses us. In other news, Steve Jobs Ollie is setting up a games company. It's all go round these parts.

Hawk & Dove #4: This just doesn't get any better. Liefeld arguably gets worse. There's now something called the War Circle which may have something to do with all the avatars' owners ganging up on each other. Dawn might have eaten Swan off-page in the last issue. Swan returns the favour in this issue by pulling Deadman's face back like in gonzo pr0n, or on the cover of Gnaw Their Tongues' "All the dread magnificence of perversity". Then a helicopter turns up and they all go home, apart from Dawn who starts acting like Jackie Chan. Oh dear.

JLI #4: A couple of notable things happen in this issue. First, Godiva wanks off Batman with her hair. Second, they are all trapped in mud which absorbs their powers, however, not when it's cold so Ice freezes it and they escape. So why didn't she do that to start with? They then get beaten again and the robots from the previous issues start to work while our heroes are attacked by mud and midgets - in other words back where we were at the start of #3. So the only different thing that happened this month was Godiva wanking off Batman with her hair. I'll leave you with that thought of how far the Johnsiverse has taken us.

Men of War #4: "Next issue: Who is the enemy?" Aldo sez: who gives a fuck? This is dreadful hackneyed war writing, full of cliche tech speak and two separate strands just so we can see Rock dressed up in two different outfits, like some kind of 2D Action Man. Oh and what a surprise, there's magic/superpowers involved animating the dead, maybe. The backups this month is Skull Bots which would be less mature if written by the kid from Axe Cop. Ridiculous stuff.

Static Shock #4: Not even worth writing about. The mid-80s have so much to answer for, and this looks pedestrian compared to the worst excesses of that era. Flabby villain of the week nonsense.

― aldo, Sunday, 11 December 2011 14:57 (1 week ago) Bookmark Permalink

Is the mysterious hooded woman still showing up in every book?

― William (C), Sunday, 11 December 2011 15:02 (1 week ago) Bookmark Permalink

Haven't seen her, but then I missed her in most of the #1s. I think Geoff Johns has said she's only going to show up in Justice League (possibly because she may be a Jim Lee character from the Wildstorm universe, apparently).

― aldo, Sunday, 11 December 2011 15:08 (1 week ago) Bookmark Permalink

aw man I missed that this fill-in thread existed! there has been SO MUCH amazing creator turnover in the last week that has made me twitchy to not be able to post about ;_;

how we'd cut down to 4 or 5 floppies a week

4 or 5 a week* has always seemed a monumental intake to me!

*every week, that is. leaving the shop with five comics I like is obviously great and desirable, but I usually go once a month

― The Larry Sandbox Show (sic), Monday, 12 December 2011 04:35 (1 week ago) Bookmark Permalink

Batgirl #4: This is a solid enough close out to the Mirror storyline. Babs works out the motivation and plot at about the same time as the reader, despite having much more information than we do, and we also get a whole pile of Babs Backstory including finding out she got out of the chair because of "a clinic in South Africa". Hmm. Babs' mum turning up at the end is a bit of a shocker though. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a bit of Dad Dancing from Gail Simone, and this month's is that bad guys have an app for their iPhones that lets them know where Batman is. I know, right? This story arc was good enough to keep me on board for the next one, I guess.

Batman & Robin #4: To be honest, I think most people had been sleeping on this Batbook and a lot might have cut it. This issue, particularly the final pages, shows they were wrong. Yes, it's a bit wordy but Nobody has turned by stealth into a great character. The next few issues are going to be the making of Damian, it looks like.

Batwoman #4: In contrast, this has got an easy ride because of how good it was. And it spectacularly fails to drop the ball here, with the strongest issue yet. Kate Kane's world teeters on the brink of complete collapse and I have no idea how it's going to pan out. And just to show all the SEXEY TIMES FUN doesn't just happen in other books, this has probably the most graphic and explicit sex of the Johnsiverse to date but will pass without comment because it's sapphic shenanigans. Oh, and it's intercut with a graphic fight, torture and bloody slashing. Still immune from comment? It seems so. If this was Catwoman the blogverse would be calling for everyone involved to be sacked.

Demon Knights #4: You know what the most under-rated book of the Johnsiverse is? It's this one. An absolute pleasure from start to finish as ever, and as usual Vandal Savage is the best thing about it. "Wake up!It is your comrades! Vandal Savage! Jason Blood! That tall woman!" This is the origin story of this version of the Shining Knight and comes close to out GMoz-ing Gmoz' take on it. Can we have more books like this please?

Frankenstein #4: The other Seven Soldiers character pulled through into the Johnsiverse still feels like an inferior BPRD but this is most accomplished issue so far, and makes me glad I hadn't cut it. Aquaman gets slagged off and giant monsters get killed. What's not to like? I'm hoping Ray Palmer is going to start playing a bigger part in this because he's the part which makes it work the best.

Legion Lost #4: You know what? Even I'm coming round to the idea that this book isn't really that great. We push the idea that the alien is partly Chameleon Girl and the main baddie becomes massively powerful at the end. But not much else happens really. Even this summary is boring.

Suicide Squad #4: Here's the thing. Without going into specifics, the Squad core team regularises and not in the way you'd expect. Also, King Shark actually gets clear-headed at one point. You really should still all be reading this book.

― aldo, Sunday, 18 December 2011 13:01 (6 days ago) Bookmark Permalink

CBR-only books:

Deathstroke #4: Deathstroke gets out of prison. Deathstroke kills some people. Deathstroke's mate gets offed. Reading this text is marginally less boring than reading the comic.

Green Lantern #4: Hal didn't die and is still in WUB with Carol. Sinestro gets tortured for a bit. The rest of the issue is clearly about some OBVIOUSLY HISTORIC Geoff Johns GL thing I never read about which gives us a pile of Sinestro backstory. Then Hal manages to fuck it up for him (by accident, OBVIOUSLY). BLAH BLAH WHO CARES.

Grifter #4: What the fuck has this got to do with the previous issues? They were all about the mystery of who Cole was. Now it's a gun-for-hire book that almost succeeds to be the worst Johnsiverse book that's had Green Arrow in it, and that's some claim. It looks like the daemonites are behind it all, probably. Woohoo, we're off into the Wildstorm universe again. Who cares.

Mister Terrific #4: Big brains are really useful in space. Still, the artist got to draw some cool aliens. Well not really because they don't actually look that cool. Michael uses his intellect once and mostly the aliens do things with each other that he's not that involved with. Dreadful stuff that goes nowhere and, again, seems unlinked to the previous issues.

Resurrection Man #4: Huh? OH LOOK BEWBS! The plot actually moves slightly forward in this, but only by essentially writing the previous two issues out (or at least making their content irrelevant). Thumb-woman from #1 turns out to be an angel, who (it appears) permanently kills our titular hero. Might be for the best.

Superboy #4: Superboy burns a Christmas tree with his heat vision and scares some carollers. Makes a change from punching the universe, I suppose. Anyway, the previous 3 issues may just have been a ruse to capture Fairchild. Superboy seems resigned to his lot and decides to work for the people who are the bad guysin Teen Titans. CROSSOVER ALERT. Again.

― aldo, Wednesday, 21 December 2011 19:57 (3 days ago) Bookmark Permalink

I can definitely believe there's a "where is Batman?" app - written by Waynetech, with Alfred putting plausible sightings in when he's not ironing the Batsuits.

― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 21 December 2011 22:42 (3 days ago) Bookmark Permalink

No, it's being done by villains - and low rent ones at that as 5 of them are shaking down a couple for a fake fur.

― aldo, Wednesday, 21 December 2011 23:02 (3 days ago) Bookmark Permalink

I missed all of these in the crash/sandbox stuff. Wonderful read, as usual, and unlike the most of the comics described