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

I'm trying to remember the last Vertigo book I read monthly. I read SCALPED in trades, and will stick it out (though the last collection was largely by-the-numbers and put me off for that very reason.)

Lo, how the mighty have etc. etc.

In fairness, they started with a lot of big creators writing their defining works, it was always going to be tricky to keep it up. They've arguably still got that now with 100 Bullets / Fables (Okay not quite on the Gaiman / Morrison / Milligan / Ennis / Ellis level)

I have just been handed a piece of paper that informs me that 100 Bullets has ended.

they started with a handful of rebadged DC superheroes and a bunch of books from a failed Disney line

and it's unlikely they'll ever get any strong breakout hits again now that nu-DC has clamped down on any creator-owned works. I've not checked the copyright on the new Azzarello thing, but otherwise a) the only creator-owned things they have going have to be "earned" by simultaneously working on the plantation, and b) the rights deal is so bad that no-one's taking them anything anyway

Gaiman / Morrison / Milligan / Ennis / Ellis level

OK thinking abt this properly: Gaiman was 2/3 of the way through his superhero reboot when Vertigo launched, but it was his defining work.

Morrison had done all his defining works at DC before Vertigo - Invisibles didn't start until almost a year and a half in, and didn't take off for over two years after that.

Milligan did a handful of GREAT things for Vertigo, but none of them were any kind of hit and didn't define or put him on the map in any way. (thinking Face, Girl, "My Generation," a few shorts in anthologies.)

Ennis' only Vertigo at all as far as I can think is a gang of war books and Preacher - the latter was definitely the defining work of his second phase, but started a couple of years into the imprint, and the war books came after Preacher had been successful enough for them to want to keep him sweet.

and I don't think Ellis has EVER taken anything to Vertigo ongoing - Orbital is literally the only book I can think of that he originated there, and that's a one-off that came a good decade after V'go started

what's impressive is rly how they kept going on the momentum of some hefty smoke and mirrors for a few years until some hits did get the sales weight swinging

Yeah, I mean started as anything within the first couple of years, so Sandman / Invisibles / Preacher.

Milligan's work is all over the place in fairness, but I was thinking of Shade / Enigma.

Ellis had Transmetropolitan - started elsewhere it's true (and four years in to the imprint), but solid fuel in the sense of lots of non-comics folks telling their friend "You must go and read this book that has ads for other Vertigo stuff in it".

I suppose I am basically agreeing with Matt, in that it's been a long time since I've had my head turned by the fact that a new series is on Vertigo.

we all agree it's out to pasture I think!

Shade was rebadged superhero and mostly over before Vertigo, Enigma was part of the Touchstone diaspora

Transmet is way too late to count for "starting" even aside from the first 12-idk, 15? being on Helix - it only got to keep going beCAUSe Vertigo was big and strong and able to absorb it

Touchstone

Touchmark, I've just reminded myself in googling to confirm whether Extremist was or not, because I so dearly hope that Disney paid for it

also just remembered I'm still missing three issues of Enigma so haven't read it all yet

I'm genuinely not certain what point you're making with labelling Sandman / Shade as rebadged superheros.

Shade came over at 33/70 - though I know all stuff that people loved it for didn't survive that much past 50.

Enigma is criminally out of print. Utter shame.

That is one of the short Vertigo series that I advocate quite a bit. 2020 Visions also entertaining, and only in print as a one-off b&w version from another publisher.

I'm genuinely not certain what point you're making with labelling Sandman / Shade as rebadged superheros.

mainly that they were already-running revivals of ooold DC properties*, so Vertigo had - I think - literally no actual original material at launch. It's just an interesting point worth noting when talking about how strong it was in early days

(the Death mini was the closest to something original, probably, but if it wasn't requested by editorial for the imprint then it definitely would have been published under DC as a spinoff of this DC title)

*with, in the case of Scarab, a generous ladling of how very poor an idea this was for content generation going forwards. but that's counterargued by my re-reading the entire run of Sandman Mystery Theatre a few months ago


anyway I greatly regret this thread drift taking away from that amazing Perez spiel

Isn't that more a thing where the awareness of "There's probably money in here!" lined up with the opportunity to steal stuff already commissioned for Touchmark to give some backing to a risky venture - they put out 2 new titles (counting Touchmark and 1-shots admittedly) a month for the first year.

I guess Ennis' HELLBLAZER missed the Vertigo banner? Been a long time since I read any of those (and in truth, his run on the book made me drop it).

But yeah, Vertigo was largely based on all kinds of (often great) comics that were all originally mainline DC, and trace almost all of that back to Moore's SWAMP THING which revitalized interest in the magic side of the DC line. Though not everyone embraced that. There's an annual, can't remember which book, that roundly mocked the "trenchcoat brigade" and had a lot of fun doing it. Was it THE DEMON? Ugh, can't remember.

And why would anyone take a book to Vertigo to maintain some semblance of creator ownership when you're not getting any more traction than you would at Image, most likely? Sure, Vertigo will buy ads and place them in places browsed by people who want to buy more AQUAMAN.

I guess Ennis' HELLBLAZER missed the Vertigo banner?

Went to Vertigo on the Zatanna "denots os ma I" issue iirc

And why would anyone take a book to Vertigo to maintain some semblance of creator ownership when you're not getting any more traction than you would at Image, most likely?

(apart from the fact that the semblance isn't even there now...) Page rate.

Sure, Vertigo will buy ads and place them in places browsed by people who want to buy more AQUAMAN.

I don't think they buy ads anywhere.

They buy ads in PREVIEWS. But yeah, you're right on the page rate thing.

All Star Western #10: Just when you thought OWLS were over, ASW is mining the early(?) days of the Court dealing their infiltration into the asylum amongst other shenanigans in Gotham. This issue hits it out of the park once more although I suspect, as with the Jonah Hex book before it, that I'm alone in my love for it. Hex becomes a more rounded and developed character issue by issue, to the point where he's more believable than at any time in his history, but then you add in the Arkham characters and it's packed to the rafters with quality. Throw in a great little Bat Lash backup and I'll pay for this any day of the week.

Aquaman #10: This issue - in fact, this whole plot - seems to have been a slow build to the last couple of panels. It turns out Manta and Shin know each other and that's what this is all about. Yes, along the way we find out how the relationship between Aquaman and Manta works in the Johnsiverse, but primarily it's about the two of them punching each other a step at a time closer to Shin. Dull.

The Dark Knight #10: In which the Johnsiverse Scarecrow makes his entrance. And I'll tell you what, this looks like it's building to one of the most deranged versions of the character we've seen in a while. In other news, Bruce's fuckbuddy dumps him because he'd rather sit in a cave with a small boy than listen to her practice piano. Personally, I think she's got her priorities wrong. Frankly, she's not that hot (although lolFinch, she might be supposed to be) and doesn't seem to be that good at the piano.

Batman Inc #2: GMoz effortlessly shows everyone else how it's done this month, albeit going over old ground (for him) this is Talia's version of events leading up to the Damian reveal. I'm not enough of a Batfan to know whether anyone else has ever dealt with her in this depth, but GMoz clearly isn't done with her and she could well end up being the focus of the book. Good, say I, as she's dynamite in his hands.

GL: New Guardians #10: So,Kyle and his mates finally realise Larfleeze has been playing them like haddies all along. The rest of us worked that out six months ago. There are two things I love about this issue: firstly, it's great that the characters in the story are as confused about what's going on as the rest of us. They need reminded who's in and who's not every month - when people left, what happened to them, and what issues they crossed over into. Secondly, in the last panel we get our first PROPER Superhero sadface of the Johnsiverse when a Blue Lantern starts crying. I'm amazed it's taken 10 months but welcome back guys, we've missed you.

I, Vampire #10: Tighter than any of the previous issues, this one actually makes me remember why I liked this in the first place. All the world's vampires are in the one place. So what do you do if you're in charge of them? Send for the vampire killers, obviously. Who turn into zombies at the end. A welcome breath of humour lifts this from being the emo sadface nonsense of previous months into something I want to read.

Justice League Dark #10: Hooray! The return of Abnegazer, Rath and Ghast! Although they're clearly the most exciting thing about it. Team book standing about squabbling is not what the title should be doing, but it ends up mired in it when it should be exploiting a sound cast and the ability to exist outside of, or at least parallel to, the Johnsiverse but instead is mired in soap opera about how Zootanapus wubs Constantine but he's sometimes a bit nasty to her. You don't know the worst part love, he's probably married (since he is in the Vertigo universe). Not using its potential at all.

Justice League #10: Johns has outdone himself here. He's created a villain who, wait for it... IS POWERED BY SUPERHERO SADFACE. That's, like, Johns cubed or something. All we need is an ancient foe from the beginning of time and we'll have a full set. What? He was given the powers by mysterious aliens from the beginning of time? DING DING DING DING DING The Shazam backup finally seems to be going somewhere, but the Black Adam reveal would have been more effective if he hadn't turned up in a different book already.

Superman #10: Having thought Justice League had done it all, Superman goes one stage further in having a villain GIVEN POWERS BY EMOTIONAL ABUSE AS A CHILD. Her power? To make herself FEEL NOTHING. DYS ETC ETC Highpoint of this issue is midway through where Jimmy has a woman's hairdo on the first panel and then bukkake aftermath on his face in the next one. Superman's "friend", eh?

Teen Titans #10: A blast, as usual. Kid Flash is still my favourite, he's the Spider-man it's OK to like. The dinosaurs are over, although they were never much more than a diversion to settle the core team and do some relationship building. Poor Danny The Street, ;_;

Firestorm #10: Another month, another new Firestorm. Seriously, is there a country that doesn't have one? Am I going to wake up tomorrow and realise I'm Britain's Nuclear Man? I hope not. I didn't care for the 80s much. I have absolutely no idea where this is going, and care where it's going even less. Turgid stuff.

Hawkman #10: Now THAT'S a Liefeld cover. Grimace? Check. Multiple lens flare? Check. Unlikely reflection? Check. Blades which bear no relation to the hand using them? Check. Chest parallel to the ground? Check. SLICE is my new favourite sound effect. Anyway, in the brave new world after the Liefeldening there is no plot, just FITE AFTER FITE. A guy turns up in the last panel with pouches, two swords strapped to his arms and a blade strapped to his leg that would make it impossible to walk, His legs are two different lengths and are narrower than his arms. Goold old Rob, gave us the full house at the death there.

Flash #10: Kind of a minor issue, this one, as there is only really a bit of a scuffle with the Weather Wizard and some Rogues plotting. Oh, and Barry decides he's not going to tell the woman he loves - no, not Iris, she's still lost in time - that he's not dead. Despite this, still one of the highlights of the Johnsiverse.

Voodoo #10: Much as I like seeing Daemonites pulled apart by giant stone statues, I'm still not feeling this at all. I might have to have a re-read because I'm certain this is much better than the previous months but I have nothing to base that on.

Johns has outdone himself here. He's created a villain who, wait for it... IS POWERED BY SUPERHERO SADFACE

This is gold!

Right, I have forgiven so much but...

IF YOU PEOPLE FUCK UP BLUE DEVIL I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU.

Maybe my favourite comic ever. If this is wrong then I will have lost all faith in life.

Seriously. I WILL EAT YOUR SPLEENS.

ha, i like you dude.

You...haven't seen the Blue Devil redesign, have you, Aldo?

Break out you spleen fork.

how rapey is his trident?

he looks like a character from the bondage fairies comic:

http://i2.cdnds.net/12/27/300x450/comics_dc_universe_blue_devil.jpg

At least he doesn't have a high collar.

loooool he has lens flares built into his costume

I have a friend who maintains that all these redesigns are so bad that they're funny. I think they're still just bad.

I... have faith. This is just post-Jim Lee bad art. The writing will be good.

http://img.youtube.com/vi/lOzV9SlyXVQ/hqdefault.jpg

uuuuugh, that design is depressing.

remember the good times when comics looked like comics
http://onceuponageek.com/images/blue_devil_ww85.jpg
http://onceuponageek.com/2009/06/05/exclusive-interview-with-creators-of-blue-devil-amethyst-dan-mishkin-gary-cohn/

http://onceuponageek.com/tag/blue-devil-week/

I wonder if my LCS is still setting aside Batman Inc for me.
A coworker asked me about Gotham Central the other day. I cannot imagine that book existing in the current landscape. How fucking bad is it when a Batman tie-in book written by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker is looked back on as too radical?

INC is still worth yer time, sir.

Just unearthed a near complete run of BLUE DEVIL in my quarter bin rummage, will be getting to it sometime. I remember when that was about the only DC book I read whilst in the throes of Marvel zombiness in the early 80s.

Action #11: OK, so now I'm even less sure where GMoz is going with this. We start off with Clark killed off as working as a fireman. We end with Lois dead and Wonder Tot being taken away by X-Ray from the U-Men? Or is the same book that was previously for comics geeks interested in obscure comics trivia now supposed to not see stuff that's clearly... erm... influenced by other obscure comics trivia? "Nutants"? Really? There's a core plot working at the heart of this but there's too much else going on for it to be engaging. I guess GMoz really said all he had to say about Superman in ASS and this is just the equivalent of a deleted scenes feature on a DVD. You can see what it's trying to do, but it's inessential. Poor old Solly Fisch adds yet another soul-destroying contractual page-filler. I'd like to think I would have more self-respect.

Animal Man #11: Having ended last the last issue (and starting this one) with the reshaping aliens made most famous during the GMoz era, they turn him into the Animal Man of the Jamie Delano era. This kind of works, but I suspect it will be as tenable as his Vertigo run ended up being. I know I've griped about it since the start, but the art team of Alberto Ponticelli and Wayne Faucher are possibly the worst yet. They work fine for the horror sections but are really bad the rest of the time, and for a book largely set there it really affects the treadability of it. It's leading (again) into a Swamp Thing crossover and this time I hope it doesn't make it out. There's nothing here that can't be said in the margins of other books - the entire plot of this could have been dealt with in less than 5 pages - and from a selfish aspect I could do with reading less.

Batwing #11: Oh yes, the one with Long. Which is Chinese for dragon. AND IS A DRAGON. And is then completely forgotten about as Batwing and Nightwing run away to fight another, different baddie on another continent (but not before going to a third different one and sending Batman an I WUB YOU email so he can kiss the Penguin. Is there oil in Africa? WHO CARES. Utterly pointless.

Detective #11: Tony Daniel's time on the book is coming to an end, and truth to tell it's beginning to show. This feels like a tossed-off Norm Breyfogle effort, with a bad guy supposed to be much more threatening than he is and dialogue and exposition in place of plot development. I'm completely ambivalent about the title to be honest - I would love for it to be great but the heart has gone from the writing and it's just pedestrian. The backup is once more the highlight, but is still a procedural crime book - albeit with a significant noir aspect. I'd much prefer to see that being the main book, which is pretty damning.

Dial H #3: It had to happen eventually. Dial H goes from BEST THING EVER to merely being bloody great. We get much more development in the story of the dials, in how they work, in who the bad guys we thought were the bad guys are and who the AHA YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING bad guys actually might be. Still a rampaging success, this title continues to be everything I hoped it would be.

Earth 2 #3: Well, I didn't see that coming. Yes, we'd assumed Alan Scott was going to be Green Lantern, but he's the Earth-2 version of Swamp Thing? And Solomon Grundy is champion of the Grey, which is the Earth-2 version of The Rot? I think they might have bitten off more than they can chew starting off with that as a plot, but let's see where it goes... the Jay Garrick/Hawkgirl stuff is entertaining enough in a 'hero tests powers' way, but it's the Alan Scott stuff that will have me coming back next month.

GI Combat #3: Ah, JT Krul. You really are useless. "NO!" says the last panel, in the best bit of dialogue. Sums up my thoughts. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti's Unknown Soldier backup is the Punisher by Howard Chaykin. I'll let you make your own minds up as to whether you think that's a good thing or not but I think you know where my sympathies lie.

Green Arrow #11: Ann Nocenti takes some stuff she read on a right wing blog slagging off the Occupy movement and makes them into bad guys for the billionaire Green Arrow to beat up. I wish I was kidding.

Justice League #11: on the splash title page we find out "the man is preachin' truth". Then that people work for "the Man". It then lurches from the 80s to the 90s as our heroes kill the bad guys. How gritty. It ends next month, I think? With a Johnsiverse changing revelation. The mind boggles.

Red Lanterns #11: The Star Sapphires try and save the female Red Lanterns, presumably because they think Bleez will look hotter in their costume. Guy Gardner tries to rebuild their battery to save the rest. Everybody else goes RARRRRRRRRRRRRR. It gets rebooted next month, it seems. Wouldn't it be easier to just cancel it?

Stormwatch #11: I think I need to read this again. There's an awful lot going on, and it all seems to be connected to the Engineer (for whom we get an origin story of sorts) and links to the Planetary device(s) from last month. Possibly the most accomplished issue in some time, but I get the feeling Pete Milligan's other books have sickened me to him. I may update this later.

Swamp Thing #11: Great stuff, but if I'm being picky then at heart it's just a punching fite between Swampy and Arcane no matter how beautiful it is. Then Animal Man turns up, to lead into the next issue of AM. Which would be fine, if the last issue of AM didn't end on a cliffhanger (no pun intended) which isn't resolved here. And presumably won't be resolved in the next AM. Honestly, I thought the point of having the same writer on these was so this wouldn't happen?

World's Finest #3: The present day stuff in this still isn't much cop, but the Kev Maguire illustrated flashbacks are a lot of fun. And hey, we get Power Girl's costume recast as a cocktail dress. Inoffensive stuff, which is probably just about worth reading.

gotta say, had I read Perdido Street Station before starting Dial H, I wouldn't have been so surprised by how great and slightly unhinged Dial H is

There should probably be a catch-all China Mieville thread somewhere but I had read them all in advance and really hoped he would carry the madness and invention forward, so was grateful that my faith was vindicated.

Off topic, but Kraken is maybe the only one of his books I haven't been 100% into.

I kind of want to read Embassytown but i hated Kraken so much it's put me off. I'll probably pick up Dial H when it's collected though

I liked Kraken but Embassytown sucked a bag of dicks. Hesitantly looking forward to Railsea when I get to it.

i know this is terribly fanboyish but i wish he would do another Bas-Lag book

me too. Time to start a China thread, methinks.

There is this
This is the thread where we kiss China Mieville's arse.

I thought Embassytown was Bas-Lag-lite, in a good way - mainly because I kind of expected it to be like The City And The City (which I still really liked).

I think my problem with Kraken is that I'd read UnLunDun first.

INC is still worth yer time, sir.

yeah, they've managed to barely miss a beat in the layoff. and Burnham's leapt into Top 5 G-Mo Collaborators Ever in, what, barely a year? maybe top 3.

! Considering that the ranks also include Steve Yeowell, Philip Bond, Richard Case, Chris Weston, Steve Parkhouse, Phil Jimenez, Sean Phillips, Cameron Stewart, JG Jones, J. H. Williams III and Frank Quitely, that's quite the claim.

Reading that list, I stand by it ALL THE MORE FIRMLY!

(Do you really think Sean Phillips' couple of issues of Invisibles are a high point in his cartooning?)

(Including Parkhouse makes me think he might be top-three-worthy too btw - it's amazing how HUGELY less funny the Dave issues by Anthony Williams were, sapping the life even out of the dialogue.)

(PPS I usually think A Glass Of Water is McKean's best comics ever - on the strength of that, I'd call him top 5. That's slightly more down to how very, very many of Morrison's collaborators have been basically insensitive to or failed to "get" his scripts - that merely by supporting the mood and intent of the piece, he vaults ahead almost everyone else.)

chris weston is terrible, richard case v mediocre - only worse artists morrison has had are those clowns who drew his jla issues

How soon we forget Chas Truog!

I suppose I might have read it as "Top 5 best artists who collaborated with G-Mo" rather than "Artists on the Top 5 best collaborations with G-Mo" or indeed "Top 5 best artists whose best work was collaborations with G-Mo", which appears to be the objection to Sean Phillips?

i had indeed forgotten chas truog, thanks so much for reminding me!

Truog was not actively destructive or working counter to Morrison's intent, which puts him above at least 60% of Morrison's DC artists. For something referring back to 1960s DC, he works OK to fine in a semi-evoking of that sub-Boring / Schaffenberger storytelling and rendering.

Case / Workman / Morrison is a fantastic gestalt on Doom Patrol, creating a tone that's greater than some of its parts. Case has never drawn a single readable comic outside of DP AFAIK.

get the feeling Morrison went into The Filth deliberately aiming for Weston's over-rendering to create that slightly disconnected, stiff and not-quite-realistic tone. would be interesting to know if he ASKED for that in scripts or just crossed his fingers and failed to ever think about it again, which seems to be his usual M.O.

"Top 5 artists at actually ~collaborating~ with G-Mo"

I don't see how anyone could call Chris Weston "terrible"... Sure, The Filth looked kinda ugly, but obviously that was deliberate. And Weston's first issue in The Invisibles, the one that introduced Jim Crow, was just a perfect fit; I can't imagine any other Invisibles artist getting the character and the mood of the story so well. I thought he handled the 1920s issues nicely too: they had the sort of curved, ornamental look that jived with the era they were set in. As great as Jimenez is, I don't think his streamlined mainstream style (not to mention Jill Thompson's expressionism, or Yeowell's more minimal style) would've been as good for those issues.