DC Comics has relaunched its superhero universe with 52 new #1 issues and the PW Comics World staff plans to review them all. This week we review DC’s 12 releases for week 3. The comic books were randomly assigned and review lengths generally adhere to PW's review standards. Here are links to Week 1 , Week 2 and Week 4. Tell us what you think!
Batman #1 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion ($2.99, 32p)
In this issue we learnt that Batman is a dark, secretive superhero who dresses as a bat to fight crime; unbeknownst to the world, he is secretly Bruce Wayne, multi-billionaire head of Wayne Industries. He also keeps a kid gang of former sidekicks around, including Dick Grayson, Tim Drake and his son Damian, the current Robin. In this smooth introductory tale we get to revist all the well-known Batman elements, including Commissioner Gordon, the Joker, Arkham Asylum and Vicki Vale. In an unbelievable stroke of irony, this comic, based on the best known superhero on Earth, is the only one of the New 52 I’ve read thus far that takes the trouble to label people when we meet them so we know who they are. Crazy, right? The set-up tale involves a gruesome murder scene that seems to have been committed by someone who has seen Se7en and has a mad-on for Bruce Wayne—and the shocking last page twist reveals it may be someone very close to Batman. Snyder does nothing to harm his rep as one of the best young writers in the business with a clever, well-structured script that manages to give everyone a snappy line or two. Capullo’s debut on Batman features art that owes more than a little to Will Eisner with its cartoony lantern jaws, rumpled ties and sweeping city scapes. If there’s going to be a book called Batman, this might as well be the one you read. --HM
Birds of Prey #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz ($2.99, 32p)
Although DC has come in for much rebuke for its treatment of its female characters over the years, they’ve also published an all-girl team book for quite a while. Birds of Prey, which usually consists of mostly superheroines from the Batman family, has here been reconstituted with only two members to start with: Black Canary, aka Dinah Lance, a blond, fishnetted badass who uses her “canary cry” to repel assailants. The other team member is a brand new character, Starling, aka Ev Crawford, a tattooed, ponytailed adventurer who is somewhat reminiscent of an action-oriented Suicide Girl...in a good way. We meet these two via Charlie Keen, a young investigative reporter whose been sent out to report on this rumored team of bad girls: it seems Black Canary is wanted for a murder she didn’t commit, and Starling is reckless with the firearms. The story involves several pages of fisticuffs with some goons in faceless masks. But before that Dinah tries to recruit Batgirl to join the team, only to have Batgirl suggest another heroine, Katana, one of several team members who appears on the cover but not in the book. Saiz’s art is very well suited to this story: his women are athletic and capable without sacrificing beauty, and he has a knack for action shots that bring out the dynamics of the scene. Birds of Prey isn’t going to change the world, but it’s a lively first outing. --HM
Blue Beetle #1 by Tony Bedard and Ig Guara ($2.99, 32p)
Blue Beetle - the recent Jaime Reyes version - is a teenager from El Paso who gets his space armor and science fiction superpowers from the scarab, an alien device that isn't as helpful and harmless as it looks. Secretly, the scarabs are the tools of a species called The Reach, used to conquer and subdue other planets, but Jaime doesn't know this, and instead uses his to become a superhero. That's an awful lot of origin story to pack into twenty pages of actual comic book content and still have time to introduce the hero's friends and family, but Tony Bedard makes a valiant try in this issue. He even manages to avoid the "Hola, ay carumba amigos! Chalupa!" language pitfall that plagued some previous writers with this character. The origin reboot is necessary, unfortunately, since DC confusingly entangled it with a crossover event the first time around. The book's art betrays it, however, because most of the charm of the characters is lost when they're all drawn as perpetually sneering. While still recognizably the characters from the previous comic, Ig Guara's art does them no favors. It looks as if he tried to draw like Rafael Albuquerque, failed, and ended up with characters who resemble peevish potatoes. A teenage hero who doesn't start life as a sidekick and whose real life is a fun and interesting departure from superhero stereotype, Blue Beetle is a character with a lot of potential, and hopefully the book will live up to that in the future. --KF
Captain Atom #1 by J.T. Krul and Freddie Williams II. ($2.99, 32p)
Let’s see, this superhero is a big blueish fellow, completely naked, composed of pure energy and has the power absorb as well as reshape it into new forms. No, it’s not Alan Moore’s Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen. He's Captain Atom but he does look a lot like Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan (both characters are based on an old Charlton Comics character now owned by DC but he didn’t look like either). Like Dr. Manhattan, Captain Atom has been transformed into a molecular shape shifter by some sort of nuclear accident. When we meet Captain Atom, he’s fighting a giant robot before returning to the secret lab that monitors and studies his powers. We meet Dr. Ranita Carter, the doctoral candidate and scientist-babe who studies him, and her boss, the corpse-like, paraplegic Dr. Megala, creepy overseer of this vast and noirish scientific complex. Not long after we meet this team, New York City is threatened by both a meltdown at the Indian Point nuclear plant and a volcano erupting in Manhattan! Although his powers are apparently unstable, this is clearly a job for Captain Atom and he heads off to save New York. Despite the eerie similiarity to Dr. Manhattan, Captain Atom seems to have a lot of potential. The story is a bit generically apocalyptic—save New York City from unthinkable threats—but it’s also full of action and has a superhero with so much firepower, it would be a waste to have him chasing bank robbers. William’s artwork is darkish with an expressive line and kinetic visual energy and seems just right for the character. Let’s hope the story picks up in originality and plot. Captain Atom is worth watching. - CR
Catwoman #1 by Judd Winick and Guillem March. ($2.99, 32p)
Catwoman and Batman got a thing going on. Although that’s no surprise to anyone who’s followed the character over the years. Catwoman has undergone a bunch changes but the latest incarnation has settled on the modern version of the character: Selina Kyle, heroine/anti-heroine and cat-burglar, a stylish high stakes outlaw specializing in big money, high-risk heists that show off her gymnastic fighting skills, knack with a bullwhip and a slinky latex catsuit/costume that’s always been a hit with this reviewer. And don’t forget Batman. The story opens with a gang of masked gunmen (“some dudes who I’ve ragingly pissed off”) kicking down the door of her apartment as she makes an abrupt exit across the rooftops. Homeless and looking for her next job, her fence sets her up as a bartender at a private party catering to the Russian mob, but she’s looking for information about a missing painting—her next lucrative target. But Selina notices a murderer in the crowd that she thought was locked up—this is personal—and takes care of him before escaping in dramatic fashion. Winick and March’s version of Catwoman is acrobatic and dynamic; atmospheric, stylishly written and straight-up sexy. The closing section involves Batman, a bold kiss and hand-to-hand grappling that isn’t really combat. The final page—it’s controversial and all over the internet—isn’t as jarring when its seen in context, and, like Selina says of the predictable encounter, “most of the costumes stay on.” – CR
Deadman #1 by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang ($2.99, 32p)
Boston Brand was an arrogant trapeze artist who died young and was given a chance to redeem himself by Rama, She Who Brings The Balance, a mystical being who looks like a blue Indian woman. In order to make up for his wasted life and become a better person, Brand must haunt the bodies of people in need, experiencing their lives and waiting for a chance to help them. (In an interesting side-note, Jenkins fails to use the reboot to explain why the Hindu god Rama is a goddess in Deadman, something which confuses any reader who knows anything about the Hindu pantheon.) But all of that's simply skimmed over in the first five pages. Instead, all of the interesting helping-people parts are in the past, as Brand sulks in the body of Johnny, a disabled young veteran. Irritated by the fact that he no longer understands what Rama wants him to do, he sulks, schemes, harasses the carnival psychic Madame Rose, and finally threatens to kill poor Johnny just to get Rama's attention. Clearly, he has a long way to go to enlightenment. Indeed, Brand is so grindingly unsympathetic, that as a reader, I wonder why anyone would pick up the next issue, despite Bernard Chang's lovely and expressive art. Perhaps for the sparkling plot, which has yet to materialize. --KF
Green Lantern Corps #1 by Peter J. Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna ($2.99, 32p)
It is not easy being a space cop. That’s what we learn in the opening scenes of this book about the other members of the intergalactic Green Lantern Corp: a genetically diverse cadre of law enforcement officers armed with magic rings and the ability to travel through space to find a rumble. The story opens with two of Earth’s Lantern, Guy Gardner and John Stewart, being rebuffed in their efforts to blend in to society. Gardner, by all accounts the jerkiest Green Lantern, applies for a job as a high school football coach, and gets turned down because his duties as an interplanetary do-gooder might interfere with his ability to properly oversee tackling drills. Meanwhile John Stewart moonlights as Howard Roark, using his will-powered ring display to show how much better it would be to spend more money to construct building that would withstand a comic book fight scene. Much of the issue consists of Gardner and Stewart commiserating over how hard it is to be a Green Lantern and keep a normal life—there’s a scene of the two of them sitting on a space station shooting the bull that’s one of the best of all I’ve read in the New 52. But meanwhile, somewhere out in space some menace is going around chopping up Lanterns with a laser. Will Stewart and Gardner spring into action before the issue is over, accompanied by a squad of crazy looking alien Lanterns? Pasarin’s art is of the hyper-crisp, hyper-realistic school, which makes some very violent scenes in the book seem excessive. For a book that seems to be mostly aimed at existing Green Lantern fans, this was a decent entre to the world of the Lanterns, despite the violence. --HM
The Legion of Super-Heroes #1 by Paul Levitz and Francis Portela ($2.99, 32p)
Let’s be clear, the Legion of Super-Heroes and at least for this reviewer, superhero fight clubs in general, are an acquired taste. LSH is an even tougher nut to crack for this reviewer: its set in the 31st century and features an endless history of reboots and constantly shifting cast (also endless) of teenage super characters. The book is written by Levitz, the former president and publisher of DC Comics, who started his career at DC as a writer working on early Legion stories in the 1970s. Levitz has returned to write the new Legion of Super-Heroes and seems to be setting up the usual teenage rivalries, love affairs and attitudes in a story that seems a continuation of the pre-relaunch storyline. The Legion superheroes seem to be stranded in the 21st century although beyond that, there isn’t much that’s clear. The new Legion team includes old favorites like Chameleon Boy, Phantom Girl, Mon-El and Brainiac 5 as well as some newbies, Chemical Kid (chemical reactions) and Comet Queen (comet gas propulsion?). Frankly it’s difficult to tell what’s going on (although this story seems to be linked to Legion Lost, another series in the New 52 relaunch). The story is full of action and the artwork is lively and suits the teen heroes well; and the pages feature short bios that identify each Legion superhero and their powers when they first appear, which is helpful. But you’ll have to be either a hardcore Legion of Super-Heroes fan or a very patient one (and wait for upcoming issues), if you expect to have any idea about what the heck is going on here. -- CR
Nightwing #1 by Kyle Higgins, Eddy Barrows and J.P. Mayer. ($2.99, 32p)
Nightwing is another character with a history multiple characterizations and redesigns and the character figures in both the Superman and Batman continuities. But for our purposes, Nightwing is Dick Grayson, the former Robin, who takes up crime fighting on his own dime after he’s eighteen and stops being Robin. He’s back in Gotham after a stint in New York (and a stint filling in as Batman, who was presumed dead at one point), on patrol and dispatching the odd homicidal maniac threatening the Gotham public. He’s about to meet up with a new foe, an unnamed dude with deadly wrist blades (they’re devices but look like Wolverine’s claws extended), who ambushes him after he visits the circus where he grew up—remember, Grayson is a circus-trained acrobat and trapeze artist who was adopted by Bruce Wayne after his parents died. But an unknown and skilled killer is out to slice him up and as this opening story ends, he’s poised to put an end to Nightwing, before our newly relaunched hero even gets started! This first issue sets up Grayson and his new scenario, putting all the various characters in place. And there’s no stately Wayne manor for Nightwing, Grayson’s says the heck with the Bat Cave (“the mansion and the penthouse were never really my style,”); he’s living in a loft in a tough neighborhood in Gotham, “Why live in the best part of town when you’re trying to save the worst part?” The artwork is sleek, moody and polished with a knack for conveying acrobatic action. - CR
Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort. ($2.99, 32p)
It is a very bad sign when the text page promoting an issue has more characterization than the actual issue. On a promo piece, writer Lobdell explains that all three of the mismatched heroes in this “team” “come from a dark place— Jason came back from the dead, Ray from addiction and Kori from a childhood spent in slavery.” Sadly that’s about as much insight as we get into these characters in yet another fight-fest, only interrupted by a cheesecake display and an emotionless hookup. The story opens with Roy “Speedy” Harper’s rescue from a foreign prison by alien warrior Starfire and Jason “Rood Hood” Todd. This occasions internal monologues where we learn...that Starfire was once a slave. And in her own narration we learn that she sees humans the way we see cattle: maybe a little different, but hard to tell apart. In that case she immediately initiates a fling with Speedy even though she’s also been having sex with Jason. So Roy Harper, who we know is reckless and morally suspect because he wears his sunglasses pushed up on his head and has tattoos (a frequent trope in the new 52) is ready to jump in the sack with his buddy’s friend with benefits just like that? Nice one. Meanwhile, Red Hood is off to rescue what’s left of some secret society called the All Caste. Rocafort’s loose, sketchy style is well suited to capturing tales of aimless, amoral young superheroes, except when he’s drawing swiped from Page 3 pin-up shots—funny how an alien girl has hemispheric sillicon breasts just like the earth girls. As Lobdell’s interview reveals, there is an actual idea for a series in this book, but the “superheroes gone wild” execution is about as interesting as a late night infomercial. --HM
Supergirl #1 by Michael Green, Mike Johnson and Mahmud Asrar ($2.99, 32p)
I often criticize decompression in comic books, where one scene takes a whole issue, but Supergirl does it right and makes it a virtue. Supergirl crash-lands on Earth from Krypton, with no memory of how or why she's there, and is immediately set upon by giant robots. To her surprise, she has superpowers! Kara thinks she's dreaming, the experience is so surreal. Michael Green and Mike Johnson put the reader right there in her head for all of it, and thanks to fine writing and great art, it works wonderfully. There's a major and persistent coloring gaffe - inside the book her tights are colored the precise same tone as her skin, unlike on the cover, rendering her costume far less modest than intended - but otherwise the book is utterly solid from beginning to end. Mahmud Asrar's art is gorgeous, rendering robotic suits and a snow-covered landscape nearly as pretty as Supergirl herself, and his fight scenes are kinetic and gripping. A comic to watch. --KF
Wonder Woman #1 by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang ($2.99, 32p)
Wonder Woman is not a first issue drowning in summary and a lack of plot. Brian Azzarello knows how to write a slam-bang action issue with a brain, and here, he brings his A-game. The Greek pantheon is running amok on Earth, making monsters and killing humans like pawns in their eternal infighting. Who can mere mortals look to for help? Wonder Woman, of course! In this issue, Zola, a young woman on a remote farm, is targeted for death by Hera and her murderous centaur minions, and the god Hermes needs Diana's help to protect her, which she does, with a giant battle scene along the way. Wonder Woman can be a hard character for some creators to write. Attempts to make her “relatable” often backfire wildly, as witness the infamous Taco Whiz storyline and a failed tv pilot that had her hosting a sleepover and moaning about bad luck with boys over ice cream. Making Wonder Woman mythic is a brilliant way to go, although it will be nice to get to know Diana in future issues. Despite the less than inspiring cover, inside the book, Cliff Chiang's art is by turns beautiful and vicious, perfect for the subject matter. --KF
