DC Comics to Relaunch 52 of their Monthly Titles

The word has gone out. DC Comics is scheduled to RELAUNCH 52 of their monthly comics with BRAND, SPANKING NEW #1’s IN SEPTEMBER. This is a BOLD move on DC’s part. They are obviously trying to grab new readers and are trying hard to boost sales. Desperate times call for desperate measures. To me this has the potential to be a GOOD or  BAD thing. I see many things I’m excited for and many things that I’m NOT so excited for. After looking at a list of THE NEW TITLES (via Bleeding Cool) it has only fed my excitement for some comics and non-excitement for others.

Following is a dissection of comics I’m excited, neutral to, or am not looking forward to at all.

GREEN means that I am excited.

BLUE means that I am neutral.

RED means that I am not excited.

HERE WE GO:

1.  Justice League#1  by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee

• The Johns-Lee creative team-up has been RUMORED and TEASED for the longest time and I’m excited to see something come of it. Whether or not Lee can actually keep up with the monthly task of doing the art we’ll have to wait and see. Also, I’m a bit nervous whenever I read a Geoff Johns comic nowadays. He delivered the goods with Blackest Night, but recently has been doing a mediocre job with Green Lantern and has done a TERRIBLE job with Brightest Day, so I don’t know which Geoff Johns we’ll be getting, but nevertheless, I’m still excited to see how this book will turn out.

 

2. Justice League International by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti

3. Teen Titans by Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

Nobody should have sit through an entire issue of awful Brett Booth art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Suicide Squad by Adam Glass and Marco Rudy

 

 

5. Action Comics by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales

 

 

6. Superman#1 by George Pérez and Jesus Merino

 

 

7. Superboy#1 by Scott Lobdell, R.B. Silva and Rob Lean

 

 

8. Supergirl#1 by Micheal Green, Mike Johnson, and Mahmad A. Asrar

 

 

• I thought Brian Wood was supposed to be writing Supergirl… guess not. I’ve never even heard of these creators before…

 

 

9. Batman#1 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

 

• YAY! Snyder is still going to be writing a Batman comic!

 

10.  Detective Comics#1 by Tony Daniel

 

• And here I thought DC actually HAD some respect for their classic titles. Guess not. Tony Daniel is one of my least favorite artists in comics today. He’s an even worse writer too. Can’t believe DC is letting him do this…

Looks like T.D. didn't feel like drawing Batman's chest symbol... Art by Tony Daniel.

 

 

11.  Batman: The Dark Knight#1 by David Finch

 

• I honestly have NO IDEA WHY they decided to relaunch this comic, since currently only two issues of it have been released since Finch can’t draw a monthly comic to save his life anymore.

 

 

12.  Batgirl#1 by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes

 

 

• SWEET! Simone writing Batgirl should be cool! Looking forward to it!

 

13.  Batwoman#1 by J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman, and Amy Reeder

 

• FINALLY!!!!! Fans have been waiting FOR-EV-ER for this comic way back when it was announced. Read J.H. Williams’ LEGENDARY and CLASSIC run of Detective Comics if you haven’t already. Your eyes will THANK YOU. I PROMISE. The softcover collection of his run was released THIS WEEK!

 

 

14.  Catwoman#1 by Judd Winick and Guillem March

 

If this cover doesn't scream "BUY ME!", then I don't know what does. Art by Guillem March.

 

• YES. Winick and March as the creative team should be awesome. Winick did a WONDERFUL run on Power Girl with Sami Basri, so hopefully he can channel what made his Power Girl run so awesome into this new Catwoman series.

 

 

15. Red Hood and The Outlaws#1 by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort

 

 

• Scott Lobdell sure has his work cut out for him this coming September…

 

16.  Batwing#1 by Judd Winick and Ben Oliver

 

 

• I don’t know who this Batwing character is, but so far I have little to no interest in the character. Yes, Winick is writing it, but I’m not a huge fan of Ben Oliver’s art, so I’m going to have to pass on this one. 

 

17.  Nightwing #1 by Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows

 

18. Batman And Robin #1 by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason

• Ah, so THIS is what Patrick Gleason was referring to when I talked to him at a convention in May. Tomasi and Gleason did a so-so run on Batman and Robin earlier this year that left me disappointed, but we’ll see if they’ve improved with this one.

 

19. Birds Of Prey #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz

 

20. Green Lantern #1 by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

 

21. Green Lantern Corps #1 by Peter J. Tomasi, Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna

• Awesome! Tomasi is returning to the GLC comic! I LOVED his run of Green Lantern Corps, so this has me excited. However, his recent Batman and Robin story arc was kind of bad. I’m still willing to give this comic a go.

 

22. Green Lanterns: New Guardians #1 by Tony Bedard, Tyler Kirkham and Batt

 

23. Red Lanterns #1 by Peter Milligan, Ed Benes and Rob Hunter

 

24. Aquaman #1 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis

• If Johns writes Aquaman like he did in Brightest Day then I will be VERY disappointed. I disliked how he handled Aquaman in Brightest Day. At least it was SLIGHTLY more tolerable than the Hawkman and Hawkgril scenes… my God, those scenes were AWFUL. The only reason this remains neutral is because of Ivan Reis on art chores.

 

25. Wonder Woman #1 by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang

 

• THANK GOD DC is FINALLY curing us fans from that mediocre J. Michael Straczynski story!!! I am looking forward to this IMMENSLY. I do LOVE Wonder Woman.

That's a cool WW cover. Art by Cliff Chiang.

 

26. Flash #1 by Brian Buccellato and Francis Manapul

 

27. Green Arrow #1 by J.T. Krul and Dan Jurgens

 

28. DC Universe Presents #1 by Paul Jenkins and Bernard Chang

 

29. Savage Hawkman #1 by Tony Daniel and Philip Tan

 

• Tony Daniel. Phillip Tan. Two artists who I CANNOT STAND. Their art is SO BAD I can’t even decipher what’s happening in one of their panels that they’ve drawn. I’m assuming Daniel will be writting and in case you’re wondering, his writting is just as bad as his art.

 

30. Blue Beetle #1 by Tony Bedard and Ig Guara

 

• Tony Bedard has, in my opinion, never written ANYTHING that wasn’t enjoyable. His run on R.E.B.E.L.S. was AWESOME. Plus, Ig Guara, who draws very well in the Pet Avengers series so that’s cool. The reason I’m neutral about this is because I buy enough comics already and if I’m going to buy this it HAS to be great. And it has every potential to be great.

 

31. Fury Of Firestorm #1 by Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver and Yildiray Cinar.

 

• MEH. I love Gail Simone, but Van Sciver’s art is so hit-or-miss for me (usually a miss).

 

32. Mr Terrific #1 by Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson

 

33. Captain Atom #1 by J.T. Krul and Freddie Williams II

 

• I enjoy Captain Atom’s character, but Krul is a terrible writer. A nice guy, I’m sure, but I’ve never enjoyed anything that I’ve read with his name on it. If someone can reccomend a good Krul comic I would greatly appreciate that (if you say Rise of Arsenal I will punch you in the face).

34. OMAC #1 by Dan DiDio, Keith Giffen and Scott Koblish

• Why would ANYONE in their right mind want to read a monthly comic about the OMAC’s??? How about we focus on worthy titles like T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents? (which hasn’t been announced for the relaunch yet) I don’t think this will last long at all. Read ALL ABOUT the OMACs HERE.

 

35. Static Shock #1 by Felicia Henderson, John Rozum, Scott McDaniel and Jonathan Glapion.

 

36. Hawk And Dove #1 by Sterling Gates and Rob Liefeld

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• Sorry, my eyes were bleeding due to the terrible Liefeld art and I had to clean up the mess. Poor Sterling Gates… 😦

I am so terribly sorry to show you guys this... attrocity. Art by Rob Liefeld.

 

37. Deathstroke #1 by Kyle Higgins, Joe Bennett and Art Thibert

 

38. Legion of Superheroes by Paul Levitz and Francis Portela

 

39. Legion Lost #1 by Fabian Nicieza and Pete Woods

 

40. Grifter #1 by Nathan Edmondson, CAFU and BIT

 

41. Voodoo #1 by Ron Marz and Sami Basri

 

42. Stormwatch #1 by Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda

 

43. Animal Man #1 by Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman and Dan Green

 

44. Swamp Thing #1 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette

• Scott Snyder has been kicking butt in American Vampire and Detective Comics recently so this should be an interesting comic. Paquette is one of my favorite artists and has done a REMARKABLE job in Ultimate X-Men and Batman, Inc.

45. Justice League Dark #1 by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin

 

46. Demon Knights #1 by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert

 

47. Frankenstein: Agent Of SHADE #1 by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli

 

48. Resurrection Man #1 by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Fernando Dagnino

 

49. I, Vampire #1 by Josh Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino

 

50. Blackhawks #1 by Mike Costa and Ken Lashley

 

51. Sgt Rock And The Men Of War #1 by Ivan Brandon and Tom Derenick

 

52. All-Star Western #1 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Grey and Meridat.

SO OVERALL:

9 YES, 23 NEUTRAL, and 20 NO

We’ll see how this move goes. Expect a lot of reviews of these books when they come out HERE ON MY BLOG! I’m very worried for the future of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents because that is my FAVORITE DC comic book currently. It not be affected by the relaunch or it may be cancelled. I hope to see this comic continue.

Also, there were rumors that they were going to relaunch Batman Beyond AND launch Superman Beyond and JLA Beyond, but it appears those won’t be part of the September relaunch. I certainly hope that these comics get made because I’d rather see these than ALMOST HALF of the books appearing in September.

To conclude I would like to wish DC the best of luck during this relaunch and hope many new readers take this opportunity to check out the WONDROUS WORLD that is DC Comics.

NOTE: I will update this list if it continues to update! 

 

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You can also find me trolling* the comment section of the INVETERATE MEDIA JUNKIES blog!

 

*By trolling I mean having a great time!

Wonder Woman#601 REVIEW (Is this “all-new” Wonder Woman any good?)

Cover art by Don Kramer and Michael Babinski

Wonder Woman#601   

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski   

Artist: Don Kramer with inks by Michael Babinski   

Publisher: DC Comics   

Price: $2.99   

Here we are! New Wonder Woman! New costume! New creative team! After reading Wonder Woman#600 I figured this was as good a time as any to jump on board and start reading Wonder Woman. Mind you, I have read a few issues of Gail Simone and Greg Rucka’s run, but I have yet to fully follow a run of Wonder Woman. I was hoping that this would be a run I would want to continue with the story. With JMS working on the writing chores that increased my hope. I’m interested to see if he can do to Wonder Woman, what he did with Spider-Man. So, I bought this issue with high hopes. Were they met? For the most part yes.   

I knew that JMS had changed Diana’s (Wonder Woman for those who don’t know her real name) origin. I am bit ashamed to admit this since Diana is one of my favorite female fiction characters, but since I had no idea what her origin was this was interesting and new for me. Very quickly into the story you see that amazons are a tough breed of women. Basically they’re the female versions of the Spartans. As usual, JMS does a great job at keeping me interested in the story and has me not wanting to put the book down. The story is fast-paced. Not too fast, but not too slow. The story remains interesting throughout the book. The pacing is perfect for the book. One thing that bothered me was the plane scene. How do you doze off on a plane and not be thrown off? I didn’t get that. I understand that she’s Wonder Woman, but that was a bit too much. Overall the story was great.   

The art was the biggest surprise of the book. I did not expect to like it as much as I did. Don Kramer does a nice job on art chores and he manages to pull of a Nicola Scott (whose are I love, by the way) feel to his art. The art was another factor that played into keeping the story interesting. It worked very well with the feel and pacing of the story. So kudos to you Don for the nice looking art.   

Overall this was a nice package that was worth the price I paid. I will definitely be sticking around for a while in hopes of it staying at this level of quality and possibly beyond that level. I am happy where it’s at now, but it would be cool to see the quality go up. Now that would be a rockin’ comic book!  

Rating: B+

What I’ve Been Reading…

Hey guys! This is a new post where I will be sharing with you what I’m reading. Since I like to include the people who read this post in with the conversation, feel free to share what you are reading by leaving a comment on the post.

– The Best of Spider-Man Volume 5 HardCover featuring the Amazing Spider-Man stories: Skin Deep (by J. Michael Straczynski, Mike Deodato, and Mark Brooks) and New Avengers (by J. Michael Straczynski and Mike Deodato). Skin Deep was alright. To me, JMS’ Amazing Spider-Man issues, good or bad, are captivating and keep my attention. Skin Deep wasn’t as attention grabbing as I’d hoped. I expected a lot more. The New Avengers story however is good. It grabs my attention and it’s very interesting to see how the Avengers live (don’t you find it funny how Bendis never really focuses on that) and how Peter, MJ, and Aunt May respond to their way of living. Overall, this was a nice read and fairly enjoyable.

– Secret War (by Brian Michael Bendis and Gabrielle Dell’Otto). No this is not the original Secret War series (which was good, by the way). This is the recent one. I should’ve know this from the get-go, but… the dialogue is typical Bendis dialogue nowadays. It’s boring, everyone has the same voice, it has little to do with anything, and is annoying sometimes. A few times throughout the story I just wanted to say, “Seriously, shut up!” to some of the characters. But I managed to pull through. The only cool scenes were the fight scenes. While Dell’Otto’s art was gorgeous to look at most of the time, there were a handful of times where I didn’t know who was who because he changed the costume of the character. It got to the point where I had to use the back matter in the book to clarify or remind myself who was who. Example, the heroes fight a goblin guy and it was at the end of the issue where I was flipping through the back matter and I thought, “Holy crap! That guy was Hobgoblin?!?!?” He wasn’t wearing the classic orange and black suit. Instead he was wearing… something else. There were other instances like that, but I don’t want to waste time with them. I’m sure you get my point.

– Battle Chasers (by Joe Madureira and others). Wow. This series is great. Too bad Joe Mad dropped it after issue#9. I really have quickly fallen in love with this series. The characters are great and the art is beautiful. These just adds to the long list of great titles that the creators have just dropped for other things that tend not to be as good.

– Secret Six (by Gail Simone, Nicola Scott, and Doug Hazlewood). This is what Dark Avengers should’ve been.

That’s all for now! Please leave a comment about what you’re reading or anything else! I look forward to reading them! Thanks for reading!