Comics: The DC New 52 (One Year Later)

 

 Chris's Opinion

When the nu52 was announced I was skeptical. It didn’t seem possible to me that anyone would jettison nearly 80 years of character continuity in the hopes of reinvigorating their flagging product line. And the stakes here were astronomical, dicking around with beloved characters that generations of fans had grown up with and were invested in emotionally.

Even when the first couple issues rolled out in the back of my head I still couldn’t tell if this was a permanent change or an extended ‘What If’ scenario meant to temporarily goose sales. When some of the fringe titles folded due to a lack of readership I was busy stirring the tea leaves for signs the whole enterprise was going to go belly up.

But now, a full year on, it’s clear that the nu52 isn’t just a one off it’s a sustained attempt to reinvent and refresh a property and a company that had become used to a certain way of doing business and needed a sustained shakeup to help it see outside the box. The end results haven’t always been successful, or even pretty, but the entire exercise has produced more than a handful of pleasant surprises and its worth highlighting them here today.


Best All-Around Title: FLASH

Six months ago I would have given this award to BATWOMAN. But unfortunately that title has a practice of subbing off superstar J.H. Williams III with an accomplished but ultimately lesser artist after every arc. This break in tone and style has the unfortunate side effect of making it feel like any non-Williams-centric story telling is also a story that readers can afford to pass up.
Meanwhile FLASH artist and co-writer Frances Manapul continually manages to elevate his writing and his artwork, blending the manner in which he tells stories with his distinctive artwork. The end result is a finished product that manages to up its game each and every issue. Not all the decision making here is pure gold but the book’s playful mixture of the old and new as well as an increasing ability in scripting the series puts FLASH out at the head of the pack.





Best Story: N/A

(Almost) no more late books. Nothing sucks more than having to wait months between installments of a series that has captured your imagination. By completely revamping their business model and guaranteeing readers that the titles they love will show up every month, no matter what, they reinforce a social contract with their readership and increase the stability of their product line.
Yes, fill-in artists can be painful to watch sometimes, but no less so than losing interest in a story because the creative team behind it can’t manage to put a book out in a timely fashion.


Biggest Surprise: AQUAMAN 

Although the success of Geoff Johns reclamation projects really shouldn’t be a surprise anymore I don’t think anyone thought even he could raise Arthur Curry to the heights he currently enjoys.
Unfortunately, the downside to this tale is that with Johns about to leave this title its almost a guarantee that AQUAMAN will once again be the butt of fanboy jokes.














Best Writer: Grant Morrison 

While there are many capable writers lending their chops to the nu52 Morrison continues to outshine them all. Yes, his ACTION COMICS doesn’t manage to reinvent the wheel in the way that other writers have managed but still manages to be a notable force in defining the look and feel of the nu52. And Morrison’s work on BATMAN INC, his final coda on what makes Batman tick, should be required reading for all fans.


Best Artist: J.H. Williams III

Even though he’s only doing half the issues of other nu52 artists his personal style and vision leaves all other comers playing catchup.
















Title That Lost Its Way: THE AUTHORITY, I mean STORMWATCH

Originally billed as being a sort of secret Watchmen in space kind of thing the title has suffered from creator turnover and a seeming lack of direction. Absent the distinctive tone and vision of THE AUTHORITY and seemingly unable to make its mark in the crowded nu52, STORMWATCH is one of those titles that just kind of is. I suspect it retains many of its readers due to the novelty of seeing The Authority playing about in the DC proper. But, without a clear vision about what this title is really about it remains the poster child for missed opportunities.

Scott's Opinion

What a difference a year makes. Chris and I made a post about 6 months ago about how we thought DC Comics whole New 52 was faring, and gave some of our choices for the best things going. Those choices have probably modified some more seeing as most of the titles that started last fall are now nearing issue 12-13-ish and the narratives have mostly moved past their initial set-up tales and are into the full on storytelling mode. So let’s not waste more time on pleasantries and get into the nitty gritty of what Chris and I are reading in the New 52 and why.


Best All-Around Title: Batman Inc.

 For constant readability, this one is definitely Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham on BATMAN INC., whilst doing the proper Morrison things on the titles (AKA throwing curve balls, making us squirm, and generally just delivering solid, solid storytelling), the title swings them out of the park with each issue. I wasn't too sure how on board for the title I was after LEVIATHAN STRIKES dropped last year (it was good, but not great), but the first 3 issues of the ongoing have alleviated those concerns and the narrative has taken off. The bonus being that Burnham's pencils are very similar to Frank Quitely's in style and execution. I always enjoy reading this book.








Best Story: BATMAN

This is easily Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s BATMAN. The first arc, including the crossover event THE COURT OF OWLS, succeeded in not only making Batman compelling but really runs him through the ringer, and that always serves to make the end result of Batman coming back from such treatment that much harder and faster. The finale to the arc is nothing sort of brilliant and made me just sit there and smile after I read it.












Biggest Surprise: SWAMP THING

DC needs to thank their lucky stars that they got a hold of Scott Snyder talents. His writing is some of the best I’ve seen in comics in many years (whose name isn’t Grant Morrison). And that’s why Snyder and Yannick Paquette’s run on SWAMP THING is my biggest surprise. I didn’t get into it until the trade for the first 7 issues came out. Titled RAISE DEM BONES, the opening arc introducing us to Alec Holland, Abigail Arcane, the Parliament of The Trees, and the Rot…is more spectacular than I could ever feasibly give it credit. It is compelling, clever, stunningly drawn and ends on a line of dialogue that made me pump my fist in the air. I really think Snyder’s two strengths are internal monologue, and delivering really, solid, kick ass dialogue moments. Read this one folks. Seriously.






Best Writer: Scott Snyder

For the reasons I noted above, which I won’t reiterate here.


Best Artist: Tie: Mahmud Asrar / Kevin Maguire

This one is a bit of a toss up for me. So I’m going to set it as a tie. Mahmud Asrar’s work on one of my fave New 52 titles (SUPERGIRL) has been so consistently excellent for me. It’s aesthetically pleasing as well as being clever. And then there is Kevin Maguire’s work on WORLD’S FINEST in which he’s sharing the penciling duties with George Pérez (who handles the modern sequences), Maguire’s pencils (used for sequences that take place in the past on Earth 2) are gorgeous, clean and just wonderful to behold in each issue. His cover for the WORLD’S FINEST Zero issue is wonderful.









Title That Lost Its Way: DIAL H

For me this one is DIAL H by new weird author China Miéville (whose prose novels I enjoy), it didn’t even start till 6 months back as a replacement title. It’s strange and interestingly written, but I really think it wants to be too many things at once, and even at 2 issues into the run I could tell that it was going to be a dogs breakfast. What’s sad about that is that I can see the little gleaming’s of what Miéville is striving for, but it never quite gets there.












Final Thoughts on the whole New 52:

As a vehement detractor initially of the whole reboot-everything idea that was the New 52 when it was reported last summer by DC as their plans going forward, I have since softened my position considerably. In fact at 6 months in I was ready to call it a success, so a year down the line I am just as on side with what DC has done. Part of this has to do with my own scattered history with the publisher. When starting into comics I straddled the Big 2 (Marvel and DC) equally and read a myriad of stuff from both, so my education in the long history of the DC universe was…sketchy at best. The DC New has allowed me to discover things other people already know for the first time. It has allowed me to (for example) learn the SWAMP THING history without having to read 12 trades from Alan Moore’s era and get into the character. It has allowed me to get even more fully versed in the events in the universe. Classic villains that I was unaware of are being used and introduced. In FLASH I am able to see all the things that make that character sing to fans who have known those things for a long time. The added bonus here for long time readers already immersed in the mythos, is that enough is being changed to make it fresh for them not to lose interest in what is essentially a rebooting of the universe they already knew. So on the whole I feel it is succeeding. No late books and consistent output is key to that, but I can honestly say that I am collecting more titles now from the comic store each Wednesday, than I have been in many long years.

Book Review: SUPERGODS by Grant Morrison

I credit two people with reviving my flagging interest in comic books in the late 1990s. The first was Stuart Immonen, whose beautiful pencil work on DC’s Superbooks was unlike anything I’d ever seen in my four colour funnies.

The other was Scottish author Grant Morrison, a seemingly semi-deranged and drug addled writer, whose unconventional style helped me to get over the hump when it came to looking at comic books as something more than just childish pursuits.

Of the two it’s really only Grant I read now, having failed to follow Stuart in his jump over to Marvel. But the man who has written WE3, THE INVISIBLES, THE FILTH, ANIMAL MAN and so many other seminal works of comic bookery has never failed to challenge my expectations of what the medium is capable of delivering.

SUPERGODS is one part historical overview of modern comic books, one part analysis and one part autobiography.

Starting with a detailed breakdown of ACTION COMICS #1 and an exploration of Superman, perhaps the most recognizable character in comic books, Morrison brings you through modern comics early history right to the present day, interjecting his own interactions with the medium and how they’ve come to influence his work.

Morrison’s insight into some of these characters is as unique as his writing. Incredibly cerebral, his analysis can sometimes border on the incomprehensible as he vanishes down literary rabbit holes in search of truth and understanding.

When he’s not examining comic book characters Morrison is delving into the varied cast of creators who’ve populated the field in recent years and the impact they’ve had on shaping the industry. It’s fascinating to get Morrison’s take on some of these individuals. While I had a passing knowledge of the contributions of most of them there was definitely one or two who I’d previously discounted.

And that’s what I love so much about this book, how it adds new layers and new interpretations to old material, including Morrison’s own work. Themes and ideas previously discussed over beer with friends are now explicitly outlined on these pages. Morrison’s interweave of personal experience and creative genius are laid bare for fans of the author and his work to sort through and analyze.

Suddenly I found myself seeing Morrison’s output in a new light. And, on more than one occasion I found myself putting SUPERGODS aside in order to dive into my longboxes and pick up something he’d done earlier and reread it with fresh eyes.

(Which was a really illuminating experience until I got caught reading THE INVISIBLES again. Rereading that epic is usually enough to cause my brain to retreat screaming in terror. I have a sneaking suspicion that THE INVISIBLES only really makes absolute sense if you read it while high.)

Finishing SUPERGODS gave me the sort of mini creative buzz that I only get when I find myself reading\watching something truly spectacular. The excitement and energy Morrison holds for comic books and creativity in general seemed to literally bleed through the page and infect me.

Whether you like Grant Morrison’s writing style or not, and believe me the man is certainly an acquired taste, I think you’d be hard pressed to deny that he’s made his mark on the landscape. He’s always pushing the boundaries of the medium and I’d rather he continue to do that and fail than partake in the by the numbers mediocrity that seems to infect the world of mainstream comics publishing.

Reading SUPERGODS I got the sense that as Morrison has aged his goals and aims for comic books has changed somewhat. Initially, as a young angry punk, it seems like he was all about tearing down and destroying the traditional and stuffy clichés of comic books. But now that he’s gotten a little older its not about tearing down, its about creating and building up.

And I find that exciting.

Comic book reviews for the week of November 10th in six sentences (or less)

Best of the week

Ultimate Comics Thor #2

Presenting the continuing adventures of Ulti-Thor. Writer Jonathan Hickman takes us bouncing through time as Nazi Frost Giants threaten to invade Asgard in WWII, Thor and his pappy talk about the nature of divinity and a full blown identity crisis in the European Super-Soldier program as they try to make heads or tails of their godlike newest recruit. This is a ripping good yarn. Hickman is able to take a relatively minor subplot from the ULTIMATES 2 miniseries and use it successfully as a framing device for this title. He writes fully fledged characters, with strong motivations and enough mystery and intrigue to make reading this title. And all backed by Carlos Pacheco’s pretty pictures. God, some days I love comics. But what impressed me most of all was that Hickman was able to use the established continuity of the character and grow the world; without having to resort to some of the worn out plot devices some authors use when mucking around in someone’s backstory. Its nice to see continuity used for something besides a punching bag for unhappy writers.

Batman: Return of Bruce Wayne #6

So I read this issue. Then I read it again. Then just before I wrote this review I read it a third time and mucked around online to see what everyone else ways saying about it. Wow. Grant Morrison has capped off years of laying the groundwork for this story to deliver an absolutely epic tale. Picking up on events established in ROBW #2 Bruce flees from the death of time and space to return to the present. With him is the hyper-adapter set upon him by Darkseid during FINAL CRISIS. His only hope of surviving it is the help of some friends who’ve made an impressive career of pounding on baddies. This whole story is so dense and compact that repeat readings of it are a definite must for anyone interested in working out just how all the puzzle pieces fit together. The only drawback I have with this particular issue is that Morrison’s writing lacks the emotional resonance necessary to really drive the whole thing home. Grant’s biggest strength is that he is the smartest guy in the room. (Which means that he routinely deals with ideas and concepts that leaves the rest of us mere mortals scratching our grey matter in confusion.) Unfortunately Morrison often forgets the human component that transcends his weighty cerebral ponderings and makes reading these tales truly enjoyable; instead of rendering them a giant intellectual puzzle that needs to be solved before it can be enjoyed.

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #4

It never ceases to amaze me that the GL franchise is vibrant enough to pull off three ongoing titles. Four, if you feel inclined to include BRIGHTEST DAY (and I kinda do). Guy and company continue on their mission to discover the source of their power rings’ energy loss. They make a pit stop at Daxam in search of Sodam Yat only to discover that he is a wanted criminal and nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, Yat has flown off planet with a group of Daxam dissidents to create a new utopian social order. He seems to be nursing some sort of grudge against the Guardians. Whether this refers to the GL Guardians or some political faction on Daxam I’m not really sure. There can’t be TWO groups of GL supporting characters called Guardians, can there? Anyway, Peter J. Tomasi keeps the story humming and Fernando Pasarin continues to kill with his art. This title is rapidly threatening to displace GREEN LANTERN CORPS as my backup GL book of choice.

Knight and Squire #2

Yep, this title happened again. It’s still full of smart, witty British goodness. And it still leaves me feeling kind of meh. Which is odd, because I really want to like this series. Mayhap I’m just suffering from PHANTOM MENACE syndrome and I unfairly raised my expectations to a level that the book just isn’t able to deliver on. Anyway in this issue Knight and Squire take on a band of trans-dimensional folk figures, known as the Morris Men, who seek to return England to the good old days. The type of good old days where women were arm candy and men made all the decisions. It’s a mildly amusing story, but so far I’m not seeing any evidence of an overarching plot arc that is going to be woven throughout the miniseries and I’m not enjoying it enough to read six standalone tales about K&S. Oh, and there’s also a really ugly art error on the second page that caught my attention right from the get go. It looks like the page was printed at a low resolution because the whole thing is washed out and pixelated. Blah.

Not reviewed this week

Hellblazer: City of Demons #3

My LCS always criminally underorders all HELLBLAZER titles. If you're a John Constantine fan and you don't make it to the shop by lunch time on Wednesday you, my friend, are shit outta luck. Today, that person was me. Which is a shame, considering that issue two of this title made BEST OF THE WEEK here at Icy Ink and I was really looking forward to where the series was going.

Comic book reviews for the week of November 3rd in six sentences (or less)

Presenting Greater Toronto’s most unbalanced comic reviews. Absurdly light haul today which means I should be done this review in time to catch MODERN FAMILY (fingers crossed).

BEST OF THE WEEK

Batman and Robin #16

Bruce is back baby. Even though he has yet to technically return, due to the delayed shipping of RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #6, this issue marks the official appearance of Bruce back in the 21st century. And, of course, the first thing he does is start putting his house in order again, mostly by driving his first through other people’s soft palettes. Look, if you’re coming late to the whole Grant Morrison meta-epic, do yourself a favour and catch up on annotations from previous issues. It is the only way that you’ll have even the foggiest idea of what is going on. Honestly, this is not the kind of series that you pick up halfway through. Yer either a reader right from the start, or you're not reading it at all.

This is a fun issue, which is suprising given some of the subject matter, and I’m happy to see Morrison working with some of his strongest creative partners, including Cameron Stewart and Frazer Irving. Although, seeing a Frank Quitely cover on the front of this title every month just makes me wish he was doing the interiors as well. Anyway, it looks like Morrison is stealing a page from his stint on NEW X-MEN and taking the Batman franchise public. I’m looking forward to the new direction.

Brightest Day #13

Featuring the adventures of Hawkman and Hawkwoman...in SPAAAAAAACE! You know, its kind of disappointing how quickly Carter was able to forget about Kendra after she was killed during BLACKEST NIGHT and replaced with the classic Hawkwoman, Shiera. I guess the lesson here is that Hawkman will always love his Hawk-partner as long as he doesn’t have to work very hard to win her affection. Or maybe the lesson is the Geoff Johns will continue to tinker with these characters and their origin story until he has it just right. Anyway, in this issue Hawkman fights the Manhawks of Hawkworld (say that ten times fast) in order to get save Hawkgirl. There’s also a little bit of pointless exposition thrown in to break up the fight scenes and some obligatory pontificating by the resident baddie.

BRIGHTEST DAY, still not COUNTDOWN and that’s all we care about.

Invincible #75

Invincible and the Coalition of Planets task force take the battle to the Viltrumite’s home planet in the final apocalyptic battle of the Viltrumite War. Once upon a time INVINCIBLE was a fun and cheerful four colour comic that occasionally strayed into gory depictions of how a real superhero battle might go down. As a reader, the rarity of the violence only helped to increase its effectiveness. Nowadays it feels like the title border on torture porn with the creative ways Ryan Ottley disembowels, dismembers and otherwise rends characters limb from limb. Speaking of Ottley, he is the number one reason why you should pick up the title this week. The man has been unleashed on the pages within, turning out breathtaking (and horrific) splash pages that are inspiring in their scope and detail. The cover price was unnecessarily steep and I could have easily done without someone of the backup material if it meant dropping the cost a little. But otherwise, a fitting milestone for a title that continues to entertain.

Comic book reviews for the week of October 13th in six sentences (or less)

Hey everyone, these are 24 hours late because we suffered a power failure last night (which feels like the modern equivalent to 'the dog ate my homework').

Best of the Week

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5

The current chapter of Grant Morrison’s Batman epic is drawing to a close. And even the most casual fan of either the writer, or the character he’s playing with, has to respect the lengths to which Morrison has gone to mine the lesser known aspects of the franchise and reconcile some of its more fantastic elements. Suddenly, everything is on the table, because it all happened. Every cockamamie Silver Age story that was wiped away by CRISIS OF INFINITE EARTHS with an embarrassing shrug actually took place. It’s like the Batman franchise has been rebooted on the sly and decades worth of stories are now relevant again, or at least deserve a chance to be re-examined in the wake of Morrison's stint.

Hellblazer: City of Demons #1

I’m not sure why the Hellblazer franchise decided to spin this story out into a miniseries, because right now there’s nothing taking place in these pages that can’t be handled in the main title. Is Vertigo sitting on a backlog of ‘blazer stories and wanting to see some return on their investment? Anyway, I would have passed on this if it wasn’t being pencilled by the fantastic Sean Murphy. You might remember him from his work on JOE THE BARBARIAN and Learning with Wolverine. There’s nothing here that you don’t see in a straight of ‘blazer story. John Constantine drinks, smokes, acts like a dick and is apparently still British. All good in my books, but I’m still curious to see what makes this story so special.

Knight and Squire #1

Combining Paul Cornell, the current writer of ACTION COMICS, with Knight and Squire, one of Grant Morrison’s great reinventions seems like a recipe for printing money. In reality it’s neither good nor bad, but just kind of...there. The writing is solid, the art passable but not spectacular and its full of British-y goodness. Surprisingly, it does nothing for me. The story deals with heroes and villains that gather to socialize once a month at a local pub, prevented from fighting each due to the influence of ‘truce magic.’ As you might expect, the truce is broken and chaos ensues. I’m willing to stick with the story for another issue, but this title will really have to up its game if it expects to keep me as a reader.

Green Lantern #58

One of things that impresses me about Geoff Johns is the man’s ability to stick with a title. In today’s comic book market, some writers can’t stay with a book longer than an arc or too. Yet Johns frequently manages to write on a title for years, a rarity in any age and practically unheard of today. With Doug Mahnke rocking the pencils and Johns continuing to pen the story he’s been working on for the last five years this title is consistently at the top of my pull list. This month we’re treated to the continuing adventures of the Rainbow Raiders. Johns is doing an admirable job portraying the disparate personalities that banded together after the events of THE BLACKEST NIGHT in a realistic and believe manner. (Well, as realistic as a group of aliens with multicoloured magic wishing rings can ever hope to be)

Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors

Peter J. Tomasi might not be gracing the pages of the GREEN LANTERN CORPS anymore, but he’s not too far from the GL franchise thanks to his work on EMERALD WARRIORS. I get the impression that Johns uses the main GL title to tie the franchise into the DCU and move events forward. This leaves GLC and now EW to pick up some of the dangling plot threads and flesh out the larger world of the Corps. Its a system that works really well for all the titles involved. And Fernando Pasarin is just killing it on pencils. I’m not used to seeing art this great on a book that I consider to be part of the expanded DCU and not a core title.

Superman #703

I’m conflicted. On the one hand I respect what J. Michael Straczynski is attempting to do with the Superman franchise. He’s trying to approach the character in a fashion that he believes has never been done before. And I respect that. On the other hand, I’m not sure he’s been entirely successful in his aims. Let’s face it, when you have a publishing history as long as Superman does there aren’t very many unexplored angles. While readers may never have seen it in such an elongated form, the concept of a reflective Superman has been done before, many times over. Done properly in the course of a single issue it can be a powerful tool. Spread it across an entire story arc and it can border on tedious. This month, Superman continues in his mission to walk across America. He gets in a fight, wins it and everything looks pretty much the same as it has in his world for the last 70 years. I’m not willing to write JMS off yet. But at this point I’m look forward to his SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE book more so than I am his work on the main title.

Superior #1

Say what you will about Mark Millar, and the man certainly has his fair share of detractors, but the man knows how to make the most of what he has. If he’s not promoting himself, or his work, he’s name dropping his Hollywood connections or stepping outside his traditional box to try new things, like directing a film for pete’s sake. The man is a shameless huckster and the comic world is better for it. Whether you like or dislike his writing most people seem to have an opinion about it. Which means you’re probably reading what he puts out and that’s the point of the whole thing. Anyway, SUPERMA…I mean SUPREM…er…SUPERIOR #1 is a straight up origin tale with Superman like overtones. Most origin tales are limited by what they can do as they’re too busy checking off the obligatory narrative plot points. With any luck the second issue will allow Millar to start monkeying around with conventions of the genre.

All-Star Superman Trailer

The trailer debuted today for the next DC animated flick, and it is based on one of the best all time Superman stories every written....by Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, this one looks fantastic! I am completely biased though as I love this story arc.

Enjoy!