Wednesday Comics #3

By Gaiman, Allred, Berganza, Galloway, Pope, Palmiotti, Conner, Didio, Lopez, Nowlan, Calwell, Kubert, Kerschl, Fletcher, Simonson, Stelfreeze, Azzarello, Rossio, Gibbons, Sook, Baler, Bullock, Heuck, Acudi, Bermelo, Busiek, Quinones

I hate to say it, but I think the honeymoon between DC’s Wednesday Comics and myself has come to an end. Trust me, I hate to say it, but I think its true. This week’s offering wasn’t only mostly poor, it didn’t set up anything interesting for next week, which leads me to suspect that the next few weeks will be lulling in mediocrity.

I’m going to break from my last couple of reviews on this series and go though each story, briefly.

Batman: No Batman except for him playing peeping Tom. The rest of the story involves “soap opera like” moments of little interest. Grade: D

Kamandi: The swashbuckling continues. Great art and nostalgic feel, too much talking animal dynamics. Grade: B

Superman: Such a big drop off. Boring. Bland. The personality traits of Superman fans hate.But, beautiful art. Grade: C

Deadman: Fun and fast paced. Great use of panel proportions. Most interesting personality in this series. A surprise hit: Grade: A-

Green Lantern: Nails the whole Hal as a stud in the comfy world of Ferris air. But not enough ring power in this strip. Hal looks inconsistent. Grade: B-

Metamorpho: Why is this series so bad? Both of these creators are perhaps the best of the best. Terrible. Two weeks of them entering ruins? Really? Only saved from an “F” because of the art. Grade: D-

Teen Titans: Not sure if I’ve ever cared less about a story and its characters. Art is geared for a 4 year-old. Grade: F

Strange Adventures: Amazing! What a work to behold. Clicks on every level. Paul Pope for president! Grade: A+

Supergirl: Great, fun stuff. Art matches tone of script perfectly. I’m loving the cat chase here. Animals are super expressive- apologetic dog, determined cat, etc. Grade A+

Metal Men: Good, but illogical. Why would the doctor force a kidnapper’s hand? Why is a metal robot scared of a gun? Grade: C

Wonder Woman: I need to take dramamine to read this. Didn’t have any on me, so didn’t read it. That says it all. Is this the worst colored comic of all time? Grade: F

Sgt. Rock: Love the tough guys, but not much happening here. Nothing we don’t know. Watching Rock get beat up for three weeks is getting old.  Grade: C+

Flash: Love the split comic. Interesting dynamic and fast-paced plot Grade: A

Catwoman: Did I miss something? Where did this villain come from? Anyway, not bad. Selina is solid. Grade: B-

Hawkman: Crazy and fun. Love the grainy art. Unexpected turn of events that changes the tone of the strip. Grade: B

Final Grade: C (overall)

-Rob G.

Wednesday Comics #2 – Review

By Gaiman, Allred, Berganza, Galloway, Pope, Palmiotti, Conner, Didio, Lopez, Nowlan, Calwell, Kubert, Kerschl, Fletcher, Simonson, Stelfreeze, Azzarello, Rossio, Gibbons, Sook, Baler, Bullock, Heuck, Acudi, Bermelo, Busiek, Quinones

The Story: The fun, thrills, suspense, and drama continues! DC’s newest creation just might be the comics event of the decade.

What’s Good: Last week’s installment was great, but this week was even better. The stories progressed and improved in interesting and unexpected directions and  I still got a kick out of the newspaper style format. Basically the stories I enjoyed last week, I ended up loving this week, and a few stories that I was iffy about last week, I became hooked on this week. Case-in-point was Green Lantern, which I thought was one of the weakest last installment, but now it’s probably the strongest this week. The Superman story also was on a whole new level this week as it explored his relationship with Batman to perfection. Plus, the art was just jaw-dropping on this strip. The Flash story was also particularly memorable.

It’s hard to put into words, but there is just something intangibly excellent about this whole project. It elicits engrossment and  wonderment that is rarely found in any medium. It’s some type of literary magic that is both ethereal and tangible.

What’s Not So Good: Once again, the Wonder Woman story was something that didn’t attract me at all. I just can’t get into it and I really question why the creator had to tell the story so tersely. It doesn’t lend itself to this format. That being said, the take on the character is unique.

Conclusion: Choose your sports metaphor: a home run; a touchdown, score, goal, or whatever, DC wins big once again with Wednesday Comics. Lee Bemejo gets MVP from this outing.  With DC Wednesday Comics being even better than last week, this work warrants an…

Grade: A+

-Rob G.

DC Wednesday Comics #1 – Review

By Gaiman, Allred, Berganza, Galloway, Pope, Palmiotti, Conner, Didio, Lopez, Nowlan, Calwell, Kubert, Kerschl, Fletcher, Simonson, Stelfreeze, Azzarello, Rossio, Gibbons, Sook, Baler, Bullock, Heuck, Acudi, Bermelo, Busiek, Quinones.

The Story: The Bat-Signal is thrown. Jim Gordon greets Batman bleary-eyed and torn, as the Dark Knight stands on the spotlight and listens. He learns about the abduction of one of Gotham’s best, and how he is set to be murdered at midnight.  Batman looks at the clock, which reads 11:59 PM. Batman crouches and reaches for his Bat-Hook. The scene cuts to the abducted being suffocated. The end of part 1.

This story and fourteen other newspaper styled comic shorts compose this groundbreaking venture by DC Comics.

What’s Good: In a general sense, what’s not to love about Wednesday comics? It’s a newspaper of super hero comics created by some of the greatest talent out there. Seriously, if this doesn’t appeal to you then there is something wrong with your comic book soul.

I would say that 95% of the stories here are all-out winners. The ones that work best are the ones that have the greatest hook, as in most cases, there are only a handful of panels to get the reader interested in the story. The best stories in my opinion were the Batman, Kamandi, Hawkman, Flash and Superman; mostly because of the great art.

As I read these stories, I was pulled into the sense of pure wonder that DC elicits profoundly in a reader. Some stories are fun (Metal Men), some are deep (Flash and Kamandi), some are thrilling (Batman), some have great multi-character work (Metamorpho)  and some are just poetic, like the Hawkman story. There’s a little for every comic book fan in this newspaper.

What’s Not So Good: The Wonder Woman story was terrible and nearly impossible to understand. I didn’t even finish reading it. Also, the Green Lantern was underwhelming and had no hook whatsoever. But, really you can’t hate on this comic/newspaper because of a few blown stories when there are still more installments coming every week for the next couple months.

Conclusion: This is really cool stuff, and kudos to DC for making this happen and for making such a daring and novel move. The last time I was this excited about a comic book medium was when I was a kid and there was a cereal that had comics in its box, that even had a “page” on the back (Does any WCBR reader remember this too?).  This should be their next 52 week project.

It’s not just the idea that works here, but the comics are actually mostly excellent as long as your willing, as a reader, to try a new form. This is an incredibly diverse selection of styles and stories and it just works brilliantly. I cannot wait for next week’s installment of Wednesday Comics.  I would totally give this an A+, but my boss Ray would give me a virtual wack and correctly remind me that a few of these stories didn’t deliver and we only give A+’s to near perfection. However, this is the first time that I can remember when I have given two different books from the same company an “A” in the same week. Nevertheless, DC has done it with a great Green Lantern #43 and this awesome invention.

Grade: A

– Rob G.