Detective Comics #3 – Review

Written and Drawn by Tony S. Daniel, inks by Sandu Florea, colors by Tomeu Morey

The Story: Batman faces off against the Dollmaker and his twisted family.

The Good: There was a lot of action in this issue. Brutal, Batman-getting-his-ass-kicked action. And we get to see how much balls Batman has–or still has, despite the relaunch. Half paralyzed and realizing he can’t make it out alive, he simply tells the freaks “What the hell are you waiting for? Bring it on!” And that’s the first page. Batman then proceeds to barely escape the fight and go on to solve the mystery. That’s another thing great about this–it is a detective book. We see Batman actually do detective-like things, where in some recent stories (and movies), he’s more of a guy who simply responds. It would make sense that at least in Detective Comics, we see him investigate. And the investigation leads to more clues about the Dollmaker and what form of crazy he came from–and it’s the kind of crazy that only a Gotham City villain could have. This villain is right at home in Batman’s rouge galleries. Pretty soon a doll head will be joining that giant penny and T-Rex. Yet there are still some great mysteries left to solve–like who his “children” are. Who is he working for? What is–and why does he even seem to have–his code of conduct? The Dollmaker is becoming an easy villain to get invested in, and it also helps that Daniel puts most of his artistic talents to this character. He’s the most visually striking (I almost said appealing, but that just feels wrong) character in the issue. And for a comic artist, he’s probably a wonderful character to draw, ink, and color. All that patchwork!

Batwoman #2 – Review

By J.H. Williams III (co-writer & artist), W. Haden Blackman (co-writer), Dave Stewart (colors), Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Batwoman continues her investigation of the mysterious Weeping Woman while avoiding the federal agents trying to capture and unmask her.

What’s Good: Good lord this book is beautiful. I know I should expect that, after all the J.H. Williams III I’ve seen–and especially after how much of his Batwoman work I’ve read–but it still drops my jaw every single time I turn one of his pages. There aren’t enough superlatives in the language to discuss this adequately and even if there were, it’d get repetitive very quickly. Suffice to say that this is without question the most beautiful book on the comic shelf right now.

The writing is very good as well. While the script doesn’t quite live up to the astronomic heights set by the visuals, both co-writers continue to capture Kate Kane’s voice perfectly, and that shines through any other minor issues that are present. In the same way that Williams’ artwork carries the storytelling, Kate Kane’s personality carries and drives the script. Although I was quite looking forward to her becoming a part of Batman INC, I love the explanation she gave for being wary of signing up. Batman may be her inspiration, but they clearly have rather different ideas about how their ideals should be acted upon. I love this unexpected mini-conflict, and look forward to seeing how it plays out in the issues to come.

Suicide Squad #2 – Review

Written by Adam Glass, Art by Federico Dallocchio and Andrei Bressan, Colors by Val Staples

The Story: Suicide Squad is dropped into…some stadium (they forgot to give us the name in this issue and I’m too lazy to go back to the last one to figure it out) and are instructed to kill everyone inside because they’ve all been turned into CRAZY TECHNO-ORGANIC ZOMBIES. Kid, meet Candy Shop. Candy Shop, meet Kid.

The Good: Man this was a good first issue. Oh wait…this was the second. Damn–would have made a much better first issue. In fact, after reading this, I’m really not sure what the point of issue one was. Everything a #1 issue should be, Suicide Squad #2 is. It gives us a story. It sets up the characters in a natural way, showing their characteristics unfold while the plot does. No shoehorning, no gimmicks. It’s…and this pains me to say after the first issue was handled so poorly…pretty well written. You actually get to feel for the characters this time. Deadshot is shown to be a capable leader of the team. Diablo’s pain is seen instead of shown. We don’t even have to know what he did to be so concerned with innocents (I didn’t care enough when I read it in the first issue and I still don’t) to feel his genuine need to redeem himself. Even Harley gets some nice character moments. But even while the other members are becoming more interesting, it’s still King Shark who’s the most fun. As Deadshot says, he’s the wild card. Predictably unpredictable. Willing to eat techo-zombie flesh.  The design of the character might not be great–and as someone pointed out last month, taken almost entirely from another series–but his character is great. I don’t even want to know his back-story. I’m perfectly happy with King Shark being King Shark (and I thought I’d hate this character the most). Glass leveled up since the last issue and is really bringing us some good material now. There are great surprises and the promise of an insane story. Let’s hope he can keep it up.

Detective Comics #2 – Review

Written and Drawn by Tony S. Daniel, Inked by Ryan Winn and Sandu Florea, Colored by Tomeu Morey

The Story: Batman and Gordon discover the Joker’s face left behind in Arkham and begin their investigation. But first, Batman must save a little girl…

The Good: An issue 2 that doesn’t feel like filler to fit a trade. This has a story to it. Beginning, middle, and end. Character arc. Subplots. So many comics now are one note made-for-the-trade these days that getting something with a lot of content is almost overwhelming.  But Daniel gives us a lot of meat for our three bucks, whether it’s developing Bruce’s personal life, showing us how Gordon works, or building towards the crescendo of the issue, there’s nothing thrown in for filler. Everything is working towards something. And this mystery is just beginning to explode. It’s so hard to write about these issues without spoiling them or mentioning some very intriguing key parts. So, how to do this and be vague… The new villain set up in the last issue, the Dollmaker… I am now convinced that he is a credible threat to Gotham. Riddler, Two-Face, Penguin–you’ve got a new buddy in your league and he is young and hungry (well, maybe not young. And maybe a bit more hungry in a literal sense). But Dollmaker succeeds as a villain where Morrison’s Professor Pyg fails–in that, I didn’t give a crap about that villain and never saw him as a threat to Batman. Dollmaker is. I am interested in Dollmaker and his….agh…can’t say it. And he’s a villain with a scheme. Okay, all villains have schemes, but you get the sense that he really has something cooking in that deranged noggin.

The State of the DCnU – Part Two

Earlier, I gave a mild, encouraging evaluation of DC’s creative efforts.  But what of their commercial ones?  For some prospects on that, I went to Comics Unlimited, easily the finest and most successful shop of its kind in Orange County.

Mark and Nancy, the estimable owners of Comics Unlimited, were not in, but Laine and Denise, who pretty much run the place when their bosses aren’t around, had plenty to say about DC’s retail strategies.  Both were pleased at how business had been humming throughout the month.  “I don’t think even DC had any idea how big this was going to turn out,” Laine mused.  “Because we [retailers] didn’t know, so how could they have known?”

An unfortunate side-effect of all this success, however, was frequent shortages in their stockpile of “New 52” titles.  Laine explained, “We have to order our titles a month or so ahead of time, and DC uses that information from all the retailers to figure out how many they need to publish.  We reorder as soon as we run out, but it takes a few weeks for us to get more.  People come in because we’re a big store, so I always feel bad telling them we ran out.”

While Denise and Laine both knew it was entirely possible some of the sales went to guys trying to resell fresh #1s on eBay for twenty bucks, they assured me interest was genuine, generated by strong word-of-mouth.  “It seems like they’ve been getting better each week,” Denise said.  “The first week, we had people come in almost like normal, but now it’s like everyone has to come in right away on Wednesday, or they might not get the titles they want.”

I believed her.  Right before the interview, I had been looking for a copy of I, Vampire.  I’d thumbed through it just that Wednesday, but with a hefty pile of comics already cradled in my arms, I decided to put off purchasing.  After reading rave reviews across the internet, I came into the store and found its spot on the shelf empty.  When I asked Laine if they had any more, she said, “We had four this morning…”  Seeing the empty shelf, she smiled apologetically and said, “Yeah, we’re sold out.”

It seems everyone’s mostly surprised and taken aback at how much they’ve actually liked what they’re reading.  “Take The Flash,” Denise told me.  “I like Wally.  I hate Barry.  I read the last Flash series because Geoff Johns was writing it, but I just thought Barry was depressing.  But after I read this one, I actually cared about Barry.  I even liked Patty, because she’s a nerd and she’s cute.  So I thought that was great.”

While praise from devotees of comics certainly means a lot, DC’s aiming for new readers with this relaunch.  Laine thinks they’ll get them.  At Comics Unlimited, the proprietors have a practice of collecting all their subscribers’ pulls into separate boxes from the free issues they put out for sale on their shelves.  “We’ve had to get out a whole ‘nother big box for new readers,” Laine said, “because they want to make sure to get the titles they want.  Which is smart.”

The State of the DCnU – Part One

With the release of Justice League #1 on August 28, DC officially launched its sparkling new universe for the masses to behold and begrudge.  Can you believe it’s been over a month already?  Me neither.  Why, it feels like just yesterday I was reading plagues of blog comments, all lambasting the relaunch as a strategy of desperation, most predicting doom and futility were inevitable and only a matter of time.  Actually, I think I did just read some of those yesterday.

But even the naysayers can’t deny what a huge move this has all been for the publisher.  And with all 52 new titles now released, it’s time to make a brief progress report on how all these efforts have panned out, creatively.

An in-depth analysis would take too long and probably wind up incomplete anyway, so let’s just stick to the highlights.  DC prudently took a “If it ain’t broke…” position in regards to titles that were already working, meaning almost anything with a bat or lantern on it.  In fact, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps pretty much picked up where they left off in the old universe, and they even retained their original creative teams.  This makes them dependable staples in the DC roster, but also a little unexciting in comparison to their revamped peers.

Even a classic like Batman benefitted tremendously from fresh writing and art, a fact which leads to my next point: novelty.  No one doubts that a substantial part of DC’s current success lies simply with the newness of it all.  Even those who scoff at the whole shindig can’t resist flipping through a #1 issue, just to see if it’s as terrible as they predicted.  And likely as not, they end up, if not captivated, then fascinated by the dynamically different takes on familiar properties.

Some characters seem completely revitalized under the “New 52” banner, gaining widespread attention in the process.  Suddenly, they’ve found themselves a large, new audience not only willing, but eager to read them: Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and the Flash.  And we’re talking about longtime, iconic heroes.  When you read the titles, you’ll see they haven’t been radically reconceptualized.  So what’s made them so popular now?

It appears that DC has made a much stronger effort to allow creators to work on projects that genuinely interest them.  Take Wonder Woman as an example.  Brian Azzarello told CBR how, repulsed by some of the ideas Dan Didio pitched for the character, he passionately (well, assertively) suggested his own vision for where Wonder Woman should go.  Lo and behold, Azzarello got the gig, got paired up with former collaborator Cliff Chiang, and now Wonder Woman’s highly considered to be one of the series to beat for the year.

The Savage Hawkman #1–Review

Written by Tony S. Daniel, Art by Philip Tan, Colors by Sunny Gho

The Story: Side effects of the Hawkman suit: piss it off and it will bond to your muscles.

What’s Good: I have almost no knowledge of the character Hawman, so I was a little excited reading this–especially after reading Daniel’s Detective Comics. I got to say this–the story is really promising. I love the idea of Hawkman as an Indian Jones kind of character.  And with a fresh introduction to the character, Daniel sold me on this idea. What’s good to see is that he’s not simply Indiana Jones with the powers of Hawkman; he’s more like if Indiana started thinking his fedora was out to get him and tried to burn it multiple times. He’s done being Hawkman and just wants one of them to die.

We’ll get back to the story later. What really shines in this issue is the art. Phillip Tan and Sunny Cho make a great team. Tan’s art isn’t “savage,” but it has this energy like it’s about to burst open. And when it does, it’s a wonderful thing. The alien nemesis has the savagery we don’t get from Hawkman as of now, and I can’t wait to see Tan’s version of a SAVAGE Hawkman. But the explosive potential felt in the art is highlighted (no pun intended) even more by Cho’s colors. The best part of her colors is that you don’t even realize she was holding back until the first beautiful full page spread of Hawman in his new armor. Everything before it is slightly muted and hazy. And on that page, the only vibrant thing is Hawman. They backgrounds, the cave, the in-your-face placement of that creepy girl in the hood that keeps coming up? All muted. In fact, despite the girl being so prominently there, it might actually be easy to skip over her from just how striking the colors are of Hawkman on that page. I’d pick this up regularly for this kind of quality.

Deathstroke #1 – Review

Written by Kyle Higgins, Pencils by Joe Bennett, inks by Art Thibert, colors by Jason Wright

The Story: A dude with Wolverine’s candor and Deadpool’s skill kills a lot of people.

What’s Good: Is it wrong to say that out of all the New 52 I’ve read so far, this is the one I’ve had the most fun reading? Death Stroke…he’s not one of the good guys. He’s not even an antihero. At least, not yet. He’s not like Deadpool, doing the mercenary thing but also willing to be the hero when he needs to be. He’s just a mercenary out for blood. No law. No code of conduct. (No way did I just accidentally quote X-Men Origins: Wolverine). The issue starts by showing you exactly the kind of guy Mr. Wilson (really?) is. He’s–in his associate’s words–“a major damn badass.” To prove this, he rips the door off of a cargo jet going 300 miles per hour, twenty thousand feet in the air. Also, by the double page spread very early on, you know that if he were singing a duet with Julie Andrews, he might count decapitating Russians as one of his favorite things. Higgins sells Deathstroke with the kind of ease that makes it clear that the writer had a damn good time with this character. The twists are well placed, and the action is incredible. Of course, that’s also thanks to Bennett’s pencils–who seems to love the character as much as Higgins. He really has Deathstroke do some pretty insane stuff. Both the artist and the writer are on the same page–they are not looking to tell a story about a Merc with a Heart. This guy is brutal, all the way down to Wright’s color scheme, they’re out for blood. And I think it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

Suicide Squad #1 – Review

Written by Adam Glass, Art by Federico Dallocchio, Ransom Getty, and Scott Hanna

The Story: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to vanquish the Thunderbolts in a game of softball. And by choose, we mean “if you don’t do this, we blow up your neck.”

What’s Good: The ending. Or at least, it has the promise of being something interesting with an insane mission the Squad is thrown in to. And to some extent, we get to know our characters.

What’s Not Good: This is not a #1 issue. this is a .1 that is kind of a throwaway tale to tell between two arcs. Unfortunately, a very overused plot device takes up 90% of this first issue, and what you learn about the team from it isn’t surprising in the least. It almost feels as if Glass is relying on people having read Thunderbolts to get the gist of this book. A team of villains forced to do good but have a code among themselves. Honor among mass murderers sort of thing. But Glass is no Jeff Parker, and every turn in this issue is one anti-climatic moment after the other until the last page when they’re literally thrown into a mission that screams “yeah, this isn’t really the mission at all.”  The issue sets it up to make you want to care about Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and El Diablo. Yet the only character I really wanted more from was King Shark, and he only uttered two words the entire issue. In a mess of #1’s, this just doesn’t stand out. It’s not bad enough to fume about, but not good enough to talk about. It’s just kind of there. Even the art is lukewarm. There’s just nothing special to it. And really, the torture scene in the beginning– what exactly are they doing to Deadshot? Cooking live rats on him? I’m really confused by this. It feels like the artist and writer weren’t on the same page at all. And for some reason, Harley’s facial expressions never seem to match her dialogue.  ALSO, they spoil the first arc of Detective Comics. Not cool, DC… Not cool.

Final Thoughts: I love the Thunderbolts, and I wouldn’t mind a DC version of it, but this issue started on the wrong foot…in the wrong town. I’ll try it for a little while longer and see how the future issues turn out. Maybe it’s misguided, but I still have a little faith in this title still.

Grade: C

-Roman Colombo

Batwoman #1 – Review

By J.H. Williams III (co-writer & artist), W. Haden Blackman (co-writer), Dave Stewart (colors), Todd Klein (letters)

(Before we get started, for the sake of full disclosure, let me just say:

ITSHEREITSFINALLYHERE!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!

We now return to your regularly scheduled, completely impartial review.)

The Story: In a continuity seemingly untouched from the vaunted Detective Comics run, Kate Kane is still dealing with the emotional fallout from discovering the super-villain Alice’s true nature. While this is going on, she must also contend with an urban legend come to life, train a new sidekick, and worry about a new relationship with (another) Gotham detective.

What’s Good: I will fully admit to being terrified when I picked up this book. The expectation and hype riding on this has been huge (albiet well-deserved), and, especially given the loss of scribe extraordinaire Greg Rucka, I just wasn’t sure it could live up to that lightning-in-a-bottle Detective Comics run. Williams’ artwork is undoubtedly what made the run famous, but it always felt to me like Kate herself was very much Rucka’s baby–he’s the one with a penchant for writing both about the military, and strong, well-rounded female characters. While the amazing artwork could certainly continue without him, I would have bet my beloved copy of Detective Comics #854 that the character herself could not.

I have never been so happy to have been proven wrong in my life.

Detective Comics #1

Written and Drawn by Tony S. Daniel, Inked by Ryan Winn, Colored by Tomeu Morey

The Story: The Joker’s murders are even more gruesome than usual, and as usual, Batman has had enough and goes to deal with the laughing menace.

The Good: This is a good start for a new era of Batman. The Batman vs. Joker back and forth over the last…well, since superhero comics existed, has always lent to some of the most insane stories ever told, and if a writer is smart, they can do things with this classic set-up that is really shocking or surprising. Think back to The Killing Joke–the most shocking thing in that story wasn’t Barbara Gordon’s paralysis or the BDSM torture Joker put Gordon through, it was the laugh Batman gave at the end that said “yeah, Bats is just as crazy as Joker.” But writing the Joker must be one of the most thrilling jobs in the business. At least, that’s the feeling when you read Daniel’s issue. He’s writing the Joker, and he is in for the ride just as much as the audience is. He writes both Joker and Batman very well, and I’m intrigued to see what he has planned for them.

But what’s more–much more–impressive than his writing is his art. There are not many people who can write well and draw well, but Daniel is one of them. This book looks amazing, and the characters all look natural to who they are.  No overly beefed-out Batman, no gangly Joker. This Joker looks like he could take on Batman with just enough muscle to give him that lean look he always had, but not the anorexic freak we’ve sometimes seen before. And there are nods to inspirations of the Joker to. In fact, not only is the Joker wearing a similar outfit to the character in the silent film The Man Who Laughs, but one of the panels is a recreation of a famous still from the movie. But beyond Daniel’s pencils, it’s also in the inks and colors too. Ryan Winn and Tomeu Morey bring life and vibrancy to Daniel’s pencils in a way that’s perfect for Gotham and the world of Batman. The pallet is still darker, but the contrasts are sharper. It’s great for a Joker story, where the line between good and evil is clear. Joker is evil (on the other side, I like my Two-Face stories with more hazy and ill-defined colors and inks). On the artwork alone, this is a title worth picking up,