The regular users of the comics topic series have banded together to help B8 users understand exactly what's happening and what they should be the most interested in, as well as answer any questions in regards to the relaunch and accessibility of the comics involved. We'll be following through on this for every #1 issue released in the future, including the many mini-series already scheduled.
For a more in depth visual guide, view this visual guide provided by DC. Copies should also be available at you LCS (Local Comic Store). Included is also a 6-page preview of Justice League #1.
Starting August 31st with the launch of Justice League #1, DC Entertainment will be relaunching their entire line of comics with 52 ongoing books at issue #1, condensing the continuity timeline and making alterations in an attempt to bring new readers into the comics book industry by making everything more accessible. Some franchises, like Batman and Green Lantern, will remain relatively unchanged, while others like Superman, Teen Titans, and even Justice League are going through minor to drastic revamps. They are also folding their Wildstorm and Vertigo characters in the DCU. Not all of these are superhero books. A major part of this relaunch is branching into other genres. From a business standpoint, the most important change starting with the single #1 released today is the beginning of the new Day-and-Date digital release of all DC Comics.
These comics will sell online at the same price as the physical copies, and will sell for $1 less starting one month after release. These comics will be released digitally at 2 P.M. on Wednesdays, and 2 P.M. on Thursdays after major holidays. The standard cost of a comics is $2.99, and will be $1.99 digital a month after release. Four of The New 52 are 28-page comics at $3.99 retail with additional pages of content. They are:
* JUSTICE LEAGUE - 24 story pages in #1 with 4 design or extra content pages. 22 story pages starting with #2 with 6 design or extra content pages. Will eventually drop to $2.99.
* ACTION COMICS - 29 story pages in #1. 28 story pages starting with #2. Will eventually drop to $2.99.
* ALL STAR WESTERN - 28 story pages. Price currently standard.
* MEN OF WAR - 28 story pages. Price currently standard.
What will follow in this topic is a guide to each new series being published by DC. We will talk about the creative team behind the book, the concept of the book itself, the expected quality of the book and whether it is worth the cost, and the accessibility of the comic by those not knowledgeable of the history of the characters and stories. The guides will be saved and altered if need-be.
This topic is for discussions and questions about the new DC books ONLY. Discussion of other companies and earlier DC books should be held in the regular COMICS TOPIC, with exception of questions and discussions about old books in regards to the new ones. People are always welcome to the Comics Topic for any discussion regarding the medium.
And remember, Only read what you want to read. While everything here shares the same universe, you will by no means be forced to read a comic you don't want to in order to understand one you do.
Action Comics Animal Man Batgirl Batwing Detective Comics Green Arrow Hawk and Dove Justice League* Justice League International Men of War O.M.A.C. Static Shock Stormwatch Swamp Thing
We will start off by posting next Wednesdays releases. The following weeks releases will be posted NEXT SATURDAY at a TBD time.
*Justice League was released by itself this past Wednesday. It is already available at your LCS and digitally at ComiXology.com
Description: The premier book of the relaunch Justice League of America is DC's #1 team book, their Avengers before the Avengers if you will. The first arc of this comic will take place 5 years prior to the rest of the DCnU launch books, with the exception of Action Comics, and will be a new take on the formation of team. With that come new founding members: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, and Marti-errrr, Cyborg. Questioning yet promising new former Titan aside, Justice League is a necessary fresh launch on the series, after the previous 60 issue run failed to significantly impress even once in its 5 year run, due to poor editorial decisions and tie-in fatigue, and a lack of interesting and meaningful stories that rarely affected the DCU at all, inexcusable considering its supposed importance. With this new series, DC is promising to return Justice League to the biggest, most important and explosive series in their lineup, and thus have put their most popular talent on the job.
Creative Team: Geoff Johns is DC's big summer blockbuster super-star, savior of the Green Lantern franchise and writer of half the major event books since just over half a decade ago. He's pretty much become the face of DC next to the intricate mind-bending writing of Grant Morrison. What you're going to get here is a lot of action and big stories and really just straight up entertainment overall. And the full page spreads, OH THE FULL PAGE SPREADS. And don't get me started on the 2-page spreads, devoted to one dynamic picture with one beloved cheesy one liner that just makes you happy that comic books exist, the kind of stuff you want to tear out of the book and thumbtack to a wallboard or something.
Jim Lee is the most famous name in comic books. He's pretty much defined the public's perception of a majority of superheroes with his designs being used on everything from backpacks to clothing to toys. He was the artist on the highest selling comic book in history, X-Men #1. He's got that gritty 90's appeal without any of the negative connotations that come with it, bringing a sleek and dynamic style with his work. There's a reason that almost half the comic artists of today are considered Jim Lee rip-offs, he has DEFINED what is considered generic comic book artwork, but barely anything has come close to the original. That's the issue, Jim lee isn't bringing anything special to the table. He's simply a great artist. But that's really what Justice League needs, recognizability, and Jim Lee's work will forever be the defining look of comic books for readers of the 90s.
Accessibility: Very easy. Justice League as it will be starting out is going to be an origin story. There's no history to worry about. It's not going to be something anyone will have to potentially worry about until the second arc when it starts running alongside the rest of the books.
Recommendation: Required reading. It's going to be the pillar of the DC Universe and pretty much unskippable, and thankfully you'll more than likely want to stick with it in the first place.
Description: Do I need to explain Superman to you? Babies are born knowing what he looks like. The original superhero, the Man of Steel, his planet blew up, rocketed to Earth, raised by uber-Americana parents, fights for truth, justice, and the American way.
Action Comics #1 deals with Superman's beginnings. Pa and Ma Kent (his adoptive parents) are dead, he's young, he doesn't even have a full costume, he can't even fly yet (instead leaps VERY high and very far), but he's ready to save the day with a wink and a smile. He's the first guy with superpowers the DC Universe has ever seen, so there's a huge element of fear and paranoia about this alien man.
The book is supposed to tackle a common-held belief that Superman is just too powerful to be cool, and too un-relatable to be interesting. Personally I think that's a load of bull, since with Superman, the possibilities are damn near limitless, but I digress!
The Creative Team: Grant Morrison is one of the most popular and talked-about comic book writers of the past 20 years. His surreal style, smarter-than-average scripting, and genuine love for superheroes has made him a favorite of many comic book fans, including myself. He's had fantastic runs on everything like obscure DC Comics' Animal Man and Doom Patrol, all the way up to the big guns like Justice League, X-men, and Batman. More importantly, he wrote All-Star Superman, an incredibly-popular 12-issue series that is often held as one of, if not THE, greatest Superman story of all-time. The man GETS Superman like few, if any, writer working in comics today. If you're gonna relaunch the original superhero comic, there's no better choice than Grant Morrison.
Rags Morales, while not as big as the writer, is nonetheless a great artist. He's most famous for the Identity Crisis series, but he's been consistently improving, even if he tends to be a bit slow, so deadlines are a factor. He has a great understanding of body language, rendering figures in a more "realistic" manner, that's very accessible to audiences of all tastes. Just the kind of guy you need for a flagship book like Action Comics.
Accessibility: You can speak and type words on a keyboard, I'm gonna assume you already know the basics of Superman, and since this is the beginning, you should be good to go! You don't have to read a bunch of stories from decades ago to understand, you're getting in on the ground floor!
Recommendation: Buy it! Grant Morrison turns even non-believers into fans in All-Star Superman, and with every interview I hear, my excitement for this title grows and grows. This is the best comic book writer in the business doing stories with the original superhero; this is gonna be THE book to look out for.
Description: Animal Man, Buddy Baker, has been an obscure but fan favorite character since his irrefutably amazing ongoing written by Grant Morrison in 1988. He has the power to channel the strength and ability of any living creature within a varying distance, which will be explored further through this series. Being billed as a horror book, Animal Man will actually have a heavy focus on Buddy's family, who has always been a very important supporting cast for the character, and in this case primarily his daughter Maxine, who is starting to show signs of having her own similar abilities but with a dark twist. It's certainly going to be a far different direction than most of the books coming out of this relaunch.
Creative Team: Jeff Lemire is some of the best talent in the industry today, and there's absolutely nobody better suited for this book and its direction than him, including good ol' Grant Morrison. Again and again he's proven he can blend horror with heartfelt moments and get you invested in all of his characters, and this book is going to be channeling a serious amount of what is arguably his best work, Sweet Tooth. Expect no throwaway dialogue or one-time plot threads or generic themes, Lemire is going to keep you on the edge for the whole ride.
Travel Foreman drew a rather impressive run on Immortal Iron Fist and he's showing off even better work here. His rather grim style lends itself incredibly well to the horror direction of the book and gives off just enough of a creepy vibe in some of the preview pages to be genuinely disturbing.
Accessibility: While mention of Morrison's Animal Man run has been made here, rest assured the... contents of that series aren't going to affect anything. And his scattered appearances since then haven't revolved around anything that would have even the slightest effect on this book.
Recommendation: This is a no question title, another one of those books that even someone who's never read comics would get hooked on. There certainly isn't a lack of comics in this lineup exploring new and interesting directions, but this very well may be the best. This is one you absolutely have to buy, especially if you want something unique.
Description: It's Batgirl, she's like Batman, only female, and with some other drastic differences. As you may or may not know, Batgirl, much like Robin, has gone through several identities. The Batgirl we have here is the very original, known as Barbara Gordon, most should recognize her, she is, after all, the first (well technically, but we won't get into that) and most well-known. A little history on Babs, she is Commissioner Jim Gordon's daughter, she's a red head, she became Batgirl on her own. It wasn't until after she took the identity of a bat that the big man himself (along with the first Robin, Dick Grayson) found her and was somehow pretty easily convinced to train her himself. That's how she became a part of the family. The rest is history.
That history includes getting shot in the spine by the Joker, rendering her paralyzed from the waist down, and leaving her incapable of continuing her role as a masked vigilante. She then became Oracle, she was integral in passing on information to the rest of the family, while sitting in front of a bunch of computer monitors. She quickly became a fan favorite role model.
So, DC said f*** it, we're giving Barbara some leg brace things and she's going to be Batgirl again. Deal with it.
Fans may not be happy right now, but it doesn’t matter if this is a step down for the character or not, there is one specific reason why this book will be good, and there is no doubt about it.
The Creative Team: Gail Simone. That is the reason this book will be great. She is a FANTASTIC writer. One of the best DC has on its payroll. Her series entitled Secret Six is the best example, it stars a cast of misfit villains trying to work as a team to get whatever done. Characters such as Bane, Deadshot, freakin' Catman, yeah, Catman, you hear that name and you're probably like... who? I would expect that, because he used to be a nobody, then Gail Simone got a hold of him and practically made him a new character. He is an utter badass now, and it's all because Simone is about on par with Geoff Johns when it comes to bringing old characters back and fitting them in to modern days.
There's also the simple fact that Barbara Gordon is one of Gail Simone's favorite characters, she's been writing her in Birds of Prey for years now, she's definitely the best writer for this. She will, without a doubt, succeed in getting people to like the original Batgirl all over again. Maybe not as much as the other characters that have more recently used the name, but definitely enough to keep reading and enjoy it.
Then there's the artist, Ardian Syaf. He's good. There's not a bunch that he's done so far, some work on Green Lantern, some other books here and there, including tie-ins for some big events, but he doesn't have a big history behind him. Doesn't matter, because from what little he's done for DC already has been consistently great. There's nothing particularly unique about his style, but that's not a bad thing, especially not in his case, just check out some of his work here.
Accessibility: Very easy. If you read this, you already know her history, there's not much to say about it. She was in a wheelchair and she was Oracle, they'll probably explain how she was healed in the first issue.
Recommendation: Of course, it's already stated that, regardless of your opinion on Babs reverting back to Batgirl, the writer is one of the best ever, and she WILL make this series great and absolutely worth reading.
Description: Batman, the coolest, most badass superhero around, is so cool and badass, he's got FOUR different books he's starring in! But right now, I'm just focusing on the original Batman comic, Detective Comics (the one the company is named after).
What's it about? Batman stuff, surely! In Gotham City, fighting the Joker, murder mysteries, all that kind of stuff. Not in for any surprises with this one, but it's a formula that's been working for 70 years, why stop now? It's all about the execution, which...may be a problem.
The Creative Team: You see, this is a Tony Daniel Batman comic, and I'll just be frank: Tony Daniel Batman comics are f***ing horrible. His dialog is terrible, his character work is laughably bad and one-dimensional, his artwork is improving, but its generic "Hey let's copy Jim Lee that's a cool idea" art style, so that ain't saying much. He's been writing Batman for years, and none of it’s very good. I'm shocked he's still on the book really.
Accessibility: Somewhat easy! While most of the continuity is still there, all you gotta know is Bruce Wayne is Batman, and he's doing Batman things. Also know that Tony Daniel is the "creative" force behind it, so you know to avoid it.
Recommendation: NO! This is gonna be the most mediocre comic book. Even if you like Batman, there are several books starring him that are gonna be better. Just stay away from this. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
Description: Hawk and Dove are the DCU avatars for the Lords of Chaos and Order respectively. Dove can fly and shoot beams of light, and attempts a non-violent approach to confrontation when possible, generating a calming aura. Hawk beats the s*** out of people, and to nobody's surprise pisses people off consistently. The direction the book appears to be taking is to introduce avatars for other lords, essentially riding the coattails of the direction the Green Lantern franchise has been going the last 3/4 decade. They'll also be body guards for the president early on, so expect the heavy political spin of books past to shine itself.
Creative Team: Sterling Gates is a consistently above average writer who recently joined DC, making Supergirl interesting again for the first time in years. He has a lot of potential to become a big shot in the future but he's not quite there yet.
But he's not who we're going to talk about here.
Chances are you've heard of Rob Liefeld. Hell, there are people who know who Liefeld is who have never read a comic book before in their life. Most of the time he's referred to as the worst artist in the comic book industry, and he doesn't deserve it. Oh, he's bad. He's REAL bad. But he's not boring. It's rare that anyone would actually put down a Liefeld comic, in the way you can't stop watching a train crash. He has no sense of proportion, drawing people that are a dozen heads tall and men with shoulders almost as wide as their height, women with hips wider than their legs are long, torsos that just SHOULD NOT DO THAT, and to this day the ability to draw FEET, his mortal enemy, still evades him. But he has improved, Hawk and Dove is looking to be his best work yet. This is saying very little, but you have to admit that this:
Is better than this:
Accessibility: The characters of Hawk and Dove have a ridiculously convoluted past, switching between a male and female avatar for each lord over the years, but this will be sticking with their second, recently revived, most "popular" iteration, and doing so from scratch. It shouldn't be too hard to get into.
Recommendation: Nope. It's not because of the rookie writer, or the "art". It almost doesn't matter who's on the book. Hawk and Dove have never proven themselves to be interesting characters at all. This could change, so maybe check in on it after a while, but it's unlikely it will ever go anywhere spectacular. Save your money.
Description: It's black Batman. He's a brand new character that was just recently introduced. As of now, he has no history, but how he came to wear the Bat logo is a story indeed. It starts with Bruce Wayne's supposed death, where he was actually sent back in time and had to fight his way back through the centuries. When he returned, he started Batman Incorporated, a program to enlist and train those worthy over the world to be an agent of the Bat. Their purpose is to protect their own assigned areas, in order to help extend Batman's war on crime.
This particular agent, named Batwing (he's named after a plane, yes), is stationed in Africa. We don't know the specifics yet, but apparently he's expected to protect the whole dang continent. Good luck to him.
It may not turn out to be quite that drastic for him, maybe he'll only be protecting one area, or moving around, responding to major threats, who knows. At the very least we know the first story is in Egypt, we also know there’s actually more superheroes based in Africa, so he won’t be alone. There's really nothing to know about this character right now, he's literally had about two minutes of exposure so far.
Creative Team: The writer here is a good one. Judd Winick isn't the BEST, but he's far from bad. Once in a while he'll be off, and produce a not-so-great story, sometimes less than decent. There are those who probably dislike him completely, but every writer has haters. Winick is good, he wrote the initial story of Jason Todd's (second Robin) return from death. Not everyone liked it, but overall it was a great story, and he's got a lot more under his belt, most of it good to great. What's more, he's got a lot of experience with Bat-related characters, so he's a good fit for this book, most definitely. If he was able to bring Jason back to a relatively good standing, it's perfectly logical that he'll validate Batwing.
Speaking of Jason Todd, Ben Oliver was the artist that made the cover art for Under the Red Hood (DC animated movie, the best one too, watch it).
Think that's good? It is. As you can also see when you click on the first link I posted, he drew all three covers that have been revealed so far. He's definitely a good fit, he's got some decent history, nearly everything he draws looks like it could be a cover, and he most likely has the style to accommodate whatever story Winick will be unfolding.
Accessibility: Can't be easier than a character that just barely started existing. Well, unless he was made specifically for this reboot, like some are, but you could argue that Batwing probably was. He was only introduced prior to the relaunch to give us a very small taste. Anyway, like mentioned, he has pretty much no history, getting on board with his first issue won’t be any problem at all.
Recommendation: Tough to say, it's got a great team backing it up, but it still has a chance of failing just because newer Bat-related characters don't seem to be faring too well. You might want to wait to decide on this one, honestly, until it's more distinguished. If you really wanna take a shot, go for it, there's a pretty high chance of it being good, but at the same time, it's nowhere near guaranteed.
-- ~Halo Live, fight, survive, as a family. http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/7469/batfamily.jpg
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
Description: A lot of you may be familiar with Green Arrow AKA Oliver Queen, and a lot of you may not be. Either way, he's a simple enough character to understand. He's a superhero, he dresses in green, and he shoots arrows. He has no other superpowers, just a bow, amazing accuracy, and varying types of arrows. Arrows that explode, arrows that transform into a giant green boxing glove, arrows that stick, arrows that trap, and an "arrow" that... "penetrates"... many a... "foe". And he's gonna be using knives and s*** too now apparently. Also his son doesn't exist anymore. Ouch.
Ollie here is getting a fresh new start, being crazy de-aged by somewhere around, like, 15 years, and he's losing the trademark goatee (gasp!). Not only that, but he's getting a total character revamp, being presented as essentially a super hero Steve Jobs (Queen Industries, literally making QPads and QPhones). Still, he's got a shot at getting it all back together and gaining some more fame, hopefully he does well now. Except... probably not, because even though they're refreshing his character, he unfortunately got some bad luck when the wrong writer was assigned to him...
Creative Team: Ugh, J.T. Krul. He's honestly not a terrible writer, but god damn it's hard to tell, because he's had nothing but incredibly mediocre stories so far. I'm actually not sure if he's ever written a good story, but he was actually just writing a Green Arrow series, and it was so boring. It's a terrible shame that such a writer would take to a character that's in such desperate need of saving, because really, Green Arrow has not been having the best few years. In fact for a while now, he's been in a really terrible place, character-wise, he basically fell from grace and never got a chance to get back up. This reboot is his chance, but unfortunately, DC has a habit of giving characters to writers that ruined everything in the first place (oh my god don't even get me started on the worst ever offense), so even though it's a fresh start, it probably won't amount to anything all that good. There's some possibility that Krul pulls through here, but... don't get your hopes up.
As for the art, Dan Jurgens has been working at DC for decades now and he's got that late 80's, early 90's look where everything's laid out nicely and there's plenty of action and energy, but it's really just not all that interesting and definitely looks a little dated, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, but really stands out as the "old" DC house style. The man’s got some serious issues drawing crotches on heroes with tights.
Accessibility: Very easy. Green Arrow doesn't have really deep history, he's always been kind of... there. Other than being married to Black Canary, and then getting totally f***ed in recent years (which I assume they're completely getting rid of anyway), he's a really easy character to understand, and that was before the reboot. It looks like he's a brand new character now, basically, so picking up from issue 1 shouldn't be a problem in the slightest.
Recommendation: Eh, not really. There is a small chance that J.T. Krul will suddenly whip out a good story and characterization out of his ass, but it's unlikely. And the two highly regarded artists won't really be doing much to save anything. I suggest a wait and see approach if you're actually interested.
-- ~Halo Live, fight, survive, as a family. http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/7469/batfamily.jpg
Description: In the late 80's after Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC decided to go in a different direction with the Justice League. And so Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis were given the task of breathing new life into the book by giving it an injection of humor, and what resulted was one of the most beloved and (intentionally) hilarious books DC has ever released. This is a return to that team, but under a different DC veteran writer and with a more serious tone. The group will be United Nations run, and consist of representatives from countries around the world.
Creative Team: Dan Jurgens is kind of a poor man's fusion of Keith Giffen and Marv Wolfman. Creator of Booster Gold and writer of the famous Death of Superman storyline that made national news, he's a completely competent writer that can indeed blend action with humor with desirable results, but he doesn't truly excel at either. Honestly, it's understandable why he's the writer here, he had an extensive run on JLI himself after Giffen, but even then it wasn't as good.
Aaron Lopresti’s most recent devoted work on an ongoing was his run on Gail Simone's Wonder Woman, and he proved himself there many times over. More importantly, though, he was one of the artists on the bi-weekly limited series from last year, Justice League: Generations Lost, which lead into the creation of this new book in the first place, and based on that series they chose the perfect artist for the job given the new direction.
Accessibility: Probably easy. Supposedly the days of the original JLI are gone for good from continuity so everyone here gets a fresh start as a team.
Recommendation: Probably not. It's a situation where it'll probably be fine but it's not going to excel in any one category that would cause you to pick it up over any of the other many good comics coming out of this relaunch. I would say that if you were a huge fan of the original JLI books like me you may have more investment here, but it's unlikely top carry on the torch from its predecessor. It's one to watch, though, because I could easily be proven wrong.
Description: Wow!! Activision is making a tie-in comic to Modern Warfare 3 and DC is including it in the New 52 lineup?! How could this possibly go wrong?
In all seriousness, Sgt. Rock is a badass dude who shoots guns and eats meat and f***s b****es. I had a little kid come into my shop and ask for "cool World War II comics" and I gave him an old Sgt. Rock and he s*** his pants.
But wait! This comic isn't set in World War II anymore?! It's set in modern times?!
uh ok
Creative Team: TWO WRITERS?! The hell is this. Turns out the main feature will be about Sgt. Rock, and is written by Brandon, while the backup is about two characters named Ice and Tracker and will be written by Vankin.
Ivan Brandon is a writer best known for Viking, an Image comic that I've heard some good things about. Also some indie books I've never heard of and a Final Crisis tie-in. I guess he's pretty ok? Certainly not bad. John Vankin is even more obscure. The only thing I've seen that he's written is Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing, which I've heard very mixed things about. But he's just the backup writer, so I doubt there's much to worry about.
Derenick is pretty alright. He's not very distinct; I can't look at something he's drawn and go "that's a Derenick!" That certainly doesn't mean he's bad. Looking at his stuff I'm not sure if he'll fit the tone of a Sgt. Rock gritty modern reboot... But we'll find out!!
Winslade is all VEEEEINS and PARTED BOOOOBS. Again, not bad. I think he fits the style of the comic a bit more, but I believe he's on the backup story, so...
Winslade:
Accessibility: A new Sgt. Rock in modern times shooting things? Hell yeah pew pew it should be no problem reading this at all.
Recommendation: More like Men of BORE m i rite?!?!?
It'll be ok, probably. I don't expect great things. It's Sgt. Rock's Modern Warfare 3. If anything it'll come off as campy or take itself too seriously and will flop because dude I don't think anybody cares except that one kid who crapped his pants. Even if it's good this s*** reads better in trades anyways, and that way you can save money by skipping that lame backup!
Description: STATIC SHOCK! Everyone remembers his show. I remember watching the premiere when I was a kid and I had no idea who he was or why he got a show (answer: hip young minority hero helps sell our toys) BUT IT WAS INCREDIBLE. And I've never read a Static Shock comic. Chances are, neither have you! His origin from the show is basically accurate: Black kid gets caught up in a gang war and gets doused with chemicals! He doesn't lose his eyesight, but instead gets... electric powers? Huh. Alright. I can follow. Static's creator actually died recently, so hopefully DC is honoring him by making this book not garbage!!
Fun fact: Static was originally developed to be a Marvel hero. NOW HE HAS HIS OWN DC ONGOING TAKE THAT BENDIS
Creative Team: I don't know why Scott McDaniel is getting top billing as a writer here. He's more an artist, and while he is drawing (most) of this book, I find it's strange he's also writing, because I can't find anything on him being a writer before this. That isn't BAD, as he's been in the business for quite a while and has probably read so many comic scripts that he knows a thing or two about it. His art is pretty solid. He draws people really well but his backgrounds are always kinda bland, so expect lots of cool character detail (even if his faces are a bit weird sometimes). Maybe the other artist will draw backgrounds?
John Rozum is the other writer, and he wrote Xombi which LtM can't shut up about, so I guess he's good? He also writes kid's books, which is cool because this is for a young audience.
Andrew Owens (born 15 October 1989 in Liverpool) is an English footballer who plays for Southport in the Conference National. I have no idea who the Andy Owens on art is but apparently this other Andy Owens plays the football. APPARENTLY HE IS AN INKER.
Accessibility: HELL YEAH STATIC SHOCK. If you watched the show, you're set. If you didn't, well... It's not complicated. Static had such a small, contained universe that even if any of his old stuff carried over it wouldn't be that much to learn.
Recommendation: Static is cool, yeah? I dunno about the writer being the artist that hasn't written much and the backup writer only being known for being LtM's idol and the inker being an English footballer... BUT IT IS STATIC SHOCK DAMMIT. If you want it then you want it. I'll probably read the first issue. If you grew up with the show you at least owe Static that much!
Right before the turn of the century, Wildstorm, a DC subsidiary, started publishing a book called "The Authority", their answer to the Justice League, but with proactive members with no qualms against killing, toppling governments, and with the exception of one member for obvious reasons, destruction of property, and it was quite a gory mess. Despite this seemingly rebellious high-schooler take on the concept, the book was undeniably good. But before it became known as The Authority, it was Stormwatch, consisting of mostly different members and with more limitations, what with it being mostly government run. Now that Wildstorm has been absorbed into the DCU, the idea of this version of Stormwatch is a group made up of the members of The Authority, but with the settings of the original Stormwatch. Stormwatch has been around policing the DC Universe in private for decades, completely out of public knowledge, and now they have to deal with all these superheroes running a-muck and screwing with the way things are done. Joining the cast is J'onn J'onzz, The Martian Manhunter, least known to the masses but fan-favorite Justice League member. It's going to be an interesting inclusion that's bound to add a lot of interest to the story, though I'm sure the main reason for his membership here rather than the JL was to drum up sales. At least it's deservedly so.
The Creative Team: Of the plethora of British writers working actively in comics today, Paul Cornell is distinctly the MOST. Mostly famous for extensive work on Dr. Who in various mediums, he's only recently started working on major comic projects. His time at Marvel only saw miniscule projects, with the largest being an above average Young Avengers tie-in to Dark Reign, but he's been notably busier at DC. Cornell is coming off of a well-received Knight and Squire miniseries (Think British Batman and Robin except... no actually that's it, other than Squire being very female), and one of the most praised runs on Action Comics of the last decade, starring Lex Luthor. He's absolutely top notch, and there's really no reason to doubt him.
Miguel Sepulveda is really good at drawing big things in a big way, so it's only appropriate he be the artist for a book that starts out with the antagonist being the f***ing moon. He's heavy on the ink which works great for his style, and if you can ignore a handful of occasionally distorted faces, he's the perfect match for Stormwatch.
Accessibility: Regardless of over a decade of Stormwatch and Authority books, it's a clean slate here. Other than some ill-thought out crossovers, this will be the first foray of the group into the DC Universe, and most if not all their previous actions are null and void. It may as well be an all new book... and it is.
Recommendation: No doubt. While it doesn't have "League" in the title and contains only one major character from the original DCU, Stormwatch is undoubtedly going to be a pillar book for the DCU as a whole now. It has the added benefit of more than likely being absolute gold.
Description: Swamp Thing is a horror book. It's not even skimping by having horror themes while starring a superhero. Swamp Thing is a monster, plain and simple, at least now. While Swampy once inhabited this world through the heart and body of a man, Alec Holland, they've now been separated, but the Swamp Thing still has need for the man who only wants to be left alone after his recent resurrection. From what we've seen, Swamp Thing is going to be about journey, to save all life on earth from a monstrous living force of nature threatening the world.
Man, between this and Stormwatch, Earth is starting to look kind of f***ed.
Creative Team: Scott Snyder is quickly becoming one of the biggest names in comics, the kind that in just a few years will be able to sell pretty much any comic as long as his name is on it. The newcomer is both the former and current writer of the stupendous creator owned title American Vampire and one of the best Batman runs to date. And now he'll be treading some new ground with the revitalization of the long lost but still legendary Swamp Thing book. There are only a handful of writers one could deem suitable to work on the character after the extensive and timeless runs by Alan Moore and Len Wein, and Snyder is one of them. Even in Batman and especially American Vampire, Snyder has managed to bring forth a colossal amount of both deep and dependable characters and gut-wrenching yet engaging monstrosities. Who better then?
Yanick Paquette similarly is a match made in heaven. The man truly knows how to tell a story that needs no words, with dynamic and engaging panel layout and ridiculous attention to detail. The man has gone on record to say he's even extensively begun studying the growth cycles of plants he will be drawing in the book, to appropriately represent their blooming on page, something of which will be a central theme to the tone of Swamp Thing. But even with all that life, Paquette proves he can still turn stomachs with the unknown beings that bring death through the countryside.
Accessibility: Swamp Thing’s history is without question ridiculously complicated and involved, but for the direction this story is going, as well as the ability of the writer, anything that you will need to know should be explained in the book cleanly through the narration.
Recommendation: A must buy. Don't mistake this for a plea to buy this just because it's different, Swamp Thing is irrefutable going to be one of the best books on the market, with a rich history and pedigree alongside an astounding creative team. Even if you're wary about a comic that seems to be about a generic B-Monster from a 60's horror film, you would be doing yourself a disservice to not give at least the first issue a chance. Don't pass it up.
And that's it for now! It seems like a lot, but you've got a full 4 and a half days until this first wave is out (with the exception of Justice League), so give it a whirl!
There should be a note that Justice League #1 sold out of two printings, one before it was even printed so finding it in a LCS might be a little difficult at first.
From: KimPilgrim | #001 These comics will sell online at the same price as the physical copies, and will sell for $1 less starting one month after release. These comics will be released digitally at 2 P.M. on Wednesdays, and 2 P.M. on Thursdays after major holidays. The standard cost of a comics is $2.99, and will be $1.99 digital a month after release. Four of The New 52 are 28-page comics at $3.99 retail with additional pages of content
I wish it was just a dollar cheaper online always, as the original wording implied. I just looked at the Comixology page last week and found out that wasn't the case, and now I'm not so sure how I'm gonna purchase my books. I was willing to go all digital (except Batwoman), but now that there's no benefit, I dunno. Maybe I'll start getting trades.
Action Comics Animal Man Detective Comics Green Arrow Stormwatch Swamp Thing
I was thinking about Batgirl but eh. That's too much already. I know you say Detective Comics is gonna be ass, but come on. It's Detective Comics. I need to get issue 1. I'm kinda scared that Action is gonna be sold out before I can get to the shop on Wednesday. That would suck.
From: Pretty_Odd | #025 I was thinking about Batgirl but eh. That's too much already. I know you say Detective Comics is gonna be ass, but come on. It's Detective Comics. I need to get issue 1. I'm kinda scared that Action is gonna be sold out before I can get to the shop on Wednesday. That would suck.
Really, I don't understand why you would get a sub-par comic over a fantastic one. I'll be reading Detective Comics too, because I'm such a Bat-fanboy that I can't help it, but Batgirl will still be so much better. And Batman is the main Batman book anyway, which will be coming out later this month, and it's written by one of the best writers, so you should just forget DTec, get Batgirl, and wait for Batman 1.
-- ~Halo Give into the Night. http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/ShadowHalo/haloshadow1.gif
At the very least, the buzz behind DTec #1 has been very positive, regarding a ridiculous cliffhanger at the end. The issue is that it's unlikely that it will be able to keep it up. Most Tony Daniel stories really fall apart around the middle.
Oh, and remember, if something really interests you, and we've recommended against it, ask us about it, see if the reasons we've warned against it lines up with your taste.
I'll still be reading Batgirl and hopefully everything else. That was just what I'm planning to pick up at the shop. A combination of the most important books and the ones I'm most interested in.
I just gotta point out as a disclaimer, Catwoman looks like it's gonna be awesome, and if you think you're interested odds are you're gonna like it. Also if you like the recent Power Girl run.
-- One Piece: Pirates with style! -= Metal Gear Solid: Tactical Espionage Action =-
From: Psycho_Kenshin | #039 I just gotta point out as a disclaimer, Catwoman looks like it's gonna be awesome, and if you think you're interested odds are you're gonna like it. Also if you like the recent Power Girl run.
Guess I'll have to hop on that. The first twelve issues of the new Power Girl run were the only comics I actually stayed up to date with. And then they switched writers and artists and I couldn't care after an issue or two.
-- Ace Detective in Sir Chris' Police http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/5260/belikemommy.jpg
Considering I'll be reading all the first issues, I can give thoughts on them when I do if people would like. And actually, I think all of should do so after reading an issue.
