Weekly Comic Review for 8/1/12

This week we had a couple new titles, some interesting character developments, as well as some comics taking a down turn. So, let’s get on to the reviews…

Avengers Academy #34 – The AvX tie-ins are finally over but that doesn’t mean things are done getting messy for the students. The is part 1 of 4 of a new story arc called “Final Exam”. While relaxing and waiting to find out what’s going on with the academy, the students get called by Jeremy Briggs. He has cures for Hazmat and Mettle. Yes, we finally get to see Mettle as a normal person with skin. There’s one other secret he has tho. He’s teamed up with the Young Masters and is about to cause some real problems for all powered people, good or bad.

Dial H #4 – We finally find out the secret of Squid and the mask comes off for Manteau. Secrets are being revealed although there are still a lot yet to be figured out. Meanwhile Ex Nihlo takes the dial for a spin.

Earth 2 #4 – After not appearing since the first issue, Al Pratt reappears this issue and caught up in the middle of his origin. Meanwhile, Flash, Hawgirl, and Green Lantern show up to take on Grundy but aren’t making very good progress. Just in time to save the day (maybe) is the Atom. This Atom is a cross between his pre-New 52 son and godson (Damage and Atom Smasher), being able to grow and having glowing hands meaning some sort of atomic powers. He’s also connected to Hawkgirl and we find out this Hawkgirl is Kendra. The pieces keep coming together.

The First X-Men #1 – The fun part of writing a comic that is a precursor to a standing book is making sure all the connections fit. Well, this one has Wolverine and Sabretooth being buddy buddy while knowing of Xavier (who is a teen) and Magneto. This makes no sense after the histories of the characters. There are a couple new characters introduced as well. I just can’t see myself reading any more of this title and seeing people meet in the past when they didn’t know each other years later.

Green Arrow #12 – Yeah, this is going to be the last issue of this other than maybe picking up issue 0. The story is built up so that the 0 issue breaks into the middle of a terribly written and drawn story. They also toss in new character Suzie Ming out of nowhere who has met up with Green Arrow in the last panel out of nowhere. That’s on top of the character who’s hair color is mysteriously changing throughout the story for no good reason. It’s time to just let this go.

Hawkeye #1 – I’m a big fan of Hawkeye and was excited to see he was getting his own series again. Matt Fraction is writing it so I expected it to be good too. The big problem I didn’t expect was the fact that it looks like it was illustrated in crayon. The story was kind of interesting in one of those jump back and forth kind of ways but the art made it so distracting that it was hard to read. The cover stood out so little that I almost missed picking up the comic. They need to get a new artist ASAP or there’s no way I’ll be able to follow the title.

Red Lanterns #12 – Atrocitus vs Abysmus for their final (?) fight. It turns out that after being the one who destroyed the red central battery, Abysmus held the secret to restoring it. The surviving lanterns pull together but there may be something to their planet that will keep troubles going. Of course, I need to mention the Dex-Starr backs up Atrocitus for the battle. The poor kitty gets his butt kicked but gets in some last licks. Anyone else interested in Dex-Starr getting his own series or mini-series?

Stormwatch #12 – The Martian Manhunter is up to something. He’s got plans outside of Stormwatch and is wiping memory of himself from the other Stormwatch members. I’m not sure if this means he’s going to be appearing in another book or what. It’s interesting watching the reaction of the members as well as the Shadow Lords. We also finally see what Harry Tanner has been working on all this time, trying to take control of the Shadow Lords.

It’s pretty sad how poorly the first issues turned out. The top 3 titles for the week will have to go to Avengers Academy, Earth 2, and Red Lanterns. Hopefully Hawkeye will improve. Personally, I don’t think we need another X-Men title, especially one trying to create more of a history that seems to only make things messier.