Weekly Comic Review for 9/21/11
Slowly but surely, I’m working my way through. So, let’s move on quickly to my comic pulls.
The New 52
Batman #1 – It’s a prison break in Arkham Asylum. Time for Batman to save the day and corral a group of some of his worst bad guys.Lucky, he had a little help from none other than the Joker. Or did he? As Bruce readies for a party, it’s revealed that it was really Nightwing in disguise. As the party goes on, the Commissioner gets a call that the Batman must investigate. The evidence at the murder points to someone who may be out to get at Bruce Wayne as well and that person is… Dick Grayson? This is leading into what looks like an interesting story. One question is the timing — was Dick in Arkham when it happened? If the stories continue like that one, Batman fans will be hooked. 
Birds of Prey #2 – It’s the new BoP and for now it’s just Dinah and Starling. Dinah stops to see Barbara who is now on her feet (We still need to find out how) and running around as Batgirl but not with the old team. For now, it’s just the duo trying to save the investigator following them. Right now, he’s the only one I know of that will be following them as the book just doesn’t seem as interesting. Without Oracle and the other members, the book just isn’t as good. 
Blue Beetle #1 – Jaime Reyes gets his origin rebooted it seems. This time here’s no Dan Garrett or Ted Kord. The scarab makes it to Earth (after been damaged by a Green Lantern) and it eventually ends up on Jaime with the Reach connection revealed right away. Making an appearance are old Teen Titans enemies Phobia (with a new look), Warp, and Plasmus. Despite my hatred of all these reboots, this book seems like it might have a chance.
Captain Atom #1 – It looks like the Captain is an energy being this time around. And he seems to have the ability to play around with molecular structures. (And I thought Firestorm wasn’t going to be around for another week!) Not much is really going on other than exploring the changes in Captain Atom. I thought the character wasn’t great before but now there seems to be even loss interesting.
Catwoman #1 – It’s a new universe and it’s always good to start things off with a bang. Well, Selina does that literally, escaping her apartment with her kitties just before it blows up. If you need a new place, you need the money to pay for it so Selina infiltrates a Russian mob party to get some information. After getting the information she needs, she takes off. She’s found later but not by the mob, but by Batman whom she ends up having sex with while both are still in costume. DAMN! What a way to start off a new series. I’ve always loved her playful interactions with Bruce.
DC Universe Presents #1 – Deadman starts the first storyline with a reinterpretation of his origin. Rama still saved the dead trapeze artist but instead of just learning by jumping between bodies, this time around, he seems fated to take over certain people. Being able to take over who he wants was more interesting. While future storylines may be more interesting, this one isn’t appealing to me and I’m really sick of Deadman already.
Green Lantern Corps #1 – Out in space, someone is taking out members of the Green Lantern Corps. Back on Earth, Guy an John try to find mundane jobs to center themselves, tho they aren’t very successful. If that’s not going well, might as well take the rings out for a trip and visit Oa, right? They get there just in time to form a group to find out who’s after the other Lanterns. Not a lot has really changed with the this title since before so hopefully it will stay as good.
Legion of Super-Heroes #1 – This is another title that hasn’t changed much. The Legion is trying to bolster its members with the former academy members. There’s still talk of the Flashpoint Event as if the Legion is outside the effects of what happened before. Meanwhile, Brainiac 5 is still trying to belittle Mon-El into stepping down so he can take over. The mysterious doctor has been given the name Harmonia and more is revealed in the little ID blurb each member gets when they first appear in an issue. Things are keeping active and the book is still looking good.
Nightwing #1 – Dick takes his old identity back. I’m glad to see him as Nightwing instead of Batman though I wish his costume wasn’t so similar to Batwoman’s and the Batman from “Batman Beyond”. The circus is back in town and Dick goes back to visit old friends. On the way home, he’s attacked by someone who thinks that Dick Grayson is a threat. Not Nightwing, but Dick. Should be interesting to see how things go with Dick back in his own costumer again.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 – I wanted to give this title some hope. I like Roy Harper and I like Starfire. I think they were drunk when they decided the path of this book though. On the plus side, Roy has his arm back again. Roy and Jason Todd are buddies which is a little disturbing. Starfire is a total flake and a slut who sleeps around with whomever happens to be around. A new and mysterious character named Essence is introduced too. This is starting low and going down from there.
Supergirl #1 – Supergirl crashes to Earth in modern times with no knowledge of what’s going on including why she’s in the outfit she’s in which is for after graduation. To make things worse, the outfit is HORRIBLE. The boots go up past her knees with the knee parts cut out. She looks like she’s wearing a long sleeve shift with something wrapped up over her crotch to hold the front and back of the shirt down. The cape is cool but that’s it. It’s a travesty otherwise. She fights men an mech suits while discovering some of her powers until Superman shows up. I think this says it all…
Wonder Woman #1 – A man with dark purple skin turns 3 girls into oracles. A woman in a peacock cloak beheads 2 horses and the corpses grow human torsos and heads to become live centaurs. And a woman is scared by a thin, pale skinned man with bird feet who is wearing an old war helmet. (This man is later revealed to be Hermes. Really?!?) The centaurs attack these 2 and the girl uses a key which teleports her to Wonder Woman and then sends them both back to the original location to fight. And Diana’s her costume? Not so great. I’m really not impressed by the start of this.
Everything Else
Avengers: Children’s Crusade #7 of 9 – (Yes, there’s a Star Trek joke in there, but we’ll pretend there’s not.) With Rictor returned to being a mutant, Wanda is ready to restore the rest of the mutants. The Avengers and X-Men are not ready to let her though. (I would think it should be the ex-mutants’ choice, not theirs, but I guess they all know what’s best for everyone else.) Since we have 3 groups of heroes present, I guess that means they have to fight each other. Why do we even need villains? Wanda stops them all and she and the Young Avengers head back off to Doom’s castle where Doom reveals Wiccan never lost his powers; he had only convinced him he had. Wanda, Victor, and Billy start a spell to restore the mutants, but Eli has to mess stuff up as usual and breaks the ritual, leaving Dr. Doom with all the excess power that Wanda used to have. Not only that but he’s wearing white now and has no need of the mask. No clue what to expect next and I’m not going to guess because which ever path I pick, it’ll probably be the wrong one.
Green Hornet #18 – It’s the original Kato vs. the Red Hand with flashbacks to their history sprinkled in. Has the Red Hand finally won? Hopefully we’ll find out soon.
Heroes for Hire #12 – It lasted 1 year. With appearances by Moon Knight, Silver Sable, Paladin, Stingray, and Namor, the storyline (minus anything about that fear monster) is finished with Namor off to stop the Atlantean drug ring. It was a nice ride while it lasted.
Ultimate Comics Hawkeye #2 – We learn more about Hawkeye’s history with Nick Fury and see more of China’s super-human powerhouses. As it becomes more evident that Clint will need his own powerhouses, Nick send in Ultimate X (Nick’s covert mutant team consisting of 2 young girls and a guy with wings) and the Hulk. Next issue should be quite messy.
Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 – The last of the poly-bagged first issues for the Ultimate line. Mutants are being stalked, captured, and put in concentration camps following Magnet’s attach on New York. A few are in hiding while others are hunted. Jean Grey is out trying to find other mutants to take them somewhere safe. All the while, there is talk about the revelation that mutants were caused by a government experiment to create a biological weapon. While in hiding, Iceman, Kitty Pryde, and the Human Torch (who is trying to say he’s a mutant too since he got his powers because of science) gind out that Rogue is being attacked and may get captured. Despite their decision to lay low, they all agree to head out and try to save her. And the mutants of the regular universe thought conditions were bad.
Only one week left on the New 52’s launch month. I’ll try to get those books up soon. There’s just a matter of trying to make a new Magic Deckto play in the local tournaments holding me back. (Damn rotation of sets and losing a bunch of cards I used!) But I’ll at least get this one finished for you with an announcement of my Top 3. This week, my top recommendations go to Batman, Green Lantern Corps, and Ultimate Comics Hawkeye. (Legion of Super-Heroes came in a close 4th though.) Let me know what you think of the New 52. After I do my review of last week’s books, I plan on posting up something about the New 52 in general as a new universe. Have a good night all.
