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My review of the new DC 52 ((week 2 on page 5))

Started by Real Elijah Snow,

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Real Elijah Snow

Real Elijah Snow

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Nice reviews. I'm glad you liked what you read so far. I wonder if the digital versions read better lol. I wasn't nearly as impressed with a couple that you liked. Overall this week was a let down from the last with a few bright spots. Here's my reviews and grades:

 

Green Lantern : B+

The last one i read, and my favorite of the bunch. Mahnke's art is just as good as ever. Hal is struggling and still fearless. His heroics in this issue left me cracking up and the bit with he and carol was worth a smile (even if the scene did seem a little cliche). Hal's a likeable character without being a lantern....he's basically Peter Parker and Matt Murdock combined. Sinestro is a Bad-asss, and i hope he stays a lantern for at least a while longer. It creates an interesting conflict with the sinestro corps. If you enjoyed either of the emerald dawn mini's i think you will like the direction this is heading in.

 

Resurrection Man B-

Nice start. Art is serviceable. The Character designs on the demon Villainess was pretty wacky. I was not expecting that. I like the internal monologue in regards to Mitch's powers that he's got going on. The fact that the higher powers have a huge interest in him make him seem more at risk in regards to his fate. That was a nice twist. I also like how his main enemies thus far are women. Definitely worth checking out the next issue.

 

Batwoman C+

I have had little exposure to this character aside from knowing that her sexual orientation was a relevant plot point. I liked the interaction between her and the detective that she was asked out by. I suppose she will be the blonde replacement for montoya. I kind of wish that since this is a new continuity that they had just kept renee, but i guess they wanted to go with a new love interest. I thought it was a little sloppy that one second she's looking at Renee's photo with a sense of longing and the next she's smiling and flirting. That seemed rushed and could have been saved for a future issue. Flamebird is annoying and with any luck will meet with a gruesome death at some point in the near future. I thought the choice of Villain was a little weak, but she could become something more as the story goes along. A decent start and with this level of artwork could become an "A" in a couple of issues.

 

Frankenstein C+

Good start and Lemire is 100% on my radar from now on. The inclusion of ray Palmer was a nice touch, and Frank seems to have plenty of conflict going on. The inclusion of the Creature commandos was a little much and could have taken a little longer to evolve. Lemire has a way of introducing fantastic ideas and quirky plot points without hitting you over the head with them. He's kinda like "here's something bizarre and fascinating, moving on." I love it. The art is a distraction and waaaay to scratchy for my tastes. With a better artist this would have been an easy B. Switch Ed Benes to this title DC!!

 

Mister Terrific C

Not Bad. The art is average, and doesn't take anything away. It doesn't add a whole lot either though. A very likeable main character and a nice twist at the end. I would like to see Terrific create some new weaponry besides the spheres. I realize they are multifunctional, but it would still be cool to see some other tech. He's DC's Tony Stark without the drinking problem. Maybe he needs a substance problem to round him out. I think if he were a pot head that might make for some interesting stories. lol

 

Suicide Squad C-

The Harley Quinn cover is way better than the interior art. It seemed muddled and rushed on the inside. Harley's redesign is not bad, but it's gonna pizz off most Batman fans. The squad that is picked is ok. I'm hoping the cast rotates alot with Deadshot and Harley being the mainstays. I'm ok with the rest getting filleted at any point. The ending was ok. I just feel like this plot device has been seen before and is becoming a bit cliche. Overall worth a second look, but this one's on a short leash with me.

 

Batman and Robin D

Yeah. I guess if you like a whiny little brat Robin and a fatherly Batman then you will like this. I never latched onto Bats having a kid. Robin's a 10 year old know-it-all who gets constant instruction from Bruce while fighting crime. Woopideeedoooo!!!! The art is below average from cover to cover. I guess DC just felt like they needed a 4th Batman title, so here it is. The attempt to release it second was clever, but this has to be the worst of the four with any hope. Avoid.

 

Legion Lost: D-

This is the most new reader non-friendly book i've read from Dc's new 52 thus far. Not giving it an F because i have never been a legion fan, and it took me most of the story to realize who i was reading about. A longtime legion fan would appreciate this more, as i'm sure the story would have held more impact. A character Bio at the beginning would have worked wonders here. The story doesn't slow down enough to gain any real knowledge of who these people are or why you should care about them. 2 deaths at the end, and i had to go back and decipher who actually died since it was only mentioned and not shown. The art is average, and it had nice color throughout. (it seems i start noticing things like color when i can't find many redeemable qualities about a book.) If you've never read a Legion book, i don't recommend starting with this pile. Not getting another chance.

 

Red Lanterns D-

There is not one likeable character in this book. The cat scene bordered on entertaining. Then i just realized that i wanted to see the cat get ripped in half or something. When that didn't happen, i lost interest in that situation. Atrocitus is the main star here. His motivations are outlined but i just don't care. The rest of the cast looks like a bunch of angry, red vomit spewing muppets. I honestly don't understand why i need to see pages of characters making "Rage" sounds. I will give any book that Benes draws a shot, but even his art here looks not quite Benis-like. I don't know if he's just not happy with his assignment or maybe Rob Hunter is a below average inker. Having said that, even crappy Benes is better than no benes at all, so he saved it from an F. In closing, the red vomit rage muppets can go be full of rage somewhere else for all i care. I won't be following this.

 

Grifter F

God. I Wanted to like this. (Wildstorm Characters are 0 for 2 at this point and it's starting to look pretty bleak with Voodoo being the last wildstorm book to save the day)

Art is boring and lacking life. The Cover is nice and is severely let down by the interiors. Ok. So the book is called "Grifter", right? Remember him? He was kind of like a blonde,white Samuel L Jackson with a couple of guns and an attitude. Now he hears Daemonite thoughts and runs around like a Nancy whining about it. By the time he put the mask on at the end i was fully convinced he was putting it on to hide his tears. What a joke. I hope his brother (condition Red) puts him through a wood chipper, and takes over as the books lead. Maybe if Zealot showed up, or maybe some recollection of his time with team 7 could have saved him from being an overall dull character.

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dicjones

dicjones

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I'm not sure what I saw in those books, I guess I'm an easy pleaser...lol.

 

Seriously though, Atrocitus or whatever his name is, was a character I could care less about, but in one issue Peter Milligan had me, I actually had an emotional investment when I reached the last page. I thought his back story was dynamic and his motivations believable. There is obviously going to be a Megatron/starscream dynamic that is going to play out with the hot red lantern chick, sorry forgot her name.

 

The art in Frankenstein was sketchy, and I know that is not to everyones liking, but I think it works very well with this title, and all the supernatural elements that are going to be present.

You have to admit, that two page spread was awesome. I thought this book had a nice tone, it had a fair amount of humor mixed in with a lot of supernatural stuff and some pretty impressive tech. SHADE city is just so quirky and far out there in concept that it really brought the whole book together and let you know exactly what you are in for with this title.

 

Batwoman was Batwoman, and that was good enough for me...lol.

 

Compared to the books I read last week, animal man is still tops so far. The family dynamic in that book is what has put it over the top for me, let's hope he keeps that up.

 

Just so you don't think I like everything, I thought JLI was a stinker, grade D. Stormwatch was a C. Batwing I'm giving a B to. Detective comics gets an A- . Swamp thing an A and Animal Man an A+.

 

Hopefully next week will be more to your liking.

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400yrs

400yrs

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Despite that weird anomaly I am giving this book an A as well. It lived up to my expectations. I'm hoping Williams can keep up the pace...he's had a big enough head start I should certainly think so.

I really hope so too. His page designs are better than anyone's.

 

Agreed. His page layouts are brilliant. They are the best I've seen since Bob Hall's Shadowman in the mid 90s.

 

Not to hijack, but what other books would you guys recommend to check out from JH Williams? This is my first exposure to him. I'd prefer if he writes and draws as true "storytellers" are few and far between.

 

 

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400yrs

400yrs

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I only picked up 2 books this week:

 

Resurrection Man B+

The art was nice and the story was pretty neat. I've never read this character before, but the interview in the back sealed it that I will be adding this to my sub. The battle for this guy who can get different powers sounds like an interesting read and Abnett and Lanning are usually pretty good.

 

Batwoman B

The story was ok, but the page layouts were just beautiful. I don't know who this character is and don't really care to learn more about her so I won't be continuing on. However, I will be on the lookout for JH Williams stuff.

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Real Elijah Snow

Real Elijah Snow

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Despite that weird anomaly I am giving this book an A as well. It lived up to my expectations. I'm hoping Williams can keep up the pace...he's had a big enough head start I should certainly think so.

I really hope so too. His page designs are better than anyone's.

 

Agreed. His page layouts are brilliant. They are the best I've seen since Bob Hall's Shadowman in the mid 90s.

 

Not to hijack, but what other books would you guys recommend to check out from JH Williams? This is my first exposure to him. I'd prefer if he writes and draws as true "storytellers" are few and far between.

 

Wow. Props to Bob Hall. That was the only readable Valiant throughout the run due to his layouts and artistic ability. Honestly, i'm not the authority on JH, but good comp.

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dicjones

dicjones

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I'm not much of an authority on Williams either. He has written before but I think this is his first big title. If you want more of his art you need to check out the Batwoman run in Detective Comics. Or the TPB. It was written by Greg Rucka, brilliantly so, and I believe Williams won an Eisner for the artwork in that run.

 

It also just might get you hooked on Batwoman. I never gave her a thought until that run and now she is my favorite DC character and right behind DD as my favorite from all publishers.

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Pirate

Pirate

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only got to a few so far, rest today.

 

Resurrection Man B+ the nostalgia, the nostalgia

Batwoman A great book, will be even greater with a lesbian love scene

Suicide Squad C harley is cool, art isn't

Green Lantern A+ wow just wow. Sinestro is bad , who needs hal

Batman and Robin B can't complain, decent book

 

 

 

 

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Arsenalherd

Arsenalherd

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i cant compare it to past Superboys as this is my 1st one, but it was interesting how he came to be who he is and this comic gives you answers that separates boy from Superman, i liked the art, plenty of dialogue and speech compared to alot of the New 52, i will be giving it a go for a few more issues

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inthehottub

inthehottub

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Based upon your review of Animal Man, I bought it and read, when I wasn't going to do so originally. I must say, I was impressed. I really liked it as well. Thanks! :golfclap:

I agree on both counts. I was never really an Animal Man fan, but after reading you review I read it. Loved it. Cannot wait for issue 2

 

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