DC Preview Review for March Part 1 of 2

Jim: So I’m growing tired of DC comics like I never have before. Oh I still love Snyder, Lemire, Tomasi and other people’s work, but my love for the characters has been severely hurt but this re-launch. I no longer have the connection I used to have with my beloved characters. I still believe allowing true change and growth would have been a better way.

Gwen: Honestly I have to agree with Jim. I find my interest flagging with the relaunch.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #7
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by GENE HA and GARY FRANK
Cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
1:25 Variant cover by GARY FRANK
1:200 B&W Variant cover by JIM LEEOn sale MARCH 21 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Combo pack edition: $4.99 US
Now that the team’s origin story is complete, starting with this issue we shift to the present-day Justice League! What has changed? Who has joined the team since? Featuring artwork by Gene Ha, the story also reintroduces the team’s greatest champion: Steve Trevor!
Also starting in this issue: “The Curse of Shazam!” featuring a story by Geoff Johns and art by Gary Frank! Discover Billy Batson’s place in DC Comics – The New 52 as we reveal his all-new origin story!
This issue is also offered as a special combo pack edition, polybagged with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

Jim: A combo pack – who cares, I don’t want both versions, print please. Well Jim Lee drawing a monthly comic did not even last a year, so let’s switch to Gary Frank. Good luck with that, Frank seems to have the ability to still do a monthly for around four months. Next, for the first modern day story arc they are tackling the whole Shazam thing; please just give me a solid JL adventure. I’m ready to drop this book.

Gwen: I can't remember the last time I really enjoyed the JLA. I may have to go as far back as the Blue Beetle/Booster Gold years.

GREEN ARROW #7
Written by ANN NOCENTI
Art by HARVEY TOLIBAO
Cover by HOWARD PORTER
On sale MARCH 7 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Green Arrow’s gone looking for trouble, and he’s found it – in triplicate! Three women who give new meaning to the term “drop dead gorgeous” have our hero outnumbered and outgunned! Collectively, they’re called “Skylark,” and they’ve been sent on a secret mission with Oliver Queen as its focus! Who’s directing them, what is their shadowy goal and will Ollie let his guard down and be gulled by these beautiful and deadly adversaries? Join new creative team Anne Nocenti and Harvey Tolibao as they chart the next chapter in the life of Oliver Queen!

Jim: I have already dropped this book. It now has three writers in fewer than seven issues, really nice planning. As an editor when you get a pitch for a book doesn’t it map out at least a year’s worth’s of stories? This just seems like DC truly had no clue what the frell they were doing with this whole new 52 outside of a great marketing gimmick.

Gwen: Green Arrow has got to be a hard book to come up with good solid story for. I miss Ollie being dead and Conner being GA.

BATWOMAN #7
Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III and W. HADEN BLACKMAN
Art by AMY REEDER and ROB HUNTER
Cover by AMY REEDER1:25 B&W Variant cover by AMY REEDER
On sale MARCH 14 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T+
Six lives on converging courses that will change them forever...
Batwoman, in a hidden lair beneath Gotham Harbor, faces a horde of monsters inspired by urban legends led by Falchion, an evil mastermind.
Jacob Kane waits in agony for some sign of life.
Kate Kane tries to enjoy new romance as the werebeast Abbot begs for her help.
Maro, an enigmatic wizard, evokes an evil that all children fear: their own reflections in a darkened mirror.
Detective Maggie Sawyer is caught in a turf war between The Werebeast Cult and The Medusa Syndicate.
DEO Agent Cameron Chase struggles with a new operative who refuses to be controlled.
It’s all coming in “To Drown the World,” part 2.

Jim: Now I love this book. First and foremost I love JH Williams, but add in Amy Reeder as the artist and I will buy it. She is one of the best in the business; she has beautiful line work, great story telling ability and draws the most beautiful real women in comics. When I have more money saved up I want to buy more of her art (I own one page right now). It has been a good story so far and this book is unchanged due to the new 52 outside of changing Jim Gordon’s hair color.

Gwen: My major art regret in life is not having the hundreds of dollars I would have needed to buy Amy Reeder's cover for the Supergirl annual featuring Supergirl and Brainiac 5. Sadly, I am not rich. I do have the awesome Madame X page Jim got me for my graduation present though. :) I am glad to see Amy's name again.

ALL-STAR WESTERN #7
Written by JUSTIN GRAY and JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Art by MORITAT, PATRICK SCHERBERGER and DAN GREEN
Cover by LADRONNOn sale MARCH 28 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T+
Jonah Hex tracks the kidnapper Thurston Moody to New Orleans in pursuit of his bounty. But he and Amadeus Arkham find New Orleans under attack by the August 7, a group of anti-immigrant, steampunk terrorists. Only the renowned Nighthawk and Cinnamon stand between the terrorists and the immigrant workforce of this city. Hex consents to put the bounty aside (for the moment) to help his friends and finds himself in a battle to the death! Plus: Some of the best love stories are tempered with revenge, especially in the case of Nighthawk and Cinnamon.

Jim: Another very cool series by DC, but Palmiotti and Gray were churning out great Jonah Hex westerns before the jump and have continued to do so after the jump, just moving Jonah to some different towns like Gotham and now New Orleans. Notice this is another book I love that no one is wearing their underwear outside of their pants.

Gwen: I'm not big on Jonah Hex so you'll have to take Jim's word on this.

BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN DELUXE EDITION HC
Written by CHIP KIDD
Art and cover by DAVE TAYLOR
On sale MAY 30 • 112 pg, 6.75” x 10.25”, FC, $24.99 US
In this new, original graphic novel from superstar writer/designer Chip Kidd and artist Dave Taylor, Gotham City is undergoing one of the most expansive construction booms in its history. The most prestigious architects from across the globe have buildings in various phases of completion all over town. As chairman of the Gotham Landmarks Commission, Bruce Wayne has been a key part of this boom, which signals a golden age of architectural ingenuity for the city. And then, the explosions begin.
All manner of design-related malfunctions – faulty crane calculations, sturdy materials suddenly collapsing, software glitches, walkways giving way and more – cause casualties across the city. This bizarre string of seemingly random catastrophes threatens to bring down the whole construction industry. Fingers are pointed as Batman must somehow solve the problem and find whoever is behind it all.

Jim: I have no clue about who Chip Kidd is and will not spend $25 to read a story by an unknown to me. I don’t understand this publishing decision unless Kidd brings in a huge built in fan base. I’d rather see Scott Snyder do a one off story or someone else I trust.

Gwen: Well it says he's a superstar... but I've never heard of him either *shrug*.

NIGHT FORCE #1
Written by MARV WOLFMAN
Art by TOM MANDRAKE
Cover by LEONARDO MANCOOn sale MARCH 7 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Marv Wolfman reimagines his classic adventure series for the new millennium!
There’s a conspiracy under way that’s been going on for hundreds of years. One determined cop has unknowingly scratched the surface and suddenly finds himself summoned to Wintersgate Manor. But this chilling menace may prove to be too big even for Baron Winters.

Jim: Oh joy, joy we are bringing Marv Wolfman back again. This series was interesting in its day with Wolfman and Gene Colan. I love Mandrake’s art, so as much as I want to pass on this title I will check out one issue of this since it is not a cape book. My expectations are the story will be below par. Awesome cover BTW.

Gwen: I loved Marv Wolfman back in the eighties but anything recent I've read by him has been so-so at best.

WONDER WOMAN VOL. 1: BLOOD HC
Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art by CLIFF CHIANG and TONY AKINS
Cover by CLIFF CHIANGOn sale MAY 30 • 160 pg, FC, $22.99 US
The first six issues of the critically acclaimed new WONDER WOMAN series are collected in hardcover! Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, has kept a secret from her daughter all her life – and when Wonder Woman learns who her father is, her life will shatter like brittle clay. The only one more shocked than Diana by this revelation? Bloodthirsty Hera – so why is her sinister daughter, Strife, so eager for the truth to be told? Superstar writer Brian Azzarello creates a new direction for one of DC’s best-known heroes, with spectacular art by Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins!

Jim: Love, love this series and if you have not read it, check it out, but I picked this to complain about the price point. DC has become the same level of whores that Marvel has been for a long time. Six comics was $18, putting a golden book cover on it and a glue binding and you get to pay an additional $5 for the same material. I hope they at least kiss the buyers after this f*****. Where are the extras? Script pages, interviews with the creators, sketches, the pitch, it is so easy to make each book special, but it is all dollars and cents.

Gwen: I never thought I'd care for a Wonder Woman book. I mean, there have been some okay ideas in the past, but this is one of the few relaunch books I have actually gotten into. WW needed an overhaul the way most of DC did not.

PART 2 Coming Soon