DC Comics Preview Review for February 2013 – It’s You Not Me

Jim: So instead of the normal preview review I have decided to look at a bunch of DC titles and remark about my current feelings on the books. I think what DC did was a great marketing stunt and has generated a lot of interest. DC also gave Marvel a kick in the pants and made them review what they were doing and implement so long overdue changes. Success often breeds sameness as when you are winning, you do not want to change. Still I think DC’s idea was implemented too fast and with a lack of planning. The downside of what DC did was they broke the connection any fan of DC had with the Universe. That Universe is dead and gone. Also they started five years into the new Universe, so whatever we think we know we do not know. Characters have the same names, but not the same history. Some events have occurred, others have not and we have no clue what did or did not happen. So when a character refers to a past event we are supposed to know about we can’t even be sure it happened. Hell they are retro-conning as they go along as Tim Drake was a former Robin and now was not. It is with this framework that I want to review and comment on the state of the DCU as we look forward to February 2013.

BEFORE WATCHMEN: DOLLAR BILL #1
Written by LEN WEIN
Art and cover by STEVE RUDE
One-shot • On sale JANUARY 30 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • MATURE READERS

BEFORE WATCHMEN: DR. MANHATTAN #4
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Art and cover by ADAM HUGHES
On sale FEBRUARY 6 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 4, $3.99 US

BEFORE WATCHMEN: RORSCHACH #4

Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art and cover by LEE BERMEJO
On sale FEBRUARY 13 • 32 pg, FC, 4 of 4, $3.99 US

BEFORE WATCHMEN: COMEDIAN #6

Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art and cover by J.G. JONES
On sale FEBRUARY 20 • 32 pg, FC, 6 of 6, $3.99 US

BEFORE WATCHMEN: OZYMANDIAS #6
Written by LEN WEIN
Art and cover by JAE LEE
On sale FEBRUARY 27 • 32 pg, FC, 6 of 6, $3.99 US

Jim: I think it speaks volumes when my favorite part coming under the DC banner is the Before Watchmen material. As this stuff comes to a conclusion I’m curious to see what DC will do to replace it. The quality of the creators is what drove this project and I would hope DC would be bending over backwards to get these creators to sign up for more projects, but I doubt is. The take away here it that my favorite material from DC has nothing to do with the new DCU.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #17
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO

On sale FEBRUARY 20 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
• The epic, full-length conclusion to “THRONE OF ATLANTIS” hits as Aquaman and the League make a sinister discovery that changes both the outcome of the war and the future of the Justice League!
• What is THE GRID—and what does it mean to expanding the Justice League?
This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.

Jim: The supposed flagship of the DCU has still not come together. There is no cohesive feel to this group. The artificial addition of Cyborg as a major DC hero rings false and the team dynamics are stilted. Again the forced restart with limited planning is (IMO) the reason for this book being less then what I expect from it. Johns does not seem to have a feel for a group book as his best work on JSA was with David Goyer as co-writer. Grant Morrison’s re-launch of the JLA tears ago immediately had a better feel to it this series and Morrison did not have the luxury of Jim Lee on art to drive sales.

AQUAMAN #17
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by PAUL PELLETIER and ART THIBERT

 THE FLASH #17

Written by FRANCIS MANAPUL and BRIAN BUCCELLATO
Art and cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

WONDER WOMAN #17
Written by BRIAN AZZARELLO
Art by TONY AKINS and DAN GREEN

SUPERMAN #17
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art and cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT

BATMAN #17
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION

GREEN LANTERN #17
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art by DOUG MAHNKE and CHRISTIAN ALAMY

Jim: The seven heroes of the Justice League all have books but one, Cyborg. Again this just reinforces the fact he is not a major hero in the DCU and the lack of a solo title is proof of the assertion. The lack of planning is part of the problem, as a planned re-launch would have allowed Cyborg to be re-invented and built up some gravitas for the character. Also I believe his youth betrays the character as he still feels more like a Teen Titan then a JL member.

As for the other members Flash, Superman and Aquaman all suffer from the who the heck are you syndrome. I know their names, I don’t know who they are and that has caused me to not have any strong interest in these titles.

Wonder Woman escapes the trap because they have been telling her origin story as they are doing new adventures. The book is written with no connection to the rest of the DCU and has worked. While this character was another blank slate Azzarello gave us her “true” origin as the opening part of a larger story.

Green Lantern and Batman both supposedly kept their histories while the rest lost any history they may have had. It allowed each of these titles to have more continuity then the others, but it still has a level of strangeness to it. I don’t believe Hal was ever Parallax anymore and I have questions as to what has and has not happened in the Batman universe, especially since Tim Drake was not Robin. The holes in the continuity of these characters are huge and are being ignored. It may work out, but it creates this strange feeling when reading the books that I feel like I’m living with a parallel dimension version of these characters.

I have tried out Flash a couple of times and it just doesn’t work. Aquaman also keeps missing the boat (pun intended). In fact it was especially annoying with Flash and Aquaman as a lot of effort was put into those characters right before the new DCU. I still wonder what happened to the black Aqualad character and how Bart Allen is related, if at all, to the Flash. It all points to how little planning was given to the new DCU and those cracks keep showing up in almost every book they are publishing.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by DAVID FINCH

KATANA #1
Written by ANN NOCENTI
Art by ALEX SANCHEZ

GREEN ARROW #17
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art and cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA’S VIBE #1
Written by ANDREW KREISBERG and GEOFF JOHNS
Art by PETE WOODS

THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN #17
Written by FRANK TIERI
Art and cover by JOE BENNETT and ART THIBERT

Jim: This is what DC is essentially classifying as the second tier players in the DCU. Justice League of America has big names on it, guaranteeing it will sell. The premise and whether it works as a series, well I have my doubts. Geoff Johns best group books have had co-writers, his solo work to date has been weak. We will see how this works.

Katana as a solo title should be interesting. DC has a good track record on female solo characters. I’m willing to give Ann Nocenti a chance to make this hard edge character into a star.

Green Arrow suffers from too much of a makeover in the DCU. They tried to make him Tony Stark with a bow and arrow or something. I hope the new creative team makes him back into a street level vigilante and maybe I can enjoy the next iteration of Ollie Queen. Jeff Lemire as writer is a good start. This again points to the weakness in the over structure and DCU super hero material when a book like Green Arrow is already in need of a huge makeover.

Vibe has his own book, but they are afraid to call it Vibe and tack on the JLA heading. Talk about a low level character. He was one of those characters created at a time when the companies wanted to diversify and he was a racial stereotype from that time frame. Bold move to try and give him a solo run, my curiosity has the better of me on this book.

Hawkman is already a convoluted mess from what I have read. Here was a character that needed a fresh start and from what I have read he is already screwed up. Nothing here I’m reading makes me want to try him again. He needs the Green Arrow treatment, high profile creative team with a game plan for where they are taking this charcter.

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MAN #17
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art and cover by DAN JURGENS and RAY McCARTHY

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #17
Written by JOE KEATINGE
Art by RICKEN

THE PHANTOM STRANGER #5
Written by DAN DIDIO
Art by BRENT ANDERSON and PHILIP TAN

DIAL H #9
Written by CHINA MIEVILLE
Art by ALBERTO PONTICELLI and DAN GREEN

DEMON KNIGHTS #17
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art and cover by BERNARD CHANG

Jim: These titles have lost me. Even with Demon Knights getting a new writer, Bernard Chang does not entice me. Firestorm feels generic from afar. DCU Presents is too hard to follow issue to issue what character and creator is handling the book.  Phantom Stranger is trash, even with JM Dematteis coming on as co-writer, Didio is still driving the bus. Dial H read like a convoluted mess. The reset button did not hurt these books as much as it did others but none of these books are consistent enough which speaks to a lack of long ranging planning.

TEEN TITANS #17

Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art by EDDY BARROWS and EBER FERREIRA

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #17
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL
Art by TIMOTHY GREEN II

SUPERBOY #17
Written by TOM DeFALCO
Art and cover by R.B. SILVA and ROB LEAN

Jim: When I see Scott Lobdell’s name as a creator I go the other way. Tom DeFalco is more miss then hit, but I can on occasion read his stuff. This new version of Superboy is a bore. Some writers are still good year and year after year, some have not modified their writing for the times and some are journeymen players used as stop gaps. Lobdell and DeFalco are not horrid, but they are journeymen as writers in my view.

ACTION COMICS #17
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Backup story written by SHOLLY FISCH
Art by RAGS MORALES, BRAD WALKER, MARK PROPST and DREW HENNESSY
Backup story art by CHRIS SPROUSE and KARL STORY

SUPERGIRL #17
Written by MIKE JOHNSON
Art and cover by MAHMUD ASRAR

Jim: Add Superman into this group and I have no clue as to who this character is anymore. A consistently inconsistent portrayal has driving me off the character as I await Sndyer and Jim Lee’s take on the character and hope that one day I can like Superman again. Andy Diggle is coming onto Action and we need to replace Lobdell on Superman. It is a shame that Superman is portrayed best in the Earth One graphic novels.

BATMAN, INCORPORATED #8
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art and cover by CHRIS BURNHAM

TALON #5
Written by SCOTT SNYDER and JAMES TYNION IV
Art and cover by GUILLEM MARCH

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #17
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER

BATMAN AND ROBIN #17
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art and cover by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY

DETECTIVE COMICS #17
Written by JOHN LAYMAN
Art and cover by JASON FABOK

BATGIRL #17
Written by GAIL SIMONE
Art by ED BENES

BATWOMAN #17
Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III and W. HADEN BLACKMAN
Art and cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III

CATWOMAN #17
Written by ANN NOCENTI
Art and cover by RAFA SANDOVAL and JORDI TARRAGONA

BATWING #17
Written by FABIAN NICIEZA
Art and cover by FABRIZIO FIORENTINO

NIGHTWING #17
Written by KYLE HIGGINS
Art by JUAN JOSE RYP and VICENTE CIFUENTES

Jim: The Batman books are the core and the foundation of their entire line. Batman, Batman and Robin, Detective, Batman Incorporated are all rock solid great books. Nightwing, Talon and Batman the Dark Knight have been decent. Batwing, Batgirl, Catwoman and Batwoman are all books I have dropped or will be dropping soon. This is a lot of also rans for the most important part of the DCU.

And that wraps the review.

Jim: I’m not going to continue to list all the books. It is evident to me that DC’s hard reset was poorly planned. The constant creative team changes have already made characters that should have a clean slate become convoluted messes already. The whole shifting sand nature of the characters backgrounds is a constant distraction. That is why books like I.Vampire that are in their own little world with characters that were never well established are the best books. Also DC’s lacks pizzazz because they have set artificial limits on how many series they can have and how they will launch new books. Marvel, Image, Dynamite and all the rest are constantly rolling out new books and for DC it is the same books from the last two months. We all like something new and DC is missing the mark. Finally the corporate need for control seems to be spelling the death knell for Vertigo as Karen Berger’s departure is a sign of the times. I know they have continuity with Shelly Bond being promoted, but the contractual change may have ended Vertigo enticing new creators.

Of course the good news is as Marvel Now drives DC back into the number two spot, it may cause DC to re-think and roll out some great stuff. Heck let the creators drive the story telling and not the editors and I’m guessing great books will be the outcome. An editor is important to help craft the story and make sure it works, but should not be saying what the book is about.