Category Archives: Comics
My DC Rejiggering Retrospective
So the first full month of DC’s revamp has come and gone, and October will bring us all new #2 issues. Sales wise, it’s been great for DC Comics. All 52 new comic series have sold out, with some going back for multiple printings. The hype has paid off, they’ve sold a ton of comic book. Huzzah and kudos.
But what happens with issue #3? Or issue #5? Or #12?
I guess we’re going to find out, DC most of all.
People already seem to dislike the new Superman
They hype isn’t going to last forever. I’m sure DC realizes this and has a plan. Someday the sales of their books are going to drop back down to pre-revamp numbers. The lame, uninteresting titles will get cancelled and they’ll be back to the way things used to be: starting random new series whenever, bringing in new writers on popular titles and changes in art and story abound. Heck, some of the creators on the new books are already switching out. The well of support will dry up. But that’s an article for another today. Now that we’re through the first month, I figure I’d write about how I made it through the DC Rejiggering.
Hit the jump to find out my thoughts on each of the 52 titles.
Last Round of DC Rejiggering Reviews
The final week of all-new #1 issues has come and gone, and the DC Rejiggering stands fully revealed at last! I plan on doing a full retrospective later in the week, so for now I’ll just focus on capsule reviews for the titles I picked up this week. We actually have a pretty good crop, with DC seemingly saving some of the best for last. I also got to finally read Teen Titans, starring my favorite DC character, Tim Drake. And I’m confident in saying that I’m happy with his new status quo. Red Robin as leader of the Teen Titans is a good direction for him, compared to just Red Robin solo hero from before the rejiggering. I like the costume change too.
New costume/Old Costume
But I’ll get to the larger retrospective later. For now, on to the reviews!
Riding the Nudey Train All the Way to Nudesville to Sell DC Comics
Boobs sell comics. I realize this, I’m not a fool. Big, happy hooters have been at the forefront of superhero comics ever since Wonder Woman put on her first gold-emblazoned bustier. I have no problem with nudity and sex in comics. If it’s tasteful and serves a purpose, it can enhance the story or the character. But the extent to which DC Comics is trying to sell a lot of their female characters by putting them in the buff in their new #1 issues is making me feel leery about the whole line.
And the new Voodoo #1 this week may win the prize for the most exploitative.
Just look at that come-hither claw
Two-thirds of this issue take place in a strip club, where the title character is either on stage taking it off or in a private room giving a lap dance to a very sleazy guy. The fact that the guy is some kind of secret agent and the titular Voodoo is a space alien seems almost secondary. This is a comic about a strip club, and I felt as creeped out reading it as I did the last time I went to a strip club and got to sit next to a big, drunk guy who was not only really enjoying the show, but also had to keep telling me about it. DC Comics spends about as much time introducing us to Voodoo and the plot as it does telling us that there’s a good chance she’ll be naked or nearly naked in every issue!
So clearly all us lonely, geeky, basement-dwelling fan boys should buy Voodoo.
Because boobs.
Further Scarlet Spider Teases
A new teaser image of the Scarlet Spider (or a version of him) was released by Marvel Comics today and it looks pretty cool. You may recall back at the San Diego Comic Con, Marvel released an image of his iconic sweatshirt on fire. I posted it then, excited that Scarlet Spider may return. He’s a clone of Peter Parker, and was a big deal when my brother and I first got into reading Spider-Man comics. Well he’s been dead since the mid-90s, so any hints that he might be coming back are pretty cool.
Check out the imagine and a new costume…though the same iconic blue hoodie.
Apparently he'll be teaming up with Bargain Basement Daredevil
Review: Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #2
The spidery world of Miles Morales grows a little bit bigger in this second issue. Some of it is welcome and exciting, and some of it is too much too soon. But once again writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli knock one out of the park in terms of character and storytelling. Miles takes a few big steps in this issue and learns some important life lessons – not to mention spider lessons. That the reader gets to go along for the ride is the real treat.
Ultimate Comics: All-New Spider-Man #2
The All-New Ultimate Spider-Man is off to a good start. But I don’t think the characters have yet earned the heavy drama in this issue, at least not Miles’ father.
There will be spoilers!
Once again, decompression is the name of the game. Bendis is taking his time introducing us to new star Miles Morales, and he’s also taking the time to introduce Miles to his new spider-powers. We all saw Miles get bitten by the bug last issue. Now it’s time to see what that means. I do not mind the decompression, especially not from Bendis. He practically introduced the concept to the world of comics with the original Ultimate Spider-Man. He writes great dialogue and really delves into the personality of his characters. Unfortunately, we only get a taste of Bendis’ usual snappy banter in this issue. Too much is given over to a long speech by Miles’ father. It’s a nice speech, but we don’t yet know the character enough for it to matter.
At least the rest of the issue is Miles having a goofy, youthful conversation with his dorky friend Ganke.
Henchman-4-Hire 