Category Archives: DC
Does Batgirl’s New Look Signify a New Direction for DC?
Now this is a legitimate surprise, and one I find myself welcoming with open arms. DC Comics has revealed a new creative team on Batgirl for this fall, and with it, I think they’re signaling a new direction for their entire company. At least I hope that’s the case. Forgive me for getting a little hyperbolic over here, but I like what I see and I see what I like.
Look at this picture, from artists Cameron Stewart and Babs Tarr, and tell me it isn’t Batgirl channeling Ms. Marvel or Lumberjanes.
Hipsters are still popular, right?
I don’t know how things look from where you’re sitting, but for me, we’re in the middle of a comic book revolution. Cute, quirky, artistic and personable comics are my favorites, these days, and Marvel is leading the charge. Hawkeye, Silver Surfer, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, FF and, especially, Ms. Marvel are the comics on everyone’s lips. They’re new and interesting, with a focus on both style and substance. These are comics that push the medium towards a true art form. Or at the very least, a great entertainment. In my curmudgeony old age, I find myself flocking towards these types of comics, ones that focus on the people first and the superheroes second, ones that love art and revel in how unique comic book art can be. There is also a stronger focus on women, both as characters and as creators.
Basically, everything Marvel and most Indie comics are doing these days.
But not DC.
Since the start of the New 52, DC has been glued to their House Style for the past three years. Comics Alliance goes into detail here, but basically, DC has strictly followed the designs and style of artists like Jim Lee and David Finch when making all of their comics. Whether it was Superman, Batman, Blue Beetle or Hawk & Dove, DC has only cared about creating grim, gritty, detailed and action-filled comics.
But who is talking about DC Comics these days? Aside from praising maybe Scott Snyder’s Batman or Brian Azzarello’s Wonder Woman, who out there has any kind words for DC? Nobody. There’s nothing but derision, for the most part. Whereas Marvel books are the talk of the town.
Well now it looks to me like DC is finally going to reach outside the box and try something new.
I love this costume design
According to Mtv’s interview with the books creators, including writer Brenden Fletcher, Barbara Gordon is going to move to Burnside, the hipster borough of Gotham City, where she will immerse herself in youth culture. She’s going to build that new costume out of materials from vintage clothing stores. Barbara Gordon is going to become hip. She’s going to take selfies and probably drink coffee.
I’m not knocking these facts, I think they sound great. I love Gail Simone as much as the next person, but she was writing to the House Style Batgirl. That’s on DC, not on her. She even said so on Twitter that she was told to keep her Batgirl grim and gritty.
I never read Gail Simone’s Batgirl series because I just couldn’t bring myself to care, for some reason. I’ve never cared very much about Batgirl, and I loved Secret Six a bit too much to forgive DC when they launched the New 52. The point is, I am definitely going to give this new Batgirl direction a try in October.
Very cute pop!
I don’t know if DC can pull it off. I don’t know if their heads are in the right place or if they’re just playing copycat. But between Batgirl and Gotham Academy, I really think they may have finally caught on to the way the winds are blowing. Perhaps there is hope for them yet.
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So Many New Comics!
Apparently the time has come for Marvel and DC to start announcing new comics for the Fall. DC has a slew of new titles, while Marvel is relaunching Captain America yet again – but this time with a pretty big twist!
In All-New Captain America #1, Rick Remender will be writing about a new hero taking over Captain America’s mantle. Apparently in the latest Cap stories, the Super Soldier Serum has been pulled out of him, leaving Cap as a 90-year-old man stuck in a hospital bed. He’ s still as sharp as ever, and determined to be a leader, but it’s time for someone new to take on the mantle.
Let it be Cyclops!
Remender had this to say about Cap:
“He’s a man in his 90s now without the frame or physical strength, but that doesn’t mean he’s out of the fight. He’s basically orchestrating things and playing tactician, fighting against Zola, using his friends in the Avengers to try and do so. He’s waging a war from a room rather than the front lines, which is new for Steve. There might be some shuffle boarding in his future. I do like the idea of giving Steve a bit of a break once the new Cap steps up and takes the mantle for a while. Steve’s going to continue to play a role in the series as mentor and tactician and eye in the sky, running ops and things. He’s got all of his faculties and is still the super soldier he earned the right to be called; he just lacks the physical form.”
Obviously Steve Rogers will return to the role of Captain America before too long. Probably in time for the Avengers next year, or his next movie. Hopefully Remender will get an awesome story out of the change, like Ed Brubaker did when he had Bucky take over as Captain America for awhile, or when Dan Slott wrote about Doctor Octopus taking over as Spider-Man. Both were great comics.
I haven’t been reading the series, so I don’t know who’s in the running to be the replacement, but Bleeding Cool has a pretty good idea. Don’t click if you don’t want to be spoiled…though it’ll probably be spoiled on the Internet at large before too long.
Bleeding cool also seems convinced that a Spider-Woman and an Ant-Man comic are on the way. The latter one is guaranteed, considering the movie. And if it really is drawn by Chris Samnee, then count me in thricefold!
Meanwhile, DC Comics is doubling down on titles that will surely be cancelled within the year. First there was Arkham Manor and Gotham Academy announced a few weeks ago, which I foolishly forgot to write about. The latter of the two might actually be pretty neat, considering Becky Cloonan is writing. I’m pretty sure she’s awesome.
Then DC announced yesterday a new series called Trinity of Sin starring Pandora, Phantom Stranger and the Question.
She’s missing her fedora
I have no idea what would possibly compel DC to publish this comic. For some reason, they still seem to think that anybody cares about Pandora. I don’t think anybody has ever cared about Pandora. And it didn’t help when the big reveal of Pandora’s Box and the Trinity War turned out to be nothing but a prologue to Forever Evil. The big secret behind the New 52 was nothing but a prologue!
Is anybody reading the Pandora or Phantom Stranger comics? Not that every comic needs to be about Batman, but these characters are just so boring! And I can’t imagine DC doing anything interesting with their new cosmic version of the Question. That may be my least favorite New 52 character revamp.
There’s an interview with writer J.M. DeMatteis at that link. I can’t bring myself to care enough to search through it for a good quote. Nothing against the guy, I know he’s a great writer, but I can’t imagine there’s one iota of interest in this comic from the reader community.
The other DC trainwreck is going to be Lobo, by Cullen Bunn, starring that new Lobo DC created that everybody either hates or forgot existed.
A gun and a sword? He must be cool!
Remember him? I do, barely. What I remember most is that everybody hated the design. And when I read his comic, I was completely underwhelmed. And that was, what, a year ago? Why didn’t they give Lobo a comic back then? Why wait all this time? Were they specifically waiting for everyone to lose interest in a character they never liked in the first place?
Is my bias showing through? I’m excited for what Marvel has to offer, and I’m pretty sure DC are still just throwing crap at the wall and hoping something sticks.
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Arrow Keeps Piling Them On
At least two more comic book heroes will be joining the TV show Arrow next season: the Atom and Katana! I’m excited to see Arrow continue to give us quality DC cameos, though neither one of them is on my list of hopefuls. The Atom is a pretty big deal, being a solid member of the Justice League. In fact, beyond the Flash and Black Canary, this is our fourth Justice Leaguer in this TV universe. And Katana has a special connection to the Green Arrow in Jeff Lemire’s current comic storyline, The Others. Both represent different weapon clans, the Sword and Arrow clans, respectively. Maybe that will come up, though I kind of doubt it.
The Atom will be played by Brandon Routh.
Routh, of course, both started and stopped his career playing Superman in Superman Returns. Poor guy. He was darn good in the third season of Chuck, and in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. According to the news, Ray Palmer will be the new owner of Queen Consolidated, so he’s gonna be a businessman with a focus on the applied sciences division. Will he be shrinking? Who knows!
Maybe DC is trying to get their shrinking superhero onto screens before Ant-Man next July. You know what…that’s probably exactly it!
Katana will be played by Devon Aoki.
Aoki starred in Sin City as a badass sword-wielding warrior woman, a role she’ll hopefully fill in Arrow too! Apparently she’s going to be a contact of Oliver’s in the Hong Kong flashbacks, though like with Deathstroke, she’ll hopefully show up in the present day too.
I’m perfectly happy with these castings. Arrow is one of my favorite shows right now, and I look forward to more comic book characters popping up! Everyone except Nightwing, though.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/5/14
Happy Day after Independence Day! Did everybody watch the movie, Independence Day, like I do every year? Or should do every year…I need some Fourth of July traditions. I need to be more patriotic. And there’s nothing more patriotic than reading comics! Especially Captain America comics…which I didn’t do this week. Man, I’m bad at this.
Anyway, I mostly read Marvel comics this week, because DC didn’t have much of anything to tickle my fancy. We’ve still got new Batman Eternal, because I’m still subjecting myself to that series. But we’ve also got new issues of X-Factor, Magneto, Moon Knight, Original Sin and the first issue of Legendary Star-Lord. If you’re wondering why they added the word ‘Legendary’, well, it’s kind of obvious once you read the comic, but not for the reason Marvel probably wants.
Thor: God of Thunder #24 wins Comic Book of the Week for another one of those quieter, talking heads issues that Jason Aaron does so well with this series. I tell ya, Thor has never felt so grand and yet so personable.
Needs more Beta Ray Bill.
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Factor #10, Batman Eternal #13, Legendary Star-Lord #1, Magneto #6, Moon Knight #5, Original Sin #5 and Thor: God of Thunder #24.
We’ll Make the Batman Metal
Enjoy this lovely ditty about Batman as one badass metal mofo!
The animation is pretty good, and the song is pretty metal, so it’s got that going for it. Batman, of course, could be the king of metal. And Robin is kickin’ it on drums. The video was made by ArhyBES.
Henchman-4-Hire 