Animal Man #1
Since Animal Man is a book from last week, I'm not including it in my usual review ratings system.
I didn't pick up Animal Man because, well, its Animal Man. The percentage of comic fans who get excited about Animal Man must be fairly small. But $oss' review of this book last week illuminated the creepy/supernatural side of this book and convinced me to pick it up. And I'm glad I did.
Jeff Lemire wrote a good story during his time on Superboy though the story somehow felt handcuffed. Animal Man may be the open slate that Lemire needs to really open things up and tell an amazing story. So far so good.
He introduces Buddy Baker on the first page in a piece of a fake interview Buddy did for a magazine. Its a clever way to update the reader on who Buddy Baker is without wasting an issue on it. The rest of the issue focuses on Buddy Baker, his family, his powers and introduces us to the creepy-ass trouble to come. Its a quick, tight, sensibly written issue.
The negative? Travel Foreman's art is fucking weird. Technically its sound. Figures are drawn well. Angles are as they should be, but its his super thin lines and Lovern Kindzierski's flat colors that pulls me out of the story every so often.
I'm glad $oss inadvertently talked me into picking this up. Its one of my favorites from The New 52 so far.
Red Lanterns #1
This book has me torn. On one hand, I want to support the Green Lantern Universe. On the other, the Red Lanterns don't need their own book. I understand the readers of today's comics like a good anti-hero, but the Red Lanterns aren't supposed to be anti-heroes. They're supposed to be bloodthirsty murderers and villains.
Aside from that this is a fine book. I say "fine" because I'm not prepared to say "good." It was very much a set up issue about Atrocitus and where his lot in life is. A little too much introspection from a character that's supposed to be pure rage.
Writer Peter Milligan also lets us in on the fact that before he was Atrocitus, his name was Atros. I understand the name Atrocitus is way over the top. But I don't think we need to soften him up by trying to rationalize that someone's name can't really be Atrocitus. Its OK if it is. Its a comic book.
The best part about this book is the art. Ed Benes draws the living Christ out of this book. Amazing. He also draws the living Christ out of Bleez's ass every chance he gets. Good old Ed Benes.
I fine comic. But one I wouldn't be surprised I flame out on after the first arc.
Superboy #1
When the direction of Superboy in the DCnU was first revealed, it didn't sound like anything I wanted to read. The first solicitations seemed to take this new Superboy away from the Conner Kent we've grown to love. But surprisingly, the New 52 version is very similar to that previous incarnation.
I read a couple interviews with Scott Lobdell leading up to The New 52, and he scared the hell out of me. He was kind of nutty and I worried for Superboy and Teen Titans. Juries still out, but Superboy #1 was a good book.
Conner, though he has a slightly different base for his powers, is still Conner. He has to grow and learn who he is, but he is a likable character. All the characters are likable actually. And Lobdell really made each one step off the page into well emotionally rounded characters.
I like R.B. Silva's art. Its cartoony and comic-booky, but its crisp and clean. He designs interesting page layouts without detracting from telling the story. He's the perfect artist for this book. He's really able to draw a teenager. You don't need someone to tell you how old these characters are to know.
Bonus surprise of the issue? Rose Wilson is apparently going to be part of this book. I like it. She's sexy AND has both of her eyes again.
Superboy #1? So far so good.
Batman and Robin #1
This is the first Batman book I've bought in a long time. Since the end of The Black Glove (?) actually. Morrison's direction for the Dark Knight soured me on all things Batman. What it took was the former (and now current) Green Lantern Corps team of Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason to bring me back.
I would consider this book a successful return to Gotham City. Seeing Gleason's smooth lines and heavy blacks took me back to the old Corps days. And Tomasi wrote a nice quick book. No unnecessary words, just all business but still managing to give personality to characters with minimal panel time.
Of all The New 52 books I've read so far, this was the one where DCs 5-year timeline is hardest to account for. Every other book has felt like a brand new beginning. A fresh start in a brand new world. Batman and Robin doesn't. And since the Bat-books and Green Lantern titles aren't changing that much, maybe its not supposed to. But, suspension of disbelief or no, its hard to justify how there have been three Robins and how Dick has gone from Robin to Batman to Nightwing in just 5 years.
All of that aside, this was a good read with a creepy Bat-worth villain at the end.
Green Lantern #1
This is the book I've been waiting for. No huge action. No Universe-destroying threats. Just Hal and Carol slowing things down and being themselves for an issue.
Having Hal Jordan discharged from the Corps was a fantastic idea. Its breathed new life into this book. Not that it was flagging, but this issue felt new. It really felt like the next chapter in Geoff Johns' Green Lantern opus.
Unlike Batman and Robin which still felt connected to the old DCU even though we're now in the DCnU, Green Lantern had none of those issues. It was a seamless step from the end of War of the Green Lanterns to this new arc.
Sinestro is now the Green Lantern of sector 2814 but has other things in mind. The guardians are hiding something and Hal and Carol are still on two separate pages. Hal also has no car, no job and nowhere to live. A great start for Green Lantern in The New 52.
Panel of the Week
A lot of great artists have drawn Atrocitus in his short life, but few have made him look as badass as Ed Benes here.
-Gint
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