PULL LIST #4: The New DCU part 2

ACTION COMICS #1: Formerly the longest running superhero comic book on the stands, Action comics sees its reinvention come at the hands of mad genius Grant Morrison and artist Rags Morales. Seventy-three years ago the original Action Comics #1 introduced the world to Superman, our very first superhero, and now it’s happening all over again. BUY IT. Pretty much everything written by Grant Morrison is worth the price of admission. His and Frank Quitely’s previously published All-Star Superman comic book series is easily the best Superman book I’ve ever read. Rags is a good, solid artist. Not one of my favorites but a fine addition to the team. This issue is being billed as “the cornerstone of the entire DC Universe.” All of these things add up to the easiest recommendation of the bunch.

ANIMAL MAN #1: Jeff Lemire has been tasked with writing a new Animal Man series. As presented, I think he’ll make a good fit. Travel Foreman is another solid artist and, like Lemire, he feels like a good fit for this book. The cover image shown is absolutely stunning and I certainly hope that the tone it sets is the one that the book follows. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you BUY IT.

BATGIRL #1: Barbara Gordon can walk again. Not only that but she can suit up in black leather and swing around, if you know what I’m saying. Babs, paralyzed by the Joker in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s 1988 classic The Killing Joke grew to be a new kind of hero to fans both paraplegic and free standing as Oracle, the mysterious information broker that would lead and assist all of the world’s heroes in times of need. Much of the strength of this incarnation of Barbara Gordon’s character was due to long-time Birds Of Prey scribe Gail Simone, present here on this series as well. Ardian Syaf and Vincent Cafientes pull art duty. I recognize the names but can’t immediately place what books I’ve seen them on before. Take that for what you will. [Editor's Note: That means they're nobody. Mighty knows every artist] The preview image looks alright. There is a nice cover by Adam Hughes. BUY IT. Gail Simone writing Barbara Gordon as Batgirl is a strong enough lure to get me to spend my cash.

BATWING #1: A new hero emerges from the ranks of the 52. Batwing, whom I believe was seen previously in just one panel, makes his full-length debut as Batman Inc’s representative for the entirety of Africa. It’s written by hot-and-cold controversy whore Judd Winick. The art is provided by Ben Oliver whose work is usually worth giving a look. I do like me some Ben Oliver art. One worries that Batwing will simply be the quota-filling “black Batman” and nothing else. Here’s hoping there’s more to him than that.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1: I am not a fan of Tony Daniel’s Batman work. After penciling an arc (RIP) of Grant’s Morrison’s epic and far superior run on the character, Daniel had the bright idea of rushing out a mini-series called Battle For the Cowl which saw contenders vie for the mantle of the bat. Sound cool? It wasn’t. It sold well because of what it was but the storytelling was abysmal. Still, he leveraged this into a controlling hand on Batman proper. DC wisely has him swapping titles with former Detective Comics scribe Scott Snyder. I don’t think the change will improve Daniel’s stories any and DC would be wiser to drop him on the character altogether but at least they have the better writer (Snyder) on the title (Batman) that is most likely to be snatched up by new readers in need of a good Dark Knight.

GREEN ARROW #1: It’s the new stories of GA as told by the guy that’s been writing lackluster stories for the character for awhile now. I think Ollie’s supposed to be younger or some shit. And he’s not so stationary, traveling the world looking for trouble rather than waiting for it to find him in Star City. Dan Jurgens and George Perez are in on art so maybe that floats your boat. It’s not enough for me. I’ll pass.

HAWK AND DOVE #1: Fuck this comic. The Rob Liefeld “art” should be enough to keep it out of your hands. Sterling Gates has done nothing to really impress me and certainly not enough to make me look at these pictures.  Here’s a handy link that Davo posted over in E.K.F.T. a short while back. It’s definitely worth the time it takes to read. Thanks again for sharing Davo.

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1: Set up in the pages of Justice League: Generation Lost, we knew this book was coming, just not what form it would take. It’s written by Dan Jurgens who’s handled his fair share of Booster Gold, presumably the head of this ensemble. Aaron Lopresti’s art is, like much of what we’ve seen this week, solid without really being worth the price of admission on its own. I’ve heard that Booster’s now Canadian and Ted Kord doesn’t exist. This book does hold promise but not quite enough to give it an insta-buy rec. Ask me again after I’ve actually read it. It may get the boost.

MEN OF WAR #1: It appears as though Joe Kubert’s hardened WWII era soldier is being brought into the modern day. Maybe it’s his grandkid or something. His Easy Company is now a team of ex-soldier mercenaries. It looks like EC is comprised of many of the soldiers-for-hire that over-saturated the Wildstorm Universe. I don’t really know how I feel about this. I think I’d rather have my Sgt. Rock back killing Nazi’s. On the plus side, Ivan Brandon (Image’s Viking) is scripting. Tom Derenick is on art. He’s okay. Meh.

O.M.A.C. #1: Kieth Giffen gets his Kirby on all over this Kirby creation. He’s joined by Co-Writer, and DC Co-Publisher, Dan DiDio. In addition to trying to save the book from whatever it is DiDio’s going to do, Giffen is also pulling pencil duty. He’s using the same Kirby-esque style seen in earlier work. Maybe that’s your thing but I’d rather just go read the old Kirby originals. I don’t think I’ll be buying it.

STATIC SHOCK #1: Static Shock reminds me a bit of Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s just the little superhero book that could. Static, originally a Milestone Comics character created by the late Dwayne McDuffie, was absorbed into the DCU a number of years ago along with the other characters in the Milstone catalogue. Since then he’s appeared in a number of stories and was, for a time, featured in Teen Titans. This newest attempt finds young Virgil and his family moving from their native Dakota to the Big Apple – a city whose villains are on a whole other lever. The driving force behind the series seems to be Scott McDaniel, here as both Co-Writer and Penciler. I enjoy his art and I’m usually happy enough to see his name on a book. He brings with him Co-Writer John Rozum, a Milestone vet who’s done some wonderful things with the recent Xombi seies. This one has potential but I can’t quite confirm that you should buy it. Check it out as you’re walking down the stands. If it looks like you might dig it, pick it up.

STORMWATCH #1: Right off the bat we’ve got Paul Cornell (Action Comics, Captain Britain & MI:13) on keys and Miguel Sepulveda on sticks. They’re rockin’. Stormwatch, a Jim Lee creation and Wildstorm imprint, was the series that Warren Ellis used to launch The Authority. As such, many of those characters are here. Who else came to the party? The mother-fucking Martian Manhunter, that’s who. This is why he’s missing from Justice League and it’s a fitting move as this iteration of Stormwatch comes in the form of a secret, super-human organization and Manhunter’s powers basically give him the potential to be the best super spy ever. Interestingly enough, Apollo and Midnighter are present despite their being extreme parables of Superman and Batman. It’ll be interesting to see their place in a world where those two also exist. It’ll also be interesting to see if DC carries over their relationship. While I don’t imagine DC will completely shy away from the homosexual partnership I do wonder whether or not we’ll see some alteration in the tone of that relationship. This should be interesting, BUY IT.

SWAMP THING #1: This character has never really done it for me. I know Alan Moore had a seminal run  back in the day and I will get around to reading it sometime but everything I have read with the character has been underwhelming at best. That may change this week with the release of the all-new Swamp Thing #1 showcasing the return of the plant man to the DCU following his reemergence at the end of Brightest Day. The selling point for this series comes in the form of its creative team. Scott Snyder has been absolutely killing it with his creator-owned Vertigo series American Vampire and his more recent foray into the DCU over in Detective Comics. Yanick Paquette, here providing art, is somewhere above the other artists I’ve listed as being solid. With two great storytellers at the helm, you should probably BUY IT.