35 posts tagged “dc comics”

Hitman in my mind is the best series by Garth Ennis. His Preacher was great at the start, but the quality decreased towards the end. It's still a good series. But Hitman has been consistent throughout the run, and I really liked the ending.
 
So I was very glad to see one more story from the same creative team, this time starring the JLA. I still remember the Superman issue of Hitman, I really liked that one. This mini is really an expansion on that story, including more heroes, more action, and more moral dilemmas.
 
The action story is good enough, but the main attraction of the story is what the JLA thinks of Tommy, and Tommy's role in the world. There are a lot of references to many issues of the Hitman series, which is a treat for fans of the series, but it doesn't detract from the enjoyment for new readers.
 
I am glad there is a new Hitman story, maybe they will reprint the entire series in TPB.

 

Jeph Loeb had big success with this series and I always wanted to check it out. Now that I have I will share my thoghts.
 

1-6: World's Finest, Ed McGuiness
This first arc surprised me a lot. It introduced the characters and their relationship, and it also showed them fighting many super villains as well as cameo appearances by many fellow heroes. What really surprised me was the main villain being Luthor, who ends his presidency in this arc. That's a huge event in the Superman/DC universe. This to me said that this series is totally in continuity and tells important stories, as well as self contained ones. I was a bit disappointed that the meteor/Darkseid connection was not fully explained in later issues. The art by McGuiness is nice, but it's not a favorite of mine. It is a little bit too cartoony for me, it takes me away from the seriousness of the story.
 
7: Protege, Pat Lee
This story is about Robin and Superboy, who recruit Toyman, a character seen in the first arc. This was interesting in that it very briefly explored the relationship between the sidekicks and S&B. Other than that this was basically an excuse to have Pat Lee draw robots.
 
8-13: The Supergirl from Krypto n, Mike Turner
Following the arrival of the meteor, we also get a new Supergirl (I am totally confused on the other Supergirls). I liked the way this new character is introduced, I especially liked the conflict between Superman and Batman on how to treat her. It makes sense that Wonder Woman is involved as well, which makes it even more interesting. There is also a death in this arc, and though it's not a huge character, it still makes this series "count". I was fooled by the surprise death towards the end, I really thought that was it. But I didn't like how Superman dealt with Darkseid so easily. He could have done it before. I was also disappointed at the end: after Darkseid is gone, we find Kara hiding, afraid to let people know about her. Then she just reveal herself to everbody?!? The art by Mike Turner is very nice, and obviously well chosen for Supergirl and all the other Amazons running around half naked. I do like his style, but his characters look too much like models.
 
                                        14-18: Absolute Po wer, Carlos Pacheco
This story started as an elseworld, presenting us with the main concept: 3 villains from the future go back in time and kill all superheroes during their origins, except for Batman and Superman, who are adopted by them. So now we have "bad" Superman and Batman who rule the world. As I said, a good premise. We also get other versions of DC characters, however I am not too familiar with DC, so I didn't get them all. At the end the time travel becomes very confusing, and although I understand the concept I just don't "believe" it. In particular I have problems with the fact that Superman and Batman remember everything that happens to them, even though they come from alternate time lines, as well as different times. This is more like a Silver Age explanation, which to me is not acceptable. The art by Pacheco is very clear, I like his style though it does not excite me too much.

19: Supergirl, Ian Churchill
This is just a set up for Supergirl's ongoing series, where we setup her status as well as Luthor's interest in her. I was midly curious about Lex's involvement, but I don't think I'm going to read her series.
 

20-25: With a Vengeance, Ed McGuiness
This last arc sees the return of McGuiness, this time dealing with an arc that might be more appropriate to him. Mxy and Bat-mite's involvement means a more cartoony story, also thanks to Bizzarro. Unfortunately for me, I do not like any of those 3 characters. Not to mention that basically everything that happened does not count. This story reminded me a little of the first arc in JLA Classified, drawn by McGuiness and written by Morrison. I was totally confused by both.
 
26: Sam Loeb
This last story was plotted by Jeph's son Sam, who died of cancer. So this is just a tribute to him by his father and a long list of artists. The story goes back to Robin, Superboy, Toyman, where they just have some fun. The backup story by Jeph Loeb and long time collaborator Tim Sale was very emotional.
 
Overall I wouldn't call this a favorite series of mine, but it did have some great moments and great art. I did not like the internal dialogs from Superman and Batman, it felt like a gimmick to see their opposing point of view on everything that happened to them, which might have worked at first, but after a while they were distracting me from the main plot. I do not think they really told me anything new about these characters. None of the 4 arcs blew me away, I had some problems with all of them.

 

When it was announced that the Kubert brothers were moving to DC and were penciling Batman and Action Comics I was very excited. Finally some big stars on the flagship titles in the DCU.

However I don't feel like their work has left any impact at all. Andy Kubert has penciled 7 issues in 12 months, and now he seems off the book. I was greatly disappointed in his art also, it doesn't seem to fit Batman too well. His storytelling is very professional, but his figures seem off.

The new Batman writer is Grant Morrison, which I have reservations about. His first arc with Kubert was about Batman's son Damien. I thought it was an interesting arc, the re-introduction of Damien was well done, but not brilliant. Hopefully it'll bring to some more interesting stories.

His second arc drawn by JH Willimas III felt like Seven Soldiers for Batman. A group of old heroes (whom I don't know, are they new or old?) and Batman are invited to an island and murdered one by one. Obviously a typical murder mystery with superheroes. I was very confused about the characters, since we don't get much time with them to know them. So when the murderer was revealed I was very confused.

The art by Williams is great though, very moody and dark for the present, and shiny and "happy" for the flashback sequences.

There are 12 issues penned by Morrison, but it feels like this is just the beginning of something long. I think he's doing the same thing he did with his New X-Men run. He seems to have a very long story arc in mind, and he's slowly laying the grounds for it.

Next is the Resurrection of RAG, which is crossing over 4 titles, which I am not crazy about. Hopefully it'll bring to something better from Morrison.

In preparation for the recent Batman arc by Morrison & Kubert, I re-read the story that inspired them. This is a self-contained Batman story, published as a graphic novel in the 80's.
 
The first time I read this story I just started reading comics, and I was totally unfamiliar with the Batman comics. So when I read this I was surprised to discover that Batman was not only working with Ra's Al Ghul but at the end he had a baby!! I thought this was an Elseworld type of story, until the recent Morrison story.
 
I really liked this story, it had a good plot involving global terrorism and it starred one of the biggest Batman villains. They have a common enemy, so in this story they are actually allies.
 
I also loved the Batman/Talia relationship, even though it wasn't given much time. For the first time Batman seemed happy, which is a huge deal.
 
Overall this just feels like a milestone in the Batman history. If this story were done today, it would have been a big event story. Instead we get a great little self-contained story in the best format, the graphic novel.
 
The art by Bingham is surprisingly modern-looking, certainly inspired by Neal Adam's Batman. This is a perfect story to hand to new readers of comics.

 

This is a short story arc following the return of Superman One Year Later. This arc felt like a stepping stone for future story lines in the main Superman books.
 
It's actually a nice short adventure that establishes Superman's return in the world's view, so that nobody will doubt the identity of Superman. This is also a nice self-contained story featuring a lot of superheroes (which I liked, since this was a global crisis).
 
Lastly this is a setup for future story lines, in particular the Johns/Donner/Kubert run on Action Comics (which due to delays has not been completed yet), as well as the Busiek run on Superman (though that particular thread is being followed on only now).
 
The art by Pete Woods is very good, I think his Superman is the best modern interpretation of the last few years. Very clear lines and great storytelling.
 
I want to read more Superman stories, however none of the long arcs so far have been completed. The Son of Krypton storyline in Action Comics will be done in February, while the conclusion of the Superman arc about Camelot by Busiek/Pacheco has not been scheduled yet. In between there has been other stories, but most of them tie-in to Countdown, which I am really not interested in. So for the moment I am afraid I won't be reading these two titles.

 

I started reading John Bolton with the Classic X-men issues, I loved both the character bits by Claremont and the Bolton art. This new GN written by Mike Carey really wasn't that interesting to me, both because it's been done before and because it's just not for me.
 
It tried to be realistic and dramatic with the drug storyline, but it didn't really go anywhere. On the other hand it also tried to integrate the fantasy world with the real one, which is the part that we've seen so many times before.

The art is sure worth the read though. I feet familiar with Bolton's work, however looking at his checklist I haven't read much of his painted comics work. I think Batman: Man-bat and Books of Magic are the only ones I can remember. His art here is definitely familiar, but I could also see how much he evolved. His photo-realistic painting is even more realistic, much less abstract than before. But his fantasy world keeps his love for weird abstract surreal imagery. 

This is definitely a book I will go back to just to look at the pretty art.
 

Allan Heinberg really surprised me with his Young Avengers, so I was eager to read his Wonder Woman story. Unfortunately this doesn't come close to the Marvel series, but it had its moments.
 
First of all this story tries to define Wonder Woman's role in the DC Universe, what her motivations are and what she wants to do in her future. This also ties to her history, which is also touched upon in this story.
 
The plot itself was secondary to that, so it suffered a little bit. A pretty typical and simple story line. But Heinberg also managed to introduce a new status quo for Diana's powers.
 
This new status quo might seem too similar to Superman's or Batman's dual identity, however it is well justified in the story. So I can accept it.
 
The art by the Dodsons is very pleasant. I think they are perfect for this title, maybe also thanks to Adam Huges covers in the past.
 
I was a little disappointed that this story was not brilliant, but this is not a bad story at all. If you're interested in the character or don't know much about it, this is a good start.
 

This is a 32 issues series of a spy-action political intrigue. It stars a group of rogue secret agents that uncover some dirty secrets inside the government itself.

The plot is very tight, each story arc reveals a new piece of the puzzle, each building on top of the previous one, in the end bringing us to a very satisfying ending.

It reminded me a little of Alias (TV), where each episode reveals something about the big picture. The difference is that Alias never paid that off, instead trying to keep on going with the format of the show.

The creators of this series are Andy Diggle and Jock (who alternates story arc with guess artists). I am not a big fan of Jock, but his style works well with action scenes.

The main characters are interesting, some more than others, but the most intriguing was Aisha, who has an unknown past and agenda.

The main attraction for me is the limited run of the series, with a clear beginning, middle and end. I thought the big plan by Max was a clever idea. This is a very well written series which I recommend to anyone. 

Very fast-paced action thriller. Very few comics manage to keep the tension high, usually I need a more substantial story. In this case the mystery was a simple one, but it played very well in between the action scenes.
 
It obviously played on the Batman mythos, but all you need to know is pretty much common knowledge. Gordon is a friend, Robin was an orphan. The little girl is basically Batgirl, who is now in the DCU Oracle, a computer/comm genius. The doc is a healing character whose name escapes me, I think she healed Batman after Bane broke his back.
 
This story felt like a summer blockbuster movie, with stakes of epic proportions. The art is very particular, definitely a very personal style. It doesn't look pretty, that's for sure. The cover of issue 1 looks really bad. But that's Paul Pope's style. What I do like about it is the dynamism that comes out in the action scenes. They really are very powerful.
 
One question though: how did Gordon think of Bruce Wayne as the password? Did he just read the name in the files? And is he really Bruce Wayne, or someone else?
 
This is a pretty good action story, not memorable but enjoyable.
 

This is a massive undertaking in terms of format. Grant Morrison set out to tell the story of the Seven Soldiers in 7 different mini-series plus two bookends, for a total of 30 issues. The Seven Soldiers do not even meet, even though they're working toward the same goal.
 
As with all Morrison stories, very often I felt lost. Each mini is supposed to be self contained, with interlocking threads. This is true for the most part, but each mini ends on a cliffhanger, and they all converge to the final bookend.
 
Some of the parts where the minis are supposed to cross over are obvious, some others are very subtle. The problem for me is that I really couldn't tell what the main picture was most of the time, so I just gave up on that early on.
 
Instead I just concentrated on enjoying the single minis, or sometimes the single issues. Obviously some of the minis I liked more than others, but one thing I liked throughout: the art. Each mini has a different artist, but they all looked great and perfectly suited to the characters. My favorites are probably JH Williams III and Simone Bianchi, but all the others did a fantastic job as well.
 
The ending felt a bit rushed, only giving each character a few pages to wrap up their storyline.
 
I can't say I totally enjoyed this series, but all Morrison titles read better the second/third time. The problem is I don't know if I want to read it again.