Well, it looks like DC Comics’ grand experiment has met with some major success. DC reports that 14 of their DCnU titles have sold over 100,000 copies, resulting in the best sales numbers that they’ve had in over 20 years. Whoa.
Check out my mini-reviews of Week 1 here on Nerdist if you missed it.
On to DCnU Week 2:
Batman and Robin 01
This titles opens with a bang: lots of great action and a mysterious new villain. The Robin/Damian Wayne character is completely unlikable which leads to me to believe that they’re paving the way for a lot of character growth.
Rating: 8
Batwoman 01
Wow. Spectacular spreads. This book was totally worth the wait and lived up to the hype. It looks like Batwoman is training her own “Robin/Flamebird.†Visual storytelling doesn’t get much better than this.
Rating: 10
Deathstroke 01
The tough guy aspect of this books feels a little forced. Middle-of-the-road art.
Rating: 5
Demon Knights 01
I’ve read this “group of strangers with varied skills/powers meet up in a tavern and are forced to join forces when local innocents are threatened†story 100 times, and so have you. Check it out if you’re a huge Demon or Madame Xanadu fan. If not, don’t bother.
Rating: 5
Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. 01
The art is reminiscent of Heavy Metal Magazine. The story is very word-heavy. It’s nice to see our first glimpse of Ray Palmer (not as the Atom) and the Creature Commandoes in the DCnU. Sci-Fi+Horror+War Comics=enjoyable.
Rating: 8
Green Lantern 01
First, the art is beautiful. Poor Hal Jordan is a mess without the ring. Sinestro is a certified bad-ass. He’s one sociopath you can root for as he takes on the Corps he created. I’m so in.
Rating: 9
Grifter 01
A man-on-the-run story with aliens. Nothing new here. It’s missing the “this is why you should care†factor.
Rating: 6
Legion Lost 01
Really nice, clean art and great character/costume designs. It’s a “stranded in the past while tracking a mysterious pathogen†story with a few nice twists.
Rating: 7.5
Mr. Terrific 01
It’s a decent enough origin story. Unfortunately, the most exciting thing in the book is seeing Karen (Power Girl) Star and Jakeem Thunder in their civilian identities. Could that be a sign of things to come?
Rating: 5
Red Lanterns 01
It’s as violent and bloody as you would expect a title about a group of Berserkers in a blood-rage to be. I like violence but I’m not sure where this will/can go.
Rating: 6
Resurrection Man 01
Choppy art and storytelling. Demons are after his soul and the Body Doubles (a duo female assassins who appeared here and there in the old DCU) are after his body. Had to reread a few pages to figure out what I was looking at. There’s a lot going on.
Rating: 6
Suicide Squad 01
Gruesome, ultra-violent insanity. The DCnU Squad has a nice combo of classic and never-seen-before characters. Bloody mayhem.
Rating: 7
Superboy 01
This book features some great, heavily detailed art. We get a first look at the DCnU Rose Wilson (not as Ravager). It’s a sort of Matrix meets Truman meets Superman story. Good stuff.
Rating: 9
All in all, another solid week of titles. Also, please note, these books are NOT all ages: They are seriously dark, and violent. By the time you read this all of the first issues have gone into second printings and should be easily available at your local comic shop.
In a nutshell:
Do NOT Miss: Batwoman, Superboy, Green Lantern, maybe Frankenstein
AVOID: No book was “unreadable†this week.
The other titles are various states of medium and worth checking out.
Thanks for reading.
Your Pal,
Arnie
Follow me at twitter.com/yourpalarnie
Image: DC Comics
I picked up The Flash #1 expecting to take it all with a grain of salt, but I was pleasantly surprised. When I heard it was going to be Barry Allen I was like WTF?, but Manapul and Buccelato did a fantastic job of telling a story without raping my sense of continuity. It is well written and the art is great. I applaud DC for taking a huge chance with all the new books and think it can only get better from here.
J. H. Williams III for you. IMHO one of the best artists i comic books ever.
Promethea a masterpiece and relatively overlooked. Tasked with visualizing Moores more palateable thesis on magic and storytelling and emulating artists from every culture and all time periods and amazing page designs translating ideas.
Great reviews. DC hooked me with their “New 52”. I was exactly who they were targeting, a 20’s year old male who wasnt into comics cause he didnt know where to start.
Well im now on a pull list at my local Comic book store, getting Green lantern, Action Comics, Batman, and Justice League. I also went and bought $300+ of Green Lantern TPB to understand/know the Green Lantern story. Loving it.
Great reviews again this week. I enjoyed just about every book I got to varying degrees. From this batch “Batwoman” and “Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE” were my faves.
Wait until you hit “All Star Western”.
I’m one of the new readers because of this relaunch. There’s only one book I had a problem with (Men of War). Pretty happy with it.
It also helped introduce me to smaller publishers. I’ve fallen in love with IDW.
OK, so 14 revamped titles sold over 100,000 copies. That’s great.
Let’s see how they do *next* month though, after the hoopla’s died down.
I wish I had the money to still keep up with comic books. I had to drop the habit about 18 months ago. I still pick up a TPB now and again though. It would be nice if I could pay for a service ($10 a month maybe?) and read everything I want.