Short but sweet reviews of the DCnU reboot. (Check out my mini-reviews of Week 1 and Week 2 here on Nerdist if you missed them)
On to DCnU Week 3:
Batman 01
A nice, well drawn mystery. One nitpick: everyone in the Bat Family seems to way too short. That being said, I’m ready for more.
Rating: 7.5
Birds of Prey 01
We’re treated to a great intro to the stars of the book, Black Canary (I’m still on the fence on her costume redesign) and Starling (a new character). Think Alias (the TV show) meets Dukes of Hazzard (the TV show). Great art and all-out action.
Rating: 8.5
Blue Beetle 01
Looks like a retelling of BB’s origin mixed with an appearance by the DCnU version of the Brotherhood of Evil (Doom Patrol then Teen Titan’s villains in the old universe). Things I don’t like: 1) Speaking in English, but throwing one Spanish word per sentence so we don’t forget that BB is Latin. 2) The whole teen, “no, we’re just friends†thing has been used to death.
Rating: 6
Captain Atom 01
The Captain’s redesign makes me think of Dr. Manhattan crossed with Wonder Man’s (Marvel Comics) Ionic energy form and comes complete with a new power-set. The book reads like science fiction meets science class.
Rating: 6.5
Catwoman 01
This book is sexy. The art is dynamic and reminds me a bit of Manga (but not too much, just right). It’s a simple plot so far, but I’m in.
Rating: 7.5
DC Universe Presents 01
It’s a good introduction to Deadman but I would have liked some more action. I mean, it IS a comic book.
Rating: 7
Green Lantern Corps 01
A day in the life of a Green Lantern with beautiful art. It’s kind of an ultra violent cop story.
Rating: 8
Legion of Superheroes 01
Out of all of the DCnU #1’s, this book feels like it stepped right out of the old universe. All the characters are right were we left them and that’s not necessarily a good thing. This title seems to lack focus.
Rating: 6
Nightwing 01
Beautifully drawn. We’re given a short and sweet transition from Batman back into Nightwing. It’s a high-action story and a bit of a gamble having the main character get his ass handed to him in the first issue.
Rating: 7.5
Red Hood & The Outlaws 01
Bad Title/great art. It’s the misadventures of two former sidekicks with tarnished reputations. The original Teen Titans and an unknown chapter in Jason Todd’s life are alluded to, and, therefore, my interest is piqued.
Rating: 8.5
Supergirl 01
I like the new design for Kara’s costume, it’s nice and alien/futuristic. One panel in particular features Supergirl super-hearing lines from some of the other DCnU titles… that’s a great touch. The only thing we’re missing is a plot.
Rating: 7
Wonder Woman 01
1)   The art has a deceptively simple, Alex Toth-like look. It’s gorgeous.
2)Â Â Â A completely unexpected horror element.
3)Â Â Â WW comes off like a total ass-kicker.
That’s 3 yeses.
Rating: 9
This was a particularly good week of titles. Especially art-wise. 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: Birds of Prey, Green Lantern Corps, Red Hood & the Outlaws, Wonder Woman
AVOID: If you’re not already a huge fan of the Legion of Superheroes, you can skip this one.
The other titles feature some nice art and decent stories, I’m just looking for a little more “wow.â€
Thanks for reading.
Your Pal,
Arnie
Follow me at twitter.com/yourpalarnie
I loved the first issue of Wonder Woman. Batman 1 was amazing, but I liked Detective comics 1 just a little better (maybe just because of the last two pages of detective comics).
Catwoman 1 got a lot of crap from the press for being overly sexual but , just like you said, it’s quite similar to the manga style of drawing. I liked it. The scene in the toilet shows exactly how bad-ass Catwoman is.
This week in the DCnU showed me (as a European) how weird the ratings for US comics are. Catwoman got a Teen+ rating, probably because of the “fanservice”. But is actually pretty tame in the violence department if you compare it to Batman 1 (which has a pretty graphic headshot on one of the first pages), Wonder Woman (which has a few decapitations). Both Batman and Wonder Woman don’t get the Teen+ rating, but just a Teen rating. Most European comics feature far less violence, but nudity is much more common (even in comics for younger readers).
Great week though I’d rate Batman much higher.
Can you please add more merchandise to your store i.e. reprint the Nerdist t-shirt available on the website that is sold out and maybe put up quote t-shirts from the podcasts you’ve done. Maybe even do one of Chris, Matt, and Jonah on a cover of a band album. Anything to represent the Nerdist would be awesome!
Batman was easily my favorite of this lineup, and I want to like Red Hood & the Outlaws, because I like Jason, but I HATE, HATE, HATE what it’s doing with Starfire.
i agree with justusGS Batman 1 was very good tough i have to say for some reason i have 2 copys
I’m with you on most of these, but I thought your rating of Batman was a little low. I thought it was by far the best of the #1s.