SS/OM: Monthly Comics Corner: September part 1

Hey all! Well, Super September (and October) month is finally at an end. It’s been a long two months of capes, heroes, and yes, pants.

 And with this being the end of the SSOM (Shh. I know I'm three days late. Don’t care. It’s still technically October to me.), the start of my MONTHLY COMIC REVIEWS. and the month of Halloween-- one of the greatest days ever... I did more then draw a costume this time:

Ta-DA! And yes, those are pants. No big deal. They’re just pants.

Anyway, Today, I will be reviewing all the comics I purchased that came out in September. I won’t be including Octobers comics because... this list is already longer then I planned. I bought many of DC’s NEW 52 and as much as I loved most of the comics I saw, I... just don’t have the money to keep it up. Which is a shame, because I was really torn on what comics to continue with, and I still am. The October review will be in the next week, so you’ll have to wait till then to see what I’ve picked.

(Edit: I apoligize for completley forgetting to add the links to all the names and events. I've fixed it now, plus some spelling/names issues, and i added a little more to Batgirl and Green Lantern)

BTW, this will be long, so I was forced to split it into two parts so you guys can have a break. (It came out to 23 pages when I finished O_o) Now, without further adieu:

The NEW 52:

When I last talked about the New 52, I said that it would varied from creator to creator. And that is what I got. Yes there were some really good ones. And... some bad. Some very, horribly screaming, painfully bad ones. And then there are ones which will need a LONG IN-DEPTH RANT...some other time. When I... calm ...down...

And, for simplicity’s sake, when I talk about the “previous” universe or characters, I will use the term: Modern Age. And when I talk about the new universe, I will call it: New 52... for now.

Flashpoint #5:

The first comic of the month from DC, and the last comic involving the Modern Age. For those who don’t know, Flashpoint is an event where “something” happens to alter time, creating a world where Wonder Woman and her Amazons are in a war against Aquaman and the Atlanteans--- A war that threatens to destroy the world, and has mostly succeeded. Superman was never found by the Kents and was hidden from the sun for most of his life, Batman is now Bruce’s father, and the only one who remembers how things use to be is the Flash. Honestly, for the most part, Flashpoint was really good. DC has given us the “alternate universe” story several times before, but I’d argue that this portrayal is still unique. The ending was pretty cool too, with everyone showing up for the final battle in the most epic way possible, Flash becoming conflicted when he realizes what he must do, having a touching good-bye with his mom, and then attempt to restore the timeline.

When the Flash tries to restore time, we see a woman in a cloak talk about combining the “three” timelines (referring to DC Comics, Vertigo and Windstorm). And after some more foreshadowing, the action dies down, and we get the New 52 universe. And yes, she does show up in every first New 52 issue. Flash speaks to Batman about everything that happened, before giving Bruce a letter from his father. Once again, a touching scene.

I loved Flash point. There was just one problem...

This is NOT how you restart the entire universe! We never said good-bye to “our” DC universe. We said good-bye to this alternate reality. And the only hero who got a last hurrah, and an actual arc was the Flash. That would be fine if this was the flash’s mini-story, but this was the main comic for the ENTIRE UNIVERSE! It doesn’t do any of our favourite character’s justice and it’s kinda insulting too.

So instead, we must look to the last comics for each individual series, before Flashpoint started, for a “last hurrah”. I already talked about how I wasn’t too impressed with the ending of All New Wonder Woman (which still might not count). But if you want to see a GOOD farewell to a series, check out the last issue of Gotham City Sirens. This series is beautiful in both story and art and deserves it’s own big review some other time. And the final issue was perfect, addressing the theme of change and the separations of the Sirens. The actions of each character works perfectly in conjunction with their arcs and it all builds up to a great payoff and a touching good-bye.

Flashpoint was over all a good story, even if it was not a good farewell: Recommended

Justice League #1

The world hates super heroes! Batman and Green Lantern team up! They fight an alien. GL shows off, Batman ninjas him! We find out the alien works for Darkseid! They go look for Supes. We get a Cyborg cameo! Supes owns GL and Batman must fight Supes' alone!

And wow, is it ever bland.

I wish I was kidding. The story was good. I enjoyed it. Until after I read it and I realized that I knew exactly what was going to happen. I even figured out what would probably happen next. I haven’t read #2 yet, but 100 to 1, Bats either talks to Supes or uses Kryptonite. The enemy isn't new either. And I am no longer intimidated by Darkseid because they use him too much. Lately when there is a huge event with world ending consequences, Darkseid is the cause. How's about something new, DC?

I liked the Cyborg cameo, but I have seen better Justice league “first meetings” that were more unique, and showed us at least most of the team in the the first book/episode.

Recommended... But only because it was okay. Not bad. Not great. Just... okay.

Action Comics#1

I’ve been over this already, so allowed me to restate: Superman is turned into a bratty version of Batman with the Punisher’s tactics. I don’t care if this is suppose to be Clark learning to become Superman. This jerk is completely unlikeable and I don’t care what happens to him. Smallville did this story better, DC. This about that.

Which is a little odd considering it’s written by Grant-freaking-Morrison. It also gives me hope that he has something up his sleeve. And no matter how much I hated this issue, nothing is going to ruin for me the fact that he wants to do a Wonder Woman comic. Nothing.

It may get better, but as it stands, I did not like this issue and it doesn’t deserve the 3.99 price tag (what happened to “drawing the line at 2.99”, DC?)

Not Recommended

Detective Comics #1

So after seeing some fake Batman, it’s time for the real stuff. And---HOLY CRUD! WHAT THE FLAILING APPENDAGES DID I JUST SEE!?

Uh, okay--short version: This comic good. And gory. Really gory. Long version: Batman is after the Joker, who is... naked in a rusted, dirty, Silent Hill-esk surgery room O_o... okay. He’s fighting a masked surgeon until Batman dives in at stops them. And then when Joker is returned to Arkham, we see another surgeon waiting for him in his room. They talk about how Joker only wanted him to do the surgery and not some lackey. He also mentions that he is far too well known and he needs a change. The surgeon agrees, mentions that he admires Joker and then... O_O!!!!!! Um... lets just say that Joker has been... defaced. Ow! Sorry, sorry...

Well...That was disturbing on so many level.

We also get to see one of the major changes from the reboot. Joker is back to being the number one villain in Gotham. Modern Age Joker was getting older, and other villains were taking up the mantel of King of Crime. It’s not a full introduction to the characters, but, it’s Batman. We don’t really need one at this point.

Recommended. And, here’s a Gore Warning just in case.

Batgirl #1:

Here's the comic EVERYONE and their wonder dogs have been waiting for: The comic where Barbara regains her ability to walk. And Y'know what? It was awesome! Which is greatly in part to Gail Simone. Yes, she was still shot by the joker. But the comic introduces Barb after her physical therapy is done. She moves into a new apartment with a quirky roommate, and then for the first time in years, returns to the role of Batgirl. We also get a new villain: Mirror. All we know about him is that he’s killing people who have almost died and that Barbara Gordon is on the list.

Batgirl stops a gang of serial killers called the Brisby Killers. The leader of the gang, Theodore Rankin is almost killed in the capture and taken to the hospital. Mirror shows up, and ends up killing the partner of Detective "Mel" McKenna, and heads towards Rankin. When Batgirl shows up, she prepares to capture Mirror. Until he points a gun at her. Batgirl freezes up. She flashes back to her accident as Mirror pushes Rankin out the window. Mirror points the gun back at Batgirl. As does Detective McKenna, who calls Batgirl a murderer.

Yes. We lost Oracle. We loss probably the only paraplegic hero of the DC universe. But I feel it’s a good trade off. The writing is superb, and despite have her legs back, Barb still has to deal with the psychological issues involved, and the physical limitations she still has from going back onto the front lines so soon after her therapy. And who knows, we may get Oracle again someday. In fact, the only problem is that we don’t really get an “origin” story. New readers will still have to do some backtracking if they don’t know who Batgirl is.

Mirror is a great villain. The comic is very dark, despite Barbara’s cheery attitude, and definitely a keeper.

Definitely Recommended!

Justice League International #1

During the modern age, I read a little bit of Justice League International: Generation Lost. I liked some of the characters so I decided to check this one out. And honestly... It’s much better then Justice League. It’s still okay, but we get introduced to all the characters in one issue and the plot begins immediately. The agency that hired them are looking for heroes easy to control and take the blame if something goes wrong. They pick characters based on where they are from (trying to get some brownie points from world leaders): Booster Gold, Ice, Vixen, Fire, Red Rocket, August General In Iron, Guy Gardner, and Godiva. Civilians aren’t that happy with the Hall of Justice being used for a super team headquarters and later on, they decide to retaliate by... blowing it up. Riiiight. Meanwhile, the team is investigating their new mission: looking for missing UN research teams in Peru.

And look. It’s another comic with Batman. Yay.

I’ll save the full rant till later, but I do think there is far too much Batman in the reboot. And in this issue, it really could have been any other hero and the events would have been about the same.

Anyway, Batman joins the team temporally, since Guy Gardner decided to quit. When the team head to Peru they are ambushed by an army of rock creatures and then a... giant robot. Huh.

Anyway, JLI was pretty good. I like the characters and Booster Gold was as entertaining as always. It makes for a good first issue and an introduction to these characters

Recommended

Animal Man #1:

Well, I got my nightmare fuel for the month.

Here’s another Gore Warning by the way. Animal Man is amazing. Not just for the gorgeous and disturbing artwork, not just from the story, the horror, or the amazing writing: But because Animal man is an extremely different and rare type of hero.

Here is someone that fights villains, and yet his identity is no secret, he does activism work, he’s a stuntman and actor, AND he has a normal family with a wife and two kids, who lives with him in a normal suburban neighbourhood. This is the first time I have ever seen this happen! Even the heroes without secret identities will usually keep their families in a protective headquarters. This guy was living the american dream!

Note that I said “was”

A story that starts with family values and keeping a troubled man from killing innocents, suddenly takes sharp right turn into a living nightmare. It starts with blood leaking from his eyes. Then a dream: His son and wife dead, and blaming is daughter Maxine for it. The little girl, wearing an animal man costume, leads Animal Man through a forest into a river of blood to hide. But it’s too late. The Hunters Three, three grotesque, horrific creatures have found them. They call them selves Maxine’s true fathers.

AM wakes up and when the family looks outside, Maxine has resurrected the skeletal remains of every dead pet in the neighbourhood.

Eep.

This comic is freaking scary. I can not even convey in words how freaky the hunters three looks.

We also get a written interview with Animal Man at the beginning. It’s a unique way to take care of the origin without feeling shoehorned in. I LOVE this comic, it’s my favourite of the bunch and I cannot stress it enough:

Recommended! BUY THIS COMIC

Swamp Thing #1:

Oh, crap, more nightmare fuel. Peaceful sleep? What’s that?

Gore Warning

I’ve been wanting to read the original Swamp Thing for a while and haven’t had the chance. So I thought-- why not. And Y'know? I really like this one. I know nothing about Swamp thing but this one did a good job of introducing me to Dr. Holland, the former Swamp Thing. We get hints to a disturbing new entity, one that likes to posses people and snap their necks all the way around like the kid from the Exorcist. Meanwhile, Dr. Holland tries to move on with his life, but it's obvious that “the green” isn’t quiet done with him yet. Word of advise-- never piss off plants. Thinking that the green is after his formula, the one that turned him into Swamp thing in the first place, he tries to throw it into the swamp. He is stopped by... Swamp Thing?

And... oh there you are Superman! Oh, how I missed you!

Creepy story. Definitely recommended.

Green Arrow #1:

I will admit, I was really dreading this comic. I like Green Arrow but... I was getting really annoyed with the amount of Batman I've been seeing so for. It’s no secret. Detective comics, Justice league international. Batgirl was one of Batman’s sidekicks. Batman was a main character in Flashpoint, the first hero we see in JL, Supes is acting a little too “Batman” for my taste. And it doesn’t help that the original Green Arrow actually started as a Batman parody. Or that New 52 GA has not only his own Oracle, but his own Lucius Fox. Ya. Wasn’t looking forward to it.

But I am so glad I did! What separates GA from Bats is what always does: His personality. GA is sly, talkative and snarky. He’s more similar to Tony Stark then Batman. And the writing here is perfect! I could hear Kin Shriner’s voice during the dialogue (despite him having Arsenal's old haircut. And even with super-powered you-tubers trying to kill him, he’s still cracking quips and shooting multi purpose arrows. GA’s origin is hinted too enough so a full origin right now isn’t really necessary. We get info about the characters, without getting too much at once. It’s a typical super hero story, but it’s good.

Recommended.

Batwoman #1:

DC’s been previewing this one for months! Long before any of us knew of the reboot. And I’ve been waiting in anticipation the whole time.

It’s another horror title, this time a ghost story. Batwoman is investigating ghosts that have been kidnapping children. She’s also mentoring Flame Bird (and thrown out her old costume). The art is gorgeous and the writing is great. The only point that actually annoyed me is the part were we get BW’s backstory. ALL of her backstory. And her sister’s. And her father’s. On two pages.

The info is just a little too much, too fast and too soon, and we didn’t need to get it all at once. But what really bugs me is that the book now seems more like a continuation of the Modern age stories then an actual reboot.

But other then that, this one is definitely a keeper.

Recommended.

Green Lantern #1:

... DC? Do you actually understand the meaning of the term “reboot”? First, All New Wonder Woman, then Batwoman and now this. This one is even worse, because ANWW, and Batwoman were actually good.

So Green Lantern #1 starts with--- hold your breath--- the continuation of the last Modern Age Green Lantern story... Seriously. Starts right after War of the Green Lanterns ends. Which happened because of Blackest Night and all those other Green Lantern stories before it. Even though most of those stories are impossible now. And this is suppose to be five years from when the JL first meet....

Is this a good time to mention that Crisis on Infinite Earths, one of the most famous comic stories in history, was deemed “not canon” because it wouldn’t fit into the new continuity?

As I wait for your brain to stop sizzling from the amount of paradoxes and hate running through your mind, let me actually mention what happens: Sinestro is a Green Lantern, Carol Ferris, is a selfish stereotype and Hal has become a whiney angsty lazy loser, all because he doesn’t have the ring anymore. Think Action comics but with looooots of angst. Oh, and I just LOVE the part where Carol flips out at Hal for not proposing to her, even though not one minute before, they talked about how his life is in a bad place right now. Classy. This comic is dumb and hurts my brain. Oh, and Sinestro is a good guy now... sort of? Sinestro sees that his corps is enslaving his home planet. So he asks Hal Jordan for help... Really, there is nothing else to it. It's just a lot of exposition, and scenes of Hal being angsty.

Not recommended!

Suicide Squad #1:

So we go from bad to... what the heck did I just read? Okay, here we go again:

Gore Warning

So we get a scene of Dead Shot, El Diablo (Chato Santana), Voltaic, Black Spider, King Shark, Savant and Harley Quinn being tortured by people with bags over their heads. In the goriest ways possible. This is medieval stuff we’re seeing here. We go through each character, learn there back story, and how they were eventually captured by police. Each one was sent on Death-row but were then chosen by Cadmus to be part of a secret black ops group, where they hunt down and kill targets.. They were on their first mission: A test mission, and were failed and caught by the enemy. Savant finally gives in and tells the tortures everything. So they kill him. What, you were expecting something else?

The rest are knocked out and wake up with bags on their heads, realizing they are about to be executed. After stating one more time that they refuse to talk, the lights are hit and we find out that the torture was actually one big test by Cadmus to make sure the squad could be trusted. Also Amanda Waller was one of the tortures. And she’s thin now... *suppressing... need... to rage*

They request medical attention, but are denied. Instead, they are dropped out of an airplane so they can kill everyone in the Mississippi Megadome.

Okay, first, I did enjoy this issue... right up till the last page *grits teeth*. But the comic gave us a disturbing scene and we got to know most of the characters in the first issue. We also got an interesting cliff hanger and the art ain’t too bad either.

As for Amanda Waller... 

Making her thin is insulting on several levels, not the least being the fact that next to Etta Candy, Amanda Waller was one of the ONLY NON-THIN WOMEN IN THE DC UNIVERSE. She’s almost famous for getting bigger in each incarnation and is basically one of the most intimidating women without super powers. Barbara Gordon receiving her legs at least involved an arc, and has some underlining, psychological consequences. This? This is for fan-service and to cash-in on the Green Lantern Movie (Maybe they need the series to help pay back the money the box office couldn’t-- zing!)

Oh, and you’re probably wondering why I haven’t mentioned Harley Quinn, since she’s the reason everyone bought this thing in the first place. No, I don’t like her outfit, which is obviously another cash-in, this time to Arkham City. Harley never needed to look like that to be sexy. I don’t like that they made her bat-shit crazy. One of the reasons that people like Harley is because despite being around the joker, she is still very innocent acting and a good person deep down. That, and she’s a sympathetic character.

Love the story. Hate what they did to Harley and Waller.

Recommended.

Frankenstein: Agents of S.H.A.D.E. #1:

I only know about DC’s Frank from Seven Soldiers. But I don’t know anything about the agency it was a part of before the reboot. I think what attracted me was “Agent Frankenstein” and a “four armed gun totting Bride”. What? I like my action stories.

Actually, Agents of S.H.A.D.E is yet another horror title, this time with a big monster mash feel. You like old fashion horror monsters? Then you’ll get a kick out of this title. Frankenstein and several other monsters and creatures are part of a secret organization to protect humanity, and they’re first mission is to stop a horde of monsters that have taken over a town. Most of the book explains the organization Frank is a part of, gives us backstory on the monster and his “wife” and introduces Father Time. When they get to the city, we are introduced to the rest of the agents: Dr. Nina Mazursky, a scientist transformed into an amphibian/human hybrid, Warren Griffith, a werewolf, Vincent Velcoro, a vampire, and Khalis, a mummy. After a short scene trying to convince Frank to work with a team, the Creature Commandos dive into the town. We get a great action scene as they fight off the monsters. Khalis senses humans in the church. Frank, Khalis and Nina investigate, and find an old woman and a large group of children under the church.

Oh, and Father Time looks like a Japanese version of Hit Girl. Odd, but whatever.

I really like this one. Like I said, fans of old movie monsters will enjoy this, but it also reminds me of Hell Boy and the BPRD.

Recommended.

Wonder Woman #1:

I’m not sure how to feel about this one... one the one hand-- awesome plot, story, redesigns, action etc. On the other hand-- why is Wonder Woman in London? Why does the first scene we see of her show her naked in a sheet, and strangling a defenceless woman before Wondy actually knows why the woman is there?

Sigh. Alright, so Wondy doesn't exactly make a good first impression. But I think there were just a couple of scenes that went too fast for us. Because in the scenes to follow we get some nice dialogue and an awesome fight scene between Wondy and some mythological beings.

But my favourite thing so far is the much needed redesigns for the Greek Pantheon. Instead of being self richeous, useless idiots like before, they are now back to there roots of being the selfish, vengeful, mortal-ignoring gods from the myths we all learned about in school. That means that Zeus will sleep with anything that moves and Hera will kill anything that sleeps with her husband. It makes the Gods not only more integral, but scary. Which just happens to be our plot. I also love their new looks: Taking on more supernatural appearances that don’t look quite human.

The story is about a woman named Zola, who is pregnant with Zeus’s child. Unknownst to any of the other characters, we learn from a few scenes with Apollo that this child will end up killing one of Zeus’s other children and take there place and basically bring doom to the earth. And Hermes and Wonder Woman are the only ones willing to come to the woman’s aid.

There were a lot of good things in this issue, and the fight scenes alone were a real treat. But... I don’t know. Maybe it’s because our first impression reminded me more of “Angry All New Wonder Woman” or maybe I was expecting a better introduction to the Amazing Amazon.

But I like the plot, the Greek god redesigns and I read the summaries about the future issues on DC’s website. And someone mentioned that the next issue has to do with Wondy’s origin and... father.

Okay. Interest is piqued.

Recommended!

Batman #1:

Oh, HAI batman! Haven’t seen you or your sidekicks around lately! (Alright I’ll shut up for now)

The issue starts with Batman fighting everyone in Arkham all at once. He’s eventually thrown into the Joker's cell. The Joker frees himself and then... teams up with Batman to kick everyone’s butts? I think I like this comic. Later, in the Bat Cave, Bats is talking to the Joker, who’s standing right beside him? The fudge?

Oh. It’s, uh.. it’s just Dick Grayson. Darn.

Anyway, Bruce and the boys (that being, Dick, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne, Bruce’s adolescent biological son. Once again: It’s been FIVE. YEARS.)

They head to a grand party where Bruce announces his plans to rebuild Gotham in a more utopian city. This even involves rebuilding over Crime Alley, where Bruce’s parents were killed. Later, Bats is checking out a murder scene, and we get a nice conversation between him and Officer Harvey. This Harvey is obviously a lot more trusting of Bats. They find a message left by the victim saying that Bruce Wayne will die tomorrow. When Bats checks out the DNA left at the scene by the murder suspect, it comes back as Dick Grayson's.

I like this comic. I would have liked it more if it was about a team up with the real Joker. But the Joker is a little busy at the moment (See Detective Comics #1), so I will let it slide. I also love Bruce’s idea for Gotham. This isn’t the first time someone has attempted to rebuild in Gotham, but most turn out to be crooks anyway. Bruce is obviously a lot more trustworthy. And seeing him want to rebuild over the place his parents were murdered shows he wants to move on. He wants to help Gotham in ways that Batman can’t.

Recommended!

Birds of Prey #1

I haven’t read much of Birds of Prey before (don’t hit me!). But I was curious how the team would do now that Oracle was gone and Poison Ivy was on. We start with Charlie Keen, talking to is employers over the phone. He had been hired to investigate Black Canary who is trying to put together a new team. Keen decides he’s sick of such a shady job. When his employers decide to kill Keen, Starling, one of the new members of BC’s team, saves him. As BC fights the assassins outside, we find out that she is knew Keen was investigating her. In looking for new members, she talks to Batgirl, who rejects the invite, but suggests Katana instead. (Ya for foreshadowing!) Starling and BC manage to get Keen away from the assassins (but not before one gives BC a kiss), and reveal that they’ve been using Keen to find hiss employers. They get Keen to the airport, but just as BC gets a bad headache, Keen suddenly explodes.

I liked this one. Sure we didn’t get the whole team, but the foreshadowing is nice, and the story seems interesting enough.

Recommended.

DC Universe Presents: Dead Man #1

Dead Man is one of my favourite second stringers. A selfish man that was murdered, and pulled into the employment of a supernatural entity to save doomed souls and keep the “balance”. And this one has a bit of a new twist on the story.

Dead Man’s origin is about the same, except he’s even more in the dark about how to “keep the balance”. He binds his souls to another, possessing their body and living their life. At first he enjoys the work, but now something seems wrong. He’s still connected to this souls. Unfortunately, the god that’s hired him won’t talk to him. Dead Man’s is tired of unanswered questions. After a few more... er... soul searching *cough* he binds with one more soul, possessing the body and points a gun at his new head.

Finally, he has his employer’s attention.

I liked this one a lot. We get some more freakish imagery and a lot of delving into Dead Man’s past, both alive and dead. You really start to feel for him and all the souls he’s connected with.

Recommend

Aquaman #1

.... Holy Crud this book is awesome.

Remember all those jokes people say about Aquaman? How useless he is? How stupid it is that he talks to fish? Y’know, all the things that haven’t been true since “Super Friends”?

Well, in this universe, all the insulting things comic fans think about Aquaman, are now what everyone in the DC universe thinks. That’s right. Every cop, robber, nerd, and cook thinks Aquaman is a laughable, useless fish man.

And it’s flipping hilarious.

Every time someone teases AM, he either completely owns them, or rightfully ignores their dumb taunts. The best part is when Aquaman casually walks into a seafood restaurant, sits down, and orders a fish and chips. I can only imagine the pin-dropping silence from the rest of the costumers. He also educates a rude blogger that he doesn’t actually talk to fish.

We find out later that Aquaman has given up trying to prove himself to the Atlantans and has moved back to his father’s lighthouse with Mera. His plan is to protect the sea from the land and vice versa. We get a few nice flashbacks of Aquaman with his father.

Oh, and there are some incredibly creepy fish creatures that hop out of the ocean and begin eating people... O_o Umm... : Gore Warning

Yes, there’s a lot of gory and horror but also good sense of humour. I’m surprised just how much I laughed during this thing. I flipping love this story and I cannot wait for issue #2

Definitely Recommended!

Superman #1

So, is this better then Action Comics #1? Of course it is! Why must you ask silly questions?

The comic starts with... the demolition of the Daily Planet? The heck? Actually, this is the old Daily Planet. The new one is bigger then ever and has joined with The Globe. Something that Clark Kent isn’t happy about. The Globe isn’t exactly the most trustful of news sources. He gets into an argument with Lois Lane over it. The whole thing has a lot to do with changing with the times, and the topic “print is dead”

Superman stops some robbers, before uh... okay, we get a page of an alien blowing a horn in an icy environment. Random. Maybe it has something to do with a creature made of flames suddenly appearing. Superman takes care of the flaming monster. The comic ends with Clark finding out that Lois is now dating someone from the Globe.

The issue is pretty standalone (for the moment) but it’s a good stand alone. The real issues are revolving around Clark and Lois, and this new partnership with the Globe, which doesn’t seem to have changed their ways at all.

Recommended.

The Flash #1

I got to say, this is another good one. It starts out pretty normal for a Flash story: Barry chases robotic suit wearing thieves . In the process of stopping them and recovering what they stole (A portable genome Re-coder), Flash and one of the men fall to the ground. Flash attempts to save the man by launching him though a nearby window and and the Flash takes almost the full force of the fall.

However, it looks like the fall killed the attacker. When they remove the mask, Barry realizes that it’s his childhood friend, Emanuel.

At home, Barry begins investigating Emanuals death, and realizes that his friend’s dna had been altered. A hooded man enters the apartment: It’s Emanuel!

Emanuel and Barry escape the apartment, just as more men in the suits from earlier begin chase. Eventually, they are caught but the men, all of which have Emanuals faces.

I enjoyed this one, especially the twist at the end. It’s a bit predictable, and yet is was also so fun, that I still enjoyed it. I love how much we’re diving into the science surrounding the Flash and I adore the panelling and pacing of the story.

Recommended.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1

Yay! A Green Lantern story that doesn’t suck! And... it’s not dark either? Is there is actual humour going on here? And we get a few new Lanterns from the other corps? And an intriguing story what with all their rings from various corps trying to “choose” Kyle Rayner?

Really, the only thing holding this comic back from being really good is that it’s too short... and is pretty much confirms that the whole “Hal becomes Parallax” fiasco still happened.

Okay, let me explain. We start with a flash back of Kyle Rayner being chosen for the Corps. Cut to today, we see several lanterns of the other corps suddenly being decommissioned by there ring for no apparent reason, leaving each former lanterns in deep trouble or dead.

Kyle Rayner is busy doing good work when suddenly, each of the rings from earlier flies towards Kyle, stating that he has been chosen. Moments after, a lantern from each Corp appears, charging Kyle for stealing their comrades’ rings.

This comic is fun and I love seeing all the corps in one book. But it was so short. Most of the comic shows us lanterns that we will probably never see again. So we don’t even get much of an intro to the rest of the team. But the comic was still enjoyable.

Recommend.

All Star Western #1

I have been waiting for this one for a long time. Jonah Hex and an Arkham, solving a murder in Gotham? Sign me up!

BTW... Gore Warning !

Getting tired of that yet?

The story is mainly seen through the eyes of Amadeus Arkham, before the asylum is built. As he looks over the murder of a Gotham prostitute, meets Hex and convinces him to let them work together. As they head into bars looking for clues, Hex talks to an old friend who is a prostitute herself. She mentions that the suspect was seen wearing a ring with a skull on it. Later on, we find out the the woman was killed after talking to Hex and the murderer leaves a message for Hex to leave town.

They have no idea who they are dealing with.

Hex starts tearing through the town looking for answers. And the whole time, Arkham is trying to analyse Hex and figure out what kind of man Hex is and how he got that way.

The two go to fancy party, along with every rich man in Gotham. They meet Mayor Cobblepot, and a few other higher ups. That’s when Hex decides it’s time for them to leave. When Arkham insists to know why, Hex points out that several men at the party is wearing a ring with a skull on it.

This thing is gory, dark and I love it so. I love westerns and Hex is just all kinds of awesome. I even listened to “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” the whole time to put me in the right mood. The gothic art only adds to the tension and Arkham just creeps me out. He constantly has this dreadful look on his face, and becomes almost completely emotionless to all others when he’s analysing. If this isn’t the future creator of Arkham Asylum, I don’t know who is.

Recommended!

The Fury of Firestorm #1

I really didn’t think I was gonna like this one. For some reason, Firestorm has never caught my attention. Sure, he’s a cool character, but I just never caught on. Buuut, Gail Simone’s writing it. And Y'know, I think I like this book. We don’t see, er, “Firestorm” until the very end but it’s a great payoff. The rest of the book is build-up, learning about the Firestorm Protocol, and the characters. Oh and the book starts with someone getting their neck slashed open. Hmm... it’s done off panel, so no gore warning this time...

Anyway, we are introduced to Jason and Ronnie. These two are about as opposite as you can get with Ronnie as a rich quarterback born with a silver spoon and Jason as a poor nerd trying to help his disabled father. Jason loathes Ronnie and when they go for an interview, there’s less interview and more “baiting” as Jason and insulting him. He even goes as far as to call Ronnie racist, because apparently, being a rich, white quarterback makes one racist. Even though one of Ronnie's best friends is black.

I actually like this angle. Yes. Racism exists. But for every person caught being racist, there are people are getting wrongly accused about it. And it’s a topic that doesn’t see the light of day. Just because someone is rich or white doesn’t make them racist, and it doesn't take away their right to defend themselves when someone accuses them for being racist.

The boys have a conversation with there parents, who both seem like good people. Ronnie finds out about the article Jason is writing, and the two begin arguing with each other after hours at the school, they’re friends hopeless to stop them. The assassins we’ve been seeing throughout the book show up, looking for a certain container. A container which is in Jason’s locker. Jason opens the container just as Trev is shot. But Ronnie is also caught in the blast. They both become two separate firestorms.

This is a very different twist. Usually, Firestorm is the combination of two beings: One being the mind and the other being the muscle.

Ronnie, confused, begins to fight with Jason. As Jason tries to get Ronnie to control their powers, they collide to the ground and there is another explosion. When the smoke clears, they have combined into a separate entity that claims that both boys are now gone and calls himself: Fury.

Over all, I liked this one. And for the sake of time, I actually had to cut out several parts. There's a lot of this book and it’s worth every cent.

Recommended.

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Check out tomorrow for the rest of the comic’s I bought, including more New 52, Marvel, one extra and a review of what is probably the worst comic to come out of the New 52.

Seeya, 

 Tegan Dumpleton aka SlugLady28

Check out part 2 here!