Long time comic book scribe Fabian Nicieza recently took over the writing duties for leaving scribe Judd Winick on Batwing. The new Batwing scribe is currently wrapping up Winick's storylines with December's Batwing # 15.
Nicieza's first full storyline starts with Batwing #16 as new regular artist Fabrizio Forentino take over the book and start the new story arc "Acceptable Corruption" which deals with the police in Tinasha letting a killer go free, according to Nicieza.
Nicieza talked about his first arc to Newsrama:
A murderer walks free because his rich father greases the right palms. The punk kills again and David has had enough. He pressures to protect a witness who can identify the spoiled punk while he uses Batwing to intimidate the industrialist father. But success in the short-term might mean long-term problems for both David and Batwing.
When the industrialist father is not all too happy with David and Batwing's interventions, he decides to bring in some heavy guns to take down both of them (not knowing they are one and the same).
David's police precinct will be fleshed out a bit more with new characters, as will his partner Kia. She'll be heavily involved and not all too happy with what's going on. Batwing's operations engineer, Matu, will also play a big role... if he survives the ass-whoopin' David brings down on them. Batwing #16, the first issue with new creative team of Fabian Nicieza and Fabrizio Forentino, will hit stands in January.
BATWING Issues #1-8 Story arc: Massacre/The Kingdom Storyline Writer: Judd Winick Artists: Ben Oliver, Chriscross & Dustin Nguyen DC Comics
BACKGROUND:
Welcome back folks. Been a while since I did a whole storyline. But, let's get down to business. Batwing first appeared as a part of Batman's new Batman Inc venture about a year before the relaunch. Fast forward to around last summer when DC announced the New 52, Batwing was one of the titles that was to be bolstered. And that came with both positive and negative press. Yet, Batwing was just one of the many characters that were going to give diversity alongside Mr. Terrific, Static, Voodoo, Blue Beetle & Batwoman. I just want to point out that the first 2 titles were canceled a few month ago and Voodoo gets her last issue this month. Yet, the other two are going strong.
So, what is making Batwing a title that keeps going? Part of it may have to do with the Bat-family. The other part of it might be the fact that it is being sold as "the Batman of Africa." But, let's examine the truth behind this title and see if it really measures up.
LOW DOWN:
Batwing # 1 opens to ... narration while our hero is fighting the villain in question, Massacre. It looks brutal. The background definitely feels like a different place. Our hero tells us how brutal Massacre with on very little armor in comparison to him. Yet, for the first time, we hear a phrase that will haunt readers and our hero: We Honor Them All in Blood.
Wow. What a colorful ... line.
We go through a flashback of Batwing, where we are outside of the city of Tinasha as Batwing takes down a drug lord known as Blood Tiger. After scaring the crap out of Blood Tiger with some narration from Batwing being told by Batman to be theatrical in order to instill fear into the hearts of criminals; we go to an investigation being done by Tinasha officer Kia Okuru and our hero's civilian identity, David Zavimbe. Earlier, David left a clue while in his Batwing gear. David subtlety tests Officer Okuru who finds the wallet. Back in Batwing's lair, The Haven, he and his Alfred, known as Matu Ba, connect with the Bat Computer and figure out the identity of Massacre's first victim . . . a hero known as Earth Strike; a hero in African's super hero team known as The Kingdom.
We find out that the Kingdom has disappeared and David goes back in civvies to his police job ... only to be met with a machete stabbed through his back to his chest after walking in a room full of severed heads and bodies. YAY. I like Tinasha.
It seems as if Massacre came to leave a message to the Tinasha police. And he did. While David was dealing with his recent impalement, Officer Okuru brought reinforcements ...only for her to get hurt and the rest of the reinforcements to be killed by Massacre. Boy ... the guy is living up to his name.
We find that Massacre left little survivors among the police and has decided to attack . .. an ELEMENTARY School. Okay. You know, I know we want to show how dark and gritty this new city in Africa is but DAMN! Of course, this is two weeks after Massacre' s glorious first confrontation with the Tinasha PD.
David figures out that Massacre is gonna attack an elementary school as Massacre attacks one . .. mostly,a teacher in one. But this teacher actually happens to be former member of the Kingdom, Thunder Fall. The electric Thunder Fall takes on Massacre ... only to lose an arm in the process. GEEZ!
Batwing, against Matu Ba's wishes . . . okay, okay ... Batwing shots Matu with a sedative, knocking him out . . .goes and joins the battle against Massacre. Batwing is able to fend off Massacre but the damage is done. Thunder Fall succumes to blood loss, dying. Yet, before he dies, he is about to tell Batwing that they should not be forgiven for what they did.
As the mystery gets deeper about The Kingdom and Massacre, we get a look back at David's childhood ... as a child soldier for a warlord named Keita. Both David and his younger brother Issac were the two best child soldiers of General Keita's army. They would kill who he asked to kill ... except women and children. And they would not hesitate to beat up older soldiers. They were the Dragonflies and they were vicious. Yet, their moral stand against Keita lead to their defection ... and Keita seemingly killing Issac after beating him up and throwing him off a cliff side.
For his trouble, young David kidnaps Keita, ties him up near an enemy camp and let's them known Keita is there.
Ah ... the joys of youth.
After that ... we find that Massacre kills another member of the Kingdom, off panel and it is now time ... for a fundraiser. It seems that there is a fundraiser at The Kingdom's former headquarters, known as The Citadel. The Kingdom's old pilot and weapons mechanic, Josiah Kone. And wow ... he's at the Citadel, alongside Bruce Wayne who have transformed The Kingdom's old headquarters into a museum. Yet, Massacre ... with help this time, is able to destroy The Citadel and kidnap a group of people with him.
Batwing manages to corner and stop Massacre, saving the people and Josiah from certain death. Yet, as Batwing continues to dive into the mystery behind The Kingdom ... he learns of their greatest shame and secret.
SPOILER ALERT
The Kingdom allowed for a genocidal maniac to team up with a group of warlords to fight the peoples army ... and let them kill each other. The maniac, General Okuro, was exiled from Africa, led by the Kingdom themselves.
It is from this one event which lead to the break up of the Kingdom and the events that are currently happen with Massacre. Batwing and Batman track down the remaining members of The Kingdom to Gotham City and ...
I will stop here.
BREAK DOWN:
Art:
We have 3 very distinct art styles here. Very distinct and very different. Dustin Nguyen's issues were good and really captured the grit of Gotham and the mood for the story during those last two issues of this first storyline. It was a dark tone with a fast pace and the art conveyed the urgency really well. The emotional parts were a 50 50. The major reveal of Massacre was done extremely well but his benefactor being revealed seemed to lack the energy that the previous reveal had.
Chriscross had done the pencils on issue #4 and I loved it. Going into David's past for the first time really needed to be vivid, painful, colorful and gruesome all at once. Chriscross succeeded with that. The tormented, blood-soaked history of David and his brother Issac with General Keita was rendered in a beautifully grizzy fashion. The backgrounds where vivid, the colors were vibrant. Everything fit where it was supposed to fit. It was a strong issue.
Ben Oliver has some mind-numbingly beautiful art. Oliver penciled most of the issues of this story and they look amazing. His fusion of realistic and comic book art really makes the book a pleasure to the eyes. The characters are distinct in the way they move and look. The one flaw to Mr. Oliver's art ... which may not be his fault ... was the lack of backgrounds. There are times where no backgrounds are fine. Yet, with this being a launch title and introducing us to a brand new original locale, we didn't see much of it.
There were some backgrounds that were just well done as we saw small areas around Tinasha. Yet, there were others that were just very plain. The citadel looked very majestic but then there were a lot of panels with nothing but Batwing, or Bruce Wayne or just people. I think the lack of backgrounds hurt the book a little bit.
Writing:
Judd Winnick gives his A game in this book as we are introduced to a brand new character. Batwing is very multi-faceted and it makes him such a compelling and different character than from Batman that it makes you want to watch him more. He knows he has blood on his hands. He knows there is a lot of corruption and down right gruesome things that occur in Tinasha every day.
Officer Okuru and Matu make solid first impressions. Both characters are likable and give strong connections to our main hero. Matu's past is shrouded in mystery which leaves a lot to open with him. And the interesting dynamic between David and Okuru make their interactions interesting.
The story is a strong start for Batwing. My only problem is how the story ends in Gotham. While I give the writer points to help set up Night of Owl's crossover issue (issue #9) after this story, it just seemed like the Bat Family didn't trust Batwing to handle the situation. While it is nice that they helped each other, this is supposed to be David's first foray and I saw Batman in 4 out of the first 8 issues. That's half. Sales strategy or not, not a great first impression on our hero. Otherwise, Winick wrote a very effective and wonderful character that I hope we see thrive in the years to come.
Final Verdict:
Batwing's first outing was full of adventure, mystery, philosophical debates and gave us a taste of the world of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and it great city, Tinasha. Though, I feel we didn't see enough of Tinasha and there was too much Batman in these first 8 issues, the story and characters were really great. You read these books and feel invested on David and his crusade. A strong first outing for the Batman of Africa, Batwing.
I give this story a 3.5 out of 5. While the problems are a fair size, the storyline and art will keep you interested. Kudos to the creative team.
Welcome Ladies & Gentlemen to another edition of CBC NEWS!
MORE OF THE DC CREATIVE SHUFFLE
by Frankie Rodriguez
The more things change . .. the more change comes about it seems. With all the recent looks at sales from DC and Marvel Comics since the New 52 came out, DC has been determined to make sure that they and their readers are not complacent. 2 weeks ago, Hector Ramirez reported about the 6 titles that will be ending in April and their 6 replacements premiering in May. Yet, DC is still making more changes with certain titles, hoping that the new creative teams will have readers staying and bring in new ones.
So what else is changing? Prepare for the breakdown.
Batwing's sales have been doing extremely well. Yet, there will be an artistic change as of issue #9. Ben Oliver's last issue of Batwing will be issue #7; tying Gotham City into his current Massacre storyline while also setting up a crossover for the Bat-books dealing with the Court of Owls, called "Night of Owls", that has been prominent in Batman. And while issue #8 will have a fill in artist, Marcus To, who was regular artist on Red Robin Pre-New 52 & artist on the Huntress miniseries, will be taking over art chores. To nearly everyone's delight (and to some's disdain) Judd Winnick is still writing the book.
Marcus To commented on his approach to his new job:
Actually, at first, when I was approached to draw the book, it took me a second to think about my approach to this book, because he is a different character from the traditional Batman look. So I had to think, how am I going to do this? Ben Oliver did such a great job on launching the title. So I looked at the art and thought to myself, how can I put my own spin on this?
I think readers are going to see a different aspect of my art. That's the great challenge of this job, figuring out how I want certain angles to look, how I want his armor to look, but how to keep it in the vein of Batman. Just like you said, you can use the silhouettes that Batman has, with the wings and the symbol and the ears and everything, to really pull it together, and associate the Batman look with Batwing. . . we're actually starting my run in Gotham, which is where my attention is concentrated right now. But Batwing will be back in Africa soon, and I've talked to Judd about some ideas we have. He's sending me a movie that has a style that's related to the story he wants to write next. So we're communicating about the direction the book is going and where we want to take it visually.
But once we get back to Africa, and once I know what the location is for the next story, I do intend to use references to do my best to make it accurate and pay respect to what is real.
Meanwhile, Rob Liefield was slated to take over 3 books after finishing Hawk & Dove with #8. Which 3 books? Rob Liefield will be co-plotting both The Savage Hawkman and Grifter. His co-writer on Hawkman is none other than Mark Poulton, who currently also writes Avengelyne over in Image Comics. And former Deathstroke artist Joe Bennet will move to take over art duties on The Savage Hawkman.
Co-writing Grifter is writer Frank Tieri , who recently wrote Marvel vs Capcom 3, with Stormwatch's very first artist Scott Clark will stay on as artist. And finally, Liefield will be taking over the Deathstroke book, handling both writing and art chores on the book.
Over in Batman: Dark Knight, Gregg Hurwitz takes over completely as full writer while David Finch steps down from writing chores to just draw the Batman book.
Peter Milligan steps down as writer for Justice League Dark yet he ends up taking another popular team book; Stormwatch. The writer decided to jump over after 2 fill in issues by Paul Jenkins and seems to be enjoying the book and making it fit into the DC Universe.
Peter Milligan joins regular artist Miguel Sepulveda as the new creative team as of issue #9 this May. And while he did confirm that he will keep the roster as is for the time being with 1 possible edition, Milligan teased his direction for the book:
I want to dig deeper not only into the characters themselves but also the history and meaning of Stormwatch. The strange strategies they’ve employed to do what they do and remain covert. Before I start throwing people off of the team I want to get deeper into them. However, we will have an appearance of a character who was around long before this team was formed who throws a different light on the life of a Stormwatch agent.
My first story deals with an intruder on earth from the planet Ysmault — he’s red and he’s got a lot of rage — and also a former Stormwatch member. We’ll also get deeper into the mind of Midnighter.
And finally, fan favorite writer of the one of DC's highest selling titles, Animal Man writer Jeff Lemire, will be taking over for Milligan on Justice League Dark. Calling the title his dream gig, Lemire is more than happy to dive into several of his favorite characters: Deadman, Shade - the Changing Man, Zatanna & John Constantine. He promises to bring a true connection to the Justice League to answer why they have the name with a few other surprises:
One of the things I’m anxious to explore is just why the name “Justice League” is in the title of this book. I want to explore and create new connections between this team of mystical misfits and Geoff and Jim’s big guns in the Justice League. On that note, Geoff and I have had many discussions on how to link our two books and make the Justice League franchises connect in new and unexpected ways.
With that, Lemire also promises two new members, one guy and one girl to this already seemingly stacked mystical team and plans to have John Constantine emerge as the leader of this group. Mike Janin will stay on as artist for the book.
With all these changes, DC hopes to keep readers. Will this work? I am sure it will to some extent but there will be a lot of competition. While all this is happening, Marvel will be knee deep into Avengers vs X-Men event, Extreme Studios relaunch will be in full steam with all 5 titles will have debuted and Valiant Entertainment returns with X-O Manowar debuting during the first week of May. The gauntlet has been thrown and we will see if these changes will help or hurt DC's books.
WINNER OF TOP COW'S PILOT SEASON WINNER IS . . . by Frankie Rodriguez
Over the last few years, Top Cow has used the pilot season , a contest with several different one-shots where the fans choose the winner, in order to set up new miniseries with concepts and ideas you may not see anywhere else. This year, there were 8 different one-shots of all kinds but only one emerged as the winner. And the 2011 Top Cow Pilot Season Winner is The Beauty.
The Beauty was created by writer Jeremy Haun and artist Jason Hurley. The Beauty is about a sexually transmitted disease that has people become nearly irresistibly attractive. So much so, there are scary consequences and implications because of this STD. It is up to two detectives to stop the people who are infected by it.
Jeremy Haun talked about the upcoming series:
Now that we've won we're going to be able to finish the story. I'm really excited to do that. It's exciting to be co-writing and drawing something like this. The process is surprisingly fast and a hell of a lot of fun. The trick of it is going to be balancing work on The Beauty with my regular art duties on The Darkness monthly book. Luckily, they're both books that I absolutely love. It also doesn't hurt that I just love to work. As crazy as it may seem, drawing two books is kind of my idea of fun.
And while artist Jason Hurley added:
Winning Pilot Season is easily the biggest moment of my career so far, and I couldn't be happier. It was a hard-fought battle, but thanks to all of the fans of The Beauty, we came out on top. I can't wait to get back to work on the book. We've got a lot of exciting stuff planned for the future of The Beauty, and since we've won Pilot Season, we'll be able to share all of that with our fans. More than anything, I just want to send a huge thank you out to all of our family, friends, and fans for their support throughout the entire voting process. It's thanks to them that we're able to continue The Beauty.
The Beauty is set to debut later this year.
IRREDEEMABLE & INCORRUPTIBLE SAY GOODBYE by Frankie Rodriguez
As recently stated by writer and creator Mark Waid, he is ending his cult following books: Irredeemable and Incorruptible. The BOOM! Studios comics have been hit with fans since shortly after their release and have won multiple awards and grabbed fans. Waid stated that while he knows he has dealt with all the darkness within him, he felt that it was time to end both series.
Okay, really, truly — I’m just stretched thin right now both personally and professionally, and I live in mortal fear that I’m going to overstay my welcome on these books. Moreover, I feel that Max Damage’s character arc is reaching its end in Incorruptible. And in Irredeemable, I’ve long known what the end of that series is, and lately, it’s as if all the characters are moving into position for it whether I want them to or not. So let’s go out big and grand, I say.
The final arcs of Incorruptible will be played out from issues #27 to #30. Meanwhile, Irreedeemable's storyline will reach its climax in issue # 34-#30. Fans will miss these series but everyone can understand. Between all that Waid has been doing in Marvel along, the man needs a breather.
FAN REVIEW OF SUPERGIRL
By Brickie Bowman
it's not much but I have read the first 3 DC 52 Supergirls and so far I am impressed with the story thus far for one she not some sniveling teen but a confidant young adult she hasn't quite got the hang of her power here on earth but she has a good teacher after she beat the crap out of him for a minute. I did notice that as with Kal El in his book the take a interest in the costume and it is just as indestructable as they are and that goes back to the original story that his cloth that his cape was his baby blanket he was wrapped in when he got to earth.
it It was well drawn. The artist did his homework on the character to give the right look for her. She is s a young adult and the art is also close to the look for Action Comics and Superman which is good so if the stories cross the art won't throw you off.
I like the the look she has in this and the writing would hold you if they keep this style going but if they change the formula it will fail add all that. I like the ideal that she already has some people trying to capture her and had her for a moment but she got away and she is also dealing with the fact that Krypton is no more but if this story keeps going like it has so far the book 4 and 5 should keep me roped in I have always like her but this to me is a better portrail of her in the DCU and should go a long way.This Supergirl is a better version in my point of view. She is more sure of herself than the teenage one and more assertive. She is a serious minded person that is wanting to learn why Krypton is gone.
I give it thus far it's 4 out of 5 Superman Shields.
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Last week was considered week one. This is week two with 13 titles had come out and we've got a LOT of opinions from different people on it.
Here we go:
ACTION COMICS
Jake Estrada of Estrada Media in Melbourne, FL
Now this comic showed us a very young Superman that was out to take on the world in general. If you are bad, fat and out right rotten Superman is for the people here. He doesn’t take any crap, and he has the moves. I did love Rags Morales artwork, it was fresh, lavish and it gave us this boyish man that the people loved. Now we were also introduced to a Lex Luthor that worked for the government and had a clear disdain for Superman, and was willing to do anything to get his mark.
Wilson Sam of London, UK
With Action comics I was expecting great things with Grant Morrison,one of my favourite writers.And he did not disappoint.The first issue was a great solid read.This Superman was fun,young,righteous and cool.A cape,a T shirt,blue jeans and an attitude is what I got and I'm craving for more.It was a easy quick read but full of,well,action and Grant Morrisons witty banter.The train sequence was awesome.Rags Morales was on fire.Loved every panel,especially pages 4 and 5 where Superman is on top of the building.Mr Morales should have been a superstar.After this,he will be.Grant Morrison is having fun with Superman and so am i. More please.
ANIMAL MAN
Jake Estrada of Melbourne, FL
The opening of the issue was very engaging as it opened to a newspaper article giving you a brief of synopsis of Animal Man and what he has done. The artwork by Trevor Foreman was very powerful and engaging and it fit with the title well. It gave us an interesting take on a great character that was once written by Grant Morrison. Lemire has taken a page from Grant Morrison, and appears to be forging a very intriguing road here with Animal Man
G. Williams of Hamstead, NY
I liked it but it has the feel of a Vertigo title than a DC title. This book hit the ground running with a great first issue and I look forward to the next one
BATGIRL
Derrick Jones of Brooklyn, NY
Probably the book that inspired the most upset ,outrage, and out and out fan emotion, Batgirl was always going to be a hard sell. Taking a beloved character a like Barbara Gordon and canceling out the history that turned her into the fan favorite techno goddess “Oracle” was a risky move bring her back to her Batgirl roots, but leave it to the talents of Gail Simone to turn lemons into lemonade, and what a sweet sweet flavor of lemonade it is.
Gail has written a story that is as kinetic as the Adrian Syaf’s artwork. She manages to fit in the main story, a introduction of our main character and some of her history. The art simply flows from page to page and I can’t stress enough that the panels have backgrounds. When you read these stories from a view of reviewing them it is amazing the things you see or rather what you don’t see. Batgirl is also one of the few NU52 that manages to feel that the story it’s told is a complete chapter to a story and that the story didn’t just stop because the writer ran out of pages.
Honestly this is in my opinion the best NU52 book that has come out so far and I plan on
sticking around to see how all this turns out.
Jake Estrada of Melbourne,FL
Now Batgirl was a great title. My initial things on the character was very low, but what made this interesting was that they kept the part where the Joker shot Barbara as canon and it made the story much more powerful. It gave us a brief explanation that she had gotten better, and that she was not back in action as Batgirl. It was fast and engaging and it kept me glued to the pages til the very end.
BATWING
CBC's Frankie Rodriguez of Vineland, NJ
Batwing was one of those titles that was mocked out. " look at his purple and green (blue) armor. Who is gonna want to pick that up," said a member of the J1 crew. Well, they changed the color of the armor (thank fully) and introduced us to a taste of David Zavimbe's world . . . and it's gore, dark . . . and cool. I want to know more about the Republic of Congo, David's life as a police office for Tinsha and more about Tinsha, Batwing's city, itself. And Ben Oliver is drawing the book of his career here. The realism to some of his picks are absolutely stunning.
Louis Laughton of Chicago, IL
Winick’s writing for this issue suffers a little from being too quick to get all the pieces into play. This issue moves fast issue. We’re briefly introduced to two supporting cast members, get two dust-ups, two piles of corpses, and even a taste of Africa’s superhero history. Massacre is built up as a very convincing threat. Even with some of the villains introduced, Massacre has more than lived up to his name within this first issue alone. But all this doesn’t leave much time for learning about David Zavimbe himself. He’s an officer in the local police, he has a suit of Batarmor, a Batcave and a Batfriend; but who is he beyond all that? Ben Oliver’s art is very slick, and pairs well with Brian Reber’s colors. The layout is edgy and nontraditional, matching the energetic pace of the story. As he makes abundantly clear from the backup interview, Oliver is extremely jazzed about illustrating Batwing’s armor. This is particularly important in light of Batwing’s wafer-thin introduction back in the old DCU. He’s the ‘African Batman’ , but what does that mean?
DETECTIVE COMICS
Jake Estrada of Melbourne, FL
The artwork was beautiful and it gave us the introduction of Batman and Joker at it again. Now the story felt kind of flat, but the art did help make the story move and kept my attention glued to the story the entire time to see what happened next. I will say this though there was very little detective here, just pure Batman fisticuffs’.
GREEN ARROW
D. Jones of Brooklyn, NY
Nu52 Green Arrow looks a lot like Smallville Green Arrow to me. Gone is the hippie feel of Oliver Queen, he feels a lot more like a “Dot.Com” millionaire. J.T.Krul manages a decent introduction of who this new Green Arrow is but it comes off a little contrived to me. Most of the story seems to be one big fight. It really left me kind of blah.
The art however is a different story, Dan Jurgens is not a “superstar” artist he is just great as his job. His characters have distinct looks and if everyone ran around the book naked you would still be able to tell them apart. Normally people mention the artist and ignore the inker but it is impossible to ignore George Perez’s inks backing up Dan Jurgens pencils, there like one of those great music duo’s from the 80’s.
While the art is good this was another one of those books that felt like the pacing was off and the writer felt that since the story would run over several books he could leave the writer in story free fall. The art will bring me back but the story is questionable.
G. Williams of Hamstead, NY
I've read Green Arrow. I didn't like it. I feel it is a major detraction from before. While I understand the original Green Arrow was similar to Batman. A millionaire using his money to fund his costumed adventures but now I felt like I was reading about Bruce and Oracle not Ollie and his new crew.
HAWK & DOVE
D. Jones of Brooklyn, NY
It is almost impossible to review this book without bringing your own feelings about Rob
Liefield into the equation, this being Liefield’s return to a monthly book in many years. I will begin with the story, Sterling Gates writes a story that in itself is simplistic but that is notnecessarily a bad thing with it being a first issue and a jumping on point to the “NU52”. Gates throws in the history of the characters and gives us a couple of mysteries to keep us coming back. I guess one of the most confusing things about the NU52 universe is that some things that came before in the old DC universe still exist but others don’t, so I guess we will have to wait and see what parts they kept.
Now back to the Rob Liefield and the art. I asked a couple of non-comic readers who don’t know the history of Mr. Liefield’s work. The words “cheesy”, “bland” and “boring”. To anyone familiar with the history you will be happy to know that Rob has learned to do hands and feet a lot better, but that is the about the best I can say. Body proportions are still off, Dove looks like a female body builder, and backgrounds are almost non-existent.
All in all this book is very reminiscent of the opening days of Image Comics where all the new books hit the stand like throwing paint up against the wall and seeing what stuck. For me the book had no distinct voice or brought anything new or exciting to the mix. Maybe that will change when the new creative team takes over (if his past is any indication the book will be late and then he will drop from it all together by issue 7). I say come back then for the real relaunch.
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL
CBC's Frankie Rodriguez of Vineland, NJ
I was a huge fan of the JLI when they first came to be and bought the entire original run from the late 80s and 90s. After a great series in JL: Generation Lost, I was wondering how this JLI would stack up. And GOD . . . it did such a great job. Jurgens comes back to some characters he knew very well but adds some new tweeks, letting Booster Gold be the leader that we saw back in JL: Generation Lost but even more confident. The cast had great voices that gave the team flavor and really gave it's international feel. Although, I ALREADY DO NOT LIKE GODIVA. I want to slap her. That . . . is good writing. The team got to together, several subplots were put into play and I loved Aaron Lopresti's pencils on the book.
Truly, JLI seems to start off on the right foot and look forward to more.
Randall Grayson of Toronto, Canada
JLI, for me, ended up being a big disappointment. Seeing a team of heroes learn to work with one another on the fly could have been intriguing but writer Dan Jurgens presents a storyline without heart or wonder. You’d expect this part of a companywide relaunch to do something special with its cast of mostly D-list heroes. Aaron Lopresti’s art is at its best when the characters are in close-ups. The detailed, emotive facial expressions are vital to the dialogue-heavy storyline that’s filled with bickering. What you get is a shred of potential and a lot of disappointment. Unfortunate stereotypes abound with non-Americans speaking broken English and lots of ethnocentrism. Justice League International is an insipid comic with filled with uninspiring heroes with nothing worthwhile to offer, except assurance that its many forgettable superheroes are certain to remain forgettable.
MEN OF WAR
Jake Estrada of Melbourne, FL
This was a two for the price of one storyline. For 3.99 it packed a punch and it gave us a modern day Sgt. Rock, it showed us how everyday men are dealing with the superhuman around them and what they would do in this setting. It gave us a true human side to this brave new world that DC has unveiled.
Mike Jentry of San Diego, CA
I will say that Men of War surprised me. It was two well developed stories that seemed to give us a look at how real solders would deal with Writer Ivan Brandon keeps the super heroics to a minimum with just the one (or two shadows) while focusing on this new cast of characters . . . which includes a new version of Sgt. Rock. Not usually into war books but I have to admit that over all with both artists, this was a decent read.
O.M.A.C.
Candy Warren of Las Vegas, NV
OMAC was just a bit too weird. I have a lot of respect as a fan of Jack Kirby but this just seemed weird. The main character is nothing more than a puppet. And while the story seemed okay . . . I am not so sure about it. Still . .. I am intrigued enough to want to know what will happen next but not sure if I am gonna buy it next month. The art was okay but it's Keith Giffen and I am used to his old stuff on Legion of Super Heroes.
Joseph Lester of Memphis, TN
OMAC #1 is awesome and manly. It’s a crazy, over the top, fight-filled story with Keith Giffen giving serious props to the work of Jack Kirby; who created OMAC back in the 70s. OMAC is a huge blue bruiser with a big mohawk. In this comic, OMAC breaks into the Cadmus Project and bashes his way a mile underground to a secret lab run by science fiction monsters. He punches them a lot.
By the end of the first issue readers are introduced to a whole ton of weird looking creatures and characters, learn that OMAC is a regular guy . . . a manly guy mind you . . . who gets hijacked by a force outside of his control, and met Brother Eye, a strange space-dwelling thing that seems to know just about everything in the world. It’s a potent mix of madness from back in the Silver Age.
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STATIC SHOCK
CBC's Hector Ramirez of Philadelphia, PA
So read Static Shock #1 last week, loved it. They have Hardware as his mentor he set Virgil up with his own secret HQ an internship with Star Labs and a background story to protect his secret identity. I’ve been a fan of Static since the cartoon on Kids WB and the changes they made aren’t so major that they make him unfamiliar if anything they make the character more interesting I’m definitely looking forward to following this series.
Wilson Sam of London, UK
I was a huge Milestone fan back in the day .I collected all the titles.With the untimely death of the late,great Dwayne McDuffie I was worried about the future of the Milestone characters.I was a bit sceptical with this 'Static Shock'.Well....it was a good read.Almost reminded me of the Static comics in the past.Virgil is a smart-alec genius who uses his brains to get out of trouble.His family is also an important factor of his life.I love the family interplay,especially with his sister.(sisters,bah).John Rozum is a Milestone writer from way back.For Milestone he wrote Xombi and Kobalt I guess Static is in good hands.The art,hmmm,was a bit too cartoony for my taste.Scott McDaniel can do better but if this is his new style hopefully I'll get use to it.A good read.Bring on issue 2.
STORMWATCH
Jake Estrada of Melbourne, FL
Now I loved the old Stormwatch and when it became the Authority in the original Wildstorm line. This series takes the old name, but uses the old Authority characters in this new world setting. The series threw a lot of plot lines at us, it showed us an angry moon that was willing to kill people and I loved it. I thought the pace was brisk and it had the action that made me what was going to happen next.
CBC's Frankie Rodriguez of Vineland, NJ
As a fan of both Stormwatch & the Authority, this was a joy when it was announced. Once I got this first issue . . . I was amazed. The characters fit seemlessly into the DC Universe. They established a major threat. Had introduced all the characters giving aspects of powers and personalities. Miguel Sepulvada's art was gorgeous, dark and filled with cinematic flair that grabs you and never lets go. Paul Cornell's script and characterizations were interesting, flavored and wonderful to read. I read this first issue TWICE in a row then another 3 times since I bought it. It is THAT good!
SWAMP THING
Jake Estrada of Melbourne, FL
Now Swamp Thing had amazing art, it had an interesting storyline and it felt like a horror story where a man was at odds with his past, and was trying to forget who he was and what he could do. Of course the world did not forget him and it was crawling at him at every inch. The ending which was shocking and engrossing in the end will certainly have me racing back to the comic book shop for the second issue. Very powerful issue to say the least.
Louis Laughton of Chicago, IL
Despite Swamp Thing’s illustrious career, we really do know oh so very little about its human originator, botanist Alec Holland. We all know Swamp Thing had a lot of heart, but does the one inside the monster beat at the same pace as the one inside the man? We may never really know the answer to that. His memories have been colored with years of memories from his dubious existence as a vegetative avatar, with experiences that apparently still linger in his resurrected brain. All this makes him and us question which thoughts belong to him, and which are residue of the creature he can’t seem to leave behind. People have a conflicted reaction towards the unknown. The more foreign and unrecognizable something is, the more it plays upon our fears, but the more it also draws our curiosity.
Snyder works both emotions expertly, consistently offering ideas and scenes that disrupt the sense of familiarity we need for peace of mind. In other words, he’s getting very good at disturbing you, which may not be the most pleasant feeling in the world, but rather addictive all the same.Can we just straight out classify Paquette as a rising star among DC’s ranks of artists? The depth of his work gives such life to the characters that instead of seeming “drawn” or “cartoony” and therefore impervious to pain, they take on a sense of fragility. These characters can be damaged, and so you instantly feel tension for them. But beyond that, Paquette provides simply some of the most eerily beautiful imagery I’ve seen, pulsing from Fairbairn’s colors.
And those are all the opinions we have on the comics from September 7th. More books come out today (September 14th) and if you want to give your opinion to us, feel free to email us at either j1studio1@gmail.com or francisco.k.rodriguez@gmail.com . . . just have the title of which ever book you are reviewing from today or the next couple weeks in your email. If you do more than one title, feel free to mark it DCnU # 1 reviews. That is all for now. See you guys & gals next week with more on this historic event.
