Sunday 18 September 2011

A Marvel Boy's Look At DC's New 52

My name's Jae and I'm a Marvelholic. I've been one since the age of 11 when I discovered the X-Men and I've never looked back. I've flirted with harder stuff, Dark Horse and Image, and with lighter stuff like IDW and had full-blown affairs with 2000AD but Marvel comics have always formed the centre of my comic obsession. DC, of all the big comic publishers, has rarely featured at all. Sure I own the hardcover Killing Joke, the collected 52 and some other Batman stuff. But ultimately the complexity of the DC universe and it's unfamiliar characters has kept me at arms length.

All that appears to have changed with the New 52, DC's latest reboot. I decided to give DC a fair go... and I'm liking what I'm seeing. Here's some reviews of the stuff I've read: 

Justice League #1


Whilst Justice League is completely alien to me, Batman, Green Lantern and Superman are at least characters I know and thus I found myself enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. Green Lantern is young and impulsive, Batman is intelligent and experienced and Superman... well he just seems pissed off (and hot!). The art is excellent and I'm definitely going to be picking up issue #2 next month. This just felt so accessible that I thought... let's try some more!

Action Comics #1

I really enjoyed this introduction to Superman, still learning of the true extent of his powers and a little too cocky. The ending definitely has me wanting more but... the art was middling. This is meant to be a young, immature Superman but sometimes he looked like he might be in his forties. I just didn't feel the art complimented the story at all. Alas... I'll still be getting #2. 

Stormwatch #1 

Intriguing. This is the first book populated by characters I don't know. This did make me feel slightly disconnected from it but I want to know more... who is the Midnighter? What is the giant eye in the Moon? I'll get #2 but I think this is my first book on temporary probation whilst I try to get a proper feel for it. 

Batwoman #1

I know her, she was in 52! And she was my favourite character from that collection too... The art. Well, what can you say? It was exquisite. Beautiful. Mmmm... And the story was just vague enough to make me feel like buying #2 to find out a little more. 

Demon Knights #1

I have no idea of the history of any of these characters, nor of the time period it's set in. But I know one thing... I bloody loved this. Dragons that look like dinosaurs. Characters will a bit of verve. A story that took shape pretty quickly. LOVED. 

Superboy #1

Excellent modern feeling art, complimented by a totally new beginning for a character even a Marvelboy has heard of. I was absolutely besotted by this one. Yet another one for the pull list. This is tiring... 

Legion Lost #1


The art got better as the story went along. That's the best I can say. And the story... was alright. There were too many panels with too much text and I felt it was all a bit of a mess. I might give it the benefit of the doubt (I'm a forgiving completist when it comes to comics) but probably won't be pursuing this one.

Overall... I've been very impressed. 6 out of 7 comics were excellent and definitely grabbed me. Marvel's comic output is becoming a bit of a mess right now, and I think with this new relaunch DC stand a good chance of grabbing a good deal of my attention for the foreseeable future. Very, very good stuff indeed. 

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