New 52: Round 2, Week 1

Ok, as we begin Round 2, DC sent out two more books. I guess these will take the place of the two books I dropped: Men of War and Green Arrow. I tried to read Men of War but it was so boring I actaully fell asleep. Green Arrow wasn't boring but it was dumb. The Smallville version is quick to get on the readers nerves and I'm done with the series. However, he may reappear in my upcoming musical Smallville: Turn off the Clark. Yeah... that was a dumb joke. Moving on...

Action Comics 2

So, I'm not sure if anyone is aware of this, but Lex Luthor is a really sore loser. At teh end of the last issue, Supes was captured by the military and this issue picks right up with his torture at the hands of Luthor and Gen. Lane, which mostly involves the hero being strapped to an electric chair and shocked with enough power to light Metropolis for a day or two. Lex is determined to find out the secrets that this alien is keeping from him, and even more determined to find his weakness. Lois arrives on the base and accosts her father for being so cruel and that Superman should be freed. He brushes her off and she is then helped by her exboyfriend John Corben, who Superman fans may remember for becoming Metallo. Luthor finally stops the torture to gloat about the way that he captured the Man of Steel and that eventually he would be exiled to whatever planet he is invading from. Supes uses this chance to catch his breath and gain the strength to escape, all the while mocking Lex for talking too much. Cue this:
He gets out, winks at Lois, and then flies off, all the while maintaining his devil-may-care attitude. Lex is fired by Lane and Corben decides to undergo transformations so that he can be powerful and make Lois love him (Spoiler: It won't).

Verdict: A-. My only issue with the story is that they make Luthor seem so weak and cowardly, and as a longtime Lex fan, I don't buy that about him for a minute.

Animal Man 2

Man... this comic just keeps being awesome and downright creepifying. We pick up right where we left off last time with Maxine summoning all the nearby dead animals to be her pets. Wile this scene is horrifying, it is also very endearing to see the family sticking with one another and the daughter whose naivete is really overwhelming. She refuses to send all the dead animals back to being dead so their house is just full of dead animals which the kids just love playing with. Maxine tells her father that something very bad is coming and they need to go save the web of life. When he asks what that is, the same blood tattoos that appeared in the last issue appear a bit more permanantly all over his body. An angry neighbor shows up with Buddy's son in a headlock, saying that the kid was trying to break into his house and Maxine does what any little sister would do- turns the man's arm into a chickens claw. This is apparently very painful and Buddy and Maxine quickly leave. Meanwhile at the San Diego zoo, some pregnant hippos have died, but their bodies keep expanding, which scares three zookeepers who try and run away from the weird sight. They don't make it and are eaten by the three creatures from the previous issue, which take the forms of the three men, announcing that the hunt for the avatar has begun.

Verdict: A. Very solid book that is definitely in the top five books in the whole relaunch.

Batwing 2

This... is a very personal comic, and everything feels really up close the entire way through. From beginning to end, there are only a few panels where more than two characters are featured. The art is really grainey, but with the African setting, it kind of feels like it really works. The story is still pretty standard. Batwing is stabbed through his lung and barely survives. He then adorns his armor, long before he whould physically be ready to do so, and heads out to fight Massacre before he kills another retired hero, one very reminiscent of Black Lightning.

Verdict: B-. Its certainly better than it was last month, but it just doesn't hold my attention long enough. I'm going to give it another week, but I don't expect to stick with it for long.

Detective Comics 2

So, I gave this comic a chance last time because I knew it was your standard Batman vs. the Joker type story that a lot of comics start with. This time, it takes a complete turn. I don't think the Joker's in it, but I could be wrong. This thing opens with Batman going to Arkham to investigate Joker's attempt to recreate Face/Off, but is quickly run off by Jeremiah Arkham, who, last I checked was an inmate of Arkham and not the head of the place. And by "last I checked," I mean that he was in Batman #1 as an inmate with a skull painted on his face. Anyway, some detective work is done with the help of Gordon and Bullock, and Batman is led to an abandoned apartment where he gets clued in with a call that Gordon was kidnapped. Tracing the call, he finds a family of patchwork faces, straight out of Twisted Metal Black, who fight and eventually subdue Batman. Before going in for the kill, they show what they've been busy while he was on his way over:

I'm going to tell you right now- if he's dead, I'm going to spin kick Tony Daniel into a woodchipper. Also, is it just me or does it look liek Bruce is laughing? The endings have been unexpected, but to what end?

Verdict: C-. I really should drop this into the icy depths, but I need to finish this storyline to be sure, so it gets a pass for a little while longer.

Hawk and Dove 2

Rob Liefeld's art isn't so awful in this issue so we are left to the writing strengths... which means this thing sucks and I don't really have enough joke material or alcohol to try and make this story any good. We do find out by the end that there are other bird characters, which brings our total to Hawk, Dove, Condor, Swan, and Osprey. Deadman shows up for a panel and Dove acts like a bitch and tells him to leave her alone... so I officially have no reason to stay with this thing.
Verdict: D. This should come as no surprise that we have our first casualty this week. DROPPED.

Justice League International 2
While I still don't buy the credible threat of the giant robot as much as the comic wants me to, I still enjoyed this comic. Its not as strong as the first issue but it does have some real characterization. Booster is shown to be more than a pretty face with product placement ties, August General is shown to be an honorable warrior who believes in the code of following your commader even if you disagree with him despite remaining at odds with Rocket Red who never walks away from a fight. Guy returns after Tora is badly injured but its questionable whether he will stay on or not. Batman also gets some fleshing out, appearing as a man who will not be intimidated, even by the United Nations. All in all, its a pretty standard bridge issue, and I expect the revelation that there are several giant robots to defeat, although the team couldn't even beat one, to factor heavily into the team's mentality in the next issue.

Verdict: B. Its not perfect but it does what it needs and I look forward to the next issue, no doubt about it.

OMAC 2

So, this I feel gave us the better look at what the comic is really going to be about. We have Kevin Kho who is being constantly haunted via electronic devices by Brother Eye who has a surprisingly funny persona. Kevin finds his way to a diner in Texas, and finally eats something for the first time in a day or so. Upon realizing that Kevin has no money and can't pay for the food he's just eaten, Brother Eye sends an bulletin to the local sherrif's dept that someone at the diner is a STAR Labs escapee. Its not Kevin, surprisingly, but the cook who appears to be the new Amazing Man and who was on the run from the government after being the subject of several tests. Facing being returned to teh government he activates his powers and turns into a huge rock creature. Kevin tries to run away but, in perhaps the best moment of the week, Brother Eye tells him that its "Time to OMACtivate!" Personally, I think "It's Morphin' time!" would have been more effective... but just barely. After the fight goes for a while, Amazing Man decides to try and absorb the OMAC skin, but upon doing that, he goes under the control of Brother Eye, who then atomizes the guy for "future use." Cutting over to Star Labs, we see that Mokkari is talking to someone who apparently represents Checkmate who we are purposely not shown until the last page where Brother Eye intercepts the call to challenge this Checkmate guy personally. Maxwell Lord. Really anxious to see what his role is in all of this, especially if some of the previous OMAC stuff is out of continuity.
Verdict: A-. I am still loving this series and I have no intention on dropping it.

Red Lanterns 2

Thic comic is just dumb. If this didn't have the final page it did and was issue one, I would have dropped it completely. We open on Atrocitis, again standing over Krona's dead body, and whining about how his rage cannot be quenched. Then we get some stupid story about these two warring planets and one of the planets sent a fighter jet to go kill some people on the other planet, but they had bad intel and accidentally killed some kids. Atrocitis shows up, kills the pilots, then asks the surviving kid if he feels better and the kid runs away. Atro gets sad, and says he's going to pick a new leader for the Red Lanterns... but who?
Verdict: D. Normally a D gets your comic dropped, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Dex-Starr becomes the new leader, or at least gets a much larger role. But this is almost definitely a DROP.

Static Shock 2

So apparently the whole arm loss thing was a fake out. Apparently the blad was so sharp that it cut perfectly and then the would closed up just as fast. This comic is just ok, and I'm just not moved at all. Which is a shame because I'm such a fan of the Static cartoon. I wish I could tell you what happened here but it was so average that its just a bore.

Verdict: C. Average comic gets an average grade. I will read next month's issue but I think this is probably headed for the drop pile

Stormwatch 2

In the same sense, we have Stormwatch which has a team full of people that I don't care anything about fighting against the moon, which has been possessed. I just don't care much for any of the Wildstorm bunch so I feel like this is also going into my drop pile. Its a C comic and its only redeeming feature is explaining how Stormwatch operates with the Justice League, which is pretty much by creating evidence that points towards a scapegoat.

Swamp Thing 2

So, this comic has a LOT of dialogue and words. There's a two page spread that is probably 85% word balloons. The original Swamp Thing, who was a WWI pilot talks to Holland about becoming the Swamp Thing again and saving the world from the Other, which all of life, both the Green (vegetation) and the Red (those with Blood) fears. Pretty sure this thing should be called the Black but I feel like that's kinda passe and expected. There is a definite link to the Animal Man comic but no crossover seems to be in sight. Anyway, Holland still walks away from his duties as Swamp Thing and goes on living his life. Or, he would, but he gets attacked by a horde of the backwards head people, and is only saved by a passing motorcyclist that picks him up, then puts a gun to his face. The rider is Abigail Arcane, and while I don't know or care who that is, I like this comic a lot.

Verdict: B. It's nowhere near as good as its animal based cousin book, but this thing manages its creepiness and its "world's in danger" attitude well enough that I have no plans to drop it. Now, onto the freshmen series...

Huntress 1

For me, this book seems really lackluster and there's nothing here to indicate that its different from any other Huntress story. She goes and kills or seriously wounds bad people, and in this case its slavers, which are kind of the go to villains for street level heroes because its hard to be on the side of people who profit by selling people, usually children, or making them work for free. They are awful and should suffer, we get it. Glad this is a miniseries and not a full blown series... maybe she'll return to Birds of Prey and make that book readable again.

Verdict: C. Although I'm glad to see something by Levitz that's not unreadable like Legion, this comic is just average. Its nothing special and I just don't have time for mediocrity when I have fantastic books to read. DROPPED.

Penguin: Pride and Prejudice 1

To be honest, I'm still sorting this book out. I feel like its the same kind of story we got with Joker's Asylum a couple years ago. In fact, that story was regarded as the best Penguin story in decades, and Batman wasn't even in it. THis is the exact same story- people were mean to me, I love birds, the mean people killed my birds and made me mean, some random guy barely slighted me and now I'm going to ruin his life in overkill ways that are normally saved for the build of an Aristocrats joke. The difference is that in the JA story, the Penguin's story was a tragic one and you feel bad for the guy all the way throughout. He was in love and because he can't help who he is, he creates a prison around himself. It was a one-shot story and it was great. This comic however shows him as unlikeable throughout and although we get some tender bits with his mom, who he loves, he is just detestable from start to finish. I guess I just don't understand what we are supposed to get from this. We know he's not going to die. We know that he won't go to prison- that doesn't solve anything. And he's not going to realize the error of his ways because that destroys the character. The story will probably end with him being depressed and alone, but I don't care. I have seen, via solicits that this is comparable to what Azzarello did with Joker and Luthor, but he gave us narrators that we wouldn't hate until the last parts. Man of Steel was through Lex Luthor's eyes, Joker was writen through the eyes of a henchman. I can't feel the same way when my narrator has tax information hacked, an old woman and an apartment burned to teh ground, a couple driven off a cliff, and an innocent young woman injected with AIDS all because this guy accidentally ran into the narrator. I'm done with this, I'm pretty sure.

Verdict: C-. Unoriginal story with a narrator I hate, and the only thing keeping me on the line is the possibility that it might be a good turnaround story like Riddler got before his turn as a detective. But unless the story is leaps and bounds above this, Drop.

So a few books got the stamp of disapproval, once again dropping my number of books. Check the "Keeping score" each week to what things currently look like, as I'll update it as much as I can.