Trinity War

I have to give DC Comics credit where credit is due this is a nice mini event the fact that they played this up as being some big crossover only to have this be the prelude to something much bigger was brilliant.  I like how Marvel sets everything up for its readers while DC plays it closer to the chest the result is always similar when it comes to events from the big two; you either hate them or you love them.  As for Trinity War this was a decent event I enjoyed it more I think because I was not familiar with the Crime Syndicate but what I did love about this series was the misdirection and in this area DC excels over Marvel.  I would love to read more Marvel stories with this level of misdirection.  Secret Invasion had a certain amount but not on the same level; bring on Forever Evil.

Justice League Dark Vol. 3: The Death of Magic

This third volume of Justice League Dark takes the team to another dimension.  Several characters have left in this volume Amethyst & Andrew Bennett.  I really like this group of characters however I would like to see more of the Shadowpact characters make an appearance in this title.  Deadman & Constantine are still my all time favorites of the group but Frankenstein is coming pretty close to knocking Constantine out of the top two spot.  In this other dimension something is reversed for each of our heroes, Xanadu is old, Deadman is alive, Black Orchid becomes a creature & Constantine can't tell a lie.  Timothy Hunter's destiny is revealed, the final part of this collection reveals a secret about Madame Xanadu.  Next up is Trinity War & then Forever Evil.

Justice League Dark Vol. 2: The Books of Magic

The second volume of Justice League Dark shows Constantine putting the band back together to take down a new threat to the world in Faust & his followers.  This team is also on the search for the books of magic & are on a mission to stop someone from Constantine's past.  This is the volume where Jeff Lemire takes over writing duties on these characters & it just shines through.  I really liked this title especially since I am unfamiliar with the majority of the cast in this.  I know who the main players are by name but I don't know what they are capable of.  Its refreshing compared to say Batman but lets be honest if you are reading this & don't know who Batman is there is a problem, bring on the next volume.

Justice League Dark Vol. 1: In the Dark

I can't say that I was totally enthralled when I picked up this volume.  I read Shadowpact back during the Infinite Crisis event which Enchantress was a key member in.  This book had a rocky start to begin with for one there is only a vague description of who these characters are.  Madame Xanadue is still a mystery to me.   I didn't know that Dove was in this & that she has a relationship with Deadman that was kind of a nice mix of a shared universe.  This book seemed to find its legs about half-way through most of that is due to the tension dynamic between John Constantine & Boston Brand.  I'll pick up volume two to see what happens next.

Justice League of America Vol. 1: World's Most Wanted

Geoff Johns has given DC Comics fans another Justice League title & it does not disappoint this series is a great companion piece to the main Justice League book.  A separate team set up by the American government to potentially take down the real Justice League.  However the premise is just the tip of the iceberg in this collection as more clues are laid as to how the puppet masters are behind a series of events.  This collection leads into Trinity War followed by Forever Evil.

Justice League Vol. 4: The Grid

This volume of Justice League revolves around the idea of bringing new members onto the team after the Throne of Atlantis story-arc.  Firestorm, The Atom & Element Woman are the new members of the league & on their first official day they have to take on Despero.  Meanwhile the Bat Cave is robbed & Superman & Wonder Woman step around American politics to rescue hostages.  However this whole story leads to a larger story in Trinity War.  One thing I don't like about this collection is the way the Trinity War story line is broken up & collected with part one & part six in this book.  That means if this was the only Justice League family book I was reading I would know how the story kicked off & what the conclusion was but I wouldn't have the meat of the overall story.  DC Comics really needs to get their butt in gear when it comes to collecting older & current story arcs.

Static Shock: Supercharged

I loved this character growing up Static was essentially DC Comics version of Peter Parker.  So I was super excited to see that when DC rebooted back in 2011 that Static was getting a push however DC didn't push hard enough.  While this was an OK read it wasn't great, the story started off with action but a lot of the dialog feels forced throughout the book like the writer doesn't have a grasp on the character.  The art is also only OK there are some panels throughout the book that I had to look at multiple times to try an figure out what is going on. The whole story of Static's sister being kidnapped is never fully explained it would be nice to have more backstory here with this character instead of DC taking for granted that the general public knows the same amount about Static that they know about Superman.  This is really an example of how DC killed the momentum of a character they had been building up in Teen Titans prior to the New 52.  If you love the character pick up the title give it try,  otherwise you can pass on this collection.

Justice League Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis

The first story in this third volume is about one of Wonder Woman's main villains Cheetah.  The story delves into Cheetah's origin & in this two issue story she takes out all of the members of the Justice League well almost all of them.  It is amazing the she is fast enough to take out the Flash.  After the Cheetah story The Justice League book jumps into the Throne of Atlantis story arc.  Throughout this story Cyborg is the true savior of the Justice League when all of the rest of the League is incapacitated.  One of the things about the two stories in this volume is that they both show the Justice League taking some of its founding members villains.  This is something that Marvel doesn't really do unless the villain is really looking to strike out on a massive scale.  The Cheetah story was really not in that caliber.  There is some interesting fallout in this book from the Throne of Atlantis story arc.  The potential for new members to the Justice League.  Steve Trevor & Amanda Waller setting up a contingency plan.  Plus the biggest revelation of all that Batman knows about Superman & Wonder Woman while Cyborg & Flash suspect something.

Aquaman Vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis

This third volume of Aquaman touches on his origin which leads seamlessly into the Throne of Atlantis story arc which crosses over with the Justice League book.  One of the great things about this book is grand epic scale that the event has taking a what was once a fifth rate character & taking one of his villains to a world threat level.  Even though all of Atlantis's attacks were directed at the United States its effects would have been felt around the world.  The revelation that Orm is not only Arthur's brother but Ocean Master is nice but the reveal of who really orchestrated this attack to certain & for what purpose is somewhat lackluster.  The return of the creatures from The Trench is nice surprise as well.   All in all this really an Aquaman story & the Justice League are just bit players but does show that the League is not prepared for everything.

Sword of Sorcery Vol. 1: Amethyst

Of the New 52 titles that I have picked up so far this was one of the better ones a little ahead of its time by about a year.  Now while the main to comics companies in the industry are going through a renaissance of characters & a female revolution this is one title that could easily find a home now days.  The story of Amaya & the realm of Nilaa is quite intriguing, it has a Song of Ice & Fire similarity to its set up.  Ancient houses with leaders having power from certain gems, coming together battling a great foe in Eclipso.  This was a nice introduction to the character I really hope DC gets their collective act together & utilize her now that they have officially brought back the multiverse.  I would really like to see a book come out in the near future that showcases here entire realm not just the ruling houses but the lesser houses as well.  There were two short stories in this collection as well one about a character named Stalker who is tricked by Lucifer int o giving up his soul this was kind of downer.  The other story was great it was an updated telling of Beowulf in which he is a super-soldier of the future created to be a champion of man after the time of super-heroes.  I really liked how this tied in with the future of the DC Universe.  I haven't read Future's End yet but I hope Beowulf appears in that tale.  I feel that the only reason DC is doing some of these books is so they can retain the rights to some of these characters that they don't use but with the success of Marvel's current summer event Secret Wars this type of medieval story has a fan base already behind it.

Superman Unchained Deluxe Ed.

The first Scott Snyder story I ever read was Batman: The Black Mirror & it was incredible!  Now this book has all of the makings of greatness in it with Scott Snyder writing & Jim Lee on art but for some reason it falls short of that incredible factor that I have come to expect from Snyder.  My primary gripe with the book is the portrayal of Superman as an enemy of the free world, hunted by the military industrial complex like the Hulk over in the Marvel Universe.  The lack of fleshing out this apposing force known only as Wraith.  Don't get me wrong there are exceptional moments of characterization here as well between Lois & Clark along with a few other characters.  The real scene stealer of the entire book is Lex Luther.  Every scene that Lex was in was amazing Snyder has brought an intensity that I have not seen in the character in awhile.  Jim Lee's art is top notch as always it truly is a shame that some of the best creators of all time have taken up positions that prevent them from giving us this type of quality on a regular basis.  I like Snyder's work on Batman but if he is going to branch out to DC's other top heroes then it needs to be on a monthly book instead of a mini-series.

Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City

This first volume of the New 52 Harley Quinn is a riot.  This is one of the funniest books out there on the market today.  Harley is contemplating what a comic book about her would look like when she finds a parting gift from Mr. J.  This is just the tip the iceberg because another mysterious benefactor has left Ms. Quinn an apartment building on Coney Island.  Throw on top of that a hit put out on Harley, job hunting & misplaced good deeds which propel her from one adventure to another.  If you are looking for super-hero heroics mixed with humor this title is for you.

Justice League Vol. 2: The Villains Journey

This second volume of the Justice League book moves ahead to present day from the origin issue of the League in the first volume.  A new villain is on the rise in this book, I kind of wished that DC had not put his image on any of the individual issue covers until the final issue of the story-arc because it takes away some of the mystery about who Graves is.  Jim Lee's artwork is superb in this volume giving hints as to what the villain looks like before he ambushes the League in their own home.  This is definitely a highlight of the New 52 compared to some of the titles that were released in the first wave.

Aquaman Vol. 2: The Others

This second volume of Geoff Johns Aquaman is one of the shining stars of the New 52.  Johns has deepened the mythos that surrounds this laughable character in recent years.  I was glued to this title from the moment I flip open the cover.  This volume takes us back to Arthur's early years of crime fighting & what truly makes Black Manta such a dangerous adversary.  I like the team of The Others, I just wish they had more screen time than just this one volume.

Shazam!

The reintroduction of Captain Marvel, I mean Shazam to the DC Universe via the New 52.  Billy Batson is your typical teenage he's rude, obnoxious & just a plain brat.  Through it all though Billy has the right end in sight even if the means are less than desirable.  The art is fantastic it works really well for this updated version of such a classic character.  I'm not sure how I feel about DC changing the name of the character, sure it makes sense for Billy to be Shazam instead of Captain Marvel but what about the rest of the Marvels.  One thing this book does really well is establish from the get go that Black Adam is one seriously powerful BAMF.  DC spent a lot of time building him up in the Pre-New 52 Universe.  I look forward to see where this leads since this is a character I know practically nothing about.

Captain Atom Vol. 2: Genesis

The second volume of Captain Atom seems a little to ambitious for the writer J.T. Krul & artist Freddie Williams II to pull off.  In other hands this could have been a true masterpiece of puzzle making leading to the explanation of the disappearance of the Post-Crisis Universe.  With great power comes great consequences this is a lesson that Captain Atom struggles with this entire volume & for an instance he even sees himself become the villain.  Captain Atom like Dr. Manhattan of Watchmen fame is a man given godlike powers because of an accident but unlike Dr. Manhattan, Nathaniel doesn't embrace his disconnection with humanity.  Instead he tries to reclaim it with disastrous results.  This book has a lot of self loathing with very little redemption.  I feel that these two volumes were a nice reintroduction to this somewhat obscure DC character but it would have been nice if DC comics would give this character another push with a different creative team.

 

Superman, Action Comics Vol. 4: Hybrid

I heard the story of how Andy Diggle was taking over Action Comics after Grant Morrison's run.  Diggle would be partnering with artist Tony Daniel for his upcoming run.  This was promoted by DC heavily for months prior to their actual first issue launch.  Shortly after the first issue came out Andy Diggle left the book.  Reasons for Diggle's departure are still unclear probably something to do with editorial since DC has been having lots of those as of late.  Tony Daniel took over writing responsibilities for the rest of the Hybrid arc using Diggle's notes.  Now on to the story the Hybrid arc at the beginning of this volume was actually really cool Tony Daniels art is top notch, his writing however is still clunky.  The first issue by Andy Diggle is a nice throwback to the characterization of Superman from Pre-New 52  The arc overall is a great Luther vs. Superman story that I would love to built upon the characterization of Lex Luther in this story is above any & all expectations,  The second arc in this book is not as good as the first it is by Scott Lobdell building into his run on the Superman title.  Lobdell's arc's in this volume are somewhat confusing unless you have been reading his run.  The final issue in this volume is part of the Psi War story arc which taking place in the other Superman title.  I think Lobdell was put on Action Comics after Diggle's departure as an emergency writer but also to bring some uniformity to the Superman line of titles for DC.  This is really a stand alone volume because of the Hybrid arc but other than that it is a cluster frak of stories.  DC really needs to change up how they create their collected editions because compared to Marvel & Image comics, they are severely lacking in cohesion.

Superman, Action Comics Vol. 3: At the End of Days

Like most if not all of Grant Morrison's work this is best read as a collection or in this case a group of collections.  I can see why people reading this in single issues would be confused beyond belief it is a serious fraking mess when you look at any single issue especially the later ones.  By the end of this third volume I have to say Morrison crafted one hell of a story that is full of twist and mind fraks at every turn.  By the time you get to the third volume you begin to realize that Morrison's entire New 52 Superman run is one big Mxyzptlk story.  Except this time Mxyzptlk isn't a villain instead he is a hero of some sort, the true villain of this encounter is Vyndktvx another magician from the 5th Dimension.  Overall Morrison has crafted a Superman story of biblical proportions the only thing I wish had been left out was the references to the "Death & Return of Superman" story arc.  If that had not been referenced then it would have made this story feel like a complete reboot.  Another gem of Grant Morrison's Superman run are the back up stories written by Sholly Fisch.  Her back ups have brought this sense of wonder & awe that reminds me of the Superman I grew up with in contrast to the Superman that Morrison is crafting.  In the future I hope DC giving her full creative control of character to craft & broaden the fan-base.  I would love to see what Grant Morrison could do if DC planned a reboot where he had the ability to craft every character as he sees fit.  Morrison's true gift as a writer is in mining the material & creating something entirely out of left field.  I would really like to see a grand epic from Morrison in which he crafts a universe of characters similar to what Brian K. Vaughan & Mark Millar do on a regular basis.  If he could do that I think he would truly be on his way to being considered one of the great comic book scribes of all time up there with the likes of Alan Moore, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby.

Superman, Action Comics Vol. 2: Bulletproof

The second volume of Grant Morrison's Superman Epic is here & I must say things are beginning to get a little clearer & I am becoming more invested in this new interpretation of Clark Kent / Superman.  One of the high points for me in this collection is the revelation that Clark's landlady is Mr. Mxyzptlk's wife I thought that was such an awesome nod to such an old adversary.  I hope that this leads to a story with Mr. Mxyzptlk in the near future.  This book also saw the origin of a parrallel earth Superman, another super-human for Kansas & the origin of the Kryptonite Man.  Clark Kent does do what I feel is such a mistake when he fakes his own death because he felt that his alter-ego had outlived its usefulness; thankfully Batman & his landlady set him straight.  I really like the zero issue in this collection for its main story The Boy Who Stole Superman's Cape it brings back a sense of awe that causes kids to idolized characters like Superman.  I like were this is going but it still feels strange & unusual but its definitely getting better.

Superman, Action Comics Vol. 1: Superman and the Men of Steel

This is the first volume of the New 52 Action Comics starting Grant Morrison's Superman epic.  Over the years Superman has had his origin told & retold.  In every retelling some of the facts are changed & enemies or specific events are changed.  When DC Comics rebooted there continuity they gave the reigns of Superman's origin to Grant Morrison to shape for a new generation.  This first volume shows us a cockier Superman in a t-shirt & jeans looking more like the Smallville version or Superboy.  Throughout the book Superman discovers his own origin about who he is, where he came from.  This story puts a new spin on who or what Brainiac is.  Several members of Superman's supporting cast are present throughout this story Sam Lane the primary antagonist of The World of New Krypton story-arc is here in a similar fashion.  Metallo's origin appears in this book along with Clark Kent's first meeting with the Legion of Super-Heroes.  Steel also makes his triumphant New 52 origin in this title & I have to say his parts of the book are some of my favorite throughout the story  In this book Clark Kent & Lois Lane work for rival newspapers.  The art is this book is some the best I have seen in a lately Rags Morales & Andy Kubert should be applauded even if you are not a fan of Grant Morrison's writing the art alone is worth giving this a look.  Overall this is a good start but since I am a product of the Post-Crisis continuity that broke onto the market back in 1985 with Crisis on Infinite Earths this is going to take some time to grow on me.  In time I'm sure Grant Morrison's origin will stand up to those of Geoff John's Superman: Secret Origin, Mark Waid's Superman: Birthright, John Byrne's Superman: Man of Steel Vol. 1 or even Jerry Siegel's Action Comics #1.  For now it is just another entry in line of Superman origins, but I will definitely be checking out part two.