Comics and Graphic Novels: The New 52 DC Comics Relaunch Part 4

It’s unfair, but then life is unfair: I happened to read the latest issue of Love & Rockets: New Stories before digging into the last wave of DC’s New 52 titles. No contest. I’ll be talking more about L&R next time. But suffice to say it blows away any comic I’ve read since, well, last year’s issue of L&R. Mere superhero comics can’t really compete.

Can they even try to? Can superhero comics operate at the same level as L&R’s Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez? Alan Moore came close with Watchmen. But it still has people in costumes fighting crime, and wouldn’t make sense otherwise. Comparing it to Love & Rockets is a little like comparing The Dark Knight to Citizen Kane. One is the pinnacle of a largely mediocre subgenre. One is the pinnacle of what is possible in the medium.

You might get the impression that I disdain superhero comics (and, by extension, superhero movies). I don’t. They have their place. Unfortunately, in the comics field, that place is dominant and pushes out almost everything else. I don’t have the stats in front of me at the moment, but if I had to guess I’d say the last consistently bestselling non-superhero title was Sandman at its peak about 15 years ago. Since then it’s been Marvel and DC and their various reboots and crossover series.

They’re all testosterone-laden and the actresses in them all look like Scarlett Johansson.

I’ve made this analogy before, but walking into your average comics shop is sort of like walking into a video store and finding that all they carry are action flicks. No comedy, no drama, maybe a few horror titles. They’re all testosterone-laden and the actresses in them all look like Scarlett Johansson. No Helen Mirrens, no Meryl Streeps, no complex female characters. Now, the field is a bit more varied these days than it was when I was growing up with comics. But superheroes still drive the economy of the industry. Even Hollywood movies, as inane and cookie-cutter as they often are (and the rise of superhero movies hasn’t helped), offer more variety. You’ll get a Bridesmaids or The Help or a Moneyball.

I would like to see Love & Rockets doing Batman numbers, but then I’d also like to see deserving indie films doing Avatar numbers. It doesn’t mean I hate Avatar or Batman — again, they have their place. It means I wish the mass taste were a little more discerning. Sometimes you want a burger from Wendy’s. But sometimes you want something else, or you should want something else; an all-Wendy’s diet isn’t good. A diet of nothing but superhero comics will make you bloated and unhealthy, intellectually speaking. This sojourn into mainstream DC comics has been fun in spots, but I’m eager to get back to pointing you towards lesser-known stuff not backed by huge corporations.

A diet of nothing but superhero comics will make you bloated and unhealthy, intellectually speaking.

As before, we’ll be looking at how newcomer-friendly a comic is, how well it stands on its own (i.e. if it ties in with any other comic you have to buy and read; we’ll only mention it if it does), and if it’s any damn good. Again, taking them in alphabetical order:

All-Star Western #1

Scar-faced anti-hero Jonah Hex teams up with proto-psychiatrist Amadeus Arkham to catch a killer who’s been terrorizing the whores of 1880s Gotham City. Arkham, by the way, would later found Arkham Asylum, where most of Batman’s foes are guests.

Can a newbie read it? Most will find it a better introduction to the surly gunfighter than last year’s Jonah Hex flick was (though I must confess a certain fondness for the movie).

Is it any damn good? If you liked Alan Moore’s From Hell … Well, this isn’t that. But it’s shaping up to be a decent yarn. Picture Clint Eastwood in his Sergio Leone days teamed up with Simon from Firefly.

Aquaman #1

The punchline of a thousand jokes returns — and he’s pretty badass, actually.

Can a newbie read it? Sure; there’s a little dialogue about A-man’s origin, but thankfully you don’t need to be up on all the changes he’s been through over the years.

Is it any damn good? The comic is very much aware that you and a lot of other people think Aquaman is lame. Aquaman knows it, too. Boy, does he ever know it. So this ends up being pretty entertaining, and writer Geoff Johns doesn’t overdo A-man’s badassness; he just comes in, does something awesome in a matter-of-fact way, and leaves. As The Call put it in “The Walls Came Down”: “They stood there laughing/They’re not laughing any more.”

Batman: The Dark Knight #1

Batman deals with a break-out at Arkham Asylum, while Bruce Wayne deals with a nosy investigator and a comely young lady.

Can a newbie read it? It’s about as welcoming as last week’s Batman #1. In fact, it’s almost the same damn comic.

Is it any damn good? It’s about as good as last week’s Batman #1. In fact, it’s almost the same damn comic.

Blackhawks #1

An elite band of operatives take on terrorists.

Can a newbie read it? The original Blackhawks, a team of ace pilots, first appeared in comics in 1941. (Fan favorite Howard Chaykin wrote and drew a terrific Blackhawk miniseries in the ’80s.) This isn’t the original team; it appears we’re getting in on the ground floor here.

Is it any damn good? I guess it’s going to take a while to meet all the team members; so far the only ones we’ve spent any quality time with are Kunoichi, who gets bitten by something weird, and her boyfriend. Personally, I’d rather read about the old Blackhawks.

The Flash #1

The fastest man alive vs. what appears to be an army of clones.

Can a newbie read it? This seems to be starting over with Barry Allen, the first of many DC Flashes. He’s fast, he fights crime, there ya go.

Is it any damn good? The Flash has always seemed to me to be one of the lesser heroes (with one of the goofier rogues’ galleries, like Captain Cold and Gorilla Grodd). This didn’t really make a believer out of me, although if Captain Cold had made an appearance I might’ve felt better about it.

The Fury Of Firestorm #1

Two guys with nuclear powers join together to form one big-ass guy with nuclear powers.

Can a newbie read it? This seems to be a hard reboot, so no prior knowledge is really needed.

Is it any damn good? I don’t know that we need to see quite so much Tarantino-esque torture — including a guy tied to a table in his underwear with his front teeth knocked out and a guy having his throat slashed in front of his wife and children — in a comic book that’s about dudes with nuclear powers. There have been very few New 52 titles that I can imagine a little kid jumping onto and enjoying, and this decidedly isn’t one of them. I don’t mean to get moralistic about violence in comics, but where (other than aberrations like Tiny Titans) are the superhero comics that will turn younger kids into lifelong fans?

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1

For some reason, a bunch of Lanterns throughout the galaxy lose their rings, and they all find their way to newbie Green Lantern Kyle Rayner.

Can a newbie read it? Helps if you’ve read the other Green Lantern titles in the relaunch, but not mandatory.

Is it any damn good? It’s sort of amusing to see Kyle dealing with his new powers. I liked the way he saved the guy in the falling crane. Making stuff with your ring that’s both awe-inspiring and dorky is what Green Lantern should be about (and what the movie should’ve had more of).

I, Vampire #1

Do-gooder vampire Andrew Bennett goes around hunting and killing fellow vamps, his main goal being to terminate the vicious female vamp he sired.

Can a newbie read it? Andy’s been around since 1981, when he first appeared in House of Mystery, but he doesn’t exactly have a tangled continuity. His mission is simple and, so far, so is the narrative.

Is it any damn good? This first issue is a decent start, I guess, but the reason to come back for more is the moody art by Andrea Sorrentino. (Who is a guy, disappointingly; artist-wise, the New 52 relaunch has been a sausage-fest.)

Justice League Dark #1

When there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? Not the usual superheroes; they can’t deal with magic. So you bring in Madame Xanadu, Zatanna, Shade the Changing Man, Deadman, and good ol’ John Constantine.

Can a newbie read it? The first issue is all set-up and anticipation of seeing these characters working together; I’m not sure how well it will play for readers unfamiliar with Constantine or Zatanna, et al.

Is it any damn good? I’ll take Constantine anywhere I find him, though he’s not in this issue much. I will say that Mikel Janin’s art makes all the women look kind of glazed and porny — not as bad as Greg Land’s pornface, but at times it threatens to go there.

The Savage Hawkman #1

Winged hero Carter Hall wants to get out, but they pull him back in.

Can a newbie read it? Despite Hawkman’s ridiculously tangled backstory, none of which I was familiar with, I didn’t have too much trouble following it.

Is it any damn good? Philip Tan’s art is lush but sometimes murky; the story thus far — pitting Hawkman against aliens — isn’t compelling enough to get me to sign on for #2. I do know at least one major Hawkman fan who’d be all over it, though.

Superman #1

Supes fights some sort of fire creature. Clark Kent strikes out with Lois Lane.

Can a newbie read it? It’s not quite as n00b-friendly as Action Comics #1, which takes place at the start of Superman’s career; this one seems to unfold a few years into it, and assumes you know what the Daily Planet is and why it matters that it’s fallen victim to the new world of paperless news.

Does it stand on its own? There’s a callback to the horn in Stormwatch #1. Having read both issues, I still don’t know what the hell is up with the horn. Whatever, it’s not that important to the story.

Is it any damn good? Always nice to see Superman up against something he can really whale on, but Christ, could the pages be laid out any more claustrophobically? There are like a zillion little panels on some pages.

Teen Titans #1

Various superpowered people not old enough to drink band together in the face of some shadowy organization determined to kill them.

Can a newbie read it? So far we’ve only met Red Robin (aka Tim Drake, the third Robin), Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl; all we need is Aqualad and it’ll be the original 1965 line-up. It doesn’t require a comics PhD to understand who they are and what they can do.

Is it any damn good? It’s not bad, and the final reveal of a new team member ties it in nicely with another New 52 title. But there are too damn many Robins running around (under different names).

Voodoo #1

Shape-shifting exotic dancer who can sniff out demons. Lots of cheesecake.

Can a newbie read it? There’s not much to it, other than Voodoo (whose real name is Priscilla Kitaen — oh, please) erotically dancing while some sort of agent keeps an eye on her.

Is it any damn good? Ever been to a strip club? Then you’ve read this comic. Those who hated Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws for their superheroines in Victoria’s Secret poses will projectile-vomit all over this. It’s not that a stripper can’t be a hero. It’s that we don’t need page after page of her stripping to get the point that, yes, she disrobes for money, can we have a story now?

…And that’s it for the New 52, thank the gods. Next time I’ll talk about Love & Rockets, Habibi, Holy Terror, Rachel Rising, and more comics you should know about.