New 52 Recap #2

This is the second in my series of stats posts on the DC Comics New 52. The previous installment is here.

Here is the list of New 52 titles I stuck with through two issues, in order of their issue #2 ratings:

Action Comics #2 (7.5)
Batman #2 (7.5)
Animal Man #2 (7)
Batwoman #2 (7)
Birds of Prey #2 (7)
Detective Comics #2 (7)
Justice League #2 (7)
Static Shock #2 (7)
Wonder Woman #2 (7)
Aquaman #2 (6.5)
DC Universe Presents (Deadman) #2 (6.5)
Superman#2 (6.5)
Swamp Thing #2 (6.5)
Batgirl #6 (6)
Batman: The Dark Knight #2 (6)
Justice League Dark #2 (4)
Catwoman #2 (2.5)

And here are the titles in order of their running average:

Batman (7.75)
Batwoman (7.5)
Action Comics (7.25)
Aquaman (7.25)
Static Shock (7.25)
Wonder Woman (7.25)
Animal Man (7)
Swamp Thing (7)
Detective Comics (6.75)
Birds of Prey (6.5)
Superman (6.5)
DC Universe Presents (Deadman) (6)
Justice League (5.75)
Justice League Dark (5.75)
Batman: The Dark Knight (5)
Catwoman (4.75)

Biggest Rating Increase From Issue 1: Justice League (+2.5)
Biggest Rating Decrease From Issue 1: Catwoman (-4.5)

Here is the list of titles that I have purchased a third issue of:

Action Comics
Animal Man
Aquaman
Batgirl
Batman
Batman and Robin*
Batman: The Dark Knight
Batwoman
Birds of Prey
DC Universe Presents (Deadman)
Detective Comics
Justice League Dark
Nightwing*
Static Shock
Suicide Squad*
Superman
Swamp Thing
Wonder Woman

*Apparently I bought a couple of titles that I had not actually purchased the second issues of. Must have been a couple of slow weeks at the comic shop. Not sure if I'm going to go back and pick up the second issue of those three books or not.

Pleasant surprises so far:

• Both Superman books (Action particularly, but Superman has been good Silver Age style fun).
• Wonder Woman. I was really prepared to hate this book, and it's been excellent through two issues.
• Static Shock! There's this concept called fun. Sometimes it feels like Static Shock is the only book in the New 52 that constantly remembers that.
• Batwoman. Complex plots right from the get-go.
• Justice League. Shaky start, but the non-stop action and awesome visuals in the second issue won me over. Now if they would just get Hal Jordan to shut up, this could be the flagship title that it's intended to be.
• Birds of Prey. Showing hints of becoming something with more depth than just women doing kung fu.
• Batman. Batman titles come in with high expectations. This book is meeting those.
  

Some less pleasant trends:

• Misogyny. Brutal killing of a good female supporting character. An implied attempted rape (two, actually) by a hero. Plus the usual skimpy costumes and generic Barbie-doll body types all over the place. This stuff is easy to fix. It involves actively realizing that there are females in the audience (well, there are a few left after DC and Marvel lost most of them to manga years ago; but still it would be nice to at least try!).
• Same old same old. Look, I am enjoying Swamp Thing and Animal Man. I've given them good ratings and I plan to continue reading them. But both titles feel like they are simply retreading ground covered in their Vertigo runs. It IS possible to have too much of a good thing, especially when what might have been shocking in 1992 just feels run-of-the-mill today. I'm not saying the two former Vertigo titles are guilty of this yet, but I am a bit concerned.
• Aquaman started off great, but I remain dubious about the Trench as a major villain. Too generic, too derivative, and not interesting enough. The dialogue writing remains good, so I would love to be proved wrong on this, but I am concerned about where the book is heading.
  
• Bad names. Mirror? Nobody? N.O.W.H.E.R.E.? White Rabbit? The Reach? The Trench? (Hey, can we have a The Reach vs. The Trench vs. The Brood vs. The Hand Marvel/DC crossover? Because I'm telling you, THAT would sell comics!).

I already reviewed one of the #3's, and starting tomorrow I'll be making my way through the rest of them. Look for another stats post after that!