The New 52 FCBD Special Edition #1

From my Free Comic Book Day haul.

Title: The New 52 FCBD Special Edition
Issue: 1
Date: June 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, China Mieville, James Robinson, Paul Levitz, Howard Mackie, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, JT Krul
Artist: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Kenneth Rocafort, Gene Ha, Chris Burnham, Mateus Santolouco, Nicola Scott, Trevor Scott, Kevin Maguire, George Perez, Ian Churchill, Norm Rapmund
Colorist: Rod Reis, Alex Sinclair, Blond, Art Lyon, Dan Panosian, Ariel Olivetti
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Kate Stewart, Dan Didio, Eddie Berganza
Cover: Jim Lee, Alex Sinclair, Scott Williams

This was DC's major 2012 Free Comic Book Day edition. This is all teasers, but it's good eye candy for the most part. The giant fold-out center spread is gimmicky but fun.

The story focuses on the origin of Pandora, who was the mystery woman drawn into the backgrounds of all 52 of the reboot issues. She is the same Pandora we know from mythology, but she's part of a trio of ancient sinners who were cursed with eternal torment in one form or another. The other two beings appear to be reboots of the Phantom Stranger and the Question.

And speaking of reboots, welcome back Etta Candy (now black and skinny). Not minding the change there. She was a character who went through an awful lot of reimagining over the years.

There is a lot of back-and-forth with Pandora infiltrating top-secret labs and storage facilities for alien/mystical technology. Steve Trevor is clearly being shoehorned into the Nick Fury role, which comes off a bit generic. Also, he demands "Find me John Constantine!". Be careful what you wish for, Steve. Oh, and Black Orchid gets namedropped.

The second half of the book is just preview pages from new titles. The most intriguing of those was Dial H, featuring the first comic writing by China Mieville. It looked like it had some potential. World's Finest was amusing and engaging. It was nice to see the Unknown Soldier in the GI Combat preview, but the rest didn't interest me much.

Rating: 6/10

Batman: The Dark Knight #5

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight
Issue: 5
Date: March 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Jenkins, David Finch
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Richard Friend
Colorist: Jeromy Cox
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Mike Marts, Rickey Purdin
Cover: David Finch, Richard Friend, Alex Sinclair

A scarecrow fear gas story! How... unexpected. Not.

Scarecrow enlightens the Batman on his darkest fears and the Batman resists, and it's nothing we haven't seen before. When good old reliable fear gas doesn't work, it's on to the new stuff, which seems to be the New 52 version of venom. Batman becomes fearless and extremely angry. No, I mean more so than he usually is.

He even punches Superman around. And calls him a fascist.

This title has apparently been designated as the place where the Justice League guest appearances are going to happen, and the Superman appearance is pretty well handled here. The confrontation between the Batman and the Scarecrow is the part that needed work.

Rating: 6.5/10

Batman: The Dark Knight #4

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight
Issue: 4
Date: February 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Jenkins, David Finch
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Richard Friend
Colorist: Jeromy Cox
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Mike Marts, Rickey Purdin
Cover: David Finch, Richard Friend, Alex Sinclair

Caption-based narration by the (until the last panel) essentially takes the entire issue to tell us what the Eagles once did in two lines: "Somebody's gonna hurt someone, before the night is through/Somebody's gonna come undone, there's nothing you can do." Um, without the rhymes, though.

The plot is basically a series of random encounters. First an Aubrey II that Poison Ivy left to guard her lair. Then an encounter with a venomed-up Deathstroke. Much to my amusement, Deathstroke jobs clean and quick to the Batman.

By the way, I'm using the term "venom" here because we really do seem to be heading for a reboot of the "venom" concept. And no, I do not mean the alien symbiote guy over at the other company. I am expecting that the major villain revealed at the end of this issue is not, in fact, the mastermind behind all of the mayhem that's been happening in this series. There's one more enemy waiting in the wings, and they are timing his arrival for maximum movie-crossover potential. And if that's the case, than the drug that is turning all of these villains into bad 1990s Image Comics art is indeed the New 52 version of venom.

Until then, the Batman is getting no further direct help from the Justice League as they are busy rounding up more escaped Arkham inmates (Spellbinder and Electrocutioner get mentions but not actual appearances; Wonder Woman does actually appear in two panels). Bruce is left to content with Deathstroke, White Rabbit, and this issue's new (not all that surprising) surprise villain. Poison Ivy, meanwhile, is apparently an unwilling participant in all of this.

Random digression:

Something that I noticed: Batman has some of the most vicious and psychotic villains in comics... Except for the female ones. Ever notice how many Batman villainesses turn out to have some amount of goodness deep in their hearts, or at least manage to take on "anti-hero" roles on the side of good? Catwoman (own series), Harley Quinn (Suicide Squad), Talia (plenty of mixed motives/emotions in various past stories), Poison Ivy (Birds of Prey). White Rabbit gets played for sympathy in this series, and even Lady Shiva gets some sympathetic portrayals. Compare this to, say, Cheetah, who is typically portrayed (in modern versions) as an absolutely bloodthirsty monster in her appearances. Not sure what to make of this. Just an interesting observation.

Back to the story at hand. Interestingly, even though they weren't really meaningful scenes in terms of plot, I actually found the action sequences in this issue to be better than the more character development-related scenes. I blame the dialogue. A scene with Jim Gordon drags on without really getting anywhere, while Alfred's dialogue is hokey enough to be something out of 1966 TV. And Alfred is a character that can usually be counted on for good dialogue.

The action scenes are effective, but very little plot was actually accomplished here.

Rating: 4.5/10

Batman: The Dark Knight #3

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight
Issue: 3
Date: December 2012
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Jenkins, David Finch
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Richard Friend
Colorist: Jeromy Cox
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Mike Marts, Rickey Purdin
Cover: David Finch, Richard Friend, Alex Sinclair

After the mess that was the third issue of Detective Comics (see my review here), it was nice to see this title heading in the right direction.

Nothing profound here, but a lot of fun, even if it required a bit of "stunt booking" to achieve it.

We get started with a hulked-up (drugged-up, really) Joker and the White Rabbit. But things are not exactly as they appear, and the Batman's quick bit of on-the-fly detective work in the midst of the ensuing fight is one of the little touches that makes this amusing.

We go immediately to a high-powered guest star from the Justice League, who lends a hand in classic 70s-style team-up fashion. It's a nice nostalgic bit that makes reasonable sense and reminds the reader that there is a whole DC Universe out there. The guest star gets written out in somewhat over-arbitrary fashion later, but I still enjoyed it.

I'm also starting to warm to White Rabbit as a villain now that we're seeing her in action a bit more. Still not thrilled with the Playboy Bunny costume, but at least her actions are starting to make a bit more sense.

Also starting to grow on me: new romantic interest Jaina Hudson. Might just be a matter of personal taste, but she's one of the few women in comics that gets a "Wow, she is really beautiful!" reaction from me. Her scene with Bruce Wayne was mostly just more flirting, but I did like the detail that a text from Alfred did NOT result in Bruce abruptly calling off the date. Nice little bit of cliche breaking.

Ends with a bit more thickening of the plot and a little bit of crossover with the events of Birds of Prey. Oh, and a preview of The Ray, which was just kinda there.

Rating: 7/10

Catwoman #2

Title: Catwoman
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Guillem March
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern, Rickey Purdin
Cover: Guillem March

Biggest disappointment of the New 52 so far for me.

The first issue of this was controversial. I was okay with that. I went to bat for it. (Went to "bat"! Um, sorry.). But then...

*grumbles*

*SPOILER WARNING*

Lola was the best character in the first issue by far. Competent and capable woman who's attractive, but with a body type that isn't, well, that isn't EVERY OTHER WOMAN IN THE DC UNIVERSE NOW THAT THEY MESSED WITH AMANDA WALLER. In other words, not an anatomically dubious body that ranges somewhere between bikini model and Barbie doll.

So, of course, what happens?

She gets tortured and killed in the friggin' second issue.

Women in Refrigerators much?

Nothing in this issue made this particular plot development worth it. And I suppose it's possible that Lola's death with be made meaningful and poignant as the story develops in the subsequent issues.

But I won't be around for that. Too bad. The first issue was a good start. But you've just lost a reader.

Rating: 2.5/10

Batman: The Dark Knight #2

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight
Issue: 2
Date: December 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Jenkins, David Finch
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Richard Friend
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Mike Marts, Rickey Purdin
Cover: David Finch, Richard Friend, Alex Sinclair

Harvey Dent's tagline at the end of the first issue actually makes no sense at all, but that doesn't stop the drugged-up and muscled-up Two Face from beating on the Batman in a pretty one-sided brawl that ends when the Batman is effectively saved by the bell.

It turns out that someone has been injecting the Batman villains with a drug that I at first assumed to be Venom, but is actually some variant on the scarecrow's fear-gas. Its effects include superhuman strength, fearlessness, and really badly-drawn anatomy.

In spite of the rather goofy nature of the premise, the creative team milks it for all its worth, including a montage of Bat-Family members getting trounced by an array of second and third rate villains on (for all intents and purposes) steroids.

Some minor gripes:

More dead GCPD officers. Is this really necessary? These guys must spend their off-duty time doing nothing but attending funerals for their fellow officers. I don't have a grip with violence when it serves a purpose, but to draw in a few dead bodies of cops just for the sake of getting a villain over is lazy storytelling, and it has been happening way too much in the DCnU (in the old DCU in recent years too). How about doing this a lot less often but making an effort to get the readers to care?

Also, Damian Wayne only appears on two pages (good!), but he is completely out of character in this scene. Some consistency would be nice (even if it involves making a character consistently intolerable).

I was also a bit puzzled with the kid-gloves approach that the Batman takes with the White Rabbit, who is pretty clearly one of the bad guys.

On the good side, the pacing was great. Art was solid aside from the Image Comics 1990s look for all the drugged-up villains. And the story was a lot more complex than in the first issue. All in all, despite some problems, an improvement.

Rating: 6

Batman: The Dark Knight #1

Back to the New 52. Still working my way through first issues.

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Paul Jenkins, David Finch
Penciler: David Finch
Inker: Richard Friend
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Mike Marts, Rickey Purdin
Cover: David Finch, Richard Friend, Alex Sinclair

You know the line in Austin Powers where Dr. Evil gives up on making a creative plan for world domination and just says "The hell with it. Let's just do what we always do and hijack a nuclear weapon."?

This book felt a lot like that. No original ideas? No problem. Let's just do what we always do and have a mass breakout from Arkham Asylum. That always works.

In the lead-up, we get a little bit of narrated monologue on the nature of fear, followed by a scene of Bruce Wayne doing his playboy/philanthropist gig. Two long-term complications are introduced right off the bat (Bat! Get it! Never mind...). First there's a Gotham internal affairs detective who's got his sights set on Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. Then we have Jaina Hudson, a possible new love interest, who's flirting more than a bit outrageously at first sight.

From there it's mayhem at Arkham, and as usual, it doesn't matter how many cops you've got. The only way to restore order is to have the Batman lead the charge fists-flying. Oh, and in the midst of it, there's some random villainess in what is basically a Playboy bunny outfit who manages to strike pretty much the most sexist pose possible while dodging bullets. But that's not who the Batman is going after. He's heading straight into the heart of darkness to find Two-Face before he gets... Oops too late. Harvey Dent has been redrawn by way of the Rob Liefeld School Of Excessive Muscles.

The two new supporting cast members seemed decent. Everything else here has been done before. Only a lot better.

Rating: 4/10

Green Lantern #1

Title: Green Lantern
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Doug Mahnke
Inker: Christian Alamy, Tom Nguyen
Colorist: David Baron
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Darren Shan, Brian Cunningham
Cover: Greg Capullo

I picked up the Greg Capullo sketch cover variant (pictured above). I like the touch of color on the ring against the black and white, but Sinestro isn't really that recognizable in this version. He looks like something halfway between Guy Gardner and the Joker.

Things that are new and original: Sinestro as a Green Lantern. Sinestro with a chance at redemption, even though he doesn't actually want the chance. Sinestro suddenly forced to confront his own Sinestro Corps as mutual trust breaks down.

Things that have been done to death: Hal Jordan can't keep a job. Hal Jordan can't pay the rent. Hal Jordan makes hothead mistakes that land him in jail (okay, I can sorta buy that one, but the actual scenario was so idiotic that that it totally lost me). Hal Jordan engages in bad-sitcom-level displays of social awkwardness.

Everything in this comic that involved Hal Jordan except for the last page had me cringing. Absolutely awful, unimaginative filler. I'm sorry. This guy is a hero. I'm not buying the idea that he is utterly incompetent at life. That's taking the easy way out and going for cheap cliche situations rather than actually giving the story some depth.

Sinestro is the only thing that kept this from being the worst of the New 52 books I've read so far.

Rating: 4/10

Catwoman #1

After a brief detour for The Great New England Steampunk Exposition, it's back to DC's "New 52". Here's one of this week's releases.

Title: Catwoman
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Guillem March
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Sal Cipriano
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern, Rickey Purdin
Cover: Guillem March

The most unrealistic scene in this comic is not Selina crashing through an upper-story window and landing unharmed. It's not her dodging bullets, or outfighting overwhelming numbers of trained killers. It's not even Selina seducing the Batman.

The most unrealistic scene in this comic is Selina getting six cats into a single cat carrier in 30 seconds. Sorry, I don't care if she's the Catwoman. I wouldn't care if she had all the powers of Superman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Darkseid. NOBODY can do that.

That being said, this was a fairly entertaining story. It's definitely a violent story, and it was REALLY pushing the T+ rating, but you know what? That was fine for this book. I know I tend to get annoyed with some of the excesses of comics when it comes to violence, but if any book should be sexy and violent, it's Catwoman.

The story gets off to a running start as Selina gets the type of foreclosure notification that is accompanied by armed thugs and explosives. So she's broke and out on the streets. That's the motivation. Fortunately she's got her own personal "Oracle", a fence named Lola ("...and she actually was a showgirl." Ha!). I liked Lola. She's attractive, but still more realistically drawn than pretty much every woman in the new DCU (Apparently including Amanda Waller! WTF? Actually, don't get me started. That one gets its own review rant).

Lola sets up Selina with a gig bartending at a Russian mob party. Actually, she just supplies the address of the party. Selina helps herself to the gig using the time-honored tradition of rendering the bartender unconscious and stealing her clothing (Yay! Oh, wait, the scene takes place off-screen... Boo!). Selina takes time out from scouting her next heist to inflict some payback on a bad guy in need of payback. Brawl follows.

And then there's a sex scene with the Batman. All of which leads us full circle back to the genuinely hilarious title of this story, "And most of the costumes stay on..." Ha!

Okay, this was not exactly a literary masterpiece, but it was fun, and everything in the story worked well. I'd rather have the raunch factor cranked up in this book than have it be the standard for the whole "New 52". Here it works.

Rating: 7/10