DC Nation #0

First of several reviews of comics I got while visiting the US on summer break. I got this one at Newbury Comics at the Maine Mall in Portland ME.

Title: DC Nation
Issue: 0
Date: July 2018
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tom King, Brian Michael Bendis, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Joshua Williamson
Artist: Clay Mann, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Dexter Vines, Jorge Jimenez
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire, Alex Sinclair, Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Clayton Cowles, Josh Reed, Andworld Design
Cover: Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sanchez
Editor: Jamie S. Rich, Brittany Holzherr, Mike Cotton, Jessica Chen, Rebecca Taylor, Andrea Shea

Three stories here, all lead-ins to summer releases from DC.

First up is a Joker story with the Joker holding a random guy hostage while he waits for the mail to arrive. This was the kind of thing that would have been creepy and disturbing in the late 1980s, but is just run-of-the-mill Joker stuff today. The ending was pretty much the least interesting of all possible outcomes.

Things improved significantly with the Superman story, which focused on the very underappreciated Perry White. It was great to see Perry get some solid character development. It also opened up the possibility of some interesting workplace drama at the Daily Planet with the introduction of a new antagonist with a lot of potential. It felt like a bit of a soft reboot, which are way too common in comics these days, but the characters really carried the story.

Third was a big cosmic-scale Justice League story. There is a rather silly reason given for the creation of four new teams based on the properties of Entropy (Batman, Lobo, Deathstroke, Beast Boy, Lex Luthor), Mystery (J'onn J'onzz, Superman, Starfire, Sinestro, Starro), Wonder (Wonder Woman, Doctor Fate, Etrigan, Raven, Zatanna), and Wisdom (Damian Wayne, Flash, Atom, Cyborg, Harley Quinn).

So this is all just an excuse for ridiculous teamups between heroes and villains. It had its moments. And Etrigan rhymes, so that's something anyway. I still have questions... How the heck did Damian Wayne land on team Wisdom? Is Wonder Woman just on team Wonder because of her name? Starro? Really? Starro?

The last bit reveals the cosmic threat that has prompted all of this, and it's... the Celestials, freshly arrived from the Marvel Universe! Well, I guess technically not, but they are too pretty and colorful to be Eldrazi, so they are Celestials for all intents and purposes.

Hopefully those wacky teamups will be fun, because the overall plot of this looks as dull as can be.

I suppose one out of three for a book like this is about all that could be hoped for.

Rating: 3.5/10

Batman: Rebirth #1

Look! An actual NEW comic! That's the result of being back in the USA with east access to comic stores for the next few weeks.

Since returning, I have...

1) Picked up a small haul of items purchased via crowdfunding sites in the past year (and shipped to a US address), A couple of graphic novels are among those items, and I'll be taking those back with me to Vietnam to read and review over the next year.

2) Visited Newbury Comics in Hyannis. Newbury Comics has a 50%-off sale on all standard-format DC comics right now, so I bought a few of the new Rebirth books to see what all the hype was about. Included in the purchase was the Rebirth special itself, but I ended up starting with the Batman tie-in (see below).

3) Retrieved a big stack of random unread comics from my storage unit. Lots of indie and minicomic titles in this batch. These will also be heading back to Vietnam with me to provide some reading/reviewing fodder. I also managed to get the whole batch bagged and boarded for travel.

I still have two conventions and lots of comic shop visits coming up on this trip, so I'm looking to add some more good reading material to the stack I take back to Vietnam with me. In the meantime, here's my review of an actual recent release!

Title: Batman: Rebirth
Issue: 1
Date: August, 2016
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Scott Snyder, Tom King
Artist: Mikel Janin
Colorist: June Chung
Letterer: Deron Bennett
Editor: Mark Doyle, Rebecca Taylor
Cover: Mikel Janin

So... Calendar Man.

Not exactly the most exciting villain to start off my Rebirth reading. That being said, the interpretation of Calendar Man here is what I would consider a valiant attempt at making the character interesting. He's found a way to accelerate the changing of the seasons in Gotham, and is attempting to unleash deadly spores on the city as soon as Spring rolls around. In four days.

There's also a fun scene with Lucius Fox including some insight into Thomas Wayne, plus the beginning of the career of the Batman's latest partner. Not a new Robin, but a new costumed identity entirely. I wasn't familiar with the character who will be under the mask, but he seemed interesting enough that I'd like to see more.

Not a bad start for Rebirth. But really, guys... Calendar Man?

Rating: 6/10