Swamp Thing Halloween Horror Giant #1

I believe this is a Walmart exclusive, at least that's the only place I've ever seen these new DC 100-Page Comic Giant editions. I bought this one at a Walmart in Massachusetts during our Christmas visit home to the USA.

Title: Swamp Thing Halloween Horror Giant
Issue: 1
Date: 2018
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Brian Azzarello, Dan Didio, Paul Dini, Steve Niles, Mikey Way, J. Michael Straczynski, Denny O'Neil, Len Wein
Artist: Greg Caputo, Jonathan Glapion, Dustin Nguyen, Ian Churchill, Norm Rapmuno, Dean Ormston, Mateus, Jesus Saiz, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Berni Wrightson
Colorist: FCO Plascencia, Rod Reis, Chris Peter, Trish Mulvhill
Letterer: Travis Lanham, Rob Leigh
Editor: Dave Wielgosz, Chris Conroy, Joey Cavalieri, Julius Schwartz

This is a mass-market special featuring one new Swamp Thing story, and seven horror-themed reprints from all over the DC Universe (there isn't a one-to-one listing of the original sources, but the stories come from Batman, Brave and the Bold, House of Secrets, and a couple of the past DC Halloween Specials). The lineup of creators is impressive, and a decent variety of DC Comics characters are featured as well, with the Swamp Thing getting the first and last stories.

First up was the new Swamp Thing story, featuring Twiglet interrupting some Halloween mayhem that turns out to be more than just treats. She tells a story of her first meeting with the Swamp Thing, before giving the bad guys a more personal introduction. This was the only story that was in the current continuity, and it felt rather choppy and incomplete, with a lot of vague references to a being that I assume is going to be a major Swamp Thing Villain going forward.

Next up was Blue Devil and Enchantress in a rather blatant and very dark-comedy parody of It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, with enough names changed for plausible deniability. My main reaction was mostly just to be a bit surprised that they went there. The story itself didn't have much to it.

There also wasn't that much to the Zatanna story, which involved Halloween candy tainted with the Scarecrow's fear-drug. This was a pretty straightforward in why Zatanna is not someone you want to piss off. Ever.

Next up, and odd Superman vs. zombies story. The zombies are magical kryptonite zombies or something which makes this a bit more of a challenge, but it's Superman's reluctance to kill which is what first gets in the way. The ending is strange, but visually fun.

"The Ballad of Jonathan Crane" puts Jonathan in the place of Ichabod in a variant of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. It has a fun Gotham by Gaslight style Elseworlds vibe, and features some fuin guest appearances.

Another odd story features the surprising team of Etrigan and Aquaman as they battle, well, Cthulhu basically. This one is a blatant homage (bordering on ripoff) of Lovecraft. The artwork on this story was great, and I am happy to report with Etrigan was in full-rhyming mode, which always makes for a better Demon story. It was fun to see Aquaman in a horror story, and he fit the flavor of it surprisingly well.

The Batman story "Night of the Reaper" was a particularly dark tale of the Dark Knight, all set around a superhero-themed costume parade and costume party. The strangest thing in this story was that because the background characters were mostly ordinary folks cosplaying, the artists got to include a bunch of Marvel characters in the crowds. There were definitely some in-jokes thrown into was was otherwise a grim story about Nazi war criminals and revenge.

Last up was the classic Swamp Thing origin story by the original team of Wein and Wrightson from House of Secrets #92 in 1971. This is still a fun horror story that holds up well, even if it is not the current incarnation of DC's classic monster.

Overall, this is a fun book with a lot of really quirky things going on. Between the various bits of history and the literary and pop culture references, this book should bring a few smiles to the faces of most geeky readers. The stories generally try a bit too hard to be clever, and most are not really particularly good at being genuine horror stories, but I still found it to be a fun book with a real all-star lineup of creators to sample.

Rating: 7/10

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

DC Comics: The New 52 #1

Title: DC Comics: The New 52
Date: 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciler: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Editor: Jim Lee, Dan DiDio

If you're following mainstream comics at all, then you're probably aware of the DC comics relaunch that's coming in a few weeks. This is a preview book covering the complete revamping of the DC Universe, with every ongoing comic being restarted with a new issue #1 (even longterm legacy books like Action Comics and Detective Comics, both of which were closing in on #1000 in the next few years).

This book is a freebie, and it contains two basic components. The first is five pages of the new Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. To make matters slightly more confusing, the sample scene takes place in a five-year flashback to "a time when the world didn't know what a super-hero was". So you've got the Batman doing his typical Batman thing, chasing down some generic villain/monster across the rooftops of Gotham with the GCPD (who are apparently still incompetent; I guess some things just never change). Green Lantern shows up dispatches the bad guy with a firetruck construct before going all fangirlish for the Batman, who apparently has better things to do than to sign an autograph for Hal Jordan.

Jim Lee's art is gorgeous. The writing was simply dull. We've seen this kind of "Year One" stuff a million times, and nothing about this was fresh, new, or even all that interesting.

The rest of the book is just a big ad for all 52 of the new series that will constitute the new version of the DC Universe, at least until the next Crisis, which if they are true to schedule should occur sometime in mid-2013.

As a bonus for putting up with my cynicism, here are my (brief) thoughts on every book in the New 52:

Justice League: Good solid lineup (Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Flash, The Batman, Superman, Green Lantern; although my understanding is that they'll be including a bunch of second-stringers as cannon fodder). Jim Lee's art should be great for this. Stories will probably be fairly generic.

Justice League International: August General in Iron? Really? Really? Fire and Ice are usually cute and entertaining. So is Rocket Red for that matter. Guy Gardner is good for comic relief. So is Booster Gold. Actually just about everyone on this team is good for comic relief. Oh, and the Batman (who is not usually good for comic relief, except when paired with pretty much anyone on this team) is on here too, just in case August General in Iron fails to sell books.

Aquaman: Apparently they have a new race of creatures called (oddly) The Trench. They claim The Trench will be the most talked-about new characters in the DC Universe. From the glimpse we get in this book I'm expecting that HP Lovecraft fans will do lots of talking about how The Trench are a ripoff of Lovecraft's Deep Ones. Oh, and Aquaman in the book too. Hopefully he will do some talking to fish.

Wonder Woman: So, she's carrying a bloody sword in the sample art. I'm guessing she has not reverted back to the pacifist version from the George Perez run. Which is too bad. Angry warrior Wonder Woman is tedious.

The Flash: Barry Allen! The preview of this book was pretty generic, but the DC Universe went without Barry Allen for so long that the character is actually pretty fresh at this point. And since Flashpoint is what got us into this whole mess, I would expect this to be a pretty important book.

The Fury of Firestorm: They seem to be going with the shared body thing here, and the two inhabitants can't stand each other. This is the superhero version of one of those movies where two prisoners escape from jail but are handcuffed to each other.

Green Arrow: "Now armed with cutting-edge weaponry and illegally gained intel". Which means the trick arrows are back. Is the boxing-glove arrow considered cutting edge? I love Ollie, and he's been a character who is consistently well written in spite of the idiocy around him, but this looks pretty generic.

The Savage Hawkman: As opposed to the civilized one? Hawkman never did much for me. I expect that trend to continue.

DC Universe Presents: This could be a really great platform for new talent and obscure characters. Or it could be a dumping ground for crap (see Action Comics Weekly). The initial arc features Deadman, so there is some potential at least.

Mister Terrific: Iron-Man ripoff.

Action Comics: I'm a bit of a traditionalist, so I cringe to see this being renumbered. On the other hand, I understand that DC felt that it wouldn't be a clean break if they didn't renumber the big-number books. They claim this is a very different take on Superman, and the sample artwork shows the police shooting at him, so I'm guessing they'll be going for more of a vigilante feel (which would indeed be different, although not that great a fit for the Man of Steel). I wonder if he's still an American citizen.

Superman: The preview of this book focuses more on the Clark Kent identity, which gets a major reboot. In particular, we're going back to bachelorhood for Clark. Oh, and there's a monstrous threat to Metropolis and Superman just might be the cause of it! How very Silver Age of them.

Supergirl: All the powers of Superman, but with teenaged angst. You know, Alan Moore did this. It was called Kid Miracleman, and let me assure you, it did not end well for humanity. This looks like it has the potential to be a disaster more in the bad writing category.

Superboy: This would be a part-human, part-kryptonian clone. Can he develop a conscience? Or a regular readership?

Batman: This is Bruce Wayne as the Batman, to nobody's surprise. The preview promises that the Batman learns that Gotham City is deadlier than he knew. Really? Has he been paying attention lately? Gotham is pretty deadly.

Detective Comics: Preview art (which looks great) features the Joker, although the text says the the Batman is up against a new villain with the rather creative name of The Gotham Ripper.

Batwoman: Kate Kane is one of those characters that I love the concept of, but have not actually read all that much of. So she may be getting a sidekick here (her cousin Bette Kane is third-rate heroine Firebird, apparently). Notably absent from the writeup, any mention of Kate's ex-lover Renee Montoya.

Batman: The Dark Knight: This book apparently will contain follow-up from the Batman Incorporated storyline, corporate intrigue involving Waynecorp, and the Batman fighting through a gauntlet of villains at Arkham Asylum. Nothing really new here, but at least it sounds like it's packed with good Batman lore and loaded with action.

Batman And Robin: The big mystery here is how annoying will Damien Wayne need to get before the Batman smacks him. The new villain is named NoBody, which should at least make for some funny (and Homeric!) dialogue.

Batwing: The Batman of Africa. This actually looks really cool. It will probably be canceled around issue 5.

Batgirl: Wow. Where to begin? This is definitely the most controversial book in the new lineup, and I honestly don't know where I stand in the debate over whether it's the right move to "cure" Barbara Gordon. I will say that I agree with those who have said that Oracle was an absolutely awesome character, and was better written than anything done with Batgirl before that. They've got Gail Simone writing this, so they've got a shot at making it work. I'm really hoping that they get this right somehow.

Nightwing: This is a character that works well, and is usually pretty well written. The opening story involves the return of Haley's Circus to Gotham, so it should be an entertaining nod to the past, and an emotional adventure for Dick Grayson. This one definitely has potential.

Catwoman: "This is a tough, sexy, violent, over-the-top book." - writer Judd Winick. You know, I'm pretty okay with that description for a Catwoman book (less than thrilled to see that the same could probably be said about the new Wonder Woman book, and really about all the books involving female characters).

Birds of Prey: This is going to be the Dinah Lance show, which is good, because she's been great in Birds of Prey. No idea who the heck Starling is, and the rest of the team in the sample art looks silly (Katana? Really? And is that Poison Ivy?).

Red Hood And The Outlaws: What the HECK is Starfire doing in this book? That makes no sense at all.

Green Lantern: Sinestro as Green Lantern. I'm intrigued.

Green Lantern Corps: Looks like we've got Jon Stewart, Killawog, and Guy Gardner, along with a couple of other Lanterns whose names I should know but don't. I'm also pretty sure several of them were dead in the previous continuity. The Corps never did much for me, but I know some people love this stuff. I could never get too far past the can't-affect-yellow foolishness.

Green Lantern: New Guardians: Completely new concept for the team. This is a sort of power-ring rainbow group. We get almost no preview art, but the text assures us that this is the "most powerful team in the universe". Apparently, they also don't get along all that well. Just once I'd love to see someone come up with a team book of guys/gals with mediocre powers, but who get along and work together really well. They'd probably trounce every super-team in the DCU.

Red Lanterns: They're just like the Green Lanterns, but more violent. Yeah, that's exactly what comics needed. Moving on.

Justice League Dark: Okay, I'm not usually into "dark" as much as some folks, but how can you not love a team that consists of Shade: The Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna, and John f'n Constantine?!? Add in the fact that the original Vertigo Shade: The Changing Man writer Peter Milligan is on board and you've got the first book in this lineup that I'm really excited about.

Swamp Thing: Good to see the Swamp Thing back in the DC Universe. Loads of potential here, but not much revealed in the description.

Animal Man: I really like the fact that they seem to be carrying on the themes of the Vertigo series in this book. Could be really good.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.: Okay, first of all everyone knows that the monster is NOT named Frankenstein. Has DC not been paying attention? Oh, and S.H.A.D.E. stands for Super Human Advanced Defense Executive.

I, Vampire: Where's Buffy when you need her?

Resurrection Man: Gets reborn with new powers every time he dies. Hey, this sounds like, well, pretty much the entire DC Universe over the last 20-30 years. Nobody stays dead and they're constantly getting repackaged.

Demon Knights: Set during the Middle Ages, Jason Blood/Etrigan get all medieval. No word on whether Etrigan's dialogue will rhyme. I pretty much require rhyming dialogue if I'm going to read an Etrigan book.

Stormwatch: The super-secret Stormwatch team (which sounds like the weather unit on the Channel 5 news) is on a mission to recover the [Information Redacted]. No, really. It actually says that in the writeup. The team includes Martian Manhunter and a bunch of guys I've never heard of.

Voodoo: "Learn the truth about Priscilla Kitaen as she leaves a trail of violence across America." Ooh, a trail of violence across America! What a new and refreshing idea! Oh, and her costume looks like Elektra's except that she's got a scaly dragon-claw hand. This looks awful.

Grifter: Okay, so this guy is apparently the biggest sweet talker of all time. Why does he need the guns, then?

Suicide Squad: Harley Quinn's new costume is basically a wonderful summation of everything that is wrong with the treatment of female characters in comics. Anyway, as much as I like Deadshot, if there's no Amanda Waller (one of the few female characters that DC has ever really gotten right), then I'm not buying.

Deathstroke: Because they just can't call a guy "The Terminator" anymore. Looks like pretty generic anti-hero stuff. This guy really doesn't work for me as the star of his own book.

Teen Titans: Tim Drake is a great character, and Tim as new team leader is a pretty awesome concept. The rest of the team sounds at least entertaining, and it's a pretty classic lineup with Superboy, Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash. Titans has never been my thing (again, I know it's a book that a lot of people love; I'll be making this disclaimer again when we get to the Legion), but this does look like it could be good.

Static Shock: Static moves to NYC all the way from the Dakota Universe (remember that?). They seem to be going for a Spider-Man vibe here. Could have potential.

Hawk And Dove: They're up against someone who is out to plunge the USA into a new civil war. What? Does this mean they're fighting Fox News? Actually that would be kinda cool. The actual book does not look kinda cool. It looks kinda dull.

Blue Beetle: This is basically DC saying "No, you ARE going to like our new version of Blue Beetle. Really." Sorry, still not buying.

All-Star Western: Okay, I love the idea of a 19th Century Gotham City with Amadeus Arkham and Jonah Hex. But since when is Gotham City in the WEST? I always thought it was in New Jersey!

O.M.A.C.: Wait, the Brother Eye Satellite is STILL in orbit after all those various Crises? Really? Checkmate is in this one, in case you were lamenting the loss of Checkmate from the DCU. Oh, and O.M.A.C. now stands for One MACHINE Army Corps. Even an acronym enthusiast like me is having a hard time caring.

Blackhawks: Tom Clancy style vibe here. This could actually be pretty cool.

Men of War: Easy Company are now ex-military men turned contractors. Mercenaries, in other words. I don't mean to sound like a Republican here, but what is the problem with doing a book about the actual US Military? You know, REAL heroes? The Sgt. Rock I grew up with wouldn't work for Blackwater.

Legion Lost: Seven heroes from the future come back to warn all the mutants that the Sentinels are going to take over and... Oh, wait. Sorry, wrong time travel plot. Anyway, this is Legion of Superheroes people stuck in the present. I wonder what the present-day superheroes will think of all the goofy -lad and -lass names? And will any of them become their own ancestors?

And finally... Number fifty-two...

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Legion has been decimated (somehow, I get the impression that DC is not using the technically correct definition of that term; no one ever seems to get that right). The students at the Legion Academy must rise to the challenge of helping the team rebuild while the usual generic cosmic threat looms. I know that a lot of people are really dedicated Legion fans. I've never been that into it, although I am curious to see if they're keeping the goofy names.

Wow. That is a lot of comics. Justice League #1 arrives August 31 and the rest of the books come out in September.

This preview book had lots of nice art samples, but a lot of the descriptions lacked specific information that might be helpful. Still, it's a pretty good overview for readers considering jumping on board the new DCU, and there's a handy checklist on the back cover.

Rating: 6/10