Y'know, I'm surprised that Wednesday Comics reached its end without some discussion here. Overall, I was pleased and would like to see it done again. As someone once said on the old new board, we've got to encourage these things, even when they don't turn out so hot. (Then again, he was speaking of DC Challenge, which didn't turn out so hot. Oh, well.)
In any event, here are my grades for the features in Wednesday Comics:
Batman: A very film noir take on Batman, done by one of the best Hellblazer teams in recent years. A solid effort. B+Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth: This was the first time I had ever read a Kamandi story. Nothing about it ever appealed to me, not the concept, not the character, not the stories, not the art, not nothing. But this was a revelation. It was fresh, fun, lushly and beautifully rendered, and, more than any other strip in the package, perfectly captured that old-style Sunday comics vibe. It was a worthy companion to the likes of Tarzan and The Phantom and others. A+Superman: The one strip that got major, outside-the-comics-world attention, with the debut offering published in USA TODAY's print edition, which posted that and all the other Superman installments on its website. The story was okay, but only just, and the art didn't do it for me. BDeadman: It started out okay but ran out of gas before the end. CGreen Lantern: Not too bad. This was a Hal Jordan we haven't seen enough of, a confident, dashing, cocky jet-jockey, loyal to his friends and ready to tackle anything. BMetamorpho: Mike Allred is an acquired taste, but I think this worked. Certainly, he had more fun with the format than most of the artists did, what with the "snakes and ladders" page and the two pages devoted to the periodic table of elements and all. BTeen Titans: This one didn't work for me; the art and story didn't mesh, and the tale just wasn't that interesting. FStrange Adventures, featuring Adam Strange: Paul Pope is an acquired taste, and I think his style just didn't work here. It's too grotesque for the space opera, which calls for sleek and shiny, and, well, too grotesque for the sword-and-sorcery stuff as well. The dull, muddy coloring didn't help. C-Supergirl: This was a wonder and a joy and a delight, from the first installment to the last. I loved it. I loved everything about it. A+, and two thumbs up!The Metal Men: A sure-fire winner, clicking on all cylinders. Definitely one of the best of the bunch. And, as it was opposite Wonder Woman each week, it was practically a primer in how to do it right next to how to do it wrong. A+ Plus!Wonder Woman: I found it incomprehensible from the very start, and from there it went to unintelligible. It was a chore to get through and a grand experiment that utterly failed on every level. FSgt. Rock: I wanted to like this one. It's Sgt. Rock! With Joe Kubert art! But the first SIX WEEKS of this story showed us nothing but Rock tied to a chair getting his face bashed in! And throughout, the rest of the Combat-Happy Joes of Easy Company were just wandering around in tunnels looking for him. A big, big disappointment. D-The Flash: I don't understand why most of the colorists didn't understand that you need BRIGHT colors for this kind of thing. It started off confusingly, in one of those kinds of stories that's supposed to be more clear as it goes along ... except it wasn't. CThe Demon and Catwoman: Another noir-ish tale, but I have to admit I got bored with it before it reached its end. And isn't The Demon supposed to rhyme when he talks? CHawkman: I tried to like this one, but I just couldn't get into it. C
So there you have it. Those are my rankings. What are yours?
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DC also announced the collection plans for Wednesday Comics. The grand experiment will be collected as a $49.99 Hardcover, and it will be one for the coffee table; 11" x 17"! - from Newsarama
Here are my takes. I also read Wednesday Comics with my 6-year-old niece every Tuesday. We both give the project as a whole a big thumbs up. Some of my reviews are based on my thinking that Wednesday Comics should be a (more or less) all-ages project and "gateway drug" comic (which may or may not have been DC's own goal.)
Batman: Pretty good. I like Azzarello's Batman, but he's a little "off-model." A "hardboiled detective" Batman is fun, but unlike the character we see elsewhere (I think this upcoming "Pulp" project should be good, though!) B-, with a ding for not being all-ages appropriate. Not one my niece and I read together. Some fairly disturbing imagery. IMO, the philosophy for this series should be something like the traditional Sunday comics, where not every reader will necessarily like every feature, and some are geared for older readers, but none are too inappropriate. Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth:A big hit with both of us. A+ It's a lot of fun to read aloud, too - lots of DRAMA! :) My niece wants a Kamandi action figure now (alas, one of the few characters DC Direct hasn't done yet.) Superman: A good finish, but the "mopey Superman who doubts himself" buildup gets tiresome before we figure out what's really going on. IMO, the Superman feature should be one of the most accessible and straightforward - super feats, phone booths, signal watches, "Don't call me Chief!" and all that. C+ Didn't make a big impression one way or the other on my niece. Deadman: Kinda meh, the equivalent of one of those comic strips you read every week because it's there and it's all right, but not something you'd seek out. I didn't read this one with my niece, as she thought it looked "too scary" (probably a good call all around, as it was one of the others with subject matter a little too strong for "all ages," and she'd probably have been bored, too.) C Green Lantern: Good fun story and good art, with a nice clean style that makes good use of the big format. Pacing could've been a little better, though (i.e., there really probably should've been one week of "spectacular all-out space battle" between Weeks 11 and 12.) Katie liked it too. A- Metamorpho: Crazy, wacky fun for all ages! We both enjoyed the humor a lot, though Katie wants to read the non-existent Metamorpho stories advertised. :) A+ Teen Titans: Bleh. The only feature *I* didn't read after a week or two of trying. Murky, confusing art, a story requiring prior knowledge of some pretty obscure Titans continuity (I don't read the Titans titles normally, but I'm usually at least AWARE of them, and there were characters here I've never heard of.) F. Strange Adventures, featuring Adam Strange: Yeah, "acquired taste" is probably right, and a taste I haven't fully acquired yet. It was an interesting take on Adam Strange, though. One that I didn't read with Katie.B- Supergirl: The #1 favorite of both me and Katie. Palmiotti, Gray, and Conner make a great team, both here and on Power Girl. Is it just my imagination, or has Amanda Conner made a quantum leap improvement in her art over the past couple years? She was always decent, but she's hitting a home run every time now. I particularly like how there's always something going on in the background - good use of the big pages. And her Krypto and Streaky are just plain adorable! Thankfully, Katie didn't look at the pictures before we read it together (as she often does), and she was surprised and delighted by the "big reveal" of the aliens' identity. :) A+ The Metal Men: Another winner with both of us. Garcia-Lopez is always a treat, and DiDio's love for these characters shows. And they WOULD be perfect for a kids' animated series. Amusing observation from Katie: like many other people over the years, she had trouble distinguishing between Lead and Iron (but none whatsoever with the other Metal Men.) Gotta ding DiDio for not even once having Mercury remind us verbally that he's the only metal that's liquid at room temperature! A Wonder Woman: I actually liked this one after figuring out what Caldwell was up to. Still something of a failed experiment that the printing, coloring, and paper stock didn't quite support (see the originals on the Web for an idea of how much better it might have looked.) But I liked the ideas in this Young Wonder Woman story, and it got more readable as the story progressed.B- Sgt. Rock: Gotta agree with CK, this should've been great, but really wasn't. New Joe Kubert art is always a pleasure, but, yeah, a disappontment. C- The Flash: We were both thoroughly confused at times, but mostly in a good way. I love the conceit of it being two long-running features ("Fastest Man Alive" and "Iris West, Girl Reporter") that eventually cross over the way you keep hoping "Judge Parker" and "Mary Worth" might, but never do. I think I basically figured out what was going on, but it probably could've used a more explicit wrapup somewhere. Katie asked me if Grodd's future was the same as Kamandi's, and was thrilled when I told her "Funny you should ask," and let her know about the "Last Bat on Earth" episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Gotta get a copy of that to show her now.... A The Demon and Catwoman: Agree with CK, kinda meh. The Demon doesn't necessarily have to rhyme, though (Kirby's Etrigan didn't). This one speaks in iambic pentameter, though, which ain't bad. C Hawkman: I liked this one, though it was a little uneven. The fight with the T-Rex was pretty darned awesome, though. B+
For the first two episodes, Deadman was one of my favorite strips -- gorgeous art, and what could have been the start to a great detective storyline. Problem was, they never really used Deadman as Deadman: the guy who can hop from body to body, solving gritty problems in a Quantum Leap style. Instead, they put him in a mystic setting and gave him a storyline better suited to Dr. Fate or Dr. Strange.
Deadman's one of the best noir characters DC has, and all too often that gets pushed aside for superhero or mystic spectacle.
My faves of the bunch were Kamandi Adam Strange, and Supergirl -- but I found something to like in almost every strip but the Teen Titans. Even Wonder Woman (which I found muddy, confusing and repetitive at first) really pulled it through at the end for me. I'd love to see a clearer printing of it. The Demon & Catwoman suffered from missed opportunities in much the same way Deadman did -- Catwoman really never had a chance to shine.
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DC also announced the collection plans for Wednesday Comics. The grand experiment will be collected as a $49.99 Hardcover, and it will be one for the coffee table; 11" x 17"! - from Newsarama
Batman: Pretty good. I like Azzarello's Batman, but he's a little "off-model." A "hardboiled detective" Batman is fun, but unlike the character we see elsewhere (I think this upcoming "Pulp" project should be good, though!) B-, with a ding for not being all-ages appropriate. Not one my niece and I read together. Some fairly disturbing imagery. IMO, the philosophy for this series should be something like the traditional Sunday comics, where not every reader will necessarily like every feature, and some are geared for older readers, but none are too inappropriate.
Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth:A big hit with both of us. A+ It's a lot of fun to read aloud, too - lots of DRAMA! :) My niece wants a Kamandi action figure now (alas, one of the few characters DC Direct hasn't done yet.)
Superman: A good finish, but the "mopey Superman who doubts himself" buildup gets tiresome before we figure out what's really going on. IMO, the Superman feature should be one of the most accessible and straightforward - super feats, phone booths, signal watches, "Don't call me Chief!" and all that. C+ Didn't make a big impression one way or the other on my niece.
Deadman: Kinda meh, the equivalent of one of those comic strips you read every week because it's there and it's all right, but not something you'd seek out. I didn't read this one with my niece, as she thought it looked "too scary" (probably a good call all around, as it was one of the others with subject matter a little too strong for "all ages," and she'd probably have been bored, too.) C
Green Lantern: Good fun story and good art, with a nice clean style that makes good use of the big format. Pacing could've been a little better, though (i.e., there really probably should've been one week of "spectacular all-out space battle" between Weeks 11 and 12.) Katie liked it too. A-
Metamorpho: Crazy, wacky fun for all ages! We both enjoyed the humor a lot, though Katie wants to read the non-existent Metamorpho stories advertised. :) A+
Teen Titans: Bleh. The only feature *I* didn't read after a week or two of trying. Murky, confusing art, a story requiring prior knowledge of some pretty obscure Titans continuity (I don't read the Titans titles normally, but I'm usually at least AWARE of them, and there were characters here I've never heard of.) F.
Strange Adventures, featuring Adam Strange: Yeah, "acquired taste" is probably right, and a taste I haven't fully acquired yet. It was an interesting take on Adam Strange, though. One that I didn't read with Katie.B-
Supergirl: The #1 favorite of both me and Katie. Palmiotti, Gray, and Conner make a great team, both here and on Power Girl. Is it just my imagination, or has Amanda Conner made a quantum leap improvement in her art over the past couple years? She was always decent, but she's hitting a home run every time now. I particularly like how there's always something going on in the background - good use of the big pages. And her Krypto and Streaky are just plain adorable! Thankfully, Katie didn't look at the pictures before we read it together (as she often does), and she was surprised and delighted by the "big reveal" of the aliens' identity. :) A+
The Metal Men: Another winner with both of us. Garcia-Lopez is always a treat, and DiDio's love for these characters shows. And they WOULD be perfect for a kids' animated series. Amusing observation from Katie: like many other people over the years, she had trouble distinguishing between Lead and Iron (but none whatsoever with the other Metal Men.) Gotta ding DiDio for not even once having Mercury remind us verbally that he's the only metal that's liquid at room temperature! A
Wonder Woman: I actually liked this one after figuring out what Caldwell was up to. Still something of a failed experiment that the printing, coloring, and paper stock didn't quite support (see the originals on the Web for an idea of how much better it might have looked.) But I liked the ideas in this Young Wonder Woman story, and it got more readable as the story progressed.B-
Sgt. Rock: Gotta agree with CK, this should've been great, but really wasn't. New Joe Kubert art is always a pleasure, but, yeah, a disappontment. C-
The Flash: We were both thoroughly confused at times, but mostly in a good way. I love the conceit of it being two long-running features ("Fastest Man Alive" and "Iris West, Girl Reporter") that eventually cross over the way you keep hoping "Judge Parker" and "Mary Worth" might, but never do. I think I basically figured out what was going on, but it probably could've used a more explicit wrapup somewhere. Katie asked me if Grodd's future was the same as Kamandi's, and was thrilled when I told her "Funny you should ask," and let her know about the "Last Bat on Earth" episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Gotta get a copy of that to show her now.... A
The Demon and Catwoman: Agree with CK, kinda meh. The Demon doesn't necessarily have to rhyme, though (Kirby's Etrigan didn't). This one speaks in iambic pentameter, though, which ain't bad. C
Hawkman: I liked this one, though it was a little uneven. The fight with the T-Rex was pretty darned awesome, though. B+
Deadman's one of the best noir characters DC has, and all too often that gets pushed aside for superhero or mystic spectacle.
My faves of the bunch were Kamandi Adam Strange, and Supergirl -- but I found something to like in almost every strip but the Teen Titans. Even Wonder Woman (which I found muddy, confusing and repetitive at first) really pulled it through at the end for me. I'd love to see a clearer printing of it. The Demon & Catwoman suffered from missed opportunities in much the same way Deadman did -- Catwoman really never had a chance to shine.