When the relaunch was announced, I knew there would books I knew I'd be picking up, no matter what -- the Legion books and Flash are always sure sales for me. And Jonah Hex has become a very steady favorite.
But there are some where my interest in the books has come out of left field. Names or properties I don't care much for, but which have nonetheless grabbed me. A couple examples:
Demon Knights: I'm not crazy about the Demon. And as much as I liked Knight & Squre, Paul Cornell's Lex Luthor stories never grabbed me the way it grabbed other people. But somehow, the idea of Paul Cornell writing the Demon leading a group of Medieval superheroes? Man, that's right in my sweet spot.
OMAC: I've heard a lot of people gripe about Dan Didio's writing, but I've never read it, myself (aside from maybe a few issues of his Superboy). And Keith Giffen's art that CBR posted with their interview just knocks me out. The contents of the interview itself doesn't hurt, either -- they both seem intent on producing exactly the kablooie-bonkers comic I want to read. So, despite [I]hating[/I] the Infinite Crisis incarnation of OMAC, this new one looks like a ton of fun.
So what's surprised you?
Replies
DISCLAIMER: Some of my thoughts are cynical and/or negative and are based solely on the sample art provided and the announced creative teams.
Justice League: The first one to catch my eye was the new JLA tile (largely because it was featured on the cover). The unwritten rule which requires at least one lame member on the JLA or Avengers every time “the old order changeth” is apparently still in effect. This time the “Big Seven” are: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman and… Cyborg!? To make matters worse, he’s even sporting dippy new armor. I’m curious to see in which direction Geoff Johns and Jim Lee will take this title, so I’ll likely give at least the first issue a try. (There’s also going to be a new Justice League International title, but it’s not by DeMattias, Giffen and McGuire, so what’s the point?)
Action Comics: Despite the fact I’ve recently dropped both Superman and Action Comics, I enjoyed Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman enough to see what he’ll do on the mainstream Superman. Speaking of which…
Superman: this one’s by George Perez (writing and breakdowns), so that warrants a look from me. Thing is, DC has changed Superman’s costume, so we know in advance it’ll never last. Does that mean I think the new direction in the story is tied to something as superficial as a costume? It shouldn’t be, but I think it is. Perhaps that’s fodder for further discussion…?
Green Lantern: Common knowledge has it that a book cannot be judged by its cover. I don’t believe that, but the art accompanying this solicitation (a close-up shot of Green Lantern’s gloved and bloodied raised fist) tells me DC is not ready to make Green Lantern comics I’m interested in reading.
Batgirl: Although I wouldn’t mind seeing the return of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl if it’s handled right, I’m not sure this is going to be it. Tracy wants to try it, though, so I guess I’ll be reading it, too. After seeing/reading the solicitation for Birds of Prey, she decided to give that one a pass. No other Bat-books for me.
Swamp Thing: From what I understand, this is an all-new Swamp Thing who is truly Alec Holland (as opposed to a plant which thinks it’s Alec Holland). That’s an interesting enough hook to draw me in. Don’t think I’ll be trying Swampy’s former Vertigo brother title Animal Man, though. Maybe. We’ll see.
O.M.A.C.: Dan Didio is an unknown quantity to me as a writer, but I know Keith Giffen can do Kirby so I’m in.
Hawk and Dove: Rob Liefeld’s committed to two books!? I’ll be giving the Inage one a try, but two titles a month may be Liefeld overload.
LSH: I’m feeling really good about the new direction of the two Legion titles. I’ve been looking for a jumping off point, and the new direction doesn’t appeal to me at all.
I have to admit, Superman books written by Grant Morrison and George Perez have my attention more than about any other writer might. I hope Morrison doesn't shift his approach (or have it shifted for him) because it's an in-continuity book. His A-SS was the best Superman book in many years if not decades.
BTW, I'll lay odds that, after the first issue of JLA, we won't have any idea if it's going to be any good. Comics aren't written that way any more. I see more reviews than not that say, "This seems to be a good beginning" or "It's too soon to tell if."
-- MSA
I'm probably most psyched about Blue Beetle getting a title again but the titles that I wouldn't expect to want that sound appealing are Fury of Firestorm and Stormwatch.
For Fury of Firestorm, I like the idea of Jason and Ronnie being contemporaries that need to work together and having two writers seems like a way to make them have different attitudes without making one the "good attitude" and one the "bad attitude". I'm hoping they'll jettison the plot point from Brightest Day that if they can't get along they'll blow up the world, as half the fun could be them not working well together.
For Stormwatch, the idea of adding the Martian Manhunter to the team seems like a cool idea, especially if they've been around longer covertly, as I've always felt he should have been in the shadows a long time before stepping up as a front and center hero. It ought to be interesting to see how Stormwatch and Justice League can work in the same universe.
I'm also looking forward to Resurrection Man, (I've never read the original but heard lots of good things about it), Voodoo, (I think this might be a good book for Ron Marz to come back to DC with, although sadly, I think it'll probably be one of the first ones chopped), the Flash (I suspect Manapul has a solid handle on the character, can write to his own art strengths, and will benefit by not having Johns using the title for event prep/filler), and Justice League (I'm hoping this will be on the same level as Johns' Crisis of Conscience storyline). I'm hoping Batman and Legion will be more of the same quality stuff. (To clarify, Batman the same quality as the current Detective Comics.)
The one I'm most surprised to be interested in?
Omac.
Swamp Thing is next on the list.
Probably Demon Knights and Stormwatch are the biggest surprises for me. I'm not familiar with the characters but I liked Paul Cornell on Captain Britain & MI:13 that I want to see what he does with these characters.
DC has publicly stated that they are trying to reverse the decompressed storytelling trend. Writers no longer are supposed to stretch stories to neat little six issue boxes to be repackaged as TPs later.
The initial stories in Action Comics and Justice League, BTW, will take place "Five Years Ago" during Superman's and the League's first public appearances. They will then shoot back to the present with subsequent storylines.
None of my interest in the titles truly surprise me. There are some characters I'm surprised were included in DC's first batch of new series (oh yes, there will be more new title coming in a few months!) and some that I definitely look forward to reading based on the creative teams, but none I'm surprised by my interest in.
If Didio's writing on OMAC is anything like his writing on Outsiders (or his Blackest Night western comic book one-shot), then that will be the first title I drop...
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