New 52 DCU rankings! From best to worst!

1. Justice League Dark
2. Demon Knights
3. Aquaman
4. Teen Titans
5. Fury of the Firestorm
6. Animal man
7. Swamp Thing
8. All-Star Western
9. Superman
10. Birds of Prey
11. Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
12. Wonder Woman
13. Suicide Squad
14. Stormwatch
15. Action Comics
16. Justice League
17. Legion of Super-Heroes
18. Batgirl
19. DC Comics Presents
20. Resurrection Man
21. I, Vampire
22. Savage Hawkman
23. Batman
24. Green Lantern
25. The Flash
26. Nightwing
27. Superboy
28. O.M.A.C.
29. Justice League International
30. Green Lantern: New Guardians
31. Red Lanterns
32. Supergirl
33. Green Lantern Corps
34. Detective Comics
35. Batwoman
36. Batwing
37. Static Shock
38. Green Arrow
39. Batman: The Dark Knight
40. Batman and Robin
41. Mister Terrific
42. Blue Beetle
43. Deathstroke
44. Legion Lost
45. Captain Atom
46. Voodoo
47. Red Hood and the Outlaws
48. Catwoman
49. Blackhawks
50. Hawk and Dove
51. Men of War
52. Grifter

Lesbians and "Narek"

So.. apparently some idiot decided that it was "funny" to make a joke that the mysterious "Narek" title on the DCU title should be a Zatanna and PowerGirl story with them as lesbians similar to Strangers in Paradise. So I responded that I thought that was gross and pervy. He got very upset and threw a fit that I was being "preachy" and that it was a joke and well a bunch of stupid stuff that made no sense. He suggested that I was over-reacting and that I had issues for implying that taking two heterosexual women and making them into lesbians was pervy and that there was something wrong with ME for that. When I asked HIM if he would be OK if someone implied the same with two MALE heroes that they should enter into a homosexual relationship together, he refused to answer the question and instead state out and out that the new DCU means that EVERYTHING is new. DC has clearly stated NUMEROUS times that that is not true. Not to mention that if you've been reading the new DCU, it's obvious that it's not all new. The 4 Batman Titles, the Green Lantern titles, Legion of Super-Heroes, Hawk and Dove, Swamp Thing, Red Hood and the Outlaws and Animal Man all state that there are events that we have read form the old DC Universe that are still in play. So no, it is NOT all new.

BTW if you want to joke that "Narek" is a Zatanna/PowerGirl title because Narek is Karen backwards and Karen is Power Girl, Zatanna speaks backwards for her magical powers, why do they HAVE to be lesbians? Why did you HAVE to go there? Why couldn't they just team up? After all, Power Girl is Kryptonian, but she's had magical origins in the past and I think her and Zatanna could team up. I don't know how well the title would work or the team work between them, but sure.. if that's where you want to go for a JOKE, why do they have to be LESBIANS?

new DCU week 9/28

All-Star Western #1- If you've read Jonah Hex and love it, then you'll love this. If you're a first to Jonah Hex, congratulations I'm sure you've found a new love. This is everything I've expected. It really is. I mean I don't know what to say about it except that it's excellent and it's a comic people should read. I don't like westerns. That's TOTALLY not my thing and if you know me, you know that, but I dig Jonah Hex. The story was fun and engaging though a tad Jack the Ripper at first, it clearly gets over that. There is a lot of depth to this story and Arkham's psychological evaluation of Jonah Hex is just.. amazing. It's well written and it's clear that Arkham doesn't have much respect for Jonah at first, but has to reevaluate things.

Aquaman #1- Great relaunch. Basically Johns uses the DC Universe to point out all the jokes and spoofs about how "stupid" Aquaman is and instead show how badass he is. There is a great action sequence and well it was a really well paced issue. I don't want to spoil to much for you but Mera is definitely here and the art is great. Aquaman looks sexy and dangerous and Mera is beautiful even if she's only at the end of the comic. A new evil is arising, but the comic itself stands as a nice story all on it's own.

Batman: the Dark Knight #1- Another really useless Batman title, that didn't even make a lot of sense. It starts with Batman and he changes while running across the rooftops into his Bruce Wayne identity then jumps into a building. Yeah, very weird. Then we move to a really pointless and stupid speech that makes no sense. The rest of the book kind of dissolves into some weird sparring match with an Internal Affairs officer that thinks Brucey has inside sources to help fund Batman. I really don't understand that. Then we have the Bond girl who appears out of no where that Bruce openly flirts with in a really gaggy and stupid scene. Finally after all this, we get a quick Batman story where once again Arkham Asylum is in an uproar.. Yes, this is the 3rd time this month we've been to Arkham and something was afoot in Arkham. Why we need 3 books dealing with Arkham is beyond me, but apparently we do. I just can't get why we need so many Batman titles if they're not really going to do ANYTHING new or different from each other and only one of them is actually worth reading.

Blackhawks #1- A U.N. based super military team with super military items that do stuff. Who they are? No one knows. What they do? No clue. Why they are formed? Umm.. for a reason? We don't get introduced to the characters, we don't really have any clue what's going on or what this team is around for. They're just there and this is just a title. I guess it's suppose to be the high action team version of Deathstroke, but it really didn't work. I don't understand why I should care enough about any of these characters or what's happening to them. The use of Legion-type description bubbles would have SERIOUSLY helped at least give us a clue who these people are. There is a mention of Lady Blackhawke, but Zinda isn't in here at all. It's just insane action and not a lot else, which I guess works for some people.

The Flash #1- This was a pretty decent issue. We start off with Barry on a date and he geeks out with a super smart genius guy who has something stolen from him. Barry flashes out and saves the day. It's a solid Flash title, I'm just not a huge fan Flash to be honest and while it is BEAUTIFUL to look at and it's a solid read, it's just not my cup of tea. I'm sure Flash fans are thrilled and it's a very good story.

The Fury of Firestorm: the Nuclear Men #1- Wow, I can tell you this is totally not what I was expecting from this title, but it was pretty freaking amazing. I just.. wow. Ronnie Raymond is the typical jock and Jason Rusch is a super genius and well.. he's all about his race. He makes it very clear that his race is VERY important to him and he points it out numerous times in the comic. My fave page is the Jason and his dad on one side and Ronnie and his mother on the other. It was just a really good comic and it wasn't what you were expecting. Seriously, pick it up and read it. It's totally different and insanely new.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1- A little confusing at first tbh. We flash back to the death of the Green Lantern Corps to show Kyle becoming the sole Green Lantern, which was nice I guess for new readers, the problem? It wasn't set up very well. Nothing in it let you know that it was in fact in the past, so you're left thinking that Kyle's been rebooted and this is the first time he's becoming a GL and this will be a past story, but it's not. It was just a recap. Honestly, I expect very little from this title. The only reason I wanted to read it was to learn more about the different Lanterns especially the Indigo Tribe, but well.. they picked random people to represent each tribe and because of that? We get a mishmash of characters that aren't really team or group material. DC tried to hide who the people were, but it's been obvious for MONTHS now. I'm not going to spoil it if you really haven't figured it out yet, but COME ON. I posted this MONTHS ago. The best thing about this title? The Star Sapphire's got a costume redesign that actually covers them up so they don't look like they're in a porno magazine. Other than that? It felt like a VERY short read and most of the team is boring. We've seen most of these jokers before and I'm sure they have fans, but they're not half as interesting as say Carol, Sinestro, Larfleeze, and Indigo-1, which would have made the title so much more interesting.

I, Vampire #1- I'm not sold on this title just yet. I get the premise and I think it's interesting, but I don't know how long the premise can really last of a war between one vampire and a massive army of vampires and his evil ex. The other problem is they are sharing the same universe with the Justice League, Stormwatch, Superman and the new Justice League Dark, I don't see them not getting involved especially with how things are unfolding in the first issue. Also, the fact that Vertigo has a mildly similar title, American Vampire, that has some interesting concepts it's doing as well? I just don't know how many Vampire titles DC needs especially since they're not that vastly different. Yes there are differences and those may be enough in the long run. I just don't know. I think this one is really a trades or wait for a story arc to be completed title before you can really gauge how good or bad it is.

Justice League Dark #1- I love Peter Miligan. The hard thing about this is if you haven't read Shade the Changing Man, you're probably missing stuff. But if you've read Shade the Changing Man, this pretty much picks up where we left off in some ways. I like that the team is getting together because they're "damaged" and Zatanna is being MAJOR kick ass. I'm totally sold about that. All in all I like the title thus far and can't wait to read more. I'm still not sure what the hell Constantine is going to do since I view him as MOSTLY a shyster, not an actual mage.

The Savage Hawkman #1- Interesting new take on Hawkman. Gone is the reborn a bazillion times Mr. Smart-Pants Carter Hall. This one is more unsure of himself. He's not as aware of the true powers of the Nth Metal and in fact at the beginning of the story, he tries to abandon Hawkman all together (though why he shoots the armor is beyond me). Needless to say, things do not go well for Carter. He wakes up with his window smashed out and really no clue what happened. Flash forward, he gets involved with an alien and basically the armor has been fused with him. That's a nice change. I kind of like that idea and it makes it easier than hiding those giant wings on him all the time. This is an interesting comic, I'd probably read it in trades.

Superman #1- Even if Perez's name wasn't on the cover, you can TELL this is a Perez book. Look at all the word bubbles everywhere. It's such a nice contrast to all these minimalist comics I've been reading lately that really don't tell me ANYTHING because they're trying to limit what is in each bubble. It's a really nice start for Superman's own on-going. Lois Lane and Clark are on the outs and seem to have had a regular argument which could explain why they've never officially gotten together. I can LIVE with that. I would LOVE to have them married again, but at LEAST Lois has a personality all her own. She's definitely still the spitfire everyone loves and it's GREAT to see not all the women of the new DCU need to strip or be stripped down to nothing. I really enjoyed this issue and it was one I'm interested in. The other great thing? it was a complete story. It was a HUGE relief to read at least one New DCU title that WASN'T meant for trades or to be continued. It was a nice solid stand alone issue. I actually cannot wait to read more.

Teen Titans #1- Yeah I liked this. The Teen Titans are forming because well.. N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is out to put a lock down on teen superheroes. Tim Drake, of course, has a problem with that. And wow, they've really ramped him up. He's smarter and vastly better than before. He is seeming more and more like Batman's protege. As for Cassie, they've completely changed her origin, but I like that her costume seems to magically appear from her gauntlets. They pretty much HAD to revamp her since they were completely revamping Wonder Woman AGAIN. Didn't DC learn from the last time they did this that it just didn't turn out good at all? How many Who is Donna Troys have we had now? I really, really enjoyed this issue. The art was crisp and the guys looked great. The team is forming nice and I like that Tim seems to blame Bruce for the teen superheroes. This was exactly what I expected and it really revitalizes the Teen Titans for me, making them into a more interesting group. Can't wait to see the other new members.

Voodoo #1- Yeah.. boobs, boobs, and MORE boobs. Voodoo is a stripper and the entire story deals with her stripping. Yeah, there is a bunch of talking and some people who are monitoring her, but it's really all lost over the fact that she's stripping or dancing on dollars most of the issue. This was heralded as a biracial character, but well.. she's a shapeshifter so that's not really relevant at all. I see no reason to read this title or why anyone would really be interested in it beyond the obvious cheesecake factor. It really wasn't a big draw or a very good set up. We don't even know anything about the character Voodoo and honestly, we could have started with her being a waitress and gotten the SAME story with less boobage.

Wonder Woman R.I.P: A Eulogy to Comics Most Prominent Female Hero 1942-2011

Immediately you have to wonder what this is about? Wonder Woman's still around. DC just relaunched her title as part of their new line of comics right? Surely this must be some sort of mistake! I'm sorry, but it is not. Wonder Woman, comics greatest superheroine, is dead this month. Yes, we still have that "Wonder Woman" comic, but the woman headlining it is nothing like any Wonder Woman I've ever read and bares a much stronger resemblance with Red Sonja or Xena, the Warrior Princess than Diana, Princess of Themyscira/Paradise Island.

You see, Wonder Woman used to mean something to the world both in the comics and without. She represented a better way. She was a peaceful warrior, one who could to quote her 70's theme song, "make a hawk a dove". She represented the strongest aspects of femininity and the greatest potential that humanity could attain. Wonder Woman came from a world that was vastly superior to ours and she came to our world to teach us a better way. Wonder Woman's goal was not only to teach us that we should think and try different ideas first before throwing a punch, but also that even the most dangerous of villains can be reformed. Over the years, Wonder Woman has gone through some changes, but these principals were always part of her. She always had her Golden Lasso of Truth as her major weapon and she managed to change the world more than once. Wonder Woman always stood as more than just a character in comics, but a symbol and not just for the truth that she's recently been associated with, but also that of reformation, hope, transformation (both figuratively and literally), femininity and peace.

Now, however, all that has been thrown out the window. In Wonder Woman #1, a new character appears claiming to be Wonder Woman and while there are superficial similarities. The character, whom I will call Warrior Woman for the purposes of this blog, has shown to be very violent, aggressive, and doesn't represent the character that she is suppose to be modeled after. The very first thing we see Warrior Woman actually do is grab a woman by her neck and essentially strangle her. Now yes, Warrior Woman was sleeping and this new character appears out of no where, interrupting that sleep, but a Wonder Woman should be able to react to that without immediate violence. She should assess the situation and see if she's been threatened, not that she automatically IS. After all, Wonder Woman grew up on an island of full of peaceful women. Why would she automatically assume someone is going to attack her? She wouldn't. Warrior Woman, however, DOES. After that, Wonder Woman runs to her armory (it apparently contains her costume, but we never see anything other than her tiara in it). We clearly see a battle axe, a sword, a helmet and a shield. Apparently Warrior Woman goes around with a personal armory, Wonder Woman would go to battle with just her Golden Lasso, armed with that knowledge that her magical weapon that is made to restrain, would be sufficient for her battle. Warrior Woman, however, has need of a vast array of deadly weapons. Maybe that's just me, but that doesn't seem like a very peaceful idea. It also cannot be over looked that Wonder Woman basically threatened Zola, stating that she could take the key from her if necessary. She didn't ask for it, instead she demanded it with a hint at least in my mind of violence.

Then Warrior Woman leaps into a battle and yes, she defends her new charge with her bracelets, but apparently said arrow is rocket powered or Warrior Woman isn't very strong since she ends up in the air (and subsequently on the ground) from the arrow shot. The sequence of events up until that, do not play out for the dramatic shot we get and why Warrior Woman couldn't have blocked the arrow with one bracelet as Wonder Woman could is beyond me. Anyhow, pitched mini battle begins in which Warrior Woman finally gets a hold of her favorite weapon, a sword. Meanwhile, innocent charge has been kidnapped by a centaur, so Warrior Woman, being the ultimate warrior, hurls her sword to chop off the centaur's arm! Not only that, but she has to chop off the arm of a fleeing opponent that has shown her no harm. This creature hasn't even attacked her. Not only that, the creature wasn't even threatening her new ward. So why was such an aggressive and threatening move needed? It's not as if Warrior Woman had, I don't know, a magical lasso on her that she could have stopped the centaur. Nope, there was no lasso.. Oh wait, after chopping off a centaur arm, she whips out her lasso and grabs her new charge. So apparently, a sword is a weapon to Warrior Woman and a lasso is used to grab people, not as a weapon. I guess as a highly trained warrior, Warrior Woman had no other option than to slice off an arm. After that of course, she abuses Zola by using the lasso to grab the woman and pull her closer basically making ti so Zola slams into the ground twice. Very compassionate and very nice to the woman who has just been through a world changing event. Does Warrior Woman apologize for manhandling this young woman? Nope, instead she seems annoyed that Zola didn't stand by her while she was attacking another centaur. It's so very.. brutish and aggressive. When has Wonder Woman ever acted this way? If she had, do you think Cassie would have gone to such great lengths to be Wonder Girl? Do you think the Julia and Vanessa would have taken her in and given her a place then loved her as a sister/daughter? I do not think so.

I would like to re-state that I did enjoy the story, I just don't feel that Wonder Woman is present. The new character, Warrior Woman, is vastly too aggressive and cold to be Wonder Woman. There is no sense of wonderment in this Wonder Woman. There is nothing peaceful or compassionate in her composure. Her treatment of Zola is one of aggression and annoyance, not caring and compassion that she has shown to those she previously protected. She has no regard for the creatures she's attacked, one of whom did nothing to her and didn't appear to be trying to harm the woman in her protection in any way. In fact, they were fleeing. Yes, they were trying to kidnap Zola, but the centaur had a knife in its hand, so it could have tried to murder her then and there rather than run off with her. I think a true Wonder Woman could have found a better way to deal with the situation. She could have dealt with Zola with more caring and compassion. She could have found a better way to deal with the centaur especially since she had to know they were just recently harmless horses. I think Wonder Woman should be a symbol, the way Superman and Batman are. Unfortunately, her goodness has been sacrificed to make her "edgy". What's really sad? That the new woman who has been named Wonder Woman cannot represent a woman that young girls want to become. She's no longer a role model. She's no longer about being better and teaching all of us, boys and girls, about how to be a better person. She's about cutting off arms and being aggressive.

New DCU week 9/21

Batman #1- Probably the best Batman title of the bunch thus far. We still have one more to go because how will fanboys live without their WEEKLY Batman fix? Anyhow, that has little to do with this actual title. It was solid. I liked concept behind the issue.. what is Gotham and it kind of answers various questions then goes on for the rest of the story. Bruce using the new Bat contacts are a tad cheating imho, but it was definitely a good story. Vicki Vale even makes a return. The thing is? This Bruce feels like he's in his 20's.. not the 30's that some people are thinking, so basically? The Bat history is still confusing and will probably take YEARS to fully figure out.

Birds of Prey #1- I'm a little confused about this team now. It's a black ops team made up of "criminals". Isn't that.. Suicide Squad? I mean.. I like the title. I love that Black Canary has decided to bring this team together and I like Starling thus far. It just seems redundant to have two of the same type of teams, but then again.. a lot of this DC new 52 feels like it wasn't planned as a COMPLETE idea, just as individual titles and ideas. That's lacking to me. All and all, I love the title. It's very good and it's going somewhere interesting.

Blue Beetle #1- Didn't we ALREADY have this exact issue when they released this character's series the first time? OMG. It was deja vu. Why BOTHER to rewrite the issue? Why not just reprint the original series all over again? I just don't get this.

Captain Atom #1- Eh.. Just.. Eh.. Captain Atom is an energy being. He is falling apart.. Not much else to this than that. A lot of talking about stuff that was boring. Honestly? This title just didn't do anything for me. Captain Atom has never been that interesting to me and this doesn't make me feel that much more inclined to read it.

Catwoman #1- OK.. we get it.. Catwoman has boobs.. ENOUGH ALREADY! I mean the entire issue OPENS with Selina's BOOBS. It was gross. Guess what? It didn't get better from there. Everything in the issue is all about sex b/c Winick is a pervert and he can't write a woman that isn't obsessed with sex like he is. The art was hideous and Selina's new curvy BFF looked like a Drag Queen, unfortunately. I would have liked her to look beautiful instead of like a man. And the ending? More pervy Winick! Oh yeah did I mention that someone blew up Selina's apartment and she DOESN'T EVEN CARE? Yup.. doesn't care at all. She's more worried about getting some worthless painting and beating up some guy from her past.. The only people who are probably loving this are die-hard Selina fans who love Selina no matter what and the perverts who love Fanservice.

DC Universe Presents #1- Interesting title all about Boston Brand and his time as Deadman. Apparently he "helps" people, but we have no clue how or what that entails. He's apparently doesn't know how he's suppose to help certain people now.. OK, but it seems like he didn't even TRY. I liked the title, I did, but I just don't understand what Brand is doing. I mean I guess that's suppose to be the point since he doesn't know what he's doing, but.. it just I don't understand what Brand does and how he helps people. It just didn't tell me anything and I think a lot of people will be lost.

Green Lantern Corps #1- A continuation of the previous stuff except Guy and Jon Stewart are the new head liners. They have a new villain who apparently can kill without being seen and well is SUPER POWERFUL. He kinda has to be to go up against the Lantern Corps. We see a brief chance for Guy and Jon to try to return to Earth, but well.. it didn't work both literally and story wise. Nothing here lead a new reader to understand what was going on from the Brightest Day and everything else. It was definitely not a jumping on point for that. As for the story that Jon and Guy on Earth? I didn't get it. I just don't know why it was needed. It slowed the issue down and it revealed really nothing about either of them. It explained how the rings worked.. joy, but that's about it.

Legion of Super-Heroes #1- Totally NOT a jumping on point. But then again, we all knew that it wouldn't be. It was a GREAT issue, but mostly because it seemed to continue pretty much where the Legion left off minus the Legion Lost members and some others which I guess we'll find out about later. Saturn Girl seems to be MIA and Colossal Boy has retired from the Legion. I'm thrilled to see the Legion is still here and the Legion kids have joined. I wish that Gravity Kid kept on into the Legion, but I figured he wouldn't be. All in all though, it's the Legion that I know and love, so I'm sold, but for new readers? No.. Definitely not.

Nightwing #1- An ok start for Dick. Yeah, just OK. there was a LOT of internal monologue in this issue and well every DC issue I've read this week thus far, so it got a little too heavy inner monologue. It's not that it's a bad thing per-se, but it gets a little heavy when you read 4-5 issues that are ALL heavy inner monologue without a lot of talking. All in all though, it was an OK issue. The art was OK. I still hate Dick's new costume, but I like that Dick has come back as Nightwing stronger than ever thanks to his time as Batman. He's found himself a place in Gotham and is working in Gotham again.. which means we have at least 6 people with titles currently operating in Gotham (Batman, Robin, Nightwing, Catwoman, Batwoman, and Flamebird). Gotham is definitely "The" city of the New DCU I guess.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 - Good news? I think the new Roy is mildly hot. Everything else in this issue? Yeah.. garbage. Jason Todd and Roy Harper are suddenly bffs and have been working together for a while, I guess. Starfire has suddenly become a bimbo. She's got a 5 second memory now and she's sleeping with all the boys, literally. She doesn't remember anything about her time with that "other team" and she's just.. dumb. I don't like it at all.

Supergirl #1- Rehash issue of Kara coming to earth. Dunno what to say about it other than Kara coming to Earth. It was a very, very fast read and that's not really a good thing. It felt like there really wasn't anything to it.. oh and Kara is convinced she's dreaming (Sound familiar to anyone? Like her ENTIRE time in the Legion of Super-Heroes?). There really is nothing to go on for me to tell if this series will be good or bad..

Wonder Woman #1- Wonder Woman is dead. Long Live Warrior Woman. Yeah, the Wonder Woman of old is completely and utterly gone. Gone is the kind, caring woman who solved problems over killing. Now? She has now problem chopping off arms. I don't even know why she still has her lasso since the ONLY time she uses it is to lasso someone on her side! So.. after mourning Wonder Woman.. we get on to the actual story, which was actually entertaining if you just realize that it's NOT Wonder Woman. Don't expect a Wonder Woman story at all. It's a nice battle of greek mythology. Think Xena the Warrior Princess and Hercules slammed together.. You have the battling Xena facing off against the mythological beings of Hercules. It works as a good story. I liked it and I want to see more.

New DCU week 9/14

Batman and Robin #1 - Wow. This missed the mark on EVERY level. Most of the issue was a BORING lecture from Bruce to his brat all about how he needs to respect the death of his grandparents. Then we leap to a really weird series of brother villains in masks who steal Batman's thing (it's some weird sphere thing which Batman has no control over) and Damien slices some thing on this thing and everything goes nuts. Then all the sudden we're flashing to Batman's Inc and some villain named Mr. Nobody. It was all just weird. It didn't work and it wasn't a very good issue at all in my opinion. Good news? Dick and Tim were still Robins. Bad news? Jason was still a Robin and Damien has survived, somehow..

Batwoman #1 - It was pretty.. that's about it. I picked this up and it felt EXACTLY like I was re-reading Batman and Robin. We have Kate badgering Bette, who has been a hero almost 3-4 times as long as Kate has been AROUND, about how insignificant and horrible she is as a crime fighter. This from the woman, who up until this issue where she has suddenly gone ballistic on her dad, has relied HEAVILY on her dad. I don't like that Bette is treated like she's completely incompetent. Sure Bette is not a very good hero and she's made tons of mistakes, but what makes Kate SO MUCH better? I'm just not sure. I'm really not.

Deathstroke #1 - I don't get this title. I just don't. I mean it was kind of fun except near the end which I won't spoil for you, but it completely lost me there. I miss Wintergreen GREATLY and he is needed to balance Deathstroke's homicidal maniac mode. Because right now? Deathstroke doesn't seem like much of a mercenary or honor bound fighter, he's just a crazy maniac that will kill for whatever reason.. he just PREFERS to get paid for it. There was also some odd dialogue which really threw me off like the opening scene where Deathstroke tells the bodyguards to go to a whore house before he cuts off the thing that makes them go to the whore house. That's just.. AWKWARD. Why is Deathstroke threatening to cut off other guys penises? It just.. idk. If he was like a woman repeatedly raped or the new Warrior Woman, MAYBE that'd be appropriate, but this just felt odd. Why not just threaten to kill them? Idk. I'm not sold on this title and I wouldn't buy it.

Demon Knights #1- I was sooooooo excited about this title and it was GOOD. REALLY GOOD. I enjoyed the crap out of it. It's a nice sword and sorcery title with all the characters you know and love coming back and making appearances. Thus far? Madame Xanadu, Jason of the Blood/Etrigan, Vandal Savage, Sir Ystin the Shining Knight, and what I'm assuming is an Amazon babe. Anyhow, the group is pretty interesting though Xanadu has me a little confused. I'm sure there is some interesting things going on there and it'll be revealed eventually. It's a solid start with knights, Camelot, and DRAGONS! Yes! you heard me.. DRAGONS.

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 - Interesting. I'm not 100% sold on this one, but I love the fact that Ray Palmer is in it and I like the Creature Commandos. Not a fan of the Father Time as Hit Girl, but whatever. All in all, it was an enjoyable title. Pick it up and look into it. I like the Creature Commandos too and I like that while they resemble the incarnations in Flashpoint Frankenstein, but were not DIRECT translations. It was nice all around. Not the best title, but solid and enjoyable.

Green Lantern #1 - Pretty much picking up where we left off, there isn't much surprising in this issue except that Sinestro apparently was reappointed to his old Sector instead of Sector 2814. This is surprising since well Sector 1417 (the sector of Korugar) has 3 Lanterns now unless something happened to Soranik Natu and her partner, which would be sad. I assumed that Sinestro would replace Hal Jordon as guardian of Sector 2814. It kinda makes sense, but I guess not. Idk. There is a LOT left unexplained in this issue like why Carol suddenly assumed Hal would propose marriage.. that felt odd and off. The issue was solid and the sections with Sinestro and Hal adjusting to their new roles were interesting, but there were some odd scenes like the Carol one mentioned before or when Sinestro kicks a Yellow Lantern's ass.. It felt odd. The art also could have used something. In some scenes it looked crisp and solid, but in others.. Hal looked just strange and mismatched. It could use a little more consistency in my opinion.

Grifter #1 - A mess. Absolute mess. I don't know what to say about this title. Apparently Grifter gets his name from just being a grifter for so long and he's a not a good guy. Aliens or something is out to get him, he's a terrorist and he lost either Seventeen days or Seventeen Hours of time, we're not sure which. Apparently he can hear the alien-thingies thoughts now for some unknown reason, but he has no clue who or what the alien is. His brother is in the military and because of that, his brother has to hunt him down and capture him? That made NO sense. But much of this comic was really splashed together and rushed, so I'm just not sure how to take it. I wouldn't read the next issue though.


Legion Lost #1 - I had qualms about the Legion coming to the past and wow.. yeah this is EXACTLY why. We spend a HUGE portion of the issue whining about how horrid the 21st Century is with all it's pollution that they're just not used to in the 31st century. It was way over the top especially since Dawnstar can survive in ANY ENVIRONMENT and she can fly in the vacuum of SPACE without a suit. All the Legion's great technology suddenly goes haywire for no apparent reason, which felt so weird. They do make a nice mention of the Flashpoint, but the villain feels silly. He's got some vendetta against humans so he's come back to the past to unleash some unknown virus that apparently not even the Legionnaires are immune to though we have NO CLUE what this virus is or what it does or how it would even effect people it is apparently not THAT BAD as the Legion tries to run back to the future with a bunch of people exposed. The pollution was vastly worse since we heard more about that. On top of that, they did the dumbest thing that you can possibly do in a future story.. create a new slang system that replaces cuss words with stupid crap like Frag this and frag that. I HATE that. That's one of the things that has made the Legion so good is that it hasn't had any of that crap and now it's being introduced for no reason? Arg.

Mister Terrific #1 - Oh wow.. I wanted to like this comic, but Michael Holt deserves VASTLY better than this. This was another really fast messy comic. Mister Terrific is apparently created from the death of his wife and his future son coming back from the future to tell him how important he is. That was SO ODD. His origin was just.. weird. And way too much happens in this comic. It bounces around everywhere. Oh and odd thing, look at the background characters.. Almost every ONE of them is a POC and in fact, the ONLY white person in the whole comic are the villain, some annoying idiot white people that Michael has to point out that he's black to rather aggressively imho and Karen Star, who is a threat to the woman who apparently wants Michael. Yeah.. the end is kind of a shock, but you kind of knew it was going to happen based on the earlier interactions. It just was a VERY weird way to start this whole thing off and I'm not sure that it's the way to draw people in.

Red Lanterns #1 - Huge flashback about Atrocitus's life before his world was destroyed and a huge recap of how the Red Lanterns came about, but not much else. There was a nice fight scene at the beginning with Dex-Starr and we get more of that stupid Bleez that DC seems to love so much, but really there wasn't much to this issue at all. I don't see how this will make a comic. Honestly, I was bored and I see no reason to continue reading this comic.

Resurrection Man #1 - OK I was totally not sure about this title and I'm still not. It felt a tad confusing. There was a LOT going on for a new issue and it tried to "catch you up" on who this character is and what he does, but it felt like there were just too many things going on to fully follow. It was good, but this one reads like a MUST READ AS A TRADE title over good for individual issues and that I think will hurt it. I do think it's interesting that apparently our hero thinks he's being attacked by demons, but they appear to be Angels (i'm guessing by the Suriel name, which seems similar to other demons we've seen in the past). Also, weird guest appearance at the end that felt a little odd. I think that could have been taken out for more story (imho).

Suicide Squad #1- This is no Secret Six, not by a long shot, but this team is NOT afraid to be dark and brutal, which WORKS. We get a nice recap of why our team is in their predicament and why they're each members of the Squad. That is GREAT. I LOVE the new Harley. She needed something to jazz her up and make her a little less.. DC Animated and this did it. She could still use a new costume, but her new attitude is cool. Deadshot is awesome as is King Shark. Savant was a MASSIVE disappointment. He was totally thrown away in this issue and it was sad. He shouldn't have been the throw away character and it made no sense based on who Savant once was. They should have picked someone else. I'm also disappointed that Amanda Waller is now thin and somewhat pretty. I liked the old Amanda Waller better, but she is definitely in control of the Squad and they did a GREAT update to the way the Squad was handled before. It was nice. All in all, I liked.

Superboy #1 - This felt like a prologue to Teen Titans #1. That's all. I liked the appearance of Lois Lane trying to get a story and Rose Wilson makes an appearance which was kind of nice, but the rest? It just didn't feel like there was much to it other than to get you to read Teen Titans. It established Superboy as a character, SORTA. We still don't know a whole hell of a lot about him except he has some connection to this woman Red (who apparently has no name.. she's just.. Red). It's not that I didn't like this issue. It was OK. It just felt like there wasn't much purpose for it to be here at all.

The new DCU 52 thus far.. Week 9/7/2011

As many of you know, I am currently jobless, so I have had to borrow the new DC 52 in order to read them. I earlier told people the New DCU 52 I was looking out for, but I've decided since I'm jobless and bored.. I should check them all out, so I have. Here are my opinions on the titles thus far:

Justice League #1:
Honestly, I enjoyed it. Did it blow me away? Nope. I never expect a Geoff Johns title to blow me away. I just.. DON'T! What I DO expect is a solid, enjoyable story and I got that. The interaction between Bats and GL were entertaining to me and it felt like the START of something. Was it complete? No, do we need more story? Yes, but it was a definite start. Oh I DUG how they got Cyborg into it. He felt just like Vic to me and I can live with that. As I said, solid issue.. not blow you away, but definitely SOLID.

Action Comics #1:
Grant Morrison is my archnemesis in comic terms, lol. He is one of the few writers I just don't enjoy most of the time... EXCEPT on All-Star Superman, which wasn't perfect, but enjoyable, so.. I expected All-Star Superman to peek through.. Instead.. I'm left cold. Superman has apparently decided to fight corporate greed and the evil rich.. Joy, so Superman is everything I HATE about Green Arrow. That works.. not really. I was honestly COMPLETELY turned off by the opening bits. Superman was violent, angry, and he was not.. Superman.. he was Green Arrow and Batman mixed into a really, really BAD combination. After that part, though it got better. Things were so much better. I can live with his home made costume, his powers growing, I missed the "Somebody Save me" reference that others caught and it's HORRIBLE.. Morrison should be shot just for that, sorry, he should. Anyhow, the rest of the comic was solid.. I LOVED that Lois views Clark as a rival.. I LOVE that. It worked for me. The story really got progressively better after the initial super douche. I will read Action Comics after this. I'm sure it'll be an enjoyable ride.

Animal man #1:
A lot of other reviews felt this wasn't a good place to jump onto Animal man, but.. I enjoyed it. I think it was accessible to new readers. Over all, I liked Animal Man. I love Buddy, he was lively and personable, I loved his family and his interactions with them and I liked the one-shot villain that made him remember his daughter. I liked the costume as well. It was a nice set up and it showed us what is in store for the future. I was WORRIED given the set up that Maxine would end up to be a reality bending mutant.. I mean meta-human. I'm glad it's vastly more limited than that. I'm so glad. Honesty, this was seriously one of the comics I was thinking was going to be the first for me to drop and it's one of my favourites.

Batgirl #1:
Unlike some, I found the title enjoyable. I love Gail Simone and I enjoyed the art. I liked that Babs isn't perfect after spending 3 years in a wheelchair and I don't think she SHOULD be, despite what others seem to think. It was an enjoyable title, just not blow my mind. I liked it.. I hope to read more.. I'm just not sold on how this is a step forward for Babs at all.

Batwing #1:
Don't get this title. I don't understand why it's special, don't understand why we need it, I just don't. It's Batman in a different costume in the "country" of Africa. It felt flat to me. The character never fleshed out for me as anything new or unique.. he's just Bruce Wayne as a POC in Africa. I see no reason to read this comic.. just read Batman and you get the same character.

Detective Comics #1:
Interesting I guess. I'm just not a Batman fan and I'm not sure why we're ripping Joker's face off. Yeah, I'm skipping the rest of this comic. It just didn't sell me and I'm not a Batman fan.

Green Arrow #1:
Wow.. yeah.. I didn't get this comic at all. Ollie was throwing around some weird disc things out for no reason, we've got weirdo reject villains and A FUCKING ORACLE REPLACEMENT. Yeah you heard me.. That pissed me off to no END. They tried to REPLACE Oracle with some bimbo who works for Ollie. Fuck you JT Krul. That was heartless and cruel. The idea that Queen Industries is Apple was interesting I guess.. but yeah, everything here just didn't work enough for me to want to read.

Hawk and Dove #1:
Wow.. my worst nightmare for this title HAPPENED. Liefeld dominated the title, refusing to allow Sterling Gates to actually write as amazing as he can. Liefeld's Washington Monument was horrid and hideous which is just part of his crappy art. Anyhow, everything about this title SCREAMS that it was written JUST to be drawn by Liefeld which left the story feeling.. rushed and incomplete. I felt there were pages missing at the end and I haven't felt that way since just after DC switched to the new 20 pgs.

Justice League International #1:
COncept interesting I guess and some good characters. I dig Godiva already, but.. I'm just not sold. I'd probably buy it in trades. It was a fast read and it was enjoyable. I just didn't feel that it was a GREAT title. It didn't make me feel I needed to read the next issue.

Men of War #1:
I was bored. I didn't even try to read the back-up feature. It was NOT something I enjoyed. I'm sure this is a title for SOMEONE, but it is not for me. It was so boring to me and all the military jargon thrown in made it downright unreadable.

O.M.A.C. #1:
Eh. This was a title I wasn't thrilled about and after reading it.. I'm still not. Felt very rushed and incomplete. The reveal at the end was interesting, but yeah.. Nothing I'd ever read again. If I wanted to read Jack Kirby, I can read Jack Kirby and be blown away.. this was not and it failed.. miserably for me.

Static Shock #1:
Spider-Man.. joy. Teen superhero geek trying to be cool while fighting the Power Rangers? I'll skip it. I just felt this was a bad Spider-Man rip-off with nothing original to make it work for me.

Stormwatch #1:
Loved. Absolutely LOVED. The end made me squee with happiness. I was a little off-put with the Martian Manhunter "warrior" speech, but everything else was great. It did have a barrage of characters that I still have no clue about, but I WANT TO KNOW them. Besides, I HAVE to see how the Apollo/Midnighter relationship plays out.. HAVE TO! I love Midnighter.. he's my comic crush. There I admitted it.

Swamp Thing #1:
Ok, I wasn't going to pick this one up originally and well.. I feel that I would have missed out if I had not read this comic. It was a GREAT sleeper title and I hope it grows. It reminded me of Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, which is the only one I have enjoyed. I've tried to read others, didn't like them.. this one I dug. So I hope it works out. I LOVED the cabbage thing and the voracious plant thing. It was great. Really just loved this title.

So all in all, thus far I'm right on what I'd like and not like EXCEPT Swamp Thing. That makes me happy lol. Oh the thing I have not been thrilled about the fact that Batman seems to be the THEME of this relaunch. Everything seems to be going darker.. Superman is a much more violent and arrogant at first, Ollie is acting JUST LIKE Bruce multi-tasking, acting violent, using various TOYS, he has his "generals" including a fake Oracle bimbo, and then we have Bruce-Lite in Africa. It's all crazy thus far to me.