tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post5210647211516853279..comments2024-03-27T08:49:38.786-03:00Comments on Siskoid's Blog of Geekery: New52: End of the First WaveSiskoidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-53681382164190456032012-05-03T15:12:19.502-03:002012-05-03T15:12:19.502-03:00I started out buying Grifter, Suicide Squad, and R...I started out buying Grifter, Suicide Squad, and Resurrection Man. I dropped Grifter after 4 issues (liked the concept, but too little advancement and none of the characters interested me), Suicide Squad after 3 (only that many because I didn't want to stick my store with books I specifically ordered).<br /><br />I was enjoying Res Man more the first few issues. I liked him being pursued by all sides of the afterlife. You're right about his powers, but I guess that doesn't bother me much in terms of my enjoyment.<br /><br />I added Green Arrow when Nocenti took over (wish she had a different artist), added Batman Beyond Unlimited for Norm Breyfogle (bonus, the JL story is more interesting than I expected, but Krul/Porter's mopey Superman is a waste of pages). I added Dial H to my pull, but it'll be a few weeks before I get my books.<br /><br />I was buying 3 books (Batgirl, Secret Six, Batman Beyond) before the relaunch, 4 if you go back to spring when REBELS was still going. I'd rank Batgirl ahead of everything, pre- or post-relaunch, and the other 3 titles well ahead of Grifter or Suicide Squad.CalvinPitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11815632086057048846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-5490492387257880702012-05-03T13:41:56.600-03:002012-05-03T13:41:56.600-03:00Read one and not the other as yet, but I really li...Read one and not the other as yet, but I really liked Earth-2 (as my tweeted review reveals). There may be a post in it, yes.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-11780312913813565652012-05-03T01:16:25.302-03:002012-05-03T01:16:25.302-03:00Siskoid, I picked up Earth 2 and World's Fines...Siskoid, I picked up Earth 2 and World's Finest today. I'd like your take on both and how you think they fit together. I enjoyed Dial H very much, and I started liking the artwork as I got further along. Great work. If you don't plan to talk about E2 and WF in a regular post, I really am curious as to your thoughts.<br /><br />Best,<br /><br />WayneWayne Allen Salleehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17199261942617339556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-67739703127275411842012-05-02T15:30:21.327-03:002012-05-02T15:30:21.327-03:00OMAC and Static Shock got cancelled out from under...OMAC and Static Shock got cancelled out from under me. (Their days were probably numbered once I started reading them, since I'm a harbinger of cancellation.) I'm down to Demon Knights, and I'm not sure how much longer for that. I got My Greatest Adventure as well; but I don't think that sold great.<br /><br />I did read the first six or so issues of Batman at the library the other day: eh.googumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17843267619711712271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-25049310498140163112012-05-02T14:49:05.401-03:002012-05-02T14:49:05.401-03:00I agree with you Anon. The renumbering was a usefu...I agree with you Anon. The renumbering was a useful marketing tool (though I'd like at least Action and Detective to get split numbering after the first year, like 12/912 or whatever), and that DC made a good move for themselves in the short term. It's the lack of forethought about the long term that will end up killing them.Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-71139442996670771302012-05-02T14:40:33.762-03:002012-05-02T14:40:33.762-03:00I admit I feel a lot of the potential of the reboo...I admit I feel a lot of the potential of the reboot has been squandered. In my mind, you do a reboot to clean up missteps, not to restart for the sake of restarting. Basically, put as many characters as you can in a good position so they can be used as creative teams need.<br /><br />Blue Beetle didn't need a reboot at all -- he'd pretty much just hit his stride -- and Superboy was also at a good status quo. "Wonder Woman" rebooted very very nicely, I'll give it that. "Action Comics" may well have hit a lull now that Superman is apparently the established idol of millions.<br /><br />The the comics I'm most enjoying are "Batman", "Batman and Robin" (at least read the reviews on #8 to see if it was worth the wait), "Nightwing", "Green Lantern Corps", "Animal Man", and "Swamp Thing". No reboot needed for any of those.<br /><br />And of course, we're still missing the legacy heroes, and I'm not pleased about that. While I am glad that Barry Allen is finally finally being written well, there's no reason Wally West has to disappear to make it happen. Here's hoping DC's got a plan to fix that.<br /><br />As for the renumbering that accompanied the reboot, that did serve a useful purpose: it informed readers that now's the time to jump on and explore new comics. I'm reading more Bat-books than I ever did in my life, and the renumbering helped with that. (Of course, the renumbering was entirely symbolic, but symbols help once in a while.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-15786653553186957022012-05-02T13:48:49.676-03:002012-05-02T13:48:49.676-03:00With Cornell off Stormwatch I'm reading Demon ...With Cornell off <b>Stormwatch</b> I'm reading <b>Demon Knights</b> and nothing else. I plan to pick up <b>Dial H</b> for Mieville writing and Bolland covers, doubling my current investment.<br /><br />Admittedly even one book is infinitely more than I'm getting from Marvel at the moment. (I'd jump at a consistent Marvel Movieverse series by creators I like.)<br /><br />Current winner is Dark Horse, with <b>Buffy</b> and <b>Angel & Faith</b>, and <b>Hellboy</b> when he comes back, and the odd <b>Star Wars</b> miniseries.Craig Oxbrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388821789251515974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-55530517392109572802012-05-02T11:16:37.669-03:002012-05-02T11:16:37.669-03:00My New 52 buying hasn't changed much since the...My New 52 buying hasn't changed much since the second month of the relaunch. There were some series I wanted to read the first issue but didn't really intend to continue with, for financial reasons if nothing else (Batman, Detective, Batgirl, JLI). Of the ones I put on my pull list, I've only dropped Green Arrow. It only made it on my list for the Jurgens/Perez art, but once both were gone at #6 I had no reason to continue with the book. I was also getting OMAC up to its cancellation.<br /><br />Justice League #9 could very well be my last issue of that title. We'll see how Johns and Lee do with the start of their second arc.<br /><br />I'll be adding Earth 2 on a trial basis, and World's Finest will certainly be a regular read.<br /><br />I'll still be getting all 4 Superbooks and the 2 Legion titles no matter what, but I have enjoyed most of them (Action is the only one I'm really enthusiastic for, but I don't hate any of them). I'm still getting all 4 GL books, although I'm wavering a bit on GLC. Still getting Savage Hawkman, we'll see what Liefeld has planned. Fury of Firestorm is picking up a little, so I'm holding on to that one. I have enjoyed Aquaman, so that one's not going anywhere.<br /><br />Final tally for me leaves 14 of the first wave still on my list, with one of those very much on the bubble and another heading that way. I'll be adding 2 of the second wave, but one of those is on a 3 issue trial period.Matthew Turnagehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08115327182071167651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-52033368880465734732012-05-02T10:56:31.893-03:002012-05-02T10:56:31.893-03:00I still like Resurrection Man, but I've got to...I still like Resurrection Man, but I've got to agree about the lack of creativity in the powers. In the New 52 series, it seems like Mitch has gotten electrical powers more often than the entire African-American superhero community combined.<br /><br />Other than the Dark books, there seems to be an underlying cynicism and lack of a sense of wonder, particularly in many of the superhero books, which is a HUGE problem. Take the most recent JL issue. Johns apparently thought that showing scene after scene after scene of the League being d--ks to Ollie Queen was more entertaining than showing a battle with AN UBER-POWERFUL KILLER ROBOT WITH THE POWERS OF THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. <br /><br />DC also seems hell-bent on closing off as many interesting storytelling avenues as they can. Batman has had 4-5 Robins and the Earth has had 4 active GL's in 5 years, but in that same time frame the main League has only had ONE NEW MEMBER???<br /><br />They also sometimes seem to forget <br />that they're DOING a reboot. Johns is flashing back to DCnU Aquaman's adventures with his first super-team when we've barely seen him with his CURRENT super-team. And the first story arc on SUPERMAN was predicated on "this isn't how Clark normally acts" before they'd even ESTABLISHED how DCnU Clark normally acts.<br /><br />When you're launching a "Hail Mary" like a companywide reboot, you should put WAY more thought into it than DC did.notinthefacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12537680561821564347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-30085566402282460722012-05-02T09:34:38.219-03:002012-05-02T09:34:38.219-03:00There's definitely something missing from the ...There's definitely something missing from the nu52...some sense of a coherent universe. <br /><br />There's little feeling of exactly what the nuDc Earth actually *is*. There's little sense that, crossovers aside, Red Hood takes place in the same world as OMAC or Green Arrow or Flash. As good (or not?) as some of the mags are, there is little connective tissue in the nu52 tying things together.<br /><br />A lot of that comes down to editorial. No one seems willing (or able) to tell Geoff Johns that his JL characterizations seem completely disassociated from the rest of the nu52. There is also little effort being made to put small touches into the stories, like a newspaper headlines or fragment of a news broadcast or other bits of fun, calling out stuff going on in other mags, making it *feel* liked a shared universe. For all the desperate emulation of Marvel and Image 1990s, the nu52 sorely needs some Marvel 60 & 70...snellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06181997862745538999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-82260681256326640972012-05-02T08:18:32.750-03:002012-05-02T08:18:32.750-03:00I'm not judging Anon. And I don't want the...I'm not judging Anon. And I don't want the thread to become about piracy either.<br /><br />I've felt the same about Res Man - it's certainly missing the boat by not having the powers be any interesting - but can we call the experiment a failure? Critically, sure (if we're the two critics). Financially, which is all the publishers care about presumably, it hasn't been.<br /><br />That's probably why Harras was brought onboard. His time at Marvel was likewise marked by flooding of the market with low quality work (I still think nuDC is better than 90s Marvel) and he got a nice profitable market share out of it. DC wanted to get into the Top 10 and it has. Marvel is still outselling them overall though.<br /><br />I, of course, don't believe you should run a business like this like a competition. You're not actually selling the same product. Or are you?Siskoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08266365376486695812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37940560.post-88918769342186690002012-05-02T07:47:14.856-03:002012-05-02T07:47:14.856-03:00I'm posting anonymously so I can say this: I&#...I'm posting anonymously so I can say this: I've been getting every single issue of every DC New 52 comic via bittorrent, hot off the piratubes, and they're all sitting on my computer waiting for me to read them. And even that way, at zero cost to myself, I can't be bothered to read most of them. I used to collect bucketloads of comics, including every issue of some crossovers, which is why I feel I can justify this little experiment in "piracy": DC, I bought every single Bloodlines crossover; you owe me more than you can ever repay!<br /><br />I loved Resurrection Man in the original series, but the new one drags interminably and makes very little sense. I've been a Legion fanboy for years, but the latest re-unboot was a nostalgiawank too far for me, so I haven't been bothered to keep up with LL or LSH. And I think the best reboot of any property in comics history was John Byrne's Man of Steel in 1986, so the fact that they've done it again without any charm or skill makes it all the more bitter for me. Oddly, I enjoyed Supergirl enough to read the first six or seven issues, but it started to pall once the interchangeable nineties-refugee aliens showed up.<br /><br />I'm old enough to be disappointed by the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when they rebooted some characters (Superman and Wonder Woman, basically) but left most unchanged. I was adamant that they should have done a full reboot then. Now they've finally done it, except for the GL and BatFamily books of course because presumably they thought it would increase sales of movie tie-ins (ha!), and it's an incompetent mess. Big fail, big big fail.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com