Let me start off by saying I've been a Marvel fanboy my entire life. I never really got into DC, not because I didn't like them, but...well...yea, I just didn't like DC. I mean, sure, I liked Bats, The Flash, and Green Lantern, but the rest...meh, I wasn't missing much. I guess I should say I just never gave them a chance, therefore I stuck with what I knew, which was Spidey, the X-Men, Cap, DD, Nova and the rest of the Galactic heroes, etc. Enter the DC "reboot." While many people saw this relaunch as a diabolical act by an industry giant just looking to appeal to new readers and their higher ups *cough cough* warner bros *cough*, I saw it as the perfect jumping on point with a number of series. Starting with Flashpoint, I started spending my hard earned money on DC, along with my weekly Marvel purchases (Fear Itself AND Flashpoint at the same time? Dick move guys, The Home Depot doesn't pay me THAT well). Buying around 20 of the new relaunches by DC and reading the rest (I know the owner of the local shop, so I just read them there) I finally finished them all today. Here's some of my favorites.
My favorites of the bunch...
The Flash #1
Quite frankly, I loved it. Manapul's art is, simply put, perfect for a Flash story. Each page raced into the next, and without coming off as hokey, the story set the groundwork for a funny, mysterious, action filled adventure that I'm looking forward to reading every month. I can't stress the art of this book enough; What Maleev or Lark is to dark and gritty, Manapul's is to light and vivid. Truly, one of the best of the bunch.
Men of War #1
When I was a kid, I found my dad's old box of comics at my grandparents house and never looked back. He was a big Thor and Sgt. Fury's Howling Commandos fan (such a random combo, I know) but among those he also had quite the collection of Sgt. Rock comics. I read these with wide eyes, more adult than Sgt. Fury's adventures, but not adult enough I couldn't understand, I was transfixed. Upon hearing of the Men of War comic, I was giddy. How would they pull off a relaunch of a WWII character? How would it fit in with the rest of the DC universe, unlike it's predecessor who had standalone stories? Issue #1 answered all of those questions. Towards the end, a "Super" plays havoc with one of their missions, and I think the story does a good job of not focusing on the "super," but rather, the unit on the ground and how they view this "distraction." I am absolutely looking forward to this book going on.
Superman # 1
I was on the fence with this one the whole time. I never liked Supes growing up, what with the whole invincibility to everything but magic and a green rock thing, and Action Comics #1 was a horrid start (more on that later) in my opinion, but this book had parts I liked and disliked. Off the bat, I recognized the narrative as an article by Clark, which I liked. I wasn't so much a fan of the new costume and the fight seemed non memorable for a relaunch, but the last pages sealed it for me. Without giving away any spoilers, Pérez managed to humanize Supes in a way Morrison failed to do with AC#1. And being totally honest, I like heroes I can relate to. I'm definitely coming back next issue.
Justice League # 1
Easily the créme de le créme of the DC universe, it's hard to mess up a flagship like this, then again it is possible. This was, however, everything I wanted in a relaunch. Character introduction with interesting rapport between them, and a cliffhanger to drag you into next week. Bats was nailed in this version, as was Hal Jordan. I especially like Supes role as the antagonist at the end of this issue and the art by Lee is another great example of how comics should look.
Wonder Woman # 1 and Swamp Thing # 1
I'm going to be completely honest, I didn't even really have any interest in reading these at all, even after the owner of the shop said I wouldn't regret it. Swamp Thing? C'mon now, the crappy 80's movie? No thanks. Wonder Woman? Yea, she can tie me up with that lasso, but after that, I could care less. Boy was I DEAD WRONG. Easily up there with Flash #1, Swamp Thing was everything I wanted out of a horror comic, great art, great story, and some real creepy scenes. I'm hooked. As for WW#1 I wasn't sure about the art, but the more I read, the more I liked it and by the end I loved it. The story is also great, nothing I expected out of a Wonder Woman story. Good Job DC, I'm hooked on both of these titles.
Books I'm on the fence on...
Grifter # 1
I'm a huge fan of the Wildstorm universe, and seeing Grifter do his thing in Flashpoint #5 was one of the highpoints of that series for me. That said, this comic felt very very VERY generic. I wasn't reading about Cole Cash, just some guy who lost track of time. I want to like it really, really bad, bit I just couldn't...not yet anyway.
Batman # 1 and Batman: The Dark Knight # 1
Both books captured all the elements that make for a great Batman story: beautiful splash pages, a slick Bruce Wayne, and grotesque bad guys. Both of these books are really close to being listed as favorites, but because I was already partial to Bats prior to the DCnU, I'm critiquing them a little harder than the rest of the reboots.
Aquaman # 1
Hahaha...the long ridiculed god of the ocean finally looks cool and has a good storyline, but I still can't get over the label he's had for so long. I want to look past it, but I can't. Still giving this book another chance though, cause the first one was better than expected.
DC Universe Presents # 1
I'm going to be honest, Deadman has always been a character I've glanced at and liked. The relaunch of this title had me, but it's just...a weird character. I liked it though, and next issue is definitely on my list.
Batgirl # 1
For me, the reference to "The Killing Joke" was one of my favorite parts of the reboot. Yea, Yea, some will say that The Killing Joke is the most over-rated arc in Batman lore, but you know what? I, like many others, loved it. The fact they brought it back was a little easter egg I liked...I still liked Oracle though...
Green Lantern # 1
This book wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I still liked it. A powerless Hal on earth trying to readjust - Great. Sinestro a GL again, despite becoming one against his will - Superb. The execution of these events, though, lacked oomph I thought they would have. Still leaning towards liking it at this point though.
I'm going to be honest, I just wasn't a fan...
Suicide Squad # 1
This book was awful. I love the Thunderbolts, so I figured I would give this a try...garbage. I would love to hop in my DeLorean and travel back to my comic shop and knock this out of my past self's hands and punch him in the balls for considering it...enough said.
Action Comics # 1
While I didn't hate this book nearly as much as certain Christian groups, I really did not enjoy this comic. To me, it felt like Morrison was trying entirely too hard to make Supes vulnerable and full of angst. Save the angst for Batman and the vulnerability for Aquaman...to heat lamps (sorry, I had to add something in there). I also felt like he was trying too hard to make Superman a representation of the everyday man. To this day, my favorite rendition of the Man of Steel was Straczynski's Earth One story. Clark going beast mode in football and baseball, solving complex equations at Labs and basically using his powers to his own, well what he thought was his mom's, benefit was a great touch. Would have loved to see something like that hear, but alas, I was disappointed. Also...blue jeans...come on man.
Catwoman # 1
I mean...if I were to put it in terms of...she....he....Catwoman basically rapes Batman...at least in a legal sense. Great "art" though.
Resurrection Man # 1
First things first...I love Dan Abnett. His run on Nova, and later on the rest of Marvel's galactic heroes, rivals Bendis' and Brubaker's runs on Dare Devil or Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men, my two all time favorites, and I really really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn't. Of course I'm going to keep reading, though, I just had really high expectations for this book. Maybe too high, in retrospect.
So there you have it. The rest I'm kind of on the fence on, but not enough to say one way or the other. What do you guys think of the new DC universe? Put the comments in the usual place.
Disclaimer*
As of writing this, I still think of myself as very pro-marvel, but let me tell you...DC has me very interested.