<<< DC Pulls and such.

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Okay, prior to new 52, the whole of my involvement with the DC brand was "The Death of Superman" and "The Long Halloween". I've always liked Batman and his family of characters but most of what I'd known of them was through television. When the new 52 was announced, I figured, hey, it's supposedly this fresh clean slate, so why not give a bit of brand diversity to my almost completely Marvel pull list?

I did just that, and in the 10 or so rounds of issues since then, I've been fairly well pleased. Keep in mind that this is all from my point of view, and while since starting I've looked back into a few things from DC's pre-reboot days, this is all based on my perceptions as someone fresh to the universe.

As of now, the titles I follow have shrunken down due to waning interest and a waning pocketbook, but I'm pretty fairly pleased with the titles I still do follow, so here's a bit of info on them, what I do like and what I don't like.

Batman

I already said that I've been a long time fan of The Dark Knight through both his movie and television adventures, but I gotta say, the Gotham family has really been the side of things that got the shiny end of the stick in all of this, none more so than Batman himself.

When the New52 was still new, I gave a looksie through all three (are there three? There might be more) of the titles that seemed devoted to Wayne himself, and while Detective Comics had its interesting bits, it and The Dark Knight couldn't really hold onto me. The opening story of this series, which is just about to wrap up in issue 11, is a pretty hectic tale that touches all the way back to Bruce Waynes childhood and its pretty action packed the whole way through. Scott Snyder's writing is pretty top-notch as well, and the art has never once failed to make its mark.

The Night of the Owls crossover saw much of the Gotham based books synching up, and while I only stuck to the books I followed for the most part, it was pretty interesting if a little confusing on what order it should all be read in.

On the whole though, its been fantastic so far and so long as Snyder is staying on and the art quality stays where it's been, I see no reason for it to stop being fantastic any time soon.

10/10 -- This is the DC standard against which all others will be judged.

Bat-Girl

This one seemed to divide a lot of fans who either preferred the other Bat-Girls or just simply had grown accustomed or preferential towards Barbara Gordon's role as Oracle. Again, with a lot of my Gotham Experience coming from the shows and movies, Babs was really the only Bat-Girl I ever knew with any sort of fondness, and while I'd known that she'd been paralyzed in the comics forever, I'd never read anything with Oracle in it, and so I didn't have that preexisting opinion on whether or not she'd be better in the cowl or behind a computer.

Bat-Girl #1 formulated that opinion for me.

Babs is pretty awesome. I'm a sucker for level-headed people just sort of trying to wrap their heads around the fact that "Hey, yeah, I'm a superhero." and the early issues of Bat-Girl really sold the aspect that, yes, Babs has been out of the hero game for a while, and her coming to terms with the idea that it's just one misplaced hand or stray bullet away from putting her back in that chair that lends some of the urgency to the series when things come to blows.

Beyond that, it's just kinda fun. The first arc introduces a villain called The Mirror who thinks it his task handed down from on high to take the life of those who have messed up the circle of life and death by surviving events that should have killed them, a story that hits pretty close to home with the protagonist. It only gets weirder from there. But the writing is again pretty solid, and I love the interactions. The Art is crisp and clean and pretty to look at, and Babs is drawn pretty much free of back breaking, twig-waisted buxom comic book women alot of us know and loathe.

Also, I'd totally date her.

8/10 -- Fun, well drawn, and an excellent complimentary title to Batman.

Birds of Prey

Okay, not gonna lie. I picked this up solely for the fact that I knew Poison Ivy was going to be involved, and I ended up being pleasantly surprised by the whole shebang. Birds of Prey is very much a team comic. The opening plot was sort of confusing, but the characters themselves and the way they're written together are what kept me reading. The art, as has been the norm so far, is pretty great, and I've found a new favorite in the new 52 iteration of Black Canary.

As stated before though, it's not without its cons. The initial arc leading up to the Night of the Owls crossover issue was confusing here and there, and really in the end there isn't much of a strong resolution. Whether that was intentional or otherwise, it left me a little dumbfounded, but I'm gonna keep reading it, because I've grown to like the characters. It's the dialogue really, and though yeah the plot is a little weak in spots, its still a pretty fun read.

7/10 -- A little bit of a confusing outset, but if you like the characters, you'll probably forgive it that.


Catwoman

Oh, boy, Catwoman. This is probably the shakiest title I follow. The story, I like. Catwoman is written as a fun anti-hero, and I'm a sucker for a rogue in any situation. Lots of crime capers, some Danny-Ocean esque clockwork schemes, getting away and making rich jerks look stupid. That's sort of what I expected going in. What I got? Ehh not so much.

We start off with a pretty traumatic first issue in which Selina loses a friend and goes on the hit-back, and while I like the art for the most part (I like how March draws faces), there is a lot of T&A style brokebacking going on and that sorta turns me on my ear, though I guess with Catwoman it should be expected (not warranted or excused), but I dunno, the style of the story-telling is fun and fast paced and it's very nitty gritty, especially juxtaposed against the heroics I normally read about. The current post-Night of the Owls arc has taken a bit of a creepy turn but really, at this point its morbid curiosity that has my interests piqued.

7/10 -- Sometimes the art is genuinely rage inducing in just how far Catwoman's spine can seemingly bend, but for the most part it's a fun series that feeds my inner rogue. D20 Stealth roll! Now!


Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad found me. I have a love for Harley Quinn, and her crazy getup on the cover of issue one played me like a fiddle, but the series is a hell of a ride. Gorey, dirty, and not a fan of pulling a lot of punches in the realm of tact, it's almost like a guilty pleasure. I feel like I should hide this book from my mom.

Task Force X, so lovingly called The Suicide Squad, is a black-ops wetworks team consisting entirely of super-powered prison inmates with headsplosion chips. They're sent out on missions that are sensitive and have extremely low odds of success, and there-in lies one of the fundamental mechanics of the book.

Don't. Get. Attached.

Someone dies in like, every issue of the book. It hasn't really worn off yet, this dirty sadistic satisfaction whenever a team member bites it. You think you figure the pattern out too, and then they knock off someone you thought was important. Of course, I dunno if they'd go so far as to take out Deadshot or Harleen, who seem to be the two main protagonists of the book so far, but it really becomes a waiting game of "Who Next" when it comes to waiting on this series. The other characters are sort of a mixed bag. Some stand out and others don't, such as El Diablo, a fire-manipulating tattoo junkie who I really couldn't care less about, and King Shark, a giant half man/half shark who is so malevolently entertaining that he just can't help but be downright endearing.

The art is great, but the stories themselves, while written well, are fairly insular, but they're fun to read despite that. Program Director Waller, who has gone through some serious Jenny Craig voodoo since the reboot (or so I understand) is a character who I either hate or love, depending on the issue, and she really sells that hard ass persona. All in all though this is one of my favorite books and when money becomes priority in choosing what I pick up on a given week, this is pretty close to the top on sheer measure of sadistic glee alone.

8/10 -- EVERYBODY DIES! MEEEEAT! MEEEEEAAAAT!


Wonder Woman

Here is where the new 52 really shines. Prior to this reboot, even with my limited run ins with the DC brand, Wonder Woman was a character I knew nor wanted anything to do with. Picking up that first issue though, I'm glad I did. If you like Greek Mythology, and if you like Guillermo Del Toro, I seriously recommend getting this book, as I'm pretty sure this is much what the bastard love child of a union between those two things would look like.

There's a human walking around with Zeus' baby in her. Hera wants her dead (as Hera normally does) and its up to Hermes and Wonder Woman to protect her. Thats the basis for the misadventures here, which take us through a wonderfully written, fricking beautifully drawn world of stylized and modernized Greek Gods, Goddesses, Monsters, and general mayhem. That's really all there is to it. Greek mythology in modern times.

Writing's great, art pops out at you, and some of the character designs on the gods are just flat out amazing. I'm interested to see where this series goes, and I won't be dropping it for a good long while, methinks.

9/10 -- All the world is waiting for yooou!

[Jean]

What?!?! No Aquaman?!? Granted, his title has a shortage of women in skintight outfits, but it's a great read.

I'd been thinking of checking out Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad. Now I think I'll give them a look. Thanks, Dean.

[Marrow]

Maybe I'll snag Aquaman. I've heard good things.