I think pretty much everything that can be said about the DC Comics relaunch (aka nuDCU) has been said. I’m not going to let that stop me though.
There have been many conversations about DC doing something like this ever since Marvel launched their Ultimate line over 10 years ago (around 11 I think). Then we got the All-Star Batman, All-Star Superman, and were promised All-Star Wonder Woman and the comic shop talk was talking about the All-Star line being DC’s Ultimate line. They proved that wrong even though All-Star Superman was the best Superman book in over 10 years (yeah, that’s a non-sequitur). I’ve also seen several comparisons to the Marvel Heroes Reborn “relaunch” in the mid 90s. Maybe those are fair. Maybe they’re not. I guess we’ll see in September.
Over 25 years ago, we had Crisis on Infinite Earths and the books that followed that were a mix of continuing with a slightly altered status quo to books like Superman and Wonder Woman where we essentially got complete reboots.
I’m less than excited about many of the costume redesigns. Jim Lee is redesigning most of the costumes. I really liked Gambit’s costume and maybe the costume he designed for Rogue in X-Men #1. I guess the Hush costume was moderately interesting. I almost find the new Wonder Woman costume he designed almost interesting. I’d almost rather see her in the pirate outfit she wore in the 90s when she was enslaved in space. But that’s just me. Grifter was cool. On the other hand, he was the guy who put Wolverine back in yellow and thought it was cool. Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld defined super hero costume design in the 90s, but that was 20 years ago.
My commentary on a few of the titles:
Justice League written by Geoff Johns with art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams.
I’m not Geoff Johns’ biggest fan. I admit it. He writes good comics. One of the best Green Lantern comics I’ve read in years is Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern: Secret Origin
Justice League # 1 gets a pass from me. I’m not even going to bother.
Aquaman written by Geoff Johns with art by Ivan Reis
This one is a mixed bag for me. I like Aquaman. I’m probably one of the few of my generation who would have Aquaman listed as one of his top 5 super-heroes from the Super Friends (Superman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Green Arrow is my complete list). I really liked his series when Peter David was writing it. I don’t trust Geoff Johns. I love Ivan Reis’ artwork. Also I don’t trust DC with Aquaman right now.
Aquaman # 1, I’m giving a try. If they can’t hook me in one issue, I probably won’t be around for the second.
The Fury of Firestorm written by Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone with art by Yildiray Cinar.
This is one of the few nuDCU titles that has me a little excited. Ethan Van Sciver has been dabbling in writing for a while. I’ve spoken with him in the past about some of his ideas he’s had for different characters. He is very excited about his books and has lots of interesting ideas. Gail Simone is one of the great comics writers of the 2000s. I love Ron Raymond. I didn’t give Jason Rusch much of a chance when his book came out. If they throw in Dr. Stein, it could be really interesting. I also like the concept of two Firestorms who merge into Ultra Zord Firestorm.
I’m giving The Fury of Firestorm # 1 a buy. I’m going to give it three issues to hook me.
Green Arrow written by JT Krul with art by Dan Jurgens.
Green Arrow is one of the more interesting characters in the DC flock to me. He’s one of the few that Judd Winick has written and been unable to spoil. It is also one of the comics that Brad Meltzer has written that I actually liked. And there was Mike Grell. I loved the Mike Grell Green Arrow run. JT Krul’s run hasn’t done anything for me, but I’m not sure if that’s really his fault or if DC had mandated a new direction for him and it didn’t work for me. The covers by Brett Booth interests me. Unfortunately his Jim Lee costume is a big turn off. I like Dan Jurgens art. We’ll have to see where they take us. Plus there’s just something cool about a guy who grew up and became Robin Hood.
Green Arrow # 1 gets a try from me. He gets one issue to win me over.
Mister Terrific written by Eric Wallace and with art by Roger Robinson.
Mister Terrific was one of those characters created for Geoff Johns’ Justice Society relaunch forever ago. He has intrigued me ever since. He was a great character in Greg Rucka’s Checkmate (affiliate link)
Mister Terrific # 1 gets a try from me. I’ll check out issue 1 and see if it’s worth me buying # 2.
Hawk and Dove by Sterling Gates with art by Rob Liefeld.
First I’m willing to bet Rob won’t have his required three issues done by August. Second Sterling Gates hasn’t written a comic that I’ve read that has interested me enough to pursue reading.
True confession time: I was a big Rob Liefeld fan back in his New Mutants / X-Force days. What he lacked in skill and craftsmanship, he more than made up for with energy. He was so enthusiastic about what he was doing back in those days. You could look at his comics in those days and see how much he enjoyed what he was doing. In my opinion the biggest mistake he made was not continuing with an inker strong enough help with his craft. I can forgive some of his anatomy sins. I could almost be a Rob Liefeld apologist if he could just get an inker that could help him out.
Finally, wasn’t this done over 20 years ago? Hmmm…..
Hawk and Dove # 1 gets a pass. I’m not buying it.
Deathstroke written by Kyle Higgins with art by Joe Bennett and Art Thibert.
This version of his costume looks like it came from the 90s post Image DC. I really hate this look. I don’t know who Kyle Higgins is, but I do like Joe Bennett and Art Thibert.
Deathstroke # 1 gets a pass. Even with potentially beautiful art, the costume suggests that the art may not be able to save the book.
That’s it for now. I’ll be remarking on the Superman and Batman books later this week. There may even be a few that interest me in there.
Confession time: Being the lazy bum that I am, I grabbed the artwork from CBR. Just had to give credit where credit is due.
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