DC's New 52 on a Budget, September 7 Edition

Spotlight
DC's New 52 on a Budget, September 7 Edition
By Dan Horn
Sep 6, 2011 - 14:34

Hi, Bin readers. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. I wanted to take a quick moment to outline my top picks for DC Comics' New 52 releases this Wednesday, letting you know which are safe purchases and which are risky business. If you're on a budget when buying comics, like I am, this breakdown might come in handy when you've inexorably got to cull the torrent of new books being released over the next few weeks.  

Buy:  

Action Comics #1

  Grant Morrison is a polarizing figure in comic books to say the least, but, with the Action Comics reboot, he's doing something that the industry really needs right now: he's adding relevant social commentary. Action #1 should provide the relatively historical impact that Justice League#1 was sadly bereft of. Beware, white collar criminals everywhere.  

Stormwatch #1  

Paul Cornell has really proven his salt in almost every medium for speculative fiction. His stint on the DCoU Action Comics was very entertaining (most of the time), and, though Stormwatch has had a very tenuous position in sales and continuity in the past, I'm banking on Cornell making this a must read series.  

Swamp Thing #1  

Scott Snyder (Detective Comics, American Vampire) has already been affirmed as a scribe of fantastic horror and superhero fiction. Marry his brilliant writing with Yanick Paquette's equally engaging artwork, and you've got a recipe for success. Just try not to compare it with Moore's iconic run on the character. Snyder's take is sure to be very divergent.  Proceed with

Caution:  

Animal Man #1

 Oh, Jeff Lemire, you're so wishy-washy. Will we get the brilliant indie prodigy Lemire with the new Animal Man, or the writer's uninspired Superboy melodrama? Only time will tell. I, myself, actually really enjoyed his attempt at structuring Superboy as a comprehensive epic. His Superboy series even had some really great moments in it; it just never lived up to the Lemire-goes-mainstream hype. It was, in fact, pretty bland in comparison to his previous work. Hopefully, Animal Man is idiosyncratic enough to fuel Lemire's creative process. Jeff's colleague here, Travel Foreman, has done some really brilliant artwork for Marvel, so his involvement bodes well for this project.  

Batgirl #1
 
There's no doubt in mind that Gail Simone's Batgirl will be, at the very least, incredibly entertaining, but something a teacher said at this past San Diego Comic Con has really turned me off to the series. The teacher had a special needs class in which she read Birds of Prey, Batman, Batgirl, and other Oracle-starring series to illustrate to her students that they too could be superheroes one day. They didn't need to have super-strength or be able to fly; they just needed to be themselves. That was the testimony of the wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon. Gail Simone has erased all of that, because, well, for lack of a better explanation, Barbara is a redhead and so is Gail. So, on a redhead level, Gail thinks Babs is able to be related to more if she can use her legs. Screw the kids who are incapable of being crime-fighting acrobats, I guess. I won't be buying this series on principle, but I'm sure others who do pick up Batgirl #1 won't find themselves disappointed. Simone's one hell of a writer, even if she is a bit misguided.

Batwing #1

Sometimes Judd Winick's writing is on point, and sometimes it's downright awful. Ben Oliver's gorgeous artwork is definitely a redeeming quality here, and an African Batman fighting super-villain metaphors for genocide and apartheid should prove to be an interesting and relevant twist on an old formula.

Green Arrow #1

Green Arrow hasn't seen a golden era since perhaps Mike Grell's run. The character himself is hit or miss, which is ironic for an expert archer, but J.T. Krul, Dan Jurgens, and George Perez seem to spell "Silver Age mediocrity," not shiny newfangled appeal. Can the new "Tony Stark with a bow" concept win over readers?

Justice League International #1

While Dan Jurgens' Justice League International reboot certainly won't be as fun as the classic Giffen/DeMatteis run (compare the Jurgens issues of Booster Gold to the Giffen ones for some evidence of Dan's Silver Age heavy-handedness), it should have a similar spirit. And, without a Booster Gold series in the New 52, you've got to get your fix somewhere, right?

Men of War #1

Even with the Image series Viking under his belt, Ivan Brandon is still a writer whose talent is difficult to gauge, especially as a relative newcomer to mainstream comics. His premise, pitting former-military contractors against super-villains, seems intriguing enough. This title will either prove that balancing real-world war themes and comic book fantasy is too arduous an endeavor for DC's talent pool at the moment, or Brandon is going to hit a home run. Either way, Men of War seems doomed to obscure cult status.

Static Shock #1

A Milestone reboot that has us all fondly recalling the work of Dwayne MacDuffie, this is sure to be a fun read. John Rozum is no stranger to the Milestone era, and his work on the recent Xombi reboot has assured readers that he's able to hold his own in this new pop-culture generation. Scott McDaniel's art, however, is an acquired taste. This series is no doubt going to be solid, but memorable and influential may be generous adjectives.

Pass:

Detective Comics #1

The fact that Tony Daniel is still writing Batman comics boggles my mind, and the fact that he's heading up the landmark Detective Comics reboot is as incomprehensible as his writing. No one can ever blame Tony of being subtle or well-informed. Skip this book if you can resist the allure of its iconic title.

Hawk and Dove #1

If there were two characters deserving a massive overhaul, or even a negation, it was Hawk and Dove. Did they get their much-needed update? Not really. This book looks pretty ridiculous. I've never been an avid fan of Liefield's artwork, but this might be his career low.

OMAC #1

If you've read Dan DiDio's tepid Outsiders run, you're wondering why he's got such an influential say in things over at DC Comics. You're also wondering how he's still writing comic books after the reboot. Sure, Keith Giffen's recently been brought onboard, ostensibly to help DiDio avoid calamity with OMAC, a Jack Kirby-esque, Silver Age-format title, but can even Giffen course-correct this series?