New Comics Day - October 10th, 2012. A big day for the big two.

   Today is new comics day! As always you can check over at ComicList for a complete rundown of new releases. Today is a big day for the big two. Find out why after the jump.

New Comics - September 5th, 2012

The holiday weekend has not delayed new books! Tomorrow is Wednesday and once again, you can check out the list of new releases over at Comic List.new

This week, I will check out: New Crusaders: Rise of the Heroes #1, Action Comics #0, Animal Man #0, Detective Comics #0, Earth 2 #0, Green Arrow #0, Green Lantern #0, Phantom Stranger #0, World's Finest #0, Hell Yeah #5, Amazing Spider-Man #693, Hawkeye #2, and Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #14. What about you?

Dynamic Duo Review - Batman #11 and Batman and Robin #11

 Batman #11
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Greg Capullo

It's all been building up to this. For the better part of a year, Scott Snyder's bestselling book has put Bruce Wayne through the ringer, culminating with the reveal that he could possibly have a long lost brother. Thomas Wayne Jr. aka Lincoln March is the beak of the Court of the Owls. He claims to have been abandoned by the Waynes and is here to reclaim his city.  The book is fast paced with huge set pieces, delivering a brutal fight between Batman and what seems to be the new incarnation of Owl Man. This makes sense as Owl Man was Bruce's evil doppelganger from another world.

Greg Capullo is on top of his game here with his somewhat dark, murkier pallet still achieving a vibrant, animated quality. His Batman is tired and fed up with March showing no signs of quitting until the end.

I'm sure we have not seen the last of the Court of the Owls or Lincoln March. There is a nice moment between Bruce and Dick after it's all said and done. It just adds on to the mystery of whether or not Lincoln is actually Thomas Jr. This run has been a roller coaster ride, and now we are heading back up the slope as Snyder prepares to reintroduce The Joker into the New 52. Batman is constantly a must read and I hope Scott stays on for a while. He's kept the universe fresh and exciting since he's been given the reigns. 

Batman and Robin #11
Written by Peter J. Tomasi
Art by Patrick Gleason

This issue starts off strong, continuing with Damian's plan to take out all the previous Robin's, proving he's the best. I love Damian. He's possibly my favorite character in comics right now. The audacity of leaving a crow bar in Jason Todd's bed is one of those things that lets you know he's screwing around, but he's not. After Damian is through putting Jason through an exercise in tolerance, the story begins to go downhill as a ton of nobodies begin branding the citizens of Gotham with the bat logo. This is all part of some grand scheme by Terminus who was introduced last issue. We're no closer to figuring anything out about this villain as things just get whackier and whackier.

Patrick Gleason's layouts are ballin' in this issue and most of his scenes are rendered beautifully. There are some odd faces and expressions littered throughout, though, making it seemed rushed. I would really like to have a print of Damian riding around with the Red Hood's helmet as a hood ornament.

This story arc has seemed to veer away from the personal conflict of the first eight issues in favor of traditional super hero flare. I hope they will get back to the heart of the new direction of this book; the relationship between Bruce and Damian. The issue is worth it for the Damian and Jason brawl at the beginning, but there's not really much else to get excited about.

Late Review- Earth 2 #2

Earth 2 #2

Written by James Robinson

Penciled by Nicola Scott

If you haven’t read issue 1 of Earth 2, you should go do it. It was an excellent book, although it did have a lot of build up to get us to where James Robinson wanted us to be. This review will reference prior events, so it will be placed after the jump to avoid spoilers.

Before Watchmen - Minutemen #1 Review

Minutemen #1 - Darwyn Cooke Cover

 BEFORE WATCHMEN  Minutemen #1
written and drawn by DARWYN COOKE


Before Watchmen is the biggest comics event in the past ten years. It's bigger than any massive crossover by either of the big two companies. It's bigger than the launch of the Ultimate Marvel line or the relaunch of DC's entire catalog. This is Watchmen for crying out loud. You know, that little graphic novel that was consistently a top-selling book?

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' original opus is widely regarded as the single greatest piece of comic fiction of all time. It is incredibly deep and detailed, rich with hidden little things on every page. It has been analyzed time and time again. It is a cherished thing among many people.

I am not one of those people. Don't get me wrong. I love the book. I love the characters. I did not, however, get to experience it firsthand. I didn't read Watchmen until I was eighteen years old. By then, I had gotten my fill of realistic, brooding, gritty superheroes and their lives out from behind a mask. By the time I read the book, I had already read a million different quotes from Alan Moore damning DC Comics to Hell. I get it Alan, you got screwed. I know.  It's hard for me to pick a side, because any creator being screwed over is no good. I'm all for creators rights. However, I also think from a business standpoint at times, so I can see why DC did what they did. There is no right or wrong here, for me at least. Both parties could have handled this situation better over the years.

Despite Moore's numerous protests and non-support, Watchmen was finally made into a movie. At this point, I really didn't care. I thought it'd be exciting to see on screen. You know what? It was. It was awesome. Zack Snyder made what I think is the closest adaptation we'll ever see of that original story outside of a massive, panel for panel animated version.

When DC made the announcement for Before Watchmen, the entire comic world let out a collective "OH EXPLETIVE DELETED!!" Whether they were in favor of it or not, they were talking. This is a series with characters that people have only seen in the original material, a roleplaying game, and ill-conceived video games that tied in with the movie. They had to be excited to see these characters again. Then the creators were announced. That's when it was apparent that DC was not screwing around. Whether this was for money or love of the material, it was ballsy and they putting their balls to the wall.  The preview art firmly established that the people selected for each project were a perfect fit. I really would like to have video recordings of every creator's reaction when they were offered this job.

Yesterday saw the first release in this ambitious undertaking in the form of Darwyn Cooke's Minutemen. I have been a fan of his since New Frontier and was extremely excited he would be tackling the old school heroes of this universe. Cooke pulls double duty as writer and artist here, and his work is just as vivid as ever.

Minutemen #1 cover by Michael Golden

The books plays out a series of vignettes narrated by Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl. They detail each hero's background and gives them each a distinct personality. The exposition never gets boring as most scenes are backed by action. There are hints that this book will get a little more violent as it goes along.

We didn't get to see the original Minutemen do too much as far as actually operating as a unit in the original book, so it will be great to see them working together as the series progresses. This is basically the Justice League of the Watchmen universe. The big hitters, so to speak.

Cooke's retro-ish art style was the best choice for a book like this, surely to be steeped in history and the America of old.

This was a great lead-off, and with Cooke and Amanda Conner's Silk Spectre releasing next week, the event is kicking off with a bang.

 Controversial? Of course. If you really love these characters, though, get ready for a wild ride, because I'm sure peoples' opinions are going to be the most varied you'll ever hear. Either way, DC has accomplished their mission. This will sell, and it will have people talking.

UPDATE: I will be covering the back-up story Curse of the Crimson Corsair as a whole when the series is completed.

Aquaman # 9 Thoughts

WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for Aquaman #9 and the latest season of Young Justice on Cartoon Network.







  I love the new Aquaman series. It's been my favorite of the DC Comics relaunch. It's one of the things Geoff Johns is doing right. It made Aquaman an awesome character for the first time in a while. Issue #9 came out not too long ago and has re-imagined the relationship between Arthur and Manta. SPOILER ALERT if you haven't read it. Take the jump to read more.

Batman Annual #1 Review

Batman Annual #1 hits just shy of the one year anniversary of the relaunched DC Universe. There has been a lot of confusion as to the status of several Bat-characters and the timeline of the bat-books. This annual serves to reintroduce Mr. Freeze into the DCU with a few changes in store.

We start off with a thirty year flashback as a young Victor Fries walks with his mother across a snowy field. Only it’s not just a snowy field; it’s a frozen body of water. Victor’s mother disappears under the ice but is recovered according to Victor, who is now speaking with a therapist in Arkham Asylum. As one could guess, Mr. Freeze makes his escape and goes on a murderous rampage until he’s out of the facility. He goes a little Sub-Zero on everyone, even using a breath attack that I don’t believe I’ve ever seen. He inhales an ice blast and blows it out of his mouth. We’ll pretend he could always do that, but his helmet prevented it.

Freeze pays a visit to the Penguin, who is not happy that Victor neglects to walk through the front door and instead drives through it. He retrieves his weapons from Oswald and sets out for vengeance on Bruce Wayne. There is another flashback that enters familiar territory as Fries was a scientist (this time working for Wayne Enterprises) employee who was researching cryogenics in the hopes of curing Nora.

There is a welcome appearance by Nightwing(I still don’t dig the red and black) and Robin, which is a nice nod to their partnership prior to the New52 launch. I love these two together, but Freeze gets the best of them before a final confrontation with Batman that reveals a new twist to his story. It takes the origin established by Paul Dini in BTAS, which has been one of the best contributions from the series, and flips it into an unexpected place. I’m not sure if I enjoy it because of the things it takes away from Freeze. It definitely puts him into crazy villain territory.

Jason Fabok brings down the house with great art throughout the issue and Peter Steigerwald’s blue palette with the occasional splash of color fits the tone of the story. I enjoyed this team throughout the book.

The redesign of Mr. Freeze is pretty great as well. I love the strip of hair on top and his less-armored look gives him the feel of being more of a physical threat than just another “two-bit gadget villain from Gotham City” as Hal Jordan would put it.(If you got that reference, then good for you!)

This oversized issue was welcome as a nice diversion from the ongoing “Night of the Owls” storyline running through all the bat-books. Although mentioned, and Freeze plays a direct part in the Court’s plan, there are no Talons to be seen, and it’s a good thing.  I’ll be glad for Scott Snyder to jump back into the established Batman playground and maybe re-tool some of the other rogues.

Verdict: Solid book all around.