I have a 9-page preview of Invincible #88 and a couple pages of Uncanny X-Men #6 and Uncanny X-Force #21.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Even MORE Previews for 2/1/2012 Comics
Here we have some Marvel and Image comics coming out tomorrow!
I have a 9-page preview of Invincible #88 and a couple pages of Uncanny X-Men #6 and Uncanny X-Force #21.
I have a 9-page preview of Invincible #88 and a couple pages of Uncanny X-Men #6 and Uncanny X-Force #21.
Some More Previews of 2/1/2012's Comics
Earlier today, The Source posted previews of all of the titles coming out tomorrow from DC. Earlier today, I posted a preview of "Justice League International" #6. Now here I'll post previews of four other titles coming out tomorrow.
Sadly enough, I will probably have access to every title EXCEPT JLI and Red Lanterns (which I'll get via the mail on Monday or Tuesday next week). I'll probably buy Animal Man #6 (hey, I can give it a chance, right?) and Action Comics #6 (possibly for the last time until Rags Morales leaves the title...) tomorrow.
But anyway, here're the titles I have previews for: Action Comics, Animal Man, Green Arrow, and Red Lanterns. We'll just take it in alphabetical order!
Sadly enough, I will probably have access to every title EXCEPT JLI and Red Lanterns (which I'll get via the mail on Monday or Tuesday next week). I'll probably buy Animal Man #6 (hey, I can give it a chance, right?) and Action Comics #6 (possibly for the last time until Rags Morales leaves the title...) tomorrow.
But anyway, here're the titles I have previews for: Action Comics, Animal Man, Green Arrow, and Red Lanterns. We'll just take it in alphabetical order!
Interview with "Worlds Finest" Writer Paul Levitz on CBR
About an hour ago, Comic Book Resources posted an interview with the writer of the upcoming title "Worlds' Finest", Paul Levitz.
Not much was revealed, but here's the interview if you're interested:
CBR News: "Worlds' Finest" is obviously a title that has, traditionally, been a Batman and Superman vehicle. Paul, what made you want to flip it over and tell stories with Huntress and Power Girl, specifically the Earth-2 versions of the characters?
Paul Levitz: That was a DC decision; I had been campaigning to do more with the Huntress, after the recent miniseries which I enjoyed doing, and the editors suggested connecting Power Girl to her old friend, and it grew organically from there. I think playing off the resonance to the two core characters they relate to is fun, and the wordplay of "Worlds' Finest" fits nicely.
You mentioned campaigning to do more with Huntress -- beyond your role in creating her, what is it about Helena that really fascinates you as a storyteller?
The combination of her strength as a character and the intriguing overlay of what it might have been like to be brought up by two people as interesting and complex as Batman and Catwoman.
Though Huntress and Power Girl are now from Earth-2, initially (at least) they are stuck on the New 52 Earth. What do you gain by having these two operating as fish out of water in New 52 Earth that you wouldn't have if the series covered stories about the pair set on Earth-2?
Ah, you'll need to read the stories for that. They had totally different identities on Earth-2 -- remember, this is a new DC Universe, so it's a new Earth-2. There wasn't a Huntress or Power Girl on this Earth-2, so it would have been a very different series!
In that case, are you getting a chance to define the new Earth-2 world as well in your series?
James [Robinson] is in the lead developing Earth-2, and I'm following his work. It's fun enough developing these two characters and their paths.
How closely will events in "Worlds' Finest" be tied to James Robinson's "Earth-2" series, also recently announced as a New 52 Second Wave title? Will there be any crossover in the future?
Hopefully, the two will be very closely related -- at least we're starting with coordinating how the women get to our Earth, and with ideas about [how] the stories can connect over time in some pretty ominous ways.
When you started working on "The Huntress" miniseries, was the plan always to roll that into "Worlds' Finest?" Will the end of the miniseries tie into "Worlds' Finest?"
By the time we finished the first issue the beginnings of the plan were beginning to come together, and gave us the opportunity to develop some of the clues that the readers have been enjoying and debating all along. The last scene brings the two together, and gently leads towards their next exploit.
Touching on the characters, how is this Helena Wayne different from the one you've written before?
[This Helena] had a very different life than the previous Helena on Earth-2 -- some of which will be revealed in the first story, more of which will be revealed over time. She's been hardened more, and as you can see in the miniseries, has more willingness to go to the limits for her goals.
Along those same lines, how different is this new Power Girl from the pre-relaunch version? Will this Karen Star be the same one who appeared in "Mister Terrific?"
I'm newer to writing the new Power Girl, so she's still evolving, but it's definitely the Karen Starr from "Mister Terrific," and I think she's got a much clearer sense of mission than any version of Power Girl we've seen before. The events that brought her here provide compelling reasons for her future destiny.
How would you describe Huntress and Power Girl's relationship dynamic in "Worlds' Finest?
Really good friends with seriously different ways of dealing with a traumatic life change, and some very different approaches to life.
On "Worlds' Finest" you're working with two artists, Kevin Maguire and George Perez. What has it been like getting to work with George and Kevin, both of whom go way back with you at DC?
[I'm] just starting -- I've done one story with George a few years ago, which was a delight, and this will be my first experience with Kevin. But it's exciting to describe scenes and visualize how such talented men will bring them to life.
Finally, how does the collaboration between the three of you work -- will the two of them take turns on the book, or will each one take a character and be the primary artist drawing things from their hero's perspective?
I think it'll probably vary. The first script has George on the 'current' events and Kevin on the 'how they got here' events -- and I suspect we'll have whole issues by each of them, or whole arcs, depending on how schedules and story structures come together.
Not much was revealed, but here's the interview if you're interested:
CBR News: "Worlds' Finest" is obviously a title that has, traditionally, been a Batman and Superman vehicle. Paul, what made you want to flip it over and tell stories with Huntress and Power Girl, specifically the Earth-2 versions of the characters?
Paul Levitz: That was a DC decision; I had been campaigning to do more with the Huntress, after the recent miniseries which I enjoyed doing, and the editors suggested connecting Power Girl to her old friend, and it grew organically from there. I think playing off the resonance to the two core characters they relate to is fun, and the wordplay of "Worlds' Finest" fits nicely.
You mentioned campaigning to do more with Huntress -- beyond your role in creating her, what is it about Helena that really fascinates you as a storyteller?
The combination of her strength as a character and the intriguing overlay of what it might have been like to be brought up by two people as interesting and complex as Batman and Catwoman.
Though Huntress and Power Girl are now from Earth-2, initially (at least) they are stuck on the New 52 Earth. What do you gain by having these two operating as fish out of water in New 52 Earth that you wouldn't have if the series covered stories about the pair set on Earth-2?
Ah, you'll need to read the stories for that. They had totally different identities on Earth-2 -- remember, this is a new DC Universe, so it's a new Earth-2. There wasn't a Huntress or Power Girl on this Earth-2, so it would have been a very different series!
In that case, are you getting a chance to define the new Earth-2 world as well in your series?
James [Robinson] is in the lead developing Earth-2, and I'm following his work. It's fun enough developing these two characters and their paths.
How closely will events in "Worlds' Finest" be tied to James Robinson's "Earth-2" series, also recently announced as a New 52 Second Wave title? Will there be any crossover in the future?
Hopefully, the two will be very closely related -- at least we're starting with coordinating how the women get to our Earth, and with ideas about [how] the stories can connect over time in some pretty ominous ways.
When you started working on "The Huntress" miniseries, was the plan always to roll that into "Worlds' Finest?" Will the end of the miniseries tie into "Worlds' Finest?"
By the time we finished the first issue the beginnings of the plan were beginning to come together, and gave us the opportunity to develop some of the clues that the readers have been enjoying and debating all along. The last scene brings the two together, and gently leads towards their next exploit.
Touching on the characters, how is this Helena Wayne different from the one you've written before?
[This Helena] had a very different life than the previous Helena on Earth-2 -- some of which will be revealed in the first story, more of which will be revealed over time. She's been hardened more, and as you can see in the miniseries, has more willingness to go to the limits for her goals.
Along those same lines, how different is this new Power Girl from the pre-relaunch version? Will this Karen Star be the same one who appeared in "Mister Terrific?"
I'm newer to writing the new Power Girl, so she's still evolving, but it's definitely the Karen Starr from "Mister Terrific," and I think she's got a much clearer sense of mission than any version of Power Girl we've seen before. The events that brought her here provide compelling reasons for her future destiny.
How would you describe Huntress and Power Girl's relationship dynamic in "Worlds' Finest?
Really good friends with seriously different ways of dealing with a traumatic life change, and some very different approaches to life.
On "Worlds' Finest" you're working with two artists, Kevin Maguire and George Perez. What has it been like getting to work with George and Kevin, both of whom go way back with you at DC?
[I'm] just starting -- I've done one story with George a few years ago, which was a delight, and this will be my first experience with Kevin. But it's exciting to describe scenes and visualize how such talented men will bring them to life.
Finally, how does the collaboration between the three of you work -- will the two of them take turns on the book, or will each one take a character and be the primary artist drawing things from their hero's perspective?
I think it'll probably vary. The first script has George on the 'current' events and Kevin on the 'how they got here' events -- and I suspect we'll have whole issues by each of them, or whole arcs, depending on how schedules and story structures come together.
"Justice League International" #6 Preview!
While I won't be getting JLI #6 in the mail until Monday or Tuesday--which is also when I'll review it--we can all enjoy a four-page preview of the epilogue issue of the first story arc.
Okay this filler artist isn't that bad at all. That's a pleasant surprise. Looks like it'll be a nice issue. It looks interesting enough. Plus I very much so like the internet!
Okay this filler artist isn't that bad at all. That's a pleasant surprise. Looks like it'll be a nice issue. It looks interesting enough. Plus I very much so like the internet!
Monday, January 30, 2012
Justice League #5 Review
Justice League #5
Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, & Scott Williams
Summary
The issue starts off with Flash waking up in a pile of rubble while Darkseid is laying waste to the city. He tells Darkseid to stop and the big New God just stares at him. Superman wakes up right as Darkseid shoots out his Omega beams and Flash hurries up and grabs him outta the way. He carries Supes down the street just ahead of the beams. Supes wakes up and when he and Flash split up, so do the two Omega beams. Flash runs and runs until he finds a group of local policemen who are fighting off parademons. He turns intangible and runs through a parademon but the Omega beam blows up the demon. Flash is worn out (...what!?) and the police are freaking out, but that doesn't really go anywhere. But at the same time, Superman's beam catches up with him and makes him explode, and a parademon flies off with him. Flash runs back to the rest of the group, in time for Green Lantern to try (and fail) to fight Darkseid. Darkseid easily takes him down and breaks GL's arm, then walks off. Batman and GL talk (well...Batman talks, and GL argues back), and Bats reveals his secret identity. What!?!?!? That is one of the SINGLE STUPIDEST things I have EVER read!!! Batman ALSO takes off his mask and runs through the streets to go find Superman, while GL goes back and rallys the team. The issue ends with Batman going through a portal and ending up on Apokolips.
Thoughts
Is it just me, or is Geoff Johns writing pretty much only the characters he likes? Batman, Flash, GL... I mean the art has been steadily greatttt, but Geoff really needs to start making Superman, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman have a larger role. I have to say that this series is starting to lack. But I'm hoping that once this story is over, we can get a better story. The next arc (which is supposed to be a "Legion of Doom" kind of enemy) should be good. As long as I can make it through the two filler issues, I'll be good. But this issue was okay enough. The only issue I actually had was the fact that Batman revealed his identity to someone he just met, and ran through the streets without his mask on.
7/10
Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, & Scott Williams
Summary
The issue starts off with Flash waking up in a pile of rubble while Darkseid is laying waste to the city. He tells Darkseid to stop and the big New God just stares at him. Superman wakes up right as Darkseid shoots out his Omega beams and Flash hurries up and grabs him outta the way. He carries Supes down the street just ahead of the beams. Supes wakes up and when he and Flash split up, so do the two Omega beams. Flash runs and runs until he finds a group of local policemen who are fighting off parademons. He turns intangible and runs through a parademon but the Omega beam blows up the demon. Flash is worn out (...what!?) and the police are freaking out, but that doesn't really go anywhere. But at the same time, Superman's beam catches up with him and makes him explode, and a parademon flies off with him. Flash runs back to the rest of the group, in time for Green Lantern to try (and fail) to fight Darkseid. Darkseid easily takes him down and breaks GL's arm, then walks off. Batman and GL talk (well...Batman talks, and GL argues back), and Bats reveals his secret identity. What!?!?!? That is one of the SINGLE STUPIDEST things I have EVER read!!! Batman ALSO takes off his mask and runs through the streets to go find Superman, while GL goes back and rallys the team. The issue ends with Batman going through a portal and ending up on Apokolips.
Thoughts
Is it just me, or is Geoff Johns writing pretty much only the characters he likes? Batman, Flash, GL... I mean the art has been steadily greatttt, but Geoff really needs to start making Superman, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman have a larger role. I have to say that this series is starting to lack. But I'm hoping that once this story is over, we can get a better story. The next arc (which is supposed to be a "Legion of Doom" kind of enemy) should be good. As long as I can make it through the two filler issues, I'll be good. But this issue was okay enough. The only issue I actually had was the fact that Batman revealed his identity to someone he just met, and ran through the streets without his mask on.
7/10
Saturday, January 28, 2012
DC Comics-The New 52 Second Wave
In April, several "New 52" series will be cancelled. Those titles are:
1. BLACKHAWKS
2. O.M.A.C. (Yay! Didio isn't writing an ongoing comic any more!)
3. HAWK AND DOVE
4. MEN OF WAR
5. MISTER TERRIFIC
6. STATIC SHOCK
These series are replaced by six "new" ongoing series, keeping the number at an equal 52. Most of these new series are actually pretty cool.
1. BATMAN INCORPORATED-Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham "The acclaimed ongoing writer of ACTION COMICS, Grant Morrison, presents a fresh take on BATMAN INCORPORATED, in which the Batman brand is franchised globally in preparation for a major international threat."
2. EARTH-2-James Robinson and Nicola Scott "The greatest heroes on a parallel Earth, the Justice Society combats threats that will set them on a collision course with other worlds."
3. WORLDS' FINEST-Paul Levitz w/ rotating story arcs for art by George Perez and Kevin Maguire "Stranded on our world from a parallel reality, Huntress and Power Girl struggle to find their way back to Earth 2. Perez and Maguire will be the artists on alternating story arcs."
4. THE RAVAGERS-Howard Mackie & Ian Churchill "Spinning off from TEEN TITANS and SUPERBOY, this series finds four superpowered teens on the run and fighting against the organization that wants to turn them into supervillains."
5. DIAL H (FOR HERO)-China Mieville & Mateus Santoluoco "The first ongoing series from acclaimed novelist China Miéville, this is a bold new take on a cult classic concept about the psychological effects on an everyman who accidentally gains powers to become a hero."
6. G.I. COMBAT-J.T. Krul & Ariel Olivetti "Featuring the return of a classic DC Comics series, THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT, along with rotating back-up stories and creative teams - including THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, with writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and artist Dan Panosian; and THE HAUNTED TANK, with writer John Arcudi and artist Scott Kolins."
So here are my thoughts on each series:
BATMAN INCORPORATED:
I feel like this could be better than the series was before the relaunch. I know that most of my blogger buddies don't like Grant Morrison, but I've been okay with his work on Action Comics, and I like some of his other work with Batman so, depending on the ratings of the first issue or two, I might pick it up.
EARTH-2:
I've been wanting this series for MONTHS now. This series has so much potential, it's scary. I just hope that Robinson doesn't run it into the ground like he did with the Justice League during his run. But Nicola Scott has amazing skills, James Robinson has HAD a good story or two in the past, and maybe this is our chance to see Wally West, Ray Palmer (as the Atom), Donna Troy, and the other characters we've all been hoping to see! But this series should be good...as long as Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and Ted Grant are there. I can't wait!
WORLDS FINEST:
Power Girl. Paul Levitz. George Perez. That is all you have to say, and I am on board.
THE RAVAGERS:
I feel like this series is going to star characters who, in the old Universe, were teenage heroes that were on Teen Titans at one time or another. Since its supposed to be six...I could see it being something like Static, Miss Martian, Ravager, (who leads the team), uhhhh maybe Beast Boy could fit in here? But yeah, I'm almost certain it'll be those first three at least. I'm 100% certain that Ravager will star and probably lead the team. I'm sure Red Robin and the rest of the TT will be in the series at one point or another.
DIAL H:
Not interested...at ALL.
G.I. COMBAT:
Ugh. A war story, to replace two war stories. YAY! ...not.
Well there you have it. My thoughts on the Second Wave of the New 52. 2 (or potentially 4) of the 6 new series look good. I'll take that. I'm pretty excited for May (when these new series come out)! See you later, readers.
1. BLACKHAWKS
2. O.M.A.C. (Yay! Didio isn't writing an ongoing comic any more!)
3. HAWK AND DOVE
4. MEN OF WAR
5. MISTER TERRIFIC
6. STATIC SHOCK
These series are replaced by six "new" ongoing series, keeping the number at an equal 52. Most of these new series are actually pretty cool.
1. BATMAN INCORPORATED-Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham "The acclaimed ongoing writer of ACTION COMICS, Grant Morrison, presents a fresh take on BATMAN INCORPORATED, in which the Batman brand is franchised globally in preparation for a major international threat."
2. EARTH-2-James Robinson and Nicola Scott "The greatest heroes on a parallel Earth, the Justice Society combats threats that will set them on a collision course with other worlds."
3. WORLDS' FINEST-Paul Levitz w/ rotating story arcs for art by George Perez and Kevin Maguire "Stranded on our world from a parallel reality, Huntress and Power Girl struggle to find their way back to Earth 2. Perez and Maguire will be the artists on alternating story arcs."
4. THE RAVAGERS-Howard Mackie & Ian Churchill "Spinning off from TEEN TITANS and SUPERBOY, this series finds four superpowered teens on the run and fighting against the organization that wants to turn them into supervillains."
5. DIAL H (FOR HERO)-China Mieville & Mateus Santoluoco "The first ongoing series from acclaimed novelist China Miéville, this is a bold new take on a cult classic concept about the psychological effects on an everyman who accidentally gains powers to become a hero."
6. G.I. COMBAT-J.T. Krul & Ariel Olivetti "Featuring the return of a classic DC Comics series, THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT, along with rotating back-up stories and creative teams - including THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER, with writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and artist Dan Panosian; and THE HAUNTED TANK, with writer John Arcudi and artist Scott Kolins."
So here are my thoughts on each series:
BATMAN INCORPORATED:
I feel like this could be better than the series was before the relaunch. I know that most of my blogger buddies don't like Grant Morrison, but I've been okay with his work on Action Comics, and I like some of his other work with Batman so, depending on the ratings of the first issue or two, I might pick it up.
EARTH-2:
I've been wanting this series for MONTHS now. This series has so much potential, it's scary. I just hope that Robinson doesn't run it into the ground like he did with the Justice League during his run. But Nicola Scott has amazing skills, James Robinson has HAD a good story or two in the past, and maybe this is our chance to see Wally West, Ray Palmer (as the Atom), Donna Troy, and the other characters we've all been hoping to see! But this series should be good...as long as Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, and Ted Grant are there. I can't wait!
WORLDS FINEST:
Power Girl. Paul Levitz. George Perez. That is all you have to say, and I am on board.
THE RAVAGERS:
I feel like this series is going to star characters who, in the old Universe, were teenage heroes that were on Teen Titans at one time or another. Since its supposed to be six...I could see it being something like Static, Miss Martian, Ravager, (who leads the team), uhhhh maybe Beast Boy could fit in here? But yeah, I'm almost certain it'll be those first three at least. I'm 100% certain that Ravager will star and probably lead the team. I'm sure Red Robin and the rest of the TT will be in the series at one point or another.
DIAL H:
Not interested...at ALL.
G.I. COMBAT:
Ugh. A war story, to replace two war stories. YAY! ...not.
Well there you have it. My thoughts on the Second Wave of the New 52. 2 (or potentially 4) of the 6 new series look good. I'll take that. I'm pretty excited for May (when these new series come out)! See you later, readers.
Oh hey
I completely forgot about this blog, what with finals and Christmas and such. For Christmas I got subscriptions to Justice League, JLI, Green Lantern, Batman, & Red Lanterns. For my birthday, I'm hoping to add maybe 5 more subscriptions (can anyone say Aquaman, Flash, and Teen Titans, along with the recently announced Worlds Finest and Earth-2 series?). I'm thinking that I might wait for a while; finish of the first story arcs of each series I'm getting, and then start up with the reviews.
So starting next month I'll be reviewing Green Lantern, Justice League International, and Red Lanterns. Then the following month I'll be adding Justice League and Batman on again. And in May I'll be hopefully tossing in 5 more series there.
Thanks for bearing with me in my absence.
So starting next month I'll be reviewing Green Lantern, Justice League International, and Red Lanterns. Then the following month I'll be adding Justice League and Batman on again. And in May I'll be hopefully tossing in 5 more series there.
Thanks for bearing with me in my absence.
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