The New 52

Please note these reviews are not in depth and any history contained is extremely abridged. If you want more detailed information use Wikipedia like a normal person.

Two weeks ago DC re-launched there universe with Justice League #1. With a story by Geoff Johns and art by the fantastic Jim Lee this book that was to be the backbone to DC's new universe was sure to be amazing. Unfortunately it wasn't...at all. Don't get me wrong it’s not that the story was bad; the problem was it was average…painfully average. For something that had a lot of hype and two of the best creators DC has to offer working on it, I should have been wowed and I wasn’t. After all the trash and whining and moaning about what DC was doing I had hoped they would prove me wrong and they didn’t.

Honestly I didn’t want to be right I want the best from my comics. Then came last week and everything became …brighter. The first comic I read was Static Shock #1 and Scott McDaniel knocks it out the park.  I was worried about this book because Static means a lot to me. There are few African American heroes, fewer still that I actually truly become invested in. So as a kid when we get a young African American hero, one who is a bit of a science dork I was sold. I learned to use a VCR (what we used before DVD and DVR) to record episodes of Static Shock. So it was good to not only have Virgil back, but being completely awesome, lets just say I was smiling all through this book. 

Next up was Hawk and Dove, which I promptly dropped like it was on fire and sending anthrax through my system. I have no idea what went on in this book or if the story was good because as soon as I saw Rob Liefeld’s art I went into a seizure. Talking about Liefeld is not something I want to get into but I don’t understand how he still gets work. He can’t still be coasting by because of Cable and Deadpool can he? Whenever I see Liefeld’s art only one thing comes to mind:

Batgirl. This is probably the most controversial book in DC’s new 52. They took Barbra Gordon who had been in a wheelchair and acting as Oracle for years, and gave her back the ability to walk and put her back in the cape and cowl. Putting aside the fact that DC just lowered their diversity level again; I think Barbara was a better character as Oracle. Good thing for us the writer wading through this quagmire is Gail Simone. Thinks to Ms Simone’s excellent writing we pull through this, and while the reason for Barbara Walking again is glossed over as a miracle; the sharp writing, excellent characterization, and accurate portrayal of someone who has suffered a trauma made this something I will continue to pick up.

Batwing #1 By Judd Winnack was excellent. It really felt good to follow relatively new hero David Zavimbe as he fights corruption as a cop and  finds his way as Batman’s agent in Tinasha (which is a City in the democratic Republic of Congo). David is fierce and intuitive but also soft spoken. I don’t have the best grip on his character at the moment but I am guaranteed to find out more, because if this were a normal top pick post, this would be at the top. I’m can’t wait for this to continue.

As this new universe continues and we get more and more triumph (and occasional stumbles) I know that I still have excellent stories in front of me. Its too bad the flagship wasn’t better but I think it suffers from the fact that just about everything coming from this new universe is being built up from that book. I hope that once it catches up to the rest of the new universe (everything in Justice League happens 5 years before everything else) that it will start being awesome.