Here’s the next batch of reviews, better late than never. A big part of reason for my tardiness, I think, is that it was a pretty sorry bunch and getting through a few of them was a real slog.
As usual, each comic is scored out of five. From here on out, I’m only going to update the leaderboard once a month – at the end (next week for the #7s) – to show which are consistently excellent, which are on the rise, and which are circling the drain (excluding reviewed one-shots and mini-series).
Warning, there could be spoilers ahead, although I try to avoid them.
Batman #7
Mind blown … the closest thing to a fight scene in this issue is an owl catching, killing and eating a bat (well, there’s one more blow struck in this issue, but I won’t spoil that one) yet all the compelling developments and startling twists more than make up for that, with an ending that screams ‘ESCALATION’ – 4.5
Wonder Woman #7
Dare I hope that with the return of Chiang on artwork that this title is back on track, because this was arguably the best issue so far, blending complex, modern themes with classic mythology and answering some interesting questions along the way (like where do all the baby boy Amazons go) – 4
Supergirl #7
The main villain, the so-called Worldwide named Reign, is annoyingly verbose, but otherwise this is a great and action-packed conclusion to Supergirl’s opening arc, which is appropriately titled ‘Graduation Day’ – 3.5
Birds of Prey #7
An interesting muddle, this issue is missing something (including, I think, a word balloon on one page) but still entertains, as the Birds finally come face-to-face with the mind-controlling Choke – 3.5
Green Lantern Corps #7
Writer Tomasi successfully embues this issue with emotional weight, as John Stewart deals with the fallout of his killing a fellow Lantern … my only complaint is that it was only eight or so months ago that Stewart was going through a similar ordeal after killing Mogo (one more and John’s a friggin’ serial killer) – 3.5
Nightwing #7
Linking closely with the events of Batman #7 (to the point of being repetitive) this issues ties up a lot of loose ends and opens up some new threads … while it’s still not my favourite title right now, it continues to be solid – 3.5
Catwoman #7
After lift in quality over the past four issues, I found this one lacking substance, with genuine characterisation and solid plotting replaced by faux sex appeal and hollow car theft scenes – 3
Blue Beetle #7
While having Jaime run away from his loved ones to protect them makes sense, unfortunately it takes this title’s great supporting cast and the dynamic of the teen hero having to integrate this dangerous alien artifact into his life out of the story, which made this issue less interesting for me – 3
Red Hood and the Outlaws #7
Are most of the comics this week boring (to the point of almost putting me to sleep) or is the something wrong with me, because I struggled to get through this one, as Jason versus the mysterious Essence just didn’t entertain me – 2.5
Captain Atom #7
A very introspective issue, with Atom pondering on how he might better help people, as well as his own needs and desires, isn’t really eventful enough to be adequately entertaining – 2.5
Justice League #7
WTF is Johns doing … I normally like his writing, but the main story in this issue is utterly moronic and uncompelling, and contrasts strongly with the well-written – also by him – and even better drawn back up Shazam story – 2.5 (if I only scored the back up it’d 4.5, but this is a JL book, not a Shazam comic)
DC Universe Presents #7
Most of this issue seemed like mumbo-jumbo to me, I still don’t know enough about the characters to care about what’s happening to them, making reading this a real chore – 1.5 (because ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ isn’t a valid score)
Legion of Super-Heroes #7
In seven issues this comic has utterly failed to win me over, yet I can see how maybe a long-term fan might find this and previous issues quite satisfying … it feels like this title operates on a secret level and I just don’t know the secret handshake – 1.5
T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #5 (of 6)
I haven’t read or scored the last two issues so, while I found this issue looked more interesting as I flicked through it, there’s no way I could expect to follow what’s going and then give a fair score – NA
Diablo #3 (of 5)
The first issue didn’t thrill me and the second genuinely sucked, so I just couldn’t bring myself to read this one … sorry – NA
If you haven’t already, check out last month’s reviews:
read/RANT! 
This month I read the 7th issue of Batwing, Green Arrow, Grifter and Hawk and Dove (but I ordered also Nightwing and Teen Titans: I can’t wait to read them). Grifter was brilliant as usual, while Green Arrow surely is the biggest disappointment. I bought it only because of Ann Nocenti, and she did an incredibly bad job. The story is: 3 femmes fatales meet Oliver Queen and invite him at their home. Even the silliest superhero could easily understand it was a trap, but not Green Arrow: he shrugs his shoulders and flies with them. Guess what? Oliver ends up in chains! And the so-called cliffhanger is: will our hero get rid of the 3 femmes fatales ? When I finished it, I thought that any high school student could have written a better story. Hawk and Dove, on the contrary, was the biggest surprise. The previous issue was only a bit better than Green Arrow # 7, but I decided to give this series a second chance, and I definitely did the right choice. The story was simple but entertaining, the atmosphere was very nice and even the art was much better than Liefeld’s usual standards: excepting the first and the last page, the others were pretty good. As for Batwing, I previously bought the 3rd issue and I found it quite boring, so I thought I would never have ordered it again. This month I made an exception because of Nightwing’s appearance, and I found it has improved a bit, but it’s still a not-so-entertaining title. And Nguyen… come on DC, can’t you find a better artist? Anyway, all things considered, I’m quite satisfied of the 7th issues I bought. Do you agree with my thoughts?
Your tastes run quite differently to mine, which is evident in the titles you buy as well as how you perceive them. And that’s cool, since different tastes facilitate varied content, and I’m a big fan of that.
Grifter is okay, but just doesn’t hit my storytelling sweet spot. I have to say, though, that Clark’s artwork has made it a much nicer book to look at.
I agree with you on Green Arrow. I’m a GA fan and I haven’t really enjoyed anything about what they’ve done with him in the New 52. And #7 was just too wacky and silly for me.
I liked Batwing as a continuation of the storyline, but found the artwork too jarringly different from the regular artist (something I really don’t like, especially within the same story arc) and I’m not a huge Nguyen fan.
As for Hawk and Dove … I’d rather eat brussel sprouts. Hahaha.
I hope you enjoy Nightwing and I hope it makes adequate sense to you since it seems you haven’t read Batman.
I’m a big fan of Capullo since he was drawing Spawn, but I didn’t order any Batman issue because I decided to wait and buy the italian edition. I don’t doubt I will understand Nightwing last issue, because DC stories are always comprehensible after a couple of pages. That’s the big difference between DC and Marvel: each DC comic can be read as a stand – alone story, even when it’s part of a huge crossover; on the other hand, to undestand a Marvel comic, you must start to read the series it belongs to from a very far point. Anyway, Marvel is printing some good series as well, so I can turn a blind eye to this.
SPOILER WARNING: Yeah, its comments but just in case 😛
I almost feel Nightwing was given a bit lower look than it should have as it does repeat a god few pages that were in Batman. Especially if you read Batman first, hitting Nightwing second will of course make it seem worse due to that. Still, the realization of what exactly Dick was suppose to be added in with the fact the circus and most likely even his parents knew about and were in on it is just striking. It really can change the entire outlook towards Nightwing, not to mention his own outlook. I’m frankly not sure how I feel about it quite yet.
I just read on Comicsbeat that Swamp Thing and Detective Comics are the only New 52 series that increased their sales from # 1 to # 6. Animal Man and Batman had a very moderate loss, while all the others dropped significantly (from 20 % to 100 %). What do you think about it?
100% drop? What would that be? Mainly, I at least would love to see this list. Do you have a link?
: )
I admit I didn’t realize the informations I read were regarding only one comic shop. Anyway, comparing their chart with the official one (http://www.comicsbeat.com/2012/02/28/dc-comics-month-to-month-sales-january-2012/), you can see there is not a big difference, so I wouldn’t define the article as useless. Thanks for your replies. : )
I’m not surprised there was a drop off at all. I am surprised if Detective Comics increased … I thought the first issue was good, but I’ve been a bit disappointed in it otherwise.
I had a tooth pulled last week, so maybe I’m cranky. Hahaha. I was literally falling asleep as I was reading RH+O.
Pingback: DC New 52 – One Sentence Reviews, Part 30 « read/RANT!
Pingback: DC New 52 – One Sentence Reviews, Part 31 « read/RANT!