DC New 52 – One Sentence Reviews, Part 32

I rated the last four comics I read this week all 4 or over … which was a relief because before that, only one issue had attracted as much as a 4.  So it was a hard slog through the start of this batch, with a strong finish at the end. 

As most of you will be aware, I’m going to wrap-up my One Sentence Review series with next week’s last batch of #8s.  I’m currently a full week behind and the leaderboard concept kind of flies out the window with the first round of cancellations and new titles coming online.

I expect to be blogging/reviewing less, at least for a little while, as I’ll be starting a new job this month and want to focus some energy on creative writing projects.  I’ve written the first two scripts for a comic book and want to write at least six issues, and I have a long-neglected novel in the works that I must reacquaint myself with.

I’ll post read/RANT articles when and if the bug bites me, though.

Anyway, as usual, each comic is scored out of five. 

Warning, there could be spoilers ahead, although I try to avoid them.

This Week In Comics: 4/18/2012

This week in comics, Wonder Woman #8 takes us to the underworld, the Avengers and the X-Men hit each other some more, and

It's important to point out that this is the greatest cover in the history of comics. Basically.

DC New 52 – One Sentence Reviews, Part 28

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.

Review: Wonder Woman #5

Wonder Woman #5, cover by Cliff Chiang

Wonder Woman is too many things to too many people.  Inevitably, any attempt to do a bold declaration of “This is what Wonder Woman stands for” turns out to be fairly divisive.  She is an ambassador of peace, but she is also a great warrior and military strategist.  She is chosen by the goddess of love, but no love interest will ever be worthy of her in the eyes of her fans. The contradictions continue, and help explain (I believe) why there is no one definitive Wonder Woman story for her fans.  Perhaps my favorite part about Brian Azzarello’s current run on Wonder Woman is that he doesn’t delve deep into Diana’s character and lose himself in that particular hall of mirrors.  No, under Azzarello’s pen, Wonder Woman is a supremely confident action heroine fighting massive, horrific enemies who see humans more as ants than people, a superhero trying to beat back the tide of a horror film.  It probably shouldn’t work.  It so does.

Review: Wonder Woman #2

Wonder Woman #2, cover by Cliff Chiang

By this point, it’s almost become trite to point out how difficult writing Wonder Woman is.  The Amazon hero is one of the world’s most recognizable fictional creations, but DC has had a hard time capitalizing on that fact these past few years.  From the disastrous Amazons Attack through the ill-conceived ‘relaunch’ marred by delays and poor storytelling choices into the final months of JMS’s haphazard alternate universe Wonder Woman story, Diana has not fared well these past few months.  Which is why I’m so happy to say that, after a rock-solid debut by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, Wonder Woman #2 continues to stand-out as one of the creative successes of the New 52.

Round-table Rant: DCnU #1′s Summary

For the last several months, we’ve been buzzing about the DC relaunch.  Now that we’ve read the first 52 issues, the read/RANT team weighs in with our thoughts.

DC New 52 – One Sentence Reviews, Part 3

By now you should know the drill … I provide one sentence reviews of each of the New 52 titles.  Each is scored out of five and at the end I’m going to have a cumulative leader board (averaging the scores of each title) to show which are consistently excellent, which are on the rise, and which are circling the drain.

In Part 3, I take a look at the batch of DC comics that became available on 21 September.

There could be spoilers ahead (although I try to avoid them).

Review: Wonder Woman #1

*Spoilers*

What’s New in the DCU – 09/21

It’s Tuesday.  The day before new books hit the shelves.  Let’s look at what’s in store for the new DCU:

Batman #1 - Once again, we start off with a Batbook which means there’s no dramatic changes here.  If you liked Scott Snyder’s run on Detective Comics (and who didn’t?), odds are you’ll enjoy his take on Batman.  I have no strong feelings on Greg Capullo’s art one way or another.

Level of Anticipation – 7 out of 10

Retrospective: Teen Titans vol 3 (part 1)

I’m a fan of the Teen Titans, especially the latest incarnation that went from 2003-2011 and as this relaunch makes it seem their entire history may be erased, I wanted to give them a farewell starting with issues 1-7 (also collected in trade form as “A Kid’s Game” or the soon to be released Teen Titans Omnibus 1).  Like usual, beware of spoilers.

DC Relaunch: Wonder Woman #1

The second book in our tour of the new DCU is Wonder Woman #1.

Video: New Wonder Woman in Action!

 

 

Video: New Wonder Woman in Action!.

‘Wonder Woman’ action shots: Adrianne Palicki gets new costume — PHOTOS (via Inside TV)

 

 

‘Wonder Woman’ action shots: Adrianne Palicki gets new costume — PHOTOS #via Inside TV#.

News: New Wonder Woman TV Show in Development!

Review: Wonder Woman #603

I came into JMS’ new take on Wonder Woman with reservations.  The new costume was better than some Diana has worn.  But I still preferred the classic look.  And the idea that Wonder Woman’s back story had to be retooled in order to make her relevant was somewhat insulting.  Despite my concerns, I tried to approach the book with an open mind.

Top 5 Best Comics of April 2010

I read 25 comics this month, and these were the best.

JMS Takes Over Superman and Wonder Woman

On Friday, Cal posted a note that Gail Simone had confirmed her departure from Wonder Woman.  So I thought it only appropriate to follow-up this morning with new of her replacement.

Simone Off Wonder Woman

While Simone’s run on Wonder Woman has been slightly flawed, it’s also been a consistently fun, creative book during a time when DC seems more dedicated to aping Marvel than anything else.  Simone’s run, which fulfilled the difficult creative task in comics of maintaining its momentum throughout, will most certainly be missed in these parts.

Her last issue is coming up soon: #44, the issue before the title reverts to its original numbering.  And while its sad to note that Simone won’t continue shepherding the book into the future, she did, all in all, a simply wonderful job.

The full story, along with information about Simone’s upcoming Birds of Prey relaunch, can be found at DC’s home blog, The Source.

http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2010/03/05/gail-simone-on-leaving-wonder-woman-returning-to-birds-of-prey/

- Cal Cleary

Review: Wonder Woman #40 & Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 (of 3)

Wonder Woman #40

Simone and Lopresti start their new arc, “The Crows”, with #40.  Featuring the Amazonian children fathered by Ares, Simone does a fine job setting up a new and fascinating conflict for Diana.  Much like all the best issues of Rucka’s run, Simone presents the heroine with a new kind of challenge: public relations.  Of course, there it was because Wonder Woman released a particularly incendiary book, while here, it’s the Crows’ supernatural influence to spread the seeds of war, but the fundamentals remain the same.

Lopresti remains an impressive talent, and he’s given the Crows a suitably creepy feel.  For a character so dedicated to spreading hope, love and tolerance as Wonder Woman, the Crows are a natural enemy, and one I hope Simone does not abandon lightly.  Coming fresh of the heels of a few excellent arcs, however, I think it’s safe to say that she’s earned our trust on the book.  The set-up here is more exciting than some of her recent arcs on the book, and it combines Simone’s excellent characterization with a quicker pace and some fun new enemies.  Definitely a winner.

Grade: B+

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 (of 3)

Ah, Blackest Night: Wonder Woman.  You started so strong, a stellar display of a fine heroine confronting her past in a sensible, exciting manner.  But the more ties you had to the main Blackest Night mini… well, here you end.  Blackest Night: Wonder Woman is less a story than a series of three largely unconnected one-shots intended to fill in the questions the main mini never touched on.  If you very, very desperately need to know what Wonder Woman is doing between the panels of Blackest Night (the answer: fighting Black Lanterns), the mini is for you.  Otherwise, however, it largely squanders a pair of great talents on a middling-at-best issue with no real reason to exist.

Scott still turns in exciting, gorgeous work, though even she has trouble making Wonder Woman’s Star Sapphire costume look right.  Despite Scott’s work and Rucka’s talent, however, Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #3 remains a mundane, unnecessary tie-in, too bound by continuity to explore anything particularly fascinating but not nearly important enough to matter to the main narrative.

Grade: D+

- Cal Cleary

Read/RANT

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman #2

Review: Wonder Woman #38

With its third issue, Simone kicks “Warkiller” into high gear with one of the book’s strongest issues.  Trapped in an impossible situation by the whims of the gods, Themyscira is on the verge of all-out war.  Alkyone, now Queen of Themyscira, is fomenting war with her every move.  The Bana-Mighdall are threatening rebellion, the apes have been betrayed, and Diana is scheduled to be executed in a matter of days.  And that’s far from the worst.

As with the best issues of her run on Wonder Woman, Simone deftly combines exciting action beats with notable character moments that add to the issue’s flow, rather than detracting from it.  Much of the set-up of the previous two issues comes to fruition as the climax strikes, though part of the excitement is derailed by two strange twists that almost detract from the thrill of seeing everything fall apart – the return of Genocide’s spirit, and a monstrous entity living on Paradise Isle.  Though the book loses a little bit of momentum with those moments, there’s still an issue left to see how they play out.

With Lopresti and Ryan continuing to do stellar work on art, Wonder Woman #38 is certainly a success.  Simone’s run has been uneven, but between the action-packed “Rise of the Olympian”, the fun-but-slight “Birds of Paradise” and the impressively condensed “Warkiller”, an argument could be made that Simone has finally found the book’s sweet spot.  Few books get second chances with today’s audience. Wonder Woman deserves one.

Grade: A-

- Cal Cleary

Read/RANT

Wonder Woman #37

Wonder Woman #36