DC New 52 – One Sentence Reviews, Part 9

 

Here you’ll find one sentence reviews of each ongoing title released this week.  They are scored out of five and at the end I 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. 

I have also reviewed Batman – Noel, although it isn’t included in the leaderboard.

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

For the second week in a row, I’m running a little late, so I’ve left out the cover images this week to speed up the process.  Sorry this week’s article looks plain.

Swamp Thing #3
Another issue using more than one penciller (one of my pet hates), but this is done very well as the fill-in artist’s style blends nicely with Paquette’s, and more importantly featuring an outstanding story that introduces “the Rot” and begins to define the challenge Swamp Thing will soon have to face in order to save the world – 4.5

Batman – Noel
Not quite in the same league as The Killing Joke or Kingdom Come, this is nevertheless a beautiful, special piece of work by writer/artist Bermejo that will be talked about with and recommended to friends for years to come – 4.5

Detective Comics #3
Suitably dark, with the recommended daily doses of action and detecting, this is a very effective and entertaining Batman comic, in which the hero faces the grotesque Dollmaker and his macabre minions – 4

Animal Man #3
Personally, I enjoyed this issue almost as much as the previous two, but decided to dock it half a mark because, had I not already read Swamp Thing #3, I wonder if I would have understood some of the important references about “the Green” and “the Rot” – 4

Stormwatch #3
I was confused by #1 but #2 was a big improvement … this title seems to have really hit its straps with #3, as I’m now comfortably familiar with the characters (even the weird ones that I initially had a negative reaction to) and can enjoy the crazy, apocalyptic action that’s unfolding – 4

Red Lanterns #3
I keep expecting Red Lanterns to get worse but, instead, it continues to bubble along nicely, hitting some interesting character notes in this issue, which examines Bleez’s origin – 3.5

Justice League International #3
Last month I thought the reveal of the big villain (who we now know is named Peraxxus) kind of ruined the issue because he seemed so derivative of Galactus/Thanos/Terrax, but time must have dulled the pain because I wasn’t as angry with this issue, which progresses the story and serves up plenty of action and fun – 3.5

Batwing #3
Another solid issue, but a touch weaker than #2 because the action is really just bridging the gap between the strong start and – hopefully – a thrilling climax … that said, #3 does give us a welcome glimpse of Batwing’s past and a hint of what is motivating Massacre’s vendetta against the Kingdom – 3.5

Static Shock #3
Better than the second issue (which was a serious stumble), #3 re-establishes Static Shock as the New 52’s “Spidey” book, with science, quips and some hyper-kinetic action, but I wouldn’t describe it as being anything greater than “okay” – 3

Action Comics #3
I’m not the Morrison fan that many people are – I think some of his work is sublime but most of the rest is erratic, weird and almost incomprehensible – and this issue is an example of the latter (and some really inconsistent artwork doesn’t help), to the point I wonder if he was sober when he wrote it, but I do like some of the ideas the writer is exploring here, so I’ll cut him some slack – 2.5

Hawk and Dove #3
I wonder if Hawk and Dove, with this creative team, can be any better than this extended fight scene of an issue … which is sad since it’s pretty bland, stock-standard, super-hero fare – 2.5

OMAC #3
Like Hawk and Dove, I’m not sure this comic can be much better … it’s not bad and it’s even kind of entertaining in its own way, but it’s just not my cup of tea and I don’t really care about what’s going on – 2.5

Green Arrow #3
Sooooooooo preachy that it hurt to read (I get it, YouTube is evil, reality television stars are vacuous scumbags), #3 is the latest step in the process of turning a great character into a boring, generic, pointless super-hero character – 2

Men of War #3
This just doesn’t interest me … I read the feature, but barely any of it sunk in because nothing in it drew me into the story, meanwhile I couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to do anything more than just thumb through the back-up Navy SEAL yarn – 1.5

If you haven’t already, check out last month’s reviews and previous weeks from this month here:

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Please note, since a title is only as good as its last issue, the books are ranked firstly by their average score, then their most recent score (shown in brackets), and the number of issues is the final number.

LEADER BOARD

1.  Swamp Thing  4.33  (4.5)  3
2.  Animal Man  4.33  (4)  3
3.  Justice League Dark  4.25  (4.5)  2
4.  Batwoman  4.25  (4)  2
=5.  Aquaman  4  (4)  2
=5.  Green Lantern Corps  4  (4)  2
=7.  Batman  3.75  (4)  2
=7.  Demon Knights  3.75  (4)  2
=7.  Green Lantern  3.75  (4)  2
=10.  Batman and Robin  3.75  (3.5)  2
=10.  Birds of Prey  3.75  (3.5)  2
=10.  Resurrection Man  3.75  (3.5)  2
=10.  Wonder Woman  3.75  (3.5)  2
14.  Detective Comics  3.67  (4)  3
=15.  Batwing  3.5  (3.5)  3
=15.  Blue Beetle  3.5  (3.5)  2
=15.  I, Vampire  3.5  (3.5)  2
=15.  Justice League   3.5  (3.5)  2
=15.  Nightwing  3.5  (3.5)  2
=15.  Supergirl  3.5  (3.5)  2
21.  Static Shock  3.33  (3)  3
=22.  Blackhawks  3.25  (3.5)  2
=22.  Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.  3.25  (3.5)  2
=24.  The Flash  3.25  (3) 2
=24.  Batgirl  3.25  (3)  2
26.  Stormwatch  3.17  (4)  3
27.  Action Comics  3.17  (2.5)  3
28.  Justice League International  3  (3.5)  3
=29.  Suicide Squad  3  (3)  2
=29.  Teen Titans  3  (3)  2
31.  Green Lantern – New Guardians  3  (2)  2
32.  Red Lanterns  2.83  (3.5)  3
=33.  All Star Western  2.75  (3)  2
=33.  Captain Atom  2.75  (3)  2
=33.  Deathstroke  2.75  (3)  2
=36.  Superman  2.75  (2.5)  2
=36.  Mister Terrific  2.75  (2.5)  2
38.  Superboy  2.75  (2)  2
39.  O.M.A.C.  2.67  (2.5)  3
=40.  Batman – The Dark Knight  2.5  (3)  2
=40.  Catwoman  2.5  (3)  2
=40.  DC Universe Presents  2.5  (3)  2
43.  Voodoo  2.5  (2.5)  2
44.  Men of War  2.5  (1.5)  3
45.  Red Hood and the Outlaws  2.25  (2.5)  2
46.  Legion Lost  2.25  (2)  2
47.  Hawk and Dove  2 (2.5)  3
=48.  Savage Hawkman  2  (2)  2
=48.  The Fury of Firestorm  2  (2)  2
=48.  Green Arrow  2  (2)  3
51.  Grifter   1.75  (2.5)  2
52.  Legion of Super-Heroes  1.75  (2)  2