So! For the month of September I will be doing a lot of opining on the new DC titles...at least, the ones I'll be picking up. By no means will I be getting all 52 of the new relaunch #1s, but the ones I do, you'll hear about it here.
Uh duh but SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.
Action Comics #1: Soooo. Superman+Grant Morrison=love forever, right? I'm starting to think this might be the case. Originally I wasn't going to pick up this title (I like Morrison's writing but not that much), but after a Twitter convo wherein someone compared his new Supes to Tom Joad, I was like, SOLD! The new Superdude is kind of a bastard, make no mistake--he's not peace-love-and-penguins, he seems to enjoy fucking with the authority figures of Metropolis, and he might be an anarchist. All of these elements are things I find interesting. Rags Morales' art is nifty, dynamic and bright. This is not a staid, stately, Papa Superman. But what the hell is up with that $3.99 price tag?? 4 out of 5 stars.
Batgirl #1: If you recall, I had a bit of a fit when it came out that Barbara Gordon was going to be in the tights again. I will not say that I got over it, because I still think there's a whole lotta suspicious motives and bullshit around this decision, but I decided to give the book a chance because hey, it's Gail and Babs, two of my favorite redheads. I think most who do give the book a shot will be glad they did; it's a solid #1 through and through, with Babs being her sassy self, but a touch unsure and somewhat off her game, which is believable. The creepy-ass Mirror's MO seems to be calling down Death to those who managed to escape her the first time...and of course Barbara is on that list. I like her new roommate. One thing I'm sure most readers, including me, will REALLY miss is having Dinah around all the time for Babs to eat Italian food and gab with, so it's nice to see that new roomie Alysia might fill that gap. The art by Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes is sharp and lively and colorful, a good fit for the back-in-action Batgirl. For a much more in-depth review of this first Babsgirl issue which pretty neatly encapsulates both how I felt about the issue itself AND how I feel about Barbara-as-Batgirl-again generally, check out The Mary Sue's thoughts. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Detective Comics #1: I found this the weakest of the new #1s I bought today, but that might be because Tony Daniel has a pretty big cowl to fill after Snyder's run on this title. This first new incarnation of DC is by no means bad, though I found the Bat's inner monologue a little self-conscious. The art by Daniel, Ryan Winn, and Tomeu Morey is fierce and pretty damn gory, particularly that last page with Joker and Dollmaker (eeek! Dollmaker terrifies me. Relatedly, I had a real hard time with "Night Terrors" last week. DAMN YOU MOFFAT). I was wavering on whether to pick up this run at all, but decided in favor to have the contrast between DC and Batman and Robin, which I think will be interesting and to readers' benefit. I'm also hoping for lots of Bat-verse characters to fill out the pages, which is one reason I started reading DC in the first place. 3 out of 5 stars.
Swamp Thing #1: Easily the greatest of today's #1s, in my so-humble opinion: Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette are going to slam this title out of the park. Amazing art, a sharp intro to who Alec Holland is, bonus guest appearance from Superman...Swamp Thing has it all. There's a hint that we'll be seeing Abby Holland at some future point, as Alec frets over memories and feelings that aren't his own, and a pretty deeply creepy opening sequence. Add in a paleontological dig gone bizarrely wrong and Swamp Thing pretty much delivered everything I love. 5 out of 5 stars.
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