"New 52" after a month: What did I like?

So, which issues of DC Comics “New 52” did I get, and what did I think?
I didn’t get all 52. That would have cost more than $150, and I would have wound up with a bunch of comics I didn’t want, anyway. So I used the little promotional comic they made with preview pages to guide me.
My guiding principles for picking:
* No Batman, no Superman. I am sick of Batman, having read various Bat-titles for, well, most of my life. For Superman, I didn’t like the new costumes. Even George Perez couldn’t lead me that direction.
* Nothing by creators I don’t like, anyway. Meaning, “Hawk and Dove,” drawn by Rob Liefield was out. So were a few other comics.
* I am generally tired of the same old super-hero comics, so I was looking for things that went off in a different direction. AS a result, I wound up getting a lot of comics with female leads, which I seem to have ben doing for the past year or so anyway.
* Good art always is a winner.
* Solidly entertaining is good enough, and better than a half-baked attempt to be mind-blowing.

Bottom Line Up Front (as the Army likes to say): The titles I liked best were "Voodoo," and "Catwoman."

Here’s what I got (In roughly the order they came out):
Justice League: I got the kickoff comic because it seemed like the right thing to do. I am not a big Jim Lee fan. Everything he draws used to look posed and so still as to be statuesque. Now, everything has more movement, and looks as if the statues are being thrown around a little. Geoff Johns is a popular writer, but it seems like all he did was take the Green Lantern-Batman relationship from Lee and Frank Miller’s “All-Star Batman and Robin,” and insert it into a half-baked (see above) Justice-League-meets-for-the-first-time story. The comic sorely lacked the punch of many of the other “New 52.” And, to top it off, there will be something like six weeks between issues. Issue two is a fight between Superman and Batman. Yawn. Miller did that in “The Dark Knight Returns” in 1986 or so. I may get it, but only because this time around, the Batman statue will be thrown around with the Superman statue and maybe they’ll both shatter into a million pieces.
Batgirl: I was buying the old Batgirl comic because of the beautiful covers and sometimes interiors by Dustin Nugyen. So, my comic store automatically pulled the new one for me, even though I didn't ask. I would have looked at it anyway for two reasons: Barbara Gordon is Batgirl again (yay!), and it’s written by Gail Simone. Opinion: Not mind-blowing, but good enough to get issue two.
Batwoman: (I said no Batman, but nothing about the rest of the Bat-titles.) Anything J.H. Williams II draws, I am in for. I didn’t think this issue was a great start story-wise, but the art is so riveting I couldn’t not get it. I’ll be back for more.
Catwoman: I got this because the art by Guillem March looked good. Judd Winick was doing a great job on “Power Girl,” too, so why not? I really enjoyed it. They gave Catwoman a lot of personality, told a good adventure story and what a shock ending! (Hallie read this one, and thought it was OK, but a little confusing as the story jumped from scene to scene.) I’ll keep getting it until the creative team quits or gets boring.
Wonder Woman: This was a no-brainer because I have become a huge fan of Cliff Chiang’s art. I was going to buy this title no matter what. Making it more appealing, I also enjoyed writer Brian Azarello’s “100 Bullets.” So, it was hard to say no. As with a lot of Azarello’s writing, he challenges you to keep up with him, and, thankfully, this was a comic you could read multiple times and see something different each time. You also could get crazy and do a lot of research into mythology to figure out where he is going with the story. I liked it because it makes you work! (Hallie read this one, too, and had about the same reaction to it as she did to “Catwoman.”)
All-Star Western: I have never really been a Jonah Hex fan, but because of the way Jimmy Palmiotti talked about the comic at the Baltimore Comicon, and the fact that he write “Power Girl” so brilliantly before turning it over to Winick, I thought I’d give it a try. Here’s the plot: Jonah Hex is in an 1880‘s Gotham City hunting for a Jack the Ripper type killer. I have to say this: it was well-written, and I think lots of people would enjoy it. I am sick of exploring Gotham City in general, and I think comics have done enough Jack the Ripper take-offs than we don’t need any more (once Alan Moore did “From Hell,” why bother?). In the same vein, Moritat is an artist I should like, but something about his really-stylized drawing just doesn’t resonate with me. I would never say anything negative about it, but I just can't really get into it.
Justice League Dark: I got this because I had been reading “Zatanna,” and the character carried over to this mystical super-hero title. Peter Milligan is not one of my favorite writers, but is well-regarded among the comics community for being innovative. I’ll stay with this, but it’s on a short leash.
Voodoo: At the Baltimore Comicon, writer Ron Marz talked about how DC was letting him "break all the rules" with this title, so I was interested. To that end, almost all of the first issue takes place in a strip club. Old “Power Girl” artist Sami Basri is drawing it, and his art keeps getting better and better. This was my favorite of all the “New 52” comics I read. It had a surprise ending, especially for someone like me who had not ever seen Voodoo before. (Hallie read “Voodoo,” and really liked it. She may keep reading it.)
Swamp Thing: I missed it when it first came out, so I got a second printing of the first issue along with the second issue this week. The only reason I got this was because writer Scott Snyder talked so passionately about it at the Baltimore Comicon. When I opened up the book to look at the insides, Yanick Paquette just blew my eyes out of their sockets. It’s just so beautifully, perfectly ugly in places. His storytelling and pages layout borrows a lot from J. H. Williams and his characters had wonderful Kevin Nowlan-esque scowls.
OMAC: I did the same thing with “OMAC” that I did with “Swamp Thing.” I like Keith Giffen’s art. I really do. I am a huge fan of all his “Ambush Bug” comics. However, in OMAC, Giffen was aping Jack Kirby, and I am sick of people aping Kirby. Brice Timm, Steve Rude and John Byrne all do it pretty well. Giffen, despite the solid underpinnings to his layout and anatomy, just looks like another mid-1970s Marvel artist who was told to draw like Kirby. His heads and faces often looked skewed to one side. All that said, it was a fun action comic. I haven’t decided if I’ll be back for issue three or not.

(P.S. If any of the others start generating a big buzz, I may check out the trade paperback so I get the whole story in one lump.)

Back, with some redesigns ...

Thanks to Facebook, I have not been using this blog very much.
I think If I have some longer-form things to post I'll put them here and link to them from Facebook.
Let me know what you think of the redesign!
When I started, I just wanted to post whatever I was thinking about at the moment, hence "serial cereal blogging."
I think I am pretty much tapped out on that theme. Plus its a lot easier to post something on Facebook like, " I just ate 20 strips of bacon for breakfast," or something like that.
I think now, what I really need to do is come up with a plan to focus on mainly something. At the moment, the best bet looks like it would focus on comics.

Great unknown characters of children's television

Sal the Sanitation Bear (He's the one in the orange vest.) shows up in various interstitial bits on "Nick Junior."
We don't really learn much about him except that he is heavily into recycling. He also drives a garbage truck, but somehow stays remarkably clean.
We also know he has a full collection of "Gnomes on Ice" commemorative glasses, which he completed when he convinced Moose A. Moose not to throw away the last glass missing from his set. Moose was going to recycle his old glass because he didn't want it anymore, but Sal convinced him to re-use it, instead.
(Do you suppose Sal used Moose's generosity to make a killing selling the whole set on eBay? He doesn't seem the sort, but you never know.)
What does Sal teach us about life?
Well, he shows us we should sort our recyclables correctly.
He also shows us that some people collect strange things. Like, say, comic books.

Google is celebrating Will Eisner's birthday!

I opened up Google this morning to see they had replaced their "Google" logo," with a design based on Will Eisner's "Spirit" comics, including using twisted buildings and the Spirit's head as the logo. Eisner, of course, used to find all kind of creative ways to use objects to spell out 'The Spirit" on is splash pages.
Go enjoy!

Post script:
I just found out here the logo was designed by comic artist Scott McCloud.

Novelists give comics their Zombies and Widows (or comics about women, part three)

How interesting that this article should come out on Comic Book Resources just as I am finishing up my brief (and wholly incomplete) tour of comics with good female lead characters. It’s coincidental, because “iZombie” was one of the comics I was going to talk about.
“iZombie” is written by Chris Roberson, who also writes “Cinderella,” which I mentioned here. Roberson, who also writes science fiction novels, is fast becoming one of my favorite comics writers.
Here’s how the CBR article explains the comic:

In actuality, the plot of "iZombie" is fairly simple: a girl named Gwen died and woke up a zombie. She has to eat a brain every month, "because if she doesn't, she goes all George Romero 'Night of the Living Dead,' shambling, mindless zombie-thing," said Roberson.

In the article, Roberson, conveniently, talks about writing female characters:

"It's actually easier for me to write strong female characters than it is for me to write kick-ass, macho guys, because kick-ass, macho guys I can't relate to at all," said Roberson. Citing his mother, sisters, wife and seven-year old daughter as inspiration Roberson continued, "Strong female characters, I don't even have to pause to think about what would interest or motivate them, because I see it around me all the time."

“iZombie” is drawn by the incomparable Mike Allred, of “Madman,” “Atomics,” and “X-Force” fame.
I have bought almost everything Allred has ever done. (For some reason I didn’t make it through his “Red Rocket 7” series of a few years ago, but that’s the exception and not the rule.) His skill just keeps increasing. His art is clean, and simple, yet unique and instantly recognizable. If he isn’t one of the best artists in comics, he’s close.
The first “iZombie” trade paperback is coming out soon, and I’d recommend it with one caveat: While the concept is great, I thought the story started kind of slow because Roberson and Allred had a lot of pieces to introduce and then put in motion. I stuck with it because I trust Roberson and Allred to pull it all together in the end.
It’s also possible “iZombie” will read better in larger chunks when compiled in a trade paperback. I have found a few other series to be like that, including “100 Bullets,” and “Fables,” and I am considering dropping monthly issues of “House of Mystery” in favor of the trades.
For “iZombie,” though, the pace is picking up because the cauldron of characters are beginning to swirl and bubble together. It’s really getting fun, and I can recommend it wholeheartedly.
The last comic I wanted to touch on during this much-longer-than-I thought-it-would-be-when-I-started series, is “Black Widow,” which I have not even read. Here are some preview pages.

Why on earth would I want to discuss something I have not even read?
Well, like “iZombie,” the first five issues of the latest incarnation of “Black Window” is written by a novelist, Marjorie Liu. Wikipedia tells us she writes, “Paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels.”
She is also the only female comics writer of this bunch I have discussed.
I don’t know how many female novelists have been tapped to write comics, but I suspect the number isn’t all that high. There are probably a few, but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
I didn’t come upon this fact until the fourth of her five issues came out, and I have not been able to get them all in one chunk. Rather than piecing the story together, I have been patiently waiting for a trade paperback or a comic store that has all of them. The preview pages do look great, though, don’t they?
Liu left after only five issues, stating in her blog that she writes three or four novels a year as well as two other comics and didn’t have time to do any more.
In an interview over on the Comic Vine Web site, Liu had this to say about female comics creators:

The industry itself, I think, is pretty warm toward female creators -- at least at Marvel.  But we do seem to be a bit invisible, sometimes, as far as comic book readers go.  There's a misconception from the public that there are no women whatsoever in comics -- besides the busty ladies on the covers -- and there's a sense, too, that the female comic book reader doesn't exist. Oh, that elusive creature!   

One day I’ll read all five issues in their entirety, and report back. I promise.
I’d like to end this back were I started three days and four blog posts ago: There are a lot of really great comics out there with female leads.
There are more yet than I have covered in this brief survey. I stopped with these seven, only because they are the titles I am following (Or, in one case, not following, and in another case waiting to follow.).
I think this a trend worth watching as comics readership continues to shrink and is increasingly dominated by 40-year-old men like me who have been reading conics forever and can’t bring themselves to stop.
Are female characters and/or creators a way to draw new readers into comics, or do they just provide a different window into the genre for those of us who have been here a while?
I guess we’ll see.

One thing I might like, one thing I like sometimes (Or: Female leads in comics part two)

What made me think about this whole female comic book character thing I have been writing about?
Well, it was this little preview on comicbookresources.com for a comic called “Lorna: Relic Wrangler.”
It has yet to debut, but it sure looks cool. The artist, Loston Wallace, is an alumnus from “Batman: The Animated Series,” and as such draws in the wonderfully simple yet expressive style of the great Bruce Timm.
Let us note Timm’s Batman show and the companion Superman show always has great female supporting characters, from Batgirl, to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn on Batman to Lois Lane and Supergirl in the Superman show.
Often Timm is joined with writer Paul Dini to tell his stories, and perhaps one of the greatest comics of the last 20 years is “Batman: Mad Love,” By Dini and Timm. Which is another great story featuring a rather twisted, but memorable, female lead, Harley Quinn.
But, I digress.
I like the Timm style a lot. Sadly, Timm hasn’t drawn a whole lot of comics. Many of his imitators have, though, to varying degrees of success. Perhaps the best of the bunch are Darwyn Cooke, Aluir Amancio, Mike Manley and Rick Burchett.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand: Wallace’s preview pages look as though he is one of the better artists to pick up and use that style.
I think I am in for “Lorna.” I’ll have to check it out when it appears at the comic store, though.
Now, what else am I currently buying? After all I did promise to mention four more great comics with female leads.
Well, since I was talking about Dini, I shall easily transition to “Zatanna.” Zatanna, the magician who says her spells backwards, has long been a member of the DC universe, but has usually been lumped in with al the other characters in the Justice League of America. I remember reading numerous issues of JLA in which she had a bit part, but never had a leading role.
I thought it was cool DC decided to take an old character and give her new life with her own book. When it started with the creative team of Dini and artist Stephane Roux, I was convinced this would be a comic worth watching.
And it was, for the first few issues.
You see, I cannot entirely recommend it carte blanche for a couple of reasons:
1. Too many guest writers and
2. Too many guest artists.
“Zatanna” started out strong under its original creative team. Then Roux left. Then Dini left. Then Dini came back. Roux is supposed to be back for an issue in a couple of months.
DC got a really great three-issue fill-in job from Cliff Chiang, one of the younger comics artists whose work I really, really enjoy, much like Shawn MacManus on Cinderella. Chiang reminds me a little bit of Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez at times, but his finished work is a little rougher and more spontaneous. His sense of layout and storytelling is original, but still simple and easy to follow, like MacManus. Frankly, I like Chiang better than Roux, but they are both really good.

Other than Chiang’s issues, the fill-in stories have not been memorable.
So, “Zatanna,” at its best is a very welcome, very well-written and drawn vehicle for an old character to shine. At its worst, it’s pretty mediocre.
I hope the comic stays at its best for a while, because if not, I’d suspect it’s in danger of being cancelled.
Speaking of cancelled, I think I shall end here for now. I went on too long about Bruce Timm and why you should and shouldn’t check out Zatanna to fit in the other stuff.
I know I still owe you a few more female-led comics, which I promise to deliver next time.

Serial cereal blogging

I like Raisin Bran. I have been eating it for two days now.
Did you ever notice that the bran without the raisins and the raisins without the bran are not so good? The whole is greater then the sum of the parts.
Especially with a little sugar on top.