DC New 52: Part II

I am getting to enjoy the new 52 now, more or less. Some surprises, and some sureshot hits(thanks to all the reviews). I guess few patterns will be emerging soon in terms of a Top 5 or a Top 10 around the characters and arcs I like but for now, second list of the titles from the first release..

Batman & Robin #1

Good, pumped up tone. Robin looks like he’s just read some Frank Miller!

Green Lantern #1

Now I have always enjoyed the world of Green Lanterns, Guardians, sectors, Ferris Corp., Sinestro, and this comic only reassures me and reaffirms my faith in the oath.

Grifter #1

Nice little surprise, this one. Airplane heist, back and forth narrative, con games…quite a nice adventurous ride. Pretty action packed. I liked it.

Mr. Terrific #1

Packs in way too much than it can handle(sci-fi concepts, gazettes and gizmos), certainly not a Green Lantern this.

Red Lanterns #1

“How can my rage be less pure, when there is still so much pain in the universe..”

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Brutal, graphic, but electrifying pace and some great lines and art.

Resurrection Man #1

Great fun! Has a cool Deadman vibe set in a noire-ish plane ride.

Captain Atom #1(J.T. Krull, Freddy Williams II)

Quite a nice little comic, some great art and concepts, gets a little too sci-f- verbose, and the character does look like an offshoot of Doc. Manhattan but what the hell, bring it on!

DC Universe presents #1: Deadman(Paul Jenkins)

Great writing, not really easy reading but some great depth, Jenkins makes Deadman a cold, distant cousin, always elusive.

Wonder Woman #1

Azzarello(100 Bullets)’s Wonder Woman is fierce, dark, violent, but too unsatisfactory for a small issue.

All Star Western #1

Gotham of late 19th century, Jonah Hex, Amadeus Arkham, a ‘From Hell’like panic struck dark city, and some classic touches makes this one, well, an instant classic. Bring some more!

Aquaman #1(Geoff Johns)

Pretty short to trigger any excitement or response, but I do like the self-reference ‘less popular superhero’digs.

Batman The Dark Knight #1

Feels too early nineties for a reboot. Certainly pales in comparison to the other titles in the line, by a long shadow.

The Flash #1

Not a big fan of The Flash, this comic doesn’t help either. Some good art and innovative paneling, though.

Superman #1(George Perez)

A reboot? This issue feels like a replay of a Superman comic you wished you’d never read!

FIFTY TWO(DC, 2006): Lessons in Continuity

This was a tough ask, 52 volumes representing 52 weeks of the year. A huge project ably managed by Dan Didio(with the vision of Grant Morrison supporting him), quite a roller-coaster comic book event. In a nutshell, the Holy Trinity of Super Man, Batman & Wonder Woman is missing, and a whole lot of young blood fills in their shoes. There are 5-6 parallel story-arcs(Booster Gold/Rip Hunter/Skeets/time-travel, Ralph Dibny/Elongated Man/Sorcery/helmet/Doctor Fate, Black Adam’s revenge track, Lex Luthor & the Everyman Project, The Question/Renee Montoya/Nanda Parbat spiritual track, Politics/Bialya/personal vs political revenge/JSA track etc.), and there is significant amount of science fiction rolled up into tremendous amount of time spent on action.



On the whole, the series is worth the effort. I loved the tongue-in-cheek tone and frequent in-jokes about ‘fifty two’. The series does well to entertain within the multiverse theme, offering a variety of well-written characters, like Lobo(space-cowboy), Booster Gold, Black Adam, Steel, Metal Men, Martian Manhunter, Question etc. and is concept-heavy yet provides great comic fun through its world-weary themes of capitalist paranoia, spiritual awakening and political sabotage. There are groups abound(JSA, Suicide Squad, Infinity, Inc., Teen Titans, GL Corps, Birds of Prey), all of which come in focus together towards the conclusive ‘World War III’ with Black Adam. This is specifically the part where the series pulls its efforts together brilliantly, the action is well-executed and the complexity just goes higher and higher. This was one of my favorite moments from the series, others being ‘skyfall’, Lobo’s space adventures and wry one-liners, Booster’s self-aware commentary/relationship with Skeets, and some mind-mending sci-fi sequences I only wish my mind could process at the speed of Flash.



A word about the WWIII Saga, this is essentially 2 books, but is broken down in 5 parts. The story focuses extensively on Martial Manhunter pulling his forces together against the havoc declared by Black Adam and is done by a different team than the previous parts (Keith Champagne/John Ostrander/Pat Oliffe/Drew Geraci/Andy Smith). Though the team is new, the WWIII arc concludes the series brilliantly, a little tough to approach but well rewarding.

I am aware that there are Fifty-Two companions, pre-reads and after-reads(aftermath) and will be approaching them in due time.



DC crossover/crisis events Timeline

Next on my multiverse wishlist(in no particular order):
Final Crisis
Crisis on Infinite Earths
The New 52