I continue to review some of the new titles that I came across a week ago, and I have to say, this is a pretty successful relaunch so far, with the third with of publishing being the STRONGEST in my estimation.
Lots of good books, a few forgettable ones, and then some that caused some "controversy".
Ready? Let us begin.
Batman #1 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo - Ah... Mr. Snyder... again. And he hits his 3rd consecutive plus point in this whole reboot with his impressive Bat-writing which, my friends, will go down there together with Bob Kane, Jeph Loeb, Greg Rucka, and Grant Morrison to name a few. There I said it. Scott Snyder is one of the best Batman writers of all time. Period.
From the opening page of the book, we immediately see the dark and dangerous Gotham city and it gets even better with Snyder showing us all of the popular inmates of Arkham Asylym (and I mean everybody) going toe to toe with the Batman. Then if that wasn't enough entertainment, Snyder throws in his ingenious plot twist, one that sees a familiar foe fight side by side with the Bat himself. And he does this marvelous opening sequence in just 7 freaking pages, which Capullo illustrates masterfully, unlike anybody I have ever seen draw a Batman action scene.
And for those not keeping tabs at home, just a reminder: Bruce Wayne is back as Batman. So normally, former Batman Dick Grayson is back to being Nightwing, Bruce's son Damian Wayne is the current Robin, and finally, Tim Drake is Red Robin. The fun part is that Snyder uses a genius plot device that involves a newly developed face recognition gadget to introduce all of these four characters in one splash page. And speaking of gadgetry, we get to see Batman's good 'ol cave, complete with all his high tech toys... including the old school '89 Batmobile. All of this too looked great, because Capullo's great attention to detail.
The flawless execution of the story is what makes this all work, and Snyder does that by showing us both Bruce Wayne and Batman. He shows Bruce Wayne's plans for Gotham which immediately the notion that the man behind the mask is just as focused on saving the city he loves under just as he is hell bent on ridding Gotham City of evil when he wears the cowl at night. That's good stuff. Then he caps it off with some clever detective work with the GCPD, leading us to a cliffhanger that had me saying: 'the fuck!?'
When it comes to the art, I had nothing bad to say about Capullo here as you can see on the first two paragraphs. I just love how he draws Batman and his uncanny ability to illustrate exagerrated, but real facial expressions in his characters that brings a lot of emotion to each page. Case in point: Jim Gordon's splash page.
All in all, this is the perfect Batman for the new generation. And with Snyder and Capullo teaming up for this, we can all say that the Bat-franchise is in good hands.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Wonder Woman #1 by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang - I was doubtful when I heard that crime-noir writer Brian Azzarello
is gonna do Wonder Woman. You know why. But then I read this, wonderful book... and I just knew that we are going be in for a fun ride with Dian... and the crazy Greek gods.
Yes. The Gods are fucking crazy. Azzarello plants his seeds in this first issue by having Diana save a young lady named Zola from brute centaurs in bloody panels that I certainly liked. I mean, who doesn't like Wonder Woman acting like a warrior princess ala-Xena? Be it slashing and headbutting centaurs, I love this new version of Diana. Fierce, powerful, steady and... tall. And I mean, freaking tall. But at the same time, Azzarello shows us the soft side of this woman (with that scene where she checks on a bloodied Hermes), so its not like she's a blood-thirsty Red Lantern.
There's a lot of Greek mythology involved in here, and that's the stuff that I dig. Its interesting and it adds a whole new dimension to this Wonder Woman series. I don't want to spoil anything here plot-wise, but I'm going to tell you that Zola is involved BIG time with one of these gods (if you're reading or have read Greek myth, then you'll know what I'm talking about).
I enjoyed Cliff Chiang's art, and its phenomenal in this issue. His effective paneling portrays the intense action perfectly, and his sometimes rough pencils is awesome. He doesn't miss a beat until the end of the issue, and he does a great job making the sexy scenes work, meaning, he is able to make it look sexy without making it too gratuitous.
Great introduction for our new Wonder Woman. And seriously, I want more. And that's coming from somebody who hasn't read any Wonder Woman comic.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Birds of Prey #1 by
Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz - This one is a shocker. Shocking because I didn't expect much from BoP, but damn, this is one of those books that mixes an ass-kicking caper story with sophisticated sexiness so well, turning this into a fun and entertaining read with female fatales in the lead.
Nothing so impressive with the writing, but Swierczynski (fuck, that name is hard to spell) manages to pull it off with some decent dialogue, a possible darker past for Black Canary (murder references in her speech bubbles, anybody?), and a new character - the tattooed and feisty Starling - who right now is by far the winner for my "Best New Character" award in this DC reboot, even though I don't know where the hell she came from. Being mysterious works doesn't it?
Now let's take about Jesus Saiz' art. Its no doubt, the best part of this book, hands down. His rendition of the woman anatomy isn't perfect, but he managed to draw it realistically. There are a couple of T&A shots here and there, but Saiz made sure that it isn't the only thing that you're going to notice, mixing it with fluid action sequences (e.g Black Canary's first kick). Balance my friends is the name of the game, and Saiz captured that perfectly.
And let us not forget: Saiz illustrates the best car crash scenes EVER. Its forceful, in-your-face, and his level of detail when it comes to all these stuff and debris flying around is spectacular. That's probably my most favorite part in this book.
So with that said, BoP works, but I just wish that the next issue (see? I got tired writing his last name) will avoid that flashback-present-flashback formula because it gets too confusing and in my opinion, not the type of structure you would want your readers to encounter in a #1 issue. Otherwise, its a solid title, and its worth giving it a second shot.
Rating: 3.5/5
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