DC New 52 Picks - Week Two Reviews

After reviewing a lot of the first week titles from DC's New 52 initiative, I'm back with more titles from their 2nd week of publishing.

So let's get in the bizniz, shall we?

Batman and Robin #1 by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason -  Frankly, I was excited to read a book that finally stars father-and-son Bruce and Damian Wayne. Excited to see how their relationship goes and how Batman will deal with a spoiled brat of a son that he has. And it worked pretty well in this comic. The back and forth dialogue between them is fun, but Robin becomes more annoying everytime with his disrespectful banter and  "my way or the highway" style of doing things. I hope they will tone it down a bit.

Also, it was nice to see Batman celebrate the time of his parent's wedding instead of their deaths, and that signifies something on the lighter side that I haven't seen in the character in years. He's still brooding yes, but at least he makes an effort to forget the bad stuff and celebrate the good ones.

Finally, the action is well executed and was beautifully illustrated, but I wish their first encounter was with somebody more powerful, rather than just some bunch of ordinary thieves. Good ending with the mysterious Bat-killer and the Batman of Russia (yes, Russia has one. Read Batman Inc folks) in a pool of vat though. Its something that I could look forward to.

Rating 3.5/5

Batwoman #1 by JH Williams III and Haden Blackman - Its been a long time since I read a Batwoman story and the last one was way back 2010, with the incredible Batwoman: Elegy. So normally, I would expect nothing less but absolute perfection with this book.

And as expected - JH Williams didn't disappoint. 

He killed the storytelling (with help from Haden Blackman of course), infusing detective work with the horror genre, and then giving us his patented 2-page spreads of remarkable art filled with dynamic and fluid action sequences and awesome paneling that only JH Williams can do. The only problem I have (if there is anything), is that Williams had Kate spill all of her emotions in a spread just to keep new readers up to speed with what happening, and how the hell did we end up here. Its a beautiful storytelling technique, but its too confusing and too much to absorb, especially if you just have to understand everything through images. 

Still, this is the BEST book from that week, and its one of those comic books that you have to have in your hands in order for you to appreciate its beauty. That's right: JH Williams tells us that you can't read his book with a damn iPad (or any type of device for that matter)!

Rating: 5/5

Demon Knights #1 by Paul Cornell and Diogenes Nieves - Are you a fan of magic, sorcery and dragons? Then this book is for you. Set in the Dark Ages of the DC Universe, Demon Knights introduces the other side of DC, with sorcerers, dragons, medieval knights, and exploding babies. Wait... come again? 

Yes exploding babies. If that doesn't sound mystical (and creepy) to you, then I don't know what it is.

The book doesn't explain much as who these characters are and how are they related to each other, like you're supposed to know them already. The truth is, I don't know Madame Xanadu, Etrigan, Merlin and the Shining Knight and this was my first time encountering them in a comic, but what the hell... the comic is so damn entertaining and wonderfully drawn that I couldn't help but keep on reading. Its like reading and playing a video game with the detailed medieval environment, the familiar formula of a bleak but interesting prologue + characters meet and greet in a pub, then capping it off with DINOSAURS crashing the party. Yeah, dinosaurs. They're back! 

Paul Cornell and Diogenes Nieves are fcuking awesome. Now, they have to introduce all (if not some) of these characters in the second issue one way or another while getting them to kill some giant reptiles.

Rating: 4/5

Continue after the jump for more reviews... 

'Batwoman' Pushed AGAIN For A September Release

Goodness gracious. I have been checking our J H Williams blog for some time now for updates on the next issue of 'Batwoman' after being pulled out last February for a scheduled April release. Now, according to our friends from DC Women Kicking Ass, DC Comics has decided to push it even further... and further... until September! Man, that's a big bummer.  

I don't really care what the reason behind it was, because it won't change anything.

I seriously love this series by Williams and Haden Blackman, and this news saddens me a bit. No Batwoman. No Kate Kane. No Lesbians. Until September. Dammit.

Comic Book Review: Batwoman # 0

Batwoman # 0

Pages: 15

Writers: J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman

Artist: J.H. Williams III
Published by: DC Comics

The first time I ever heard of Batwoman, I'm like - are you kidding me? - and with reason because I never heard of a superheroine counterpart to Batman ever existing in mainstream comics. And to my surprise, she has been around since 1956, which I didn't saw coming.

Created by Batman creator Bob Kane and artist Sheldon Moldoff, this character was purposely made - to my surprise... again - to be a love interest for Batman and also to counter the homosexuality allegations made by the book Seduction of the Innocent in 1954. And because of that, a new whole new character with a lot of potential was born, and in her newest reincarnation, Batwoman is now depicted as a lesbian... - yes you read that right, a lesbian - in an attempt by DC Comics to diversify its current demographic and attract new readers.

Now on to the book itself....