DC New 52 Picks - Week Four Reviews

Alright, this is the final wave. I haven't read everything last week, but I'm going to review some of those that I picked up.

Superman #1 by George Perez and Jesus Merino - this is by far the most disappointing book that I read in the new 52. It wasn't that bad in every stretch of the imagination... it's just that I expected more from George Perez story and dialogue-wise. Having a young Superman / Clark Kent deal with the demolishing of the old Daily Planet and seeing the new office building and its new management is nice, but there was nothing new here. I mean, reporters, the Daily Planet, and Superman saving the day from a flaming alien is all the same to me - except that Supes here is a little brash and quips lines like Green Arrow.

The final pages showing Clark sucking it up and being a loser once again didn't help either, just like Perez' shallow storytelling that made me think that he was having a hard time finding the right words to describe all the action.

Merino's art wasn't that impressive but it was nice, with that old-school vibe to it as influenced by Perez' layouts, but I wish they could get somebody else better to draw Supes. 

Still, I'm going to read the 2nd issue just to see if they could bounce back. But right now, this is almost forgettable to me. Thank God we still have Action. 

Aquaman #1 by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis - "How does it feel to be nobody's favorite superhero?" 

I mean let's face it - nobody likes Aquaman because he's a guy who only has powers when he is in the water and because we have this belief that HE FUCKING TALKS TO FISH. Who wants to have that kind of hero?

But damn, Geoff Johns' nails it by poking fun at Aquaman himself, using all the jokes that undermined the character all over the years. He gives Aquaman an almost Superman calm attitude with an almost cold demeanor, and this makes the character a sympathetic one at that. Right from the opening scene where Aquaman saves the day by taking down some robbers in a truck, we immediately see Aquaman making that i-dont-know-anything-about-that face when asked by the police if he needs water - which is illustrated right on the spot by Ivan Reis - sets up the whole tone of the story. 

Johns' continues his funny jokes even when Aquaman enters a seafood restaurant and gets backhanded compliments from people, and in the process, Aquaman becomes more of just a laughingstock - but a real superhero who knows exactly what people outside of his kingdom think of him and thinks that he deserves more than what people is crediting him for. 

Flashbacks showing a young Aquaman with his father sitting on a nearby shore together and introducing his beautiful wife Mera gives us the more sentimental and softer side of this hero, and the ending with those ugly looking water monsters gives me more reasons to read the next issue. 

Ivan Reis gives us his trademark detailed illustrations that trudges beautifully through all the action, horror, and the more serene moments. Very well done by my favorite Green Lantern artist.

To sum it up: Geoff Johns just made me a true believer . And that's that.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This Is What A World With Superheroes Would Look Like...

Incredible. Just incredible. This makes for a great wall portrait!

Isn't this awesome? The Flash and Wonder Woman talking to a kid in a Comic-Con with all smiles on their faces. If superheroes were real, this is what they would do. Giving comfort, hope and security to everyone. Touching piece.

Incredible cosplaying too by the way. That gal makes for a great Diana. They both look eerily real as if they came out of the pages of a comic book.

[via GammaSquad]

Francis Manapul Interview With LA Times' Hero Complex [Link]

Its great to see a Filipino comic book artist getting the spotlight in the comic book mainstream, and such is  one of my favorites, Fil-Canadian Francis Manapul who has been incredibly great in his current run on "The Flash" series together with Geoff Johns and it seems like there's nothing that can stop this guy right now running at full speed just like his favorite character.

I featured him and some of his works via his deviantArt page and now, he's got a great nterview with Hero Complex's Geoff Boucher where he talks about his love for DC's ultimate speedster and his patented ink-and-wash style.

Keep up the good work Francis!

Link: "The Flash" Francis Manapul Has The Need For Speed - Hero Complex

Previous Manapul features: 

FM Art Gallery

FM Shows How To Draw Wolverine 

Busy...

Kind of busy nowadays because of the uber-multitasking sessions here at work. I guess the boss figured out that we've got so much freaking idle time so he found a way to stick our asses on our chairs and fingers typing on our keyboards for the whole day. 

I'm finding it really hard to blog in this situation right now, so forgive me friends for not posting frequently unlike before, but I'll make sure I will post something every now and then - maybe during my lunch breaks...

I feel like The Flash, typing at 100 words per minute while answering to phone and email queries, just doing almost EVERYTHING ALL AT THE SAME TIME, and its almost exhausting like when you're running at full speed. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy going round and round all these stuff. Good thing I won't get obliterated like what happened to The Flash back in 1985 (Crisis on Infinite Earths).

What a tragic way to die. Running non stop until your body gives up on its own.

Hello Kitty Crossovers To Comic Books and Movies With Joseph Senior's Outrageously Cool Designs

I was never a fan of Hello Kitty, but I have to admit that the character is cute. And it just got to over-the-top level cute after I stumbled to Joseph Senior's (aka yodaflicker) flickr page filled with incredible creative designs, telling us that Hello Kitty could be customized to become the baddest and coolest toy that even the biggest Kitty hater out there would like. He's got a vast collection of these featuring Batman, Iron Man, Hit Girl, Star Wars and many more which I thought were real life custom made toys.

Unfortunately, these are not true customized toys and are merely photoshopped designs, but still, they make for some great ideas in the future.  Maybe Sanrio will do it someday (come on guys, you know you want these). And I have to say, I'm kind of digging Hello Kitty right now as much as I don't want to.

Make sure that you show some love for his work by visiting his flickr account through the links above but for the meantime, check out my favorites after the jump:

Francis Manapul Does "The Flash" Like No Other

Filipino-Canadian comic book artist Francis Manapul was given the opportunity to work with DC's Chief Creative Office and big time comic book writer Geoff Johns on a new Flash comic book series and he sure embraced it and took on the challenge of bringing the speedster back to the comic book mainstream.. Manapul has been working with DC for almost 3 years now and to have his own monthly series is a sure testament to his artistry and talent.

The guy has really upped his game by taking our beloved speedster to life with great attention to detail and clean lines. And asides from working with The Flash, he also works as an illustrator in Adventure Comics (which stars Superboy and the Teen Titans) and Superman/Batman. And be sure to check out his devianArt page and website  - which are full of really nice sketches and inks. For the meantime, we have some of  Manapul's Flash preview and cover sketches, as well as some Superboy and Krypto moments, and a classic Joe Shuster Superman take.

Check some of his works:

 [images via Francis Manapul's devianArt page]