Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Graeme McMillan

It’s a slow week, this week; if I had $15, I’d use it to catch up on some recent enjoyments like Action Comics #3 (DC, $3.99) and OMAC #3 (DC, $2.99), two of my favorite titles from the New 52 relaunch–OMAC in particular has been a really weird and wonderful joy–as well as the final issue of Marvel’s great and sadly underrated Mystic revival (#4, $2.99). I’d also see if the parody-tastic Shame Itself #1 (Marvel, $3.99) lives up to its potential, because “Wyatt Cenac + Colleen Coover” sounds pretty promising to these ears.

That said, if I had $30, I’d put Shame Itself back on the shelf and pick up Tharg’s Terror Tales: Necronauts & A Love Like Blood (Rebellion, $19.99) instead, a collection of two 2000AD horror serials illustrated by Frazer Irving (One of which is written by John Smith, a favorite writer of mine from the days when I was reading 2000AD regularly). It’s early work from the artist, but what little I’ve seen of both makes it look well worth buying.

When it comes to splurging, I have to admit that the Joe The Barbarian Deluxe Hardcover (DC, $29.99), but I think if I had extra money, I’d just pick up some more individual issues: BOOM!’s Peanuts #0 ($1) and Betrayal of The Planet of The Apes #1 ($3.99) and Marvel’s Uncanny X-Men #1 ($3.99) and Villains For Hire #0.1($2.99), amongst others.

Brigid Alverson

No Longer Human

If I had $15: For the second week in a row, Vertical gets first dibs on my money; last week it was Drops of God, and this time I’m lured by the first volume of Usamaru Furuya’s No Longer Human. This book is a personal favorite of Vertical marketing director (and former blogger) Ed Chavez, and Ed’s picks are always stunning. Based on a semi-autobiographical novel, No Longer Human is the story of a young man who cannot shake his own alienation from the rest of the world. It’s supposedly a great work but also depressing, so to shake off the blues, I’ll spend my last $3.99 on issue #2 of Roger Langridge’s Snarked. His charming rascals-and-the-princess story is sure to bring a smile back to my face.

If I had $30: I’d go for a little more silliness with James Kochalka’s Dragon Puncher #2 ($9.95), the followup to his eminently silly Dragon Puncher #1. Kochalka does silly with an edge of surreal that makes it absolutely delightful. I’ll cut that up with American Vampire #20 ($2.99), and wind up with the first issue of the Peanuts ongoing comic, which is priced at a recession-friendly $1.

Splurge: There are a lot of temptations on this week’s list, but I’m leaning heavily toward Abrams, which has some interesting collections out this week. Government Issue: Comics for the People 1940-2000s is a collection of government-issued comics by the great (Will Eisner, Walt Kelly) and the obscure. It looks like a steal at $29.95. Somewhat pricier at $55 is The Someday Funnies, a collection of the Rolling Stone’s comics section that features a different set of iconic creators–Art Spiegelman, R. Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman. Also a must have for me. And finally, I’ll stagger over to the Dark Horse section and grab the original graphic novel Hellboy: House of the Living Dead ($14.95), which sends our eponymous hero south of the border for a fight with a Frankenstein monster–a perfect post-Halloween treat.

Chris Mautner

Ganges

If I had $15: I managed to pick up a copy ahead of time, but Ganges #4 seems to me to be the obvious choice for the $15 and under crowd, continuing everyman Glenn Ganges’ attempts to get some shuteye. This time he attempts to find a really dull book and the results are hugely entertaining.

I’d also at least peruse through John Marz’s Heaven All Day, about a lonely factory worker and an abandoned robot whose lives intertwine, which looks interesting.

If I had $30: I’d get Usumaru Furuya’s No Longer Human, for all the reasons Brigid mentioned. I’m really happy to see Furuya get some love on these shores, as I’ve admired his work since the Secret Comics Japan anthology came out from Blast Books all those years ago.

Splurge: That Joe the Barbarian anthology is certainly on my Amazon wish list, and that Abrams anthology of government-issue comics looks intriguing as well, but my splurge money this week would have to be spent on Color Engineering, Yuichi Yokoyama’s neon-pop colored collection of short comic adventures, and Someday Funnies, a mind-boggling anthology, literally decades in the making, featuring contributions from just about every major cartoonist of the 1970s, like Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby, Moebius, Rene Goscinny, and on and on and on and on. This could well be the great lost treasure of the ages. Or not. I can’t wait to find out, though.

Michael May

Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1

If I had $15, I’d go back for a couple of series I’m enjoying and try three new ones. Action Comics continues to exceed my expectations (especially in comparison to the gloominess of Superman), so #3 ($3.99) is an easy decision in spite of the price. I’m also enjoying Avengers 1959, a series that Howard Chaykin is especially perfect for, to I’ll grab the third issue ($2.99) of that as well. I guess I missed the first issue of Fear Itself: The Fearless so I’ll need to find some money for that, but #2 ($2.99) is definitely going home with me this week. I didn’t read Fear Itself, but I’m fond enough of some of the characters in The Fearless that I’m going to want to at least check this out. Finally a couple of new titles from BOOM! have caught my eye. I love their Planet of the Apes ongoing, so I’m eager to see if they can nail it again with Betrayal of the Planet of the Apes #1 ($3.99). And having just watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Monday, I’m also excited about Peanuts #0 ($1). A big part of me just wants to read the Fantagraphics collection again, but for a buck I’m happy to see what cartoonists Ron Zorman and Vicki Scott have in mind.

With $30, I’d add another new BOOM! series (they’ve got a lot of cool stuff this week), 7 Warriors #1 ($3.99) because I love comics about ass-kicking women. IDW’s Jack Avarice is the Courier #1 ($3.99) kicks off what sounds like a fun, weekly comic for the month of November, so that’s mine too. Then I’d top off the pile with a couple of X-Men books because X-Men: Regenesis reminded me that I’ve been wanting to learn more about the Dani Moonstar character. She’s in New Mutants #33 ($3.99) and–according to Regenesis–will also be on Cyclops’ team in Uncanny X-Men #1 ($3.99).

There’s a lot to splurge on this week. Dragon Puncher, Volume 2 ($9.95) sounds fun (and inexpensive). 30 Days of Night: Night Again ($17.99) pairs Joe Lansdale with Sam Keith on a horror comic and that’s a combination I’d want to read with or without a recognizable brand in the title. Nordguard, Volume 1 ($19.95) is about a team of anthropomorphic sled dogs, and that also sounds cool. My top pick though is influenced by my recent mainlining of the last three BPRD books. I’m all about the Mignolaverse right now, so the Hellboy vs Frankenstein’s Monster story in Hellboy: House of the Living Dead ($14.99) is what I’m craving.

Chris Arrant

Fear Agent #32

If I had $15, I’d spend the first little bit on the bittersweet finale of Fear Agent, #32 (Dark Horse, $3.50). This long-running series was made longer by the delays in the final arc as the creators were pulled away for work at Marvel, so I’m glad this Wednesday to finally get it all. I’m just as excited to find out the ending as I am to have a complete collection to re-read over the weekend. Next up would be another creator-owned book, Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley’s Invincible #84 (Image, $2.99); I’m still not sure about the Viltrumite-living-on-Earth vibe (I never liked Alien Nation), but I’m willing to give this duo the benefit of the doubt for a while longer. Finally would be a double-shot of DC’s New 52, Action Comics #3 (DC, $3.99) and Animal Man #3 (DC, $2.99).

If I had $30, I’d snag a third DC book–Swamp Thing #3 (DC, $2.99)–before buying the auspicious new #1 of Uncanny X-Men (Marvel, $3.99). Count me in the camp as one who things the renumbering is ill-advised, and factor than in with the nonplussed nature of Greg Land’s current work and yet I’m still buying this just to see what Kieron does with it. His finale of Uncanny X-Men caught me off-guard with how good it was, so he’s got my money here. Last up would be Kevin Huzienga’s Gagnes #4 (Fantagraphics, $7.95). I’ve been waiting for this one awhile, and glad to see it. $7.95 might seem like a lot for a 32 page book, but Huzienga’s craft really makes it worth it. It’d also be an ideal palette cleanser in case I read some unexpectedly bad books.

If I had the cash to splurge, I’d go for DC’s Joe The Barbarian Deluxe Edition(DC/Vertigo, $29.99). Yes I have it in singles, but I’m the type that’d re-buy things like this in a more lasting edition because it looks good and so I have an excuse to give away my singles to someone who might dig the series.

JK Parkin

Six Guns #1

If I had $15, Ganges #4 ($7.95) would be at the top of my stack. I think the third issue of Kevin Huizenga’s series was either at the top of my list of favorite comics of last year, or at least very near the top, so this is one of my most anticipated releases not just for this week, but probably this year. I’d also get Andy Diggle and Davide Gianfelice Six Guns #1 (Marvel, $2.99); the Daredevil: Reborn team reimagines several of marvel’s Western heroes in a modern setting, and based on their track record I’m looking forward to it. I’d round it out with Animal Man #3 (DC Comics, $2.99).

If I had $30,. I’d add a bunch of my regular ongoing favorites: Swamp Thing #3 ($2.99), Boys #60 ($3.99) and New Mutants #33 ($2.99), and would then add the Our Love Is Real one-shot ($3.99) if I didn’t already have it in digital form. But what the hell, we’re assuming I live in a hypothetical world where I can only spend $30 on comics anyway, so let’s pretend I didn’t have the money to download it previously. Can we also pretend I’m a viking?

Splurgewise, my peers have mentioned a lot of nice stuff, so I’ll just point out the second volume of Super Pro K.O. ($11.99), the follow-up to what proved to be a fun first volume by Jarrett Williams.

– Scott Snyder, writer of Batman and Swamp Thing, discussing the much-publicized DC Comics relaunch

From Batman #1, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

With another wave of debuts for DC Comics’ New 52 — including Batman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Legion of Super-Heroes — comes another round of previews, interviews and assorted articles. Here are some of the highlights.

• Vulture previews the highly anticipated debut of Batman, by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, and chats briefly with the writer about the appeal of the Caped Crusader: “What appeals to me, no matter who’s in the cowl, is how Gotham City challenges them. Gotham is almost a nightmare generator, filled with villains that seem to represent an extension of Batman’s greatest fears. A lot of his greatest villains feel like mirrors: the Joker is who Batman would be if he broke his rule and fell into madness; Two Face is a mockery of the duality of his life. But what I love about Bruce in particular, and the reason I’m so excited to be doing Batman, is he’s a superhero that has no powers. He takes it upon himself to go out every night, punish himself, and be the best out there. To me, that is both incredibly heroic and exciting, but also really pathological and obsessive.”

• The Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex blog kicks off a multi-part interview with Snyder about Batman, American Vampire and Swamp Thing: “With Swamp Thing, he’s a character like Animal Man that has a legacy of having creators come on and do a very different vision each time somebody takes up the mantle of that character. For the Len Wein/Berni Wrightson version of him, it started as this big, classic, southern, gothic, creepy old grindhouse monster. And there’s something really fun in that. With Alan Moore, it became more about — as you were saying — this notion of what it means to be a god, almost like Dr. Manhattan in the Watchmen, and the loneliness in the responsibility of being the protector of the green. So, both of those iterations of Swamp Thing I really loved, and again for me, they’re kind of about the same thing. I wanted to do a story, as too did Lemire, on Animal Man that honors the history that came before, not changing the continuity of the character, but at the same time taken in a very different direction. For a little while it was tricky, but [Lemire and myself] work together a lot. We trade scripts, and both of us are excited about what we came up with, hoping to preserve all of the rich history of the characters we really love but also taking them in a direction that’s our own and fresh.”

• On The New York Times op-ed page, three forensic psychiatrists ask DC to “seize the opportunity with The New 52 to move to the forefront in transforming mental health depictions in comics. To start, writers should stop overemphasizing a link between violence and mental disorders to explain criminal behavior.” They focus, of course, on Arkham Asylum and Batman’s rogues gallery.

• Comic Book Resources reviewer Doug Zawisza gives Batman #1 five stars, saying, “Snyder delivers some great moments in this first issue that features both Bruce and Batman, and in doing so seems to be giving us a slice of what’s to come in his time on this series.”

From Wonder Woman #1, by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang

• USA Today’s Pop Candy blog previews Wonder Woman #1, and talks briefly with artist Cliff Chiang about the relaunch.

• Chiang goes a little more in depth at MTV Geek, where he describes his approach to the art for the series: “I’ve been moving towards a style that has a little more texture, and energy. You can see it in the Zatanna issues that I did. I’m using the same ideas about shadows, and areas of black, but they’re not solid anymore, and the lines are not crisp. For me, I feel like so much of the world is becoming digital; and we’re reviewing these things on a digital platform – we’re going to be looking at things on an iPad, or a computer. So it’s important to celebrate anything organic. What I’ve been trying to do with my art, which has been feeling very graphically sharp, to soften it up, and make it feel more hand-done.”

• Meanwhile, at Comic Book Resources writer Brian Azzarello addresses, among other things, Wonder Woman’s powers: “Can she fly? No — but maybe she can. I’ve really been avoiding that. She is able to hover. Maybe I’m just using her ability to fly judiciously. She’s using her ability to fly judiciously! I’ve been really trying to take some of the powers that she has that I think are redundancies in other characters, and claim them back. There are things about that character that make her unique from other characters that need to be pushed to the forefront. I think a lot of what makes her unique is like I said, it’s behind her eyes. That’s what she needs. So when I fail [Laughs] it’ll be spectacular.”

Demon Knights #4

DC editor Chris Conroy took over DC’s Twitter feed today, and he’s been sharing concept art, pages and tidbits about some of his books all day. Conroy edits Superboy, Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Legion of Super-Heroes and Demon Knights, and here are a few of the tidbits he’s shared:

–Mike Choi will draw Demon Knights #4 (that’s his cover at the top of the post).
–Walt Simonson will draw Legion of Super-Heroes #5.
–The red-head in Superboy #1 is who most people seem to think it is.
–Cliff Chiang’s original artwork from Wonder Woman will be on display at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn beginning Sept. 24.
–Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder have “big plans” for when Animal Man and Swamp Thing meet up.

And after the jump you’ll find a whole bunch of art, which I’ll update if he posts more.

*****

Wonder Woman will fight centaurs in the first issue; here’s a concept sketch:

And here’s the design for “a certain Sun god,” which I assume would be Apollo (edit: esp. since his name is right there):

Here’s a page from Swamp Thing #2 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette:

From Demon Knights #2, by Diogenes Neves:

Superboy #2 splash page by RB Silva:

from Superboy #2

Francis Portela art from Legion:

And here’s a Swamp Thing teaser … who is this kid?

• At Comic Book Resources, Kiel Phegley checks in with direct market retailers after the first full week of the DC relaunch.

• USA Today previews Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1, which kicks off the “War of the Monsters” story arc. “It’s basically Frankenstein and these classic Universal monsters against as many other monsters as I could throw at my poor artist [Alberto Ponticelli],” writer Jeff Lemire says. “Literally, I had pages where he was drawing thousands of monsters. It’s really fun and big and over the top and a lot of black humor as the team gets to know each other and interact, and the readers get to know them, as well.”

• TV Guide previews Suicide Squad #1, written by Supernatural co-executive producer Adam Glass, who details his take on the radically redesigned Harley Quinn: “The thought was, let’s see her operate outside of the Joker, not being obsessed 24/7. One thing that I think gets downplayed with her is how smart she is. This is a woman who is a mastermind in her own right. [...] We didn’t lose any of the humor. She’s still funny, she’s still sexy, she’s still a little crazy. This is Harley if she’s moved away from home, her chance to shine on her own.”

• IGN.com and iFanboy have previews of Red Lantern #1 and Grifter #1, respectively.

• Writer Scott Snyder talks at length with Complex about Swamp Thing, and his approach to Batman: “The way DC approached me about the relaunch was that it was a way to tell any story that you wanted about your favorite character, no holds barred. And the story I wanted to tell was one that was already really rooted in what’s already happened in Batman, but is accessible to anybody that hasn’t been reading Batman. It’s a big epic, ambitious story about Bruce Wayne and the way he thinks of Gotham as his friend and this kind of ancient evil under Gotham that exists, or may exist, that he has somehow overlooked as Batman. So it has to do with the history of the Wayne family and the Grayson family, and there will be big revelations about this enemy from the past, and this enemy is going to bring all the weight of history against the Bat family and try to crush them.”

Justice League #4

As week three of DC’s big relaunch begins, here are some more highlights of news, announcements and coverage of the New 52 thus far:

• So how is the relaunch doing overall? DC Comics put out a release this morning noting several fun facts about sales and the relaunch thus far, while Kiel Phegley at Comic Book Resources spoke with DC’s John Rood and Bob Wayne for context.

Also of note is Diamond Comic Distributor’s list of the top 100 comics in August. As DC noted in their release, Justice League #1 was not only the top seller in the direct market for the month, but is the top-selling book of the year so far. That’s not surprising. DC also noted it’s the highest first printing they’ve had since the 2006 Justice League relaunch. John Jackson Miller, meanwhile, looks at the top books of this century this far, pointing out that the new Justice League will likely land in the top 30 of that list.

We already knew that Justice League‘s print run was over 200,000, but today DC announced that Action Comics‘ second printing will push it over 200,000 copies as well. And speaking of second printings, DC confirmed that all of last week’s titles AND this week’s titles — yes, the ones that aren’t in stores until Wednesday — have sold out at the distributor level, and they’ll be going back to press on them all.

I’d be surprised if that trend doesn’t continue for the rest of the month. But what about the second issues? Wayne spoke to it in the CBR interview: “I think the main thing is that when we get to setting the print runs for the issues #2 and 3, we’ll have to look really hard at what the totals are for print runs on the #1s not just in terms of the initial orders or the FOC adjusted orders or the reorders or the reprints but also the level of demand that we let build as far as back orders and see exactly where it’s going to right size itself. Right now, it looks like the #2s were being much more aggressively ordered at retail than normally an issue #2 would be, and in order to keep the retailers comfortable with going heavy on the book, we’re extending the sales incentives we already have in place through issues #4 on sale in December.”

• So people are buying the first issues, but what do they think of them? I dug this article on CBR by Josie Campbell, where she had non-comics fans read the books and comment on them. It was interesting that the only books that made the “second issue cut” for her readers were Detective, Action, Justice League International and Green Arrow — and not the ones that seem to be the most popular with current fans, like Swamp Thing and Animal Man (Action cuts across both audiences, of course).

Speaking of which, Multiversity Comics is attempting to aggregate, Rotten Tomatoes style, the reviews of the New 52 on their site, based on reviews from CBR, Newsarama, ComicsAlliance and a bunch of other sites. But not from Robot 6, so I’m not sure how much stock I’d put in them, he said jokingly. Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Action Comics and Batgirl top the charts, while Hawk and Dove is at the bottom.

• Over at ComicsAlliance, David Uzumeri looks at the continuity changes in the first week of DC’s “New 52″ relaunch. Uzumeri notes many historical details that seem to have been lost in the relaunch, like Static’s status as a Teen Titan, Barbara Gordon’s money and Green Arrow’s, well, everything, as well as some that were retained, like Static being a former resident of Dakota, Dove and Deadman’s relationship, and the histories of Animal Man and Swamp Thing.

• And finally, Darrell Etherington at GigaOm, who wrote about how comic publishers should jump on the subscription model for digital comics back in May, revisits digital comics now that DC is offering same-day digital. He notes that publishers seem to be “getting it” in terms of digital comics, and again calls out the opportunity to offer subscriptions: “DC is already talking about introducing value-add elements to digital comics, sort of like DVD special features, but if Netflix has taught us anything, it’s that the only special feature most media consumers care about is reasonable subscription-pricing that delivers just the good stuff. An all you can eat publisher-wide subscription for digital comics would be amazing, but I’d settle for per-issue monthly or yearly pricing. Let’s hope comics don’t take as long to warm up to that idea as they did to same-day digital.”

Static Shock #1

It was the strangest thing — when I woke up this morning I was younger, single, and most of my clothes had high collars and funky seams….

Okay, let’s cut that out right now. Don’t worry, I’m still middle-aged and married, with the same beat-up wardrobe. However, I have read all but one of this week’s New-52 books, and now I get to share them with you. (The local comics shop got shorted on Batwing #1, which is too bad, because as one of the few sort-of new concepts being offered, I was especially looking forward to it. Next week for sure!) Generally I thought most had at least some potential, and I was mostly impressed with the efforts the various creative teams made. Of course, that doesn’t mean I liked everything, but I did like more than I thought I would.

Onward–!

* * *

For starters, I sure didn’t expect a nod to “Smallville” (“Somebody! Save me!”) in the opening pages of Action Comics vol. 2 #1 (written by Grant Morrison, pencilled by Rags Morales, inked by Rick Bryant). That’s one of many nice touches in this zippy, peppy installment. It’s a great introduction to both Superman and Clark Kent, saving the world regardless of who’s in their way; and a good look at Luthor too. Lois and Jimmy are essentially cameos, although probably just for this issue. It reads like a comics adaptation of Tom DeHaven’s It’s Superman! novel — very retro-minded, although definitely not a retro story. Superman basically terrorizes Metropolis’ white-collar criminals, eyes red with barely-contained heat vision, all the while staying just ahead of his military pursuers and shrugging off tank shells with a grunt and a determined grin. Morales and Bryant’s expressive, beefy work is reminiscent of classic Superman artists including Joe Shuster, Wayne Boring, and John Byrne. DC would have done well to lead with this last week as well.

Speaking of which, Justice League International #1 (written by Dan Jurgens, pencilled by Aaron Lopresti, inked by Matt Ryan) was a decent first issue, although it feels a little rushed and might have benefited from more editing. (One character says “by extension” twice in two pages, and a spread of the team shows Ice and Vixen with the same pose and expression.) For those put off by Justice League #1, this time the whole team is present, along with two new characters and a giant killer robot; but the focus is on Booster Gold, Batman and Green Lantern Guy Gardner (hmm, that combo again), and UN functionary Andre Briggs. For now, the others are either clunky one-note jokes (Rocket Red talks funny, Godiva vamps) or still too undefined. Lopresti and Ryan make the book look good, and it’s trying to develop its own identity, but this issue only shows the barest hints of one.

More successful in that regard are Animal Man #1 (written by Jeff Lemire, pencilled by Travel Foreman, inked by Dan Green) and Swamp Thing #1 (written by Scott Snyder, drawn by Yanick Paquette), since both cover very similar thematic ground. Each involves a semi-retired super-type with a deep, profound connection to a mysterious force of nature, and each pits its leads against a corrupt version of his particular force. Beyond that, though, each takes a fairly different approach to the material. As it happens, Animal Man has a bit more horror, making Buddy Baker’s ambivalence about superheroics into an actual threat to his family; while Swamp Thing initially looks like a dozen or so pages of a human Alec Holland talking to Superman and others about the hidden cruelties of the plant world. Not that that’s not enough on its own, because Snyder and Paquette sell this sort of Holland-as-Bruce-Banner bit pretty well — but Swamp Thing then reveals its antagonist, a malevolent monster/swarm/nasty something which kills and terrorizes in sickeningly inventive ways.

Both Paquette and Foreman are well-suited for their respective series. Paquette’s thick lines and heavy blacks make everything look earthy, solid, and murky where appropriate. At first Foreman’s layout choices emphasize the Baker household’s (relatively) light-hearted atmosphere, becoming more traditional as the superhero and horror portions kick in. Foreman and Green’s thin, careful work is also expressive enough to bring out the Bakers’ personalities fairly well. In short, I liked both Animal Man and Swamp Thing well enough to come back for their second issues.

At this point, to say that Gail Simone has a good handle on Barbara Gordon would be an understatement, but Batgirl #1 (written by Simone, pencilled by Ardian Syaf, inked by Vicente Cifuentes) really shows what she can do with Barbara in a solo title. Apart from her Birds Of Prey colleagues, and out of her wheelchair (after what we’re only told was a “miracle”), Babs has an updated Bat-suit and Batcycle, and finds herself battling criminals eerily reminiscent of her own experiences. As with the enigmatic Junior in the first arc of Simone’s Secret Six ongoing, new villain the Mirror is only a half-glimpsed presence at first, and seen fully when it’s too late. However, the centerpiece of this issue is Batgirl versus thrillkilling home invaders, in another callback to the incident which left Barbara paralyzed. Simone and Syaf pack a lot into this issue, with Syaf and Cifuentes’ work looking cleaner and more crisp than it has been. My complaints deal basically with Babs’ backstory: I get the impression that the former Oracle would have more civilian-life options than we’re shown here; and we haven’t yet been told how she came to walk again. Regardless, these will surely be answered in future issues; and otherwise Batgirl #1 is a very strong start.

Much of Detective Comics vol. 2 #1 (written and pencilled by Tony S. Daniel; inked by Ryan Wynn) is a Batman-vs.-Joker story so hidebound and familiar it borders on parody. Clearly Daniel feels the weight of relaunching DC’s namesake book and wants to give all those hypothetical new readers what they expect out of a Batman comic. Unfortunately, this turns out to be a lot of posing and posturing — including gratuitous pinup-style splash pages and dialogue like “That was her uncle the Joker killed…. though it’ll take a bit to identify his remains.” As well, Daniel draws Batman beefier than he did back in 2009, further reinforcing the book’s emphasis on physicality. I do give Daniel credit for an unsettling epilogue, which ties a new villain to the Joker’s latest spree. However, if I weren’t already collecting Detective, it wouldn’t bring me back for the next issue.

I was not expecting much out of Green Arrow #1 (written by J.T. Krul, pencilled by Dan Jurgens, inked by George Pérez), so I was pleasantly surprised. As you might expect from Jurgens and Pérez, it’s a very nice-looking book, told cleanly, simply, and efficiently. It also bears little resemblance to the Ollie Queen Green Arrow portrayed in the last four decades’ worth of comic books. Instead, this iteration of the character still has his fortune and has added a couple of tech-savvy assistants. Basically it reads like a spinoff of the “Smallville” Ollie (that show again!), which is probably good for new readers, but which doesn’t give our hero much personality. Apart from the trick arrows, this issue’s fight with super-punks who broadcast their exploits online could have starred any number of characters, most of them Bat-affiliated. It’s not a bad book, and certainly better than Krul’s Rise Of Arsenal-flavored reputation might suggest, but like its lead it threatens to be handsomely bland.

Similarly, there’s not much remarkable about Hawk and Dove #1 (written by Sterling Gates, drawn by Rob Liefeld). Even Liefeld’s art is relatively tame, except for the odd panel like page 1′s panic at the wi-fi bar. The “science terrorist” Alexander Quirk is menacing Washington, D.C., but Hawk spends almost as much time comparing Dove to her predecessor (his late brother) as he does fighting zombies. Gates apparently expects readers to come to this book straight from Brightest Day, because Dove’s relationship with Deadman carries over from there. However, Gates throws in what look like a couple of references to the H&D series from twenty-odd years ago, as if those fans were just waiting patiently for the inevitable revival. The whole thing is fairly flat, despite Liefeld’s attempts at action.

Because DC needs to cultivate non-superhero genres, I like the idea of Men Of War; but because the two stories in issue #1 cover some predictable ground, the idea is more appealing than the execution. The lead, written by Ivan Brandon and drawn by Tom Derenick, concerns Corporal Joseph Rock, he who is destined to become the next Sgt. Rock, just like his legendary grandfather. It’s not a bad story, and it’s fairly good work (stylistically improved) from the inconsistent Derenick. However, it takes forever to get to the point — namely, Rock and his squad versus superhumans — and it’s not that concerned with keeping the reader straight on who everyone is. A similar problem applies to the backup, written by Jonathan Vankin and drawn by Phil Winslade, in which a different squad tries to smoke out a sniper, with a cliffhanging result. Where the first story focused on Rock and his sergeant, and then hastily added the squad, the second tries to squeeze character moments into the action. While the book may improve with subsequent issues, and/or less harried reading, for now it seems rather uneven.

Keith Giffen’s storytelling and pencils propel OMAC #1 (co-written by Dan DiDio and inked by Scott Koblish), an unabashed Jack Kirby homage which mashes the One Man Army Corps with a heaping helping of Jimmy Olsen’s Cadmus Project. Giffen really goes for the full Kirby effect, and without his efforts this would be a fairly slight issue. Here, OMAC is Kevin Koh, cubicle drone turned mohawked juggernaut, whose body is co-opted in order to break into Cadmus’ top-secret mainframe. Kevin’s co-workers include a worried girlfriend and a lout, neither of whom are developed much further; and OMAC fights a succession of familiar Kirby creations, most notably the world’s deadliest Build-A-Friend. It’s sufficiently over the top to be entertaining, but it’s hard to tell whether future issues will have either this level of energy, or a suitable substitute.

Static Shock #1 (written by John Rozum and Scott McDaniel, pencilled by McDaniel, inked by Jonathan Glapion and leBeau Underwood) was a terrific reintroduction to the witty adventures of Virgil Ovid Hawkins, a/k/a Static. Now a high-school student interning at STAR Labs in New York City, we catch up with Static trying to stop a runaway experiment and preserve the lives of innocent bystanders, only to learn that those bystanders are more concerned with the effects Static’s powers have on their personal electronic devices. Yes, it’s like Spider-Man’s inability to get everything exactly right; and no, this isn’t the first time Static has been compared to his friendly neighborhood predecessor. The difference is that Rozum and McDaniel effectively develop Virgil’s friends, family, and immediate enemies about as well as their wisecracking hero. See, Static isn’t just an ex-Milestone character incorporated into the New 52 DCU, he’s a gateway to other Milestone characters like Hardware, an armored avenger who appears here as Static’s mentor. Extending Static’s reach like that means that Rozum and McDaniel can carve out a particular Milestone-centric niche and thereby give Static Shock a unique place among the New 52. Accordingly, it’s a title worth reading regardless of what the other 51 books are trying to do.

Finally, there’s a lot going on in Stormwatch #1 (written by Paul Cornell, drawn by Miguel Sepulveda), most of it presented in rapid-fire infodumps. Stormwatch is trying to recruit Apollo, which they’ll probably do because he’s on the cover. Also, someone’s blown a mysterious horn, which summoned a giant alien who’s taken control of the Moon. There are many characters popping in and out — the Engineer, Jack Hawksmoor, the Martian Manhunter, Jenny Quantum, Harry Tanner, Adam something-or-other, Projectionist — and Cornell can’t seem to decide whether we know them all, or not at all. Although this isn’t a bad comic, juggling its various characters and plot points with moderate success, it’s far from accessible, and reads like part of a shared superhero universe which is more than a dozen issues old. If Static Shock seeks to carve out its own little niche, Stormwatch is content to wallow in New-52 lore. No doubt that’s meant to pay off handsomely down the road, but for now, it’s kind of disconcerting.

Recommended: Action Comics, Animal Man, Batgirl, Static Shock, Swamp Thing

Could get better: Justice League International, Men Of War, Stormwatch

Could go either way: Green Arrow, OMAC

Sticking with ‘em regardless: Detective Comics

No thanks: Hawk And Dove

* * *

Next week: picking up the spare with Batwing, plus Batman And Robin, Batwoman, Deathstroke, Demon Knights, Frankenstein, Green Lantern, Grifter, Legion Lost, Mister Terrific, Red Lanterns, Resurrection Man, Suicide Squad, and Superboy!

From now through the end of September, I’ll provide brief overviews of each book with the pull-list status at the end. With no further ado, it’s time to jump into Week 2 of the New 52! Prepare for a number of Bat-family books, the new JLI, Sgt. Rock for the modern age and more!

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Animal Man
Written by Jeff Lemire with art by Travel Foreman

This book sets the benchmark for this week as to what a New 52 #1 should be. Jeff Lemire brings new life to Buddy Baker in an incredible story that both takes advantage of the character’s rich history and introduces new elements in the spirit of DC’s relaunch. Not only does Lemire give readers a welcome reintroduction to Animal Man with a stunning cliffhanger that will leave them wanting more, Travel Foreman’s interior pencils are gorgeous, only adding to the unique feel that Lemire gives this title. It’s a great first issue, and I can’t wait to read more. If I could read only one New 52 issue this week, this would be it.

Status: IN

Batgirl
Written by Gail Simone with art by Ardian Syaf

Gail Simone had a tough job here: plausibly reintroduce Barbara Gordon as Batgirl into the New DC Universe while explaining what happened following the events of The Killing Joke. Luckily, she’s had experience writing Barbara for years and handles the transition with style and grace. As a huge fan of the character, it was refreshing to see Barbara’s personal trials in getting used to walking again clash in a big way with the desire to be a hero as she pulled on the tights once more. You get a little bit of everything here: the badass superhero, the loving police commissioner’s daughter, the post-operative patient trying to get back into the swing of life, and the strong, but damaged, crimefighter. Ardian Syaf’s art is well tuned to Simone’s writing, making them a great storytelling team for Batgirl’s first issue out. It’s a great start and I love the character, so there’s really no question here.

Status: IN

Detective Comics
Written and drawn by Tony S. Daniel

As DC’s original flagship title, Detective Comics has a lot to live up to. While Tony S. Daniel meets the expectations of a traditional Detective Comics story, it doesn’t feel any different from the series before the relaunch. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the strength of so many of the New 52 titles this week is that they take advantage of a new status quo. Daniel’s writing and pencils are solid, but it seems like a Batman story that could have happened at any point. I enjoyed reading the book, and I’m intrigued by the final page, but is it enough to keep Detective on my pull list?

Status: ON THE FENCE

Batwing
Written by Judd Winick with art by Ben Oliver

Batwing follows the story of David Zavimbe (AKA Batwing) as the protégé of Batman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The concept is actually pretty solid, but the issue itself suffers from many jumps and quick cuts that make it somewhat difficult to get to the core of what’s going on. Judd Winick also includes Batman in this issue to help Batwing clean up the city of Tinasha, outfitting him with armor and computers, all beautifully rendered by Ben Oliver. However, this issue was just too difficult to follow and overloaded on character introductions with very little development.

Status: OUT

Green Arrow
Written by J.T. Krul with art by Dan Jurgens

This is a new take on Oliver Queen, with a complete character redesign from the ground up. J.T. Krul takes full advantage of the relaunch to give Green Arrow a new position in Queen Industries, new companions and a revamped rogues gallery – but it does make the concept seem a lot like Batman. Ollie’s got the gadgets and gizmos to get the job done, and he’s joined by computer genius Naomi and weapons expert Jax. The issue showcases Ollie’s skills and how well he works with his team, but it feels as though you could’ve replaced the cast with Batman, Oracle and Lucius. Does that merit a cut from my pull? I’m not sure, but I’m willing to re-evaluate at the end of the month.

Status: ON THE FENCE

Hawk and Dove
Written by Sterling Gates with art by Rob Liefeld

I’m a big fan of Sterling Gates, and I think the plot he lays out gives due respect to the history of the characters, and sets up some cool stuff for future issues. Rob Liefeld’s art is actually a decent fit for the tone of the book — a rock-‘em, sock-‘em action series with zombies on a plane. At the end, I wasn’t clamoring for Issue 2, but I’m still impressed with Gates’ plot and want to find out what Dawn Granger’s big secret connection is to Don Hall. Hm. What to do…

Status: ON THE FENCE

Justice League International
Written by Dan Jurgens with art by Aaron Lopresti

This book was so much fun. The team is completely assembled in the first few pages and, judging from last week’s comments on Justice League, that’s something that fans are going to be really happy about. Jurgens gets right into the action within the first few pages, sending the team on its first mission. There isn’t a huge amount of character development here, but you do get the feel of the team as a whole, which is excellent. The best moments were between Rocket Red and August General of Iron – in fact, Rocket Red nearly steals the whole show with his hilarious comments and asides. Great issue; can’t wait for the next.

Status: IN

Men of War
Written by Ivan Brandon with art by Tom Derenick
Co-feature written by Jonathan Vankin with art by Phil Winslade

Men of War is Sgt. Rock war comics for the modern age, and Ivan Brandon has made me a believer. This is a great read, serving as an origin story for the new Sgt. Rock, leaving me with a semi-Silver Age taste in my mouth … and I love it. Tom Derenick really shows a lot of range in this issue, depicting everything from a battlefield to a claustrophobic debriefing room in style. The co-feature “Navy Seals” isn’t as compelling, but it’s still an entertaining read. This book made me care about war comics, and I would take this over a full play-through of Call of Duty any day.

Status: IN

OMAC
Story and art by Keith Giffen and Dan DiDio

I found it very difficult to get into this story. Things shot off to a climax within the first few pages and continued to stay at that level for the entire issue. Of all of this week’s releases, this is actually the only one that I couldn’t get into at all. Maybe it’s not my cup of tea, maybe I’m not that interested in Brother Eye. Despite the excellent art and old-style characters introductions, I think I’ll skip this one next month.

Status: OUT

Static Shock
Written by Scott McDaniel and John Rozum with art by Scott McDaniel

I loved this cartoon as a kid. There need to be more books about teen superheroes, and Scott McDaniel gives readers one to latch onto. This version of Static is just starting to come into his own as a superhero, with a lot of help from fellow Milestone hero Hardware. McDaniel and John Rozum introduce some cool elements that will either delight or infuriate science buffs. (I’m not one, so I couldn’t say for sure whether the science is solid.) What you get here is an adventure that pays homage to the original character without sacrificing anything that made him great. Combine that with great art by McDaniel and it’s a welcome shock to my system.

Status: IN

Stormwatch
Written by Paul Cornell with art by Miguel Sepulveda

Paul Cornell has the unenviable position of introducing Stormwatch to DC Universe readers that may have never followed the title before. As one of those readers, I have to applaud him for writing a book that has not only a clear tether to the New DCU but also a science fiction story worthy of Cornell’s best work on Doctor Who. The introduction of the core team is a delight, and Apollo’s first appearance alone makes this book worth your time. In addition, the art by Miguel Sepulveda is great. Honestly, I liked pretty much everything about this first issue.

Status: IN

Action Comics
Written by Grant Morrison with art by Rags Morales

Grant Morrison, you have made me love Superman all over again. I liked him before, but you’ve made me believe that a man can fly and still be awesome at the same time. This Action Comics takes full advantage of the New DCU and sees Superman as, for lack of a better word, a know-it-all who thinks he has it all figured out. He’s at the start of his career here, and Morrison once again proves his mastery over storytelling and the character. Rags Morales does not disappoint with his interiors, either; gorgeous book. It captures the spirit of what makes Action Comics great for the modern age.

Status: IN

Swamp Thing
Written by Scott Snyder with art by Yanick Paquette

I think this one is going to be tough to pick up and read for folks who didn’t follow Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing. The story seems to follow directly from the end of that book, and there are a lot of things that it’s helpful to know going in. That said, I really enjoyed this reintroduction to Swamp Thing, although the issue is really more about Alec Holland. Snyder has crafted a very real threat in the first few pages that has a direct connection with the rest of the DCU. Throw in Yanick Paquette’s pencils and this is something that I definitely want to read for at least another month.

Status: IN

That’s it for this week. Making cuts is going to be difficult if this level of quality keeps up. For those keeping score, here’s the rundown for this week’s books:

IN
Animal Man
Batgirl
Justice League International
Men of War
Static Shock
Stormwatch
Action Comics
Swamp Thing

ON THE FENCE
Detective Comics
Green Arrow
Hawk and Dove

OUT
Batwing
OMAC

Agree? Disagree? Make yourself heard in the comments!

From Swamp Thing #1, by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette

If you had told me a year ago — heck, a week ago — that Swamp Thing would be in The New York Times, in anything other than an Alan Moore retrospective, I’d have certainly laughed. But here we are, with the newspaper referencing the creature in a headline and showing off two pages of Yanick Paquette’s gorgeous art from the first issue of DC Comics’ relaunched Swamp Thing, which arrives in stores today.

It’s all part of a solid, if brief, profile of Scott Snyder that charts the writer’s three-year comics rise from minor Marvel gigs to Vertigo’s American Vampire to Detective Comics to a key role in DC’s New 52, penning Swamp Thing and the high-profile Batman.

After the break, check out two more pages from Swamp Thing #1, which Comic Book Resources gave 4 1/2 stars. Batman #1, by Snyder and Greg Capullo, arrives in stores Sept. 21.

From Swamp Thing #1, by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette

From Swamp Thing #1, by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette

Casanova: Avaritia

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

I’m very excited to read Casanova: Avaritia ($4.99), the first new Casanova storyline in what seems like a dog’s age. There’s something about this series that seems to bring out Fraction’s best, perhaps it’s the mere fact he’s working with Fabio Moon and (this time around) Gabriel Ba allows him to rise to the occasion. That and The Boys #58 ($3.99) will probably round out my initial purchases.

If I had $30:

I’m curious about Seymour Chwast’s adaptation of The Canterbury Tales ($20), given that his adaptation of Dante’s Inferno garnered some attention, but in reality, I’m saving my money to get Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot ($18.99), the latest Jacques Tardi book from Fantagraphics, another hard boiled (and ultra-violent) noir in the same vein as West Coast Blues, which is not terribly surprising considering its the same writer, Jean-Patrick Manchette.

I should also point out that the final volume of Mome is out this week and easily the best volume of an already excellent series, featuring stellar work by folks like Eleanor Davis, Josh Simmons, Chuck Forsam, Tim Hensley and more. A steal at $20.

Splurge:

My splurge of the week is easily Cats, Dogs, Men, Women & Clowns: The Lost Art of William Steig. Though he remains a popular children’s author, thanks largely to Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and Shrek, Steig is often overlooked by cartoonists, which is a mighty shame. This book collects over 450 never-before-published cartoons, along with anecdotes from Steig’s widow.

Graeme McMillan

Action Comics #1

If I had $15 this week, there would be no way I could avoid the New 52 hitting stores with its first full wave, picking up Action Comics #1, Batgirl #1 and Stormwatch #1 (Each DC Comics, $2.99) with something between eager anticipation and fear of disappointment. That would also describe my feelings about Casanova: Avaritia #1 (Marvel, $4.99), Matt Fraction’s return to the series that made me a fan, after many projects of his that have had the opposite effect.

If I had $30, the DC mania would continue with Animal Man #1 and OMAC #1 (Both DC Comics, $2.99), two reboots of one-time favorite series that have one creator getting me excited, and one making me nervous. More nervous-making than exciting, I find myself drawn toward Rich Veitch’s The Big Lie #1 (Image, $3.99), which is already finding itself described as a “truther” book, but… Veitch can be worth reading when he’s got his satirical hat on, so I’ll probably pick it up.

Splurgewise, my Kirby-love is mixing with the same love of gimmickry that makes the OMAC revival fascinating as soon as I see the hardcover collection of Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine (Marvel Comics, $34.99), the Erik Larsen-led attempt to imagine how Kirby would’ve continued on the FF if he hadn’t left the book back in 1970 (Other artists include Bruce Timm, who does a mean Kirby homage, Keith Giffen, Bill Wray and Steve Rude). I’ve never read it, but the weirdness alone seems like a siren song, drawing me in…!

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d dig into some New 52 series that have my attention. I’m picking up Action Comics #1 ($3.99) to see if Grant Morrison really has something new to say about Superman: The Early Days, but I’ve seen that time period covered so often that I’m skeptical. He needs to grab me with this issue to get me to buy the next. I’m more excited about Batgirl #1 ($2.99) and Static Shock #1 ($2.99), series about two characters I know I like by writers I love. Finally, I’d add The Spider #2 ($3.99) from Moonstone because the first issue was awesome.

Atomic Robo: Ghost of Station X #1

If I had $30, I’d add some issues that I’ll end up buying in collected editions anyway later on. Like Chris and Graeme, I’m excited for new Casanova with Avaritia #1 ($4.99). And of course I want the new Atomic Robo: Ghost of Station X #1 ($3.50). I’d round off the pile with bear-riding cowboy Reed Gunther #4 ($2.99).

I’m waffling between three different splurge items this week. First Second’s Bake Sale ($16.99) looks wonderful (and delicious), but my son and I just started reading Amulet, Volume 1 and found it nearly impossible to put down, bedtime be damned. That makes Amulet, Volume 4: The Last Council ($10.99) very tempting even though we’ve got a couple of volumes to catch up on first. I think though that my mad money would go to the new edition of Astro City: Life in the Big City ($17.99), because I haven’t read that story since it came out in single issues and I’ve been wanting to reacquaint myself with Astro City for a few years now.

JK Parkin

New Avengers Annual #1

I was thinking it would be really easy just to say I was going to try all the relaunched DC titles coming out this week, but that would cost me more than $40, which is outside my spending limit. And besides, the first issue I’m most excited about this week isn’t even published by DC — it’s New Avengers Annual #1 ($4.99), featuring the stunning debut of the Revengers! This is sort of the perfect storm for me, as I’ve always loved Marvel’s annuals, I’ve got a soft spot for Wonder Man and I enjoy seeing old C- and D-grade characters get a makeover. That leaves me $10, which I’d spend on three of the new DC titles — Swamp Thing #1 ($2.99), Animal Man #1 ($2.99) and Static Shock #1 ($2.99).

If I had $30, I’d add a few more New 52 titles to the pile — Hawk and Dove #1 ($2.99), Batwing #1 ($2,99) and Stormwatch #1 ($2.99). I’d round it out with Punisher #3 ($2.99) and Morning Glories #12 ($2.99). Because, y’know, man can not live on relaunched titles alone …

There’s a lot to choose from this week, both on the comic front and the splurge front. For my splurge, I’d be hard-pressed to pick between Americus ($14.99) by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill, and The Hidden by Richard Sala ($19.99).

Supergirl by Mahmud Asrar

And again, the #52splash hash tag on Twitter remains active, as more artists post more art from DC’s relaunched September titles (and beyond, in some cases). I’ll start with some that came in last night, and add more throughout the day when I get a chance.

*****

Legion of Super-Heroes

Aquaman

Red Hood and the Outlaws

from Teen Titans #2

Batman's Gotham City

Legion Lost by Pete Woods

New Guardians by Tyler Kirkham

from Nightwing #2 by Eddy Barrows and Paulo Siqueira

Swamp Thing

Ultimate Spider-Man #160

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Graeme McMillan

I’ll be honest: The first thing I’d do with my $15 this week would be to buy Ultimate Spider-Man #160 (Marvel, $3.99), just to finally see Peter Parker die. This storyline has seemed so drawn out and by the numbers that it’s pretty much killed my interest in the series, and I’m hoping that the final issue either has a last-minute turnaround that makes everything worthwhile, or else provides some weird karmic payback by finally living up to its title. Much less bloodthirstily, I’d also grab the first issue of David Hahn’s All Nighter (Image, $2.99), which rescues what was, I believe, a one-time Minx book and looks like an awesome mash-up of Stuart Immonen, Jaime Hernandez and, unexpectedly, Steve Rolston. In other words, pretty damn great. Finally, I’d pick up Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search For Swamp Thing #1 (DC, $2.99), for curiosity value if nothing else. I mean, John Constantine in a DCU book? How odd can that actually get?

If I had $30 this week, I’d add Secret Avengers #14 (Marvel, $3.99) to my pile, again out of morbid curiosity, and not even the good kind. At the direction of someone who’d undoubtedly like to remain nameless, I picked up the last issue to discover that it was, as promised, a completely insane-and-not-in-a-good-way tie-in to Fear Itself that, amongst other things, featured a statue of Abraham Lincoln come to life to fight Nazis in robot suits. Which, when I put it like that, actually sounds good, but I promise you, was the very opposite. Almost immediately, I knew I’d pick up the next issue to see if it could get any worse. I’m also likely to pick up Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 (DC, $2.99) to see where the story is headed – Batman IS one of the franchises not losing its continuity in the new DCU, right? – and Justice League of America #58 (DC, $2.99) because I’ve really been enjoying James Robinson’s run on the title, and want to keep supporting it as long as it lasts. Last but not least, IDW’s Cobra #2 ($3.99) continues the “Cobra Civil War” storyline, and I’m looking forward to finding out if it’s also going to continue the enjoyable undercutting of the other books’ throughlines, as well (I mean that as a compliment, I promise).

To splurge, if I had the money, I’d probably seriously consider Marvel’s Impossible Man collection ($34.99), because I have a lot of affinity for the character, who knew how to poke fun at the Marvel Universe before such characters as Deadpool or, on the other side of the divide, Ambush Bug, were even glimmers in their creators’ imaginations. POP!

Brigid Alverson

What a week! I’m really having a hard time narrowing it down. Let’s see …

Avatar: The Last Airbender

If I had $15, I’d start out with the trade of Scratch 9 ($9.99), a great kids’ comic about a cat who gets mixed up with a mad scientist who unleashes his other eight lives. It’s funny and well-written and has “classic” written all over it without being in the least stuffy. Then I’d go out and borrow a few bucks so I could buy Uncle Scrooge: The Mysterious Stone Ray and Cash Flow ($6.99), a great one-shot that features a Carl Barks story and a Don Rosa story back to back.

If I had $30, I’d add in the first volume of Avatar: The Last Airbender ($14.99). I read some of these comics when they first appeared in Nickelodeon magazine, and I know it’s going to be a top-notch effort.

Splurge: Let’s start with vol. 15 of Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys ($12.99), plus a couple of volumes I have missed. I’m a bit behind on this series, but summer is a good time to catch up, and relaxing on the deck with a stack of Naoki Urasawa manga is the best vacation I can imagine. If I’m going all out, I’d also consider one of the nice collected editions of vintage comics that is coming out this week; the Fantagraphics Captain Easy collection ($39.99) looks tempting, but I think I’d find the kitsch value of Hermes Press’s Roy Rogers: The Collected Daily and Sunday Newspaper Strips ($49.99) impossible to resist.

Michael May

Planet of the Apes

This week starts off easy, but quickly gets more difficult as I shop. With only $15, I’d pick up Mystery Men #2 ($2.99) and Planet of the Apes #3 ($3.99) without even thinking about it. I’d hoped to enjoy the first issue of Mystery Men, but was surprised by how much I loved it. I hope that the crossover between classic pulp fans and Marvel U fans is bigger than I imagine it is, because I really want more of this. It’s not a do-over of The Twelve, it’s all original characters in a familiar setting and it’s wonderful. As for Planet of the Apes, I’ve already expressed my appreciation for BOOM!’s series and am anxious to see where it goes.

My next couple of picks are more complicated. Like a lot of fans, I’ve been itching for a Lois Lane comic; I’m just not sure that Flashpoint: Lois Lane and the Resistance #1 ($2.99) is going to be the one I want. I’ll need to flip through it in the store to get a feel for it. If it looks good, I’ll grab it and Rocketeer Adventures #2 ($3.99), because hey…the Rocketeer. If I don’t care for this version of Lois Lane, I’ll put it back, trade-wait Rocketeer Adventures and grab Dark Horse Presents #2 ($7.99) instead.

I originally had another hard choice with $30, trying to figure out what I’d need to drop in order to afford Black Widow: The Name of the Rose ($16.99), but my brain still hurts from my $15 list, so screw it. I’ll keep everything from that pile and just add Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Lost Adventures ($14.99). It’s been long enough since I watched the cartoon that I’m not exactly jonesing for more, but I loved that show enough that I expect I’ll dig this, too.

I’d need a LOT of money to afford all my splurge picks this week. I’m curious about Dynamite’s Blackbeard: Legend of the Pyrate King ($19.99) and DC’s First Wave collection ($29.99). I’m also eager to continue reading Secret Avengers with Volume 2: Eyes of the Dragon ($24.99) and I already know I’d enjoy John Byrne’s Next Men, Volume 1 in hardcover ($21.99) because I’ve read those issues. If you put a gun to my head and made me choose one though, I’d go for Secret Avengers, the one that I’m most assured I’ll enjoy, but haven’t yet read.

Justice League #1

[Note: This post was written Wednesday night, before the latest round of announcements.]

I was barely into the back yard when the lawn mower exploded.

This mower was far from new. My wife had owned it since a few years before we met, and it may have been old when she got it. It had cut the grass of at least four different addresses in three different states, and had been maintained and serviced fairly faithfully throughout its life. This summer, however, its persistent little engine had been making ominous noises that my amateur care could not entirely mitigate. When it ran over that big limb, which it tried mightily to shred as it had so many others, the stresses proved to be too much. The next thing I knew, there was a puff of smoke, a spray of oil, and a silver-dollar-sized hole in the mower’s side.

I pointed that out to my wife, to drive home the extent of the damage. “See that in the hole? That’s the piston.”

“We’ll take it to Sears in the morning,” was her reply.

Well, needless to say, by this point we were talking about an ex-mower. The most the Sears mechanics could suggest was to order a part that would cost more than a new mower. This was the tipping point for my wife, when practicality superseded sentiment. Indeed, the new mower is remarkably efficient by comparison, atomizing clippings and leaving a uniform green carpet in its wake. It is cool and bloodless, like a Secret Service agent or an athlete in prime condition. With luck, it will serve us as long and as well as its predecessor.

Now, clearly I am not telling you about my lawn mower because this has turned into “Grumpy Old Garden.” Neither am I saying DC had a gaping hole in its superhero line and we readers thought it could be simply patched. There was, and is, no simple solution — not even starting over entirely — to DC’s array of small and large ailments. A few weeks ago I talked about the relationships we readers form with these characters over time, and I can see a couple of ways to roll back whatever Flashpoint facilitates.

Still, after a week’s worth of pondering September’s lineup, I have decided it is time to embrace the new.

* * *

Actually, “blowing up” is probably too strong a term for the combination of creative-team shuffling, continuity tweaking, and renumbering coming down the pike. “Overhaul” sounds better: it implies that some things were working, and some things needed fixing. (I’m sure we won’t entirely agree on what was working and what wasn’t.)

Therefore, the first question is, why a line-wide overhaul? The Batman and Green Lantern books aren’t really being touched, Wonder Woman was due for another rejiggering, and we knew big things were in store for the cast of Brightest Day. What’s more, that Geoff Johns/Jim Lee Justice League book had been rumored for years. So why not have a series of big announcements throughout the summer and fall? Why win the Internet for two weeks in June when you can (potentially) win it for three months?

Part of it, I think, is to raise the level of every new announcement to that Justice League level. I can’t remember the new Nightwing writer off the top of my head, but I know Nightwing is one of the New 52.

Part of it is the suspense. Watching the steady drip of press releases and rumors over the past week has been like a slow-motion version of the March Madness selection shows. (At press time, titles like Justice Society, Power Girl, and Jonah Hex were still on the bubble.)

Part of it, though, is this notion that all the Flashpoint tie-ins were a dry run for the reading capacity of DC’s audience. If we can extrapolate from my local comics shop’s experience, apparently there are enough people out there willing to take chances on Greater Flashpoint that DC feels like they’ll buy a good bit of the New 52. This includes a certain cynical calculus: if DC’s readership will take chances on esoteric Flashpoint tie-ins like Deathstroke and Frankenstein, why wouldn’t they buy a Teen Titans where Tim Drake wears glider wings and Superboy has a tattoo?

And that, I think, has been driving DC, both for the last little while and into the fall. Essentially, DC is asking its current readers to buy into two successive “altered timelines”: first Flashpoint’s nightmare, and then September’s overhaul. Superficially I think you can compare it to 1985-86, when Crisis On Infinite Earths set up a massive wave of from-the-ground-up revamps, but this time it’s happening at a much faster pace, and with virtually no time to say goodbye to the present status quo.

Such suddenness is wrenching, not least because it forces readers immediately to choose the extent of their investment in the New 52. I don’t mean committing irrevocably to Justice League Dark today, June 9; but I do think many readers (and potential readers) have been deciding generally whether they’re getting most, some, or hardly any of the New 52. Again, this is in contrast to 1986-87, when the new Superman was rolled out in June, the new Wonder Woman in November, and the new Justice League a couple months after that. A reader like me might wake up one day in the fall of 1987 and realize he was reading three times as many comics as he had been the year before. Today I’m buckling down in June to make a post-August budget. It is all very are-you-with-us?, which can be thrilling if you say yes, and a little alienating otherwise.

I am very excited about a few things. I’m particularly eager to see if the rumors are true about Grant Morrison and/or George Pérez on the Superman books. I’m very glad that Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang, who I loved so much on “Architecture & Mortality,” are the new Wonder Woman team. Geoff Johns and Jim Lee should make Justice League worth watching, at least for as long as their schedules allow. Gail Simone seems very enthusiastic about returning Barbara Gordon to Batgirl, and if she’s happy, I’m happy. I’m also curious to see what she (and co-writer Ethan Van Sciver) bring to Firestorm. In fact, there are a number of creative teams which seem well-suited to their new assignments: Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette on Swamp Thing, Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli (great on Unknown Soldier) on Frankenstein, John Rozum and Scott McDaniel on Static, DnA and Fernando Dagnino on Resurrection Man, and Paul Cornell and Diogenes Neves on Demon Knights. My September budget seems to be filling up quickly.

However, quite a few of the New 52 just don’t interest me. New directions and/or new creative teams for Hawkman, Teen Titans, Hawk & Dove, and Green Arrow aren’t enough to earn my $2.99. I can appreciate Dick Grayson resuming his Nightwing career, but without the Titans, Batman, or Chuck Dixon, the character has been somewhat directionless. Similarly, I like Captain Atom, but after Rise Of Arsenal I’m not sure about J.T. Krul. Red Hood and the Outlaws just looks unpleasant.

Overall, from the forty-odd titles released so far, my impression is of a publisher interested mainly in doing variations on the familiar. While 1986 was concerned primarily with relaunching the big names, it also featured a slew of new titles. (Ironically, Booster Gold was one of DC’s most successful new post-Crisis characters, but as I write this there’s no word on the current book’s fate.) Even Batwing, which represents a pretty significant step for the Bat-books, isn’t entirely new, spinning off a character from Batman Incorporated. I commend DC for diversifying its characters, but the credits boxes still include a lot of Krul, Judd Winick, Peter Milligan, Fabian Nicieza, Scott Lobdell, et al. In fact, while Gail Simone is still writing (or co-writing) two titles, as far as I can tell she’s the New 52′s only female creator — no Felicia Henderson, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Amanda Conner, or Nicola Scott as of yet.

Even the “Vertigo-verse” books seem more superhero-flavored, especially Justice League Dark. (Seriously, that’s the title? I’ll probably get the first couple of issues, but I can’t imagine that group under the JL banner without a healthy dose of hipster distance. Still, it does have Zatanna….) Demon Knights is “medieval superheroes,” Frankenstein is “monster superheroes,” and Resurrection Man and Animal Man are unconventional superheroes. I … Vampire! and maybe Swamp Thing look like the most straightforward horror book, although I presume they both fall under the DCU umbrella. With the few slots remaining, I’m hoping DC signs up for more Jonah Hex, gets back into the war business (maybe with Blackhawk), and goes further into fantasy with Amethyst. Finally, although he’s a straight-up superhero, I have to think there are plans for Captain Marvel, and this overhaul is as good a time as any.

That said, it’s good to see DC branching out again, even if it’s into familiar territory. Creative teams can change and premises can be reworked, but I don’t see DC abandoning the overall structure of the New 52 in the near future. Ultimately, that’s what this is about: convincing a cynical readership — not to mention that elusive pool of hypothetical new readers — that these comics can speak to them. If DC is so wedded to a main line of 52 ongoing series, it might have been more exciting to launch one new book per week for a year (culminating in the Johns/Lee Justice League, perhaps), but that plays to the habits of us every-Wednesday readers. Announcing a whole new lineup, and putting it together in a much shorter timeframe, gets everyone’s attention.

* * *

Regardless, the one thing that sets DC apart from just about every other superhero publisher, and the one thing that DC seems eternally bent on sabotaging, is its eclectic nature. I’ve said many times that as much as it may try to emulate Marvel, DC’s superhero line isn’t the product of a small Bullpen collaborating on the same shared universe. For better or worse, it’s a confederation of different creators, bringing disparate influences and distinct perspectives to a variety of genres. Its three keystone characters each represent something unique: Siegel and Shuster’s idealism, Marston’s social activism, and Kane and Finger’s expressionism. Later, they’d be joined by Carmine Infantino’s streamlined speedster and Gil Kane’s striking space-cop. DC is all these names and more: O’Neil and Adams, Englehart and Rogers, Wolfman and Pérez, Levitz and Giffen, Fleming and Von Eeden, Moore and Gibbons, Wein and Wrightson, and on and on. Accordingly, there is a real opportunity here for DC to let its characters be defined by a “class of 2011″: not just Morrison’s Batman and Johns’ GL, but the new teams generally. Twenty-five years ago, DC did just that, with the “Byrne Superman,” the “Pérez Wonder Woman,” and even the “Ostrander Firestorm.”

Furthermore, because DC has blown up its past, it can no longer use all those decades’ worth of stories as an excuse for failing to attract new readers. You want something accessible, hypothetical audience? Well, here you go, served up with new No. 1 issues just itching to be downloaded. Start here and don’t look back. However, the new DC must be about more than just the nth different version of Hawkman or the Justice Society. The new DC needs desperately to take chances on new characters and new ways of telling stories. I’m excited about the anthology books because they represent this kind of experimentation, in terms of both character development and format.

Most importantly, DC needs to be committed to its new initiatives. Make no mistake, I expect to see a return to traditional numbering, sooner rather than later, especially for the continuously-published books like Action and Detective. However, I don’t want the DC of 2012 to look like the DC of 2010. It should try to live up to all this ambitious hype about diversity and outreach. It should include a healthy mix of genres, and not just variations on superhero formulae. Its books should ship on time, establishing expectations and building anticipation. Its A-list titles shouldn’t draw attention away from the midrange books — instead, the midrange should get the care it needs to prosper, instead of being left to sink down the sales charts.

It cannot be said too forcefully that after August 31, there is no going back. If this all turns out to be a grand, year-long “Heroes Reborn”-style digression, and some future Big Event restores what Flashpoint changed, the New 52 will be seen as a crushing failure. There are ominous echoes of the mid-‘70s “DC Explosion,” a flood of new series (including revivals of Teen Titans and All Star Comics) which largely didn’t survive the subsequent “Implosion.” Before too long, DC’s books had migrated largely into what we now call the Direct Market. Therefore, a large part of the New 52′s task will be to get ahead of any potential implosion by actively courting new readers, and especially the new digital marketplace. If DC doesn’t do that, after all this buildup, I’m not sure it could summon the institutional courage for another attempt.

Although this isn’t the best way to take a great leap forward, it’s better than nothing. The old machine still runs, but its days are numbered, and it’s only a matter of time before a new model takes over. Here’s hoping DC has avoided a big blow-up.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

Broadway | As of last night’s preview performance, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is officially “frozen,” meaning there will be no more script rewrites, new lyrics or altered choreography before the $70-million musical opens on Tuesday. In fact, the producers are confident enough to invite critics to attend previews over the next three nights, with their reviews to be published after the opening. “The show, in my opinion, is bulletproof at this point,” Reeve Carney, who stars as Peter Parker, told The New York Times. “I mean, as bulletproof as anything can be. And we want to do right by the people who stood by us, to help this show be seen for what it is.”

However, it’s not all good news for opening night. The New York Post reports that producers hoped  the Empire State Building would be lit in red and blue on Tuesday, but the landmark’s owners would do it only if a change were made to the show: specifically, that the climactic battle between Spider-Man and Green Goblin be moved from the Chrysler Building to … the Empire State Building. [The New York Times]

Retailing | Najafi Cos., a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, is reportedly interested in buying at least half of the 405 bookstores operated by the bankrupt Borders Group. [Bloomberg]

Retailing | Don MacPherson talks with Canadian retailers about how a full-on strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers would affect their business. [Eye on Comics]

Justice League #1

Publishing | Chris Sims traces the history of DC Comics reboots while Glen Weldon tries to sort out the important aspects of the publisher’s September relaunch: “The salient reason that more people aren’t reading about mainstream superheroes, of course, is not because they are unaware of their existence, or confused by backstory — it’s that they don’t happen to be particularly interested in mainstream superheroes.” [ComicsAlliance, NPR]

Publishing | Patrick Rosenkranz profiles Dark Horse Senior Editor Diana Schutz. [The Comics Journal]

Creators | Scott Snyder chats about writing Swamp Thing as part of DC Comics’ upcoming line-wide relaunch: ““I would never ever take on this series lightly. [Alan] Moore’s Swamp Thing is a masterpiece and I would only take the series on if I had a take that honored everything that came before — keeping it part of the character’s past, not erasing anything — and moved forward in a way I thought was compelling, different, and central to the core of the character.” [Comic Riffs]

Creators | Chris Sprouse discusses his work on Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom. [Omnivoracious]

Creators | Beau Smith talks about Wynnona Earp, his run on DC’s Guy Gardner, digital comics and more. [GeekDad]

Comics | T.J. Dietsch counts down the 10 coolest comic-book watering holes. [Topless Robot]

DC Universe: The Stories Of Alan Moore

[A quick note before we go too much farther: I started writing this post before DC’s big announcement about its September-and-beyond plans. In fact, I wanted this particular post to be about something other than Flashpoint and/or line-wide reboots -- so depending on your perspective, I picked exactly the right week, or exactly the wrong week, to draw that line. In any case, it’s probably not hard to tell, from the past few weeks’ worth of posts, where I stand on current events.

[So there you go. On with the business at hand.]

Since it’s pretty much summer, and time to think about catching up on reading, let’s revisit DC’s list of “30 Essential Graphic Novels” — “best-selling titles that you must read[, ]whether you are just beginning to discover graphic novels or you are an established fan looking to expand your collection.”

The list is almost four years old, and has had a few minor updates. (Pride Of Baghdad replaced The Quitter, and Crayon Shinchan replaced Sword Of The Dark Ones.) For the most part, though, it’s the same compilation — heavy on the Batman and the Jeph Loeb, a decent amount of Alan Moore (but no Swamp Thing), a couple of Sandman books and Hellblazer, but no Wonder Woman, no Joe Kubert, and no Jack Kirby. While there are at least a couple of representatives from each of DC’s imprints, there aren’t many hints at the real scope of DC’s diverse publishing history.

Now, I understand that everyone could come up with his or her own unique list. Mine won’t be entirely satisfactory, and neither will yours. I have tried to be wide-ranging (although I have focused more on the DCU books), but to a certain extent I am more interested in exploring the lower tiers of DC’s collections. Everybody knows Batman, Alan Moore and Frank Miller; not everyone knows Jack Knight, Gail Simone, or Grant Morrison.

Another couple of caveats — I didn’t include any book that was already on DC’s list, not because I think my list is better from top to bottom, but again in order to be more diverse. Also, I think all these books are still in print, or at least available at reasonable prices.

Accordingly, in rough chronological order, here’s my alternative thirty….

* * *

We begin in the Golden Age, and I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say these stories changed comics forever. The first books in the Superman Chronicles and Batman Chronicles series are worth your time not just for their historical significance, but also because they show how the characters have changed over the decades. While Superman went through some significant upgrades, especially in the Silver Age, to me it’s also instructive to see how quickly Batman went from “grim urban avenger” to joking father-figure. Similarly, the first (and so far, the only) Wonder Woman Chronicles sets out right from the start the vision that William Moulton Marston had for his creation. It’s not so heavy on the kink as it would be, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting.

Jumping to the Silver Age, one has to include the first Flash Chronicles. Truthfully, there aren’t a lot of “pure” Silver Age books on my list, because I’m not sure you need a lot if you just want an overview. Gardner Fox’s stories and Carmine Infantino’s pencils influenced quite a few of DC’s subsequent revamps, such that books like Green Lantern and Justice League of America tended to look and sound the same. Not that they’re not enjoyable on their own merits; just that Flash gets the nod for being first.

Another perspective on the Silver Age comes from Showcase Presents The Legion of Super-Heroes Volume 1, reprinting the venerable team’s formative years. This does have a bit more of the “Silver Age Crazy” fans talk about, because I’m pretty sure it contains at least one Legion of Super-Pets story. More to the point, it comes from the editorial office of Mort Weisinger, the man who exploded the Superman mythology in the ‘50s and ‘60s. I wanted to include at least one LSH book on the list, and I almost went with The Great Darkness Saga, but for our purposes the early stories are better.

DC history involves more than superheroes, so my list includes three Showcase Presents books which get into war comics and Westerns. Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert are synonymous with DC’s war books, so naturally I include Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock Vol. 1 and Showcase Presents Enemy Ace. Frank Rock and Hans von Hammer are very different characters, but both series show how their senses of honor and duty are tested by the rigors of war. Showcase Presents Jonah Hex also gives us a sort of anti-hero, more ethical and moral by comparison by the lawless world around him.

Moving into the 1970s, I wanted to include the Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories by Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams, but their color collections are out of print. My reluctant substitute is Green Lantern: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, mostly because it includes the introduction of GL John Stewart from GL vol. 2 #87. That’s a highlight of the O’Neil/Adams run, although it’s not as preachy as some of the others. All of the O’Neil/Adams stories are available in black-and-white in Showcase Presents GL Vol. 5.

It should go without saying that the Fourth World needs some representation on any best-of-DC list, and readers who want an introduction have a couple of options. The two-volume paperback series Jimmy Olsen Adventures By Jack Kirby can be had for a reasonable amount, but it only reprints Kirby’s (still mind-bending) run on Jimmy Olsen. For the full New Gods experience, I’d go all-in with the first Jack Kirby Omnibus.

As with Green Lantern/Green Arrow, I’d wanted to include the seminal Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers run on Detective Comics from 1977-78, but that collection (Batman: Strange Apparitions) is out of print. In its stead, I’d recommend the first Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told paperback, which includes O’Neil and Adams’ classic “The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge.” Either that or you could wait for the big Marshall Rogers hardcover, coming in a few months.

We leave the ‘70s with Crisis On Multiple Earths Vol. 4, reprinting the Justice League/Justice Society team-ups from 1975, 1976, and 1977. The first story is an odd duck involving a couple of DC writers from Earth-Prime, but the other two are more straightforward “third-party” adventures, first with the Marvel Family and other ex-Fawcett characters, and then with the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Legion story is one of my favorites, if that helps at all.

The 1980s bring us two absolute musts, both from Alan Moore: Saga of the Swamp Thing Vol. 1, and DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore. As with Jack Kirby, it’s hard to overstate Moore’s contributions to DC’s superhero line, to say nothing of Swamp Thing’s role laying the groundwork for Vertigo. The DCU book also includes “For The Man Who Has Everything,” “Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?” and The Killing Joke, Moore’s most noteworthy Superman and Batman stories.

DC relaunched several superhero titles in the late ‘80s, many of which proved pretty influential. Chief among these was the George Pérez revamp of Wonder Woman, the first collection of which (Gods and Mortals) tells a nice, fairly self-contained, origin story. I also recommend the first volumes of Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire’s Justice League International, John Ostrander and Luke McDonnell’s Suicide Squad (Trial By Fire), and Grant Morrison and Richard Case’s Doom Patrol (Crawling From The Wreckage).

The ‘90s saw more experimentation from DC, although some of it was under different imprints. Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool (by Robert L. Washington, Dwayne McDuffie, and John Paul Leon) collects the first arc of 1993′s Static, along with 2001′s four-issue Rebirth of the Cool miniseries. From WildStorm I picked the first Astro City collection, Life In The Big City. Regular DC wasn’t too bad either, represented here by Starman Omnibus Vol. 1 (James Robinson and Tony Harris), Hitman: A Rage In Arkham (Garth Ennis and John McCrea), and JLA: One Million (Grant Morrison, Val Semeiks, et al.).

Finally, the last decade has had its share of good collections. I picked JLA/Avengers, Darwyn Cooke’s first Spirit collection, the biting satire Dr. 13: Architecture & Mortality, Jeff Smith’s Shazam!: The Monster Society Of Evil, the first Madame Xanadu collection (Disenchanted), the gorgeous Batwoman: Elegy, and Secret Six: Unhinged (first collection from the current series).

* * *

Now, those aren’t all “graphic novels” in the strictest sense — many are just collections of individual issues, or samplers of decades-old series. To me, though, it seems a little disingenuous to frame a product as a graphic novel when DC is still so heavily invested in weekly comics sales.

Naturally, there are a number of series I wanted to include, but which for various reasons didn’t make the cut. These include the first Joshua Dysart/Alberto Ponticelli Unknown Soldier collection (Haunted House) and the first Planetary collection (All Over The World), both excellent intros to extra-good series which ended up in the “others receiving votes” category. I tried to stay away from hardcovers, so as to keep things affordable (thus, no Wednesday Comics), but clearly missed that goal. I really wanted to include at least one New Teen Titans book, but I think you need to start from the beginning in order to appreciate the impact of stories like “The Judas Contract” and “Who Is Donna Troy?” Sadly, those early issues have only been reprinted in the out-of-print New Teen Titans Archives vol. 1. (They’ll be reprinted in the forthcoming NTT Omnibus, but that was too pricey for me.) At least read the Terra Incognito paperback before you crack open Judas Contract, to get an idea of what regular readers went through.

Again, I’m sure there are significant omissions, but overall I think it’s a good start. The Justice League comes out pretty well, with four books; and Batman and Wonder Woman get two apiece. Superman gets three, but only if you count the Legion book and the Jack Kirby book. (Part of that is because Superman: Birthright and All Star Superman are both on DC’s list.)  Besides the Greatest Green Lantern Stories book, there are a few Green Lantern Corps stories in the Alan Moore DCU book.  Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert get two books, as do Moore, Grant Morrison, and George Pérez. Still, it shows a nice range of styles and storytelling formats, and I think it would serve both a DC newcomer and a lifer pretty well.

Of course, by this time next year we’ll all be looking at 52 collections of the first six issues of those coming-in-September titles, and then I’ll have to pick thirty of those….

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Clip and save –  the Grumpy Old Fan “Alternative Thirty,” in alphabetical order:

Astro City: Life In The Big City
Batman Chronicles vol. 1
Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told vol. 1
Batwoman: Elegy
DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
Doom Patrol: Crawling From The Wreckage
Dr. 13: Architecture & Mortality
Crisis On Multiple Earths vol. 4
Flash Chronicles vol. 1
Green Lantern: The Greatest Stories Ever Told
Hitman: A Rage In Arkham
JLA/Avengers
JLA: One Million
Justice League International vol. 1
Jack Kirby Omnibus vol. 1
Madame Xanadu: Disenchanted
Saga of the Swamp Thing vol. 1
Secret Six: Unhinged
Shazam!: The Monster Society Of Evil (Jeff Smith)
Showcase Presents Enemy Ace
Showcase Presents Jonah Hex vol. 1
Showcase Presents The Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 1
Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock vol. 1
The Spirit vol. 1 (Darwyn Cooke)
Starman Omnibus vol. 1
Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool
Suicide Squad: Trial By Fire
Superman Chronicles vol. 1
Wonder Woman Chronicles vol. 1
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals

The grid, in one form or another, is such a ubiquity in comics art that it’s hard to think of logic to apply or standard rules to serve as guidelines for breaking out of it.  Even when panels of the strangest shapes are used, even when the lines they follow are counter-intuitive and asymmetrical, the basic look of the comics page is a rectangle filled up with smaller pictures that have been neatly arranged to fit inside it like puzzle pieces.  Pulling the grid off the page is like pulling the cloth off a table — the space is large, and bare, and it can be daunting to figure out how to go about setting it.  The great comics artists have worked in grids, period.  One has to go far afield, typically to the medium’s forgotten psychedelicists, names like Greg Irons or Philippe Druillet or Alex Nino, before encountering comics art that attempts to make grid-less pages work as anything more than cheap novelty.  Without a grid, the artist is truly alone — no automatic compositional axis to base the page around, no storytelling rhythm in place, and few canonical works to draw inspiration from.

Steve Bissette went “off the grid” at an almost feverish rate in his mid-’80s work with Alan Moore on Swamp Thing.  Though Moore’s scripts have drawn (at least) hundreds of times as many praise, Bissette’s artwork isn’t just the aspect of the comics that’s aged best — it’s what makes them work at all.  This page is a prime example of why: Moore’s captions are poesy rather than narration, verse and not prose.  They swirl around in blatant disregard of the idea that an artist must put direct action of some sort or other on the page, calling up flashes of color and shadowy half-forms instead.  Gridding a sequence in which “clusters of insect eggs burn like nebulae, suspended in their unique and vine-wrought cosmos,” and things only go on like that too, would border on the ridiculous.  These words are not intended to produce an exact counterpoint in the art.  They’re flights of fancy.  Bissette understands this, and does the same thing: this page is anything but literal, vague in its depiction of both progression through time and movement through space.  Instead, it gives us multiple, somewhat interconnected views into one scene, leaving plenty of space for Moore’s image-rich writing.  Rather than simply act as an echo to the words, Bissette finds their purpose and creates a complementary piece of art.

It’s a fascinating bit of collaboration-in-comics, with neither writer nor artist much bothered with “telling the story”, which is usually held up as the ultimate concern of divided-labor comic books.  Rather than put any specific information across, the aim is to immerse readers in the sensual experience of comics, words and pictures intertwined.  The grid, which divides story into bite-size chunks for readers to consume one by one, disappears, and twisting blacks and radiant color roar off the page to encompass the reader as fully as possible.  Bissette’s composition is designed to be more than readers can take in all at once: you need to live on the page for a few moments to understand its content.  That, of course, is the point.  Rather than seeing a sequence of characters moving and speaking and living — the “illusion of life” summoned up by the grid — readers are forced instead to see the same colors and patterns as the characters themselves to.  To feel the story more deeply.  If “literary comics” don’t necessitate the muralist Bissette approach, one has to wonder if they don’t at least invite it.  When the words strive to move beyond the typical way of comics, maybe the pictures should too.

But for all the artistic experimentation here, Bissette’s page is still a strikingly readable, comprehensible page of comics.  Its flow is absolutely beautiful, zooming out and then back in on a single mutating human figure, tracing a lazy diagonal from top left to bottom right. Beginning to end, without the pattern of doubling back that gridded pages force the eye into.  The top right and bottom left corners, free of readable information, strike up a harmonic motif with one another, lines stretching outward from the shell and the flower before being cut off by the line of the “action”.  These op-art flourishes bind the page with an ‘X’ shape, its axis hovering directly over the center image.  That picture of a girl immersed in a planet is bathed in blacks that draw the eye to it before anything else, the whole page proceeding from it in all directions.  Bissette creates something that has as much of painting’s rhythm and logic as that of gridded comics.  It’s not the typical page’s directionality — but comics are pictures, and don’t always need to be read like books.

What Bissette accomplishes here is what his collaborator Moore is often credited with.  It’s a link between the comics of yesterday and today, a page that takes the amplitude and techniques of Jim Steranko and Jack Kirby’s psychedelic montages as its starting point, while anticipating the free expression of the hardcore, pictorial logic-driven art-comix to come.  It may not look much like “comics” as they’re typically thought of, but it’s a flag planted for the medium in much wilder territory than it usually dares to explore.

Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing

Although they previously teased it with two characters blacked out, DC Comics has now released the full covers (plural) for the first issue of Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing.

The above cover by Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes’ is the book’s final cover, with John Constantine and Zatanna appearing where big blobs of black once dwelled. And after the jump is J.G. Jones’ variant cover, featuring Batman, Swamp Thing and Constantine.

*****

Ivan Reis' small-cast variant cover for Brightest Day #0

Once dead, twelve heroes and villains were resurrected by a white light expelled from deep within the center of the Earth. The reason behind their rebirth remains a mystery. But it will not be a mystery for long. This is the Brightest Day.

So reads the mission statement which began each issue of the year-long, twice-monthly, just-concluded Brightest Day miniseries (written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi, drawn by various artists). One might therefore be forgiven for thinking that BD would have used this premise to mold those characters into an imperfect ensemble, in order to explore collectively what “life after death” meant in a superhero context.

Instead, BD farmed out almost half its potential cast to other titles, thereby transforming itself (rather quickly) into a multi-headed Rebirth-style rejuvenation. From there it reintroduced readers to Aquaman, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Firestorm, J’Onn J’Onzz, and Deadman, and used them in turn to reintroduce … well, you probably know by now, but let’s wait a while to talk about that.

Accordingly, Brightest Day forsook any kind of singular, standalone story for the handful of loosely-connected character-oriented plots mentioned above. In this respect it is a more polished, better-executed version of Countdown (To Final Crisis), the 2007-08 weekly series which spent 51 issues haphazardly trying to unify DC’s superhero books. While Brightest Day isn’t as big a mess, it makes no real attempt (beyond a series of perfunctory panels) to re-integrate the outsourced characters into the miniseries’ narrative. This ends up making those characters seem less important to the White Lantern’s underlying mission, and by extension makes the details of said mission more arbitrary.

In fact, the White Lantern’s omniscient, omnipotent involvement lends the miniseries a forced, artificial air. For all its talk about “living life” and “regaining life,” ultimately our heroes don’t enjoy a lot of free will. They behave as we expect them to and, except for one character failing a particular test, are rewarded (for lack of a better term) appropriately. I’ve watched enough Star Trek to know that, when manipulated by an omnipotent being, we mortals can usually figure out how to get our own way and make the omnipotent being like it, but that’s not the case here.

That’s not to say that Brightest Day felt entirely perfunctory or by-the-numbers. I imagine a reader’s enjoyment of the series will vary with his or her appreciation for the particular character(s) involved. For example, I’ve always liked Aquaman and Firestorm, and not so much the Hawks, and BD did nothing to change that. Nevertheless, while I liked parts of Brightest Day well enough, I have to say it was a disappointment. Brightest Day #24 tries to infuse the rest of the miniseries with deeper meaning, but in the end it came down to process. Twelve heroes and villains were brought back from the dead and moved from one set of Points A to another set of Points B (and probably a future set of Points C, etc.) While a good bit of it was entertaining, it didn’t live up to its potential.

More details, and SPOILERS, below…

5

4

3

2

1

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You know, I’m not sure what to think about the “new” Swamp Thing. Essentially, this is not the same character who first appeared in 1972′s Swamp Thing vol. 1 #1, who (among many other things) married Abby, participated in Crisis On Infinite Earths, and became one of Vertigo’s founding fathers. That fine fellow was, to paraphrase “The Anatomy Lesson,” a plant trying its best to be Alec Holland. By contrast, the character (re)introduced in Brightest Day #24 is Alec Holland, who’s been dead ever since Swamp Thing vol. 1 #1, and who apparently gives himself over (back?) to The Green in order to protect the Earth, blah blah blah. What’s more, the Swampy we’ve come to know has since been corrupted by Nekron’s influence — not exactly into a Black Lantern, but close — and he ends up being killed by the real Alec Holland. It reminded me both of the original Superman (Kal-L)’s death during Infinite Crisis, and Ben Reilly (thought to be the real Peter Parker) taking over as Spider-Man.

What’s more, it has the high-minded tone of “this is how things should have been,” which (intentionally or not) tends to diminish, however slightly, the Swamp Thing of Wein, Wrightson, Moore, Bissette, Totleben, et al. I mean, my first thought was boy, Alan Moore’s gonna get mad again, but then I remembered Alan Moore probably couldn’t care less about anything DC does anymore.*

Oh, and now Swamp Thing is out for vengeance against cartoonish corporate polluters, with John Constantine trailing along like a New Wave version of Jack McGee.

Still, it’s nice to have Swamp Thing and Constantine, or versions thereof, back in the DC Universe proper. It goes along with Death’s recent appearances in Action Comics; and was that Madame Xanadu I saw in this week’s Wonder Woman #610? I don’t think a new Swamp Thing series is imminent, either from DC or Vertigo, but hey, at least he can invade Gotham City again, for the first time.

Abrupt as it might have been, Swamp Thing’s portion of Brightest Day was handled pretty elegantly compared to Hawkman and Hawkgirl’s. Their particular plot involved breaking Hath-Set’s curse over Khufu and Chay-Ara, which doomed the two lovers to be reincarnated perpetually, and to have future reincarnations facilitated by Hath-Set killing them. This time, though, the Hawks travel first to the “bridge” planet called Hawkworld, and then to the Star Sapphires’ homeworld Zamaron, to a) discover the link between the eternal lovers and the Sapphires, and b) break the cycle of reincarnation by killing Hath-Set. That last turns out to be fairly simple, as Hawkman snaps his neck when the moment presents itself. However, Hath-Set had a partner, Chay-Ara’s mother, who (to make a long story short) winds up on the wrong end of the Love Entity. Along the way there are a lot of glimpses into the Hawks’ past lives, a lot of talk about staying together forever (in the ‘til-death sense), and of course a lot of fighting.

Up to issue #24, I thought this was a decent way to give the Hawks some closure, because for several years they’d been defined, at least in part, by this reincarnation cycle, and — you’ll pardon the expression — it was getting old. Removing this subplot seemed to be a good way to make the Hawks more accessible, and the two of them together was mellowing Hawkman into a more tolerable character. However, the whole arc relied too heavily both on knowledge of the Hawks’ past lives and on a decent familiarity with current Star Sapphire lore, and worked not so much as a reintroduction, but as a payoff. Furthermore, with Hawkgirl turned into … an air elemental? Wind itself? … by the events of #24, we’re back to Angry Hawkman Is Angry. Surely this situation won’t last long, and I expect it will be resolved either in Justice Society or in some future Hawkman title. Again, if I liked Hawkman more, I’d be more inclined to care.

Also left frustrated by the events of #24 was Deadman — or, more accurately, the revived Boston Brand, who spent much of Brightest Day as the White Lantern’s agent, bouncing from crisis point to crisis point and generally moving the plot along. Boston’s mission was to experience life, mostly through cheeseburgers and sex, and it did yield a nice couple of scenes with his grandfather.** However, it looks like the White Lantern and I read two different sets of Deadman comics, because the WL sees Boston/Deadman as worried only about himself. Boston sacrifices his life to save Dove towards the end of #24, not surprisingly returning him to the familiar Deadman role — and also not surprisingly, Deadman isn’t too happy about getting back to the old grind. Despite all that, though, I had thought Deadman was comfortable with his place in the universe, especially since his killer had been brought to justice, right? Even if the Hook is still out there, you’d think that would excuse a little single-mindedness on Deadman’s part. Boston’s arc was decent enough, but the context the White Lantern brought to it seemed a bit forced.

Similarly, the Firestorm plot — Ronnie, who’s been brought back to life, and Jason, who never died, have to work together — felt like it contradicted a previous story. Early in Jason’s series (around issues #9-#13), Ronnie and Jason worked together as Firestorm without being at each other’s throats. Ronnie then faded away, apparently having lost the connection to Firestorm which was keeping him “alive.” Next time we saw Ronnie was as the Black Lantern Firestorm, who killed Gehenna, which put Ronnie and Jason on less-than-good terms. In short, Brightest Day never mentions that the two had some small interactions before Blackest Night, which strikes me as a significant omission because it could have added some complexity to their relationship. “Former colleagues fighting” is better dramatically than “relative strangers fighting.” As with Hawkman, Brightest Day leaves Firestorm’s plot hanging, only this time with a literal countdown (gah! Surely DC is tired of that word!) to nuclear-man disaster. If it’s not resolved in a new Firestorm series (or miniseries), this seems like a good candidate for a Justice League storyline.

The Martian Manhunter’s plot contrasts his relationships with two women: D’Kay D’Razz, another Green Martian bent on bringing her race back to life; and Melissa Erdel, the aged daughter of the scientist who brought J’Onn (and, we learn, D’Kay) to Earth. D’Kay’s scheme — what? You thought someone named D’Kay wouldn’t have a scheme? — is rather predictable (not to mention twisted and violent), involving a Mars-is-restored fantasy which soon turns grim. By contrast, Melissa’s is touching. Melissa was wounded in an explosion caused by J’Onn’s arrival on Earth, leaving her with a bit of shrapnel in her skull that was slowly destroying her mind. J’Onn has been visiting her in the nursing home, appearing to her as a sort of super-powered vision of her father. In issue #24, though, he removes the shrapnel safely from her head and tells her the truth. Her faculties restored, she explains that she’s always wanted J’Onn’s forgiveness for ripping him away from the life he knew. He tells her “[y]ou didn’t steal my life. You and your father gave me one.” It’s a somewhat pat resolution (if J’Onn could take out the shrapnel just like that, why hadn’t he?), and it is a bit on-the-nose in light of his choosing Earth over Mars, but it’s still kind of sweet.

Finally, I liked the Aquaman plot best not just because it was the most superhero-y, but because it turned out to have the most in common with Brightest Day’s eventual theme. Basically, Aquaman discovers that Mera was originally sent to Atlantis to kill him, as her people’s revenge for being exiled from Atlantis to the penal colony/dimension of Xebel. This is complicated further by Mera’s sister Siren leading an invasion force, assisted by Black Manta, who had fathered a child (Jackson “Aqualad II” Hyde) able to “unlock” the Xebelians’ Bermuda Triangle prison. That’s pretty complicated, but through it all Aquaman comes across pretty well — neither square-jawed nor jaded, but capable and heroic.

His main problem throughout this plot is a constant reminder of his Black Lantern incarnation, manifested symbolically in reflections and physically through his command of only zombified sea creatures. It’s a nice indication of Nekron’s lingering influence on the Earth, presumably cleansed upon Swamp Thing’s return.*** It’s also a creepy, arresting visual which illustrates what’s at stake without letting it get in the way of the action. This plot leaves a thread dangling, but ironically enough for the only characters we know are getting their own series (written by Johns, with art by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado), Aquaman’s story stands pretty well on its own.

Like 52, Brightest Day’s art was handled by a bullpen of pencillers (Reis, Prado, Ardian Syaf, Patrick Gleason, and Scott Clark) and inkers (Oclair Albert, Vicente Sifuentes, Mark Irwin, and David Beaty), each assigned for the most part to a single set of characters. Except for Gleason, these artists’ styles were similar enough that the book looked fairly uniform, and I had no real complaints about their storytelling.

Johns and Tomasi also worked well together, to the point where I had a hard time telling who might have written what. To me, Johns’ dialogue can get a little too hard-edged, and Tomasi’s characters tend to be too verbose; but those tendencies were less evident here. I have an educated guess about who wrote what — Johns on Aquaman and the Hawks; Tomasi on Deadman, J’Onn J’Onzz, and Firestorm — but I wouldn’t be surprised if their collaboration were more complex.

As for the story’s juggling of plots, I will say it read better in big chunks (where the shifts in scene and tone were less noticeable) than it did as biweekly installments. This is a nice way of saying that the series felt somewhat disjointed in single-issue form. Early on, BD’s focus on the Hawks and/or Deadman’s travels failed to hold my attention, and the Firestorm plot (dealing both with Stormy’s mechanics and with those of his Black Lantern counterpart) felt similarly ungrounded. The series picked up steam with the Martian Manhunter and Aquaman plots, and of course as everything came together in the last few issues.

That said, I don’t think Brightest Day would have worked as well if it were split into discrete Rebirth-style miniseries. Perhaps this could have been a kind of Seven Soldiers-style format, say with two oversized BD issues bookending a series of four- or five-issue Aquaman, Hawkman, Firestorm, and Martian Manhunter miniseries. A “Life Restored” moment at the end of each miniseries (and in the outsourced bits as well) would then have fed into the second big BD issue. Actually, I’m a little surprised DC didn’t try something like that, but I imagine logistical concerns (like Johns’ schedule) won out.

However, putting all these characters into the same book did reinforce a sense of underlying mystery and interconnectedness. It would have helped if these characters — most of whom were friends and colleagues — realized those shared connections, even in a setting as kitschy as the two married couples comparing notes over dinner. (In the Satellite Era, the JLAers socialized quite a bit in their off-duty hours.) Regardless, although the connections weren’t played up, they were there; and it simplified matters to have everyone in the same book. It also allowed Boston/Deadman to weave his way through the various arcs, something which a series of miniseries couldn’t have pulled off as smoothly.

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In terms of the bottom line, Brightest Day has had consistently good sales since last April’s issue #0 debuted at the top of ICV2′s chart, and is up there with the Bat-books and Green Lantern as one of DC’s most successful titles of the past year. Not only has it placed consistently in ICV2′s top ten (and often in the top five), it has used the favorable buzz from Blackest Night and Green Lantern to stir interest in its B- and C-list cast. Moreover, despite issue #22′s sales being down to almost half of issue #0′s, its top-ten status seems pretty secure, thanks to overall declines in periodical sales. I’d say that’s good news generally for the upcoming Aquaman series, as well as whatever else comes out of BD.

Unfortunately, in an historical context, Brightest Day’s overall numbers aren’t as impressive. Issue #22 sold 69,824 copies to retailers, which lags behind comparable data from DC’s other year-long, more-than-monthly, event-style miniseries. Countdown #3 (third-from-last in the book’s reverse-numbered order) sold a scarily-similar 69,829 copies to retailers, but its final two issues ticked up to 70,163 and 72,703 copies each. 52’s final three issues were miles ahead of both its successors, selling 97,073, 94,934, and 102,075 copies of issues #50, #51, and #52. Brightest Day’s final numbers won’t determine entirely the success of its spinoffs — I’d imagine Aquaman #1 would do better than 70,000 copies just on the strength of Johns, Reis, and Prado — but as a rule, I have to think that the spinoffs won’t sell as well.

As a story, Brightest Day had its highs and lows. As continuity, though, fans can compartmentalize BD into individual arcs, choosing to remember what they liked over what they didn’t.  Geoff Johns’ real skill may lie in that realm: making comics which are, at a minimum, more good than bad. I say this as someone who’s read a good bit of Johns’ DC work, and who thinks that at this point he’s probably close to the top of his game. Clearly, Brightest Day entertained enough readers to keep it at the top of the charts throughout its year-long run. I think it’ll do well enough to make Aquaman a decent-selling book, at least as long as Johns is associated with it. Whether BD’s coattails are long enough to carry books for BD’s other principals remains to be seen.

It’s probably not news to note that year-long, process-oriented miniseries can attract a significant audience. Nor is it that insightful to call Brightest Day an improvement on Countdown.  For now, though, the White Lanterns at DC must be pleased with Brightest Day. It carried a decent amount of momentum from Blackest Night, it set up at least one new ongoing series, and it repatriated Swamp Thing and John Constantine. Too bad it couldn’t have done these things in one cohesive story.

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* [And then I saw Let’s Be Friends Again’s be-careful-what-you-wish-for take, seasoned with the notion that Johns and Moore are fighting some invisible, arcane duel of wits through the ether, and thought my first impulse might not have been too far off.]

** [I’m pretty sure no sex was involved with the grandfather, although I can’t remember about the cheeseburgers.]

*** [During the course of Brightest Day, in another symbolic “purge of darkness,” Aquaman’s dismemberment is re-enacted and subsequently healed. I don’t think this is meant explicitly as a commentary on the Peter David run, just something else about Aquaman that needed “fixing.” Although, he’s called “Arthur Curry” a lot more than “Orin” in this miniseries....]

A Swamp Thing cover being auctioned off for Japan

As the drama in Japan continues, we are reminded that comics are everywhere. Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy has been ferrying food and supplies to the victims, charting his progress on Twitter as he goes.

On this side of the ocean, the response is less dramatic but no less heartfelt: Creative types are coming up with all sorts of benefits for Japan. Comics Alliance has a nice roundup of events and art sales, and Daniella Orihuela-Gruber and Michael Huang have set up Anime and Manga Bloggers For Japan, a site where blogger can direct their readers, with links to Doctors Without Borders and Shelterbox. The fan-run One PIece Podcast is planning a 24-hour podcast marathon this weekend that will feature many bloggers and voice actors and hopefully raise $25,000 for the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. At the Otaku USA site, editor Patrick Macias explains why he is endorsing the Japan Society Earthquake Relief Fund. Dane Ault, of Monkey Minion Press, is auctioning off an original Swamp Thing cover on eBay. And Pinguino Kolb updated me on the We Heart Japan art auction, which happens tomorrow at Meltdown Comics in LA, saying that they are flooded with art and expect lots of celebrities to stop by, so if you’re in LA right now, that’s the place to be—and if you’re not, stay tuned, because they expect to do several more fund-raisers later this month.

So far, there has been no news of any anime or manga creators being injured or killed in the disaster, but the industry has been disrupted by the physical damage. As noted below, the Tokyo Anime Fair has been cancelled. Anime News Network has two lists of delayed anime and manga releases, which they updated again today. The American publisher Manga University, which is located in Japan, escaped serious damage and is donating 10% of sales from their store to the Japanese Red Cross.

Finally, it seems as inevitable as Rule 34 that where there’s a disaster, someone will try to blame the victims. This time the culprit is Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, the guy behind the Youth Healthy Development Ordinance, which placed tight restrictions on racy manga. During a press conference yesterday, Isihara said

Japanese politics is tainted with egoism and populism. We need to use tsunami to wipe out egoism, which has rusted onto the mentality of Japanese over a long period of time.

I think (the disaster) is tembatsu (divine punishment), although I feel sorry for disaster victims.

Isihara later retracted his comments, but they inspired the normally staid retailer news site ICv2 to abandon its usual neutral voice and deliver a stinging reply:

To anyone watching the events in Japan from anywhere else in the world, who has seen the amazing cooperation of the Japanese people, who initiated rolling blackouts before they were even asked to do so, who have totally refrained from looting, and who have cooperated with and executed relief efforts in a truly heroic manner, the comments of Ishihara’s are simply dumbfounding.

The Royal Historian of Oz #1 Andy Hirsch’s expressive art really lights up this story of an L. Frank Baum wannabe who makes it to the real Land of Oz—and steals a bunch of their stuff. His hapless son, who has barely been keeping things together, is less than thrilled to learn that his house is now home to an assortment of (mostly living) Oz artifacts, and the ruler of Oz isn’t happy with the situation either. Writer Tommy Kovac makes the characters grounded and convincing despite the fantastic circumstances, and Hirsch does a great job of bringing Baum’s lesser-known creations to life, filling the panels with quirky details. It’s in glorious black and white, with a bit of an underground comics vibe, and at 99 cents (a penny less than the print edition!), it’s a solid bargain.

Atomic Robo: The Deadly Art of Science #1 Set in 1930, this is the first issue of a new story arc, and it starts out with a masked vigilante chasing a pair of gangsters while his daughter follows the action via video cameras and wiretaps. When the action shifts to New York, Atomic Robo gets mixed up in it and tags along after the vigilante, looking for the sort of adventures he has only read about in the pulps. The art is clean, the writing is funny, and the characters snap into place right away. Well worth the 99 cents.

The book is only so-so, but I love Darwyn Cooke's cover

Mirror, Mirror This graphic novel is your basic search-for-the-prize thriller with a fairy tale twist: Everyone is running after pieces of the mirror from Snow White, which has great, if somewhat vaguely defined, power. To prevent the mirror from being misused, Snow White smashed it and sent the pieces all over the world, and a secret society called The Huntsmen has been tasked with keeping them separate. Now the slacker son of two murdered archaeologists is racing to keep the last few shards away from the evil prince Mason, a descendant of Snow White’s evil stepmother. It’s a decent, if somewhat light, thriller; the problem is that the creators focus so tightly on the plot that everything seems pre-ordained—given the vaguest of directions (“Greece”), the main characters, Owen and Sally, arrive somewhere and immediately find what they are looking for, and Owen always makes the right guess to find the next clue. It’s all too neat, and the novel seems more like a series of capers than a coherent story, although some of this comes from a fairly complicated plot being compressed into an 85-page graphic novel. None of the ideas are exactly original—both the fairy-tales-are-real thing and the lost-relic thing have been done multiple times—and Lee Moder’s art follows the standard tropes—you can immediately tell what each character’s role will be, good or evil, by looking at them. So no new ground is broken here, but the book does provide a solid hour or so of fast-paced entertainment, and at $4.99, the digital version is a better deal than the print edition, which retails for $14.99. (Free preview here.)

Saga of the Swamp Thing #21 This was a bit of serendipity. I wasn’t reading comics in 1983, when Alan Moore took over this series and wrote a new origin story for the Swamp Thing, so I never would have found it if it hadn’t popped up on comiXology. It’s a throwback to the old EC horror stories, starting with an atmospheric scene (rain dripping on windows) and the revelation that the narrator has done something vague but terrible to another character. From there the story flashes back to the conflict between the two and the creation story of the Swamp Thing. It’s great stuff, imaginative and well executed. This is a good example of one of the strengths of digital—it’s nice to read this in pristine form onscreen (rather than on yellowing paper) and even nicer to be able to buy a copy within seconds of finding out it exists. Cheap at twice the price, and a real bargain at 99 cents.