DC You, Part Two

Week Two of the new DC You is upon us.  This week’s offerings are different than last week’s in more ways than one.  I’m pretty sure DC could/should have staggered the releases a bit better, in so much that this week contained three books headlined (or at least co-headlined) by the All-New Batman, Jim Gordon.  In a month with four Wednesday’s, I’d have liked to have seen (at the very least) Batman #41 and Detective Comics #41 on separate weeks.

My only other complaint about this week needs a bit of a preface.  Going into DC You, the publisher made it clear that they were going with a “story over continuity” approach, which is all great in my book… To a degree.  Basically what this means is that each creative team (writer and artists) are able to tell stories that they want to tell without worrying about the goings-on of other books.  Like I said, that is great.  I’m all for more creative freedom.  However…  When that freedom hinders a story, or takes me out of the story entirely, that is when it begins to be a problem.  In Batman/Superman #21, Superman has no idea that Batman is (presumed) dead.  In that same book, Lex Luthor appears and makes mention of Superman’s secret identity having been revealed, yet makes no mention of the fact that they very recently were on a team together (Lex is part of the Justice League, whose current storyline, Darkseid War, takes place before all of the other DC You books).  In cases like this, when you’re dealing with characters and stories which are closely related, I would prefer continuity that is a little bit tighter.

Let’s go ahead and just jump into the previews.

All-Star Section 8 #1

What the f*** did I just read?  A former superhero (Sixpack) and recovering alcoholic is accidentally served a drink at a party which causes him to revert into his secret identity and reform his team of misfit heroes known as Section 8 (a play on the military parlance for “mentally unfit for duty”).  Only having seven members, Sixpack attempts to recruit Batman as their eighth (it is called Section 8, after all).  I just… I don’t even know with this book.  I enjoy diversity in the line (I loved Bat-Mite and Bizarro, remember!?), but I don’t think I’ll be reading issue #2 of this series.

Earth 2: Society #1

My love for the actual Golden Age of Comics, the real Earth-2, and the real Justice Society of America skews my view of anything DC has done with the new Earth 2 since re-launching it in 2012.  The characters reimagined anew are similar to their Golden Age counterparts in name and (sort of) look, but the appeal of Earth-2, to me, is not offering something “similar but different”, it’s evoking a sense of nostalgia for days long gone.  Earth 2: Society is a modern take on the concept, which is directly opposed to what the concept actually is.  I probably will not be reading this series going forward.

Harley Quinn #17 & Catwoman #41

Okay, I’m doing these two together because they both suffered from the same problem.  Going hand-in-hand with what I mentioned earlier about continuity, every book in the DC You “re-launch” was supposed to have been a great entry point into those stories.  Neither of these books lived up to that promise.  They are the beginning of new stories for both characters; however, both would come across as better stories having read the past six or eight issues.  Because I had not read any issues of either of these series’ prior to this, I felt somewhat lost going in to these issues.   After having read both, I was hooked enough to want to continue reading both series, as both began decent (or intriguing, if nothing else) stories.

Gotham Academy #7

One of my favorite books prior to the DC You re-launch, Gotham Academy not only stars a young group of characters, but the creative team are all young.  Youth is something missing from comics, in my opinion, so this book is a much needed injection into the publishing line.  The introduction of Damian Wayne, Robin and the son of Bruce Wayne, in this issue was great.  This book has mined the Batman mythos with small name characters and Easter eggs appearing in each issue, which I love.  Billed as “Hogwarts in Gotham City”, this book will definitely keep my readership.

Starfire #1

Starfire is a character who has been written out of character for the past several years, according to some.  Not having been an avid Teen Titans reader, I couldn’t tell you whether there’s any weight to this claim, but what I can tell you is that the debut issue of Starfire’s solo series was a fantastic read.  As an alien, the story works well as a “fish out of water” story with Starfire not understanding sarcasm, learning the concept of needing money, etc.  Introduction of a supporting cast and set up for a larger story going into the next issues were the two best parts of this book.  And the art.  Holy crap, the art.  Looking forward to continuing this series next month.

Constantine: The Hellblazer #1

The surprise of the week.  John Constantine is a character I really want to like.  I tried reading Justice League Dark (in which he starred), I tried his last solo series, I tried watching the television series.  Nothing kept me coming back.  This book knocked it out of the park.  It has supernatural elements, it has horror, it’s true to the core of the character.  The art was great, the layout of the book was interesting.  I don’t think I can sing the praises of this issue enough.  Can’t wait for issue #2.

Batman/Superman #21

I mentioned my complaints of this book earlier, so I’ll focus on the positives here.  Like I said last week, I love the “four-issue a month, weekly story progress” concept that the Superman books are taking.  It harkens back to the era of the comics industry in which I grew up and became a reader.  The dynamic between Superman and the new Batman will be the selling point of the story moving forward.  I’m interested to see how the two will work together (or perhaps they won’t) in the absence of Bruce Wayne.

Detective Comics #41

Although it typically stars Batman, Detective Comics works extremely well as an anthology book or a book that can have a larger or a rotating cast.  With the new status quo of the Batman books, Detective Comics will serve as an alternate look at how the cultural climate in Gotham City is changing.  Now starring the Gotham City Police Department (Harvey Bullock and the “Batman Task Force” in particular, Detective looks to keep its tone as a gritty crime book and will leave the superheroing to the main Batman book.  With the creative team staying the same as it was prior to the DC You re-launch, one could assume that it will retain the high quality it has seen for the past year or so.  Looking forward to issue #42 in July.

Batman #41

The gem of the week.  After the presumed death of Bruce Wayne in April’s Batman #40, the Gotham City Police Department has initiated “Project Batman”, a program that looks to have Gotham’s protector on the city payroll (and under their command).  It was leaked several months ago that former GCPD Commissioner Gordon would assume the mantle of the Bat and would sport a brand new suit of armor rather than the traditional Batsuit.

Yes, I took this in my car after leaving the comic shop last night.

As with literally every story Scott Snyder has written going all the way back to Batman #1 in September 2011, I’ve said, “man, I don’t know…” and like every time before, after reading I said, “damn it, that was cool.”  Greg Capullo’s art was impeccable as always.  The splash page reveal of the armor in all its glory is probably going to end up as the wallpaper of one of my devices in the very near future.  Snyder has said in multiple interviews that Gotham City is as much of a character in his run on Batman as the title hero.  This issue begins to introduce and flesh out neighborhoods (“Little Cuba”) and districts (“The Narrows”) of Gotham City that will serve as the backdrop of the story going forward.  Additionally, new villains will be introduced in the coming issues as a response to the new status quo of Gordon as Batman.  A story that just takes a character and puts him in the cape and cowl without changing anything else and expects it to be as good as the real Batman will never be as good as one that takes a new Batman and adjusts the world around him accordingly.  This is the difference between Azrael-Batman and Dick Grayson-Batman.  With his own supporting cast and his own villains, I’m hoping the All-New Batman will be as great as the latter.  July’s #42 cannot ship soon enough.

Thanks for reading!

-Josh

Sources: excerpts from primary source interviews; Wikipedia

 
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