Gender: Male Location: On a rock, floating through space..
Huh? So as long as DC just keeps their major universe altering reboots to every twenty years we should just be grateful?
Oh, I see - why bother trying to create a decent, coherent storyline when it's so much easier to just employ incompetent writers and then wipe everything out and start all over again every couple of decades...
I have to agree with you, though. The reboots take something away from the overall product (for me). Each one, judged on its own, is more good than bad, but all together? Not so much.
I am in theory against reboots, but if you take the example of say, Superman in the 80s, compared to some of the awful retcons they've made to the X-Men, a fresh start really doesn't seem that awful to me.
Gender: Male Location: On a rock, floating through space..
I am on issue 35 now of DC's 52 and I have to agree with you - it's not that awful. In fact, the more I read it the more I like it. Like I said, I didn't like Infinite Crisis that much but if IC was necessary for 52 to happen then I not only accept it - I support it.
Will have to see what they did after 52 but if they keep up the standard and focus I will end up conceding that maybe there are a few writers who actually know what they are doing. It might be the four writers working together or the fact that the emphasis has moved away from the Big Three but I really think 52 is some of the best work in the DC universe I've read in a long time (which does not suggest I've read everything in the DC universe!).
Gender: Male Location: On a rock, floating through space..
Okay. Finished 52, including World War III and Aftermath: The Four Horseman. As I said above, 52 grew on me, maybe because the Trinity wasn't there which allowed a lot more focus on "minor" characters. The Question, especially, was great. I never really read anything with him in it, so I enjoyed his character a lot. Dibny was awesome as well.
As for Black Adam - I knew it was coming and still I felt a lot of anger when everything was ripped from him, which I suppose speaks to the talent of the writers. I am not quite sure why he chose to go destroy a whole country full of innocent people rather than just target the ones responsible, though. "Driven out of his mind by rage" just didn't really sell it to me. It felt a bit superficial, as if the writers were just looking for a reason to end with a huge fight so they shrugged and decided: Well, it's Black Adam, so let's have him kill millions of innocent people for no plausible reason whatsoever, so that everybody who wears a costume will suit up and join the fight.
Cool fight, though. Which makes me wonder: What exactly was the point of World War III? <shrugs> Just a way to try and sell more comics? I really don't know why it was published. Anyway, that brings me to Aftermath...
So, they're back. The Trinity in all their glory. And they promptly get their butts kicked by the same Four Horsemen that were just torn to pieces by Black Adam. Uhm...
This is why I sometimes want to tear my beard out and throw rocks in the general direction of Burbank, California, while shouting obscenities. Then we're given some half-hearted excuse like: Well, you see, they're sort of on the same level (meaning Superman and Black Adam) but you see, Adam doesn't really pull his punches. Ffs...
If you are fighting for your life against a giant embodiment of Plague or Death, do you really think you should still be pulling your punches just to show you are morally superior to Black Adam or something? What's wrong with you?
Honestly, Aftermath just made me dread seeing what is now happening in the New 52. That one Batman scene made me laugh, though. The expressions on their faces when [SPOILER - highlight to read]: he stood there and said, "How long before you can get this nattering thing out of me?" were priceless.
So, at the moment I'm reading Grayson, which I'm kinda enjoying. Dick has always been one of my favourite characters and Grayson has some great scenes. Still trying to decide what to read after Grayson...
I used to get pissed off at reboots, but these days all the soft-resets, and even the occasional hard reset don't really bother me much. All I care about are stories. Tell me great stories and all is forgiven.
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Gender: Male Location: On a rock, floating through space..
Well. Finished Grayson. I liked it! Yes, there were some weak parts, but overall I think Tim Seeley did a very good job, especially with Dick's devil-may-care attitude and mental toughness, not to mention his physical prowess and ... charms.
I liked the mix of humour and action, blended with a typical hero's journey: Find your true identity, gather some companions (loved the growing friendship between Dick and Midnighter!), beat the monster, save the girl. There were also some small touches that stood out, like the nod to The Dark Knight Returns:
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Grayson #19
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Overall, quite a pleasing arc of one of my favourite characters. Is Dick a spy? No. But did he enjoy being a spy? Oh yes. And so did I.
Now, onto something I've been looking forward to since I saw Lucio Parrillo's cover art:
Dynamite's 2012 run of Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle is described thusly (with lots of exclamation marks): "For the first time in its 100 year history the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs story, Tarzan of The Apes is told UNCENSORED! This series will capture the savagery and action of the original while expanding on it with new elements!
The violent saga of Greystoke begins in December written by Arvid Nelson and illustrated by Roberto Castro, and featuring covers by Alex Ross, Lucio Parrillo, Ryan Sook, and Paul Renaud!"
Gender: Male Location: On a rock, floating through space..
Lord of the Jungle was okay. Vol 1 was decent, especially if you are a big ERB fan (I am). But in general, apart from a few exceptional covers, the the art is poor to mediocre, especially in the middle. Just save yourself the effort and read the books.
Read the two Lobo/Authority crossovers. My advice? Don't. Except if for some reason you are a fan of Simon Bisley's art (I'm not).
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Feb 14th, 2017 12:07 AM
