The NEW 52 - 2 More Great Books That I Forgot

I, Vampire --> Good stuff. Art is dark, gritty, and atmospheric. Perfectly matches the feel of the book. The story setup is awesome too with the two lovers set to be mortal enemies.

Justice League Dark --> I have to admit the artwork here is what really hooked me, but I liked the look at the more arcane side of the DC Universe. This story seems big and very exciting so far.

I have not had the chance to read all of the #2 issues yet, but as soon as I do I will post an update to the list of (now) 26 issues out of the original 52 that held my interest. Unless the second issue of one of these titles is just terrible, I'll keep them on the pull list through issue 3 or 4.

Also, if anybody has stumbled onto this blog, please let me know what you think in the comments.

DC Comics - THE NEW 52

Wow! It's been a long time since I first started this blog, and I only ever made three entries, so I guess in that sense my little endeavor was quite a failure, but there is a silver lining to this cloud.

I have been inspired to start this blog back up as a way to pick out the books in the NEW 52 that are really great and worth keeping up with.

So I guess I'd just like to dive right in then...

The following is a list of the 24 books out of the NEW 52 that I felt were worth sticking around for 3-4 issues to see where the story takes us (in order by shipping date each month):

Justice League --> Jim Lee artwork, nuff said! See art below.

Action Comics --> Grant Morrison/Rags Morales take Superman back to his roots. Great concept.

Animal Man --> Creepy setup for a potentially great story.

Batwing --> Stellar art and a great cliffhanger ending in Issue #1.

Detective Comics --> Great Tony Daniel art, over-the-top story, very crazy cliffhanger in Issue #1.

Stormwatch --> Wildstorm characters, nuff said! (I'm a HUGE Wildstorm fan)

Swamp Thing --> Scott Snyder firing on all cylinders, made me care about a character I wouldn't normally think twice about with the creepy atmosphere and cool insights into the character.

Batman and Robin, Vol. 2 --> Solid art and story, interesting inter-play between Batman and Damien.

Batwoman --> Gorgeous art from J.H. Williams III, cool supernatural-type initial storyline.

Demon Knights --> Neat middle-ages setting, it will be fun to see how this fairly eclectic group of characters comes together and plays off each other in the book.

Frankenstein: Agent of Shade --> Who doesn't love the classic monsters (Frankenstein, Wolf-Man, Dracula, The Mummy, Creature From the Black Lagoon)? I'm interested to see if the storyline is engaging enough to keep my interest.

Green Lantern --> Doug Mahnke on art duties! I pretty much will read any book that he draws, but the story in Issue #1 was pretty good as well.

Grifter --> Wildstorm character, nuff said! (Grifter is my favorite comic book character of all time) I do feel like I need to say that the story was engaging and very mysterious. A lot of cool plot threads are being thrown at us and it will be cool to unravel the mystery behind them at the same time as the lead character does. Also, really pretty art by CAFU (for the first 3 issues at least). See art below.

All-Star Western --> This one came out of the blue for me. Amazing story, pacing, and character set-up. I can't wait to read more of this series.

Batman --> Again, Scott Snyder is the bomb! This is a MUST-READ series for any Batman fan! Nice art by Greg Capullo.

Green Lantern Corps --> Artwork was beautiful in Issue #1, but other than that I'm a little on the fence about this title based on the storyline so far.

Nightwing --> Amazing artwork (as you can see, my enjoyment of a book really depends a lot on the quality of the artwork) and nice character work on Dick Grayson.

Red Hood and the Outlaws --> Art was awesome -- Kenneth Rocafort! Story has potential to make the Red Hood (Jason Todd) a much cooler and more likable character which I'm excited for.

Aquaman --> Ivan Reis hit the artwork out of the park. Geoff Johns seems like he will be able to make this character cool again. I love the crazy sea monsters (badass-looking) at the end of Issue #1.

Batman: The Dark Knight --> David Finch artwork, again...nuff said!

The Savage Hawkman --> Very pretty, painted artwork (but it can be a little muddled at times). Story is a bit standard at this point, but the art is keeping me around for a few more issues.

Superman --> OK issue, I love the character so I'll stick around to see where this first story arc or two goes. Art was OK too. This series needs to create a hook for new readers, which it hasn't yet.

Teen Titans --> Brett Booth artwork, again...nuff said!

Voodoo --> Wildstorm character, nuff said! This incarnation of the character is very different from the original, so we are all pretty much seeing Voodoo evolve from the ground floor, which is pretty neat. The art was also glorious to behold in Issue #1.

I will be wittling this list down over the next 2-3 months, so I'll try to post my updates as I drop some of these books and get into a more permanent pull list.

Big Things Happening @ DC...

For those of you who haven't kept up on comics, those of you who haven't realized the joy of collecting comics yet, or for those of you who have lived in a cave for the last year I am publishing some links to get you up to speed on DC's massively anticipated 7-issue miniseries, Infinite Crisis.

Info on Crisis On Infinite Earths:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis_on_infinite_earths

Info on Infinite Crisis:
http://boards.ign.com/comics_general_board/b5033/100351703/p1/?305

This miniseries is, in essence, a follow-up to the best-selling 1985 maxiseries, Crisis On Infinite Earths. The original crisis shook up the DC universe and killed off millions of worlds and a few top tier characters. The effects of the storyline were felt through the DC universe for years to come. That was then. Now we have (in my opinion) an even bigger series hitting the shelves for the next 5 months. The current crisis is a story that has been in the making for many years but has really drawn attention the last 6 months with 5 special miniseries' (Day of Vengeance, OMAC Project, Rann/Thanagar War, Villains United, and The Return of Donna Troy) and the whole DCU crossing over to set up this massive story. It's a very EXCITING time for comics.

Infinite Crisis promises to shake up the entire DCU and make some lasting (and possibly shocking) changes to the characters we all know and love. The reason this storyline is so anticipated is because of the way the main DC characters have been portrayed in the previous 6 months. We have seen Batman's paranoia lead to many deaths, we have seen Wonder Woman resort to murder (something that very seldom happens in the DCU), and we have seen the trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman seemingly fall apart at the seems they have started to turn against each other. All of this foreshadowing makes for a very enticing leadup to the miniseries.

You can get caught up on Infinite Crisis by clicking the links above or you could just go out and buy copies of IC #1 and #2, read them, it takes about 20 minutes, and wait on pins and needles for the next issue to come out. In the coming months I will be reviewing the new IC issues as they come out and try to make sense of this incredibly good but convoluted storyline. I also collect many other DC comics on a monthly basis so I will also review and/or recommend certain exceptionally great issues that come out on any given month. Stay with me, the coming year promises to be a monumental one for comics and with all the great, big-budget comic book inspired movies coming next year, I think the comic industry may be in for a revival.

Just one more thing, I hope that someday in the near future, comic books and graphic novels will become as mainstream as the Xbox or Playstation. I remember a time when you were considered a nerd if you played video games, and now these games are bringing people together and selling millions. I also know of a time (I wasn't born yet) that most kids from 8 years old to 18 read comics. That was in the '40s and '50s. Sure, it can be argued that comics are much darker and grittier now and they aren't for kids anymore and I say, "Exactly, most of them are not targeted for a young audience but that does not mean that an intelligent young person with a love for great stories can't enjoy them the same as a young person did in the '50s and '60s." The bottom line is: Anyone who likes great stories and art and doesn't read comics because they don't know anything about them or is afraid they might look weird buying them, is really missing out on the opportunity to read topknotch fiction if they don't give these wonderful comics a try, but I digress.

The Classic Stories You Must Read!

Here is a brief list of classic comic book stories (mostly in graphic novel or trade paperback form) that are easy( and usually cheap) to get your hands on, and are must read material.
TPB=trade paperback

From the DC Universe:
1) Watchmen TPB (written by Alan Moore)
2) Crisis On Infinite Earths TPB (original 12-issue series published by DC in 1985)
3) Superman For All Seasons TPB (written by Jeph Loeb; artwork by Tim Sale)
4) The Death of Superman TPB (comics originally published by DC in 1992-1993)
5) World Without A Superman TPB (comics originally published by DC in 1993)
6) Reign of the Supermen TPB (comics originally published by DC in 1993)
7) Batman: Year One TPB (written by Frank Miller; artwork by David Mazucchelli)
8) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns TPB (writer/artist: Frank Miller)
9) Kingdom Come TPB (written by Mark Waid; artwork by Alex Ross (AWESOME))
10) Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow? TPB
from Superman #423 and Action Comics #583 (written by Alan Moore; artwork by Curt Swan and George Perez)
11) What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?
from Superman #775 (written by Joe Kelly; artwork by Doug Mahnke and Lee Bermejo)

From the Marvel Universe:
1) Wolverine Miniseries (written by Chris Claremont; artwork by Frank Miller)
2) Fatal Attractions TPB (writers: various; artists: various)
3) Wolverine: Not Dead Yet TPB (written by Warren Ellis; artwork by Leinil Francis Yu)
4) Wolverine #145 (written by Erik Larsen; artwork by Leinil Francis Yu)
A very powerful story, Wolverine gets his Adamantium back after many years.

From the Wildstorm Universe:
1) Wildstorm Rising Crossover TPB
This was the first major crossover in the Wildstorm Universe. A good read, circa 1995. (The pic above is from one of the issues of this crossover.)

Introducing Yet Another Comics Blog (read: hopefully you will find some of the info on this blog interesting and maybe even useful)

Hi All,

My name is C.J. Sloan and first of all, I want to let everyone know that I am by no means an expert on comics or comic-related information. I am merely a comic fanboy who has been reading comics since 1992 (I jumped on the DC bandwagon with the Death of Superman) and who has a real appreciation for what comics and graphic novels have to offer in the realm of great storytelling. I am a huge fan of DC comics as will be easily understood during the course of reading my blog. I have also collected Marvel, Image, Wildstorm, Top Cow, Cliffhanger, and various other publishers' comics but have always come back to DC because they have the best characters and stories on a continual basis (in other words, I also really like Wildstorm, but comics worth reading published by them in the last 4 or 5 years are sporadic, at best).

I have decided to try my hand at blogging in an attempt to not only rid myself of the boredom caused by the monotony of full-time work (Civil Engineering), but also possibly shed some light on what comics are actually worth reading and tell anyone who wants to listen why comic books are not for kids anymore. With this blog I will attempt to provide a place on the web where new comic book fans (and old ones) can come and get up-to-date information, indepth reviews of the latest comics, and interesting links to comic-related websites. So, without further ado, it is now time to jump right in to the wonderful world of comics. Oh yeah...DC rules!

Your Comics Authority (kind of) On The Web,

C.J. Sloan