Titans #1 - I had high expectations for this book. It was the original New Teen Titans line up back again. That's good, right? Well, in the hands of Judd Winick, no. The writing is horrid on this issue. All set up scenes but no resolutions. We see heroes in sudden peril but are not shown how they escape. Very ppor. And while I like Ian Churchill's art, he tends to go too porno on the women. This isn't Image comics of the 90's, people. I am going to drop this book super fast.
Justice Society of America #14 - the "Thy Kingdom Come" arc continues to unfold slowly. Maybe too slw. I appreciate all the character bits, and this a large cast, but let's get on with it.
Book of the week - Booster Gold #8. Yup, Booster and Beetle once again top their week of release with no surprise. This is a fun book. Right now, in an alternate timeline, Booster and the Beetle try to beat the odds and turn things right. I loved the team of "freedom fighters" that Hawkman and Green Arrow assembled. Only in alternate realities do you get line-ups like that. And the last page harkens for great things next issue. No doubt - I love this title and am very glad DC is putting it out. I'm hoping the quality remains this high for many years on this book.
Countdown #3 - You know, man, I keep picking this up because I want to see how it all ends (and because I've come this far anyway), but every time I read one of these I keeping thinking "I don't care". This whole series - to me - is badly written, badly drawn, and just plain silly. Just me, maybe. And I mean that in an overall way - there have been a few saving moments...just not enough. But after the bar being raised so high with the introduction of "Identity Crisis" and DC suddenly making books for grownups, I feel like they're targeting eighth graders with this stuff. I just hope where it's going to is more satisfying than the lead-up.
ReplyDeleteTitans - haven't made up my mind yet (mostly because I'm such a huge fan of these characters, probably), but I'm down with your points. Judd's really hit-or-miss with me with his writing. I recall at least one line in there really made me cringe - did Nightwing actually say it looked like someone "fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down"? Isn't it kind of a writer's job to coin their own phrases and not just use ones that have been said about a billion times before? I generally like Ian's art, but I have noticed they've been pulling him in more on "porn duty" since he's been working for DC (Supergirl, this one). Oh, come on, Martin, how can you make a porn comparison when Starfire is only COMPLETELY NUDE in the scene (and in front of an underaged boy, no less)? Though to be fair, they did pander to the ladies as well with Wally in the shower and Gar in his boxers. So, basically, this new series is just about turning readers on? Kind of looking like it, isn't it? I find a bigger problem, story-telling wise, is his art's "bigness". He tends to prefer full-page shots or just really big panels - which means less room in the issue to actually tell the story. Though I will give it up for him for that splash page showing Gotham (and NW leaping over it). I really enjoyed that...it made me feel like I was really there. And then demons started attacking naked heroes...
Yeah, what Mike said...
ReplyDeleteI have been pretty entertained by Countdown - seriously - in a kind of looking-at-car-crashes-on-truTV sort of way. It's just so hard to look away.
I'm just not going to buy any more DC books that are weekly, is pretty much it. I've been cutting down like crazy as is - do I even GET any DC books besides Countdown?... huh, can't think of any...
I pretty much get Knights of the Dinner Table (funny funny stuff, if you can get past the artwork!) and Dork Tower (last issue? Last year!) and a very few others...
Flipped through Titans in the store and was MONDO disappointed. Jus tdidn't appear all that interesting and nothing I've heard says otherwise. Shame.
I could write a better Titans in my sleep, actually. So could Mike, Martin, Tim, Jim, Joel, Ben...
:)
KC
KC, you're right - I have written better Titans tales (did three years of DC fanfiction and one of my ongoing titles was the Titans West.
ReplyDeleteYes, Countdown has had its ups and downs - and it spent a lot of time launching other tie-in tales. There are certainly better DC books to be reading than this though.
I'm willing to give Final Crisis a shot and then the next weekly which is Trinity - that features Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.