Day-And-Date: Justice League 2, Batman 2, Nightwing 2, Wonder Woman 2

Justice League 2
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

Like the first issue, this is not the world-changing comic it was promised to be, but it's still an enjoyable read. Even better than the first in that it's starting to feel more like a Justice League book now that we have Superman and the Flash in addition to Batman and Green Lantern. Still no sign of Wonder Woman (except in a text piece at the end) or Aquaman, though. In true Geoff Johns fashion, we get a sequence where Barry Allen proves that he's the awesomist ever,

but then on the next page Clark shows that he's still pretty darn awesome too, lest we piss off Superman fans. (And I think I might be a Superman fan, now that he has a personality. It's interesting to see the dynamic between these characters now that Clark is no longer the level-headed one.)

But memo to Geoff Johns: A cliffhanger where the left half of Victor Stone's body is all mangled from an explosion is not really a cliffhanger. It's not like anyone doesn't know how that story ends. (His brain is put into a robot body and he becomes Robotman, of course.)

Batman 2
Writer: Scott Snyder
Artists: Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Pixels

Good stuff, from page 1 to 20. Great character moments for Bruce, fascinating historical details about Gotham, intriguing hints of some kind of secret society. Also, I love that Bruce has a page full of captions to represent the thoughts that run through his head in the couple of seconds it must take to be thrown out a window and fall toward the ground below:

Nightwing 2
Writer: Kyle Higgins
Artists: Eddy Barrows, J.P. Mayer, & Paulo Siquiera
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Pixels

A good issue all around, but I dunno, nothing really stands out about it. Except that Dick's redhead of the week calls Bruce his boss, and Dick doesn't correct her. Did Bruce never adopt Dick in the new continuity? If so, that will make me sad. Also, I could swear that there's been a story where Dick bought Haly's Circus before, which bothers me not so much for continuity's sake as for the sake of feeling like I'm reading a new story, not one I've read before. Oh well, the last page promises some kind of huge reveal about the circus coming up, which hopefully will make this story stand out from similar ones that have preceded it.

Wonder Woman 2
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Cliff Chiang
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

I felt a little lukewarm about the first issue of this series, but this issue rocks. It's got humor, action, intrigue, and best of all, the plot is much easier to follow than the first issue's was. I'm kind of angry that the last page reveal was spoiled in all the coverage of the New York Comic Con, though, because otherwise I think it would have totally caught me off guard (in a good way). I love that Hippolyta is blonde again, because it goes back to her roots (no pun intended) and because it visually distinguishes her from Diana. Depending on who was drawing her, black-haired Hippolyta often looked like Wonder Woman's identical twin. Also, I love this exchange:

The look on Hermes' face in that middle panel made me laugh out loud.

Day-And-Date: Justice League 1

Justice League 1
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artists: Jim Lee & Scott Williams
Release Date: August 31, 2011
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

Perhaps more than any other New 52 title, this issue had a lot of hype to live up to. Does it succeed? Well, it depends on what exactly you were expecting. If you were expecting the greatest thing ever to happen to the Justice League, maybe not, but if you were expecting an entertaining, well-written comic with pretty pictures of iconic DC characters looking just a little different than you're used to, then yes it delivers. There are a lot of things this comic gets right: It establishes the new DC universe, where superheroes are not yet trusted by the public at large and the authorities. It focuses on the tense dynamic between Batman and Green Lantern, which is still new enough that it feels fresh and lends itself to natural character development and conflict. It sets the stage for Cyborg's new origin, which looks like it will keep the important pieces of the original--Victor is a successful athlete who doesn't get along with his scientist father--but loses the more dated "angry young Black man" aspects, and adds an interesting twist that ties Cyborg into the Justice League--his father is presumably one of the first experts in the emerging scientific field of superhuman studies. This comic also sets up the coming conflict that will no doubt bring this Justice League together, with a sense of foreboding. It does all this in a relatively quick-paced, fun-to-read narrative with equal shares of action, excitement, and humor.

A couple of things didn't quite work for me. First, Johns has committed the same sin that Grant Morrison did with 1997's JLA 1: After months of hype about the new, awesomer-than-ever Justice League, we didn't even get to see the entire team in the first issue. I understand that this is an origin story and the team hasn't formed yet, but at least make sure each of the characters on the cover makes an appearance! Of seven members of this League, three aren't to be found anywhere in this issue (unless you count the sketchbook material at the end). Making this even worse than Morrison's sin is the fact that Justice League 2 will not be out for another seven weeks, so really this issue feels like a teaser more than anything. It's a teaser that suggests good things to come, though, and I have faith that once this team comes together it will have been worth the wait, as it was with JLA.

The second thing that didn't work for me--well, "didn't work for me" is a little strong; perhaps better "that may or may not work for me in the long run"--is that the changes to the DC Universe we've seen so far suggest that the New 52 is DC's attempt to be more like Marvel. So far we've established that the Justice League lives in a world of people who hate and fear them, and that when superheroes first meet, they must naturally fight each other. Like I said, this may or may not work in the long run. Creating conflict for the protagonists and allowing personalities to clash are not necessarily bad things. And Marvel has been outselling DC for a long time, so I can understand why they might want to try out Marvel's secret sauce. I just hope that the creators involved in this initiative are not simply saying, "Let's Marvelize the DCU," but that rather they are taking what works for Marvel and applying it to the DCU in a way that makes sense for the characters and their world. And I also hope that's not the extent of their plan.

One thing that did work for me, though, is Jim Lee's art. It isn't perfect--there were a few panels that I had to look at twice to figure out what was going on--but overall the pictures were pretty, as you'd expect, and Lee even managed to surprise me. He is not typically known for great facial expressions, at least not in the way Kevin Maguire is, but Batman's self-satisfied smile here is priceless:

Perhaps a question I should answer on each of these Day-And-Date reviews is whether it's worth paying full price to read this comic now, or if you'd be better off waiting a month to save a dollar? I say buy it now. This is a great read, and clearly an important prelude to everything coming up in the next month.

Digital Delay on Justice League 1

As I mentioned last night, I was curious to see whether there would be a midnight release of Justice League 1 on Comixology, similar to the midnight releases at comic shops around the country, and if so what time zone it would go by. I guessed that Eastern would make the most sense, so when I checked Comixology's DC store at about 12:30am Eastern and didn't see anything new, I just about decided it wasn't going to happen and went to bed. But then I checked the general store homepage and found this:

At first 2am Eastern time seemed like an odd choice, but it makes sense as a compromise between making easterners wait all the way until 3am in order to release at midnight Pacific time, and giving Pacific-coast digital readers an unfair advantage over their print-reading counterparts if it were released at midnight Eastern time. At any rate, I was happy to see that Comixology put up the note letting us know when to expect the release, as I think one of the weaknesses of their release schedule thus far is that it is typically unpredictable (another post on that another day). And then I came back at 2am Eastern time (11pm Pacific) and it was still not there. I refreshed and refreshed and refreshed for five minutes, growing more and more annoyed at Comixology's lack of timeliness.

And then I looked at the notice again and saw, as you no doubt saw at first glance, that it says 2pm, not 2am. Sigh. So I guess I'll be posting a review tomorrow after all. C'est la vie.

Day-And-Date: DC Retroactive: Justice League of America - The 90s

DC Retroactive: Justice League of America - The 90s
Writers: Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Kevin Maguire
Release Date: August 24, 2011
Rating: 4 out of 5 Pixels

I didn't read Giffen and DeMatteis's Justice League when it was published. I started reading comics just after their era ended and the Dan Jurgens era began. But in the years since, I've managed to buy most of their run at one point or another. So while this Retroactive special isn't exactly a nostalgia piece for me in the same way the 90s Batman one was, it's still a welcome visit with old friends. This issue hits all the important notes--the recurring one-liners throughout the issue, panels crammed with dialogue, the preference for the quotidian over the epic. And I'll be damned if Kevin Maguire's art isn't even better each time he returns to these characters, making each page a delight to look at. Honestly, it surprises me that the Giffen/DeMatteis era lasted for several years after Maguire left the series. Giffen's plots and DeMatteis's words are hilarious, to be sure, but half the comedy is in the facial expressions. The only post-Maguire artist who came close to achieving the same effect was Adam Hughes.

It occurred to me while reading this issue, though, that Maguire's strengths go far beyond faces. There's a scene here where J'onn is getting increasingly frustrated by the incompetence of everyone around him, and he tells Oberon, "I'll be in my room--"

Few comic book artists could pull off this subtle joke. Most artists either don't include the level of detail to show someone's veins popping out with stress, or else they simply draw everyone so muscular that their veins are popping out all the time. With Maguire, though, the veins on J'onn's hand contribute to the story.

I find it interesting that DC decided to include Justice League America 62 as the backup feature in this issue. This is the conclusion of "Breakdowns," the final issue of Giffen and Dematteis's run on the book. I was trying to figure out why they chose this rather than an earlier issue, but then I realized that this is probably the only issue illustrated by Kevin Maguire that was released in the 90s. By the time 1990 came around, Maguire had moved on, and returned only for this final issue of the run. Which makes the choice to label this book as a 90s special rather than 80s somewhat puzzling. The funny Justice League lasted from 1987 to 1992, so equally in both decades, but there's no denying that Maguire is the artist most associated with the run, and he was only with the title in the 80s. I understand that DC wanted to revisit the Detroit League, which was definitely a child of the 80s, but if I were them I would have called this issue an 80s special and brought Grant Morrison and Howard Porter back together to represent the 90s. But oh well, I'm not DC.

Of note to digital readers: In conjunction with this issue, Comixology is offering two issues of Justice League America from the early 90s (#s 37 and 38, each illustrated by Adam Hughes) for $0.99 each. Definitely worth the price of admission if you don't already own them.

Of note to comic book creators: Don't have your characters talk about their fears of dying unless you want Brad Meltzer to come along twelve years later and turn your nice little scene into morbid foreshadowing: