DC's new 52, week 3

Some thoughts on reading some of DC's new 52, week 3, or, as some people might call it, gratuitous sex and boobies/disgusting "Saw" level violence week at DC comics!  In all seriousness, I have two young girls at home (6 and 3) who are starting to get into Comics.  Thank goodness for Tiny Titans and Archie Comics, because there has not been a single comic DC has put out in this new 52 initiative that I would be at all comfortable giving to my girls.  Definitely not any of the stuff that came out this week.  I don't understand.  Don't they want kids reading comics?  If they do, give me more comics that I can comfortably share with my children!

As an aside, I do read comics other than DC Comics, and I look forward to reviewing both some Marvel books and some independent books I've enjoyed recently.  Let me know what you're reading and what you liked (or what you hated)!

Batman - Very good comic.  Solid introduction to the new universe/status quo, even though it really is a continuation of the previous stories.  The story is pretty engaging, and they show a Bruce Wayne who is feeling pretty good about life and not quite as psychotically obsessing about his parents' murder.  Art is fine, but I'm not a huge fan.  It's a little too cartoony for me.  I also share the minor complaint that they made Dick Grayson so much shorter than Bruce Wayne.  If he really filled in as Batman for a year, he should appear to be a grown-up, and not a head shorter than Bruce Wayne though.  These are relatively small quibbles though, as I really trust Scott Snyder as a writer.  He seems to have a good handle on the characters, and I'd like to see where he takes this story.

Captain Atom - This was a nice surprise.  I was completely unfamiliar with the Captain Atom character pre-relaunch.  All I knew was that it was the character that Dr. Manhattan was based on.  Also, I remember him a little from the old Justice League International, where he never seemed particularly interesting to me.  However, this was something interesting and different.  Seems like, while he is portrayed as a superhero, this will be also something of a sci-fi comic.  I like the artwork, it's different from your standard Superhero art (a little more pencil-sketchy).  I'm not sure I'll keep reading this, not because I don't like it but because I have to make some hard choices. Also, Captain Atom's powers are pretty similar (as far as I can tell) to those of Firestorm, and I'm really curious about that comic, coming out next week and written by Gail Simone (who I really enjoy).  That being said, this is an interesting story and one worth watching.

Catwoman - Oy.  Here we go.  This is the first of two comics I read this week that make me want to wash my hands afterwards.  I don't want to just parrot a lot of the sentiment that has been expressed elsewhere on the Internet; I'll get to the problematic stuff later.  First, the stuff that was good in this issue.  Judd Winick is pretty good at characterization, and I actually thought that Catwoman was a pretty likable character.  However, if she is a master thief, how is it that people are frequently able to figure out where she lives and blow up her apartment?  I thought she was really good at what she did.  The art is good, clearly the artist wants us to know tat Catwoman/Selina is a "sexy" character.  Really hard to miss that point.

Which leads me into the problems in the issue.  I have no problem with the idea of a "sexy" comic which gets at the idea that these characters are adults and have, you know, feelings and urges.  However, there's a difference between sexy (which some of the best characterizations of Catwoman have been) and this book, which is best summarized as boobies boobies boobies, Catwoman and Batman have sexy time.  Seriously, you don't even see her face for a little while, just gratuitous T&A shots.  This is really just not what I'm looking for in a comic.  If I read a comic book involving Catwoman, I want to see her pull off some really clever heist, not her clothes.  If I read a comic involving Batman, I want to read about him solving crimes or defeating bad guys, not making the "oh" face.  So, thanks but no thanks.

Deathstroke - Deathstroke is a badass.  A major @#$%ing badass.  I know because they tell you, repeatedly in this issue.  I know there's been some strong dislike for this issue on the web, and I understand where it's coming from.  This issue does have kind of a dated, 90's feel to it, and for the world's greatest badass, his costume just looks stupid, like some Image comic from 1994.  All that being said, I actually didn't think this was a bad issue.  It definitely had appeal like a B-level action movie, and some fun moments.  However, I won't be picking this up regularly.  The end makes clear that Deathstroke is out to prove to everyone that he is the biggest badass on the planet.  If each issue is just him proving that, then that's not really much of a story for me to follow.  However, I'll check in on this one periodically.

Green Lantern Corps - So, to cut to the chase, I like Green Lantern and the Green Lantern Corps, but I'm only going to follow one of these books and I prefer the Hal Jordan character to Guy Gardner and John Stewart, even though they're both fun, good characters.  This was a pretty good issue, and I thought that Peter Tomasi did a good job of catching new readers up and continuing things from the last story.  This was a well-written issue, and if there weren't so many other comics I was excited about I would consider it.  However, further to a point I made above, this is a really violent comic.  Some of it is just gratuitous - I know there is violence in a world of super heroes, but I don't really want to see entrails and beings getting sliced in half.  I also think that with Blackest Night and Brightest Day and the War of the Green Lanterns and all of the color corps, I may just have Green Lantern fatigue.  So, thanks but no thanks.

Nightwing - Very solid issue.  Good story, really enjoyed the art.  Another one of these stories where past knowledge of the current continuity might be helpful, but the writer (Kyle Higgins) does a solid job of letting you know the current status quo (used to be Robin, then Nightwing, then Batman, now back to Nightwing). His Dick Grayson is a very likable character; sympathetically drawn.  We spend a lot of time in his head, but he's a well-drawn character.  The violence here is present, but not grotesque, and it sets up an interesting situation which seems to tie in to the storyline in Scott Snyder's Batman.  Not sure I'll subscribe long-term, but only there are already so many solid Bat-books out there, but this one is worth watching.

Red Hood and the Outlaws - Yikes.  Another comic that made me feel a little gross reading it.  The characters and story are not strong enough to overcome the fact that Starfire is depicted as an amnesiac sexbot, and the T&A is just ridiculous.  I get that she is a hot alien that comes from a clothing-optional planet, but I would be embarrassed to be reading this comic around other adults.  If I was a 12 year old boy I would really enjoy this comic though, what with all the T&A, objectification of women, and shooting.  However, neither Red Hood nor Arsenal are particularly interesting characters to me.  This was disappointing, as last week's Superboy (also by Scott Lobdell) was a pleasant surprise.  This, however, is something I can definitely skip.

Supergirl - The surprise of the week.  I haven't read much Supergirl and wasn't really expecting much of anything here.  Prior to the relaunch, the Superan franchise was in real need of a reboot, and this issue works extremely well.  Unlike pretty much everything else I've read (even Action Comics starts 6 months in to Superman's super-career) in the relaunch, this comic begins at the very beginning of Supergirl's arrival on Earth, and the writer (Michael Green) nicely portrays Supergirl's arrival on Earth and her confusion about everything.  Yes, it is an entire issue spent in a fight sequence, but I think it really works.  I want to know how she interacts with her famous cousin and see how this develops.

Wonder Woman - Fantastic.  One I'll definitely keep reading.  This is a really strong entry into reading about Wonder Woman.  She's actually more like a supporting character in this story, but Brian Azzarello really pulls you right in to a world of gods with amazing powers and mysterious motives.  This feels like a supernatural mystery, which is not normally my thing but it is strongly written.  You get that the stakes are high here.  Wonder Woman is a little bit of a mystery here, you don't really get any of her internal thoughts or motivation, but you do get a sense of her larger than life (both figuratively and literally, someone finally realized that if the is an Amazonian, she should be really tall) presence, and that she is heroic and more than human.  This was one that I was most curious about, and I was not disappointed.