New 52! The Flash #1 Review

So if you're new to my blog, you should click on the Comic link above to see more reviews and read a little about myself.  I'm a relatively new comic book reader; that is, to regularly buy comics each week and follow multiple characters...  I've traditionally been a Green Lantern type of person.

Written by: Francis Manapul
Art by: Brian Buccellato

So, I have to admit that I really don't know a whole lot about The Flash.  I knew he was struck by lightning, but I didn't know that he taps into an energy called The Speed Force.  I remember watching a television show about The Flash about a scientist that ran really fast and ate a lot of food... No ring (from what I remember) and no magically appearing costumes.

Anyway...

I absolutely loved this comic!  The comic gave me a really good introduction to Barry Allen aka The Flash.  I'm also in love with Brian Buccellato's art!  All I can say is, Barry Allen can be easily played by some good looking celebrity (blond) and make an awesome movie!

While on date at a museum, Barry Allen finds himself in the middle of a robbery.  In super hero fashion, he makes a quick exit to change into The Flash and kick some serious tail.  The robbers are after an experimental device called a genome re-coder.  Amidst all the action, one of the robbers is a killed (or is he?) and is later revealed to be an old school friend of Barry.

Barry becomes a little obsessed to find out what really happened to his friend and how he really died when *poof* Manual enters the scene.  Alive?!

Francis did a fantastic job in his storytelling and gave me enough of a "hook" to buy the next issue.

~

Side note:  I really need to figure out which comics I'm going to dedicate my budget to because I'm pretty sure I can't keep up with this volume of comics.  I have to say that it's become pretty difficult to narrow down the few comics that I want to read every week.

Writing: 9/10
Art: 10/10
Storytelling: 9/10

Overall:  9.33/10

New 52! Green Lantern New Guardians #1 Review

Written by: Tony Bedard
Art by: Tyler Kirkham

I was somewhat skeptical when I first bought Green Lantern New Guardians.  I thought it was going to be some cheesy spin off where DC was milking the Green Lantern series for all its recent successes: movies, Blackest Night, etc.

I was proved wrong...

[minor spoiler]

I'm a little confused as to when this comic actually takes place.  I can't tell if it's before or after the new 52 Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps... I'm going to assume before because, both, Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps refer to Kyle Rayner being around...  And the comic starts out with  a retelling of Kyle Rayner (my favorite Green Lantern) and how he is inducted into the Green Latnern corps by Ganthet, the last surviving Guardian of the Universe.  If you are familiar with the pre-new 52 story, Kyle Rayner is inducted into the corps and ends up saving the Green Lantern corps after Hal Jordan completely destroys everything.

Even though the story spans across several different worlds, it's pretty easy to follow.  The story really gets interesting as a lantern from each of the emotional spectrums is decommissioned and each ring  makes it way towards Sector 2814 aka Earth.  After saving people from a construction accident, the rings show up, all saying "Kyle Rayner you have been chosen."

I'm not quite sure what the writer is saying here...  Kyle Rayner is chosen to wear ALL the colors of the emotional spectrum?  Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet... Rainbow colors... Kyle Rayner... Hey now! *snaps*

Tony Bedard does a really good job alluding to each world and previous green lanterns without being too wordy or concerned with the details.  It's perfect.  Tyler Kirkham's art is amazing, except for, where are the Blue lanterns?  You see almost every other corps except them... I guess we'll see!

I'm definitely getting issue #2

Writing: 9/10
Art: 9/10
Storytelling: 10/10

Overall: 9.33/10

New 52! Superman #1 Review

Written by: George Perez
Art by: Jesus Merino

This is a really hard review for me to write.  As a general rule of thumb, I don't like going into every detail about what happened on every page of each comic.  #1 - I just don't have time for that and #2 - I believe a person should discover and read the comic themselves and form their own opinion... And that's the whole point of the comic section of my blog.  It's just my opinion.  And like my Pastor always says, "my opinion doesn't mean anything."

From what I know, George Perez is an old school writer and that was definitely apparent in this issue.  There were a lot of throw backs to the old Superman comics: faster than a speeding bullet, this looks like a job for Superman, etc.

There was A LOT going on in this comic, looking at it from a narrative perspective.  From inner-monologues, to chatter, to an actual narrator describing what Superman is thinking.  For me, personally, it felt unnecessary.

There really isn't an overall story arc except for the Daily Planet upgrade to the Planet Global Network and the usual push-n-pull Louis Lane and Clark Kent relationship.

In a time where audiences love continuous story arcs (i.e. Star Trek original series vs Star Trek DS9 and Voyager), I felt that as a New 52 - where the business model is to pull in new readers - this was definitely a homage to old school comic books.  Let's put Superman in a pretty bad situation and see him fight / think his way out...  I hope Superman doesn't become an episodic series of Superman vs bad number X.

I'm really torn on this one...  I might have to read the next issue to really see how I feel about Superman.  I may just have to stick with Action Comics.

Writing: 9/10
Art: 9/10
Storytelling: 8/10

Overall: 8.67/10

New 52! Aquaman #1 Review

Written by: Geoff Johns
Art by: Ivan Reis

Aquaman!?  The one character that I think everyone has made fun of at one point or another.  He's usually the punchline of some joke and not many people would consider him a bad ass superhero.  How do you  make someone like this cool?  There was going to be a television show (similar to Smallville) about Aquaman, but that got squished pretty quick.  If there are two people that could do it, it's probably Geoff Johns (Squee!)  and Ivan Reis!  You might be familiar with some of their work: Green Lantern, Brightest Day, Blackest Night...

Geoff Johns quickly uses the "uncool" factor to introduce some humor into the comic and  Ivan Reis does a great job capturing the smirk and shock on the faces of people when Aquaman enters the scene.  It's pretty much, "what the "bleep" is this guy doing here? There's no water or fish around... Bye bye tuna-man"  Even after saving the day, the police still poke jokes, "need a glass of water?" Haha!  I'm really loving this!

My verdict:  I am really into Aquaman!  Really good story: it's funny, great back story, and I can't wait to read what happens with the nasty creatures that have shown up.  I highly recommend you grab a copy!

Writing: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Storytelling: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

Geoff Johns has done it again :)

New 52! Batman #1 Review

Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo

Again, this is my first Batman comic book ever bought off the shelf.  I'm almost hesitant to be buying so many of these comics!  I'm afraid I'll get too hooked to too many stories!  Is that even possible?

Anyway, I am an instant fan of team Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo!  I am almost upset that I didn't jump on their band wagon a long time ago!

I read Nightwing before this, and not to give anything away, but the last page left me wanting more.  I can tell that Batman is going to be an issue that I will absolutely fall in love with.  One thing that did come as a shock for me was (remember I'm relatively new to these series of comics... I'm a Green Lantern type of guy) seeing all the Robins in one room: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne.  I really only know the backstory of Dick Grayson, so I'm hoping for a little back story on Tim and Damian.  I may just stick with Batman instead of getting Batman & Robin...  Scott Snyder just pulled me in with that ending... Especially after reading Nightwing!  I was like... Whhhuuuuut!!??

(Why not both, Carl? We'll see...)

I also heard somewhere that Bruce Wayne died or that he was just gone for a little bit?  They alluded to that a little bit in Blackest Night and Nightwing... I was always a little confused by that...  Well anyway... I'm sure it'll clear up sometime.  If someone wants to write me about that whole backstory, please fill me in.  Otherwise, this new 52 has a new serious Batman fan.  Which is totally fitting: Green Lantern and Batman always seem to be paired up somehow.

Writing: 10/10
Art: 10/10
Storytelling: 10/10

Overall: 10/10

Loved loved loved!

New 52! Nightwing Review #1

Better late than never, I guess.  If you've been following my blog, you've probably read how busy I am with school and work.  Sorry about being a little late, I'll try to catch up this weekend!

Written by: Kyle Higgins
Art by: Eddy Barrows

This is officially the very first Nightwing comic I've ever read, let alone bought off the shelves of my local comic book store.  I've read other reviews and people have stated that it was a little bit on the boring side; however, I would argue that it was perfect for a new reader.  That's the whole point of the new 52 -- attract new readers.

Nightwing #1 provided a lot of background for me to understand that the original Robin, Dick Grayson, is now flying solo.  I know, I know... Veteran readers would probably ask me if I've been living under a rock...  But just like my reviews: better late than never! Haha!

Kyle Higgins does a really good job telling the back story of how Dick Grayson went from circus boy, to Robin, to Nightwing.  Really that's pretty much what this issue was about... backstory.  I enjoyed Eddy Barrows' art and I think I'll definitely pick up the next issue.  One thing I do want to know is... I thought Nightwing's colors were blue and black?  I'm curious why they decided on a color change...  There's Robin, Red Robin from Teen Titans, and Nightwing...  Perhaps, this is an homage to those colors?  It didn't bother me much, but I know a lot of readers were kind of upset with the color change: think Batman and Robin movies with Arnold...  A movie that some fans, would like to forget...

Thank you DC.  You've given me, yet, another story to get hung up on.

Writing: 9/10
Art: 9/10
Storytelling 9/10

Overall: 9/10

Operational Report Complete and Migraines

What an absolutely crazy week this has been!  I am utterly spent and have the worst migraine...

This week, I had to be up in Anaheim, CA for work.  Round 23 of regression testing for a new version of software we're rolling out.  Regression testing is a little more intense than your typical system or unit testing...  Regression testing looks at every single nook and cranny to make sure nothing has broke as a result of some new code (this usually isn't the case!  You fix something, you break something).

On top of it all, our operational report for this business simulation class was due today.  So, this past week I've been up till 3am pouring over financial reports, ratio analyses, sales forecasts, R&D and operational goals, and tons of writing!  I'm pretty proud of our 15 page report.  My team did a pretty awesome job, so I'm pretty blessed to be working with them.

But... I am spent.  Time to get some much needed sleep.

On another note, the passing of Steve Jobs didn't help much.  For some people, his passing was like the passing of Michael Jackson for many people.  I have to say... I was a little depressed on Wednesday.

I know I'm behind on my comic reviews, but don't worry!  This week I'll be catching up on that.  Batman and Nightwing are probably two of my new favorite comics (I got in some comic book reading while trying to nap in my car before class)

Blog with you soon!