DC Comics omnibus thread

[Eivion]

That wouldn't make much sense. Also pretty sure that is a man, I think Mr. Oz.

[The Unholy Dragon]

Yeah, that's Mr. Oz who currently has Tim captive.

[odessasteps]

 

[odessasteps]

That Metal thing did not do much for me, not even the Fortress reveal.

on the other hand, loved Flash with the apparent appearance of 

Spoiler

Pre Crisis Professor zoom

 

[jaedmc]

Alright, so over the past month or so I've been binging on all the Rebirth trades on HOOPLA(thanks whoever mentioned that service on the board) to see if there's anything I like and would want to support with money in the future. I used this chronology reading list to organize stuff. http://www.comicbookherald.com/reading-dc-comics/dc-rebirth-reading-order/ Mostly I've been skipping from character to character to kind of keep everything even.

TITANS Vol 1.

I kinda dig this. I find this whole idea of reintroducing continuity slowly through some weird situational deal fascinating. For now it's more interesting than some Big Bang event where everything is back to normal. I was never a DC guy so continuity isn't super precious to me - but I am a completist and the idea of all those backstories being rendered useless upsets me. I think I'll read the next volume of this. 

BATMAN Vol 1. I AM GOTHAM

The whole concept of the Gotham Siblings is really cool. Reading it all at once, I felt like the switch and reveal happened way to fast in order to fit it in to a certain number of issues for the Trade. I just didn't have time to deal with the deaths and the heel turn and everything. I'll probably stick with this a little while longer but I might end up sticking with mostly...

DETECTIVE COMICS Vol 1 Rise of the Batman

I totally loved this. Probably the best of everything I've read so far. I dig the characters, it was paced out really well, and I got pretty emotional at the big climactic battle. God when Batman read that fucking letter... couldn't believe a comic got me like that but it did. I also like they immediately revealed Tim was being held by Oz. It actually made it even worse than if they had waited and said "Nope he was alive the whole time!" later. I think what I like the most is everyone feels like an individual. Some people take over team books and everyone turns into the witty voice of the author. 

NIGHTWING vol 1 Better than Batman

Wasn't as in to this. It mostly comes down to writing. I loved Tim Seeley on Revival and Hack/Slash, but his dialogue doesn't find the right balance of tone in this. At first I thought Raptor was going to be this cold blooded badass. Then he turned out to be this meta character that talked about "Branding" and rap songs, and it just got kinda of hokey. The notes just felt out of tune in this. I might give another volume a shot, but it's on the hot-seat unfortunately.

BATMAN: Night of the Monster Men

This was kind of a mixed bag. I liked Hugo Strange, I felt like them catching up to him and the battle was anti-climactic. I wish that conflict was drawn out longer. Maybe it is, I just don't know it. I love the setting for the story being this storm of the century deal. I felt like the drama in the caves with mob was handled kinda messy. Just a weak B plot that didn't have much effort behind it. Mixed bag overall but I like that everything is building to Bane. I don't know why, I don't know much about him other than that one story where I broke Batman like a bitch that one time.

GREEN LANTERNS vol 1

This stunk. The first issue kept calling attention to the ridiculousness having more Lanterns from earth basically pointing out that it was done not organically but so they could shoe horn in some diversity. I love diversity in comics, but for some reason these characters came across so bogus, while a character like Khamala Khan Ms. Marvel feels much more honest and realistic. It probably didn't help that the "BIG IDEA" to everything was hammered so hard every page. RAGE. ISN'T EVERYONE FILLED WITH RAGE. EARTH IS GREAT FOR RAGE. CAN GREEN LANTERNS PROTECT US FROM RAGE. HE'S A HOTHEAD. SHE'S FILLED WITH ANXIETY. LOOK HOW CRIPPLED WITH ANXIETY SHE IS WALKING IN WALMART. At that point the characters stop having real personalities and are just Minority Cutouts. From personal experience, I enjoy seeing characters that represent my culture better when someone isn't constantly illuminating a sign over their head saying "HEY THIS JAPANESE GUYS IS FOR YOU JAPANESE VIEWER."

I think I would enjoy the characters and the dynamic between them if the writing was better. Going into it, I was optimistic, but this was just lame as fuck and I probably won't come back to it.

Next up I'm going into the Superman stuff and Wonder Woman.

 

 

 

 

 

[Eivion]

I feel like I Am Gotham would have turned out much better had Night of the Monster Men not happened. I think the crossover forced a rush job. Detective Comics is one of two DC books I'm reading monthly and has generally been well worth picking up.

[Spritenaut 32]

Stick with Batman.  King is a hell of a writer and Batman is steadily improving.  The recent Swamp Thing issue was outstanding and I'm quite looking forward to the War of Jokes and Riddles.

[odessasteps]

59 minutes ago, Eivion said:

I feel like I Am Gotham would have turned out much better had Night of the Monster Men not happened. I think the crossover forced a rush job. Detective Comics is one of two DC books I'm reading monthly and has generally been well worth picking up.

Detective has been losing my interest. Batman has been great, but I so do not care about Joker vs Riddler.  Can't wait for King's Mister Miracle. 

[jaedmc]

1 hour ago, Eivion said:

I feel like I Am Gotham would have turned out much better had Night of the Monster Men not happened. I think the crossover forced a rush job. Detective Comics is one of two DC books I'm reading monthly and has generally been well worth picking up.

Ahhhhhh that explains why it went so quickly.

It's funny. I used to complain about comic stretching shit out to fit the trade format. Now I have to complain about them fitting all their shit in before the big crossover event.

I'm definitely sticking with both Batman and Detective. 

I just started the Superman trade and 2-3 issues in and I really enjoy it. I've never liked much of anything Superman and even with the weirdly convoluted he's your Superman and I'm a different Superman but we're the same Superman mess, I'm still totally on board.

I think I like Clark as a farmer way more than as a reporter.

[Spritenaut 32]

Read Wonder Woman.  Rucka's consistently brought it over there.  Sad he's leaving/left the book.

[Eivion]

33 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Detective has been losing my interest. Batman has been great, but I so do not care about Joker vs Riddler.  Can't wait for King's Mister Miracle. 

Honestly, Detective has been picking up even more of my interest. I like seeing Cass actually build a relationship with Bruce and co., and I'm quite fond of Azrael so the current arc has all of my interest.

Oh and jaedmc, I actually just finished reading the second volume of Green Lanterns this weekend. I would say give it one more shot through that. I think the hammering is tempered down some, and it plays out better as a proper buddy cop partnership. I think the main story is better as well.

[odessasteps]

Since I did not read that era of Bat books, I have no great attachment to Cass or Azrael. And I really don't care very much about Kate. 

I am curious about Robinson on WW. Some of his Marvel stuff has been good, some pretty standard. Seems there is already internet backlash against him being named. 

[The Unholy Dragon]

Green Lanterns took a bit to click. I liked Baz and Cruz already from previous stuff so that was a little easier for me, but I felt like mostly Humphries didn't figure out how they worked together until more or less the end of the first arc. Second arc onward has been pretty much great imo. It helps that Humphries is one of the few people who writes Jessica's PTSD fairly realistically. 

 

Detective Comics is probably the best twice monthly book DC has going right now. It's so good.

 

And you're welcome for the Hoopla tip. It's the best. And my understanding is that each rental gets them paid (thus why libraries have different limits) so still supporting the books.

[jaedmc]

Oh that's great if me checking out the books gets them some money.

I'll give Lanterns another shot if you guys say it gets better. 

I finished the Superman Vol 1 trade and I really loved it. Fucking loved the issue where Eradicator seemed like a good guy and then nonchalantly was like, now we just need to let me eat your son. I don't know much about the Eradicator, but I liked that he felt like the Alien from The Thing, trying to assimilate DNA. The stuff with Krypto was awesome too.

I also thought this balanced the fun of old comic books with the more mature storytelling incredibly well. The Sooperman Fan bar owner and It Came From space vibe gave it that retro 50s sci-fi feel, but without sacrificing some of the more mature storytelling ideas.

I might actually buy this trade just so my wife can read it. 

[The Unholy Dragon]

Man. The conclusion of DKIII is like one big apology from Frank Miller for making people think Superman is a chump. Despite ostensibly being a Batman story, DKIII really ended up being just as much a Superman story and a weirdly decent one at that.

[The Natural]

Rebirth reviews: 

Superman (Vol. 1): Son of Batman collects Superman: Rebirth #1 and Superman #1-6. Superman: Rebirth #1, Superman talks to New 52 Superman who died and comes across Lana Lang as he believes he can come back to life as he did. A good issue setting the stage for this Superman. I particularly liked the Superman vs. Doomsday section for reasons which will become apparent.

In Superman #1-6, Clark Kent/Lois Lane/Jon Kent have to help Jon with his developing powers, what he’s going to go through as his Dad did. The trio goes up against the Eradicator, capturer of Kryptonian souls wanting to cleanse the human genes of Superboy. I enjoyed this story for those story strands and the opening part to Rebirth period Superman.

This is the first Superman book I’ve read since buying The Death of Superman/World Without a Superman/The Return of Superman on holiday as a very young boy! I requested it from the library as it’s by Peter J. Tomasi/Patrick Gleason as I liked their New 52 Batman and Robin run and to see Supes in Rebirth.

I'm with @jaedmc 

[The Natural]

From the latest Super Sons:

[jaedmc]

THE BINGE CONTINUES.

ACTION COMICS VOL 1 PATH OF DOOM - Mixed bag here. It's a slugfest pretty much the whole way through. I liked Luthor trying to take his place as the protector of Metropolis. I also liked the reveal of Clark Kent and the confusion that brought. And the end game with Oz getting pet to mess with was cool. The downside is that it's pretty repetitive and some weak writing choices. There was one moment where they decided to drop some nuggets about Clark and Superman's history while Superman was in the middle of a life or death fight that left me shaking my head. Not a great start, but I'll be cool with seeing what comes next now that the big set up is done.

JUSTICE LEAGUE VOL. 1 EXTINCTION MACHINES - Really hated this. Rebirth 1 starts with some generic world ending monster thing, that the heroes tell off in a really over written way. Then the major arc features massive world ending earthquakes and tsunami's and The Kindred which are superbeings made up of fucking people. And another alien invader called The Purge who I didn't realize until reading a review later were actually different invading monsters than the ones from the first issue of the book. Then you have fucking Superman at the earth's core and how they resolve that shit was terriible. The whole book felt like it was telling you the rules for how shit worked and then breaking those rules because it couldn't find a way to win. Like Flash keeps losing his speed. And then he's like "But the speed force was invented with me, it's mine," and then he starts running again. It was like winning a fight by saying I'm rubber and you're glue. Then there was some Zodiac crystals that sang songs and Aquaman saves the day, I think, but no one actually realizes he saved the day. I was hoping he show up with the group at the end and say something like "It's cool guys I saved the world by planting magic singing crystals I found randomly." And everyone just staring at him blankly. Just an over written mess of a book. Also I hope that the gimmick for Justice League isn't they always get together when cities are getting torn apart, because I'm already desensitized to the consequences of mass destruction from this one volume. It carries no weight right now.

WONDER WOMAN VOL 1. THE LIES

I dug this. It just felt fucking weird and different from everything else. I like the idea of Wonder Woman being kind of mentally messed up and confused about where she's from. There were a couple of dialogue stinkers that I felt like it was trying too hard to prove it was down with the feminist cause. Just write good stories where Wonder Woman kicks ass and empowers people, don't feel the need to insert buzzwords that you learned from a Jezebel article, in the mouths of characters that probably wouldn't say them, as a way of proving you, the writer, are indeed "woke". It's both lame dialgoue and a less effective way of enlightening your reader to the issues your trying to touch one. Tell it through the story and it resonates deeper. Regardless of that one sticking point I liked the vibe and am excited to see what happens next.

WONDER  WOMAN VOL 2: YEAR ONE.

This is one of the best books I've read so far, up there with Detective Comics and the Superman book. Fucking LOVED the art. Thought the story was cool. The dialogue wasn't too jokey or corny. All the characters felt unique and interesting. Some good action. There's a great counter to my complaint about the first volume, when Wonder Woman goes to the mall and she's reacting to all this imagery of the modern female. The swim suit ads, the high heels etc. But she no one really comments on it to make "The Big Point," you just see her perspective and realize it does seem a little ridiculous. The Sear anagram reveal was hokey, though. Just felt like a weak attempt at obfuscation. Reminded me of Nilbog in the movie Trolls 2. Thankfully Rucka knew better than to dwell on it and quickly moved into some action.

I'm surprised they're taking him off the book, especially if it continues down the road he's going. I've never really read any Wonder Woman, and after reading this she's easily one of the most interesting characters in the DC Universe.

 

Next up we're going with Flash and then Cyborg. Then... I venture back into the Lantern verse with Hal Jordan and the Green Lanterns.

 

[The Natural]

I reserved those two Wonder Woman books from my library, I quickly scrolled down while I'm waiting for them.

[Brian Fowler]

Oh man, have you never read All-Star Superman Paul?

[The Natural]

14 minutes ago, Brian Fowler said:

Oh man, have you never read All-Star Superman Paul?

I haven't, Brian. I'm a big fan of Grant Morrison's Batman run (I liked his X-Men as well) but still need to talk myself into getting All-Star Superman as there's few Superman things I like.

[Eivion]

1 hour ago, jaedmc said:

ACTION COMICS VOL 1 PATH OF DOOM - Mixed bag here. It's a slugfest pretty much the whole way through. I liked Luthor trying to take his place as the protector of Metropolis. I also liked the reveal of Clark Kent and the confusion that brought. And the end game with Oz getting pet to mess with was cool. The downside is that it's pretty repetitive and some weak writing choices. There was one moment where they decided to drop some nuggets about Clark and Superman's history while Superman was in the middle of a life or death fight that left me shaking my head. Not a great start, but I'll be cool with seeing what comes next now that the big set up is done.

I think the second volume is an improvement.

[jaedmc]

I would think it would have to be. First volume felt like it was trying to create the groove it would fall into later, and the potential of said groove has me very interested. IF he took all that cool setup and wasted it, that would be a damn shame.

Oh I should also mention, considering I didn't like either book they were featured in: I liked how the Baz and Jess Lantern Duo was in Justice League more than I did in Green Lanterns.Unfortunately they were kind of wasted and given busy work, but that also meant they weren't over written so they never got annoying. It was funny, because while reading Justice League I thought: "hey, I could read a series about these two. just not the one I just read."

 

3 hours ago, The Natural said:

I reserved those two Wonder Woman books from my library, I quickly scrolled down while I'm waiting for them.

Can't wait to hear what you think.

[The Unholy Dragon]

3 hours ago, jaedmc said:

I'm surprised they're taking him off the book, especially if it continues down the road he's going.

 

He didn't get pulled off the book. He walked because the twice monthly schedule demands were preventing him from working on his creator owned stuff.

 

That said, he had a fairly long run with WW leading up to Infinite Crisis so there's plenty more to read beyond the next two Rebirth volumes.

[Eivion]

Birds of Prey Vol 1. Who is Oracle. Not entirely sure about Helena's voice, but this was otherwise pretty solid and fun. The story is decent, and I like the team dynamic it built.

Batman #9-15. Its interesting how they took what could have just been a fun heist story and ended up splitting its focus between that and the relationship between Bruce and Selina. On the one hand I'm a little disappointed since I would have liked a bit more focus on Bane. On the other it was still fun, I'm a Bruce/Selina fan, there is tease to a bigger Bane story later, and I'm pretty damn ecstatic that Bronze Tiger resembles his pre-Flashpoint character again. There was a lot to like, but that final part is probably the thing that left me most pleased with the I am Suicide arc. I'm quite fond of Bronze Tiger due to Ostrander's Suicide Squad. I wish he was in the current incarnation. Rooftops was a nice two-parter going more into Selina and Bruce's relationship while also revealing the truth behind her recent major crimes . Fun read all around. This was a big step up from the I am Gotham opener King did. I really wish he had gotten the proper time to let that breathe because this here proves he would have likely done a fine job if given the chance.