Oct 13 2011

DC Comics – Deathstroke #1

Since I’ve decided to try and wait for the digital price break on a lot of DC’s new 52 comics, I didn’t get to read Deathstroke #1 until today when I downloaded it for the nicely reduced 1.99 price tag. I’ve got to say I was really tempted to just go ahead and buy #2 at 2.99, but I’m going to be good and wait. I loved this issue and here’s why:

Deathstroke is Clint Eastwood with an over-sized sword, guns, and an eye patch. From the very beginning writer Kyle Higgins wants you to know that Slade Wilson or Deathstroke the Terminator is not a guy you want to mess with. For those of you not familiar with the character this is another perfect jumping on point issue that DC has provided. Be forewarned though, Deathstroke is not a hero. He is a violent mercenary for hire and not one for playing games. Some compare him to Deadpool from Marvel comics, but Deathstroke came first. Heck, part of his moniker “the Terminator” came before James Cameron’s Terminator films. This issue shows you how Slade conducts business and why he is very good at what he does. Part of what makes him so dangerous is that he is the result of a meta-human super-soldier experiment. After participating in the program and gaining amazing abilities Slade went off on his own becoming an assassin for hire after defying orders and saving a friend from a suicide mission. Deathstroke operates with enhanced strength, agility, speed, reflexes, and more. This is just a fun action movie like issue where you can just shut off your brain and enjoy the chaos Kyle Higgins and Artists Joe Bennett and Art Thibert provide.

Written by KYLE HIGGINS
Art by JOE BENNETT and ART THIBERT
Cover by SIMON BISLEY

Art: 9/10
Story: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

Oct 12 2011

DC Comics – Action Comics #1

I’ve always wanted to care about Superman in the comics. I’ve owned Superman action figures, watched Superman movies, and even put on Superman Underoos. But something about Superman in the comics has never appealed to me. My library has massive amounts of Superman trades lined up together and I’ve picked many up only to stop reading them half way through. I even attempted to read Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman because people said it was good, but for me it really wasn’t. “Why don’t I like comic book Superman?” I asked myself.

Well, that time is gone because Action Comics #1 came out last month and I bought it digitally at the reduced 2.99 price tag. I can finally say that I care about Superman in DC comics for the first time ever. With one swift issue I latched on to this Superman and connected with this character simply because he seemed more flawed and more uncertain about his place in this world than any other Superman I’ve read before. Superman for me always seemed like the guy who had it all together and always did the right thing when I read him in the past. This Superman of DC’s new 52 is unsure of himself in some ways, but brash and overconfident in others and I love that about this comic. Even if Superman does evolve more into the Superman we knew just months ago, I’m fine with that because now I feel a part of that growth process and I can see why he changes as the series goes on.

Oct 7 2011

DC Comics – The #2 Dilemma

So, I decided to go just about all digital with my comic reading for the DC comic #2’s coming out this month. Looking through my stack of #1 issues in print, I’m left with the dubious task of choosing which titles will stay and which will go. The nice thing about going digitally is that if I drop certain titles I can always go back and pick up ones I’ve dropped very easily if I hear there are some particularly exciting things going on. In keeping with a strict budget I’ve set for myself this year I am going with 11 issues of DC per month. Narrowing down to that number is tricky business when there is so much I’ve liked so far. There are still a few more titles I have yet to read digitally that may make the list, but here’s what I have decided so far.

Keep:

  • Swamp Thing
  • Batman
  • Batman and Robin
  • Batgirl
  • Nightwing
  • All-Star Western
  • Suicide Squad
  • Justice League Dark

On the fence:

  • Green Lantern New Guardians
  • Fury of Firestorm
  • DC Universe Presents
  • Frankenstein Agent of Shade
  • Red Hood and the Outlaws

Pass:

  • Legion Lost
  • Aquaman
  • Wonder Woman
  • Justice League

Still to go digitally I’m going to try out Superman, Deathstroke, Red Lanterns, and Captain Atom. I’m waiting for the 1.99 on these to see which ones may or may not make the cut. I’ve got three slots open and 9 books trying to get a spot. What about you? Which of the new 52 DC comics have you decided to stick with?

Oct 1 2011

Love Connection DC – October 2011

I got to thinking about some of the other DC characters in regards to Swamp Thing and how they might make a more suitable mate for the big mossy lug. Decided to make this a monthly article for fun and will be including other DC characters in the future. Results will be posted in next month’s Love Connection DC post.

Oct 1 2011

DC Comic Book – The Fury of Firestorm

I was not going to buy this. I did not care about Firestorm in the slightest. He was confusing and his history seemed convoluted to me and I could never really figure out what he could do or why he was so important. Then I walked in to my comic book shop and The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 was just sitting their with Gail Simone’s name on it and I had to give it a try. Gail is probably my favorite writer thanks in large part to her work on Secret Six. The first thing I thought after reading this was “Dang it Gail, you made me care about Firestorm.” I’m not going to go into details or spoilers because this is something you just need to discover on your own. It’s got a lot of science based storytelling and some great drama thrown in to make you care about the characters. There are two Firestorms now that can then combine into one. It sounds confusing, but it works and I can’t wait to see where they go with this.

Rating: 9 out of 10

 

Sep 27 2011

DC Comic’s Justice League Dark

If the video below doesn’t get you excited for Justice League Dark, I’m not sure what will. Peter Milligan, known for his runs on Shade The Changing Man, The Human Target, Hellblazer, and the new Red Lanterns series to name a few, will be writing this “dark” book where five heroes will be taking on “Mystical Madness” that not even the regular Justice League can handle. Shade the Changing Man, Madame Xanadu, Deadman, Zatanna and John Constantine will be in charge of taking down the witch known as The Enchantress in the first story arc which comes out tomorrow September 28th! Relatively new artist Mikel Janin will be handling the art and if you haven’t seen his work so far just click on the link within his name above. If you’ve read any of the Deadman and the Flying Graysons mini-series from Flashpoint you’ll know the quality of work this guy is doing so far.

Sep 26 2011

Fake DC Comic News – Superman Changes Careers

Superman Gives Up Saving Lives for Busting Rhymes…

At an unexpected press conference last night, Superman announced that he will no longer be saving lives using his might. No folks, Superman will now be trying to improve the world using his “mic.” That’s right Superman has become a rapper and it seems that nothing will change his mind. Continue reading →

Sep 23 2011

DC Obscure – Doctor Destiny

I love looking at my DC encyclopedia and reading about some of the more obscure characters I know nothing about. If you are a huge DC fan you are probably already well aware of who is in the picture above, but if you’re like me and semi new to the DC Universe I’ll be highlighting a new Hero or Villain every month. This month we get Doctor Destiny.

No, you are not looking at Skeletor from He-Man fame. In fact if you are not familiar with Doctor Destiny he happens to be some 20 years older than Skeletor appearing in Justice League of America Vol. 1 #5 in 1961. Doctor Destiny was a scientist who used his genius to create amazing devices to commit crimes. What sort of things did he create? Well, only an anti-gravity device that allowed him to capture The Green Lantern. This stunt led him to not only be able to impersonate Hal Jordan, but also infiltrate the JLA. His plans were of course foiled by the mighty JLA, but after serving his time Doctor Destiny went on to create another incredible device. This evil invention could create reality from the fabric of dreams and it was called “Materioptikon!” I can’t really even pronounce that, but it doesn’t matter because it actually worked and when powered with a Dreamstone (courtesy of his dear old mom) he became a huge threat to the world. So much so that the JLA had to resort to hypnotizing him and manipulating his mind so he could not dream and therefore use the Materioptikon. This drove Doctor Destiny quite insane which led to him being sent to DC’s posh recovery center Arkham Asylum.

He made several other appearances in Justice Society of America and has always been a thorn in the side of the JLA. He was also in the Justice League cartoon as well as part of Gorilla Grodd’s Secret Society on the Justice League Unlimited cartoon. Although Doctor Destiny is not the most well known villain, he’s certainly unique enough to be the inspiration for one of the most popular villains of the 1980’s. There’s no denying the similarities of Doctor Destiny and Skeletor. Perhaps they are one in the same just from different timelines.

Next month – The only puppet elemental ever!

Sep 19 2011

Singing the Praises of Comixology’s DC Comic App

My very first post on this blog was about Digital Comics and my Asus Eee Pad Transformer. Thanks to Comixology and this gem of a tablet I have been reading comics electronically and really loving the experience. I think there will always be a spot for trades on my shelf, but for single issues this seems to make the most sense if you are on a budget and need to free your life of some clutter.

If you haven’t gone on over to check out Comixology you are missing out on a great experience. They have thousands of digital comics online from hundreds of different publishers and continue to add daily. My love of course is for the DC app which you can get on your iphone, ipad, android phone, or android tablet. The regular Comixology app has DC mixed in with all the other publishers. What’s nice about this one specific to DC is that of course, it’s only your DC digitally downloaded comics organized in an easy to use manner.

Once you’ve installed the app and link it to a google account (so you can buy your comics) you’re ready to start exploring everything they have. There are some free issues so you’ll want to check those out first to get a feel for the reading experience. There’s tons of back issues for 1.99 and of course day and date digital for the regular price of 2.99 or 3.99 in some cases. The nice thing is if you are like me and willing to wait a month all the newer day and date issues go down to 1.99 so you can pick them up a bit cheaper.

Managing storage is quite easy and as you download comics you’ll see that space start to fill up. You can decide how much space you are willing to use for comics from which is usually 250mb, 500 mb, 1gb, or unlimited. Each individual digital issue only takes up around 15 kb so you don’t have to worry about filling up too fast. Even issues you have to delete you’ve never truly lost as is the fear of most who aren’t aware of how this app really works. You simply have to download them again if you’ve deleted them and they show up in a pretty fast manner depending on your wi-fi speed. Now if you are in a location without wi-fi you can still read all the comics you’ve allowed to use space on your tablet. Be sure to turn the off wi-fi finder when you are not using it as this saves your battery life immensely. Happy digital reading!