Flash #1

So say you're Dan Didio.

Okay, cool, that's you.

You run DC Comics, you have a fun goatee and graphic violence fills you with a perverse glee. You know you want to reboot your entire line in an attempt to boost sales and streamline continuity. This is your chance to just present individual stories for what they are, and not as pieces of a delicious continuity-pie. But how best to do that? GOT IT. Bring back Barry Allen, the 2nd Flash, who is pretty unanimously agreed to be boring as hell. The guy whose teen sidekick successfully replaced him in the hearts of the most fickle fans on the planet. So step 1 was completed a couple years back, when creators Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver brought Barry back. But how can this lead to a whole new world of storytelling possibilities? Don't worry, the DC brain trust has this one covered. Have Barry Allen do such a shitty job time traveling that he fucks the whole universe up. Superman loses his wife, Flash is similarly suddenly single, and everyone has a shitty new costume. Thanks a lot, Barry.

So, now that I've vented my rage against a fictional character, how's Flash #1? Not terrible. The writing is basic, but that's to be expected from artist-turned-writer Francis Manapul and colorist-turned-writer Brian Buccellato (who must've have had at least one guest appearance on the Sopranos). Barry fights some clone terrorists or something. There's the mandatory juggling of romantic interests, and an old friend with a dangerous secret. It's paint-by-numbers writing.

What does work is the art. Manapul just does everything right. Some artists can only do action, or only do facial expressions, or only do dynamic page layouts. Manapul has the full set and the comic is beautiful.

Buy again: No, the writing just wasn't there and Barry Allen is just the worst.

New reader friendly: Friendly enough. Like a toll booth worker that smiles at you, but you know they want to get the fuck outta there.

Superboy #1

One of my least favorite thing about comics is when you have a great artist doing amazing covers for a book with lackluster interior art. However, you rarely see the inverse of this. Superboy #1 bucks that trend. Cover artist Eric Canete's work belies interior artist R.B. Silva's fine work. So, push ahead past the cover and get to the good stuff.

And good stuff there is. Silva's detailed but clean art is the perfect for a sci-fi heavy superhero book. A team of scientists are attempting to clone Superman, and the result is Superboy, a human/Kryptonian hybrid grown in a lab. Once hatched out of his test tube, he's put through the ringer, as the lab geeks use virtual reality to test Superboy's morals and choices. The plot draws you in, though the dialogue could use a bit more work, as the number of word balloons per page is pretty high.

My only big complaints have to deal more with writer Scott Lobdell's choices rather than a lack of skill. I'd have preferred a bit more of a tangible connection to Superman, given that Superboy is a spin-off character of the big man. My other gripe is that while some of the cameos make sense (Lois Lane shows up, investigating the lab, Caitlin Fairchild may be one of the scientists), the big one at the end, featuring all the Teen Titans, is a bit out of left field and doesn't strike me as a good choice for a book that should stand or fall on its own.

Buy again: Yeah, it won me over.

New reader friendly: For the most part, yeah.

Batman and Robin #1

There's a lot to like about this comic. Picking up pretty much where the old DC continuity left off, Bruce Wayne is a more experienced, capable, and calmer Batman than we saw in either Justice League #1 or Detective Comics #1 back in Week 1 of the reboot. When the issue opens, he's taken the 5th Robin (name all the previous ones and I'll send you a prize!) directly under his wing/cape. Of course, this is no problem for Batman, it's old hat at this point. Take a polite young man (well, one time it was a girl) and turn him into a crime-fighting force for good. The only hitch? This time Robin is one Damian Wayne, a nigh-psychotic super ninja raised by Ra's Al-Ghul to eventually take over the world.

The character work, essentially boiled down to Damian's imperious and snobby attitude versus Bruce's calm, collected and humane persona, is what really makes this comic work. Writer Peter Tomasi excels at the less-bombastic moments in a comic, though he does slide slightly into sappiness. Where he falls down a bit (and really only a bit), is at creating a compelling villain for our heroes to fight. The result, a dude named "Nobody" who can turn invisible, is a threat that fails to feel threatening.

On the visual side, Patrick Gleason drafts some great Bat-images. Damian looks appropriately youthful, the action is dynamic, and he even manages to make Batman's over-designed new costume look good (though mostly by ignoring some of the more pointless linework on the suit).

Buy it again: I'll be back next month, yeah.

New reader friendly: Really only Damian Wayne would stick out to a new reader, but that's only because Dick Grayson as Robin is so indelibly positioned in the cultural zeitgeist. Jesus, I just said "cultural zeitgesit", you can punch me in the face for that one.

Green Lantern #1

Finally, Geoff Johns gets it. The long-time Green Lantern writer finally figured out that Hal Jordan is the least interesting GL out there. Finally, he's seen the (emerald) light. His bosses on the planet Oa stripped him of his ring and banished him back to Earth. In his place, we have Guy Gardner. Wait, nope, not him. John Stewart, must be John Stewart. Whoops, wrong. Kyle Rayner? Not him either. Alan Scott? Abin Sur? G'nort? Hell, at this point, I'd even take Ch'p, the sentient squirrel Green Lantern. But it's not him. Surely there's no crazier choice than a frigging rodent with a power ring. So who'd they go with?

YUP. Sinestro. The rogue ex-Green Lantern. The guy who was kicked out for being a space fascist. Who created an army of evil ring wielders to depose the Guardians and kill Green Lanterns. Yep, he's a GL again.

Admittedly, Johns tries his best to write-around how sillybones this idea is. He has some fanfiction-y sounding explanation, but it doesn't stand up to any actual thought.

But hey, if you can get past that, the comic is fun. It's Sinestro being a badass, Hal Jordan being a dumbass, and amazing art from artist Doug Mahnke.

Buying the next issue: It may cost me a couple IQ points, but yes. I'm a genius (I assume), I can spare them.

New reader friendly: Yes, casting Sinestro in the lead puts the reader in his shoes, as he starts up as a GL again.

Swamp Thing #1

Swamp Thing is a character who's had an insane level of talent working on him. Alan More, Grant Morrison, Brian K. Vaughan and Mark Millar have all taken a turn at the character, crafting what is supposed to be top-notch work. But I haven't read any of it. So, armed only with vague memories of a shitty live-action TV series featuring the character, I charged into Swamp Thing#1.

DC wisely made sure they got a writer with actual ability to handle the revived series. Scott Snyder, who's telling a hell of a story over in "American Vampire" and just wrapped up a solid run on Detective Comics, is the man behind the keyboard here. He presents Swamp Thing's human alter-ego, Dr. Alec Holland, as a man who has completely stepped away from his old life. He's rejected his past as Swamp Thing and taken a construction job to step away from his career as a biologist. Honestly, this is the big fault of the issue. The titular (hehe, titular) character only appears in his mossy glory on the last page. There's something to be said for keeping the audiences wanting/waiting, but for a first issue that's supposed to grab us, it doesn't work. The other flaw, though a small one, that I found, was Holland's opening narration, where he talks about how his father's career as a florist brought to mind his time as Swamp Thing. Now, maybe it's my fault for hating my own dad, but this is weaksauce writing. First off, it seems like every superhero either has daddy issues OR completely idolizes his/her dad. Superman's always talking about Jor-El, Batman's forever recounting how many lives his father saved as a doctor, Nightcrawler's dad was The Devil and sired him in an attempt to have a teleporting mutant baby who could transport him out of hell (true story, read Chuck Austen's X-Men run and then vomit blood for 8 days!). It's a played out dramatic device. Also, Swamp Thing's dad was a florist? Coincidental. Almost coincidental as Flash villain Captain Cold having a grandfather who drove an ice truck.

Piping in on pencils (and inks, but I wanted the alliteration) is the uber-talented Yanick Paquette. Paquette's art is srsly just the best, you guys. I love his art, you love his art, people who haven't even seen his art love his art. Keep up the good work, you beautiful French-Canadian man, you. Also, I posted that picture of Emma Frost because Paquette drew it and she's hotter than a moldy old monster.

Buying the next issue: No, but only because I really don't care about Swamp Thing at all. It was quality work though.

New Reader Friendly: Definitely.