DC New52 - Blue Beetle #0 (Scarabs... Scarabs everywhere!)

I've never been much of a Blue Beetle fan.  The Ted Kord beetle story from the crisis lead-in was kinda cool.  Showed him being all dectective ala Batman, but I always thought, "Why not just read Batman?"  Anyway, after the old beetle bit-the-dust, a new guy came up all decked out in armor (ala Iron Man).  I thought, "Man, these Blue Beetle guys alway remind me of someone else."  Where this Blue Beetle is different though, is that he has a living suit, which DOES NOT want to have anything to do with him.  I thought it was an interesting take, and I put up with him in some of the major cross-overs preNew52 - still without much interest in really reading about his exploits in a solo book.

After reading this zero issue of Blue Beetle from DC's New52, I've changed that opinion!

First off, this book is beautiful.  The space backgrounds are some of the best I've ever seen in comics.  I wish Green Lantern books took their cue from these pages, because they are gorgeous!  The character are is also very well done, and at times reminds me of Mark Bagley during his 90's Spider-Man run.  I honestly felt a bit of nestalgia reading this from that.

The pacing of the story is a delight and I was honestly disappointed when I finished.  This is the embodiment of what the New52 should be about: Introducing new readers to the character, while showing something that makes you want more.  The beginning of this book begins with the Scarrab talking to Jaime Reyes about how he came to be.  At the beginning of this origin, we are introduced to a possible villian that will undoubtedly come back to haunt Jaime, as the scarab actually helped the young girl discover her powers.  Albeit, this scene is done a little too quickly, I understand the need to move past it & hopefully we'll get more info about this alien girl in the future.

The scarab goes on to tell Jaime about its adventures and how eventually it wound up with him.  

There's then a montage showing various scenes from Jaime's past - one of which the scarab makes him attack his friend, which then had the consequence of making him a villain... All pretty interesting stuff, if you're like me and don't know about these events!

Finally, the scarab reveals that the reason for this entire exposition is to tell Jaime that there are other less benevolent scarabs with hosts that are weapons of the Reach (the aliens that created them).

This reminded me SOOOO much of Planet of the Symbiots.

I've never particularly cared for this character, and honestly after they reinvented him with Jaime, I really wasn't too keen on his adventures, but after seeing this well-thought-out zero issue, I'm adding this one to my New52 reading lists.

DC New52 - Batwoman #0 (Annoying Panels Await!)

Batwoman has been around for a few years now, and (up to the New52 relaunch) has been someone that you may see in a fleeting cameo, but really didn't have much to do with the BatFamily, per say.  It was enough to know about her and get away with not knowing too much, for the purposes of cross-overs.  I'm not sure if DC is going to keep with that tradition or not, but it's looking more & more like Batwoman is here to stay, especially with her being part of one of the New52 titles. :(


I can't put my finger on exactly why I don't really care for the character, other than the atrocious art and somewhat mundane stories she's been apart of.  First introduced in DC's year-long 52 series, Batwoman was originally supposed to be Barbara Gordon's new costume.  I read that the idea was scrapped due to DC execs wanting to keep Barbara as the Oracle - a disabled super hero in her own right.  I really hoped Batwoman was going to turn out to be Gordon.  I mean, if they can bring back Superman from the dead, Batman's broken back healed, and Jason Todd from a grave, surely they can come up with a way for Barbara to be Batgirl / Batwoman again?  Nope!  Enter Kate Kane, a butt-kicking lesbian that just simply decided to be Batwoman (seriously, she just decided after meeting Batman that "I could do that!")


Anyway, this zero issue goes into her origin and explains all that.  It was boring, and I really don't think I can read through the rest of her series.  I'd be willing to overlook the pace if the art gave me something awesome, but I really hate all the crazy layouts and panels that's become the norm for this series.  The art also seems a bit... stringy?  for my tastes.  Often characters are drawn with strange thin lips and hair that reminds me of an old man's come-over that's fallen.  The film-noir style of only accenting some colors would work if this were, say, Constatine (or more literally) a Frank Miller comic, but here it just seems a bit out of place.

The pale and washed look reminded me of The Dark Knight Returns & Frank Miller books so much, that I almost excused the mediocre story... ALMOST.  When it's all said and done, there's not alot that makes me excited about Batwoman. 

If they wanted Batwoman to be a breakout title that pulled itself into the BatFamily of books, having all those things mentioned above going for it really make it too far out there and seperates itself too much for my liking.  Here's hoping Batwoman will simply be on her own for most of DC's New52.

Still, before the flashbacks, there was a bit of hope in that there's a joker-esk female character Batwoman's dealing with.  I don't think I can possibly read 12 issues to find out what this scene's about though.

DC New52 - Red Hood & The Outlaws (You made me, so that makes us ArchNemesisisis)

I saw this issue and was excited to see what all was going on with StarFire and Red Hood and the like, but what I got was an origin story of the Red Hood / Jason Todd / Robin #2.  Not bad, but definitely not what I was expecting.  I hope there's an origin of sorts in the first arch of RH & The Outlaws focusing on the other characters, the way Teen Titans did.


Anywho, much of Jason's back-story remains pretty much the same.  He was from a broken home *insert sad violin music here* so he was bad.  Then Batman got to him.  He was good... but still bad. Fans hated him & so the Joker beat him to death.

Now, this is where it gets interesting.  I remember at one point during one of the Crises, Superboy punching a dimensional wall that echoed into all the multiverse and awoke Jason Todd from death.  I'm too lazy to find the reference & the specific issue # (I wanna say it was in a prelude to Infinite Crisis, but I may be mistaken.)  Either way, here, they explain that Jason was brought back from a Lazarus pit.  Okay, I'm down with it.

Then the retconning:
There's a follow-up to the main story, in which the Joker explains that he's orchestrated many of the events in Jason's life which led him to becoming Robin.  In Joker's words, "I created my very own Robin."  It's interesting to think Joker was responsible for all these things that happened with Jason's parents & such, but I think this is stretching it a bit...  I mean, Joker already has a grim connection to Jason Todd as the instrument of his demise.  It always kinda made sense that Jason would come back all upset that Batman wasn't there and that Joker beat him to a bloody pulp.  I don't see a reason to have Joker this interconnected with his past.  He even makes reference to Jason taking his "maiden name" Red Hood upon his return.  I'm not feeling this one.  I'm okay with Joker making a plan to lure Robin to the warehouse with the bait of his mother, but I believe that's as far as the Joker's master plan should go.

Either way, Joker is now integrated into the Batfamily's past (more so than just being a villain).  Kinda reminds me of when they replaced Joe Chill with Jack Napier in 1989's Batman movie.  It's really not needed for an arch-villain to be woven into a character's origin for them to be truly menacing.  Remember "The Killing Joke?"  Joker just wanted revenge on Gordon; there was no crazy 'I helped create you' angle.  Just pure revenge & a deviously executed plan.

Oh, almost forgot.  I loved the styled artwork here & the overlapping & crazy panels worked so well!  Take a cue, crazy panel Batwoman layout guys!!!

DC New52 - Suicide Squad (I have no funny quip, because it's boring!)

This story is about a skinny Amanda Waller, who's not at all like Nick Fury (but she is).  It's pretty dry and boring, if you're not even into Suicide Squad, but really love Harley Quinn like me.  Anyway, everything can be summed up in one freakin panel at the end of the story:

Oooo look how I can say their name as a label in my word bubble!  That's how you know I'm better than Nick Fury!  Avengers doesn't have a cool reticle in their name!

There.  I just saved you from reading all the boring crap.

All I can say, is that this upcoming Suicide Squad movie better tickle my fancy, because cute, insane clown-girl or not, I won't be continuing this series.  Better bring it, DC!  P.S. DO NOT MAKE IT AN ORIGIN FEATURING A SKINNY AMANDA WALLER SETTING UP THE TEAM.  If this book is any proof of that, it's just freakin' boring.

DC New52 - Savage Hawkman #0 (Another Origin... Again)

Hawkman's been one of those characters DC has struggled with - and probably one of the reasons for some of the reorg-ing and ret-conning they've done with the various Crises.  This time, they're retelling Carter Hall's origins again, having him be an outcast from Thanagar and a fugitive wanted for killing their king, no less.  The king, being Shiera's brother, puts her in charge of Thanagar and out for vengeance against Carter, who somehow ended up on Earth.  It doesn't go into this in this zero issue, so I'm hoping the series will touch on how he got on earth.

Either way, the story itself is pretty generic.  Shiera seems pretty quick to accuse Carter of the murder, and not even listen to reason.  Maybe it's just because this is all within one zero issue, it feels pretty rushed.  But what is captivating is the fact that the book ends with Shiera finding Carter in a 'What's gunna happen next?' cliffhanger.  I think that's what was the most appealing, honestly.  I wanna see what she does now - which is (I'm sure) where the book currently is.

I did also enjoy the story of the Nth metal being completely mystical and having unknown properties.  It explains why Carter's not walking around with a giant duffel bag with his harness & wings in it, before turning into Hawkman.  Explain it away with a mystical metal that makes those wings and gives him flight after covering his body ala Venom?  Okay!  I'm on board!

Hard to say if I want to continue reading this title.  I think after the main conflict between Shiera and Carter are settled, it may be something I'm not interested in at all.  But, I'll give it a shot, I guess.  Artwork's not bad; colors pop... Just hope the writing will be a little less predictable and exciting.  I counted 5 times Carter says that his brother-in-law was doing bad things.  5 times in a 20 page book.  Geez... we get it... Hawkman's a good guy.

Oh, and there's phallic worms on Thanagar, apparently.

DC New52 - Sword of Sorcery Amethyst #0 (Harry Potter in Medieval Times)

So this is essentially an Alice In Wonderland / Harry Potter / Narnia story.  Basically, a modern teen hates moving around everywhere and stuff, and is a little punk.  Her mom promises to take her to her "real home" when she comes of age.  Insert stereotypical bad guys coming for princess scenario & inadvertently opening the main character's eyes to a world they never knew existed.  This is basically The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, in comic book form.  I know there was a Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld series back in the 80's, and it would be interesting to see if this character's mom is the same main protagonist there.  But I'm not going back to 80's tiny-panel-style for Amethyst, just to see their correlation.

I don't think I'll be following up on this series, because there wasn't a whole lot here that captured my attention.  I think it's interesting to see DC take a trip to another world with sword and sorcery, but there's other pubs that do it better.  I mean, let's face it, every sword slashing battle that's depicted basically makes me wish I were reading Dungeons and Dragons or some Drizzt adventure.

In true "protagonist learns of a greater destiny & of a world beyond them" fashion, the main character is pulled into another realm!  Original, huh :(

Scenes like these are a dime-a-dozen in other publisher's books.  Or better still, go read some official D&D stuff.  Not sure I can really get into a fish-out-of-water story in a magical realm (FOR THE 30th TIME!)

There's also follow-up story in this 2-packed-in-1 issue: Beowulf...

Just about as interesting as it sounds, Beowulf is here!  (Wherever "here" is.)  We're never given a clear picture of what planet, realm, etc... we're on or even WHEN it is.  Judging by the hunting party in search of Beowulf, it looks as though it's old Nordic times & place.  However, Beowulf emerges from a high-tech chamber looking all cyborg like with a high-tech sword, then proceeds to slay all those on the expedition to find him.  

The kid telling the tale explains that they were there to recruit him - not to slay him - and that he is to come back with them to be the hero they know he is.  So Beowulf's like, "Sure!  I'm a hero!  I'll slay this monster Grendel for you!  I'm Beowulf, yo!"

Anyway, this is a strange story, and it was too predictable and corny for me to really get into.  I think it's somewhat interesting to have Beowulf as a cyborg from the future, but if he's not there to kill John Conner, I'm out!  Furthermore, there are hints that maybe this is the distant (maybe post-EMP era) future, since there's a few newer building types shown with overgrowth... eh... still not enough to captivate me.  Maybe I'm being too harsh, but there's just SOOOOO many comics out there, that, at this point, I think we can afford to be selective.  Especially when I'm like 5 years behind on my reading. ;)

DC New52 - All-Star Western #0 (Hex gets the weird eye thingy)

I just wonder exactly how many Jonah Hex fans there are out there.  I suppose if you're a fan of the western genre, you'd be a little hard-pressed to find good comics out there, so Jonah's kinda one of your only choices.  At the very least, DC seems to always push this character into other titles having to do with time-travel, and keep him and a few other characters in the past around for this purpose.

I don't really enjoy Jonah Hex or wild west in comics, so I couldn't really get into this one.  However, if you ARE one of the select few that like him, I suppose this would be awesome.  Having not read any of the All-Star Western series before (or probably even after) the New52 relaunch, I'm not sure if this story's ever been told: How Jonah got is jacked up face.

I can sum the book up by this one picture here:

Don't eff with Indians buddy!

I'd be interested to see if anyone reading this blog actually reads and likes any of the All-Star Western books or Jonah Hex.  Sound off if you do & let me know why I should even consider reading this when there's a plethora of stories in the DC Universe ranging from the grounded to the fantastical; this title just seems to plain & quite a bit uninteresting.

DC New52 - Dial H #0 (Seriously? Bumper Carla?)

So in trying to give all the New52 series a try, I left some of the more obscure titles toward the end.  I had gathered that Dial H was a sort of reality-hoping mystery team that solved the unexplainable by using magic.  I'm not sure where I gathered this conclusion, but what I read in the Dial H zero issue was nothing like that... and I mean NOTHING!

I really didn't like this.  The concept may be cool but the execution was too far off in left field for me.  Basically this girl touches a tablet and becomes something else that can magically combat the attacking creature.  What she becomes is (get this): Bumper Carla!  No kidding. A super hero that has a magical bumper cart.

I actually stopped reading at this moment.  Later I decided I passed judgment too soon and went back.  What I found is that the book actually took itself seriously instead of being comical about it.  I I think that's the fault I couldn't overlook.  In a universe that has Billy Baton turning into an adult after saying a magic word, it's a little believable that there's magic that could give someone powers, but why pick something so dorky and then NOT have the humor to poke fun of itself.  The book goes one step further by giving the Bumper Carla persona a back story as a champion in another dimension!

If you were a complete newb to Dial H and picked up this zero issue thinking you'd check it out, you'd be really hard pressed to read another issue.  This is the boat (or bumper cart) I'm in; I don't think I'll continue with this series until I hear something that makes me want to try again... and that would have to be one hell-of-an-awesome thing...

Bumper Carla... I mean, seriously...

DC New52 - Green Arrow #0 ("Oh man, did I Eff up!")

Green Arrow has started to be a little more mainstream ever since the Arrow TV show brought the character to the forefront.  Honestly, I'd probably not be too interested in the character without having watched the Arrow show, so I'd say DC's awareness campaign for the character's working.  What I do know of the character is that in the early 90's I saw a few graphic novels where he was shown as a womanizer & a rich playboy, who fought crime using a bow & arrow as a main weapon.  (Basically a Batman that actually had sex with women & used weapons and gadgets, not fists and gadgets.)

He was eventually brought into the 90's JLA, where I got a taste of who the character was.  He was portrayed as an aloof loner, not completely committing to the League, but available when needed.  Even though this parallels Batman's MO a lot, they often did not see eye-to-eye, and on more than one occasion, Green Arrow would stand up to Batman (which I always thought was really cool).  When nobody else in the League questioned Batman's intent or plan, Ollie would.

My knowledge of the character lacks anything from his own story line until after his Justice League appearances, where I discovered he had a thing with Black Canary & got married, killed a bad guy, had his secret ID outed to the world, and put in jail, where Canary left him while he was in the slammer (bitch!).  I know that Speedy / Red Arrow / Arsenal / Roy Harper turned druggy, then good & sober, then bad & had his arm chopped off, then good, then druggy again, then good...  I'm really not sure where he stands at this point anymore.  Furthermore, FlashPoint had Ollie as more of a gadget head without too much of the bow & arrow path, so I was interested to see what's up with his new52 version.

Since this is a zero issue (and I haven't read anything else other than these DC zero issues up to this point - for those just happening upon this blog), we get an origin story before and slightly after his stint on the island.  Most people know his story already: Stranded on an island, taught to use bow & arrow for survival, comes back to civilization & becomes a super hero...  I choose to think he was on the opposite side that the SS Minnow crashed on.

Anyway, this story is just basically Ollie being a douche, throwing a party, helicopter dropping his buddy Tommy Merlin in.  It is this billionaire carelessness that allows the offshore shindig to be infiltrated by some pirates, one of whom is like a version of Mortal Kombat's Kano mixed with Bane.  He comes in shouting his name and threatening to kill everyone and stuff.  Oliver thinks he can take them on with the bow he was using to show off to his guests with... and here's where the book totally excelled... See up until this point, I was about three seconds away from giving up.  I know Ollie's a douche. I get it. I don't need 6 pages showing it.  I figured he'd end up on the island by way of a coward or that the terrorists would blow the boat or something; but it is Ollie's own incompetent foolhardy attempt to be a hero that triggers the catalyst of the explosion that leaves him stranded!!!

Oh, Ollie, you done effed up!  That was a dead-man switch, dummy!

And now you're gunna be stuck on an island without the company of the lovely Mary-Anne and Ginger!

As if it wasn't already enough that Ollie has to live with the guilt of getting everyone blown to shark chum, he's also the one responsible for Tommy Merlin's burns.

Like I said before, I'm only really a fan of the TV series up to this point. I've only ever read Green Arrow as he appears in the JLA and one shots with others.  This is going to change!  This book did such a good job of setting up what one can only hope is a rivalry between two old friends, that it makes you want to see what happens.   The only thing I think I can fault it for is that it totally rushed through his stint on the island and showed him in full Arrow garb.  I would have much preferred this zero book ending with Ollie on the island and a sneak peek at Merlin in the ICU or something.  In any case, check this one out.  The art is outstandingly busy (in a very good way) and reminds me of the old Ropocop series' line work!

Villians should learn to only shout their moniker out when they've hit the big-time...
otherwise you're doomed to be a throw-away villian-of-the-month!

DC New52 - Red Lanterns #0 (Atros Needs a Wing-Man)

If you're not a DC fan, just haven't been reading any Green Lantern comics lately, or if you abandoned all things Lantern after all that Brightest Day crap, you may not be aware that there's all these additional colors out there.  They're all based on core emotions from all beings and tied to ancient entities.  All of them have corps associated with them, and even though we never knew it, Star Sapphire is part of the emotional spectrum love and Sinestro using the yellow power of fear has formed the Sinestro Corps.  There's also the Orange spectrum of greed, which only has a single member: Larfleeze.  As well as the Indigo Tribe (compassion) and the Blue Lantern Corps using hope.  Finally, the "Blackest Night" crossover series showed that there is also a Black Lanterns fueled by death & a White Lanterns using life.

Which brings us to the color absent in the description above: Red.  Red is not just powered by anger, but is driven by pure rage.  So powerful is this emotion, that it renders the wielder of the red ring unable to speak, with liquid lava spewing forth from their mouths.

I really liked seeing red ring-slingers in action in the War of Light & some of their other appearances up to the New52 reboot.  I thought having such power would be difficult to maintain and properly guide, so many of their characters would be conflicted & I enjoyed how many of them obtained their rings.  Mostly tragedy and such, and rather than rising above it and using it (ala Batman), these guys take their power rings and let the rage envelop them.

When I saw they would be getting their own title, I was excited and after reading this zero issue, I'm really looking forward to continuing.  I don't really know how / if they're going to tackle 'the blood spewing forth and not able to communicate' thing... They may very well dust that under the rug & say they can talk just fine.  I dunno.  Furthermore, when a red ring is worn, you not supposed to be able to take it off (something about it taking the place of your heart or something - I forget).  These questions however, want to make me continue with this title.

In this Zero issue, we see Atros becoming Atrocitus after getting down and dirty with a really gnarly lookin demon from Sector 666.  Seriously... where does he put... how would he... you know?

Either those tentacles are a good thing, or a bad thing... Not completely sure yet... 

His visions basically show him that he'll be the leader of the Red Lantern Corps and we see him on a pile of bodies over top of the dead demons.  It's a good setup for someone that doesn't really know too much about this character and would like to find out more; someone like me.  I'm looking forward to continuing to explore what's presented within this title, as it seems the morality is left for the GL books, and maybe this one can explore some of the darker aspects of the emotional spectrum.  If it turns into a "We're evil, but we're going to be good." thing, I may have to abandon it.  I mean, hell, there's already like 4 other Green Lantern titles... Swatch swapping won't give me what I'm looking for here, but I'll hold off judgement until I read a few into this series....

"I don't know why I'm saying this rhyme, but I like it so much I'll probably chant it several more times in my book series."

DC New52 - Wonder Woman #0 (Throwback Thursday - on a Tuesday)

Close to what we got in some of the Batman Zero issue titles, this issue focuses on Diana's younger years before becoming Wonder Woman.  There's not really a whole lot here: the god of war trains her and pits her against a minetaur and she refuses to kill em.

It was a pretty forgettable story, but an enjoyable read.  Not the best 'jump-in point for new readers to get a sense of the New52 Wonder Woman, but it was decently written with a distinct stylized art that I wouldn't mind seeing more of.

DC New52 - Green Lantern #0 (Is this Pulp Fiction?)

So it looks like we get yet another Green Lantern from Earth in this New52verse.  I'm not really understanding what happened to Jordan or John Stewart at this point.  I know the preNew52verse had Jordan being stripped of his green ring, so maybe that's where this is from?  Either way, I'm a little tired of all the GL titles centering around Earthlings.  With the Corps reaching so many planets within our sector, wouldn't it be neat to see a book solely dedicated to a neighboring planet's race that also has to protect Earth and becomes part of the Justice League, etc...  I know the GL Corps books and New Guardians have some arcs where it'll follow someone, say Kilowag, around and such, but I'm talking a brand new race and some alien chicken that gets the ring and assigned sector 2814 and makes her presence known on Earth and sees there's a crapton of crap happening here so joins with the Justice League, taking the place of Hal?

Or we could get another dude on Earth that gets the ring... again.

What's kinda off putting is that they make it a point several times in this book to draw attention to the fact that Baz is an American despite his race.  I get it DC racism is bad.  But, man stop shoving it in my face: from BatWing having a fully armored suit except for his head so you can see he's black, to the Arabic tat on Simon Baz's arm that glows for some reason when he gets the ring (see cover), I really think you're trying too hard DC.  It's like reverse racisim or something... You're trying so hard NOT to be racist, that you're actually being racist.  They even make a point of pointing out people are being racist to Baz:

Ugh... anyway, something that was funny as hell about this issue is that it reminded me so much of that scene from Pulp Fiction it's hilarious.  I'm really not sure what the editors thought this was supposed to be, and let it go to print, but there's a whole lot of innuendos going on up in here...

I seriously thought the next panel would have someone saying, "Bring out the Gimp," & unless someone can prove it to me, I'm pretty sure we all just saw this Green Lantern rookie get raped.  I don't know what the future hold for the New52 universe, but if this guy sticks around, I'll forever and always remember he totally got the gang-bang initiation.

DC New52 - Green Lantern New Guardians #0 (Thanks for the Spoilers, DC!)

OK so I was under the distinct impression that all these Zero issues were supposed to be, as promised, issues featuring origins and jumping in points for new readers.  Most have lived up to this, while others have gone to tell origins of certain characters (most of which are due to the origin being told in the first arc of the New52 renumbering).  The other two zero issue Green Lantern books follow this pattern: GL Corps being about Guy Gardner and GL being about a newcomer to get the ring. (Reviews of the forthcoming.)

This one, Green Lantern: New Guardians is doesn't follow the above patterns at all.  Not only that, but it feels as though it actually goes out of its way to spoil anyone that may pick this up, not realizing it was smack dab in the middle of a story arc.  What ever happened to the editors not in the front saying, "This story takes place after issue #13," or whatnot?  We actually do get a few of those but it's only after a spoiler is said.

Think about it, you're a newb to comics, you see this cover with all these different ring colored people on it, notice it's issue zero, flip through and see some cool zombie cap and ring slinging, but it and start reading what is actually the middle of a story arc.  I think I would have even liked a preNew52verse recap of the entities, lanterns and colors than this.  Feels like a wasted opportunity.  If your reading through the New52verse starting from these Zero issues, please, do yourself a favor and skil this one; revisit it around issue 10ish of the GL New Guardians New52 books.  I'll be doing that jn the future and hopefully this craziness will make a little more sense.

DC New52 - BatWing #0 (I madz, so I am SuperHero!)

With the launch of DCs New52, a few new characters came to the forefront and got their own titles.  Some of these have been around for a while, and even though you may not like them, DC is determined to push them down your throats!  I'll be hitting some of those close to the end of my DC New52 zero issue romp, but I took the chance on one of the new character's series to emerge and read BatWing.  The result & verdict? Ehhhh.

So this dudes in Africa and gets all mad at these dude for beating up his bro.  He puts on a mask and goes on his own crusade.  That's about it for modivation.  It's honestly one of the most generic origin stories I've seen. The only thing that separates this guy from say... the Punisher, is that he decides not to kill.  This apparently impresses Batman (who's been all about recruiting Batpeople around the world) and this warrants Batman giving him a suit and saying, "Welcome to the BatFamily!"

Seriously...

"I mean, I appreciate it, Batman, but won't I look a little dorky with that mask on?"

"Yeah, I definitely look like a dork in this mask."

And so, I have a major issue with this character, right from the get-go: Every other person Batman had join him was seriously vetted and reluctantly let into Batman's crusade.  Robin (all of them) took a long time to get into that role.  Even all of the Batgirl throughout the pre New52verse had a really difficult time even being let into the Batcave...

This dude is totally given preferential treatment and I can't fathom how giving resources to those that decide to be super heroes is a good thing.  I understand that Batman's going around recruiting people cause he can't be in China or Africa while chilling in Gotham, but comeon.  "Here, guy, go be Iron Man on my dime."

Anyway this is the whole reason I don't like Batman Inc.  The appeal is awesome: Batman formally being backed by Wayne and on a mission to gather a team of BatFolks around the world... sounds cool... but the execution is really boring.  Every issue of Batman Inc really doesn't have anything to do with Batman and I find the Batpeople prospects pretty damn boring.  Also, I cant help feeling that reading about them is probably futile, since it'll probably be a few years until we ever revisit them anyway.

But, I digress.

I only really read this because I see that this particular character is still around the BatFamily of books in this post New52 era, so I wanted to get on the ground floor.  Given how generic his origin is though, I am going to struggle with this one going forward.  Thank god his costume looks better in the newer issues I've seen out.  I mean really, the half-assed mask he's got on (presumably to show everyone how DC has equal-opportunity super heroes) is going to be a giant target to the first bad guy with a gun.  While I suppose the same thing could be said with all of the BatFolks, at least they all have some amount of training; this is just some dude with a vengeance - and a suit with a pointy earmuffs.

DC New52 - World's Finest: Powergirl & Huntress (S Is the Warmest Lettour)

This turned out to be a total surprise.  Given that I haven't read too far into the new 52 before these Zero issues came out, I was able to go into this story with truly virgin eyes.  I didn't even really acknowledge the title and was pleasently surprised when I uncovered exactly what this book was setting up: Power Girl and Huntress, who are presented here on Earth 2 as Supergirl and Robin respectively.  This is an origin story about two heroes from another world that will eventually become heros on our world & I couldn't be more interested in seeing how they cope with the events of their past that's laid out so brilliantly here.

Robin here is the daughter of Batman and Catwoman and is spurred into action after a tragedy befalls her mother.  Batman, barely able to fight, calls in Superman (who's busy) which subsequently brings Supergirl into the mix.  That's really all you get from this, other than a sense that these two may be lesbians in the near future...

I mean really, isn't SuperGirl's expression a little sexual?
No?  Just me?
Well fine, I'll believe what I want!

Anyway, this is a great entry point into the Earth 2 universe, and these character's pasts.  I'm looking forward to continuing with this title.

DC New52 - Batman and Robin #0 (Don't forget: Damian is bad ass!)

It seems that the powers that be are really trying to shove Damien down our throats, and want to make sure you think he's a bad-ass and not a whiny-ass...

Well, after reading Batman and Robin #0, I'm leaning more heavily toward bad-ass now.  For the uninitiated, Batman has a son. (This is like the only thing Grant Morrison's run on Batman did right... but I digress.) The wholeheartedly believe that original origin wasn't even fully fleshed out when the character was introduced: Talia Al Ghul had administered a toxin (can't remember if this was airborne or injected) which basically allowed her to rape Bruce.  It seems like after consideration, DC changed this in the New52 origin, where it shows Damien being a test tube baby - literally.

That's not a Chia-Pet growing in there!

While not much of a stretch, I kinda liked the previous iteration better.  How sinister was Talia to do this to her beloved?  And while I still think Batman would be pissed at her for machine-creating a baby with his DNA, I can't help but feel that the insidiousness of her plan was much more so when she made him jump her bones.  How much more betrayed would he feel from that single act of betrayal?  There's an unwritten rule when it comes to male / female nemesis interaction in comics, and other than the Dr. Light issue of Identity Crisis, I can't think of another time a villain has thrown those rules out the window.  But, DC backpedaled on that one and now Damien's a test tube baby.

Post New52, Damien's a test tube baby, but now baptized in blood.

Thankfully none of this diminishes what comes afterwords, in which we get to see the trials and tribulations Talia puts her son through as she trains him to be the heir to the demon.  It's truly the edge of cruelty to the minor as we see her run him through the gambit of training obstacles, and it's here where the book truly shines.  As he progresses, we see a longing to know his father's identity, at one point even having a very young Damien discovering the Batman cape & cowl in a somewhat touching foreshadowing moment.

Cute, albeit blatant foreshadowing.

This all leads up to the point where Damien met the Batman in the preNew52 verse.  I think this is a great introduction to the character, especially if you were not reading until now; however, you would have to read Batman pre-Final Crisis, Final Crisis, post Final Crisis, Battle for the Cowl, Return of Bruce Wayne and Batman, Inc to catch up to where the New52 would drop you off after this issue.  That's a lot of Batbooks, and I've almost certainly left one or two off of the list.  Damien could do it.  Why can't you?

DC New52 - Batman #0 | Detective Comics #0 (Nanna Nanna Nanna Nanna Batpast!)

So, keeping inline with reading the New52's zero issues, I'm elated to find some Bat-titles focusing on Batman's past.  However, after reading these issues, I really don't see how they bring anything new to the table (from the New52 perspective).  In other words, these tales could have been told a while back before this whole reboot.  That said, these are great books.  Well written and stylized, it reminds me why Bat-books are among my faves in comics.

Touching base on Alfred worrying about Bruce's absence, and Bruce training in Japan (& learning a very valuable lesson), these books go further than a movie can go about the dark knight's past.  In a great way, it goes about his first meeting with (then) detective Gordon, as well as his testing of equipment like the batterang in pursuit of eventually becoming what we all know and love.

These were great stories and never once while reading them was I not enthralled by the narrative or what was going on.  These are examples of how comics can be about superheroes without actually having anyone in costume... and how that can be a great treat.

I am a FRUIT NINJA, YO!

DC New52 - Ravagers #0 (I'm red, and naked!)

So what primarily serves as and origin story for Beast Boy and Terra, this titled is named Ravagers, simply because they already went through the Ravagers origin in the first Teen Titans / Legion Lost crossover: "Culling: Rise of the Ravagers."  Convuluted as it was, it told the story of all the characters being put in an arena-style fight club underground, where the mysterious N.O.W.H.E.R.E. (not kidding, this is literally an abreviation) is watching to see who makes it out alive.  These special teens would become Harvest's new group, the Ravagers.  Oh, and Harvest's some crazy mofo with black wings, a skull face, and he's from the future.  Got that?  Good.

So instead of trying to do anything like, I dunno... giving us more information on Harvest, or his plans or anything like that, "The Ravagers" issue 0 decides to give us a brief sidelong story about Beast Boy and Terra and their escape, and eventual meet-up with the other escapees.  Oh, then they leave.  So why would I care about these two if they're not even part of the Ravagers?  I dunno; hopefully it'll come into play if I decide to read about all these second-rate characters.  Or, maybe they'll just show up in the Teen Titans book and I'll already have their backstory stored somewhere in my comic-indexing brain.  Sorry, I don't mean to be so cinical (much), but I would expect the book title to actually be about characters that are part of that team?  At least the Teen Titans zero issue had a backstory about Red Robin; I know the entire story was about him solely and that may anger some Teen Titans fans, but reading it didn't feel like a waste of time if you're not a Batman fan.  You got some info about the main character of your book.  Here in Ravagers, I really don't feel like there was any benefit (in regards to my understanding of the team or any of its characters).

I suppose the primary reason for this to exist is to show Beast Boy being experimented on with red junk and turning all red and junk.  Also: gotta love it when a superhero spontaneously calls out their name - and this one does so as a cat!  How's that work anyway?  I didn't think cats had the necessary equipment.

And WHY OH WHY is Beast Boy naked?  Maybe other fans can answer this, but when he used to change in preNew52 days, was he naked after changing back to humanoid?

What's with the little bulge there, buddy?  Can't you morph just that part of ya to impress the ladies?

That said, I may continue reading The Ravagers and see if this pays off somehow, but I'm not sure if I can get through them yet, so no promises!  During the Culling story, I found myself completely board with the Legion Lost characters, and really skimmed those.  I don't normally do that, but if you throw a group of unknown heroes together, you'd better get me in the first few issues.  Throw in time-travel mumbo-jumbo tech in there that feels forced and off-putting, it's a hard sell for me to get invested in.

Dynamite - Warlord of Mars #6-9 (John Carter kills... ALOT!)

So, in continuing my romp through Barsoom (of Mars series, or more precisely, Dynamite Entertainment's 2010 - 2014 run: Warlord of Mars), I'm beginning to get a little annoyed with the main character, John Carter.  At first, he seemed as though he was willing to fall inline with the tribal customs of the Tharks, even rising to the rank of Jeddak (ala Dances with Wolves).  Then he suddenly blasts through a bunch of Tharks after joining with another faction of 'red men'.  Trying to read this series and get the policitcal factions straight was rough, especially with John constantly changing aliegences, all in pursuit of a girl he just met!

And that's what bothers me so far.  John barely met this nude red woman and is willing to slaughter another tribe of Tharks & Zodanga (red humanoid Martians) forces, all in attempt to rescue said girl.  Granted, she's hot and half-nude, and there may have even had a few 'moments,' but launching yourself into a killing-spree trying to rescue her doesn't seem all that believable... Unless you're Mario; really though, he only squished mushrooms and threw turtles around, right?

Either way, John eventually does convince Tar Tarkas to unite the Thark factions and go up against Zodanga & the other dude who's trying to get all up on that princess.  Man, all I can say is that I hope for John she's good in the sack.  Or worse... wouldn't that suck to go through all this and learn red Martians don't have genitals?  Gotta give John credit though, he interrupts the wedding in one of the most spectacular ways I've ever seen this cliche played out!

AND......

John comes with his posse, yo!

And then the Tharks kill everybody.... and I do mean EVERYBODY.

Butt (pun intended) at the end of the day, I guess being a homicidal maniac really does pay off, cause John does get some of that red strange:

Šuŋgmánitu Tȟáŋka Ób Wačhí (Dances with Wolves), be damned!

DC New52 - Earth 2 #0 (Is this a recap?)

So I really feel like I'm missing something here. DC put out this month of prequel zero issues a few issues into their new 52 reboot as a sort of intro / origin for each title... Chances are if I had read issues leading up to the Zero issue, maybe I'd know what's going on. Wouldn't that go against the spirit of what these zero issues are supposed to be?  And for the guy that's slow to the starting line & reading in chronological order, Zero is before issue one.  If that's the case, why am I presented with this recap, and at the end get a "Continued in issue 5" ?!?!?!

All that said, this story is pretty well written, but without any further context, I'm being spoon fed a story about a character that's a hero on an alternate world believing he has to blow it up to solve the world's issues.  (Too bad I just saw the same plot in Avengers: Age of Ultron.)  I saw spoon fed because I have a hard time believing this guy totally pulled one over on Batman.  Either way, his synthetic Opal Kryptonite made Supes bitch slap Wonder Woman which was epic, so I'll give this hero-turned-villian the benefit of the doubt.

So all-in-all, while I am definitely interested in checking out Earth2, I'm a little confused by this book.  I get there's only one issue to lay down a little backstory, but having a little blurb about their only being 8 supers and that this Mr 8 saw the future of their world, but also other realities, in a small little panel has me wondering wtf is going on.  Furthermore, the back page paragraph of this zero issue mentions the big 3 are dead on Earth2, so again, wtf was up with them living at the end of this story with Mr. 8 explaining that they are needed for saving his world?!?!

I'm cool with all these things if they're flushed out and explored in the Earth2 series.  As I read more, I'm hoping this is the case, and I'll just take this Zero issue as a foreshadowed intro.