DC New 52 Round 3 & 4 Reviews

Okay, before we get to the reviews, again, MONSTER KING 4 goes away at the end of this week. Anyway, here's some quick, non-DC reviews.

Pigs #1- Image- Nate Cosby, Ben McCool, Breno Tamura- A Russian Sleeper Cell hidden in Cuba awakens and begins wrecking havoc in the US. Meanwhile, some cops play "The Usual Suspects" trying to figure out what the hell's going on. This is the kind of comic lots of people will enjoy. It's got a bit of police procedural and a bit of the whole espionage/intrigue thing going on. Unfortunately, this comic is not for me. I don't like the premise, the characters, the art, or the dialogue. Again, others will like this. I did not.

Snarked #0- Kaboom!- Roger Langridge- Despite Mark's recommendations, I never got around to reading Langridge's "Muppet Show" run. Anyway, when the guy went on his own and created something new, I was like, why not? This is neat. Cool art, off beat characters, and it's loosely based on "Alice in Wonderland". I'll be picking this one up when it officially debuts next month.

Butcher Baker the Righteous Maker #6- Joe Casey, Mike Huddleston- I've been on the fence with this comic. I like the art, I like the ideas, but there's too much...posturing, and that kinda annoys me. But this issue. This issue is bad ass. The art kicks ass from one end of the book to the other, and the story rolls fast and furious, not treading water like some previous issues. Very cool.

BPRD: Hell on Earth: Russia #1- Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, Tyler Crook- Liz is gone, Abe's in a Death Coma, so all that's left is Johann and Kate, who get shipped off to Russia to deal with more insane crap. It's BPRD. It's great. There's horrible stuff and some new characters. Should be fun.

Love and Rockets New Stories 4 by Los Bros Hernandez- Do I even need to bother? IT'S LOVE AND ROCKETS! GO BUY A COPY!

Okay, on with the DC New 52 Reviews.

Nightwing by Kyle Higgins, Eddy Barrows, and JP Mayer
Why I Picked It Up: I've always like Nightwing as a character, especially the series from several years ago, so I thought I'd make this one a dark horse.
What Happens: Dick Grayson gets back into being Nightwing (based in Gotham this time), fights some bad guys, and visits his old circus.
What I Thought: Easily the weakest DC book I've picked up to date. This comic isn't bad, it's just mediocre. Having said that, there's stuff I liked, like Nightwing's new costume, and the voice narration by Dick. There's several definitive differences between Dick and Bruce, and that is solidly expressed here. The action sequences try to live up to the potential of the acrobatic lead, but, honestly, the art can't keep up.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2: Sorry. It's just not strong enough. I'm out.

Batman & Robin by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Mick Gray
Why I Picked It Up: Bruce and Damian as the Dynamic Duo. Worth a shot.
What Happens: We've got another bad guy scrubbing Batman Inc. members. Bruce and Damian try to learn to work together, to mixed results.
What I Thought: There's some good stuff here. The character interactions between Bruce and Damian are the main show here, as well as the polarity of their approaches to crime fighting. There's some neat stuff, but the art isn't to my tastes, and not enough resonates with me.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2: I'm not super psyched, but I think I'll give it a shot. It needs to knock the ball out of the park next issue, though.

Red Lanterns by Peter Milligan, Ed Benes, and Rob Hunter
Why I Picked It Up: I dig Peter Milligan. Also, if I was a Lantern, I'd be a Red one. RAGE!
What Happens: There's some killing, and we get Atrocitus's origin, as well as a search for meaning.
What I Thought: Here's the Bad News- If you know next to nothing about the Red Lanterns (and I don't), this is not a very good introduction. Most of the characters are ill defined, and the actual properties of the Red Lanterns are not really explained. Having said that, the art is really good, perfectly suited for the subject matter. There's violence, crazy stuff, and the Red Lanterns are a gang of Monsters. And I love Monsters. Also, Atrocitus is really cool. Honestly, Milligan has a very difficult task, trying to turn a gang of violent cosmic sociopaths into the lead characters of a series. And, he pretty much succeeds.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2? Yeah. If nothing else, I'm hoping I'll learn more about everything next issue.

Resurrection Man by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Fernando Dagnino
Why I Picked It Up: Wasn't gonna at all, but there's been some really strong reviews for this book online, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
What Happens: Resurrection Man dies a couple of times and there's Demons and Angels and evil debutantes.
What I Thought: Wow. Totally surprised by this one. It was great. Just great. I mean, there's Demons and Angels and Evil Debutantes, and great writing. Right up my alley.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2? I'm in like Flynn. More Please.

Batwoman by J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
Why I Picked It Up: J. H. Williams III
What Happens: Batwoman is chasing the Mexican Spirit known as La Llorna (which I first heard about in Love & Rockets (Full Circle)). She also has sidekick troubles.
What I Thought: Okay, like Red Lanterns, this is NOT a good introduction issue. I missed out on the JH Williams Batwoman stories from Detective, so I really don't know anything about Batwoman at all, and this issue doesn't really do a good job of introducing me to her or her world. Having said that: J. H. Williams III.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2? Again. J. H. Williams III. IN.

Demon Knights by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves, and Oclair Albert
Why I Picked It Up: Wasn't gonna, but I liked Cornell's "Stormwatch". Plus, it's got Etrigan.
What Happens: We get Etrigan's origin. The Demon Knights kinda come together to fight a massive army led by Mordred.
What I Thought: This book moves so fast, you almost can't keep up. Which I like. We've got a great cast of characters, kinda sorta being drawn together. The art's pretty good too. Also, Dinosaurs.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2? Yep. The Demon and Dinosaurs? Yep.

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli
Why I Picked It Up: I loved what Morrison did with these characters in his Seven Soldiers series. Also, I wanted to try more Lemire, especially after how good Animal Man was.
What Happens: A town is invaded by monsters. Frankenstein and SHADE have gotta stop it.
What I Thought: I loved everything about this comic. I loved this comic from page one on. Frankenstein's leading a team of Monsters. I loved this comic.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2? I loved this comic. Give me more monsters.

Wonder Woman by Brian Azzarello and Clint Chiang
Why I Picked It Up: This one has been seriously hyped since Day One. I gotta admit, I was curious if they could actually make a decent, let alone excellent, Wonder Woman comic.
What Happens: Mythology goes wrong. Very, very wrong.
What I Thought: Wowzers. Wowzers. Man, this is the real deal. This is a comic for me. Wowzers.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2? I'd buy it right now if I could.

Batman by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and Jonathan Glapion
Why I Picked It Up: This is another one that's been very strongly hyped. I dug Snyder's "Swamp Thing", and I was curious how Capullo would hold up after leaving Spawnland.
What Happens: Batman stops an Arkham prison break, then gets dumped into a new mystery with a very out of left field suspect.
What I Thought: The best Bat book I've read to date. Still, I'm not sure it lives up to all the hype. There's a lotta people online calling this the second coming, and I'm not as in love with it as that. Having said that, I really enjoyed this book. Well written and the art's great. There's some really cool concepts floating around. Snyder is dancing around in Morrison territory in terms of pure concept, and he's doing an impressive job.
Will I Pick Up Issue #2? Yeah.

What's the verdict? Nightwing is out, and Batman & Robin's got another issue to impress me. I'll read Batwoman as long as J.H. Williams is doing the art. Demon Knights and Batman were solid enough to keep reading. I was absolutely shocked by how good Resurrection Man and Wonder Woman were. Red Lanterns and Frankenstein are my kind of books. Gotta say, I'm digging this Reboot.