He-Man Masters of the Universe: Call me nostalgic, but when I heard that DC was rebooted my beloved 80s classic He-Man, my heart fluttered. I bought the first issue and I wasn’t completely disappointed. The writing was well done, but the art left a bit too be desired for me. For those interested, the cartoon actually holds up REALLY well! I will probably buy the second issue even though I’m not completely sold on this yet!
Justice League: Sweet Baby Jesus! I freaking loved this even though I completely didn’t expect too! I’ve never been a JL fan and I didn’t expect to become one, but Geoff Johns and Jim Lee have enough talent to pull me over to the dark side. While the entire run has been a little bit uneven, overall this is a fantastic effort leading to wonderful and heartracing things including “The Trinity War” and the creation of the Justice League of America. CAN. NOT. WAIT.
Legion Lost: I bought this in conjunction with The Culling cross-over event. Wasn’t terrible, but didn’t gra me either. Sadly, neither did The Culling.
National Comics: Kid Eternity: This one shot was written by Jeff Lemire and it was AMAZING! Sadly, this was the only Kid Eternity story. If however, DC wanted to reboot Kid Eternity with Jeff Lemire at the helm, I would definitely be there!
Nightwing: I gave this a shot initially and just felt like Kyle Higgins completely missed the boat on writing in Dick’s voice. Then the Night of Owls came along and I was definitely intrigued at what was happening with the character. I gave the title a couple more shots but ultimately was left underwhelmed.
Phantom Stranger: I’ve only read the Zero issue at this point, but this character is being rebooted via the Trinity of Sin storyline coming out of Justice League. I don’t know much about Phantom Stranger or the other ghoulish character that appears in this comic, but color me intrigued. The writing was a bit noir-ish but it could have been more so in my opinion. Also, the art was not quite there yet. Hopefully, once the series gets underway they will find their rhythm. This will be a Third Wave title that I will definitely give another shot.
Punk Rock Jesus: Everyone was RAVING about this so I bought it and the first issue was very VERY good! The story is a bit hard to follow and definitely calls for a re-read. I’ve been sitting on the second issue because I haven’t really been motivated to read it. No good reason.
Ravagers: Bought this as part of The Culling. Underwhelmed. Did not continue.
Red Hood and the Outlaws: One thing you need to know about me is that I FREAKING LOVE JASON TODD!!! However, this was one of those titles that came under scrutiny for the hypersexualization of its female lead, Starfire. I promptly ignored it because I didn’t think I’d like Jason Todd written by anyone other than Judd Winick or Grant Morrison. Boy, was I wrong. I picked up the tie-in issues for Night of Owls and was instantly hooked! I loved EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS! The art! The writing! EVERYTHING!!! I immediately went back and bought every single issue! This is one of the most amazing things to come out of the New 52! Scott Lodbell is a wonderfully creative mind who writes teams impeccably well!
Superboy: Another Scott Lodbell title. I read the first issue borrowed from a friend and found it interesting but not my bag. I don’t like Supes or his “offspring”. Eventually, Superboy is brought into The Culling so I read it again and although I enjoyed it more this time. I feel no need to really follow his title. I do appreciate the character though, and enjoy reading about him in Teen Titans:-)
Swamp Thing: Scott Snyder is amazing as usual and this is very much what a Swamp Thing fan wants. However, I’ve never been a big Swamp fan and like Animal Man, I feel this may work better in text than in graphic form. I read the first couple issues and the Zero and enjoyed them very much. As I said earlier, I may go back and read once the Rotworld event is published but for now, I support all of Scotty Snyder’s Bat-ventures.
Teen Titans: After falling for Scott Lobdell in Red Hood and reading about all the shit that was going down in The Culling, I decided to give Teen Titans a try since I missed Tim Drake. Thank god I did! This. Is. AMAZING!!! Scott Lobdell can write teams like it ain’t nobody’s business. The art is beautiful. The writing is fantastically hilarious and wonderful! Just bought the volume! Can’t wait for the Zero!
Wonder Woman: Ah, Wonder Woman. No one quite knows what to do with you despite being one of DC’s Trinity. Well, Brian Azzarello has a pretty good idea! I read the first couple issues of Wonder Woman and enjoyed it very much. Not enough to keep going, but enough. Eventually in a moment of stress induced weakness, I bought the volume and enjoyed it very much. I also wanted to support arguably the most visible female character in comics. There is nothing not to love about this run. The writing is clever and the art is wonderfully specific. I just…I don’t know…can’t get obsessed with it.
Titles That I Couldn’t Even Bear To Own And Sold To Half-Price Books:
Green Arrow: Incredibly disappointing! Like a very bad CW show!
DC Universe Presents: Not terrible, but didn’t really go anywhere. I loved Deadman in Brightest Day, but not here.
The Fury of Firestorm: Loved him growing up. I even bought a few issues out of desperation, but sadly my faith was not to be rewarded.
The Savage Hawkman: Again, should have been awesome, but something was missing.
In retrospect, I bought a lot of these titles probably because of Blackest Night/Brightest Day and sadly, none of them came close to meeting my expectations:-(
Blue Star 