Reviews #2: DC’s New 52 Week 2

For the week 2 books, I set aside some of my early aversions and checked out eight of the new books.  Batman and Robin, Green Lantern, Suicide Squad, Red Lanterns, Superboy, Grifter, and Mister Terrific.  I gotta say, I’m impressed all around.  I really like how this reboot is shaping up, and I like that some of these stories carried over from the preboot world.  And I especially like what it’s doing for lesser known and newer characters like Mister Terrific and Atroticus.  Let’s get to it.

Just like Green Arrow, this one took me a couple tries to get into it.  At first it felt like it was going to be a gag title like Deadpool Corps was last year.  But when I picked it up and started reading again I can see how this could play out in the long run.  If the Green Lanterns are cops of the galaxy then the Red Lanterns are the vigilantes.  In the preboot Atroticus only wanted to exact vengeance on Krona for destroying his home planet and entire sector.  That carries over to here as Hal Jordan took the opportunity for Atroticus to kill Krona away by doing it himself so now he doesn’t know what to do with himself and his Red Lanterns.  By the end of the book he’s rallied his Red Lanterns to a new cause, seeking out to punish those who deserve retribution.  Basically, it’s an army of blood vomiting Ghost Riders.  Minus the motorcycle and flaming skulls, of course.  Check it out, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Okay, readers, I like you.  I do.  And I’m going to level with you.  Up until Flashpoint, I had no idea who Grifter was or anything about him.  I can tell you this now though.  I could kick myself for being so blind.  Part voodoo magic, part gun-toting hillbilly bad @#!*% .  Grifter, as far as I can tell, is about a man on the run from the law who’s hearing the voices of tentacle faced plasma monsters in his head.  The first issue wasn’t as action heavy as some of the other books, but when you’re introducing a Wildstorm character that the casual fan may not know, story over action is going to be the best bet.  Cool cover art, though.

This.  This right here earns my “Best of…” for the titles this week.  It was funny, action packed, gory, exciting, and it left me craving the next book like nothing else has recently, save for Kevin Smith’s Bionic Man.  I’m a big fan of Harley Quinn, I like the new costume, it suits her, makes her come across a little more realistic.  Now, I’m a fan of the original costume, too, but I associate it directly with Batman The Animated Series.  People are into Harley, they fantasize about her, and DC knows this.  Why would they continue to cover up 90% of her when the best Batman game of all time depicted her as a naughty nurse?  It’s going to be thigh highs and corsets and pockets full of knives from here on out.  Suicide Squad is a really cool title based on a really cool idea.  This is up there with Batgirl and Animal Man.

For the most part, I liked everything the new 52 has offered me thus far.  And if I wasn’t interested in it before and for one reason or another picked it up anyway, I wound up liking it, probably more than the stuff I wanted to read going into this.  This included.  Welcome to the origin of Superboy.  Grown in a lab as a cloning experiment using alien and human DNA.  Superboy doesn’t explore too far outside of the laboratory setting.  Another Wildstorm character makes appearances as the post-disaster leader of the Superboy project at N.O.W.H.E.R.E.   As for picking up issue 2…I’m more excited for Teen Titans #1 now.  And I wasn’t interested in that….at all.  At least not until the end of Superboy #1.

I’ve never waited longer to read a #1 than I have for this.  At the end of the War of the Green Lanterns, it’s no secret (at least on this blog), that Hal is stripped of his Green Lantern ring and status and his ring goes to Thaal Sinestro.  What follows is one issue telling two stories.  Two stories about two men who are exactly where they don’t want to be and don’t feel they belong.  If the end of this book is gearing us up for what’s to come from the ongoing Green Lantern series I have two things to say.  I knew he wouldn’t be without his ring for long and second, this is going to be the BEST buddy cop movie EVER.  I can’t say much else about it.  The art is great, the writing’s great, everything about this is just right.  It’s a perfect way to start things off, everything status quo as it was once, long ago.

I read a story involving Mr. Terrific once.  I was more interested in the ongoing story regarding Power Girl’s origins though.  I’m happy to say that Mr. Terrific is a really well rounded book.  Great humor, good story, plenty of action, and the confirmed return of Karen Starr AKA Power Girl to the DC Universe reboot.  So far she hasn’t shown up AS Power Girl, but she’s accounted for.  But, this isn’t her book.  It’s Mr. Terrific’s!  The book was great, and Mr. Terrific easily reminds me, very much, of Will Smith in some of his dialogue.  If you had doubts about this and whether it’d last past three issues, give it a chance.  It’ll surprise you.

Batman and Robin has been my favorite book since I started reading it regularly around issue #13.  This new start with Bruce taking over again as Batman is reintroducing us to Damian being a brat.  Bruce is commemorating the death of his parents once last time.  He’s decided that it’s time for a change and will proceed to remember them as they lived, on their wedding anniversary, instead of the day they died.  The call comes in, action ensues and Damian takes off after the perps, seemingly killing them in the process.  This can’t sit well with Bruce, not when he finds out anyway.  Can not WAIT for issue 2.

I’ll be back with more DC New 52 reviews in two weeks!  TV reviews before then, and another Issue soon!

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The Life and Times of the Socially Awkward #3: Speak Out With Your Geek Out

I know, the official week isn’t until next week, but if anyone’s got something to say about this it’s me.  Speak Out With Your Geek Out is a week set aside by those morally outraged by an article written by a certain Gizmodo writer, who’s since been, reportedly, fired, about her date with a Magic The Gathering World Champion.  He seemingly made no effort to make it the only topic of conversation, though she went out of her way to make it the quintessential deal breaker.  It was a display which falls beneath even the most scandalous of high school publications.

Speak Out with Your Geek Out is a week set aside to stand up and talk about something you’re passionate about and to be proud and to share that with others.  It’s about being positive about something and taking pride in what you do.  Having started my own effort to unite us as a subculture and community with Spread the Nerd, I can’t help but latch onto this and appreciate the @#!*% out of it.

I’ve spent my entire life like this.  As long as I can remember I’ve been a geek.  And I’ve suffered the hardships that came with the territory, especially when I was in school.  Saying this makes me feel old, but when I was in school we didn’t have the general acceptance of geekery that exists now.  Eventually I owned it, wore it like a gleaming red and yellow S, or G rather, on my chest.  And in doing that I solidified myself for life.

There’s a misconception about the community that I really hope to one day see wiped out, and it’s that we’re nothing more than a myopic group of hate mongers.  Granted, every group has a handful that are less desirable to deal with than others.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting the best for the things we put so much of ourselves and our lives into.  Call it nerd rage if you must, but until you’ve invested yourself into something like we invest ourselves, you may not really understand why we “rage” like we do.

Being a geek, for me, is more than having seen Star Wars more than once, it’s more than playing a card game once or twice, it’s more than watching a particular show.  Being a geek for me is being passionate about something, about all things.  And I don’t want to reserve those things exclusively for myself, no, I want to share my passion for all things geek with everyone.  My hobby isn’t any one geeky thing in particular, it’s all of the things!

My girlfriend and I have developed a ritual.  Every Saturday we get up a little bit earlier than we’d really like to, and drive about an hour to sit in our favorite comic shop and play board and card games with each other.  Anyone who comes into the store is more than welcome to join us, and we’ve even had people step up and sit in and inquire.  And everyone has left us having had a great time.  I’ve done everything I could want to do, spent time with my girlfriend, made new friends, and introduced them to new and exciting games they may not have given a second glance to if they’d not been invited to play.  Through this charge I get from spreading the culture of geek, I’ve developed a movement of my own.

Not unlike Speak Out with Your Geek Out my effort encourages the geek community to unite and to spread our culture by any means necessary.  And by any means necessary, I of course mean sending and giving comic books to random strangers.  Telling your sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews superhero origin stories before bed, introducing someone to the pop culture phenomenon that is Doctor Who.  I mean, really ANY means necessary and available to each and every person.  With it I hope to track the travels of a single package of comics, which is being sent to South Florida this week to begin it’s mission.

There’s nothing that I love more than being a geek right now.  And to pick one hobby to be passionate about is unfair to every hobby that came before and will come after it.  I’ve been a geek my entire life, and I never felt more fulfilled by it then when I began sharing it with other people.

The Life and Times of the Socially Awkward #2: Spread The Nerd

I’ve been wanting, for some time now, to take action in the industry I invest so much time into and do something active within it.  Being that my attempts at creating my own comic book are far from realized I can’t add to the industry.  But what I can do is bring awareness about it.  For starters, with digital comics becoming same day as release of the print version we’re, inevitably going to see a decrease in print sales.  That decrease in sales could eventually lead to driving local comic shops out of business and then what’ll we be left with?  Not a @#!*% thing.

I come to you with this, friends.  My Life as a Geek’s “Spread the Geek” project.  I propose that you scrounge your long boxes and book shelves for books that you haven’t looked at or even thought about in months.  Look for those titles that brought you back into the game when you weren’t sure you wanted to keep on going.  Buy a new graphic novel, for all I care.  The point is, put it in a box and send it to someone you know that doesn’t have the exposure to this stuff that you do, that you think might enjoy it.  Buy an extra copy of something and give it to some kid who’s walking in as you’re leaving.  The idea is to spread comics out across the nation, maybe even the world, who knows.  But I offer this task at the same time;  when you spread the word, request that the person you’re sharing with do the same.  If you’re sending out a comics care package, offer a keepsake of some kind.  Buy a print from your favorite artist (geek or otherwise).  And help them get some more recognition that you’ve always felt they so rightly deserve.  It’s one thing to say “I wish this got more recognition.”  It’s something completely different to give it that recognition.  So, when you’re sending your comics send a note that instructs the recipient to do the same, send or give the same books and the letter to someone else.