The New 52 Week Three

Here's what I'm looking forward to for week 3 of the big DC relaunch...

Remember that Detective Comics arc that I went on and on about written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Jock? Well at least half of that creative team is returning to the character, Scott Snyder is writing the Batman reboot. Unfortunately Jock isn't joining him, but the book is still in good hands with long-time Spawn artist Greg Capullo. It's going to be weird seeing Greg do anything other than Spawn, as he drew that book for what seemed like an eternity. I've always liked his art though, so I'm looking forward to this. Scott Snyder has already proven himself perfectly capable of delivering the goods when it comes to Batman story telling. The aforementioned Detective arc, as well as The Gates of Gotham mini-series he co-wrote with Kyle Higgins were both excellent. I've felt all along like this one was going to be my favorite of all the new books, there's no way it will disappoint.

I was a big, big fan of the last Catwoman series from Will Pfeiffer. When it got cancelled I honestly felt like DC was ending the best book they had on the shelves every month. That being said, Judd Winick has some big shoes to fill, and high expectations to live up to. Again, Winick is a guy that a lot of fanboys love to hate, but I like the guy. He tends to write female characters well too, so I think he's going to shine on Catwoman. Handling the art chores is Guillem March, who has a different style but knows his way around the character of Selina. He drew her along with Poison Ivy and Harley in Gotham City Sirens. He eventually went on to work on Batman and Azrael, and was solid on both. Really looking forward to this one.

I've always liked anthology and spotlight series, as they tend to be the only way some of the more obscure characters (like Deadman there) get any exposure other than guest spots. DC Universe Presents is another spotlight book, which will feature a different character for each story, with those stories being of varying length. It will also have rotating creative teams, which will change with each arc/character. Starting things off is a five-issue Deadman story by long-time DC writer Paul Jenkins and artist Bernard Chang. Jenkins has written a decent book or two over the years, I'm looking forward to what he has in store for Boston Brand. Chang I've never really been a huge fan of. There's just something about his minimalistic style that I don't dig too much. Maybe this will be the book that changes my mind. I will say this, even if the interior art sucks, this book is going to have some beautiful covers on it, Ryan Sook is fantastic.

Once again, I read all the Green Lantern books. ALL of them. Corps was actually a pretty decent book under Peter Tomasi, and he's still writing it after the relaunch. No reason to think this one won't continue to be a solid read. Peter will also have Fernando Pasarin on pencils again, and he's ok I guess. He replaced Patrick Gleason originally on Green Lantern Corps, and that really isn't fair to ask of anybody. I got used to him though. Basically this book will be the same as it was before, no arguments from me there.

This is another book I'm really excited about, Dick Grayson is FINALLY Nightwing again! Woo HOO! I liked him taking over as Batman while Bruce was gone post-Final Crisis, but I wanted Nightwing back after the return, not two Batmen. Stupid Morrison. I still think I like the blue costume better though, the red isn't really growing on me yet. That's a minor nitpick though, and I'll take it if it means I get to read Nightwing again. I'm also really stoked about Kyle Higgins, who I previously mentioned co-wrote Gates of Gotham with Scott Snyder, writing the book. The other good news is Eddy Barrows is going to be drawing. He originally caught my eye on the Blackest Night Batman tie-in series. He's done a couple of other good things, the latest of which being "Grounded" which ran in Superman, written by J. Michael Straczynski. I don't think it's unfair to say that this is the best creative team Nightwing's ever had, I'm really expecting this to be good.

Here's another book that really tests my loyalty to the Bat-titles. I'm only buying this book because Red Hood (former dead Robin Jason Todd) is in it. I have only a mild interest in the character as it is, throw in two other characters I don't care about (Arsenal ugh, and Starfire meh) and then let Scott Lobdell write it, and you've got yourself a title that almost puts me to sleep just thinking about it. Then there's artist Kenneth Rocafort who is pretty new to comics, and while I've liked some of what I've seen from him, I would hardly buy a series based solely on his art. This is definitely the "chopping block" book for week three. We'll see how it goes, but I'm not expecting much.







There's week three kids. I have a tiny bit of interest in Wonder Woman because I like Cliff Chiang's art, but Brian Azzarello is one of the most hit or miss writers I've ever read. I will be taking a look at that one before making a decision. For those following along with these posts, I mentioned I was going to look at Resurrection Man last week, and I did. Turns out it was really good! I was pleasantly surprised, and added it to my pull list, definitely worth checking out. Look for the final week's picks next Wednesday. Until then, happy reading!