Look, even to a DC Comics Zombie, the company's September relaunch can seem intimidating. The information is almost overwhelming—52 brand new books, a smattering of new characters interjected into the publisher's traditional roster, and completely new creative teams on almost every book. On top of that, the chances of all 52 (or even a high percentage) being worth buying is minuscule. So, for you gentle reader, I have taken the time to separate the wheat from the chaff, to isolate the cream of the crop, and to highlight the must-haves of the DCnU. Once a week, between now and the end of August, I will attempt to explain and justify my choices for the 15 most important books of DC's upcoming relaunch.
This week, the Grab Bag Edition: Animal Man, Stormwatch, and All Star Western
Animal Man (Jeff Lemire, Travel
Foreman, and Dan Green)
One of the tightropes that the
powers-that-be-at-DC have to walk is that they must maintain a
reverence for established readers and the things they like while
re-branding their line in an effort to attract new readers. None of
the New 52 exemplifies that more than Animal Man. On the one hand,
Animal Man is a strange choice. He's a character of extremely limited
history, starring in only one or two famous storylines total. Heck,
at one point his greatest achievement was gracing the roster of a
group called the Forgotten Heroes. Granted, that was before Grant
Morrison left his mark on the character, but still, that should give
you an idea of how limited Animal Man's involvement in the greater
DCU continuity is. On the other hand, Animal Man is a fan favorite,
thanks mostly to a late 1980s and early 1990s revamp and a starring
role in DC's 52 both written by the aforementioned Morrison. What
Animal Man lacks in name recognition outside of the realm of comic
book shops, he makes up for with his limited but beloved status
within those comic-dungeons. Still, it should go without saying that
editorial at DC is banking on this new Animal Man series garnering a
more widespread following than other attempts in the past.
Now that I think about it, they may be
on to something. While much of the focus among the nerds (ie: me)
has been to examine and dissect the characters, creative teams, and
continuity changes of the DC Relaunch, a largely ignored part of the
entire enterprise is the shift to day-and-date releases. Brand new
DC comics will now be sold digitally on the same day they hit store
shelves. Some of the sales figures I've seen from digital comic book
sales indicate that consumers that buy their comics online tend to
buy comics of the more independent and Vertigo-style stripe.
(Admittedly, this information may be out of date. After all, I am no
comic industry insider.) So in Animal Man, DC has a character that
was famously one of the founding members of Vertigo written by
current Vertigo wunderkind Jeff Lemire (Sweettooth). Those in the
know at DC have mentioned that they want their new 52 to encompass a
broader segment of comic book readership and Animal Man is definitely
one of their forays down paths that only Vertigo used to travel.
As I have said before, Lemire is a
rising star. He has received critical recognition for his short run
on Superboy and his creator owned Sweettooth and Essex
County Trilogy. The artistic side of Animal Man will be handled
by Travel Foreman who is fairly new to comics, and has mostly worked
for MARVEL since breaking into the industry. If the previews are any
indication, Foreman's work will fit well with the story Lemire wants
to tell. Jeff has said that he sees Animal Man “very much a horror/superhero hybrid. As such, I’m able to take it in some very dark places.” Its an interesting direction to take Buddy Baker and
his animal-themed alter-ego, but one that could give new life to a
character that has not had a starring turn since the early 1990s.
Stormwatch (Paul Cornell and Miguel
Sepulveda)
A couple of weeks ago, (in a
cold-medicine-addled fog) I mentioned that my limited funds were forcing me to choose one Paul Cornell and one Peter Milligan penned book. Since I chose Justice League Dark for my Milligan book,
that left Stormwatch as the obvious choice for Cornell.
(Anyone that's listened to our podcast's discussions about Game of
Thrones knows that I can only take so much fantasy. Sorry
Demonknights!) Add to that the fact that one of my all time
favorite characters—Martian Manhunter—is now a member of
Stormwatch and I'm sold.
The premise of Stormwatch—a
secret group of superpowered people who quietly save the world—is
one of those ideas that seems obviously clever but is surprisingly
hard to get right. In spirit, the team has been around since the
early 90s but only a few creators have been able to write comics that
live up to the premise. Of all the writers (other than Grant
Morrison) working at DC right now, Cornell seems like the obvious
choice to head a revival of Stormwatch. Cornell has packed a lot of
solid superhero comic book writing into a fairly short about of time.
His recent run on Action Comics starring Lex Luthor lost much
of its steam toward the end, but was still a solid story overall. A
Dr. Who alumnus, Cornell has shown that he is able to mix
imaginative premises with compelling threats. Word coming out of the
DC camp is that the villain of the first Stormwatch story-arch
will be the Moon. Having read some of Cornell's work at DC, that
seems about right.
Stormwatch is a book with a
monstrous amount of potential. The premise and characters are solid,
Cornell has a knack for writing interesting comics, and the art
(handled by Miguel Sepulveda) looks spectacular so far. Hopefully, it
will bear a stronger resemblance to the crisp storytelling of
Cornell's early issues on Lex Luthor and not the less intriguing,
by-the-book later issues.
All Star Western (Jimmy Palmiotti,
Justin Gray and Moritat)
I'll make this easy: Buy All Star
Western. It's strange that I, a comic book collector that
literally owns only one western-themed comic book, can say that.
But, without a doubt ASW will be one of the most consistently
great comics being released by DC in the New 52. How can I know
that? Well, the writing team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray were
able to orchestrate a seventy(!) issue on DC's most recent western
book, Jonah Hex, which ran
from 2006 until last month. The only way a comic book based in the
old west could survive at the Big 2 in today's market is if the
writers wrote its brains out. I am sure that they will bring those
same energies and sensibilities to ASW.
No
longer confined to just Jonah Hex and his cast of characters,
Palmiotti and Gray now have the entire DC Western roster to play
with. At least at first, each issue will feature a story starring
Hex with a backup featuring other characters. Series-artist Moritat
grabbed readers attention with his recent run on The
Spirit. His work was perfect
for the urban settings of that comic's Central City, but it will be
interesting to see how it translates to the wild west. Of course, it
may help that apparently ASW
is taking place in the Gothic-inspired wild west version of Gotham.
He's a talented artist that gives a sense of place and atmosphere to
his work, which should serve a period piece comic well.
Here's
the thing: I missed out on Jonah Hex.
When it first came out, I decided I wasn't interested in a western
comic. Then Palmiotti and Grey quietly built up one of the strongest
comic book runs in recent memory while I was wasn't paying attention.
This time around, I'm determined to be along for the entire ride of
this brand new western series.
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