Birds of Prey #7

Cover by Jesus Saiz, Santiago Arcas

Birds of Prey #7 (March 21, 2012)

Writer: Duane Swierczynski

Penciller: Jesus Saiz

Colorist: June Chung

Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual

I love Birds of Prey. I’ve said that before many times but I don’t care. I love this ragtag group of damaged, dynamic, powerful, and conflicted women. I love that they are not perfect, not totally self-sacrificing, not even all that nice. The women of Birds of Prey are some of the most real characters in comic books.

Fangirling aside, Birds of Prey #7 was honestly not one of the strongest comics I’ve read in a while. While it was definitely entertaining and had one surprisingly grim and violent moment, this issue sort of floundered and I can’t exact pinpoint why. For one thing, it started very abruptly and while I am used to issues opening in the middle of a conflict, I felt that Birds of Prey #7 didn’t handle this very well. There was very little backstory and the little that did exist did not provide any real exposition to the villain or why the Birds of Prey found themselves in the current situation. Unlike Supergirl #7, for example, Birds of Prey #7 didn’t meet the reader halfway in reminding them of the events that lead up to this issue.

Supergirl #7

Cover by Mahmud Asrar, Dave McCaig

Supergirl #7 (March 21, 2012)

Writer: Michael Green, Mike Johnson

Penciller: Mahmud Asrar

Colorist: Dave McCaig

Letterer: Rob Leigh

Supergirl has been a character that I have been vaguely interested in ever since I saw my very first episode of Justice League Unlimited, “Fearful Symmetry.” If you haven’t seen this show or this episode, do yourself a favor and do so now. Aside from being an all-around solid work of animation and writing, it also introduced me to some of my now favorite characters, Green Arrow and the Question. Supergirl, though the focus of this episode, only piqued my interested slightly, sad to say. Therefore, I was terribly happy to read Supergirl #7 and find myself loving it.

If you’re looking for a comic book filled with action and awesome fight sequences, then you should probably pick this one up if you haven’t already. Supergirl #7 opens right in the middle of an intense fight between Supergirl and a group of genetically modified aliens, the Worldkillers. Created in a lab by Kryptonian scientists, these Worldkillers are hungry to destroy, discover their true heritages and seek revenge on the Kryptonians who stole them from their home worlds. They now set their sights on Earth as it houses the last Kryptonians.

Batgirl #7

Cover by Ardian Syaf, Vicente Cifuentes, Ulises Arreola

Batgirl #7 (March 13, 2012)

Writer: Gail Simone

Penciller: Ardian Syaf, Alitha Martinez

Inker: Vicente Cifuentes

Colorists: Ulises Arreola

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

While I believe that Animal Man and Swamp Thing are the strongest books of the New 52, I still adore Batgirl. It’s well written, exciting and character-driven. Also, I will always love Barbara Gordon. ALWAYS.

Batgirl #7 has been one of my favorite issues of this series, not merely because it has an awesome fight sequence, a genuinely creepy and intriguing villain, and a perfect balancing between the personal and professional life of Barbara Gordon BUT because there’s a cameo by one of my other top favorite female super heroes: Black Canary.

I know we have Birds of Prey, which I also adore, but I sort of wish Black Canary and Batgirl had a duo book: fighting crime and trading quips and just generally being awesome and dynamic female characters. A girl can dream.

Animal Man Vol. 1: The Hunt

Cover by Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Animal Man Vol. 1: The Hunt (2012)

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Penciller: Travel Foreman

Inker: Jeffrey Huet, Daniel Green

Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski

Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher

I’ve been excited to see the release of the New 52 trade paperbacks recently. I’m probably just lazy but I find reading trade paperbacks so much easier. In my quest to read as many comic book as possible, issues often get lost in the shuffle or neglected so for certain series, I purposely wait for the trade paperback releases (I’m doing that now with AvX so shh, don’t spoil me). I ended up doing this with Animal Man, though I have read the first issue and enjoyed it.

Animal Man, along with Swamp Thing, has probably been the most popular and acclaimed of the New 52 by my fellow comic book friends. It’s quite easy to see why: they are both refreshing, dark, mythic, and often terrifying books. The stakes are incredibly high and our heroes are terribly vulnerable. Both Animal Man and Swamp Thing make the reader feel as if the negative circumstances could actually happen in real life and then we would be totally boned.

Batgirl #5, #6

Cover by Adam Hughes

Batgirl #5 (January 11, 2012) Batgirl #6 (February 8, 2012)

Writer: Gail Simone

Penciller: Ardian Syaf

Inker: Vicente Cifuentes

Colorist: Ulises Arreola

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

I’ve wanted to write about these issues for a very long time now but between work, graduate papers, and exams, I never felt like I had the time to fully sit down and express myself clearly.

Now that I do have some free time, I’m not quite sure what I wanted to say.

I know these issues are months old already but they’ve stuck with me from my first readings, which, what with my rapid consumption of comic books, is quite a feat. I’ve been rather lukewarm on the recent Batgirl run (most likely from still mourning the loss of Oracle) but I’ve noticed that the storylines have steadily improved with each issue.

Batman: Detective Comics #879

Cover by Francesco Francavilla

Batman: Detective Comics #879 (July 13, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Frencesco Francavilla

Colorist: Francesco Francavilla

Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher

I knew I shouldn’t pick up this random issue without having any of the others. But my profound love for Scott Snyder’s work colored my reason. And now I have to run out and pick up the rest of his run on Detective Comics. Let me just add that to my growing to-read list.

Anyway, Snyder does not disappoint: he wrote an eerie, compelling and dark story that was fully articulated. Standing alone, this comic book had a very strong narrative with plenty of suspense and dynamic characters.

Huntress #2

Cover by Guillem March, Tomeu Morey

Huntress #2 (November 9, 2011)

Writer: Paul Levitz

Penciller: Marcus To

Inker: John Dell

Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

It is my profound opinion that Huntress is one of the most undeservedly underrated characters in the DC Universe. She’s also one of the most real characters to me: very dynamic, strong-willed, resilient, flawed and self-assured.

I love her, okay?

So I’ll read basically anything featuring her, especially the comics in which she stars, though those are few and far between. While I enjoy her appearances in Birds of Prey, I sometimes just want her to be the main character.

Huntress #2 gave me that chance and luckily, I wasn’t terribly disappointed.

Animal Man#1

Cover by Travel Foreman, Lovern Kindzierski

Animal Man#1 (September 7, 2011)

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Penciller: Travel Foreman

Inker: Travel Foreman, Dan Green

Colorist: Lovern Kindzierski

Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher

I’ve been told to read the New 52 re-launch of Animal Man for quite a while now. Apparently since I love Snyder’s Swamp Thing so much, I will also love this as they are loosely connected.

After reading Animal Man #1, I have to say that this assessment is correct so far.

Overall, I have been lukewarm about DC’s New 52 but at the same time, I have to admit that Swamp Thing and Animal Man are two of the smartest, most sophisticated comics out there currently. Like Snyder’s Swamp Thing, Lemire’s Animal Man isn’t afraid to push the boundaries of super powers, horror and legitimate family tension. 

Batgirl #4

Cover by Adam Hughes

Batgirl #4 (December 14, 2011)

Writer: Gail Simone

Penciller: Ardian Syaf

Inker: Vincente Cifuentes

Colorist: Ulises Arreola

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

I have reacted indifferently to the majority of the re-launched Batgirl series and Batgirl #4 is no exception, sadly.

There has been very little about this series to pull me in and at this point, I genuinely miss Oracle. Barbara as Batgirl is still struggling with her identity and the miraculous use of her legs after being shot by the Joker over a year ago. Perhaps this is the reason why her characterization feels rather off. This Barbara Gordon never seems sure of anything and if there was one thing I could always rely on Barbara for, it was her steadfastness.

Catwoman #3 and #4

Cover by Guillem March, Tomeu Morey

Catwoman #3 (November 16, 2011) Catwoman  #4 (December 21, 2011)

Writer: Judd Winick

Penciller: Guillem March

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

I was prepared to give up wholeheartedly on this Catwoman series after the debilitating awfulness of the previous two issues. Winick had managed to totally embarrass me and make me dislike one of my absolute favorite comic book characters. Perhaps because of my profound love for Selina Kyle, I found myself reluctantly picking up Catwoman #3 and Catwoman #4.

Now, these are still in no way really well written or even particularly gripping issues. The art is still rather slapdash and March’s Selina Kyle is becoming more and more cartoony. Nonetheless, they were improvements from the first two issues. By improvements, of course, I mean there weren’t any unnecessary nudity and no Batman-Catwoman sex. Other than that, the plot is thin and barely interesting.

Swamp Thing #4

Cover by Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

Swamp Thing #4 (December 7, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Marco Rudy

Colorist: David Baron

Inker: Sean Parsons, Michael Lacombe

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Swamp Thing #4 is mostly concerned with exposition: a brisk history of the Green, the Parliament of Trees and previous Swamp Thing incarnations was the focal point of this issue. And I loved every second of it.

Rather than feeling like dull filler, Swamp Thing #4 was still very gripping and disturbing. Again, I adore the eerie and mythological atmosphere so I’m content learning more about this universe than just having action scene after action scene.

Swamp Thing #3

Cover by Victor Ibanez, Yanick Paquette

Swamp Thing #3 (November 2, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Victor Ibanez, Yanick Paquette

Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn

Letterer: John J. Hill

Remember how I said that Swamp Thing #2 was actually pretty scary?

Well, Swamp Thing #3 upped the ante from scary to straight up disturbing. I am pretty sure that I was making a hardcore cringing face while reading this issue. Things have gotten pretty grim really quickly.

The reader has been introduced to the main villain, though Snyder successfully introduced this character as sympathetic and most likely unaware of his evil powers. Snyder also further established the dichotomy between the Green and the Rot, the two forces at play here in the Swamp Thing universe. Again, we’re dealing with classic narrative tropes: good/bad, light/dark, alive/dead, green/rot. Snyder, however, managed to make this tension feel new and intriguing by placing it within the context of the natural world.

Swamp Thing #2

Cover by Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

Swamp Thing #2 (October 5, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Yanick Paquette

Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn

Letterer: John J. Hill

Thus far, in my admittedly limited exploration of the New 52, my favorite find has definitely been Swamp Thing. I was not expecting it but the latest issue has thoroughly impressed me and made me a genuine fan. I plan on picking up on some of the older Alan Moore Swamp Things soon but right now, I’m really happy with Snyder’s rendition of this character.

For one thing, this issue is very mythic. And if there is one thing I love, it’s myths (mostly Greek and Norse but I’m not one to discriminate). I adore how Snyder managed to bring these very vast, mythic ideas into this comic and make Swamp Thing so much more than simply a dude who turned into a swampy, toxic monster thing. That’s what he used to be right? Toxic? Comic books have taught me to assume that all once-human-now-monster creatures are created because of a toxic spill or radiation.

Batgirl #2

Cover by Adam Hughes

Batgirl #2 (October 12, 2011)

Writer: Gail Simone

Penciller: Ardian Syaf

Colorist: Ulises Arreola

Letterer: Dave Sharpe

Inker: Vincente Cifuentes

Finally, a step in the right direction.

In order to celebrate Halloween as Batgirl, I’ve decided to read and review Batgirl #2 and I am very happy to say, it is a vast improvement over both my previous DC comic experience and Batgirl #1. 

This is my first Halloween in a store-bought costume. I feel weird.

Catwoman #2

Cover by Guillem March

Catwoman #2 (October 19, 2011)

Writer: Judd Winick

Penciller: Guillem March

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

Even after reading the offensive, insulting, embarrassing and just plain poorly done Catwoman #1, I was willing to give this series another shot. I am always reluctant to give up on a series after one issue (I’m willing to be painfully disappointed after at least five issues) so when I saw the cover for Catwoman #2, I took a deep breath, tried not to cringe and picked it up.

Then I read it.

I am just so, so very disappointed in this re-launch. It’s everything I could possibly hate in a comic book wrapped up in issues starring one of my absolute favorite characters. It hurts; it honestly hurts.

Nightwing #1

Cover by Eddy Barrows, JP Mayer, Rod Reis

Nightwing #1 (September 21, 2011)

Writer: Kyle Higgins

Penciller: Eddy Barrows, JP Mayer

Colorist: Rod Reis

Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual

Even though I am a fully converted Marvel fan, I still hold a special place in my heart for Nightwing.

And by “hold a special place in my heart”, I mean I have a stupid crush on him.

So I was very excited to get a hold of Nightwing #1 because I will read literally anything with Nightwing in the title. After being disappointed by the majority of the New 52 that I have encountered, however, I didn’t have high hopes. While Nightwing #1 was not spectacular, it was a fun time and ended with a thoroughly interesting cliffhanger. I know I’ll read in the next issue.

Catwoman #1

Cover by Guillem March

Catwoman #1 (September 21, 2011)

Writer: Judd Winick

Penciller: Guillem March

Colorist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Sal Cipriano

Yikes.

At this point, I’m not even sure what I can say about this comic without A) echoing what others have said before me or B) ranting and ranting until I pull out all my hair in frustration and collapse in a fit of well-placed anger.

Before I got a hold of Catwoman #1, I had already heard negative things about it from co-workers, friends and Laura Hudson’s fabulous article over at Comics Alliance. Even Comic Book Resources, which I have clashed with in the past, gave it a scathing review.

But, I knew that it was unfair of me to simply take the word of other people without reading Catwoman #1 myself. I knew I had to give it a shot and try not to let the opinions of others color my reaction to it. Now, you can probably argue that this was an impossible feat and I walked into Catwoman #1 totally biased. As a feminist and a Catwoman fan, however, I know my reaction to this comic would have been exceedingly similar even if I had read it blindly.

Regardless, it would always be:

Swamp Thing #1

Cover by Yanick Paquette, Nathan Fairbairn

Swamp Thing #1 (September 7, 2011)

Writer: Scott Snyder

Penciller: Yanick Paquette

Colorist: Nathan Fairbairn

Letterer: John J. Hill

For some reason, I have foggy memories of my dad talking about Swamp Thing a lot when I was a very young child. I don’t know why, because he never read the comics and if he saw the 1982 film, it never made an impression of him because he hasn’t mentioned it in recent memory.

I think we used to watch the 1990s television series together. At the very least, I recall seeing the commercials for it on the Sci Fi Channel and being intrigued by it, probably because I had managed, based only on my dad and the commercials, to equate Swamp Thing as a sort of Frankenstein’s monster and therefore felt incredibly sorry for poor Swamp Thing. When I heard this character was going to be included in the DC re-launch, the little part of me that is still a six-year-old Frankenstein and SciFi Channel fan woke up and got excited.

Green Arrow #1

Cover by Dave Wilkins

Green Arrow #1 (September 7, 2011)

Writer: J.T. Krul

Penciller: Dan Jurgens

Colorist: David Baron

Letterer: Rob Leigh

Inker: George Perez

I knew something was going to be off about this comic book simply by looking at the cover. Why does Ollie Queen look Wolverine’s collar-popping obnoxious brother? I know goatees are dated now but come on, I am not feeling this frat boy look.

Okay, on to the actual comic itself. This wasn’t a bad introductory issue for Green Arrow, it just felt like Krul was trying to establish as much characterization as possible in as short a time as possible. I know the New 52 was created out of desire to draw in new comic book readers but I felt that Krul sacrificed having a solid and exciting storyline in order to achieve this. I was disappointed especially because I so love Ollie Queen.