Ok, I just finished the week of September 14, 2011 issues. I had only read one of these before (Batman and Robin #1) so it was a very interesting to me.
I will say that Grifter and Legion Lost were the two hardest ones for me to get through. Grifter dropped a lot of info at the start and I also hadn’t read any of his comics before. And Legion Lost was a lot of characters I had never read before, so trying to learn who they were and they story at the same time was hard for me. But I didn’t hate them, I am just going to need more time to adjust to their casts and stories.
With the rest, I really liked Resurrection Man. It is a cool premise and I hadn’t heard of that character before, but unlike Grifter or Legion Lost, it was easier for me to fall into. I’m not fully sure why.
I’m excited for the rest of Red Lanterns and Mister Terrific, they were both great first issues. Same with Suicide Squad. I’m not a big fan of Hal, but Green Lantern was good as well.
And Superboy. Reading him in New 52 Teen Titans was my very first introduction to Kon but I did never read his own series. So, I kind of know what to expect here. Now that I know Kon’s character I do understand why so many established fans were probably not happy with this run. But I am still excited to read it. And I did like the first issue.
Also, sorry that I’m the only one posting reviews here. I wasn’t sure if we were going to discuss or not. And since it is my first time reading most of these series I thought I would post my blanket thoughts on at least the first issues. But if that is annoying, let me know and I will post less.
I just started reading the ones for this week. Damian is a bit of a snarky brat in Batman and Robin. I agree that Batwoman is a bit confusing. Deathstroke I found a bit odd as well, but I have never read his solo adventures before. Demon Knights I have read before. I like Etrigan and Madam Xanadu.
I haven’t gotten a chance to start on Week 3 yet but am looking forward to it - some good titles in there and I remember reading, and liking, Demon Knights.
Glad you liked Resurrection Man and no worries on the reviews - read and post at your own pace, it’s all good!
Finishing up Week 2 - I liked OMAC when I first read it years ago but didn’t care too much for it on this reading. The artwork was not to my liking on that one.
Hawk & Dove was good and very intriguing. I only know those characters from Titans so this is a different twist on them for sure. Who knew Dove was dating Deadman!
Green Arrow was good but seemed rushed. He went from being on a conference call to fighting three bad guys I’d never heard of in a page. The supporting cast is very different from what I’m used to from the show and current Green Arrow runs so that’ll take some getting used to.
Stormwatch was great. Getting to see the origin of Apollo and Midniter was fantastic and I liked the characters in Stormwatch a lot - some very interesting superheroes and powers.
Static Shock was good and I like this version of Static and Hardware. I had gotten so used to the new versions that it was a nice change to see them already established and working together. The fun of him being a kid, going to school and being cocky is still there but what a great cliffhanger on the ending! Oh, it also had my favorite panel of Week #2:
Swamp Thing was probably my favorite of Week #2. Beautiful artwork, great story, loved the cameos, the action was creepy and cool and the cliffhanger was exceptional. Can’t wait to see where that one goes.
Two left for Week 2 for me and they’re good ones - Justice League International and Detective Comics. I always try to save the best for last. Gotta eat your vegetables before you get dessert! Hopefully I’ll be able to read those tomorrow and then get cranking on Week 3.
I just finished the issues for the latest week. I really liked the art in the Legion book. Some new Legion members that I haven’t seen before. The Green Lantern Corps was interesting. Guy seemed more competent/heroic than I have seen before.
I had a long week and I haven’t gotten to the third week’s books yet. I should be able to read some today though. I think I have read Green Lantern Corps before so it will be nice to read it again.
Ok, I have read week 3’s books now. I’ll start with the ones I’ve read before.
Batman, Nightwing and Green Lantern Corps were all re-reads for me. Batman was one of the first DC comics I ever read so it was nice to re-visit it. I almost always like a Nightwing book. I love how artists show him moving through fights and streets. GLC is fun because I’m not a Hal fan and I can see the other side of the Corps.
I liked Birds of Prey, Blue Beetle, DC Universe Presents, Supergirl and Wonder Woman. It was my first time reading a Wonder Woman comic and I loved it. Same with Supergirl, it was an interesting way to start a series and introduce the character but it worked. And I haven’t read much of Deadman or Jaime Reyes but I look forward to reading more.
Captain Atom and Legion, I didn’t like them but I didn’t not like them. I haven’t read much Captain Atom before so I don’t know too much about him. And I feel like Legion introduced way too many characters for me to keep track of. I was too busy trying to remember who people were that I forgot what the plot was supposed to be.
And finally, Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws. I wanted to like Red Hood but I just didn’t. If I was reading this for fun I probably wouldn’t pick up the next issue. Though, the Jason sub-plot with the All-Caste or whatever is interesting, it was the only thing that was interesting to me.
And I am just not a Catwoman fan. I was hoping the series wuold help me but the first issue really didn’t. Maybe the rest of the series will, though? I won’t judge a whole series on the first issue.
Here’s a reading list to let you know what books came out each week and it’s broken down into lists to keep this from being overwhelmingly long. Let me know if there are any errors or omissions.
Justice League International was great. I loved the concept of the UN picking their own Justice League, loved the International make-up of the team and the new characters that were involved. I remember really liking August General in Iron when I was first reading through The New 52 but I’m not sure why.
Detective Comics was fantastic because it felt like a detective story and ended with my favorite panel of The New 52 so far. I won’t post it to avoid spoilers but WOW! That’s some Black Label stuff, right there!
Glad to know I wasn’t crazy doing this too. Started with New 52 Batman in 2017. Using Comic Book Reading Order too. I’m in the DCYou list. I think my favorite so far was the Earth 2 storyline, including World’s End.
The only series I couldn’t read was All-Star Section 8 and Prez.
I just finished this week’s books. Most of these were new to me except Justice League Dark, Superman, and Teen Titans. I didn’t expect to like All Star Western, but I enjoyed it. Voodoo I knew nothing about. Savage Hawkman is interesting so far.
Ok, I finished all of this weeks books as well. (week 5?)
Re-reads: The Flash, Green Lantern: New Guardians and Teen Titans. I’m excited to re-read all of these because I know so much more about all of these characters now than I did when I first read them. So it’ll be nice to understand more. And I know this Teen Titans run gets some hate but I do like a Tim run team.
Loved: All-Star Western, I, Vampire, Justice League Dark, Savage Hawkman. I’m not usually a big western fan but I do like murder mysteries. Plus, Jonah Hex seems fun. I, Vampire surprised me. I didn’t expect to like it but I did love it. I’m really interested to see where that one goes.
Justice League Dark is always a fun group of people. I don’t really know Shade but if Zatanna and Constantine are in a book I’m usually sold from the start. And Savage Hawkman was a cool premise. I’ve only read one other Hawkman series so it’s cool to see another side of him.
Liked: Batman: The Dark Knight, Blackhawks, Fury of Firestorm. These three were good but they didn’t wow me. Firestorm had a lot going on which I hope will be explained more as it goes on. Blackhawks is a team I am completely unfamiliar with but it was interesting. And Batman:TDK was a cool Batman story but it wasn’t amazing or anything. I didn’t hate any of these but they didn’t quite make it into my ‘love’ category.
Unsure: Voodoo and Superman. I’m not really sure what is going on in Voodoo. The last couple pages made it way more interesting for me but overall I just didn’t click with the first issue. And Superman, I think I said this earlier but I’m not a big Superman fan. This issue didn’t help with that. It wasn’t a bad issue but I just struggle to like Superman sometimes and this didn’t give me a reason to. I won’t give up on either of these series, of course, I won’t judge a whole series on one issue.
And that’s 52 issues. Geez. We’re just getting started. But I’m having fun. I hope you guys are too!
Only thing I noticed is that I have The Flash written down as #1 coming out the week of the 28th not the 21st.
And, we are only reading the comics that are part of the ‘New 52’ label right? I noticed that week 6 (Oct, 5th) there is a Huntress #1 but it doesn’t have the New 52 label. Are books like that going to be part of this reading adventure too?
We are only reading The New 52 titles, correct. There are many other DC books coming out each week but we’re sticking to The New 52 in this, as you called it, reading adventure!
Edit - Great catch on The Flash #1! Mea culpa on that one, I’ll update the list above - thanks for that!
Way behind but getting caught up as fast as I can!
Batwoman #1 - Love the artwork, though Kate Kane being essentially an albino seems odd. Is Renee Montoya dead in this universe? I thought the way they drew the action with the spirit was fantastic. Very tough to show what was happening and how but I was able to follow it. This issue demanded full page view, though, as the layouts were very unique and beautiful when seen as a whole but panel by panel? Baffling. Overall a short episode that almost seemed to have missing pages it jumped around so much.
Deathstroke #1 - Loved it. The heist, the Mission Impossible style and the twist ending. Loved it all, felt authentic to Deathstroke and sets up a title that I’ll look forward to reading each month.
Demon Knights #1 - I had read this one in the past and remembered liking it a lot. I like Etrigan so any book with him is welcome but going back centuries to see Jason Blood/Etrigan, Vandal Savage, Mordu, Madame Xandau and more is always fun. It’s jarring to go from Deathstroke to the ancient pastand then to Frankenstein but I like the artwork and the story a lot.
Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E #1 - How do you not like this story? Action packed and it’s like a cross between Suicide Squad, Hellboy and World War Z!
I think I have read Green Lantern Corps before so it will be nice to read it again.
I won’t give up on either of these series, of course, I won’t judge a whole series on one issue.
I thought the way they drew the action with the spirit was fantastic. Very tough to show what was happening and how but I was able to follow it. This issue demanded full page view, though, as the layouts were very unique and beautiful when seen as a whole but panel by panel? Baffling. Overall a short episode that almost seemed to have missing pages it jumped around so much.