Cover Art for Issue #1

I was new to Animal Man, one of the new 52, so my initial enthusiasm for it was based upon the very brief explanation about what he could do – mimic the ability or trait of any animal. Could it get any cooler? Well, yes. The artwork is also fantastic. It was the first main attraction for me, what drew me to find out more.

Again, DC Comics made the mistake of assuming all readers of the new 52 would know anything about the older comics. Thankfully, when it comes to Animal Man, this presumption mainly assumes you know: who he is; what he can do; who is family are; and what he aims to do. Lots of new ideas, it seems, have spawned these comics.

Issue #1 served as a good intro to what he was capable of. While some of the reboots (like Justice League) take up a new story, this picks up years after his crime fighting days. Animal Man is no more; Bud is a Family Man, now! But that’s not to say he won’t go rushing in to help sort out a critical situation, allowing writer Jeff Lemire to showcase Animal Man’s favourite cocktail of animal abilities, and briefly explain how he uses his abilities.

We’re also given a sense of what’s to come, and it’s not just unpleasant, it’s downright freaky. I’ll leave the spoilers to a minimum. Issue #1 is still available in some shops! (I know this for a fact, because my local shop got it back in when issue #2 came out!) When we reach the end of the comic – the best end to a first issue I’ve seen so far – we (or at least I) have a million questions as to what’s going on, but no complaints about it in terms of canon. Yes, I’m new to the comics, but the ending seems right! (Unlike the childishness of the Justice League in their issue #1.)

Cover Art for Issue #2

Issue #2 brings us further into the madness of Animal Man’s latest problem, and Lemire doesn’t disappoint! With the fantastic art of Travel Foreman to pull into into the insanity and some very strange goings-on, this only further proves that Animal Man is one of DC Comics’ strongest series of comics! It looks great, it has a brilliant atmosphere you don’t get in everything DC, and the story seems to be going somewhere.

Of course, I did have a problem with issue #2: it was too short. And I don’t mean that in a fanboy “I want to read more” kind of way. The comic was split between Animal Man and a short Batman story, so while the actual comic is the same length, the story in issue #2 was shorter than in issue #1. The dozen adverts in the DC Comics I can understand, but that was just cruel!

Only time will tell if DC Comics will make that mistake again. For my part, I wait in anticipation to see what happens in issue #3 of Animal Man, out November 2nd.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Justice League #1

A little more tongue-and-cheek than I expected, JL #1 features four of the seven great heroes of DC comics and some childish rivalries between them! With arrogance only found in DC’s almost-flawless superheroes there comes a pomposity that only those with powers can be heroes. That immediately makes Batman the underdog in this first issue, even if his humanity and wish for justice stretches beyond the capabilities of his superpowered companions. We’re also given a great look at the pre-hero state of Cyborg, reminding us of DC’s ability to make a brute like him have a softer and more gentle side.

My major issue with JL #1 is, first and foremost, that the heroes don’t seem like a team. Yes, the story is only beginning, and yes the seeds that will grow into unifying them have been sown, but the rivalries between the superpowers of the world seem to out-weigh the potential for them to work together. I was a little but disappointed in the Green Lantern and Superman in this comic, and if it weren’t for Batman this would have been a failure. The humanity in this first issue saved it, in my eyes.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Action Comics #1

Bringing back Superman again so early was DC’s smartest move, though this time he’s seeing some changes. Gone are the red trunks, and even some of his abilities. This comic feels a little like the Smallville TV series, where small-town Clark Kent has not yet managed to fly; Hulk-like super-jumps seem to be his way of getting over buildings, instead of simply running at high speed around them! In the case of AC #1, however, he’s a journalist out on his own in the big bad world and not a farm boy. He’s more tenacious than ever, standing up for truth and justice even if it means putting himself out in the city and in harm’s way. Yes, he’s bullet-proof, but he’s not entirely indestructible.

Reeling in Superman’s powers was probably the best way for them to begin this series. While he’s still super strong, super fast and shoots fire from his eyes, his weakness isn’t strictly limited to other superpowered beings and Kryptonite. Superman is new and fresh and the comic was more exciting than JL #1. The Man of Steel was far more entertaining, and while it’s a struggle to see any depth to him, he’s certainly a much better character on his own, so far.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Static Shock #1

I’ve been a fan of Static since the cartoon a few years ago; young, snappy and adventurous, he was the sort of hero people could relate to, and he pulled off the cool-but-smart teen brilliantly. Getting under way in New York City, Static’s first adventure is filled with uber-geeky science talk and lots of electricity! There are definitely sparks in the air as he begins his new life.

Of all the comics so far, this has been the one I most enjoyed. Not only does the comic feature a single character – which seems to be DC’s strong point at this stage in the game – it also gives us a taste of all the villains we might encounter. I’ve seen some fan favourites in one image, but I’ll let you read the comic to see who they are. Their presence, and the chance of real danger, has made this one a better comic than JL #1 by far. What it’s lacking is plot – yes, we know who Static’s enemies are and we know they want him gone, but where is he going in all of this? Virgil Hawkins is trying to settle in his new school, but Static is just doing what he always does: he’s fighting crime. Maybe the final scene of the comic might stir things up a bit, but for now the series doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere. They keep some points for suspense, though!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Green Arrow #1

Again, a little more fun with a solo hero. We’ve also got a look at some of the villains Green Arrow is likely to face, and who may spill over into the other comics. Being the Robin Hood of the DC universe, he’s a more adventurous than a lot of the others. Like Batman, he doesn’t rely on superpowers to take out his opponents. The biggest problem I have with this, though, is the lack of explanations behind so much of what happens. The comic assumes knowledge of Oliver Queen and Queen Industries, of the Green Arrow and Q-Core. Even after reading this issue, I can only assume Q-Core is a weapons manufacturing part of Queen Industries, but even that is under speculation.

What this lacked in explanation, however, it made up for in plot. None of the comics so far have given any indication as to what might happen next, with the exception of Static Shock #1. Even JL #1 raised a lot of questions, and that was the DC headliner! Keeping a story going has earned GA #1 some bonus points as far as I’m concerned!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Justice League International #1

Not to be confused the regular Justice League, this comic gives us a look at some of DC’s lesser known superheroes: Booster Gold takes the stage, supported by a cast of characters from around the world, including a second Green Lantern. Hal Jordan’s off with the big leagues, while Guy Gardner takes a spot on the International team. This is the comic’s first downfall, I think. People who know about the Green Lantern Corps – or who think they know after the film this summer – assume there is only one human Green Lantern. That’s the general consensus of the DC universe, that only one exists at a time. That’s what we’re led to believe. If things have changed, they haven’t done a good enough job justifying the presence of Hal and Guy. They’re starting over, and that means telling people about things that they should know.

Beyond that, the comic was fun. A lot of fun. The team works better on the page than the original Justice League did in their first issue. For a start, they’re actually a team! There are clear disagreements, some humour, and some big personalities, and in this case it all works. It doesn’t make for a better comic than the others, however, but it was certainly a better piece of work than JL #1!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The biggest problem with these comics, that I’ve pointed out a couple of times, is that the writers assume prior knowledge of the pre-reboot DC Universe, and all the changes that have happened with characters over the years. We’re supposed to know that Booster Gold is from the future, that Superman couldn’t always fly and we’re supposed to know that Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner are both Green Lanterns in this sector of space. With well over half the comics still to come out, DC will have a hard time bringing in new readers if every issue raises important questions that only back-issues can tell us about – when you put a big 1 on the cover, readers expect a beginning to the story, not something that picks up deep into the mythology of an established universe of heroes and villains.

If this is the finished costume then it’s a far cry from the outfits worn by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry when they portrayed the character, but this version is much more in keeping with the world director Christoper Nolan has created over the past two movies.

What do you think of the outfit? Leave a comment below.

Squaring off against the superhero are two other surviving Kryptonians, the villainous General Zod (Hail Zod!), played by Oscar® nominee Michael Shannon (“Revolutionary Road”), and Faora, Zod’s evil partner, played by Antje Traue. Also from Superman’s native Krypton are Lara Lor-Van, Superman’s mother, played by Julia Ormond, and Superman’s father, Jor-El, portrayed by Academy Award® winner Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”).

The movie is slated for release in June 2013.

What do you think of Cavill in the costume? Let us know in the comments below.

Appearing in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583, in some ways it was the final Superman story, but only because the character was rebooted into the Modern Age in Superman #424.

As such, the story stands as the last true Silver/Bronze Age Superman tale, and Moore uses it to show us how the life and career of the Man of Steel might one day come to an end.

The whole story is told from the viewpoint of a middle-aged Lois Lane. Long-retired, married to some bearded lummox, and with a bouncing baby on her knee, Lois is being interviewed by a cub reporter from The Daily Planet for an article on the final days of Superman.

We discover that things went pretty quiet for a while. Most of Superman’s major foes were defeated, missing or cast into The Phantom Zone. Without supervillain faces to punch, Supes spent most of his time helping the government with missions in space, repairing their shuttles for them like some glorified, tights-wearing handyman.

But then Bizarro turns up and goes on a killing rampage, and things start to go wrong for Superman.

For starters, a box full of teeny tiny Supermen figures turn up at the Planet offices and proceed to blast the Hell out of everything with their heat vision. They deliberately target bumbling old Clark Kent and burn his suit off, revealing the Superman costume beneath. Suddenly everyone knows that Clark Kent is Superman, and things will never be the same again.

"And don't come back."

Now, say what you like, those mini-Supermen were frickin’ adorable. Yes, they might have been taking delight in burning journalists alive, but you can’t stay mad at them, they’re just too damn cute. Besides, who hasn’t wanted to burn a journalist alive at some point?

Things take a turn for the darker when Superman discovers that the Toyman and the Prankster are responsible for the little flying darlings. You see, they’ve sent another box, too. A larger box. A box in which Superman finds (SPOILER! Highlight to read): the mutilated body of his childhood best friend, Pete Ross!

It all goes from bad to worse, and Superman is forced to take the people he cares about to the Fortress of Solitude when he realises his old enemies are amassing against him, and that everyone connected to Clark Kent is in danger. Once the heroes are inside the fortress, Brainiac traps it inside a force field bubble and mounts an attack, aided by the Kryptonite Man.

From here the story almost fades into the background, as almost the entire back catalogue of Superman characters parade through the fortress. Jimmy Olsen is there, along with Perry White and his estranged wife, Alice. Krypto the Superdog puts in an appearance, and Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Lex Luthor are all on hand to provide all the alliteration anyone could ask for.

As the story progresses, we realise that Superman has begun to accept that he is going to die. It doesn’t help when the Legion of Superheroes travel back in time from the 31st Century to give Kal-El a golden trophy commemorating his life. When Supes asks them why they’ve picked that particular day to come back and give him the statue they cough quietly and mutter “no reason”, before returning to the future, openly crying.

This pretty much confirms Superman’s suspicions that he’s right up Shit Creek, and sets us up for the final showdown.

What I want to know though, is why don’t the Legion of Superheroes just stick around and lend him a hand? What’s that you say? Superheroes can’t interfere with events of the past for fear of disrupting the timeline? Yeah, right…

Damn that Nazi and his spring-loaded hat!

Anyway, they don’t stick around to help, but Superman’s friends do, and it is in these scenes where the story shines. For all his power, Superman is helpless against the villains’ assault, and helpless to prevent those he cares about putting themselves in danger to protect him.

Moore has given us a Superman whose greatest power is not his ability to fly or burn the face off muggers just by staring at them. The greatest power this Superman has is his humanity. Here is a Superman who cares as much about Perry and Alice’s marital problems as he does for his own about-to-be-murdered-in-his-own-house predicament. Here is a Superman who is surrounded by people willing to sacrifice their own lives for his. Here is a Superman who is not afraid to weep openly about the fact he’s almost certainly going to die.

For all its Silver Age hokiness, this is actually quite a bleak story which is almost moving in parts. It crackles along with some great dialogue – I particularly loved Lois summing up the events leading up to Bizarro’s death: “That strange, backwards creature had suddenly launched himself on a rampage of genocide, homicide, and finally suicide.”

Oh, that Lois. She always did call a spade a spade.

There are plenty of other highlights in the story, including a cameo by Batman in which the World’s Greatest Detective attempts to get through an alien force field by hitting it repeatedly with a plank of wood, but you never quite feel that the story is anything other than a frame on which to hang all the little references to Superman’s past, many of which only dedicated fans will pick up on.

Although essentially a “What if?” type story, and unlikely to be considered part of Superman canon, it still manages to feel like an apt ending for the Man of Steel’s adventures, and should be considered an essential read for fans of the character.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Want to read the story yourself? Buy the collected edition on Amazon now.

It’s unclear at the moment how many of the skins will be available in the UK, as most are pre-order promotions for people ordering the game through certain US and New Zealand-based retailers. Fortunately, the skin I really want – the elderly Bats from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns – comes as standard with the collector’s edition of the game.

The skins can be seen below the ad, looking like the most bat-orientated police line-up the world has ever seen.

From L to R: Batman Beyond, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Earth One, Classic 70s Bats, Animated Bats, Standard game costume

You want it. You know you do.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today unveiled details and images for this Autumn’s hotly-anticipated Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition.  The package will be available in limited quantities beginning 21^st October 2011 in the UK for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows PC.

The Batman: Arkham City Collector’s Edition will include the following extensive bonus content:

Custom Batman statue produced by Kotobukiya

Collectible art book

Early access to the  Iceberg Lounge Challenge Map and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns skin

Batman: Arkham City album from WaterTower Music including original songs by hit artists, available via digital redemption

Bonus DC Universe animated original movie, Batman: Gotham Knight

Batman: Arkham City builds upon the intense, atmospheric foundation of Batman: Arkham Asylum, sending players soaring into Arkham City – five times larger than the game world in Batman: Arkham Asylum – and the new maximum security “home” for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, this highly anticipated sequel introduces a brand-new story that draws together a new, all-star cast of classic characters and murderous villains from the Batman universe, as well as a vast range of new and enhanced gameplay features to deliver the ultimate experience as the Dark Knight.

First the official blurb, then a pretty picture, then we’ll get stuck into the review proper…

Another season of Smallville means more exciting new characters, adventure and conflict, as the longest running “Superman” TV series continues to deliver great entertainment with the release of Smallville: The Complete Eighth Season on DVD and Blu-ray™ on August 25th. Fans will thrill to this collectible multi-disc set with all 22 episodes of the eighth season, plus amazing bonus features, including unaired scenes, cast & crew commentaries, and several never-before-seen featurettes including “Smallville’s Doomsday: The Making of a Monster.”

And now for that picture I promised you.

Smallville Season 8

Right, that’s the formalities out of the way, let’s get down to business.

To be honest, I lost track of Smallville for a few years.  Considering I’m a massive Superman fan (literally – I’m 6″4′) this should tell you all you need to know about the standard of some of the previous seasons.  Sure, there were some good episodes, but by season 4 – with its stupid witch plot and blisteringly uninteresting storyline about caves and stones – the rot had started to take hold.

Then came season 5, and man, season 5 stunk all kinds of bad.

Things picked up a little with season 6, before the atrocity that was season 7 almost killed the series stone dead.  But then, as is only numerically appropriate, after season 7 came season 8.  The show’s creators, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, were no longer involved in the show’s production.  The loss of Lex Luthor and Lana Lang drastically reduced the alliteration in each script, and some new characters were brought in to replace them.

So did the cull work?  Is Smallville Season 8 better than some of the clunkers that have come before?

Yes.  Yes it is.  It’s by no means perfect, but it’s at least a step in the right direction, and it held my attention where the other seasons had not.

The villain of this season is everyone’s favourite exo-skeleton-faced rampaging behemoth, Doomsday.  Those of you who follow the Superman comics will know that Doomsday is the genetically engineered Kryptonian killing machine who, in 1992, kicked the crap out of virtually every DC Universe hero, before battering the Man of Steel to death in the middle of Metropolis.

He was a virtually indestructible monster, capable of tearing the collective eyes of the entire Justice League out through their collective asses, so when I heard he was due to appear in Smallville, my heart sank.  How could this show, with a relatively small production budget, possibly do justice to the Doomsday character?

The answer was, they couldn’t.  But fortunately, they knew they couldn’t, which was why they changed the original mythos, turning Doomsday into a Hulk-like alter-ego for new series regular, Davis Bloome (played by the excellent Sam Witwer).

Surprisingly, this works pretty well, thanks mostly to the fact that Davis Bloome is infinitely more interesting than Doomsday.  As with all the best monster movies, Doomsday only appears briefly in most of the episodes, and in the fleeting glimpses we see of him he looks a lot like his comic-book incarnation.  There are also moments where he looks like a big bloke in a rubber suit, but the least said about those the better…

The other newcomer to the show, Tess Mercer, replaces Lex Luthor as the head of Luthorcorp.  She’s an OK character, no more or less annoying that many of the others (although obviously less annoying than Chloe, but then everyone’s less annoying than Chloe).  She has ties to Green Arrow (another character on particularly irritating form this season), she’s quite good at karate, and she stares at things a lot.  That pretty much sums her up right there.

While the season has many flaws – Chloe, mainly – and while some of the episodes are absolute stinkers – those dealing with Lana’s brief return to the show will likely have you stabbing forks into your own eyes – overall it’s well worth a look.

I particularly liked how we get to see the strands of Clark’s destiny begin to pull together.  He’s in Metropolis, working as a reporter for the Daily Planet, alongside Lois Lane.  He’s out saving the good people of the city, streaking along so fast he appears as a red and blue blur, prompting some creative genius to brand him “The Red Blue Blur”.  Now, I’m aware that superhero names can be quite ridiculous, but even for a company who brought us Matter-Eater-Lad (he can eat anything!  Except anti-matter), The Red Blue Blur is pretty damned awful.

What’s more, no-one ever shortens it to “The Blur”.  Not once.  It’s like Warner Bros have trademarked the words “red” and “blue” and get paid a dollar every time someone uses them on TV.  I swear if I hear Chloe use the phrase “The Red Blue Blur” again I’ll punch myself in the face until I lose consciousness.

But I digress.

Smallville Season 8 is, as I’ve said, a big improvement over previous seasons.  Those who once enjoyed the show might find they start enjoying it again, although – like me – they may be left going “huh? Is that it?” after the final episode’s anti-climax.  Still, it bodes well for the future, and I can’t help but find myself looking forward to season 9 – a season which, if the final episode’s teaser is to be believed – promises plenty of a character very close to this site’s heart…

Looking for more info on Smallville Season 8?  Check out the official site.

Blackest Night #1

Death and superheroes are a tricky thing; there’s an old joke about superhero heaven that it has a revolving door at the front, instead of pearly gates.  While this has always been a part of superhero culture, it seems to have really taken root at DC in recent years, with long-time corpses such as Jason Todd, Barry Allen, and Kara Zor-El all returning for various reasons.

Blackest Night seems to be set up to explore that, while at the same time serving as the next (final?) chapter in the epic “War of Light” storyline that’s been running through the Green Lantern books in recent years.  While the other Lantern Corps (aside from Green) have been content to identify themselves with differing emotions, the Black Lanterns are instead the living dead, brought back to consume the flesh of the living  Despite that naming structure, though, what this story really is is DC Zombies.

As if regular zombies weren’t enough of a threat, though, what we see with the Black Lanterns is superpowered zombies, as was also seen in the recent Marvel Zombies series of miniseries.  Here, though, the zombies aren’t played for laughs, nor are they hidden away in an alternate reality.  These facts, combined with the multiple character deaths in the first issue, help provide the level of peril necessary for any good zombie story; ironically, this is the same level of real peril that most ‘event’ comics lack, so it’s a good mix to have the two together.

Writer Geoff Johns does a really good job in this issue of exploring how constant rebirths of characters would affect the way people would look at death, especially in the scenes featuring Barry Allen, the Silver-Age Flash.  Allen seems to suffer from a fair amount of survivor’s guilt centered around his returning to life while other less marketable characters stay dead, and the rising of the Black Lanterns allows that inner struggle to be matched nicely against the larger outer story.

Hopefully, the remainder of Blackest Night will live up to the rather unique premise of superpowered zombies being empowered by extraterrestrial forces.  There’s a chance that, by the end, it will become another attempt by a DC writer to use a crossover event as a reset button to undo previous character deaths, but for now at least it should be an intriguing tale.

Detective Comics #854

In the modern era of superhero comics, two interconnected truisms have developed regarding mainstream superheroes.  The first is that no character death, no matter how final it seems, ever lasts.  The second, often connected to the first, is that every “bold new direction”taken by a publisher is eventually undone to return to the mainstream status quo.  With those two facts in mind, it’s necessary to take the “new era” of Detective Comics (in the wake of Batman’s recent death in Final Crisis) with a grain of salt.

With that grain of salt in mind, this issue is very new in some ways: Bruce Wayne’s no longer Batman, as a result of Final Crisis and the Battle for the Cowl series, and Katherine Kane, Batwoman, is part of the solution for Gotham in his absence starting in this issue.  Greg Rucka created the character, and as such has a really good grasp on her; she definitely seems like a well-thought out, rounded character even in this one appearance.  While some of Katerine’s actions in this issue place her in her own section of the Bat-family, other parts of the issue show her as a reflection of Batman himself, in terms of the relationship between her superhero and civilian identity, her support network, and her willingness to sacrifice personal relationships for the benefit of The Mission.

Perhaps the most noteworthy part of this issue, though, is the art by JH Williams III, which is absolutely gorgeous.  He manages to manipulate panel size and shape for emotional affect, as well as using completely different colour themes for the Batwoman and Katherine parts of the story.

The main drawback of the issue is, while it’s been solicited as a new era, and it’s the first issue of the title to star Batwoman, it feels very much like you’re dropped in the middle of an ongoing story, without being provided with any reference points as to what’s going on.  We’re told that there’s a group called the Religion of Crime, and that it’s organized into covens.  We’re told, also, that they’re a major threat, but we’re not given much reason as to why they are.  This reduces the seriousness of the threat they represent, leaving the reader not feeling any sense of real danger for Batwoman.

One of the things about this issue that should be applauded, as well, is that it features a return of the backup feature, with police detective Renee Montoya taking on the mantle of The Question.  The only problem with this is, as with the lead story, we have a lesbian vigilante fighting gangs in Gotham City under the tutelage of an older white male who takes care of the “Alfred” role in relation to the hero.  While both stories are well-done, and represent the start of interesting story, having both of them under the same cover only serves to lessen both stories by highlighting those similarities between the two of them.  Both stories would be better served by having Detective trade backup stories with one of the DC books featuring such backups, such as the Streets of Gotham series.