52 AND COUNTING

Holy cow! This is my 52nd installment of “Tony Isabella’s Bloggy
Thing” in this venue.  The blog passed 20,000 page views a couple
days ago.  I’m pleased and thankful for your support.  Save for the
occasional convention breaks, I’ll keep doing my best to bring you
new content every day of the week.

So...wanna talk about some more about “The New 52"?

Justice League International #1 [DC; $2.99] was another one of the
good ones.  Writer Dan Jurgens did a nice job bringing together a
mostly “C” list roster of super-heroes, especially in covering the
behind-the-scenes negotiating between United Nations countries in
agreeing to the team.  The Batman in this book was cool, defiant,
and much less of a dick than in other DC titles.  First-rate art by
Aaron Lopresti (pencils) and Matt Ryan (inker) made me like it even
more.  Were I buying the comics and not borrowing them from a pal,
Justice League International is one I would buy.  It might not be
an award-winner, but it’s a solid super-team book.

Digression: one of my Facebook friends asked me what I thought of
the “mysterious cowled woman” who, apparently, has been showing up
in all of the new 52.  I hadn’t noticed her, so, at least at this
point, she’s not crucial to any of the stories.  Now that I realize
she’s in all these comics, I’ll look for her.   But only after I’ve
read and reviewed them.  If I do have any thoughts about her, I’ll
share them with you.

I also liked Men of War #1 [$3.99], though I wish I knew where the
action was taking place in the “Joseph Rock” feature by writer Ivan
Brandon and artist Tom Derenick.  The introduction of the grandson
of the original Sgt. Rock was convincing.  I’m intrigued that there
are super-people on the field of combat.  All in all, a fine start
to the series.  I was equally pleased by the “Navy Seals” back-up
by Jonathan Vankin (writer) and Phil Winslade (artist).  A modern-
day war comics might be a hard sell to DC’s overwhelmingly super-
hero readers, but I hope this one makes it.

Digression: I didn’t see the “mysterious woman” in this comic book
unless she was that flash of purple speed trails visible in two or
three panels.  Maybe she’s a female Waldo.

O.M.A.C. #1 [$2.99] was a mildly entertaining Jack Kirby imitation
by Keith Giffen (co-writer and artist), Dan DiDio (co-writer), and
Scott Koblish.  The Kirby creations and artistic style are in every
panel of every page.  Which makes it particularly egregious that
the issue contains no recognition of Kirby as the creator of Omac,
Brother Eye, the Cadmus Project, Dubbilex, and other characters and
concepts.  DiDio has never been respectful of the actual creators
of characters published by DC, but this takes that disrespect over
the top.  Bad Dan.

Even with proper credit for Jack Kirby, I likely wouldn’t buy this
title.  There’s nothing special about it.  Without the credit, not
a chance in Hell.

Digression: I spotted the purple lady in a crowd scene. 

Static Shock #1 [$2.99] was a disappointment.  It didn’t compare to
either the Milestone version of the character or the suitable-for-
all-ages animated series.  It was pretty much a generic teen hero
comic, a real shame considering Static is such a great character.
Even given the last-page shock ending, I wouldn’t come back for the
second issue.

Digression: The purple lady is peeping into one of the windows of
Static's home.  Maybe she’s a super-hero groupie.  Maybe she’s
a stalker.  One thing she isn’t, at least not yet, is interesting.
Unless that was her I saw in my back yard.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2011 Tony Isabella