Showing posts with label Wonder Woman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wonder Woman. Show all posts
Friday, September 6, 2013
Issue Review: Wonder Woman 23
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Wonder Woman New 52 - Year 1
I've been a Wonder Woman fan since the TV show with Lynda Carter in the 1970s, and my love of the character was only enhanced in the 1980s when George Perez, my favorite artist, took her under his wing after the Crisis series and re-told her origin story. The George Perez Wonder Woman series still stands out as one of the all-time great runs in comic-book history, and Wonder Woman has been one of my favorite female superheroes (along with Supergirl, Dove, and Batgirl) ever since.
When I started collecting comic-books again in December, the New 52 Wonder Woman series was therefore a fairly obvious choice. Using +comiXology to download back-issues from 2011 and later, I started with #1 and recently completed the first year, including the #0 "origin" issue from September. In this article, I will review the new Wonder Woman series.
Depending on the writer, Wonder Woman has often stood apart from the other +DC Comics over the years because of her deep roots in ancient Greek mythology. Like Thor over at Marvel Comics, some writers lean more heavily on the mythology than others. When they do, Wonder Woman has often spent most of her time outside of the mainstream DC continuity, often to the point of seeming like the series is set in its own universe. This allowed the series to work almost as a stand-alone comic, which was a joy for casual readers of DC, like I was back in the 1980s (when I mostly read Marvel comics, but collected Legion of Super-Heroes and Wonder Woman). Comic-book companies are loathe to allow stand-alone titles these days -- apparently they think the only way to keep readers is to do one crossover after another. And so I did not expect Wonder Woman to stand apart in the New 52.
I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, to discover that Wonder Woman's writer, Brian Azzarello, has apparently been allowed to keep the Wonder Woman series essentially by itself. The character appears in Justice League like all the other DC heavy-hitters, but there has been no hint of a crossover with that series, or any other series, in the Wonder Woman issues. Indeed, there is no indication that the Wonder Woman character in Justice League is even the same person as the one appearing in her own title. Events referenced in Justice League (such as her romance with Steve Trevor) have rarely even been mentioned in Wonder Woman, and none of them have been depicted "on camera." Instead, Azzarello has spent the entirety of the first year of Wonder Woman delving into Greek mythology.
I have found this laser-beam focus on Diana and her own story, and Azzarello's steadfast refusal to pollute his story-line with sewage from the rest of the DC universe, to be refreshing and incredibly satisfying. Wonder Woman follows a single, continuing story-line from issue to issue, rather than self-contined 5-7 issue "story arcs" pre-configured for future "trade paperback" sale. The story is deep and engaging. The characters are larger than life but still believable. There are mysteries that last for many issues (sometimes longer than the entire first year of the series). There is a wonderful supporting cast (Hermes, Hephaestus, Lennox, and Zola). And the villains (mainly Hera, Hades, and Apollo) are well-written - cunning and cruel, but not mindlessly evil.
Azzarello has also mastered the art of using flash-backs and flash-forwards to tell his story without confusing the reader -- something Grant Morrison sorely needs to learn. The reader may be in the dark about things, but is never left confused, sitting there saying "What the heck just happened?" The story has an internal consistency. It has rules, and the characters are subject to those rules. This is not to say that nothing surprising happens. But rather, when the surprising things do happen, you don't feel like the laws of time and space were violated just to present the reader with a shocking plot twist. Rather, you feel like, looking back on events, that the surprise, in hindsight, makes sense, and you can see how the story was leading up to it. Being surprising without confusing the reader is a challenging task, and Azzarello accomplishes it issue after issue with masterful skill.
Brian also characterizes Diana and the other members of the cast extremely well. This is not the George Perez version of Wonder Woman, who was practically a pacifist, and who only fought when she had no choice. This is, as my friend +Stuart Johnson said recently, a "badass" Wonder Woman. Note, she is not a killer, nor is she brutal or mean. But she doesn't take crap from anyone, even the gods and goddesses, and she's not afraid to give a black eye or a split lip to someone who's asking for it. Importantly, however, those subject to Diana's wrath are asking for it, every time, enough that, as a reader, I ended up shouting "Yeah!" when I saw her lay into someone who deserved it.
Azzarello did something potentially controversial in the early part of this new Wonder Woman series. The Wonder Woman legend has always been that Diana was born from clay formed by her "mother," Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. In this new series, that is still the legend. However, after a few issues, we discover that Hippolyta lied, and that Wonder Woman is actually the product of a night of passion between Hippolyta and Zeus. This makes Diana a daughter of Zeus and basically a goddess, equal in power to any of the other Greek gods. I know some folks do not like this re-imagining of Wonder Woman's origin, but I actually do. I always thought the "clay" business was a bit strange, in the first place. And in the second place, I love that Diana is now on par with the other gods and goddesses. This basically ties her with Superman (and probably Supergirl) at the top of the "power level" hierarchy in the DC Universe. As someone who has always wanted to see more powerful female superheroes, I applaud this new direction for Diana.
In addition to Wonder Woman, the other characters are equally well-drawn. Zola, the unsuspecting Virginia girl who's being chased around the universe by Hera for daring to (without realizing who he was) sleep with Zeus, is a great example. Zola's mix of innocence regarding the supernatural world of the Greek gods, and worldliness about Earth, make her someone I want to root for (and also someone I enjoy reading about). Hermes' quiet strength makes him a sure fan-favorite. And the wise-cracking, tough-as-nails Lennox, another of Zeus' recent offspring, makes the story great fun.
Finally, a word about the art. I am very torn about the art in this series. For some reason, rather than having one regular artist, they seem to keep alternating between two artists - Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins. I like Chiang's style a lot, and I love the way he draws Diana's face and does her facial expressions. On the other hand, I find Akins' style blah and unimpressive. His Wonder Woman looks too childish and baby-faced for my taste. If this series had been 100% drawn by Cliff Chiang, I'd be a lot happier. Chiang does seem to be the "main" artist (he usually does the covers even if he doesn't do the inside), but I wish he would become the only artist in the future. He does a much better job with Diana, and indeed all the characters.
Overall, I think the first year of Wonder Woman has been exceptional, and it is at the top of my list, along with Batgirl, Supergirl, and Justice League among the first year of DC's New 52 series. I hope they keep Brian Azzarello on this book as writer for a long time, and I hope they keep letting him tell the stories he's been telling, without interference, and without "crossover madness" mucking up the works. Please, DC, let Wonder Woman remain a stand-alone comic and allow the creative team the freedom to tell great stories. It's been a great run so far. I hope the next year is just as strong.
When I started collecting comic-books again in December, the New 52 Wonder Woman series was therefore a fairly obvious choice. Using +comiXology to download back-issues from 2011 and later, I started with #1 and recently completed the first year, including the #0 "origin" issue from September. In this article, I will review the new Wonder Woman series.
Depending on the writer, Wonder Woman has often stood apart from the other +DC Comics over the years because of her deep roots in ancient Greek mythology. Like Thor over at Marvel Comics, some writers lean more heavily on the mythology than others. When they do, Wonder Woman has often spent most of her time outside of the mainstream DC continuity, often to the point of seeming like the series is set in its own universe. This allowed the series to work almost as a stand-alone comic, which was a joy for casual readers of DC, like I was back in the 1980s (when I mostly read Marvel comics, but collected Legion of Super-Heroes and Wonder Woman). Comic-book companies are loathe to allow stand-alone titles these days -- apparently they think the only way to keep readers is to do one crossover after another. And so I did not expect Wonder Woman to stand apart in the New 52.
I was pleasantly surprised, therefore, to discover that Wonder Woman's writer, Brian Azzarello, has apparently been allowed to keep the Wonder Woman series essentially by itself. The character appears in Justice League like all the other DC heavy-hitters, but there has been no hint of a crossover with that series, or any other series, in the Wonder Woman issues. Indeed, there is no indication that the Wonder Woman character in Justice League is even the same person as the one appearing in her own title. Events referenced in Justice League (such as her romance with Steve Trevor) have rarely even been mentioned in Wonder Woman, and none of them have been depicted "on camera." Instead, Azzarello has spent the entirety of the first year of Wonder Woman delving into Greek mythology.
I have found this laser-beam focus on Diana and her own story, and Azzarello's steadfast refusal to pollute his story-line with sewage from the rest of the DC universe, to be refreshing and incredibly satisfying. Wonder Woman follows a single, continuing story-line from issue to issue, rather than self-contined 5-7 issue "story arcs" pre-configured for future "trade paperback" sale. The story is deep and engaging. The characters are larger than life but still believable. There are mysteries that last for many issues (sometimes longer than the entire first year of the series). There is a wonderful supporting cast (Hermes, Hephaestus, Lennox, and Zola). And the villains (mainly Hera, Hades, and Apollo) are well-written - cunning and cruel, but not mindlessly evil.
Azzarello has also mastered the art of using flash-backs and flash-forwards to tell his story without confusing the reader -- something Grant Morrison sorely needs to learn. The reader may be in the dark about things, but is never left confused, sitting there saying "What the heck just happened?" The story has an internal consistency. It has rules, and the characters are subject to those rules. This is not to say that nothing surprising happens. But rather, when the surprising things do happen, you don't feel like the laws of time and space were violated just to present the reader with a shocking plot twist. Rather, you feel like, looking back on events, that the surprise, in hindsight, makes sense, and you can see how the story was leading up to it. Being surprising without confusing the reader is a challenging task, and Azzarello accomplishes it issue after issue with masterful skill.
Brian also characterizes Diana and the other members of the cast extremely well. This is not the George Perez version of Wonder Woman, who was practically a pacifist, and who only fought when she had no choice. This is, as my friend +Stuart Johnson said recently, a "badass" Wonder Woman. Note, she is not a killer, nor is she brutal or mean. But she doesn't take crap from anyone, even the gods and goddesses, and she's not afraid to give a black eye or a split lip to someone who's asking for it. Importantly, however, those subject to Diana's wrath are asking for it, every time, enough that, as a reader, I ended up shouting "Yeah!" when I saw her lay into someone who deserved it.
Azzarello did something potentially controversial in the early part of this new Wonder Woman series. The Wonder Woman legend has always been that Diana was born from clay formed by her "mother," Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. In this new series, that is still the legend. However, after a few issues, we discover that Hippolyta lied, and that Wonder Woman is actually the product of a night of passion between Hippolyta and Zeus. This makes Diana a daughter of Zeus and basically a goddess, equal in power to any of the other Greek gods. I know some folks do not like this re-imagining of Wonder Woman's origin, but I actually do. I always thought the "clay" business was a bit strange, in the first place. And in the second place, I love that Diana is now on par with the other gods and goddesses. This basically ties her with Superman (and probably Supergirl) at the top of the "power level" hierarchy in the DC Universe. As someone who has always wanted to see more powerful female superheroes, I applaud this new direction for Diana.
In addition to Wonder Woman, the other characters are equally well-drawn. Zola, the unsuspecting Virginia girl who's being chased around the universe by Hera for daring to (without realizing who he was) sleep with Zeus, is a great example. Zola's mix of innocence regarding the supernatural world of the Greek gods, and worldliness about Earth, make her someone I want to root for (and also someone I enjoy reading about). Hermes' quiet strength makes him a sure fan-favorite. And the wise-cracking, tough-as-nails Lennox, another of Zeus' recent offspring, makes the story great fun.
Finally, a word about the art. I am very torn about the art in this series. For some reason, rather than having one regular artist, they seem to keep alternating between two artists - Cliff Chiang and Tony Akins. I like Chiang's style a lot, and I love the way he draws Diana's face and does her facial expressions. On the other hand, I find Akins' style blah and unimpressive. His Wonder Woman looks too childish and baby-faced for my taste. If this series had been 100% drawn by Cliff Chiang, I'd be a lot happier. Chiang does seem to be the "main" artist (he usually does the covers even if he doesn't do the inside), but I wish he would become the only artist in the future. He does a much better job with Diana, and indeed all the characters.
Overall, I think the first year of Wonder Woman has been exceptional, and it is at the top of my list, along with Batgirl, Supergirl, and Justice League among the first year of DC's New 52 series. I hope they keep Brian Azzarello on this book as writer for a long time, and I hope they keep letting him tell the stories he's been telling, without interference, and without "crossover madness" mucking up the works. Please, DC, let Wonder Woman remain a stand-alone comic and allow the creative team the freedom to tell great stories. It's been a great run so far. I hope the next year is just as strong.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
New 52 Justice League - Year 1
For decades, one of the flagship titles of +DC Comics has been the Justice League. The Justice League's book has taken on various forms and titles over the years, but whatever the exact name of the series (Justice League of America, JLA, Justice League International), it has always been a top-seller for DC, and has usually (though not always) featured the heaviest hitters in the DC Universe. Classically, the Justice League membership includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman. Each of these characters has historically been a major DC star in his or her own right, so putting them together has always engendered the highest of expectations. When the book delivers, it is unparalleled in the comic world -- even the Avengers cannot compare. But when the book doesn't deliver, it has produced some of the most bitter disappointments in the history of comics.
Therefore, when I started collecting comic-books again back in December, it was with a mixture of both excitement and a little concern that I started reading the New 52 Justice League. Would it live up to its vaunted history? Or would it be another New 52 disappointment, as so many other titles have already been (Superman, Action Comics, Hawk and Dove)? My trepidation was increased when my good friend, +Stuart Johnson, indicated that the title was mediocre.
As with the other New 52 titles, I began buying the series digitally, starting with issue #1 and working forward. I have now completed the first year (issues 1-12 plus the #0 "origin" issue). I read a couple of issues each in December and January while I worked on getting myself current with series that were more important to me - Supergirl, Batgirl, and Superman. After catching up to #16 with all those New 52 titles, I then started to work on Justice League. What follows will be my review of the series in its first year (issues #1-12 and #0).
From the very start, I was pleased to see that Justice League was living up to its name. Headed by Geoff Johns (writer) and Jim Lee (artist), the book has fairly blown me away right from the beginning. The stories have been interesting and fun to read. The plots have made sense (for a change, compared to the impenetrable Gordian knots of Action Comics and Superman). The characterization has been strong. And although there have been plenty of world-threatening, nail-biting situations, Johns has managed to inject a wonderful note of levity into the series.
Justice League's first year, as with most of the New 52 titles, is divided into two 6-issue story arcs. I will discuss each one separately below, and then discuss issue #0, and close with my final thoughts.
Right from the beginning, writer Johns infuses the story, which is of the utmost seriousness (an invasion of Earth by Apokolips, as it turns out), with a wonderful sense of humor. Perhaps one of the funniest exchanges I have ever read in comics occurs in issue #1, where Green Lantern asks Batman what his super powers are. "Flight?" asks Lantern, to which Batman answers, "No." "Super strength?" "No." Then Lantern looks at him and says, "Waiiit a second... your just a guy dressed up like a bat, aren't you?" I laughed so hard I almost dropped my Nexus 7 tablet.
As the story unfolds, in different cities all around the world, pinging boxes are being set up ("mother boxes" for those who know about New Gods lore), and they keep teleporting (via "boom tubes", again if you know New Gods lore) creatures into our world to attack us (the creatures are Parademons, another item from New Gods lore). Over time, gradually these attacks draw the heroes together... Batman and Green Lantern are drawn to Superman. Then the Flash joins them. And finally Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
Along the way, we are treated to the origin of Cyborg, who is fatally wounded by one of the mother boxes, and whose father has to graft him to machinery to save his life. I had never seen the origin of Cyborg told before, so I really enjoyed this part of the story. I'm glad they put Cyborg (who used to be a Teen Titan) onto the Justice League. I've always thought he deserved more attention (I'd love to see him get his own book one day), and Johns and Lee do a great job with his first moments as a hero.
After the Justice League finally assembles, the last issues of this story arc depict an all-out battle between them and the forces of Apocalypse. Darkseid himself arrives on earth, and the League has to battle the most powerful villain in the DC Universe. Up until this point, the series was outstanding. But I have to admit, the way Johns handled Darkseid was underwhelming.
Why didn't I like how Darkseid was handled? Well, the primary reason was that he was too quiet. Old school Darkseid never shut up -- he was always soliloquizing about his power and making bombastic statements. Who can forget his words to Supergirl in Legion of Super-Heroes #294 circa 1982? "You have much to learn child. For instance this? This is pain. You should be honored, child. I have not done this with my hands for a millennium. How DeSaad would have loved this. A shame he is no more. But even he had his limits. As have all. Save I!" Or how about when the Legion finally defeated him, and the Invisible Kid asked how they would hold him. Darkseid's response was, "Remember children, the darkness cannot surrender. It is ever on the other side of the dawn. And the instant you gaze at it in fear... your time shall come."
And that, I suppose, was my one real disappointment. Darkseid was powerful, but silent. He said nothing. He made no threats. He did not give his classic Darkseid speeches. After reading a series full of fantastic dialogue and witty repartee among the rest of the characters, Darkseid's relative muteness was quite a let-down. He also did not seem anywhere near powerful enough, in most of the scenes. If, before reading this story, I didn't know who Darkseid was, I probably would not have been very impressed with him.
On the other hand, Darkseid's blandness aside (and it is a major flaw), the rest of the story arc was great. I enjoyed the general story, and I thought it was fitting that Darkseid was the cause of the Justice League's formation. He's an appropriate first, and arch, enemy for them. By the time the story arc wraps in issue 6, the Justice League has formed, and they are being cheered on by a grateful public, who finally realizes that these super-beings are heroes, and are protecting the world from harm.
The "lead" story in each issue is about the revenge being planned and then taken on the Justice League by a man named Graves, who is dying of a disease that also killed the rest of his family. Graves blames the League for this, because his family fell ill right after the League's battles with Darkseid (issues 1-6). Even though the JL saved his family's life at the time, little by little each one grew ill and died, until only a very sick Graves was left. Graves, dying, travels to a remote mountain, where he finds what he thinks are gods, but turn out to be spirit-parasites. He gains some power from them temporarily, and uses that power against the League. Ultimately, there is a huge battle and the League defeats him.
At the same time, there is a thread running through the story about the growing concern and mistrust of the JL by the federal government. Congress wants someone on the "inside" of the League, which the heroes resist. The government doesn't trust the heroes with all this power. So they continue to put pressure on Steve Trevor, the team's liaison, to admit new heroes into the team. This thread leads to Green Arrow trying to get onto the team in issue #8, and culminates later this month with the creation of a new "Justice League of America."
In the secondary story, orphan Billy Batson is adopted by a foster family whose other children include Mary Bromfield and Freddy Freeman (for those who don't know, these three are traditionally given the SHAZAM! powers and become Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr.). As Billy struggles to fit in, a mad scientist named Dr. Sivana searches for the final resting place of Black Adam (Captain Marvel's classic enemy). By the end of issue #12, Sivana has found Black Adam, and awakened him, and Billy Batson has ended up in a mysterious underground temple. The story will then lead us into #0.
Overall, this was a good issue. Gary Frank's art, as usual, is fantastic. He has always been very talented at showing subtle changes to facial expressions, and he continues to shine in that area. His Captain Marvel looks great, and I like the updated costume (though I'm not sure where I stand on the new hood, which makes his cape look more like a cloak).
The story was good, although there were a couple of elements I didn't love. For example, it has always been the case that the meaning of the word SHAZAM! is told during his origin story (which has been told and re-told many times since before +DC Comics even owned the character). The acronym means: The wisdom of Solomon; the strength of Hercules; the stamina of Atlas; the power of Zeus; the courage of Achilles; and the speed of Mercury. I don't understand how Geoff Johns could have spent an entire issue re-telling the origin of SHAZAM!/Captain Marvel and not explain what the word means (without that, it's just a nonsense word). Similarly, although they show the seven deadly sins, the sins are not named. Presumably these will come out in later issues (the back-up story already hints at that), but the seven deadly sins, like the meaning of the word SHAZAM!, are so tied up with this character's origin that I don't see how you can feel like you've re-told it properly without explaining those to the reader, at least (if not, yet, to the character).
That said, I found the actual story to be mostly satisfying. Billy Batson, once possessed of the SHAZAM! powers, is very entertaining. He acts like the unruly teenager he's been all along, but yet we still see the purity of heart there, as he rescues a strange woman from a mugger, and also worries that he might have hit the mugger "too hard" (he really does over-do it). But we also see his mischievous side, when the woman asks how she can thank him and he asks her for money, or when he suggests to Freddy Freeman (who is still presumably the future Captain Marvel, Jr., although we will have to wait and see on that one) that they can use Billy's seeming-adult status to buy beer.
One thing that was glaringly left out, however, was any instruction by the old wizad Shazam as to just exactly how Billy is supposed to revert back to normal. In the past, he has been able to change back and forth via the magic lightning. Will he be able to do so, or is he going to be "stuck" as Captain Marvel for a while? I hope he can change back, because I think the character will lose a lot without the Billy Batson side of things.
Overall, this was a good issue, although not as well done as Jerry Ordway's retelling of the origin 20+ years ago. I suppose they felt they had to "update" it, but I'm not sure the elements they left out did anything to serve that purpose. Rather, they probably left new readers confused.
Similarly, Jim Lee has done an outstanding job. I know he has been a fan favorite for many years, but he's honestly never been one of mine, in part because, at least back in the day, I always thought his faces looked the same for everyone. But at least so far in this series, he has done a good job making everyone's face distinctive and keeping them all with their classical looks while still making them looking younger and "updated." His backgrounds and "SFX" elements are first rate.
The series overall has been excellent. Out of all the titles that I've started reading in the New 52, one of the only ones that has delivered issue after issue, and has never disappointed, has been Justice League. It's got some of the best writing and art of any title I've tried. And so, I expect to be with Justice League for the long haul. Here, finally, like Batgirl, is a series that is truly enjoyable, and is one of the rare gems of The New 52.
Therefore, when I started collecting comic-books again back in December, it was with a mixture of both excitement and a little concern that I started reading the New 52 Justice League. Would it live up to its vaunted history? Or would it be another New 52 disappointment, as so many other titles have already been (Superman, Action Comics, Hawk and Dove)? My trepidation was increased when my good friend, +Stuart Johnson, indicated that the title was mediocre.
As with the other New 52 titles, I began buying the series digitally, starting with issue #1 and working forward. I have now completed the first year (issues 1-12 plus the #0 "origin" issue). I read a couple of issues each in December and January while I worked on getting myself current with series that were more important to me - Supergirl, Batgirl, and Superman. After catching up to #16 with all those New 52 titles, I then started to work on Justice League. What follows will be my review of the series in its first year (issues #1-12 and #0).
From the very start, I was pleased to see that Justice League was living up to its name. Headed by Geoff Johns (writer) and Jim Lee (artist), the book has fairly blown me away right from the beginning. The stories have been interesting and fun to read. The plots have made sense (for a change, compared to the impenetrable Gordian knots of Action Comics and Superman). The characterization has been strong. And although there have been plenty of world-threatening, nail-biting situations, Johns has managed to inject a wonderful note of levity into the series.
Justice League's first year, as with most of the New 52 titles, is divided into two 6-issue story arcs. I will discuss each one separately below, and then discuss issue #0, and close with my final thoughts.
Story Arc 1: Justice League (issues 1-6)
The first story arc of Justice League takes place 5 years in the "past." I found this to be slightly confusing at first, as the series of the League's members (e.g., Batman, Superman) all seemed to be taking place in the "present" (thus, though the #1 issues were all published at the same time, they were depicting different eras in the DC timeline). However, although this "five years ago" setting did confuse me in terms of how the events of the book related to events in other titles within the DC Universe, the story itself was easy to follow and quite enjoyable. The arc begins before the Justice League even exists. Each hero (other than Cyborg, who is just a normal kid in high school at the start) is on his own, and little by little, the heroes meet each other, starting with Batman and Green Lantern.Right from the beginning, writer Johns infuses the story, which is of the utmost seriousness (an invasion of Earth by Apokolips, as it turns out), with a wonderful sense of humor. Perhaps one of the funniest exchanges I have ever read in comics occurs in issue #1, where Green Lantern asks Batman what his super powers are. "Flight?" asks Lantern, to which Batman answers, "No." "Super strength?" "No." Then Lantern looks at him and says, "Waiiit a second... your just a guy dressed up like a bat, aren't you?" I laughed so hard I almost dropped my Nexus 7 tablet.
As the story unfolds, in different cities all around the world, pinging boxes are being set up ("mother boxes" for those who know about New Gods lore), and they keep teleporting (via "boom tubes", again if you know New Gods lore) creatures into our world to attack us (the creatures are Parademons, another item from New Gods lore). Over time, gradually these attacks draw the heroes together... Batman and Green Lantern are drawn to Superman. Then the Flash joins them. And finally Wonder Woman and Aquaman.
Along the way, we are treated to the origin of Cyborg, who is fatally wounded by one of the mother boxes, and whose father has to graft him to machinery to save his life. I had never seen the origin of Cyborg told before, so I really enjoyed this part of the story. I'm glad they put Cyborg (who used to be a Teen Titan) onto the Justice League. I've always thought he deserved more attention (I'd love to see him get his own book one day), and Johns and Lee do a great job with his first moments as a hero.
After the Justice League finally assembles, the last issues of this story arc depict an all-out battle between them and the forces of Apocalypse. Darkseid himself arrives on earth, and the League has to battle the most powerful villain in the DC Universe. Up until this point, the series was outstanding. But I have to admit, the way Johns handled Darkseid was underwhelming.
Why didn't I like how Darkseid was handled? Well, the primary reason was that he was too quiet. Old school Darkseid never shut up -- he was always soliloquizing about his power and making bombastic statements. Who can forget his words to Supergirl in Legion of Super-Heroes #294 circa 1982? "You have much to learn child. For instance this? This is pain. You should be honored, child. I have not done this with my hands for a millennium. How DeSaad would have loved this. A shame he is no more. But even he had his limits. As have all. Save I!" Or how about when the Legion finally defeated him, and the Invisible Kid asked how they would hold him. Darkseid's response was, "Remember children, the darkness cannot surrender. It is ever on the other side of the dawn. And the instant you gaze at it in fear... your time shall come."
And that, I suppose, was my one real disappointment. Darkseid was powerful, but silent. He said nothing. He made no threats. He did not give his classic Darkseid speeches. After reading a series full of fantastic dialogue and witty repartee among the rest of the characters, Darkseid's relative muteness was quite a let-down. He also did not seem anywhere near powerful enough, in most of the scenes. If, before reading this story, I didn't know who Darkseid was, I probably would not have been very impressed with him.
On the other hand, Darkseid's blandness aside (and it is a major flaw), the rest of the story arc was great. I enjoyed the general story, and I thought it was fitting that Darkseid was the cause of the Justice League's formation. He's an appropriate first, and arch, enemy for them. By the time the story arc wraps in issue 6, the Justice League has formed, and they are being cheered on by a grateful public, who finally realizes that these super-beings are heroes, and are protecting the world from harm.
Story Arc 2: The Villain's Journey (issues 7-12)
The second story arc takes place in the present -- i.e, 5 years after the first one. Beginning in this issue and continuing through issue #12, Johns presents two stories. The main story is about 20 pages long, covering the activities of the League, and features the art of Gene Ha and Jim Lee. The second story is about half as long, and features the art of Gary Frank (a huge favorite of mine since his days drawing the Matrix version of Supergirl).The "lead" story in each issue is about the revenge being planned and then taken on the Justice League by a man named Graves, who is dying of a disease that also killed the rest of his family. Graves blames the League for this, because his family fell ill right after the League's battles with Darkseid (issues 1-6). Even though the JL saved his family's life at the time, little by little each one grew ill and died, until only a very sick Graves was left. Graves, dying, travels to a remote mountain, where he finds what he thinks are gods, but turn out to be spirit-parasites. He gains some power from them temporarily, and uses that power against the League. Ultimately, there is a huge battle and the League defeats him.
At the same time, there is a thread running through the story about the growing concern and mistrust of the JL by the federal government. Congress wants someone on the "inside" of the League, which the heroes resist. The government doesn't trust the heroes with all this power. So they continue to put pressure on Steve Trevor, the team's liaison, to admit new heroes into the team. This thread leads to Green Arrow trying to get onto the team in issue #8, and culminates later this month with the creation of a new "Justice League of America."
In the secondary story, orphan Billy Batson is adopted by a foster family whose other children include Mary Bromfield and Freddy Freeman (for those who don't know, these three are traditionally given the SHAZAM! powers and become Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr.). As Billy struggles to fit in, a mad scientist named Dr. Sivana searches for the final resting place of Black Adam (Captain Marvel's classic enemy). By the end of issue #12, Sivana has found Black Adam, and awakened him, and Billy Batson has ended up in a mysterious underground temple. The story will then lead us into #0.
Issue #0 - SHAZAM!
As with the other titles in the +DC Comics New 52, Justice League, for its 1-year anniversary, put out a "zeroth" issue. The #0 issues of each title reveal an origin or backstory of the characters in the current series. In this case, Justice League #0 tells the origin of Captain Marvel, who gains his powers from the ancient wizard Shazam, by saying the wizard's name. Billy Batson, the teenager we have been following for about 6 months now (see above), finally meets the wizard, and is told to speak the magic word - SHAZAM! When he does, a bolt of lightning and a crack of thunder transform him from a teenage boy into a grown man (Captain Marvel) with power to rival Superman. The interesting wrinkle to Captain Marvel has always been, though, that although he has the body of a man, his mind is still that of a teenage boy. In that sense, he has more in common with the Teen Titans than with the Justice League.
Overall, this was a good issue. Gary Frank's art, as usual, is fantastic. He has always been very talented at showing subtle changes to facial expressions, and he continues to shine in that area. His Captain Marvel looks great, and I like the updated costume (though I'm not sure where I stand on the new hood, which makes his cape look more like a cloak).
The story was good, although there were a couple of elements I didn't love. For example, it has always been the case that the meaning of the word SHAZAM! is told during his origin story (which has been told and re-told many times since before +DC Comics even owned the character). The acronym means: The wisdom of Solomon; the strength of Hercules; the stamina of Atlas; the power of Zeus; the courage of Achilles; and the speed of Mercury. I don't understand how Geoff Johns could have spent an entire issue re-telling the origin of SHAZAM!/Captain Marvel and not explain what the word means (without that, it's just a nonsense word). Similarly, although they show the seven deadly sins, the sins are not named. Presumably these will come out in later issues (the back-up story already hints at that), but the seven deadly sins, like the meaning of the word SHAZAM!, are so tied up with this character's origin that I don't see how you can feel like you've re-told it properly without explaining those to the reader, at least (if not, yet, to the character).
That said, I found the actual story to be mostly satisfying. Billy Batson, once possessed of the SHAZAM! powers, is very entertaining. He acts like the unruly teenager he's been all along, but yet we still see the purity of heart there, as he rescues a strange woman from a mugger, and also worries that he might have hit the mugger "too hard" (he really does over-do it). But we also see his mischievous side, when the woman asks how she can thank him and he asks her for money, or when he suggests to Freddy Freeman (who is still presumably the future Captain Marvel, Jr., although we will have to wait and see on that one) that they can use Billy's seeming-adult status to buy beer.
One thing that was glaringly left out, however, was any instruction by the old wizad Shazam as to just exactly how Billy is supposed to revert back to normal. In the past, he has been able to change back and forth via the magic lightning. Will he be able to do so, or is he going to be "stuck" as Captain Marvel for a while? I hope he can change back, because I think the character will lose a lot without the Billy Batson side of things.
Overall, this was a good issue, although not as well done as Jerry Ordway's retelling of the origin 20+ years ago. I suppose they felt they had to "update" it, but I'm not sure the elements they left out did anything to serve that purpose. Rather, they probably left new readers confused.
Reflections on the first year
Overall, I have been very pleased with Justice League. Geoff Johns has done a spectacular job with perhaps the most difficult book to write in the DC Universe. It can't be easy to keep up with what is going on in 6 other books, and to write in-character dialogue for seven of the most important characters in DC. Given how difficult it has been for people even on single-character books (like Superman) to do a consistent job with characterization, Johns' work has been impeccable on this series. Each character acts the way he (or she) should -- frequently, more so in Justice League than they do in their own books (again, see, for reference, Superman).Similarly, Jim Lee has done an outstanding job. I know he has been a fan favorite for many years, but he's honestly never been one of mine, in part because, at least back in the day, I always thought his faces looked the same for everyone. But at least so far in this series, he has done a good job making everyone's face distinctive and keeping them all with their classical looks while still making them looking younger and "updated." His backgrounds and "SFX" elements are first rate.
The series overall has been excellent. Out of all the titles that I've started reading in the New 52, one of the only ones that has delivered issue after issue, and has never disappointed, has been Justice League. It's got some of the best writing and art of any title I've tried. And so, I expect to be with Justice League for the long haul. Here, finally, like Batgirl, is a series that is truly enjoyable, and is one of the rare gems of The New 52.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
DC's New 52 - another messy reboot
Every once in a while, it seems like the DC comics company decides to "reboot" their continuity. In 1985, they collapsed their multi-universe of alternate "Earths" into a single one, killing a bunch of characters (like my favorite, Supergirl) in the process, in a series called Crisis on Infinite Earths. When the series concluded, the DC continuity had a single universe -- one timeline without alternate earths -- and all the previous stories were (or should have been) erased. All the signature characters (Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.) had their origins re-told, and many of the DC comics were re-numbered starting on #1. Because the Crisis story involved the characters going back to the beginning of time and preventing the single Earth from splitting into many alternates, logically, none of the stories people had read from Action Comics #1 in 1938 until 1985, could ever have happened. This allowed DC to completely restart their universe.
Unfortunately, DC did not do a 100% "clean" reboot. Some of the characters in the universe remembered the previous timeline, even though they shouldn't have. The Spectre, who in a way lives "outside" of time, remembered the old continuity, even though under the new continuity the old one was supposed to have never existed. The character Harbinger, who was invented for the Crisis series, continued to exist (even though, since the heroes had changed the past, in the new continuity the Crisis had never happened). And many past events from before the Crisis still supposedly "happened" in some form. For example, in the post-Crisis limited series Hawk and Dove, Hawk explicitly remembers his brother Don (the first Dove) dying "when the skies turned red" (the Crisis events). Thus, as the years progressed, DC's writers kept making references to pre-Crisis events. These references confused everyone, as people were left to wonder, "What stories that I read before 1985 are still canon, and what stories aren't?"
To make matters worse, over the years, DC's writers and editors repeatedly made decisions that confused and screwed up the new continuity. They could not resist eventually adding alternate versions of Earth (not surprising because this is a very common comic-book trope, and I can't imagine any company with as many titles per month as DC going very long without the need for alternate realities). And the fans kept clamoring for pre-Crisis characters to return -- most notably Supergirl and the original Flash (Barry Allen). DC tried to appease folks with substitute versions of these characters, such as the shape-shifting artificial being "Matrix" which could take the form of a female character that people called "Supergirl." But the fans were not satisfied.
Over the years, DC has screwed their universe up enough times that they have had to have more "Crises" to try and correct the continuity -- such as Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis. I wasn't reading comics as these course corrections were attempted, so I don't really know exactly how they proceeded, but I do know that they must not have done the job, because in later summer 2011, DC Comics once again decided that their universe was such a complete and utter mess, and so incomprehensible to new fans (or returning folks like me), that they needed to completely restart their universe over again, with new, fresh stories. Because there were (originally) 52 titles being put out per month, they called these titles "The New 52."
When I decided to get back into comic-books, after learning about this, it seemed to me that the #1 issues of The New 52 were the logical place to start. I had no idea what I would like, or dislike, so I began with a few of them. It became immediately apparent to me that DC comics had again made a mess of its reboot. Once again some events from before the reboot are still remembered by some characters (for example, Barbara Gordon still remembers being shot by the Joker back in the 1980s). But they've made it even worse by having the comic-books take place at different points in the timeline relative to each other. For example, the two main books about Superman, Action Comics and Superman, take place 5 years apart, even though they are being published concurrently. And Justice League #1 takes place some time after the events of Action Comics but before the events of Superman.
What DC is left with in the mish-mash that is The New 52, are three types of comic-book titles: true reboots, reboots with backstory, and a third category I can only call complete messes. Below, I will outline each of these categories.
And it's not just whether the series got a complete reboot or not that is confusing (although complete reboots, or near-reboots, did help a lot). It's that the comics are taking place all over the history of the DC universe. Some titles (Superman, Supergirl) take place today. Others (Justice League) take place five years ago. Still others (Action Comics) take place even earlier (perhaps 5.5 or 6 years ago... it's hard to tell). Even others (Wonder Woman) take place in an indeterminate time period. This was true in issue #1, but I figured it would be cleared up after a few months. So far I am on #5 of the titles I am currently collecting, and nope -- it has not been resolved. Worse, a friend of mine is current (on #15 or so) with these titles, and he's still not sure whether Justice League takes place before, after, or concurrently with Wonder Woman.
I think I understand what DC tried to do with the early issues of The New 52. They tried to make them exciting, maybe a little confusing to draw readers in, and complex. They wanted to slowly reveal the relationships between the titles and between the present and the past. And perhaps those goals were admirable. But the problem is, with 52 different titles, all with different levels of "reboot," all taking place at different time periods, while being published the same month (or even week), DC has just produced a massively confusing universe. I'm not at all certain that it would have been any harder for me to just jump into ongoing comics that had 13 years of continuity that I'd missed, than it has been to jump into series that claim to be "rebooted" but often have vestiges of stories I haven't read, and that have incredibly confusing connections to one another. And my confusion, which is high in many cases, is partially mitigated by the fact that I am buying these early New 52s as back-issues, so I have been able to read #1-#5 in a very short time (about 5 weeks, instead of 5 months). I can't imagine how confusing it must have been for people to read this stuff "live" -- and wait more than 5 months (in most cases) to figure out what the hell is going on in each series.
Comic-book collecting is a slow hobby, not for the impatient, and I know that. You can't expect, and in most cases don't want, a story to wrap up in one or two issues. But, it seems to me when a company is rebooting its whole universe specifically to make it more "user friendly," they shouldn't then turn around and make the interrelationships between the various rebooted characters so incomprehensible that even an old hand at it can't figure out how the titles connect to one another.
Now, that said, I am enjoying a few titles, and if you are new to comics, I can definitely recommend four that will not confuse you too much (other than not knowing whether they all take place at the same time or at different times). Supergirl and Justice League are true reboots, and one can easily read these titles without having ever read any stories about the characters before. Wonder Woman has been cleanly rebooted but has an indeterminate backstory that occurred "before" issue #1. Up to #5, we know the backstory is there, and see hints of it, but it isn't confusing at all, and the story moves forward in a comprehensible way. Finally, Batgirl has been rebooted with a somewhat involved backstory, but it's entirely possible to read the Batgirl series (up through at least #8) without knowing the past story -- or with knowing it, because there are references to what you might already know, but they are vague enough not to be continuity-twisting.
I'm afraid I can't really recommend any of the other series I am currently reading (or that I tried to read). Although Action Comics is a "clean reboot," the stories in it are a mess, and there is no sense of plot or continuity to them. The story hop-scotches around, with the story in #4 not being picked up again until #7, and with the Superman of the far future making a sudden appearance at the end of #5. Although, as an old-time reader, I understand the Legion of Super-heroes references and the appearance of Steel, a new reader would surely go "wtf" and probably give up the series by #5. I know I'm on the verge of it myself, but I will give it a few more issues. Similarly, although it pains me to say it because the series is written by a favorite of mine, George Perez, I can't recommend the Superman comic either. The story is not as much of a mess as Action Comics, but the references to the (so far unpublished) "five year backstory" of Superman are highly confusing, and the storyline in which Superman finds himself (basically having a mental breakdown) is not appropriate for the first few issues of a new series with a "new" Superman -- the character needs to be established first, George, before you "break" him!
I think DC could have had a great idea on their hands with a clean reboot. I believe that the Justice League, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman comics prove this. They are among the best-written comics of all the ones I've tried so far, and they work very well as truly restarted titles. If only DC had done this clean a reboot with everything, The New 52 would have been a great deal better off. Because they didn't, I hate to say it, but I would not be shocked at DC having to do yet another reboot some time in the next 5-10 years, to untangle the whole mess they have got on their hands already, 1.5 years into the current continuity.
Unfortunately, DC did not do a 100% "clean" reboot. Some of the characters in the universe remembered the previous timeline, even though they shouldn't have. The Spectre, who in a way lives "outside" of time, remembered the old continuity, even though under the new continuity the old one was supposed to have never existed. The character Harbinger, who was invented for the Crisis series, continued to exist (even though, since the heroes had changed the past, in the new continuity the Crisis had never happened). And many past events from before the Crisis still supposedly "happened" in some form. For example, in the post-Crisis limited series Hawk and Dove, Hawk explicitly remembers his brother Don (the first Dove) dying "when the skies turned red" (the Crisis events). Thus, as the years progressed, DC's writers kept making references to pre-Crisis events. These references confused everyone, as people were left to wonder, "What stories that I read before 1985 are still canon, and what stories aren't?"
To make matters worse, over the years, DC's writers and editors repeatedly made decisions that confused and screwed up the new continuity. They could not resist eventually adding alternate versions of Earth (not surprising because this is a very common comic-book trope, and I can't imagine any company with as many titles per month as DC going very long without the need for alternate realities). And the fans kept clamoring for pre-Crisis characters to return -- most notably Supergirl and the original Flash (Barry Allen). DC tried to appease folks with substitute versions of these characters, such as the shape-shifting artificial being "Matrix" which could take the form of a female character that people called "Supergirl." But the fans were not satisfied.
Over the years, DC has screwed their universe up enough times that they have had to have more "Crises" to try and correct the continuity -- such as Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis. I wasn't reading comics as these course corrections were attempted, so I don't really know exactly how they proceeded, but I do know that they must not have done the job, because in later summer 2011, DC Comics once again decided that their universe was such a complete and utter mess, and so incomprehensible to new fans (or returning folks like me), that they needed to completely restart their universe over again, with new, fresh stories. Because there were (originally) 52 titles being put out per month, they called these titles "The New 52."
When I decided to get back into comic-books, after learning about this, it seemed to me that the #1 issues of The New 52 were the logical place to start. I had no idea what I would like, or dislike, so I began with a few of them. It became immediately apparent to me that DC comics had again made a mess of its reboot. Once again some events from before the reboot are still remembered by some characters (for example, Barbara Gordon still remembers being shot by the Joker back in the 1980s). But they've made it even worse by having the comic-books take place at different points in the timeline relative to each other. For example, the two main books about Superman, Action Comics and Superman, take place 5 years apart, even though they are being published concurrently. And Justice League #1 takes place some time after the events of Action Comics but before the events of Superman.
What DC is left with in the mish-mash that is The New 52, are three types of comic-book titles: true reboots, reboots with backstory, and a third category I can only call complete messes. Below, I will outline each of these categories.
True Reboots
What I call "true reboots" are comic-books like Justice League, Action Comics, and Supergirl, where absolutely no stories we've ever read about the characters have ever happened, and everything is completely new. Supergirl #1 has Kara Zor-El arriving on earth for the first time in her life. Justice League #1 has Batman meeting Green Lantern for the first time ever. Action Comics #1 has Superman wearing street clothes and a cape, and still not quite able to fly yet. These comics all start completely from square one, and move forward only. There are no real flash-backs (nor any need for them): it is the clear start of a totally new set of characters. In my opinion, quite apart from how good the individual plots are in these comics (Supergirl's is excellent; Action Comics' is a disaster), this is the category into which DC should have placed all 52 titles. Unfortunately, it seems to be occupied by the vast minority of books.Reboots with Backstory
What I call "reboots with backstory" are comic-books where the character has been rebooted, but some elements of the backstory from as far back as the 1986 era right after Crisis, still "happened," or perhaps there is a longer backstory that is not part of the past continuity, but still happened for some years before the publication of issue #1. Examples in this category are Batgirl #1 (in which the title character remembers being shot by the Joker and paralyzed, but not all the many events of her life as Oracle after that), or Wonder Woman #1, where the title character seems to have been around in the world for a while (people in issue #1 already know to call her "Wonder Woman"), but none of the previous stories people read about in her earlier comics seem to have happened. Another example is Superman #1, which takes place five years after the events depicted in Action Comics #1 (although they were published the same month -- see how confusing it is?), and repeatedly references events that are in the comic-book's past, but have never been printed by DC comics before (they're not referencing past issues of Superman or any other title).Complete Messes
Finally, there are the comics I can only call (from a reboot/continuity perspective) "complete messes." These are comics that are an utter Gordian knot of confusion, mixing old printed stories from the past continuity, with "backstory" that is fictional (never printed but still in the "past" of the current storyline), and total reboot material (new stuff that assumes no prior story). Examples of this include Green Lantern #1, which clearly references a whole variety of events that took place in earlier published comics, Batman #1, Detective Comics #1, and Hawk and Dove #1. For instance, in the Hawk and Dove series (which only lasted 8 issues), Dove repeatedly makes reference to her relationship with a character named Deadman, with whom she got involved during a story-line that existed in the previous published (pre-New 52) continuity. But ask yourself -- how is that possible? Some of the characters who were completely rebooted, such as Superman, were involved in that previously published storyline. So how can Dove remember something that involved Superman, but Superman be rebooted and not remember it? You can get migraines trying to unravel these messes.And after 5 issues... in many cases I still don't know what is going on
The upshot of all this mish-mash with some characters being given a "clean" reboot and others a messy one, is that DC has made a complete hash of The New 52. One of the main goals of their company-wide "reboot" was supposed to be to make it easier for new readers to jump into DC's titles, to make it less intimidating to read Superman, who before 2011 had a multi-decade continuity. It presumably was supposed to make lapsed readers like myself have an easier time getting back into things. For some titles, like Supergirl and Batgirl, this has absolutely been true. For other titles, like Detective Comics and Green Lantern, I gave up after the first issue, being so utterly and completely confused that I could not follow them enough to bother with further installments.And it's not just whether the series got a complete reboot or not that is confusing (although complete reboots, or near-reboots, did help a lot). It's that the comics are taking place all over the history of the DC universe. Some titles (Superman, Supergirl) take place today. Others (Justice League) take place five years ago. Still others (Action Comics) take place even earlier (perhaps 5.5 or 6 years ago... it's hard to tell). Even others (Wonder Woman) take place in an indeterminate time period. This was true in issue #1, but I figured it would be cleared up after a few months. So far I am on #5 of the titles I am currently collecting, and nope -- it has not been resolved. Worse, a friend of mine is current (on #15 or so) with these titles, and he's still not sure whether Justice League takes place before, after, or concurrently with Wonder Woman.
I think I understand what DC tried to do with the early issues of The New 52. They tried to make them exciting, maybe a little confusing to draw readers in, and complex. They wanted to slowly reveal the relationships between the titles and between the present and the past. And perhaps those goals were admirable. But the problem is, with 52 different titles, all with different levels of "reboot," all taking place at different time periods, while being published the same month (or even week), DC has just produced a massively confusing universe. I'm not at all certain that it would have been any harder for me to just jump into ongoing comics that had 13 years of continuity that I'd missed, than it has been to jump into series that claim to be "rebooted" but often have vestiges of stories I haven't read, and that have incredibly confusing connections to one another. And my confusion, which is high in many cases, is partially mitigated by the fact that I am buying these early New 52s as back-issues, so I have been able to read #1-#5 in a very short time (about 5 weeks, instead of 5 months). I can't imagine how confusing it must have been for people to read this stuff "live" -- and wait more than 5 months (in most cases) to figure out what the hell is going on in each series.
Comic-book collecting is a slow hobby, not for the impatient, and I know that. You can't expect, and in most cases don't want, a story to wrap up in one or two issues. But, it seems to me when a company is rebooting its whole universe specifically to make it more "user friendly," they shouldn't then turn around and make the interrelationships between the various rebooted characters so incomprehensible that even an old hand at it can't figure out how the titles connect to one another.
Now, that said, I am enjoying a few titles, and if you are new to comics, I can definitely recommend four that will not confuse you too much (other than not knowing whether they all take place at the same time or at different times). Supergirl and Justice League are true reboots, and one can easily read these titles without having ever read any stories about the characters before. Wonder Woman has been cleanly rebooted but has an indeterminate backstory that occurred "before" issue #1. Up to #5, we know the backstory is there, and see hints of it, but it isn't confusing at all, and the story moves forward in a comprehensible way. Finally, Batgirl has been rebooted with a somewhat involved backstory, but it's entirely possible to read the Batgirl series (up through at least #8) without knowing the past story -- or with knowing it, because there are references to what you might already know, but they are vague enough not to be continuity-twisting.
I'm afraid I can't really recommend any of the other series I am currently reading (or that I tried to read). Although Action Comics is a "clean reboot," the stories in it are a mess, and there is no sense of plot or continuity to them. The story hop-scotches around, with the story in #4 not being picked up again until #7, and with the Superman of the far future making a sudden appearance at the end of #5. Although, as an old-time reader, I understand the Legion of Super-heroes references and the appearance of Steel, a new reader would surely go "wtf" and probably give up the series by #5. I know I'm on the verge of it myself, but I will give it a few more issues. Similarly, although it pains me to say it because the series is written by a favorite of mine, George Perez, I can't recommend the Superman comic either. The story is not as much of a mess as Action Comics, but the references to the (so far unpublished) "five year backstory" of Superman are highly confusing, and the storyline in which Superman finds himself (basically having a mental breakdown) is not appropriate for the first few issues of a new series with a "new" Superman -- the character needs to be established first, George, before you "break" him!
I think DC could have had a great idea on their hands with a clean reboot. I believe that the Justice League, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman comics prove this. They are among the best-written comics of all the ones I've tried so far, and they work very well as truly restarted titles. If only DC had done this clean a reboot with everything, The New 52 would have been a great deal better off. Because they didn't, I hate to say it, but I would not be shocked at DC having to do yet another reboot some time in the next 5-10 years, to untangle the whole mess they have got on their hands already, 1.5 years into the current continuity.
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