Thoughts on what's to come

You know a lot of people like to give Dan DiDio a lot of shit for what he's been doing at DC. And a lot of it he deserves, but lately, the man has been making all of the right moves and it saddens me that so few people are giving him the credit he deserves. The man has really whipped his company into shape and for the first time in what feels like years I'm actually excited for superhero comics again.

I mean just a quick glance through DC's five biggest franchises here you can say that they're being led by DC's powerhouse writers. Of the 8 Batman books that were announced, the only turkey of a creative team is Judd Winick's Batman book, but that's completely off set by the fact that Morrison, Rucka, Tomasi, and Dini are all spotlighting the rest. The Superman books are being spearheaded by Johns, Robinson, and Rucka all legends in their own right. The Green Lantern books themselves have been been better, and are just creatively rich in their own right. Even Wonder Woman's going through a great patch right now. Flash: Rebirth, I'm a bit iffy on, but seeing what Johns has done with the GL franchise, and what he's already previously done with Wally, pretty much tells me that the book will be great in it's own right. The only real turkey in DC's Tentpole Franchises is the Titans Franchise, but with the horrors that are McKeever and Winick leaving the book, good things may be in store for the future. And still, DC's C and D-List books are all pretty damn enjoyable too. REBELS is a sleeper hit, Secret Six is consistently enjoyable, Jonah Hex is as enjoyable as always, Booster Gold has lost steam but it's still a winner, and Supergirl is currently the best the character's ever seen. GA/BC still needs some serious work though, and that Vigilante series is just a waste of paper, but no one bats a thousand so it's understandable.

And it's not even just the ongoings that are exciting me. DC's announcement of the return of the double bill is the best news I've heard in a very very long time. I have no problem paying an extra buck for 10 pages of extra story featuring characters that really deserve more spotlight. And that's one of the things DC is doing really well lately, spotlighting new characters. Sure they might be bringing back Barry and Hal, or whoever, but just looking through the Superman books they're putting the focus back on the new characters, or the forgotten characters who really deserved better.

There may be a few missteps in the future, namely JLA which has a very muddled direction caused by a lot of faulty editorial dictates, but like I said, for the first time in a while I'm actually excited for comic books.

One Sentence Wednesday 3/11/09

Action Comics #875- Decent set-up issue, though I was expecting a little more from Rucka.

Battle for the Cowl #1- Considering I was expecting this to be awful I was pleasantly surprised, it's a fun romp and Tony Daniels art looks good for once.

Batman Confidential #27- Very good and very fun, DC and Marvel need more books like this.

REBELS #2- This really is better than it has any right to be.

Wonderful Wizard of Oz #4- This picture should sum up how great this book is.

One Sentence Wednesday 3/04/09

Secret Six #7: Secret Six owns, and this was a solid enough conclusion, but really what was the point of Huntress showing up?

Superman: World of New Krypton #1: Slow to start, but I could really see this going places and I'm more than happy to follow along.

Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?: Meh, the Bullock short was really the only interesting part and I'm fucking shocked that they brought back that awful "Soul of Gotham" or whatever the hell she calls herself.

Batman to be Deepified

Hoo boy.

As most people have already heard, Judd Winick was announced as the new writer for Batman, and while I'm completely disappointed with DC's higher ups for making such a poor choice, when you have writers like Marc Andreyko and Peter Tomasi around (I'm surprised they gave him Outsiders, instead of just giving him you know, Batman), but I'm not going to let it get to me.

Despite what most people say Judd Winick is not that big a failure, sure his recent Titans work is completely atrocious, as was most of his Green Arrow stuff, but he's got a few successes under his belt. His early Exiles stuff was the best the book had ever seen, his Green Lantern run was also fairly good, nothing spectacular, but it kept me entertained. Superman/Shazam was a damn fine crossover, and even his Batman run was pretty decent, and was one of the few cases pre-OYL, where Batman didn't act like a complete cock.

The problem with Winick, is that he just ends up trapping himself when tries to write Teen Drama, suspense, and "deep" moments, which he does so appallingly that it just becomes completely unreadable. Winick writes entertaining superheroics, and it's obvious that he knows where he's been going wrong, as evidence by that list of things people are expecting from his run, so I'm giving Winick another chance. Even if he doesn't deserve it.

In other con news, Robinson's Justice League book launches in June, which I'm completely psyched for, Dini was announced as the writer for Gotham City Sirens (Gee, big shocker there), and Streets of Gotham. Cassandra Cain will no longer be a member of the Bat-family, which really seems for the best at this point, and Grant Morrison gets his crack at the Multiverse as soon as he gets back from his sabbatical. DC in June sounds like it's really shaping up to be something.

One Sentence Wednesday 2/25/09

What I read this week:

Superman #685- Mon-El owns, The Guardian is boring, issue was a good set-up issue for things to come, art was total shit though.

Teen Titans #68- Another shitty issue of McKeever's Titans, but with a rage inducing Origins and Omens to boot!

Blue Beetle #36 - Goodnight Sweet Prince. This issue was good, but could've been so much better had it not had that pointless death, it's sad to see this series go because you could tell that Sturges had just hit his groove with the series.

Wonder Woman #29- If you like Simone's Wonder Woman, you will like this, my only serious gripe is that literally everybody in this arc is wearing a fucking horrible costume, especially Genocide.

Captain America #47- This book continues to astound, and if you're not reading it, there really is no hope for you.

Kashiwa Daisuke- 5 Dec.

First of all, if you're expecting another Program Music 01, this is not what you're going to get, and I have a bad feeling that this album is going to get tossed aside, just because that's what people wanted. Which is odd really, because anyone who's ever listened to April #02 knows that Program Music 01 was a huge departure from that, while April #07 was a huge departure from that. Kashiwa is constantly reinventing his music, and redefining his sound, it's foolish to think he was going to just make another album full of Stellas even if that's what some of us wanted. The album is a much more electronic affair, than the epic post-rockesque feeling of Program Music. But, that's not say that his unique sense of melody is gone, but it is now obscured behind a much agressive and metallic sound. Stand out tracks are Silver Moon, Requiem, and Black Lie/White Lie.

Rapidshare

Straight from the internet!

Tony Daniel just posted this picture of the new "Batman" on his blog. And you heard it here first folks! Spawn will be taking the cowl!