New 52

Nightwing #7

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nightwing-new-52-7-coverAs the big top explodes beneath them, Saiko and Nightwing have their final confrontation as the young man with some misplaced anger delivers a huge plot dump in the middle of their climactic final battle.

As in Batman #7 (also released this week) Dick learns that he was chosen by the Court of Owls to be one of their Talon killers. So… Haly’s Circus is nothing more than an early training ground for assassins for a secret order who live beneath the streets of Gotham City?

When the Flying Graysons died and Dick left the circus and Saiko was chosen in his stead. Nice of them to have a runner up, I guess. Right? On a positive note the art by Eddie Barrows continues to impress. This is probably the best looking issue of the series yet. Too bad about the story.

We also get the same sequence of Batman knocking Dick’s tooth out to prove a point as we did in Batman #7. It doesn’t work any better here (in fact it works less because Saiko has already given him some of the information he seems shocked to hear from the Dark Knight Detective). Hit-and-Miss.

[DC, $2.99]

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Justice League #7

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justice-league-new-52-7-coverThere’s so much wrong with the latest issue of Justice League it’s hard to know where to begin. First, following the success of the team’s first mission we skip 5 years ahead to present day, but the team still acts like they’ve only been working together for all of five minutes.

The conversion of Hal Jordan into early Booster Gold seems now complete as not only is Green Lantern used mainly for comic relief but he goes so far as to hit on the ex-wife of the biological warfare specialist during the fight with the spores he’s been exposed to.

The art by Gene Ha at least saves us the characters posing and looking in different directions (mainly) but it’s also dirtier and somewhat sloppier than the title’s first six issues. And Geoff Johns dialogue continues to be so mindnumbingly bad it’s getting harder and harder for me to defend him and blame it on DC Editorial. The fact that the story is also told from the perspective of Steve Trevor, a character who no relation to the team so far, seems oddly out of place as well.

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Stormwatch #7

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stormwatch-7-new-52-coverThe world is attacked by alien race from another dimension known as the Daemonites who travel through dimensions in search of gravity which they mine and sell as a commodity. If they are aware of damage done to the lifeforms in the dimensions where the gravity miners strike they are unconcerned about it.

The title gets a new artist and writer but it may be too late to save the title, at least for me. Paul Jenkins makes a couple of nice changes. First, we don’t get any awkward juvenile allusions to Midnighter and Apollo‘s relationship. Second, Jenny Quantum finally gets in on the action.

New artist Ignacio Calero also makes a tremedous difference. Although he’s still stuck with the New 52 design of the characters they look much cleaner and better defined than in all previous six issues of the title.

However, there are some issues. The narrative forces the Martian Manhunter to be vague about his knowledge of the aliens for no other reason that to give us a final page reveal of the threat – even though this puts his teammates in danger.

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Justice League International #7

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jli-new-52-7-coverJust moments after being announced as the United Nations official super-hero task force everything goes to hell when the ceremony is shocked by an explosion that leaves several of the JLI injured, and one member dead.

The Joss Whedon-esque move to pull the rug right out from under the team in its first moment of glory, not to mention killing off a main character, isn’t a bad one although pieces of the story don’t work as well as I’d like. Neither the dialogue of a mournful father not the reaction of the U.N. Security Chief feel natural.

The team’s response to the attack, the severe injuries to Ice and Vixen, and the death of Gavril Ivanovich (a character I had grown to like during Justice League: Generation Lost and who deserved a far better fate than he receives here) aren’t nearly as hamfisted.

We also get a surprise appearance by Batwing. Although I think he fits well with the make-up of the team, I am a little saddened by the prospect of him as a replacement for Batman. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]

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Justice League #6

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justice-league-new-52-6-coverI won’t go so far to say the latest issue of Justice League is good but it’s damn sight better than worthless piece of crap Geoff Johns and Jim Lee signed their names to last month.

There are some improvements. Dakrseid‘s ridiculous makeover continues to be tweaked to lessen the effect of the big arrow pointing as his crotch. The dialogue for the team is slightly better (although we still get quite a few groaners mixed in), and the resolution, which helps elevate Cyborg by making him the hero of the hour, works fine.

That said, there’s plenty of problems. Although the idea of framing the Justice League‘s battle with Darkseid from the view of the people on the street is a good one, the narration and dialogue of the populace is pretty damn awful in spots reading far too much like jingoistic plot points (or hamfisted Super Friends references) than phrases anyone would actually say.

Personally, I was also less than happy with the continued bickering between the group while on-stage to be congratulated – not to mention the Flash‘s poor first attempt at naming the team.

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