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KC Carlson’s Lego hand
A KC COLUMN by KC Carlson
Batman #1
I don’t understand precisely why I walked into my comics space this past weekend and, in spite of all the excellent (and still not inventoried) stuff in there, came out with a number of short boxes of DC new 52 titles. You keep in mind that DC initiative, right? (Gosh, I hope so. It hasn’t even been a year since it ended. Yes, I was shocked — shocked, I state — at remembering that as well.) I was particularly shocked that I had really bought THAT many new 52 comics, before I realized that most of them weren’t doing anything for me. I dropped the entire line chilly turkey back in late 2012 — as well as then started re-reading my many old Silver & Bronze DCs to remind me that DC comics weren’t always that bad.
It’s only been five as well as a half years since the much-promoted introduce of the full-line overhaul, as well as now, with rebirth the new new thing, the new 52 is ancient history. now that that age has (mostly) gone, it’s fascinating to look at it again. as well as reevaluate the books with the benefit of hindsight.
Justice league #1 by Geoff Johns, Jim Lee & Scott Williams
I realized that, yes, there were truly great Batman titles — as well as that tradition continues on to this day. On the other hand, compared to the present (and boring) composing of Bryan Hitch on today’s Justice league flagship title, the Geoff Johns/Jim Lee run deserved all the enjoyment it produced back then. If nothing else, the new 52 persuaded DC of the value of reward covers — although I’m not always sure that was a great thing for the market overall. however I comprehend their importance to retailers, particularly when ordered both smartly as well as conservatively.
BAILED EARLY… had great REASONS
Batman & Robin #23.4 featuring a killer Croc lenticular cover
I only bought about a year as well as a half of the new 52 at the time. (I believe the lenticular villain covers stunt was the thing that lastly broke me.) Although, reality to tell, the revamp was going on while we were moving cross-country with around 80,000 comic books, as well as it ended up being much more costly to deliver them than we thought. We likewise had to discover a home with sufficient storage area for the collections. (Yes, sadly, I have more than one collection.) Comics need a great deal of space. more than all the other collections combined. (sigh)
Dropping an entire line of comics since I was only enjoying a few was type of a no-brainer. I’m not truly sure why I dropped the ones I was enjoying, however it sure assisted the finances.
BOTH right as well as WRONG
I’m now seeing the new 52 books with clearer eyes by comparing them to present titles which no longer are entertaining for me — except now I’m losing rate of interest in a great deal of marvel titles. (I’d provide you a – long – list, however Roger likes me to be mainly positive right here these days.) I’m sufficient of a long-time DC fan that I’d like to checked out the problems I missed, however I will likely do that with collections. They’ll be cheaper that way, as well as I’m more likely to surface reading the whole thing in one sitting. Plus, if it turns out that I don’t want to keep the trades, there are much much better (and larger) systems in location to offer or “recycle” my old purchases to get other things.
Don’t get me wrong — I’m totally conscious that not whatever was wonderful about DC’s new 52. They were almost totally tone-deaf (or at best, inconsistent) in exactly how to depict women. depending upon who was composing or drawing, question lady experienced from altering creators as well as approaches every few months, leaving her new 52 tradition reduced to replacing Lois Lane as Superman’s woman good friend — an obvious play for the drooling fanboy readership, which was about all that DC had left by the time.
Red Hood as well as the Outlaws #1
The bimbo portrayal of Starfire in the pages of Red Hood as well as the Outlaws was even more offensive, totally draining the character of the emotional (and physical) stamina she displayed in the earlier new teen Titans (and to a generation of TV animation viewers). On the plus side, a new version of the Barbara Gordon Batgirl was established late in new 52 that was both prominent as well as attractive to most everybody (and still is today). I was kinda sorry that the extremely positive portrayal of Barbara as Oracle (from the pages of suicide Squad as well as Birds of Prey) had to disappear, however if they had to go back to the older version, I’m delighted she came out so well.
Action Comics #1
I’m most likely not ever going back to checked out much of the new 52 Superman. It wasn’t horrible at very first (just type of weirdly off-putting overall), however reading aboutKal-El reduced to being a near-criminal towards the end was just so wrong that I’m not surprised that the recent rebirth relaunch went the totally opposite direction — getting Superman solidly into a household setting.
All-Star Western #29 cover by Darwyn Cooke
Of course, quite much everybody liked new 52 Batman — many calling it a renaissance for the character, particularly in the core title by the team of Scott Snyder as well as Greg Capullo. I likewise got a kick out of seeing the Jonah Hex-starring All-Star Western sorta ended up being a Batman title with the connection of co-staring Arkham Asylum creator Amadeus Arkham. It didn’t hurt that the late, excellent Darwyn Cooke dropped by the ranch sometimes to draw (and sometimes write) a Hex story for the series. I’d state that All-Star Western was definitely one of the more underrated new 52 series, as well as it’s a pity that more didn’t comply with it.
Omega Men
I understand there’s more great stuff hidden around the new 52 that I never paid interest to — like Tom King’s Omega guy — which was amazingly cancelled as well as then promptly revived because of the fans calling foul. (One of the few correct things DC did during that era.) It appears like I may be reading a great deal fewer Marvels in the future (due to sheer boredom, hatred for present go-nowhere storylines, as well as just since marvel can’t sustain their significant output much longer (they shipped over 100 comics last month, not counting trades) as well as keep high standards). It’s the perfect time to re-explore the DC Multiverse (?) of comics that I already own as well as am just getting around to reading now. Plus, I haven’t had a back problem buying spree in a long time. That may be fun…
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KC CARLSON still hasn’t recuperated from seeing The Lego Batman movie in IMAX. All those characters… All those colors… whatever moving SO FAST. What a migraine I had afterwards… I CAN’T wait TO SEE IT AGAIN!!!
WESTFIELD COMICS is not accountable for the stupid things that KC says. particularly that thing that truly irritated you. It’s nice that comics have ended up being such a minor irritation compared to other things these days…