Welcome to another edition of Weekly Reads! Our opportunity to look back and discuss the titles from the previous week in comic books.
👎 – Skip, read at your own risk
👌 – Okay, not great, not bad, you might find something to like here
💪 – Great, highly recommended
🙅 – Dropped the series
DC
We’re nearly a few months into DC’s Rebirth and that new and exciting feeling that came with it is starting to fade. Yes, there are still Rebirth titles being released but we have many series’ reaching their third issues. We are beginning to get a feel for what should be read and what can be left behind. It’d be nice to read everything but unless you have a lot of time and a lot of money, it just isn’t feasible. It’s time to think about what can be cut from our weekly reading. That said, I did a boat load of DC reading again this week…
👌 Batgirl and the Birds of Prey – Rebirth #1
👌 The Hellblazer – Rebirth #1
👌 Justice League #1
👌 Aquaman #3
👌 Batman #3
💪 Green Arrow #3
👌 Green Lanterns #3
👌 Superman #3
As far as the Rebirth titles go, nothing special here. They have that same Free Comic Book Day/get acquainted with the characters feeling that most Rebirth titles have had thus far. Birds of Prey revolves around the team of Batgirl, Huntress and Black Canary. It looks like they’re going to be hunting down a villain who stole the entity of Oracle and is messing with Barbara’s identity. Constantine is back in The Hellblazer, depending on your interests you may be more familiar with the character from the television show than his 300-issue comic book run, or if you’re like me, neither. This issue was a lot of fun and did a great job introducing me to the characters and the world, I’ll probably stick with this for at least a story arc. I think fans of AMC’s Preacher may enjoy this title.
Justice League begins and aliens are still attacking and it looks like they are going to have to deal with some of the side effects of The Blood Prophecy from Green Lanterns. There are some nice scenery and a few action-packed panels in this title but overall it’s not quite firing on all cylinders yet. A lot of style, but not a lot of substance.
Green Arrow is still going strong. If I could only follow one DC book, this would be it. Art is great, writing is tight and each issue leaves you craving more! In Batman, we got to learn a little about the origins of Gotham and Gotham Girl. As well as find out Hugo Strange has found himself a partner! Finch’s art style for Gotham feels spot on. Green Lanterns continues to explore the dynamic between Jessica and Simon, the newest green lanterns. I’ve been slowly appreciating and enjoying this story more and more with every issue. Aquaman is starting to feel too political for my liking. For me, Aquaman is at it’s best when there is more water in the environment, here it takes place mostly in buildings. Superman, I was wondering what the heck was going on, until I realized I forgot to read #2. So I’ll have to take care of that business before getting too much farther ahead.
Again, my take on these new series’ are that you should read what characters interest you. With the exception of Green Arrow, I don’t think any title is a whole lot better or worse than any other title. Explore, dip your toes in a few different books and find out what you like.
Marvel
👌 Spider-Man #6
🙅 Uncanny X-Men #10
Yes, I’m losing interest in all things Marvel Comics currently. There are just too many other good books on the market to spend my time reading their currently mediocre stories. That said, I did give the latest Spider-Man a read.
This issue just wasn’t for me. There was far too much dialogue for my liking. I felt a lot of the stuff that was explained through dialogue could have been explained in different ways but that’s ok, I don’t know the grand vision of the story so maybe this issue will pay off down the road. Despite not enjoying most of the issue, there are still a few plot points I’m interested in so I can’t drop the series just yet.
If you’ve been reading Weekly Reads for awhile now you’ll know I haven’t thought too highly of the current X-Men books, especially Uncanny, so I decided to pull the trigger this week and drop it. Let me know if I made a mistake.
Image
👌 Snotgirl #1
I started hearing about Snotgirl quite a bit a few weeks ago, I quickly judged it by it’s cover (and title) as something I wasn’t interested in. Then I found out it was written by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Scott Pilgrim, Seconds, etc.) so I hesitantly decided this is a must-read. I’ll summarize the experience: cover, didn’t interest me. First few pages, didn’t interest me. Next few pages, didn’t interest me. Last few pages, still not that interested. Last page, ok, I’ll pick up the next one. Leslie Hung’s art goes great with O’Malley’s words but her style isn’t really my thing. Basically, this story is just strange enough and the ending just enough of a cliffhanger to make me want more. If O’Malley didn’t write this would I read the next issue? Probably not, but he did and therefore I will.
Dark Horse
👌 Black Hammer #1
Honestly, at this point I’m getting sort of tired of writing about comic books and the debut of Black Hammer didn’t wow me enough to make me any more enthusiastic to write about one more book, but I’ll try anyways. This book also falls under the category of wouldn’t-have-read-it-if-it-wasn’t-for-the-writer-behind-it. Basically we have a group of super heroes who have been displaced in time and are living a simple farming life, most of them aren’t content with it. This issue we meet them and discover someone from their time is going to track them down. That’s about it, nothing too interesting. I’ll probably read the second issue though because you know, it’s Jeff Lemire.
Book of the Week
Green Arrow gets the title again, this series gets better with every issue.