Drawing the line at, whatever we feel like?

DC Comics had a slogan called"Drawing the Line at $2.99", which is a clever way of saying that all of their comics would cost no more than $2.99. This slogan was ushered in January 2011 and phased out right before the revamping of their comics with the New 52 in September of 2011. According to sales figures, the campaign had no affect on DC sales. While the slogan may have disappeared as had the prospect of increased profits, the actual pricing of many DC comics remained 2.99.

DC's flagship title, Justice League (JL) costs $3.99. This is the same as some of their more popular titles such as Batman. JL is drawn by DC's visionary leader Jim Lee and was the first comic released for the New 52 line. Less popular titles of the New 52 line are still priced at the $2.99 mark. This difference in pricing had me wonder why some of the DC comics are priced at 3.99 while others at 2.99. 

iFanboy website laid out some solid reasoning as to why the $2.99 price tag was done away with, such as someone who doesn't normally read a comic would see 2.99 be just as expensive as 3.99 in light of how much time per $ they would receive in entertainment. I would add that the retention of the $2.99 price tag is in effect for less popular titles as a way to encourage new readers on board. These are the readers that already buy comics on a weekly basis and acts as a low price point to entice them to try a new title. If the title becomes more popular (as a result of the low price acting as a lure), then I would wager the price tag would jump to the $3.99 mark. Another reason for the price differences is that there is likely a difference in the artist's page fees. Every artist employed by the big companies such as DC and Marvel are paid per page they draw. Better and hence more popular artists can command higher page rates than less skilled and hence less well known artists. These lesser known artists often draw fledgling comics and hence the production costs for these comics is also less. The idea of different page rates would explain why Jim Lee's JL costs more than say Supergirl who is illustrated by Mike Johnson (who by-the-by does produce some great art but isn't as well known as Jim Lee).

The topic of the New 52 also reminds me that the majority of the initial story arcs have now ended. Out of the 52 new comics released back in September of 2011, I have continued reading roughly 6 on a regular basis and occasionally grabbed a few issues of about 3 or 4 others, but find myself always a few issues behind on them. 

Lee's cover for JL

Mack cover for DD

Justice League is the first of the New DC comics to complete its initial story arc while it seems that most of the others are about 1 or 2 issues away from doing the same. I have been pretty pleased with the comics that I have continued reading except for Green Lantern, which has a sluggish story and I am still mystified (to put it kindly) as to why nothing in the character's life had changed following the Flashpoint series. As to the Justice League story, I was immediately enamored by the highly skilled line work of Jim Lee. His art is still one of the finest in the realm of comics, although at times it is more flashy than substance unlike other artists such as David Mack. 

2 pages from JL featuring smashy-smash panels & no dialogue

The initial story arc of Justice League was interesting because it rapidly brought the team together as the evil Darkseid made a play at taking over the world. This brought us some spectacular fight scenes that utilized Lee's art to the fullest. However, the context of the story was rushed leaving myself wondering why Darkseid was doing any of this; I'm sorry, but a reason of 'he's just evil' does not always cut it. In the end, there really wasn't much of a story that Geoff Johns brought to the starting plate of Justice League. We were really only handed a beautifully drawn six issues of fight scenes where the characters clumsily found themselves brought together as a means to stay alive during Darkseid's devastating attack in America, which by-the-way is where apparently every extraterrestrial /demon likes to invade the world. I can only hope that from issue 7 on we see an actual story somewhere in the pages of Justice League. Otherwise, I may only regularly be collecting 5 comics from DC.

Well, I think I rambled along enough here. Suffice to say that I understand (for the most part) why companies like DC charge different prices for their comics but that doesn't mean I like it. And speaking of not liking something, I really hope that an actual story with a plot emerges in JL. While I love Jim Lee's explosive fight sequenced paneling, I would also love to know who these characters are!

Week 4 of the New DC Comics: Part Deux!

This was the final pile of new DC books I read. The pile included All-Star Western, Aquaman, Batman: The Dark Knight, Blackhawks, The Flash, and The Fury of Firestorm. This was a very strong group of books in comparison to the other books released in the final week. There were some weaker books, but overall each of the books hold an argument for continuing to read them. Also, I had not previously read any of these books on a monthly basis. From what I read, at least three of these books will be picked up again in the future: All-Star Western, Aquaman, & The Flash.

All-Star Western: This is a fun book to read! It is a wonderful break from the rest of the super-hero laden comics that DC churns out. Here we have the story of Jonah Hex, a mysterious bounty hunter of the late 1880's. Hex comes to Gotham city where he finds himself caught up in a Jack-the-Ripper style murder mystery. The story is great with wonderful nods to places and names that crop up in the modern Batman books, making you wonder if what happens in this book could affect the modern books. The art is by Jimmy Palmiotti, who is an artist I have loved for a very long time. This past summer at the Calgary Fan Expo, Palmiotti was in attendance and made the announcement that he would be joining the creative team on this book. His art is masterful here and shows how much his talent has grown over the decades. Highly recomend this book!

Aquaman: Doesn't Aquaman talk to the fish or something? This and other questions are all bluntly answered in this well crafted and highly entertaining first book!

Honestly, I have never been a fan of Aquaman. He's the but of most geek'ish jokes. Geoff Johns, the writer of this book presents a a character who is re-examining his past, left his previous role of King of Atlantis, and is trying awkwardly to fit in to life on dry land. The story also has a slight edge to it that feels as though this is how Quentin Tarantino would interpret the character provided he had to work within a PG-13 framework.

Johns' story does not explain the origin of Aquaman but instead plops the reader in the middle of this character's story where a new chapter in his life is being explored. This strategy has been found in a number of the new DC comics such as Swamp Thing and Hawkman, and as in the case here can be a great tool to satisfy older and newer readers by not discrediting the past while offering a clean slate for the new reader. In all, I really enjoyed this take on Aquaman and am very interested in where this character will be taken next.

Batman, The Dark Knight: Another Batman book is included in the New DC lineup. Thus far there have been Batman, Batman & Robin, Detective Comics, and the plethora of Batman spin-off titles like Batgirl. The high number of Bat books is rationalized if each of the comics focused on one aspect of Batman. In such a case Batman & Robin would be the relationship between the two, Detective Comics would focus on Batman solving crimes, and Batman would be a holistic book focusing on Bruce Wayne, alter ego of Batman, and interactions with secondary characters like Robin. However, what is The Dark Knight supposed to be about then? It would seem that this book focuses more on the private life of Bruce Wayne as the first issue explores a party that Bruce holds where a member of the police department says he is being investigated for financially supporting the Batman. If this book is to focus on Bruce Wayne, then I am left wondering if this is something I have ever wanted to read about or will this provide me an interesting angle on the complex world of Batman?

Overall, the story isn't bad but I do not find that it adds anything to the other Batman books and instead this book will get forgotten about. Even if the book is to focus on Bruce Wayne, I am unconvinced there is a need for such an ongoing book; instead, this might work better as a mini-series. The writing and art is provided by David Finch, who might be better than Tony Daniels who draws & writes for the Detective series. I recomend this book but would not doubt this book being canceled within the year because of its redundancy with the other Bat books, even if it is done well.

Black Hawks: This is not a bad book, but it makes very little sense in how it figures into the overall DC Universe. A team of UN sanctioned covert military agents are focused upon here where they combat various threats. In the first story we see the group stop terrorists (I guess that's what they are), a UN representative informs the Black Hawks that their cover has been compromised, and that one of their agents has been infected by something. Not a bad introductory plot, but without an explanation of how this fits into the realm of other superhero books I was left wondering what the point of Black Hawks will be. Is this book to be an isolated group of characters or will their actions have repercussions (and vice versa) in other DC books? Black Hawks #1 is worth reading, and I am tempted to read the next few issues to see where this book is headed. However, if the creators of the book do not explain the role /importance of this book soon I will also quickly loose interest.

The Flash: The releasing of the Flash during the final week of the New DC run was a misstep. The Flash was the central figure during the Flashpoint series that led to the re-numbering of the DC comics. As he was such a pivotal figure, one would guess the title Flash book would be massively promoted and included in the first week of books. This book, one would again assume, would be used to explain how things did and did not change in the DC Universe as the Flash was the reason why these changes had begun at all. Additionally, one might assume that the Flash would be one of the few characters to remember what the universe had been like and to recall what he had previously done. Instead, the first issue of the Flash provides none of this and leaves the long-time reader wondering how the previous Flashpoint and Flash books figure into the new Flash series.

Leaving the problems above aside, Flash #1 is a stupendous comic. It is loads of fun and features some of the best art in the DC Universe. Manapul utilizes grey washes over top a cartoony /anime style that works really well here; also reminds me of Tim Sale's work. The dialogue is also crisp and the pacing of the comic works very well, leaving a lot of story for developing characters but never making you feel bogged down with too much exposition. This is one of the best books DC has produced and should /will become one of their most popular books!

The Fury of Firestorm, The Nuclear Men: This is hands down the worst illustrated book out of the bunch. Yildiray Cinar's art is horribly stilted and filled with poor anatomy. The faces feature two expressions: nothing or angry. The story was also generic and poorly structured with a secret group of assassins chasing after a mysterious product of a science experiment. The reader is taken on a voyage across the globe as this group brutally murders anyone associated with the experiment as they track down whatever it is they are looking for. Eventually their chase leads them to a high school in the United States where two teenage boys have the product and use it and become Firestorm. This is a very generic story that has been used for the retelling of too many other super-heroes. What makes the story worse is that it took TWO writers to come up with this: Gail Simone & Ethan van Sciver. I'm not familiar with Sciver, but Simone has produced much better stuff and recently gave us the pretty decent Batgirl comic. I don't know what happened here between these three creative persons, but I have no interest in seeing where this book goes.

Less is More, DC Comics!

1 weeks worth of DC comics: too much?

I have enjoyed many of the DC relaunch comics but it would have been better if DC had started with only a few books instead of 52. Fifty-two comics every month is a lot of comics and would leave a new reader beleaguered. It would have been wiser if DC had relaunched with a dozen to 20 comics instead. As it stands you average 13 new issues every week, which will increase as DC unveils various mini-series and one-shots. A smaller number of comics each month also means a better and tighter focus on what you have, increasing the production value. It also means that readers will not be stumped on what to buy, granted due to there being less choice.


But, consider the redundancy. There are a total of four Batman books and another SIX Bat-related books (eg. batgirl); there is definitely room for downsizing! A new reader would have little idea of what Batman book to choose. How would you choose if you've never read a Batman book before but loved the movies and decided you wanted to read the source material!

Compilation of Batman & Batman affiliated comic covers.

DC missed what a lot of the readers were asking for: fewer books and more concise stories. The more books you have for one character, the more difficult it becomes to follow the story arc of that character because inevitably the story crosses over from one book to the next. I will grant you two things: that Detective Comics and Batman have been around forever and it would be sacrilege to cancel either one: and that affiliated books have readers of their own, like Batgirl, and present very different stories and styles of stories. However, I fail to see a reason to publish both 'Batman the Dark Knight' and 'Batman and Robin' when both books discuss concepts already covered in 'Batman' and 'Detective Comics'. It is overkill!

First Week of DC's New 52

Following DC comics release of the re-numbered and re-imagined Justice League came 13 or so other similarly styled comics each week during the month of September. It is beyond my budget to pick up each of these comics as I still collect books from other publishers -sorry DC. However, I did want to try some of the new comics to see how good or bad they were.

In all I picked up 5 of the DC comics in the first week. Out of those five, only one was a true disappointment. The other four were good enough to make me want to continue reading them. In the second week I picked up yet another 5 books, and again only 1 was a disappointment and the other four will likely become regular, monthly reads. Below are a few comments on the five books I picked up during the first week. In future posts I'll comment on the books that came out after the first week.

Action Comics: The art is very strong and features a young Superman who is still understanding his limitations. While not explicit, it seems that this book is taking place between five and ten years before the present. In the book, Superman's powers are not yet fully realized and his relationship to Louis is virtually nil. Lex Luthor is still a respected business man who is just discovering Superman, and of course his hatred for him. This book made me excited for what DC was doing and was an exceptionally fun title to immerse myself into!

Batgirl: I had high expectations for this book because the writer, Gail Simone, is a huge fan favorite for her work on the Secret 6 book -also published by DC. The artwork in Batgirl is solid but nothing too grabbing and the same can be said for the writing. A bit of a disappointment as there was not too much new or inventive being offered for this character as I felt Batgirl was being portrayed as a cliche of a superhero. Despite this, the premise of the storyline offered a few highlights that piqued my interest enough to warrant further reading.

Detective Comics: Tony Daniel! The name is enough to sell me on this title! Daniel both draws and writes this title and manages to do both tasks with considerable skill. The story is definitely dark and twisted, with Batman presented as a detective (as he should be presented) chasing down the notorious evil doers of Gotham, notably the Joker! Great read!

Green Arrow: This was the disappointment of the week. The art is OK, which is disappointing to say since it is Dan Jurgens who penciled the comic. Jurgens was once one of the biggest names in comic books back in the 1990's with his work on the death of Superman series; however, it would seem his art has not matured since the 90's and has perhaps become a little lazy. There are numerous panels that cried out for more detail (especially in the buildings), and the figures seemed stilted and overly posed in each shot. Furthermore, Geore Perez (who is also a legendary artist of the 90's) inked the book. Perez's inks are muddy and thick, almost sloppy. The writing is similarly stilted and the story is down right boring with the over-used concept of rich boy playing crime fighter and very little else added to make it stand out against the other 52 DC titles. I'm a little shocked at the low quality of this book but can only suggest that it was due to a tight time frame that the creators had to work within. Regardless, I am not exactly inclined to pick up another issue of this book any time soon.

Swamp Thing: This is another title that surprised me, but in a good way! The first issue of this title was exciting as I had little idea where the story could go and each page unleashed a flurry of beautiful art by the highly talented Yanick Paquette. Paquette offers some of the most striking visuals in any of the DC titles, with beautiful composition, soft lines, range of visions and elements, and so on. Paquette alone makes the book worth picking up! But Scott Snyder adds another element that makes this perhaps the best book DC pushed out. Snyder presents an interesting story of internal and external conflict. Snyder writes Swamp Thing for both the old and new reader, allowing for the older readers to be rewarded for their patronage to the character while also making the book assessable to new readers like myself. This is a great, great, great book that I can't recommend enough!

DC's New 52 & Flashpoint Mini-Series

Flashpoint has now ended and DC comics is mid-way through releasing the renumbered and (slightly) re-imagined monthly comics. In all there are 52 of these new comics, most of which are comics that had already been published on a monthly basis and are now being reset to issue #1. A few, however, are comics that feature characters that did not previously have a monthly book about them, or at least they have not had a monthly book in a long time, such as Animal Man and Grifter.

Without giving away the entire plot or conclusion of the Flashpoint miniseries, it ended on a fairly high note but the storyline felt incredibly rushed. The storyline made sense but the characters and motivations could have been fleshed out a lot more; in particular I wished that the role of Louis Lane and the rise of Aquaman and Wonder Woman could've been explained more. This is a typical problem for the big story arcs that companies like Marvel and DC have been producing. The book's story lines are well executed but are thin due to the constraints of working within 28 or so pages. Flashpoint would have been greatly improved upon by making each issue about 10 or 20 pages longer. The cost of the additional pages could have easily been found in cutting out the glossy covers and premier paper stocks. A second point here is that the conclusion of Flashpoint did not seamlessly flow into the newly numbered DC comics that were supposedly directly impacted by this event. Perhaps a stand alone epilogue issue would have helped, but overall I think a one or two page nod to the Flashpoint series would have been nice in some of the more major first issue titles like Justice League, Superman, or Batman.

The first week of DC releasing the renumbered titles involved the release of only one comic, Justice League. This title was written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee. Johns seems to be the DC equivalent of Marvel's Matt Fraction or Bendis who are responsible for writing and creating close to all the major events at Marvel. Johns is a highly skilled scribe and I best know him from his work on Green Lantern where he has produce ambitious and well executed story lines. Jim Lee is a legend in comic book art and I have found his art maturing over the past 5 to 10 years. His art has become increasingly detailed and his lines more focused (less frayed). The combination of these two talents, Johns and Lee, made Justice League worthwhile picking up without even considering what the story was about. However, the story proved to be fantastic as it explains how the Justice League came together during a time when superheroes were still mythical and not well understood by the general public. The story line takes place in the past while the other first issue books focus on what the characters are currently doing. This is a nice strategy as it uses Justice League to explain the new DC world while allowing the other books to explore that world. The issue is also great for it provides a sense of mystery and excitement in that the reader cannot readily guess how the story will come to a close. With the renumbering of the issues and declaration by DC that the new books will be a departure from the old, one cannot assume how the Justice League will be formed based on what has occurred previously in DC comics. In all this was a strong first foot forward for DC comics and definitely has me continuing to pick up Justice League!