The New 52: Week Two: This Time It’s Impersonal

Last week, I took a look at the New 52 and found it to be a lot of the same old s***. Week Two was actually better in the sense that there are no books put out this week that I actively hate and are rooting to be canceled before they get a second issue (die, “Green Arrow”, DIE!)…but also again only one book I put on the pull list, although there are more here I’m willing to give a second issue.

Unfortunately, overall, made much worse this week is the continuity problem. As regular commenter Jacktion! pointed out, this isn’t a clean break with previous continuity, and this week really brought that into painful relief. And this isn’t “The Killing Joke totally happened in this continuty”, I mean they didn’t reboot the continuity at all. There are at least three issues (both Lantern books and “Batman and Robin”) that literally pick up from the old universe as if nothing has happened and the books weren’t starting from issue 1.

Who are the best and the worst? Let’s get to it!

Batwoman

Oh, hi there! DC finally let you out of your cage! It’s really too bad DC sat on this book for so damn long: the writing is pretty good and the art is absolutely beautiful. Although wow, Kate Kane is really pale. Also, I’m starting to think you can only be a woman on the GCPD if you’re a lesbian.

Superboy

Let’s see, he’s utterly amoral, and he has the personality traits of his anonymous genetic donor and Superman. And he was bald in his tank. GEE WHO DONATED THAT DNA I BET IT’S A REAL SHOCKER! Ugh. It’s not a bad book, really, just…there are no surprises here, and I feel no need to keep reading.

Batman and Robin

I can’t be the only one who thinks Damien Wayne is an irritating little snot who should be put down, can I? He’s the Scrappy Doo of the frickin’ DCU at this point. I’d rather see Bat-Mite. Hell, at this point I yearn for Bat-Mite. Can the Joker just Jason Todd his annoying little ass and we can get back to Robins that don’t suck?

Green Lantern

Sinestro has a green ring, and Hal’s been stripped of his. GEE I WONDER IF HE’LL GET HIS RING BACK. A double offender, since this picks up on GL continuity from before the reboot. I pity the poor kid trying to figure out what the hell’s going on.

Deathstroke

This book, I’ll buy the second issue of, if for no other reason that it sets up your typical anti-hero book and then completely destroys it in two pages, fully establishing that, yes, Slade Wilson is a total monster. That’s pretty awesome, and worth a second look.

Legion Lost

It’s a solid and fun team book, but this is a plotline DC has done with the Legion before. And, well, it’s not terribly interesting. I won’t be picking up a second issue, but at least it doesn’t suck.

Demon Knights

Why, particularly, DC is running a fantasy book featuring Jason Blood, I’m not sure, but it’s interesting so far. Even if the entire first issue was just setting up a bar fight.

Mister Terrific

Again, solid, but I feel like this character got shot to hell the microsecond he wandered out of John Ostrander’s control. For those wondering, he was introduced in Ostrander’s superb run of “The Spectre” as a suicidal man who takes on the mantle of Mr. Terrific to stand up to gangbangers. There’s nothing here new or compelling, but the character is interesting enough for me to give it a second issue.

Resurrection Man

This was always a fun concept, and I like how they’re setting it up. It’s a chestnut of a plotline, but it’s well executed enough that I want to see the second issue.

Grifter

Deadpool only not as funny and with your standard anti-hero plot of getting framed. NEXT!

Red Lanterns

What is this, 1994? Does anybody still care about brooding antiheroes? Not me!

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

This is a shameless Hellboy knockoff, but it’s so gleeful, and it’s nice to see Ray Palmer, that I don’t care. I’ll give this a second issue just to see if Jeff Lemire, who is so far the MVP of this reboot, keeps it up.

Suicide Squad

It says something that this, along with Batwoman, are the only two books I have any really strong feeling about, and for entirely different reasons.

I’m torn because there are parts about this book I really, really hate, mostly the character redesigns. Deadshot’s outfit looks ridiculous, and Harley Quinn is apparently now a stripper because Brian Azzarello did that in his terrible Joker one-shot so we should make that canon. Seriously, the original design was perfect: why monkey with it? Even worse is what happened to Amanda Waller; let’s just say, in the words of the Mary Sue, the Wall has become the Railing.

On the other hand, the book took me by surprise, and the set-up for the next issue is nasty, nasty, nasty. I’m a little surprised DC is publishing a book so dark the team is being deployed to commit mass murder in the second issue.

In short, better than week one, but I’m hoping week three is an improvement.

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