Welcome back to the DC Reboot Round Up, comic fans. We’re three weeks in and DC just keeps cranking out the number #1′s. I could go on and on, but I’ll just go ahead and get to the review. That’s why you’re all here anyway! And as always, consider this your SPOILER ALERT.
Resurrection Man
I’d never read any comics about this character before now. After reading the synopsis of this character, I knew this comic would be a good one. Basically, Mitch Shelley is immortal. Every time he dies, he comes back to life - but there’s a catch. Each time he returns to life, he has a different super power. This is a great angle and I really think writer Dan Abnett can use this well in the rest of the series. Abnett also does an amazing job with the main character’s inner monologue. The narration feels very real and unique.
In this first issue, Mitch wakes up in a morgue with the powers of Magneto and a gut feeling that tells him to go hop a flight towards Portland (Oregon or Maine? We’ll never know). On the flight, trouble begins to brew. I don’t want to go into full details since this is a comic I’m highly recommending. The series looks like it’s going to cross into Hellblazer territory as the two sides both go for the soul of the immortal man. I’m anxious to see this story play out and even more excited to see what powers Mitch wakes up with next time.
Deathstroke
Ah, Deathstroke. Everybody’s favorite assassin (if you completely ignore the existence of Agent 47 and Deadpool.) I’ve always had a soft spot for Deathstroke- and not just because I feel like he kind of got shafted in the comic world.
He is a complete and utter badass. Again and again, Deathstroke proves himself to be one of the most competent strategists in the DC universe. So, I had really high hopes for his new series. Sadly, Deathstroke #1 proved to be a bit formulaic.
Deathstroke is the best he is at what he does (I assume it isn’t pretty.) He gets a job killing some bad guy, whose name left my mind after I turned the page, and retrieve the suitcase said baddie was carrying. Deathstroke gets back up in the form of three younger assassins. They carry the daring mid-air assassination, the baddie ends up having a link to Deathstroke (Look Mom, plot!), and everybody goes home. And, as predicted, Deathstroke kills off the kids he had to work with.
While this comic had some decent gore and action, it wasn’t all that memorable and didn’t really hook me into the story. I may try getting the next one or two issues of the series but if it doesn’t pick up, I’ll just have to give up on Slade ever getting the same credit as his mentally deficient marvel cousin.
Green Lantern
Hal Jordan has been discharged from the Green Lantern Corp and Sinestro has been reinstated as a Lantern. The only bigger turn around in comics I could imagine would be Batman turning the cowl over to The Joker. After all these years of battling back and forth, this is the end result?
Sinestro isn’t entirely willing to be a Green Lantern, though. The comic begins with Sinestro being forced to say the oath of the Green Lantern corps by the guardians to charge up his newly acquired ring. Afterwards, Sinestro heads off, just wanting to go back to his own Lantern corps. The story then begins to hop back and forth between Sinestro and the newly Earthbound Hal Jordan. Hal isn’t adjusting well to normal life. He has no car, he screws things up with Carol, and get’s evicted by the end of the comic (Superman can make his rent, why can’t you Hal!?!) All in all, the comic was very plot heavy and ends with a surprise that will have you itching for the next issue.
This has me wondering, though. In Justice League #1, five years in the past, Hal was the Lantern of Earth’s sector. So when the Justice League series reaches the present time, who will be playing the role of Green Lantern if Hal is depowered in the present? Guy Gardner? John Stewart? Will Hal get his ring back? Or will Sinestro be part of the JLA? This is an outcome I can’t wait to see.
Batwoman
I’ve been super excited for the first issue of Batwoman since they first released art for it. The art is absolutely stunning, especially on Batwoman herself. The story delves into the two sides of Kate Kane’s life. First, we follow Batwoman as she investigates the disappearances of about 13 children from the Hispanic district of Gotham. The investigation takes a paranormal twist as the reader learns of a tale about an old woman who drowned and returned as a vengeful spirit.
The horror/paranormal angle is something that isn’t seen in the Batfamily comics enough these days and I’m glad with its reemergence. On the other side of the coin, we look into Kate’s personal life. Evidently, she has a thing going with a cop lady that also acts as her sidekick. Hopefully, things work out better for this girl than they did for Jason Todd. This #1 also gives a bit of Kate Kane’s back story for the readers that are new to the character (like myself). With an appearance by the Dark Knight himself at the end of the comic, the next issue of this series looks promising!
Grifter
I’d been planning on reviewing this comic about a “charmer Grifter that few can resist that is about to be branded a serial killer.” This sounded like a great comic and I was looking forward to getting to know the character. Fun fact: My comic book store opens at 10. I got there at 1. In that three hour period, EVERY SINGLE issue of Grifter was purchased. Both Green Lantern and Batwoman were there in large quantities. This leaves me to believe that Grifter is the single greatest comic in existence. I’m guessing that it must contain all of the following: Explosions, lesbians, chainsaw wielding dolphins, triple breasted space hookers, and everything else that embodies the word awesome.
Red Lanterns
Since I didn’t get to grab Grifter this week, I decided to grab another one of the new #1s to fill out my review. The lucky candidate was Red Lanterns. I got two pages in and-
What in the sweet name of shit is that!?!?! It turns out that space cat here belongs to to Atrocitus, head of the Red Lantern corps. And Atrocitus, in all his infinite wisdom, decided to give his cat a power ring. Because, you know, our animals need to have unlimited power.
The rest of the comic is Atrocitus’ monologue. Seriously, that’s all he does. He talks about his past life, the Red Lanterns, and how they’re starting to resist, and about how Hal Jordan “forever denied his vengeance.” And that’s it! Sure, there’s some violence in the flashbacks but nothing that makes me want become a Red Lantern fanboy. The comic just didn’t catch my interest and I literally had to force myself to finish.
There’s also some sub-plot about an old man dying on Earth and his two grandsons arguing. I sense that one of them is going to become the first human Red Lantern. Regardless, I won’t be reading to find out.
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That’s it for this week comic fans. I’m going to try to get my hands on the first issue of Grifter to give it a proper review but I can’t make any promises. I’ll see you all next week!
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