Review! Aquaman #0 (DC)

COVER: Ivan Reis. Nice.
STORY: Geoff Johns. Nice look back into Arthur's younger years. Cool fist fight with a great white shark!
ART: Ivan Reis. Ivan is the reason for this books success. Aquaman has never looked better. I am gonna
          miss him when he leaves but I cant wait to see his 'Justice League'!
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!

Review! Action Comics #13 (DC)

COVER: Bryan Hitch, Rags Morales (variant). My understanding of comic book variant covers is that
                 they are supposed to be better than the original. Well, Bryan did a good cover that fits the story,
                 Rags did a weak cover that can be confusing.
STORY: Grant Morrison. Ugh! This guy has ruined Superman. His over writes everything. he also tends
                to throw in strange dialogue that is often hard to follow and he seems to write as if he is the only
                one who knows the punchline to a joke. Now he has made the Phantom Zone into a weapon that
                essentially makes you a ghost? This Superman is boring.
ART: Travel Foreman. What is wrong with this guy? He jumps from a sleek, sharp art style into dark and
           messy inks from one page to another. This might have been okay for 'Animal Man' ( it wasn't) but
           it wont fit Superman.
          * There is a backup story that stole this issue. It is written by Sholly Fisch with art by Brad Walker.
             Sholly has written a story (now pay attention Grant) that is smart, has feeling, and adds to the myth
             of Superman in a positive way. No need to write down to us, simple and straight forward, a gem.

Original

Variant

Review! Guarding the Globe #1 (Image)

COVER: Todd Nauck. I love these big group shots of team books. This one is cool but they dropped the
                 ball on the coloring. I guess they were trying for atmospheric perspective but it did not work.
                 When I first saw it I thought it was a printing error...but it was more of a brain error by the
                  colorist, John Rauch.
STORY: Phil Hester. My only taste of 'Guardians of The Globe' has been in the 'Invincible' title, and that
                was a while back. This first issue felt fresh with mostly new characters. I like that they just throw
                the reader into the action and not spend the whole book introducing the team. I like getting to
                know the characters through their actions. Likable cast.
ART: Todd Nauck. I remember Todd from the 90's Image days and he just sucked. My brother and I
           used to make so much fun of his art...well, he has gotten better. A lot better. Time is an artists best
           friend...you can only improve. I like Todd on this title. I have to go tell my brother.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!

Review! Batman #0 (DC)

COVER: Greg Capullo. #0...hero jumping through cover...boring...nothing left to say...thank God for the
                 'We Can Be Heroes' blank cover
STORY: Scott Snyder. So this is all happening six years ago? I thought it was five. Anyway, Bruce seems
                to be playing vigilante without the Batman disguise. He runs into the Red Hood Gang during a
                bank robbery. It then seems to become the story of the Batarang origin and a bit with
                Commissioner Gordon...then...the story continues in 2013...what? You don't finish the story but
                you put in a backup? WTF?! So the backup is the origin of the Batsignal, kinda, and we see Tim,
                Jason, Dick and Barbara. Tim is some genius who is getting rid of his middle school principal.
                Jason is a small time crook who gets mistaken for stopping the crime. Dick is stopping some purse
                thief as he performs in a circus as a Flying Grayson. Barbara is with her dad on the roof as he
                turns on the Batsignal. The big finish is that they all look up, and appear to get inspired by the
                signal, to follow the path we all know they will one day take. Problem, they all look to be the
                same age. Tim Drake is about to finish middle school so that makes him thirteen at the time and
                eighteen now, good. Jason Todd looks the same age but in the old DC he is much younger than
                Dick, and in the New 52 he seems about the same age? Dick is supposed to be much older
                 than the other two but he feels one or two years older...what? Then we have Barbara. She is
                 supposed to be Dicks age but Batgirl looks much younger...what? Thank you James Tynion IV
                 for that headache. Andy Clarke did a good job on the art though for this backup story.
ART: Greg Capullo. Greg is Greg. He is a veteran artist and he is solid. His Bruce was much better here
           than in the regular book but his Commissioner Gordon (Lieutenant in this case) is goofy looking.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!...but be ready to be confused.

Review! Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 (Dark Horse)

COVER: Rodolfo Migliari. Great cover...have no idea who these characters are, but still, nice artwork.
STORY: John Ostrander. This is not a book written in comic format. It is all prose. Trying to take in all
                the new characters and locations with strange names is not easy. It will take quite a while before
                anyone can become familiar with this new Star Wars era.
ART: Jan Duursema. The art in this issue is more concept art than anything else. All new locations and
           characters, even vehicles, to meet for the first time. Once again, overwhelming. Jan does a nice job
           on the characters but the locations and vehicles are rather weak digital renderings.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read,Re-read,Read it again (there will be a quiz) Keep it close by for when 
                        you read the series.
                        * I know this is a guide style issue but all those names and locations that are thrown at us all
                           at once is not good. It really turned me off from getting the actual series. With so many
                           Star Wars eras to choose from, it wont hurt to not pick up another one.

Review! Batman and Robin #0 (DC)

COVER: Patrick Gleason. I'm a bit tired of the "hero jumping through the cover" thing...but this one is one
                of the better ones. Robins foot...super foreshortening!
STORY: Peter J. Tomasi. Damian has become one of my favorite characters. He makes the sometimes
                one-dimensional Batman far more interesting. This is a great look into his origin...crazy stuff to be
                sure. He will one day become a superior Batman if he chooses to do it.
ART: Patrick Gleason. I might say this too much but this guy is good. His Damian is just right. His Batman
          is not the best I have seen but Batman has had many great artists draw him. This issue is just top notch
          for Patrick.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it!

Review! Nemesis TPB (Marvel/Millarworld)

COVER: Steve McNiven. Always a nice cover by McNiven.
STORY: Mark Millar. Why had no one done this story before? It seems so obvious. At first read it feels
                like a "Batman gone villain" story, and that would have stood up just fine by itself. Then at the end
               of the book (this collects the four issue series) we get a "Charlies Angels meets Fantasy Island"
                finish and it changes how the story feels. One thing that bothers me about the story is that we are
                not quite sure what powers Nemesis has. Is he a super powered villain, or is it his suit?
ART: Steve McNiven. McNiven is just a good artist. Any book he touches is golden.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Shelve it!

Review! Green Lantern #0 (DC)

COVER: Doug Mahnke. Nice, simple shot of the "new" Green Lantern, Simon Baz.
STORY: Geoff Johns. SPOILER! This could have easily become a cliche story, but it is far from it. Johns
                has written a good superhero origin story and that is rare nowadays. Baz is flawed and believable
                and I am looking forward to seeing how he uses the Green Lantern power. We also get a good
                setup with the Justice League and we learn that Hal and Sinestro are alive (of course)!
ART: Doug Mahnke.  Two words...The Rock! If Simon Baz is not designed to look like Dwayne "The
           Rock" Johnson, then Rob Liefeld is a good artist. Mahnke is good and he shows it in this issue.
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!

Review! Batman: The Dark Knight #0 (DC)

COVER: David Finch. An "OK" Batman image but the legs and feet still feel out of perspective.
STORY: Gregg Hurwitz. An odd story that takes Bruce Wayne from his parents murder through his High
                School years. It shows his trademark obsession early on and how sometimes things are not
                quite how you think they are. The story kind of plays counter-Batman mythos by showing us how
                he learned that his parents death was a random criminal act and not a planned conspiracy. This
                knowledge should have taken all the anger out of him but he still goes out into the world to pursue
                his training. It just did not feel so necessary any more.
ART: Mico Suayan and Juan Jose Ryp.  Suayan is one of the best artists of the moment. Ryp has good
           stuff but he tends to over fill all his panels. He needs to use the "less is more" advice and not kill us
           with all those unnecessary details.
FINAL FILE: Buy, Read, Bag it...the Mico Suayan art is worth the price.

Review! Superman #0 (DC)

COVER: Kenneth Rocafort. Nice simple shot of Superman's daddy Jor-El.
STORY: Scott Lobdell. A "before Superman" story. It seems that other Kryptonians knew that their planet
               was doomed and did not want Jor-El to make it public. For some reason they wanted to die. We
               also learn that Supes mom Lara was a kick-ass military chick. The story was cute, but what the
               hell was Kal doing on the final page? It looks like we see a grown up Superman on some kind of
               skyscraper overlooking a city on Krypton! It also states that he "was there"...WHAT?! Does he
               have "super memory" as a new power? Can he remember things from the womb?
ART: Kenneth Rocafort.  This guy is good but he is leaning way too much into Leinil Yu land.

* there is a two page epilogue that shows some kind of creature blowing a horn on Krypton and talking about a second chance and the last son...what? Did Krypton not explode in the New 52? There is also a
mention of Oracle...isn't Oracle really Batgirl, Barbra Gordon, in the old DC?
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it...but be ready for questions!

Review! Action Comics #0 (DC)

COVER: Ben Oliver. Awesome! But...was the cape put in last minute? you can still see the pencil art
                of the trapezoid muscles and right shoulder through the cape. Erasing would be good.
STORY: Grant Morrison. I am not a fan of Mr. Morrison. I think his writing is usually confusing and he
               seems to write as if he is the only one to get the joke. With that said, this issue is good. Who would
               have thought that Morrison can write "small".
ART: Ben Oliver. This guy needs to get off 'Batwing' and on to a bigger title. His stuff is nice. He is on my
          favorite artist list for sure!
* There is a backup story that is confusing as hell. It seems to be about Erik Drekken, who was shown
   mutated in other issues, and a kid named 'Adam', who I thought was the guy in red in issue #12 but this
   guy goes away so...I'm confused. Classic Morrison written by Sholly Fisch.
FINAL FILE: Buy,Read,Bag it!

Film Review! Looper

The whole "Looper" idea is very good. Send a guy into the past to get killed without a trace. Well, it seemed
from the trailer that this was going to be a Joseph Gordon-Levitt vs. Bruce Willis film, but it was far more
than that. It quickly (well, not so quickly) becomes about a little boy who will one day become some kind of
mad world dictator. Two things bother me about the story. First, what guarantees that the killer in the present
wont just take the money and not kill the guy? (The whole Jeff Daniels group makes no sense at all. If he
could come back to the past to "supervise", why not just send back loyal killers with him instead of he having
to recruit new ones? Plus if he is from the future, wouldn't he be rich and powerful with all the knowledge he
brings with him?) Second, they seem to randomly throw in this idea of having ten percent of the population
be born with a stupid limited telekinesis power. I suppose it is to explain the boys power but it was pulled
out of someones butt. The film is stolen by the little boy 'Cid' by the way. He out acts Willis and Gordon-Levitt, and that is not easy to do.
FINAL FILE: See it...with an open mind.

Review! Detective Comics #0 (DC)

COVER: Tony Daniel. Another "character busting through the cover" image. This is just a bad drawing
                of Batman. If he is throwing his Bat-line then his arm motion is all wrong.His lower body is also
                waaay out of perspective with the rest of his body.
STORY: Gregg Hurwitz. It is a rather cliche story. "Master is killed by woman I love so now I will never
                never love or trust again". Also, the old lady waited all her life to get the money from the old man
                and only now she tries to kill him? She is like 100 years old! WTF?!
ART: Tony Daniel. Tony is improving and he has good moments in this issue.
           * There is a short backup story featuring Alfred and the day Bruce came back from all his training.
              Well, it is completely pointless and it tells us nothing new about Batman and his world.
FINAL FILE: Skip it!...there is nothing new here.