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After seeing Blue Beetle, I snagged some of the digital trades of the earlier series. I'm reading the first series now. It's ok, but not really impressed with it. There's a version of Peacemaker in it who doesn't wear a costume.

I'm also reading Tales of the Unexpected, which was an offshoot from the Dark Metal stuff (which I didn't read, but am aware of). It features new versions of Neon the Unknown and Firebrand, who, like the Freedom Fighters, originally belonged to Quality Comics. Given the originals went into the public domain before DC bought the rights to them, making new versions they fully own makes sense. They introduced a couple of other characters, who die in the first issue. There's also this villain called Bad Samaritan, who is nothing like the non-powered one from the original Outsiders run. The storyline is weird, and while it's not horrible, I can see why it didn't last
 
urbwar said:
After seeing Blue Beetle, I snagged some of the digital trades of the earlier series. I'm reading the first series now. It's ok, but not really impressed with it. There's a version of Peacemaker in it who doesn't wear a costume.
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I loved that series, Peacemaker has some of the best lines (Like if Batman drugs the Robins milk :grin:)
It also gave me some respect for Guy Gardner. Don't want to say more, because of spoilers.

I felt like it was DC's best Spider-man expy yet, by tilting the parent/child thing on its head, and that it made it interesting to me.
*shrugs*
Also written by someone FROM El Paso about El Paso which was a lot better than Palm-whatever city they're using now. sighs.
 
I think my main issue has been the villains/antagonists he faces with early on. Outside of Guy, I didn't find most of his opponents to be very interesting. Even when he took on the scout from the race that created the scarab. Ted Kord honestly had more interesting villains
 
urbwar said:
I think my main issue has been the villains/antagonists he faces with early on. Outside of Guy, I didn't find most of his opponents to be very interesting. Even when he took on the scout from the race that created the scarab. Ted Kord honestly had more interesting villains
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I can agree with that at least. He needed a decent rogues gallery of his own.
Sadly I don't think his title ran long enough (first run) to give him any.
 
Silverlion said:
I can agree with that at least. He needed a decent rogues gallery of his own.
Sadly I don't think his title ran long enough (first run) to give him any.
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Yeah, I think the first series was around 12 issues or less, given there are only 2 trades for that one. Same with the second series it looks like. 3rd series has 3 trades, and there's a new one out currently.
 
Lunar Ronin said:
YouTube's recommendation algorithm paid off today. Here's CBS's Superman 50th anniversary special, hosted by Dana Carvey.​


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That reminds of the John Byrne Time cover from 1988 where Byrne got pissy about the Time editors inserting a thought balloon referencing "supernatural powers."
time magazine 1988 superman 50th.jpg​
 
Not an official comic, but someone did a Batman fan comic called Batman: Eldritch, where he teams with Dr. Fate against something from the Cthulhu Mythos.
 
urbwar said:
Not an official comic, but someone did a Batman fan comic called Batman: Eldritch, where he teams with Dr. Fate against something from the Cthulhu Mythos.
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On the topic of Batman vs Cthulhu, yesterday we watched the animated feature Batman: the Doom that came to Gotham, which is exactly that, down to it being set in the 1920s.

I never read the mini-series it was based on, but the movie was very odd.
 
PolarBlues said:
On the topic of Batman vs Cthulhu, yesterday we watched the animated feature Batman: the Doom that came to Gotham, which is exactly that, down to it being set in the 1920s.

I never read the mini-series it was based on, but the movie was very odd.
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As adaptations of Elseworlds stories go, it was pretty faithful to the original, much more so than the adaptation of the Gotham By Gaslight graphic novel that pitted a Victorian Batman against Jack the Ripper.
 
Okay, this is actually a pretty smart move on DC's part.

www.dc.com

DC Announces 'DC Compact Comics' | DC

Today, publisher DC announced a new line in their graphic novel slate: 'DC Compact Comics.' Featuring a 5.5" x 8.5" book trim for trade paperback novels, the new format pulls bestselling, new-reader-friendly titles from DC’s evergreen library.
www.dc.com www.dc.com
 
I hope they come out with hardback versions of them, at some point. I'll stock up the library I work for if they do. That particular size would circulate better than the regular ones.
 
Finally got around to reading the pair of DC comics I picked up last week, both Wildstorm related...

WildC.A.T.S #12 wraps up the current series. The Superman subplot from earlier in the series doesn't really go anywhere, and the Batman one only does so on a technicality via an appearance by the Justice League.. but the main storyline does conclude in a satisfying manner. Most of the characters are given a form of resolution, but are also left open enough that they can easily show back up in the future. A little uneven in spots, especially early on, but overall I'd say it was worth the ride.

Outsiders #1 is very much attempting to be Planetary for the DC universe, and completely leans into it. Besides having a female Drummer, the main plot of the first issue centers around the Carrier, there's a reference to Century Babies, and the last panel shows one of the characters holding what looks like the collected omnibus edition of the Ellis /Cassaday run of Planetary. Wasn't bad, but I don't know how I feel about this.
 
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Tulpa Girl said:
Finally got around to reading the pair of DC comics I picked up last week, both Wildstorm related...

WildC.A.T.S #12 wraps up the current series. The Superman subplot from earlier in the series doesn't really go anywhere, and the Batman one only does so on a technicality via an appearance by the Justice League.. but the main storyline does conclude in a satisfying manner. Most of the characters are given a form of resolution, but are also left open enough that they can easily show back up in the future. A little uneven in spots, especially early on, but overall I'd say it was worth the ride.

Outsiders #1 is very much attempting to be Planetary for the DC universe, and completely leans into it. Besides having a female Drummer, the main plot of the first issue centers around the Carrier, there's a reference to Century Babies, and the last panel shows one of the characters holding what looks like the collected omnibus edition of the Ellis /Cassaday run of Planetary. Wasn't bad, but I don't know how I feel about this.
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I liked Outsiders enough to stick with it. It intrigued me with the connections to the old WS stuff. I have to say that I don't really care a lot about either of the main characters, Batwoman or Batwing. I don't dislike them or anything... but other than some of JH Williams's Batwoman stuff from a while back, I'm indifferent to them as characters, and don't give a shit about whatever Bat-drama they seem to be referencing.

I don't know if this comic would have the appeal if not for the WS connections... I'm curious how people who are unfamiliar with them would feel about it. I could see this easily going off the rails, but as I said, issue 1 was interesting enough to stick with it for now.
 
I'm hoping the series doesn't focus solely on Wildstorm-related stuff, but rather more of other realities that have been brought into DC, as well as echoes of previous DC continuities.

But then, I also wish they had called this Challengers Of The Unknown, which just seems to be a better fit.

Actually, you know who I wish was leading this team? Donna "I began my existence as a continuity error" Troy.
 
Tulpa Girl said:
I'm hoping the series doesn't focus solely on Wildstorm-related stuff, but rather more of other realities that have been brought into DC, as well as echoes of previous DC continuities.

But then, I also wish they had called this Challengers Of The Unknown, which just seems to be a better fit.

Actually, you know who I wish was leading this team? Donna "I began my existence as a continuity error" Troy.
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Yeah, I don’t want them to overdo the WS stuff. I agree that I want to see them explore other examples of worlds that have been folded into the DCU.

And Donna Troy would have been an inspired choice. She fits the muscle role better than Batwoman, and her continuity- scrambled origin would make her perfect for such a book. Maybe paired with the Question? He’d also fit the mold. He’d be the brains and she the muscle very much like Elijah and Jakita.

It feels like editorial mandate to have the primary characters be Batman related, so they could brand it accordingly.
 
I read Superman Year One. I was hesitant because I honestly have not liked anything Miller has wrote since the 80s, but illustrations by JRJR pulled me in and...it wasn't bad. I'd go so far as to say that I quite enjoyed the first two issues. Having young Clark join the Navy was an unexpected approach. I liked the revamp of Lori Lei. There was a weird subplot about Clark just abandoning girls though, when a new one comes along.

Third issue it kinda fell apart though, I think they were trying to fit too much in, and it ended up coming across like a children's picturebook version of Snyder's Batman vs Superman. And, maybe ironically for Frank Miller, I hated this interpretation of Batman.

Anyways, it was a quirky reinterpretation of the Superman origin tale. Overall not bad.
 
I recently read Superman and The Authority, which was kind of weird. Midnighter & Apollo are there, and Manchester Black from The Elite (DC's Authority homage). Steel's daughter, Lightray (who looks like the Stan Lee's Flash) and a female Omac round out the team. It was an ok mini-series that led into another storyline that was going to start in Action comics (which I didn't read)

I'm now on the second trade of the original run of ICON. I'm enjoying it alot. I only read the first two issues back in the day, so being able to check out more of the series has been a treat. I'll probably jump into Hardware after I finish that one
 
Damn it all.

Just finished reading issue #6 of the new Outsiders series. I was fully expecting to drop the series with this issue. While the first issue was at least somewhat intriguing, issues #2-5 have been less interesting. I had only decided to stick around through issue #6 because that's when the big reveal in the original Planetary series - which this version of the Outsiders is explicitly aping - occurred, and I figured that this series would follow a similar model, and I at least wanted to know a bit about what some of the secrets of this story was before dropping it.

And so I read this issue... and more than the preceding ones, I enjoyed it. It dealt with characters that had fallen between the cracks of reality/continuity, something I had hoped would be more of a focus for the series. Reminiscent of the last few issues of Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, with a bit of a nod to the more recent Gerald Way run on Doom Patrol.

And then at the end of the issue we get The Reveal... not the full story, but just enough to tease and intrigue. Where we find out that the new, female Drummer - who seemed to be in previous issues just a perfuctionary rehash from the original series, is actually Jakita Wagner. Which, visually, has kinda been right in front of our faces the whole time.

And so now I need to pick up the next issue to find out what's going on with that, after fully expecting to drop the series.

Gawddamn it.
 
Tulpa Girl said:
Damn it all.

Just finished reading issue #6 of the new Outsiders series. I was fully expecting to drop the series with this issue. While the first issue was at least somewhat intriguing, issues #2-5 have been less interesting. I had only decided to stick around through issue #6 because that's when the big reveal in the original Planetary series - which this version of the Outsiders is explicitly aping - occurred, and I figured that this series would follow a similar model, and I at least wanted to know a bit about what some of the secrets of this story was before dropping it.

And so I read this issue... and more than the preceding ones, I enjoyed it. It dealt with characters that had fallen between the cracks of reality/continuity, something I had hoped would be more of a focus for the series. Reminiscent of the last few issues of Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, with a bit of a nod to the more recent Gerald Way run on Doom Patrol.

And then at the end of the issue we get The Reveal... not the full story, but just enough to tease and intrigue. Where we find out that the new, female Drummer - who seemed to be in previous issues just a perfuctionary rehash from the original series, is actually Jakita Wagner. Which, visually, has kinda been right in front of our faces the whole time.

And so now I need to pick up the next issue to find out what's going on with that, after fully expecting to drop the series.

Gawddamn it.
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My assessment was very similar, though I haven’t read this most recent issue yet. Glad to hear it brings in something to make it seemingly worthwhile.

I’m not sure if they’ll manage to pull it off, but I’ll give it another issue or two to try. Like you, I was ready to bail out.
 
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