DC - Review - FA Online

Tiny Titans 31

This is rather charming: a comic featuring the Teen Titans and other superheroes as primary school characters, drawn in a style that you traditionally associate with (US) childrens comics. How is this supposed to fit in with existing DC continuity? Well, Tiny Titans is a TV show that the “real-life” Titans watch. How very metatextual.

Brubaker’s Catwoman: an appreciation

A belated apology for not following Brubaker from many years ago, thanks to finally reading his superb Catwoman run.

Azrael 17

Appearing several years too late to get caught up in the sales wake of The Da Vinci Code, here comes Azrael. He’s dressed in the costume of a crusading knight, carries a fiery sword…and wears a face mask. Question: if you’ve returned from the dead, as Azrael has, why are you bothering to hide your identity?

DMZ 60

DMZ is a Vertigo title set in a near future America in which the USA is caught up in a civil war between redneck libertarian gun nuts and the brutal military-industrial complex who control the central government. The series is set in New York, which is some kind of frontline or demilitarised zone between the two sides. I suppose the idea is to show First World readers what modern war is like, by bringing an Iraq-style maelstrom home to that most quintessentially American city.

Shazam! 1

The first impression inside is that either some weird meta move is being pulled, or someone fucked up the colour registration, as much of it is out of focus. I am pretty sure it’s the latter. If that was the worst I could say about this dreary, vacuous comic, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad, but it’s terrible throughout.

Wonder Girl 1

I believe this is a one-off, and I am mystified how it got sold to DC. Perhaps they just wanted to put out a Wonder Girl one-shot (has she been hugely popular in the Titans or something?), and the fact that no one had any ideas didn’t deter them. I just can’t see any reason for this comic to exist.

Starman/Congorilla 1

If you have a comic starring a blue alien superhero who also happens to be a bit of a slut, a giant, talking gorilla and Rex the Wonder Dog, then you expect it to be entertaining and a bit surreal. You expect in fact, something like a Grant Morrison comic. This isn’t quite what you get.

Greatest Hits

Sometimes it’s easy to see the pitch: what if the Beatles had been superheroes? A decent idea, and it gives you lots to work with. Trouble is, it rather sets up claims for the story that are not remotely fulfilled.

Plastic Man Archives 2

I don’t suppose many would argue against this being the greatest comic book work of the 1940s, given that The Spirit ran as a newspaper insert. But on the other hand, is even this still worth reading over 65 years on (these stories are from 1843-44)?

JSA All-Stars #13

The first time I read JSA All Stars 13 I was quietly impressed. It was a nice break in what is often an incomprehensible team book which itself spun off from another overpadded team book whose purpose and indeed distinction has often been unclear to me.