COMIC BOOK REVIEWS: DC ROUND UP WEEK 12-07-2016

We got Batman the one man army, Green Arrow and Aquaman getting the same “We didn’t do it” storyline, and a few other DC books continue to lose steam after an amazing start! Read on to see what’s going wrong with DC Comics Rebirth!

 

AQUAMAN #12

STORY: Dan Abnett ART: Phillippe Briones, Gabe Elateb

Review: More of NEMO led by Black Manta framing Aquaman and the Atlaneteans for the attacks on U.S. Soil. No one wants to give Aquaman or the Atlanteans the benefit of the doubt and once more its Justice League to come get Arthur (while seemingly one cares about the surmounting death toll and damage being done to the various states).  I think I’m done with Aquaman, this whole “U.S. hates Aquaman” storyline just keeps forcing me to stretch my imagination and acceptance of contrived plot threads more and more, and while Briones has been pretty consistent with the artwork, it isn’t anything worth really noting. So yeah, Abnett should be writing a better tale. Maybe Aquaman just isn’t the character for him.

Score: B-

BATMAN #12

STORY: Tom King ART: Mikel Janin, Hugo Petrus, June Chung, Clayton Cowles

REVIEW: I like Tom King’s writing. I was a fan of his work on Vision, and I enjoyed his
“I am Gotham” story that kicked off his Batman run. However, I’m still just not loving this “I am Suicide” story. There are bits and pieces that seem really great. Batman creating his own Ocean’s 11 style crew to infiltrate and take down Bane! The execution of that plan has been pretty terrible though. To recap, Batman flew a plane head first into Bane’s base of operations (obviously with the intent of getting captured) survived the crash/explosion, was beaten up, had his back BROKEN! And thrown in a cell/cage filling with water to eventually drown him. While having a BROKEN! Back, Batman punched various holes into concrete walls, to use as handles to slowly make his way up, RE-SNAPPED his back into place, crawled out of the cell like it was nothing and continued his plan. This time, Batman has to scale Bane’s castle, fight off hundreds of guards, swim past sharks, dodge bullets in water, fight off hundreds of more guards, and ultimately collapse tire in front of Bane (perfect timing). The only thing making all of this nonsense remotely readable is the beautiful artwork of Mikel Janin. For that alone I’d recommend this book. The love notes between Selina and Bruce who narrates the story (all the action is done silently) just doesn’t feel like either the voice of Bruce or Selina, but totally different characters. I’m sure King will have a big “aha!” reveal at some point, or maybe he won’t. Either way I don’t think I’ll care and I’m ready to move on to the next story.

Score: B

GREEN ARROW #12

STORY: Ben Percy ART: Otto Schmidt, Nate Piekos

REVIEW: Possibly the one book that continues to stand out to me in the DC Rebirth line up, Ben Percy’s Green Arrow does not fail this week! Oliver is back with his team in Seattle, and he’s going to take the fight to the corrupt. He stops a police officer in the midst of abusing his authority, the action gets caught on camera and begins an internet buzz for major support of the emerald archer. While those in higher authority want nothing to do with GA, the people are looking to back him (well most of them some still think he’s a danger). Someone in particular has big plans to stop Green Arrow (as mysterious villains do) and begins a campaign to frame GA for various murders all over the city (being done by people getting shot and killed with, ya guessed, the same type of arrows Oliver uses). So the storyline going forward will be a known accepted super hero, being framed for heinous crimes, and being tracked and hunted down by the government. Does this story sound vaguely familiar? Maybe with another blonde haired super hero? Who lives in the ocean….I mean Aquaman. Plus side, Otto Schmidt is back on art and delivers tenfold this issue!

Score: A-

GREEN LANTERNS #12

STORY: Sam Humphries ART: Eduardo Panisca, Julio Ferreira, Blond, Dave Sharpe

REVIEW: We get some more action between the Phantom Lantern and our two still not very experienced Green Lanterns. Frank Laminski really is a pathetic being, he’s only wanted one thing in life and that’s to be a Lantern. Unfortunately he has no idea what it takes to be one, and now he’s in possession of a ring that can give him the ability of any Lantern type on the emotional spectrum. The problem is Frank is also very emotionally unstable, which is causing the ring to fluctuate like a crazy mood ring and destroying Frank from the inside. The Lanterns want the ring back, Volthoom (the evil being manipulating all these events) wants something from the Guardians, and Frank just wants to be a hero. When this is all done only one is going to get what they want (My money is on the Lanterns since ya know, this is their series and all). Eduardo and company bring some solid artwork and beautiful constructs from the rings. It was cool seeing some of the Orange Lantern power in place, but I was hoping it would work more in line with how Lafreeze used his. Maybe because it’s not a true Orange ring? Eitherway, the story remains interesting and gives these two novice Lanterns something to do, so I’m all for it!

Score: B

NIGHTWING #10

STORY: Tim Seeley, ART: Marcus To, Chris Sotomayor, Carlos M. Mangual

REVIEW: Dick is back in Bludhaven for the first time! (Take that Pre-Flashpoint fans!) and he’s trying to get adjusted to his new life. He interviews to be a youth counsuler at an organization that definitely has more going on than it appears. Mostly a setup, Tim Seeley does a good job getting new readers caught up before really delving into what’s next for Dick Grayson. Nightwing is set up to be a big “vigilante” attraction for Bludhaven to help the city fix its poor tourism issues (come to the city where the hottest vigilante lives!) while letting us know this youth outreach group has more nefarious intentions than it appears. Overall, a strong issue with some pretty solid artwork.

Score: B

SUPERMAN #12

STORY: Peter J Tomasi, Patrick Gleason  ART: Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza

REVIEW: So got ourselves another two heroes who don’t know each other well, meet due to confusing circumstances and ego’s make it so they need to find before eventually they will learn to team up for the greater good. It’s a old story plot, but it will never leave the Super Hero Comic Book world. This time around it’s Frankenstein agent of SHADE (not to be confused with SHADE the changing girl, or THE SHADE a villain appearing in the flash comics right now). Frankie wants to kill this seemingly innocent kind woman that Lois Lane might be workingwith soon, Lois doesn’t want it to happen andtries to stop Frank, but that doesn’t go well, luckily Superman shows up and now we got that obligatory hero vs hero scene. Mahnke and Mendoza are a dynamic art team , as are the writings of Tomasi and Gleason so you still get a very fun solid story here. Is it “old” and “repetitive” in the plot department? Yes, can it be over looked? Sure. I’ll be looking forward to seeing Frankenstein and Supes work together.

Score: B

That wraps it up for DC books. I did make sure to read JL, Shade, Cyborg, and a few others but just didn’t find anything worth commenting or reviewing. Those books really are just pretty bad and overall I’d say avoid reading or purchasing them. If you think otherwise, sound off in the comments below!

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-Jeremy Scully