Its really no surprise that Action Comics was excellent. A Superman whose powers aren’t quite up there yet, and a nice reference to Smallville early on (at least, I have to assume it was intentional ). Its interesting to see Clark pushed more into a Green Arrow esque role here, but it works, especially with the idea that this is Superman starting out. He’s not at the level of cosmic threats yet (although Luthor’s dialogue hints towards something coming). Morrison’s on good form here, and Rags Morale’s artwork is great. I do wish artists would stop overusing the Superman with glowing red eyes thing, but that’s just a personal peeve.  To be honest, given that this is the premier Superman title, and is probably the earliest set of the superhero books in the new 52, I think they could’ve easily used this as the launch title instead of Justice League.  Really strong first issue that shows Clark as much more of a Superboy than a Superman, and also a nice showcase of Luthor.  Very interested to see how this book develops.

Batgirl, also lived up to the hype.  Its no secret I had  a lot of misgivings about the book.  Barbara’s role as Oracle had been a big part of the DCU for years, and the character of Batgirl had gone on to enjoy success first with Cassie, and then more recently with Steph.  To be honest, pre-reboot the Steph Batgirl series by Bryan Millar was one of the best books DC was putting out, so I really disliked the way it had the rug pulled out from under it.  However, then DC put Gail Simone on the book, who was possibly the only writer that could’ve convinced me to pick it up.  And Gail came through brilliantly.

Instead of being ignored or rebooted, the story nicely uses Barbara’s disability throughout the book. I did have a nagging wish for more of a bridge between this and the previous series, which is a peril of not rebooting as cleanly as Superman has – but I do find myself itching to know what happened with Steph and why Barabara’s walking – only one of those questions is likely to be answered in the near future though.

The way Gail used the fact that Barbara was new to being back out as Batgirl worked brilliantly, and her characterisation using The Killing Joke is built up to the point where Barbara freezes when a gun is pointed at her, causing her rescue of someone to go badly wrong.  Its powerful stuff, and despite really being against Barbara’s reinstatement as Batgirl, I now can’t recommend it enough.  Between this and Action Comics, DC couldn’t have asked for a better couple of books for this first proper week of the reboot.

JLI was fun, but entirely setup. Dan Jurgens definitely convinced me he can pull off this team book though after writing Booster Gold’s solo adventures for so many years, but I was quite surprised just how quickly Guy exited the title. Frankly putting him on the cover was a bit cheeky (makes me wonder if he was sticking around longer in the initial plans?). For me, it seemed to carry on the tone of the recent Generation Lost series I enjoyed, so I’m happy.   It was nice to see Booster brought in from the beginning as the team leader, and it feels like the dialogue between the team is just right to capture that lighter hearted JLI feeling.  I’m also a big fan of the friendly relationship between Booster and Batman, something that in this rebooted universe is pretty unexpected. I assume there’s a story there that’s going to be revealed at somepoint (I’m not going to be surprised if this is the original timeline Booster who went to the DCNu’s Bruce for help after finding himself stuck here – we know Bruce found out about the timeline changes from Barry).

Animal Man was a nice surprise too. Really well written and intriguing. I had been going to skip it, but I was glad I didn’t. There’s some nice balancing of the superheroics, Buddie’s domestic life, and the horror elements.

The two books that didn’t blow me away were Detective Comics (enjoyable, but didn’t feel as fresh as the other books to me – I have to wonder if not rebooting Batman and Green Lantern in a similar way is going to make them stick out in all this), and Stormwatch, which I’d expected really good things from but didn’t really grab me (And good lord, Midnighter’s new costume is bloody awful – although that’s not a complaint restricted to him in this new DCU). I have to wonder if Stormwatch was just juggling too many characters in its first issue. And the fact that part of the setup seems to hang off of a Superman issue that’s not out for a couple of weeks seems a weird decision.

So overall, as someone who wasn’t entirely convinced of the reboot, this first proper week of books did a lot to convince me.  Action Comics, Batgirl, JLI and Animal Man are all books I’m definitely going to keep picking up.

Okay, so for those that missed it, DC is relaunching its entire line of superhero comics at the end of August.  The end of Flashpoint is going to mark a reboot point for the DCU, featuring many of the characters with redesigned costumes, and some with tweaked or overhauled origins.  With this relaunch, DC are also going to make their entire line of superhero comics available digitally through Comixology on the same day as the print versions are released.

Wow.

Firstly, possibly the biggest game-changing part of this news, that may really impact the market is the announcement that all of DC’s main superhero books are going for a day-and-date digital release.  Frankly, that aspect really shocked me.

While DC have played with day-and-date digital releases on some of their titles, few of those books have been what I would call A-list.  I would have been surprised enough if DC had announced that something like Green Lantern would go digital, but for every book, its a massive step.  One no other company has come near.  And given that DC were pretty late to the digital comics market compared to the other publishers, its a real surprise to see them being the ones to make this move.

I’ve never made any bones about liking the digital format.  With the exchange rate it works out cheaper per-book for me, and means I can carry my comics with me on my phone, rather than worry about the increasingly non-existent storage space in my home for all these monthlies.  Now admittedly, there will probably be some books I continue to get the print versions of.  Most likely any GL books DC continue to put out.  However, I can also see me grabbing some books I otherwise might not have, since the lower cost of the digital books makes it easier for me to justify.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.  DC are obviously banking on the majority of current collectors sticking with print for the most part, while allowing new or more casual fans to grab the digital copies.  With the comics market having shrunk massively over the years, it’ll be interesting to see if this digital move opens it up again.  I can only assume DC were getting some very positive numbers from the digital sales of its current day-and-date books, like Batman Beyond.

If this does go well, I can only assume other companies will also make the jump, which might see me expanding the number of Marvel books I pick up again (their love of the $3.99 price point having made regularly collecting a number of Marvel books unsustainable for me).  Although how this will all impact the local comic shops will remain to be seen.

From a creative/continuity point of view, things still seem very much mixed for me.  Some aspects I’m ok with, others make me pretty wary.  Various details are slowly coming out now, but we’re far from a complete picture.

Green Lantern is going to continue pretty much unchanged.  Not really a surprise given the popularity of the franchise, and the fact that Geoff’s been steering it for years anyway.  Meanwhile there are rumours of Superman and Lois Lane’s marriage vanishing to make way for a Superman/Wonder Woman romance.  Hmmmm, not sure about that.   Such things are the realm of Elseworlds, and while I’ve got no major problems with Superman and Wonder Woman hooking up, cross-franchise relationships generally don’t tend to end that well (Kyle/Donna, Kyle/Jade, Green Arrow/Black Canary) as individual creative teams start to get constrained by them.  Also, Superman and Lois Lane is a classic DCU relationship.  Its ok in worlds like Kingdom Come, but I’m not sure at all about it in the main DCU.   We’ll see if this rumour turns out to be true or if its not quite what it sounds like.

Similarly the rumour that Batgirl is going to be returned to Barbara Gordon.  To be honest, she’s a character that’s far more interesting as Oracle, and fills in a vital role in the Bat-family.  Not to mention portraying an incredibly positive role model for disabled readers, one that has often been praised.  And to be honest, I’m a big fan of the Stephanie Batgirl (far more than I expected to be, given how much I liked Cassie in the role previously).  Its one of DC’s best books on a monthly basis with a great balance in characterisation and fun.  If this is true, then I’m not sure I can see me continuing to pick it up.   And with no Oracle, what does that mean for the Birds of Prey?

I am pleased to see the JLI back, and being under the stewardship of Dan Jurgens suggests to me this book may replace Booster Gold.  If so, that’s a shame, but if I still get Dan writing Booster on a monthly basis, I’ll be happy.  That said, the lack of Blue Beetle on the cover is a bit disappointing (unless he’s going to turn up in Teen Titans or somewhere else).   And Booster’s new costume looks pretty ugly in comparison to his current one.  Guy Gardner being back on the team should be good fun (although I wonder how that’ll tie in with him being on Oa over in GLC).

It is nice to see some of the new books giving lesser known characters a shot as well.  I’ve always liked the modern Mr Terrific from JSA, so it’ll be interesting to see what his book is like (another that I might’ve skipped in print, but will probably check out with the cheaper digital version).  Saying that, it doesn’t strike me as a book that will be a big seller, so I wonder how many of these relaunched books will stick around long term.

The fact that some of these books seem to be including Wildstorm titles is interesting.  Granted, I’ve got almost no investment in that line, but I’d be tempted by a new Authority book.  That said, how the Wildstorm characters interact with the wider DCU will be interesting.  I just can’t see the Authority and the JLA sharing a universe…

There’s obviously a very mixed reaction in fandom to this announcement, however I’m cautiously optimistic about it.  While there are definitely aspects I’m not immediately keen on (and bare in mind quite a lot of our information is still technically rumours from Bleeding Cool, with DC only slowly releasing official info like the GL titles), there’s no denying the boldness of this move to try and reinvigorate DC’s books in the market.  If the digital sales pay off, DC could get a substantial number of new readers, who this is obviously targetting.  I just hope though that they’re careful about how they handle these tweaks and changes for regular readers.  Some characters sound like they’re getting substantially altered, and DC’s track record on these reboots is wobbly.  While Green Lantern is the smash hit everyone will invariably bring up, the Barry Allen Flash series has had a much shakier start.  I just hope that as more confirmed details about characters and books come out, it reassures readers (including myself), that this isn’t just about Barbara Gordon Batgirl or some silver age-agenda (as DC have been accused of in the past), and instead there is a concrete, long-term plan in place here for the future of these characters.

When it was announced, I’d been really excited about the project, as it was focused on the old JLI team (or what was left of them).  They’ve long been fan-favourites as those books were filled with great characters and a brilliant sense of humour and dialogue.

However the first two issues I found to be a major disappointment.  Spinning out of Brightest Day, Max Lord performs his biggest mind control experiment ever, wiping all knowledge of his existence from the world.   The only ones left who know who he is are his old team mates from the JLI, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Fire and Ice who must find some way to expose him.

The main problem with the first couple of issues was that they just seemed too serious.  The sparkle and wit that the team was associated with was gone, and I quickly lost all interest in the series.

However I then heard that things had picked up a bit, and not only that, I discovered that the series was being released every fortnight on the DC Comics iPhone application in line with the paper release.

This was ideal, as it provided a cheaper way to pick up the issues to give the series another chance.  And so I picked up issues 3 and 4.

We’re now up to issue 8, and the amount this series has turned around from those first two issues has been amazing.  The pacing has been great throughout, with the story moving on quickly as the team attempt to track down Maxwell Lord.

There’s been some interesting new elements thrown in as well. Blue Beetle Jamie Reyes joining the team was a bit of a no-brainer. He’s picked up Ted Koord’s legacy, and has worked with the JLI on several occassions. He’s also a character that DC are looking to push heavily, and this series presents an ideal place for him.

However more important was the addition of the new Rocket Red to the team. The Rocket Red who previously worked with the JLI was killed some time ago, and its a spot that’s long sat dormant on the team (although Mary Marvel would often be added as another heavy hitter).

The new Rocket Red has really brought that missing element to the book. Humour. Straight away from his debut issue, that spark that made the JLI so popular arrived with him. Between that and the nice pace of the book, as the team infiltrate Checkmate and we discover Captain Atom knows the true cost of letting Max run unchecked, this book has really clicked into place for me, becoming one I’m really looking forward to every fortnight. All credit to the writer Judd Winnick, its an incredible turn around for me.

I have to mention quickly the digital format, as its something I’ve been vocal about supporting on this blog for a while.   Don’t get me wrong, its absolutely not a replacement for a proper, physical comic book.   However, with me trying to cut back on books as $3.99 slowly becomes a more prominent price for new books, and storage space vanishes in my house, its a great option for picking up those books I might otherwise have skipped, and its great to see DC finally starting to make some headway with the digital stuff, rather than just leaving it to the pirates.

I like being able to log on with my iPod Touch every fortnight and download this book, however its still a bit disappointing to see that Generation Lost seems to be about the only book DC is doing this kind of regular release with. Marvel is still way ahead of them in this game, and I really hope that Generation Lost does well as a digital book, so that DC can be convinced to further support this medium.

I’ve been waiting on this series patiently since Dan Jurgens left the Booster Gold book, and it didn’t disappoint.   Despite the Batman tie in, and Superman and Green Lantern being along for the ride, this feels like a natural extension of the Booster Gold book, as Jurgens also works in Daniel Carter as Supernova to the story, an element that will be lost on anyone who wasn’t following the Booster Gold book (although who he is is explained in the book).

This first issue worked well to me, both as a continuation of Dan Jurgens run, and as a Return of Bruce Wayne tie-in, with the action picking up not long after the Archivist (a disguised Bruce Wayne), left the group on the soon-to-be destroyed Vanishing Point.  Escaping into the past (not long after pirate issue  of the other mini-series) the group then has to figure out how to get back and stop Bruce.

I’ve always liked the idea behind this series.  Given that Rip Hunter and Booster Gold are now the DCU’s defenders of the time stream, it made a lot of sense to me that they’d be involved.  However, I guess it also means the list of people who know the truth about Booster is expanding, with Superman and Green Lantern joining the group.  Its not been specifically covered in either series, but I assume there must’ve been a moment off-screen when Rip and Booster discussed letting the others know.   I wonder if anyone else from the League is aware of Booster’s status, or if they’ve managed to keep it quiet and limited to just Supes and GL?  Of course, Superman finding out is fine.  Hal?  Well, Green Lantern does help shift the books these days

Of course, that’s all by the by.  The appearance of Supernova was a nice surprise in this series, which I’d assumed would just feature the characters already seen in Return of Bruce Wayne.   Supernova’s not been seen in a while in the Booster Gold book, so its nice to see the character still active, and his time travel abilities make him a natural way to try and rescue Booster and co.

There’s a big difference between this series and Booster Gold though.  In this series, things are being written from Rip Hunter’s perspective, which adds a fresh spin on things.  It allows more of an insight into his relationship with Booster, giving us the nice flashback to when he was a boy, being taken by his Dad (Booster) to see Dinosaurs in the past, but also serves to underline that he’s been trained in time travel and its complexities from a young age, and so is uniquely qualified to deal with the current situation, despite the presence of heavyweight heroes Superman and Green Lantern.

Another aspect to this series I like, is the way its plugging one of the gaps in the Return of Bruce Wayne story.  Prior to Blackest Night, Bruce was assumed dead by all except Tim Drake.  After Blackest Night, Dick tried to revive the body of Bruce, only to suddenly discover the body was actually that of a clone created by Darkseid.  So far, so good.  However then things suddenly jumped.  Now, granted Tim had discovered the cave painting Bruce made at the end of Final Crisis, but suddenly all the characters knew that not only was Bruce alive, but also that he was trapped, bouncing around time as a result of the Omega Effect.  It was a bit jarring with no real explanation of how they all found this out.  This issue though suggests that it was Rip and Booster who filled everyone in (or at least, they recruited Superman and GL, who told everyone else).

Overall a great start.   Perhaps Superman and GL weren’t being completely written in character, but to be honest, its not them I’m reading this for.  And as a continuation of Dan Jurgens Booster Gold, this is ticking the right boxes for me.

Separated from his time sphere, and trapped back during the events of one of the earlier issues in the series, Booster is forced to team up with himself

Desperate to solve the mystery of the dagger which has been at the heart of this story, Booster has found himself back during the events of issue #4 of the current series. The two Boosters team up, with his past self going after Michelle and Skeets (who’ve been captured by Chronos) while current Booster heads back to ancient Egypt to uncover the truth behind the dagger’s origins.

Back in Egypt, Booster discovers the dagger was linked to a ritual involving the Blue Beetle scarab. As a priest tries to use the scarab to revive an evil Pharaoh, Skeets informs Booster that the ritual will leave the scarab drained, preventing any of the future Blue Beetles from existing.   On hearing this, Booster is quick to intervene to stop the priest.

Meanwhile the past Booster has caught up to Chronos and attempts to rescue Michelle. 

There’s quite a few interesting events in this conclusion.   The big one which will have a lot of imapct in the immediate future, is Michelle learning that in the original history, she died.  How she reconciles this knowledge, with Rip rescuing her will be interesting.

The other, which should have longer term impact is the hints regarding the Black Beetle.  Chronos tries to destroy the Blue Beetle scarab to prevent any of the Blue Beetles existing.  Through doing this he believes he’ll prevent the Black Beetle coming into being, as apparently he is responsible for more evil than the Blue Beetles can make up for.   Rip Hunter is also thrown into doubt as well.  Chronos is revealled as Rex Hunter, who claims his current condition is the result of Rip Hunter experimenting on him.   How true this is, we’ll need to see.   I don’t get the impression Rex was lying, however his view of events could well be skewed.

The Black Beetle hints are especially interesting in light of the announcement to a change in the book’s format.  While Booster Gold will be going up to $3.99, they’re also going to be adding extra pages which will contain a Blue Beetle backup story (I’m guessing  the format will be similar to Mystery in Space, Countdown to Adventure and the current Strange Adventures minis).

Depending on the team and direction, it occurs to me that these Blue Beetle backups could be the perfect place to expand on the Black Beetle plotline which has featured in the main series.   Like Mystery in Space, the two plots could eventually run together as well.  There’s also the dangling plot thread of Ted Koord’s resurrection.  This could also be a perfect place for him to turn up.   He could act as a mentor and technical wizard to Jamie.  

I do hope we’ll see some kind of crossover between Booster and Jamie though.  Having them both in the Booster Gold book and not interacting would seem like a missed opportunity.   However, I’m meaing this as an occassional thing.  

I daresay some people will not be happy about the price hike, but I definitely applaud the way DC are trying to only do it in cases where they’re actually adding extra pages to the comic.

There’s some really nice stuff there, including some nice close-up, hi-res pictures of the upcoming Blackest Night figures (well, minus the two “surprise” figures anyway).   They looked really nice in the preview shot we’d been, but these pictures are even better, and they show that Saint Walker does indeed have his headtail that looked noticably missing in the earlier picture.

There’s also a really nice prop collection of the various Corps rings in Blackest Night, which I may or may not be able to resist depending on its cost.

There’s some new JLI figures that look good (aways a sucker for Blue and Gold figures, although I’m not sure if this one will replace my 52 Booster Gold.  A Ted Koord to go with him will be good though).

Finally the Adam Hughes statues are really nice.   Again, probably out of my budget though.  Not to mention the wife probably wouldn’t be pleased

First off, Rann-Thanagar Holy War #6.  Its back!!!! Going from the cover, Adam Strange has his Planet Heist kit back.  Yay

JSA #20 features the New Earth JSA and the Earth-2 JSA with Power Girl torn between the two.   I’m really looking forward to this storyline, as is probably most of DC fandom.  But I’m still really intrigued to see how this Earth-2 JSA is going to be approached.    As I’ve mentioned before, the Earth-2 JSA shouldn’t be the Golden Age JSA, so I’m wondering how they’re going to reconcile this.   Earth-2 in 52 was shown to have some kind of link to events on new Earth (both Kryptonians missing), but it also showed differences to the classic Earth-2 we see here.  Of course, there was obviously something going on with Earth-2 during Infinite Crisis (it was the only unpopulated world, E-2 Lois and E-2 Wonder Woman seemed to hint at being drawn somewhere – in the trade at least), so I wonder if this story arc will start to address that.

Booster Gold has a new writer in October in the form of Rick Remender. I’ve not read any of his other stuff (off the top of my head), but I love the sound of this arc, with Daniel unwittingly being possessed by Starro. It sounds like the kind of light-hearted adventure that suits this series down to the ground.

The Tangent Comics crossover is another mini I’m really loving (although it has been pointed out that the JLA really didn’t come out of the last issue looking that great. Powergirl versus Powergirl should be an entertaining matchup and I’m really intrigued to see where this series takes the Tangent Universe. I’ve been really enjoying the trades they’ve been releasing and re-casting Superman as the villain makes a lot of sense for the character.

Finally, the Superman titles explore the fallout of the Brainiac story, with 100,000 Kryptonians living on Earth.    Sounds like a really interesting story setup.  I guess I’ll be picking up the titles for a little while after the Brainiac arc ends.  It certainly gives them a lot of scope to really dig into where Clark sits in between both cultures.  Supergirl’s part in the story should be incredibly interesting, as I imagine she’s going to be really pleased to be around Kryptonians again (especially since this iteration of the character has really struggled to find her feet on Earth).

Yup. October’s going to be an expensive month for this DC fan.

I’m enjoying the idea of a God from the Third World having survived, and its a nice counterpoint to the fuss being made over the death of the New Gods of the Fourth World, and their rebirth as the Fifth World Gods over in Final Crisis. I’m also enjoying the idea that this is actually a benevolent deity. Ok, its probably going to go wrong at somepoint, but for now I’m enjoying how this series played against the expectations that the JSA would have a huge fight on their hands, and instead Gog is actually improving the lives of people around the world.

And we now know how Power Girl ends up on Earth-2, as Gog starts helping out the members of the JSA, including sending Power Girl “home”. (Interestingly, its mentioned that the portal was temporal in nature – perhaps explaining why the Annual has the golden age Earth-2 depicted, rather than the “52″ Earth-2?).

Another Geoff Johns title that’s turned around for me (ironically on his last issue) is Booster Gold. Again, I’d mentioned before how I just wan’t as into the Blue and Gold plot as I’d have liked to be, but I really enjoyed this epilogue issue. Batman’s talk with Booster was a great character defining moment, and the photos from The Killing Joke being used was a big surprise (as was the fact that Batman knew all along that Booster would grow into being a proper hero).

Rip allowing Booster a win was a great moment as well, as he manages to save Booster’s sister from her death (back in Booster’s first series), which is also nice as, having recently read that series, I did feel that we never got a chance to really know the character before she was killed. That and the reveal of Rip’s true identity has given this series a nice setup as a “family” book, moreso than other DC family books, such as The Flash. While Jeff and Geoff may be moving on, I hope we get an announcement soon as to the new creative team and permanent future of the title.

And that final page. Ted survived? Or someone else grabbed the Black Beetle scarab? Certainly it suggests that Ted managed to cheat death afterall.

My last Geoff Johns title this week was the second part of the Brainiac storyline in Action Comics.

This part continues from the strong part 1, as Kara tells Clark that everything he knew about Brainiac was wrong. Up until now, he’s only faced probes that Brainiac’s sent out, copies of his own program. She knows this as no-one has ever faced Brainiac himself. Clark heads out to try and find Brainiac, to see if he can recover the lost city of Kandor, as he releases it represents the chance for he and Kara to be around other Kryptonians. He finds Brainiac in the middle of attacking another planet, but it doesn’t go well.

What I probably love most about this reinvention of Brainiac, is how creepy they’re making him. Gary Frank’s art is adding a really alien air to Brainiac and his ship which is incredibly effective. I’m really enjoying this plot, and can’t wait for part 3.

Its also nice to see Supergirl interacting with Clark. I picked up her solo book for a while, but really the character was just awful, and I was really questioning why they’d brought her back to such a fan fare, when it was obvious they didn’t have a clue what to do with her. Geoff Johns has now spoken of the plan to bring her book more closely in with the other Superman titles, and if it means that she’ll be characterised more as we see here, then I think it’ll help a lot.

However, I do like picking up the odd mini-series or arc that looks interesting. I picked up Last Son, but while there was some nice ideas (I liked the addition of Chris Kent, pity that it turned into such a mess), and the revamped story for Zod, Ursa and Non was really interesting (especially Non’s backstory and link to Jor-El). However, that particular story’s lateness killed it for me, and stuff like the Legion of Superheroes, I’m just not really bothered about.

However, the teases for the Brainiac storyline caught my attention, and I’ve always found Brainiac one of Superman’s more interesting villains. Luthor is good, if over-used a lot of the time, and Zod has been badly-handled over the years (I’m looking at you Smallville). But there’s always been something creepy and (appropriately) alien about Brainiac. I loved his reinvention as a Kryptonian supercomputer in Superman TAS, and his portrayal in Smallville was really good too.

This was a really good first issue. The setup with Brainiac was really creepy, and I enjoyed the flashback to Kryptonite with Kandor being stolen. It’ll be interesting to see how this storyline handles the character, and if they can sort out the muddle he’s become. I tend to get a bit confused by his nature, as Brainiac is commonly shown as a supercomputer of some description, despite starting out as an alien scientist.

A great 10th issue from Booster Gold as well. If I’m honest, much like JSA this title’s been struggling to keep my attention for the last while. I really enjoyed the first arc, with Booster travelling back in time to protect the Justice League from nefarious time travellers, but this arc with Blue Beetle and the alternate time line just seemed to lack the fun of the first 6 issues, and was really dragging for me (surprising, given how few issues its actually been running for). This was a fun story though. Mister Mind popping up was a surprise, but another nice tie in to 52, and Ted’s final sacrifice was touching (although I was holding out hope that they’d broken time enough that Ted would somehow survive, but be forced to keep his existence a secret, so as not to change things further).

I’m really interested to see what happens to this title after the DC 1,000,000 issue. We know that Jeff Katz and Geoff Johns are moving on, but there’s not been any hint as to who might be taking over (which fuelled rumours of a relaunch as Blue and Gold, with the resurrection Ted Koord). I’m hoping whoever it is, captures the fun of the first 6 issues.

The big win of the week for me though was Blue Beetle. I’d picked up the first few issues of Keith Giffen’s run, but I didn’t really get into it. However the JLI-reunion promised on the title suckered me and I picked up issues 23 and 24 as well to get a better feel for the story.

What an absolutely cracking title. I’d only read 3 issues of this storyline (which has been built up to throughout the run) yet I was still reading it with a huge grin on my face. Jamie’s plan to stop the Reach’s invasion plans was really well presented and there was a big “coming of age” feel here with him risking everything to stop the invasion.

As a GL fan though, Guy Gardner was just the icing on the cake:

“My brother calls you the crazy one.”

“That’s right, baby girl. I’m the crazy one.”

“We’re dead.”

Classic Guy.

I really need to get the trades of Rogers’ run on this book.

I’ll talk about GL #29 in another post, but the last DC comic of the week I got was the Booster Gold Showcase. I’ve really been enjoying reading his early stories, as I largely only knew the character from JLI. Dan Jurgen’s stuff is brilliant. Its interesting to read the mystery that was applied to the character in the beginning, with his stories launching with him already established, and only later issues revealing that he was from the future. Jurgens does a great job of presenting a hero that’s only out for number one, raking in the money from merchandising from his public status as a superhero. Its a great take, especially since most DC heroes were about the greater good, so its interesting to have a more self-interested hero. And its a testiment to that direction how well the character’s lasted, enjoying more of a spotlight thanks to 52 and his own re-launched title. Its also interesting reading the two-parter where he teams up with Rip Hunter to return to the 25th century, since it nicely serves as a pre-cursor to Booster’s current storylines. With Geoff Johns leaving the title, and Jess Katz rumoured to be leaving, there’s a lot worse things could happen than Dan Jurgens taking over the writing. Although the current rumours have John Rogers (from Blue Beetle, above) relaunching the book as Blue and Gold. Something which, given my glowing review of Blue Beetle, you’ll understand me being excited about the prospect.

The only other title, which I won’t really go into too much, is Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. Usually this is one of my favourite reads when it comes out, but to be honest, the much-hyped Vector crossover hasn’t really been working for me. I’m missing the regular cast and storylines (although Griff’s on good form), and the art’s not been great. Frankly I’ll be glad once the crossover’s done, and I may skip the Legacy issues (the only other SW title I buy).