The New 52 was my first step into floppies. I'd been dabbling for a while before hand. But stuck to the Marvel Dark Tower books in the most part. Mainly because I didn't feel I could handle the massive back story, more like I feel I'd missed it and couldn't ever catch up.
The New 52 came along and was my gateway into comics. I loved it, I was reading about 15 books a month. Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Omac, Demon Knights, Resurrection Man were all characters I wasn't really familiar with, but books I feel in love with. Justice League, Batman and later Earth 2 and JLA were also books I really enjoyed with characters I already knew. I couldn't wait for my books every month and loved finding all these new stories to gobble up every month.
Two+ years on the majority of these have been cancelled and nothing else has really grabbed my attention. Now I'm down to about 5 books a month and there is only one I will pick up and read as soon as it lands on my door step. Swamp Thing, my favourite book right now, by far. The rest are losing my attention. But I feel I need to read the JL and JLA books to keep up on what's happening even in some small capacity. Earth 2 has fallen off a little but still enjoyable enough. And I'll continue getting Batman and Aquaman in trade. Forever Evil I've enjoyed well enough but the schedule has been ridiculous. I've lost interest.
My comic reading now is mainly Image stuff and some marvel. I have the New 52 to thank for the many other books I've found since. So it will always have a found place in my heart. But I think it speaks volumes that I'm now going back to to all that back story of the pre-New 52 for my stories. I'm currently getting together as much as I can from Identity Crisis to 52. And this is what really has me excited at the moment.
My comic reading now is mainly Image stuff and some marvel. I have the New 52 to thank for the many other books I've found since. So it will always have a found place in my heart.
Yours is indeed an interesting perspective. I'm not sure that knowing the history is as important as it simply remaining somewhat consistent. I'm curious though, what Image and Marvel are you picking up?
From Marvel I'm getting She Hulk and Hawkeye. Really enjoying both.
From Image I'm getting...
Saga Sex Crminals Umbral Deadly Class (3 issues in and this is my book of the year so far)
It's these books that are top of read pile.
I think my situation may have been who they were targeting. To give new/lapsed readers a way back into the DC universe. But from just using this forum as a basis it's clearly not been successful. But has rather pushed more people away from DC.
If there are a hundred or thousand or however many other people out there like me though. I think the new 52 has been a great boost for the industry as a whole rather then themselves. And this is a point in the new 52's favour.
I am not reading and DC currently, the "Zero Year" story finally driving me off Batman. In a way, it reminds me a lot of reading comics in the 90's: These books are selling to someone, but with the bad art and sloppy storytelling, I don't know who. DC isn't for me any more. It's for people who thought that Marvel in the 90's was good stuff, and caters to a sidewise kind of nostalgia.
There's a good book here and there, but since I am someone who follows creators, DC plays musical chairs in the middle of stories, and I don't care who the editor is, if writer A starts a story, leaves during part 3 and Writer B writes parts 4 and 5, it's not going to be a cohesive whole.
I do think that it brought in as lot of new people. I also think they quickly soured on it, have moved to other books (Image had it's best month since 2000!) and they are back to their shrinking core, who load up when they pull their September event.
One awesome thing that the New 52 turned me on to: Resurrection Man!
I bought the whole New 52 run of Resurrection Man and really enjoyed it, then went on eBay and bought up a lot of the entire '90s series for less than $1/issue! The only thing I'm waiting on now before I sit down to read that series is that I still need to find a copy of that issue of Supergirl that crosses over with RM as part 2 of a 3-part story. None of the LCSs in my area have it, so I guess I'll get it from MyComicShop.com once I have the spare money to put together a $50 order so I can pick up some other back issue wants and get free shipping.
I still need to find a copy of that issue of Supergirl that crosses over with RM as part 2 of a 3-part story. None of the LCSs in my area have it, so I guess I'll get it from MyComicShop.com once I have the spare money to put together a $50 order so I can pick up some other back issue wants and get free shipping.
Great writing by Peter David! You could also try AtomicAvenue. Some sellers offer free shipping on orders over $25.
Pre-New 52 I was buying 7 regular DC titles. During the initial launch of the New 52 that swelled to 17-20 range. For the last year I have collected '0' DC titles.
I returned to comics about a year ago after a prolonged absence and have been almost exclusively a Marvel reader since. Was a big fan of the DC team books when I was a kid and I see JLA and Teen Titans are still around, and I gather "Earth 2" is a JSA book. Are there any DC books devoted to supervillains though, such as Injustice Gang, Secret Society, Rogues Gallery, yada, yada?
There is/was (I'm not sure if it has been cancelled) the new Suicide Squad which has been fun, and the Harlequin book is still going. A pretty cool team up book that I should have mentioned in the same vein as SHIELD was the Stormwatch book (there are 4 trades branded N52). That was a fun book.
There are a lot of people that love that series and world's finest. I'll look at my shelf when I get home and give you some recommendations for the postflashpoint DCU
Also I'll recommend a great series that is solicited this month for 50% off from DCBS is Kevin Smith's Green Arrow. Man that rocked, and I believe DC just released the first volume of John Ostrander's Spectre in trade.
I have to go with the books that have been previously recommended, and I would also encourage you to check out Abnett 'n' Lanning's Resurrection Man as well as Animal Man and Swamp Thing (I've only read Snyder's run on ST, but all the praise for Soule's tenure should be considered).
As I've mentioned previously, I'm missing the past year-or-so of experience with the New 52, but based on my personal experience with what's going on now, that's some good stuff!
What is "Injustice Gods Among Us"? The intergoogles brings up some video game of the same name, but info about the comic is hard to drill down to, and Wikipedia didn't do much to clear things up. Anyone reading this? Is it in mainstream DC continuity?
Its basically a story about what would happen to the DCU if Superman went bad. Starting off with good intentions and just becoming more and more of a dictator. Something happens during the early issues that pushes him over the edge and he just starts taking more and more power. Some heroes side with him, some dont.
Stupid question ... is it primarily a Super Villain book? IE - is it related to the Injustice Gang or something?
It's more like a twisted version of Kingdom Come. It has a lot of the same elements, even the same tragedy that starts things rolling. The chief difference is that Superman goes wildly off-character and, for all intents and purposes, imposes a kind of martial law while he and the Justice League impose world security, while Batman and his 'Outsiders' (basically, everyone who doesn't agree with Superman's methods) run opposition in the name of Free Will.
The whole thing, of course, is a prelude to the game itself, so I imagine a lot of what goes on in the book is resolved or set-up by the time the game scenario actually gets under way.
It's a mixed bag. Some of it is disturbing (and not in a good way) and some of it is thought-provoking. There's stuff that makes me cringe (usually involving Superman) but there's some really, really good moments in there too (Superman and Flash playing a chess match at superspeed while discussing the cons and pros of gun control). While it has problems that keep me from declaring it a really spectacular must-have series, it is still good enough to warrant a read. On the CGS scale of 'buy, borrow or pants', I'd say it's a definite 'buy' -- but with some hesitation.
No problem. You'll have to let me know what you think. I would recommend playing the game as well or if you arent into that then maybe just watch the cutscenes on Youtube. I guess it will spoil certain reveals in the comic but as the game came out first then its thats the order you were expected to see this stuff in.
The game is so good, I would watch other people play it just to see the cut scenes. As for the comic, it sounds a lot like the Gruenwald Squadron Supreme
The game is so good, I would watch other people play it just to see the cut scenes. As for the comic, it sounds a lot like the Gruenwald Squadron Supreme
I hadn't thought of that, but you're right. It's derivative of that series as well.
@Chuck_Melville & @DennisCuzinski ... so, in the game I assume you can have heroes battling heroes? Thus the reason for the prequel to feature Superman going rogue, warring factions, etc?
I'm not really familiar with the game itself, other than that the story by that point involves making superheroes out of the general public (therefore allowing the gameplayer to become directly involved in the scenario). I believe (and I may be mistaken) that the game becomes a three-way: Superman's Justice League vs Batman's 'outsiders' vs the supervillains. And I believe Brainiac has done grave injury to the rest of the world?
Comments
The New 52 came along and was my gateway into comics. I loved it, I was reading about 15 books a month. Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Omac, Demon Knights, Resurrection Man were all characters I wasn't really familiar with, but books I feel in love with. Justice League, Batman and later Earth 2 and JLA were also books I really enjoyed with characters I already knew. I couldn't wait for my books every month and loved finding all these new stories to gobble up every month.
Two+ years on the majority of these have been cancelled and nothing else has really grabbed my attention. Now I'm down to about 5 books a month and there is only one I will pick up and read as soon as it lands on my door step. Swamp Thing, my favourite book right now, by far. The rest are losing my attention. But I feel I need to read the JL and JLA books to keep up on what's happening even in some small capacity. Earth 2 has fallen off a little but still enjoyable enough. And I'll continue getting Batman and Aquaman in trade. Forever Evil I've enjoyed well enough but the schedule has been ridiculous. I've lost interest.
My comic reading now is mainly Image stuff and some marvel. I have the New 52 to thank for the many other books I've found since. So it will always have a found place in my heart. But I think it speaks volumes that I'm now going back to to all that back story of the pre-New 52 for my stories. I'm currently getting together as much as I can from Identity Crisis to 52. And this is what really has me excited at the moment.
From Image I'm getting...
Saga
Sex Crminals
Umbral
Deadly Class (3 issues in and this is my book of the year so far)
It's these books that are top of read pile.
I think my situation may have been who they were targeting. To give new/lapsed readers a way back into the DC universe. But from just using this forum as a basis it's clearly not been successful. But has rather pushed more people away from DC.
If there are a hundred or thousand or however many other people out there like me though. I think the new 52 has been a great boost for the industry as a whole rather then themselves. And this is a point in the new 52's favour.
I am not reading and DC currently, the "Zero Year" story finally driving me off Batman. In a way, it reminds me a lot of reading comics in the 90's: These books are selling to someone, but with the bad art and sloppy storytelling, I don't know who. DC isn't for me any more. It's for people who thought that Marvel in the 90's was good stuff, and caters to a sidewise kind of nostalgia.
There's a good book here and there, but since I am someone who follows creators, DC plays musical chairs in the middle of stories, and I don't care who the editor is, if writer A starts a story, leaves during part 3 and Writer B writes parts 4 and 5, it's not going to be a cohesive whole.
I do think that it brought in as lot of new people. I also think they quickly soured on it, have moved to other books (Image had it's best month since 2000!) and they are back to their shrinking core, who load up when they pull their September event.
I bought the whole New 52 run of Resurrection Man and really enjoyed it, then went on eBay and bought up a lot of the entire '90s series for less than $1/issue! The only thing I'm waiting on now before I sit down to read that series is that I still need to find a copy of that issue of Supergirl that crosses over with RM as part 2 of a 3-part story. None of the LCSs in my area have it, so I guess I'll get it from MyComicShop.com once I have the spare money to put together a $50 order so I can pick up some other back issue wants and get free shipping.
During the initial launch of the New 52 that swelled to 17-20 range.
For the last year I have collected '0' DC titles.
A pretty cool team up book that I should have mentioned in the same vein as SHIELD was the Stormwatch book (there are 4 trades branded N52). That was a fun book.
i grew up a Marvel kid, but JSA was so awesome, it was turning me into a DC guy...
i REALLY enjoyed
Identity Crisis
the return of the Green Lantern
Blackest Night
and then this New 52 BS showed up... only good thing out of is Aquaman...
I can't wait for old universe to return
It was very good.
But it was a completely different Earth-2.
I'll look at my shelf when I get home and give you some recommendations for the postflashpoint DCU
Also I'll recommend a great series that is solicited this month for 50% off from DCBS is Kevin Smith's Green Arrow. Man that rocked, and I believe DC just released the first volume of John Ostrander's Spectre in trade.
As I've mentioned previously, I'm missing the past year-or-so of experience with the New 52, but based on my personal experience with what's going on now, that's some good stuff!
The whole thing, of course, is a prelude to the game itself, so I imagine a lot of what goes on in the book is resolved or set-up by the time the game scenario actually gets under way.
It's a mixed bag. Some of it is disturbing (and not in a good way) and some of it is thought-provoking. There's stuff that makes me cringe (usually involving Superman) but there's some really, really good moments in there too (Superman and Flash playing a chess match at superspeed while discussing the cons and pros of gun control). While it has problems that keep me from declaring it a really spectacular must-have series, it is still good enough to warrant a read. On the CGS scale of 'buy, borrow or pants', I'd say it's a definite 'buy' -- but with some hesitation.
The first time I tried Action Comics and Superman, I hated it. Stopped at the first two issues for each title.
Having gone back, and read the first 13 for each Super title... I changed my mind. I can't believe that I did that.