Best of 2013: DC

This is the last in my Best of 2013 posts,  As such I decided to focus it on my beloved DC Comics  Anyone who listens to the Radio Bamf podcast or who follows me on twitter would be forgiven for thinking that DC's output for 2013 was all utter rot.  This is not the case.  I am susceptible for going off on a tangent and declaring the company's current direction rubbish, but that's not fair to them, as they have put some excellent series.  So let's look at them!

Princess comics

Recently I have met a lot of young girls, baby through to toddler age, and have been reminded of the prevalence of the Princess story for young female children.  There's loads of traditional Princess stories out there - you know, about the passive beautiful sort who wait for a Prince to rescue or marry them and don't actually do much.

Thankfully, there are a few comics out there who challenge this narrative and create an entirely different sort of Princess.  These are:

The Princess - a webcomic about a transgender girl, her crushes, her wish to join the Girl Cadettes, her friends and her family.  It's full of sparkles and rainbows and cheerful art, and full of messages of support for trans kids.  It's called The Princess because the lead, Sarah, always wears a home made crown.  We reviewed it here.

JL8 - also a webcomic, this is a fan comic about the Justice League of America (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern etc) as little kids, all in their costumes and with all their powers.  It's really cute and funny.  Wonder Woman is of course an Amazon Princess and recent strips have been about her birthday party, with her Mum telling everyone she is a Princess.  Wonder Woman is not happy about this.  We reviewed it here.

Princeless - This is an actual print comic about a Black Princess who refuses to hang around in her tower to be rescued by a Prince, and instead befriends her dragon guard, steals some armour and sets out to rescue all her sisters.  It's relatively new and is in its second volume, or story arc if you prefer.  I recommend this to everyone and it's always been well received.  We reviewed volume 1 here.  You can get it in print from your local comic shop and possibly Amazon or Ebay, or buy it digitally from Comixology.

Please try these comics out!  They are fun for kids and adults.

Al images reproduced with kind permission of the creators.

Ame-Comi girls

Writers: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art credits:
Ame-Comi Girls issues 1-6: Eduardo Francisco (art), Ikari Studio and Santi Casas (colours)
Ame-Comi Girls issues 7-8: Santi Casas (art), Randy Mayor (colours)
Ame-Comi Girls Wonder Woman: Amanda Connor (art), Paul Mounts (colours)
Ame-Comi Girls Batgirl: Sanford Greene (art), Randy Mayor (colours)
Ame-Comi Girls Duela Dent: Ted Naifah (art), Randy Mayor (colours)
Ame-Comi Girls Power Girl: Michael Bowden (art), Randy Mayor (colours)
Ame-Comi Girls Supergirl: Santi Casas (art) , Randy Mayor (colours)
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
It's a weekly comic series from DC. The basic premise is that this is an earth where only women are heroes.  It's based on the Ame-Comi line of statues, which are basically manga/anime inspired sexy versions of DC's heroines.  You can see some of them on Amazon here.  Some are horrific, like this Wonder Woman one (why is she not wearing anything??), others are pretty good.  There was not really a story behind the action figures, so one has been created.

From Ame-Comi Girls 6, I think

The series started with 3 issue spotlights on 5 characters - Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Duela Dent, Power Girl, and Supergirl.  Wonder Woman looks at how Diana comes to America and forms a pact with the American government.  Batgirl and Duela Dent go hand in hand, introducing each character and setting up for the full series.  Duela's origin is really creepy.  These issues also introduce us to other key players such as Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Steel, and Brainiac.  Power Girl has Kara saving the day in metropolis then fighting Lex Luthor.  At the end, another visitor from Krypton arrives, and we segue into Supergirl.  Supergirl crashes to earth with Brainiac's army close behind.  Both Karas try to stop them, but Brainiac has other plans.

From the Duela Dent issues

Then the Ame-Comi series starts proper.  Issues 1 to 6 have all the heroes, led by Wonder Woman (because she says that's what's going to happen),  band together to fight Brainiac and save the earth.  Brainiac is an amazingly advanced robot from the far off reaches of space who consumes the knowledge of all the worlds she visits, then destroys them.  Issues 7 and 8 introduce Jade as this sector's Green Lantern.

From Ame-Comi Girls 7

Wonder Woman: The 12 Labours

Writer: Len Wein, Cary Bates, Elliott S Maggin, Martin Pasko
Pencils: Curt Swan, Irv Novick, John Rosenberger, Dick Dillin, Jose Delbo
Art: Kurt Schaffenberger, Dick Giordiano
Colours: No credits given
Inks: Tex Blaisdell, Phil Zupa, Vince Colletta
Letters: No credits given
Covers: Bob Oskner, Nick Cardy, Mike Grell, Dick Giordiano, Ernie Chan
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
Back in the 1960s Wonder Woman lost her powers and spent several years fighting crime in her civilian identity of Diana Prince (this is commonly known as the white jumpsuit era).  In 1974 she regained her powers and was asked to re-join the Justice League of America (JLA).  Questioning her abilities and skill after so many years without them, she demanded that she put through a series of tests to determine if she was still Justice League material.  These tests would take the form of other members of the JLA observing her adventures and judging for themselves whether or not she was fit to work with them again.

It's worth mentioning that the JLA were ready to take her back and it was only  Diana that insisted on being tested (so you can probably see a plot flaw right away, but more on plot devices later).

Anyway, these adventures form her 12 Labours and the meat of the book.  Each adventure takes place over one issue and as such comes with titles such as The Man Who Mastered Women, Amazon Attack Against Atlantis, The Day Time Broke Loose, and Revolt of the Wonder Weapons.

The Wonder Woman of this book has a different power set to the modern Wonder Woman (because these sorts of things are continually being updated, and Wonder Woman herself was rebooted after the 1980s maxi series Crisis On Infinite Earths).  In this book she glides on air currents rather than flies, has an invisible robot plane, loses her powers if bound by a man, and knows all worldly languages.  The bullets and bracelets trick is still there, as is her magic lasso, and her Amazon strength and skill.

JL8

Little League
JL8

A webcomic by Yale Stewart

http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/

Edit - Since writing this review the comic has changed it's name from Little League to JL8.  Info in post is now updated.

What's it about?
JL8 is an all ages webcomic that takes DC’s premier superhero team, the Justice League of America, de-ages them, and places them in primary school. They attend in costume, and in character, bicker, make friends and encounter vile adversaries such as PE teacher Darkseid!

( From strip #18)

It’s a very simple idea, executed very well. 

A few recommendations

Hi all.  There has been a noticeable lack of posts recently.  I can only apologise.  I think real life has overtaken many of us.  Speaking for myself, I have started a British Sign Language NVQ recently and it's leaving me with very little spare time, so I cannot write full length reviews (heck I can barely think of things I would like to write, let along putting fingers to keyboard).

So instead, I shall share with you books I have recently read that I particularly enjoyed.

Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon

Writer: Greg Rucka
Penciller: Drew Johnson, James Raiz, Sean Philips
Colourist: Ray Snyder, Sean Philips
Inker: Richard and Tanya Horie
Letterer: Todd Klein
Publisher: DC Comics 

What's it about?
It's a book based heavily on Greek myth and legend.  Previously, the Gorgon sisters Stheno and Euryale coerced the sorcerer Circe into resurrecting their third sister, the monstrous Medusa.  Once revived, Medusa is burning with the thirst for revenge on Athena, responsible for cursing her.  The sisters decide the best to do this is to slaughter Wonder Woman, Athena's champion on Earth.  Of course, a lot of time has passed since they last walked the earth so the plan does not go smoothly.

Woven in and around the main plot are intrigues and plotting of a higher nature, as Athena stirs up rebellion among the Gods of Olympus.

Like the best Greek stories, this is a book of heroism, honour, sacrifice, love and tragedy. 

Sale on digital Wonder Woman comics

DC are having a 48 hour sale on digital Wonder Woman comics.  It started Saturday so is running for about another 24 hours.  All issues are 99 cents, which is about 67 pence in English money, and so they are extraordinarily cheap.

We haven't been able to compile a list of recommended issues to buy, but two other (reliable) bloggers have.  See here for Ragnell's guide to the Golden Age (books published between 1939 and 1949, ish) Wonder Woman comics and see here for more modern recommendations from the DC Women Kicking Ass tumblr.

We hope you find something you like!

Superman: Sacrifice

Publisher: DC
For full credits see the other information section at the end of this post.

What's it about?
This is a dark time in the DC Universe.  Heroes have been murdered.  Trust is being lost.  Civilians can't be saved.  Is it any wonder that tempers are frayed?  Against this background, Superman sees his arch enemies going after Lois, killing her.  Lois is the love of his life, so when he sees her dead body, he can't cope and he vows to destroy the murderer.

But things are not what they seem, and in his fury he has really taken down one of his closest friends, Batman, and nearly killed him.  It is revealed that he is hallucinating the murder sprees, and Wonder Woman is the only one that can stop him.  How will she do it?  What will the consequences be?

Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals

Writer: George Pérez, Greg Potter and Len Wein
Pencils: George Pérez
Inks: Bruce Patterson
Colours: Tatjana Wood
Letters: John Costanza
Publisher: DC Comics

What’s it about?
Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals collects the first seven issues from the George Pérez run of the Amazonian heroine.  After the Crisis in the 80s, DC Comics decided to clean up their continuity, reboot most characters and get rid of all the alternate universes they started to have.

While Superman started simpler in a clean new direction under John Byrne in Man of Steel and Batman got edgier and more realistic in Year One under Frank Miller, Wonder Woman was left aside for a while.  Perhaps the editors weren't sure how to show Wonder Woman in a new light, or perhaps they thought they should portray her more realistically (by toning down the mythological aspects), or adapt her to the market (ruining a classic character with a tits and ass approach).

It wasn't until 1987 when George Pérez came onboard, revised Greg Potter's suggested pitch and kept everything WW in check that the Amazonian princess finally got a new start.

Wednesday Comics

Credits:
BATMAN: Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso
ADAM STRANGE: Paul Pope, Neil Gaiman andMichael Allred
THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN: Walter Simonson and Brian Stelfreeze
DEADMAN: Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck
KAMANDI: Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook
SUPERMAN: John Arcudi and Lee Bermejo
WONDER WOMAN: Ben Caldwell
GREEN LANTERN: Kurt Busiek and Joe Quiñones
TEEN TITANS: Eddie Berganza and Sean Galloway
SUPERGIRL: Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner
HAWKMAN: Kyle Baker
SGT. ROCK: Adam Kubert and Joe Kubert
THE FLASH: Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher
METAL MEN: Dan DiDio and Ian Churchill
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
14 different short superhero stories, each one told over 14 pages and collected in an oversized, hardback book of 200 pages. All stories are out of continuity, fresh one off narratives that require absolutely no previous knowledge of the character or the DC Universe. It's sort of a love letter to comics through the decades, with the creators kicking back, having fun and developing something that can stand alone in an attempt to show the true essence of each character.

Halloween specials from DC

Usually we at New readers don't feature individual issues but on this occasion we will break with tradition and mention a few.  Here we go...

Each year DC put out special Halloween issues.  They contain several short stories featuring various characters having Halloween themed adventures.  If you wanted a quick and not too expensive way into each publisher's universe, you could do worse than picking up these issues.

DC's book is titled DC Universe Halloween Special 2010:

JLA: Riddle of the Beast

Writer: Alan Grant
Artists: Various
Letters: Kenny Lopez
Publisher: DC 

What's it about?
This is one of DC's Elseworld's titles.  The term Elseworlds refers to books where the characters are "taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places, some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist".

As for this specific book, it's a straight up fantasy epic.  Robin is a young lad living in Haven, an idyllic community based at the far corner of the world.  Up until 15 years ago this world had only known peace, but then the Beast arrived, bringing forth death and destruction. Once the Beast was defeated the people of the worlds found their trust had been shattered and so they retreated into isolated communities, never sharing news or conversation with strangers. But then Robin receives warning of the return of the Beast, and he is tasked with telling the world so that they can prepare for the coming battle.

Superman/Batman: Supergirl

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Michael Turner
Colours: Peter Steigerwald
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
Most of you will have heard of Supergirl - Kara Zor-El, cousin to Superman, only other survivor of the planet Krypton.  You will probably have an image of her in your head, it may be this:

or this:

DC: The New Frontier, Volumes One and Two

DC: The New Frontier Volumes 1 and 2

Darwyn Cooke, Writer and Illustrator

Dave Stewart, Colorist

Jared K. Fletchter, Letterist

What's It About?
In a nutshell, DC: The New Frontier is a re-imagining of how the Justice League of America came to be.  Or, it is the 1950's re-imagined with modern-day sensibilities and social mores.  The reader follows the stories of dozens of DC heroes from the Silver Age of comic books during the mid-1950's, when superhero comics were losing popularity as they cope with both a changing world and a world-changing threat.

The book is a period piece, is heavy on the nostalgia and is set in the 1950's, just before the Silver Age when Golden Age (original) heroes were revamped and updated into the superheroes we know today.  In DC: The New Frontier, you'll see some characters before they became superheroes (such as the Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern) or when they were just starting out (such as The Flash.)  In all, this is Darwyn Cooke's starry-eyed homage to the heyday of the Justice League.

Teen Titans: Spotlight: Wonder Girl

Writer: J. Torres
Penciller: Sanford Greene
Inker: Nathan Massengill
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterers: Pat Brosseau, Phil Balsman, Steve Wands
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
Cassandra Sandsmark, Amazon protege and warrior, has not had a good year.  To begin with she was involved in an epic stop-the-Apocalypse type of battle.  Then her boyfriend died and in her grief she joined a cult dedicated to bringing him back from the dead.  Then her Gods and her mentor abandoned her.  Her efforts to stop a war between the Amazons and the rest of the world backfired spectacularly.

There's a lot of dangerous Hydras out there she needs to stop and on top of all this her (possibly evil) brother Hercules turns up, requesting her help to stop a God killer.

She would really rather not be dealing with all this... 

Superman: Red Son

 

Writer: Mark Millar

Penciller: Dave Johnson and Killian Plunkett

Inker: Andrew Robinson and Walden Wong

Colourist: Paul Mounts

Letters: Ken Lopez

Publisher: DC Comics

Apologies for the delay in posting.  It turns out that accurately predicting the future is not my forte.  That said, enjoy the review.

What's it about?

This is one of DC's Elseworld's titles.  The term Elseworlds refers to books where the characters are "taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places, some that have existed, and others that can't, couldn't or shouldn't exist".  In this story Superman's rocket from Krypton lands on a Ukrainian Collective farm in the Soviet Union, not a Kansas farm in America.  Subsequently he is brought up as a faithful Communist instead of the more familiar American icon.

His 'S' shield is substituted for a sickle, the Cold War takes a sharp new turn and America becomes the last bastion of capitalism.  Lois Lane never marries Superman and Lex Luthor becomes an American hero.

Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia

Writer: Greg Rucka
Pencils: J G Jones
Colours: Dave Stewart
Inks: Wade von Grawbadger
Letters: Todd Klein
Publisher: DC Comics

What’s it about?
Diana, Princess of Themyscira, aka Wonder Woman, is Ambassador for her people.  This story mostly takes place in and around her embassy in New York.  A young woman, wanted for a string of murders in Gotham, runs to Wonder Woman and gives supplication to Diana in order to form Hiketeia with her.