Week 1 Review Groups

-Comics that I believe strongly enough in to purchase for someone else

Animal Man (one of the best books in the market, period. If I were allowed on $20 on comics per month [pre-tax, of course], I would absolutely still be buying this book)

Swamp Thing (one of the best books in the market, period. Second verse [as Animal Man, which does not rhyme with Swamp Thing], same as the first. Snyder and Lemire are crushing it for DC)

O.M.A.C. (a personal favorite, I was SO SAD to learn it's gone after issue 8... PICK UP THIS GRAPHIC NOVEL BRING BACK O.M.A.C. IT'S THE BEST HULK COMIC IN YEARS!!!!! I will love this comic a ton when I get to the full review)

-Comics I think are good, but either too generic or too boring or too flawed to do more than recommend

Action Comics (started out great, then dovetail'd weirdly after the first story arc, and issue 6's Steel back up was better than the main book... hm. Grant Morrison is one of the best in the business when he's on, but his "off" makes me feel like I'm wasting my time. This is the first time I've waffled on a book of his... it's good. It was great. It's now "okay." I'm worried it will end up "fine." I've heard some complaints about Rags Morales' artwork, but I'm a fan here. The backups are totally helping to carry the book)

Static Shock (I had major problems with two of the issues, but overall I'm a fan of Virgil... I can't help but think there's some uglier reasons this book didn't sell well enough to stay around... but then I go back to those two issues and remember thinking, "Yeah, this is a droppable book." Still, I liked Static Shock, I can't wait to see what they do with Static in Teen Titans, and I hope everything works well enough to get him back into a title. Honestly, I'd even be cool with a Milestone comic that functioned like DC Universe Presents or even having everyone from the Dakota incident interacting under a title. The appearance of Technique and Hardware [in the flesh/ power suit] in issue 6 was good, but too little too late)

-Comics I wouldn't mind letting you read at my place

Batman: Detective Comics (honestly, I think it has some of the worst writing out of the entire New 52, but it's concepts aren't bad and I like Florea's art... I think this is the best example of a writer holding a book back. Honestly, I feel like I just dislike Tony S. Daniels' writing across the board. Both this and The Savage Hawkman feel cluttered, unfocused, and then ultimately hollow at the end of each issue. And I don't even know how that can happen. The storytelling here is, "this happened and this happened and then this happened," only all of the "this"es forgot to tie together. The Joker's face as an artifact was the coolest moment of the first month in the entire relaunch. It's gone literally nowhere from there)

Batwing (I mean, it's not good, but it's not THAT bad... I have solid expectations that this book could jump a tier next story arc. But so far, it's a bunch of exposition and scene setting while fights happen. Sweet, Judd Winick set everything up while keeping in the required number of fight scenes that seem to be permeating all of the relaunch books. There's no sense of character, no sense of urgency, just a checklist of information told in a somewhat interesting way while over-the-top violence happens. Still, Winick can tell a story. Here's to hoping there's one in the second arc)

Red Lantern (I love Milligan, but I don't love this; another case of concept failing to live up to execution)

Stormwatch (I assume will be moving up next arc... I think it's unfair that it's not as good as I WANT it to be)

-Comics I wish I hadn't purchased and won't let you read even if we're bored at my place and you want to read them

Green Arrow (on the move up, but the JT Krul run was actually the worst writing in the entire New 52. Dead. Last. Also, how on earth could all of those fight scenes look so boringly posed and stationary? Annie Nocenti's run is looking better, but not enough to jump this title two tiers)

Hawk & Dove (sadly, cause I'm a Liefeld fan... but this book is rough)

Justice League International (I don't know how this book is so bad, but it and Arrow are the only two that leave me angry when I'm done with them... plus, and let's be real here, this is supposed to be a "New 52?" This feels like any number of generically poor "JL" books from pre-relaunch that ALSO lacks the team warmth that kept people coming back during ludicrous plots... and, really, the world is ending but Stormwatch and the big league JL don't show up?! Editor needed to reign that in or be moved to a different book for that call)

Men of War (I was SO PUMPED about this... then it turned out to be a bunch of subpar war stories set in a world that doesn't really need soldiers anymore. This book should've been MUCH better thought out before release, or it should've been done under a banner that was different than "The New 52." Here's to hoping GI Combat is closer to this book's potential and promise)