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Saturday, April 08, 2006

Thoughts on OYL thus far:

So far I'm enjoying the OYL issues, so I decided I'd collect a bunch of my random opinions.

Because it's my blog and I can. :-) Some of these have runner ups and some of these don't, my explanation for why: see previous sentence :-)
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Best OYL Issue: Teen Titans was probably my favorite OYL, if only for the shock of the ending. Using Cyborg as reader surrogate was a nice touch. I thought the ending was both in character and "what the fuck" worthy at the same time.

My Biggest Question: *Wendy* and *Marvin*?!

The runner up for me was probably Blood of the Demon, actually. Which is funny because I know maybe three people who read that series. But it was good, exciting. And the climax of this month's issue while a bit predictable still was a very cool moment. (With the added ick factor of Etrigan and the zombie limbs earlier...eek).

My Biggest Question: How did Harry Matthews become human again?

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Most Meh Issue for me: Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis. I like Mr. Busiek's work, but this new "Arthur Curry" does nothing for me. I think it's that he's too much like the original. Don't get me wrong I love original flavor Aquaman, but if we're gonna have a new guy, I'd prefer him to be *brand new*, not a blatant rehash of the guy he's replacing. Now if he's amnesiac original Aquaman, or somehow a magically split off half-of-Aquaman or something, that could be cool. But right now, I'm not terribly interested.

My Biggest Question: *THIS* saved Aquaman from being canceled?!

Runner up: Outsiders. It's funny, I like the cast. I really like the addition of Captain Boomerang, but so far something seems missing. I'll give it a few issues to get its footing though.

My Biggest Question: If Dick and Owen merged, would their collective fashion atrocities cancel each other out?
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So far disappointing: JSA. Maybe it's just that I'm not a big fan of Mr. Levitz's writing style. His characters feel a little off for me, though that could just be that I'm so used to the Robinson/Goyer/Johns version. And I don't care that much about Gentleman Ghost. Really though, it's probably that my favorite character is missing without explanation. Hmph. If that ghost is Wesley Dodds on next month's cover, Sanderson Hawkins better show up. Or there better be a *damn* *good* reason he's not there. :-) If Mr. Johns was lying when he said the cast lineup was going to be unchanged, I'm gonna cry. :-P

My Biggest Question: Where are all the missing characters?
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Best pulled out from the gutter: Robin. I've loved the Robin series, it's what got me into DC. I love Mr. Willingham and Fables is my favorite non-superhero comic, but the two together were not a very good mix. I've blogged my theories about why this was, before, so I'll spare you. Anyway, the new team is great, the story is interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the nod to Chuck Dixon's run (Lynx!). I'm excited about reading Robin again.

My Biggest Question: So what's going on with Cass?
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Best I totally predicted that but it's still cool issue: Manhunter. It was probably Ragnell who called the switching sides to mean defense attorney thing first, but I definitely agreed. She's too morally ambiguous to turn dark. It just wasn't enough of a twist. And I figured Todd wasn't going to lose it again, for much the same reason. And the rooftop banter between Kate and Todd was cute and fun.

My Biggest Question: So how *did* Todd get his powers back? And how'd he and Damon meet anyway? I wanna flashback!

Runner up is Catwoman. I'm not too sure about Holly in the suit yet, but Selina and Helena have me fascinated. And Bruce. And while some see it as more ambiguous, I still think Bruce's behavior in the nursery was very much a confused teenage father's: "I wanna do right by you but I don't know how."

And if he does turn out not to be Helena's father, he'd so end up retconned into being it within a few years.

My Biggest Question: Why doesn't Slam Bradley have more panel time?
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Best why mess with a good thing issue: Birds of Prey. Yeah, the line up may have changed, but the important stuff remained. Barbara's still awesome, and the tone, pacing, and character touches that I like best in Ms. Simone's work remain strong and enjoyable. It's pretty much, where it counts, exactly like before OYL. And that's a good thing.

My Biggest Question: When will we get to see Shiva and Robin interact again? They always had interesting interactions...

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Most...mixed feelings-springing issue: Nightwing. Honestly, I'm not surprised the Babs/Dick engagement didn't pan out. Honestly, no matter the intention of the writers, he's still the exact same immature, clingy, needy basket case he was the last time they were together. He hadn't been allowed to grow since then, and he seems to be in the same boat OYL. Still he does look pretty, and Jason *is* interesting.

My Biggest Question: To quote Guy Gardner: "What *is* it with the long hair?"
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Most promising new series: Well, it's not out yet, but I'd have to say GL:C. Recharge was a blast and a half, and a space opera/cop show type thing would be just up my alley. Besides I love Guy and Kilowog, Soranik seems to have a lot of potential and the Nightlights should be a lot of fun.

Runner up: Ion, for obvious reasons. Checkmate looks like fun too.

And that's all I can think of for now. I will possibly follow up on this later. But more likely will be distracted by something else entirely. :-)

12 Comments:

  • At April 08, 2006 8:14 AM, Blogger Melchior del Darién said…

    I pretty much agree with you, especially on Aquaman and the JSA. I'm even a historian of the Gentleman Ghost's time period, and I can't get into this story-line.

     
  • At April 08, 2006 8:24 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    It just falls flat. But again, I'm probably very biased. :-) I enjoyed Black Reign though and that was during the Sand-is-kinda-but-not-really-dead period.

    I'm looking forward to Geoff Johns taking it back over. I'm sure I'll like Mr. Levitz's work elsewhere. But not so much on JSA.

    I'm always curious about this though: how does the historical stuff measure up? Is it reasonably accurate? Or are they taking liberties?

     
  • At April 08, 2006 8:52 AM, Blogger Melchior del Darién said…

    Pretty much accurate: it sucked to be poor in 18C London in the way Levitz is depicting. And it wasn't too hard to end up on the gallows, either.

    My only quibbble: in #83 young Craddock gets in a fight with the son of the tavern-keeper, and says "my dad is a gentleman, not a beer seller." By the late 18 C polite, comfortably middle class tavern-keepers are calling themselves "gentlemen" and not getting challenged. From his dress and coach, Craddock's father is actually a nobleman, but, calling the character the "Nobleman Ghost," or the "Deceased Duke" just wouldn't cut it, I suppose.

     
  • At April 08, 2006 8:55 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    See that's the kind of thing I find fascinating and would never know otherwise. :-)

    Now I can go around in a vaguely smug sort of "hee, I know why this is a little off" sing-songy glee.

    Thanks! :-)

     
  • At April 08, 2006 9:28 AM, Blogger ShellyS said…

    We certainly have different feelings of OYL titles. I haven't read all the ones you have. I'm very behind in my Manhunters and some I don't plan to read. But for the ones I have read, my feelings are almost opposite.

    I guess it's good that there are so many to choose from: something for everyone. :)

     
  • At April 08, 2006 9:30 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Yep! :-) I do think Outsiders is missing something without Roy though. I hope he comes back soon. :-)

     
  • At April 08, 2006 12:01 PM, Blogger Marc Burkhardt said…

    Outsiders hasn't interested me at all, although Firestorm - a charactr I've never had much use for - has piqued my interest.

    I remember Paul Levitz's previous run on the JSA fondly, so I consider his current arc a nice bit of nostalgia. I can see why you're not overwhelmed, though. Maybe Sand, when he returns, will sport that cool overcoat!!

    And I am enjoying the new Aquaman, much to my surprise.

     
  • At April 08, 2006 3:04 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Hmm probably. I *am* pretty easy that way. :-)

     
  • At April 08, 2006 3:18 PM, Blogger CalvinPitt said…

    I'll agree that the ending to Teen Titans was both in character and a surprise. But I'm not nearly as happy about the issue as you were.

    Robin was good though.

    None of the other One Year later books I read really did much for me.

     
  • At April 08, 2006 8:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    There's a lot of things wrong with the current JSA storyline besides Sand's unfortunate disappearance. The thing I'm most annoyed at is how everyone keeps going "A ghost? But that's impossible!" The kid next to you has a pet genie, guys. He's behind the guy with the magic ring. Hell, one of your founding members was a ghost. Skepticism in the DCU largely makes you seem like an idiot.

    It also doesn't help that it's hard to care about the secret origin of the Gentleman Ghost. He's got an awesome design going on, but otherwise there's not much there. It's a far cry from what Levitz used to do on LSH.

     
  • At April 08, 2006 8:35 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    calvin: Fair enough. :-)

    SpiritGlyph: Yeah, that bugs me too. Besides, they know of others who, while not exactly ghosts, aren't exactly standard living folk either.

    I mean, Johnny Sorrow alone...

     
  • At April 09, 2006 8:26 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Exactly. They've dealt with reincarnationed Egyptian royalty (three of them), plant zombies, magic rings, a whole dimension of genies, and a helmet that grants godly mystical powers. They've got Johnny Thunder hanging out right there, and being dead doesn't seem to bother him.

     

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