![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
DC Trade Paperback Review, July 2014
Jul. 13th, 2014 10:32 pmShazam! - A collection of the backup stories from Justice League that introduced the New 52 version of Captain Marvel, now known only as “Shazam.” It’s another of Geoff Johns’ “modernized” reboots, keeping many aspects of the original lore (the Marvel Family, Talky Tawny, Dr. Silvana, Black Adam, the Seven Deadly Enemies of Man, even the original method of defeating Black Adam from his first appearance!) but making it grittier and more “realistic”. Gives me a decent idea of what the announced Shazam movie is going to be like, at least.
Red Lanterns Volume 4: Blood Brothers - How Guy ended up with the Reds again and a bunch of things he did with them; plus the major events and resolution of the “Relic” storyline, so I finally get to see how Kyle refilled the “light reservoir” and why everyone else thinks he’s dead. Oh, and they killed off all of the emotional entities (Ion, the Butcher, the Predator, etc.) at least until somebody forgets that and they need Parallax to be scary again.
The Movement Volume 1: Class Warfare - This is a bit heavy-handed, but makes a lot more sense when you read it from the beginning. I’m not surprised it didn’t hit (or that DC didn’t give it a chance to), but it was obviously trying to be a socially-aware Gen-13 style of book. Issue 12 (presumably in the second trade) was the final issue, though they make an effort to wrap up the running plots in that.
Red Hood and the Outlaws Volume 4: League of Assassins - They’ve actually gotten a bit better about the “grey morality” nature of the team; and pulled an “author’s saving throw” regarding Kori’s approach to emotion in the first issue, though that might be too little, too late for actual Starfire fans. Pathos and explosions, overall not terrible but not amazing. Also, the science is terrible.
In other news, Superman is turning into Doomsday; Forever Evil is finally over; Earth-2 introduced Conner Hawke as a white guy but then killed him off almost immediately; Justice League 3000 is insane but kinda in a good way; the Teen Titans got cancelled and had a wrap-up annual that broke up the team; and there are a decent number of characters I just don’t care about at this point. And what the hell is up with the two Lobos?
Red Lanterns Volume 4: Blood Brothers - How Guy ended up with the Reds again and a bunch of things he did with them; plus the major events and resolution of the “Relic” storyline, so I finally get to see how Kyle refilled the “light reservoir” and why everyone else thinks he’s dead. Oh, and they killed off all of the emotional entities (Ion, the Butcher, the Predator, etc.) at least until somebody forgets that and they need Parallax to be scary again.
The Movement Volume 1: Class Warfare - This is a bit heavy-handed, but makes a lot more sense when you read it from the beginning. I’m not surprised it didn’t hit (or that DC didn’t give it a chance to), but it was obviously trying to be a socially-aware Gen-13 style of book. Issue 12 (presumably in the second trade) was the final issue, though they make an effort to wrap up the running plots in that.
Red Hood and the Outlaws Volume 4: League of Assassins - They’ve actually gotten a bit better about the “grey morality” nature of the team; and pulled an “author’s saving throw” regarding Kori’s approach to emotion in the first issue, though that might be too little, too late for actual Starfire fans. Pathos and explosions, overall not terrible but not amazing. Also, the science is terrible.
In other news, Superman is turning into Doomsday; Forever Evil is finally over; Earth-2 introduced Conner Hawke as a white guy but then killed him off almost immediately; Justice League 3000 is insane but kinda in a good way; the Teen Titans got cancelled and had a wrap-up annual that broke up the team; and there are a decent number of characters I just don’t care about at this point. And what the hell is up with the two Lobos?
