Watching the Walmart Giants 8 "February 2020"

Just when I thought I was out...Recently on Facebook there've been announcements about releases and I've been reading and contributing to the comments section.  Seems fans are finally discovering these things exist, and are happy about it.  And the giants keep finding ways to interest me, even though I'm becoming a little jaded (King/Bendis Withdrawal Syndrome).

Ah!  Before I go any further, let me just acknowledge the news that Dan DiDio, erstwhile longtime Publisher at DC, has been fired.  Apparently he was ruffling too many editorial feathers recently.  But speculation is only beginning.  It's suspected that the "G5" initiative, which hasn't even happened yet, might be responsible.  Anyway, sad to see him go. 

From Beyond the Unknown Giant #1

• New story from Dave Wielgosz and Kenneth Rocafort (!!) featuring Green Lantern Hal Jordan being given an object lesson in paying attention to Earth at the expense of his duties to Sector 2814 (to be fair, very little has been done by any writer to expand the idea of the whole sector, which if given an opportunity would probably be one of my priorities).  Love to see Rocafort doing work in these giants, a huge coup (although I'd also love for him to get a big new assignment).
• New story from Tom Sniegoski and Eric Gapstur featuring Kamandi.  Excellent story with a robot butler sort of upstaging Kamandi.  Sniegoski is another welcome presence in these giants, familiar from work relating to Jeff Smith's Bone.
• New story from Dan Jurgens featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes, in a fine spotlight.
• Reprint of DC Comics Presents #3 (from 1974!!) featuring Superman and Adam Strange (cover feature).
• Reprint of The Brave and the Bold #113 (from 1978!!) featuring Batman and the Metal Men.
• Reprint from Green Lantern Annual #3 (written by Alan Moore, from 1987!!). 

These giants are finally pushing well past 2003 (I think the previous earliest reprint point).  The collection ads have also gotten an upgrade.  Tom King is finally being put in the spotlight (the giants were slow to acknowledge even his Batman), with one page featuring Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, Grayson and Omega Men (though a misprint identifies it as Batman Vol. 1: I Am Gotham), plus a Batman/Catwoman page spotlighting an 80th anniversary, plus King's Batman Vol. 6: Bride or Burglar?, Batman Vol. 7: The Wedding, and Batman/Catwoman: The Wedding Album.  There are also ads featuring the work of Jack Kirby and Darwyn Cooke, among others, plus Tomasi/Gleason's Batman & Robin.

Titans Giant #1

• New story from Phil Hester (always great to see new work from him) and Scott Koblish (and Tom Grummett), featuring the adult Titans.
• New story from Marc Guggenheim (big giants favorite at the moment) and Steve Pugh featuring Raven.
• Reprint from Teen Titans #50 (from 1977) featuring the expanded old school Titans.
• Reprint from Starfire #1.
• Reprint of Adventures of the Super Sons #1.

Reading Comics 219 "DC's 100-Page Comic Giants"

Teen Titans 100-Page Comic Giant #1

News dropped suddenly that DC was publishing four titles of these things, exclusive to Walmart, replacing the three-packs they were putting together for a few years, and I couldn't have been happier.  Besides Teen Titans there's also Justice League of America and Batman, plus Superman, which I have also checked out, below.  These are mostly reprint editions, featuring material from the early millennium, New 52, and Rebirth eras, at least so far, plus lead stories of new material which in later months will feature work from Brian Michael Bendis and Tom King, so DC is definitely taking this project seriously.

The Titans are a team I've followed somewhat loosely throughout my comics experience.  My first one was a battered copy of The New Teen Titans #39, where Dick Grayson and Wally West walk away from the team (in Dick's case in advance of adopting his new Nightwing persona during "The Judas Contract").  I read Dan Jurgens' complete run from the '90s.

That turns out to be relevant for the new story in this issue, because Jurgens is once again the writer.  The lineup is more or less the classic one, insofar as there's Robin, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven.  No clear indication which Robin, but the costume is classic Tim Drake.  I'm still baffled that there hasn't been a push for a live action Titans movie, but there's a TV version coming up, plus a movie version of the spastic cartoon coming up. 

The first reprint in the issue is Teen Titans #1 from 2003 via Geoff Johns, in which he finally gets to explore a concept he first breached in a famous letter that got published in the waning days of the '90s Superboy comic.  He uses the book as a way to reorient all the characters, streamlining them.  The core of the team had already teamed up in Young Justice, but the approach is totally different.  Peter David's comic was basically a DC version of the teen comics other companies were doing in the '90s, rather than the version DC itself did throughout the decade.  Johns used his Titans as a pilot program for his wider efforts later, expanding on things he was doing with the Justice Society.  Wonder Girl arguably got the biggest push.  Previous to Johns she was almost more of a cosplay superhero, even wearing a wig, for whatever reason, to achieve her blonde look; Johns keeps that hair full-time. 

Next up is a reprint of Super Sons #1, which is the first time I've had a look at it.  Peter Tomasi continues his Damian Wayne experience, this time with added Jon Kent, with Jorge Jimenez on art.  I don't think it works as well, outside of Superman, the adventures of the all-new and all-different Robin and Superboy, but these are fun characters, defining new ones of the modern era, so it's always worth having them in the spotlight.

Finally there's a reprint of Sideways #1, part of the recent Age of Heroes artist-first push, most of which are versions of Marvel characters.  Sideways is a kind of Spider-Man, visually and as far as his being a high school student trying to fit in.  I've been a fan of Kenneth Rocafort since Red Hood and the Outlaws, so I'm glad to see his work get a spotlight like this.  At least as this issue goes, Sideways actually spends more time as plain old Derek James, and Rocafort absolutely sells him that way.  His work looks better that way!  I hope DC recognizes this and finds, I don't know, a Vertigo project for him in the future.

Superman 100-Page Comic Giant #1

The lead new material from Jimmy Palmiotti (who seems to have been contracted to do a lot of the new material in these things) begs the suggestion: if the DCEU wanted a solid new direction for Henry Cavill's Superman, foregoing supervillains and merely having him confront one of those classic apocalyptic weather scenarios would probably sell him really well.  Here he confronts a slew of tornados in middle America.

The next segment is a reprint of Jeph Loeb's classic Superman/Batman #1, an update of the old World's Finest comics with the stars directly in the title, which DC has revisited a few times since, sometimes with Wonder Woman substituting (which was a nice development).  President Luthor!  Bet both DC and Marvel are kicking themselves that they already did their stories like that before Trump.

Then Green Lantern #1 from 2003, the series that followed Green Lantern: Rebirth, in which Geoff Johns works to redeem Hal Jordan.  Ironically few fans seem to realize how common it is for Jordan to need redemption, which works well for his cinematic future, should DCEU ever consider going in that direction.  It's still shocking to think how far Johns truly got to push Jordan.  If it had played out just a few years later, maybe the movie would've had more momentum behind it.  Or maybe just accelerate the Sinestro arc into that first movie.  Would've made a more obvious parallel plot.

Finally, The Terrifics #1, another Age of Heroes launch, this one a Fantastic Four pastiche, featuring a stretchy dude, a smart dude, a weird-looking dude, and a lady who can become transparent.  Some variations there, but pretty clear prototypes being followed.  Jeff Lemire has been one of the most fascinating writers of the modern era, and this is an excellent new showcase for him, hopefully one that will garner him wider acclaim.  Also another chance for Mister Terrific to shine, plus welcome new opportunities for Metamorpho and Plastic Man, plus the new Phantom Girl.

I certainly look forward to more!

Superman #25 (DC)

via Comic Book DB

writer: Scott Lobdell

artist: Kenneth Rocafort

The Superman books have had a game of musical chairs going since the New 52 relaunch (aside from Grant Morrison's near-twenty issue run on Action Comics).  I was kind of hoping Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort would stick around this title longer (though two years is about how long Morrison went).  I was among the select few who responded to their Red Hood & the Outlaws with something other than, "Why the heck is Starfire acting like Starfire???" (paraphrasing for accuracy), so I was very pleased to see at DC recognize and reward their collaboration by giving them a bigger spotlight (Superman had already chewed up veterans George Perez and Dan Jurgens, alas).

Sadly, because I had to drastically limit my comics intake starting around that point, I never really got a chance to enjoy this choice pairing and their plush new assignment.  It seems they devoted the bulk of it to the creation of H'El, and I phrase it that way because I hope the character sticks around.  He's handy in the same way Eradicator or General Zod are in providing a nasty reminder of Krypton for the Man of Steel's ongoing adventures.

The thing this particular issue, which I went back and caught up with months after the fact, does quite well is accentuate the true strength of the whole New 52 Superman line (which from the start I didn't really get to enjoy because even then I was limiting the intake, a chronic condition that is probably not going to change anytime soon, unless someone wants to dump a lot of money or free review copies in my lap).  Besides Red Hood and Teen Titans, Lobdell wrote Superboy from the start of the DC relaunch.  I wish I'd been able to read that one regularly, because I liked what I read in the debut issue, but distance from ongoing experience kept making me fall back on my other impression of the series and/or character: that he looks like the Tron of Steel in his new outfit.

Which is unfortunate for a lot of reasons.  The original clone version of Superboy, from the days of the "Reign of the Supermen" arc following the original Doomsday storyline (in case you didn't know, there's a new one going on at the moment) was always a favorite character of mine (I liked all of DC's teen heroes in those days, actually).  I didn't necessarily want a reboot of the character, especially since the welcome if different revision Geoff Johns cooked up for another Teen Titans reboot had already created for me sometimes too much distance from it.  And also, Tron of Steel.  But Superman #25 is a reminder that there actually is plenty to like about the newest iteration.  Lobdell is a big reason why.  He's got a knack for getting in the head of his characters, and knowing how to present them.  Think Mark Waid's Flash.  

The H'El arc has intersected Superman, Superboy, and Supergirl for a while.  H'El has been having a strong impact on Supergirl, too, drawing out what makes the latest iteration of this character so special for the reboot as well.  Supergirl is no longer just another Character of Steel on Earth, but rather seems to inhabit her own corner.  In the past it's been incredibly easy just to play up her relationship to Superman (or if you're Peter David, ditch everything and...basically write a different character entirely, maybe one called, oh, Fallen Angel).  I don't know a whole lot about what was going on with Supergirl prior to H'El first appearing, but her appearance in Superman #25 is as strong as anyone else's.

Including Jor-El.  Lobdell has come up with the kind of story Jonathan Hickman tried doing in Fantastic Four a few years back (before the "death" of Johnny Storm).  Surprisingly, few writers have tried to come up with ways for Superman to team up with his father.  Now, technically that's about as impossible as it gets, given the circumstances.  But "impossible" is the middle name of comic books.  So what do you expect?

The issue spells out everything you need to know about the whole H'El arc, including how the villain came into being.  This is also the arc's conclusion, which is handy if you only want to sample the thing.  But I think, even if one long arc and one creation under their belt, Lobdell and Rocafort have an excellent legacy behind them, the kind they deserve.

Rocafort isn't as astonishing here as I'd like, but it's clearly still his work, and that's good enough.  It's completely atypical for Superman (you'll certainly believe a man can fly...into the fantastic!), as it was for the characters in Red Hood.  He's the version of the Aspen template that has something on the mind other than Michael Turner's long lady torsos.  

Anyway, I'm glad I finally caught up with these guys.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #3

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Kenneth Rocafort

One of the more controversial "New 52" series, mostly because old readers assumed new readers would prefer to see Starfire as she was featured in the Teen Titans cartoon than how she's been presented in every comic book appearance ever (*cough*), and one of the books I was personally most interested in at least sampling (because I'M NOT READING COMICS ANYMORE).

This issue seemed like a great one to sample, since it dredges up what Lobdell presents as the happiest memories of main characters Red Hood (Jason Todd), Arsenal (Roy Harper) and Starfire (Koriand'r), three outsiders (but not actually calling them that probably helps make that point better at this point) struggling to move on with their lives. That Starfire managed to retain spoiled-princess-mode even in the worst possible circumstances should theoretically make her that much more interesting. That Arsenal is still defined in his own mind by a guy trying to overcome his worst moment makes more sense than his now increasingly tenuous ties to Green Arrow. That Red Hood can still manage happy thoughts about his time as Robin brings out so much more to his character than most writers and readers have considered in some time.

All this suggests that Lobdell is a perfect writer for all three, and that as a long-term deal, this is exactly what I hoped it'd be, one of the more intriguing developments of the "New 52," since all three characters have struggled in recent years to make a mark.