On the eve of the DC Relaunch, my list of #1s I'm buying has now been beefed up to a scary 20. I don't expect to be buying all of these titles for the long haul, and some of them might not make it past #1, but here, in order of anticipation, is my top 20 New 52 comics:
1. BATMAN
My favorite hero, being written by one of my favorite current writers, being drawn by a great artist? SOLD! Snyder's Detective Comics was brilliant, and with the way he was really able to dig into the psyches of both Dick Grayson and Jim Gordon, I can't wait to see what he does with Bruce Wayne. I see the Bat-torch passing from Morrison to Snyder, and when you combine that with the Nolan movies and the Arkham video game series, I think this is going to be look back on as one of the all-time great periods of Batman's history.
2. ACTION COMICS
It was going to take something special to get over my anger at Action Comics being renumbered to #1 for the first time since its launch in 1938, but they did it. Grant Morrison, my writing hero, returning to the character after his legendary All Star Superman? Even Superman in jeans can't put me off that can't-miss prospect.
3. SWAMP THING
Scott Snyder again. Alan Moore's Swamp Thing is one of the all-time great runs in comics, and I don't think any other writer has quite been able to live up to those heady heights. But I have a feeling that if anyone might just be able to pull it off, it's Snyder. And Yanick Paquette's art seems to be evoking the visual innovation of Steve Bissette. Very excited about this one.
4. STORMWATCH
Confession: I've never read The Authority. But even so, with all that I've read and seen about this relaunch of Stormwatch, it seems like the perfect title for Paul Cornell, a writer who I'm a huge fan of. And Martian Manhunter's in it!
5. JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK
Yes, I think this team book could end up stealing the show from Justice League proper. Really intriguing lineup for the team, and the art I've seen so far has been jawdropping gorgeous.
6. DEMON KNIGHTS
Paul Cornell again, and this seems like the fantasy book to feed my revived love for the genre in the wake of Game of Thrones. With the oddball team dynamic populated with some outright villainous characters, I think this could become a spiritual successor of sorts to Secret Six.
7. WONDER WOMAN
I've never bought a Wonder Woman comic, and I don't even have the best working knowledge of the character's mythology. But the DC animated movie from a while back made me interested in the potential of the character with the right entry point. And I don't think there's going to be a better entry point than this.
8. JUSTICE LEAGUE
It's Geoff Johns and Jim Lee on Justice League. You don't get much bigger than that. After some years in the wilderness, it's about time that this title once again became the crown jewel centrepiece of the DCU. And I'm really willing for that to happen here.
9. BATWOMAN
The character of Batwoman has long sparked my interest, enough that I gave her stint on Detective Comics a try. And while I thought Greg Rucka's story was good, what really made the series stand out was the stunning artwork of J.H. Williams III. So much so that, even with Rucka out of the picture, this is a comic I still anticipate. You know it's going to be beautiful. But whether or not Williams can write anywhere as good as he can draw will be the test of if I come back for more.
10. ANIMAL MAN
I'm a big fan of Jeff Lemire, and loved Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, so this series excited me from the moment it was announced. A couple of months back, I'd have ranked it top 5 easy. But the poorly-colored artwork from the recently-released preview dampened my excitement for the book quite a bit. Still looking forward to seeing how Lemire brings Buddy Baker and his family to life, though.
11. FRANKENSTEIN: AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E
This is almost the exact same scenario as the post above. My love of Lemire's work and Grant Morrison's earlier tenure with the character made this a must-buy prospect for me, but poorly-colored preview art dampened my excitement. A shame.
12. AQUAMAN
Now, I'm not a huge Aquaman fan. He's another guy who I don't really know that much about, as regards his comic history. I learned more from trustyside-kick's immersive RPG posts with the character than I ever did from reading any comics with him. But I'm really curious to see if the old Green Lantern dream team of Johns and Reis can propel Aquaman to the A-list much like they did for Green Lantern.
13. BATGIRL
Barbara Gordon is a character who I've liked when she's a supporting character in someone else's book, but haven't really seeked out when she's a main character in her own book, like Birds of Prey. But with Gail Simone back writing her here, along with the major intrigue about how she's managed to get out of the wheelchair, this one I'll be keen to check out, even if it's only for an issue to dip my toes in the water.
14. DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS
This is an unusual one, as it's only just slipped in at the absolute 11th hour. See, I've long liked the concept of the Deadman character, more from him popping up as a supporting character in other comics I've read rather than actually reading any Deadman comics. And I remember thinking, "If this was Deadman #1, I'd pick this up in a flash, but I'm not getting invested in this series if Deadman's only in it for an arc." But recently, I had an epiphany: why is that stopping me buying this first issue? If anything, it should encourage me, because now I know that no matter how good this story is, I can drop it and have one less item on my buy list after 5 issues.
15. GREEN LANTERN
At one point, Green Lantern was my most anticipated comic of each month. But recently, you could even say over the past year, it's become a comic where I'll read it, quite like it, then instantly forget about it until the next issue is out. I'm buying it more out of habit than genuine passion. I'm looking to this new #1 to reignite my passion for the franchise, and if it fails, I'll be saying goodbye to Green Lantern for now.
16. THE FLASH
Francis Manapul's art is amazing. I lost interest in the last volume of The Flash and stopped buying after the first arc. But Francis Manapul's art is amazing. And with Geoff Johns gone and Manapul taking over scripting duties, I fear the stories could have even less chance of grabbing me. But have I mentioned Francis Manapul's art is amazing? I'll give it a go for one issue, and see if the writing is competent enough to not hamper my enjoyment of that lush, gorgeous art.
17. I, VAMPIRE
Another late bloomer, this one. I wasn't interested in this one at all, but the preview art released a while back totally knocked my socks off. And I hear Josh Falkiov is actually a really great writer whose done some great horror work, so I'll use this as a chance to check him out.
18. CATWOMAN
We really haven't heard much about Catwoman since the early going, and amidst the recent blitz of publicity from the other titles I'd almost forgotten about this one. I'm mainly buying it because I like Catwoman, and I'm curious to see if I like her enough to buy a monthly solo title featuring her.
19. THE FURY OF FIRESTORMS: THE NUCLEAR MEN
I'll start by saying I have no interest at all in the Firestorm character or concept. None. Nada. I've went back and forth on whether or not to buy this at all. But the sheer irresistability of the creative team has lured me in. The always dependable Gail Simone is writing, co-plotting with great ideas man (and awesome cover artist) Ethan Van Sciver, and artist Yildiray Cidar (whose work I loved in Nothingface) is drawing. I'm giving them one issue to see if they can make me a Firestorm fan... but I doubt it.
20. RESURRECTION MAN
How lame is this? I'm getting this book for two reasons. First, I was feeling neurotic about having 19 titles on my buy list, and wanted to find something to round it up to a nice 20. Second, I felt bad about trying every other DCU Dark title and not this one, and thought it only fair to try this to. Again, a very late addition to my list, and will probably be one of the first to be dropped unless issue #1 wows me.
