Action Comics was decent. A little overblown by it's hype, but it wasn't a bad story by any means. It's failing might be that it doesn't really cover any new ground, and it could have easily been a story fit into continuity before the relaunch. It's a decent retelling of the original stories from the 30's, but it didn't really need to take the place of modern canon. Doesn't really offer anything new enough to warrant that. At worst, it's a 7/10.
Detective Comics was also decent. Didn't go in expecting much because Tony Daniel's a terrible writer, but he did a decent enough job with this. Honestly, like Action, it suffers from being a little too much of the same when this is supposed to be a retelling of some sort. If they really wanted to launch a new universe, they should have gone all out, and if they didn't, they shouldn't have tried to market it as a new universe. Detective gets a 6/10, but Daniel usually writes decent beginnings to his arcs. The stories only go downhill as he progresses, which is probably what will happen here.
Batgirl was a little better. Simone obviously knows what she's doing, so it was never a question of that. The big flaw in the issue is that the story isn't nessecarily that exciting - we see Barbara in action as Batgirl, saving a family from a group of serial killers, but it ends and we're kind of left with barely anything beyond it. And I think the fact that the villain's next victim is supposed to be Babs is a little too on the nose. Aside from those complaints, and the fact that we're not going to find out how exactly Barbara can walk again, the characterization and art saved it. 7.5/10.
Stormwatch was not my cup of tea. Honestly, it's not a bad comic book at all, it seems to actually be good. But the concept wasn't something that I felt I needed to check out, so it's totally not in the ballpark of what sort of stories I like. Would someone like it if they liked the concept? Absolutely, Cornell is a great writer and the art left me without many complaints. But it's just not my thing. If I kept reading it, I might warm up to it, but I just don't care enough right now. 6.5/10 for the effort, at least.
Swamp Thing was bloody fantastic. Easily the best read of the week so far. I'm not a fan of the character by any stretch simply because I've only read one issue of any past run, but Snyder got me hooked with this. The story really plays to his strength as a writer, that being the horror genre. Added to it is the stunning visuals of Yanick Paquette, who's becoming one of my favorite pencillers at DC. I'm positive that this will be an iconic run if it keeps this pace of quality. 9/10, it absolutely works.
Justice League International was nothing special. I know alot of people liked it, and it wasn't flat out terrible, but it wasn't great to me, either. It's just about what you'd expect and makes no attempt to be anything more, but given that I like to be wowed whenever I'm trying to get into a story, I was left disappointed. Booster Gold is of course Dan Jurgens' bread and butter, so he's written adequately, but the rest of the characterizations were left rather bland. I hate to be a pessimist in that regard, but I just wasn't invested. 5/10.
Batwing was mediocre. For a book that's supposed to be selling us on a brand new character, not to mention justify another extension of a character with perhaps a few too many extensions already, this really didn't do anything to tell me that Batwing is a nessecary addition to the team. If anything, it feels like Winnick was pitched the character, didn't know what to do with him, and went with making him police at the last minute to tie it all together. It wasn't a story that made me care, much like JLI didn't. The real saving grace of the book, maybe the only saving grace, was the art. Still a little more engaging than International, but that's not saying much. 5/10.
Animal Man was pretty damn interesting. I have to say that for a character I've never gotten into and know barely anything about, Lemire did a good job of providing a clear introduction that I felt was accessible enough to gauge my interest. I'm sure that people that know the character already know the basics, but it was still something for an outsider like myself to behold. See, this is what the DCnU should be about - introducing people to characters they might not have given a chance before. Because I'm totally sold on Animal Man now. The only thing that bothered me about it was the contrast between classic superheroics and the horror element, which could be jarring, but overall I thought it worked well. 8/10.
Hawk And Dove wasn't interesting in the slightest. Most of what is in the actual book was already covered in the far superior Brightest Day, and the fact that I'm expected to ignore Rob Liefeld's inadequacies as an artist really doesn't help me like it any more. We get it, Hawk and Dove are joined at the hip. Hank misses his brother, Don. Dove is dating Deadman. It's all stuff that we've been over before. And yes, while I do understand that new readers need to be introduced to the concept of Hawk and Dove, it should be the responsibility of the editorial to make sure that current readers are enticed aswell. It's basically just a character piece, and I didn't care before, so I don't care now. 4/10.
Men Of War was okay. Like with Stormwatch, war drama really isn't my cup of tea, but I can tell that the writer knew what he was talking about. It's just hard for me to be engaged when it's a genre I really don't care for. The art is fitting, the characterization is fitting, and I'm sure people who like war drama would like this. I just can't bring myself to care. But simply because I can tell that this was of better quality than something like Hawk and Dove, I'll give it a 6/10.
OMAC was a book. That's about all I can say. Didio isn't a terrible writer if this is any indication (honestly, I read none of his Outsiders run), but he's mediocre. Nothing he writes really grabs at you, and his version of OMAC reads pretty much like a mind-controlled Hulk. Which I guess fits the spirit of the original character, but it's not something that works today. The Omac Virus? That worked, that was awesome. This is just... there. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. The REAL draw of this book is the fantastic, absolutely brilliant artwork done by Giffen. He doesn't just channel Kirby, he all but ressurrects Kirby. The man draws a brilliant layout and does everything he can to make this book feel like a real gem, even though I didn't think it was. Overall, 5/10.
I'm still trying to figure out what I thought of Green Arrow and Static Shock... but the former isn't giving me much of a reason to pick it up, while the latter may have wrote itself into a corner already with an ending I felt may have been put there for no reason.
Overall, though, I'm satisfied that DC is making me consider picking up at least 6 titles on a regular basis rather than the three I would have looked at before.
