DCU Dark

[El Bastardo]

I'd recommend Animal Man, Swamp Thing, DC Universe Presents, Resurrection Man, and I, Vampire. Demon Knights and Justice League Dark were all right, but I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll continue beyond their first arcs.

Check on Swamp Thing, DCUPDeadman, and Resurrection Man. Got those. I also got Demon Knights, which will remain while Stormwatch goes away, but it'll get another hard look when #2 comes around.

Animal Man, man, I don't know. Lemire impressed me with Frankenstein, but if I had any interest in Animal Man, I'd collect-and-bookshelf Morrison's work on the guy. I remember being okay with him in 52, but I wasn't depressed when his time in the series came to a close.

I, Vampire, really? Fialkov's a fine writer, but vampires, man.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I'd recommend Animal Man, Swamp Thing, DC Universe Presents, Resurrection Man, and I, Vampire. Demon Knights and Justice League Dark were all right, but I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll continue beyond their first arcs.

I though that DC Universe Presents was a Justice League branded title.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It follows Deadman right now, and he's clearly in the DCU Dark stable of characters...

Check on Swamp Thing, DCUPDeadman, and Resurrection Man. Got those. I also got Demon Knights, which will remain while Stormwatch goes away, but it'll get another hard look when #2 comes around.

Animal Man, man, I don't know. Lemire impressed me with Frankenstein, but if I had any interest in Animal Man, I'd collect-and-bookshelf Morrison's work on the guy. I remember being okay with him in 52, but I wasn't depressed when his time in the series came to a close.

I, Vampire, really? Fialkov's a fine writer, but vampires, man.

Animal Man looks to be a fine balance between supernatural horror and family dramedy. It strikes a really unique tone that I ended up liking a lot, and I've never been anything other than indifferent to Animal Man myself. I actually went out and bought the Morrison trades because I enjoyed Lemire's take so much. Haven't read them yet, though.

I, Vampire surprised me. Long story short: It's about a vampire dude who turned his girlfriend into a vampire only to find that, unlike him, she didn't retain her humanity. She turned out evil as all f***. So he managed to keep her at bay for a few hundred years with the starcross'd lovers routine, but now she's decided that's over and she's declaring war on all the humans of Earth. The fun part is that the Earth they live on is the same one that Superman, Batman, et al. live on. So it's looking like it'll be this one vampire dude, Andrew, fighting a shadow-war against his vampire brethren that will inevitably spill over onto the superheroes' turf. That plus Fialkov's writing and the lovely art were enough to convince me to stick with it for the time being.

 

[Anubis]

I don't really see how that's all that big of a deal. Superman alone should be able to wipe out an entire Vampire hoard. Unless they're gonna go with the boos**t excuse that Vampires, being magic, can somehow bite Supes impenetrable hide.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, vampires are a bit more magicky in I, Vampire. They can shapeshift into seemingly any animal and survive sunlight and stakes to the heart. The only thing that really seems to kill them for realsies is a good beheading.

It creates a rather strange incongruity for me, given that I just read Alan Moore's Swamp Thing arc where the vampires in Rosewood are killed by running water. Not holy water or anything. Just water... that's moving.

 

[Keyser Soze]

I don't really see how that's all that big of a deal. Superman alone should be able to wipe out an entire Vampire hoard. Unless they're gonna go with the boos**t excuse that Vampires, being magic, can somehow bite Supes impenetrable hide.

They actually acknowledge this in the comic. Andrew says he's trying to stop Mary's plan, not because she believes she'll succeed in her conquest, but because bringing the vampires to the attention of the superheroes will result in vampire genocide, because they can't hope to match the supers in open combat. It creates a kind of "vampires as terrorists" metaphor, where the vampires aren't the heaviest hitters, but use fear and fanaticism as weapons.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Well, vampires are a bit more magicky in I, Vampire. They can shapeshift into seemingly any animal and survive sunlight and stakes to the heart. The only thing that really seems to kill them for realsies is a good beheading.

It creates a rather strange incongruity for me, given that I just read Alan Moore's Swamp Thing arc where the vampires in Rosewood are killed by running water. Not holy water or anything. Just water... that's moving.

I think that could fit with the pre-cinema depiction of vampires, though, considering that vampires being unable to cross running water is an aspect of the oldest vampire tales.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Check on Swamp Thing, DCUPDeadman, and Resurrection Man. Got those. I also got Demon Knights, which will remain while Stormwatch goes away, but it'll get another hard look when #2 comes around.

Animal Man, man, I don't know. Lemire impressed me with Frankenstein, but if I had any interest in Animal Man, I'd collect-and-bookshelf Morrison's work on the guy. I remember being okay with him in 52, but I wasn't depressed when his time in the series came to a close.

I, Vampire, really? Fialkov's a fine writer, but vampires, man.

I've already talked about I, Vampire, but I'd definitely say check out Animal Man, too. It's better than Frankenstein (which I also really liked), making it Lemire's best New 52 book, and Travel Foreman is doing some really cool stuff with the art. Also, if you're buying Swamp Thing, it seems like those two have a kind of shared mythology between them. You can read them seperately, but it seems like reading both will enrichen the experience of reading each of them.

 

[Mystirious]

Same here, Justice League Dark was kinda underwhelming. Especially since I was really hyped up for it after being blown away by several DC Dark titles

Isn't anybody ever just whelmed

She had moxie.

I have a feeling I'm just gonna drop JLD by the end of this arc and re-read Wagner's Madame Xanadu.

You should totally re read it anyway. I'm rereading the series at the moment and loving it more and more each time

It's good stuff. I really hope that one day they bring the Vertigo Madame Xanadu series back with Wagner writing it again

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think that could fit with the pre-cinema depiction of vampires, though, considering that vampires being unable to cross running water is an aspect of the oldest vampire tales.

Ah. I never heard of the running water thing before. But Moore didn't even come up with it. That Rosewood story was a continuation of a story from an earlier issue in Saga of the Swamp Thing written by Martin Pasko, and the majority of the town's vampires were killed by running water in that issue too. So I guess Pasko's the pre-movie vampire buff.

 

[Mystirious]

Vampires have all kinds of wacky weaknesses its true

 

[X Knight]

well, I picked up JL Dark.

not really being familiar with any of the characters, it was......interesting, if not a bit creepy and unsettling ( but I guess that's the point.....lol ).

I did feel that the issue came to an end right when it was starting to get going ( which is kind of how I felt about most of the relaunch titles ).

also, I loved how Zatanna didn't take **** from Batman.

 

[Mystirious]

She just magic-ed him up and was all '**** I'mma go save the world'

Despite her appalling lack of fishnets I really dug Zatanna this issue. I agree though it did feel like it was over to quickly and it was too light on plot.

Still I'll be buying the next issue of this series as I am pretty interested in this story

 

[X Knight]

I might check out the 2nd issue, too. hopefully more "action" will take place.....lol

and after reading the 1st issue, I am even more convinced that Raven should be in this book. Maybe Trigon will be a threat in a future story arc and Raven will show up then.......

 

[CrimsonMist]

Ah. I never heard of the running water thing before. But Moore didn't even come up with it. That Rosewood story was a continuation of a story from an earlier issue in Saga of the Swamp Thing written by Martin Pasko, and the majority of the town's vampires were killed by running water in that issue too. So I guess Pasko's the pre-movie vampire buff.

Yea, the running water thing is pre-movie vampire stuff. However, it is what's used to defeat Dracula in the third Hammer Dracula film with Christopher Lee, "Dracula: Prince of Darkness"

And the "walking in daylight but depowered" thing is taken from Dracula. In the novel, he can wander about during the day but he isn't at his full strength. The limitations are never stated though. Whether he can shape-shift in the afternoon is unknown.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I prefer the straight nocturnal thing. Sunlight = bursting into flames, period. Makes everything a lot simpler.

 

[X Knight]

I prefer the straight nocturnal thing. Sunlight = bursting into flames, period. Makes everything a lot simpler.

unless, of course, you're a vampire.......

then I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate the whole sunlight = bursting into flames thing.......

it would make those summer vacation trips to the beach a real pain in the.......

 

[chamber-music]

As long as Vamps don't 'sparkle' in the daylight I'm happy

 

[redhawk23]

I don't really see how that's all that big of a deal. Superman alone should be able to wipe out an entire Vampire hoard. Unless they're gonna go with the boos**t excuse that Vampires, being magic, can somehow bite Supes impenetrable hide.

He couldn't stop a swarm of witches teeth.

 

[Anubis]

A swarm of Witches teeth ain't vampires.

I think a swarm of witches teeth could take out a bunch of vampires easier than they could a Superman.

 

[Mystirious]

But if witches teeth can cut Superman maybe Vampire teeth can too

 

[redhawk23]

^My point exactly. I don't agree with either doing the amount of damage the witches teeth did though.

 

[Anubis]

I got your point, I just think it's boos**t.

That was a spell. Teeth is teeth. When you got magic teeth floating independently around tearing through people like locusts, then that's a bit different from elongated fangs. At least it f**king should be.

 

[Mystirious]

It's magic 'Nubs

They don't have to explain it

 

[Keyser Soze]

I can't believe Swamp Thing and Animal Man #2 are out on Wednesday already. This month flew by!