TOP TEN NEW DC BOOKS

MIKE AND RYAN ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO

 

We here at Pop Filter have taken a vow to you, the reader, to cover all bases of pop culture. All bases, except for comic books, which are for silly little bitches. But, sometimes news can be so big in the long forgotten world of comics that just barely touches the furthest limits of our radar, and cannot be ignored. Starting in September, DC Comics, which stands for Detective Comics Comics, is restarting their entire “universe”. They’re not calling it a reboot. They’re not calling it a restart. And they certainly aren’t calling it a comeback, although that’s exactly what it is. DC sells less than Marvel, which sells less than my cousin’s lemonade stand. Something had to give, and that something is dumping some of their continuity headache, and starting from “scratch.” Two of your Pop Filter writers, Mike Gravagno and Ryan Haley, are going to tackle the entire universe. They are going to review every comic, and keep you updated on if this is going to revolutionize the comic industry, or send yet another flaming arrow into its floating pyre. We know you don’t care. They know you don’t care. But in lieu of our typical Monday top ten, and all its pithy glory, Pop Filter presents you the top ten comics we’re most excited about. September is about to get fucking nerdy.

 

(in no-particular alphabetical order)

1. Action Comics

Grant Morrison has been the architect behind Batman for about half a decade now, and in that time has killed him, brought him back, and had him start a superhero business named Batman, Inc. Starting in September, Morrison is taking off the cowl and tackling the big blue boy scout, and no one in the DCU needs more of a Morrison style shake-up. Superman’s icon status, mixed with his constant need to be boring as fuck, makes him the perfect target. Little is known about where the character will be when the line restarts, but we do know that Lois Lane is history, and he will be severely de-powered. This is already a great start, and will immediately add a little bit of drama to the typical “boy meets monster, boy punches monster, monster dies” Superman story that we’re used to. – RH

2. All Star Western

In an unbelievable accomplishment, the comic book “Jonah Hex”, a western about an asshole with a scar, has made it to issue 70. You may have not heard of Jonah Hex due to a movie that came out last summer that you didn’t see. The fact that a genre book (no tights/no flights) lasted more than six issues is a rarity in the current landscape, and DC decided to reward the book by keeping it as one of the new 52…kind of. “All-Star Western” will keep the same creative team of “Jonah Hex”, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti, and a rotating stable of pitch-perfect artists, and, for the most part, it will keep Jonah. Jonah should have a feature in every issue, but in addition to that, we get back-ups stories, which I can only assume will be westerns, or about All-Stars. In the case of the latter, I’m hoping for a “Pro-Stars” reunion, featuring Wayne Gretsky, Bo Jackson, and Michael Jordan. I would read the shit out of the comic for 12 seconds. – RH

3. Animal Man

You’ve probably never heard about Animal Man. I read comics for years, and barely knew he existed let alone wanted to read anything about him. Some dude gets animal powers when they’re near? There’s no way that could be done in an interesting way… but then it was.  Grant Morrison revamped Animal Man in the eighties and changed this lame 2 bit hero into a postmodern philosophical near-spiritual being who eventually finds out he is a fictional character and discusses the nature of fiction with his writer Grant Morrison. It’s way cooler than it sounds, trust me. Since his original reboot, Animal Man has been taken back to a normal super-hero route to an animalistic god to horror comic, and like many heroes to death and back. I cannot wait to see what the new direction is led Jeff Lemire who wrote one of the most talked about indie comics of late. (Talked about by Ryan. Often.)- MG

4. Batman

Scott Snyder is the closest thing DC has to an up-and-coming superstar writer; the rest have been either signed by Marvel, or avoiding the Big Two altogether. Snyder is taking on two of the 52 new books, “Swamp Thing”, and that bad boy you see up above this: the Batman. He’s got enough street cred to get you excited about a book starring Swamp Thing, which is pretty impressive, but it’s his recent work on “Detective Comics”, not to mention the star power of one Bruce Wayne, gets on the list with no problem. Snyder was a real writer before he busted a nut into the hair of the comic scene. Sometimes this can be dangerous. Real writers don’t understand how to make the jump to writing in panel form. But Snyder instantly found the knack, and instead brings a much needed fresh voice to characters that can feel stale in lesser writer’s hands. Where you at, Marvel? Get his guy an exclusive deal, stat. – RH

5. Batman and Robin

Batman and Robin are fucking classics, and this incarnation of Robin is Damian, Bruce Wayne’s homicidal bat-shit crazy son. There have always been daddy/partner issues between the Dynamic Duo, but now it’s an actual father-son relation, and Damian, far more than other Robins, is going to tell Batman to fuck off. And the message is probably going to be sent in dead henchmen. I don’t know if I’m building up the possibility of violence too much, but holy blood bath Pop Filter readers, shit is going to get real. Batman has traditionally been the dark brooding type, but when Dick Grayson took over the cowl and Damian inherited the Robin, the dynamic switched. With this new line up, it’s once again going to  brooding Batman, but now partnered with an equally dark Robin. Villains of Gotham are about to be raped by terror. MG

6. Justice League of America

On the surface, “JLA” sounds fucking awesome. It’s a return to what the JLA is supposed to be: all of the DC heroes that you have actually heard of, saving the world once or twice a day. It’s also written by Geoff Johns, who is responsible for 90 percent of the shit that the DCU has gone through over the last ten years, and drawn by Jim Lee, who is still inexplicably a fan favorite, seeing how he has drawn little more than a bath in recent years. But the comic nerds now are the same comic nerds that were around during the 90’s explosion, when Jim Lee ruled the world. Is he still awesome at his job? Probably. Will the book eventually be dramatically late because it’s hard for him to draw more than fifteen minutes a day? Probably. But until then, we get this star-studded book, which takes place five years before the rest of the line does. Oh, DC. Is there a wacky idea that you’ll actually turn down?!? – RH

7. Justice League Dark

The Justice League are the shining examples of heroism, inspiring hope to the common folk who witness their battles against evil. But there are darker forces in the world; threats that the white knights of the DC universe can’t  dirty their hands with, and when a crazy powerful witch goes fucking nuts, Justice League Dark is called into play. I’m assuming they’re going to be a mystical wet works team for JLA, taking on the magical missions where what’s right isn’t divided between black and white. John Constantine, Deadman, Zatanna, Shade the Changing Man and Madame Xanadu are going to fight forces worse than death, and I’m having a magical nerdgasm thinking about it. Only once before have I had a magical nerdgasm, when on my eight birthday the hired magician said he could make the world change forever… I’m not going to get into that, but it was awful, except it sent me towards comics as a form as escapism and I’ve never looked back. Until now. Fuck. That story may not be true, but since a few of these characters are from the Vertigo imprint, stories are bound to get twisted. WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN THAT THE REGULAR JUSTICE LEAGUE CAN’T HANDLE IT?! It baffles my mind… -MG

8. Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man (Mitch Shelley) dies. A lot. And every time he dies, he comes back- hence the name Resurrection Man. But every time he comes back he has different powers. The infinite possibilities of the ever changing powers, while Mitch is trying to figure out who he is, and why he can’t die, and fucking up the unknown bad guys out to get him while they’re trying to figure out the same thing is just rad. If you can’t see that, you’re probably a jerk. -MG

9. Suicide Squad

First off, take a look at that picture. That’s the updated Harley Quinn in the center, backed by King Shark and Deadshot. Now I don’t know much about either of those guys, or where they come from, and frankly I couldn’t care less. The love of my life looks more badass than ever (full disclosure-classic Harley is tattooed on my leg) and is leading a team of death-row villains called the Suicide Squad. Which brings me to the second reason for being so excited about this book- the government sends this team on top secret missions where they’re almost certain to die, often hidden as villains tearing the town up doing random villain-y activities. Just like the man, innit? It’s like if the White House sent Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacey and Casey Anthony (topical!) to kill America’s enemies. That would be an insane comic, especially when it came to marketing. Seriously, how would you market that? Luckily, this comic has super powers, intrigue and not real world tragedy behind it. Good thinking DC on not using real killers, that would’ve been fucking weird.-MG

10. Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman?!? Who the FUCK wants to read Wonder Woman?!? Up until this point, not me, asshole. There are few fictional characters I know less about than Wonder Woman, and they are all from “Dr. Who.” This book is on this list strictly based on its creative team, which is half “hell yeah!” and half “uhh…what?”. First of all, Cliff Chiang. Look at that fucking crazy cover. I’m not typically an art guy; I’ll read poop on a napkin as long as the story is good. But Chiang is just different enough (just not-jim-lee enough) to be worth the price of admission on his own. Just wait until you see this guy’s layouts (because I know you can’t wait to read a Wonder Woman comic). And then there’s Brian Azzarello, the man behind “100 Bullets.” “Bullets” was a gritty, neo-noir anthology about a gun that comes with a license to kill, and how each one of the gun holders used it. Clearly, “Bullets” was all just a run-up to writing a Wonder Woman comic. Now I have to read god damned “Wonder Woman.” – RH