Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities DC: One Year Later-General Discussion

Just want to say that I made the big jump and added Firestorm to my pull list. When it came out sans Ronnie Raymond, I made no effort to hide the fact that I was pissed. After all, I often could care less about creators and new characters and really buy comics for characters that I have a long time invested interest in.

But a few issues picked up here and there made me like Jason, and the addition of Prof. Stein and Firehawk to the cast, as well as some super-villains and a more central role in the DCU have tipped the scales. I have to say that OYL, Firestorm has been pretty accessible and actually very good. I reccomend it to everyone. I wish something good could be done with Ronnie (hell, make him a supporting player even). I want more Martin Stein, but can be patient.

I think Firestorm has possibly *the* coolest costume in the history of comics, and some of the coolest powers (despite being difficult to wrap your brain around). I'd like to see him the new JLA. OK DC, you wore me down and got me to buy Firestorm. Now don't screw it up. And don't think I'll allow the same chance for the new Flash

Thanks for the info, Cobie!

Fingers crossed in the hope that we'll see the uniformed Orchid again. Maybe in addition to Suzy, who I *did* like. But I miss the superheroic version of the character.

Superman/Batman? You might as well say Elseworlds. Has this series been connected to the DCU recently? Maybe changes in creative teams will alter this.

Maybe this Dick has some of the Earth II Dick Grayson in him now. Didn't Kal-L sort of imply that his Earth's Robin wasn't quite the man that Earth 1's is-- or should I say was?

Whatever- I think DC is taking some big mis-steps with Richard Grayson.

Y'know what I miss? The Hawks (or any superhero duo) as a relatively happy married couple.

I liked the combined Thanagar/Egypt origins scenario, too. But it was definitely second-best, as far as character backgrounds go.

She's the daughter of a senator named Knight, at any rate.

I wonder if there'll end up being just one Atomic Knight when this is all over?

I thought Father Time's m.o. of recycling 'old names' was pretty interesting. I hope it and he are around awhile.

Anyone interested in Kyle Rayner's future? ION just got interesting...

Well, its been a few months, so I'm going to give my judgements on which comics benefitted and which didn't for DC OYL:

DC’s Best OYL: A+ Grade
52
Green Lantern
Teen Titans
Action Comics
Superman
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis
Firestorm: the Nuclear Man (I’m officially a fan now, really b/c of OYL)
Batman
Detective Comics
Birds of Prey
Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes
Wonder Woman
Secret Six mini-series

Not as good as the ‘best’, but still pretty good: A- to B- Grade
Green Arrow
Manhunter
Robin
Catwoman
Checkmate
Atom
Green Lantern Corps
Supergirl
Battle for Bludhaven/Uncle Sam & Freedom Fighters
Spectre mini-series

Meh: C Grade
Hawkgirl
Blue Beetle
JSA (that will change, I’m sure)
Outsiders (sorry, but Nightwing doesn’t torture)
Flash
Shadowpact (waiting to love this, but at this point, just waiting)
Ion (but I haven’t read #3, so CJ’s above post has me interested)

Actually pretty damn horrible: F Grade
Nightwing

Too early to tell/not released
Martian Manhunter
Creeper
Mystery in Space
Tales of the Unexpected
Omega Men
Terra

Won’t get
Trials of SHAZAM
OMAC

I’m not including the Classifieds or Superman/Batman, because they really don’t count. Superman/Batman started out as *the* DC book that connected the whole DCU, now it hasn’t fit in continuity in months. DC’s other great books that don’t count are of course Jonah Hex and All-Star Superman (the less said about All-Star Batman, the better).

Cobie, you should be getting TRIALS OF SHAZAM.

I've heard good things about MARTIAN MANHUNTER and MYSTERY IN SPACE.

CREEPER isn't bad, but there's not much of the creep factor. Justiniano makes it look good tho'.

And, Ion is being watched by the Monitors. Not in the same way they hovered in NIGHTWING recently. We got a full on face off with one of them for a brief moment.

Ish #7 is a good place to pick up this story. It recaps Kyle's recent past, and sets his current status quo. We get some hints about his immediate future too.

Given recent Nightwings, Ions, Martian Manhunters, etc., I will now update the list:

DC’s Best OYL: A+ Grade
52
Green Lantern
Teen Titans
Action Comics
Superman
Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis
Firestorm: the Nuclear Man
Batman
Detective Comics
Birds of Prey
Supergirl & the Legion of Super-Heroes
Wonder Woman
Secret Six mini-series

Not as good as the ‘best’, but still pretty good: A- to B- Grade
Green Arrow
Manhunter
Robin (although I usually wait and wait to read it, I'm usually satisfied after doing so)
Catwoman
Checkmate
Atom
Green Lantern Corps
Supergirl
Uncle Sam & Freedom Fighters
Spectre mini-series (now finished)
ION
Martian Manhunter
Mystery in Space
Nightwing (okay, one issue in, but Marv did a rockin' job)
Blue Beetle (its growing on me)
Superman/Batman
JSA Classified (latest Hourman arc has started off AWESOME)

Meh: C Grade
Hawkgirl (still horrible enough to make me shake me head)
Outsiders (likewise)
Flash (the biggest dissapointment out of ALL of 2006)
Shadowpact
Creeper
JLA Classified (this comic hasn't had a good arc since Bwahaha)

Too early to tell/not released
JSA
Tales of the Unexpected
Omega Men
Terra

Won’t get
Trials of SHAZAM
OMAC

Don't Count
Jonah Hex - doesn't get much better than this
All-Star Superman - likewise
All-Star Batman & Robin - heh...enough to make any fan shake their head in shame

Okay, with all the raving about Trials of SHAZAM, I guess maybe I'll pick it up. Winick's recent Green Arrow arc is pretty good...

And to answer Ceej, I agree about recent Ions. I think the Monitors and that type of role in the DCU for him is a great way to set him apart and give the character a continuing chance to shine (while staying connected to the much improved new status quo of the GLs).

PS - Am I leaving one out? Call me on it!

http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/shazam1.htm

Whose creative team are off as of the end of the current arc. There's a three-part fill-in, and then, well, sales are pretty low...

I know (about Firestorm). I really just got into this too recently and think it improves with every issue.

For a person completely fed up with DC, I'd reccomend Firestorm, Atom and Aquaman in a heartbeat.

Sorry, 'Boot- that reviewer isn't looking objectively. He spends most of his review telling us the only two possible moods for Cap & crew. And he's completely off base about which characters are invovled in the story.

ION is dealing with the Tangent Green Lantern, found during IC fall out. And there's over a dozen Monitors roaming around. Anyone looking for the rebirth of the multiverse needs to pay attention.

The latest issue of Ion was actually the best one so far. Marz is good at showing characterization for Kyle, and he did a good job with his Mother.

The Tangent stuff is a pleasant surprise. I love that DC is using Ion, Omega Men, Mystery in Space, etc. to get the next big 'event' installment going.

Hey Cobie, did you pick up Trials of Shazam? What have you thought of it?

Actually, I haven't picked it up at all yet. Trials of SHAZAM and OMAC have kind of gotten the shaft from me for various reasons. What do you think of it, Vee? Should I give it a shot?

Other pretty good DC comics with no threads
Robin - latest issue had an intro to a Klarion team-up and was very well-paced and interesting. I'm liking Robin right now.

Martian Manhunter - although slower than I would have wanted, this is actually a pretty good story being presented to us for J'Onn. The latest issue had a [very] brief appearance by Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Vixen, etc. but it worked pretty well. I'm really digging the art above all.

Just cause I can... BUMP

Well, so far OYL hasn't impressed me much. A lot of changes DC made simply haven't panned out. Many of them were drug out of the latest Crisis and have tanked. Hawk(man/girl) is the latest under the knife, and i really liked this book before the change.

Aquaman...man, Kurt Busiek couldn't keep me on the book, and he is comics legend as far as i am concerned.

The diversity agenda...what can i say? Rather than replacing characters with histories and stories that a good writer could have done something with...they insulted everyone by force-feeding characters to us that were simple name changes.

Jason might be a great character, but after years of boosting Ron's return, only to have it slapped down...i just wasn't going to buy it.

They should have made great characters that happened to be ethnicaly..ethnicly...$#!+, however it is spelled...diverse and let them build a fan base. Many of us called for more diverse characters for years. We just never thought the writers were so creatively distressed that they couldn't come up with anything new. Part of that i blame on writers and editors wanting to hoard their creations for possible independant books that have cartoon crossover appeal. They've got a right to earn a living, but if they are gonna build a name for themselves on the books of DC, they should put their best out there.

Another big problem i have is one i have been talking about since the second yearly "event". The big stories take place in event books rather than in the regular books that really need the boost and sales. That to me is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Well, thats my take, anyway.

Whereas I'm all for the crossovers happening in separate minis. This way a writer I'm enjoying doesn't have to shoe horn a story. If a character is written well in the mini- than readers will hunt down their solo titles.

I'm the same. I'd rather see the mini- or maxi-series than one that ties into multiple titles. I hate cross-overs that hit almost every title in a publisher's line. I'm glad I've been able to ignore most of the OYL titles.

Just a few more comments about ION...

- Captain Atom in the Monarch armour
- Tangent characters out and about
- Guy Gardner being trustworthy
- Kyle being sent to explore a rift in the universe
- The Bleed (for all you WS readers)