Graphic Novel Reviews: "New 52" Volume 1s - Justice League, All-Star Western, & Animal Man

The antipathy for the New 52 relaunch by DC was unsurprising but not always earned - there were many problems, of course, but it wasn't as if there were no problems in the line pre-Flashpoint. In this passing world below, perfection is not to be expected. However, I've found the Trade Praperback line a really enjoyable way into various DC heroes - though there are some clunkers! - and have a good collection of them. I thought I'd write some short reviews to discuss them. I'll also review other books in future, not just New 52. Tell me what you think.

New 52 Justice League Volume 1: Origin

W: Geoff Johns, P: Jim Lee, I: Scott Williams
 
The inauguration of the New 52 – though Flashpoint is the first story in the continuity – and a solid enough entry. This isn’t terribly well-reviewed as a collection, though not quite panned, but I think the critiques I see miss the mark.
 
The problem here isn’t the “repetition”, the titular origin of the Justice League (set five years before the “present day”) – the individual characters are introduced nicely, and I actually enjoyed the slightly bombastic early rivalries between Batman, Lantern, and Superman (with Lantern helped by Flash, who then mediates along with Batman). Nor is there a disjuncture, for me, between the relative interiority of Johns’ writing, compared to the blockbuster stylings of Lee – it’s not quite a perfect match, but both elements are good on the whole. (And the collection cover, from issue #1, is fantastic.)
 
The real issue, and the blame lays with both headliners, is that the actual story here is bad and badly presented. There are nice elements – Batman coaxing Hal Jordan into a leadership role, a brash young Superman, as well as silly elements – the sheer rapidity of Cyborg’s elevation – but the villain and his “arc” are just naff. Darkseid was the real Big Bad of the DCAU – he was built quite carefully from rather chilling subsidiary appearances in two minor episodes before appearing as an invader in the famous Apokolips...Now!, and his role in the universe went all the way through to the end of JLU. Here, the paradaemons pop up and invade due to exploding Boomtubey boxes, they kidnap people, and Darkseid turns up to fight the Justice League. He is hamfistedly introduced, his role is purely instrumental, and he comes off as lame. He is an “Avengers-level threat”, yes, but only by dint of us being hammered over the head with how bad this situation is. There’s no inner life to this story.
 
There is an epilogue here bringing in Pandora and the Gray Phantom, and some “background” prose pieces on the heroes, as well as sketches and covers. The main backup, Shazam!, is collected separately.
 
Collects Justice League #1-6.
 
6/10

New 52 All-Star Western Volume 1: Guns and Gotham

W: Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, A: Moritat
 
Jonah Hex teams with up with Amadeus Arkham and takes on the “Cult of Crime” in Gotham in the 1880s. This is, on the whole, really quite good, if limited by a reliance on easter eggs and perhaps not quite exploiting Hex’s Western genre roots.
 
I’ll address the final point first: aside from a couple pages at the end, and the included backups (Barbary Ghost and El Diablo), this is set entirely in Gotham, or underneath it. Both the volume’s title and Hex’s presence indicate a Weird Western – whereas this is “culture clash” Western at best, with the outlander coming to civilisation and struggling. Hex’s voice is sometimes overblown in its Cowboyness, precisely to contrast him with Gotham – but that simply adds a further jarring note.
 
On the other hand, the plot and setting are often good on their own terms. Moritat is uniformly good at drawing Gotham (more variable at drawing characters; an excellent Hex cover on issue #1 is not matched consistently in the pages themselves), and the Cult of Crime is an interesting and disturbing subtext to the plot of child-snatching. This, perhaps unfortunately, reminds me of BTAS’ “The Underdwellers” – but the real Sewer Kings here are the cabal of rich and powerful, who kidnap the Police Chief after he refuses to join. Another non-joiner is Alan Wayne, of course. This – and its sequel volume – ties in at various points to Scott Snyder’s concurrent exploration of Gotham’s secret history (including Alan Wayne’s role in it!) in Batman.
 
We do get a lot of “this is Gotham before Batman” stuff – Alan Wayne, Amadeus Arkham, Mayor Cobbleplot, giant bat in an enormous cave network beneath Wayne Manor, and the rest. This is usually okay but at points a little much. Using a Hex story to set up Batman material doesn’t feel fair on Hex.
 
Hex is captured quite well, though, as a man caught between light and dark, a Han Solo claiming to be a rogue, but motivated at points by higher duties. Arkham, too, is neurotic, nerdy, but willing to try to keep up with Hex.
 
The backups are both good fun – Barbary Ghost is original to Gray and Palmiotti, and is a nice addition. The art in both (not by Moritat) is very respectable. Barbary Ghost is not actually a Weird Western, but a tale of a San Francisco Chinese woman avenging her family upon the Triads in the late 19^th century, using smoke and mirrors to project a ghost-like persona; El Diablo is a Weird Western, and a satisfying one about a Ghost Rider/Hulk-type who can give over control to a demonic rider, to exact justice against the wicked. This has zombies in it, too. It’s good!
 
Collects All-Star Western #1-6.
 
7.5/10

New 52 Animal Man Volume 1: The Hunt

W: Jeff Lemire, A: Travel Foreman (John Paul Leon on one segment)
 
A great glory of the early New 52 – alongside Batman, Action Comics, Shazam!, and All-Star Western, amongst others – is the interlinking “Dark” stories of Animal Man, Swamp Thing, and Frankenstein & The Agents of S.H.A.D.E. The latter two were by Scott Snyder of Batman, who was on a hot streak for the ages; Buddy Baker the “Animal Man”, able to take on the powers of any animal, is taken by Jeff Lemire, who may end up as one of the real top tier of the writing canon. Turns out when you hire good writers (and give them good artists), special things happen.
 
Buddy is a washed-up superhero here, having just done a Mickey Rourke and starred in a film about being a washed up superhero (directed by “Ryan Daranofsky”, in fact!). His conflicted identity – his uncertainty about whether he wants the suit or not – clashes with his family life, where there are definitely tensions. This, naturally, is quickly exacerbated by his daughter turning out to be the Avatar of the “Red”, the true granter of Buddy’s powers, and one of the primal forces of nature (here, animal life; the “Green” of Swamp Thing represents plant life).
 
Hunting him are the Hunters Three, horrifying villains who serve the “Rot”, the anti-life equation of this particular story. They come after Buddy’s family, whilst Buddy and his daughter are drawn away to visit the Red and discover their destiny.
 
Lemire’s introduction of the characters and stakes, though at times brief, is much more artful than Johns in Justice League, and much more integrated with the wider story than in All-Star Western. Buddy – the harassed family man, the nascent mid-life crisis, the natural hero – is perfectly captured here, and Lemire’s new mythology and monsters work perfectly.There is scarcely a wasted word, let alone panel – this is surely one of the best New 52 books from a writing perspective.
 
It is matched here by Travel Foreman’s atmospheric and disturbing art – normality is flat-planed, suburban, but collapses into intricate horror, especially with the Hunters Three. The colorist, Lovern Kindzierski, must be given especially credit here too – the washed-out pastels match the tone of disturbed domesticity perfectly. It’s a shame Foreman didn’t draw many issues beyond this one, but it is an excellent start.
 
Collects Animal Man #1-6.
 
8.5/10