52 second wave titles part 1

Well it is May and DC is now starting it's second wave of new 52 titles. Since I talked about the first 52, I thought it was only fitting that I take a look at the new books that are coming out. Now, total, DC is still only going to have 52 main series. That means that some of the books that were around have been dropped. Those dropped books are Mister Terrifc, Static Shock, Hawk and Dove, OMAC, Blackhawks, and finally Men of War.

So do these new books do a good job? Well Let me give you my own feelings about them.

The Ray

DC's newest mini series. And I do have to say, I enjoyed this story. It was funny for the most part and the art is great. The basic plot of this first issue is a simple origin story. A Korean-American lifeguard just happened to get hit with a science light beam. That beam, rather then kill him, gives him superpowers. Lucky for us, he uses his powers for good rather then evil. I think it is thanks to his hippie parents (really, his parents ARE in fact hippies). Anyway, the mini series is off to a good start. A strong hero, a pretty good villain with questionable powers shown at the end, and lots of just funny lines. If you find it and have an extra three bucks, I say try it.

Preview of My Greatest Adventures and The Shade

Another week and two more books to give a preview for.

The first book is titled My Greatest Adventure.

Alright, here is where things get tricky for me. Back at the beginning of this year, there was a small mini series released called Weird Worlds. It was a comic made up of 3 mini stories that did not interact at all. And because covers are what makes us pick up any first book, this cover had Lobo on it. Reading Lobo is like watching a car wreck, but in a good way. Lobo is fun and enjoyable when done right, even if he is a jackass to everyone. Well in Weird Worlds, the Lobo story was done well and was always a fun ride. But as I said, there are a total of 3 stories in that.book. The other 2 were about a creature called Garbage Man, and Tanga. These were two brand new characters and that book was their debut. I really liked the characters. Garbage man is a less scary story of the swamp thing, while Tanga is a fun 20-something (in earth years) girl who has some pretty bad luck.

All this ties into me picking up this book. You see, when Weird Worlds mini series ended, it said that the stories of Garbage Man and Tanga will continue later that year. Well this book does that. The Lobo story did end in Weird Worlds, which was nice. Now to replace the Lobo story we have Robot Man, a member of the Doom Patrol once apon a time. This book does a great job picking up where Weird Worlds left off. But it is that reason why I have a hard time saying you should get it. I love it because I went into the book already knowing the characters, but I feel that if you did not read Weird Worlds, this book might be hard to get into.

Overall: If you read Weird Worlds, get this book. If not, still look through it. The stories and art are all awesome.

The second book that came out this week was The Shade

The Shade is a fun anti hero character. He was a villain at one time, but has since changed.

The story takes place in the month of October and he is in a depressed funk. He talks to Starman about it, as well as his girlfriend. Both think that he needs to find a way to get over it and his girlfriend even suggests that he needs a new adventure, like when he was a villain. And no, she does not want Shade to turn back to crime. She just seemed to remember him happier when he had some kind of thrill in his life. The story is off to a good start with a great battle at the end of the book with Deathstroke.

Oh and before I forget, this book has a much better version on Deathstroke then the Deathstroke book. Yeah, try and wrap your head around that one.

This Deathstroke is what comic readers would want from the character. He is quiet, focused, and totally awesome. And, if I can be a bit truthful, Seeing this full page shot of Deathstroke was the deciding factor for me to pick up this book. I love Deathstroke when he is done right. This book gives me that.

Overall: A must read, even if the book does sound a bit depressing at times.

Well that is the new books for this week. No idea what is coming out next, if anything, but you can be sure that I'll be getting it and giving you all a preview.

All images are owned by DC.

Preview of Huntress mini series

Hello everyone, Comic Kathy once again to bring you a preview of a new DC book.

Last week the new 52 ended. I looked over all the books, with my review of Justice League coming this weekend, depending on how things go in real life. But this week saw the start of 2 mini series. The first is one about the Penguin. I did not pick it up because, well, I didn't. I only semi like the Penguin as a character and that does say a lot, seeing how the Penguin goes from pudgy man in suit, to Gotham under world business man, to creepy monster man. I might still pick it up but not now.

No, today I wanted to share with you all my feelings on the new Huntress mini series. As I am sure you must know by now, I got into the character Huntress from Gail Simone's hit title Birds of Prey. Seeing as how Huntress was not in the new 52 Birds, I did wonder what she was doing. Well thanks to this book I now know.

This book was writen by Paul Levitz. Who is this you ask? Well Mr. Levitz was the man who gave us the basic character that Huntress is today. You see, back in the day there were 52 Earths all in the same place just at different dimensions. Most of these Earths are just there, never really looking into what goes on there. But there was an Earth that was very big. This was Earth-2. Earth-2 was the home of the Justice Society of America and one of the members of this group was the first Huntress. The person who first wrote this incarnation of Huntress was Paul Levitz. So yeah, this book was written by the guy who first wrote her. Now there have been a number of changes to the Huntress character over the years and Paul takes them into account. This Huntress is not the Huntress he first wrote for. But like Paul Dini writing the Gotham City Sirens, Paul Livitz does a great job of still knowing how to write for the girl he made.

The art work is very well done. The characters, backgrounds, and panels are all well defined from each other and the coloring is bright and easy to look at, even in the night scenes. Nothing feels like it blends together and becomes one big blur like it does in some Gotham city comics.

The story, from what I can tell anyway, is about Huntress going to Italy to stop some crime traffic that is on its way to her home in Gotham. Of course nothing is as easy as that and Huntress finds herself slowly getting in over her head. Only time will tell if she can rise up or drown under this case.

Like I said, this is only the first issue of the mini series. The book is going to go on for a total of 6 issues and if the rest are anything like this first book, then I look forward to reading more in the future.

Overall: Huntress is so worth your time. Even if you know nothing about the character, this book and the new DC relaunch is a good place to start for new readers. Of course, if you do like her, then I still encourage you to research Huntress's true history. Her life before the relaunch that is.