52 Week One 
DC Comics
Writer: Johns, Morrison, Rucka, Waid
Artist: Giffen and Bennett
So Infinite Crisis is over. The three main heroes of the DCU are on self-imposed sabbaticals. And the missing year i.e. 52 begins with the consequences of the carnage from the imprint’s previous mega-event. Readers get a quick status report of what’s happening in several major DCU cities, and the weekly series’ lead characters appear briefly. That’s almost everything that happens in this issue, which seems a bit of a shame. This experimental format, one installment a week, is certainly going to have to build its own rhythm and define its particular momentum, but it hasn’t done either yet. Still the opening salvo had a few surprises, as well as excellent reads on all the important characters, so it’s worth giving it a few more issues. The art is better than average, and keeps away from DC’s habitual spaghetti-on-the-wall throw every character in as many panels as possible riff, for almost the entire book lending gravity to the issue and the overall plot.
Score: C
Thunderbolts #102
Marvel Comics
Writer: Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Tom Grummett
CRACKPOT THEORY ALERT…
I think certain writers have much better results playing with their own toys than utilizing recognized characters. Some creative minds need to build their stories from the ground up and that either means finding a place at a creator friendly smaller imprint (like Darkhorse, Vertigo, or Image), writing out of continuity stories (What If?, Elseworlds, Special Editions) or butchering the characterization of a known character to suit their underlying story idea cough*DevinNightwingGrayson*cough. Writers with this particular bent can oftentimes tell excellent stories with lesser known characters like Kevin Smith’s Daredevil/Mysterio yarn of a few years back while simultaneously muffing what would appear to be a narrative softball like a Batman/Joker story. I believe Fabian Nicieza may be such a scribe…
END CRACKPOT THEORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s not that I don’t think he can write, it’s just that up until this installment of Thunderbolts all of the characters haven’t felt like themselves. This issue, which focuses on Joystick AKA J.O. Yanizeski, is the most enjoyable in many months. Told from the not-exactly-reformed villain’s perspective with well-chosen flashbacks, it moves the Zemo conspiracy plot forward, alludes to Civil War, and gets the reader further into the head of the team’s resident adrenaline junky than anyone might choose. This issue transforms a whiny, selfish, one-dimensional twerp of a character (the anti-Jolt in many ways) into a respectable ne’er do-well that readers would do well to respect and reckon with. That’s a fabulous narrative feat, and a great shock given how lackluster the past couple issues of the series have been.
The art has found its legs under Grummett, who gives each character enough detail to make them instantly recognizable and relatable. The varied settings are a bit generic in their details (cities look a lot like each other), but the many science fiction widgets found in this series look well enough to make the complaint a minor one. This is really how every segment of this series should read and feel.
Score: A
Nightwing #120
DC Comics
Writer: Bruce Jones
Artist: Paco Diaz
Everything is different in the DCU OYL. That’s a given. The new status quos need time to mature. That’s only fair. But given that, certain things are just too out there, too rococo, too odd to fit back into a long running (10 YEARS!) title. The two Nightwings might be a bit inaccessible to new readers at the moment, and the new city rogues need time to flesh out, but once you involve two opposite acting and yet strikingly similar looking main characters in a love triangle with a supermodel who possesses covert superpowers, a line has surely been crossed. Wrap all that in a mind reading, shape shifting, geriatric insectile midget bounty hunter, and it’s just ridiculous. This title is frenetic and energetic, but it could be dialed down a few notches for the sake of this book’s supposed urban veneer. The art serves the story here, and since the story is a large part of the title’s ongoing problems, the results are under whelming. While this book is certainly going somewhere, if it doesn’t get grounded soon, it won’t be worth the acid trip.
Score: C
She-Hulk #7
Marvel Comics
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Will Conrad
This arc was a huge departure for the series, as it was serious instead of slapstick. The court case was about a real crime, rape, instead of oddball things like time traveling financial manipulation or corporate liability in accidents creating metahumans. Eros of Titan (who has psychic powers) was accused of sexual assault, and while the ending was predictable, the whole story was handled with such tact and intelligence that it didn’t feel like a cheat. The subplot involving Jen’s aggression issues was furthered half a step, the supporting cast was checked over, and matters of substance were debated in a comic known for comedy. It’s not what a longtime reader would expect of this book, but for a change of pace, it’s monumentally well done. While the art still isn’t the same without Bobillo’s cartoony pencils, they wouldn’t have fit this story in any way, so though I don’t prefer Conrad on this book, I can’t complain here at all. This unlikely issue proves that comics featuring mainstream well-known characters can still tell mature and innovative stories.
Score: A
