I came to comics after seeing the first Watchmen trailer back in 2008. I knew from that point there was something exciting that I was missing, so I bought the Watchmen graphic novel and also grabbed a couple of Batman books while I was at it (The Killing Joke – obviously, and Death in the Family).

Making a movie of Watchmen only served to improve awareness of comic books in general, and now it’s time to use the momentum and do something to create even more fans. Why not create Before Watchmen? Those people that loved the fans and loved the book as well, but haven’t made it in to comics might finally have an excuse to pick up a weekly publication!

Personally, I am excited to see Amanda Conner’s art work on Silk Spectre. Most famous, I believe, for her 12 issue run on Power Girl, she has always managed to bring a smile to my face with her unique characterisation, and the way she draws emotions.

No one has heard anything yet from the great bearded one, Alan Moore, about his, but from previous experience I think it is safe to say he’s going to hate the project.

I’ve already ordered my copies at the comic shop, and I’d like to you consider it too.

Oh, and here’s the new Teen Titans in their first proper bad-ass pose!

And here’s how it looks on my desktop:

Animal Man: Easily in the top 5 of great new comics brought to you by DC.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I see this image I see something very similar to Julie Newmar in the original TV series. It’s certainly more classy that what Halle Berry wore (which is possibly one of the worst films I have every seen), though it still has the unnecessary heels.

I think I can confidently say that I’m now more at ease with Anne Hathaway taking on the role.

This week has seen the release of four major Bat books, the heart and soul of my comic collection.

We start today with Catwoman, the book which I had to run all across London to get my hands on. This book, along with Batwing, have proven to be extremely strong book, Winick’s writing seems to be some of the strongest in DCnU. While we all know Selina to be the ultimate vixen, a femme fatale with the whole world at her feet, we also see her with a vulnerable side in this book. A little glimpse into her past leaves a lot open for future story-lines and character progression, but gives the entire series a great jumping off point. Some say that the ending of the issue was overly pornographic, and while I have to agree to an extent, I’m glad that most of the clothing was left on, and that it was actually Bruce’s flesh that ended up in show. A very welcome departure from the norm indeed. To the right we see my favourite panel from the comic, reminding me of Stinky from the Powergirl books; possibly the biggest smile I’ve had on my face during the new 52.

Nightwing, a comic I have been looking forward to for a while, opens dramatically with three amazingly drawn double page spreads, with the paneling sucking you into the action, emphasising the speed and grace with which Dick moves. Interestingly, this book doesn’t linger on Dick’s history through flashbacks, but helps lay out his story by bringing the Haly’s Circus to town, and dealing with his troubled past. While little insight is given as to why Dick is no longer Batman (I’d like to see more on this), I’m glad to finally have a Nightwing book to add to my collection; I came into comics just after Batman’s death. Starting afresh with him may bring a new audience, especially now that his costume is more “in tune” with the bat theme. The blue has been dropped and red is in fashion, just like the rest of the family. It’s nice to see that, while Dick was Batman for a while, they are still very different people, as the panel shows; I think it’s these core differences that made DC switch Dick back into the Nightwing role.

A brand new book to the DC Universe appeared this week in the form of Red Hood and the Outlaws. This is a book that, once again, I have been looking forward to for quite a while. It seems that Red Hood has gone from being an enemy of Batman, to someone that appears (on the surface) to be a colleague. Jason Todd is wearing the Bat logo on his shirt in an upgrade to his costume which suggests some kind of connection. We all know that Bruce doesn’t agree with Jason’s methods, but who knows, maybe there is some backing. I feel that the reader is left feeling a little bit out of the loop with this comic with the story behind a couple of the secondary characters being left out. I have no idea who it is that informed Jason of the mission at hand, and I have no idea who he’s supposed to be saving, though I’m sure this is deliberate to keep the reader wanting more. There’s little back story to these characters that cannot be described in the few lines they are given, so a lot more emphasis was put on the action. Starfire’s costume continues to be a hot topic as once again it appears not to exist, and this is compounded with her apparent lack of morals too. On an aesthetic note, Jason’s hair is short and black again after a brief spell being long and red, I guess so not to confuse him with Arsenal.

Finally, we come to Batman. This book is strong from start to finish, setting itself up as what can only be considered an early story-line in the Batman canon. Dick and Tim certainly don’t appear to be much older than Damian, and they are near enough a foot shorter than Bruce himself. This isn’t unheard of in the new 52, we already know that Action Comics is set before Superman and Justice League, so it’s not unreasonable to think the same of Batman.We start off with a double page spread, giving is a visual clue of what Batman’s foes are going to look like in the near future, removing the surprise maybe, but new readers might wish to know the who’s who of Gotham villains. We get a nice few panels of both Bullock and Gordon, which do well to set up the relationship between Batman and the GCPD. Finally, we are reminded how much of a philanthropist Bruce is, hitting all the bases for anyone who hasn’t heard of Batman before. I think you have to be under 5 for that to happen. The ending of this book is a little dark, though nothing on Detective comics.
In all, I’m genuinely excited about the future of the Bat universe and how it fits into the DCnU as a whole, and there is a lot of teasing about future stories about Nightwing, though I don’t want to commit my theories to the web just yet!

In all, I’m genuinely excited about the future of the Bat universe and how it fits into the DCnU as a whole, and there is a lot of teasing about future stories about Nightwing, though I don’t want to commit my theories to the web just yet!

Art Spiegelman is releasing a companion to his amazing Maus comics, by the name of MetaMaus. I don’t know much about the book yet, but you have find information about it on the MetaMaus Amazon page.
Maus is one of the first comics I bought, and to this day remains one of my favourite. Since I picked it up, I never really had much of an appreciation for the Holocaust. To me, and maybe to my generation, it seems like a thing that happened so long ago that the details don’t matter any more, only that we know it was bad and wrong. This book looks at the Holocaust on a very personal level, which impacts the reader in such a way that I have never experienced before or since. But the book goes deeper than that. It talks about the relationship between a young man and his father, and while the Holocaust fills most of the pages, the bond you see between them and they way they relate prove even more interesting than the tale weaved within.
I’m so glad I’ve found out that this book is to be released soon and can’t wait to read it from cover to cover, maybe with my copy of Maus by my side too.
Update: Oh, I forgot to mention Boing Boing has posted a trailer for it too!

Damn! I knew I should have set up my standing order long before this week. I popped into my local comic shop (Mega City Comics, Camden) to get my weekly haul, only to find out that this week’s Catwoman had already been emptied from the shelves! Fine, thought I, I know a few places online where I can get it. I fired up the Forbidden Planet website and it seems they won’t let me order from there, so I fired up ebay… they’re completely out too! If anyone is walking past forbidden planet in Leicester Square today, could you grab me a copy? (Go downstairs, to the far right corner).