The Justice League Paradox

How can this portrayal of the NuJustice League as media darlings who get anything they want from the government be true?I mean, I should believe NuDC's FLAGSHIP title (#7), right? It's my lead into all the other books. The stone upon which the entire monument is built. And yet, if the Justice League can do no wrong, how can THESE things also be true?

In Aquaman, Arthur is married to a woman wanted for questioning.
In Superman, Metropolis isn't exactly standing united behind the Kryptonian.
In Flash, the Scarlet Speedster recently caused a devastating EMP that has even his secret identity's girlfriend questioning his value.
I guess it's up to Batman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg to raise the P.R. level on this team (did you just ask about Hal Jordan? you're kidding, right?).

It's like Geoff Johns isn't reading the JL members' own books, and that's fine. We can't force him. Maybe the editors could send him a synopsis or something. Oh wait, he's writing TWO of the JL members' own books. I guess that means Justice League isn't canon. AND THAT'S ALL RIGHT WITH ME!

Reign of the Supermen #419: Aaron Diaz' Superman

Source: DresdenCodak.com (2011)
Type: Unsolicited redesignAs the DCU was being rebooted, a number of fans and artists jumped on the bandwagon and attempted the exercise for themselves. In Superman's case, while most are happy with Morrison's retelling of Superman's early days in Action Comics, the verdict is far less positive when it comes to the present-day Superman (only 5 years on) with his undrawable Kryptonian armor. But at least Superman was really rebooted, which can't be said of the entire DCU. Personally, I'd have been happy with a complete reboot, or no reboot at all. The middle ground just puts me off.

Comic Alliance did a nice piece last year on Aaron Diaz's (Cyborg-inclusive) Justice League reboot and he's got the right idea when it comes to handling reboots. His three key directives:
1. Make the characters appealing to new readers, not just old ones
2. Create new story opportunities while staying true to the core themes
3. Update, correct and redesign where necessary

But has he gone too far by making Krypton a truly alien planet and merging Superman's concept with the Martian Manhunter's? Here's how Aaron describes his rebooted Supes:

Origin: The Kryptonian civilization once spanned hundreds of worlds, their technology and knowledge unrivaled in their corner of the galaxy. Kryptonians had long since advanced to a point where technology and biology were indistinguishable, making them virtually immortal and omnipotent in the eyes of less developed races. Over time they grew overconfident, and wished to introduce their technology to undeveloped worlds, in direct violation of the most important rule of the galactic community: the Omega Law. In an attempt to assimilate the natives of the planet Mars, Krypton finally gained the attention of Colu, enforcer of the Omega Law, and was marked for extermination. A Kryptonian Scientist named Jor-El, specializing in passively and remotely observing nearby Earth, witnessed this and rapidly set a plan forward to save his infant son, Kal-El, from their fate. By sending him in a conventional rocket toward the backwater planet Earth, he guaranteed Kal-El's safety from Colu. The rocket took over a thousand years to reach the planet, and upon reaching the surface, restructured Kal-El's body so he would appear as a human. Raised by simple farmers, Kal-El (now called Clark Kent) eventually learned of his heritage when examining a recorded message from his rocket. His father informed him of his fate, and that he must never dominate the planet with his immense power, as it would warp the fate of all life on Earth. Not content to passively observe humanity, though, Clark decides to inspire others through his actions as Superman. Superman has declared that he fights for those who cannot defend themselves, owing no allegiance to a particular government (though still obeying their laws). He has particularly targeted corporate corruption and the military-industrial complex as enemies of human progress, his most prominent opponent being billionaire industrialist Lex Luther [sic] and his company, LexCorp.

Powers: Superman can "shed" his human form and appear as a Kryptonian, though he chooses not to, as to avoid violating the Omega Law. He possesses superhuman durability and strength, as well as the ability to move himself through the air. His senses are also much more sensitive than an average human's. Being a Kryptonian, he is actually capable of near-godlike feats, but for the safety of the Earth and his mission, Clark deliberately avoided learning of what he is truly capable.

Notes: I wanted to bring Superman back to his depression-era roots, where in the earliest stories he was mostly concerned with social justice more than representing specifically American ideals. It was only after World War 2 that he became a more "boy scout," authoritarian character. I wanted him to be closer to the Nietzschean "Superman" (the earliest inspiration for the character) whose morality can be independent of traditional ones. Visually, I wanted to have him look a little more working class, with the buttons suggesting the image of overalls and the sleeves appearing rolled up. With the cape and high boots, though, he still has the appearance of an adventurer. I wanted the overall look to be more of a friendly guy who wants to help people more than a demigod who watches over them. He's more of a fireman than a police officer. (Also, as an aside, Colu was the original home planet of Braniac, so I used that name for him instead.)

So there's something of Morrison's "working class hero" in there, but also potential for space opera elements and a grand Kryptonian mythology. Really, the only I don't care for is the renaming of Brainiac, bur nothing's stopping him from taking that name later. I doubt he's got "Brainiac" written on his birth certificate, but I do prefer Dox. But what do you think? Would fans have embraced such a radical redesign? Or should the NuDC have been as different from the OldDC as the Silver Age was different from the Golden Age?

I also encourage you to check out the rest of Diaz's Justice League at the linked article. Superman may actually be the most "on-model" character in there.

Kung Fu Friday Moments: Iron Fist vs. the New 52

DC ruined Iron Fist's favorite comics.

Shot across the bow from this week's Defenders #4 by Matt Fraction and Michael Lark.

Earth-1 x2

While there are still DC comics I like, I haven't been shy about stating my displeasure at many of the changes wrought by the Flushpoint. And mostly, that displeasure has been about editorial decisions and directions. Terrible and illogical costume designs. Captain Marvel becoming Shazam! A trend towards splashier art at the expense of story content. Forced crossovers between unrelated books. A continued refusal to offer recap pages. A 90s too-many-books, everyone's-a-anti-hero, Liefeld-welcome approach to comics. And now there's the Earth-2 project.

While it seems in good hands with James Robinson - this generation's Roy Thomas - at the helm, DC has still thought it important to leak various terrible costume designs for Earth-2 heroes, as well as announce that the Earth-2 versions of the Trinity are well on their way to being killers (and Superman is still pantless). Yay, more anti-heroing! I would have thought the appeal of bringing back the Golden Age heroes was to feed into something retro. Since Earth-1 is determined to be a darker DCU, where heroes are treated like mutants over at Marvel, and even Superman doesn't inspire trust, well, by contrast, Earth-2 would have looked to more innocent, happier times. But no. From what we know, it may well be an even darker place in the DC Multiverse.

It's not necessarily an unjustifiable choice. The Golden Age of comics WAS sometimes insouciantly violent, with criminals and Nazis buying the farm, in sometimes gory fashion. Even Batman started out using guns. So a more sanguinary world isn't impossible to imagine as a consequence of the Golden Age, as written. But is it enough of a change from the regular DCU? And let's not forget we're only now learning about that new DCU. If Earth-2 is yet ANOTHER DCU we have to learn about, well, what's the point? Couldn't they all be on the same Earth (aside from the killer Trinity, obviously)? Sometimes I think some of the books that have been sold as presumably Earth-1 actually take place on Earth-2 anyway, like The Shade or Mr. Terrific.

When they invented the concept of Earth-2, it was a way to teach younger fans about DC's long history, or reconnect with older fans of those characters. Wow, it was your dad's Flash and Green Lantern, you know? Or your granddad's if, like me, you discovered Earth-2 through Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron. The whole point was to revive an ancient part of DC comics history. What's the point here? If we're not actually going back to the Golden Age and its design ethic (even if I trust Robinson to portray many of the characters adequately), then we're not really paying homage to DC's past. Instead, we're just creating a second Earth-1 full of redesigns.

Just something else the people in charge of DC Comics don't seem to understand the appeal of.

10 Things You Might Find Behind the New DC Peeler

You've seen the new DC logo, now read the humorous comments it's spawned!*

Peel back that logo and find...
1. A Cherry! Collect them all!
2. Stephanie Brown
3. Earth-53 - oh yeah, it's OUT there! Don't believe the lies!
4. Superman's wedding ring
5. The Marvel just under the surface of the NewDC
6. Another peeler... then another... and another... forever and ever... Happy you picked at it now?! It's gonna get infected!
7. The stuff Liefeld is using to blackmail Jim Lee and Dan DiDio
8. Superman's tighty reddies
9. A good DC movie (rare)
10. DC's new focus on wallpaper sales

What did YOU find?

*I'm sure they'll be SOMEwhere on the Internet.

The Siskoid Awards 2011

Welcome to the new year! That's right, it's time for our annual Geek Gala! Come in from the cold and the smelly red carpet (that's not its original color, guys) and have a seat!

Once again, I'm rewarding excellence in stuff I've seen, heard or read this year (regardless of when it was originally released). As usual, only newly experienced material will be up for consideration (or else I'd just watch BSG once a year and be done with it - then cause myself grievous harm, probably). For television episodes, no more than one per show can be put up for nomination. Other limits may apply. No money or prizes will actually be awarded. Thanks for not trying to collect.

Best Book of 2011 - The runners up are...
5. Chicks Dig Time Lords (Mad Norwegian)
4. Supergods (Grant Morrison)
3. Write More Good (Bureau Chiefs)
2. Manhood for Amateurs (Michael Chabon)
...and the Siskoid goes to: Arthur & George (Julian Barnes) - We're starting the new year with a Sherlock Holmes movie in theaters and a new series of Steven Moffat's Sherlock on tv, so it seems somehow appropriate to have Barnes' 2005 novel about Arthur Conan Doyle hit the top of the chart. Here's what I said about it last summer: "A wonderful novel, I think of interest to Sherlock Holmes fans. The novel is told from the points of view of both Arthur Conan Doyle and George Edalji, the half-Indian solicitor who was wrongfully convicted of the 'Great Wyrley Outrages', a series of animal mutilations in a rural area. The lives of both men are contrasted, Barnes using a different style for each (Doyle's is literary, while the simpler George is all present tense) and they in fact do not meet until late in the book. Awesomely researched, lightly comic and a real page turner when you get to the trial and Doyle's later investigations, Barnes produces here two superb character studies based on available sources. I haven't enjoyed one of his novels this much since, oh, my very first touch of Barnes (and I've nearly read them all), A History of the World in 10½ Chapters."

Best Comic of 2011 - The runners up are...
5. The Guild specials (Felicia Day and various artists and co-writers)
4. Infinite Vacation (Spencer and Ward)
3. Daredevil (Waid and Rivera)
2. Incredible Change-Bots Two (Jeffrey Brown)
...and the Siskoid goes to: Infinite Kung Fu (Kagan McLeod) - I was stoked to see it on other year's best lists on the Internet, and you should hear more about it from me and others in January if podcast plans work out like they should, but here's what I said in my capsule review: "Infinite Kung Fu is a 450-page trade collection of Kagan McLeod's incredibly entertaining martial arts comics series. McLeod re-imagines the "martial world" of his favorite kung fu movies as an amalgamated place where Shaolin monks are able to meet blaxploitation stars, a timeless place of action and zen Buddhism. It's also a magical world, where spirits return to dead bodies causing a zombie infestation of epic proportions, which the Eight Immortals have tasked the few students who haven't turned to the dark side (poison kung fu - an obvious wink to the Five Deadly Venoms) to stop. Wonderfully imaginative, McLeod's fluid, black&white, watercolor&ink art excels at showing the action both in large panoramas and in intimate play-by-play sequences between the good and evil masters. And throughout, winks and nods to great martial arts films from both sides of the world, there for those who can appreciate them. Get it direct from Top Shelf if you can't find it elsewhere!"

Best Film of 2011 - The runners up are...
5. The King's Speech (Tom Hooper)
4. The Social Network (David Fincher)
3. Hard Core Logo (Bruce McDonald)
2. JCVD (Mabrouk El Mechri)
...and the Siskoid goes to: Three Colors: Red (Krzysztof Kieslowski) - I (re)discovered Kieslowski's work this year and it's really wonderful. I knew one of his films was taking the prize, but it was difficult to choose which one. Ultimately, it's Red I was most impressed with, as it feels like a culmination of what he was doing in the early 90s, regrettably at the end of his life: "Rouge reunites Kieślowski with Irène Jacob, with whom he worked with on The Double Life of Veronique (the film that made her a star), and takes place in her native Geneva. She plays a storm-tossed, kind-hearted model who, through chance (and chance is a huge theme in Red), meets a bitter retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who spies on his neighbors and has a strange prescience. Through their stories we discover a thick web of coincidence and mirror images that makes this last part of the Three Colors trilogy the most mysterious and intriguing. If Blue was a subverted tragedy, and White a dark, dry comedy, Red is less easy to classify. To me, it is a fable, one of pure movie making, that uses images in a way that would, to most readers of this blog, be reminiscent of the way Moore and Gibbon do in Watchmen. The ironic intricacies of the film make it my favorite of the three. Irène Jacob simply breaks my heart in every frame."

Best TV Series of 2011 - The runners up are...
5. Doctor Who Series 6
4. How I Met Your Mother Season 1-6
3. Community Seasons 1-2
2. Coupling Series 1-4
...and the Siskoid goes to: Sarah Jane Adventures Season 4 - I'm as surprised as you are! It came in at the very end of the year and scooped a lot of excellent television (and I watched a LOT this year). Oh, I'll admit to still being a little weepy about it, but freshness aside, it did make me laugh, cry and miss Elisabeth Sladen terribly. Sarah was always the draw, but I think this is the season where the kids come into their own and become just as much a reason to keep watching. I don't think anything else I've seen this year deserves to be called a "perfect season".

Best TV Episode of 2011 - The runners up are...
5. Pilot (Alias Season 1)
4. Chuck vs. the Marriage Proposal (Chuck Season 4)
3. Split (Coupling Series 3)
2. The Girl Who Waited (Doctor Who Series 6)
...and the Siskoid goes to: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Community Season 2) - Another one that's very hard to call, but Siskoid's Blog of Geekery wouldn't be living up to its name if it didn't acknowledge the geekiest thing ever broadcast on network tv. It's a bottle show that doesn't attempt to represent the characters' imaginations in any way, but stays true to the spirit of tabletop role-playing (if not the letter of the rules... at least, I've never played it like that even if I consider myself a narrativist), pokes fun at it, but doesn't condescend to it, and at its heart, is about saving a person's life. Bonus points for using 1st edition AD&D books. It somehow makes people sitting around a table talking EPIC. And isn't that a true RPG experience? Bonus bonus points for taking Pierce down the darkest of paths. Anybody want to save this series from extinction yet?

Best CD of 2011 - The runners up are...
5. Year of the Pig (Big Finish's Matthew Sweet)
4. Son of the Dragon (Big Finish's Steve Lyons)
3. The Girl Who Never Was (Big Finish's Alan Barnes)
2. Doctor Who Series 5 soundtrack (Murray Gold)
...and the Siskoid goes to: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue (Trocadero) - I never imagined an album of music inspired (and used) by a web series based on a video game would become my most listened-to album of the year, but there it is. Trocadero did all the music for Red vs. Blue, the comedy web series based in the Halo universe, and their Tex-Blues sound is perfect for the dusty isolated melancholy of Blood Gulch, but the music isn't a slave to the RvB story. Though Blood Gulch Blues and A Girl Named Tex have obvious links to it, all the songs stand on their own and aren't "jokey" despite having a certain wry humor. Great driving music too. Get into my Warthog and let's go!

Stupidest Move in the Geekaverse 2011 - The runners up are...
5. Dalek Car for toddlers! (Zappies)
4. Rob Liefeld slags off Stan Lee (Rob)
3. Bookstores yanking DC trades off the shelves because of a Kindle deal (Barnes & Nobles)
2. Wonder Woman is Ally McBeal (David E. Kelley)
...and the Siskoid goes to: Flushpoint! - Has there ever been a more ill-conceived and mismanaged move by a comic book company than the New52 "don't call it a reboot" reboot? Don't misunderstand me, there are some excellent books in the New 52, but almost all of them would have worked in the original universe. Last September, DC threw out the baby with the bathwater in the hopes of getting into an untapped reader pool that I doubt has materialized by using the same old writers and artists, and even regressing to some kind of 90s Image/Marvel mentality of splashy art, less story, antiheroes and terrible designs. (Putting Liefeld on a monthly book ALONE would rate a spot on this list.) Too early to tell if they got new readers out of it, but I know they lost some with their "jumping on/off point". Fan outrage over the loss of Oracle, overt sexism in Red Hood, Catwoman and Voodoo, and the renumbering of flagship titles like Action and Detective (when I got into comics, these were in the late 400s and didn't scare me away) have generated a lot of bad publicity, and DC's hope that readers could try so many titles in a single month (much less support them monthly) when they're offering fewer pages for the same money and same-price digital will likely cause an implosion like that of the 70s. That's sure to piss off fans of the books not pulling their weight, not because they're bad, but because they were thrown into too big a pond killer brand recognition sharks. The decision to reboot continues to be unjustifiable, seeing as DC's last event books (Brightest Day and Gen Lost) had made promises that could never be made good on, and the recent release of some Batman Inc. issues as a non-continuity special shows how little planning went into it. And then there's the whole communication snafu, which I've promised to write a proper article about (for once, commenting on something that is actually my field), but which includes creators/editors making censurable comments (like DiDio's public reaction to people criticizing the lack of female creators on the new books) and the appearance of corruption in the way Johns and Lee have profited from the change, as opposed to other creators. But I've gone on too long. No matter what good comes from the New 52 initiative - and there will always be some good comics at DC - it will always stand out as one of the worst handled moves in comic book history.

What would YOUR picks look like? Tomorrow: The Technical Achievement Awards as given in a ceremony prior to this one!

Reign of the Supermen #390: New52 Super-Soldier

Source: Age of Amalgam (2011)
Type: Fan-made AmalgamPaul C saves another Amalgamonday by just coming up with an awesome New52 (or should that be New52.1?) Super-Soldier! Follow the link above to see all the fan reactions to the rebooted Amalgam Universe! I dare say, they may seem familiar.

Also relevant: Fearpoint!

Reign of the Supermen #366: New DC Superman

Source: 1st - Justice League vol.2 #1 (2011)
Type: The (cough) real dealNew year of Reign. New era in Superman comics. So... it's been a month a half. More since it was first SHOWN. Does anyone like the new "Kryptonian armor" yet? Any sign of our "getting used to it"?

It would help if an artist - ANY artist - were able to make it look good. Even Jim Lee doesn't manage it. I mean, it works as well as it can, but there's too much unbroken blue, and to me, if the hair doesn't have the trademark "S" curl, it could be any pretty boy in the suit. But the true test is whether other artists can make use of the costume without the benefit of Jim Lee's style.

George Perez
He comes as close as anyone could thanks to his very detailed style. And yet, it shows off how inherently silly the kneecaps are. The whole thing looks like Perez was drawing an articulated action figure.

Jésus Merino
The regular artist on Superman as often as not shows the Man of Steel from a distance, or in close-up, or moving so fast you don't see him clearly. I wonder why. Maybe it's because he can't help but make the trunkless belt look like the worst accessory since the invention of meat dresses.

Yanick Paquette
I like Paquette's work a great deal, but even he murders the knee guards. The arm guards here look like they could have laser guns popping out of them, and the "S" shield is HUGE!

Mikel Janin
Here, the lack of trunks and busy knees seems to make Superman's legs supernaturally long. The elongation is in the arms too, thanks to those wrist guards, and in the neck with the high collar. Bit effete, but I realize that's because of the emo haircut. I find it annoying on Japanese pop stars too.

Mahmud Asrar
Wait, are there always red stripes on the sleeves? See... not everyone puts them in. Asrar's Superman is way too blocky and the armor segments look haphazard under his more fluid style.

Editorial
Bottom line - and I'm sure I've said this before - the new costume moves Superman away from his iconic look, and when you want kids to adopt your character into their bosom, it helps if they can actually draw him! It's a lesson I learned from one Gene Roddenberry on the subject of the Enterprise design. All the artists now need model sheets to figure out how to draw even the most popular of guest-stars. I know how they feel. In fact, the DCU looks very unfamiliar now and not in a good way. I like the Dark books because they trade on unfamiliarity in the right way, opening a strange world up to be explored. But with the more mainstream hero stuff, DC has turned me into that mysterious "potential reader" they say used to NOT pick up their books because of over-complicated continuity. After 1 or 2 issues of each comic, *I* don't understand DC's continuity and feel alienated from it. Part of it is that they didn't reboot everything, leaving us to guess what happened and what didn't. But part of it is definitely those ugly-ass uniforms. Without the ICON to latch onto, I feel completely adrift.

But maybe you have a different take on it.

New 52: DC's Commitment to Diversity

One of the things DC Comics has touted with their New52 was diversity. What they meant by it wasn't necessarily clear. This was a company that had been accused the previous year of "whitewashing" their shared universe, taking out minority characters holding legacy names to return the white bread originals to the fold, so they definitely needed to make a commitment towards racial diversity. (Of course, they now could be accused of "de-chairing" the DCU.) Because the commitment also came with the bold mission statement that they were trying to get new readers into the game, "diversity" should probably also mean a greater variety of styles and genres in their comics, getting to potential readers who don't really care about superheroes. We've seen all the #1s so... did it work? I thought I'd crunch some numbers for you. Mind you, I had to make judgment calls on many categories and the future may prove me wrong on just what characters were "important" or "recurring". In cases where, for example, sexual orientation was unknown, I assumed heterosexuality, but if the character was gay in the previous timeline, I assumed them to still be gay.

The Relaunch
Number of monthly DCU series published by DC in August 2010: 38
Number of monthly DCU series published by DC in August 2011: 33
Number of monthly DCU series published by DC in September 2011: 52
Titles that weren't published before the Relaunch announcement: 36
Titles that have never been published before: 13
Titles reset to #1 that had gone past #100: 5
Titles reset to #1 that had gone past #600: 5

Demographics - Protagonists
Female protagonists with their own book: 6
Female protagonists featured in a team book: 41
Non-white protagonists with their own book: 6
Non-white protagonists featured in a team book: 18
Gay protagonists with their own book: 1
Gay protagonists featured in a team book: 2
Differently abled protagonists with their own book: 1
Differently abled protagonists featured in a team book: 2
Note that having lost an eye or cybernetic replacements count as disabilities for purposes of this list. The number of differently abled protagonists drops to 0 when you remove these from the count.

Demographics - All Characters
Ratio of male/female characters with an important or recurring role: 247/137
Ratio of white/non-white characters with an important or recurring role: 257/94
Total number of gay characters with an important or recurring role: 5
Total number of differently abled characters with an important or recurring role: 5
Total number of important or recurring female characters with a different body type than svelte heroine or buxom heroine: 16
Books with no female characters with an important role in them: 3
Books with no female characters whosoever (Ms. Monitor doesn't count): 1
Books with no non-white characters with an important role in them: 15
Books with no non-white characters whatsoever: 11

Tropes - Why do so many of these comics feel the same?
Books structured around the use first person narration: 30
Number of characters seen to speak in first person narration caption boxes with their logo in them: 26
Number of secret organizations in the new DCU: 10
Books focused on covert missions: 9
Times characters jump out of an aircraft: 12
Books that feature helicopters: 8
Books focused monthly on members of the Batman family: 14
Books that feature a guest star from the Justice League to midwife the book: 10
Number of those books that actually advertise that Justice Leaguer on its cover: 1
Books in which an antagonist is revealed on the last page: 14
Books with no supervillain, only henchmen: 18
Those henchmen are armored: 9
Number of distinct Arkham Asylum break-outs: 2
Books that discuss urban renewal and/or construction: 10
Characters that serve the same function as Oracle did: 7
Number of DC's fictional cities referenced: Only 4
Number of panels showing football (any kind) action: 16
Pencilers who have a Latin-sounding (i.e. Italian or Spanish) name or are actually from Italy, Spain or South America: 23

Questions of art and story, useful to fuel or extinguish existing debates
Pencilers previously known for their Image comics work: 8
Books written by someone also (often, better) known as an artist: 12
Books with more than 2 splash pages (double-splashes count as a single page): 17
Number of panels in Supergirl #1: 58 (shortest read)
Number of panels in Superman #1: 196 (longest read)
Number of team books: 19
Team books where the team is not completely assembled in the first issue: 7
Team books that feature team members on the cover, but not the interior: 6
Number of panels showing characters undressing or in various stages of undress (male/female): 59/109 (60 of those in Voodoo alone)
Number of recurring or important female characters who work or mention having worked in the sex industry: 5
Number of non-recurring, non-important female sex industry workers: 29
Women working as writer, penciler or inker on any of these books: 1
Books where the police are shown to be dumb and/or incompetent: 11
Books where the police aren't: 7
When you take Commissioner Gordon out of the equation, that number drops to: 4
Books that feature particularly gory violence: 19
Number of those books rated less than Teen Plus: 9
Number of married protagonists: 5
Number of protagonists who used to be married: 13 (some marriages have been retconned, but I've counted being widowed or divorced in-continuity as well)

I'm going to let you analyze the data in the comments section. Have we been too harsh on DC's output? Or are we right to complain? You be the judge.

Jumping-Off Points II: Jumping Out of Aircraft Obsessively, Continued

I said I'd come back to this and so I do. If the DC Relaunch is all about giving new readers jumping-on points, why all the jumping OFF imagery. Subliminally, all those people jumping our of aircraft is going to take its toll. After the first two weeks, DC had published seven comics with that image in them. The last two have added three more:

Comic: Batman: The Dark Knight #1Jump: Batman jumps dramatically out of his batplane at the beginning of the issue, not to fight crime, but to dress as Bruce Wayne in an alley and then swing up to a ballroom's balcony on a bat rope. Gratuitous AND stupid.

Comic: Blackhawks #1
Jump: During an attack on an airport, the Blackhawk known as Kunoichi first rips a guy out of his seat and into some suitcases before jumping off the crashing jet and into the water, slowing herself down with recoil from her "jackhammer" gun.

Comic: The Flash #1
Jump: Goons jump out of a VTOL plane and through a skylight, and one of them and the Flash later fall out of its back end during their escape.

That's 10 this month at DC, but to be fair, other comics publishers gave their readers similar jumping off points:

Comic: Captain America and Bucky #622
Jumps: First Namor, then Toro and Bucky jump out of an airplane to fight Nazi Antlanteans.

Comic: Super Dinosaur #4
Jump: Jets scramble to stop Maximum's aircraft from reach the Dynamo Dome, but the pilots have to bail when they find themselves outgunned.

Comic: Jurassic Park: Dangerous Games #1
Jump: The protagonist is thrown out of a helicopter into the swamps of Jurassic Park Island.

You know who DOESN'T bail out of a crashing plane this month?
Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.

New 52: Week 4 Batch 2

This is it - the final 6 books from the New52! Before we get into it, I want to talk a little bit about sex & violence, if I may. I've condemned both in these reviews, and plan to do so again at the bottom of this post, and yet, I'll also be giving rave reviews to books that use both. How is it that Catwoman is objectionable, but I, Vampire's nearly naked vamp cover isn't? Why bitch and moan about the gore in the Green Lantern books, but give Jonah Hex's violent adventures a gold star? For me, the answer has something to do with how appropriate such scenes are for the comics franchise they're found in, but also their redeeming value in the story being told. I find extreme sex & violence in superhero books to go against the genre, especially where characters who used to be G-rated are concerned. It's fine in war books and westerns. It's fine in DC Dark's horror books (though having Justice Leaguers show up in each is jarring). In those books, the sex & violence seems far less gratuitous (but it can be, see Voodoo below). If the shock is part of the story, then fine. If the same story could be told without the entrails or boobs, then it's bad. And if the story is really ONLY about the entrails or boobs, it's even worse.

All-Star Western #1
I guess Palmiotti and Gray's Jonah Hex was doing well enough to continue into the new DCU, but they've opened the book up to other western stars with that title. We still start things off with Jonah Hex, in a story set in old Gotham City (not in the West, but ok) in which Jonah teams up with Dr. Arkham to catch a serial killer in the Jack the Ripper vein. It's the closest you're gonna get to Hex's Victorian Adventures and it's pretty awesome. New readers will be introduced to Jonah through Arkham's psych evaluation-type narration, and the well-known Gotham acts as the series' midwife. The art by Moritat is beautiful, giving off a real sense of time and place (Gabriel Bautista's colors give the whole thing the feeling of a daguerreotype too), and while the violence is raw, it's not exploitative. I hope the art team stays on for more than an arc, though Hex has usually been well served by his artists in the past. And I also can't wait to see who else can show up in the book's pages. DC has some interesting western stars in its catalog.
Don't call it a reboot: It's not. Even Gotham City seems pulled from the recent Gates of Gotham mini-series.
Upgrade? I was an irregular reader of Jonah Hex, but opening the door to other features may counter the fatigue I once felt at the sameness of his stories.
Will read? They got me. They got me good.
Recommended? Definitely. Not only is it a great book for western fans who might not be into superheroes, but hey! Batman fans! Read this, you'll like it!

Blackhawks #1
The old WWII pilots have been re-imagined as G.I. Joe in a world of superhumans. As an old comics reader, I wish there was more of a connection between this team and the original (at least the Island, come on!), but that scarcely matters to the new reader. Blackhawks is a paramilitary team with cool vehicles and gadgets, culled from every country in the U.N. and where everyone has a codename. They undertake missions to fight metahuman terrorism (or at least, that's the focus of the first issue). Mike Costa provides some good action scenes before throwing us into the characters and their soap opera. There are a lot of characters here, but those we spend time with are distinctive and promising, as is the subplot of one of their own developing her own powers by accident. The idea that the team is covert and is pissed that someone snapped a picture of their logo on their secret vehicle isn't well thought out, but the comic scores enough points to make me forgive the lapse in logic. Graham Nolan and Ken Lashley have a dynamic style, that's yes, a bit Jim Lee and a bit Marc Silversti (what is it with the new DC and Image-style art?), but has a rough edge that makes it its own animal, well suited to these characters.
Don't call it a reboot: Lady Blackhawk likely went through a makeover, but otherwise, there's no reason these guys couldn't have evolved from the WWII aces.
Upgrade? Nothing to compare it to, and too early to tell if these Blackhawks are inherently better than the originals.
Will read? Made enough of an impression, yes.
Recommended? Though there are metahuman elements, Blackhawks plays as enough of a paramilitary scenario to appeal to war comics fans, and fans of the G.I. Joe concept in particular. I hope it does well, because the potential for something different at DC is certainly there.

Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1
I read this hours ago, and I'm still not sure what to think. Gail Simone and co-plotter Ethan Van Sciver have completely re-imagined Firestorm and turned it into a narrative that I can't for the life of me predict the direction of. Ronny and Jason are now teenagers at the same high school, one a football star, the other a brilliant A-student who's hiding a tube of the next era of physics sent him by the now dead Professor Martin Stein. Some kind of organization is after the canister, but Jason activates it turning him and Ronny into different versions of Firestorm, and by the end they seem to combine to create an entity called Fury. Add to that archive shots of other Firestorms (and a Firehawk) and you've got an attempt at a completely new mythos for the Nuclear Men. It's a lot to absorb, and a touch violent for a teen hero comic in my opinion, but it's a very intriguing base that should have readers coming back for more. Vildiray Cinar's art is up to snuff, solid without being particularly distinctive, and it's not so concerned with splash pages and dead air as other books. A lot happens - good value.
Don't call it a reboot: It's totally a reboot. Perhaps the biggest reboot of all.
Upgrade? Mmm... To early to tell? Certainly it should make Firestorm more exciting than it had been of late. I'll miss Professor Stein though.
Will read? Yes, I think this is a better book than Simone's Batgirl.
Recommended? New and old readers really can get in on the ground floor of this saga. They seem to be playing a long game, so the first year should be interesting.

I, Vampire #1
When I saw I, Vampire solicited, I didn't register any interest. Wasn't the world overdosing on vampire stories already? But then a lot of stories by this Josh Fialkov guy cropped up and I loved them all. I, Vampire is the best I've read from him though. Supported by gorgeous art by Andrea Sorrentino. He's kept the original premise from House of Mystery fairly intact. Andrew Bennett is a vampire who makes his lover Mary immortal, but she is corrupted by evil and builds an army of vamps Bennett - who doesn't drink human blood - vows to take down. It's the same basic tale, but very well told, going back and forth between a flashback of happier times and Mary's opening salvo against humanity. The vampires can turn into wolves and even bigger creatures, setting them apart from the vamps in most contemporary fiction, high-powered shapeshifters. It's a personal love story set against all-out supernatural war. The stakes are high. The mood is deep and dark. Definitely one of the big winners of the New 52.
Don't call it a reboot: I'm afraid it is.
Upgrade? I'm sure there are a lot of fans of the original DeMatteis/Sutton series from the early 80s, but this has a sharp, modern feel that I'm gonna call an upgrade.
Will read? You bet. Without checking, I'll go and put this in my Top 5.
Recommended? Definitely. It's an awesome horror book, with dark romance and fierce action.

Justice League Dark #1
Peter Milligan took this concept out for a spin during Flashpoint with the Secret Seven, and he disappointed me. JLDark is all kinds of awesome however. I barely resent the fact that the other Justice Leaguers show up in their ugly costumes, because they get their asses handed to them by magic. The weirdness on show reminded me of Milligan, Morrison, Gaiman and Delano's work on books on the cusp of going Vertigo, and Mikel Janin's art thrives on the resulting imagery. JLDark is another team book that doesn't manage to assemble the team before the final page, but at least its (future) members actually show up! Introductions are cursory, but do the job. There's enough going on here to pique interest in another issue rather than make the reader impatient. It's more like Stormwatch than Justice League that way.
Don't call it a reboot: Hard to say, though it's probable some history was lost for each of these characters.
Upgrade? For Zatanna who's lost her solo book, probably not. Compared to the similar Shadowpact, I think it may be an upgrade. Of course, no Detective Chimp so...
Will read? Yes, Milligan used to be one of my favorite writers, but I haven't been this enthusiastic about his work since X-Statix. Plus, I wanna see where he takes Shade next.
Recommended? I recommend it for fans of high weirdness and horror, and I hope you'll get into this large cast of characters quickly. It may help that some of these have more presence on the stands. Zatanna just ended a series, John Constantine still stars in the long-running Hellblazer, Madame Xanadu's younger self is in Demon Knights, and Deadman is the focus of DC Universe Presents' first arc. Plus, there's that big "Justice League" at the top. Every little bit helps.

Voodoo #1
The positiveness ends here. I have nothing against a superhero who makes her living as a stripper in principle. And Sam Basri certainly draws pretty girls well. But his glossy art and good draftsmanship is wasted on this Ron Marz story because NOTHING HAPPENS! People have conversations, few of which are germane to the plot, while in the foreground, the sometimes-African American heroine (depends on the light) strips for the reader. Five pages are devoted to a strip show, seven more to a private lapdance, and another three take place in the dressing room, or rather the undressing room, where the club's various strippers walk around in their underwear or less. That's 15 lascivious pages out of 20! May just beat Catwoman's record! We find out that Voodoo is an alien shapeshifter, but not much else. Is she on our side or not? What about the guy who's bugging her, what's his story? Why does an alien scout have to hide as an exotic dancer anyway? Unfortunately, boobs are more important than answering those questions and the reader isn't given a reason to care.
Don't call it a reboot: Voodoo used to be in the Wildstorm universe. Now it's not. That's a reboot.
Upgrade? I never read those older series, but I can't imagine that it is.
Will read? There were words?!
Recommended? NOT SAFE FOR WORK! And further, NOT GOOD TO READ! T&A shots aplenty, but how about a story with that? Skippable in the extreme.

So there you have it, Voodoo made me end on a sour note. The rest of the crop is rather good though! I was very impressed with All Star Western, I, Vampire and JLDark, and will also continue with the Firestorms and the Blackhawks. So is it all over? Not exactly. Next week, the SBG will take a look at the entire relaunch and crunch some relevant numbers. See you then.

New 52: Week 4 Batch 1

Last week! I'm gonna go ahead and use the same format I did for the past three, and start with the best-known names, with the other half-dozen to follow tomorrow. As usual, these capsule reviews are geared towards the potential new readers DC claims it is wooing.

Aquaman #1
One thing Geoff Johns does in this Aquaman relaunch is make it a proper introduction to the character. The powers we don't see in action are at least discussed, his origin is told, Arthur repositions himself as a man who wants to explore his human, not Atlantean, heritage, and all with Ivan Reis' excellent art. Bit heavy-handed however. Most of the information we get because an obnoxious blogger corners Aquaman in a diner (it's tell, don't show), and Johns gets pretty strident (pun not intended) about defending the character. Though there's action and characterization, most of the issue is spent on repeating old Aquaman jokes and deflating them. Telling new readers that they're wrong to denigrate Aquaman only makes sense if you expect new readers that are antagonistic towards the character. For readers who do like Aquaman, they may resent the hell out of being told that Aquaman's no one's favorite and making Arthur suffer the indignity of having that thrown in his face. If you start the series out with Aquaman as a laughing stock, I'm sorry, but you have did him in yourself.
Don't call it a reboot: Unknown. Looks intact, but his history may have been shortened to exclude various eras of his career.
Upgrade? This is pretty much exactly where we left the character in Brightest Day, except the new Aqualad is nowhere to be seen. I hope he shows up later.
Will read? As a card-carrying member of FOAM, I sort of have to. And want to.
Recommended? Aquaman's a badass, and I want new readers to find that out. I just wish Johns hadn't been so gauche in showing it. Hell, new readers will probably get a hoot out of the comedy.

Batman: The Dark Knight #1
Let me tell you how pathetic I find The Dark Knight. First of all, it's a Batman comic designed as a showcase for David Finch. He's an artist I don't like (his perspectives and compositions are as bad as Liefeld's, he just hides them in more intricate detail so many readers won't notice) and an improvised writer, who here gets help from Paul Jenkins (showcase no more). Fans laughed at relaunching this book which took the better part of a year to get to #5, and now it's right back to #1. And this new #1 is just awful. The art is everything I expect it to be, and so is the script. Batman's first person narration is pretentious and overdone. Bruce Wayne swings on ropes without his costume, risking discovery. Anytime a woman shows up, it's a pin-up or ass shot. It's the second Batman book this month to feature an Akrham Asylum break-out, which tells me there's absolutely no editing going on. And don't tell what they've to Two-Face this issue makes him remotely more interesting, because it doesn't. It just comes off as silly.
Don't call it a reboot: Batman Inc. is mentioned, so it's business as usual.
Upgrade? You'd think having help from a co-plotter would help. It doesn't.

Will read? Not a chance.
Recommended? Avoid at all costs. New readers, you want to read Batman and if you have another 3$ in your pocket, Batman and Robin. That's it. You shouldn't even be thinking about picking up Dark Knight.

Flash #1
Francis Manapul is an excellent artist, very well suited to the Flash. I could recommend this book on the art alone. But can he write? Yeah, he can (here with the help of Brian Buccellato). Barry Allen, the fastest man alive, shares superheroics with the wacky world of SF CSI, making this a mystery book as well as a high concept superhero comic. What's here is solid enough, and acts as a pretty good introduction to the character, one I wouldn't mind handing to someone. Longtime fans will gripe at Barry's marriage being undone, Iris West relegated to pesky journalist who bugs Barry, but hasn't really met the Flash yet. For those fans, it's even worse. Barry's on a date with another woman. But as a reboot/relaunch, that's fine. Maybe they can get a will they/won't they dynamic going. Works for half the tv shows out there. What the book needs, however, is a good villain. Like many comics in the New52, the title hero faces off against nameless goons, which again makes me feel like the villains of the new DCU have been short-changed. Certainly makes that cliffhanger stand out as one of the most boring this month.
Don't call it a reboot: Marriage undone, playing the field, probably didn't die in the Crisis and come back. Totally a reboot.
Upgrade? Nah. It's the same series it used to be, without the deeper, richer history and relationships.
Will read? Yes. Enough of a Flash fan to do so, and Manapul's first effort wasn't bad.
Recommended? A solid superhero comic that uses its CSI element better than Johns did in the previous volume. Manapul's art is very nice as well. A good intro overall.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1
One of DC's more confusing efforts, New Guardians starts with a needless re-origin of Kyle Rayner in a flashback that isn't advertized as such. After that, there's a caption that says "Present day", and when we return to Kyle, he's got a different uniform, but he has to explain to a kid that he's not Hal Jordan. Entirely plausible, but it still makes it feel like Kyle's a rookie, and if you miss that caption (I did, at first), you'll get the feeling Kyle's history's been erased. Hopefully it hasn't, because that would make Tony Bedard's series clash with the rest of GL continuity, one of the few untouched chunks of DC's continuity. Looks like Bedard tried to make New Guardians a better jump-on point for new readers with that origin, but it really isn't. New readers won't really know what the heck is going on with all those colored rings, and like Justice League, the team isn't assembled by the end of the issue. The cover, in fact, acts as a spoiler about who will appear in later issues. The art by Tyler Kirkham is good enough, though derivative of Jim Lee's, and of course, it must include that staple of Lantern comics, gory violence. You only have to wait for page 9 before someone gets graphically disemboweled. So a slow start, though at least it presents an intriguing mystery.
Don't call it a reboot: A small one. Kyle's origin has been tweaked.
Upgrade? Only insofar as Kyle's gotten to lead his own series, whereas he was relegated to sharing the spotlight with two other Earth Lanterns in GLC before.
Will read? I am interested in the Lantern sector of the DCU, so yes. I hope New Guardians starts to move a little faster though.
Recommended? With reservations. New readers are unlikely to understand concepts developed during the War of Light without the help of trade collections despite being thrown a bone with Kyle's origin (which is predicated on some Oan event they won't recognize anyway).

Savage Hawkman #1
Carter Hall is a cryptologist (I guess he helps decipher alien languages or something? he's not a cryptoGRAPHER) who used to be Hawkman. He decides to burn his old wings, but the Nth metal has other ideas. It transforms him into a new-look Hawkman and he must immediately fight the horribly named Morphicus, an evil pile of alien vampiric goo. I didn't think much of Tony Daniel as a Batman writer, but Hawkman's more of a blank slate. Maybe he can do something more original here? It's not a bad start, one that gives the character a new beginning without voiding his past (couldn't have more series in the relaunch gone this route?). Philip Tan's art isn't strong on faces, but is helped along by the painterly colors of Sunny Gho. Tan loses some stiffness when he gets into the more fantastical and action-based scenes, so there's potential there.
Don't call it a reboot: Though some elements have definitely been de-emphasize, it doesn't feel like a reboot. Dialog seems to point to a more or less intact history, though probably without Thanagar in the mix. Let's call it a more streamlined history, then.
Upgrade? Still wondering where the JSA will be, because this is definitely its Hawkman, and not Earth-1's Katar Hol (who I'm kind of missing at this point). The new paradigm still has to prove itself, so I'm not gonna call it an upgrade quite yet.
Will read? Give it a couple more issues. I've been wanting a competent Hawkman series for a while. Is this it?
Recommended? A good jumping on point, with everything you need to understand the series. Doesn't quite stand out as one of the series new readers really should read, but perhaps if it keeps up a kind of Supernatural/X-Files mood, it could find its niche.

Superman #1
George Perez didn't just write this comic, he drew the breakdowns for Jesus Merino's pencils. And it shows. Where a lot of DC's #1s have wide open spaces, a low average for panels per page, and lots of splashes, Perez' Superman is dense almost to the point of claustrophobia. This thing took a lot longer to read than the rest of the line, and I'd call that a good thing. Perez does a lot of things right. For one thing, he successfully tracks how media works these days, turning Lois into a frontline tv news producer, throwing tweets and web exclusives into the mix, all the while keeping old-fashioned guys like Clark and Perry plugging away in the dying print media. That's the real star here, and all the action (a battle against a Kryptonian fire monster) is seen through the news broadcasting process. The soap opera elements recall the late 80s and early 90s, again a good thing, even if I might decry the loss of Superman's marriage (but I'm moving on). Superman isn't THAT brooding, at least not yet. It all seemed justified to me. So it's a hit as far as I'm concerned. If there's a flaw, it's Superman's new costume, and I imagine it's not a coincidence that Perez and Merino often draw him at a distance or in close-up, giving the suit as little play as possible. Other redesigns that look awful: Jimmy's Bieber haircut and the crazy-ass new Daily Planet building. There was talk of making Perry a black man, but it's Morgan Edge who gets a new ethnicity instead. The supporting cast shows a lot of variety, actually, even if the roles were small this time around.
Don't call it a reboot: Completely.
Upgrade? Chris Roberson had brought Superman back from the brink after JMS' false start, so I'm not ready to call it an upgrade, but it's certainly not a DOWNgrade.
Will read? Yes. I liked it more than I thought I would. Reminded me of the franchise's better years. So long as I don't look at the suit directly.
Recommended? A resounding yes. There was a lot of exciting stuff happening, and not just with the superhero - Lois may turn out to be the true protagonist of this book. And you can't beat its content-per-dollar value.

Teen Titans #1
Just horrible. I knew I didn't like the costume redesigns, but I find Brett Booth's artwork disagreeable in general. Generally poor, he has trouble with page layouts, choreography and clarity. But writer Scott Lobdell is more guilty still. Not only does he pull off the New52 trick of taking too much time assembling his team (only three members have speaking roles, despite that being less than half of what's on the cover), but he also writes Teen Titans like it's an X-book. We're told upfront that there's a veritable "plague" of metahuman teenagers. That's not the DC Universe, is it? We meet up with Red Robin who feels the need to assemble these fugitive teens, Kid-Flash who screws up royally on national tv, and Wonder Girl, completely revamped as... well, I can't make sense of who she is really and what her abilities are. So nothing happens much and the Teen Titans don't actually exist by issue's end. Annoying AND ugly.
Don't call it a reboot: Tim Drake was Robin, but his Red Robin series may well have been erased. Wonder Girl's been rebooted entirely. Kid-Flash too, probably. I'm calling it a reboot.
Upgrade? The franchise had had a lot of trouble since, well since Marv Wolfman left it, frankly. Even so, this is a step WAY DOWN from where J.T. Krul left the book last month.
Will read? You can't make me.
Recommended? Not on your life. You do not want to crack this thing open, trust me. Boring, badly drawn and confusing.

The quirkier books I REALLY want to read will be tomorrow (but also Voodoo, so it's not gonna be all roses), I hope you'll come back for that. Of today's crop, Teen Titans and Dark Knight are clear losers, while all the others are imperfect, but pretty solid, Superman especially.

New 52: Week 3 Batch 2

The second half of this week's DC releases, being titles that are perhaps a little less in the current public eye than yesterday's.

Birds of Prey #1
Like Justice League, Birds of Prey features an entire team on its cover, but only two members in the story itself, and therein lies the problem. I liked what Duane Swierczynski did on Immortal Iron Fist, but like this issue, his plots are paced a little slowly. The issue itself moves at a good clip thanks to well-choreographed action scenes by Jesus Saiz, but that's just incident. The PLOT is moving at a crawl. How long before we get a full team up and running? Black Canary is assembling that new team, which Batgirl won't join. Katana rates a mention. The only partner she's found to date is Starling, a new character who's something of a wild girl. Not unpleasant, though details are sparse. We're a far cry from the heroine showcase the book had grown into since its origins as a Black Canary/Oracle book. As with many New52 books, the book lacks strong villains, pitting its heroines against henchmen in camo-armor that make them nearly invisible. The who and the why remains nebulous. Don't get me wrong, I liked it well enough, but as an introduction to these characters, it left me wanting more.
Don't call it a reboot: Ambiguous, but it looks like there have never been Birds of Prey before, and Barbara Gordon may never have been Oracle at all (makes sense since she got her start working for the Suicide Squad, which has been rebooted).
Upgrade? I wasn't reading Birds of Prey regularly, but I didn't get the feeling it needed to go back to square one. So it's a downgrade as far as I'm concerned, but not a drastic one.
Will read? I like Swierczynski and Saiz enough to follow them through the first arc, and hopefully the story'll pick up.
Recommended? New readers can get in on the ground floor, and it's definitely one of the more solid heroine books DC's putting out (as opposed to, say, Supergirl and Catwoman). Slow to start, waiting for the trade (as with Justice League) may be indicated.

Blue Beetle #1
Another franchise that hardly needed to be rebooted completely, I feel like Tony Bedard' re-origin of the Blue Beetle will retread already exhausted ground. BB's former series was all about a teenager finding a way to juggle life and superheroics. Having him start over means it has to happen all over again. Not to say, Bedard doesn't write a compelling superhero story here. The alien scarab that turns its bonded wearer into a weapon gets a prologue that ties it to the rest of the DCU via an appearance by a Green Lantern, and we catch a glimpse of its former wearer. He's kept Jaime's supporting cast around, and it was one of the former series' strengths. And for once, a writer uses recognizable DCU supervillains (the Brotherhood of Evil) as a plot element. I sometimes feel like Jim Lee and co. spent all their time redesigning the heroes, they completely forgot about the villains. All that, and Ig Guara's art, make this a solid superhero effort. But couldn't the very same story be told a little later in Jaime's life, introducing his origin in flashback and allowing him to have grown somewhat in the role? Even the Brave and the Bold cartoon - ostensibly the impetus for giving him a series again - made him an ESTABLISHED rookie. I'm just afraid the book'll come off as redundant.
Don't call it a reboot: It is, even if there wasn't all that much to reboot.
Upgrade? It looks pretty much the same, except they've erased all his stories and made him start over. Small step down, then.
Will read? Bedard proved himself on "cosmic" comics like Green Lantern Corps and REBELS, though he had a tendency to drag out story lines. Will he bring in Blue Beetles from space? Could be an interesting angle. I'll support this book for now, but I've got an exit strategy.
Recommended? If you've never read a Blue Beetle comic, then it's new to you, and it's not bad at all.

Captain Atom #1
J.T. Krul probably did the right thing by not only rebooting Captain Atom entirely, but also bringing him closer to his derived cousin Dr. Manhattan. Perhaps it can attract Watchman fans, and besides, the character had been abused so much, he was just starting to get usable again. I fear some redundancy because Captain Atom's been given matter-manipulation powers and that's Firestorm's bag. It also brings the character very close to Jim Shooter's Solar, though that shouldn't matter to potential new readers. I'm not a fan of J.T. Krul, but I do like his reinvention of the character. Dr. Megala is involved (no General Eiling as yet) and the Captain's powers are still a new and undefined force (even to us, because they're clearly not as they were). The fluid, moody art by Freddie Williams II strikes me as halfway between Frank Miller's and Michael T. Gilbert's, giving the book a distinct and stylish look. The style almost positions the title in the DC Dark sub-line. I still don't know what to make of the mysterious happenings on both sides of the United States, but I figure Captain Atom's existence is causing reality to break down at the quantum level. Again, that's not unlike Solar Man of the Atom (if it's true), but I'll be at least interested to see where it's going.
Don't call it a reboot: There's no indication that any previous story about Captain Atom has survived the new continuity.
Upgrade? For all my affection for the original Bates/Broderick series, there's no denying that Captain Atom has been broken for a good while now. The only way to redeem the character at this point is to reboot him.
Will read? I've been hot lukewarm and cold about J.T. Krul's work in the past, but this is the best I've read from him. He's got me in the short term.
Recommended? Doc Manhattan being in the zeitgeist could help this series get some traction and I do recommend it for its "science gone wrong" elements. It's got real potential (I'm as surprised as you are).

DC Universe Presents #1
DCUP is going to be an anthology series à la Showcase, sticking to characters for the length of a single arc. Good for the trade paperback business, but not necessarily enticing to that vaunted new reader pool. Deadman's at least appeared in Brave and the Bold on TV, so it might attract the curious. Paul Jenkins writes a fairly good story, re-introducing the character's origin and giving his mission the familiar feel of Quantum Leap. I don't think he quite earns his cliffhanger, because we barely see what one of these karmic missions is supposed to be like. What we do get is a lot of narration, and Rama's pretentious zen claptrap. I didn't really dislike it, but I did feel a little bored, and I met such sights as the stripper or the Iraq veteran who wears his helmet into town with a raise eyebrow. The last few pages almost redeem the issue, but you do have to read the first 15 to get there. Bernard Chang's art is good though, unless he's responsible for my raised eyebrows, in which case he's just weird. Not sure how the story connects to Boston Brand's appearances in Hawk & Dove either.
Don't call it a reboot: It's the start of his career and some details were changed, but Deadman's still recognizable.
Upgrade? Not really.
Will read? DCUP may have features I like better down the road, but Jenkins' Deadman left me cold. I'm in for a second issue, but it's got to grab me.
Recommended? Hard one. Just because I found it a little dull doesn't mean everyone will think the same. Since this will be arc-based though, I recommend waiting for the trade on every arc. That way, you can check on the buzz before you spend your first dollar.

Legion of Super-Heroes #1
Let's get this out first: There's no way the Legion could stand another reboot right now. It's been rebooted so many times, it's become a running gag and a major gripe with fans. Paul Levitz doesn't do that here. What he ALSO fails to do is provide a true jumping-on point for new readers. The Legion is a huge team of super-heroes who operate a thousand years from now. It's not just about getting to know them, but about being introduced to their world. None of that happens here, and even current readers need to catch up with changes that have occurred off-panel, like the Academy kids having joined and the Legion reeling from having Lost some members. We even jump into an espionage squad mission in medias res (a mission that makes some Legionnaires get out of costume). New readers will have it harder, trying to figure out who the recently dead Legionnaire is and why they're being shown a scene about him, or having to google what Dominators and Durlans are. Francis Portela's art isn't a big help, as I dislike his stiff waxen figures and overwhelming background detail. And why the HELL is there a sniper on the cover?!
Don't call it a reboot: It flows right from Adventure Comics and the previous LSH volume.
Upgrade? Nothing's changed.
Will read? I'm a Legion fan and was following it before.
Recommended? I just can't. Levitz makes no effort to introduce the 31st century and his huge cast to new readers. For hardened Legion fans only.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1
The other book that's been making waves about its sexual politics (in addition to Catwoman), Red Hood and the Outlaws features a sex kitten version of Starfire that's essentially been lobotomized, has sex with everyone else on the team, and has superfueled ADD that's made her forget her time in the Titans. She does a lot of cheesecake posing too. Frankly, it's pretty insulting to women and to my intelligence. And it's really too bad, because I was entertained by everything else. Scott Lobdell's made the Jason "Red Hood" Todd and Roy "Arsenal" Harper duo genuinely funny, created an intriguing new character in Essence, and though his plot could be clearer in places, set up a Big Bad that puts the Outlaws (terrible name, but at least it's not the Outsiders.. hold on, why ISN'T IT the Outsiders?) in their own corner of the DCU as international rogues who might take on real world, SF and supernatural problems. Same with the art. Aside from the ghastly and gratuitous cheesecake, Kenneth Rocafort has his own dynamic style. A bit obsessed with panel shapes to the point of causing clarity issues, but like Lobdell's script, it holds promise.
Don't call it a reboot: Jason Todd hasn't been rebooted (or at least, not much). Roy Harper's got both arms, so I guess he's been saved from Krul. And Starfire is a completely different character.
Upgrade? Yes for the boys, dear God no for the girl.
Will read? Lord help me, I actually want to. Shame about Starfire's characterization, because it's actually putting that desire into question. I certainly don't want to support that kind of thing.
Recommended? This could be a great action-adventure-comedy, if it weren't so demeaning to women. Maybe critical retroaction will affect some changes. In the meantime, I'd advise new readers to steer clear unless the above caveats don't bother them.

So to my surprise, Red Hood and Captain Atom weren't as bad as I thought they would be, and none of these six are without redeeming value. Only Captain Atom really intrigued me, while the others never rose above "ok" or at best, "promising". This week has truly been the weakest of the New52. Hopefully we'll get some actual winners next week. I have high hopes for I, Vampire, Aquaman and Firestorm, but dread Batman the Dark Knight, Teen Titans and Voodoo.