They Were Keeping Things Close To The Vest

Huntress: Crossbow at the Crossroads tpb
DC Comics
Paul Levitz, writer
Marcus To, artist

I opted to pass on this six-issue limited series when it debuted early in the beginning of the DCnU. It was a victim of my new scaled-back buying habits. I don't dislike the Huntress character. I'm very fond of her original incarnation as the daughter of the Earth 2 Batman and Catwoman. (The creator of this character is Levitz, by the way.) I'm less fond of the post-Crisis incarnation of Huntress, the daughter of a mobster who turns vigilante, but I still like a number of her appearances. Cementing my decision not to buy this limited series was the lack of any clear indication in the solicitation information about which Huntress this story would be about. At the time, it seemed safe to assume it would be the Helena Bertinelli version of the character rather than Helena Wayne, so I figured why bother.

That was before the debut of the Worlds' Finest title starring Huntress and Power Girl, which followed immediately on the heels of this series. Once I read the first issue of that title and saw that Huntress was once again the daughter of the Dark Knight, I decided to pick up the Huntress trade. And I'm glad I did. This is a solid read with world-traveling adventure and some international bad guys engaged in political intrigue, human trafficking and a number of other vices. Huntress dispatches them quite nicely.

It was also interesting to note that the vagueness of which Huntress this is was not limited to the solicitation information. Throughout the entire collected series, the character is never given a last name. In fact, Levitz seems pretty deliberate about not revealing the central character's origins until the very end, when Huntress seems to be cornered. That's when a friend makes an unexpected appearance to help Huntress out, making it crystal clear which Huntress this is. Of course, by that time, the news of the new Earth 2 and Worlds' Finest titles had been announced and there was no reason to play it coy any longer.

Nice Action, But Something's Still Missing

Justice League 13
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Tony Daniel, artist

This issue got a lot of hype before its arrival because of its shocking revelations about the Cheetah in the DCnU. To be fair, the issue sure is pretty to look at, but I'm not seeing anything all that shocking so far. To my knowledge, the Cheetah, a Wonder Woman foe both in the old DCU and the new, has never gone toe-to-toe with the entire League by herself before, but then this is still a League that doesn't understand or employ the concept of cooperation.

The DCnU Cheetah isn't drastically different in her origin from her old incarnation. She's still Barbara Minerva transformed into a were-beast, and Wonder Woman feels responsible for her condition and redemption. Not a great deal new so far. The story's not over yet, this is just the first part, so we will see if there is more to come.

Interesting, But It Won't Hold My Interest Long

Phantom Stranger 1
DC Comics
Dan Didio, writer
Brent Anderson, artist

The first issue of this title opens with the Phantom Stranger appearing in a New York City park in time to briefly interact with a young boy chasing a ball. The Stranger scares the boy, and while he is not directly responsible, he also does nothing to prevent the tragedy that follows. All of this leads to a gathering of people, one of whom being the Stranger's latest target for betrayal. If that all sounds rather unsympathetic, it was intentional.

I don't much care for this new version of the Phantom Stranger if all he's going to do is cause others pain, even if, as theorized in the pages of this issue, it is all for the greater good. The closing scene of the issue, showing that the Stranger does seem to have a family and a home that he goes to at the end of the day, doesn't even make me feel sympathy or find likability in this character. It just makes me fearful that his family is at best an illusion, or at worst, pawns he uses to make himself feel better about his situation without regard to what that will eventually do to them when they learn his true nature.

There are two saving graces in this issue that will keep me reading a bit longer in hopes that things are not quite what they seem. One is the promise in the last panel and teaser copy for the next issue that indicate an appearance by Pandora. The other is the meat of this issue. The person the Stranger betrays in order to lose another one of his pieces of silver is a teenage empath named Rachel who is trying to help people as best she can while remaining hidden from her other-dimensional demon father, Trigon.

For those to whom that doesn't sound familiar, in the old DC Universe, the New Teen Titans member Raven sometimes used a civilian name Rachel. Raven, both her superhero codename and her given name as far as we know, was born of a human mother, Arella, and an other-dimensional demon named Trigon the Terrible. After the child was conceived, Arella was taken to a place called Azarath by the pacifists who lived there. This is where Raven was born, and under the tutelage of these people of Azarath, Raven grew up, learning to use her empathic abilities to heal and help others, but to shun emotions, lest her father find and possess her, using her as a doorway to conquer our dimension. In fact, the formation of the New Teen Titans in the old DCU was at Raven's urging in an effort to combat her father after she first failed to enlist the aid of the Justice League of America.

While I don't much like this current incarnation of the Phantom Stranger, it was interesting to see this slightly altered version of an old favorite character, even if she was poorly mistreated.

Running Off The Rails

Zorro Rides Again 7-12
Dynamite Entertainment
Matt Wagner, writer
John K. Snyder III, artist

I reviewed the first half of this 12-issue series here and gave it high praise indeed. This was a wonderfully written narrative that served to weave together elements from many of the previous film, television and comic versions of the Spanish hero of Alta California, while still feeling like a natural progression from Wagner's earlier Zorro series for Dynamite. And the writing was beautifully complemented by the art team -- penciler, inker and colorist. This series was truly a joy to read and enjoy!

Was.

I don't know why a switch was made in the art team for the second half of the series, but there was, and the new artist does not compare favorably with Esteve Polls. Most of the figures are still recognizable, but the art is nowhere near as clean and polished as it was in the first half.

The coloring, too, pales by comparison. Where the first half of the series was lavishly colored in desert tones, many of these pages are colored monochromatically.

I'm afraid I can't lay all of the blame for the drop in quality at the artist's feet. Wagner's writing seems a bit off for the second half of this narrative. Diego de la Vega seemed to have a definite plan of action he was pursuing as Zorro in the first half of this series, and many of his actions stemmed from events depicted in Wagner's earlier Zorro series. But in the second half, there no longer seems to be a definite end game in mind. Worst of all, the story does not seem finished at the conclusion of the 12th issue. Now maybe that was by design as this is not intended to be the final Zorro story ever written, but with the number of characters who did meet a final end or resolution to their stories in the first half, it seems quite a letdown to have so many characters left in limbo at the end of this second half.

There was such promise at the beginning, that this final failure seems all the more painful to read.

Off To A Fantastic Beginning

Batman 13
DC Comics
Scott Snyder, writer
Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion, artists

I've deliberately avoided buying the main Batman books since The New 52! relaunch of the DCnU. I don't hate Batman. I like the character a lot. But I can read about him interacting with his colleagues in Justice League and didn't want to get trapped buying a bunch of Bat books while trying to limit my comics spending since the birth of our daughter. The relaunch just seemed like a good jumping off point.

Having said that, I got caught up in the hype surrounding the Joker's return and decided to pick up the issues that related to the "Death of the Family" crossover event in all of the Bat books. There are a few titles I'm still not picking up, even for this crossover, such as Birds of Prey, Teen Titans and Red Hood and the Outlaws, because I'm just not that interested in the new versions of those characters. But for the duration of the crossover, I've added Batman and Batman and Robin to my usual Nightwing and Batgirl.

Except I apparently missed pre-ordering a copy of Batman No. 13, the kick-off to the entire thing. Even though I receive the bulk of my comics on a monthly basis, I try to keep up with what books come out each week so that I can read them as if I picked up the new books as they come out. That's how I became aware of the arrival of this issue to comic book shop shelves and noted that it was absent from my order sheet for that month. Several frantic trips to area bookstores and comic shops later, I finally managed to snag a copy and began to wonder if the issue would really be worth all of that effort.

It was.

All of the major players are written very well. Batman's mind is racing on a number of levels: how can he stop the Joker, how can he protect his friends and allies, how can he protect specific intended targets, what is the Joker's overall plan, where will he strike next. He's brilliant in his reasoning, and while he is distant and aloof to a casual observer, he isn't dismissive or abusive to Police Commissioner Jim Gordon or his costumed proteges. The Joker is twisted and maniacal, but as with the best Joker stories, this Joker also has much method to his madness. Here Joker is every bit the strategist Batman is, the two are truly each other's opposite.

This is a truly fantastic beginning for what I hope will be a wonderful crossover event. Fingers crossed.

Now That's An Interesting Change

Aquaman 0
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, artists

This Zero Issue falls in the middle of "The Others" story arc currently playing out in this title. But since that story arc is serving to give readers a glimpse of Aquaman's past in the DCnU, a Zero Issue doing more of the same seems to fit nicely. So far, "The Others" story arc has shown readers how the dynamics of the bitter feud between Aquaman and Black Manta have changed with this new reality. This Zero Issue focuses on another Aqua-villain, also setting up things to come in the next story arc.

The issue begins six years ago with a younger Arthur sitting by his dying father's bedside. This is before the Justice League, even before the Others. As Tom Curry pushes his son to seek out his mother, the lighthouse keeper's home is surrounded by reporters and curious onlookers. The mob has been drawn to the Curry home seeking confirmation of the public statements about Atlantis and Arthur's origins made by Dr. Stephen Shin, as revealed elsewhere in "The Others."

Tom Curry dies, and a deeply distraught Arthur storms out of the house, past the mob and dives into the ocean. Months pass as the young man searches in vain for the lost continent of Atlantis. Until one (forgive me) dark and stormy night when he happens upon a small two-person vessel in trouble. Arthur saves the father and daughter from crashing onto a reef in the storm, and the next morning, after sharing with them the details of his futile search, the father tells Arthur of someone else who claims Atlantis is a real place -- a man named Vulko.

Arthur seeks out Vulko, and to his astonishment, learns that Vulko has been looking for him. Arthur's mother, Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis, is dead. Vulko explains that she had fled Atlantis when Arthur was born so she could take him to his father, Tom Curry. But then Atlanna had to return to Atlantis to prevent Tom and Arthur from being discovered. Upon her return to Atlantis, Atlanna was forced to marry and later conceived a second son, Arthur's half-brother, Orm. On Orm's 12th birthday, his father was killed, and shortly after, Atlanna died as well. Vulko believed that Atlanna died at the hands of her son, Orm, and when he spoke up, he was driven from Atlantis by loyalists of the new king. After sharing all of this, Vulko is insistent that Arthur return to Atlantis with him as the rightful heir to the throne of the undersea kingdom, a not so subtle nod to the upcoming Aquaman/Justice League crossover "The Throne of Atlantis."

Vulko has been a part of Aquaman's story for a long time as a friend and adviser to the throne. This version of Vulko appears considerably younger than the white-haired man often depicted in old DC continuity, but among his confessions to Arthur is the fact that he has been adviser to the ruler of Atlantis since the reign of Arthur's grandfather, so he must be older than he looks.

The big change is the introduction and origin of Orm, Aquaman's half-brother. In the DCnU, Arthur and Orm have the same mother, and being a full-blooded Atlantean, Orm has taken over the throne of Atlantis, quite possibly through the heinous act of patricide. In the old DCU, Orm Marius and Arthur Curry are still half-brothers but because they have the same father, Tom Curry. Some time after Arthur was born and Atlanna died, Tom Curry had another son with an Eskimo woman. Orm was always jealous that his mother was not his father's first love as well as envious of his half-brother's Atlantean heritage and abilities. That jealousy drove Orm to adopt the villainous identity of the Ocean Master, one of Aquaman's deadliest foes, second only to Black Manta.

It's not hard to imagine these two coming to blows in this reality over the right to rule Atlantis, especially if Orm is responsible for the death of their mother. I am curious to see how Vulko and Arthur's trip to Atlantis will factor into the formation of the Others. Obviously, since Arthur did not stay in Atlantis, one can assume things do not go well there. And surely Orm will play a role in the upcoming crossover between Aquaman and Justice League.

All Hail The Red Shirts!

Star Trek 13
IDW Publishing
Mike Johnson, writer
Stephen Molnar, artist

This is a fun little done-in-one issue of IDW's ongoing Star Trek comic that takes the Trek conceit of a red shirt being a death knell for low level crew members and dispels it handily for this new incarnation. The premise of the story is a letter home recorded by Hendorff, the crew member introduced in the 2009 movie first as the lead cadet in the bar fight against Jim Kirk in Iowa and later seen as a security crew member aboard the Enterprise when Kirk and Scotty beam aboard the ship from Delta Vega.

Hendorff is answering a message from his parents in which they relate the death of a family friend killed while serving aboard another starship. Hendorff's parents are concerned by this death and the rumors they've heard about how dangerous it can be to be a red shirt aboard a starship. Hendorff relates some of the Enterprise crew's recent missions in brief detail (missions are classified, you know), explaining that while danger is part of the job, he is serving aboard a fine ship with a fine crew who watch out for each other. A few scenes from the original series that saw red-shirted away team members die are included in the snippets Hendorff relates to his parents, but in each snippet, things are changed in this reality so that the aforementioned red shirt does NOT die.

A truly fun read from a consistently good book. Kudos all around!

Now These Are Changes I Can Get Behind

Nightwing 0
DC Comics
Tom DeFalco and Kyle Higgins, writers
Eddy Barrows, artist

There's nothing wrong with Nightwing's origin story, and so it is left mostly intact in this DCnU version. Young Dick Grayson is the third part, along with his parents, Richard and Mary Grayson, of the Flying Graysons, trapeze aerialists with the traveling Haly's Circus. On a trip to Gotham City, the circus runs afoul of a protection racket run by small-time thug Tony Zucco, who decides to make an example of the Graysons. The parents fall to their deaths, and the boy is taken in as the ward of Bruce Wayne, secretly the Batman, and eventually becomes Robin, the Boy Wonder. Later, Dick adopts the costumed identity of Nightwing when he becomes an adult.

The first change this DCnU version makes is to age Dick to 15 when his parents were killed. That age is slightly more believable than the original 8 Robin was supposed to be at the time of his debut as Batman's crime-fighting partner. Plus, it is a necessary change within this new reality where costumed heroes have operated openly no more than about five years.

The next change also goes to believability in the modern age. Rather than taking the orphaned Dick Grayson in as his ward, Bruce Wayne arranges to have Dick housed at the Wayne Care Center. Bruce still takes a personal interest in Dick; Bruce sees his own loss mirrored in what has happened to the young circus performer. And he sees himself in Dick's quest for justice as the boy tries to track down Tony Zucco on his own.

The last major change made to this origin story is the biggest to my mind. In the old DC continuity, Bruce saw himself in Dick's tragedy, so he took the boy in. Then he saw a similar need for justice and chose to reveal his secret to Dick as a way of providing direction for the boy's anger. The end result of that revelation led to Dick becoming Robin. Later, Jason Todd followed a similar path to becoming the second Robin. And finally, Tim Drake deduced the secret identities of Batman and Robin after Jason Todd's death at the hands of the Joker, earning his place as the third Robin.

In this DCnU version of Dick's origin, Dick figures out Bruce's secret on his own, a testament to the natural observation and detective skills the boy possessed, qualities necessary to make his transformation into Robin successful. Dick has ample time during the day to observe Bruce and question his motivations, and he also has a number of nighttime encounters with Batman while conducting his own pursuit of Tony Zucco. Comparing these two individuals is what brings Dick to the conclusion that they are the same man. I like this change and acknowledgement of the young man's skill.

But He Does Have The Embers Within Him

Justice League 0
DC Comics
Geoff Johns, writer
Gary Frank and Ethan Van Sciver, artists

The last several issues of Justice League have included two stories, the main JL tale, followed by a shorter story providing readers a glimpse of the DCnU version of Billy Batson. This issue has Billy take center stage as his transformation into Captain Marvel -- excuse me, Shazam! -- is completed.

Some contemporary readers have complained that Captain Marvel and his child alter-ego don't quite fit into the modern era because their Fawcett City world is just too simplistic and fun for the grim-and-gritty world of modern comics. I don't share that belief, but in an effort to modernize the character, Johns and Frank have brought us a Billy Batson who no one would call a Goody Two-shoes. This Billy Batson has been toughened by his years in the foster-care system, where he has learned to care about little beyond himself and to trust almost no one. He is a smart-mouthed, street-wise kid, but he still seems to harbor a soft spot for anyone being bullied by others.

Billy is brought to the Rock of Eternity by an ancient wizard as his pre-New 52 version was. In that incarnation, the old wizard, Shazam, granted the boy mystical powers when he spoke the wizard's name. This time around, the wizard is the sole remaining member of the Council of Wizards seen in the 2012 DC Comics Free Comic Book Day one-shot, the group that condemned Pandora, the New 52 Question and the Phantom Stranger as the world's greatest sinners.

The wizard is looking for someone who is pure good to bestow his powers upon, for only someone pure good could hope to defeat the villainous Black Adam. Naturally, the wizard finds this version of Billy not quite so pure. But Billy isn't willing to be so easily dismissed. Upon a second look, the wizard decides that the young boy has the CAPACITY for good within him, and that will have to be good enough.

Once Billy has the powers and the adult body of Shazam -- apparently, he's no longer going by the hero name of Captain Marvel since so many non-comics fans think Shazam is his name anyway -- he is transported away from the Rock of Eternity and back to join Freddy, one of the other children living in Billy's current foster home. The two boys then proceed to do things young boys would do given this level of power -- torment bullies who have gotten the best of them before.

As I said, I don't think the old version of Captain Marvel was in need of fixing, but this new version is an interesting one, and Shazam is destined to be a part of the League soon, hence his taking over their Zero Issue.

Since the main story in this issue is Shazam, the backup feature this time needs another focus. Johns and Van Sciver give us a glimpse of Pandora and the new Question in a short story titled  simply "Questions." Readers still aren't given any answers about these enigmatic characters, just more questions, but they don't have their own books to star in like their fellow Trinity of Sin member, the Phantom Stranger.

I'll Keep My Eye On It, But ...

Team Seven 0-2
DC Comics
Justin Jordan, writer
Jesus Merino, Ron Frenz and Julius Gopez, artists

This DCnU title, launched during Zero Month along with a few others, promises a look back at the beginnings of the first appearances of superheroes in the New 52 DC Universe, much like Grant Morrison's Action Comics. Team Seven is a covert, government group put together as a response to the emergence of metahumans and extraterrestrials living openly among human society. It seems the government was a little fearful of these costumed adventurers popping up all over the place "five years ago."

Among the cast of this title are some very familiar faces. I confess I don't know the previous history of all of these characters, but the team is brought together under the guidance of John Lynch, a central character from the old Wildstorm title Gen 13. The operatives he assembles include Black Canary, Deathstroke, Grifter and Amanda Waller. Their first mission, as begun in these issues, pits this new team against an entire prison full of inmates and staff under the control of Eclipso.

The conceit of this premise is that story lines could (and presumably will) cross over into several other titles and characters' pasts, plus I thought the idea an interesting one. And this is an interesting and well-written title. The art is a little uneven as one might guess from three artists on three issues, but not bad. In fact, the book is good enough that I will likely keep my eye on Team Seven for times when they might cross paths with characters I continue to follow. But I'm just not sure I'm going to be a regular reader of the title. It's not bad, it's just not holding my interest enough to justify the expense right now.

Third Time's The Charm

Night Force vol. 3
DC Comics
Marv Wolfman, writer
Tom Mandrake, artist

To date, Marv Wolfman has returned to his Night Force property three times, the most recent this past year for a seven-issue limited series, and this third Night Force is the best, IMHO, due in no small part to the fact that it WAS a limited series this time out.

The cover of the first issue boldly proclaims this latest Night Force to be "The Classic Series, Reimagined For A New Era!" I think this is mere hyperbole, playing into the newness of the rest of the DCnU relaunch. To be sure, Tom Mandrake's Baron Winters looks quite a bit younger and more athletic in build than in previous incarnations. But the characterization Marv Wolfman supplies is the same old uncaring maestro readers have come to expect. And once again, events from the previous incarnations of this series are referenced as actual past events these characters played a role in and some brief cameos are included by some of those past players. It isn't a stretch to believe that Winters' new, younger appearance is merely due to his ageless quality and/or an after-effect of the last story arc from the previous volume of Night Force.

In this single, seven-chapter story arc, a completely new threat is conceived for Winters and his agents to face. Forces unknown are selectively breeding human beings to achieve their own goals. The threat dates back hundreds of years and is quite epic in scope, very nearly succeeding in bringing about Winters' own demise. And perhaps that is another reason this latest volume seems better than its predecessors: the threat seems dire enough to truly challenge Winters, even frighten him. Winters typically has tended to come across as somewhat bored by his past missions.

Especially if you are a fan of Vertigo comics, these three volumes of Night Force would definitely be worth a look.

Another Trip To The Well

Night Force vol. 2
DC Comics
Marv Wolfman, writer
Brent Anderson, Eduardo Barreto, Sharon Martinbrough, Matt Smith and Sergio Cariello, artists

When Marv Wolfman brought his Night Force concept back to comic book shelves in 1996-97, he did a lot of things right. For instance, this was not a reboot, but truly a continuation. The unique nature of the series -- a central figure directing the actions of various agents in the pursuit of various goals -- means that the series could come back after almost 15 years and just pick up where it left off. Maybe there were other "missions" in the intervening time and maybe there weren't, but this is clearly the same Baron Winters. Even a few of the other characters from the first series make a return here. Their history with Winters remains intact and is sometimes referenced, but in such a way as not to limit the understanding of new readers unfamiliar with the first volume of the series.

This new Night Force also had some strikes against it. Gene Colan was unable to return due to health problems. While several other artists took over the art chores an arc at a time, none of these other artists could capture the same dark moody atmosphere a Colon illustration provides. And once again, the title struggled to find an audience, this time being cancelled after just 12 issues.

The first story arc of the late '90s Night Force is the best of the bunch, IMHO. Reflecting the times, this series is somewhat darker in tone than the previous incarnation. There are still demons and supernatural forces to contend with here, but there are also many much-more "human" monsters in these issues. The balance between and nature of God and the devil are also frequent themes from this volume. Despite some bright moments here and there, however, this Night Force left me a little underwhelmed just like the first volume.