The New 52

One thing I've scarcely discussed in this blog, but something I nevertheless love, is comic books.  And, at the moment, the biggest news in comics is something I mentioned briefly in an older post, the fact that DC Comics is in the midst of relauching (their editors do not care for the term "rebooting") their entire superhero line of comics with 52 all-new #1 issues.  Though some of the books are pretty much continuing as they had been (I'm looking at you, Batman and Green Lantern), other characters/concepts are being reformatted either cosmetically or wholesale (Superman and Wonder Woman, being the most recognizable) and some concepts are being pulled from the vaults and a shiny coat of paint applied (I, Vampire).  I plan to flip through most of these books and buy a fair number of them, but a few in particular have whetted my appetite.  So, without further ado, here are my...

TOP FIVE MOST-ANTICIPATED "NEW 52" DC COMICS

Action Comics

Grant Morrison may well be insane. Whereas some comic writers coast through several issues of content on one nugget of an idea, Morrison tends to throw a Googolplex of ideas at the reader to see which ones might stick. He can clearly write Superman, as his award-winning All-Star Superman collaboration with artist Frank Quitely attests, but rethinking Superman's formative years and recasting him as something of an angry young man takes chutzpah. Even if this fails, it is likely to be a glorious failure, and I can't wait to finally make my trip to my LCS where this has been awaiting me for a couple of weeks.

Demon Knights

Paul Cornell is an up-and-coming writer (some would say he's already arrived), and this medieval history of the DC Universe just looks intriguing as hell.  I'm not necessarily a nuts-and-bolts sword and sorcery/fantasy guy, but maybe Game of Thrones worked its magic on me.  Plus, Etrigan the Demon is one of the best characters in the DC stable, capable of serving as hero, anti-hero, or villain, depending on how he's handled.  I'm just really looking forward to this one.

Animal Man

Animal Man is a peculiar character best known for his self-titled series which, in the late 80's, was an early breakout work of the aforementioned Grant Morrison.  He's an unconventionally weird hero (his power is the ability to borrow characteristics of various animals) whose stories have frequently focused not just on beating up villains, but on the character's family life and struggles.  He's become something of an everyman character living in a fantastic world, and writer Lemire has few critical detractors and is capable of nuanced, idiosyncratic work.  This book may be a perfect storm.

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E

This an another Jeff Lemire book.  Just look at it.  How can you not want to buy that, or at least read it?  I want to see Lemire go gonzo nutzoid, utilizing a public domain monster and a new iteration of old DC standby The Creature Commandos embroiled in espionage. Top to bottom, this may be the book to which I am most looking forward.  Feel free to psychoanalyze.

Batgirl

It should be clear by now that, as a comic book fan, I am mainly drawn to writers (though I firmly believe comics to be entirely collaborative efforts between writers and artists). Gail Simone is writing this one, controversially bringing the Barbara Gordon Batgirl back as a superhero after a long stretch in which a partially paralyzed Barbara reinvented herself as an information broker named Oracle and led a team of operatives known as the Birds of Prey while also becoming perhaps even more popular as one of the most fully realized disabled characters in the history of the medium.  So I'm curious how the very talented Simone will continue to grow Barbara Gordon and how her new status quo will be received by fandom over a period of months.

That said, I'm buying Batgirl primarily because of the covers.  Adam Hughes may be not only my favorite artist working in comics, but possibly my favorite contemporary artist period. I'm planning a post precisely on that topic, but for the moment, that's enough to get me to pick up the darn thing every month.

There are certainly more books I'm looking forward to, but each of these have a peculiarity factor or a wow factor other books don't quite have for me (I absolutely know Scott Snyder's Batman is going to be great, and while I'm curious as to Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver's reimagining of Firestorm, I've never particularly loved the character).  I just hope these books reach DC's stated goal: bringing both new fans and lapsed comic book readers back into the stores to buy comics.

I hope they don't also forget that thousands of us never went away, though.