52 Geek-Out: DCU Part 2
[continued from yesterday]
The Atom
Writer: Mark Waid / Artist: Chad Hardin
Ray Palmer has disappeared and Ryan Choi aims to find him, but if, as Ryan suspects, his former physics professor has shrunk to submolecular size, that’s like searching for a needle in a haystack among a nearly infinite succession of barns. Meanwhile, as The Atom, he’s put through his paces as a fledgling superhero by master craftsman Mark Waid [Kingdom Come], who expertly probes the perspectives of those with seemingly impossible abilities, here joined by his Traveler fellow Chad Hardin [Countdown to Mystery]. The stunningly detailed Geof Darrow is on cover duty.
Green Arrow and Black Canary
Writer: Gail Simone / Artist: Amanda Conner
Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance are the constantly bickering, completely smitten,
kick-ass Nick & Nora Charles of the DC Universe. He’s the scion of a wealthy family who learned humility, self-sufficiency, and expert archery while stranded on an uncharted island after losing his parents. She’s the heir to a small flower shop founded by her late mother who learned martial arts, detective work, and ultimately self-sacrifice from a father who died rescuing her from an extraterrestrial menace. Together, of course, they’re superheroes — whose similarities and differences keep life interesting. Any one of these 52 titles as written by Gail Simone [Wonder Woman], so expert at balancing black humor and bracing adventure, would become an instant must-read; pairing her with interior artist Amanda Conner [Power Girl] and topping it all off with covers from Brian Stelfreeze makes Green Arrow and Black Canary almost too good to be legal.
Firestorm
Writer: Will Pfeifer / Artist: Chris Burnham
A lab accident briefly bonds Professor Martin Stein and students Ronnie Raymond, Lorraine Reilly, and Jason Rusch into one being with astounding atomic abilities. From then on, any combination of the quartet can merge into Firestorm, the Nuclear Man — although if Lorraine’s personality is dominant in the transformation, she prefers to become the Nuclear Woman — with unpredictable results. Will Pfeifer [Aquaman, Catwoman] is joined by new talent Chris Burnham [Batman Inc.] for this new look at one of DC’s most powerful and complicated characters, under Chris Bachalo covers.
Intro | DCU Part 1 | DCU Part 2 | Multiverse
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...makes Green Arrow and Black Canary almost too good to be legal.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I'll buy just about anything Simone writes and Connor draws. Put 'em together, and it's magic.
One of the things I like about your approach to this reboot (as evidenced by both your Atom and Firestorm books) is a willingness to not abandon modern changes/takes on the characters just because you're rebooting.
One of my concerns, back when there was still a question about whether this whole DC relaunch was a complete reboot, was that, in rebooting, DC would lose some of the modern good stuff they've done, like the Jamie Reyes Blue Beetle, in order to restore an older (albeit "modernized") status quo.
Of course, we now know DC's relaunch isn't quite that sweeping, but I like that your ideas show its possible to reboot without ditching all the good elements of the last 20+ years.
I'm loving these, Blam. Would that you'd sent me more than the Multiverse titles while you kept tinkering so that you had fairly recent copies of these posts (at least).
ReplyDeleteThe creative teams are great (and I too would read Gail Simone on just about anything), but the loglines are what's really hooking me.
I just can't believe that Waid's on none of the New 52 titles. Maybe he'll be among the 52 Plus or whatever they're calling the other projects they're rolling out, but even with the new Daredevil at Marvel and his Boom! stuff I have a hard time believing that he's just too busy. So either he or DC or both figured that he had his new-universe-building chance already with the weekly 52 or he's just letting them hang themselves.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see him on Atom, is my point.