New DC Comics, Part 1
We’re now entering into the sixth month of DC’s relaunched universe, and the situation looks similar to what the first month promised: Plenty of bad titles, but also quite a few good ones, with several unusual series that would never have gotten a fair chance under normal circumstances. At this point, I think that there have been a few more disappointments than I expected, but the DC Universe still seems healthier and more promising than it did beforehand.
These series are now mature enough to be harsh reality to set in. It seems that only about half of them still have the same creative team that they started with, and DC has already announced the first six cancellations. But the most cynical predictions haven’t been borne out: The customer base is still supporting more monthly titles than DC had before, and every title has stayed on schedule. The matter of scheduling has been one of the bigger surprises, actually. DC and Marvel have both been notorious for delays in recent years, but since the relaunch, DC has been quick to swap out creators or provide fill-ins where necessary. It sometimes hurts the quality, but it maintains the thrill of a monthly story, and is probably part of a strategy to keep new readers who aren’t committed enough to follow favorite creators through inconsistent schedules.
I’ve tried out twenty-two of the fifty-two series, though that number is dropping heavily now that I’ve seen what I like. My plan is to review all twenty-two of those this month. To start with, here are four basic superhero titles that reached a good conclusion with issue #5, so I’m ready to review them before #6 arrives in the upcoming weeks.
Cult of the New 