Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

DC Comics

Darwyn Cooke and the Art of Genre Storytelling

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One of my silly little “reading goals” for 2022 was revisiting all things Darwyn Cooke – from his early work on Catwoman to the Parker novels late into his career. Cooke is, in my opinion, a giant of the medium. Compared to his peers, he ventured into comics quite late, after spending years as a graphic designer for magazines in Canada and then as a storyboard artist in Los Angeles for various shows of the DCAU. But what that also meant was that he was able to bring in and apply the lessons learnt and experience gained from those industries into his comics. His character design is timeless – look no further than his character sheet for Selina Kyle / Catwoman – and his storytelling is sharp and crisp.

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The Best DC Comics of 2022 (So Far!)

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While the center of the DC Universe is full of deaths of the Justice League and Dark Crises that haven’t ignited the fandom’s enthusiasm, the full scope of DC Comics is quietly having a very good 2022. Between out-of-continuity Black Label projects, and some more off-the-beaten path in-continuity runs and limited series, I had a seriously hard time keeping my picks for favorites of the year to a reasonable number.

Catching up on the best DC has to offer in 2022 is a really good time, and really highlights the publisher’s competitive strengths right now in terms of prestige limited series from top tier comic book creators. [Read more…] about The Best DC Comics of 2022 (So Far!)

Who Watched the Watchmen? Countdown to Final Crisis

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It is often said that Watchmen is the most influential comic ever to be released. That comics wouldn’t be where they are without it, for good and for ill. But how did we get here, exactly? More to the point, just what influence did Watchmen provide to the larger world of comics? What, ultimately, is the legacy of Watchmen? Who watched the Watchmen?

Countdown #17, cover art by Pete Woods

Duela Dent is dead and the Multiverse… actually doesn’t care that much. In the aftermath of the fiscally successful and critically-acclaimed 52, DC launched Countdown to Final Crisis, which is, well, less fondly remembered, to put it kindly. As its title might imply, it was attempting to build hype for the then-pending Final Crisis. This weekly series followed much the same format as 52 by juggling an enormous cast of lesser-known characters, but went overboard on pointless cameos and mostly forgot to include the parts where the story would be relevant to the events it was leading into.

To say Countdown was a hugely ambitious project is no exaggeration, so where did it go wrong? Well, following up the admittedly loose but still exciting and energy of 52 with a comparatively uninspired but equally long series to keep the fiscal ball rolling set it up to fail from day one. Another one of its biggest mistakes is the act of invoking Watchmen’s plot points, imagery, and themes. Regardless of your overall feelings on Watchmen, it had a meticulously written script in which a number of story and character beats dance more or less seamlessly with the larger plot. If you’re going to call attention to the series, you’ve got to run a tight ship or you’re setting yourself up to come across as a cheap imitation. Yet even a lot of cheap imitations are more charming than Countdown turned out to be. [Read more…] about Who Watched the Watchmen? Countdown to Final Crisis

DC’s 2021 Review Part 6: What’s Coming From DC in 2022?

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2.3.0 What Comes Next?

Shadow of the Bat

With Fear State out of the way, the next chapter of the Batman Family has begun with Shadow of the Bat, a fifteen-part story by Mariko Tamaki. Focused on a Gotham without Batman and the rise of Arkham Tower (the replacement to Arkham Asylum), the story is expected to be a big launching point for the Batman stories over the next year. Told over three separate acts, Tamaki’s story dives into the legacy of the Arkham prison system from many angles. From revealing the status of the Penguin and his Iceberg Lounge, to creating new characters like Dr. Wear and the Party Crashers, to giving Batwoman and Huntress their time in the spotlight, this saga will be a massive story of 2022.

This story also has a really important meta-narrative to pay attention to. Mariko Tamaki has risen in the mainstream as a top comics writer over the last three years . Starting with her critically acclaimed Supergirl: Being Super in 2016, Mariko Tamaki has been on the rise, recently winning the Eisner for best writer for Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me. This year, Mariko Tamaki finally got to become a more influential voice in the superhero main continuity storytelling thanks to Future State: Dark Detective and her first DC ongoing with Detective Comics.

Previously: Part One – The Road to DC Infinite Frontier [Read more…] about DC’s 2021 Review Part 6: What’s Coming From DC in 2022?

DC’s 2021 Review Part 5: How Can DC Comics Improve?

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2.2.0 4 Places where DC can improve

2.2.1 Superman and Queer Storytelling

DC has had a stellar year in terms of diversifying the line. There were a couple of significant misses this year, however, in their handling of queer relationships. One of the biggest misses occurred during DC’s Round Robin Tournament, where DC created a March Madness-style bracket of potential books that they could publish, including Blue Beetle: Graduation Day, Jesse Quick: Control, Etta Candy: Holliday Hero, Inc., and other books. The primary problem with the event came from the eventual winner, Robins, and the first book it faced, Justice League Queer or JLQ.

The basic idea of the event was that in every round, voters would get more info about the books up until the final face-off. When JLQ and Robins were up for a vote, however, the obvious winner was Robins. Fans have been clamoring for a Robins book for a long time and this was DC saying, “Hey, we’ll give it to you,” in spite of already having released an unrelated Robins webcomic in the form of Wayne Family Adventures. Meanwhile, JLQ was pitched as a queer DC book — the only queer book DC would release that month. It was then placed against the tournament’s easy favorite in the first round, basically being doomed to fail before more information could come out about it. Fans, only knowing the name JLQ, had to choose whether they wanted that or a long-desired Robins book. The answer was relatively obvious. [Read more…] about DC’s 2021 Review Part 5: How Can DC Comics Improve?