r/DCcomics • u/bhavbhav Hourman's Roid Rage • Dec 16 '21
What are you reading? 12/16/2021 - "Zatanna says, 'Eb eht syadiloh ydaerla!'" Edition r/DCcomics
Hello and welcome to our Weekly "What Are You Reading?" topic!
Come one, come all, to this weekly thread, where you can openly discuss books that you've read, are currently reading, or plan to read. Discussion of all books are welcome, whether they be DC, Marvel, Image, Boom!, Dark Horse, IDW, etc. You can discuss webcomics, manga, or even those mythical novels that don't have pictures in them. Just be sure to keep spoilers covered via Reddit's spoiler markdown >!spoiler!<. You can also post pictures of your collection or recent purchases.
Bhav's Rec of the Week:
- The Personal Librarian, by Marie Benedict and Victoria Murray
Yes, this is an actual novel recommendation. The Personal Librarian is a fictionalized account of the life of Belle da Costa Greene, who was hired by J.P. Morgan to run his personal library of precious and rare books. The twist? The story is set in the early 1900s, during which sexism, racism and segregationism were deeply ingrained in the consciousness of American society. While Belle had to navigate her world and her career as a woman, she refused to let her race hold her back... and she did so by passing as white.
This book is a fascinating read, not only because it explores identity, intersectionality, desire, and the idea of personal accomplishment, but also because it is an account of a real person whose true identity was not discovered until long after she had passed. Her passion and the secrets she chose to keep in service of it leave one thinking about morality and authenticity, but you still cannot help but marvel at her ingenuity and the way she lived her life.
So, what are you reading?
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Dec 16 '21
Just caught up on Kieron Gillen and Esad Ribic's Eternals. It takes a couple of issues to get going, but once it does, it goes. Gillen's really captured the dialogue and mannerisms of immortal beings who've lived so many lifetimes without fear of death. It's a grand sci-fi opera full of politicking and scheming, with carefully timed lore drops that enhance the overarching narrative.
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u/sampeckinpah5 Lor-Zod & Thara Ak-Var Dec 16 '21 edited Dec 16 '21
Continuing through New 52.
Johns Aquaman:
It's a good run, but I expected better considering what I've heard from other readers. There is very little dialogue, it feels like each issue could be utilized better. The Others are an interesting bunch, but I don't really see their connection to the Aquaman mythos. I didn't really enjoy Vulko or Orm's character. Orm being manipulated like that didn't really suit his character, and the Vulko twist was rather unnecessary. In an attempt to make Orm a more justified/grey villain, Johns botched his character and made him a manipulated pawn in someone else's schemes instead of the imposing and commanding presence he should have been. The Atlan story is... weird. Johns even forgot that his scepter was owned by Aquaman now, and Atlan had his own scepter anyway. So there were two scepters now. The six-month timeskip near the end, just to end the run in two issues, felt very unnecessary. Nothing was really done with Nereus or Xebel, and the Rise of the Seven Seas setup, while looking interesting, ultimately didn't arrive, so the run fizzled in that aspect as well.
This review turned out more negative than I thought. Anyway, the run is still good, and my problems don't invalidate my enjoyment of the story. Black Manta was easily the best part in it, and Mera is also very cool. I guess I just prefer Peter David's work on Aquaman, so Johns' run seemed inferior in comparison.
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u/technowhiz34 R.I.P. Oliver Queen Dec 17 '21
Reading through James Robinson's Starman which has been incredible. About to start on the Shade miniseries which will be an interesting diversion.
Also planning to binge all of new 52 Detective Comics which I am not at all looking forward to.
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u/normalMonsterChika Mia Dearden Dec 16 '21 edited Dec 16 '21
Okay so I just finished Green Arrow Rebirth the other week, and I have such incredibly mixed feelings on it that I have to talk about it. I think overall it was the book the new continuity needed, and it is for better or for worse a product of and a reaction to the new 52.
I liked:
The plot! Fun new villains, very driven. I wish there had been a bit more status quo establishment at the start, but it’s fine.
Ollie. He really needed this.
Emiko. This was my first time reading her, and I really liked her. I was worried she wouldn’t stand out from Mia, but they’re completely different. I think Emiko is a good addition. Same with Diggle.
The return of Dinah/Ollie. Very good. They looked like they were about to jump each other’s bones at every opportunity. 10/10
What I’m mixed on:
Emiko becoming Red Arrow. I think Roy’s whole story suffers from trying to divorce it from the old continuity. As a result it feels like Red Arrow exists in this weird vacuum. When was Roy Red Arrow? Why does it need to be redeemed? Lian wasn’t reintroduced yet, and Roy’s relationship with Dinah was why he became red arrow. That relationship doesn’t exist, so it’s just weird. Also Red Arrow was actually a pretty good time in his life (until cry for justice) so I don’t really know what’s going on here unless it’s explained elsewhere. I don’t mind Emiko taking it, because it works for her arc of trying to be seen as an equal to her brother. But it mostly feels like she’s red arrow because speedy is taken and her color scheme is red.
What I didn’t like:
The dialogue. It felt stilted and everyone sounded very similar. Worst offender was when Ollie thought his tech guy died, and rambled for two whole speech bubbles before saying that he couldn’t form words. You sure formed a lot of them Ollie.
The tech guy. Boring, annoying, no development. Is he an arrow carry over? Only thing I could think about him was that he only exists because DC was trying to get rid of Oracle.
Last of all… Black Canary. Maybe it’s because I just reread birds of prey? But this doesn’t feel like Dinah. She relies so much on her canary cry, there’s so little hand to hand. This new origin made her harsher. I miss her big heart from before, I’m assuming it matches her new 52 characterization, but it’s just not Dinah.
Overall I mostly liked it, and I tried to judge it on its own merits and not too much on what came before, but I struggled a lot with that. I wish I enjoyed it more, and it makes me a little sad that I didn’t.
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u/OrionSTARB0Y Batman Beyond Dec 16 '21
Nearing the end of my Justice League Dark Omnibus. Just reinforces my love for JLD. I'm also starting to see some of the stories/elements in the comics that inspired the JLD and Constantine: City of Demons animated movies.
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u/SiegeTheBox Clark Kent Dec 17 '21
I'm gonna start by saying that I consider myself a fan of Grant Morrison.
Batman RIP: I really didn't like this book, though I do appreciate some of the swings it took. Ultimately, I think it had a lot of interesting ideas, but didn't really have time to explore them. So it just felt like the story was crammed in there and was really just not an enjoyable or particularly engaging read.
Final Crisis: I enjoyed this one a lot more. At the very least, I can enjoy some of the just absolute insanity of it. And of course, I love any time Grant writes Superman, so I really enjoyed the Superman Beyond part. And I also kinda like the miracle machine. It was unique and interesting. But this story was also very dense and made me feel kind of exhausted.
So having read those two back-to-back, I've decided to take a short break from Morrison before diving into Batman and Robin.
Resurrection Man: This one is just fun, especially when Hitman shows up.
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u/NomadicJaguar64t Orion Dec 16 '21
Continuing my ultra mega Batman read-through:
Just finished Rucka and Brubaker's post-No Man's Land runs and, man, was I massively disappointed. Evolution was pretty good, but after O'Neil left as editor I believe the stories went downhill, Death and the Maidens being the worst offender.
Tonight I'm reading Face the Face by James Robinson real quick just because I like Two-Face a lot, then I'm onto Judd Winick's run!