Welcome to the Legion!

DC is back!  I repeat DC is back! It has been a long two months.  In celebration of the return of DC I will look at three new books from DC.  Now I know some of you want to know what Marvel has to offer this week and the answer is: Dr. Doom is God and nothing that happens makes sense or counts toward anything.  There are two Star Wars books out as well and I am sure Darth Vader can wait a little while longer until he is featured on The Pull List.  The main Star Wars title raised some eyebrows this week and I’ll get to that.  I now return you to your DC victory lap.

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The first title to grace the racks of your Local Comic Shop is Batman Beyond #1.  I loved the TV show when it came out and then as an adult I let a friend convince me it was crap.  I returned to it one weekend while cruising Netflix for nostalgia and fell in love with Batman Beyond all over again. Things changed during Future’s End event and Terry McGinnis died.  Tim Drake has taken on the mantle of Batman and been thrust forward into the future.  Most of the conversation is between Tim and A.L.F.R.E.D. which is a Batman Beyond version of Iron Man’s J.A.R.V.I.S. AI. The issue is introductory but has so much potential that I am excited to keep reading.

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Dan Jurgens is one of my favorite writers at DC these days and I can tell he has a deep love for Batman. The art by Bernard Chang and Colors by Marcelo Maiolo look great and they did not go over the top with the “future” look.  I still cringe when a denizen of Gotham says “Schway.” That is never going to be a thing, stop trying to make it happen.  The art takes some interesting turns in the opening scene and looks fantastic and jarring.  The tension builds early and I look forward to more. I recommend it for any fan of the show.

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Let’s get this out of the way right now; Bat-Mite is not the worst thing ever to happen to Batman.  I would like to name Zebra Batman, Rainbow Batman and let’s not forget Knightfall Batman (90’s to the Extreme! Including chrome embossed cover) as knightmares brought to the Gotham.  These cringes down memory lane have been embraced by fans over time, well not Knightfall, but the one oddity that has clung so well is Bat-Mite.

I feel that the Bat-Mite represents the child like joy of the readers and has the mischievousness of a member of the Q Continuum.  Bat-mite had one episode each season of the Brave and the Bold TV series.  He brings levity to one of the darkest and grittiest characters, humanizing Batman and letting us all play “what if?” with the story.  This six issue run starts with a call back to the Adam West days.  Bat –Mite is pure fun in a serious comic.

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Dan Jurgens writes a great story that just has me smiling like a fool all the way through.  The pencils by Corin Howell had me a little worried because there are some mistakes that should not have been missed.  The butt of a rifle is in one panel, disappears in the next and finally the criminal is holding it like he has never seen a firearm before despite being a sharpshooter in previous panel.  I know I am picky but detail matters.  The inks were done by Howell and Andres Ponce and they are beautiful.  I also wanted to say I loved the use of “Hello Nurse” by Bat-Mite.  Treat yourself to a smile and get this.

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Next up is Omega Men (DC’s answer to Guardians of the Galaxy) a misfit crew of space heroes from the Vega system.  They are Vegans but not the kind that can’t stop telling you that they are vegan.  The Omega Men are a band of rebel freedom fighters pitted against an endless wave of violent thuggish oppression.  The Alphas they fight are your typical Storm Trooper bad guys.  I did not like the language barrier of having half the story told in an alien script.  Tom King has written a blockbuster style drama that is definitely an opening act to a bigger story.

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I had trouble following along but the main gist is that the bad guys are looking for the Omega Men.  They find them and are soundly trounced.  It is bloody and violent. The art by Barnaby Bagenda does not feel over the top and the colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr. are perfect for a space feel.  The Omega Men have appeared in less than 200 issues total and that is a fairly small count for a team that has been around for 33 years.  This can be made great if handled right so for now we wait and see. You could skip this one for now.

I was planning on keeping this all DC but as I was writing this week the internet blew up with the news about Star Wars #6 and the big reveal.  You can read about it here.  The issue was a great story, I loved the battle between Fett and Luke, I loved Darth Vader’s scene, and everything was great other than one weird detail about Han Solo.  Before you rage flip tables let’s wait and see how this plays out.  You should read this one.

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I have some news that I want to share.  Before next week’s Pull List is published I will be interviewing Josh Fialkov, the writer of Punks, The Life After and Bunker, issue 11 came out this week and you can get trades of the first 10 to catch up. Expect to see the interview soon.  This week I will also be a guest on 80PageGiant Podcast.  Hopefully I can talk about how I felt like Charlie getting a Golden Ticket when DC got back to regular publishing.  Next week I look forward to it will be a busy week for me and I will do my best to get all of the info out to you as soon as I can.  As always, go read something.

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Michael Espinos

When I’m not teaching middle schoolers engineering I am a Maker, Outdoor Enthusiast and consumer of all things geeky.
Working on a book as well. See a sample here: michaelespinos.wordpress.com