Customer Reviews

DC Comics: The New 52

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

You have to be very very extra careful in opening this book. Am glad that i checked this out first in a local bookstore before deciding to buy. 800 pages with glued binding like that of Teen Titans Vol 1 - i can accept that. But for 1200 plus pages, you still stick to glued binding ? Really ?? I have given up hope on DC making an omnibus that has a sewn binding. Best of luck to those who bought this book.

An omnibus like this has to be reviewed by two criteria: content and format.

First, the content. I highly recommend DC's New 52. It's definitely the most interesting thing to be done in comics in years. While not every issue is a hit (Hawk & Dove, Captain Atom), these are certainly in the minority. Most are solid, fun, stories that begin a new DC universe with a bang. A few standouts (such as Jim Lee's Justice League and Perez/Merino's Superman) seem to jump off the page in color and detail. Despite the fact that not every issue is fantastic, this omnibus would receive 5 stars from me based on content alone.

However, the second criteria, format, tends to bring that perfect score down slightly. As a previous reviewer noted, this book is huge, over 1200 pages. Consequently, it's a bit unwieldy. Now, I understand that's a natural consequence of this type of omnibus, but I do feel it's worth mentioning: reading this book comfortably is just plain difficult. Also, due to the number of pages, the binding gets a bit...tight as you get nearer the center of the book. On some pages, dialogue boxes are VERY close to the inner edge and I found myself having to push down on the center of the book to read them. It's not a deal-breaker, but it doesn't make for the most pleasant reading experience. However, for most people, this book will be an archival copy, something to keep on the shelf rather than read repeatedly, so it probably won't matter.

Overall, I recommend this book. It's a great way to introduce yourself to the New 52.

I have no problem with reboots. I lost a few characters I liked, notably Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, but for the most part I welcomed this. DC did way too many events in a very short period starting with Identity Crisis and ending with Flashpoint. I lost interest in a lot of DC comics because of this. I wasn't a fan of Grant Morrison's vision for Batman either. From time to time a reboot is nice to simplify convoluted history, especially when the creative talent changes so frequently in comics today.

With that said, there are some really good relaunches here, and conversely some horrible ones. Savage Hawkman, Static Shock, Deathstroke, and Catwoman are just a few of the clunkers. I'd say I abandoned about 20 books after the first issue, so that's 40% of this collection I wouldn't recommend. After four months I'm hovering around 20-22, still on the fence about a handful in the long run. Overall, that's pretty good. I'm in the minority on some books I like as well as some I think are rubbish. In the end, with a collection this varied, it's going to come down to personal taste.

As for me, here are my top recommendations:

1) Birds of Prey - Tons of fun, great cast, plenty of action, great team chemistry.

2) Suicide Squad - Weak first issue, but picked up in issue #2 where it has remained strong with a fun cast and wild situations that remind me a bit of Garth Ennis & John McCrea's Hitman series.

3) Batman & Robin - Another weak first issue. Tomasi can't nail the voice of a ten-year-old, but the villain is fantastic, the pacing and visual storytelling are some of the best I've ever seen, and the character interactions are fresh and interesting.

4) Blackhawks - Sometimes I think I'm alone on this one, as it seems fated for cancellation. Blackhawks is incredibly fast-paced and packs to the rafters. Every issue is loaded with a great cohesive narrative, high stakes, plenty of action, and solid team dynamics.

5) Nightwing - Focuses around Dick Grayson's past and how it affects his present. Presents complicated conflicting decisions ahead. Great romance story with a bit of a love triangle that I don't see being a major part of the story, but it's there. Just solid storytelling in a nutshell.

Other books I'm really enjoying are Swamp Thing, Batgirl, Justice League, Captain Atom, Justice League Dark, Flash, Batman, Batman Dark Knight, Red Hood and the Outlaws, Teen Titans, Aquaman, I Vampire, Wonder Woman, Animal Man, Batwoman, Action Comics and All-Star Western.

Batman Dark Knight leaves a mixed impression in the first issue - and well, most of its issues. The investigation by Internal Affairs is interesting, but the monster-making toxin and Playboy bunny villain are just ridiculous.

Justice League will probably let most readers down in this collection, since there's really no league in issue #1.

A few other titles are decent or have promise but I stopped reading them, but like I said, it's ultimately personal taste. I think Deathstroke is one of the worst books of the bunch and I know people who like it.

Overall, for the price tag, you might just want to stick with titles you know you'll have an interest in. DC will be releasing 52 different collections featuring the opening story for each series if you prefer collections to individual comics.

I was very excited to receive this book as a long awaited birthday present. However, to add to other reviewer's comments, from a production standpoint, this book is very large, and extremely unwieldy. It's hard to read some of the dialogue when you get towards the middle of the book, which diminishes the pleasure of reading the story, and as others have noted, undermines the artwork. This really should have been released as two separate oversized books so that it would be more readable.

From a critical perspective, this was DC's opportunity to "rewrite" the book on the entire universe. Each comic really stands on the strength of the authors. In my mind, the best "rewrite" of making a super-hero contemporary was Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man, or Millar's Ultimates (rewrite of Avengers, which the current Avengers film is based on).

I'm not a DC guy, but was excited to be able to pick up each issue and understand who each character is, what their power was and where the story was heading. Each of these stories should have been simpler, since you shouldn't need to know any continuity. This is a brand new universe, there is no continuity. Yet somehow, on many of the books, I felt completely lost.

I'm using this book as a sampler, to figure out if any of the comics really stand out to continue to buy other TPBs. So far, only Justice League was fairly interesting. Again, due to the writing.

Marvel has the same problem in their Point .1 issues. They were supposed to be starting points. A lot of these issues, you feel like you are walking in the second half of a movie. Of course, these new comics should appeal to have been reading the books forever, but what is the point of revamping a universe if you are just going to be telling the same old stories.

I recommend to buy this book if you are interested in seeing what DC has done, but likely you should pay less than $100.00 Otherwise, wait a few months, a buy the higher rated collections of the what fans think the best comics that came out of 52.

The new 52 was a great marketing ploy. I wish they would have spent more time developing the characters and story to bring me into their larger universe.

I will likely lend this book out but I highly doubt that I'd take it to my grave.

DC Comics: The New 52 is massive, almost 8 pounds with 1200 pages of reading. All 52 of D.C. Comics #1 issues are collected in this oversized hardcover. The paper quality is good and the binding doesn't fall apart after one read.
D.C.'s New 52 Initiative was bold move which stripped years of continuity and allowed newcomers like myself to start reading a D.C. series without having to worry about picking up previous trades, hardcovers, or issues. This is exactly why I've been avoiding D.C. comics, when I heard about the New 52, I thought I'd give it a try. I am extremely glad I did. There is of course going to be some bad reads out of the New 52, but I only found a few that I didn't care for. Overall most of these first issues were good, with some of them being magnificent. If you have the money, I'd highly recommend getting this, especially if you're a new reader. This is the perfect way to "test the waters" before you buy any of the trades or hardcovers next year.
To mention a few I loved...
Batwing was my favorite Ben Oliver's art was fantastic. It had a realistic quality that I appreciated and Judd Winnick's dialogue and characterization of Batwing was fantastic.
Aquaman was another one I couldn't help but love. I've always dismissed Aquaman as someone who just talks to whales and stop oils spills. I know I'm not alone in these thoughts. Superstar writer Geoff Johns blows those preconceptions out of the water and delivered a fun tale and look into the character of Aquaman. Written off as a "lame" superhero, Aquaman is anything but that when Johns writing his solo series.
Batman: The Dark Knight finally managed to make me interested in Batman. I've never been a fan, save the Nolan films, of Batman. Paul Jenkins teams up with David Finch to bring us a new look at the masked vigilante. Finch's art is a real treat to see.
Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E was a comedic and action packed issue that you have to read to believe. Jeff Lemire creates an interesting new group that had me looking for the next issue the day after I read the first one.
Superboy and Supergirl are two very cool takes on the "super-family." While Superboy focused on the origin, Supergirl was more action oriented with Superman himself making an appearance in the end.

Overall The New 52 Omnibus is worth every penny if you have the money. Sure the $150 price is a little steep, but it gives you the chance to read every first issue of D.C.'s historic event, I'd give this a solid 4/5.

This book has simply got to be the most craziest, outrageous and priciest sampler book in the history of comics publishing. I am not going to bore you with a issue by issue critical rundown of 52 first issues of the DC New 52 Universe. Honestly, they were hit or miss. I have mixed feelings with every reboot that comes to pass. However, I realize that this had to be done since the old DCU was getting stale and old samey. Look at DCs sales now. They needed this shot in the arm. I gave this book five stars for the presentation, design and DCs ballsiness to issue a $150.00 sampler book, which is all it actually is. I know some other reviewers had issues with the glued in binding versus stitched, and I can't blame them for the cost of this book. Despite that quibble, this book looks very cool on a book shelf. It is massively thick and awkward and heavy. I love it. And I love DC Comics.

Today I received my New 52 Omnibus from Amazon.
I got my first look at a lot of the new DC Universe titles.
I love it!
I spent half an hour just flipping through the pages, reading credits, and checking out the art work. I didn't actually read anything yet. And I didn't even make it to the end yet.
Man, this book is big. 1216 pages. And that's the beauty of this book.
DC has finally published a massive, full size omnibus. Let's hope they can do more like this soon. It'd be a great format for the double sized LSH and JLA issues when their archive series reach that point.

When I received this book, I was amazed not only by the size, but also by the quality. The binding is solid and sturdy, although a sown binding like Marvel uses on its omnibi would make the book easier to read and would thus be preferable. The cover is both strong and also fully illustrated with a great Jim Lee depiction of the entire Justice League. Both the dust jacket and the cover look great.

As to the content--I've enjoyed the heck out of reading through the entire relaunch (which takes hours to do). I'd picked up five or six of the new number ones previously, but this book gave me the chance to try the other forty six or forty seven. A vast majority were really good, and I found several titles that I'll probably follow at least for awhile.

Some people have complained about this book (needlessly, I think), wondering whether it serves a purpose or not--to me the answer is an absolute yes. I don't buy many single issues anymore, and when I do, I generally read them once, then get rid of them. I sold my collection of single issues years ago and don't have any interest in collecting comics in that way again (although comixology digital comics has gotten me buying some single issues again. I love big collected books, books that contain entire creator runs or storylines, but I've enjoyed the convenience of coixology as well, and I do want comics to continue to come out on a monthly basis).

There was no way I was going to buy all 52 single issues of the new 52 when they came out--to me it would feel like a waste of money. I hate to say it, but single issues to me are almost disposable because I simply have no interest in collecting comics in that way. This volume, though--this is a beautiful commemorative keeper that also gives me the chance to try dozens of comics I otherwise never would have. I now have interest in following books I otherwise never would have tried.

As far as price goes--this volume at list price is still less than all the individual issues would have been, and with Amazon's discount, it's actually substantially cheaper--probably eighty or ninety dollars cheaper than buying all 52 individual issues--so again I disagree with the people saying this book isn't necessary because you could just buy all the individual issues. Buying them this way cost me about half as much, and this format is much more permenant and impressive to me.

I really enjoyed the nature of this book overall. It's like a book of possibilities, an introduction to dozens of storylines that can continue to be followed if they catch the interest. The writing was generally good to great, and the art was fantastic far more often then not (and rarely less than very good), often enhanced a lot by amazing coloring. DC put together some very talented creative teams for this relaunch, and I don't regret this purchase at all.

Heck, I enjoyed this book enough that if DC decided to release a second volume called 'The Next 52' that contained the second issues of all 52 series contained in this, I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up either.

Overall I loved the size, content and epic nature of this book, and i'm really happy that i bought it. At the same time, in the future DC should learn from Marvel and should start using sown bindings since sown bindings allow books to be opened more easily and more completely.

Take a deep breath and hold on to your seats because we've got a long wild ride ahead into one of the boldest decisions ever taken by a comics publisher and into 1200 pages of comics.
The superhero genre of comics is often derided by critics as inferior to more `mature' or `serious' works of graphic storytelling; though I suspect that literary snobbery is aimed as much at the fans whom these critics see as reading nothing else which, pretty much like most generalisations, both is and isn't true. I have a broad taste in comics or graphic novels or whatever it is you want to call them but I still keep coming back to superheroes. Why? Because they're just so much damn fun which is why they've not only lasted but come to be the most popular genre of comics. This massive book demonstrates why that is so.

But it was still a big gamble for publishers DC Comics. They cancelled all their titles and rebooted their shared universe from scratch with 52 No.1's. And, in my opinion, they were extremely clever in the way they went about it. This new universe begins five years after the appearance of superheroes which allows some stories which worked well and were popular from the previous continuity to be carried on (specifically titles which feature Batman) and to adapt elements from it to makes changes to characters (Barbara Gordon was crippled by the Joker but has now recovered and is back as Batgirl). Vertigo (DC's mature readers imprint) characters which were owned by DC (Swamp Thing, Animal Man, John Constantine, etc) have been brought into the new shared superhero universe. Elements of the Wildstorm imprint bought by DC years ago and previously in their own separate universe are now integrated into DC's -Stormwatch, Grifter, Voodoo. Some defunct characters have been revitalised (Resurrection Man - a favourite of mine from the 90's- I,Vampire, Omac). And there are a handful of new titles -Justice League Dark, Frankenstein Agent of Shade, and Demon Knights.

DC planned this as a jumping on point, though no doubt being well aware that for others, like a long-standing DC superhero fan and friend of mine, it could also be a jumping-off point. No doubt some did indeed jump off but many more jumped on. For the first time in decades, DC outsold Marvel Comics and while sales have dropped after the initial explosion, DC are still matching Marvel. So as a commercial exercise, there's no question that DC's New Universe has been a significant success.

But has it also been a creative one?

Well, having just read all 52 first issues and read hundreds of reviews on various websites of these and successive issues, the answer to that is a qualified yes. So, time to look at the book itself.

Although it begins with the first title of the New Universe published, it doesn't reprint them in order of publication. Instead, they are arranged into categories. The first section is Justice League and does indeed begin with that title, setting it five years before the new current continuity when superheroes are just beginning to (re?)emerge. And concerns Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) meeting Batman, for the first time, in Gotham against a mutual alien enemy. It ends up in Metropolis where GL gets the crap knocked out of him by -oh come on; I don't really have to tell you by whom. So these first few issues of JL are the origins of the current team. Next up is the founding of Justice League International in the `present' day. Other titles in this section include Aquaman, Wonder Woman (superb), The Flash, Green Arrow (more in line with the character as shown in the tv series Smallville), The Savage Hawkman, etc. You might do a double-take when you see Mister Terrific in there. This is the first case in the book of DC shoehorning in a title which doesn't fit anywhere else; unless there's something they aren't telling us.

The next section consists of four titles, one of them being the section title Superman, but it's preceded by the Grant Morrison written Action Comics which is chronologically the earliest title and features Superman at the beginning of his career when his powers are limited (he can only leap buildings at a single bound, etc), he doesn't have a proper costume as such, and he's after crooked businessmen which puts him in line with the Siegel and Schuster original character. And it's wonderful. In the George Perez scripted Superman, he's in his new costume (no pants on top). The other titles are Superboy and Supergirl who seem to be newish takes on these characters.

The 11 titles of the Batman section are often the least changed yet the most startling. The final page at the end of Detective Comics is both surprising and deeply shocking and is guaranteed to get you to buy the next issue. Catwoman is already almost a legend for its graphic depiction of rough costumed sex between her and Batman. I've already mentioned the new/old Batgirl. There are also the usual suspects -Nightwing and Birds of Prey. Two new titles are Batwing (an African Batman) and Red Hood & the Outlaws which stars Jason Todd, Roy Harper, and a rather controversial version of Starfire. And then there's Batwoman (which was delayed for months so as to fit in with the DCnU) which is in a league of its own. If you only buy one title, this is it.

I'll skip the four Green Lantern titles of which only The New Guardians caught my interest and move quickly on to The Dark which happens to be the most interesting and diverse collection of titles which all happen to be generally pretty good or better. They also share something else in common, apart from the fact they appear to involve the supernatural, in that they are all setup issues introducing the reader to the characters. Justice League Dark features Madam Xanadu trying to form -oh you guessed- which includes, among others, John Constantine and the Enchantress. Animal Man and Swamp Thing have already garnered high praise. I, Vampire is probably the most surprising title to be revived and is about vampires surviving in a world of superheroes. Resurrection Man is the title I would have second least expected to be revived but the one which most delighted me. Demon Knights (written by Paul Cornell) is either Justice League Medieval or an earlier version of Stormwatch (see above). Add Frankenstein/Shade and that's 7 trades I'll be buying when they come out.

Less interesting, but not without interest, is The Edge a disparate collection of titles bunged together to call them something. There's the Wildstorm titles (see above), Deathstroke and The Suicide Squad (same old, same old), Blackhawks (a completely new team of covert operatives), and Men of War (the grandson of an old DC character). But I've saved the best till last. Dan Didio and Keith Giffen channel the spirit of Jack Kirby in a new over the top version of his character O.M.A.C whose Mohawk hairdo is now an energy field of some kind. In All-Star Western, Jonah Hex has been hired to investigate the Ripper-like murders of prostitutes in Gotham City and finds himself way over his head in one of the best of the New 52 titles.

And finally, Young Justice starring the younger heroes though what Hawk & Dove are doing there I've no idea. There's a nice reboot of the Jaime Reyes incarnation of the Blue Beetle which is welcome and a very promising Teen Titans. Static Shock mildly disappoints and neither of the two Legion of Superheroes titles impress.

And there we have it. It's a mixed bag which ranges from the nothing special to the WOW! with an average of pretty good. Or, if you want it graded numerically: 3.75, 9.5, 7.5 respectively. (Except for Batwoman which rates a 10).

I've been going through the list of titles and, based on the first issues, I will definitely be buying 20 of the titles in trade editions when they appear, with another 10 as strong possibilities depending on reviews. This alone has made it worth me buying this book as that's a lot higher number of DC trades than I have been getting. Additional material like alternate covers is minimal and could have been a lot more.

Sure, it's also quite expensive but just remember you're getting a 1200 page 52-comic hardback sampler of some of the best superhero comics around and you're in at the ground floor of the DC New Universe. For superhero fans that's as good as it gets.

I was impressed with the shipping I received the same day the book was released. This was a gift for Christmas and the receiver was very happy. The book is almost 3" thick and covers all the majors characters from dc comics.