Basement X

So what'dya think?

The story was good but nothing spectacular; which is around what I was expecting. The story always was going to be average but the hype machine amped it up so much that it sounded like the first storyline was going to be chock full of amazingness.

There are some very noticable personality shifts in the characters. For starters GL is wayyyy arrogant and for some reason very talkative. Within 5 minutes of meeting Batman, he starts telling him his life story and the history of the Guardians. Apparently Hal is not someone who can keep a secret.

Batman is still roughly the same. Superman looks younger and has a slightly more cavalier attitude. Old Supes would've never just cold clocked someone without asking questions, which is a nice turn. Seeing Superman as a young guy with a little bit of an ego himself is a welcome change.

Having never read any Teen Titans of any incarnation, I know the bare minimum about Vic Stone so I can't comment on his character.

The art, while nice, is nothing at all new or exciting. Jim Lee will always be considered a legend for how his art shaped modern comics but his story telling technique hasn't really evolved - which is not to say that Lee needs to keep reinventing himself but from time to time, I get a bit tired of seeing Super heros posing in the same manner.

Given all that, the combination of story & art made it a solid read.

However, one thing I read at the end really irked me. The end of the issue had sketches of the various heroes and they briefly mentioned how putting WW in pants "stirred up debate". I really can't believe DC let a small but vocal minority bully them into changing WW's outfit. To me pants or no pants is hardly a big deal, but like Superman's external red underwear - its not practical.

Anyone else?

Picking ot up today.

I've heard it was a fine comic all-in-all, just not a great JLA comic, maybe a brave and the bold.
But as the launch of DC's new 52 and a Justice League comic? Failure.

You cannot, CANNOT use a slow burn, origin comic as your launch comic to lure in new readers. It will fail.

It was an ok issue but DC put it up on a pedestal and it definitely underwhelmed me.

Don't get me wrong, it was a fun issue! Yet it didn't establish ANYTHING about the new DCnU really. As a first issue, it was kinda bad. It should at least introduce all characters or something to that effect, but nope. You focus on 2 with guest appearances by 2 others.

Maybe it will read much better in trade.

Yeah, it read okay. Story and art. GL's character was rather excessively chatty and arrogant. What's up with that? This was glarring even for a not too familiar DC reader like myself.

Looking at those design sketches I had a few observations:
GL's outfit looks better without white gloves. I love how they jettisoned the gloves in the First Flight animation.

What is with putting fins on Aquaman's outfit? They look bolted on as a result of some feeling of necessity to indicate he's a sea person.

I'm glad WW's outfit is less sexualised. Who wears bra and panties to a fight? No one. However, I'm not too impressed with the outfit they ended up with. I think WW looks better with a more regal look.

Finally! Finally they get rid of Cyborg's mankini look! Furthermore, he actually now looks like he's got metal parts on his body instead of looking like he's wearing a metal coloured leotard.