(no subject)

[swatkat]

RL remains all-consuming. V. jealous of my mother, who is traipsing around London with my aunt even as we speak (Londoners, if you run into two eccentric Indian lady travellers, say hi, and tell them I asked them to buy me something nice behave themselves. If they get into trouble, please call my cousin who is currently in-charge of their well-being). No one gives me a fifteen day holiday, humph.

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Verdict on DCnU so far:

JLA #1: B-
Stormwatch #1: A (basically what GJohns hoped JLA #1 would be)
Action Comics #1: A
Batgirl #1: A-

People keep recommending Animal Man, but I have no interest in that title as of now. I'm looking forward to Batwoman this week! \0/

Speaking of Batgirl #1, I enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting to. You know how I feel about Simone's writing and Barbara, but I was also angry and disappointed with the loss of Oracle and her Birds of Prey and Stephanie's Batgirl, and I was worried that my issues would get in the way of my enjoyment of the book. For a long time, I wasn't even sure if I'd follow the title. But now that I've read it, it was quite enjoyable in its own way, a darker, reflective book that suits Barbara. Some of the dialogue was somewhat jarring - if this were the old DCU I'd call it OOC for Barbara. But since I refuse to believe that Simone isn't aware of what she's writing, after having written Barbara so well for so long, I have to assume that this is a slightly different Barbara - younger, not quite the same because she hasn't been through the same experiences. Less mature. Perhaps not as buried under layers and layers of sarcasm. I will miss that woman terribly, but I think I might get used to this, provided Gail Simone keeps delivering.

If Black Canary doesn't show up in this title sometime soon, I'm going to be very, very disappointed.

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I am also reading Basara, a manga written by Yumi Tamura set in a post-apocalyptic Japan, featuring a young heroine who dresses up as her twin brother to FULFILL A PROPHECY and SAVE THE WORLD. Oh, and she has a SHINY SWORD. You can see why this is relevant to my interests. I'm only up to chapter four so far, but I will keep you all updated.

Comments

[thirdblindmouse]

Oh no, what has happened? No more Oracle, no more Birds of Prey, no more Steph? Does this take place in the (new version of the) past? Is Clark Kent married to Lois Lane? I am so confused as to what this renumbering/reboot scheme means. (Other than another attempt at boosting sales; that part I got. :P)

[swatkat]

Um, it's slightly complicated. Some stuff happened in Flashpoint - I don't know the details because I didn't read it, but Barry Allen screwed up the timeline and stuff happened involving him running really fast and uniting the DCU/Wildstorm/Vertigo timestreams. Also the universe was rebooted. Now the Batverse and the Green Lanternverse haven't been rebooted very much (because these are the two verses with the $$), the timeline has been compressed. So the characters are younger, Bruce Wayne did die and come back, Dick Grayson was Batman and is now Nightwing again, Barbara did get shot, and so on. But we're fuzzy on the details. We know Barbara is no longer Oracle - but she probably was, at least for some point of time. The Birds of Prey still exist, although the current book will begin at a different place, with a new origin. Steph still exists, and while we don't know about her history as Batgirl yet, her history as Robin (boo!) and War Games (yay!) seem to have been retconned. We'll really know the details once all the books start coming out.

[swatkat]

And no, Lois and Clark aren't married, although she's very much there in the story.