Read This Oral History of the New 52 For Some Fascinating Insights!

If you are someone who enjoys, "Seeing how the sausage is made," when it comes to comic books, this oral history of the New 52 that Polygon published is a stellar read. They have one anonymous quote and note a number of people contacted didn't want to, "Spill any beans," as it were, but they do get some juicy insights from former DC head honcho Dan Didio (who we may recall was suddenly laid-off from DC in 2020 and has nothing to lose sharing his thoughts), Scott Snyder, Judd Winick, Christy Marx, and more. Didio provides a ton of info and even though his relationship did not end with DC on the best of terms as far as we know he doesn't come off as bitter at all, just a bit melancholic about how the New 52 ended up working out (long story short: it didn't work out well in the long run at all).

I always think of the New 52 as having a ton of potential it didn't quite reach. The article itself points out we all have an, "Underrated New 52 comic," that we feel deserved more attention (for me it is, "Men of War," without a doubt). The New 52 was a cool attempt at doing a brand-new relaunch/reboot and even if DC undid basically everything some years later, I have some fondness for the era. Reading how it came to be and end is a nice treat.

Rant-Reviews--Violence, Lot's and Lot's of Violence

If It Bleeds It Leads...Or Something Gross Like That
As the subject reads, these here comics have a fair share of violence in them. I've got  "Men of War #5", "The Punisher #7", "Sacrifice #2", "The Last of The Greats #4", and "Wolverine And The X-Men: Alpha and Omega #1," (ain't that a mouthful).

Men of War #5
God, I love this comic and curse the Gods (AKA DC Editorial) for cancelling it. True, its being replaced with a simillar comic about soldiers fighting dinosaurs or something else that sounds like it could be awesome, but why my, "Men of War?" It's like a gritty war comic that has to deal with how it keeps getting confused by bumping up against all the weird super-hero and supernatural elements of the DC Universe. It's so crazy and clever--plus it looks good. It's like that girl you go out on some dates with and she's just perfect, but then she tells you she's moving out of town. It really sucks. Hey, there is that other girl who looks like the one you like and from descriptions sounds kind of like her though, so maybe things will work out? Right? Right?
4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Punisher #7
Greg Rucka is a good enough writer that he can make two men riding in a car talking for a whole comic seem gripping (and there is some action-filled art to help show what they are talking about too). It's still a comic that is pretty much two men riding in a car however, and while that might read great in trade paperbacks, for a whole issue of a comic it is a little slow. I love how Rucka uses an old story to illustrate a point about the Punisher however. STILL, it's an issue of two men in a fucking car! I could ride in a car with another man discussing something interesting and we'd have this comic, potentially. I say potentially because I'd need someone to illustrate it, and we'd need some kind of murderous vigilante for aforementioned friend and myself to talk about. You may be asking yourself, "Why would two average men in a car talk about a murderous vigilante?" Simple, that's what dudes talk about when women aren't around. Seriously, it isn't sports, it's how we would stop the Punisher. Men are more complicated than you think like that.
3.5 out of 5 stars.

Sacrifice #2
This is a self-published comic so if one of the comic stores you frequent isn't cool enough to carry it you may have to resort to the internet. It's worth doing so as this is a pretty cool series. It's by Sam Humphries with some crazy art by Dalton Rose. Basically this guy travels back in time accidentally to see the Aztec's shortly before the Spanish came and killed them all. Our hero is thought of as some kind of religious sign, but just wants to get home, and between the tension of the destruction that is inevitably coming and the bits of humor a great comic is had. I'd make the bit of extra effort you might need to engage in to check it out.
4 out of 5 stars.

The Last Of The Greats #4
This comic is just bizarre. Picture "Irredeemable" if it were even darker and nobody knew the "hero" was super-evil. Seriously, this is twisted and dark. I like those aspects, but also find the comic to be moving along a bit too slowly in some respects compared to the more snappy earlier issues. Perhaps the upcoming conclusion will bring things to a delicious end. Still, any comic that has the hero sleep with Oprah as happened in issue #3 earns some cred with me.
3 out of 5 stars.

Wolverine and the X-Men: Alpha and Omega #1
First off, this has nothing to do with that terrible Disney movie about wolves. Second, this does have the talented Brian Wood writing for Marvel, and writing one of my favorite lesser-known but suddenly blowing-up characters, Quentin Quire, very well. It's just, this is kind of meh in a few ways. It's another one of those stories about Wolverine being trapped in some fake world created mentally by someone out to get him (in this case Quire, who is doing it more just for kicks than anything else). Oh, and the mutant Armor is a part of it too. Perhaps some kind of crazy twist will occur, but right now it's just a mind take-over story that is being written really well because they got a talented writer for it. We will see where it goes. Right now it's like getting a really talented chief to make you a cheeseburger. It's going to be a great burger, but they could create something a lot better, ya know?
3 out of 5 stars.

Good Comics, Catwoman (So, Bad Comics), Video-Games, And Contagion--Not Quite In That Order

Apparently DC Thinks Of Their Female Super-Heroes This Way
First off, no, I'm not going to comment on the whole Catwoman/Starfire-sex-thing in comics because Larua Hudson of Comics Alliance has done it even better. The Savage Critic's Abhay did a great job too.What? You really want my opinion? Okay, well, I can sum it up best with this video clip. The person below is in fact delivering their review of the Video Music Awards that always happen and are terrible, but I feel this gentleman expresses perfectly how I felt about all this Catowoman and Starfire business.



Yeah, that's exactly what I'm feeling in a nutshell. Well, at least Wonder Woman didn't have any gratuitous sex-stuff that made women look bad, it just had decapitations--fun for the whole family!

I never mentioned these great comics? Odd.

It occurs to me I never said how Action Comics #1 and Men of War #1 were really good. They were, you should buy them. Yeah, I know I said I had no interest in Men of War and even maybe made fun of it. Well, I read some good reviews and went out and bought it...it's quite good. I mean, Animal Man is still my favorite of the new DC books that I've read so far (and I'm pretty behind, but still think it'll be my favorite), but I'm definietely interested in seeing what happens next in Action Comics and Men of War. Why? Well, Grant Morrison writes a good Superman who is just starting out, and Men of War has an interesting soldiers-mixed-with-heroes motif.
4.5 out of 5 stars (both)

This Game Isn't Dead? Well, Awesome!
Apparently Max Payne 3 is an actual thing that will be coming out. As someone who loved Max Payne 2, this is good news. How about we watch a video of Max Payne 3 with the additional fun of pop-ups explaining stuff?



Yeah, I want to get me a copy of that, I think.

Speaking of "Dead"

So, I've rented (with a trial of an extended rent-time thing) and been playing a lot of Dead Island. It's pretty fun, and at times quite hard. It isn't just an easy, "run and kill" game as it has role-playing-game elements of needing to keep weapons you use to fight the zombies in good working order, through repairing or upgrading them. Plus you can make new weapons. Also, different types of zombies require you take them on in certain ways, and little things like that make this game almost remind me more of something like when I played one of the Fallout games on my console than something like Left 4 Dead. Why Fallout? Well, you collect items, its a decimated location, and some of the weapons have funny names, to name just a few things. I'm currently in the city, where it seems the difficulty ramps up a lot, but so does the neatness of the scenery. Wandering around this place that has wrecked-up cars and torn-down quarantine walls is just so neat, even if the resort you traverse early in the game is quite beautiful.

This game is definitely an acquired taste. You have to be someone who likes first-person games, but doesn't want to shoot a lot--because trust me, guns are not used a bunch till later on, you will be whacking the zombies with pipes, crowbars, and knives. Someone who likes action but also wants to have role-playing elements. Plus, someone who likes zombies, of course. I'd recommend renting Dead Island and seeing if you like it.

Viruses Are Nasty
Hm ,we almost have a theme going, as I talked about zombies which people think could be spread by a virus, and now I'm going to talk about how a bit ago I saw Contagion, a movie about a virus! Seriously though, this was quite a good movie, and interesting even if you aren't a person studying health like I am. It has suspense, drama, and some educational science in it too. I was riveted by the great plotting, superb acting, and overall quality of the movie. I'd recommend seeing it, although know that once you view it you might think twice about touching anything in public spaces.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

In Closing
Catwoman and Starfire apparently like to make comic books with lots of sex for the lonely readers out there, you should read Action Comics and Men of War, Max Payne 3 looks good, try out Dead Island, and see Contagion.