craven.fr (.ox.ac.uk)

One of the most impressive applications of the iPad, and the one that sold me on the tablet format the most when the device came out, was the digital comics application developed by Comixology (which also appears as single-brand apps under the Marvel, DC, etc. names). Being able to buy comics digitally was immediately interesting to me as an expatriate, and the similar form factor of the iPad made the reading experience feel largely the same—better, in fact, since the vibrant colours of the screen are richer than the newsprint of actual comic books.

I read a few comics when I got my iPad, but nothing really gripped me to an extent that I stayed with any series, and with the MBA going on last year I hardly had any spare time for such frivolities anyway.

This September, however, DC comics took the radical step of restarting all of their books—Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, you name it, 52 titles in all, in a massive initiative dubbed "The New 52". At around the same time, I began listening to a comics podcast called The Comics Conspiracy, sister podcast to another podcast (The Geekbox), that I had long listened to. The combination of their enthusiasm for comic books, and the new jumping in point provided by the new 52 initiative, has seen me return to the world of comic books, for the first time since I was a teenager.

From Marvel to DC

Back then, like the majority of comic readers, I was a Marvel fan. Listening to the podcast, I learned that it was common for people to start out preferring Marvel comic books in adolescence, only to move to DC when they become adults. This struck me as odd, but their justification made sense: Marvel books tend to feature characters dealing with real-world problems (Peter Parker, the bullied nerd, the X-Men, coming of age coping with the things that make them different from other people). Adolescents identify readily with these characters.

Adults, on the other hand, especially the ones who might still indulge in reading comic books, are more likely to feel like they have enough of the real world in their own lives. Picking up a comic book is an act of nostalgia—and an act of escapism. Escapism is where DC books come into their own—the Green Lantern, participating in interplanetary intrigues, Aquaman vying for control of the throne of Atlantis. Even the gritty Batman is a billionaire with essentially unlimited resources at his disposal. He doesn't struggle with the same problems the rest of us do. To one audience, that might make him seem more remote; to another, it is precisely what makes him interesting.

Another factor seems to be that Marvel books have been of lower quality of late then when I used to read them in the 90s—crossover and event fatigue has left many fans abandoning books, even when they prefer the characters. (This is all hearsay, but it's a view I've heard from more than one quarter.) Between that and the DC universe making a new start, I have jumped onto the New 52, and share below my impressions from the books I decided to pick up.

Titles

Justice League

This is a great book for introducing readers to the whole DC universe, and is well-drawn, funny, and well-written, too. The heroes are meeting for the first time (most of them shocked to discover that Batman is real), so there's really no background knowledge required to enjoy the book. It makes for an exciting read, gives you a lot of super-hero bang for you buck, and yet requires none of the background knowledge ensemble super hero titles usually do—you get the best of both worlds.

I'll definitely keep reading this one as it is the best way to get to know the DC universe, which I am keen on getting to know as well as I know that of the X-Men or the Avengers.

Action Comics

This is another one with no background required. Superman has just started appearing around Metropolis, and no one knows who or what he really is. He's a bit more like the Golden Age Superman, in terms of powers (if a tank shoots him in the stomach, he will get the wind knocked out of him, and go down). He's fighting city corruption, not intergalactic menaces, and the whole book has its feet on the ground a lot more than I necessarily expect from a Superman title.

I bought this title fully expecting to only read the first book, but I'm actually really enjoying it, and think I'll stay subscribed to this one too. It's much better than I thought it was going to be.

Detective Comics

I'm planning on sticking with this one, too, as I feel I should at least give it a few full story arcs before deciding on whether it's for me. Detective Comics, as its name implies, is a more involved book, and I don't think it's fair to judge it based on only a few issues. The first story arc is off to a great start, though—an intriguing new case involving the Joker. There's no reboot, here: characters like Batman, Alfred, Gordon, and the Joker are all already here, but the title does take the time to characterise each one, so that even if some are new to you, you are told who they are straight away. This is a far darker, gorier title than the first two, though, which are more family-friendly fare. The main Batman title has been getting rave reviews too, but I haven't seen it yet.

Batman and Robin

Robin now is Bruce Wayne's son, with whom he was only recently re-united, and with whom he has a somewhat strained relationship. (The original Robin is now called Nightwing, and stars in his own book.) This takes away the... questionableness of Batman and Robin's old relationship, and replaces it with one that, as a father, I can identify with right away. With so many Batman titles to chose from, one needs some kind of selection criteria to help decide which ones to read, and my interest in the father-son dynamic decided me for this one.

So this book had my interest piqued, and I thought the first issue was great. But in the second, Robin comes across as a bit too warped—and I have no comprehension of what's going on with this villain we keep seeing. So, I'm putting this book on probation, but I hope it lives up to its potential.

Aquaman

I heard a lot of great things about this after the launch, so I decided to give it a read. I am by no means an Aquaman fan, but part of the point of the book is that Aquaman is nobody's favourite super-hero. When he surprises a group of machine-gun toting bank robbers, once they realise it's Aquaman they burst out laughing: what's the guy who's power is talking to fish going to do to them? (Answer: kick their asses.)

So this book is setting out to make Aquaman cool again, and that is interesting enough of a challenge for me to want to read it. I don't expect that I'll still be reading Aquaman two years from now, but for now, it's an interesting book with excellent artwork.

Justice League: Dark

One of the interesting thing about the new 52 is that, despite what I've described so far here, there are lots of titles that have nothing to do with superheros. Titles like All Star Western, Men of War, Swamp Thing, I, Vampire, and many others show that comic books are a great medium for science fiction, horror, suspense, war stories, and westerns as well. I think that this is pretty cool, and like to think that my tastes are more varied than just wanting to read about men in tights, but for one reason or another none of the 'alternative' titles really jumped out at me.

Justice League: Dark is a magic and supernatural-oriented spinoff of the Justice League, committed to fighting evils of a demonic or esoteric origin (things that can't be overcome by Superman's strength alone, is the idea, although I think it's pretty clear that the "Justice League" bit was tagged onto this title in order to encourage a broader audience to try it out.) I think it should be good as a change-of-pace title, but the first issue didn't sway me one way or the other. It's clearly introducing a big world, so I'll give it time to see whether it will turn out to be all I am imagining. In any event, I really like the art in this book (don't judge it by its cover!)—in fact I'd say it's my favourite looking book of all the titles I read, so it will be no hardship to stick with the title for a while.

Others?

Clearly, my selections only scratched the surface of the 52 titles that are available. The others I decided against for various reasons, but I thought I should at least mention the most notable omissions. Wonder Woman had great critical reception, and I'm fascinated by the character, whom, it turns out, I really know nothing about. But I don't like the art style of the book at all (especially in contrast to how gorgeous she looks in Justice League), so I passed on it.

Animal Man also got rave reviews, but it seems a little dark for my tastes. Swamp Thing, similarly, is also supposed to be good, but I was afraid it would be too involved for a new reader to follow what's going on.

I was very interested in picking up a military-themed book, too, but I didn't hear enough buzz about either Blackhawks or Men of War to really believe that they would be worth my time. I may still crack and buy one or both, though, just because I think a good military series would be a great change of pace. In much the same vein, I'd be interested in All Star Western, but the fact that it takes place in Gotham City, on the East coast, seems pretty out-of-place to me.

So, those are my impressions. One thing I have discovered about reading comics again is how the format really lends itself to reading each issue more than once. Yes, you can blaze through an issue in only a few minutes, and at first feel like you've blown your money on something that was way too short, but in one's hurry to zip through the story, one misses a lot of the impact of the artwork the first time through. A second, slower, reading, preferably the next day, allows the atmosphere and storytelling of the book to unfold in a new and different way, as the visual art exerts more influence on the second reading.

It's a medium I'm happy to have rediscovered, and I'm happy that modern technology is helping readers to find the best comics to read, and obtain them digitally, to read in a pristine format.