SHADOWY HAPPENINGS, VOL. 1 (OCT 3, 2012)

This is 'Shadowy Happenings', the (mostly) weekly column looking at DC's "The Dark" line of titles from the 'New 52'. Along with high-visibility titles like Swamp Thing, Justice League Dark, and Animal Man, i'll also be covering the rest of the series included in this category: Demon Knights, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E., The Phantom Stranger, Sword of Sorcery, and I, Vampire. This is the side of the DC universe even the regular superheroes tend not to tread.


Animal Man #13
"Rotworld: The Red Kingdom" Part 1 of 4
(W) Jeff Lemire
(P) Steve Pugh and Timothy Green II
(I) Steve Pugh and Joseph Silver

Swamp Thing #13
"Rotworld: The Green Kingdom" Part 1 of 4
(W) Scott Snyder
(P) Yanick Paquette
(I) Nathan Fairbairn

For the next five months, I may as well call this column 'Rotworld LIVE!' because both Animal Man and Swamp Thing will be fully entrenched in their respective Rotworld adventures at least through the first quarter of 2013. Scott Snyder and Jeff Lemire have both insinuated that this is bigger than their respective titles - this is bigger, this is more. And that fact comes glaringly apparent in Animal Man #13 and Swamp Thing #13, both of which feature multiple guest stars fighting against the Rot.

Back in August, the "Rotworld Prologue" told us that Buddy Baker and Alec Holland descended into the realm of the Rot hoping to eliminate the decay at it's source. Unfortunately, Anton Arcane - the avatar of the Rot - had other plans, and the Animal Man and Swamp Thing were stuck in the world of death for over a year while the Rot spread rampantly across our Earth. It was a lot to take in - Snyder and Lemire are laying this out for the long haul. Buddy and Alec come out from the Rot (for what felt like only hours to them) to a new world. The Rot has already won; this is no longer a mission of preemptive measures, this is a quest to destroy the evil slowly strangling the planet.

In Animal Man #13, Buddy is forced to fight the Rotling Hawkman before being saved by Steel, Beast Boy, and Black Orchid (who looks to be a regular, recurring character now that she's part of the Justice League Dark). In Swamp Thing #13, it's Poison Ivy and Deadman that show up to lend a helping hand to Alec Holland. And in both titles, these guest characters begin criticizing their respective protagonists about being gone for so long. Both Buddy and Alex have to explain their situation to their newfound friends before being fully trusted.

If I have any complaint about the "Rotworld" crossover thus far, it's that Animal Man and Swamp Thing are mirroring each other too much. This month, both titles literally have the exact same set-up and pay off when Buddy and Alec reach the Red Kingdom and Green Kingdom, respectively. Both the Red and the Green - the power of the flora and fauna - have created physical strongholds on the Earthly plane to better stand against the spread of the Rot, and by the end of the issue, both the avatars have reached their kingdoms. I understand the need to cohesion, not only on a grand scale, but on a scale such as this, but this stunt takes things a bit too far. I don't feel like I read to separate comic book issues this week pertaining to "Rotworld". I mean, if Snyder and Lemire are going to stay so parallel, why not just combine the series for five month, have them travel together, and make it more exciting and high-stakes?

At the moment, "Rotworld" has been a lot of build-up. Both series have been at least foreshadowing this event since their first issues. A lot of time and effort has been put into this so far, but all into the 'prologue' part. Now is the time when we really get to see how "Rotworld" will pay off, from a narrative perspective. Unfortunately, "The Red Kingdom, Part 1" and "The Green Kingdom, Part 1" are such mirror images of each other that I wonder if all the hype has been worth it. Are these stories going to have the same narrative cues for the next five months? Because if so, I'll just read one series and get highlights from the other. It's no fun to read the same comic twice in a row (usually), but Snyder and Lemire and dancing dangerously close to the phenomenon of being uninventive, and that's not acceptable from two of DC's best writing talents.

STORY: B (AM), B (ST)
ART: A (AM), B- (ST)

THE WEEK (OCT 3-9, 2012)

Reviews
Action Comics #13
(Morrison, Foreman)
The Phantom Stranger makes a guest appearance this month, as well as Krypto: The Super Dog! I'm not sure there's a big fan base itching for Krypto to be included in the 'New 52', but Grant Morrison does, so why not.


Avengers vs. X-Men #12 of 12
(Aaron, Kubert)
It's the final chapter of Marvel's half-year-long event that's going to completely change the landscape of the Marvel universe. Okay, probably not, as Charles Xavier is already dead, we've had enough time to process it, and now we just want to see a cool battle between Dark Phoenix Cyclops, The Scarlett Witch, and Hope. Plus, we already know that Cyclops survives from October-December solicits, so what's the big change going to be? Well at this point, change for change's sake may not be so ridiculous.


Green Lantern #13
(Johns, Mahnke)
"Rise of the Third Army" is here, at last! Geoff Johns & Co. have been teasing this crossover event for some months now, and while the first Third Army solider was seen last at the end of Green Lantern Annual #1, it's time for the army to grow. Plus, new Green Lantern Baz makes his first appearance in his costume, and fights the Justice League.

Hawkeye #3
(Fraction, Aja)
Seriously, if you're not reading this series already, do yourself a favor and pick up the first two issues along with this third. Matt Fraction and David Aja have a clear and distinct vision for Clint Barton, and the first two issues are absolutely some of the best comic book work I've read in a long time (on par with Brian K. Vaughan's Saga). This is about Clint being himself, not an Avenger and not in the public eye. It's engrossing, relatable, grounded, emotional, and just plain great.

Uncanny X-Force #32
(Remender, Noto)
I finally started reading Uncanny X-Force and now I don't want to stop. Unfortunately, Rick Remender is stepping off the title he's taken two years to craft into one of the finest series currently available soon to focus on Uncanny Avengers and Captain America, both of which I'll be covering here on "The Endless Reel." The good news is, there's still a few issues of UXF left with Remender at the wheel, so I'll be covering these as well.

Leagues Beyond

It's the debut post of 'Leagues Beyond', the column that focuses on Justice League-related titles each week. This first week's offerings include two Earth 2-based titles, the eponymous series and World's Finest. I'll be talking about the formation of the Justice Society as they stand up against Grundy and the military-backed Atom, as well as Power Girl and Huntress' attempt to get back to Earth 2 via the boom tube that brought them to Earth 1!

Earth 2 #5

(Robinson, Scott)

World's Finest #5

(Levitz, Perez)

Shadowy Happenings
It's my first column of 'Shadowy Happenings' which covers all the 'Dark'-related titles DC releases. This week, both Animal Man and Swamp Thing delve into "Rotworld", each in their respective kingdoms to fight against the Rot and stave off a worldwide decay. In The Phantom Stranger, Dan Didio will introduce us to Raven, a character fans have been clamoring for since the 'New 52' relaunch, and the recent subject of Scott Lobdell's plans for an upcoming Teen Titans spinoff focused on a new team led by Raven herself.

Animal Man #13 - "Rotworld: The Red Kingdom"
(Lemire, Pugh)

Swamp Thing #13 - "Rotworld: The Green Kingdom"
(Snyder, Paquette)

The Phantom Stranger #1
(Didio, Anderson)

Extra! Extra!
4-SENTENCE REVIEWS are no more, as they are being replaced by 'Extra! Extra!', the section of titles that don't get standard reviews and also don't fall into an specific category of new columns. This isn't to say that these issues are any less good (or bad, in some cases) than the titles featured under the standard REVIEW header, it just means that I found a way to more eloquently talk about them in four sentences better than I could in four paragraphs. It's lika a haiku - sometimes creativity comes out of restrictions.

AvX: VS. #6 of 6
(Gillen, Immonen)

Before Watchmen: Rorschach #2 of 4
(Azzarello, Higgins)

The First X-Men #3 of 5
(Adams, Gage)

Stormwatch #13
(Milligan, Conrad)

Uncanny X-Men #19

(Gillen, Garney)