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Four Color Fortress #1: Not-Too-Giant-Sized First Issue!

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Four Color Fortress #1:  Not-Too-Giant-Sized First Issue!
There Will Be Games

Welcome to the first installment of my revamped monthly comic spot here on the Fortress!

The way I've been reading my comics has changed as of late (more single issues, less things in trade), and in order to roll with that and to continue writing about them, this new (though familiar) format is really the only thing that makes sense.

So without wasting too much time on the details, let's just hit the ground running. 

The Last Run of Detective Comics (sort of)

I talked about Detective Comics a bit on the first episode of the FATcast, and now that the final issue of that run has come and gone, I want to weigh in on it.

Who remembers that Top 10 Batman Books list I made awhile back?  Well, I think it's time we made some changes.  The final run in the first volume of DC's flagship book is one for the record books.  It may not push the character of Batman in any new directions, but it certainly tells one hell of a story and tells it very, very well.  There's essentially three separate arcs in it, but there's these little backup stories in the earlier issues that work to set up what's to come.  I usually only like to recommend things available in graphic novel format, but the way these backup stories have me thinking that something will be lost in the translation from single issue to collection.  The way they set the stage for the main stories to come and eventually become what the whole run is really about is truly remarkable.  The whole thing ends in one intense, perfect issue.  It may not be as important as The Killing Joke, but it definitely left a similar taste in my mouth.

I think I can say that this run was the best in superhero comics that I've read for many, many years.  Writer Scott Snyder is a name to watch.  I've gone back to see what he did before Detective and I now buy anything with his name on it.  I have yet to be disappointed by anything he's done.  He'll be the writer for the relaunched Batman book, so if you want to see firsthand what I'm raving about without picking up Detective Comics #871-881 (already starting to climb in price), pick up Batman #1 when it hit shelves on September 21st.  I'm sure it's going to be great.

 

The New 52

 

The DC Universe has now been complete rebooted...ahem...I mean relaunched.

DC is pumping out 52 #1s this month, all previous continuity is by and large being ignored, and I'm sure plenty of nerds are angrily crushing their juice boxes in their fists over the whole thing.  I actually see this as a great opportunity for some quality storytelling.  Writers don't need to be bogged down in trivial details like...well, come to think of it, most of the DC Universe is trivial details, so this relaunch really is  a good idea.  So the results so far?  Somewhat mixed.  Most of it has been things I'd never spend money on, but of the three I've read, the books range from disappointing to pretty great.

Up first was Justice League #1.  I was under the impression that DC wouldn't be wasting anytime setting things back up, that everything would be running at a full clip right from the get go.  That's not the case here.  This issue is nothing but setting the stage  Given that only four of the characters in this League are featured, that awe that you get from just seeing them all together is nowhere to be seen past the cover.  I'm typically a fan of Jim Lee, but he resorts to some really cliche imagery here.  The whole thing left me wondering, "Why did they decide to do this?"

Luckily, things started to look up for the New 52 a couple weeks later.  Detective Comics #1 had some big shoes to fill given the last run of the first volume, but this issue shows signs that it's going down some good directions.  Right from the first panel, we see that writer/artist Tony S. Daniel isn't messing around.  He's giving us the Joker right from the beginning.  Turning the page, we get an awesome two-page splash of Batman.  Everything moves along well and fine, the writing is decent and the art is really solid.  Somewhere along the way, you realize that this issue seems to be some pretty standard Batman vs. Joker fare, and that's when the book ends with a huge WTF moment.  I don't want to spoil anything, but it's pretty gruesome and leaves you wondering where this is going.  Really.  It's weird.  And gross.  It'll certainly result in a big change from what we're all used to, but I'm definitely interested.

I grew up during a very strange stretch through Swamp Thing's history.  My parents knew my brother and I had an interest in anything comic related, so they taped us The Return of Swamp Thing when it aired on a local cable station.  The movie was super-cheesy, but the opening credits had this awesome montage of art from the comics set to CCR's Born on the Bayou.  That song and Swamp Thing are forever linked in my mind even to this day.  Even stranger was the fact that there was a Saturday morning Swamp Thing cartoon, complete with a theme song that changed the words to Wild Thing.  There were only six episodes, but I'm fairly certain I saw all of them.  So when I went to the comic book store to get a Swamp Thing comic, my mom just wouldn't have it due to the SUGGESTED FOR MATURE READERS printed on the cover.  Parents just don't understand.

None of this has anything to do with why I decided to pick up Swamp Thing #1.  It's written by Scott Snyder (this guy again!), and that's reason enough.  While this issue is a bit more setup than I was hopping, it at least gets the ball rolling on where the first story.  Birds, fish, bats, and countless other animals suddenly drop dead, and Superman himself asks Dr. Alec Holland to look into it.  I'm not sure how Swamp Thing ties into Alec Holland in this series, as he only shows up at the end, but there are hints that just because Swamp Thing is back in the DC Universe, this is still going to be a horror comic, as it should be.

Swamp Thing #1 is the clear winner so far in the New 52, but there's a couple other big ones that have yet to come out that I'll be buying.  I appreciate how iconic Superman is, but I don't really dig him as a character, but I hear Grant Morrison's Action Comics #1 is excellent.

That does it for this month.  Next month I can guarantee some talk about Batman #1, Green Lantern #1, X-Men:  First Class, and, if I can get my hands on it, my thought on the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book from IDW.

There Will Be Games

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Josh Look (He/Him)
Staff Podcaster

One night during the summer of 1997, Josh Look's cool uncle who owned a comic shop taught him how to play Magic the Gathering. The game set off his imagination in a way that he could not sleep that night, and he's been fascinated by games ever since. He spent many afternoons during his high school years skipping homework to play Dungeons & Dragons and paint Warhammer minatures, going on to discover hobby board games in his early 20s. He's been a writer for ThereWillBe.Games and is the creator and co-host of the geek culture podcast, The Wolfman's Lounge. He enjoys games that encourage a heavy amount of table talk and those that explore their themes beyond just their settings.

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