DC´s bestselling Rebirth one-shot started it all on May 25 and is technically a sequel the just concluded Darkseid War (9,5/10) story in Justice League. I thus highly recommend to check out that arc first and to then follow the books you are interested in reading the most. Most of them got, and will get, an introductory one-shot. No duds came out in June and the "worst” one is Aquaman, as it just retreads his 1st New52 arc.
My favorites are Detective Comics and Action Comics, as both remind me of the over the top 90s take on the DC giants, with Wonder Woman being another clear highlight, while Green Arrow arguably featured the biggest jump in quality. You can´t go wrong with any and the linked inside-the-industry comic podcast goes over the whole June line.
Comic Conspiracy is my favorite comics podcast and I highly recommend newcomers to listen to it first, to get a grip on the whole re-launch / half re-boot: http://geekbox.net/archives/2016/06/28/the-comic-conspiracy-e pisode-267/
The new ongoing will continue to be rolled out throughout the year and September will start giving us minis as Midnighter & Apollo, so don´t be a tool and complain about the lack of diversity. It is coming gradually! The 17+ Vertigo imprint is also being re-booted as "Young Animal" in the fall by the famous musician and acclaimed comic writer (!) Gerard Way.


All-New, All-Different Marvel is even easier to get into. Few of them went past issue 10 by now, so just start with No.1 and “go back” in time if the particular author wrote the series before the renumbering(s). These books are technical sequels to last year´s Secret Wars (8,5/10) event, that featured a good main series and mostly nonsensical tie-ins.
My highlights are Moon Knight, Old Man Logan and The Vision (it will end soon).
The current Civil War II (6?/10) event is a mess though.
Happy reading and both jumping-on-points lastly feature comprehensive wiki entries.

PS: I updated my (Imdb) review for BvS on page 2 due to the Ultimate Cut.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 8:16 am, Jul 13 2016

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I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

No more jokes, the critics did "it" again to Suicide Squad . This is what a hardcore Squad fan thinks, see you for Wonder Woman:

First they drive you mad, and then they drag you to war
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386697/reviews-757
I have been a DC fan since the 90s, read thousands of issues, including every Squid Squad comics EVER. It' s my favorite US team comic of all time and the DCEU now produced the 3rd source accurate, yet critically despised film in a row. John Ostrander, the creator of the Squad (look him up!), "loved" this movie, yet it is being ripped apart for every sin under the sun. Including being an insult to the comic… I was deathly afraid that the same insanity would tank BvS (read my 9,5/10 review for the UC) but it didn't. I am now happy that the critics hated this movie as I can't see myself liking a DCEU film they would. I am also a big Marvel film + comic fan, but why do they get universal acclaim for producing inferior movies that radically change the source material? NO comment, to the review:

The narrative has a 2 act structure. The 1st half is an over the top black comedy with constantly changing "theme songs" to give quick characterization in a crowded cast. Guardians of the Galaxy had pop songs too, but so did Watchmen and the Crow. Stop the rip-off comments, and i liked all 3. The editing is universally criticized and was so fast that even i needed 5 minutes to adjust, and then it HIT me. The director tried to drive me mad, to get inside the character's heads, who are mostly mentally unstable convicts. Genius! All but Flag, Katana and Waller (debatable) are villains, yet the film is being ripped apart for having "bad role" models and violence. The film logo has bullet holes, and features the Joker! WTF? The films isn't exactly a feelgood movie either, never blindly compare it to Guardians again. Deadpool is the only US comic movie with similar ideas. Than hell on
Earth, literally, breaks loose, and the mission starts.

The 2nd half is a borderline bleak war movie, with the Squad and a Special Forces unit cleaning streets and rooms for about 1 hour. A few, universally spectacular flashbacks still occur, a few songs, outside of the well done score, still play but things get dark. That drove critics mad. A war movie about unwilling convicts being dark is a plus! A lot of action in an action film is good! A light in the sky, faceless hordes of enemies and an end-of-the-world plot show up. Just as in the hit comics or Raiders of the Lost Ark. Were these by Marvel too? That's the story. Simple and clean, yet twisted as a pretzel, including a few JLA cameos. Now, the very diverse Squad in alphabetical order:

Amanda Waller: Davis nails it, and she ends up being the worst human in the movie, outside of the Joker. The body count on her head makes her the deadliest DCEU (anti-)villain to date. Let's see if she can redeem herself later. Captain Boomerang: Courtney again reminds us that he can act, if the script is good. He even comes back like a… + 1 for the safety Unicorn. Deadshot: The 70s version is played well by Smith and his well-used daughter has a comic counterpart. You can see how happy The Fresh Prince of Belle Reve is to be in a good movie, for once! El Diablo: Hernandez made a mostly unknown villain a highlight, as such characters are Ayer's forte. The way he was forced to "power down" is fascinating and very daring for a (hard) PG-13 movie. Enchantress: Delevingne's ability to go from creepy to deliberately campy inside the same scene is impressive. Certainly the best version of her, critics can suck it. Another great DC big-bad and her romance with Flag had heart, hehe. Who further cares that her "brother", who serves as muscle in cool action scenes, is left unexplored. He is an enforcer, based on a 2 issue villain. How can this be a MAIN criticism? Good on WB for daring a witchcraft-based villain, despite knowing that it would get the film banned in China! Harley Quinn: Robbie played the New52 version, who is a child-killer, so let's stop the role model criticism, and her creator liked her. This version also said that another character needed to "own" being a child-killer here. The Joker (Azzarello's grounded mobster + Morrison's Thin White Duke), also showed genuine love for "his creation", so this movie nailed their dynamic. Especially during her chemical transformation. The movie's best moment and a highlight for the genre. Joker: Leto was the best part of the movie but I am glad that his constant presence was trimmed down by the constantly misreported (surprise?) re-edits. Longer scenes with him would have derailed the picture BEYOND recognition and only 1 whole scene (a short 3rd act gunfight) appears to be left out. He is also the most comic accurate movie version to date and our second perfect interpretation in a row. Katana: Fukuhara did well for a debut perforce and I hope that her backstory will be further explored later. The cracks in the dog on a leach persona were already telling. + 1 for Japanese dialogue with subtitles. Killer Croc: Akinnuoye-Agbaje's inhuman make-up deserves an Oscar, and he is based on the Azzarello version. These movies aren't afraid to dive deep! Rick Flag: Kinnaman played the no-nonsense soldier with conviction well and hints of inner darkness were a pleasant surprise. His repertoires with Deadshot were spot on. A straight man and shooter. Slipknot: Beach did the one thing the character was supposed to do right, 'nuff said.

The action-driven black comedy will ultimately please fans of the DCEU and haters will continue to be baffled by their popularity. David Ayer ain't a perfect, yet innovative, director and delivered his best movie, together with End of Watch. He now earned a life-long fan with me. The DCEU's future never looked brighter and don't forget to read this month's Suicide Squad Rebirth. 8,5/10

Last edited by residentgrigo at 6:02 am, Aug 11 2016

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I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Suicide Squad was a shit movie by a shit studio. It was a disaster; not quite on the level of Man of Steel or Batman vs Superman but it's coming close.

Five of the characters could just as well have been cardboard cutouts. The main villain was one of the dumbest reveals of all time. The storyline was a confusing mess, you could often see where stuff that might have explained things better was cut. It felt tired. A rehash of a basic plot that has been seen a million times and that has been done better elsewhere.

SS was a colossal waste of money. I can only wholeheartedly support the negative reviews by the critics. I can NOT recommend that piece of shit to anyone.

This post was NOT sponsored by Marvel, since they produce many crappy movies, too. (Iron Man 2, Thor 2, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, being at the forefront.)

I've never been a big fan of superman or batman. Even though I did enjoy the Christopher Nolan's batman movies, I still don't like the batman character himself. I grew up watching Smallville and again, I did enjoy the first few seasons but disliked the superman character. So DC just didn't seem like my thing since I was a kid. The first time I've developed any interest in superhero was with the X-men animation. I actually fell like I wanted to know more about the characters. I watched some batman and justice league animations around the same time too but didn't like any of them. I was certainly exposed to DC stuff years before Marvel though.

In recent time, I've enjoyed the Marvel movies a lot. Not crazy about Thor films though. Even Loki couldn't make them memorable for me. They were a waste of good actors and actresses. I also thought the cut between scenes in the Thor films felt really awkward. Not sure if it's an editing thing or a directing thing. But I think after the first few enjoyable movies, I've developed some sort of trust toward the MCU. Because they have been good so far (on average), I kind of expect new movies to be enjoyable too. It's possible that I judge them (Iron man 2 and 3) kinder too because of this. Even when the movies weren't very good, there were moments that shine (age of ultron).

Now the DC movies have been kind of disappointing so the opposite is true. I seriously doubt the quality of their movies especially after BvS. Man that was a bad movie. I didn't check any review or critic before seeing to avoid spoilers. Ended up agreeing with the critics though. The story telling was messy and unconvincing. But the worst for me was how heavy handed the whole thing was. Dialogues were corny and clumsy. They have to spell out everything and rub it in as if they weren't sure if the audience would get it. The music was over the top and the acting from Jesse Eisenberg was the definition of melodramatic. People said the movie was dark but I thought it was laughable and the only thing truly dark about it was the colour scheme. I couldn't find one single redeeming feature about it as a movie. Before this movie, even though I prefer Marvel, I thought DC movies were watchable, sometimes entertaining and I was excited about Suicide Squad. After BvS... I just don't know if I can be bothered anymore...

Keep in mind though that I'm not judging the comic books since I have never read any. So I didn't care how close they were to the source material, just how good or bad they were as films.

Suicide Squad just won an Oscar. I knew that staying up late would pay off. It´s the Oscar Winning DCEU to all the haters. Now and forever more . The tattoos won us an Oscar! Bravo, Mr. Ayer. Sirens here we come.
PS: Continue voting please.

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I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb

Hm... it's been a while, but my choice is still the same. I haven't had nearly as much free time as I'd like to look at each company's recent products, but I'm still siding with Marvel.

Comics: Loving the 90s run of Morbius: The Living Vampire; it's 90s cheese, but I can't help it and the art is gorgeous! Point to Marvel since that's the only comic I've read in the last year. Though I'm very interested in reading the Hydra Cap and Super Sons comics when I have more down town.

Animated Series: I'm disappointed by both sides. Teen Titans Go! isn't my cup of tea and Avengers Assemble and The Guardians of the Galaxy are meh at best for me. Hopefully, the new Spider-Man show will be great and I've heard good things about Justice League Action; I look forward to watching both soon. So tie?

Animated Films: Marvel hasn't really put anything out (looking forward to that new Spider-Man film)... and DC animated films, I've loved a lot of their older films but, as of late not for me. I commented on this before, but ever since they started this new anime-ish art style Assault on Arkham is the only film I've enjoyed. Justice League: War bored me, Throne of Atlantis pained me, and the other films were meh or uninteresing. Another tie.

Live Action Films: MARVEL ALL THE WAY! Civil War; loved it! Dr. Strange; thoroughly enjoyed it! Deadpool was fun and X-Men was a disappointment, but overall it was a good year for the Marvel films and the hype is strong! I can't wait for the rest of phase 3. DC on the other hand... I left the theater ANGRY at BvS! I've ranted enough about it as it is and honestly I could go on, but I won't because 1. it won't change a thing and 2. it won't put any money in my pocket. Suicide Squad... oh Suicide Squad. My feelings for it ranged from meh to not very good; mostly it was a disappointment. I plan on seeing WW and JL, because I mostly feel like I'm required to (it is freaking WW and the JL) and I'm holding out hope, but if I don't like them I'm done with the DCEU. Point to Marvel. Good news is I already have animated films to fall back (Sups v the Elite, Dark Knight Returns, WW 09, Public Enemies, and Crisis on Two Earths All of which I recommend)

TV: I watched Super Girl to see Tyler Hoechlin as Superman and I loved him in the role, but everything else about the show left me uninterested. The Punisher was awesome in Dare Devil, which was great up until Electra showed up (went from amazing to good-ish); I felt the same about Luke Cage after they killed Cotton Mouth Looking forward to Iron Fist though

So yeah, I'm siding with Marvel again If anyone has recommendations from either company I'm open to checking them out.

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Wonder Woman has been releases in most of the world by now and finally gained the wholeheartedly positive reaction the last 3 films sadly lacked, besides maybe MoS (the cinemascore was an A-). WW 2017 is undoubtedly a "gateway" film and her comic canon is certainly under-explored in media / unknown. So let´s do this.
How to get into WW comics, now that the film is out:

WW´s Post Crisis canon began in 1987 with “Gods and Mortals” by George Pérez. He wrote and mostly drew Vol.2 No. 1-24 + annual 1-2 and stayed on for another 3 years as a writer only. That 2nd half isn´t worth your time though. Basically all follow-up writers, in all media, own a lot to this landmark reboot.

A mixed bag came in between (her edgy 90s replacement Artemis was a good idea but the execution was incoherent and quite sexist). John Byrne fixed the ship once he came aboard with “Second Genesis” and stayed on for No. 101 – 136 + annual 5-6. This runs demands a solid grasp of DC canon though. Her mother Hippolyta taking over for a bit and the modern Wonder Girl was born here too.

Phil Jimenez´s run starts with “Gods of Gotham” and lasts from No. 164-188. His characterization of
Diana was the most down to earth since 87.

Greg Rucka started with the standalone GN “The Hiketeia” and then wrote her proper comic from No. 195-226. Probably my favorite run in the 1987-2011 canon. The final stretch is tie-in crazy and demands to read much of the Infinity Crisis event to make sense. It´s a great event though.

The usually wonderful Gail Simone then came to “fix” the book, after the messy 1 Year Later relaunch (by her 2017 movie writer no less). It start with “The Circle” and last from Vol. 3 No. 14-44. I found it to be below expectations but she also wrote most of the really good 2009 toon film.

Brian Azzarello´s New52 re-launch is Diana´s best run yet, starting with “Blood” and lasting from Vol. 4 No. 1-35 + No.0 and 23.2 (but not 23.1… comics are weird). The film´s Warrior Woman characterization + her new origin are found within. It´s basically Vertigo´s Sandman meets God of War! He left and the book fell apart. Notice a theme? Her comic is a bit like Star Trek films. One good run follow a bad-ish run.

Greg Rucka came back for 2016´s Rebirth, starting with “The Lies”. Every 2nd issue is devoted to a new/streamlined origin story and flashbacks, after “Year One” concluded. A smart way to keep the bi-weekly deadlines and his run is about to end.

The next recommendations are all self-contained stories or origins, again sorted by publication date:

“JLA: A League of One” is written and painted by Christopher Moeller. It´s better remember for the striking art and not it´s weird crossover with the Nibelung myth, or whatever that was.

“Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth” by the Paul Dini and more importantly artists Alex Ross is about Diana´s inherently ingesting journey to the Middle East. It´s quite a read and the duo´s other one-shots are all great (Superman: Peace on Earth is even referenced in BvS!).

Grant Morrison´s “Wonder Woman: Earth One” Vol.1 GN is mostly a return to the Gold Age version. Heaps of lesbian bondage and his heavy focus on the original 40s take on feminism may not be for everyone but I eagerly await Vol.2.

“The Legend of Wonder Woman” by Renae De Liz is a concluded WW2 based Web-First comic. It´s very “young girl friendly” and nearly all her writers were men, so there is that. Don´t hold your breath for a sequel though, as the creative team pissed off DC and got (justifiably) blacklisted.

“Wonder Woman: The True Amazon” by Jill Thompson is a fully painted origin story that takes away all DC tie-ins and wholly grounds her in Greek myth. Her decision to give the young Diana a deeply spoiled characterization makes it a unique read. More please.

“The Secret History of Wonder Woman” is lastly a non-fiction book and explains itself. The Golden Age comic was pure insanity and her creator was quite a personally too, so I hope that the upcoming bio-pic will be good.

The 2001 Justice League toon had a focus on WW, as she was the rookie on the group. The current Justice League Action toon does the same, but she is the least featured Trinity member, and i already mentioned the 2009 toon film.

My 8,5/10 Imdb review for the film can lastly be read here. Good luck in November with JLA Zack, my hopes and dreams carry with you.

Most of DC´s Rebirth line continues to be a strong showing, to quickly touch on the comics proper, while the upcoming Marvel Legacy line ain´t the return to strength the comic community wanted for Marvel. They ar barely changing at all to be exact.
The "relaunch" isn´t as bad as some now make it out to be but they really need to pull themselves together in the near future and stop lying to retailers. Marketing gimmicks can only carry them so far and drove them to bankruptcy in the 90s. More on the topic is explored in depth in this inside the industry podcast.

Last edited by residentgrigo at 5:10 am, Jun 30 2017

________________
I also read EU/US comics and am a librarian.
Manga-Masters, My ANN-Lists + Imdb