I did a bit of a double-take when typing the headline for this post. It’s hard to believe we’re through October already. It seems I just started this feature! It doesn’t seem like it was 10 months ago.

But, nonetheless, here’s October:

Action Comics (Vol. 2) #1
All New Batman: Brave and the Bold #11
DCU Halloween Special 2010
Golden Age #1-4
Green Lantern (Vol. 5) #1
Green Lantern Corps (Vol. 3) #1
Green Lantern: New Guardians #1
Red Lanterns #1
Secret Origins 80-Page Giant #1
Superboy (Vol. 3) #57-61, 1,000,000
Supergirl (Vol. 4) #26-31, 1,000,000
Superman (Vol. 3) #1
Tiny Titans #44
Young Justice #3-7, 1,000,000
Young Justice (Vol. 2) #8
Young Justice Secret Files #1
Absolute Justice hardcover
Batman Chronicles, Vol. 6 trade paperback

Total: 35 comics, 2 trades (Year total: 349 comics, 13 trades)

THE GOLDEN AGE was a series I picked up on a recommendation from Michael Bailey (of Takes of the Justice Society of America, From Crisis to Crisis and several other podcasts. While I was a bit bored with it for the first two issues, it turned out to be an excellent story. I highly recommend it. Just don’t get turned off for the slow start. It’s a lot of build up and character, but it pays off. Trust me.

I don’t have much else by way of commentary this month. But, since the DCnU has begun in earnest, I thought I’d offer some very brief thoughts on the first issues of the six DCnU titles I’m reading. I probably won’t continue this in future Stack installments. But, I thought some might be interested. Plus, it might be nice to have them saved for posterity. I wrote these throughout the preceding month, soon after reading each book.

ACTION COMICS (Vol. 2) #1: An entertaining and solid read. But then, we knew it would be. While I may not be a believer that a reboot was warranted and I certainly question the wisdom of taking this tack with Superman in 2011, I have not yet doubted Morrison. I know he will ultimately do right by the character.

GREEN LANTERN (Vol. 5) #1: Good, but an absolute failure. This issue reads like just another issue in Geoff Johns’ run. Good, yes, but newcomers would feel none of the emotional resonance of Hal being ringless and Sinestro (Sinestro!!) having a green ring. We get no back story, no history, no connection to our hero (who comes off as a deadbeat loser). I see what Johns is doing and it’s fine if you’ve been reading his run to this point… but it’s a failure in regards to The New 52.

RED LANTERNS #1: Less violent than I thought it would be, but… meh. It was rather dull, but at least, unlike the above-mentioned GREEN LANTERN (Vol. 4) #1, we got a proper introduction to the character for the uninitiated. I’m curious, though, how they plan on sustaining an ongoing title where the protagonist is based on hate and rage — yes, a villain — without turning him into a hero. (Prediction: They won’t.)

(Side thought: I wonder if they would not have been better off replacing this book with an LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT-type “Tales of the Corps” series, where the creative team (or rotating creative teams, if needed), could tell arcs featuring members of the various Corps. Fruitless naval-gazing, I guess.)

GREEN LANTERN CORPS (Vol. 3) #1: Overly-gruesome for a book rated T. (RED LANTERNS is rated T+ and had less blood and gore.) Other than that, though, I though it was a strong lead issue. A great basic primer to the concept of the Green Lantern Corps, as well as the two main characters of the book (Guy and John) for the new readers, without being tiring to the returning. The strongest of the opening issues for four GREEN LANTERN-related books.

SUPERMAN (Vol. 3) #1: It’s curious… this issue seemed to be dancing around, loudly proclaiming, “Look! We’re new! We’re neeeeeeeew!” While at the same time trying to throw in Easter eggs to placate the old readers and bide their time, waiting for Morrison to establish more of their playground. But looking at it more objectively… this seemed more like an introduction to Lois Lane (and Metropolis and Morgan Edge) than the titular character. I’m not sure why new readers and non-fans would care about the main character or want to pick up the second issue beyond, “It’s Superman.”

GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #1: Another failure, but not to the degree of GREEN LANTERN (Vol. 4) #1. We did get a recap of Kyle’s back-story, but we got no context for it. We got no explanation of the Green Lanterns Corps or the other colored Corps. Granted, we didn’t need a detailed explanation… but something would have been helpful. It was just a thin read, and what we did get… I don’t think it was enough to hook the new folks. As a first issue of this magnitude, it just needed to be more.

I’ve seen a lot of comments (not about these six titles, but others) that said, in not so many words, the second issue was better. A hopeful thought, but not exactly a good thing when DC was putting a lot of bank on this slate of number ones. I can’t help but wonder if many of them simply didn’t suffer from too many cooks in the kitchen. We shall see, I guess.

Oh! I didn’t talk about the reading project. Hmm… maybe that’s because there’s simply not much to say. It’s progressing and I’m enjoying the titles across the line. Early 1999 was a strong time for the Superman Family titles (odd since the four Superman books themselves, to the best of my recollection, were pretty lukewarm).

I’ve also decided to add in Mark Waid’s run LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES (Vol. 5) when that comes up. Since I’ll be transitioning and following Superboy into TEEN TITANS (Vol. 3), at least to the end of Geoff Johns’s run… and Waid’s Legion kind of spins from that, courtesy of the TEEN TITANS/LEGION SPECIAL, it should be a natural extension, even if it’s not strictly Superman Family, despite Kara Zor-El joining the team in the last third.