Shit Stevo Says Volume 1 -The New 52

My name is Stevie McCrystal and welcome to the first edition of “Shit Stevo Says.” This blog aims to cover any and all aspects of life that amuse or baffle me. So without anymore delay let’s get this started. P.S. there may be spoilers in these blogs depending on how much you have read/played/watched etc. so be warned.

Comic books have been around for years. When they first appeared over 50 years ago they were the main source of entertainment for young children around the world. Today, even in this tv & computer games dominated world they still have a massive following and I am one of those followers.

The first comic related purchase I had was with my mate in Forbidden planet about 5 years ago (at this time i didn’t even know about this shop) when we both bought hard back novel reboot editions of Batman: The Killing Joke. If you have never heard of this then I suggest you google it and buy this story. It tells of what many believe to be the REAL story of how the Joker was “born”, how the Oracle came to be in a wheel chair and why the Joker hates Batman. This comic is 51 years old and even though the artwork has been updated, the story has not aged a bit. Once I read this I was hooked on collecting them and I don’t regret a single purchase of my comics.

That’s why when I heard that DC where going to reboot 52 series I was ecstatic. Here I could now say that I have the original copies of some of the first edition of the stories in the DC universe. While many may argue that it is not the same I agree with what DC are doing in that they are bringing that same feeling of 50 years ago to the modern age children and collectors like myself. This blog will, over time, cover some of these New 52 series.

Doctor Who/Star Trek: Assimilation.

First up is a comic that I picked up more out of curiosity than a case of wanting them – Doctor Who/Star Trek: Assimilation. Now only issue one has been released and honestly I am still unsure of it. The first issue was some what forgettable in that I can’t really recall the story to date other an a planet in the Star Trek universe has come under attack from the Borgs & Cybermen whilst at the same time Doctor Who is in ancient Rome running from bad guys on a Chariot. This is promptly followed by a trip in the TARDIS toSan Francisco, where a member of the U.S.S Enterprise is in a bar. Whilst this could lead to a great story I still need to be convinced with the next two issues. The art work is great and gives the comic a life like feeling.  The best way I can describe it is that the artwork looks like still frames from a movie or TV show.  All in all this series has promise and not too far from believable as we know Doctor Who can cross dimensions albeit very hard to do so.

 

 I give this a 2.5/5 as I am still not convinced this will be a good series until issues 2&3.  The artwork has saved it from a lower rating.  Also on another note it was a pleasant surprise to receive a signed copy by Tony Lee.

 

Night of Owls

Next on my list is a preview/review of the Night of Owls(NOO) DC multiverse. The new 52 from DC has decided now was as good a time as any to bring in a collection that covers several characters in the universe. Night of Owls centres around Bruce Wayne & his alter ego, Batman. Now so far I have only got my hands on one of NOO series although as I write this the second one is sitting beside me waiting to be read. Now the NOO centres around a group known as the Court of Owls which have been around at the time of Bruce ‘sWayne’s Great-Grandparents. What I love about this series is the fact that we know as little about the court as Batman does so it adds a sense of WTF with every page.  This collection of stories is written by various authors but the main author is Scott Snyder as the current main writer on the Batman series and all I can say is that it’s quite a gripping read.  I cannot wait to see how this story plays out over the rest of the cross-over. DC’s artists never fail with the art work in this case the vivid drawings compliment the story telling perfe
ctly making it even more worthwhile to have these comics.

To date I give NOO a 4/5 as its story is gripping and evokes a new question with every few pages and again the art work is brilliant.

And there we go, the first edition of “Shit Stevo Says” has drawn to a close. Over the next few weeks I will continue to cover New 52 subscriptions that I am receiving.  In the next edition I will give my review on the new Max Payne game as well as a look back to some retro games that I have recently got back into.