First Look for December 13, 2017

Today’s first look takes a step back to read the correct Point One issue and moves forward with my Rebirth reading for DC. After I realized I had read the wrong Point one comic I quickly found the 2011 issue on Marvel Unlimited so I was all set to get back on track. It sure would be nice if Marvel had a bit more distictiveness to their titles. Once I finished that off, I went over to DC where things are a bit more clear and I read the Nightwing Rebirth issue. Sure, they have a Rebirth issue #1 and then the actual Nightwing series starts again at #1, but I think they make things a bit more approachable for casual readers.

Point One #1

After realizing that I had read the wrong “point one” issue, I went back and read Point One #1 from 2011 which features stories from Ed Brubaker, Jeff Loeb, David Lapham, Chris Yost, Fred Van Lente, Matt Fraction, and Brian Michael Bendis. Sadly though, I think this issue was not nearly as good as the Marvel NOW! Point One from 2012.

The framework of this seven story compilation focuses on a couple of thieves who’ve come to take information from The Watcher and while it works as a way to put so many stories together, there’s no glue to anything that goes on in the story as there was in the issue from 2012. Instead we get a bunch of vignettes that in my opinion, don’t really work too well together and I don’t even think they’re that good for short stories either.

The Marvel NOW issue at least tries to carry the reader through the introductions of the new story lines and to explain the characters in the books, this on the other hand just kinda throws the pieces together. Sure, some of the stories are better than others and some of the art looks better to my eyes, but the comic as a whole doesn’t seem to work in my view.

I certainly hope the stories this comic teases are better than what we get here but if this were all I had to go on for the comics coming for 2012, I’d be worried for Marvel, but looking back, I know there are some good comics put out so hindsight is good here. I suppose the biggest thing I learned from this issue had nothing to do with any of the comics introduced, but rather that Marvel at least learned from this disaster when they came out with the Marvel NOW! Point One issue in 2012.

Nightwing Rebirth #1

I’ve never read any Nightwing before but I know a little bit about Dick Grayson and I’m looking forward to finding out more in this series. This first Rebirth issue does a decent job laying out where he’s starting from so I feel right at home. He’s just gotten out of SPYRAL and teaching a the St. Hadrian’s School for Girls and he’s freshly out of a relationship with Helena Bertinelli, who it seems is Huntress – so much info in just a couple of pages. We also see Dick working with the Midnighter and pulling a bomb outta Damian Wayne’s nose. Finally we see the Parliament of Owls and I guess they’re a pretty big deal in the Batman universe. They’ve apparently also got a beef with Dick Grayson and Nightwing has convinced them he wants to destroy Grayson as well – so things sound pretty interesting.

I’m much more inclined to continue reading Nightwing than anything mentioned in the Point One issue but I’m gonna move forward with both.