My Week in Comics: September 23, 2011

Men without fear and maids of might are dropping by for one exciting week in comics! What did I get myself into this week? Read on and find out!

First up is Supergirl #1, the exciting debut of Superman's cousin in the DCnU! Our heroine crashes to earth in a meteor, and the military rushes in to contain her. What's a Kryptonian girl to do? Why, kick their asses of course! For 20 pages!

Yes folks, the first issue of Supergirl amounts to one entire fight scene stretched through 20 pages! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining (much), because what we do get is fun enough, and writers Michael Green and Mike Johnson make use of the action to slowly introduce us to Supergirl's powers as they pop up one by one under our yellow sun, which is a nice touch. Supergirl could have been one boring issue, but Mahmud Asrar on art makes it work. His action scenes are fast-paced and killer, and he draws one hell of a cute Supergirl. Needless to say Asrar just sold me on Supergirl's new costume in ways I can't explain.

For a single issue, Supergirl #1 leaves some to be desired, but it's as cool an intro to Supergirl as we're gonna get, and it's easily one of the most newbie-friendly books out of the New 52. This gets a 3.5 out of 5.

Wonder Woman is back to wearing pants and kicking ass...and she's all out of pants!

Wondy's first issue in the DCnU has her headbutting centaurs to protect a woman who may or may not be bearing the child of a certain Greek All-father, which is more awesome than it sounds. Brian Azzarello's gritty and bloody take on Wonder Woman might not be everyone's cup of tea, but he makes it work here. Taking Greek myths out of the sky and into the blood-soaked ground, Azzarello gives Wonder Woman a chance to stretch her Amazon muscles and then some. Deflecting bullets arrows with her bracelets, whipping out the Lasso of Truth, kicking ass, showing off her gorgeous legs...it's got Wonder Woman written all over it.

I didn't feel Cliff Chang's stylized art at first, but he does draw a really pretty Wonder Woman. The action is intense and gory, with decapitated horses and arrows being pulled out of abdomens all in delicious bloody detail. I guess Azzarello wasn't kidding when he said he's turning Wonder Woman into a horror comic. I can't tell at this point in time whether change is good or not, but Chang's art makes it at least a little bit interesting.

It would have been nice to see Wonder Woman break out of that limbo she's in with the force of a thousand suns, but I guess this horrific tale of horny gods will have to do. This gets a 3 out of 5.

And so we've come to Daredevil #4, which is quite possibly the closest to perfection comic books can get.

No hyperbole here, folks. If you want a fun comic, if you want to show people the potential of comic books, this issue is what you pick up. Mark Waid and co. pushed the storytelling capabilities of the comic book medium to its fullest here, and I freakin' love it.

You'd think an issue mostly filled with Nelson and Murdock talking about their new self-representation deal, or Matt Murdock talking to a new client who might just have bitten off more than he can chew, to be boring, but Waid writes with a certain enthusiasm that makes the mundane exciting. The story is playful and fun, something Daredevil hasn't been for a good part of the 2000s, and it just rubs off on you in a good way. Waid even throws in a sequence where Daredevil makes his rounds catching muggers and saving babies from burning buildings, slivers of superheroism that's missing in a lot of books right now, and Waid earned my eternal gratitude for it.

Marcos Martin steps in for Paolo Rivera on art duties, and thankfully he didn't disappoint. Martin takes Rivera's lead from the previous issues and turned in art that's as wildly creative and as exciting as his predecessor (come on, check out dat cover!). Muntsa Vicente tops it all off with vibrant colors that make the art pop off the page, and the result is a comic that not only reads like a dream, but looks like something worthy of an art gallery.

Daredevil #4 is freaking amazing, period. I've never been excited to pick up a comic book when it came out until now, and Waid and co. changed all that. This deserves a 6 out of 5. Pick this up now!

That's a pretty awesome week, if you ask me! So what did you get this week, and why aren't you buying Daredevil yet? Drop me a comment below and let's talk about it! Thanks for reading!