Well, as you may have noticed, I fell behind on my comic book posts again. Part of that is because of my personal schedule, and part of that is due to DC’s publishing schedule. DC has been publishing all of their top tier books twice a month instead of monthly. Ordinarily, that would be a terrible sign, especially on a couple of books that have had multiple artists, but I’ve found the results to be shockingly good so far.

For me, the big winner has been Wonder Woman. Since the end of Brian Azzarello’s run, the character has suffered, but Rebirth, and the work of Rucka and Finch has made it one of the better books going right now. The artwork is phenomenal, and Rucka’s writing is exploring Diana’s character and fleshing her out in ways she hasn’t been since much earlier in The New 52.

Both Superman and Action Comics have also revitalized the man of steel, and that’s refreshing after what the movie by that name did to the character. Both books have put a lot of emphasis on Clark’s family, and making young Johnathan the new Superboy. I’m more interested in seeing the new/old Superman find his place in the Justice League, but the family material hasn’t been so oppressive as to drag the story down.

Detective Comics and Batman have done an incredible job of offering distinctive looks at Batman and the Bat family. Detective Comics has put its focus on the wider Bat family, and that’s been great for recapturing the relationships between Bruce, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and other characters The New 52 wasn’t overly kind to. For more of a straightforward dose of Bruce Wayne, Batman has filled the void. It’s a different feel from Scott Snyder’s run with Greg Capullo, and while I miss Capullo’s take on Gotham City, I like the story moving away from the horror-esque vibe of Snyder’s work.

On the Marvel side of things, there isn’t a lot to report. Daredevil has been solid, as has Amazing Spider-man. Those are two of the books least impacted by the events of Civil War II (which I’ve ignored as much as possible), and also two books that haven’t had massive status quo shifts that either replace or betray their characters. Blindspot’s dynamic with Matt in Daredevil has been compelling, and in my opinion, a far less ham-fisted attempt to explore social issues, specifically immigration.

I’ll try to keep more current on comics as they come out, but in the meantime, that’s more or less the state of things. It seems DC and Marvel are in different positions. Marvel is making brilliant movies and poor comics while DC makes terrible movies and solid books.