The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **Zero** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:42 pm

Didn't get hold of this in town today, so probably skipping this week. Ditto next week if it's Criminal since I trade-wait.

by **Victorian Squid** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:43 pm

I had a hard time getting through this new #1.

by **Daringd** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 8:28 pm

I hate Scott McDaniels so I'm skipping this week. Also next week since I trade wait Criminal

by ****** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:02 pm

Zero wrote:Didn't get hold of this in town today,

Seeing as you can get everything from DC digitally now (legally), that really shouldn't be used as a reason to skip anymore.

by **Greg** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:04 pm

Amoebas wrote:I never before got into or cared for Static.

Then I read Static Shock #1...

Recap: Teenage hero stocks uber-powered maniac, gets no thanks from the crowd. Goes home to Mom & Dad asks if he can get a drivers license. Goes to work at Star Labs where the computer there asks him to suit up and fly over New York City where he's attacked and gets his arm cut off.

Analysis: I kind of always liked Scott McDaniels art (with nothing here changing that opinion) but as a writer, he needs to find some consistency with his characterizations. Is Static just a 16 year kid in a costume, or is he a 16 year old scientific genius in a costume? A lot of science babble early in the book just felt wrong. The mystery of the sunspot maniac gets some screen time but nothing that makes me interested in the subplot. And how does a 16 year old kid get a job at Star Labs in the first place?

Like I said, I never got into or cared for Static before. I still don't.

Writing - 5
Art - 7
Overall - 6

he's always been a science whiz/nerd. He especially started to study more on electricity, etc, to learn more about his abilities and how he can use them for different things and different opponents.

by **Victorian Squid** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:07 pm

Hardware was cool, maybe we could have a book about him instead?

by **False Prophet** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:31 pm

Mike Mercury wrote:Hardware was cool, maybe we could have a book about him instead?

IDK. DC wouldn't be bothering with any of the Milestone characters if not for Static. The other guys will be lucky to get any facetime.

To be honest, I have a feeling we're going to see a LOT of genius, tech-savvy black heroes in Static and Mr. Terrific. DC has that corner covered.

by **Victorian Squid** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 9:40 pm

Well when Mr Terrific gets cancelled then. :smt102

by **DeadFett** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 12:47 am

Punchy,

Can you add me to the members list please? I rejoined the group last week with a review of Uncanny X-Force. I'll post my review of this week's book over the weekend.

by **Punchy** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:02 am

Done.

by **Comic_Doctor** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 4:59 pm

I was never a fan of Static Shock before, and I'm still not now. I pledged to give all DC's new #1s a fair try, and this was the third book I read.

Once thing I hate in comics is when characters describe every thing they are doing. Readers are not stupid. McDaniel and Rozum do this the entire issue, and it's horrible.
I'm not sure who all the bad guys are, and not a lot of information was given on them either. I felt a bit lost there. The only things I did like about the story was how Static kept accidentally pissing off the citizens, and the disarming ending

Scott McDaniel's art is okay. His storytelling works well, and he does decent facial expressions. His overall style doesn't work for me, but I'm sure it does for others.

Static Shock #1 was far better than Hawk & Dove #1, but I don't see myself getting future issues. Not a "win" for DC in my eyes.

GRADE: 6 of 10

by **Stephen Day** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:40 pm

I was hoping with this one, but my LCS didn't have any copies in.

by **fieldy snuts** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:01 pm

While initially deciding not to buy this, I decided to give it a shot for the RG due to the fond memories I have of the cartoon.

From the start it's clear to me that Scott McDaniel and John Rozum obviously tried so hard to cram in as much as they could that this book that the end result left me looking at a badly overwritten book. It was way too wordy with it's expository dialog, and not in a Bendis rapid-fire-dialog kind of way but it had been crammed with so many long (and I mean LONG) inner monologs and huge word balloons that utterly dominated so many panels.

it wasn't enough that they went to extreme pains to go into blow-for-blow exposition on how Static uses science in his fights, but it's clear the writers just lost themselves in it and went wild. It was like I was reading a novel rather than reading a comic at times. Utterly distracting.

Onto the story, Static Shock was originally portrayed as a black Spider-Man WAY before Miles Morales and it shows here. Static's heroics earn him insults and jeers from New Yorkers (Static Shock is set in New York rather than Dakota this time around) and he works for S.T.A.R. Labs. He's a wisecracking young guy who relies on his brains as much as his powers to get through a fight and is basically a geek at heart. Maybe that would've stood out to me a lot more had the comic not had absurd levels of wordiness...it just felt lost among the sea of words.

Static also has a mentor figure in Hardware, an old Milestone character who I'm not overly familiar with. He basically provides him with advice and tech upgrades. Too bad Gear's not around in that role since he was a pretty big supporting character from the old TV series...but that's not really a big concern as the role is filled just as well.

Comparing it to Dwayne McDuffie's old Milestone series, there's not really much to benchmark the two as they're totally different books. Whereas the Milestone book was slightly darker and not afraid to tackle edgier social aspects (could this be what kept Gear out of this book? Just pure speculation on my part here) this book is clearly marketed as kid friendly...I'm not sure all these words would help hook kids into this much though.

The art...Scott McDaniel does double duty with both the writing AND art. I think he kind of defeated himself with the wordiness as at times it covered huge chunks of panels and really distracted from what would've otherwise been decent art. McDaniel's art is perfect for highlighting Static's electric based powers. Not much else stands out for me but I'll give him this, he does a decent enough job with the rest of it. Doesn't 'wow' me or anything but I have no problem with it.

So in summary...so much potential in the character and setting was just drowned out by an avalanche of words that weren't ever needed.

Writing: 3.5
Art: 7.0
Overall: 5.0

by **BlueStreak** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:51 pm

Just FYI, Gear was not a character in the comic books.

Rick Stone was a supporting character in Static's comics, but never had powers or anything like that. I'm pretty sure he didn't even know about Virgil's life as a superhero.

by **fieldy snuts** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 8:53 pm

BlueStreak wrote:Just FYI, Gear was not a character in the comic books.

Rick Stone was a supporting character in Static's comics, but never had powers or anything like that. I'm pretty sure he didn't even know about Virgil's life as a superhero.

Yeah I know. I kind of mix up the two at times :oops: