So the second week of the “New 52” DC Universe feels far more difficult to predict what will be good than the first. DC is releasing another 13 new number ones this week, but absent are titles that I have real confidence in like I had with Swamp Thing and Action Comics. How can anyone possibly be expected to determine which of these new books they should really buy? There’s just so many of them! To make your life easier, I’ll offer my ill-informed, not-quite-expert opinion on what titles are worth picking up tomorrow and each week during this first month of the New 52.

As far as this week goes, in my opinion there are three new DCU books that are probably going to be worth checking out and a few others I’m at least curious about.

Batwoman#1 – This book is the headliner this week. This long delayed title is almost a year in the making and was most recently delayed back in the Spring specifically so it could be part of the New 52. I’m not sure DC’s plans were as concrete back then as the company would like you to believe, but regardless this was basically the first of September’s new number one issues to be announced. I have no idea if J.H. Williams III can write, but if you ask me he’s hands down the best comic book artist in the world right now. I say that as a guy who doesn’t get particularly excited about artists. This book will look mind-blowingly-stunning and I can’t wait. Bring it on.

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1 – Frankenstein is a character that was reimagined by Grant Morrison as part of his Seven Soldiers of Victory maxi-series a few years back. I’ve been waiting for the character to make a comeback in the mainstream DCU ever since. Jeff Lemire handled the character well recently in a Flashpoint related miniseries and he’s also writing this new ongoing. After Lemire’s exciting debut on Animal Man, I’m more excited about this title than ever. Let’s hope for a book chock full of wildly imaginative superscience combined with some supernatural spy action. This should be a fun one that starts out under the radar.

Green Lantern #1 – This series has been the center of the DC Universe for much of the last decade. We’ve seen Hal Jordan reborn and redeemed. We’ve seen the Green Lantern franchise expanded to an entire family of titles and the birth of a rainbow of corps. The dead have risen. Green Lantern has battled Green Lantern. And yet we can’t even be sure how many of those events really matter in the new DCU – though we can assume most of them still happened based on comments from creators. This Green Lantern #1 comes to you from the same writer as the last Green Lantern #1 and we’re expecting to rejoin the action in the wake of the War of the Green Lanterns with the Corps’ greatest villain, Sinestro, the newly named Green Lantern of Earth and Hal Jordan left without a ring or a purpose. This series has been solid for a long time and I see no reason to expect anything to change.

After those three titles I’m not really sure what to recommend.

I expect Batman and Robin under Peter Tomasi to be good though likely nothing exceptional. However, Damian Wayne is an X-factor who seems to be a character that writes himself and tends to be the best thing about every Batman story he has appeared in over the last few years. This is the first time we’ll see him teamed up as Robin with the original Bruce Wayne Batman. That could make for a fun new dynamic. I’m in for at least the first few issues and likely more.

After that I don’t really have a lot of faith in the other books shipping this week.

I’ll probably pick up Deathstroke because I harbor a lot of nostalgia for the character dating back to the New Teen Titans “Judas Contract.” Having said that, I hate his new costume (How dumb is that sword?) and know very little about Kyle Higgins beyond that he co-wrote the recent Batman: Gates of Gotham series with Scott Snyder. Gates was a good series, but how much of that can be attributed to Higgins and how much credit should go to the far more established Snyder?

Finally, I think I’m going to buy Superboy by Scott Lobdell. Both Superboy and Teen Titans appear to have been dramatically reimagined by Lobdell and that doesn’t sit very well with me. Lobdell hasn’t written anything of which I’m particularly a fan. These do not appear to be ingredients for success, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Regardless, it looks way to crazy to just ignore… at least this first issue.

I guess I should mention that deep in my heart I suspect that Resurrection Man by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning or Paul Cornell’s Demon Knights should have been on this list in place of Deathstroke and/or Superboy. They both have better pedigrees than the titles I’m tentatively recommending, but I just don’t have any real interest in those characters.

Below is the entire list of new DC Comics #1 titles shipping this week according to Previews:

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1

BATWOMAN #1

DEATHSTROKE #1

DEMON KNIGHTS #1

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1

GREEN LANTERN #1

GRIFTER #1

LEGION LOST #1

MISTER TERRIFIC #1

RED LANTERNS #1

RESURRECTION MAN #1

SUICIDE SQUAD #1

SUPERBOY #1

Read more about DC Comics’ “New 52” on MyLatestDistraction

and keep up with each week’s picks for September:

Week One / Week Three (coming September 21st)

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