Now that the new comic smell is starting to wear off DC Comic’s New 52, I’m starting to ween out which titles I’ll continue reading and which are falling by the wayside. One book that has kept my attention and I’m still enjoying the hell out of is Justice League International. The book has a great old school vibe and top notch art that makes me really look forward to each issue.

Issue #3 continues the Signal Masters storyline as the League splits up into teams to try to learn more about the four giants that have popped up across the globe. Dan Jurgens uses the opportunity to help the reader and team members try to get to know each other a bit better. It works wonderfully as nothing feels forced and it really reads like part of the story. The old school feeling I mentioned before continues and, for me, is a really big selling point for the series. They literally don’t make comics like this anymore. Everyone feels the need to make comics feel dark, grim and/or so serious I find them depressing. Thankfully I don’t get any of that when reading JLI. All I get is that same sense of fun I used to get from reading comics when I was younger and a large part of the credit for that goes to Jurgens.

Aaron Lopresti is quickly becoming a favorite artist of mine. I knew he was good from the work he did on Marvel’s second Excalibur series, but here he is really being given room to show his stuff. You never have to wonder what is going on in a scene or what panel to read next. His characters look consistent and he also draws a hell of a Booster Gold. I fervently hope he will be sticking around on the book for an extended stay.

Justice League International has flown a bit under the radar thanks to its big brother, Justice League. That’s a shame because for my money this is the far superior series and overall, a much more entertaining read. It’s the kind of comic that will make you believe that a comic book can actually be fun again. And that is worth its weight in gold to me.

Of all the titles to come out of DC’s New 52, I don’t think any came with as much baggage as Batgirl. Before the first issue even hit the stands, fans were bemoaning the loss of Oracle and the return of Barbara Gordon’s ability to walk (even though Professor X has lost and gained the use of his legs more times than I can count). The book was one of the bestsellers of September, but would the book be able to keep the readers it had? Well, I don’t know how anyone else feels, but to me Batgirl has done nothing but get better with each issue.

For issue #3, Batgirl’s battle with Mirror continues and we get also some background on this Post-Flashpoint version of Babs and her relationship with Nightwing, a.k.a. Dick Grayson. It’s a nice change of pace from the intensity of the first two issues and Gail Simone puts the Babs/Dick rapport in a new and slightly different light.

I’ve seen on the internet that some readers are having a problem with the internal dialogue Batgirl has throughout the series. I don’t quite understand why, since it is one of the best parts of the book. It is what makes Batgirl different from Batman or Nightwing. Simone has a nice ear for dialogue and it adds something of a lighthearted touch to a series that could easily become maudlin or too heavy.

Ardian Syaf has been turning in some outstanding artwork on this series and issue #3 is no exception. Batgirl and her supporting cast look great, the backgrounds are rich and detailed and, unlike a lot of other DC artists, he is making an effort to make the characters look younger, which was one of the goals of the New 52. It might seem like a little thing, but it goes a long way to giving the title a fresh and new look.

Of the Batman family of titles, the only ones I am reading right now are Batman and Batgirl. If the rest of the books had this level of quality though, it could easily be more. Simone and Syaf are doing some great work on this book and I hope more people stick around to see where it all goes.

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve had any articles go live online, but the wait is over! I have three articles live on Geekadelphia right now waiting for your eyes to check out.

First, it’s Tuesday and that means another installment of The Comic Roundup. This week I review the first issue of The Avenging Spider-Man, Marvel’s Point One one-shot and the second issue of DC’s new Huntress miniseries.

Next, I recently had the honor of interviewing Steve Morrison of Philadelphia’s 93.3 WMMR Preston and Steve show for the Geek of the Week. He is a super cool guy and more of a geek that I think anyone realizes.

And last, I also got the chance to interview Archaia’s publisher Mike Kennedy. He is also a heck of a writer, as can be witnessed in the recently published graphic novel Bleedout, and a really interesting person.

Read and enjoy!