Comics that have gotten worse since last year

Alright, so I'm just being lazy here. Here's a probably-short list of comics that have tanked since the last time I wrote.

All-New Atom: *sigh* Oh, I loved Simone on this, but then Remender took over and the title went from one of my favorites (sure, a troubled favorite, but a favorite nevertheless) into something I dreaded reading. It wasn't just a trainwreck; it was a trainwreck that involved characters I'd grown fond of dying or being hideously mutilated, along with their backstories. This was the first time in a long while I was actually happy a book had been cancelled.

The Spirit: This was a tragic tale. Darwyn Cooke's take on the Spirit was one of the best things to happen to comics in a long time. His quitting over Dave Stewart, while understandable, was a tragic blow to a license (a license that's going to get destroyed by Frank Miller's take on it anyhow, though). Aragones and Evanier's take on the Spirit is sort of a bummer, too, as Groo is so great I had expectations. However, their take on things lacks wit or feeling, substituting it all with bad slapstick and moderately chauvinist writing. Sadness.

The Amazing Spider-Girl: I had a soft spot for this title in my heart, but as of the last few months DeFalco has had the protagonist continually act out of character, which just gets old after awhile. Not so bad that it's a dead title to me, just a bit worse.

The Blue Beetle: This title was growing on me, giving off a very nice Invincible feel, but with its own flavor. However, the past few issues have been very stagnant on Jamie's growth as a hero, and on the changes occuring in his life. Again, hopefully just in a slump.

Are these all the titles that have gotten worse? No, just the ones that spring to mind. Also, these aren't necessarily bad titles -- they're just ones that have gotten worse in the last year that I can recall right now. Maybe I'll edit this later to add more here, but this gets around writing tons of backed up reviews.

Blue Beetle #17

One-sentence summary: Though a one-shot issue, this gives us a pretty good story, a bit of good dialogue, and a nice look at the new Beetle developing as a hero.

What can I say? This is a title that's grown on me. I used to be negative about it, but whether my outlook changed or the book just started get better writing, I'm much more in favor of it now than before. The action is fun, the dialogue is great, and the subplots are numerous but handled well. This one's no exception, though it slacks off (somewhat) on the subplots and focuses mostly on Jamie becoming a more experienced hero, dealing with some failure all the while.

It's nice to see a fun book like this deal well with a darker issue of heroism without losing its tone. There are still jokes being made, there are still things to make you smile, but it also deals succinctly with the consequences, and proper reactions, to failure. Good stuff.

I liked this issue. The art was clean, the writing good, and generally a good issue for the growth of the new Blue Beetle.