A few things about Battle for Bludhaven

Issue 3 of the series, halfway through, and I still don't know what's going on. Opposite of Ion, I think this is a bad thing for this comic.

First of all, they have a cast list of who is who just inside the cover. Many characters, and I don't care about any of them with the exception of the Teen Titans. It isn't that I don't like them, it's that none of them have been developed at all to a point where I'm interested. Almost everything so far I have read concerning the characters relies on gimmicks and stereotyped personalities, as far as I can tell.

Honestly, I don't know who the good guys and the bad guys are. Sure, I'll admit I think there isn't supposed to be a line drawn between who to back and who not to cheer for. However, I think I'm supposed to be interested in this S.H.A.D.E. group as the victor in the end, but there's just one thing wrong with that idea.

I don't like S.H.A.D.E. and here's a quick little rundown as to why.

Bigfoot acts and sounds like a antebellum slave. The way he talks and his mannerisms feel ripped out of books set in that time period. For a character named Bigfoot I would have thought he would be someone who rarely, if ever, talks and just appears and disappears. Like Batman in a few ways, but not the deductive part. He would follow his orders and spook his targets, occasionally berserking in combat.

Phantom Lady is a porn star blow up doll and seems to have no depth so far. Beyond that she hasn't had much focus.

Human Bomb I actually like, but by design only so far. Spontanius human explosion is a fun concept, and I like the black trenchcoat. Fingernail explosion of that size is fairly outragous though.

Doll Man has had little so far, so that's all I'm going to say.

Replicant had me groaning right at birth. "Hey I'm an all powerful telepath, and I know what everyone is thinking and doing within 100 miles. I'm going to help you without question because you're in charge here." I'm also not fond of the thick inking of his outline, kills his implied shape.

Father Time could be interesting, if he would actually do something. Looks like he will next issue, so we'll see. Right now he's playing the mightier-than-thou card with everyone.

Major Force and Captain Atom seem to be basically the same as before, and I'm happy with that. The action I've seen Atom in has made me like his character (though most of the experience was JLU). Force seems like a fun character from the little I've seen.

On the other side of the action, the Atomic Knights need a lot more explination for how they are organized. They seem like the good guys, but like I've said before I have no idea who to back.

On a positive note, the plot is really moving along and should have a good conclusion. I'm just not liking this new "super hero" group at the moment.