May 4, 2012
Earth 2 #1 was better than I expected, certainly better in terms of an introduction to a world than Justice League #1, though there were still elements that I found problematic.
One of my big worries about the book had been that DC Comics’ Trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman would overshadow the more exclusively-Justice Society characters like Jay Garrick and Alan Scott. They’ve solved this problem neatly, and in the process given the book a bit more of a hook than it would have had otherwise.
I’ve seen the issue described as a prologue, and it is, in that most of the issue takes place five years before the main series picks up. But it’s also a finale: The first 20 pages or so are really the concluding chapter in an apocalyptic war that changed the face of the world. In fact, if Earth 2 does well enough, I can see DC telling the story as a 6-issue miniseries, though the final issue really ought to be a reprint of this story plus an epilogue.
I like what I’ve seen of Alan Scott so far. I haven’t seen enough of Al Pratt to decide. Jay Garrick…well…I’m not terribly thrilled at what’s become of him, but let’s see what we get in issue #2.
On to the spoilers! Read the rest of this entry »
April 30, 2012
The Collected Editions blog has been reviewing the Flashpoint trades over the past week. The tie-ins were collected in five trade paperbacks, grouped around one of DC’s big five characters, titled The World of Flashpoint Featuring…
The miniseries less directly related to the major characters were spread around the other books, some thematically and some apparently at random, but the Flash collection is actually filled with stories focusing on Flash characters: Citizen Cold, Kid Flash Lost, Reverse-Flash, Legion of Doom (starring Heat Wave) and Grodd of War.
The site has also put together a Flashpoint trade reading order.
March 6, 2012
The Indigo Tribe has concluded its week-long event looking back at Green Lantern: Circle of Fire with a team of guest bloggers (including myself).
Here’s the complete list:
My review covered the team-up between Adam Strange and Green Lightning, a speedster from the future who is a descendant of both the Rayner and West families, who has inherited speed and the Green Lantern ring but can only use one power each day.
February 27, 2012
The Circle of Fire event at The Indigo Tribe continues, with my guest review of Green Lantern/Adam Strange (2000, Brian K. Vaughn & Cary Nord).
Green Lightning is a speedster from the future, a descendant of both Wally West and Kyle Rayner, who has inherited both super-speed and the Green Lantern ring. The two sides of her family insist that she follow their legacy alone, so that she can use only one set of powers each day — much to Adam Strange’s annoyance as they try to protect Rann from Oblivion!
Head over to The Indigo Tribe to read my review!
February 25, 2012
Green Lantern blog The Indigo Tribe has recruited a group of comics bloggers to review the chapters of Green Lantern: Circle of Fire, a fifth-week event from 2000 that featured established heroes teaming up with a group of all-new Green Lanterns to face the threat of Oblivion, a new villain who has some strange connection with Kyle Rayner’s past.
I’ll be reviewing Green Lantern/Adam Strange, in which the space-going hero teams up with Green Lightning, a speedster Green Lantern from the future who is a descendant of both Kyle Rayner and Wally West.
The other guest bloggers featured are Frank from The Idol-Head of Diabolu (Green Lantern/The Atom), Shag from Firestorm Fan (Green Lantern/Firestorm), and Michael from The Fortress of Baileytude (Green Lantern/Power Girl).
Read on with Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1 at The Indigo Tribe!
December 15, 2011
The Collected Editions blog is focusing on Flashpoint this week with reviews of two Flashpoint collections from the perspective of a trade-waiter. For those of us who read new comics on a month-to-month basis, it’s worth stepping back and considering how differently these read when you read a series in the form of one or two collections a year.
December 8, 2011
In case you’re wondering where my reviews of Flash #2 and Flash #3 are, this may shed some light…
- Wednesday: It’s new comic day! I can’t wait to read this week’s comics! I’ll just have to make sure I finish my review tonight or tomorrow so it’s among the first batch people see.
- Saturday: There are still some people who buy comics on the weekend, right? So a review is still timely.
- Tuesday: Crap, new comics will be out tomorrow! I’d better make sure I post that review tonight!
- Next Wednesday: Well, everyone’s going to be reading reviews of this week’s comics. So I guess I’ve got three weeks to review this one before the next one’s out.
- Three Tuesdays Later: Crap, the new issue is out tomorrow and I still haven’t reviewed this one! I’d better get cracking!
- Wednesday: Eh, forget it. No one wants to read a review of last month’s issue. But hey, it’s new comic day! I can’t wait to read this week’s comics! I’ll just have to make sure I finish my review tonight or tomorrow so it’s among the first batch people see….
Lather, rinse, repeat.
November 9, 2011
I was going through the site cleaning up links recently and found some old posts that I thought might be worth a second look. This week, I hope you enjoy my review of…
Austin Grossman’s novel Soon I Will Be Invincible is a fun romp through every super-hero cliché ever invented over the history of the genre. Time-travel, cyborgs, telepaths, aliens, evil geniuses, legacy heroes, secret identities, heroes going bad, villains turning good — everything. It’s an affectionate, tongue-in-cheek parody of the tights-and-flights set.
The book is narrated in alternate chapters by Dr. Impossible, a mad scientist who has held the world in his grasp a dozen times, only to be defeated by his arch-nemesis CoreFire — whom he inadvertently created — and by Fatale (as in “Femme”), a small-time cyborg hero who has just been invited to join the world’s premiere super-team, the Champions.
» Read my full review…
October 3, 2011
September is over, and DC’s New 52 comics have all debuted. Halfway through the month I reviewed four of the New 52 launches. Now that the month is over, it’s time to look at the rest of the books I picked up.
Flash #1
Judging by this issue, The Flash may finally be getting back on track. The book was focused, moved quickly, and managed to lay out the ground rules for new and returning readers alike without getting overly bogged down in exposition. Most importantly, Manapul & Buccellato understand that a book about a guy who runs fast should be fun, not serious and full of angst.
See my full review for more.
Resurrection Man #1
I thought this book was technically very good, but for some reason it didn’t really grab me. It did a great job of setting up the main character, establishing his powers, and setting up a hero-on-the-run dynamic, without ever getting too expository. Critically, rather than letting people wonder how badly Mitch Shelley can be injured before he can’t resurrect, in this first issue he’s…well, let’s just say killed very thoroughly, and he still comes back to life. I think it’s also the only New 52 debut issue I read that’s actually a complete, done-in-one story.
Still, I got to the end feeling vaguely unsatisfied for some reason. I’ll certainly check out issue #2, but I’m on the fence.
Justice League Dark #1
I wanted to like this more than I did. Partly I’m more interested in the characters as a dark fantasy team than as a group of broken people. (I’m not a fan of Madame Xanadu as drug addict, for instance.) Partly I was hoping that, despite the title, it would stay as far away as possible from the main Justice League. Partly I didn’t think Milligan balanced exposition and story very well. A lot of characters wound up saying things for the sake of the reader rather than for the sake of what they might have been saying. I think I’m on board for the first arc, but I’m not sure if I’ll stick around past it.
Overall: How Did the New 52 Do?
- On board: Flash, Demon Knights, Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.
- On the fence: Resurrection Man and Justice League Dark.
- Didn’t make the cut: Stormwatch, Justice League.
So… which New 52 comics did you pick up? Which ones did you love? Which ones did you hate?
October 2, 2011
Flash #1 Reviews around the net.
Co-writer Brian Buccellato is also asking people to leave links to their reviews on
his blog: So…what do you think?
Have you seen one I missed? Leave a comment here!
