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.

• Review: Flash: The Road to Flashpoint (TPB)
• Review: Flashpoint (HC)

Flashpoint Week at Collected Editions is a post from Speed Force.

1. 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.
2. Saturday: There are still some people who buy comics on the weekend, right? So a review is still timely.
3. Tuesday: Crap, new comics will be out tomorrow! I’d better make sure I post that review tonight!
4. 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.
5. Three Tuesdays Later: Crap, the new issue is out tomorrow and I still haven’t reviewed this one! I’d better get cracking!
6. 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.

The Six Stages of (not) Writing Comics Reviews is a post from Speed Force.

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…

Wayback Wednesday: Soon I Will Be Invincible is a post from Speed Force.

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?

New 52 Quick Hits: Flash, Resurrection Man, Justice League Dark is a post from Speed Force.

Flash #1 Reviews around the net.

• Comics Alliance – Flash #1 hits the ground running
• Multiversity Comics
• Inside Pulse – Dynamic Art + Likeable Character = Win
• Cosmic Treadmill
• Paste Magazine
• Complex
• Comic Book Resources
• Comic Vine
• Danger Mart
• Superhero Reviews
• Speed Force (of course!)
• Digital Spy
• IGN
• Comicbook.com
• MTV Geek
• Read/RANT
• Grumpy Old Fan/Robot 6
• IGN
• My Geeky Geeky Ways
• Comics Should Be Good reviews every single New 52 book
• Eye on Comics
• CBR New Reader Litmus Test (added)
• Mania (added)
• Newsarama Best Shots (added)

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!

Flash #1 Review Round-Up (New 52) is a post from Speed Force.

Well, after reading the first issue, I can say: Today is not that day.

Some of the things I liked:

The art. This was my favorite part of last year’s Geoff Johns run, and it’s even better here. Not only does it look good, but Francis Manapul continues to experiment with layouts as well, going far beyond the standard grid-and-splash-page patterns. I particularly liked the fall from the helicopter and the page showing Barry in his apartment. And when was the last time you saw a splash page of the Flash standing still (and not posing dramatically) look so good?

With DC’s newfound emphasis on deadlines, I really hope these guys can keep on schedule!

The speed. While it’s not a headlong rush from beginning to end, it never drags. As much as I liked “Dastardly Death of the Rogues,” I still felt like it would have been better at 2/3 the length. This doesn’t feel padded.

Everything you need to know is here. What the Flash’s powers are. Who Barry Allen is, and what he does in civilian life. Who Patty and Iris are, what they do, and how they relate to the main character as both Barry and the Flash. The role of super-science. The dynamic in Barry’s workplace. What the police think of the Flash. Who the villain is for the first story. And none of the exposition feels forced. (That was a problem I had with, for instance, Justice League Dark. Every other page it seemed like someone was saying something solely to give the reader more background, rather than something they’d say naturally.)

The only thing missing from the story is how the Flash got his powers, and that was described in a narration box in the title page.

Barry Allen smiles. I’ve always felt that the Flash should be a book about adventure, not angst or violence. They can be present, certainly, but come on: he wears bright red and runs super-fast. He should be awesome, not badass.

In retrospect, I get the impression that Geoff Johns tends to focus more on the badassery, which makes him a great fit for villains and some of the more imposing heroes, but ends up conflicting with writing a good Flash tale. That he’s been so successful as a Flash writer is due, I suspect, in large part to his incredible work with the Rogues.

One of the (admittedly many) problems I had with Flash: Rebirth was that Barry Allen had been retconned into a tough guy shut-in. “Dastardly Deaths…” lightened him up a bit, but then “Road to Flashpoint” jumped straight into the shut-in aspects.

This Barry Allen is a lot more like the one I remember from my back issues…and a lot more likeable: Yes, he’s introverted, but he’s able to enjoy what he’s doing, whether it’s taking in a technical exhibition with a date, or trying to stop a troop of thieves.

Iris West refuses to be written out, and Patty Spivot makes a strong case for her presence. In “The Road to Flashpoint,” it seemed weird that Patty was brought back from supporting-cast limbo with a new backstory. Here, she’s part of the cast from the beginning and has more of a role than just “Barry’s girlfriend.”

Barry’s boss chewing out the team…and then getting chewed out by his boss.

Mystery. What’s going on with Dr. Elias, his gene re-coder, and his research into alternative energy sources? What’s going on with Barry’s old friend Manuel? Who are the gang of masked shock troopers, really, and what do they want with the genome re-coder? (Actually, I have a guess based on the body, the last page, and reading 5,000,000 scifi books, but I’ll leave that for now.) And who’s the original?

No bow tie. I’ve always considered the bow tie to be an artifact of the time the original comics were written, like Clark Kent’s hat in the 1950s — not a character trait. And after such a big deal was made over it in Flash: Rebirth, I’m glad to see Barry’s wardrobe updated.

On a related note,

No mention of Barry generating the speed force. I still think that was the worst, most ham-fisted retcon to come out of the last three years of Flash stories.

Things I didn’t like

A much shorter list, but….

The mask. The side pieces and chin strap combine to make his face look too closed-off for the Flash. It’s better here with the more watercolored look than it is in other places I’ve seen, with sharper, more defined lines, but it still bugs me.

Barry’s tragic past retcon is probably still intact. Technically this isn’t actually in the issue, but from what we’ve seen elsewhere, it sounds like Barry’s mother still died, and his father probably still died in prison after being framed for the murder. I still think the dead-parent cliche is overdone and shouldn’t have been grafted onto the Flash.

Hiding the secret identity from the significant other. I know it’s a staple of the genre, and when the lead is only casually dating at this point, it makes sense not to trust the girlfriend with the really big stuff…but to me, it gets old really fast.

There’s very little room for Wally West in this universe. If Barry Allen has been the Flash for five years, and he’s been working with Patty for at least two, then chances are (1) Wally’s too young to have taken on the Flash mantle at any time and (2) Barry either didn’t die in the Crisis, or didn’t die for long enough for Wally to succeed him for any significant length of time. I’m happy to read about Barry if the stories are good, but I still resent the way Wally’s been written out of history.

Overall

This combines my favorite aspects of Flash vol.3 with my favorite aspects of the Bronze Age Flash with modern storytelling. Unfortunately, it’s missing my favorite aspects of Flash vol.2, and with the current editorial direction, I don’t expect to see them anytime soon.

The Flash (vol.4) #1
Written by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato
Art by Francis Manapul

Please sponsor me in the Walk for Food Allergy. I’m raising funds for research and education. Here’s why. Thank you!

Review: Flash #1 (The New 52) is a post from Speed Force.

Halfway through DC’s New 52 debut month, here’s what I think of the comics I’ve tried so far.

Justice League #1

Looked at on its own, this wasn’t a Justice League story so much as it was a Batman/Green Lantern team-up. That’s OK for a team-up book, or the first chapter of a graphic novel, but not exactly ideal for a high-profile launch that’s billed as an introduction to the League (not to mention an introduction to the new setting for the DCU).

I’m going to call it now: just like Final Crisis, this first Justice League arc should have been presented from the beginning as a graphic novel, not as a serialized story. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

All that said, it really didn’t grab me at all, and I’m perfectly happy to step off the treadmill of the mainstream part of the DCU.

Stormwatch #1

In some ways this went to the opposite extreme of Justice League (or as opposite as it can be without telling a done-in-one story — which is still possible to do in modern comics). While it also presented the first chapter of a longer story, it made a point of introducing as much of the team as possible. On the downside, while Justice League at least spent a lot of time characterizing Batman and Green Lantern, Stormwatch touched only shallowly on everyone in the team (and no one’s really appealing yet). On the plus side, it clearly presented the story’s threat from the beginning, and it’s hard not to like the craziness of the moon turning evil.

I might give #2 a shot, but I haven’t decided for certain.

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1

My favorite of the bunch so far, this had the best balance of introducing the characters, concept, tone, and threat, all while telling the story. The Monster (who has taken his mad scientist creator’s name) gets the most attention here, as a sort of world-weary veteran who has seen two centuries’ worth of humanity’s mistakes and still wants to protect us in spite of ourselves. But we get to see glimmers of the Creature Commandos’ personalities as they go on their first mission together (and they’re not quite the same as their Flashpoint counterparts).

There are wild and crazy ideas aplenty in the setup, from Father Time regenerating (Doctor-Who-style) as a masked Japanese schoolgirl to the secret headquarters being miniaturized using Ray Palmer’s technology to the whole place being run by automatons that, their creator assures Frankenstein, can’t possibly rebel.

The issue also got me thinking about genre, and the difference between a horror story and a monster story. Cliff Chiang described Wonder Woman as a horror book because she’s fighting mythological monsters. Jeff Lemire described Frankenstein as a sci-fi action adventure book. What’s different, I think, is that the mad scientist angle looks like it’s going to be a major factor in this, in which case that may end up being what makes the book stand apart from Hellboy and B.P.R.D. (That, and the fact that the agents are inspired by classic movie monsters.)

Demon Knights #1

I liked this one, but I wanted to like it more than I actually did. I think in part it’s that I was fighting too many preconceptions, particularly regarding Madame Xanadu. As a fan of her Vertigo series, the characterization seemed a bit off, and when I think about it, that’s true of Etrigan, Vandal Savage, and Shining Knight as well…but it is a new continuity, and there are whole centuries of their lives that haven’t been covered.

Also, there’s a scene early on that introduces the Questing Queen and Mordru that is just plain creepy in a way that may have put me off of the rest of the book.

Basic setup: It’s the dark ages, a few hundred years after the fall of Camelot, and a conquering army attacks the town where the main characters have all stopped to have a quiet drink in the tavern. Of the leads, Etrigan and Madame Xanadu get the most attention, with sparse, mostly one-note introductions for Vandal Savage, Shining Knight, and new(?) characters Al Jabr and Exoristos. It was still better balanced than Stormwatch (also by Cornell).

A couple of things that stand out: I like the idea that DC’s various immortal characters would get to know each other over the years, and that when they meet, they reminisce about old times. The banter was good. And the queen’s “dragons” are sort of the prehistoric equivalent of sharks with fricking lasers.

Coming Up

I haven’t had a chance to read Resurrection Man yet, since the shop didn’t get enough copies to cover pre-orders. (I’m on the special order list already, so I’m waiting for that instead of buying it digitally). After that, it’s Justice League Dark and (big surprise, I know) The Flash.

Quick Hits on the New 52: Demon Knights, Stormwatch, Justice League and Frankenstein is a post from Speed Force.

The best parts of the story are the ones which involve Plastic Man, which is a bit problematic because he doesn’t appear much. There’s some good dialogue differentiating between him (who freely kills when necessary) and Heat Wave (a complete psychopath who kills anyone who gets in his way, including innocents). When Plastic Man — a fellow who fatally claws his way out of prisoners’ bellies — believes you’ve gone too far, then obviously you have a serious problem. But Heat Wave seemingly kills him early on, and that takes Eel out of the story. Afterwards it’s Heat Wave vs Cyborg, and despite a desperate struggle to keep the flying prison from crashing into downtown Detroit, I still didn’t find most of the plot very interesting. The most effective parts of the series aside from Plastic Man have been Heat Wave interacting with other characters, and the scenes focusing on Cyborg’s point of view lack that. Cyborg himself is fairly dull, lacking the dramatic crackle of the two villains who have kept the story moving.

Fortunately the series ends on a high note with the surprising return of Plastic Man, and Heat Wave finally gets what he deserves (and even he seems to acknowledge this). Strangely I felt mildly sorry about it, so either I too am a psychopath, or Adam Glass managed to make Heat Wave at least slightly likable despite all the gruesome killings. Hopefully it’s the latter.

Incidentally, here’s the gore count for the issue: one guy gets his eyes gouged out, Sportsmaster has his heart ripped out through his mouth, and Plastic Man is melted into goo. Many of the prisoners are killed when the prison crashes, Heat Wave and Cyborg beat the stuffing out of each other, and Plastic Man climbs out of another prisoner’s belly. He presumably then kills Heat Wave off-panel.

I don’t think this series will be remembered in a good way. Don’t get me wrong: if somebody enjoyed it then I’m sincerely glad, and don’t let some random idiot on the Internet tell you what you should and shouldn’t like. However, while there was certainly skill involved in the crafting of this series, it was somewhat misplaced. It didn’t belong in a non-mature imprint, and the amount of gore was unnecessary regardless. A gritty prison story can still be told without seeing squirting blood as a guy’s head gets crushed, and this should certainly be the case when the book is part of the mainstream DC line. In all honesty, I think the violence overshadows the rest of the story, which is unfortunate; I enjoyed Glass’ dialogue and characterization of the villains, and the art was well-suited for the piece. But it’s the violence that will always be remembered, and that’s not really a good thing.

Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3
Story by Adam Glass
Art by Rodney Buchemi

Review: Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #3 is a post from Speed Force.

There were aspects I liked, of course: as in the previous issues, Trixter is a lot of fun — I cracked up at his hilariously bad car — and the art is of the same good quality. The flashback scenes of Wally and Piper are touching, and the history of friendship between them could probably fill an entire issue. Cold’s blunt and awkward flirting with Iris continues to be interesting and consistently handled. So for these reasons, it’s all the more unfortunate that the story follows the old trope of killing off (nearly) everyone in an alternate universe tale. The deaths themselves don’t bother me, and most if not all of the characters will be back after the reboot, but I was expecting everybody to die and most of them promptly did. The only survivors who surprised me were Iris and arguably Cold himself, although his end is left open to interpretation, and perhaps Iris or Piper might kill him off-panel for murdering Wally. It’s a nice touch to leave his fate ambiguous, allowing the reader to wonder or imagine an end for him.

The colouring continues to have the same darkness problem as the previous issues, and that’s too bad. From a technical standpoint, it’s clearly the series’ greatest flaw.

Regarding the series as a whole…

I like that Scott Kolins was able to write and draw his own story, as it gave him an unusual level of control over the details, and the reader knows this is exactly what he wanted to tell. He does incredibly detailed art and clearly puts a lot of thought into it — for example, look at the hideout and all the gear he designed for Piper. In the first issue, Piper’s garage wasn’t put together carelessly; it’s got all the equipment and engineering needed for the upkeep of his vehicles, it’s full of musical instruments as one would expect from him, and of course he’s got the consistent design scheme. There’s even a cameo of the skull-faced harp seen in his hideout in Rogues Revenge! While Kolins’ art occasionally veers into territory that’s too cartoony for my tastes, his planning and sense of detail can’t be beaten. It’s good to see it here, and writing his own story presumably allows him the freedom to do this to an even greater degree.

One way the series surprised me is the portrayal of Cold; based on the details we heard about him being Central City’s hero and (let’s face it) the way Geoff Johns is clearly a huge fan of him and likes to make him awesome and the best at everything, I was fully expecting Flashpoint Cold to be a perfect Gary Stu character. But he wasn’t: he was a corrupt lying jerk, clearly a worse person than in the regular DC universe, and unpleasantly awkward. He was still able to kill all the Rogues single-handedly, but also got kicked around and wasn’t the wish-fulfillment fanfic I cynically expected, and that’s great. It was one of the aspects which totally won me over in the first issue.

If there’s one question left unanswered, it’s why many of Central City’s inhabitants are so similar to their mainstream DC counterparts. Did Professor Zoom leave them mostly untouched for a reason, and if so, why? One might think they’d be fairly different without the Flash/Barry to influence them. I hope this is touched on in Flashpoint #5, although there are already a hell of a lot of things to be wrapped up in just that one issue.

Overall I enjoyed Citizen Cold. It had its flaws, and the second two issues weren’t as good as the first. However the series was solid as a whole, particularly if you’re a fan of the characters. In general I’m fairly lukewarm about Flashpoint, but Citizen Cold is among the better tie-ins that I’ve read, and hopefully other people have enjoyed it too.

Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #3
Story by Scott Kolins
Art by Scott Kolins

Review: Citizen Cold #3 is a post from Speed Force.

Of all the positives in this issue, the aspects I liked best were a) the Golden Glider kicking ass, and b) the story was actually fun, with a few humourous lines that made me smile. For the most part modern DC comics tend to be lacking in the fun department, so maybe it isn’t surprising that it took a Retroactive issue to bring some back for a bit. Of course not all stories should be silly or lack gravity, but it seems that outside of children’s comics, modern DC has forgotten it’s possible to have fun at all (Marvel is better at this). Here the Rogues get all the best lines, which is a nice harkening back to the days before they became dark and serious.

People who have read my review of Citizen Cold #2 or the opinion piece on the handling of the Golden Glider are aware I don’t like the way she’s been portrayed over the past decade. Fortunately this issue doesn’t have that problem at all; writer William Messner-Loebs clearly remembers how he used to write her back in the 1980s, which was tough and playful and a bit crazy. Honestly, this is my favourite aspect of the story, and a welcome relief. Fans of Wally West should enjoy the issue too, as it’s a chance to see their beloved character — written by one of his more popular writers, no less — before he returns to limbo again. It’s really unfortunate that some of us only get stuff to please us in a oneshot Retroactive issue, rather than, say, appearing in an ongoing series.

Greg LaRocque’s art is highly reminiscent of his classic `80s style, which is nicely appropriate for the story. I’ve never particularly liked the way he draws Captain Cold, but he’s always done a great job on everyone else, and continues it here.

The most unusual problem with the issue is a number of colouring errors, which badly mix up Mirror Master’s and Trickster’s costumes, and give the normally red-headed Piper dull brownish hair. And speaking of Mirror Master, his presence is a huge continuity mistake; Sam Scudder died around the time Wally became the Flash, while Evan McCulloch wouldn’t hook up with the Rogues until a number of years after his debut. It might be an understandable error, but it immediately jumped out at me and some of my Rogues-geek friends.

The choice of reprint included with the story is bizarre as well; it’s the last part of a random storyline, and not especially memorable. It doesn’t have any of the Rogues who appear in the modern story, in case someone might want to read an adventure from their past — perhaps we should be grateful that it at least features Wally and was written and drawn by the same creative team. The reprint’s issue number is only included as part of the indicia in tiny print on the very last page, so otherwise the only way anyone would know what issue it is would be if you recognize the story or can look up “The Adventures of Speed McGee, Part 3” (Flash v2 #18, for what it’s worth).

The newly-written `80s story is great fun, and a pleasant surprise after the 1970s Flash issue, which regretfully I didn’t much enjoy. Messner-Loebs and LaRocque clearly haven’t let their skills get rusty, and it’d be nice if they had more work published these days. I’m glad to at least have this.

DC Retroactive 1980s: The Flash
Story by William Messner-Loebs
Art by Greg LaRocque

Review: DC Retroactive 1980s: The Flash is a post from Speed Force.