Category Archives: Reviews

Quick Review: Blackest Night #0

I made it out to one of my local comic stores on Saturday for Free Comic Book Day, and picked up several books (some free, some not). As a Flash fan and long-time DC reader, I grabbed Blackest Night #0, the prelude to this year’s huge event.

Now, some background: Geoff Johns is really hit-or-miss for me. I loved his run on The Flash and Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge, but JSA and Justice Society of America just doesn’t click with me, I couldn’t stand Infinite Crisis, and I’ve never been particularly interested in Green Lantern no matter who’s writing it. (I’m not sure why — you’d think sci-fi space action would be right up my alley.)

Anyway, Blackest Night #0 left me with a resounding “meh.” There wasn’t anything wrong with it, it just wasn’t terribly compelling. It did its job, or at least one part of it, which was to establish which major characters had died recently, show that death in the DC Universe is not always permanent (by focusing on two characters who have come back fro the dead), and introduce the Green Lantern Corps and the groups based around the other colors. for those who might not be keeping up with Green Lantern. But it didn’t catch my interest for picking up the main story, which is what I’m sure DC really wanted it to do.

For some contrast, one of the other books I picked up was the trade paperback, Powers Vol. 12: The 25 Coolest Dead Superheroes of All Time (not free, obviously!). I haven’t read Powers in several years, and I suspect I may have missed a few issues between when I stopped reading and the beginning of this volume. I opened it up when I got home to take a quick look at the first few pages and get an idea of how much time had passed, and couldn’t put it down.

Review: Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4

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Legion of Three Worlds #4

Yes, it’s actually here! This issue is a lot more story-focused than the last few, which I remember being more about showing the war between the Superman and the three Legions of Super-Heroes on one side and Superboy Prime and the Legion of Super-Villains on the other.

First: the art. It’s George Frelling Pérez. Do I really need to say anything more? Didn’t think so. The book looks fantastic.

The big events:

1. Following through on last issue’s resurrection of Bart Allen. We get a touching reunion between Bart and his cousin Jenni Ognats (XS of the reboot Legion), and Geoff Johns once again shows that he’s found Bart’s voice at last. (Quoting Disney’s Aladdin in the 31st century: absolutely perfect.) We also get some mumbo-jumbo about why Bart returned as a teenager instead of an adult, which doesn’t really make any sense (or fit with what we saw during 52 and Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, but then it’s not as if that’s been particularly consistent to begin with.)

2. Another hero returns from the dead, revealing that the Legionnaires in The Lightning Saga had at least two objectives to their time travel mission.

3. A major character’s true identity is revealed again, and it’s not the same identity as last time. (Shades of Monarch, there.)

Overall, I found it a better read than the earlier issues of the series, because it was much less scattered. I do get a sense that Geoff Johns is treating the “other” legions as expendable, making it possible to kill off “major characters” and still keep the “originals” around.

A couple of spoilery notes behind the cut: Continue reading →

Quick Reviews: Ignition City #2, Detective Comics #853, Dynamo 5 #21

Dynamo 5 #21

Dynamo 5 #21 Jay Faerber, Mahmud A. Asrar, Yildiray Cinar, Ron Riley.

A fun in-between issue. It’s amazing how much actually happens, now that I think about it. The team takes on a group of thugs hopped up on super-steroids, Scrap goes on a date with a guy she met online, Visionary goes on a date with the younger Firebird (and of course, both of them being super-heroes…), Maddie investigates a series of disappearances, Myriad reveals a secret, and a new villain makes his appearance.

I particularly liked the banter between Bridget and her date about the importance of sentence structure and grammar in a prospective date.

On a related note, I’d like to recommend the 2004 one-shot Firebirds by Jay Faerber and Andres Ponce (there’s a preview on Faerber’s website). It tells the story of how a teenager discovers that her mother is actually a super-hero, and the mother discovers that her daughter has inherited her powers. It’s one of the few one-shots that I finished and thought, “Wow, I really wish that was the start of an ongoing series.” It’s nice that the characters have shown up in Noble Causes and Dynamo 5.

Detective Comics #853

Detective Comics #853 Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert
“Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?” Part 2 of 2

On first read I didn’t like this as much as I did the first half of the story — at least not as a story — though I did like the themes it presented. As I’ve thought about it, I’ve found myself comparing it to Alan Moore and Curt Swan’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” which this is obviously meant to evoke. It approaches the end of an iconic superhero from a completely different direction, though: While Moore told in detail the final adventure of a specific version of Superman, Gaiman instead tells in general terms the way every version of Batman would end: he goes down fighting, because that’s what Batman does. In some ways it reminded me a bit of the Planetary/Batman crossover, only taken more seriously.

I’ll have to dig out Part 1 and re-read the whole story at once.

Incidentally: Wholly appropriate for a Coraline ad to appear on the back cover.

Ignition City #2

Ignition City #2 Warren Ellis and Gianluca Pagliarani

Warren Ellis is really hit-or-miss for me. I absolutely loved Planetary, and usually enjoy his work when he’s doing out-there science fiction (Orbiter, Ocean, etc.) So the idea of writing about the breakdown of the retro-future, taking all the pulp space heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers and showing what happens when they’re robbed of their reason for being, sounded fascinating. The meta-element of revisiting a (mostly) dead genre also reminded me of his Apparat book on aviation heroes, Quit City.

But the first issue seemed like little more than scatalogical humor and swearing.

I picked up the second issue. Partly because I had an idea what to expect, and partly because the story has actually gotten going, I enjoyed this one a lot more. It also made me rethink the first issue and realize that it was primarily scene-setting: set up the glory days, then show just how far these people have fallen. They’ve gone from winning interplanetary wars to drinking themselves to death and bragging about the contents of chamberpots.

Interesting to note: The other two books both gave the and artist(s) equal billing. This one is clearly all about Warren Ellis, whose name appears above the title in about twice the size type as Gianluca Pagliarani.

Review: Flash: Rebirth #1 — “Lightning Strikes Twice”

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Flash: Rebirth #1

Now that I’ve had time to read it through a second time, Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver’s Flash: Rebirth #1 didn’t bowl me over quite as much as it did on the first read-through, but it still won this Wally fan over at least for the duration of the miniseries. Some things bothered me more this time through, and ironically enough, it’s actually pretty slow for a book about speed.

On the other hand, it’s much faster-paced than Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #1 or Flash vol.2 #231, the first issues of the 2006 relaunch with Bart Allen and the 2007 relaunch with Wally West.

The book opens with a scene that starts out looking like a retelling of Barry Allen’s origin, but quickly becomes apparent that it’s taking place in the present day with someone trying to recreate the circumstances of the lightning strike that turned a police scientist into the Flash. After that foreboding opening, it moves onto the main segment of the book: introducing all the characters and the key concept of the speed force.

Oddly enough, everyone is introduced separately: Barry, Wally, Bart, Jay Garrick, and Barry’s wife Iris are all in different places. Jay is preparing for a welcome-back party with the Justice Society, Wally with the Titans, Bart with the Teen Titans, and Iris is setting up for a family dinner, while Barry visits the Flash Museum (a mainstay of the series since the Silver Age) to catch up and runs into Hal Jordan. So they all talk about Barry, and how they relate to him and each other, but you don’t actually see them interacting.

Within this framework, Johns and Van Sciver touch on the nature of Central City and Keystone City, the way they appreciate their native super-heroes, a number of the villains who populate the Twin Cities, and even address the Wally/Barry/Bart debates (Jay is so often left out) that thrive on the internet.

Near the end, Barry suits up, flashes back to a traumatic childhood memory, and the real threat makes its appearance.

Things I Liked

Flash: Rebirth #1 followed the golden rule for a chapter that’s mostly setup: Open with an exciting hook, and finish with an exciting cliffhanger. (Come to think of it, Flash:TFMA #1 and Flash v.2 #231 tried to follow this structure, but didn’t work as well.) By the end of the issue, you know key elements of Barry Allen’s personality, what his powers are, see him in action, and have a sense of the threat he’ll be facing, even if that threat’s identity and nature are still mysterious.

Referencing Barry’s lab accident right at the beginning is a good way to start things off, and the villain introduced is suitably creepy.

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Flash: Rebirth #1 – First Impressions

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Comic stack topped with Flash: Rebirth #1

I’ll have to wait until I get home to write up a full review [Edit: it’s up now], but for now let me say this: Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver’s Flash: Rebirth #1 has almost won me over, at least for the duration of this story. It was very well-written and drawn, introduced all four major Flashes and the concept of the Speed Force, and set up a threat right at the beginning.

Some parts seemed a bit too familiar — the opening reminded me a bit too much of “Blood Will Run,” for instance, and a flashback reminded me a bit too much of Zoom’s backstory. And it was kind of strange watching internet arguments played out on the page with Barry, Bart and Hal taking up different viewpoints.

There were some nice easter eggs for long-term readers — iconic images from throughout Wally’s career, references to Barry’s hometown of Fallville and Wally’s hometown of Blue Valley, a mention of Barry’s old boss, Captain Frye.

The one thing that really bothered me was a major retcon to Barry’s history that completely changes the character of his family life — similar to retcons made to Wally West’s family after Crisis on Infinite Earths. I’m sure Geoff Johns has somewhere he’s going with it, but it seems unnecessary to give Barry Allen a dark tormented past, particularly one that contradicts dozens of Silver-Age and Bronze-Age stories, including one that he used himself in “The Secret of Barry Allen.”

Update: I’ve posted my full review.

Mo’s Flash Volume 2 Reviews: Review Three

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Flash #5, October 1987

Story overview:
The issue starts out in Syracuse, New York and Tina McGee is telling Jerry, her husband, that they are getting a divorce. Jerry doesn’t like this and takes it out on Tina. Jerry abuses Tina and runs off to Volton Labs, division 8, where he works. He injects himself with a steroid which we learn is making him angry and abusive. It’s his 29th injection of steroid B-Q19 and he says that he is “now ready to proceed with stage three of Project Ubermensch. The story now cuts to Long Island where Flash is putting together a TV set with full surround sound stereo. He gets a call from Tina and she tells him what has happened between her and Jerry. Note that both her and Flash don’t know about Project Ubermensch. Flash runs to Tina and on his way explains how he met her and all that jazz from issues #3 and #4. He gets to her at a fine dining spot called the Blue Swan where Flash has 2 meals. Tina explains to Flash that Jerry has been taking steroids (she doesn’t know what they do) and that they make Jerry paranoid, dangerous, and crazy. She says that Jerry can find her in the city and she wants to leave, but is afraid he’ll follow them out. Wally runs her to his place and shows her around. While this is happening, Jerry puts on a suit and we learn that the steroid gave him super speed and he is pretty damn strong. He acts completely paranoid and starts his hunt for Tina and Wally. Note that Wally’s secret identity isn’t so secret. Cut back to Long Island where Wally’s father is at the door. He explains to Wally that he and Wally’s mother were experiencing some difficulties and they used up the $500,000 that Wally gave them when he won the lotto. Tina shows Wally an editorial in the newspaper that cancels his town’s liability service since he moved in. Tina and Wally go to a very nice place to eat (he has two filet mignons and a lobster), Wally’s Pops stay in Wally’s house sleeping. In the restaurant Wally spots the president of the city council who wrote the editorial in the newspaper. They have quite the heated discussion about the editorial and all. Once home, Wally and Tina go to sleep in their respective rooms. Tina comes into Wally’s room saying that she only feels safe in his arms and some more lovey dovey jibber-jabber. They hear a few CRASH-BOOM-THUMPS and the house’s alarm system rings. A fist comes through the wall of the room Wally and Tina are in and it turns out to be crazy Jerry McGee—all steroided up; fast and strong. Flash lays a few punches on him when Jerry runs off with Tina. Angry, crazy, and blind Jerry with Tina in his arms makes a ‘SPLANG-WHUMP’ into none other than a Texaco Fuel Depot. And BOOM!

Review:
It amazes me how much story they fit in comics back then. At quite a few points in the story, I could see the issue ending right then and there, and it didn’t! I’m guessing this is because I’m used to today’s shorter storied comics. This issue really stresses Jerry’s psycho – craziness. It has him beating up complete strangers for looking at him in his ridiculous yellow and purple suit. I mean if you saw a random person in an outlandish yellow/ purple suit, who wouldn’t look? Jerry’s paranoia is almost to the point of no return. Things I noticed throughout the issue:
•No offense to Jackson Guice, but the anatomy in this issue is really well, an issue (I know, I had to).
•Flash’s symbol is a lot higher up on his chest throughout the issue, even noticeably on the cover.
•No offense to any colourists from 1987, but to me it looks like colourists had a heck of a easier job than they do today.
•Lots of BAM-POW-THUD-CRASH-WHACK-POP’s in this issue.
•This is more of a general Flash Vol. 2 so far thing I noticed—there’s a lot of jumping out of/being thrown out windows.
Overall, I really like how this story is going and it’s definitely believable.

Rating:
Writing: Five out of five stars. Believable, and fun.
Art: Four out of five stars. Anatomy really annoyed me at some parts.

Favorite Quote:
“But, dad! I thought that money would help you and mom!” “Well I suppose it did for a while…. But now that it’s gone…” “But DAD! That was $500,000!” –Wally West, Rudolph West, page 15.

As usual, more after the break!

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