Super Mega Review Round-up: DC Edition

 
It has been approximately 5 months since I wrote a weekly review.  That's a hell of a lot of comics to catch up on, and there's no way I can possibly write 25 posts for each of the weeks I've missed.  To counteract that, I'm going to write two mega-posts about all of the titles from the two main publishers, DC and Marvel.  They will probably be long, but at least well-organized and you can skip to whatever you're curious about!

Gashapon Reviews: June 30, 2010

I have to play catch up so that I can get the Second Coming post done in a reasonable amount of time.

Quick question for all 3 of our readers:  Would you like more recap and less review?  I personally try to avoid recaps because they make for long blog posts (longer than now, even) but some people prefer to know what's going on if they don't read.  Leave a comment and let us know!

DC:

Wonder Woman #600 ****

Ok, let's get it out of the way:  I like Diana's new costume.  Yeah, the jacket and stirrup pants aren't exactly as cool as they could be, but her old costume, as iconic as it is, is ridiculously impractical.  There's no protection, there's no utility; she's running around in a shiny bathing suit.  Sure, she's an Amazon warrior, but that should give her the sense to actually wear armor when fighting.  It needed an update badly, and I like the direction they decided to go in.  Also, I can't shake the feeling that there is a hint of misogyny in the loud outcry about the change in costume, but I may be succumbing to the crush to be PC.  

 Golden Lasso of Truth, Blue Bolero Jacket of JUSTICE..

Gashapon Reviews: May 12, 2010

Any week I spend $30 at the comic shop without buying a trade is considered big by my standards.  Granted I bought 3 issues of Chew at once.  Too bad they don't seem to have issue 7.

Yet another major event comes to a close this week, and some more Brightest Day titles are just taking off. 

Marvel:

New Mutants #13 ***

So we've said goodbye to Kurt and gotten everyone back on Utopia.  But seeing as we're halfway through, it's time to rev up the action again after last weeks breather as we head into the second half of the event.  I appreciated that we're really seeing now just how well-planned out Bastion is.  I'm not however appreciating Hope having all of these doubts.  And before anyone says anything, yes, I know I'm being terrifically unfair to her and all the shit she's gone through.  It can't be easy to have the weight of a species on your shoulders, especially when you're already a bitchy teenager.  I think I'm just getting impatient for more to happen, and I'm going to view that as a tribute to the writing, keeping me wanting more. 

Bruce would have anticipated the trap.

I do apologize in advance for this post being so text heavy. But you guys are here to read not look at artwork anyway.

Batman #698 ****
There is a killer on the loose in Gotham, so what else is new? With the Black Mask's identity uncovered and put away, the next crook is ready to take his place. Murder after murder, this crook is trying left and right to make his murders look like they were done by one of Gotham's regulars. Enter the Riddler, I mean, Edward Nigma, private eye extraordinaire. What we have here folks is just further proof that Tony Daniel is the best man for this job. He just gets it. Daniel's run as well as his portrayal of Dick Grayson as Batman has been fabulous. With his fast paced writing, Daniel weaves his latest story with so much greatness, that you're literally shocked it's over when it is. Guillem March took over art duties for these last two issues, until the epic #700 issue coming up, and while it was good, I personally think he's done much better for Gotham City Sirens. I'm not sure if it's because the focus on Gotham City Sirens are females or if it is because the overall mood is lighter in that title or maybe I just expected more from him, but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I'm a little bummed that Tony Daniel will be relinquishing his writing duties to Grant Morrison starting with the epic 700, but at least we've got one more issue of his on the way.

Because that's what I'd do, and I'm the guy that taught him how to run in the first place

So my appy-polly-logies to my readers. I'm sure I speak for both myself and Matt when I say, we've been busy. This is a major long post and as I mention further on that there are also a couple reviews from three weeks ago, the rest are from two weeks ago. And I'll be getting to last week's issues shortly.

Uncanny X-Men #523 **** 1/2
The X-Men have been on a wild ride in the past years, one more than the others, and it has all been leading up to the Second Coming of the Messiah. This epic event has been living up to all the expectations that I had and then some. What a great issue this was. I am loving the way that the writers have been portraying Cable and Hope's relationship. That whole hair kit scene was just a really nice touch. I am very excited to see how this all works out for Scott. The X-Force has been a clandestine operation because Scott knew that some of the X-gang would have an issue with it. And now that its existence is out in the open, not everyone agrees with their methods. And while I do have certain issues with Logan's actions in this particular issue, I think that Scott's decision to create the X-Force was the correct decision. With the New Mutants landing in, all hell's about to turn loose.

Matt Fraction has been a great asset to the X-Titles roster. I'm loving his run on the Uncanny title and I think that this issue just furthers my belief. I'm also a big fan of Terry Dodson's artwork. It has a great look and feel to it.

The Flash: Rebirth

So, since I didn't really have ANY comics to read last week (actually two weeks ago, I'm just this slow), I figured I might as well whip up a review of The Flash: Rebirth! I read the whole thing last week anyway.


To be blunt, I've always found The Flash to be kinda annoying. Well, not annoying, but no where near my top 5 favorite heroes. Even in the animated Justice League cartoon. Just in the DC universe, I'd much rather talk about Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and sometimes even Supes *gasp* instead of Flash. But then I read Blackest Night, and as Arnab accurately pointed out in his Blackest Night Tie-In Part 3, Barry Allen is kind of awesome. Add to that the fact that in a lot of the Brightest Day promotional releases there has been a strong Flash presence, and that I really enjoyed reading the new Green Lantern Secret Origin series, I thought I'd give it a go.

25 words or less: Overall I enjoyed it, even if I'm not entirely sure what was happening at any particular point.

The story opens with everyone getting ready for a party to celebrate Barry Allen's return. Having not read Final Crisis, it took me a bit (and a Wikipedia search) to realize that's when he had returned. It's kind of evident from the beginning that while Barry is happy to be back in one sense, he's not in others. I guess if you join with the very essence of speed, it's hard to slow down.

Which brings me to my "What the hell is the Speedforce?" portion of this recap. Even after reading the whole series I'm not entirely sure. To pull a Star Trek reference out of my ass, I feel like it's kind of similar to subspace, in that it's this energy that powers all the speedsters and sort of exists across all time. If you learn to control it well enough, you can enter the Speedforce and then exit it at any time? Is that how that works? I think I'm showing how green I am on Flash mythology.

Anyway, Barry suddenly finds that when he touches other speedsters they die, because he's kind of the Black Flash, but apparently that's because the Reverse Flash has started an anti-speedforce which is radiating backwards through history and has somehow infected Barry's speedforce (which we also find out was started by him). However, Barry manages to cleanse himself of the anti-speedforce by running really fast, and then he and Wally go back in time to stop the Reverse Flash from screwing up Barry's past anymore than he already has.

It just seems very convoluted to me. I'll readily believe it's because I jumped into the mythology without getting a proper backing on it. I sort of already knew about the Reverse Flash from reading Blackest Night, but on the whole I spent a lot of time going "Huh?" All that being said, I did enjoy the story, and hopping into a new hero mythology that I was completely unfamiliar with. I found the time-travel twist of the Reverse Flash especially interesting, since I love me a good paradox. Now I have a much better idea of who Barry Allen and Wally West and Bart Allen are now that I've read this, and I think I'm much better prepared to handle what comes after Blackest Night.

So in a final estimation, I'd give the whole series four stars, if I think each individual issue would only get three. I'd definitely read them all together though, as I'm not sure issue 6 was worth waiting whatever ridiculous amount of months it took after issue 5 to get released. Luckily for us, that's not really an issue. Unless you get lost in the Speedforce, of course.

Blackest Night Tie-Ins Part 3

Blackest Night: Flash ****1/2
So as has been made perfectly clear from the get go, Blackest Night is a Green Lantern event. I don't think Barry Allen got that memo. Who are we kidding kids, Barry Allen nearly single-handedly stole the show. And I don't particularly mean specifically this three part tie-in, which was awesome, definitely the best of this bunch, most definitely top 5 tie-in status (which is saying something seeing as there were 25 Blackest Night tie-in stories and 45 tie-in issues. Wow.) But even outside of this tie-in Barry has pretty much changed the direction of Blackest Night. A couple of times. He was the first to die, last to be reborn. He spread word of the Black Lanterns. He single-handedly prevented both himself and Hal Jordan, who is pretty much the leader of the Green Lanterns at the moment, from being reacquired by Nekron. He has what could be the most popular quote of the series, "All will be well." He saved his grandson Bart. I mean, c'mon people. He's pretty much the savior of everyone. Go Bartholomew Henry Allen!
And we're off. This Flash tie-in was fantastic. Seeing as Barry had just made his triumphant return, the first issue was a bit of a history lesson to help those unacquainted catch up. The whole issue takes place before Nekron's grand appearance and Barry is having to deal with the Black Lantern Reverse Flash, not to be mistaken with the currently living Reverse Flash. Barry then makes a pit stop at his old buddy Solovar, the Gorilla's town. Suffice to say Solovar has been dead for many years and is now a Black Lantern. The second and third issues follow Barry as he is becoming accustomed to his temporary role as a Blue Lantern. His being is overcome with a great sense of Hope, which is fitting because he is Hal's best friend. I know, some of you are thinking, who cares. The answer, you, or at least you should. The way the Blue Lantern rings work is that they are based off the emotional spectrum, like the other rings, but without Will, Hope eventually dies out. Thus, the Blue Lantern rings are at their full power when in vicinity of a Green Lantern.
While Barry was quick enough to evade the special Black Rings, unfortunately his estranged grandson Bart (also named Bartholomew Henry Allen II) was unable to do so. I loved, Loved, the Barry and Bart scene. I'd say that it perfectly summed up their relationship, estranged with a desire for more. And that bit of hope is exactly what saved Bart, well that and their joined connection to the Speed Force. What saved them all from the Black Lantern Reverse Flash you ask? Why that'd be the Rogues. The who? No, not those old farts. The Rogues are pretty much The Villains of the Flash-verse. And as such, they were graced with nearly a 50% stake of this series. There are a bunch of them but only two worth mentioning, because to be hones, I only know two of their names. Captain Cold is pretty much the Mr. Freeze of Keystone City. And while he's been known to have a conscience and feel guilt, he's still a Rogue at heart. He takes on an old love of his and is able to freeze his emotions before freezing her in a block of ice.
How'd he save the Flashes you ask? He froze the living Reverse Flash, who was imprisoned and as a result Black Lantern Thawne (I apologize for changing his name, I couldn't stand to write it the other way once more) froze as well. The other Rogue that I have a sliver of a connection to is Boomerang. Those of you who have read Identity Crisis and have a shred of emotion in your heart will remember him as the son of the man who killed Timothy Drake Wayne's father. Well this fool, the son, came to the conclusion that he could "cure" his father by feeding him humans. The Rogues find out and find out that he also killed women and children, which is a big no no. Nice to know even crooks have a code. Suffice to say Cap Cold threw in Boomerang Jr. into the pit where his Black Lantern father was. If you had to pick up one of these issues, it would be this one. No questions about it.
Geez, I almost completely forgot to talk about the artwork. Scott Kolin, I'm not particularly sure I completely loved the art. It's weird, because I liked it all except for their faces. And it's not really that I didn't like the faces, it's just that I thought that they were a bit too cartoony and didn't mesh well with the bodies and their surroundings. But with a different body, those faces would be just fine.

Blackest Night: Wonder Woman **1/2
I've never been a Wonder Woman enthusiast so my review may have a hint of a bias. For one thing, the first issue seemed like it didn't really belong with the second and third issues. I know why it was the way that it was, what with her becoming a Lantern and all, but I felt it still could have been tied together a bit better. Scratch that. Upon rereading the first book, I realize that there was an attempt to set things up for Diana. As she was being attacked by Black Lanterns left and right, she emanated only one emotion, Love. I didn't, however, understand how her Lasso was able to destroy all of the Lanterns, but oh well. The second two issues, in my opinion, were saved by Mera's appearance. I know, I know, you are all thinking, "What an idiot." You are wrong.
Here's what I am feeling. I do not think that Diana has the ability to overcome the powers of the Black Lantern Ring, regardless of when Matt tries to convince me the Violet Ring takes over. I did not appreciate a whole fight scene(Cassie, Donna, Hippolyta and Bruce) that was pure imagination. What a crock. And more importantly, I am displeased with the continued implications of Diana's interest in Bruce. Unless I am missing something, her love of all loves was Clark and frankly, she should keep her Amazonian parts to herself. That being said, I thought Mera's cameo in this was great. I never really knew Mera, but with her resurgence as a result of Blackest Night, consider me interested. And just to wrap things up, I think Nicola Scott is a fairly decent artist, but the man just cannot do faces. I mean, he takes wonky and turns it up a notch.

Blackest Night: JSA ***
So the first two issues of this three part tie-in series were very good. The original Flash and Green Lantern kicking ass is always awesome. The rest of the JSA, who I have only passing knowledge of, were actually pretty interesting. Major plot points. Kal-L made his triumphant return as a Black Lantern as a result of some really crafty thinking on the other Black Lantern's part. Now, the Black Lanterns have not really been zombie like throughout the entirety of Blackest Night, but in this series they were especially witty. I mean, pretending to have a conscience, then fighting other Black Lanterns to assert your trust-worthiness, culminating with a self-explosion, all in order to break the ground to open a pathway to reach Black Lantern Superman. How genius is that? I wasn't exactly a fan of the multiple artist deal, most specifically because Power Girl was god awful ugly. I don't know which artist did what, but one was fantastic and the other was a let down. Moving on, who knew that a Black Lantern ring could move from one body to the next? I certainly didn't. I didn't really think that the conclusion suited the first two issues. I know that the fight scene between Power Girl and Superman was probably meant to be more emotionally taxing, but who are we kidding, it wasn't. And while having that machine take out all of the Black Lanterns in New York was cool, it was just so anti-climactic.

Secret Six 17-18 **1/2
No offense to this series in particular, but I completely forgot this tie-in even existed for the longest while. In fact, I didn't remember about it until I came to write my review. That being said, this wasn't exactly the worst of tie-ins. Other than the fact that I didn't know anyone other than Bane(yes, the man who broke Batman's back) and Amanda Waller (who I utterly despise) and was therefore confused from time to time, the overall plot wasn't too bad. Two teams battling it out. A truck load of deaths. Truces and death threats. Ending with a gunshot and a man changing sides. That's really all you need to take out of this. Unlike the Flash and Wonder Woman tie-ins, and slightly the JSA tie-in, there is little attempt at relating to Blackest Night. This was pretty much two Secret Six issues that happened to have some Black Lanterns in it.

Gashapon Reviews: February 17, 2010

Next week is going to be chock-full of comics, so I'd better get this out today. Two more weekends on this play then I'm finally done.

DC:

Green Lantern #51 (****)

I am exceedingly glad that this Jordan-as-Parallax thing only lasted one issue. It would be far too easy to drag it out for several issues, but they had them come in, do what they needed to do, and get taken away. Clearly Parallax isn't locked away for good, and will be popping up in some future story, but we don't have to deal with it at a time when all I want to see is how this whole BN story wraps itself up. The feeling that nothing will be the same is very palpable, and DC needs to be commended for the epic-ness of this event. I've said it a dozen times, but Marvel had best be taking notes for Second Coming.

Gashapon Reviews: January 20th, 2010

If I could have found Uncanny earlier, this would not have been nearly as delayed. Ironically right when I told Arnab to review it, I found the damn thing. Here's everything else I read last week:

DC

Green Lantern Corps #44 (***)

I'm not sure what I should say about this issue. Unfortunately for the Blackest Night series I'm comparing everything to the main title, and since so little I've read pretty much ever can compare to that, other reviews are taking a hit. It's not that I didn't enjoy GLC, it's just that I wanted...more. I'm always amused when Mogo shows up, but I think I'm over Guy as the Christmas Lantern. It was really cool when it first happened, but now that we have to deal with the consequences I find I'm not so invested. Maybe it was just an off week for me.

Gashapon Reviews: December 2, 2009

Another week, another set of comics! Blackest Night is back, although not as strong as last week. And somehow Uncanny is back again.

Eventually I'm going to run out of Gashapon pictures available on the internet.

Spoilers abound, watch your step.

Marvel:

Uncanny X-men #518 (**1/2)

After such a remarkably enjoyable issue last week, this week was just so NOT enjoyable. I won't say it's bad, but it was just sort of boring, and it really didn't feel like much happened. Who didn't think that this "psychic surgery" was going to be a terrible idea? Also, I find myself not caring much about Hank having issues, or about the island sinking. But I'm going to need a REAL good explanation as to why the Void chose Scott over an Omega Level Telepath. Scott's got a lot of power, but seriously?