The first title in the ultra-anticipated DC New 52, Justice League #1 released today. And I know that everyone who hasn’t read it yet is wondering if it is even worthwhile. I would say yes it’s worth a read, but I don’t know how long it will be like that for. Of course they don’t introduce the whole league in one issue so it might last a few more issues but I’m still kind of on the fence about the whole thing.
I’ll give you the basic rundown of the story, but not enough to spoil anything. There honestly wasn’t much to spoil in the issue. It was a really fast read with Batman and Green Lantern bantering back and forth throughout the majority of it. The comic takes place five years ago when heroes were apparently a new thing and the public didn’t entirely love nor trust them. The story opens up with Batman in pursuit of some weird alien whilst also being pursued by the cops.
Of course being the sector cop of Earth and an alien running loose falls under Green Lantern’s jurisdiction so him and Batman end up running into one another for the first time. It will be interesting to see all of the heroes meeting for the first time but that novelty will wear off quick I’m sure.
Overall I give the issue a 3 out of 5 grizzlies. It had a story that basically reminded me of the DC All Star comic line from a few years back, but that’s not a bad thing. Geoff John’s writing was up to snuff as usual and Jim Lee was… well, he was Jim Lee which is always a good thing. He was definitely having a good time drawing all of the Green Lantern constructs. I’ll have to check out the next few issues before I can pass down a solid judgment on this title, but so far so good.
So this is it. The last comic in the DC Universe we know until the new 52 starts, which just so happens to be today with the only other DC Comic to be released this week in Justice League #1. But let’s start with the end of Flashpoint.
Last time we saw it was definitely end game time with all the major players in action. Cyborg, Batman and Flash squaring off against Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Thawne, the Reverse Flash. It’s definitely a little confusing with all of the time travel stuff and I have to admit it sort of ended with not so much of a bang. It felt a little rushed, but had a nice little touch at the end which I enjoyed. It reminded me of Back to The Future actually… Now don’t go on if you don’t want to spoiled because there are spoilers aplenty.
*SPOILERS FOLLOW*
As Flash and Thawne square off it is not only revealed that Thawne was not the culprit behind the alternate timeline, but it was Barry himself! DUN DUN DUN!
So let me break it down…. Thawne could never kill Barry Allen as you may well know because then he could never be in the 25th century. But when Barry went back in time and pulled the Speed Force entirely into him to stop Thawne from killing his mother he basically reversed their roles and shattered the timestream into what we’ve been experiencing in Flashpoint. Thawne was running through the timestream when Barry altered it and was basically turned into a walking, talking paradox as he now existed outside of it. All the times Thawne tried to kill Flash, it would never work because with no Barry Allen from the past to create a Speed Force to carry on into the 25th century, Thawen would never have been the Reverse Flash. If you ask me, the guy was a paradox before and I wasn’t getting the logic of Barry not being able to kill him, but it’s ok because Thomas Batman Wayne took care of that problem. I would think with Thawne existing outside of the time stream even Barry could kill him. But enough of this because my head is hurting.
After Thawne is finished it’s up to Barry to go back and make right his wrong! He travels through the timestream saying a final farewell to his mother before catching up with the Barry who went back to save his mother and stopping him from screwing up time. As he is running Barry is told by a weird looking broad that the time streams had been splintered into three to weaken the heroes for someone’s impending arrival and that the three must be turned back into one. Overall a very confusing ending. Is the New 52 going to be made up of three different realities? Who is going to arrive? Darkseid?
My favorite part of the issue was involving Bruce and Barry. Before Flash went to go fix everything, a dying Thomas Wayne gave him a letter to give to Bruce when he sees him. Barry gives the letter to Bruce after explaining everything that happened to him in the other timeline. I admit I got a little teary seeing Bruce cry over the letter and was glad that he got a little bit of peace from losing his parents even if it was his father from an alternate timeline.
Overall I give the issue a 3 out of 5. It was a little confusing as far as time travel stuff goes but still enjoyable. The only thing that stopped it from getting a higher score was how rushed and quickly wrapped up it was and it makes me think that the New 52 thing was decided upon after Flashpoint already started. But who knows. Either way, bring on the new 52 and let’s see how long it all lasts!
Yesterday Gamma Squad posted their ‘Star Wars’ Alphabet game, and it looked fun. So we’re gonna do something similar…with Batman. Below, listed from A to Z is 26 Batman related characters whose names corespond with the letter they represent.
Try to figure them out before scrolling down to the answers and let us know how you did in the comment section.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
And the answers are…
right…
down…
here:
Dr. Amadeus Arkham:Founder of the famous ‘Arkham Asylum’. Bob the Goon:Joker’s #1 Guy in Tim Burton’s BATMAN (1989). Clayface:One of Gotham’s earliest serial killers, debuting in 1940. Harvey Dent:Gotham’s Most famous District Attorney turns Super Criminal. Egghead:Created for 1960s TV show, the character was made for Vincent Price. Lucius Fox:CEO of Wayne Enterprises. Garfield Lynns:A regular on Gotham’s Most Wanted list, better known as ‘Firefly’. Harold Allnut:Batman’s trusty engineer and the resident mechanic of the Batcave. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy: Among the most famous of the Rouges Gallery. James Gordon:Perhaps Batman’s Best Friend and best real ally. Kate Kane:Better known as ‘Batwoman’, she is Gotham’s first openly gay hero. Lazlo Valentine:Professor Pyg, perhaps the best new villian of the last decade. Mad Hatter:Jervis Tecth has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with Lewis Carroll… Edward Nigma:Better known as The Riddler, this ex-villain is now a P.I. Oswalt Cobblepot:‘The Penguin’ was portrayed by Danny Devito in Batman Returns. Alfred Pennyworth:Butler, Doctor, Cook. He is the man behind Wayne Manor. Harleen F. Quinzel:The Joker’s love sick girlfriend was once a doctor at Arkham. Roman Sionis:The real name of the original ‘Black Mask’. Scarface:Arnold Wesker’s wooden boss, the most violent Dummy in comics. Talia al Ghul:The daughter of Ras al Ghul and mother to Bruce Wayne’s son. Ubu: Sticking with the al Ghuls, this is Ras’ bodygaurd. Victor Fries:Mr. Freeze, killed by the Joker, was brought back cause of the cartoon. Waylon Jones:Killer Croc debuted in Detective Comics back in 1983. Dr. Double X:If you got this one, I’m super impressed, he’s a shitty 1950s villain. Yvonne Craig: She was the original Batgirl on the 1960 TV show. Maxie Zues: King of the Jobbers.
I’m a little torn on Daredevil joining up with the New Avengers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the red son-of-a-gun and the idea of the Avengers having as many prominent heroes on their roster as the JLA does, but it seems a bit off.
To me, Daredevil is one of the street level heroes and that is his domain. I don’t see him able to handle foes of the caliber that we’ve been seeing in Fear Itself, in the midst of which he will make his debut. For example: Do you all think the D-man could take out a Nazi Mech? I think it’d be tough but he makes it look like it’s as easy as slipping on your shoes. Many thanks to CBR for the preview pictures!
Despite what I think I’m going to embrace this thing. I’m loving the hell out of the new Daredevil comic out there brought to us by Mark Waid and I think DD is on the right track now after having a rough last decade. Don’t forget Matt Murdock had to go through a public outing of his secret identity, a divorce, prison time and demonic depression. It’s about time the guy has something to fall back on like the protection of the Avengers. Look to see the Man Without Fear avenging against the Serpent in New Avengers #16!
The War of the Green Lanterns ended with a bit of a bang. It was a rushed bang, but a bang nonetheless. Mogo died, Krona was defeated, Sinestro ended up with a green power ring and Hal Jordan ended up with no ring. All in all through the aftermath issues it seems to me that the Guardians are screwing things up more and more. They have almost every Green Lantern reeling from Krona’s attack with post traumatic stress, Corps members questioning why they relieved Jordan of his ring and questioning why they are seemingly defending Krona by wanting to give him a decent burial. If I was an intergalactic space cop I’d be wondering the same things….
In the wake of all of this madness there are several issues to deal with. John Stewart’s killing of Mogo to stop the production of corrupted power rings doesn’t sit well with some Lanterns, including Kyle and John himself. John however isn’t going to regret what he did and I applaud him for it. Whether he was right or wrong he’s right when he told Kyle that he did what had to be done and that is the difference between them. I really hope John and Kyle make amends in the future and that in the coming months we see John recover from this, because despite what he says it is wearing heavily on him.
The other big issue is Sinestro and the effect his presence is having on the Corps. Several lanterns including Soranik-Natu agree that Sinestro must be ended once and for all, so they go to the Guardian’s Citadel to do just that. To me this is another example of how the Guardian’s esteem has fallen so far if Lanterns are willing to march into the citadel and kill a prisoner, even if it’s a scum bag like Sinestro. The posse of Lanterns doesn’t get very far as another lantern intervenes. I won’t spoil it but you probably already know who it is.
In defense of the Guardian’s they do finally make a good move to quiet all of the dissension. They order all Green Lanterns to return to their sectors and continue to enforce the law while only the Alpha Lanterns and support staff stay on Oa. The Guardians will also continue to unfold the mystery of why a green power ring chose Sinestro for duty. They also left every Green Lantern with a warning of no more disobedience being tolerated and I kind of think that will be the end of any Green Lanterns questioning them unless they want to be stripped of their rings as Hal was. All of this leaves a whole bunch of stuff hanging in the air. How are Sinestro’s Corps going to react if he remains with the Green Lanterns? Will the Sinestro Corps continue under Arkillo’s leadership or will someone like Mongul step in to try and fill the power vacuum? Kyle and Sora seem to be on very bad terms at this point and now they are going to be separated by duty. Is this the end of their relationship? And what do the Guardians plan to do to Ganthet? He was all alone with them as they wanted to speak to him and the last shot we get is of them eerily reaching towards him. What the hell are they going to do? Embrace him back into the Guardians? Kill him? Hell, I don’t know. I give the aftermath issues a 3 out of 5 bears overall, the art was so-so and the story seemed like a bit of a quick wrap up before the new 52, just like the last part of the War of the Green Lanterns was.
Hopefully many of the questions will be answered in the four new Lantern titles coming out in September to start off the new 52 DC titles! Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, The New Guardians and Red Lanterns! I can’t wait! Stay tuned for more on each of those titles.
As September gets closer and closer, I can’t wait for the 52 number ones to be released by DC. Almost as excited as I am for Batman, Green Lantern checks in close behind. But with the four new titles involving the Green Lantern mythos there is one that intrigues me more than the others namely because it is so much more different than anything involving the Green Lantern Corps. I talk of course about the Red Lanterns.
After reading Rage of the Red Lanterns and Blackest Night, their leader Atrocitus was sort of painted as just a mindless brute most of the time. He is the embodiment of rage after all… But once I read the Green Lantern: Brightest Day hardcover trade I had a new found liking for him. Sure he’s driven nuts by his rage but as we now know he wasn’t just out to kill people for the fun of it, Atrocitus had a vengeance in him to deal out against the Guardians who were indirectly responsible for the death by Manhunter of his home sector 666. As it turns out, it was Krona the rogue Guardian who was behind the reprogramming of the Manhunters. Now with Krona gone, where will the story of Atrocitus and the Red Lanterns go from here? Apparently we will be getting to know the other members of the Red Corps and see what drives them in their rage. Below is issue number 3 cover which shows the bizarre yet hard to look away from Bleez… showering in blood. Wonderful.
Now with cover number 2, I waited to post that one last because not only do I not know who the Red Lantern on the cover is but the cover itself is pretty unremarkable. Even though I’m excited for this series I’m still a tad bit skeptical. Only the sales will determine this one’s fate but if they keep up with the Lantern tales they’ve given us over the years I’m sure it can last awhile. Be sure to check out our review in September!
Grizzly Bomb 