The Flash #01
This is the first Flash series I've ever read besides the one chronicling Bart Allen so I've been looking forward for this. In this issue we see the life of Saint Barry, (shout out to X-Man75 lol) as well as his return to work. I loved seeing him chase after Trickster who looked like a teenager for once instead of an eight year old with really baggy clothes. Francis Manapul's artwork definitely helped this comic stand out in my eyes. I'm preferential to Bart and Wally but I could see myself enjoying Barry's run (heh) with this Flash comic. I was kinda bored with the Barry Allen parts as opposed to him donning the suit and being The Flash but for the beginning of a comic series this was a good start. It still confuses me about how long Barry's been gone. I mean in our world he's been gone like 25 years yet in the comic world have they really explained how long it's been? Other than that I like the mystique surrounding this storyline and I'm looking forward to it, as well as the mystery surrounding the "Flashpoint" solicit in the end of the comic. All in all this was a nice solid start that raised questions, I'll give it a 8/10 rating.Coffee Barrista: How many of those (espresso's) have you had today?
Isis: Today as in since midnight or since the sun came up?
Coffee Barrista: Forget I asked.Brightest Day #0
Okay, did ANYBODY expect this issue to be like fifty pages?! Super pleasant surprise. Anyway, this follows the events of Blackest Night, and we're lead around by Deadman. I gotta say Brightest Day already has me hooked. Just following Deadman around, the mystery of the white light. Wondering why these people were brought back, what's Maxwell's plan, who can I trust and who can't I? I love comics like that. Also the stuff with The Firestorm's was very emotional and drew me in. It's amazing how much I liked this comic and how many storyline's it furthered. I'm trying not to ruin it, and I saw the end coming, but it was still awesome. I love wondering what the deal is with Deadman being the only one still wearing his White Lantern ring. Also the mystery surrounding his powers and abilities. The page with him seeing visions on what may or may not be the future had me staring at it, deciphering future storyline's the best way I could and I gotta say I'm more anxious for the next issue of Brightest Day than I was for some of the Blackest Night issues, here's hoping it stays that way. 10/10 for Brightest Day #0.Martian Manhunter: Very thoughtful. I hope you brought some cold milk to wash them down.
Guy Gardner: Damn straight I brought milk, Mama Gardner didn't raise no fool.Batman #698
Man, this started off very interesting, especially with a view inside the mind of Dick Grayson. Plus an appearance by my namesake (even in a dream) is always gonna cheer me up. Um... but anyone else wonder what the hell is up with Gordon. He's leaving messages?! So does he just know Dick is Batman? I mean he's gotta if he's leaving Alfred messages, and that doesn't surprise me after all that no-secret-identity-talk in Blackest Night but still. I guess their just fine with that but it seemed lazy to me that they just have him leaving messages. "Oh hey Dic...um.. Batman, when you're not too busy can you swing by Crime Alley, I think Zsasz is at it again!" Also I hated that this Riddler seemed like he was channeling Jim Carrey in Batman Forever... just seemed out of character for Riddler, he seemed like such a tool. I hated the ending, I don't understand why they changed Riddler's character when he was SO interesting as a good guy. I'll never understand why they do some of these things. Anyway, once again we see Dick Grayson afraid of being Batman, and of course we know he won't be for long so that makes it even more annoying to read every month about how he's not ready. It's been a YEAR. BFTC ended in like May or June, he should be ready by now. Anyway, ranting side, I loved the artwork but the story left alot to be desired, I'll give Batman 698 a 6/10, not the best rating with issue 700 coming up.Jason Todd: You're trying to be him aren't you kid? Trying to be tougher than you really are. Trying to prove you're as good, or maybe better? Look what it did to me. (I'm allowed to show favoritism at least once right?)
Booster Gold #31
WHY IS THE ART SO BAD?! The art is subpar yet the cover is amazingly good.Who in the hell woke up and decided, ya know what? I'm going to ruin Green Arrow. I mean there was NOTHING wrong with Ollie a year ago. Up until Cupid came Green Arrow and Black Canary was one of my favorite comics. I liked Ollie, he was one of my favorite heroes. As was Canary, and I'm as a big a fan or Roy as you can ever meet. And someone said, let's take Roy's arm, Make Dinah no threat at all, and while we're at it let's just ruin Green Arrow's secret Identity so EVERYONE KNOWS WHO HE IS!! I......I just don't know what to say. Also Dinah and Ollie... I guess it's about time. All this comic did was upset me, I hated almost everything about it. There was ONE thing I liked and that was the pic with everyone dressed as their civilian clothes with an outline of their suits, that was cool. So that earned it a 1/10. Hated it, man, what have they done to ya Ollie?
So this is the beginning of the Batgirl arc, "The Flood" and not part four of the Red Robin crossover as I initially believed. Looks like the Crossover was Red Robin 9, Batigirl 8, Red Robin 10 and the upcoming Red Robin 11 which is all fine and dandy. Anyway, Seeing Babs and Steph team up to take down bad guys is one of my favorite things because she's passing the mantle to Steph. I know Cassandra was good but she never really embodied the fun loving Batgirl spirit that Barbara had, Steph does and it's refreshing to see. Plus her chat with Gordon where he alluded to her being like someone (likely his daughter, the former Batgirl) was nice to see and give Steph some added credibility. Speaking of that, anyone else waiting for Steph's inevitable run in with The Joker? I mean it's gotta happen, especially with what he did to Babs, it's just a matter of time. Meanwhile this comic was pretty damn good. It referenced that dreadful BTFC tie in, The Cure, but I like where the story's going. Seems kinda odd that their kinda like Zombie-ish right after Blackest Night but oh well, I like the idea of the story and it started off strong. As of late Batgirl's been one of the strongest comics to read and this issue continues the trend, I'll give it a 9/10.
So that's all the reviews this week, I loved most of them which is always a good thing. Now let's take a look at this last week's poll, which asked, Who do you think will make the biggest impact during Brightest Day?
Winner - Deadman with 38.5% of the votes. Big day for Boston Brand, and it looks like the majority thinks Brightest Day may be his biggest.
2nd Place - Max Lord with 30.5%. It was a very close race, but the one person Max couldn't mind control was whoever cast the deciding vote to give Deadman the win.
3rd Place - Aquaman with 23.1%. I'm still shocked Aquaman was able to swim ahead with some fan support out of nowhere.
Last Place - Martian Manhunter with 7.7%. Poor J'onn J'onzz came in last place with one vote, but at least he's back and can enjoy some Oreos or whatever.
So now lets move ahead with a new poll and a new week of reviews. This weeks poll is now up on the right hand side of your screen (where it ALWAYS IS.) To elaborate, what I'm asking is, if these people had to replace their namesake, who would you want to replace their former person, for good. So if you vote Kyle, that means no more Hal as Green Lantern. Vote Dick, no more Bruce as Batman, Vote Bart, no more Barry, Wally as Flash, and Connor, no more Oliver Queen as Green Arrow. This should be interesting. Also next week I'll be picking up and reviewing Blackest Night Director's Cut, and Green Lantern 53 and maybe JLA...not a big week so I may be back reviewing something else between then and now. Until then, You've just been Gobsmacked.
This is an epilogue to the recent Booster Gold storyline's. Here we see the classic Booster tries to do right, makes a mistake and comes off looking like a jerk that we've seen before. While we've seen it before it still works, comes off strong and definitely makes Booster look sincere about his mistakes. Him saying he envy's guys like Superman who don't mess up makes him easy to relate to. Because if anyone of us, if we were to become heroes and make mistake's I think it's safe to say they would eat away and us and I'm glad Booster comes off like a regular guy. As always Rip's chalkboard is a pleasant sight to see, I love trying to decipher things on it and the hints we get. I loved Booster namedropping Superman and Green Lantern, especially since we know Time Masters is approaching and they'll all team up to look for Bruce Wayne. As for the ending, what better way to end Jurgen's run and build suspense for an upcoming storyline? I can't wait, and although I'm curious about what else Rip is hiding up his sleeve, only time will tell. As for this issue, I'll give it another solid 10/10.
Young Girl: Wow, is that Buster Gold?
Her Father: Booster. I think his name is Booster, honey.
Green Arrow #32
WHY IS THE ART SO BAD?! The art is subpar yet the cover is amazingly good.Who in the hell woke up and decided, ya know what? I'm going to ruin Green Arrow. I mean there was NOTHING wrong with Ollie a year ago. Up until Cupid came Green Arrow and Black Canary was one of my favorite comics. I liked Ollie, he was one of my favorite heroes. As was Canary, and I'm as a big a fan or Roy as you can ever meet. And someone said, let's take Roy's arm, Make Dinah no threat at all, and while we're at it let's just ruin Green Arrow's secret Identity so EVERYONE KNOWS WHO HE IS!! I......I just don't know what to say. Also Dinah and Ollie... I guess it's about time. All this comic did was upset me, I hated almost everything about it. There was ONE thing I liked and that was the pic with everyone dressed as their civilian clothes with an outline of their suits, that was cool. So that earned it a 1/10. Hated it, man, what have they done to ya Ollie?Black Canary: Congratulations Ollie. You won.
Batgirl #09
So this is the beginning of the Batgirl arc, "The Flood" and not part four of the Red Robin crossover as I initially believed. Looks like the Crossover was Red Robin 9, Batigirl 8, Red Robin 10 and the upcoming Red Robin 11 which is all fine and dandy. Anyway, Seeing Babs and Steph team up to take down bad guys is one of my favorite things because she's passing the mantle to Steph. I know Cassandra was good but she never really embodied the fun loving Batgirl spirit that Barbara had, Steph does and it's refreshing to see. Plus her chat with Gordon where he alluded to her being like someone (likely his daughter, the former Batgirl) was nice to see and give Steph some added credibility. Speaking of that, anyone else waiting for Steph's inevitable run in with The Joker? I mean it's gotta happen, especially with what he did to Babs, it's just a matter of time. Meanwhile this comic was pretty damn good. It referenced that dreadful BTFC tie in, The Cure, but I like where the story's going. Seems kinda odd that their kinda like Zombie-ish right after Blackest Night but oh well, I like the idea of the story and it started off strong. As of late Batgirl's been one of the strongest comics to read and this issue continues the trend, I'll give it a 9/10.Nick Gage: Hey You.
Batgirl. Hey You?
Nick Gage: You know, It's what you said when... never mind.So that's all the reviews this week, I loved most of them which is always a good thing. Now let's take a look at this last week's poll, which asked, Who do you think will make the biggest impact during Brightest Day?
Winner - Deadman with 38.5% of the votes. Big day for Boston Brand, and it looks like the majority thinks Brightest Day may be his biggest.
2nd Place - Max Lord with 30.5%. It was a very close race, but the one person Max couldn't mind control was whoever cast the deciding vote to give Deadman the win.
3rd Place - Aquaman with 23.1%. I'm still shocked Aquaman was able to swim ahead with some fan support out of nowhere.
Last Place - Martian Manhunter with 7.7%. Poor J'onn J'onzz came in last place with one vote, but at least he's back and can enjoy some Oreos or whatever.
So now lets move ahead with a new poll and a new week of reviews. This weeks poll is now up on the right hand side of your screen (where it ALWAYS IS.) To elaborate, what I'm asking is, if these people had to replace their namesake, who would you want to replace their former person, for good. So if you vote Kyle, that means no more Hal as Green Lantern. Vote Dick, no more Bruce as Batman, Vote Bart, no more Barry, Wally as Flash, and Connor, no more Oliver Queen as Green Arrow. This should be interesting. Also next week I'll be picking up and reviewing Blackest Night Director's Cut, and Green Lantern 53 and maybe JLA...not a big week so I may be back reviewing something else between then and now. Until then, You've just been Gobsmacked.
First voter! :D
ReplyDeleteI just think Dick permanently taking up the mantle of Batman would be the best choice - I mean, Bruce was Batman for ages, and it would be a much more interesting story of instead of Dick not being as good as Batman, but better, as he was trained by THE best from a young age, and so can become even better than his father figure.
Martian Manhunter couldn't win that last poll as he's never been that major player in the run of storylines, but he's always been there - the heart of the League. Even if he is ridiculously powerful ;)
I've already commented on the issues I've read, and yeah, I thought Brightest Day would be big, but not THAT big
Actually I was the first voter, I also voted for Dick.
ReplyDeleteI like your reasoning, and to be honest that was mine as well, I'd like to see Dick thrive as Bats now instead of every story being about how he can't fill Bruce's shoes.
Yeah I can finally read your post now, I was avoiding it until I did my review so I wouldn't be tempted to copy your scores.
You don't count :P ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's hightly doubtful they'll get to that before Bruce returns and kicks Dick back to being Nightwing
I don't write scores, remember? ;)
Lol I count even MORE cause it's my blog :P
ReplyDeleteOf course, time for Dick to go back to being Nightwing and Bruce returns and it's like it never happened.
Oh yeah, well. I didn't wanna be influenced by your evil ways.
How long Barry has really been gone from the DCU is a good question. I guess part of it would have to do with the post-Crisis explanation for his original death/disappearance, and I'm not entirely sure what that is. (In other words, Barry died to end the "crisis" of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but since no one remembers CoIE, they must remember Barry having died doing something else, and I don't know what that is.)
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget, the name of the event is "The Return of Bruce Wayne," not "The Return of Batman." Maybe they'll pull a Captain America and Bruce will take on a slightly different role when he comes back while Dick keeps on being Batman.
Hm... I didn't think about that. I hope they bring that up now because I'd be very interested in their explanation.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right Marc, I can see Bruce waiting a while before becoming Batman again, I mean he deserves a break, but would he play the role he played in Batman Beyond, which is basically what Oracle is to Stephanie?
Once again another fine article JT. I have yet to read these comics except batgirl. but ill get to them eventually.
ReplyDeleteAs for Batgirl I agree with you sir. I think Stephanie is doing a fantastic job. And you're not the only one wishing for joker and batgirl to run into each other.
I wonder if it would be too much to want Barbara to be batwoman and Stephanie be batgirl as She is and them two team up. I have a gut feeling Barbara will walk again.
Well enough of me running my mouth. Once again nice article.
Thank you babe, glad you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI could see Barbara walking again, I was hoping she would in The Cure but that misleading title didn't deliver like I wanted it to. Oh well, as for her becoming Batwoman I'd be fine with that but as long as Kathy Kane or whatever her name is, is around I doubt we'll see that happen, although she could still fight crime as Oracle.
For your new poll, the answer can't be Kyle Rayner, or Dick Grayson, but the question is difficult for the other two, they would all have to fill big shoes, but Bart Allen taking over for Flash (God forbid) wouldn't be as bad as Dick Grayson taking over for Batman, Kyle Rayner, and Connor Hawke taking over as Green Arrow. I do know that is contradictory of what I said about the best to worst Flash, but that is the answer I would chose.
ReplyDeleteThat's what i was going for, I didn't wanna add Wally because I knew he'd garner all the votes after being Flash for more than 20 years. I think although he had a short run Bart was good as Flash.
ReplyDeleteI quickly flipped through Brightest Day, and it took me a few minutes to realize that was Martian Manhunter in Deadman's vision. For a minute there I was convinced that was Swamp Thing.
ReplyDeleteLol same here, I had to look at everyone else and do an elimination until I realized who was left out. Wonder what the hell that picture meant.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I find it interesting how much love some of you guys seem to have for Bart when the book sold so poorly and was absolutely hated by critics. I've never read it, so that wasn't a value judgment on my part, it's just that this is the first place I've ever heard anything really positive about Bart and that series.
ReplyDeleteI even listened to an interview recently with the author of The Flash Companion, who interviewed pretty much every living comics creator who's worked on the Flash...with the exception of the ones who worked on Bart, because they didn't want to talk about the horrible experience they'd had. I'd be happy to find a link to that if you want.
I loved Bart as Flash Marc, I wasn't reading his series when it was going on because I had just really got into comics, hell may have even been after but after collecting it, it's one of my favorite series. That may just be me, but I really really enjoyed it. I'd definitely check that link out if you found it though.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://twomorrows.com/blog/tune-in/twomorrows-tune-in-8-keith-dallas-flash-companion/
It's an interview with Keith Dallas, writer of The Flash Companion, a book I've been meaning to get. He basically talks about how he wrote the book and what it was like to interview all the people that he did. Somewhere in there he mentions the stuff about Bart, though I can't remember where. I think the whole thing is worth listening to though, since I learned quite a lot about the character from it.
Thanks Marc. Definitely sounds interesting and I'll give it a listen a little later tonight, thanks again for the link.
ReplyDeleteAlso, after careful consideration I changed my vote, because apparently only I can. I realized that I'd definitely want Bruce back as Batman and I'd miss Ollie and Hal more than I'd miss Barry so I changed my pick to Bart for anyone who's curious.
First off, let me be the first(I think...)to say that I will be waiting anxiously for the What I learned from the Cry for Justice mini, because I learned a few things from that mini too, but I'd rather keep this comment PG-13 rated, so I'll keep 'em to myself!
ReplyDeleteFor the most part this looks like a pretty good pull, JT(except for GA! I can't wait to read that now!), with a few 10's, so I'm looking forward to my comic shipment(which should be Monday with any luck.
As possibly THE biggest Bart Allen fan alive(I've even read the whole Impulse series as well as his Teen Titans and Flash stuff), I feel the need to step in for poor Bart... First off, I naturally voted for Bart on the new poll, mainly because he's my favorite out of all of those characters. I think most of the hatred for Bart is coming from the fans of Wally West, and to be honest, that's not really fair to Bart. This is all because Bart replaced Wally after Infinite Crisis, which was really unnecessary, especially since Bart was NOWHERE ready to take up the Flash mantle. Huh, I guess Geoff Johns has always had it out for Wally... With that said, the writer(s) of Fastest Man Alive did as best as they could with what I'd guess was A LOT of fan outrage, and seemingly little support from DC. Like JT, when I read Fastest Man Alive, it was after the fact, and Wally was once again the Flash, so I can't really say what it was like reading it monthly, but reading the whole thing in a sitting or two wasn't that bad at all, and like JT said, the series was definitely better then I think many people believe. To me, the hate for Fastest Man Alive and Bart is coming from the pro-Wally contingent of fans, not necessarily the fans of the Flash franchise. Wally didn't get to go out in a blaze of glory(like Barry), or anything like that, he just left, and Bart, who was barely even Kid Flash at the time was suddenly rushed to adulthood in order to fill Wally's boots. If that isn't a recipe for disaster, I don't know what is!
Lmao @ PG-13 rating. You're cracking me up today dude. I may start that pretty soon.
ReplyDeleteSweet, is there anything in front of those on your list to read or should I respect those reviews relatively soon?
Couldn't have put it better myself. I think if Wally just came back instead of Barry, or if Barry just came back and Wally hadn't, and Bart had been Flash up until this time he would've won people over. What happened to Bart is exactly like what happened to Jason. He wasn't accepted due to his predecessor, luckily It didnt take like 20 years to bring back Bart.
No you don't, cause your opinion is biased cause you chose who we could vote for ;)
ReplyDeleteIt just seems silly and makes me wonder why they bothered with this storyline in the first place, UNLESS Bruce doesn't take back the mantle…
Numbers don't mean a huge amount to me when I'm giving them, cause I'm very fluid about what I think of the things. Did I enjoy it? Yep. Any glaring problems? Nope. It's good then…
I really don't see why Babs should walk again - instead of toying with various ways of having her walk again, she could very well make the better decision and say that she's happy like this, and doesn't need to change. Or maybe that's me…
FYI - Batwoman got her own title announced a couple of days ago, so that ain't happening :P
She could just still be Oracle though
Lol not really, I just grabbed people that'd taken on someone else's name, and left out Wally because he'd already been Flash for like 25 years :P
ReplyDeleteYeah, as of now there's been no point to sending Bruce back in time. You know if he was around he would've had a big roll in Blackest Night. I could even see him reverting and being afraid to attack his parents if they returned. As of now him disappearing hasn't really shown anything other than giving Tim a new persona, driving Jason crazy, showing Dick can't handle being Batman in his own mind and making Damian Robin.
Lol I feel you on that, I think I give out too many 8's myself...
It just doesn't make sense that she can't. Bruce is richer than hell. He's paid for Harvey to get his face fixed like twice, he's had numerous Bat-Planes and stuff, Damian has a NEW SPINE, yet no one cares about Babs enough to help her walk again?
And yeah I heard about Batwoman, now I can read Detective comics again without having to see anything by Greg Rucka, who I despise.
I have one more thing to say, about the new poll. There is no other answer besides Bart Allen. I can understand picking Kyle Rayner, but please no one pick Dick Grayson. Bart Allen would make a good Flash, Rayner would make a good Green Lantern, but Dick Grayson makes a terrible Batman, Bruce Wayne is Batman. So please in the good name of comics, don't pick Dick Grayson in the poll, please!
ReplyDeleteLol Jozeph it's a poll man, the whole purpose of it is for people to pick who they think would be a good pick, it's their opinion. Apparently some people really like Grayson in becoming Batman because he's tied with both Kyle and Bart. I don't think Grayson makes a terrible Batman, he's been written badly as Batman but he could honestly be a lot worse, if anyone had to take the mantle I'd rather have it be Grayson than no Batman at all. Those are my thoughts on that.
ReplyDeleteyou are right, I would rather have Grayson than no Batman at all.
ReplyDelete