Flashpoint #1: After a lot of hype, "Flashpoint" finally begins. Johns, as expected, does a great job of establishing the background of this world without getting lost in the details. He manages to convey Barry’s confusion over finding himself in a different reality while at the same time outlining the grim contours of this new reality. At this stage, I would just note two things. First, one of my problems with this sort of story is that I feel like authors go too far at times in drastically altering the personalities of existing characters. Although I don’t know what happened to lead them to their “present” path, I don’t know if I buy that Aquaman and Wonder Woman would slaughter tens of millions of people. It’s a “nature v. nurture” debate, to be sure, but something about making well-known heroes into homicidal super-villains always rings a little false to me in these sorts of stories. Second, I’m not as familiar with the DC back bench as I am Marvel’s. That’s obviously not Johns’ fault, but it means I didn’t catch who all of Cyborg’s potential Justice League members were. It's another consequence of these reality-warping stories, since the authors generally need to promote some heroes off the back bench to show how different everything is. But, since these were the only two things that made feel moderately frustrated when reading this issue, I can live with it, since usually these sorts of stories drive me crazy. (Plus, pretty much anything Johns does here is going to compare favorably to "Fear Itself.")
Flashpoint #2: First, let’s talk about the ending. I was all ready to roll my eyes at the Flash becoming the Flash again by re-doing the experiment that made him the Flash in the first place. Seeing his scarred (and possibly dead) body on the last page was a surprise and made me excited to see what else Johns was going to do with this series. I hadn’t quite realized from the first issue that Aquaman and Wonder Woman were at war with one another, so I assume we’ll be getting more information at some point on how that happened. (I’m also guessing Iris is the mole feeding Wonder Woman information, but I could definitely could be wrong about that, because how would she know Cyborg was organizing a Justice League? Maybe it’s Element Woman and she’s not as crazy as everyone thinks she is?) Finally, Johns really infuses this series with a sense of urgency with the idea that Flash has to right this new timeline before he forgets the prime timeline. I’ve always been confused by the Flash’s original origin (and that phrase right there pretty much sums up my problems with DC), since it seems like Thwayne traveling into the past to kill his mother happened somewhat recently (in the real, non-comics timeline) and wasn’t something intrinsically part of his original origin. Johns at least acknowledges that by having Barry comment on how he doesn’t remember his past before his mother was killed, so he knows it’s possible for him to forget the prime reality. But, as I was in Johns' "Flash" series, I always wind up a little confused when Barry talks about his past. Focusing on the series' plot, at this point, I have two problems. First, why does Reverse Flash let Barry know it’s him behind the change? It seems very 1960s “Batman” TV show. Is he also going to put him in some "foolproof" death trap and tell him how to undo what he's done, since it’s impossible for him to escape, "ba-ha-ha!” [Sigh.] Second, why does Barry remember the events in the first place? Why is he the only one that remembers? Did Thwayne do that on purpose? If so, why? Given that this series only has five issues, I'm hoping Johns moves quickly in answering these questions.
Flashpoint #3: Johns really moves us forward in this issue, but I wonder if it's enough. First, the Flash regains his powers (though, unfortunately, in the eye-rolling manner that I thought Johns avoided in “Flashpoint” #2). We also find Superman, who (brilliantly, on Johns’ part) has no powers because the government denied him exposure to the sun after he was taken from his rocket, which, in this reality, destroyed several city blocks of Metropolis when it crashed into Earth. Element Woman is indeed the traitor and Lois Lane finds the Resistance in England. No information yet on why Aquaman and Wonder Woman are at war, but we know it’s happening “tomorrow.” All in all, Johns keeps the pace of the book moving. He also takes some time to add in some grace notes, like Barry’s frustration with Thomas Wayne’s dial-up connection. Heh. However, with only two issues left, I have to wonder at what point Reverse Flash is actually going to appear. I mean, Johns isn't giving himself a lot of room here to resolve the situation without making it feel rushed. We shall see, I guess.
Red Robin #25: Nicieza had me thinking “WTF?” at the end of this issue, in mostly a good way, which is an impressive feat. First, this issue is funny, if you know, you look past the fact that the humor is based on Tim imminently being raped. Nicieza softens that edge a little: part of the reason you can see it as funny is that you know it’s not going to happen, because Tim is too good of a planner for it to happen, a sense that gets proved correct when Black Bat arrives to save him. Moreover, the issue has some real legitimate suspense. I actually did, for a moment, think Black Bat had killed Tim, or, at least, in some way, turned against him. Also, the reveal that someone who’s not Ra’s al Ghul also sees Tim as a possible adversary/successor is interesting, particularly because that’s about all Nicieza reveals about “Know-It-All.” The cliffhanger ending is also fascinating: did Tim really kill his father’s killer? I can’t wait to see! However, despite all the good, the issue has some sloppy moments. First, Tim apparently knows that the woman planning on raping him is a half-sister of Ra’s al Ghul, but, not only did he honestly not appear to know that last issue, he also refers to her as “Mysterious Hooded Lady” at the end of this issue. So, did he know or not? Moreover, it’s unclear how she – and, by extension, Ra’s al Ghul – was connected to Know-It-All. Did she choose the Catacombs where Know-It-All kept his base by accident? It seems unlikely, but, then, if she knew Know-It-All's base was there, is Know-It-All working with Ra’s al Ghul? That also seems unlikely, because I can’t see Ra’s being cool with someone operating to eliminate assassins, not promote them. I’ve really enjoyed the “Red Robin” series so far, but every arc seems plagued by these questions: not questions that the author purposefully leaves for the reader, but questions that the author seems not to realize he’s raising or failing to resolve. At any rate, the best part of this issue was the reveal of Tim’s sweet new pad on Park Row. How cool is that? It seems to really establish Tim as his own hero. However, that raises the issue of what, exactly, is happening to Tim in the reboot, given that “Red Robin” isn’t one of the series being rebooted. Is he going to return to being Robin? Unlikely. Is he going to team with Nightwing? You’d think his name would be in the title if so. Is he just going to be part of the Teen Titans? Disappointing, if true.
Secret Avengers #15: Given how amazing Nick Spencer’s “Fear Itself” tie-in issues have been, I can’t wait to see what he actually does with the title when he gets to call the shots. This issue had moments when I feared we would veer into eye-rolling, but, like Kieron Gillen in “Generation Hope” #9, Spencer really manages to sell his story. Using a tabloid publishing a story about Captain America not being dead as the vehicle for showing the Black Widow’s grief is really a stroke of genius. As I said, it could’ve turned out really, really badly, but it doesn’t. Instead, Spencer gives us one of the best meditations on superhero death that I’ve ever read. On some level, all the characters here are right in their own way, which makes it such an interesting issue. The ability of superheroes to return from the dead is both a blessing – as the “Unexpected Truth” staff posits – and a curse – as Natasha argues. You can see that curse through Natasha’s pain here as she holds out hope that Bucky isn’t really, really dead (or, at least, if he is, could be resurrected). Given that Bucky’s death got short shrift in “Fear Itself” #4, I thank Spencer for allowing us to see, somewhere, someone grieving his loss.
Superboy #8: Well, at least we’re getting somewhere. Lemire, probably inspired by the upcoming reboot, stops the diversions and misdirections and takes on the “Hollow Men” plot he’s been building since the first arc of the title. The problem is that I still can’t really say I care. He’s trying to make it seem like some planetary (actually, interplanetary) level threat, but it stills all seems kind of…goofy. Having the Phantom Stranger manipulate events – from forcing Superboy to sit through a history lesson to using his crows to steal Simon’s weather machine – makes the events of the issue feel particularly forced. Of all the titles I get, this one is the only one that I’m excited to see being rebooted.
Superboy #9: Yadda yadda yadda, some guy was pretending to be the Phantom Stranger, yadda yadda yadda, danger. I don’t know. I don’t know why this series really, really rubs me the wrong way, but it does. Despite the potential of the characters in this series, Lemire hasn’t really made me care about them. Morever, the Hollow Men story just isn’t all that interesting. Conner will defeat the Faux-tom Stranger, Smallville will be saved, Psion will find a way not to kill Simon, etc. Is it time for the reboot yet?
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