DC Comics Review: Blackest Night #4
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics
Rating: ***
I’m a bit disappointed in this issue. After the first three issues blew me away and I proclaimed that this series was a future classic in the making, writer Geoff Johns stumbles a bit with this month’s issue of Blackest Night. For me, some of Black Lantern Firestorm’s dialogue was written poorly in the opening pages. We also jump to Gotham City for no reason other to see Jean Paul Valley aka Azrael resurrected as a Black Lantern while The Scarecrow whines about admiring the fear that the Black Lanterns are able to invoke (he can’t get scared because he’s used too much of his fear gas). Poor baby. He does have one fear of course - The Batman (cue dramatic Batman music).
This issue mostly focuses on Barry Allen - the Flash and his quest to take the reigns and try to “hold down the fort” here on Earth against the Black Lanterns. He’s with the Atom and Mera of Atlantis and he gives them a good pep talk to try to get them to step up and fight back against the Black Lanterns. The Flash then runs across the Earth continuing his pep talk and informing the other heroes of the situation. He tells them that Green Lantern is off trying to destroy the source of the Black Lanterns’ power and they have to keep fighting until that happens.
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DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #4
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics
Rating: ***
After almost three months, The Flash: Rebirth series continues. I’ve liked this series so far, but this issue was very confusing. It reminded me of some comic book stories I read in the 90s where the story was very exciting, but I had no idea what was going on. I kind of felt that way here with this issue as I had to go over and re-read certain things to get a better grasp of what was going on - and as of right now, I’m still not 100% sure what’s going on or how to explain it. However confusing the story may be, the action is intense and non-stop in this issue and with the action being presented by artist extraordinaire Ethan Van Sciver, you don’t mind it as page after page showcase some amazing artwork.
In our last issue, the main villain of our story stood revealed and to no surprise it was Eobard Thawne the Reverse Flash, Professor Zoom. Okay. So from what I can understand, Thawne is responsible for infecting Barry with his current affliction of hurting speedsters. According to Thawne, he has created a negative Speed Force. It seems that when Barry was hit by lightning he created the Speed Force at that moment and now Thawne has created the negative Speed Force and it’s the cause of Barry’s disorder.
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DC Comics Review: Green Lantern #44
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics
Rating: ***
Blackest Night continues in this week’s issue of Green Lantern #44. I liked this issue. It wasn’t as good as last week’s first issue of the Blackest Night mini-series, but it was still a good read. Geoff Johns is also the writer here as he continues his run on the main Green Lantern title. Doug Mahnke who many know from his work on Batman, provides the artwork here and does a great job. Some very cool splash pages. I think his work is better here than it was over in Batman.
The story picks up from Blackest Night #1 as we saw the Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onnzz is now a Black Lantern and he confronts Hal Jordan and Barry Allen. In a very cool scene we see when the black ring found the body of the Martian Manhunter as the Oreo cookie that Batman left on his coffin falls to the ground and crumbles as he bursts out of the coffin and flies off. J’onn keeps talking about how both Barry and Hal should be dead. I wonder if their resurrections have anything to do with the prophecy behind the rise of the Black Lanterns and the war that will take place among the various colored lanterns.
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DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #3
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics
Rating: ***
Barry Allen is back from the dead. He’s returned to his old life as the Flash, but just as he begins his new life, strange things have begun happening. In the last two issues we’ve seen that when ever Barry touches a speedster, they either die or are hit with excruciating pain. At the end of issue two, Barry has become the new Black Flash which is a sort of angel of death for the speedsters of the DC Universe. And that’s where we are right now in the story of “The Flash: Rebirth”.
I’m enjoying this series so far. It’s not been the best Flash storyline I’ve ever read, but its a good story by Geoff Johns and amazing artwork by Ethan Van Sciver. I like that Johns is bringing in just about everything that has to do with the Flash. I love the Flash’s history and think he has one of the best rogues gallery in comics. This issue opens up with a mysterious assailant going after the Flash villain Abra Kadabra. We don’t see the assailant, but he or she says to Kadabra that, “There isn’t room in this century for the both of us.” The assailant then yells the phrase abra kadabra and then proceeds to burn Abra Kadabra himself.
We then see Liberty Belle and Hourman at the JSA headquarters discussing her parents Johnny Quick and the original Liberty Belle. An explosion happens and we see Johnny Quick calling out to Barry not to hurt Jesse (the current Liberty Belle). Why? Johnny is dead and was absorbed into the Speed Force. Does he think Barry will hurt Jesse and the others on purpose?
We then go to Barry who is being held in a containment field while the JLA and JSA try to help him. The Black Flash entity is taking over Barry and he asks Green Lantern to take him away from everyone as it seems that he can’t control it. Barry decides to then give up and run back to the Speed Force to save everyone from himself. As he runs away we get the return of the classic plot line of the Superman/Flash race as Superman runs after Barry to try and convince him to stick around so they can help him. But Barry proves himself to be the fastest man alive and out runs Superman as he begins racing through time.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #3
DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #2
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics
Rating: *** 1/2*
This week we have the release of issue two of Geoff John’s Flash mini-series Rebirth. The story picks up where we left off in the first issue with Savitar death at the hands of Barry Allen and all of the other Earth’s speedsters suffering from some sort of shock. Savitar was able to escape the Speed Force through Barry’s body, but as Barry ran and caught him, Savitar turned to dust. Before he died, he made reference to Barry being the beginning and the ending. Why did Savitar incinerate when he touched Barry and why the other speedsters where affected as well is our big mystery.
Ethan Van Sciver once again provides the art work for this series. Van Sciver is quickly becoming one of the best in the business and DC is lucky to have him under contract. I loved his work on the Green Lantern Rebirth series and he hits it out of the ball park here as well.
Barry Allen has returned to the DC universe as the Flash, but his secret identity has also resurfaced in the world. To the world, Barry Allen died. We discover that when Barry returned, Wonder Woman was able to use government connections to create a back story where Barry faked his death went into the witness protection program. I think that’s a cool idea; simple and believable. We also get a retelling of Barry’s origin here in this issue and how Barry was obsessed with proving his father’s innocence for the murder of his mother. His father unfortunately died in prison. Geoff also shows us some flashbacks prior to Barry becoming the Flash with his first meeting of his future wife Iris West. We also see how he first started using the bow-tie. I don’t know much about Barry’s history so whether this is all new or a retelling is unknown to me. One of these days I’ll go back and look at the reprints.
The real story however is what’s happening to Barry.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: The Flash: Rebirth #2
DC Comics Review: The Flash Rebirth #1
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics
Rating: *** 1/2*
The Flash is back! “The Flash: Rebirth” mini-series begins the story of Barry Allen’s return to the DC universe. This is a new experience for me because the lead Flash for me has always been Wally West. In the 200 plus issues of Wally’s Flash book, Barry Allen has popped up in several storylines. He would be pulled from the time stream before he made his Crisis run so he could come and help Wally. Now as a result of the events of “Final Crisis,” Barry has been pulled from the Speed Force where he has existed since the end of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and he’s now alive and well ready to continue to live his life. But the question remains why was he pulled and how?
In this issue, writer Geoff Johns paints an almost dark Batman type of Barry Allen. All he seems to care about now that he’s back is getting back into the game and fighting whatever threat there is out there. He doesn’t want to go to the parties or parades that are in his honor. He feels that since he’s been away for so long, the world has passed him by and he needs to catch up immediately and start fighting. He seems almost obsessed with it.
From the few stories I have read that contained of the character of Barry Allen, he seems like a much different person here in this issue. Has his time within the Speed Force changed him? I don’t know.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: The Flash Rebirth #1
DC Comics Review: Flash #247
Posted by David Torres Categories: Reviews, DC Comics
The current on-going “Flash” title has come to end. Wally is alive; his wife Linda is alive; and so are the kids. The only significant thing that happened is that Wally has decided to take a break from the super-hero life and spend time with his family. I wish this series would have ended with a better creative team in place so as to give the book a proper send-off. “The Flash” Volume One ended with issue #350. It had a very good ending and it had it’s longtime artist Carmine Infantino illustrating it. This issue was illustrated by three different artists and three different inkers - it looked rushed in some areas. We know Barry Allen is coming back in 2009, but Wally has been the Flash for over 20 years and he deserves some respect.
Click to continue reading DC Comics Review: Flash #247
My Wednesday Reading List
Posted by Kris Madden Categories: Collecting, Editorials, Reviews, DC Comics, Marvel Comics
If you’re a “Punisher” fan, then you’ve already picked this one up, sped through the pages, and like me are already waiting for issue #2. However, if you haven’t picked up a “Punisher” comic before, this arc is already shaping up into something great, and with Garth Ennis and Steven Dillon attached, you really can’t go wrong. Also, don’t judge the character by his recent translations into film; while this comics bears the same name of the recent film about the “Punisher,” it is not based on the film.
My personal experience with “Punisher” comics is that they’re bred of hit and miss. In some versions, he is more hero than villain and in others he’s just a villain. Many have contributed to my wrapping paper collection. The Punisher’s anti-hero status has long been forged in the high mortality rates of his enemies. As with all great anti-heroes, a good Punisher comic always brings a good debate of what separates the heroes from the villains, much like Alan Moore’s main character in “V for Vendetta” or Charles Bronson in “Death Wish”. So if you’ve never picked up a Punisher comic, this would be a great place to start. Enjoy.
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The Flash movie: What I would like to see
Posted by David Torres Categories: Editorials, Movies, DC Comics
A Flash film is scheduled to be released in 2010. According to IMDB, the director of “Shanghai Knights” and “Fred Claus” is set to direct. Exciting! Who knows, maybe he’ll do a good job. No actors are currently attached to the film.
Although casting is crucial, I’m more concerned right now about the script. The current writer attached to the film is Chris Brancato. His resume doesn’t make me jump for joy either.
Here is what I would like to see.
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“Inside” Smallville
Posted by Joel Rosenberg Categories: Editorials, Television, DC Comics
One of the subjects my comic shop customers love to discuss, besides “Heroes,” is “Smallville”. To survive nine seasons on TV is remarkable in itself, but one of the things I most enjoy is picking up the insider references that they toss in. My comic shop partner, Jason, hates every one of them. Here are a few of them.
Just this season, Clark had to change into a suit at the Daily Planet. The only available place was a telephone booth. Clark said that he wouldn’t change his clothes in a phone booth and Lois had to push him in. Clark’s dog, back at the farm, is named Krypto. When he first met Bart Allen AKA the Flash, Bart was fleeing from Clark when Clark ripped open his backpack. Out flew a bunch of phoney driver’s licenses in the names Jay Garrick, Wally West, and Barry Allen. Bart later suggests they form a club or a league. When Clark meets Arthur Curry AKA Aquaman, Arthur suggests to Clark that they fight crime on the land and sea. Clark responds that he isn’t ready for the Junior Lifeguards of America.
In the very first season Lois is reading a book and explains to Clark that Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus and asks him ” What planet are you from?” John Jones AKA the Martian Manhunter, drops Oreo cookies in his first appearance. Clark now works at a great metropolitan newspaper. Anyone remember others?
Personally, I love watching “Smallville” with my son and every time one of these inside references show up, I have to explain them to him. Father and son bonding - who knew Smallville could help.
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