Comics are Awesome III

[andersonh1]

Haven't had a chance to read them yet, but skimmed today's comics: Green Lanterns Rebirth #1 and Superman Rebirth #1. Almost picked up Batman as well, but it looked like a lot of big panels with not a lot of dialogue, so possibly underwritten a bit. Great cover though. Hal's back in uniform, minus the gauntlet of Krona, so I presume that will be explained at some point. And he deliberately merges Simon and Jessica's power batteries into one so they both have to charge their rings at the same time for it to work, forcing them to work together. I guess it's the "tough love" approach to training, and he leaves them to work with the Justice League as trainers since the Corps isn't around. I don't plan to read the ongoing series since I don't have any interest in Simon or Jessica, but I'll be reading the GLC book when it comes out. Full reviews later on when I've had a chance to sit down and read the full books. It is nice that everything is $2.99 now... I hope they stick with that price point longer than six months, or whatever.

[Dominic]

The "Batman" issue is thin. But, it seems to read well enough.

That and "Superman" are sitting in my pull-file.

[andersonh1]

Superman: Rebirth #1
The issue is a two-hander, with Superman and Lana Lang having a long conversation, and that's what the story is built around. New 52 Superman is dead, and his remains are buried in Metropolis. Both post-Crisis Superman (who I'll just call Superman from now on for simplicity) and Lana Lang arrive at the tomb. Lana promised New 52 Superman to bury him next to his parents in Smallville, while Superman thinks that history will repeat itself, and that it will only be a matter of time before New 52 Superman returns to life just like he did. He's come to make that happen if he can.

Lana can't believe that her Superman will be back, but Superman is sure he will be. He relates how he died during the fight with Doomsday, and we get some great renditions of scenes from the Death of Superman storyline as drawn in great detail by Doug Manhke. I wish the original art had looked this good! We even get one panel with Superman in the black suit he wore for a few issues during his return, which his current outfit resembles, so that connection is made. Superman puts his resurrection down to a combination of factors, including a Kryptonian regeneration matrix, and he thinks that if they take the remains of New 52 Superman to his fortress of Solitude, they can use the matrix to help return him to life. Lana goes with him, and they send the fortress robots to find the matrix, only to learn that it doesn't exist in this reality. It looks like the means to bring back New 52 Superman don't exist, and Lana carries out her original plan to bury him in Kansas.

Meanwhile Superman puts up a memorial to the New 52 Superman in the fortress, and begins to entertain thoughts of going public and stepping into his shoes...

Good issue, good art, great flashbacks to a classic storyline, and a good transition back to a more classic Superman than the one we've had for the last five years. The characterization of Superman is well done, because the character would certainly defer to his counterpart as he's done all of these years. And I like the way he just assumes that history will repeat itself and that his counterpart will come back to life just like he did. We even get a look inside Superman's thoughts during his original fight with Doomsday, something we didn't get back in the original issue. Too bad the colorist couldn't get Lois Lane's hair color right in the flashback.

It's also curious that Superman is apparently the only character, along with Lois Lane, who can remember the pre-Flashpoint universe. Even Wally West said that it was becoming hard to remember once he was fully integrated into the new timeline. This is of course because Superman really was a survivor from a dead timeline when he was introduced into the New 52, and it's only since then that the idea to retcon the New 52 into a post-Crisis universe that was altered by Dr. Manhattan became the story, so Superman's doppelganger needs a new explanation. So does Parallax, for that matter. There will be a retcon to explain this at some point, I hope.

Green Lanterns Rebirth #1
I picked up this book because I knew Hal would be in it. I'm not interested in Simon Baz or Jessica Cruz as characters, but I applaud DC for adding minorities to their universe by introducing new characters rather than race-flipping existing ones. I do question the need for more human Green Lanterns when we already had four, and the book addresses that by having both Baz and Cruz reflect on how many other human GLs there already are, and by having Hal note that he doesn't know why it happened, but he assumes there is a good reason for it.

The book opens with the scene we've seen in previews with a Templar Guardian running from the Dominators. He's trying to reach Earth with something that he has concealed in a box, but he's hemmed in and panics, opening the box and releasing whatever it is. An unseen narrator describes the scene and wants whatever is in the box.

Baz and Cruz get introductory scenes that set up their life circumstances, and then both are called to an emergency. They arrive and get in a fight with a Manhunter. Both do badly, both verbally spar a bit, and then Hal arrives and shuts the situation down. He sent the drone as a test, and notes that Simon failed. He's back in uniform and has his ring again after last being seen with Krona's gauntlet, dressed in the renegade outfit he's worn for a year. No explanation is offered. He merges Simon and Jessica's power batteries into one so they have to charge at the same time, in order to force them to cooperate and work together, and he leaves them with the Justice League for help training so they have a support system. Hal is heading out to the edge of the universe to help out the Corps, "if they're still alive". The Corps must be back from the collapsing universe, or Simon wouldn't be on Earth, because he was with them. But Edge of Oblivion #6 hasn't been published yet, so we don't know the circumstances of their return.

The last page shows the Red Lanterns, and reveals that it's been Atrocitus narrating all along, and he wants whatever the Guardian had in the box. I think they've done about all they can do with the Red Lanterns at this point, but if you like them as villains, they'll be back soon.

Decent issue, and to be fair it has been 20 years since we had a rookie Green Lantern, so there's some story potential there. The art is a 100% improvement over what we've had from Billy Tan for the last few years. I think he was a poor choice for the main Green Lantern title, and it will be good to see Ethan Van Sciver back, along with whoever else is drawing.

[Sparky Prime]

The book opens with the scene we've seen in previews with a Templar Guardian running from the Dominators. He's trying to reach Earth with something that he has concealed in a box, but he's hemmed in and panics, opening the box and releasing whatever it is. An unseen narrator describes the scene and wants whatever is in the box.

I'm not sure that's a Templar Guardian... He certainly looks like one, but the dialog makes it sounds like he's yet another forgotten Guardian that had split off from the group long ago so that he could work on this new "forbidden" power ring.

The last page shows the Red Lanterns, and reveals that it's been Atrocitus narrating all along, and he wants whatever the Guardian had in the box. I think they've done about all they can do with the Red Lanterns at this point, but if you like them as villains, they'll be back soon.

Done about all they can do? There is so much more they could do with the Red Lanterns. But unfortunately, this seems to be taking them back to the one-note villains they were and ignoring all the development they've had... When the Red Lanterns title ended, there were only two left, Rankorr and Bleez, and they'd become "good guys" following Guy's example when he was a member. The Sinestro/Lobo crossover back-peddled on that and introduced the "Rage-Mother" who had the ability to resurrect dead Red Lanterns, only they seemed to become rage zombies at that point.

But beyond that, I think Green Lantern TAS really showed us the potential a Red Lantern character can have. Razer was a really interesting Red Lantern character, motivated by Rage, but yet he was one of the good guys. I really wish the comics would give us Red Lanterns more like that. Well they have, but they killed them all off or ignored their development in Bleez's case...

[Dominic]

It's also curious that Superman is apparently the only character, along with Lois Lane, who can remember the pre-Flashpoint universe. Even Wally West said that it was becoming hard to remember once he was fully integrated into the new timeline. This is of course because Superman really was a survivor from a dead timeline when he was introduced into the New 52, and it's only since then that the idea to retcon the New 52 into a post-Crisis universe that was altered by Dr. Manhattan became the story, so Superman's doppelganger needs a new explanation. So does Parallax, for that matter. There will be a retcon to explain this at some point, I hope.

I would hope there is a retcon. Superman does not need a convoluted back-story that runs anything like "last survivor an an alternate timeline....replacing his dead counterpart...."

[andersonh1]

True, I had forgotten about Razer. He was a great character and a good use of the Red Lantern concept, no doubt.

[andersonh1]

Green Arrow Rebirth #1
Green Arrow isn't one of my favorite characters, but he's a decent B or C-lister for DC and certainly adds some color to their cast of characters. "Batman with a bow" about sums him up prior to Denny O'Neil turning him into a obnoxious liberal caricature in the 1970s. That at least gave him a defined personality, and it's stuck with him ever since, off and on, as has his relationship with Dinah Lance, the Black Canary... until the New 52 scrapped all of that and turned him into a fairly bland character and stipped away his history with both Black Canary and his friend Hal Jordan as well.

Rebirth is the story of Dinah and Oliver meeting again for the "first" time. They encounter each other in Seattle where Dinah is helping a lost kid find his mom, who was kidnapped at the beginning of the issue. Oliver narrates part of the issue, and calls himself a "social justice warrior". The plot itself has to do with human trafficking by underground creatures of some sort, so it's social issues mixed with sci-fi/horror elements. It's the kind of story the modern Doctor Who might tell, mixing the mundane with the fantastic. Oliver and Dinah track the creatures underground, and then to an old ballroom beneath Seattle where the auction is going on, and masked men bid for humans swept from the streets. Green Arrow and Black Canary put a stop to the immediate threat, though it's clear the masked men on the video screens who are doing the bidding remain a threat to be dealt with later, presumably in the ongoing series. The boy is reunited with his family, and there's a hint of what we saw in DC Rebirth #1, where Oliver and Dinah almost feel like they know each other.

The art is good, and falls more on the stylized/cartoony side rather than on the more realistic. The story isn't all that original, but it's told well enough. The book's author said on Twitter that it had sold 90,000 copies. If true, that's a massive number for a Green Arrow title. It should bode well for DC's more popular characters.

[andersonh1]

Today's books: Action Comics #957, Detective Comics #934. Flash Rebirth #1, and GLC Edge of Oblivion #6. As usual, I haven't had the chance to read them all, and I almost picked up Aquaman as well, but since some of these books are going biweekly, I need to take that into account. It's good to see Action and Detective back to their original numbering. Superman gives no explanation for his new costume though, and despite being an improvement over the armor, this one really does have too much blue. Maybe Superman is subconciously copying Dr. Manhattan's look? Flash picks up right where Rebirth #1 left off.

Some discussion on the renumbering of Action Comics, waaaaay back here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=631&start=980 It took a little longer than the end of Morrison's run, but still, O6 was right. They did go back to legacy numbering.

[Sparky Prime]

Well, I have to say I felt Green Lantern Corps Edge of Oblivion was extremely disappointing...

[andersonh1]

Well, I have to say I felt Green Lantern Corps Edge of Oblivion was extremely disappointing...

I thought this last issue was good, but the series as a whole squandered an opportunity to really sell the despair of being in a dying universe, and didn't make that universe exotic and different enough from our own to make it feel like a completely different reality. And they left the Krona/Relic plotline hanging too.

Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion #6
Apart from my above criticisms about the series as a whole, I thought this particular issue was fairly strong. It's one big battle between the Blackest Knights, the life-devouring creatures, and what's left of the Green Lantern Corps. Guy Gardner narrates the battle as we see all the bickering among the Corps put aside, and they all do whatever they can to protect the people of the cities from the two creatures, with many Green Lanterns dying in the process. The scouting parties return, and report finding no way out of the dying universe, but a Green Lantern ring shows the way, as it detects the sector it should scan for a replacement through the fissure where Arisia and B'dg disappeared. Simon Baz decides to take a chance and go through the rift... and we know he finds his way home, because he shows up in Green Lanterns Rebirth. Presumably the rest of the Corps and Mogo, and all the inhabitants of the dying planet they manage to move to Mogo's surface will appear in the GLC series that's on the way. The Knights are trapped by the dying planet, and the issue ends on a cliffhanger, with the Corps and Mogo's passengers vanishing into the white void.

I enjoyed both Lost Army and Edge of Oblivion, with the caveats I listed above. It was good to have a whole issue where Green Lanterns 1) acted without fear, 2) acted selflessly and 3) worked together as a team. When they had their backs to the wall, their true colors came through, and I enjoyed seeing that.

Flash Rebirth #1
This series begins with Barry Allen getting visions from the Speed Force in the midst of a crime scene investigation. Barry has a talk with his father about the problem and then goes out for a run to clear his head. And then he runs right into Wally West as we revisit the scene from DC Rebirth #1, and Barry pulls Wally out of the Speed Force and regains a ton of memories. The two discuss the threat, and there are all sorts of little nods to the differences between current and past continuity, including Wally being surprised that Barry and Iris are friends, when of course they were married prior to the New 52. Wally mentions Linda, but no mention is made of his children Jai and Iris, so I'm wondering if he's forgotten them. But this sort of story is what makes DC so enjoyable for me: old friends with a long history together, enjoying each other's company and working on a plan to solve the latest threat. Wally heads out to find the Titans, while Barry goes to the Batcave to see Bruce, and the two of them examine both the note from Flashpoint Thomas Wayne as well as the Comedian's badge, which this issue says Wally deposited in the Batcave wall, explaining how it got there. This is the only direct follow-up to the story that Rebirth set up that I've seen so far, and it leaves Flash and Batman investigating, deciding to wait to tell the Justice League until they know what to tell them.

Detective Comics #934
This appears to be the team book for the Batman line. Batman contacts Azrael/Jean-Paul Valley at the begining of the issue, and he also recruits Batwoman to help him train Spoiler, Red Robin (Tim Drake) and Cassandra Cain, who I believe was Batgirl at one point pre-Flashpoint. I never read her series though. Here she' s Orphan, an assassin or some such thing. Batman also recruits Clayface. This version looks like it combines Basil Karlo and Matt Hagen by giving Karlo Hagen's abillites as a shapeshifter. I remember an old Alan Grant story, "The Mud Pack" where the three surviving Clayfaces got together, along with the remains of the dead Hagen, and Basil Karlo was able to give himself the shapeshifting abilites of Hagen, and the acid touch of Preston Payne, the third Clayface. So perhaps this is the New 52 version that sort of follows up on the events of that story. I really don't know. Batman says that someone is hunting all of Gotham's vigilantes, and so he wants to train them to work together to find and stop the threat. The threat, unknown to Batmank is an army with an as-yet unrevealed goal.

This was very much a "introduce and gather the characters" issue. I'm glad to see Tim Drake back in a more familiar Robin costume, and he's kept the Red Robin name he had near the end of pre-Flashpoint continuity. He had an outfit like Kingdom Come Red Robin, but I never liked it all that much, so I'm glad to see him back to his old look. Batman actually gets outdone a time or two in this issue, so maybe the "Bat-God" characterization is on the way out. I hope so. I like Batman to be very good, but not perfect and unbeatable by anyone. He's human, after all. I may continue to read this series, and I may not. Late 80s, early 90s Batman is my favorite period for the character, and that's the kind of tone I'm looking for in a Batman comic. I may not find it, I know, but it'll take a few issues to determine that.

Action Comics #957
It's the big one of the week for me, and I'll definitely be buying this series, since it's post-Crisis Superman back as the lead character. I'm not a fan of the new costume, and no in-story explanation is given for the change yet.

There's a hostage situation in Metropolis, and an armored Lex Luthor appears and ends it. He's wearing Superman's S-shield and red cape, and claims that he will step into the dead Superman's shoes as the protector of Metropolis. This is carried on the news, and seen by the just-moved Kent family as they unpack. Seeing Luthor wearing his symbol is the last straw, and Superman shaves off his beard, puts on the new costume, and heads to Metropolis to confront Luthor, demanding that he remove the symbol and cape. Luthor knows that New 52 Superman is dead, and he assumes this Superman is an impostor. They end up coming to blows, and fighting, with Luthor insiting that Superman is fake, and Superman insisting that Luthor's violence demonstrates who he really is. In the background, a man who looks like and who claims to be Clark Kent shows up, and then the original Doomsday appears, escaping from a vault that had been stolen while the terrorist attack was going on.

There's a lot going on in this issue, and it flies by. I'll be interested to see how the bi-weekly schedule works for the book. Lois and Jonathan comment on the fight as they watch it on tv, and there are a couple of scenes where Lois and Clark are shown trying to teach their son about responsibility and not using his developing powers to take shortcuts in life. Having a son who looks up to him changes the perspective on Superman's fights as well, since it's hard to tell Jonathan that fighting is the wrong approach when his dad is on tv slugging it out with Luthor. There's some definite new ground to be explored with Superman as a father.