Well, the first week of DC's new desperation ploy is upon us.
Flashpoint #5
I can't escape the feeling that this book was originally going to be nothing more than the next arc in the ongoing Flash monthly, particularly since issue 13 of that book had been solicited at one point. It just doesn't feel as epic as it probably should. But if you want someone to blame for the new status quo (in the fictional DC universe anyway), blame
Barry Allen. He caused Flashpoint by trying to change history and save his mother from being murdered by the reverse-Flash, and then when he tries to restore the timeline (somehow), he ends up listening to some mysterious hooded individual and merging three different timelines. No, I didn't make that up. Allen's imperfect memory gives us Superman's ugly new costume, among other things
. I guess Barry always wanted a chinstrap.
Overall: What would have made a decent alternate universe arc in a monthly series makes for a less-than satisfying event that lets DC editorial tinker with 70+ years of continuity and cherry pick what they like or don't like. I'm pretty cynical about the results, honestly. Time will tell.
Justice League #1
Ok, there's no way this book could ever live up to the hype. I'll give DC this: they finally seemed to have realized that if they want this flagship book to succeed it needs to dump the second stringers and go all out with the top tier characters and creators. And whatever you think of Geoff Johns and Jim Lee (and I like both), there's no doubt they've made the attempt.
The main problem with this book is that it's nothing we haven't seen before. The plot only just kicks into gear over the course of the issue, but it's clear where it's going. Big bad (
in this case, Darkseid
) is a major threat, which all the heroes must band together to combat since they can't do it alone. It's a tired plot. It makes sense, but it's nothing new. Neither is the choice of villain, for that matter. If this is the "New 52", why not go for something NEW? Maybe it's just me.
That aside, it's a reasonable pretext for assembling all of DC's big guns (and Cyborg). The bulk of the book features Batman and Hal Jordan, who is written here as cocky and overconfident to the point of stupidity. Reminds me of early Kyle Rayner, and that's not good. Batman is who he always is, which makes him the comfortably familiar character in this new continuity. The two argue and banter and go find Superman for no other reason than an alien was planting devices around Gotham, and Superman's an alien, so maybe he's involved. Please.
And have I mentioned that I really hate the new Superman outfit? Jim Lee mentions in his notes that the first thing to go was the "red underwear", but the lines are still there in his design, they're just colored blue. And if you want to see how bad the redesigns could have been, take a look at the sketches in the back of the book. HIs redesign mandate seems to have been "take every outfit and add 20 layers of useless detail to it".
The DC universe has become a bit more like Marvel, where super-powered individuals are feared and mistrusted, though Batman likes it that way. I suspect that Superman will be the one to overcome that, given what we've read about his character arc, but it hasn't happened yet.
I'm being very negative here, but the book isn't bad so much as it is mediocre. And it's mediocre because the plot is nothing new. If this was genuinely the first time we'd read this story instead of DC declaring this the new first time these guys all met, it might be more impressive. The art's great though. And I do like the more modern take on the logo. They aren't going for "regal and high and noble" any more. Somebody's figured out how to put perspective on their letters in Illustrator.
Overall: Worth buying, but it's not as original or good as they'd like you to believe. But as always with this mix of DC's big characters, there's plenty of dramatic potential if they can realize it.
