One more selection of DC New 52’s #0 issues, which I read on a bit of a whim. A broader mix, I think, with a couple more thus-far not read series. There were a couple of surprises and a couple of very promising issues that have managed to change my mind. As a result, there are now some more series I will be checking out.
Review: Aquaman, The Flash, Green Lantern Corps, Red Lanterns, Superman, Talon
A pretty cool alternate reality story
Writer: Geoff Johns | Artist: Andy Kubert
Not a dream, not an imaginary story, not an elseworld. This is Flash Fact: When Barry Allen wakes at his desk, he discovers the world has changed. Family is alive, loved ones are strangers, and close friends are different, gone or worse. It's a world on the brink of a cataclysmic war – but where are Earth’s Greatest Heroes to stop it? It’s a place where America's last hope is Cyborg, who hopes to gather the forces of The Outsider, The Secret 7, SHAZAM!, Citizen Cold and other new and familiar-yet-altered faces! It’s a world that could be running out of time, if The Flash can’t find the villain who altered the time line!
Flashpoint is a very good graphic novel, with a pretty interesting premise, ably executed by its creative team.
Everything is very different for Barry Allen when he wakes up at his desk. The world has been turned on its head, and it takes him a little while to get to grips with it. Not only that, his memories of the ‘real’ world are starting to fade. What’s more, he doesn’t have his powers. Therefore, he must set out to not only discover how this apocalyptic version of the world came to be – not to mention reverse it if possible and in time, but also attempt to regain his super-speed.
I don’t have any knowledge of the Flash comic series, but I still found this pretty easy to follow: the cast is pretty huge, and you’ll see cameos from a good number of DC’s main characters – including Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman, Grifter, Deathstroke, the Enchantress, and many more. Because of my familiarity with a fair few of these characters (thanks to the New 52), it was nice to see some pretty cool alternate takes on such a wide variety of DC heroes. I particularly liked the idea of Wonder Woman and Aquaman at each others’ throats, in the middle of a globally destructive feud.
Johns’ writing is great, as is Kubert’s artwork. I would definitely like to check out the other books set in the Flashpoint timeline. This is actually a pretty short graphic novel, so while we get a pretty great introduction to what life in this world is like, we don’t get to stick around and really explore it in any great detail. These companion tomes (much longer than this book) should allow for more exploration.
Apparently, this event was connected to the then-upcoming launch of the New 52 in some way, but I didn’t spot it at all. If anybody has an idea, feel free to leave some thought and observations in the comments thread.
Overall, I would say this is definitely recommended to anyone who wants to read an interesting, slightly darker take on a near-apocalyptic version of the DC Universe. It’s a great book.
Also in the Flashpoint series: Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman
Another good week for DC’s New 52, plus Diablo, and Wolverine kicks some ass…
The final week of the third month of New 52 releases. For the most part, they’ve all been pretty good or even great. They do all have a ‘middle’ feel about them, though this can be expected as we start getting into the wider plots and larger stories. This week’s titles are on the darker side of the DCU, which as long-time readers will know is where most of my favourite titles come from: All-Star Western, I Vampire and Justice League Dark; but we also have Batman: The Dark Knight (which is pretty, uh, dark as well) and also Aquaman.
As well as the New 52s, I’ve also picked up the first issue of a five-month run of Diablo, a title based on the computer game franchise and world of the same name (yet more media to get my anticipation for the game ratcheted up even further); and the second issue of Marvel’s Wolverine & The X-Men. There’s a pause in New 52 releases next week, so I’ll have to come up with another comic-related review – a catch-up on some heretofore unread titles in the reboot, most likely (I already have a few on my desk, waiting to be read and reviewed).
In this instalment of comic reviews, I catch up on some series that I’ve not been following on a month-to-month basis, as well as a new issue in a series I thought had come to a complete close years ago. All of the titles are new to me, except for one – Star Wars: Crimson Empire III (I read the first two series, what feels like a very long time ago). The three DC New 52 titles I decided to finally try out are Aquaman, Justice League Dark, and Batman: Detective Comics (the first two were just spur-of-the-moment reads, while the first issue of the last has been frustratingly difficult to get hold of).
