Last Week's Comic Reviews
Justice League #1: I've been very wary of the DC Reboot, but Justice League #1 contained some good points. There's problems and some of my fears of the reboot seem to be coming true but when I finished the issue I was much happier than I thought I would be.
Story wise, the scenes with Batman and Green Lantern are fun and show the two characters interacting amusingly. Cyborg, a character I know basically nothing about bar his cartoon appearances and whose inclusion struck me as tokenism, has a brief B-plot appearance pre-powers which does instantly sell me on the character. However, bar a brief final page appearance by 1 other justice leaguer, that's it for the story: three more people on the cover do not appear in this issue. It's decompression issues like this which were an issue in the last Justice League of America #1 and the four months of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman sitting at a table while other people advanced the plot slowly.
Art wise, Jim Lee is pretty and his Green Lantern creations are very cool (and more interesting than just a random boxing glove or energy field) but the new designs continue to do nothing for me. It's just so nineties: pockets and collars and metal plates and pockets and EXTREEEEEEEEME. The Flash in particular looks daft to me in his new armoured look. Ailsa pointed out a particular shot mid-story which is very Rob Liefield-esque and does hark to an alarming 90s Image comics trend.
As an issue one, I think Justice League is a bit of a flop. Nothing really happens; half the league aren't introduced; my advice to normals would still be "wait for the trade." I thought I'd hate it, though, and I don't - it's got some cool moments and I'm definitely going to keep reading.
Flashpoint: This five issue mini-series, mostly set in an alternate universe, came to a close the same week as Justice Leauge and The New 52 start and feeds directly into it. This is perhaps Flashpoint's biggest problem for me - as a Flash story it would be fine but as a summer crossover it's underwhelming and as the final adventure of the Old DC Universe it's a pretty lousy end note.
Flashpoint's early issues had me really interested in it's alternate universe setting and new spins on existing characters, changing little things like costumes to big things like people in the role and their alignment. (As a superhero RPGer it will be a great thing to mine.) But whereas Blackest Night was Green Lantern-heavy while still including many more characters, Flashpoint just feels like a Flash plot arc. I know Johns can write - I've read not only years of his Green Lantern and a chunk of his Flash but also some of his Justice Society - but Flashpoint never quite clicked for me.
The accompanying sub-series and the badges were a nice idea but 16 series for 3 issues is a crazy comic investment and, predictably, I got a couple of issues and let them slide. However chunks of Flashpoint feel too obviously like they feed in or out of the miniseries - and the villian doesn't get a proper appearance till the end of issue 4 - leaving me feeling like I've only read half the story. Again, Blackest Night did this better in the way Green Lantern ran a "backup story" between parts.
The biggest issue for me with Flashpoint is the ending, the demise of the DCU and the rise of The New 52. I would actually prefer no justification was given than the one we have, which has a dash of "oooh, look how mysterious I can write a mysterious person" but mostly leaves the reason the DCU is rebooting to "Barry Allen isn't very good at his job." Crisis on Infinite Earths is not the best comic in the world but at least it feels like a big event where the old DC gets a good farewell; here it just happens.
Flashpoint is a disappointment for me and something I can never imagine reading again. Despite graphical nods to Crisis on Infinite Earths, I am left thinking: "Flashpoint, I read Crisis on Infinite Earths, I knew Crisis on Infinite Earths, Crisis on Infinite Earths was a friend of mine. Flashpoint, you're no Crisis on Infinite Earths."
Story wise, the scenes with Batman and Green Lantern are fun and show the two characters interacting amusingly. Cyborg, a character I know basically nothing about bar his cartoon appearances and whose inclusion struck me as tokenism, has a brief B-plot appearance pre-powers which does instantly sell me on the character. However, bar a brief final page appearance by 1 other justice leaguer, that's it for the story: three more people on the cover do not appear in this issue. It's decompression issues like this which were an issue in the last Justice League of America #1 and the four months of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman sitting at a table while other people advanced the plot slowly.
Art wise, Jim Lee is pretty and his Green Lantern creations are very cool (and more interesting than just a random boxing glove or energy field) but the new designs continue to do nothing for me. It's just so nineties: pockets and collars and metal plates and pockets and EXTREEEEEEEEME. The Flash in particular looks daft to me in his new armoured look. Ailsa pointed out a particular shot mid-story which is very Rob Liefield-esque and does hark to an alarming 90s Image comics trend.
As an issue one, I think Justice League is a bit of a flop. Nothing really happens; half the league aren't introduced; my advice to normals would still be "wait for the trade." I thought I'd hate it, though, and I don't - it's got some cool moments and I'm definitely going to keep reading.
Flashpoint: This five issue mini-series, mostly set in an alternate universe, came to a close the same week as Justice Leauge and The New 52 start and feeds directly into it. This is perhaps Flashpoint's biggest problem for me - as a Flash story it would be fine but as a summer crossover it's underwhelming and as the final adventure of the Old DC Universe it's a pretty lousy end note.
Flashpoint's early issues had me really interested in it's alternate universe setting and new spins on existing characters, changing little things like costumes to big things like people in the role and their alignment. (As a superhero RPGer it will be a great thing to mine.) But whereas Blackest Night was Green Lantern-heavy while still including many more characters, Flashpoint just feels like a Flash plot arc. I know Johns can write - I've read not only years of his Green Lantern and a chunk of his Flash but also some of his Justice Society - but Flashpoint never quite clicked for me.
The accompanying sub-series and the badges were a nice idea but 16 series for 3 issues is a crazy comic investment and, predictably, I got a couple of issues and let them slide. However chunks of Flashpoint feel too obviously like they feed in or out of the miniseries - and the villian doesn't get a proper appearance till the end of issue 4 - leaving me feeling like I've only read half the story. Again, Blackest Night did this better in the way Green Lantern ran a "backup story" between parts.
The biggest issue for me with Flashpoint is the ending, the demise of the DCU and the rise of The New 52. I would actually prefer no justification was given than the one we have, which has a dash of "oooh, look how mysterious I can write a mysterious person" but mostly leaves the reason the DCU is rebooting to "Barry Allen isn't very good at his job." Crisis on Infinite Earths is not the best comic in the world but at least it feels like a big event where the old DC gets a good farewell; here it just happens.
Flashpoint is a disappointment for me and something I can never imagine reading again. Despite graphical nods to Crisis on Infinite Earths, I am left thinking: "Flashpoint, I read Crisis on Infinite Earths, I knew Crisis on Infinite Earths, Crisis on Infinite Earths was a friend of mine. Flashpoint, you're no Crisis on Infinite Earths."