DC Comics reviews for 1/30/19
January went by quick, but DC isn’t letting it go out without a bang thanks to these heavy hitters for the week of 1/30/19. Check out all of the reviews here.
Action Comics #1007
Detective Comics #997
Heroes in Crisis #5
Justice League Annual #1
Teen Titans Annual #1
The Flash #63
The Flash Annual #2
The Terrifics #14
Wonder Woman #63
Action Comics #1007
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Of the two Superman titles he writes, Brian Michael Bendis has always fared much better with Action Comics. He’s excelled so far at making the happenings at The Daily Planet and Metropolis in general compelling regardless if Superman is around.
Bendis doesn’t break his streak here with a fun opening act spotlighting Jimmy Olsen getting a big surprise when he meets up with a source. What Jimmy finds is definitely big news, provided he’s sure who to trust. With the Planet having a new owner, trust is even more important than ever especially if they could be caught in this new conspiracy.
That’s the big theme of the issue as Superman encounters Amanda Waller, who’s always had an ‘it’s complicated’ relationship with truth. Superman saves her and gets caught in a similar situation with Jimmy. Bendis has a subtleness to disaster that’s appreciated as he allows readers to envision the drama and mayhem on their own.
I’m not entirely sure the point of Lois telling her father about Superman though. Bendis hasn’t exactly done right with his portrayal of Lois in general and this seems like a huge misstep. It’s the kind of thing that a new writer will do to shake up the status quo without concern for how it affects the characters for future creators. I’d love to give Bendis the benefit of the doubt here, but since Lois dropped this bombshell without consulting Superman is enough cause for concern. This take on Lois is wildly different from how she’s portrayed in other books going on right now including Heroes in Crisis where the Lois and Clark dynamic is a vital piece of the story and Doomsday Clock.
Steve Epting definitely should stick around as the artist longer. He’s got a classic style that recalls Swan and Ordway while not looking out of place among modern artists. I’m glad he’s teaming with Bendis for the foreseeable future as this should be a strong creative team for Action Comics.
This is the first chapter of Leviathan Rising and it’s a strong opening act. I wish Bendis were just cranking out two issues of Action Comics a month as he seems so much more locked in with the Superman universe here.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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Detective Comics #997
Batman thinks he’s pieced the clues together and knows who unleashed the nightmarish ghoul against him. But first he’s got to help one of his mentors, the original Mister Miracle, escape from a death trap.
This wasn’t the most riveting installment of the saga and played out pretty simply. But writer Peter J. Tomasi already showed not all of Batman’s allies would emerge unscathed, it contains the requisite amount of suspense. Tomasi shows off a feature in Batman’s costume I never knew about, but makes sense to help in an escape.
The cameo by Thaddeus Brown was inspired as he’s not a character we’ve seen much of over the last few years and definitely in a non-Mister Miracle story.
Artist Doug Mahnke is the star this issue with some stellar work putting all of the action together. This is an action heavy issue and Mahnke delivers big time. Mahnke crafts some very creative panels and inkers Christian Alamy and Mark Irwin with colorist David Baron making his pages look extra sharp.
The big reveal of the cause of all of Batman’s pain is a bit underwhelming — maybe Tomasi is throwing out another red herring? Given the identity of the latest character he visits, he would certainly be a credible suspect, but Tomasi will need to connect a few dots to really make it work.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10
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Heroes in Crisis #5
Heroes in Crisis has reached a frustrating point. Writer Tom King delivers some telling moments that probe the mindset of heroes at their worst and emotionally broken points in these highly effective one page interludes. Sometimes they feature main players in the story like Booster Gold and Harley Quinn, while others spotlight some forgotten DC characters. It’s a testament to King’s appreciation for DC that characters like Solstice and Commander Steel pop up.
And in fragments, scenes like Clark Kent trying to write up a speech that Superman will deliver while Lois Lane pleads with him to come to bed before the next disaster is incredible. Booster Gold reuniting with Blue Beetle is a love note to JLI fans while the Batgirl and Harley Quinn partnership feels fresh.
But on the other hand, for a mystery story, we’re not getting much to work with. It’s one thing to pace things slowly, yet King seemed to pad this issue with pages of filler with only one page providing anything useful for the story as a whole. We get a huge reveal, but it’s on page 24. Maybe the biggest problem so far is that so much of the story reads unnecessary besides the Sanctuary confessionals and Booster/Beetle and Harley/Batgirl actively working to solve the mystery.
Fellow doom and gloom story Identity Crisis had big developments occurring every issue from the JL vs. Deathstroke to subsequent deaths to the knot reveal, the Batman panel to the footprints. Identity Crisis had a hook each issue to keep readers invested.
When Sub Dibney was killed the entire superhero community searched for her killer. With so many bodies piled up at Sanctuary, Superman and Wonder Woman are busy focusing on talking to the media? It would also help the story immensely to see the fallout from Sanctuary. It’s weird that there’s been so little grieving here. We’ve had to read Green Arrow and The Flash Annual #2 to see characters truly react to the loss of Roy and Wally. So far there’s been a lot of posturing and talks that accomplish nothing.
Clay Mann’s artwork remains top notch although his take on female characters like Batwoman, Harley and Lois Lane is perhaps too sexy for King’s serious story. There’s not a lot of room for pinup style portraits. Mann’s panel composition is impressive and he has such a strong cinematic style, which is important. Tomeu Morey is a smart colorist and is doing some of his best work on the series.
Heroes in Crisis #5 marks the home stretch of the series, but there’s still no tangible sense of urgency or a deep investment from the hero community to solving this major atrocity in their backyard.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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Justice League Annual #1
I kinda want to rate this one higher than a 10. This was a big sweeping payoff to the first chapter of Justice League dating back to No Justice. It’s nice to see a plan come together and this felt like a big reward for readers who’ve patiently and not so patiently waited for some answers.
Writers James Tynion IV and Scott Snyder weave a fantastic tale building to the biggest conflict the DC Universe has seen in decades. That’s not hyperbole in this case, just a matter of fact.
The Justice League is heading to the broken Source Wall, eager to fix their first mess that originated back in No Justice. Armed with Starman’s knowledge of how to repair the Wall, the team is ready — but they’re not alone. Helping the cause are familiar faces from the Green Lantern Corps, the New Gods and Thanagar Prime.
As the story unfolds, all the plot threads that have been teased in Justice League start making sense. These weren’t random interludes or subplots, they were actually building to something major. Provided the Legion of Doom doesn’t screw things up first.
Now bringing Braniac to the fold, Luthor and company have the architect of the conflict that kicked off No Justice closing another loop. It was a lot of fun watching Luthor and Braniac compare egos and felt like a taste of Challenge of the Super Friends. One of the best aspects of Justice League is the villains have been a few steps ahead of the heroes throughout. That’s helped them to be more than formidable and actually providing a tough challenge as they carry out their own agenda.
Daniel Sampre hasn’t done much work with any of the three Justice League books previously, but the JL editorial team would be wise to sign him up for more projects. Sampre’s artwork was clean and fully capturing the magnitude of the epic scale moments throughout. This was a huge showcase and Sampre delivered big time.
I’ve been fine taking a wait and see approach with Justice League and this annual more than justified that patience. This was a terrific issue that sets up what should be an eventful next year — or more — of Justice League stories with Tynion and Snyder. You don’t want to miss out on this one.
Rating: 10 out of 10
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Teen Titans Annual #1
Teen Titans is such a weird book. Normally with a book comprised of familiar characters with some new additions, it’s the newbies that prove the most challenging to enjoy. That’s not the case with Teen Titans as the new characters are easily the best aspect of the book.
For the first annual, writer Adam Glass continues to write Damian Wayne aka Robin as a psychopath. Damian thinks Jason Todd aka Red Hood sold the team out and is working with the horribly named The Other. And in Glass’ frustrating take on Robin, he’s fight first, second and third and ask questions never. Damian is a lot of things, but he doesn’t fly off the handle without a plan let alone go after someone off of such a flimsy bit of evidence. At least the fight ends with Damian being humbled for the moment.
Ryan Benjamin’s art is adequate. It seems a bit rushed and overly sketched out — not that it matters much with the underwhelming story.
The secondary story fares much better as the focus is more on Crush, Djinn, Roundhouse and Kid Flash — the one ‘veteran’ character Glass writes in a consistent manner with other portrayals. They battle a mind-controlling teen villain who goes by Joystick. Thankfully, he is promptly mocked for his lame name. Even with crazy Robin, Teen Titans would be a lot more fun if Glass wrote Red Arrow less angst-filled. Emiko was far more engaging and likable a character in Green Arrow, but Glass writes her nearly like another person.
And it appears that Glass is setting up a love triangle between Crush, Djinn and Robin. That’s more so odd because Robin has hardly shown any kind of romantic interest in anyone and it seems a stretch to base a subplot around Robin.
I liked the art of Jose Luis as he drew the Teen Titans like they’re actually teenagers. Luis has a classic style reminiscent of a Jerry Ordway, which instantly makes me a fan thanks to easy to follow panel arrangements and basic flow of movement.
This annual was a mixed bag as it hyped the disappointing and forced battle of Robins, but the secondary story was actually a worthwhile read.
Rating: 6 out of 10
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The Flash #63
The Force Quest comes to a dramatic conclusion with some surprising ramifications.
I appreciate how writer Joshua Williamson continues to play against expectations. Williamson happily takes The Flash left when all roads lead right without it feeling like he’s making it up on the fly. The Force Quest ends in a way to set up some very exciting developments in the future.
This issue, Barry has to form an alliance with Psych to take down Gemini. The Flash has already been burned by Psych, but the vampire like Gemini are a big enough threat that he’s going to have to trust him one more time.
One trick with The Flash is making Barry hopeful without being too naive. Williamson may have gone too far on the latter with the first encounter with Psych, but he makes good this time.
I love that Williamson keeps stories and subplots moving through each issue. Gemini is formidable, but enough that the entire issue has to focus on Barry fighting them. Instead, Williamson teases the next two big threats while a long-awaited synching up to present day DC events. Whether you’re a fan of what’s playing out in Heroes in Crisis will go a long way towards thinking that’s a good thing.
Minkyu Jung pops in to handle the art this issue. I liked Jung’s work on Wonder Woman with the exception of making Diana appearing a bit too slight. That’s not a problem for The Flash, who needs to be drawn slighter and with a strong sense of constant motion.
Jung showed that she would make for a pretty solid regular or semi-regular artist on The Flash as her work is a very good fit for the title.
It’s been a blast reading Williamson expand The Flash’s universe beyond the Rogues. With this surprise Force Quest ending, Williamson has set the title on a path with just as much promise as when Geoff Johns kicker off the Sinestro Corps War in Green Lantern. After the fallout from Heroes in Crisis of course. We don’t have to wait long as that picks up in The Flash Annual #2, which is out this week as well.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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The Flash Annual #2
I’m very much taking a wait and see approach with Heroes in Crisis. While in a bubble, it’s an interesting mystery, the event is the kind of story DC needs to get away from. I’m always leery of an event hyped around characters being killed off.
With HIC, one of my biggest problems has been a pair of victims — Roy Harper and Wally West. The former has regularly been a punching bag for DC writers looking to shake things up culminating in killing off his daughter and turning him back into a drug addict. Wally West hasn’t had things as bad in comparison besides being excluded from the transition to The New 52. Wally’s arrival at the end of DC Rebirth signaled the fresh new start of DC with a return to the kind of storytelling DC does so well.
Now with sales getting stagnant and books getting cancelled, DC editorial went back to their increasingly smaller bag of tricks and decided killing off beloved characters was the way to stoke interest in their books again.
Continuity with the HIC has been off with Green Arrow and family having a funeral for Roy and the Titans grieving the loss of one of their own while Wally’s death has barely been addressed…until now.
Flash writer Joshua Williamson has had Barry involved on a Force Quest storyline that was a lot of fun — a sharp contrast to the events occurring in HIC. The two finally collide in The Flash Annual #2, which finds Williamson doing his best to prevent fans from storming the gates after callously killing off the fan favorite Wally.
To do that, Williamson addresses the return of Impulse. Young Justice #1 didn’t provide many answers, but we learn that this Impulse is not some twisted, distorted alternate reality version — this is our Bart Allen from the DCU proper. He arrives to the New 52/Rebirth Earth and like Clark Kent and Wally West before him, knows things are off about this Earth. Kicking off the issue with Impulse was a savvy move by Williamson.
But it’s finally time to rip the bandage off as Barry has to deal with the fallout of losing Wally all over again. This puts him back on a collision course with Godspeed and a reunion with is ‘Flash Family’ of Wallace, Avery and Meena. Godspeed has proven to be a worthy speedster adversary for The Flash and Williamson has wisely not overused him.
Godspeed is not working alone this time and has a master he’s reporting to, but Williamson keeps his identity a secret for now. This looks to be a running subplot (sorry) for the rest of the year. In addition to the big reveal this week of the truth of the Forces, The Flash has a lot of intriguing storylines in motion for 2019.
The fight with Godspeed proves to be a mild distraction as Barry has to tell Iris about her nephew. There’s only so much Williamson can do with that as words aren’t nearly as effective as the emotion, which is why he leaves the heavy lifting of that moment to artist Scott Kollins.
I always consider Kollins the definitive Flash artist of this modern era so any issue he draws has an extra level of credibility. Kollins really delivers here showing the full measure of Barry and Iris’ heartache. It’s a heartbreaking scene done in a thoughtful manner we don’t always get with these numerous comic book deaths these days.
Although I hate how it was set up, Williamson and Kollins handled the death of Wally West as best as possible, while raising my enthusiasm for The Flash even further. That’s not an easy task in an issue dealing with the death of a major character and possibly the sense of hope and optimism that arrived with the start of DC Rebirth.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
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The Terrifics #12
The future of the New Age of Heroes might not be bright, but The Terrifics isn’t dimming anytime soon. As DC goes through yet another Identity Crisis, it’s nice to have books like this that are just fun and hearken back to a day when comics could just be a distracting adventure.
The Terrifics #12 is a great example of a comic that doesn’t try to reflect the modern landscape or be an allegory for some troubles popping up in the headlines. Writer Jeff Lemire simply uses this issue to get the band back together.
Mr. Terrific is held captive by Doc Dread and his Dreadfuls while his former teammates struggle to adjust to life on their own. Plastic Man tries to make good with his son in the most Plastic Man way possible. Phantom Girl realizes she’s not cut out for royal life while Metamorpho is at a crossroads with his life as Rex Mason or as a superhero.
Lemire is winding down his run on the book while making putting it in position for his successor to have an easy roadmap for success. The character dynamics are well established at this point and the team is now coming to a place where they want to stay together instead of being forced to collaborate. I’m glad Lemire didn’t drag this separation subplot out too long. The strength of this book is the personalities clashing and in the same space, not apart.
Viktor Bogdanovic is proving to be a pretty smart choice of artist for the book. He’s got a dynamic enough style to pull off characters like Plastic Man and Metamorpho while getting the necessary emotion from more reserved characters like Mr. Terrific and Phantom Girl.
Bogdanovic’s main weakness was drawing characters distinct enough from each other. That’s not a problem with this title and his pages keep getting better each issue.
Lemire has two more issues to go before handing the book off to Gene Luen Yang. The Terrifics remains an enjoyable read this month, but it’s been so consistently entertaining the bigger surprise would be if it was anything less.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Wonder Woman #63
Wonder Woman isn’t typically a book I think of when I want a good laugh, but issue 63 kept me smiling and laughing throughout. This was one of my favorite reads all month.
Wonder Woman has to deal with three Theymscarian exiles but when they’re a Minotaur, a Pegasus and a faun that’s easier said than done.
When G. Willow Wilson was named the new writer of the book, this issue was exactly what I had in mind. This is the same kind of charming and endearing story Wilson made look so easy in Ms. Marvel.
Wonder Woman is barely in this issue, but Wilson makes it work as she goes all in with the absurdity of three mythical creatures trying to fit in with the D.C. crowd.
Emanuela Luppachino returns to handle the art, which assures that every page looks fantastic.
Luppachino does such a great job with making her characters so expressive and in this case it’s like reading a Disney cartoon. Romulo Fajardo’s cheery colors help bring out that animated look while Ray McCarthy takes a subdued approach with the inks.
Wonder Woman had been inconsistent over the last year and it’s nice to see Wilson providing a much needed level of outstanding consistency back. The book has returned to its can’t-miss status from its early days in the Rebirth era.
Rating: 10 out of 10