Hey
y’all! I apologize for this being late, but there were some technical
difficulties. It was a pretty good week of comics and featured some of my favorites.
Also, Flash Forward, starring Wally
West and written by Scott Lobdell, was announced. And I’m super excited. I like
everyone involved, even the ever-divisive Brett Booth. Legion of Super-Heroes: Millennium
was also announced. And it will be followed by an ongoing LoSH series by Brian
Michael Bendis and Ryan Sook. Get hyped. But before that, we have comics to
review!
Comics Reviewed: Event Leviathan #1, The Flash #72, Superman #12,
Supergirl #31
Event Leviathan #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Letters: Josh Reed
Cover: Maleev
So,
I should have known what this issue was going to be. It’s the first issue of an
event so barely anything was going to happen. It’s also the first issue of a
Bendis-written event. Not much happens here in terms of plot progression. Batman
and Lois Lane meet up inside a destroyed A.R.G.U.S. building and talk about
what’s happened. They find Steve Trevor in the wreckage. He tells Lois and
Bruce that they are inside The Odyssey, a top secret A.R.G.U.S. building that
will be the hub for things like superhero networking, outreach programs, and
other similar services. But Leviathan attacked The Odyssey, trapped Steve in a
bubble, and destroyed the building. The three then work out they probably aren’t
Leviathan but are still wary of each other. Steve attacks Lois in a panic, but
its cool because Green Arrow is here to stop him. The team determines they need
to figure this out tonight; in the
morning, civilization falls. They decide to assemble the world’s greatest
detectives. And Leviathan has the head of The Odyssey and wants her to work
with him to better the world.
That
sure looks like a lot more than it felt like when reading. Its literally just
people standing in a dark room and realizing the threat is more immediate than
they realized. That’s the tl;dr. But it was fun and entertaining. I love Bendis’
dialogue and it is sharp here. It helps that Alex Maleev is on the art because
this comic looks good. It really
plays to Maleev’s strengths and the way he renders things, especially The Odyssey’s
destruction is amazing. On that note, I have one big question: Why did
Leviathan collapse this building when they have been making them disappear in
the buildup to this series? I’m not sure, but I hope it’s explained.
Verdict: Buy
The Flash #72
Storytellers: Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Steve Wands
Cover: Porter and Hi-Fi
This
is a good comic book. And it brings back the high panel count I was asking for
last issue! And that's a good place to start because Howard Porter and the art
team are phenomenal. Porter has improved a ton in recent years and has become
one my favorite artists on the series I read. I’m reviewing four comics this
week. There are some of the best artists in American comics on those issues,
but this is my favorite of the bunch. It’s got everything I like: clear
storytelling, great facial expressions, and a real feeling of movement and
kinetic energy. The last being extremely important to a Flash focused
series.
I
don’t want to leave Josh Williamson out of the celebration though. His writing
doesn’t always work for me (The Force Quest arc was not good), but this is
excellent. I’ve seen interviews where he said this is a story he’s been wanting
to tell his entire run and that he wouldn’t do it without Porter. That doesn’t
surprise me because the team seems to be really passionate and its most obvious
in Williamson’s dialogue, which is so much cleaner and natural than it was in
recent issues.
The
story of this issue is a fun. Barry and Turtle fight. Barry discovers that he
wants to be a superhero and help people in that way which means we get to see
one of my favorite parts of origin stories: costume iteration. The scene in Batman
Begins where they just smash a prototype mask is never not awesome. Same
goes for Peter using Bing to look up ice skaters in Amazing Spider-Man.
It’s so good. And by the end of this issue we definitely have not gotten to the
final costume. Barry also starts his relationship with Iris in earnest. It's
pretty cute. Especially when she surprises him and shows up to his apartment.
Barry panics a little because she's never seen his place before and it's a
mess. But he had superspeed so it's fine. But that's exactly the kind of
everyday use that his peers would get and is super relatable. Little things
like that have made this story so good.
 |
| So understandable. |
Barry
and Iris’ date is interrupted before it can even start when she gets a lead on
a story. She wishes out and Barry, as the Flash, follows. The lead sends Iris
into the middle of a robbery of Leonard Snart's old gang. And they're all
wearing those weird glasses he uses as Captain Cold. Pre-supervillain encounters
are another one of my favorite origin tropes. If it's not overdone, that is. And
Snart’s ‘No women or children’ moral line is clearly but subtly, already in
effect.
Iris
confronts them and when one of them grabs her, she knees him in the balls. Snart
tries get him to back down, but the guy opens fire on Iris. Luckily, Flash does
up and does the old catch-a-bullet thing. Except he's not very good yet and
when he returns home, Barry is down bleeding out on the floor! Obviously, Barry
doesn't die here, but I’d like to know what happens next and how he gets out of
it. Which is what a cliffhanger is for.
Verdict: Buy
Superman #12
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Ivan Reis
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Inks: Joe Prado and Oclair Albert
Letters: Josh Reed
Cover: Reis, Prado, and Sinclair
I
guess the arrival of Supergirl at the end was heralding a crossover. Er… I
think it's a crossover. I'll get more into it in the Supergirl section,
but I'm not sure if this is technically a crossover. It's weird. But this
issue, this issue is good. Will, whenever Rogol Zaar isn't around. He starts
this issue in a fight with Superman and it's incredibly dull. Zaar then goes
after Supergirl, who just wrecks him while Zod and Clark fight. They have a
conversation at superspeed about how Jor-El a part of a council of aliens is
that sent Zaar to destroy Krypton. Zod is actually a sleeper agent working
against Zaar. It's an interesting, but here's the thing, this conversation is dumb.
 |
| This is nonsense. |
Like,
what does that even mean? They’re still in space, right? That means there’s no
sound. Sooo how are they speaking? I get the feeling this whole story arc is
going to pivot on this conversation and that is going to be incredibly
irritating. At least Jon and Krypton get to reunite in this issue and that’s
very heart warming.
 |
| Is it dusty in here? |
After
that, Clark decides its time to go so the Else blast their opponents and
retreat to Jor-El's ship. And then Clark, Jon, Kara, and Krypto embrace and
it's very heartwarming. I loved it. Kara tells Her cousin about The Circle and
how they sent Rogol Zaar to destroy Krypton. Clark asks good father of he was
part of The Circle and he just kinda sidesteps the question until later. Kara,
Krypto, and Jon leave to deal with The Circle while Clark works out his father
issues. Jor-El confirms Clark’s suspicions and then he takes his son to the
remnants of Krypton. So, I guess we’ll finally know what’s going on next issue.
Verdict: Buy
Supergirl #31
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Artist: Kevin Maguire (pg. 1-5) and Eduardo Pansica (pg.
6-20)
Colors: FCO Plascencia
Inks: Sean Parsons (pg. 1-5, 17-18) and Eber Ferreira (pg.
6-16, 19-20)
Letters: Tom Napolitano
Cover: Maguire and Chris Sotomayer
When
this comic relaunched, I tried it out, but didn't care for it. Now, it's part
of a crossover with Superman, a much better comic book. But I’m not sure
this is a crossover. I’m not even sure Marc Andreyko and Brian Michael Bendis
have spoken to each other. They definitely didn’t share scripts because there
are scenes in this comic that happen differently than in Superman. Of
course, you could argue that this is the way Kara sees events play out, but
that seems like a weak excuse to me.
Jon,
Kara, Krypto, and Clark reunite and then fight Did and Rogol Zaar. There’s a
big deal about Zaar wanting his “staff” (Their words. Looks like an axe to me)
back, but it’s not really explained why or why he didn’t go after it sooner.
Anyway, Gandelo, the leader of one of the alien armies and a member of The
Circle, is floating outside her spaceship for some reason, but her minions get
her back in. The Else continue their fights. Then Jon beats up Rogol Zaar. The
Else regroup and attempt to murder Zaar before going to Jor-El’s ship. The
whole family talks for a bit then Jon and Kara leave to kill Gandelo.
 |
| This is attempted murder, right? |
So,
most events in this issue happen in Superman, but in a much different
order and in a far less entertaining way. That’s not to mention the complete
changes like the family teaming up to blast Zaar with heat vision to murder him
instead of using it to retreat. Or Jon explaining how his suit can teleport, a
thing he was unaware of until Jor-El told him in the same moment in the other
issue. Or literally anything with the staff. It’s not even mentioned in Superman.
This crossover is incredibly sloppy and I’m not sure what the point of this
issue is. Why doesn’t it just pick up from the end of Superman? That
would make way more sense.
Also,
this comic boring and is really ugly. I hope Kevin Maguire is okay because his
five pages look incredibly flat and unappealing. And I don't think it's
intentional. Everything Eduardo Pansica does looks better, but there's something off. Maybe he was rushed? These are
two pretty good artists, so I don't know what happened. But this comic looks
bad.
Verdict: Pass
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