June 20th Comic RoundUp

posted by JediSheltie @ 7:16 PM

Spoiler Alert. But you've probably been spoiled by like 80 other reviews by now, so who cares?

Flash: The Fastest Man Alive 13

Via various obfuscations, the ending to this issue was kept pretty effectively under-wraps. Even within the pages, writer Marc Guggenheim managed to give the briefest glimmers of hope that perhaps the inevitable could be avoided. It was not to be, and Bart Allen pays the the ultimate price to save the eastern half of the United States of America.

Guggenheim's run was certainly a turn for the better after the, to put it delicately, "disaster" that was the original OYL debut from Bilson and De Meo. Whether Bart's eventual fate was in response to the near complete flop that was the OYL launch, or whether this was planned all along, we may never know. I have to assume Bart was doomed by his first writing team, though. Even as they plan to restart the numbering from the last series, it seems quite a specular detour to have taken simply to provide the Flash with another "death."

Bart Allen's tenure as Flash was quite short, and he only found sure footing at the end. He will probably end up a mere footnote in Flash history, though. Even as the Rouges pound on the powerless Bart Allen, they notice he isn't "the Flash," just a kid. They manage to kill him nonetheless, though. Guggenheim's refreshingly simple reintroduction of Bart as a guy who "runs fast" and "helps people" becomes an epitaph of sorts. There's little laboring on a funeral, simply a full spread of a statue with a vigil around it to close out Bart's brief career as Flash.

I wouldn't have minded seeing Bart succeed as Flash. I did like the light-heated character that was Impulse, and saw the possibility in him becoming Flash. But a back story of draconian complexity and the rather tepid "aimless young man" that arrived with the OYL launch was completely counter to those possibilities. Bart always would have that headache inducing back story, but that hardly meant his character couldn't be compelling. Leaching him completely of the sense of humor and turning him into a such a stock character signaled bad things from the start.

Bart has left us, the Flash is dead.

Justice League of America 11

Long live the Flash.

I suppose the only major problem I had with this crossover in general is this: if you consider it to be a mystery, it was a poorly developed one. I saw it as a mystery, and, in the end, the resolution simply came out of left field. Was it cool? Sure, yeah, it was cool, but there was little in any of the preceding issues that really provided the reader clues to the eventual outcome. (Unless they were only visible to the most hardened DC continuity fanatic, which I'll admit even I'm not.) The general expectation is the author will show the reader and their protagonists the clues, and someone will eventually figure it out.

Why was the "old" version of the Legion of Superheros, the ones Clark knew as a "boy", back? Other than choosing the restore a part of Silver/Bronze Age back story to the character of Superman, they were here to bring someone back. Someone who could ride the lightning.

It's only in this final issue we see the hints of their intended target, appearing to Batman and others as apparitions. But even these apparitions are misleading. Bruce sees the gaunt, withered form of Barry Allen, shortly before he perishes in the act of destroying the Anti-Monitor's super weapon. Coming, as it did, one issue after the original Kara Zor-El's demise in CoIE 7, it was a pretty bad time to be wearing tights in the DCU.

The Legion raise their lighting rods as the members of the JLA and JSA urge them to reconsider, knowing, from Clark's exposition a few issues back, that one of them will die in the process of this resurrection attempt. Bruce Wayne and the 3rd Smartest Man in the World, Mr. Terrific, race to counter the personal shields designed by Brainiac 5, which keep the heroes from simply taking the young Legionnaire's lightning rods home and sending them to bed without a snack.

Brainiac 5 and 31st Century technology wins over the best minds of the DCU, and the lightning strikes. Wally West and family appear an instant later, and a particularly nimble Karate Kid simply dodges the bolt that would otherwise have taken his life. Goeff Johns' own star rose after his well received run writing Wally West in the Flash, so perhaps this choice isn't all that confusing. In a brief epilogue, we find that I called it, Flash is the last member of the Justice League.

Coincidentally, the Flash title also needs a Flash, how bout that?

Why there were pages devoted to Geo-Force, other than a smokescreen, I have no idea. He was even listed on the JLA roster for this crossover, but he was little more than a background character with nary a single significant story contribution.

Art was great. I like Benes' work, and this was certainly a fine effort. This issue continued a nice little shout-out to Superfriends from the last JSA installment. Who doesn't like to see a certain domed structure listing in a swamp? Especially with the JLA and JSA in a kinetic engagement all around it. Michael Turner's cover was great to, had my two favorite members of the JSA prominently displayed, so what's not to love?

News that Meltzer's follow-on to the JLA is now finalized. Dwayne McDuffie is best known for working on the toon JLA from Justice League Unlimited as well as now writing Fantastic Four at Marvel, so he's got a feel for group dynamics. After spending so long talking up his cast, Meltzer's group will be somewhat dissected apparently. Not that I mind, so long as the core remains untouched, and I seriously doubt that will be the case.

Madame Mirage 1

Yes, I read more than DC. Not much more, granted, but it happens.

Paul Dini's work in Detective Comics has been great, and I decided to see what he'd do with a character of his own creation. In a certain fashion, the titular (had to do it) Madame doesn't stray too far from the vigilante ways of one Bruce Wayne. Batwoman, she isn't, though. We don't learn much about her background in this first issue, but she doesn't bother with cowls or display the slightest hesitation in terminating the bad guys rather permanently.

The Madame cruises her world not in some superhero-stock skin-tight catsuit, but in perhaps an equally tight white dress, tastefully set off with black thigh-boots, a very small bolero jacket, and a big swinger hat. (Best guess on the hat type, had to look it up.) Granted, I'm one of the few people in the world who might describe thigh-boots as "tasteful." It certainly is a new take on on a superhero outfit, or perhaps one that may have shown up in a 40's nior, had any of those actually featured a superheroine...

Dini gives us the front page of the world in question rather succinctly. It's the future and at some point technology advanced to the point where it could provide people with "superpowers". Heroes sprung up, but most people decided it was a lot easier to take the other path and make out like literal bandits with the new toys. Pandora is eventually stuffed back into her box and the technology is outlawed, leaving the few heroes to stew in prison and the many bad guys to slink back into the dark and use their ill-gotten gains to form big corporations.

The Madame had a grudge against one of these Corporations, a lovely monikered "Aggressive Solutions International." Why is yet unclear, but this issue details her initial efforts to destroy it. So far her name is certainly indicative of her "powers". She can perform flawless impersonations of both male and female, and vanish at will. The source of these abilities is also unrevealed. Her one known allay in the fight is a younger looking blond who is shortly revealed to be her sister. Her powers, so far, include the ability to shoot people with guns.

Madame Mirage is no slouch in that department either, and her gold plated pistol may be dainty, but it seems to pack quite the punch.

The art style could have been some neo-nior that, on the fact of it, seemed to fit the property. Not to say it might not have been a good choice, but what we get I more throughly enjoyed. Kenneth Rocafort's art is detailed not only in terms of scene and actor, but the attention lavished on Mirage's curves is quite exquisite. The art has a throughly modern look that fits in with the setting more than some attempt at capturing 40's nior would.

Dini's writing is crisp. He's at home here, basically, writing about a vigilante at war with criminal elements. It's much the same home Bruce Wayne lives in, just with very different furniture. Nothing wrong with that, really, it's a home that a lot of superhero comics live in. This issue was, rightly so, almost all Madame with very little intrusion by her foes. An early entrant in a budding rogues gallery makes an appearance, but this issue is primarily an intro to the character, not so much the world or her foes.

I'll keep picking it up, as I'm curious to get the Madame's back story and learn more about her. This is Dini's own little sandbox, removed the strictures of the DCU, should be interesting to see what he does with it.