Post by Zoom on Jun 3, 2011 23:29:32 GMT -5
So awhile back, the other ledger mods/admins and I talked it over and planned out our reviews so that we could review as many titles as possible without stepping on each others toes.
At the time, I agreed to review Green Arrow, Teen Titans, Brightest Day and Green Lantern Emerald Warriors. This...didn't work out so well. Brightest Day was great. There was material to make fun of with every issue. Teen Titans became frustrating because it wasn't particularly good and I didn't find myself wanting to pick it up every week. Same for Emerald Warrior only it was more that I just didn't pick it up than that it was bad.
Then there was Green Arrow. I reviewed the first five or so issues of it in a row and it became tiresome. Each week, the book was pretty much a 3/5. Each week, I could point out some cool things, explain the story a bit and then point out the one thing that bothered me and give it a good but not great score.
This was boring. The book itself wasn't boring but since I was reviewing each issue, I wasn't able to write big long intros explaining my point of view on tangentially related things or point out silly things about comic book history because I had already given all the background in the previous review. As a solution, I just only reviewed comics when I had things to say but this wasn't perfect, either. Now, people didn't know that Green Arrow was a 3/5 book! This was unacceptable.
So as a solution to this, I've decided to review Flashpoint one week at a time with only a couple sentences per issue. Then, as each mini finishes, I'll review it in full. That way, I'm not getting bored and you guys still know what comics to buy. So without further ado, here's your review of the first three weeks of Flashpoint with a road to Flashpoint review tacked on.
Road to Flashpoint: Flash 9-12
Most of this is pretty freaking stretched out. Bart is kinda pissy the whole time but Geoff Johns has been ruining Bart Allen since 2003 so this isn't anything new. On the other hand, the art is pretty good and a nice minor character gets introduced and characterized.
Bottom line: 2.5/5 but that's mainly the Impulse fan in me speaking. If you like the Flash, pick it up. If you just want it as an intro to Flashpoint, just know that Professor Zoom has been messing with time, can age and de-age himself and his messing with time is probably the cause of all the changes that happen in Flashpoint.
Flashpoint 1
Like most Geoff Johns mini/maxi series, this one takes off quickly. Barry is trapped in what seems like an alternate reality. We get some cool plot points. Flashpoint versions of Batman, Cyborg and Captain Marvel are introduced and man are they cool. The last page makes you really want to pick up the next issue.
4/5
Booster Gold 44
Like just about every issue of Booster Gold, this is a comic you should be reading. Dan Jurgens is a great storyteller and artist and his characters are interesting and likable. I laughed out loud on the second page. It's worth noting that Booster has been unchanged by Flashpoint since he's kinda sorta outside of time. This is one of the best superhero titles on the shelf every month with only Slott's Amazing Spider-Man and David's X-Factor giving it any kind of competition.
4/5
Batman - Knight of Vengeance 1
Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso (the team behind one of my personal favorite series, 100 Bullets) team up yet again and they do not disappoint. Flashpoint's Batman has a great twist and these gentlemen are more than capable of pulling off this even darker knight. Of the Flashpoint minis (and granted, I don't know the teams behind all of them), you can expect this to be the best.
4/5
World of Flashpoint 1
Traci Thirteen is an odd main character for this book but I kinda like the choice. This is the book about the world powers and their attempt to take back the planet. Overall, good stuff but the sheer number of obscure characters may turn some off from the book.
I expect this to be a better book than GL for those of us that know a lot about the DCU.
3/5
Abin Sur - The Green Lantern 1
It's no secret that I detest Hal Jordan. He's got the personality of a cardboard box and the world centers around him and he's constantly pushing more likable characters aside so that he can hog the spotlight.
So Abin Sur steals Hal Jordan's thunder? Sign me up. (Yes, I know Hal gets a mini later. Cause even a ringless Hal Jordan is going to be important because he's a fearless jet pilot, right? :
Only...I'm not exactly sure what Professor Zoom could have possibly done to prevent Abin Sur's death considering the first time Abin Sur visited earth was when he died and Professor Zoom should have a hard time messing up time on other planets without visiting those planets but I digress.
Abin Sur's story is good so far but nothing spectacular.
3/5
Secret Seven 1
I like Shade the Changing Man. I like Enchantress (the one with the hat, not the one that wants to bump uglies with Thor). I like George Perez.
This all said, Secret Seven 1 is full of obscure characters (to the point where I haven't heard of a few of them) and well...not a lot happens. I'll keep picking up the book because I like three of the main things about it but the story hasn't exactly grabbed me and has little to nothing to do with the Secret Six.
2.5/5
Flashpoint 2
Oh no! Someone hit the breaks on this storyline. While Batman, Captain Thunder and Cyborg are all awesome in Flashpoint, apparently not as much thought was put into Deathstroke's character design. See, he's a pirate and the crew of his ship is made up of other supervillains. There's no explanation and no really logical stepping stone from the Deathstroke we know to Cap'n Slade. We've got a random Steve Trevor/Lois Lane freedom fighter scene in there too and Flash and Batman try to reactivate Flash's powers....and that's it.
Basically, this means we have 2 parts stuff I roll my eyes at and 1 part Batman and Flash twiddling their thumbs for awhile.
Oh and Flash dies at the end. Spoiler alert: You can't kill off your main character at the end of issue 2, which means there's another problem with this issue. It yanks your chain, trying to get a reaction but we're all too smart for that and we know he'll be fine within the first 3 pages of the next issue. Yawn.
2/5
But Zoom! What books should I read if I just want to understand the main Flashpoint arc? Do I need to read all the minis?
Absolutely not. All the tie in books save Booster Gold seem to just be sidestories/origin stories for characters that were introduced in Flashpoint 1 and probably won't have much effect on the main book except as backstory.
At the time, I agreed to review Green Arrow, Teen Titans, Brightest Day and Green Lantern Emerald Warriors. This...didn't work out so well. Brightest Day was great. There was material to make fun of with every issue. Teen Titans became frustrating because it wasn't particularly good and I didn't find myself wanting to pick it up every week. Same for Emerald Warrior only it was more that I just didn't pick it up than that it was bad.
Then there was Green Arrow. I reviewed the first five or so issues of it in a row and it became tiresome. Each week, the book was pretty much a 3/5. Each week, I could point out some cool things, explain the story a bit and then point out the one thing that bothered me and give it a good but not great score.
This was boring. The book itself wasn't boring but since I was reviewing each issue, I wasn't able to write big long intros explaining my point of view on tangentially related things or point out silly things about comic book history because I had already given all the background in the previous review. As a solution, I just only reviewed comics when I had things to say but this wasn't perfect, either. Now, people didn't know that Green Arrow was a 3/5 book! This was unacceptable.
So as a solution to this, I've decided to review Flashpoint one week at a time with only a couple sentences per issue. Then, as each mini finishes, I'll review it in full. That way, I'm not getting bored and you guys still know what comics to buy. So without further ado, here's your review of the first three weeks of Flashpoint with a road to Flashpoint review tacked on.
Road to Flashpoint: Flash 9-12
Most of this is pretty freaking stretched out. Bart is kinda pissy the whole time but Geoff Johns has been ruining Bart Allen since 2003 so this isn't anything new. On the other hand, the art is pretty good and a nice minor character gets introduced and characterized.
Bottom line: 2.5/5 but that's mainly the Impulse fan in me speaking. If you like the Flash, pick it up. If you just want it as an intro to Flashpoint, just know that Professor Zoom has been messing with time, can age and de-age himself and his messing with time is probably the cause of all the changes that happen in Flashpoint.
Flashpoint 1
Like most Geoff Johns mini/maxi series, this one takes off quickly. Barry is trapped in what seems like an alternate reality. We get some cool plot points. Flashpoint versions of Batman, Cyborg and Captain Marvel are introduced and man are they cool. The last page makes you really want to pick up the next issue.
4/5
Booster Gold 44
Like just about every issue of Booster Gold, this is a comic you should be reading. Dan Jurgens is a great storyteller and artist and his characters are interesting and likable. I laughed out loud on the second page. It's worth noting that Booster has been unchanged by Flashpoint since he's kinda sorta outside of time. This is one of the best superhero titles on the shelf every month with only Slott's Amazing Spider-Man and David's X-Factor giving it any kind of competition.
4/5
Batman - Knight of Vengeance 1
Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso (the team behind one of my personal favorite series, 100 Bullets) team up yet again and they do not disappoint. Flashpoint's Batman has a great twist and these gentlemen are more than capable of pulling off this even darker knight. Of the Flashpoint minis (and granted, I don't know the teams behind all of them), you can expect this to be the best.
4/5
World of Flashpoint 1
Traci Thirteen is an odd main character for this book but I kinda like the choice. This is the book about the world powers and their attempt to take back the planet. Overall, good stuff but the sheer number of obscure characters may turn some off from the book.
I expect this to be a better book than GL for those of us that know a lot about the DCU.
3/5
Abin Sur - The Green Lantern 1
It's no secret that I detest Hal Jordan. He's got the personality of a cardboard box and the world centers around him and he's constantly pushing more likable characters aside so that he can hog the spotlight.
So Abin Sur steals Hal Jordan's thunder? Sign me up. (Yes, I know Hal gets a mini later. Cause even a ringless Hal Jordan is going to be important because he's a fearless jet pilot, right? :
Only...I'm not exactly sure what Professor Zoom could have possibly done to prevent Abin Sur's death considering the first time Abin Sur visited earth was when he died and Professor Zoom should have a hard time messing up time on other planets without visiting those planets but I digress.Abin Sur's story is good so far but nothing spectacular.
3/5
Secret Seven 1
I like Shade the Changing Man. I like Enchantress (the one with the hat, not the one that wants to bump uglies with Thor). I like George Perez.
This all said, Secret Seven 1 is full of obscure characters (to the point where I haven't heard of a few of them) and well...not a lot happens. I'll keep picking up the book because I like three of the main things about it but the story hasn't exactly grabbed me and has little to nothing to do with the Secret Six.
2.5/5
Flashpoint 2
Oh no! Someone hit the breaks on this storyline. While Batman, Captain Thunder and Cyborg are all awesome in Flashpoint, apparently not as much thought was put into Deathstroke's character design. See, he's a pirate and the crew of his ship is made up of other supervillains. There's no explanation and no really logical stepping stone from the Deathstroke we know to Cap'n Slade. We've got a random Steve Trevor/Lois Lane freedom fighter scene in there too and Flash and Batman try to reactivate Flash's powers....and that's it.
Basically, this means we have 2 parts stuff I roll my eyes at and 1 part Batman and Flash twiddling their thumbs for awhile.
Oh and Flash dies at the end. Spoiler alert: You can't kill off your main character at the end of issue 2, which means there's another problem with this issue. It yanks your chain, trying to get a reaction but we're all too smart for that and we know he'll be fine within the first 3 pages of the next issue. Yawn.
2/5
But Zoom! What books should I read if I just want to understand the main Flashpoint arc? Do I need to read all the minis?
Absolutely not. All the tie in books save Booster Gold seem to just be sidestories/origin stories for characters that were introduced in Flashpoint 1 and probably won't have much effect on the main book except as backstory.
