Flashpoint Catch-All for July

Anyone who knows me personally knows that the last couple weeks have been insane busy for me. It doesn't help that my internet access has been drastically cut, but hopefully that won't be an issue any longer. Lots to get through in little time, so here goes all 8 for the last two weeks of July. So if my witty remarks and fun pictures are few and far between I apologize, please feel free to insert your own.

Kid Flash Lost #2

Sterling Gates, Oliver Nome, and Trevor Scott
"Part Two" When we last left Bart Allen, Kid Flash, he was trapped in Brainiac's prison in 3011 with a new female "time motorcycle" based hero named Hot Pursuit, and he was begining to fall apart.

Summary: As it would turn out, this new Hot Pursuit was a friend of Barry Allen's that had retired from policework, but had returned as a favor to him for a case. After the first Hot Pursuit (a de-powered Barry Allen from an alternate universe... don't ask), the suit found her, and she was quickly grabbed by Brainiac from the 31st century. Apparently, Brainiac was using them to draw information about the pre-Flashpoint world from their brains, so that he could use it to do something... which is never specified. After a risking move of driving the motorcycle from a 20th story window, Bart realizes that anytime he moves he's losing parts of himself. We see some flesh hanging off his hands and face, as he appears to be melting. This doesn't slow him down from speeding back to Brainiac and uses his skills to quickly rewrite his programming and give him a form of virus. But before the villain is beaten, he mortally wounds Patty and she pushes Bart of the building before blowing it up with Brainiac and her inside. Bart speeds off, still melting, to go find someone in this century who could help.

Highs: No Aqua-zon war crap, so that's a plus. This is a fun story...

Lows: Or at least it should be. It falls flat and ends up really boring. The art is not great in a lot of places

Verdict: C-. This has one issue left, and I can only hope that the ending will make this story worth it.

Lois Lane and the Resistance #2

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Gianluca Gugliotta

"Live and Exclusive." Previously, Lois Lane became trapped by the Amazons after being stuck in Paris while on an assignment for the Daily Planet with Jimmy Olsen. The young photographer sacrificed his life for Lois, she finally escaped from the Amazons, through the aid of Penny Black, Cyborg's spy in England. Black then gave her info that Jimmy also worked for Cyborg and that it was up to her now, and she went off to fight the Amazons. Now, Lois is on the run in the London sewers.

Summary: We open to the Resistance fighting Amazons, comprised of the team from the Canterbury Cricket mini- the cricket, Mrs. Hyde, Etrigan the demon, and Godiva the hair goddess. They are led by Grifter, a gunslinging masked hero from the Wildstorm universe. They are going up against Wonder Woman's Furies- Cheetah, Hawkgirl, Huntress, and Vixen. The team takes down numerous soldiers, Etrigan skins the Cheetah, and after disarming Grifter, Hawkgirl goes in to kill the hero, and gets a knife through her chest, effectively killing her. The team escapes and Mrs. Hyde seals up the tunnels, and a short while later they meet up with Lois. After explaining that their former member, Penny, sent her, the Resistance takes her in, and they begin traveling to their hideout. Along the way, Grifter explains how he knew Penny. A team of soldiers in Afghanistan- Grifter, John Stewart, Sgt. Rock, Lady Blackhawk, Magog, and Kate Kane-Batwoman- were sent after a terrorist group, who sprung a trap, killing the whole team, save Grifter. Before they could kill him, Penny came down in a flight suit and airlifted him out of there, blowing up the terrorists. Later, he went in search of the woman he was now in love with, and arrived on the day of the Amazonian invasion. Putting together the resistance team, he went and saved Penny. Now arriving at the hideout, the team finds Penny, beaten, but alive. Using her tech, the team prepares an attack on the Westminister, and head towards the fortress to get her tech suit back. Arriving, they find it to be a trap, and it is revealed Mrs. Hyde is a traitor and she begins to cut Lois' throat.

Highs: This is a surprisingly enjoyable book and I will probably rank this series pretty high when this event has come and gone. The art is solid and I can always say that it surprises me.

Lows: Its not long enough... But its a book that spends a great deal of time in flashback, so I guess that's to be expected. My other big complaint is that it seems like Lois is just a supporting character in her own book.

Verdict: A. Very solid and enjoyable. Highly reccommend to someone who knows a lot of these characters.

Project Superman #2

Scott Snyder, Lowell Francis, and Gene Ha

"In These Small Hands" Last issue, we were introduced to someone named Subject Zero with Superman-esque powers, but this time, we actually get to meet the Man of Steel himself... well, Boy of Steel... well, he's really thin and weak... but still super... so... Boy of Tin? Whatever...

Summary: We open with Subject Zero doing the narration on how a rocket destroyed Metropolis 30 years ago, and inside of it was a baby named Kal, and that baby would one day help him escape. We see Kal as a ten year old now, being tested by the military, headed by Gen. Sam Lane. Over time, apparently, the General came to see Kal as a son, and treat him in very nonofficial ways as a surrogate father. We see some of these experiments, involving his heat vision, and strength, but we also get to see Krypto as a puppy and how the two interact. After a few weeks where Kal is more preoccupied with being a kid than a test subject, the dog is taken away and Lane is pulled off of the project. But Kal swipes Lane's prized baseball before the General leaves. As the new General, Sunderland, is showing the army's benefactor, Lionel Luthor around, we get a bit of insight into the Luthor family, and how young Lex apparently has a habit of trying to kill his father. The Luthors continue with their tour and see the chained up and now sickly looking Krypto. Once close tot he glass, Subject Zero uses his mind to make Krypto go crazy and two guards are killed, and then Lionel throws Lex towards the beast's open jaws and uses the distraction to escape. The guards finally put the dog down, which Kal sees and cries over. Lane arrives and takes Kal into his office, where his daughter Lois is. She is standard Lois and berates the boy for not speaking. About that time, Subject Zero escapes his prison and attacks and kills some guards. He tries to get Kal to come with him, but he refuses. Zero then tries to kill Lois, but the boy will not let her be harmed. Lane shows up with a special gun, and after a bit of fighting, Lane sucks both he and Zero into the Phantom Zone, leaving Lois and Kal. Jumping ahead some time, we see that Capt. Nathaniel Adams has taken over the project and has isolated Kal to a single tube in the military's basement. Once alone, he uses his heat vision to carve a picture of Lois into the wall.

Highs: This is above and beyond a better story than what we were treated to last issue. I realize we needed the Zero setup, but man, was it boring. The art here is really nice too. This is a very well paced story.

Lows: Zero. I hate this character and honestly, I have this feeling he will be a part of this total DC reboot.

Verdict: B+. Is it perfect? Not a chance, but it packs a really good story about good people in a bad situation very well. Anxious to see how we go from what we see here to what we saw in Flashpoint 3.

Hal Jordan #2

Adam Schlagman, Chris Richards, Allen Passaluqua

"Beware Its Power." When we last left Jordan, he was helping the dying alien Abin Sur, and by all accounts, his origin has remained pretty much the same.

Summary: Let me start by saying there is not a lot of dialogue or story here, so this will probably be the shortest entry. Hal gets Abin some help, and he goes back to Ferris air to get his new plane that Hector has built. While there, the Amazonians attack in invisible planes, and Hal and Carol fight them off in the new jets. After the fight, the Amazons drop off a package with a big dragon inside, which the two pilots manage to kill very easily. We cut to a meeting with President Obama and Amanda Waller, where Waller wants Jordan out of the Air Force, but the president has much bigger plans for him. We then cut to the next day where there is a parade and a shot of Oliver Queen. The President arrives and announces that Hal will be the one to draw the Green Arrow Nuke on the Amazonian base. See? I told you that would be quick.

Highs: The art here is really nice and I like that they seem to be portraying Obama with this very Nixon-esque vibe. Not sure if that's on purpose, but I definitely think there's a political statement to be found.

Lows: Its shallow. There is no story here... at all. The buildup means nothing save for the last few pages with the nuke.

Verdict: C-. This whole series feels like its a good story, but it should have been a one-shot rather than a three issue series.

Deadman and the Flying Graysons #2

JT Krul and Fabrizio Florantino

"All Eyes on the Prize." Previously, we met the stars of the traveling Haley Circus- John, Mary, and Dick Grayson, Boston Brand- Deadman, Ragdoll, King Shark, and Kent Nelson-Doctor Fate. After 22 pages of acrobatics and the hammered in point that Boston Brand is a dick, perhaps this issue will give him some redemption, as there is an impending Amazon attack.

Summary: We open on Wonder Woman and her aunt Penthiselia discussing their goal- to claim the Helmet of Fate. We then cut to the Flying Graysons doing their routine as the Amazons burst in. Dick loses his focus and isn't able to catch his mother in time and she falls to her death. The two men rush to get as many people out to safety as possible. Everyone else flees except King Shark, who fights back by biting an Amazon around the hips in such a way as to show off her ass directly toward the reader. The two then kill each other, the Amazon punching through Shark's jaw while he bites her. (Ok... take a knee gang... After the "sexy death" of Siren in the second issue of Emperor Aquaman, which also featured a "sexy dead" Mera on the cover, I'm noticing a pattern. Please stop going out of your way to pose women as sexily as possible at the moment of their deaths. It's super creepy. Don't do it anymore. Thanks.) Following the loss of King Shark, the survivors also lose Kent Nelson, who takes a spear through the chest that also severely wounds Dick's father John Grayson. But then they're rescued by Vertigo. I don't mean the story suddenly morphs into a captivating 60-issue fantasy/supernatural/crime serial which blossoms into its own company, I mean Count Vertigo, the DC Universe villain whose main skill involves making you dizzy, working for the resistance and has been sent to stop the Amazons from getting Nabu's helmet. With Vertigo, Dick Grayson, Deadman and Ragdoll safely in hiding, the wounded John Grayson asks Deadman to promise to look after Dick. Deadman would rather not honor the dying father's wish because he is a jerk. Later, the Amazons bring in Starfire to burn the village down. The helm, after all, will survive the fire and can be found afterward in pristine condition. Starfire's Flashpoint outfit is one of the most ridiculously revealing I think I've ever seen for this character, who has a long tradition of ridiculously revealing costumes. But the flame motifs built into it are actually a nice touch. Amiright?

Highs: Highly predictable, but very enjoyable story. Nice to see some of my Secret 6 carry overs.

Lows: I'm not a huge fan of the art here... its looks way too watery, and colors seem a bit off in action shots.

Verdict: B+. Its a pretty good read, though I have serious doubts that it will matter much in the grand scheme of the Flashpoint world.

Legion of Doom #2

Adam Glass, Rodney Buschemi, and Jose Marzan Jr.

"Fired Up." Lat issue, after murdering Jason Rusch, half of Firestorm, Mick Rory, known as the Flash villain Heatwave, is sent to the maximum security prison for supervillains. At the end of the issue, it is revealed that his cellmate, Cluemaster, was actually carrying Plastic Man inside, and after killing his host, Plastic Man prepares an escape.

Summary: I could really get into summarizing this thing, but honestly, the Legion of Doom is a failed attempt at a gritty superhero prison drama that's like Ultimatum if Ultimatum wasn't written as well. The book takes its greatest pleasure in trying to find ever more inventively gruesome ways to kill its characters. Opening with a page where Heatwave has set Mr. Zsasz's head on fire, it's all downhill from there. Heatwave is helped in his escape attempt by Plastic Man, who's a sadistic jerk that was smuggled into prison inside another unfortunate and now deceased prisoner. The prison politics in the facility involve two rival gangs, one of meta-human prisoners and one of normal human supervillains, and Heatwave needs to get by the metas to get out. Their leader, Atomic Skull, orders Animal Man to fight Heatwave because Animal Man has been wrongfully imprisoned for the deaths of his family and he's gone a little crazy. Heatwave bites off Animal Man's nose and then kills him by stomping on his head on a stone floor. Amazo shows up to quell the prison revolt, but it turns out that Amazo's actually being piloted by the Atom, who's lost a leg to radiation poisoning and seems to be stuck at about the size of an action figure because he never makes an attempt to get any bigger, not even when Heatwave ends his interrogation by crushing the Atom's head in between his thumb and forefinger (an image complete with blood bursting out of the Atom's nostrils and mouth!). Gathering his new gang of metas and access to the weapons vault in the floating prison, Heatwave begins piloting the ship into the middle of Detroit, home of his nemisis Cyborg.

Highs: I like seeing characters I know...

Lows: I don't like to see them senselessly killed in a plot that makes little to no sense.

Verdict: D-. The only thing that keeps this thing from failing is that I know the third part will make all these guys die horrible deaths and suffer. If only the writer could join them.

Wonder Woman and the Furies #2

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Jose Avilles

"The Sacrifice." Flashbacks explaining the Aqua-zon war. That's pretty much it, and I won't beat around the bush with summaries and whats good and bad. Only thing of any importance is that Wonder Woman finally kills Mera... which we knew happened back in Flashpoint #1. Moving on...

The Outsider #2

James Robinson and Javi Fernandez

"Once Upon a Time in the East" Previously, Michael Desai, the rock-skinned Outsider, the number one mogul in Southeast Asia dealt with an attempted assassination.

Summary: The series continues to be an ambitious book with more story than easily fits into a three-issue series. Michael Desai, having recently survived an assassination attempt, tries to figure out which of his many enemies is behind this latest attempt to kill him. The most likely candidate, as we're shown through a flashback, is Black Adam. Desai figured out a way to cancel Black Adam and Isis's powers and used this as part of a ploy to rob Kahndaq of its natural resources, on behalf of his shady international empire. But when he goes to track down Black Adam, Desai discovers this was all a ruse by Blackout to trap Desai by making him think Adam was responsible for the attempt on his life. And Blackout isn't Blackout, he's J'onn J'onzz. So a character who is still largely a mystery to us thought he was being attacked by a character who was briefly explained to be his enemy, only to have it turn out to actually be a completely different character who hasn't been introduced to the series yet and apparently has a past grudge with Desai which we know absolutely nothing about, who was disguised as a third character entirely who has only a vaguely-hinted-at past with Desai.

Highs: Its a well written story and I'm interested with the character. Art's good too.

Lows: I guess I kinda hit the ridiculousness in my summary...

Verdict: B. There might be an interesting story here but about 90% of it is happening off the page in events we're not shown.