"Flash(point) in the Pan" August

I know that's a stupid title, but bear with me. Teaching classes and newly married life has really put the hurt on my freetime and comic reading time. So we have 17 Flashpoint books that have come out so far, with the final issue coming out on the 31st. So let's run through these, in order, as quick as we can...

Flashpoint 4

Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert, Sandra Hope
Untitled, but should have been called "Why the Hell Didn't Captain Thunder Get His Own Miniseries?" Only thing to remember here is that this is the FIRST book of the month. So this is what people read before all the miniseries'.

Summary: We open on President Obama telling the world that the reliance on superhumans to save the world is over, and that the military has found a way to save us. Watching this account are the 6 kinds who make up Captain Thunder discussing whether or not to get involved (Spoilers: They do.). Apparently last time they faced Wonder Woman, she scarred the hero's face. We cut to Ferris Aircraft where Hal Jordan's jet is getting fitted with the Green Arrow nuke from Queen Enterprises. Apparently, in this reality, they want to hammer in the fact that Hector Hammond and Jordan are friends. Jumping back to the military installation where Superman was being held, and where Batman, Flash, and Cyborg are all fighting as hard as they can against guards. They are about to be shot when all the guards get gassed, which is the work of Element Woman... who is insane. Barry starts convulsing as his reality is being written over by the new universe. Batman calms him and tells him to focus on his son, Bruce, and making sure that he still exists. Cutting back to the SHAZAM kids, they are still arguing and upon stating that if they don't join in and help, the world was going to end, Billy makes the call that they are going out to help. Batman shows up at their house with Barry, still sick, and asks Billy to use his thunder to help Barry's mind. Billy sees what he is in Barry's reality, and decides he must make this happen. The tv goes to a news story about the military strike on the Amazon base in Brittain, and reports Hal Jordan's death as he activated the nuke. Remember this fact... its important. Barry wakes up and rushes Batman into the kitchen, and tells him to stop burning all his bridges, becuase this world could be what they are stuck with. Batman states that if the reality can't be reset, it will burn to hell. So... he basically starts turning into Owlman from the Crisis on Two Earths animated film. Flash tells Cyborg to call everyone and forming a strike force on the Aqua-zon war. Enchantress teleports in and says that the Secret 7 had an incident, and she needs a new team. Just to reiterate, I hate the Secret Seven mini.. as you'll see soon. Anyway, they are all in Batman's jet and heading for the battle. Aquaman and Wonder Woman are fighting each other, and he's upset she's wearing his wife's helmet as a trophy. Our heroes attack and Captain Thunder takes on Wonder Woman and is about to kill her when Enchantress uses her magic to split the kids up intot heir human forms, killing two of them, I think. Wonder Woman stops her attack upon seeing that Billy is just a boy, but another Amazonian soldier attacks and kills Billy. Barry falls to his knees at the boy's body as the Reverse Flash shows up and tells Barry that this is all his fault.
Highs: Lots of action and story movement. The art wasn't that bad either.
Lows: The story is just draining at this point. I'm ready for it to end. And to reiterate my title, the SHAZAM kids needed their own miniseries.
Verdict: B. Not bad overall... Just ok for a main book. Moving on to a far better series.

Batman: Knight of Vengeance #3

Brian Azzerello and Brian Risso
Untitled but I call it "Great Story with Nonsensical Timeline" Given the fact that most of this issue relies on the twists of the last two issues, I would advise you to stop reading here if you don't want to know. So, last chance before I turn the spoilers on... Okay, and go:

Summary: We open to a shot of a mugger firing, but it quickly changes back to the present as Thomas Wayne rushes through the manor to find his wife, now known as the Joker. He finds the dead body of Commissioner Gordon, and the dying girl and her scared brother, the Dent twins. Thomas quickly pours something into the girl's wounds and apparently saves her. She says that she's cold, which makes Thomas snap to a flashback of Bruce dying on the street muttering the same words. As Thomas tries to save him, Martha just rocks back and forth saying that this isn't real. Thomas snaps at her to actually do something, and she runs off, and returns with a cop, but too late. Back in the present, Martha begins attacking Thomas with a hammer as he tries to get the kids out of there. Cutting back tot he past, we see that Martha isn't responding to therapy like she needs to and she refuses to accept Bruce's death. He says he misses her, and her smile, and tells her that he is going to make it better. We wee Thomas jump Joe Chill, the mugger, and beat him to death. He returns home to tell Martha that the killer is dead, and she shows him her new smile- cutting her jowls into a permenant smile.Horrified, Thomas has her institutionalized, and begins to mope. Cutting back to the present, we see Martha just beating Thomas up with the hammer, saying that all the blood on his hands hasn't changed anything, except Thomas himself. Thomas then tells her the news that he has: That there is a world where both shots killed them instead, and Bruce lives. And that's where the problem is. Barry Allen has, for his entire tenure in this universe, has had someone with him constantly- Thomas Wayne. So how could this book ever take place? Maybe I'm just being nitpicky... Anyway, after telling her that he has the chance to destroy this reality and bring the one where Bruce lived, to light, Martha calms down. She smiles, and kisses her husband in the rain, her makeup finally coming off. She asks what Bruce grows up to do in this new world, and we are given this scene:

Martha runs off, horrified, from this news, laughing all the way, and misses a step and falls through a hole. Thomas jumps to save her but is too late, as she falls and gets impaled on a stalactite/stalagmite, still laughing.
Highs: What an incredible series.. this thing was great from beginning to end, so much that anachronisms which normally drive me crazy, don't bother me at all here.
Lows: The art is not near what it should be, but in a book as gritty as this, that's kinda to be expected.
Verdict: A. Great final issue for a series, and I look forward to seeing how this all turns out for Thomas in the end.

World of Flashpoint #3

Rex Ogle and Eduardo Francisco
"This is the World We Hope For"- Traci 13 is a magic teenager who is trying to stop her scientist father, Doctor Thirteen, from blowing up the world to stop the Aqua-zon war.

Summary: Basically, this is a story about father and daughter, who are trying to outmagic each other. We open on her father beating her, then she starts beating him, and he does the classic, "I'm sorry honey... Don't know what came over me... ZAP... Ha, I can't believe you fell for that" trick. Worst father ever so far. So, to make sure her father stops his bomb, she teleports to the battlefield where the bomb will go off. Her father goes after her and tries to save her from being killed while she runs around screaming for people to stop fighting. So, naturally, she gets a spear through her chest. The doctor gets so mad that he melts the faces off every person in a 15 foot radius. Some white light reaches up from the ground and heals Traci, and she is magically saved and goes to stop her father, who is now just flensing people maniacally. She realizes her dad needs some perspective, so she shows him all the wonderful people she met on her journey last issue, and he just shrugs off all his hate. So to stop the satellite which goes off in 2 minutes, he punches Traci and turns into the Human Torch to go blow it up and basically sacrifice himself. He blows it up and begins to bleed from his ears when Traci teleports in and grabs him and teleports them to some random field somewhere. We find out that she used up all her magic with that and that she, nor he, can never use magic again. They hug and walk off into the sunset, apparently forgetting the massive war that will no doubt destroy the universe.
Highs: Its a good family story with some great cameos, but this issue just was lacking in everything that isn't found in an ABC Family special movie. Art's nice though.
Lows: I feel that the competition parts, like the magic fight and the"sacrifice-off" are kind of dumb.
Verdict: B-. While not a strong issue or conclusion, the other two issues are very fun, and for the most part enjoyable as they bring hope and love and family to the front of a world that is lacking in all three.

Secret Seven #3

Peter Milligan, Fernando Blanco, and Scott Koblish

"The Area of Madness"- I hate this series. Its dumb. And if you thought my last entry was brief, you aint seen nothin' yet.

Summary: We open up to Shade trying to bring Amethyst back to life as June Moone, the Enchantress' split personality, is keeping Shade calm. Zatanna, now in biker gear and 3% of her clothes shows up with a Trigon infested Raven, and Mindwarp, the astral projection guy. They all want to kill Shade and June, but June turns into Enchantress and knocks them all back. Raven and Mindwarp begin psychic attacks on the witch, but Shade stops them, in fear they will hurt June. Their "soul selves" are temporarily stone, and Enchantress uses this chance to destroy the statues. This makes the two bodies of the heroes explode, killing them. Zatanna uses a death spell which kills Enchantress, but also kills Zatanna in the process. Enchantress stands up and states that it was June who died, not her and now taht she's free, she is off to see her real friends, leaving Shade in a room with the bodies of his team, and he descends into madness. Enchantress is shown meeting with Wonder Woman's aunt, Penthesilia, where she is paid by the Amazons, and tasked with joining a new team and killing them (see the Flashpoint #4 for that info). Shade is shown inside the madness where his vest brings him back to life.
Highs: Its over.
Lows: Everything in this book is utter crap, and this is by far the worst series.
Verdict: D. Only reason this book doesn't fail is because it is not really redundant like some of the other books in the Flashpoint series. However, the whole plot where the Amazons tasked Enchantress to kill a group of incompetent and semimagical people who never really seem to care about the Amazon War... it seems really dumb. But anyway, moving on...

Deathstroke and the Curse of Ravager #3

Jimmy Palmiotti, Tony Shasteen, and Alex Massacci

"The Treasure" Pirate Deathstroke is trying to save his kidnapped daughter, pretty much explains it.

Summary: After saving Jenny Blitz from Warlord, and her blowing up the guy's ship fleet, Deathstroke makes her an offer to have his share of the treasure they find for her help. Also, after a really awkward moment where she compliments how fatherly he is, Deathstroke kisses her, and they have sex. Awkward... and I'm going to pass on the obligatory "pirate getting booty" joke. None of this goes over well with the crew and they plan a mutiny. Two soldiers that remain loyal to Deathstroke are killed, and the ghost that one of them, Briggs, talks to sees the murder of her friend and warns Deathstroke. He puts his mission on hold while he goes and kills the mutineers with Jenny. After killing them all, including evicerating Eel and Jenny blowing up Icicle's head, only Sonar remains. After telling them that he made a deal with Caretaker, the man who created Jenny, he will be free and Deathstroke will die. So Deathstroke shoots him in the face and kills him. Caretaker arrives with Rose tied to the mast, and while Jenny goes on about how she'll never be captive to someone again, Deathstroke knocks her out. Deathstroke offers a trade for the two girls, and says that if he tries anything funny, two thermal nukes will blow and take Caretaker's fleet out. Hard to argue with that deal, so Ravager is released as Deathstroke brings the tube holding Jenny over. He adds to the deal once he sees his daughter is safe, that his ship needs to get a safe distance away before, and in exchange he'll turn himself in as he's worth 100 times what his daughter is. Unable to argue with this deal either, they let Rose sail away safely. Once she's safe, Deathstroke goes nuts and starts attacking Caretaker's crew, and sets off the thermal nukes, which is actually just opening Jenny's pod. Massive death and explosions occur, including Caretaker's execution at Deathstroke's hands, and Deathstroke sinks beneath the water and waits to die. He awakens back on his ship where Jenny and Rose have saved him. They all hug as a new family and sail off into the sunset. Another happy ending...
Highs: Art's great and I've always been a Deathstroke fan.
Lows: That being said, I feel like they are trying to cram too much stuff in for a single issue.
Verdict: B+. I still don't get the title. It doesn't seem like the Ravager ship is cursed beyond having a bad track record for its crew staying alive. Also, the whole story is leading up to a finale where just luck solved all the problems and mission. But the book was surprisingly not a bad read.

Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3

Jeff Lemire, Andy Smith, Keith Champagne

"Our Frightening Forces" This has definitely been the standout series that surprised me at how much I enjoyed it. Monsters from WWII fight against the military... good times.
Summary: We open to a lab in 1940 where a sick soldier is given a miracle drug and it turns him into a werewolf. Jumping tot he present where he is dying from a silver bullet would, Griff the werewolf is running out of blood. The recently arrived Bride of Frankentstein wants to enlist Frank to join SHADE and go fight the Aqua-zon war, but he refuses until they can find the scientist to help Griff and the others. The Bride also informs the monster hunter Shrieve that it wasn't just the creatures that killed her family, but her boss, General Adams, that ordered the kill. Shrieve chooses to join the team and head to Romania, but, using the GI Robot's camera eyes, Adams has seen the map of where the scientist is hiding out. Arriving at the hidden village, the streets are littered with the dead bodies of werewolves and vampires. Velcoro the vampire, attempts to run but is stabbed through the chest by another GI Robot. The Frankenstein monsters take on the robot while Nina and Shrieve try and get Griff to the castle and to safety. The scientist, now dressed as a mummy for no discernable reason, rushes outside and explains as he tries to help Griff that Nina was never a normal girl, but a creature from the village that the scientist stole. He finally manages to give Griff something to help him, and the werewolf passes out. Jumping back out to the robot battle outside, the sun has started to come up, and the Franks are losing. Luckily Velcoro jumps on the creature and begins ripping out its circuits, as the sun is burning him up. Finally, Frank cuts the robots head off, and Velcoro falls and begins to turn to ash, smiling that he had finally stopped being a coward. Jumping back inside, we see that Griff has finally returned to a normal state. Though normal, he still loves Nina, and the two share an embrace as the Franks and Shrieve head out into the sunset to join SHADE in the war in Europe.
Highs: This was a fun story that never let me down. It also kept away from the Aquazon war, which is incredibly tiring to constantly hear about. The art was good, and the characters are almost all new, and they really make me want to read more of them. Really looking forward to the new series.
Lows: Only problem is that its not long enough. Really wish there was more here.
Verdict: A. Solid book with solid writing. Can't ask for much more.

Emporer Aquaman #3

Tony Bedard, Vincente Cifuentes, and Diana Egea

Untitled but should have been called "Jesus is to Blame" You'll see why momentarily, as this book takes place, almost entirely in the past.
Summary: Wonder Woman has arrived on Aquaman's ship, not to fight, but to warn him that his brother Orm, and her aunt Penthesilia are in cahoots to start and continue the war. The whole thing doesn't make any sense really, which I'll get to momentarily. Aquaman agrees that the two must be brought to justice, BUT FIRST, they must fight to the death, and whoever lives, will take on the traitors. As the two fight like friggin' idiots, Orm sets off a bomb with Penthesilia, that blows up the entire Atlantean fleet except Aquaman's boat. Vulko, Aquaman's head scientist, believes this to be the Amazon's doing and sets off their Geo Force bomb which shakes the earth's core and will destroy it. Then Vulko's ship explodes. Believing it all to be a trap, Aquaman goes back to trying to kill Winder Woman. He is left with a choice: kill the woman who killed his wife or to stop the machine that will kill every living person on earth. So of course, he chases after Wonder Woman. So if you are wondering where my title came from? The issue is narrated throughout with Aquaman discussing that if he had gotten the exposure he needed from his father with the Christian faith, he never would have been this way. But since he didn't now he's this way. I was not expecting a book about a make-believe warrior king of a race of undersea people out for revenge against the ruler of an island of Amazon women with invisible planes to end with such a strong endorsement of Jesus Christ.
Highs: The art here isn't bad.
Lows: Everything else. Characters are cardboard, story is weak, and we don't know anything more from anythign else.
Verdict: C-. Its a boring story that doesn't make sense. Not to get off on a rant here, but... Whose side exactly are Penthesilea and Ocean Master on in the first place? Like, is he betraying the Atlanteans for her? Because blowing up all Atlantis' ships does not seem like a good move even if he secretly seeks to take his brother's throne. Why not just blow up the ship Aquaman is on? If he has betrayed Atlantis for the Amazons' cause, why are the Amazons upset with him and holding him prisoner? Shouldn't they be happy he just pushed a button that made all their enemies explode? Are both of them betraying their own people? Why? On whose behalf? Why have these two conspiratorial geniuses crafted a scheme that has resulted in the deaths of untold numbers of their own people and, in the Amazons' case, the destruction of their homeland? What exactly are they gaining from this? It's pretty close to the end, shouldn't we know that by now?

Deadman and the Flying Graysons #3

JT Krul and Farbrizio Fiorintino

"Death in the Family" Can we all agree that this should be called Deadman and the Dying Graysons? Mary died in the last issue and his father is dying at the beginning. Everyone's just dropping like flies.
Summary: We open to John Grayson dying, asking Boston to look after his son, but Deadman doesn't seem interested. The group, now consisting of Dick, Deadman, Ragdoll, and Count Vertigo, is trying to decide what to do with the Helmet of Fate. Dick decides to get the helmet out of town, and of course, everyone goes with him. As they run through that attacking Amazon hordes, Ragdoll is grabbed and then crushed to pieces, and Vertigo is then stabbed though by another Amazon, leaving only Boston and Dick. The two run through the city, and eventually a wall comes down on top of them and the enemy Starfire. Deadman stands up afterward and tries to help Dick up and save him, but its no use. Boston Brand is the one who's dead. We get a great moment, and possibly the only moment of a character shouting "Nooo" beside their own dead body:

Dick continues running and getz to an oil tanker, and releases the valve, covering the whole area with flammable liquid. The tanker blows after Starfire attacks Dick, killing the princess and several Amazons. Boston possesses Dick and helps him make the jump escape, and as the teen rolls, he lands at the feet of Brittaina, leader of the Resistance. She is joined by Kid Devil and... I won't lie... I literally got goosebumps at this sight:

Yeah, that's my guy. The Vic Sage version of the Question. I pray that the reboot will return him to life and his heroic role. If that's the case, all of this was worth it. Anyway, Dick puts on the helmet and becomes the new Doctor Fate and Deadman promises never to leave Dick's side.
Highs: Did you see the Question? Boosh. Also, I think this was a great, though fairly predicatble story.
Lows: It sucked seeing so many good characters bite it, but that's Flashpoint for you. Also the art seems really water-y
Verdict: A-. While its a great story with a lot of options, I found that it was just ok, but in the upper tier storywise, compared to some others.

Citizen Cold #3

Scott Kollins

"Cold Hearted" Captain Cold is not a good good guy. Like this whole series is about how he is secretly this bad guy masquerading as a hero, but he really is just scummy... not sure why he's criminal background is such a mystery. Anyway, here goes the final issue where everyone gets some form of revenge.
Summary: We open to Cold lying on Iris West's couch, passed out from the rough beating he took in the last issue from the survivng rogues who killed his sister. Iris finds herself strangely attracted to the "hero," but cant resist finding out who he really is. In a surprise to no one, he's actually Leonard Snart, criminal who murdered his gang for turning against him. Whiel horrified, she still doesn't do anything with this knowledge. She tehn finds taht he has two tickets to Dubai, for him and for her. He wakes up as she discovers the tickets, and has no idea how he got into her apartment. He also gets really paranoid as his glasses have come off, revealing his face. He asks if he can trust her, and when she says yes, he kisses her as hard as he can, though she pushes him away. He says he has some final business, but he loves her, and if she ever wants to see him again, to meet him at an address and hands her some keys. She sits to breathe, staring at a picture of her now dead nephew, Wally. Meanwhile, in the sewers, Piper has survived Cold's trap, and is plannign to go after the villain for killign his best friend, Wally. We catch back up with the rogues who are still reelign from their escape from Cold. Mirror Master, still trapped in mirrors, is slowly losing his mind; Weather Wizard wants to break Cold and find out what he did to his brother; Tarpit, who apparently in this reality is a teenager just wants to break stuff; Fallout wants to avenge his friend Mr. Freeze; and near as I can tell, Axel the Trixter is just there for the fun of it. Trixter shows Tarpit his new ride, and hooks the monster up with his stereo. As Tarpit is too busy with the music, he doesn't hear Cold come up on him, freeze him and then shatter him to pieces. He pulls a similar trick on Fallout, and kicks his frozen body into a generator, smashing it to pieces. While Weather Wizard is creating a tornado and screaming abotu his brother, Cold tells him that his brother was the one that paid Cold to kill the Weather Wizard. Before he can respond, Cold snaps his neck, and begins to leave, but gets sucked into mirror world. He sees Trixter's body inside, cracked like a mirror, and Mirror Master explains taht he knew Axel was the traitor the whole time. Cold has about 30 seconds before he dies liek Axel, but he manages to pushes Mirror Master through one of his own portals, where he will die in the surface world. Finally succeeding in his mission, Cold slumps off, soliloquizing that in anotehr life these guys could have been his team (WINK WINK, READER). Making it to his apartment, he finds Iris inside, and she is crying. He rushes to her side and she asks him point blank if he killed Wally. Before he can respond, Piper shows up and the two have a battle. In it, Cold admits to killing Wally, and before he can kill Piper, Iris shoots Cold at close range with his own gun, freezing him, and presumably killing him.
Highs: I'm a huge fan of the rogues and stuff liek this is an excellent treatment of an alternate universe. The art is gritty, but it works with the tone of the book.
Lows: I was kind of hoping for... something more here. I don't know what exactly... just expecting more.
Verdict: B+. Its not the strongest series by far, but its a solid title that never dealt with the Aquazon war which is a blessing.

Wonder Woman and the Furies #3

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Agustin Padilla, and Jose Aviles

"Cataclysm" We pick up almost exactly where the Aquaman book leaves off, as the Geo Force weapon is activated, and England is being ripped apart.

Summary: Terra uses her powers to try and stop her brother's powers, but she's not having a lot of luck, but she manages to raise England up... wait... what? They already did that, right? Turns out that this is a fakeout without a time stamp, and we cut to now. As Terra is sitting by a fountain, Orm and Siren have arrived (in their attack from Emp. Aq. #1) to kill her, but Penthesilia arrives and kills Siren, as Orm and she kiss. Wonder Woman stumbles onto this sight and she figures out their treachery. She beats Orm up and fights her aunt to a standstill when the furies arrive and show Wonder Woman the broadcast from Lois Lane. Lane reports that the Amazons are acting like the Nazis, with camps, torture, etc. Diana, unable to figure out what to do in thsi war situation, is an idiot and asks her captive aunt what to do. So Wonder Woman goes to the fight from the Emp Aq #3 issue while we get the seismic bomb going off after Orm blows the ships. As Orm and Penthesilia fight the Amazon and Furie guards, they, and this is out loud, talk about how they met, and why they were such a good team. This is beyond ridiculous and reads like a clip show.. Don't believe me? Try this piece:

Ridiculous... So, they defeat the guards and discuss who they will marry and form a warrior union to rule the world. Then they stand and watch Aquaman and Wonder Woman fight, which ends with, all the heroes showing up... which happened in Flashpoint 4 (scroll up to the top). So we learned nothing in this issue beyond why those two traitors were hooking up... which context clues answered in the beginning.
Highs: The art was very good... which makes sense because there are three of them.
Lows: The story is repetitive and pedantic... Just boring.
Verdict: C-. At least with Aquaman we got something new... and we found out religion could have saved the sea king. With Diana... we just know that she can't think for herself. Which is a shame.

Legion of Doom #3

Adam Glass, Rodney Buscemi, and Jose Marzan Jr.

"Streets on Fire" This book has been all blood and gore as someone decide to remake Oz but with supercriminals and even more violence and gore. Last time, we saw Plastic Man and Heatwave go on a killing spree of other inmates. That's about it.

Summary: We open on the villain prisoners trying to crash their floating prison into downtown Detroit, Cyborg's city. Plastic Man in a complete change of heart from last time, is not cool with killing all the innocent people and Heatwave and he fight. Heatwave then sends his two new bodyguards, Lock Up and Sportsmaster, who are quickly dispatched with soem clever quips. This is a distraction so that Heatwave can kill PM and burn his rubber down to nothing but a pool. So, with this huge thing crashing in downtown, Cyborg jumps in and manages to reroute it to crash into a waterfront, where there are no casualties. Heatwave and his team, which now consist of Black Manta, Thinker, Firebug ( I think), and a guy in a suit who never speaks or does anything. Unfortunately, Cyborg is unable to do anything more because he has depleted his power supply. To make matters worse, Heat Wave rips his arm off, and uses it to beat the hero. However, I have to assume that Cyborg and Bender Rodriguiz from Futurama have the same engineer because the arm begins to beat Heat Wave mercilessly. The other villains all surrender after their leaders humiliation and they are sent back to prison. Heat Wave gets a new cellmate soon after, and is already forming a new escape plan. The new guy starts crying and then bleeding all over the place yelling out "He's angry with you!" and "He lied to me about how this would feel!" Big surprise, Plastic Man survived and smuggled himself in again and all we see is fear in Heat Wave's eyes as PM reaches for him.

Highs: It ended. This comic was beyond dumb. I guess the art wasn't bad.

Lows: Story, characters, needless gore and violence, and the fact that this writer is on Suicide Squad in the reboot...

Verdict: D-. Only thing keeping it from failing is the fact that we get some revenge and there's a semi-happy ending. Moving on...

The Outsider #3

James Robinson and Javi Fernandez

"Men from Space"-The Outsider, Michael Desai is a stone skinned mogul who controls all of southern Asia. He's also an enormous dick. In the last issue we found that everything leading up to now is the work of a now megalomaniac Martian Manhunter. And now we'll learn why.

Summary: We open to a lab scene, years ago, where there are experiments being done on the Martian at the behest of Desai, so that he can learn about how he got here. They discover his weakness to fire and his telepathy and attempt to learn more from these traits. Desai is more focused on the technology to go to other worlds rather than this one creature. After learning everything, they sold the Martian to the Russians. The Russians tortured the Martian even more and when he finally overcame his fear of fire, he escaped, taking with him the frozen body of Black Adam. The two joined forces until Martian Manhunter betrayed him, stealing some of the magic that allowed him to change, and eventually killed him. J'onn reflects on that if he hadn't been brought to Earth, he could have had a good life and been a good man, maybe even a hero (WINK WINK READER). J'onn also explains that he was paid by the Amazons or the Atlanteans, but won't say who, to kill Desai. So J'onn turns into all these different green monsters and Desai fights him, and for the first time, we see that Desai is kind of a badass, as he is a 4th degree blackbelt in 8 martial arts. So after some serious fighting, where Desai's suit is never even wrinkled, Desai pulls out what I honestly believe to be a sonic screwdriver via Doctor Who. Teh device opens up a portal between realities and Desai encases half of J'onn's body in the portal and threatens to cut him in half between worlds if he doesn't talk. J'onn scoffs and almost gets out a "You wouldn't dare" before Desai proves that he doesn't make threats. So, now we have some bottom half of a Martian floating in some other reality. Desai heads back to his home and calls Batman and Cyborg to let them know that he is on his way to the battle to join them.

Highs: I gotta say that I'm a fan of this guy. Rock skinned Lex Luthor. Really hoping he makes the reboot. The story though slow and really mysterious seems to wrap up nicely and that's always a plus. Kinda getting sick of everything being continued in Flashpoint 5 though.

Lows: Sonic screwdriver ripoff... that's about it.

Verdict: A. Solid story and certainly something that got my interest. Definitely, for me, one of the best series to come out of Flashpoint, if not the best character.

Abin Sur #3

Adam Schlagman, Robson Rocha, and Felipe Massafera

"Emerald Embrace" Previously we saw taht Abin Sur was doign just fine and on a mission to find and save the White Entity in Earth's core. Sinestro showed up, believing the prophecy of the Flashpoint, and tries to kill Abin and succeeds in cutting off his ring hand. When will people learn with this guy...

Summary: So Sinestro is about to execute Abin, and in his gloating, he doesn't notice that Abin is making his own hand out of willpower. Yes, Abin Sur has so much willpower his ring doesn't even have to be on him. So after breaking Sinestro's hand and his ring, Abin is chastised by the Guardians for not finishign his job and impeding Sinestro's mission to bring him in. When Abin mentions Flashpoint, the Guardians change entirely and demand that he bring Sinestro in and do not listen to a word he says. Arriving back on Oa, Abin is then stripped of his title and fired from the Lantern Corps. So, once his ring runs out of power, it will be sent back to Oa, and he is done. Abin, with 13% power, heads to England and begins fighting alongside Cyborg against the warring groups. The ground begins to quake and Abin knows that the white entity is in danger so he heads intot he cracking earth to stop the machine. His ring runs out of juice as he falls into the lava, as his ring heads up to find a replacement in the sector (Who wants to bet that Hal is the one to get the ring now?) . Abin awakens, surrounded by white light and his sister, who informs him that he has done everything to save lives, now he needs to embrace it. And.. you guessed it- Abin becomes a White Lantern and the last thing we see is his ring putting the earth back together.

Highs: It was a very successful story and I think that this book did more to shine a light on what kind of person Abin Sur is/was than anything to date, so kudos for making "dying purple alien" into such a mythos.

Lows: The art here is very watery and although the colors are pretty, its kind of sloppy in places... and looks very dreamlike.

Verdict: A. A solid end to a book that was utterly predictable for the first issue. Very enjoyable.

Hal Jordan #3

Adam Schlagman and Cliff Richards
"Hard Travelling Hero"- I'm not gonna lie... this book has been absolutely nothing... Everything that we could have gotten as an aside in another book. The first book is almost a shot for shot of the standard origin story. He doesn't get a ring there, but he helps Abin Sur, then joins the military to stop the Amazons. We already knew that from his momentary appearance in the Abin Sur comic (same writer). Now he's set to drop the nuke on the Amazons...
Summary: Have you seen Independence Day? Mostly the part where Randy Quaid flies the plane and blows up the alien ship? Well, now you get to read it. Honestly, maybe I've gotten a bit too jaded, but I'm going to rush through this one because we learn nothing. Hal goes to Carol and tells her he's dropping the Green Arrow nuke, and she wants to come with. He flips out and storms away. Cue the scene from Flashpoint 4 (Let me reitierate that this book came out on the 24 of August... Flashpoint 4 came out on Aug 3) where Hammond preps Hal's jet, and he takes off with Carol and a few other planes. The other planes get destroyed by the Amazon defense grid which is a forcefield, and a giant woman. Carol and Hal team up to shoot Giganta's eyes out and kill her, and damage the forcefield. Hal's bomb is stuck and not working so he tells Carol to eject, and he will too, but surprise- he doesn't and flies the plane and the bomb into the Amazon territory, and dies. No ring, by the way, because of the timeframe, obviously. Also, we knew he was going to die from the first issue of the month. Duh. He's long dead when the forces arrive to fight the Aqua-zon war. Jumping back to Ferris Air, we see Pieface bring Carol a box of Hal's stuff. Inside is a small box and inside that box is, you guessed it, a ring. But not an engagement ring. His and hers wedding rings. Because he's sure of her answer without even asking- even in death, Hal is a self confident, self-assured jerk.

Highs: I actually don't know any. Its not bad... just really repetitive and unnecessary in places

Lows: See the repetition issue. Also the art is really grainey, liek its colored sand in some spots, but the action shots are actually well done.

Verdict: D+. Its not the worst series, but it honestly seems like the most unnecessary. Though maybe we'll get something worthwhile out of Flashpoint 5 from this.

Lois Lane and the Resistance #3

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Christian Duce, and Walden Wong

"Kill the Story" So far this series has been much more about the Resistance than Lois Lane... so its essentially Ringo Star and the Beatles. So let's jump right in...

Summary: Penny Black was a technician aboard an experimental British ship that generated a "frictionless field" so that it might travel faster than any other vessel. With shades of the supposed Philadelphia experiment involving the USS Eldridge, Black's ship disappeared from the ocean but later reappeared on land next to Stonehenge, with the entire crew gone -- except Penny, who all of a sudden had superpowers. The government made her a suit of armor to focus those powers and she became Britannia, who's kind of like a British Iron Man with a DDD-Cup. The last issue of Lois Lane ended with Lois and the resistance trying to break into a guarded location containing a secret weapon developed by the United Kingdom's military -- a weapon invented by Penny Black. Ms. Hyde has captured Lois in an ambush and threatened to kill her unless the others surrender, as Hyde's turned traitor thanks to the Amazons' offer of a cure for her condition. Or at least the part of Hyde that's actually Bobbie Stephenson turned traitor. When she suddenly turns back into Hyde, her other persona's firmly on the resistance side and starts swatting Amazons. While Grifter and the Demon hold their attackers off, Lois and Penny go in search of Penny's armor. Penny finds her gear just in the nick of time, with the Amazon Artemis inches away from cutting Lois open. Penny stops Artemis by punching her torso off. Let me say this again... Lois Lane is seconds from death when a woman in a metal suit of armor punches another woman so hard that her torso is graphically separated from the rest of her body, spinning upward and sending blood and intestines flying everywhere. Insert your own emphasis where you like... but I wrote that with a Lewis Black sound. Penny leaves to fight Wonder Woman while Lois stays behind. There's a big confrontation where Penny reveals to Diana the prison camps and genetic experiments the Amazons had been conducting on the native population. Understandably upset, Diana has a change of heart and orders the camps immediately shut down before setting off to have the confrontation with Penthesilea we saw last week... so that she can then go have the confrontation with Aquaman we saw two weeks ago. You may have noticed, like I did, that Lois has been taking a mostly supporting role so far. However, Lois does get one last moment of glory when she finds an old emergency broadcast unit that she uses to send out into the world a report on the Amazons and the Resistance. A group of Amazons find her and cut her broadcast off for good. Or so it would seem... (Yeah I'm cliffhanging... deal with it.)

Highs: This was a great story, despite the title being a lie for marketing, but I thoroughly enjoyed how everything worked out. Art's solid too.

Lows: Without factoring in the true ending, its hard for me to enjoy what we are shown here at the end.

Verdict: A. While not perfect, it definitely stands out as one of the better books of the Flashpoint world, and its handled very well, except for its reliance on our next book.

Project Superman #3

Scott Snyder, Lowell Francis, and Gene Ha

"Battle's Eve" The first issue of this series was awful and I could not care less about Subject Zero, but I loved the second issue where we were introduced to a young Kal, the quiet boy from Krypton.

Summary: For anyone who only read Lois Lane and the Resistance, it would appear that Lois dies off-panel, after the Amazons crept up behind and we "heard" an ominous "BOOOM!" But Project Superman reveals that said "BOOOM!" was actually caused by Kal-El, bursting through the wall to save Lois Lane. The final issue of Project Superman picks up not from the conclusion to issue #2, but from Flashpoint Superman's disappearance in the main Flashpoint book after Cyborg, Batman and the Flash broke him out of the secret government lab where he'd been imprisoned. Superman heads directly for the UK and is horrorstruck by the carnage. He soon speeds off toward what he's really there to find: Lois Lane. Also freed in the break-in that set Kal loose was Subject Zero, the previous super-soldier experiment from Project Superman. He's freed from the Phantom Zone and out for revenge. First Subject Zero kills General Lane, then he sets off to find Lane's daughter and the boy Lane came to see as a surrogate son, Kal, but not before absorbing the residual energy from the corpse of Doomsday that he happened to find in a spare room somewhere. Transformed in a hulking beast, who looks very similar to this guy, Subject Zero shows up to challenge Kal, who looks so much like the stereotypical 90-pound weakling that you'd believe Zero could beat him just by kicking sand in his face. But Kal's starting to get the hang of his powers and puts up a fight. Zero yells at him, repeating his zen mantra that Kal's only suffering because he's allowed himself to become attached to the world and the people in it. But Kal finds new strength and a reason to fight, and for the second time this week someone's torso gets punched off. The torso-punch has the unfortunate side-effect of sending out shrapnel or excess energy (or something) that fatally wounds Lois. Her final words to Kal explicitly address the cliche of the girl dying to inspire the hero, and she tells him to go save the world because it's the right thing to do. So with Lois dead (again), Kal declares that he must now "be a superman", which we'll see happen in Flashpoint #5.

Highs: As much as I hate the constant David and Goliath battles in comics, this one isn't too bad really. Subject Zero is just really annoying, which makes his defeat even better.

Lows: The art is just ok for me. Nothing special, and its just really blah throughout.

Verdict: B. As self-admittedly cliched as Project Superman's finale sometimes was, it was still an enjoyable read. The arc of Kal across the series was well told, and Lois has a more significant role to play here than in her own book. The weakling Kal-El was an interesting twist to the Superman mythos that explored in a new way important themes about power and the responsibilities of those who have it. Project Superman was able to be both fresh and familiar, and stands out as one of the better tie-in series to come out of Flashpoint.

Kid Flash Lost #3

Sterling Gates, Grant Nome, Scott Kollins, and Trevor Scott

Untitled but I prefer "It Shoulda Been Wally..."- Bart Allen is one of the few people still alive who remembers the world as it was, and after sucking up all of Hot Pursuit's Speed Force to stay alive, he raced through time looking for help.

Summary: We open on Texas in 1889, where soldiers are camped out waiting on a messenger. That messenger is quickly shown to be Max Mercury, one of the first speedsters. Drawn towards a flash of strange lightning, Max heads towards the disturbance, speeding through the desert. Arriving, he finds Bart, now in Black Flash regalia, and falling to pieces. The speedster touches the young man in hopes of helping him, but is instantly turned to dust upon his touch. This heals Bart a bit, and he is flung through time more and he sees the events that were altered to make the Flashpoint universe. With each moment he's zapped to more speedsters and kills them, taking their speed. He then stumbles onto the dead body of Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, but he never became the Flash. Touching his body sends Bart crashing into the grave of Wally West a few years in the future of Flashpoint. Bart cries over Wally's grave and within moments he's zapped back into the speed force. Finally figuring out what his true mission is, Bart runs as fast as he can, losing his black costume as his yellow Kid Flash one returns. He catches up with the Barry presumably who was trapped in the speed for years after his Crisis sacrifice. Bart quickly fills him in on what to do, and then pulls a ball of light from himself and pushes it into Barry. Bart's costume begins to fade into just white light as Bart seems to be moving faster than ever. So you can guess what's coming, but to further illustrate:

So, basically pulls a Barry and sacrifices himself to save the universe. All this information Bart sent out hits Barry while he's at the Aqua-zon warzone, so once again, we are left to check out Flashpoint #5 for details.

Highs: What I ridiculed for having two weak starter issues turns into a fantastic and honestly heartfelt finale. The art here is great too.

Lows: Same thing... what a weak start. I would have been turned off if I just read the first issue and thought it was going to maintain that level of style. So, this issue feels rushed.

Verdict: A. It's a touching death for the character that also seems meant to be a farewell, in a way, to all the other speedsters as Barry Allen takes on that responsibility almost on his own in the imminent DC Comics relaunch. Of course, that does make it a bit odd that Bart was the character chosen to tell this particular story. Because we already know that Bart will return in Teen Titans, this story would have had a much more powerful impact, if not making everything that happens in Flashpoint worth it, if it were Wally West disintegrating and passing back the torch that had been given to him in the first Crisis. Even Jay Garrick would have worked, considering we still don't know when we might be seeing the Golden Age DC heroes again in our own universe. Nevertheless, this was a satisfying end to the miniseries.

Well, that's all folks. The new universe is launching on August 31st and I will do my damnedest to review every title of the new 52 for at least one issue. But first, the final issue of Flashpoint in my next blog.