Man of Steel #1 (2018)

Man of Steel #1 (July, 2018)
"Man of Steel, Part 1"
Writer - Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils - Ivan Reis & Jay Fabok
Inks - Joe Prado & Jay Fabok
Colors - Alex Sinclair
Letters - Cory Petit
Associate Editor - Jessica Chen
Editor - Michael Cotton
Group Editor - Brian Cunningham
Cover Price: $3.99

Going to take a look at a newer book today... one that I really dragged my feet on getting around to reading, if I'm being honest.

It's probably unfair to say... but I definitely went into it with some preconceptions.  I'm not a stranger to the work of Brian Michael Bendis... and in fact, I'd consider myself a pretty big fan of his work!  I probably own a good 90% of his comics output... and it isn't often that he disappoints.

Bendis on Superman, though?  That makes me a little bit nervous.  Let's find out if those fears are well-founded!

Also... since this is a newer book, I'm not going to go as "deep" with the synopsis... hate to spoil an issue folks might still be looking to pick up.

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We open with Krypton... again.  The beastly, Rogol Zaar is appealing to several of the cosmic heavy-hitters of DC lore... insisting that Krypton is a disease which must be purged, lest much of the universe be plunged into endless war.  Simply put, Krypton must be "cleansed".  Meanwhile on Earth... Killer Moth is threatening Firefly... Superman snags'em both, and delivers his first bit of snark.  Which, isn't nearly as precious as I feared it might be.

After depositing the baddie, Superman overhears some screaming... looks like there's another building fire.  He mentions that there have been a bunch of them of late.  He swoops in and saves the day.

As he takes an x-ray tour of the building, he (and we) meets the new Deputy Fire Chief, Melody Moore (hmm, an "MM" instead of an "LL"?).  They "make nice", exchange some banter, and decide to help each other out with the potential arson investigation.

Back in the long ago, Rogol Zaar is chatted up by the Old-Timer, Appa Ali Apsa.  He wants to ensure that Zaar isn't going to take the Krypton "situation" into his own hands.  In his word, Krypton "must be allowed to rise and fall on their own".  Whether or not the Old-Timer has any insight into Krypton's future... I couldn't say.

In the present, Clark Kent is at The Daily Planet writing up a story on the rash of fires.  Perry ain't all that keen that one of his top reporters is wasting his time on something as mundane as arson.

Later on, Clark returns home.  Jon is annoyed that he's outgrowing his Superboy costume... and even more so that his mudduh won't alter it for him.  Clark checks in on Lois, who is trying to uncover some S.T.A.R. Labs shenanigans... when suddenly, the kitchen is bathed in light!

--

As I mentioned in the preamble... I am a fan of Brian Michael Bendis, I've never disliked his work.  That said, I was still a bit trepadacious about him taking over the direction of the Superman family of titles.  Not that the tail-end of the Rebirth era was exactly setting my world on fire... it was solid, and I enjoyed it... but, maybe it was time for a new voice.  But... Bendis?

Well... I gotta say (and I should mention that I have read this entire Man of Steel miniseries), I think Superman... is in good hands!  I feel like my "fears" might've been informed by... nothing more than fatigue.  Anytime a writer is as prolific as Bendis is, there's a possibility (probability, even) that their writery-ticks will start to get on your nerves.  I've experienced "fatigue" with many of my favorites (Geoff Johns, Peter David, Grant Morrison... and, here with BMB).

That's not to say there wasn't some "snark" that I wasn't terribly fond of here... but, I gotta say, it wasn't nearly as "precious" as I feared it might be.  To use a bit of "low-hanging fruit", part of me was worried that this would feature 12 pages of Lois, Clark, and Jon eating Chinese take-out, while "bantering".  I'm happy to see that isn't the case.  On the same subject, I was kinda worried that Lois would be shifted from her normal character to a generic snark-bot... and there again, not the case... so, it's all good.

As far as the art is concerned... fuhgeddaboudit... some amazing work here!  Top notch, all around!  My only gripe would be in the design of the Rogol Zaar character... he comes across as so generic.  Just a(nother) hulking brute... really nothing special about him.  Hopefully over the next few months he'll win me over, but I'm not really all that optimistic.

Overall... this is a good start, though if you haven't picked it up yet, I might caution you to just nab the trade paperback collection.  This issue is available digitally.

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Justice League (vol.2) #40 (2015)

Justice League (vol.2) #40 (June, 2015)
"Darkseid War, Prologue"
Writer - Geoff Johns
Pencillers - Kevin Maguire, Phil Jimenez, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Scott Kolins, Jason Fabok & Jim Lee
Inker - Jerry Ordway, Scott Kolins & Scott Williams
Colorists - Brad Anderson & Alex Sinclair
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Amedeo Turturro
Group Editor - Brian Cunningham
Cover Price: $3.99

Remember Convergence?

Is this thing on?

Yeah, Convergence was pretty underwhelming... however, there was this one week where a few running-late ongoing DC Comics found their way into our shipments.  One was an issue of Superman (vol.3), and the other... was the one we're going to be discussing today!  A true hidden gem, this issue of Justice League finally gives us the updated History of the DC Universe!

Let's get right down to it!

--

We open with the promise that worlds live... and worlds die, and suddenly my ears perk up!  Is this really a New-52! book?  The cycle repeats over and over again.  We zoom in to take a closer look... and see one of the survivors of the Amazo Virus trying his hand at superheroics.  He's shot... and as he lay dying, he (and we) meet our narrator... Metron!

He gives us the quick and dirty on the attempt he made to keep the peace between New Genesis and Apokolips... which, from how often it's told must've been the most important thing to happen on either planet... ever!  We're, of course, talking about the son-swapping event.  Highfather sent his son Scot(t) to live on Apokolips, while Darkseid sent his son Orion to live on New Genesis.

Metron pats himself on the back for prompting that pact to be made.  War was averted... and the universe/multiverse was able to roll along.  That is, until something else happened... something nobody was prepared for.  Crisis on Infinite Earths?!  I ask again, am I reading a New-52! book?

Our trip down memory lane doesn't end there though... since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, there have been several more attempts at rewriting reality... including Zero Hour: Crisis in Time, Infinite Crisis, and even... Flashpoint?!  Metron continues, claiming that even up to today... reality hasn't completely stabilized!

Speaking of today, we join the Justice League as they battle with Parademons... presumably on Apokolips.  Elsewhere, Metron approaches a man he greets as "Mobius", though we know him better as the Anti-Monitor.

Ol' Mobius doesn't take kindly to being called by his "real?" name, and fires a blast in Metron's direction.  Since he's seated in the Mobius Chair (hmm...), he is left unscathed.  The Anti-Monitor reminds Metron that at one time he himself sat in that chair... which is an interesting wrinkle.

They discuss the Anti-Monitor's motivations... last we saw him, he had destroyed Earth-3 (again)... something which "cracked open" the Multiverse, leaving it easily exploited by others... like Brainiac's Convergence!  Anti-Monitor isn't impressed... and suggests that Brainiac isn't worth worrying over... he's just collecting data.

Metron, still worrying about the fate of the Multiverse... Mobius Chair insight, and all... he dips back into his bag of tricks, and suggests a pact between the Anti-Monitor and... Darkseid.

Welp, sometimes going to the well once too often is futile.  Metron suddenly gets blasted with red energy... and as he lay smoldering, the Anti-Monitor informs him that he isn't looking for peace... in fact, a war with Darkseid is exactly what he's looking for.

He then proclaims that the Age of the New Gods is done (again), before introducing us to his partner in crime... the daughter of Darkseid?!

--

So... everything happened?  Like, everything everything?!

Well, I probably don't have to tell ya, this is the first time in half a decade where I really felt as though I was "back" with DC Comics.  I first dipped my toe back in with Futures End, hopeful that it would somehow end with a return to tradition... a return to legacy.  While that series kinda under-delivered... and the Convergence event that followed was nothing more than a blatant time-killer to facilitate DC's move from coast-to-coast... this one issue of Justice League told me everything I needed to know.

I'd go so far as to suggest that had The New-52! started with a similar bit... many of us disenfranchised "seasoned" DC Comics fans would have been okay with things.  Just the acknowledgement that... yes, Crisis happened... yes, there was a DC Universe before the Fall of 2011.  The adherence to the idea that from Justice League (vol.2) #1 (Nov, 2011) forward everything was NEW... except that... and this... and that... and maybe this too... turned a lot of us off.

I've gone down this path before, but once more... I, personally, want to know that the comics in my library "matter"... they "happened".  I don't want to be condescended to with "Those books are still on your shelf" or "Nobody's ripping up your old comics"... I want to feel as though my quarter-century-plus investment in these characters (and companies) is appreciated... and that folks like me are not being tossed out with the bath water.  This single issue of Justice League told me... yes, those stories that shaped my understanding and love of DC Comics still happened.  The New-52! is simply the next evolution... and, had it been made clear from jump-street, I'd like to think I'd have been okay with it.

Now, onto the story itself... because, there was one!  I run kinda hot and cold on the New Gods... and, if I'm being honest, I tire of them only being brought back under threat of destroying them.  There doesn't feel like there's a status quo for the Fourth Worlders... it's just "Here are the New Gods... watch them die... until next time."  Well, that and son-swapping.

The wrinkle with the Anti-Monitor having once sat in the Mobius Chair (hell, it looks like he's its namesake!) is a really cool way to tie things together.  I don't want to go too deep into the Darkseid War epic... other than to say, it's really long... maybe we'll take a look at that later on.

Overall... this might be the most "must-have" issue from The New-52! era... at least from a history and 'splaining things standpoint.  Definitely an issue I recommend tracking down, even if you're not interested in the pending Darkseid War.

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Batman (vol.3) #22 (2017)

Batman (vol.3) #22 (July, 2017)
"The Button, Part 3"
Story - Joshua Williamson & Tom King
Script - Joshua Williamson
Pencils & Inks - Jason Fabok
Colors - Brad Anderson
Letters - Deron Bennett
Associate Editor - Rebecca Taylor
Editor - Mark Doyle
Special Thanks - Geoff Johns
Cover Price: $2.99

Not much of a preamble today... just finished up my thesis, and I'm sort of in a daze.  Ya know, it's strange how things that have the power to take over your entire life just... end.  I hit the "submit" button... and then started thinking "Okay, what do I gotta do next?" and the answer came back... "Nothing."

Weird feeling.  Anyhoo, mo' Button.

--

After a quick and dirty Flashpoint primer, we pick up where we left off, with Batman and the Flash find themselves in a very different Batcave.  They are also greeted by a very familiar individual... to both of them, Thomas Wayne... Batman!

Thomas sees his Son, and immediately thinks it's a trick.  He lashes out at the Flash... demanding to know what's going on.  Barry assures him this is no joke... but he's also pretty confused.  The Flashpoint Universe was never supposed to have been... it's an alternate history not world.  He deduces that there's something holding it together, just like the images he and Bruce saw on their way in.

He realizes he needs to fix the Cosmic Treadmill right away... and Thomas warns that time is not on their side.  At that moment, the combined forces of Aquaman's Atlantis and Wonder Woman's Themyscira storm the cave.

The Bats don their cowls to hold back the baddies while Flash rebuilds the mill.  They make relatively short work of them... which really doesn't say a whole lot about Arthur nor Diana's folks.  Thomas asks Bruce if he remembers what he had said when he had rescued him from the cave when he was a child.  At this point, it seems... the Bats realize that there is no joke, and they are Father and Son.

Flash completes the rebuild on the Treadmill... and not a moment too soon.  The Flashpoint Universe begins to unravel... as though whatever was holding it together just decided to let go!  Bruce informs Thomas that he is a Grandfather... and invites him to come back with them.  Instead, Thomas shoves Bruce onto the Treadmill.  Batman and Flash both reach out and implore Thomas to join them... but he refuses.  He tells Bruce to be a Father to his Son, and to let Batman die with him... 

In his last moments, Thomas recalls that time he'd pulled young Bruce out of the Cave.  That day he told his Son that Waynes never stay down... instead, they rise!  Gotta say, I was expecting something more poignant.

Back with Batman and Flash... they are on the Treadmill, when they are passed by... well, lookie here, Reverse Flash.  What's more, he's still holding the Comedian's Button... so, somehow they have reentered the timestream before Thawne "saw God (with a capital G)".  Flash calls out to him, warning him that he will die if he keeps running.  Thawne ain't hearing it, however... he claims to know who the "power of the button" belongs to... and he intends to face him!

--

While this was still a tremendous issue, I can't help but feel a twinge of disappointment.  I was just hoping more would happen.  I mean, don't get me wrong, any story that wipes the Flashpoint Universe out of existence is a-okay by me, but I guess I'm just ready to see where this is actually going.  Patience was never a virtue I claimed to have...

For what it was, I did enjoy it.  I feel like the meeting between Bruce and Thomas Wayne was handled decently... even though I'm pretty sure we already had them meeting in Convergence.  Am I remembering that wrong?  Was that a different Bruce?  I dunno... I've eaten and slept several hundred times since I've read that.

The "whispered line" from Thomas to Bruce when he first rescued him from the Batcave?  A little less poignant than I was hoping for.  I thought it was going to be something heartwarming or profound... but, nope... just a "Waynes don't stay down" thing.  Okay.

I don't think I've ever hid my thoughts on how I feel about Flashpoint.  I wouldn't allow myself to enjoy the story/Universe because it was taking away everything I held dear about DC Comics.  I never revisited it... so, it's been (yeesh) six years.  I'm happy to see it wiped out, however... it kinda sucks that they're doing it just when something interesting is happening.

Overall, not a whole lot more to say... it's definitely not my favorite part of this crossover, however I suppose it was necessary in order to display the insane power of whoever is messing with the DCU.

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Batman (vol.3) #21 (2017)

Batman (vol.3) #21 (June, 2017)
"The Button, Part One"
Script -Tom King
Pencils & Inks - Jason Fabok
Colors - Brad Anderson
Letters - Deron Bennett
Associate Editor - Rebecca Taylor
Editor - Mark Doyle
Cover Price: $2.99

Hard to believe it's almost been a year since we saw Batman find that bloody button in the Batcave.  I don't think any of us saw that coming... and I doubt if anyone had any idea where it was headed.

Looks like we're about to find out.  

Should go without saying what follows the double-dashes is gonna be SPOILERY.

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Our story opens with some Arkham Asylum inmates gathered around a television about to enjoy a hockey game between the Gotham Blades and the Metropolis Mammoths.  A blonde inmate, who is probably Saturn Girl, begins to panic... something is coming, and nothing can stop it.  Everyone will die, including... the Legion?  We shift scenes to the Batcave, where it looks like Batman is finally about to start looking into the Comedian's button.

He's also watching the same Gotham/Metropolis hockey game on one of his monitors... a fight breaks out, and it is pretty intense!  Lotsa blood on the ice.  He sets the button down on his console right next to the mask of the Psycho Pirate... and there is some electrical reaction between the two.  It causes Batman to fall back, and when his fog clears, for a brief moment he sees his father... from the Flashpoint Universe!

Batman decides to contact the Flash to further discuss the button.  Barry tells Bruce that he's currently engaged, but he'll be there in about a minute.  Three seconds later, an altogether different Flash appears before Batman.

The Reverse-Flash introduces himself... then proceeds to spend the next several seconds beating the holy hell out of the Batman.  Like, really and truly... beating the hell out of him.  With Bruce on the ground, Thawne finds the note Flashpoint-Thomas wrote to Rebirth-Bruce.  He laughs... and gleefully tears it to bits.

As one might imagine, Batman doesn't really appreciate that... and so, he decides to start fighting back.  Initially, it's futile... Thawne's vibrations don't allow him to be touched.  Batman figures out a "work around" by plunging a batarang into the baddie's foot.

From here the fight is a bit more even, but Reverse-Flash still has the upper hand.  Batman finally slumps to the ground, at the very moment Barry Allen was to arrive.  Thawne picks up the Comedian's button... and blinks out of view for a moment.  Upon return, he proclaims that he'd seen God... all they while, his body degenerates.

The chapter ends with Barry Allen arriving at the Batcave.  He apologizes for his tardiness, and explains that the hockey fight ended in a fatality.  He is shocked to find the battered bodies of Batman and Thawne on the ground.

--

Well, hell... yeah, this felt pretty big, didn't it?

I gotta say, between The Button and Superman Reborn, DC has been bringing it with the "event" feel.  I only wish there was more to read here... but, if the worst thing I can say about a book is that I can't wait to read the next chapter... we're doing pretty good, right?

This really felt like a proper follow-up to DC Universe Rebirth #1.  I will say that I was a bit trepidacious when this was announced without Geoff Johns in the writer's chair... but Tom King knocked this out of the park.  Jason Fabok... well, this dude's just a treasure.  Absolutely excellent work here.

When I started reading this today, I really wasn't sure if I was gonna dig the "one-minute" gimmick... but it totally worked.  It added a sense of urgency to the thing, and also served the nine-panel grid they were going with here.  I suppose if we're gonna play with the Watchmen, we oughta go all the way, right?

The use of the Psycho Pirate mask was a neat touch.  Back in Grant Morrison's run on Animal Man, the Pirate was institutionalized in Arkham because he could still remember the multiverse/pre-Crisis DC Universe.  So, if this story sets to weave disparate eras of DC Continuity together... or at least make them flow in an easy to swallow kinda way, it makes sense that the Medusa Mask would cause a reaction with the Comedian's Button.  At least it makes sense to me...

The use of Reverse-Flash feels like a way to help link Flashpoint into the mix, which is fair enough to me.  The next-issue blurb promises to reveal who killed Thawne, so I gotta wonder if we're gonna be seeing a whole lotta blue skin in the next few weeks!

Overall, if you read DC Comics, there's no reason why you wouldn't pick this up.  This is the first week in I-don't-know-how-long that one of the Superman books wasn't on the tip-top of my reading pile... and after reading this, I think I can safely say that The Button will be the first book I read every week for the next few.

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