Flash (vol.5) #9 (December, 2016)
"Kid Flash of Two Worlds!"
Writer - Joshua Williamson
Art - Jorge Corona
Colors - Ivan Plascencia
Letters - Steve Wands
Assistant Editors - Amedeo Turturro & Diego Lopez
Editor - Brian Cunningham
Cover Price: $2.99
Hey there's an interesting cover... looks like we'll be crossing one off my "Rebirth Wish List" here, the meeting of the Wally's. As we have learn from the post-Rebirth pay-offs... we probably shouldn't get all that excited, eh?
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We open, and it's Halloween in Central City. This ain't going to be all that Halloweeny... but there is a pumpkin! Anyhoo, Iris has been getting mysterious bouquets of flowers for a little while now... which makes Barry a little uncomfortable, ya know, considering they're not from him. Before she and the guys can do the Halloween horror movie thing, she is called away to a situation on the Keystone Bridge. Flash and Kid Flash decide to unknowingly tag along to help out.
The narration is Wallace's, and he talks about "meeting your heroes". He's met his... it's the Flash. Only one thing though, the Flash won't share his secret identity with him just yet. After diffusing the bridge sitch, the two speedsters are joined by a third... the real Wally West. He taps into the Speed Force to stop an explosion, which leaves the younger Wallace a bit bamboozled.
As the dust has settled, the trio of speedsters get acquainted. When Barry goes to shake Wally's hand, however... a bit of an odd reaction occurs, giving Barry some strange visions... and a heinously ugly full-page spread.
Then... dude snaps! He starts (verbally) laying into the Wally's... refers to their both being abandoned by their parents. Heck, even mentions nu-Wally's dad going so far as to pretend to be his uncle! This is all new information to nu-Wally, by the by.
Real-Wally explains that the Speed Force must be trying to absorb Barry... which, I mean, that concept is getting pre-tty, pre-tty old by now, ain't it? Speaking of overstayed/overused concepts, there's Zoom! Anyhoo, the Wally's gotta nyoink him outta the lurch.
And they do... and it's apologies all around. Unfortunately, nu-Wally heard some things he can't un-hear, and so he throws a tantrum... which has gone on to become his defining character trait, unfortunately.
We jump ahead to a Halloween Party where nu-Wally and Chester P. Runk are supposed to be hanging out. Still not sure there was any point to de-aging Chunk... ya know, besides the whole "funny, ha-ha, look at this random character I know about" sort of reason. Anyhoo, they don't make it inside, because real Wally is there for a chat.
They share stories about their unpleasant childhoods... and what it all comes down to, more or less, is... give Flash a chance, he's not such a bad dude.
They then run off together so real-Wally can show him some Speed Force tricks.
We head toward the close with Barry and Wally talking about everything that's gone down of late. We learn that Wally's the one sending Iris the flowers... though, we already knew that since we're reading this out-of-order. He refuses to inflict himself on her yet... not until he knows a bit more about why he's back. They talk about Abra-Kadabra being responsible for making people forget about Wally, which... I'm sorry... just sucks. What's wrong with just having Dr. Manhattan be responsible for the lot of it? Why complicate matters even further by adding some d-list villain to the mix?
We wrap up with Barry sharing one particular vision he had while in the Speed Force... he's not sure what it was, but it filled him with hope. Psst, it's totally a Mercury helmet... even with no memory of Jay Garrick he ought to be able to identify that!
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As with many of our Rebirth-payoffs... this was quite underwhelming. We keep leaning on the Speed Force crutch as a facilitation device... and, I mean, there's that law of diminishing returns we gotta take into account, right? I mean, we just rescued Real Wally from there... like twice, right? Do we really need to do this like every time out?
What is this art? I'm on record saying (usual artist) Carmine DiGiandomenico isn't my cup of tea (especially on a title like this... and woof at that "Of Two Worlds" homage cover), but... what am I, reading the third story deep in an issue of X-Men Unlimited here? Is this a reboot of Ren and Stimpy? This art really hurt any "oomph" this story might have had right off the bat. I mean, this was supposed to be a big story, right? The two Wally's meeting? Least I thought it was going to be a bigger deal. Maybe that's my bad.
Because what we get... ain't much. I feel like so many of these early-Rebirth era books are in such a hard spot, because there's only so much they can do until DC Brass and Geoff Johns (who might've still been part of DC Brass at this point) decide what they're going to do with the Watchmen characters. Looking back, it makes the entire "Button" reveal feel more like a gimmick and less like a long-term plan. It was the very definition of a "cheap pop", without anything (concrete) to back it up. I mean, we're nearly three-years removed at this point... and we're still waiting! Worse yet... we're still going to be waiting a long time (longer by the day, it seems!).
Even with all that said, however, this issue could have been better handled. It could have felt more special... and, it should have used a different artist. Nothing tells me a story matters less, than when they drop a fill-in artist with a unique "novelty" style into an issue.
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Green Lantern (vol.3) #138 (July, 2001)
"Away From Home, Part One"
Writer - Judd Winick
Pencils - Dale Eaglesham
Inks - Rodney Ramos
Colors & Separations - Moose Baumann
Letters - Chris Eliopoulos
Associate Editor - Michael Wright
Editor - Bob Schreck
Cover Price: $2.25
Had such a good time checking out a Kyle story yesterday... I figured why not go ahead and read the next issue? Also, I'm still getting over being sick, and don't feel up to slinging longboxes looking for something else to discuss quite yet!
Let's hear it for accessibility!
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We open with Kyle getting a call from Martian Manhunter about acting as an Ambassador for an off-planet peace treaty ceremony. This is a pretty funny little scene. Ya see, initially the Tendaxians called looking for Hal Jordan, who as we know, is... unavailable. Then, they wanted Superman... or J'onn himself... and it goes on and on until Kyle asks for his feelings to be spared. Kyle agrees to oversee the signing... so long as he can bring his girlfriend along for the trip.
J'onn gives him the thumbs up, and so Kyle goes about putting himself ahead of schedule so he can afford to spend a week off-planet. It's here that we learn that Terry Berg has, come to accept his homosexuality, and is even taking part at a local youth center.
From here, we spend... probably more pages than we need to, watching Kyle and Jen fly to Tendax. They share like the sitcommiest banter... it's almost like they know we're reading. You ever around "those" kinda people? The ones who won't stop "putting on a show" around perfect strangers? It's like they're hoping we're all thinking "Wow, they must have a super-nutty home life!", when we're all really thinking "I wish these #@%@#$ would just shut up and go away!" Yeah, it's like that.
Anyhoo, they eventually arrive on Tendax, and we're given the quick 'n dirty on them... and, I'm not the most knowledgeable on affairs of the Middle East, but it feels like a loose-ish analogy to the situation between Israel and Palestine.
Kyle and Jade are then introduced to Minister Illus, the elected leader of Tendax... who is extremely pleased to see, not one, but two Green Lanterns. Jade quickly corrects... confuses... and probably annoys him (I know it annoyed me!). C'mon Jade, just stop.
The treaty ceremony isn't for a little while, and so our visiting Lanterns decide to take in some of the sights. First stop, the "water side", because Tendax doesn't have a word for beach. Jade pops her top and tries to soak up as much Sun as possible. Kyle ain't keen on her "hanging out", so he tries to cover up her baubles.
Later that night, they attend a celebratory dinner in anticipation of the treaty ceremony. Everyone is in the best of spirits, they all eat some vegetable lasagna (blech)... and Kyle plays some Rock'em Sock'em robots with a kid. You do see where all this is going, right?
While Kyle is busy being a big kid, Jade chats up Minister Illus. We learn a bit more about his role in the "unfortunateness". Ya see, he was a terrorist in his own right before realizing that there had to be a better way to protect his people. He seems very regretful... though hopeful that everything will eventually work out in the end. You... do see where this is headed, no?
The next day... the ceremony begins. It's such a gala event, Kyle compares it to a Royal Wedding. People are dancing in the streets... there's music... lotsa pomp 'n circumstance!
Then... boom.
Terrorists had blown up a school transport train killing 43 children. An additional 116 people were killed in the blast, with over 400 more injured. Kyle and Jade hop to, and try and do whatever they can to aid the Tendaxians... but for many of them, it's already too late.
We wrap up with Kyle and Jade approaching Minister Illus... and offering their services in this conflict.
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Well, this was pretty heavy, huh?
Not that we didn't see it ending this way, right? I mean, it is a "Part One"... which, nothing to do with this story in particular, is something that kind of annoys me straightaway. Let's tangent for a bit...
When you buy a book with called "STORY, Part One", we're kinda trained to expect a twist/cliffhanger ending... which, to me, kinda lessens the impact of that twist/cliffhanger. Just yesterday we read a "one and done" issue... if this issue didn't have a "Part One" in the title... we might've been expecting another, with a focus on the Kyle/Jen relationship and a backdrop of an off-planet peace summit. Then, the "boom" might've had more of an impact. Instead, I was just waiting for it to happen. Not that I haven't read this story before, but it has been nearing on (Oh Lord) twenty years.
On another note, not naming each individual chapter feels kinda lazy to me. All these "Part 1"s or "2 of 6"s just feel like a cop-out when every issue used to come with a different title. I guess I should be happy the arc got a name... so often anymore, they don't even name the arc until the trade is solicited!
Okay, nit-picky tangent over... probably.
For the issue itself... it was fine. The Kyle and Jen relationship, which I do remember fondly... kind of grated on me a bit here. They feel like that "circus couple" that gets invited to game night. It's like, as soon as they arrive the "show" begins, and you question why you even bothered to invite them. It's like the "You're Schmoopy" episode of Seinfeld. What I'm trying to say is... they're a bit much.
The Terry Berg story gets a requisite mention... we find out that he's going to be okay, which is fair enough.
I think my favorite bit here was the opening pages, where J'onn is running down all the names the Tendaxians actually wanted, before Kyle basically came out and asked him to stop busting his chops. That was cute.
Overall, not a bad issue by any stretch, but one with a somewhat telegraphed ending... and one that laid it on a bit too heavy with the cutesy couple banter. This issue is available digitally.
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Letters Page:
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Green Lantern (vol.3) #137 (June, 2001)
"The Bonds of Friends and Lovers"
Writer - Judd Winick
Pencils - Darryl Banks
Inks - Rick Faber
Colors - Moose Baumann
Letters - Chris Eliopoulos
Associate Editor - Michael Wright
Editor - Bob Schreck
Cover Price: $2.25
Uh-oh, it looks like somebody wants to end the romantic entanglement between Kyle and Jade. I wonder what sort of monster that could be tearing up that photo?!
Ready to find out...
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We pick up where we left off last issue... which we haven't covered here, but stands to reason it would've been the cliffhanger... where Kyle has just proposed marriage to Jade! She is taken aback, then hugs him... kisses him... and turns him down! She calls him a stupid, stupid man, and tells him he's probably jumping the gun a little bit. Ya see, they finally got this whole relationship "thing" right, and she figures the worst thing they can possibly do is "push" it. Annnnd, she's probably right.
She clarifies that this isn't an outright rejection of marrying Kyle... it's more of a "not yet", which I suppose softens the blow... at least a little bit. She still wants the (Power) Ring though! Ya see, he was proposing with a Green Lantern Ring that had been in Batman's possession for a little while now.
He sheepishly hands it over, and the first thing she does is whip up a construct wedding dress. Real jerk move there, Jen.
We jump ahead to later that day, Kyle's at work when his assistant Terry Berg pops in with some coffees. T-Berg sees that Kyle's a bit out of sorts and asks him what's up... Kyle tells him about his proposal attempt to the green gal, and Terry doesn't really react all that well to the idea. He actually throws a little tantrum.
He even goes so far as to refer to Jennie as a "green-skinned freak". I'm not sure if that racist or speciest (is "speciest" a thing?). I mean, she's human, right? Just that her skin is full'a chlorophyll... which, I guess wouldn't make her a different race, necessarily. Uh, I'm not sure I'm supposed to be talking about this. Anyhoo, we'll just let T-Berg say it.
Terry apologizes, and clarifies that he's not mad at her... he just doesn't want Kyle to be with her... because, well... you know.
Shortly after Terry storms out, Kyle is joined by his Art Director, Andre Whatshisface. Kyle (who is depicted as wearing his Green Lantern ring like all the time) tells Andre what just happened between he and Terry. He believes that the kid might've just "come out" to him. Now, here's where it gets a bit funny. Kyle asks Andre how he handled "coming out".
To which, Andre comes out to him... as a straight man! It's actually funnier than I'm making it sound... one of the rare times Winick managed to get a chuckle out of me. Andre then flips the script, asking Kyle what he thinks people picture when they imagine an unmarried artist living in Greenwich Village.
Back at the homestead, Jennie razzes Kyle about being an offensive dipwad. Another cute scene, that gets a smile. I tell ya what, when Winick's on, he's really on. Banks' facials here are spot-on as well.
But then, out comes the soap-box. Kyle wonders aloud how he should handle the Terry situation. His mind immediately goes to "the kid should speak to a therapist". C'mon, Kyle... you don't make a good strawman.
Jennie lights into Kyle, and tells him that what Terry needs isn't a therapist, but a friend. She insists Kyle talk this out with him... and so, next thing we know, Kyle is at the Berg residence in Maplewood, New Jersey. Upon entering Terry's room... it's, uh... stereotypical. There's a "Hunks" poster, as well as a Bette Midler one. There's an rock poster behind him obscured by a word balloon which, we'll eventually... thankfully learn reads "Ferrets".
Kyle sits down and asks Terry if earlier that day he was trying to tell him that he's gay. Terry says he isn't sure what he is. All we know so far is he's just an ordinary teen-age Bette Midler fan.
Kyle then starts talking as though he were the "mentor" figure in a Public Service Announcement. He ensures Terry that there's nothing wrong with him, and empathizes with how confusing this all must be. He also tells him that he'll always be around to talk if he needs him. Oh yeah, and that he's flattered...
... but that he's with someone. Terry cuts through the B.S. and reminds Kyle that, not only is he attached... he's also, ya know, not gay. Kyle volleys back with the fact that Terry's only 16... and the last thing Kyle needs is to be invited to "take a seat". Note that he's not leading with the whole "not gay" thing. More on my thoughts on that down below.
Kyle then rubs salt in the wound by asking if he can have a hug. Seems like one of those "least I can do" motions that a rejector offers to a rejectee... not that *cough* I'd know anything about that... ahem.
We wrap up with Kyle and Terry sitting down and wrapping up their conversation. Kyle tells Terry how brave he is by coming out.
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This was a lot of fun. I feel like I'm saying that a lot. "This was a lot of fun"... say it so much, it almost feels meaningless. Well, I hope it doesn't sound meaningless, because I'm bein' sinceeyuh ova heeyuh.
Let's jump right to the crux of this issue, Terry Berg coming out to Kyle. I give Winick a lot of guff for some of his less-than-subtle writing... but, I really feel like this was handled about as well as I'd have liked. Let's go to the initial argument. Terry's a sixteen year old boy, who is dealing with his sexuality, and who happens to sorta-kinda but definitely be crushing on his boss. A boss who can't seem to shut up about his knockout girlfriend.
Stands to reason that Terry might lose his cool and lash out. It also stands to reason that Terry might not be as forthcoming with his emotions... disguising jealousy with anger, and disappointment with rage. We can see that in his lashing out, he appears to regret the things he says just as soon as they leave his lips. The "green-skinned freak" comment especially. The kid's confused and angry... and isn't sure how to properly express it. He isn't sure if he's even allowed to express it. I really feel like this might have been the perfect scene for depict this situation.
From there... Winick pulls back the tension, and gives us a legit "laugh/chuckle out loud" moment between Kyle and Andre. I hate using such a trite statement as "roller coaster of emotions", but the juxtaposition here is just so well done. Kyle's basically an emotionally punch-drunk rope-a-dope here... and he's unwittingly insulting everyone around him. I think many of us have been in that situation a time or two before... recreational beverages optional.
The soap-box does come out... but in a far more subtle way than it would had this issue come out during "current year". Kyle doesn't make the best strawman here. He really doesn't. Since Winick himself alluded to the stereotype of the "unmarried artist living in the village", I feel like it's okay for us to use it too. Now, being as though Kyle is an "unmarried artist living in the village", it stands to reason that he's (using Winick's own stereotype via Andre) been around plenty of gay men and women of varying ages. You'd assume he'd be comfortable with that, and not call for a visit to the therapist straight out the gate... right? This bit seemed to have been written just to facilitate Jade's speech... and doesn't do Kyle any favors.
I get that Kyle's being written as the good-looking guy who's oblivious to the fact that he's good-looking... but, that's a trait that can only be "charming" for so long. I mean, within months of making his debut, he had Donna Troy and Jade fighting over him. Dude should know by now that he's "in demand". His obliviousness only comes off as his being aloof at this point. Aloof... or extremely stupid.
Kyle's chat with Terry to close out the issue was well done, though perhaps a bit too "after school special-y". I did take note of Kyle's glossing over the fact that he's not gay... which, back in 2001 sounds like he's just doing his best to let Terry down gently. Discussing the other reasons why they can't be together, to make the orientation of the situation the least of those factors. To my mind, he's doing what he can for Terry not to feel different. I feel like in 2019, this scene would be all over social media as Kyle officially "coming out" as bisexual... because, we just don't do subtlety anymore.
Overall... this was a really fun issue, that tackled a serious issue about as well as I've ever seen it handled. It wasn't done for shock, it wasn't done to bait USA Today into slumming it in the comics ghetto for a hot-minute... then again, last I looked, this isn't a Marvel book. I feel this was done with an earnestness... this is clearly a very important subject to the writer, and I gotta say, he handled it with grace, class and most importantly, the respect it deserves. I highly recommend checking it out... it is available digitally.
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