August 31, 2011. The day it all changed. And did the DC Universe explode into its new era with a resounding BANG? In a word: no.
Now, that's no indictment. Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1 were fine books. But I believe a little caution should be exercised as we move into the New DCU.
So, to the reviews...
Finishing in an underwhelming Second Place:
Flashpoint #5
First off, Andy Kubert, Sandra Hope, Jesse Delperdang and Alex Sinclair hooked this book up. Flashpoint, if nothing else has been a great looking book. Unfortunately, the story doesn't keep up with it.
$oss, who was just getting the main Flashpoint title, was lost. And I can see how he would be. While the story between Flash, Batman and Reverse-Flash is interesting, there isn't enough explanation as to how this world got to be where it is. That story is in the ancillary books, but not Flashpoint-proper.
I understand Geoff Johns loves Barry Allen and wants to elevate the character. That's great, but the way he writes the Speed Force and all this time travel is confusing. It was confusing in Flash: Rebirth and its confusing here. We know what happens to lead to the rebooted DCnU, but we don't know how it happens. To paraphrase $oss, there's no A+B+DCnU going on here.
What WAS well done is the writing of the relationship between Barry and Bruce at the end of the book. In only a handful of pages left more as an epilogue than anything else, Johns really shows you that Barry and Bruce are good friends. Not just work colleagues, but they have a history together. They know each other. They're comfortable with each other. Its nice no seeing Bruce freak out because someone just walked into the Batcave.
Overall Flashpoint is a beautiful book, but leaves you hanging.
Finishing First:
Justice League #1
With all the hype surrounding the talent writing (Geoff Johns) and drawing (Jim Lee) this book, you'd expect it to blow your mind. But it doesn't. And that's a good thing.
What this book does is start a slow build. It gives you a taste of this new, yet familiar universe and intrigues you to come back for more. Had Justice League #1 left myself and other readers with that sense of, "oh my God that was AWESOME," we'd all be in trouble. Not even talent like Johns and Lee would be able to sustain any kind of awesomeness throughout an entire run. So as far as the inaugural book of the DCnU goes, we're off to a good start.
As for the story, its a fun super hero team up. I've heard some negativity toward this, but isn't this was comics are all about? Seeing two of your favorite heroes go after the bad guy? Well, Green Lantern and Batman do. They search Gotham and Metropolis for a mysterious bad guy while taking verbal shots at each other the entire time. Its an early look at a couple new heroes learning how to be heroes.
The tone of the new DC Universe is set, and if most of the new #1s are as good as this issue was, we should be in good shape.
Panel of the Week
With Andy Kubert and Jim Lee drawing the books in the Pull-List this week, there wasn't much shortage for Panel of the Week. But I'd like to give this week's nod to Alex Sinclair's coloring work.
-Gint
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