Green Lantern: Rebirth #6

Brightest Day

Geoff Johns – Writer
Ethan Van Sciver – Penciller
Marlo Alquiza, Ethan Van Sciver, Mick Gray – Inkers
Moose Baumann – Colorist
Rob Leigh – Letterer
Harvey Richards – Asst. Editor
Peter Tomasi – Editor

Our cover by Ethan Van Sciver shows the main group of Green Lanterns, who are the heroes of this story. From left, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Hal Jordan, Kilowag and John Stewart. It is a fairly heroic pose, but the more I look at it, the more ... off ... it seems. Like the anatomy is off. Of course, this is still better than the regular artist on Teen Titans at the time, so I shouldn't complain.

Our story picks up at Coast City, where the JLA, JSA and Teen Titans are still standing around helplessly while the Green Lanterns battle Parallax. Batman demands an explanation from Hal Jordan, who not only refuses to speak to Batman, but also punches him out. Batman tries to regroup the heroes to battle Parallax, but Sentinel and Jade block them off with a wall of green fire, telling all the other heroes to let the Green Lanterns handle this.

So all the Green Lanterns battle Parallax. We see that each one of them uses the power ring slightly differently, which is pretty cool — except for Kyle Rayner, who is now literally creating a giant hand holding a pencil to "draw" his constructs. You know, 'cause he's an artist? Anyway, they fight and fight and fight, finally winning by ... I don't know ... blasting it a bunch? Well, all that matters is the day is saved, and the Green Lanterns come back down to confront the other heroes once more.

Batman stares down Hal for a moment before asking if he's supposed to believe that Hal had been possessed by Parallax for all that time. Hal says he doesn't care what Batman thinks. Batman gradually accepts that Hal is "back," and says the universe could use a little more light. The story ends with Hal checking in on the recovering Green Arrow and retrieving his power battery.



Am I supposed to like Hal Jordan? He comes off as a huge jerk in this issue. And yes, I'm going to complain again about that Kyle Rayner bit. Kyle has shown up quite a few times on this blog, and he has never done that. But my biggest complaint, by far, is the inclusion of all these other heroes to only have them stand around and look stupid. That's just cheap storytelling, in my opinion.

Next time, we'll return to our fight with Doctor Light in Teen Titans #22.

Teen Titans #21

Lights Out • Part One: The New Kid

Geoff Johns Writer
Mike McKone Penciller
Marlo Alquiza Inker
Jeromy Cox Colorist
Comicraft Letters
Tom Palmer Jr. Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover by Mike McKone is a classic example of him trying to do too much and ending up with a mess. Front and center is Speedy, arrow drawn at the ready. The background is a giant closeup of Doctor Light's face, with images of the Teen Titans slicing through his face. Nothing about this makes sense. If Speedy is facing Doctor Light, then how come the Titans are glaring at Speedy? Well, only a couple of them are glaring — Kid Flash is downright furious. But Superboy and Wonder Girl look kind of bored. And where's Robin? Also, I think if you remove the images of the Titans, Doctor Light's face would not form one cohesive image.

Our story picks up after the second epilogue of last issue. Doctor Light has captured Green Arrow, tied him to a statue of Benjamin Franklin, and is burning an "L" on Oliver's forehead. He explains that remembers that the Justice League wiped his mind and altered his personality after he raped Sue Dibny. So to time his revenge just right, he paid the Calculator a lot of money to find out when Green Arrow's "daughter" would join the Teen Titans, which is today.

We cut to San Francisco at 5:30 p.m. on this Friday, where we see Mia has taken a taxi from the airport to the docks. She finds a secluded area with an electronic panel that reads her handprint, opening a secret door that leads to a small submarine that takes her out to Titans Island. As if Mia wasn't already having a lot of doubts about this, when she gets to the island she is horrified to see all the Titans battling Cyborg.

Cyborg electrocutes Kid Flash, and Robin tries to maneuver an attack with Wonder Girl, but Cyborg ensnares Wonder Girl in a net that popped out of his chest. Before Cyborg can turn on Robin and Beast Boy, Speedy hits him with an arrow that quickly cover Cyborg with solid ice. Superboy angrily demands to know what Speedy is doing. Speedy says she thought Cyborg was malfunctioning, but Robin tells her they were just training. As they tend to Cyborg, Kid Flash identifies the chemical compound of Speedy's cryonic arrow, and Robin recognizes those are the same chemicals Mr. Freeze uses.

Speedy apologizes again, saying maybe Jericho had come back and was jumping into people's bodies again. Superboy is surprised that Speedy knows who Jericho is, and she says she's spent the past week reading about the Teen Titans, and even knows who Firebird and Mirage are. She asks if Cyborg is going to be all right, and Bart assures her he'll be fine. Wonder Girl notes that his robotic systems are back on online and Raven reports there is no permanent damage to his organics. Cyborg is soon awake and asks what hit him, which forces poor Speedy to apologize once more.

Cyborg leads Speedy on a proper tour of the tower, telling her she doesn't need to apologize for freezing him. He briefly goes over the history and purpose of the Teen Titans and shows her the locker room. Speedy notes there are a lot more lockers than members of the team, and Cyborg says there are a lot of Titans in the world, and she just hasn't met them yet. He then takes Mia to her room, which already is stocked with some of her favorite books. Vic says that Green Arrow has told him that Mia ran away from an abusive home at a young age and was living on the streets until she was discovered by Green Arrow. Mia laments that she's nothing like the other Titans, but Vic points out that their team includes a clone, a boy from the future and a half-man, half-machine.

Vic then presents Mia with a gift from Roy Harper to honor her 17th birthday. It's a quiver of his old arrows from his time as Speedy. All the arrows are red, except for one blue one, which is ominously labeled, "Use in emergency only." Mia then begins to tell Vic something important about herself, but she's startled by the sudden appearance of Bart, who calls them both to the monitor room.

Playing on the TV is a live news report, saying Doctor Light has taken over the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, killing at least one security guard and injuring dozens more. The broadcast shows a clip of Doctor Light's previous appearance in Philadelphia, in which he was easily defeated by the Ray. The reporter also mentions that Doctor Light was involved in an attack on the Justice League a few weeks ago. The villain then makes a grand entrance in from of all the cameras, announcing himself as Arthur Light and showing that he has Green Arrow hostage. He says he wants his reputation back, and he wants the Teen Titans — only them. Doctor Light threatens to kill Green Arrow if anyone other than the Titans shows up.

Speedy is naturally devastated to see Green Arrow in chains and she asks what they should do. Kid Flash suggests they run over to Philadelphia right away. As Superboy wonders how an idiot like Light captured Green Arrow, the Outsiders contact the Titans via video call. Arsenal assures Speedy they're on their way to rescue Green Arrow, but Speedy is worried about Light's warning that only Titans may approach him. Arsenal says that no matter where they are, they're still Titans. Starfire tells Cyborg she has an idea, but she's cut off by another incoming call from the Flash.

Wally says the Justice League is currently battling the Crime Syndicate, but he still offers his help, saying he's a Titan first. He also warns them that Doctor Light is no longer the jokey villain they new him as years ago. Cyborg asks Flash to elaborate, but he insists that they just trust him on this. The Titans' monitor is suddenly flooded with calls from Hawkman, the Elongated Man, Black Canary and Huntress, the Metal Men, the JSA and Aquaman. Cyborg simply tells all these heroes that the Teen Titans have this situation under control. But Robin becomes skeptical.

For the first time in this series, we see the Titans load up into the T-jet — an old Tamaranian fighter from Starfire, rebuilt by Cyborg. Speedy asks why they can't just have Raven teleport the team to Philadelphia, so Cyborg explains that he wants Raven to conserve her strength to be able to teleport them away after they've rescued Green Arrow. Cyborg also mentions that he's called ahead and made sure the police have evacuated the two blocks surrounding the Franklin Institute. Beast Boy asks if he really anticipates a rough fight against Doctor Light. Kid Flash points out that Wally has completely changed his opinion of Light, and he never changes his mind on anything. Cyborg can only surmise that something must have happened to Doctor Light.

Superboy confirms with Robin that Doctor Light was the prime suspect in Sue Dibny's murder, and Robin says he's heard that Light wasn't always a pathetic loser that routinely got his butt kicked by a bunch of kids in tights. Robin heard that Light was once a psychopath, a real threat, but then his head somehow got messed up. Wonder Girl asks Robin if he thinks the rumors are true, and Robin merely says that Batman didn't know anything about it. But Superboy astutely notes that Batman only said he didn't know anything.

As the Titans head into the museum, Speedy tells her teammates to let her take care of herself if she gets hurt. Robin assumes this means she has something to prove. Superboy notes the circling news helicopters, and Kid Flash reminds him that Doctor Light said he wanted his reputation back. Once they're inside the building, all the lights go out. Cyborg activates a few flashlights on his wrist and Doctor Light begins talking to the team from the shadows. He says the Justice League stole his dignity and left him with the self-confidence and ego of a teenaged girl. Raven, Wonder Girl and Speedy all take offense to this comment, but none of them notice Doctor Light sneaking up behind them. And in a flash of blinding light, he makes his first move.



Doctor Light became a very intriguing and creepy villain during Identity Crisis, building up a lot of anticipation for this showdown. But given what some of the other heroes know about Doctor Light, one might imagine they'd do a little more than give the Titans a concerned phone call. And for none of them to tell the Titans the truth is simply setting them up for failure in a life-and-death situation. Instead of just saying "trust me," Flash should have raced out to San Francisco to tell everybody in person exactly what's going on with Doctor Light.

The rest of the issue didn't do that much for me. I'm rather bored by this new Speedy, who feels like a slightly altered version of Arrowette at this point. This issue did make me wonder what happened to the Ray. He was conspicuously absent during Graduation Day and hasn't even been mentioned since. You'd think he'd fit right in with this incarnation of the Teen Titans, which has a few older members for him to relate to. Also, his light-based powers would be invaluable right now.

Next time, we'll take a very quick look at Green Lantern: Rebirth #6.

Teen Titans #20

Hiding

Geoff Johns Writer
Tom Grummett Penciller
Nelson Inker
Jeromy Cox Colorist
Comicraft Letters
Tom Palmer Jr. Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover is by Duncan Rouleau, and I really don't care for it. Our heroes are so angular, they look evil. And I can't even tell what animal Beast Boy is supposed to be. Couldn't Tom Grummett have drawn this? Anyway, this shows the Titans battling a Lex Luthor power suit, which does happen in this issue, so I approve of that aspect of this cover. Also note the absence of Starfire.

Our story begins on a starry night after the Titans have spent the past six hours searching for Plasmus and Warp (suspects in the murder of Sue Dibny). Starfire has pulled Cyborg aside to announce her intentions to temporarily leave the Teen Titans and join the Outsiders until Nightwing gets out of whatever funk he's in. Cyborg warns Starfire that his future self told the team to stay together, but Starfire says that Batwoman told her that she needs to help Nightwing. Cyborg wishes her luck, and they both offer to help each other's teams when called upon.

Robin had been eavesdropping on the conversation, and he waits until Starfire has flown away before he approaches Cyborg to tell him he's going camping with his dad next week. But before the camping trip came, Tim's dad, Jack Drake, was murdered by Captain Boomerang. Robin visits his dad's grave, with a tombstone that simply identifies him as a husband and father. Jack's murderer is dead, and the woman who hired him is in Arkham Asylum, but that grants little solace to Tim, who is now scared that this is causing him to think like Batman.

We then cut to St. John's General Hospital in Opal City. During the murder of Sue Dibny, her husband, the Elongated Man, was tracking the illegal sale of a very dangerous and mysterious item. A villain named Bolt was the buyer, but he made a grave miscalculation and was shot by the sellers, two young men named Benny and Trey. While Bolt recovers in the hospital, he's visited by another villain named the Electrocutioner. He says he's been hired to track down the contents of that box, and he's learned the two kids who shot him took off with the item. The Electrocutioner knows where Benny and Trey are, but before he goes after them, he wants Bolt to tell him what was in the box.

At Titans Tower in San Francisco, Bart is in his costume while playing on his computer (apparently with a Robin action figure on his desk). Conner yells at him for playing his music too loud, threatening to disassemble his computer and his face. Bart says he's already turned down the volume three times and blames Conner's super-hearing. But Conner insists he needs to finish his homework.

So Bart completes Conner's trigonometry homework in half a second, which appeases Conner. Robin walks by them, noting that Superboy is his best friend and Kid Flash is a close second, but he resolves not to tell them or anyone about his dad. Cassie is in Raven's room, helping her try on a new dress. Beast Boy walks in on them, amused by this new side of Raven, as well as her student ID for Galileo High School, Rachel Roth. Raven becomes embarrassed and kicks Beast Boy out of her room. Robin walks by this scene, doing his best to bury his feelings so Raven doesn't sense them.

Conner visits Tim in his room, and Tim tries his best to give him a cheery greeting. But Conner sadly closes the door and asks Tim why he's here. He says that Superman told him about Tim's dad, but Conner hasn't told anyone else yet. Tim says he just wants to forget this, but Conner reminds him of the promise they made to each other when they learned he has Lex Luthor's DNA. He wants to help Tim with this, but Tim does not want Conner to bring it up again, saying he came to the Tower today to have fun and enjoy himself. They're interrupted by Cyborg's face appearing on the wall, announcing to the whole team that the Justice League has asked them to look after Opal City in Elongated Man's absence. Bart is especially eager to help out in this situation.

Back in Opal City, we see the mysterious box contained one of Lex Luthor's old power suits, and Trey and Benny have decided to take it out for a spin. Trey is the first to wear the suit, flying around a bit, blowing a few things up, and marveling at how the suit's computers are almost talking to him. As Benny begs for a turn, the Electrocutioner shows up and hits Trey with a blast of electricity. But he's closely followed by the Teen Titans. And in a first for this series, Cyborg shouts out, "Titans together!" (I'm sorry, that's a really stupid rally cry. Just because it's alliteration doesn't make it cool.)

Bart and Beast Boy, however, are both caught off guard by Robin's unusually cheery, "Let's go get them, guys!" The Electrocutioner is shocked, saying the Calculator told him he'd only have to worry about the Phantom Lady or Black Condor. Robin is the first to go after the Electrocutioner, while Kid Flash pulls Benny away from Trey, as it seems like the Luthor suit is overheating. Cyborg, Superboy and Wonder Girl approach Trey, and the suit suddenly hits Superboy with a blast of green light. Raven catches Superboy, who says he was hit with a Kryptonite Ray. He insists he'll be all right, but immediately doubles over in pain.

Trey begins to panic, saying he's lost control of the suit, which fires a missile at Beast Boy as a vulture. Beast Boy dodges the missile, and Wonder Girl chases it down before it hits anything. Suddenly, the teleporting villain Warp appears behind Trey and pulls him into a purple portal. Robin, meanwhile, has chased the Electrocutioner down the apartment's fire escape, and pours a vial of water from his belt on the villain. But Electrocutioner brags that he paid Black Manta $4,000 to make his suit waterproof. He then begins to threaten Robin, coincidentally choosing to mock Robin's dad, saying he'll cry when his son dies, yet also suggesting that Robin's dad is like his, "cold as ice."

As one might expect, Robin's cheery disposition disappears instantly. He begins pummeling the Electrocutioner, shouting that he doesn't know his dad. Cyborg sees that Robin has lost control, and he pulls him off the unconscious villain. The rest of the team has caught up by now, and Wonder Girl asks Tim if he's OK. Raven tells him he doesn't need to hide it, and Bart asks what he's hiding. Tim allows a tear to slide down his cheek and he finally tells everyone his dad died. Cassie and Bart are horrified and Beast Boy asks Tim if he wants to talk about it. Robin wipes his face and admits that he does need to talk. As he cries on Cassie's shoulder, he realizes he's stopped thinking like Batman, and is now thinking like a Titan.

Epilogue One

We don't know what happened to Trey, but we do see that the power suit has made its way back to Lex Luthor. The Calculator calls him up, complaining that Luthor hired Warp to retrieve the suit through a different service, while simultaneously hiring Bolt and the Electrocutioner through the Calculator. Luthor says he's just protecting himself, and he threatens the Calculator with his "partner." The Calculator immediately backs off, leaving Luthor to gaze at photos of Superboy in different costumes, calling him "my boy."

Epilogue Two

It's 4:45 p.m. on a Friday at Star City (even though all the stars are out) and Green Arrow has decided it's a good time to call up Wonder Girl's mom, Helena Sandsmark, while chasing around the Royal Flush Gang. He tells her he has a "daughter of sorts," who just met the Teen Titans last week and is currently on her way to her first official weekend with the team. But before Green Arrow can ask Mrs. Sandsmark any questions, he's attacked from behind by Dr. Light.




I'm so glad Tom Grummett drew this issue. He masterfully handled Robin's forced smiles and his eventual, inevitable breakdown. The death of Tim's dad was the saddest part of Identity Crisis, and I'm glad we finally got a taste of that in Teen Titans. It was also nice to continue the thread of one of the side stories from that miniseries. Sadly, Robin's story got a bit short-changed in this issue. Not only did we get two epilogues, but also an informal prologue. But why am I worrying about Robin? He still had his own series at this point.

I was fine with the first epilogue, but the second was wholly unnecessary. Why on Earth was Green Arrow calling Wonder Girl's mom? And what's so bad about just starting next issue with the startling news that Doctor Light has captured Green Arrow? We didn't need to devote two pages to this. Anyway, after 20 issues, we have now had our first departure from the Teen Titans. And I've got to say, Starfire will not be missed. It's not that I hated her or anything, she just didn't do anything. She spent a lot of time in her garden, and would occasionally yell at somebody, but that's about it.

Next: Lights out in Teen Titans #21.

Green Arrow #46

Teamwork

Same Old Scribe Judd Winick
Hot New Pencils Tom Fowler
Equally Hot New Inks Rodney Ramos
Always Smokin' Colors Guy Major
Rock Solid Letters Rob Leigh
Scrappy Associate Editor Michael Wright
Omnipotent Editor Bob "The Hammer" Schreck

Our cover by James Jean is an odd, unique style that I can't quite wrap my head around. It almost feels like each character is drawn from a different perspective. I don't know. All I do know is that I don't get it and I don't like it. Anyway, the center of our cover is the star of this show, a new female archer, calling herself Speedy, in honor of Green Arrow's original sidekick.

Our story begins with Green Arrow and Speedy taking down a ridiculous villain on stilts called High-Rise. Speedy's name is Mia Dearden, and she has spent a year training under Oliver Queen's son, Conner Hawke, followed by two more months directly under the Green Arrow himself. She's now been his official sidekick for three weeks, and Oliver feels it's time for a small vacation.

They hop in Oliver's private jet and take off for San Francisco. Once they're up in the air, Ollie reveals to Mia he's going to introduce her to the Teen Titans. Mia's nervous about this, but he tells her how the original Speedy, Roy Harper, was a founding member of the Teen Titans, and how spending time with friends was good for him and will be good for Mia. To make matters worse for Mia, Oliver drops her off in front of the tower with Cyborg, while leaving in search of a pub. Vic brings the frightened girl inside, where she is met with a sight that would scare just about anybody.

The Titans quickly overwhelm Speedy. Wonder Girl says they've heard a lot about her, but Kid Flash insists he hasn't heard "squat." Beast Boy asks if she chose Speedy as her name since Arrowette was already taken, and Mia says she doesn't think she would call herself Arrowette. Superboy defensively asks what's wrong with Arrowette, and Bart asks what her real name is. Speedy isn't sure if she should tell them, but Bart tells her his real name anyway. Cyborg tells Speedy to prepare for some tests, and Bar sarcastically says the tests will be on geography, ballet and state capitals.

Speedy is placed inside a large combat room, where she dodges lasers and takes out some robotics with her arrows. Everyone watches from above, and Bart says having another non-super-powered team member will be good for Robin's self-esteem. And Beast Boy grossly (and loudly) ogles Speedy's butt (I'm guessing she's a minor, but I'm not sure). Cyborg is watching from the secret control room, with Green Arrow at his side. He tells Oliver that these tests are unnecessary, as he already knows Speedy is field-ready. But Green Arrow says Speedy's personality craves formality to feel like she's earned her place. He then suggests they have her spar against Robin, and he bets Cyborg $20 that she'll win.

So they bring Robin down into the combat room, but he and Speedy spend a solid eight minutes staring at each other in silence. Cyborg says this is a good thing that neither of them want to make the first move, but everybody's losing patience, so he pushes a button that causes a part of the wall to jut out and nudge Robin toward Speedy. The two teens are soon wrapped up in an epic fight, with Robin eventually coming out on top. Green Arrow gladly pays Cyborg his $20, pleased with Mia's progress.

At the end of the day, Green Arrow and Speedy are leaving the tower, and Mia says she wants to be on this team, but she's not quite sure yet. But the one thing she is sure about is she doesn't want to tell the Teen Titans she's H.I.V. positive — at least until they get to know her first. Green Arrow supports this decision, and Kid Flash zooms by, asking Speedy what her favorite pizza is. She says Hawaiian, so Bart quickly returns with one Hawaiian pizza, one veggie, and one pesto and potato pizza for Raven. Mia asks Ollie if the Justice League is like this, and he says it is, although they usually get beer with their take-out.



This Speedy was in the portrait Superboy saw in the future. So in one sense, it's nice to have that little mystery wrapped up. But most of me is groaning right now, asking if we really need another girl archer. Arrowette had a wonderful character arc during Young Justice, and her story came to a fitting, natural conclusion. So I have no desire to see Arrowette return, or, in this case, a girl that looks exactly like Arrowette and has the exact same skill set and equipment as her. Speedy might have a slightly different backstory, but from a Titans-perspective, she is Arrowette for all intents and purposes. If we really needed to add another girl to the team, couldn't we have brought back Empress? (It's also worth noting that Starfire was not in this issue, despite appearing on the cover.)

I feel a little bad for knocking the art in this issue, since this was apparently Tom Fowler's first work on this series. But I honestly have to say I hated this artwork. Everyone looked twisted, deformed, and often had huge, evil grins on their faces. I'd almost say this art works with the naturally silly tone of this story, but then the ending became really serious with all that talk about AIDS. Besides, if there's one thing this blog has taught me, it's that it is possible (and preferable) to have great art for even the silliest of stories.

Next time, we'll finally see the Titans deal with the fallout of Identity Crisis in Teen Titans #20.

Green Lantern: Rebirth #4

Force of Will

Geoff Johns – Writer
Ethan Van Sciver – Penciller
Prentis Rollins – Inker
Moose Baumann – Colorist
Rob Leigh – Letterer
Harvey Richards – Asst. Editor
Peter Tomasi – Editor

Our cover by former Impulse artist Ethan Van Sciver shows the Green Arrow wielding a Green Lantern ring to protect the injured Kyle Rayner. Spoiler alert: The two are fighting Sinestro. And I don't mind spoiling that because it has nothing to do with Kid Flash. This cover is alright — I like the shadows on Green Arrow's face — but the way Green Arrow is standing over Kyle is just ... odd. It's like some parts of his body are too big and long, and other parts are too small and stubby.

Well, we're jumping right into the middle of this story, so don't expect a comprehensive synopsis. Suffice it to say, former Green Lantern Hal Jordan, now the Spectre, still apparently had a piece of the entity of fear, Parallax, buried deep inside him. And now he's back and causing problems for everybody. So much so that the JLA, JSA and Teen Titans have all shown up to battle Parallax.

And all these heroes ... do absolutely nothing. Wonder Woman and Batman realize that Parallax's fear is affecting them all, causing them to hold back. Luckily, Hal Jordan and the Spectre fight against Parallax internally, splitting them all into three separate beings. The Spectre leaves to return to heaven, or whatever, and Hal Jordan comes back as the Green Lantern, apparently returned to the age he was before Parallax possessed him, I guess. And that's all we really care about.



I think Impulse was the perfect book for Ethan Van Sciver because it allowed him to pour detail into the backgrounds and "take it easy" on the more cartoony main characters. But now that he's trying to be incredibly detailed and realistic all the time, his flaws really start to stand out. I was shocked by how underwhelming that splash page was. When all the major heroes of the DC Universe show up, it should be an incredible, amazing image. But Van Sciver somehow managed to make almost every single character on this page look terrible. Kid Flash's legs are not connected to his body, Wonder Woman is grotesque, Superman looks 80-years-old, and Batman is just way too goofy-looking to take seriously.

I know I'm making a big deal out of one page, but this is clearly not Van Sciver's best work (for 2005). Some pages in this issue were quite nice. But others were also disappointing like this one, making the whole issue a frustrating hit-or-miss experience. As for the story, I really hate it when a writer wants to show off how powerful his villain is by bringing in all the most powerful heroes in the world and defeating them in half a second. Regardless of Parallax's powers, I think all these heroes should have been able to do something. Oh well.

Next time, we'll be introduced to a new teenage hero in Green Arrow #46.

The Flash #217

Post-Crisis

Geoff Johns – Writer
Howard Porter – Penciller
Livesay – Inker
Pat Brosseau – Letterer
James Sinclair – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Asst. Editor
Joey Cavalieri – Editor

Our cover by Howard Porter shows the Rogues mourning the death of Captain Boomerang —one of the casualties of Identity Crisis. This is a good illustration of what makes the Flash's enemies so unique. Unlike Batman's or Superman's villains, the Rogues are a family, and it profoundly affects them when one of them goes down. The central figure of this cover is a new character, introduced during Identity Crisis — Owen Mercer, Captain Boomerang's adult son.

So, before we begin, I must confess that this issue does not include Bart Allen. Not a picture, or even a mention of him. But Bart's clone, Inertia, does make a surprising appearance, and I consider Inertia to be a valid "alternate version" of Bart to cover on this blog. Hey, this is my blog, I make the rules! Anyway, I'm also glad to have the opportunity to recap this issue, as it includes some important information regarding Bart, not least of which is the conclusion of Identity Crisis.

Our story begins with Wally West finally reuniting with his wife, Linda Park. They take a walk down the street, talking about the disturbing events from Identity Crisis. Apparently the Atom's ex-wife was behind the whole thing, murdering Sue Dibny and hiring Captain Boomerang to go after Robin's father, Jack Drake. But Boomerang's attack ended in a disaster, with both men losing their lives.

The good news, though, is Linda and Wally are very happy with their lives now. Wally's friends and family know he's the Flash, but to the rest of the world, he's just a humble mechanic for the Keystone City Police Department. And Wally's secret identity has enabled Linda to shed the weight of being a celebrity's wife and return to her career as a journalist. To celebrate their reunification, Wally races Linda out to Paris.

Meanwhile, all the Rogues have gathered at Avernus, a secret graveyard for Rogues, placed in a fourth-dimensional pocket created by the Folded Man and protected by Gorilla Grodd's cloaking technology. Mirror Master even broke out most of the Rogues from Iron Heights so they could have the chance to pay their respects to Captain Boomerang.

It's here, and only here, in this big group shot that we see Inertia, standing on the left side of the page, just to the right of Tar Pit. Captain Cold offers a few words, but Owen quickly becomes upset with the whole spectacle. He throws a boomerang through the coffin, revealing it to be empty. Owen also shocks everyone in attendance by running at super speed to catch the boomerang. The tabloids had reported that Owen's mother was the late Golden Glider, but now that is obviously in doubt. Captain Cold assures the Rogues that Owen's not a true speedster, as he can only use super speed in short bursts. Owen says he doesn't care who his mother is, or how he has this power. All he knows is he doesn't need the Rogues. Things get a little testy, but Captain Cold is able to prevent a full-on fight from breaking out

We then see Cheetah (of all people) break Zoom out of Iron Heights Penitentiary. Either the time-freezing effect on him has worn off, or he was playing possum the whole time. Flash then returns to Keystone City, only to find that while he was in Paris, all the Rogues went on a massive crime-spree, primarily using boomerangs to honor their fallen comrade. Later, Batman visits Wally at work, yelling at him for letting one of "his" villains kill Robin's father. But the two heroes are able to hash this out, with Wally pointing out that his villains are just as dangerous as Batman's are.

The main group of the Rogues — Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard and Trickster — all head back to their hideout with Owen, who admits he had a fun time with them. Cold offers him a spot on their team, and Owen accepts, provided they help him with a mysterious task. We then end our issue at the FBI headquarters in Chicago, where the original Trickster and the Pied Piper are working on Captain Boomerang's corpse, hoping to bring him back to life so he can help them take down the Rogues.



We last saw Inertia at the end of Mercury Falling, emotionally running away into the Speed Force. We have no idea where or when he went, and frankly, it doesn't make too much sense for him to be here, as he has never interacted with any of the Rogues before. Most likely, this was a slight error on Howard Porter's part, as he basically just drew every conceivable Flash villain. But one might argue that Inertia is time-traveling and scouting out some possibilities. He will make a proper return — in due time — and he will eventually team up with the Rogues. But all that is still quite a ways away.

As for the rest of the issue, I did appreciate the recap of and response to Identity Crisis. I still think Wally getting his secret identity back is pretty lame, but that hardly affects Bart. And Owen Mercer is going to give me some problems later one, but I'll save that rant for when we get there.

Next time, Kid Flash and the Teen Titans will make a quick cameo in Green Lantern: Rebirth #4.

Teen Titans #19

Titans Tomorrow Part Three: East Meets West

Geoff Johns Writer
Mike McKone Penciller
Marlo Alquiza Inker
Jeromy Cox Colorist
Comicraft Letters
Tom Palmer Jr. Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover by Mike McKone shows the future Bart Allen opening a rift in time with the Cosmic Treadmill and sucking away all the current Teen Titans — except for Kid Flash, oddly. This is basically what happens in this issue, and I'd even go so far as to call it a spoiler. I do like this future version of Bart, and I'm happy to see him be the focus of a cover. But as with many of McKone's faces, I'm not quite sure what expression he's trying to go with on Bart's face.

Our story begins in New York City 10 years from now. It's bright and sunny and everyone is extremely cheerful and polite. But there is a lingering sense of dread in the air with the news updates on the civil war with the Western United States. The main conflict is taking place in Kansas, where Red Star and Mirage have recently been captured. But the people of the Eastern United States love and respect their heroes, the Titans East, who are seen flying above the city with our group of Teen Titans.

Our heroes are led to the Titans East headquarters, another T-shaped tower near the Statue of Liberty. Beast Boy, however, is skeptical. He asks the future Vic, Cyborg 2.0, why he should trust them, pointing out Ravager's inclusion on this team and the way his future self has seemingly broken his long friendship with Cyborg. Terra says that Beast Boy left because of her, and Bumblebee warns her not to talk about the past. Cyborg 2.0 explains that he also remembers the Teen Titans' time-travel adventure, and he's spent the past three years preparing for the arrival of their past selves.

Three years ago, the Titans West split the United States in half, running a militant state free of crime, poverty and disease in the West, succeeding mainly by having Dark Raven take away the population's free will and hope. The Titans East, meanwhile, has freed 12 of the 50 states and is currently working on Kansas. Wonder Girl asks how they turned into such lunatics, and Kid Flash says it's as if it would be better for them to break up when they get home. Beast Boy agrees with Bart, saying they should break up to stop this. Bart says that's not what he meant, and Rose insists that they don't break up. Cyborg 2.0 explains that in their timeline, the Teen Titans were thrown 10 years in the future, faced themselves, and when they returned, they split apart. But then they weren't around to save the rest of the heroes during the crisis. They eventually did reunite four years ago, but their time apart erased who they used to be. Superboy sums it up nicely: In order to prevent this future, the Titans need to stay together.

Starfire asks Batwoman where her future self is, and Batwoman tells her she's far away from all of this with Nightwing. Starfire then asks Batwoman who she is, but before she can answer, the Flash comes crashing through the front door. He's pretty beat up, and even has a batarang stuck in his shoulder. Superboy wants to attack the intruder, but Ravager tells them Flash isn't their enemy. Bart weakly asks if Deathstroke gave them the location of the Cosmic Treadmill. Ravager says it's in the Batcave, and Captain Marvel says Deathstroke even gave them the schematics to the cave. Flash then says what he probably should have started with — the Titans West have learned he's a traitor and they're on their way here right now.

The Titans West arrive right on cue, blasting through the wall with Superman's heat vision. Wonder Woman tells Cyborg 2.0 to surrender the kids and they'll let them live, but both Cyborgs say "Hell, no." A huge fight erupts, and it's kind of hard to tell what Kid Flash is doing, as he's pretty much bouncing around everywhere. At one point, Wonder Woman manages to grab hold of him. The Flash helps fight Animal Man off Superboy, freeing him to go after Superman, who has just knocked down Captain Marvel.

We then cut to Drake Manor in Gotham City, where Batman has chained Robin up to a chair with a device on his head that will allegedly wipe his memories of this world. But before Batman can begin the process, he's contacted by Superman, who says that Bumblebee and Wonder Girl have taken down Dark Raven. Superman's message is abruptly cut off and he soon comes crashing down through the ceiling, courtesy of a tag-team effort by Superboy and Captain Marvel. But Batman is prepared for Captain Marvel, and he plays a recording of Freddie saying his magic word aloud. And apparently this is enough to turn Captain Marvel back into a human.

Superboy frees Robin, but Batman pulls out Bruce's old Kryptonite ring and starts punching Conner with it. Terra, Ravager, Flash and Kid Flash arrive next and head straight for the Cosmic Treadmill. Kid Flash asks Flash if he really hooks up with Ravager, and Flash wisely says he does in this time, but the younger Bart might not in his own time. With Superman, Superboy and Captain Marvel down, it's just Robin vs. Batman now. Robin points out that his older self may be older, bigger, stronger, more experienced, and might have learned some new tricks, but he still has the advantage because he's a hero. Somehow, Robin's confusing logic pays off and he manages to knock out Batman.

Batwoman suddenly appears and kisses Robin, saying she almost forgot who Tim used to be. She introduces herself as Bette Kane, formerly Flamebird. Robin says he saw her gravestone, and she admits that Batman did kill her, but the deal he made with Ra's al Ghul worked out ... for the most part. Robin's even more confused by this, believing Ra's to be dead, as well.

Everybody else soon shows up, and Kid Flash and Flash have already started charging up the Cosmic Treadmill. Kid Flash boasts that his older self rules and invites his teammates to hop on. Cyborg is worried about leaving behind the Titans East, but Cyborg 2.0 assures him not to worry about their future selves. Flash tells Kid Flash the Cosmic Treadmill is now up to speed and set to arrive at Titans Island 10 years in the past. He'll jump off and let Kid Flash crank it up one more notch when he's ready. Kid Flash asks if there's anything he should do in the future, and Flash simply tells him to keep listening to his heart. Everybody finally gets on the treadmill, and they all disappear in an explosion of light. A moment later, our heroes arrive back at their tower in their time.

Later, it's 4:45 p.m. on a Saturday, and everybody is kicking back and relaxing. Bart's skateboarding again and Cassie is tossing a frisbee around with Gar as a dog. Conner asks Tim for a shirt to borrow, saying the only shirts he has here have an "S" on them, and he needs something else to wear since Bart's insisting they all go to Dave and Busters to have some fun. Tim says he thinks they sometimes forget how to have fun, and Conner agrees, saying if they've learned anything from their recent adventure, it's that they need to lighten up. The two friends then reassert their agreement to stick together, no matter what.

We then get an epilogue in Smallville 10 years from now. Superman visits his Pa at his Fortress of Paradise, telling him the Teen Titans have escaped back to the past and he's worried their present is going to change around them and cease at any moment. But his Pa, Lex Luthor, tells him not to worry and focus on having a baby with Wonder Woman. Kon-El promises to not let his Pa down, and Lex says, "You never did, Son. You never did."




This was a really good story. Geoff Johns was surely working on Infinite Crisis when he wrote this, giving him lots of opportunities to tease to what's going to be happening in the DC Universe. And it's pretty fun sorting out all the clues and figuring out what definitely will happen in the future from what only happened because the Titans were separated. I do enjoy the Titans of Tomorrow, and I'm happy to say that they even reappeared as late as 2018. This future version of Bart is my favorite version so far — even if I'm ambivalent on his romance with Rose. He managed to retain his optimistic and positive nature while the world fell apart around him. And although it wasn't explicitly stated, it seems reasonable to assume that he created the enormous Flash Museum to protect as many people as possible from the Titans West. But now I'm wondering how he let Batman steal the Cosmic Treadmill, but I guess that's a minor issue. Most importantly, though, I loved his advice to his younger self. That was just perfect.

Sadly, I once again have to complain about the art. It almost seems like Mike McKone is shying away from the big action scenes. Both Superman and Dark Raven were defeated off panel. And it kills the story to have such essential elements reduced to a recap in a word balloon. I also found myself being quite confused by the nature of this East vs. West civil war. Where is Gotham in all this? It didn't seem like it was part of the West's Dark Raven control, but it also feels weird that this Batman wouldn't have taken complete control of his own hometown. Oh well. Just another little nitpick in an otherwise fun and engaging story.

Next time, we're going to shake things up a bit. I've decided to cover every appearance of every version of Bart Allen. And I think that should also include his long-lost evil clone, Inertia. So I'm going to cover a comic that doesn't have Bart, but does have Inertia — The Flash #217.