Teen Titans #45

Titans East Part 3

Adam Beechen & Geoff Johns Story
Adam Beechen Script
Al Barrionuevo Pencils
BIT Inks
Marta Martinez Colors
Rob Leigh Letters
Cover by Tony S. Daniel & Jonathan Glapion with Moose Baumann
Adam Schlagman Assistant Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover shows Deathstroke locked in an epic battle with his children who have gravely disappointed him by joining the Teen Titans. I find it adorable that even though this family is going through a rough patch, they still choose to dress in matching armor. Come to think of it, I've never understood why Rose continues dressing exactly like her evil father when she keeps insisting she wants nothing to do with him.

Our story picks up at the wooden tower that Deathstroke has built on the spot of the old Titans Tower in New York. Batgirl, freed from Slade's mind control, immediately attacks him. Jericho's attempts to take control of his father's body were thwarted by Deathstroke's special mask, but Inertia's goggles offer no such protection, so Jericho jumps into the body of the speedster. Jericho gets Slade off Batgirl, but Deathstroke manages to get his hand around Inertia's throat. Rose prepares to strike Slade to save Joey, but Sungirl blasts her from behind. However, Sungirl also wants Deathstroke to let Jericho go, saying that Inertia is her boyfriend all of a sudden. But Slade orders her to go find Batgirl and Robin, who have slipped away during all the commotion.

We then find out that all the other Titans' elaborately themed prison cells are in this same wooden tower. Raven manages to break free by convincing Duela Dent to help her. They then rescue Cyborg before taking off to get some reinforcements. Without Sungirl torturing her, Miss Martian is able to gain control of her powers and rescue Kid Devil. And it's Robin and Batgirl who find Wonder Girl being held by Match in a room that no longer looks like the Fortress of Solitude. Soon, everyone is outside and engaged in a big battle scene.

Meanwhile, Deathstroke chokes Inertia until he passes out, forcing Jericho to return to his body. For a brief moment, it seems like Rose has the draw on her father, but Inertia recovers quick enough to knock her out. All our other heroes, too, are knocked out by their villainous counterparts, and Deathstroke orders the Titans East to gather their bodies together in a pile in the sand. Some of them naturally want to start killing the Teen Titans, but Slade forbids it, saying his children need to see their friends all die together. Suddenly, Raven and Cyborg arrive with their reinforcements: Nightwing, Donna Troy, Beast Boy and Bart Allen.

So Bart will help out his old friends after all! Only when they're all about to be killed ... but hey, better late than never! Sadly, though, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with this issue. Deathstroke has been tormenting the Titans since the beginning of Geoff Johns' run and there is so much history between the Titans and the Wilson family. And almost every member of Titans East directly corresponds with a member of the Teen Titans. So why does this story feel so flat? Is it because Johns and Tony S. Daniel essentially abandoned the story halfway through?

The art was particularly bad in this issue, especially with Kid Devil. The penciller thought for some reason he should be naked after he turned human, but the colorist realized that there was no reason for his shorts to disappear just because he's not a demon anymore, so we ended up with this very awkward effect of a clearly naked teenage boy craftily presented in each panel in a way to cover his privates, and yet the skin on his legs seem to have been painted blue. To me, mistakes like this indicate a lack of caring from all creators involved. This Teen Titans series is going through a transitional period, and it's unfortunately occurring right at the climax of what could have been a huge story.

Next time, we'll return to an even more troubled series in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10.

52 Week Forty-Seven

The Origin of the Teen Titans

Writer – Mark Waid
Artist – Karl Kerschl
Colorist – Stephane Peru
Letterer – Ken Lopez
Asst. Editor – Harvey Richards
Assoc. Editor – Jeanine Schaefer
Editor – Michael Siglain

We have another cool cover by JG Jones, focusing on the Batwoman story of this issue. But that doesn't concern Bart Allen, so we'll skip right on by. Same with the main story, with the only moments marginally concerning us are Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne concluding their training at Nanda Parbat and Natasha Irons turning down Beast Boy's offer to join the Teen Titans. All we really care about is the backup story, which is sadly only two pages long.

Waid chose to focus the origin of the Teen Titans around Cyborg, showing how the early days of the team gave him a purpose that he saw was missing after the disastrous events of Graduation Day.

So Cyborg decided to honor the past by creating a new version of the Teen Titans for the remaining members of Young Justice. As Waid says, "Victor Stone always pays his debts." We then end with a group shot of the current membership of the team, along with a list of essential storylines, which is just Geoff Johns' run on the Teen Titans, starting with Graduation Day.




I'm pretty bummed out that this Waid-Kerschl collaboration was so brief. I really like both of them and think they could have turned out something amazing had they been given a chance. As such, the brevity of this "origin story" almost renders it worthless. It doesn't tell longtime readers anything new and I doubt it gives new readers anything to latch on to — especially since the suggested reading list basically just said, "Pick up every single Teen Titans story Geoff Johns wrote."

Next time, we'll continue the Titans East story in Teen Titans #45.

The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #9

Full Throttle Prologue: Split Decision

Introducing Marc Guggenheim – Writer
Andy Kuhn – Layouts
Ron Adrian – Finishes
Art Thibert – Inks
Pat Brosseau – Letterer
Richard & Tanya Horie – Colorists
Rachel Gluckstern – Associate Editor
Joan Hilty – Editor
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver
Special thanks to Brad Meltzer

I loved Van Sciver's work on Impulse. It was fresh, dynamic, intricate and joyful. So you'd think I'd be overjoyed to see him draw Bart again. But there is no joy on this cover. Just pure, unbridled rage. That is just about the angriest I've ever seen Bart, and I don't know why. He doesn't look cool or focused or determined or anything like. He's practically frothing at the mouth with uncontrollable anger. Throw in the fact that Kid Flash looks like he's 20 years old and Flash looks 35, and you end up with a very frustrating cover. This should have been a slam dunk for Van Sciver.

Before we begin our story, let's pull the curtain back a little bit. Sometime during the Danny Bilson-Paul DeMeo run, DC figured out things weren't working. Bart's story was slow, clumsy and boring. And fans flat-out rejected the concept of Bart being the Flash. Some still missed the days of Impulse, others liked Kid Flash, but barely got a chance to get to know him. And many more fans deeply missed Wally West. So DC decided to pull the plug. Marc Guggenheim said in interviews that he was hired with the sole purpose of killing Bart off in five issues, while also coordinating with Brad Meltzer and Geoff Johns on JLA and JSA. So keep that in mind with this issue and each ensuing one until the end at #13. Everything Guggenheim is doing is to prepare for that grisly end.

We open in Los Angeles, California, where Bart has received a phone call from an old friend — Tim Drake, aka Robin. After some awkward small talk, Tim asks Bart to return to the Teen Titans. Not only do the Titans miss Bart, but Tim feels Bart should be helping them battle Inertia. Unfortunately, Bart's a little too busy to be having this conversation, as he's currently locked in a battle with a super villain named Impulse.

While complaining about copyright violation, Bart gets hit in the back by one of Impulse's energy blasts. But he quickly recovers, gets behind Impulse, knocks him out, deactivates his power distributor and places him in the back of a police car. The policeman identifies Impulse as one of the few holdovers from Lex Luthor's Everyman program. Bart immediately recognizes the officer as one of his instructors at the police academy, and instead of quickly leaving, he lingers around long enough for the officer to realize there's something very familiar about the Flash.

Luckily, Bart ends the awkward conversation by noticing a green glow coming from a hole in the street created by Impulse. The source of the glow is a strange device that looks pretty high-tech. The officer asks if Impulse planted it there, but Bart notes it doesn't match the rest of Impulse's gear. He then takes off with the device, despite the cop telling him it should be logged in as evidence of this crime scene.

Bart takes the device to an empty lab at the police academy and has Val come over to help him look at it. Val complains that they're supposed to meet with her friends for a double date in Keystone in 15 minutes, but Bart says that's plenty of time for them to investigate the device and even pick up a bottle of win in Paris if they want. So Val takes a look at the green glowing "doohickey" as she calls it, and can only speculate that it comes from Apokolips. However, the only equipment they have available to them in this lab is a microscope, which won't help them at all. Bart laments the fact that Val still hasn't gotten her job back with S.T.A.R. Labs and decides to put the device in his locker and continue investigating it after their date.

At Anastasia's Cafe in Keystone City, Bart begins telling the group about his defensive driving course at the police academy, when Val's friend, Brenda, comments on how she's heard Bart likes to go fast. Worried, Bart asks Brenda exactly what Val told her. Val hastily tries to brush it off as a joke, but Brenda continues, saying she's heard Bart likes to go running. She then asks Bart if he's met any celebrities in L.A. since there aren't any superheroes there — except the Flash.

After the dinner, Bart and Val get into a big argument in the parking lot. Val accuses Bart of being paranoid, but he says Brenda was being as subtle as a root canal. Val says Bart has no idea what it's like to date a 16-year-old in the body of a 20-year-old with superpowers (I wonder if she knows Bart's really only 4 or 5 years old). Val continues to deny that she told Brenda about Bart's secret identity, but she does angrily say she needs somebody to talk to about their crazy relationship. Bart counters with the danger of exposing his secret identity. He tells her how Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man, was raped and killed because Ralph's identity was public.

But this only makes Val angrier. She swears at Bart, reminding him that her own father is a super villain who kidnapped and tried to kill her. Bart tries to apologize, but Val refuses it, saying their month-long relationship isn't working anymore. Bart offers to at least walk Val home, but she turns him down, coldly saying she knows how much he hates to walk.

The next day, Bart has a hard time concentrating in his class, but luckily his residual knowledge from the San Francisco Public Library saves him from facing the full wrath of his teacher. Suddenly, the class is evacuated due to a metahuman tearing up the science lab. Bart realizes he was an idiot for stashing the Apokolips gadget in his locker, and he quickly throws on his Flash uniform to deal with the situation.

To Bart's horror, the "metahuman" in the science lab is actually the uncle of Darkseid, Steppenwolf (although Steppenwolf doesn't look too intimidating in his orange jumpsuit — I guess that's one thing the Justice League movie did better on). Bart plans to take out Steppenwolf with a bunch of super-speed punches and then call in the Justice League to take him away, but those punches don't seem to bother the god at all. Steppenwolf then manages to land a couple of hits on Bart with his electric axe, including one shot that sends Bart flying through a couple of walls and breaks a couple of his ribs.

Fighting through the pain, and remembering the sacrifice of his grandpa Barry, Bart charges again at Steppenwolf, prepared to fight to the death. Bart takes another beating, but eventually figures out that Steppenwolf's axe is generating an electric field, which he can harness and turn against Steppenwolf. Running around the villain at super speed, Bart creates a large electrical explosion, which finally manages to hurt Steppenwolf. However, the god is still on his feet after that blast.

Suddenly, an arrow pierces the handle of Steppenwolf's axe and a large fist of green energy slugs him in the jaw. Bart turns to see Red Arrow, Green Lantern and Black Canary flying in to save the day. Black Canary tends to Bart, while Red Arrow manages to get a rope around Steppenwolf and Green Lantern encases him in a green bubble. Black Canary praises Bart for his efforts in the battle, and Green Lantern offers to get Bart some medical attention, but he turns him down, explaining that his metabolism will have him healed in no time. So the three members of the Justice League of America take off with Steppenwolf in tow, leaving a star-struck Flash behind.

That night, Bart finally calls Tim back, who can immediately tell that his old friend is going to turn down his offer. Bart doesn't exactly tell Tim what's on his mind, merely stating that he's going to hold off on joining a team until he's ready. But as he said that, Bart was looking at an old photograph of the JLA.




This was such a relief! This is the difference between having a writer who knows what he's doing versus a couple of writers who were clearly in over their heads. Perhaps the best thing about this issue was Bart actually got to be a superhero. He fought two villains in this issue, came up with some creative solutions, made some mistakes but quickly admitted to them, met some other superheroes, and struggled to balance his civilian life with his secret identity. In short, all the typical stuff I craved, but didn't really get in the past eight issues of this series.

And one of the things I'd been craving was to see Bart actually talk to Tim. That little bit with Cyborg didn't cut it. This issue mentions the (still ongoing) Titans East saga and finally gives us a reason why Bart doesn't want to be a Teen Titan anymore. He's got his sights set on the JLA, and who can blame him, right? He is the Flash, after all. Well, I can blame him! Remember the last words Bart gave to Robin, Superboy and Wonder Girl before heading into the Speed Force? He desperately wanted them to stay together to avoid becoming the nightmarish Titans of Tomorrow. So I don't quite buy Bart's aversion to hang out with his old friends anymore. I mean, he's not really that much older than them now, so I don't think it'd be too weird.

Perhaps the most consequential moment of this issue was Bart's breakup with Valerie. And I have to say I'm in favor of it. Their relationship was always incredibly rushed and forced. And since we know that Bart's going to die pretty soon, it's time to start cutting off all the loose ends. To recap: Val first met Bart when he saved her from a fire at her high school. She became infatuated with him ever since, lying on her application form to get an internship at S.T.A.R. Labs, where she proceeded to stalk Bart relentlessly, even showing up unannounced at his apartment. Eventually she wore him down, and the two of them sort of began dating ... until she was kidnapped. After Bart finally saved her, they immediately had sex. So it's no wonder that things would fall apart a month later. They don't know each other at all and dove head-first into a relationship way too quickly. (And for the record, I'm on Bart's side of the argument.)

Let's check out the new ads:

From the creators of Metal Gear Solid, Lunar Knights for Nintendo DS.

Wonder Woman featuring the New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult.

Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis written by acclaimed fantasy novelist Tad Williams.

So begins the end ...

This is a teaser ad to DC's next weekly series, Countdown. It's been a while since Bart was on a house ad, but he really won't have a big role in that story. I am also compelled to complain about Tim Drake's new stupid outfit.

Justice League of America action figures.

Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween.

The DC Nation page strongly hints at Countdown without coming out and saying it.

The Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, Inc.

Next time, we'll take a very brief look at another backup story in 52.

Teen Titans #44

Titans East Part 2

Geoff Johns & Adam Beechen Writers
Tony S. Daniel Pencils
Jonathan Glapion & Edwin Rosell Inks
Richard & Tanya Horie & Hi-Fi Colors
Rob Leigh Letters
Cover by Tony S. Daniel & Jonathan Glapion with the Hories
Adam Schlagman Assistant Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

This is a pretty cool cover, giving us an almost perfect showdown between the Teen Titans and Deathstroke's Titans East. I say almost perfect because one of the match-ups here just doesn't work. And that's Inertia vs. Raven. They have no history together and their power are completely different. Really, it should be Duela Dent in place of Inertia, as she actually tortures Raven in this issue.

Our story picks up with Ravager and Jericho investigating the wooden Titans tower in New York. They're quickly confronted by their father, Deathstroke, and immediately launch into an all-out battle. We see that all the other Titans have been captured and are being held by a member of Titans East. Wonder Girl is in what appears to be the Fortress of Solitude with Match guarding her. Robin is in what appears to be the Batcave, with the mind-controlled Batgirl threatening to inject him with the same serum Deathstroke used on her. But suddenly the Wilson family feud spills into Robin's cell, revealing it to just be an elaborately themed room in the Titans East Tower.

Raven is being tortured by Duela Dent and the Riddler's daughter with horrific images being played on a loop all around her. Cyborg is being taken apart piece by piece by Risk. And Miss Martian is being tortured by the fire powers of Sungirl, while Inertia casually enjoys a glass of ice water nearby. Sungirl claims that she and Inertia are from the future, where all Martians are slaves because of the crimes one Martian committed against humanity, and she says M'gann is that one Martian.

But the torture session is cut short, as Deathstroke sends out a distress call to his team. Jericho has managed to stab his dad with his sword, and Ravager is giving Batgirl all she can handle. Inertia knocks Ravager off Batgirl and Sungirl takes on Jericho. However, Robin was able to free himself during the commotion. He always prepared for Rose to turn against the team, so he began carrying around an antidote to Slade's serum. Robin uses the antidote on Batgirl, who is able to snap out of the mind control fairly quickly and vows to kill Deathstroke.




I apologize for skimming through this so quickly, but there was no Bart in this issue and very little Inertia. It was a nice touch for him to be drinking ice water in front of someone being burned alive. But that's really the only positive I can say about this issue. Somehow, this story feels a lot less epic than it originally seemed like it'd be. A second writer has been brought in, as well as multiple inkers and colorists, giving everything a rushed, half-hearted feel. Which is a shame, because this story should be incredible.

Next time, we'll begin a new chapter in Bart's life with The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #9.

Shadowpact #10

Cursed: Part Two of the Demon Triptych

Bill Willingham Writer
Tom Derenick Penciller
Wayne Faucher Inker
Pat Brosseau Letterer
Mike Atiyeh Colorist
Joey Cavalieri Editor
Cover art by Tom Derenick & Wayne Faucher, colored by Mike Atiyeh

Our cover gives us a good idea of the kind of tone we can expect in this book. Although it does involve a lot of powerful magic-based heroes and villains and demons dealing with very serious life-and-death matters and trips to Hell, everything is handled with tongue firmly planted in cheek. It's an interesting concept, I'll admit, but I still don't think it's enough to overcome my innate indifference toward the supernatural.

We only care about one page in this comic, and that one page almost seems out of place, as it has nothing to do with the rest of the story here. Apparently in a previous issue, Shadowpact held a press conference laying out the three universal laws of superheroics. We don't get those laws listed out here, but I did find them on the internet: "1. the lives and safety of innocent bystanders will always be protected. 2. The lives and safety of you (the superhero) and members of your team will be protected to the extent that it does not conflict with the first law. 3. The lives and safety of all opponents will be protected to the extent that it does not conflict with the first two laws."

Apparently this announcement has made quite a splash in the media world, and we see journalists interviewing every superhero they can find about it. But none of them seem to be taking it seriously. Nightwing brushes the whole thing off, Zatara (speaking on behalf of the Teen Titans) cracks jokes about the three laws, as does the Flash, found on the streets with Superman and Wonder Woman.

And that's it. I really don't have anything to say about this issue, other than it almost feels out of continuity. Zatara left the Titans quite a while ago, and Bart certainly isn't a member of the Justice League, let alone routinely helping other heroes on missions. I'd guess that Bill Willingham and Joey Cavalieri weren't paying too close attention to the rest of the DC Universe and just threw in some characters they like for a quick gag.

Next time, we'll continue Inertia's battle against Bart's former teammates in Teen Titans #44.

Smallville – "Justice"

Director: Steven S. DeKnight
Writer: Steven S. DeKnight

After a two-year break, Kyle Gallner has returned to Smallville to reprise his role as everyone's favorite speedster, Bart Allen. Also returning is Steven S. DeKnight, who wrote the episode Bart debuted in, "Run." That unfamiliar face in the photo above is Smallville's version of Victor Stone, but we'll get to that later.

Our episode begins with Chloe Sullivan working late at the Daily Planet. She's suddenly confronted by a doctor she's been investigating, who has been transferring prisoners who exhibit strange abilities out of Belle Reve. Chloe asks the doctor if this has anything to do with Lex Luthor and a mysterious project called 33.1. As soon as she says that, the doctor pulls a gun on her, even though they're inside a newspaper office with plenty of other people nearby. But before he pulls the trigger, a red blur zooms by, knocking the doctor down.

Clark Kent suddenly appears and Chloe thanks him for saving her in the nick of time. But Clark says he didn't knock down the doctor. He looks up and sees a red-hooded figure, which he follows out onto the streets. The figure finally stops running by a pick-up basketball game, says, "Still too slow, Stretch," and pulls up his hood to reveal Bart Allen.

The next day, Clark tells Chloe that the person who saved her life last night got away from him, which surprises her, since she always thought Clark was the fastest man alive. She also tells Clark that the doctor was released from prison just minutes after being arrested, courtesy of a Luthor Corp. lawyer. Bart suddenly shows up and reintroduces himself to Chloe, who naturally doesn't remember him since she only talked to him for like five minutes two years ago. Bart kisses Chloe's hand and tries to impress her with some basic Spanish, but she promptly excuses herself.

Clark asks Bart what's with the Spanish, and Bart says he just went down there for lunch. Clark then recaps their previous meeting two years ago, and asks Bart why he's returned to Smallville. Bart says that Clark truly did convince him to give up a life of crime and now he's working as a courier. He just happened to delivering a package when he saw Chloe was in danger, but Clark doesn't believe him. Offended, Bart prepares to leave, but Clark offers to take Bart to lunch in Mexico.

Later, Lex Luthor and his dad, Lionel, are discussing a rash of break-ins at Luthor Corp. facilities all connected to 33.1. Lex shows his dad a single frame image from a security camera showing a red blur. Noting the perpetrator can move faster than a speeding bullet, Lex vows to protect their resources. As soon as the Luthors leave the room, Bart sneaks in and downloads a bunch of files from Lex's laptop to a flash drive, which he then takes to Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow.

Clark then visits Lionel to ask him how that Bell Reve doctor got out of jail so quickly, but Lionel says he's not involved with that prison anymore. He hastily changes the subject, showing him the picture Lex gave him of the red blur at one of his processing plants in Mexico. Clark says it isn't him, but he refuses to tell Lionel who he thinks it is.

The next day, Bart is treated to an enormous amount of food by Martha Kent, and to show his appreciation, he even cleans the kitchen at super speed. Martha thanks him and says he should stick around longer this time. As soon as she leaves, Clark confronts Bart about the Luthor Corp. break-in. Clark's upset that Bart lied about turning over a new leaf, but Bart insists he really has changed. However, he can't explain why he's stealing from Luthor Corp. right now, simply saying it's complicated. Clark continues pressing the issue, so Bart finally leaves, tearfully lamenting the fact that Clark can't understand that he needs to keep some things secret.

So Clark heads over to Chloe's and tells her that Bart has super speed and was the one who saved her life the other day. He says he thinks Bart's in trouble, so he asks her to hack into his cellphone history, which reveals that Bart has been working with Oliver, who Clark knows is Green Arrow. Meanwhile, Bart sneaks into another Luthor Corp. facility, but as soon as he places his flash drive in a computer, it electrocutes him and knocks him out. Lex and a squad of armed security guards immediately enter the room, and Lex mockingly says, "Not so fast now, are you?"

The next day, Clark visits Oliver and demands to know where Bart is. Oliver reluctantly admits that he and Bart are working together to take down 33.1, which he believes Lex is using to create an army of "super freaks." Oliver says Bart infiltrated a facility last night, but he hasn't heard from him since. Oliver went to the facility this morning, but found it completely empty, indicating the whole thing was a setup to capture Bart. Clark offers to help him find Bart, and Oliver introduces him to rest of his team — Victor Stone and Arthur Curry.

Bart wakes up in a cell with glass walls and Lex begins to interrogate him. Lex eventually remembers his previous encounter with Bart and notes that the data he was trying to steal does not fit his low-life criminal profile. Lex demands to know who Bart is working for, so Bart says the guy's name is "Mr. Kiss-My-Butt." Seeing that Bart's not going to talk, Lex activates the floor of his prison — a pressured system that tracks movement and will electrocute Bart if he stops moving for even a millisecond. So Lex leaves, forcing Bart to constantly run around in circles.

Back at Oliver's headquarters, Clark asks how they convinced Bart to join a team. Oliver says he came across Bart while patrolling Star City, and he could tell he was a good kid that just needed some direction. Clark then coldly blames Oliver for Bart being kidnapped, but Oliver says he won't underestimate Lex again. Unfortunately, Oliver has no idea where to begin looking for Bart. So Clark visits Chloe at the Daily Planet, and she tells him about a Luthor Corp. facility just outside Metropolis that has recently been shipping in millions of dollars of lead shielding and equipment to track high velocities. Clark tells her to take all this information to Oliver, while he heads out to the facility on his own.

Clark gets inside pretty easily, but he stupidly walks right into a room full of kryptonite. Luckily, Oliver and his team aren't far behind. Armed with blueprints of the facility, Chloe stays behind to offer guidance to the team via their headsets, earning her the code name Watchtower. Victor (Cyborg) is able to shut down the security system by plugging a cable from a computer into his arm, and Arthur (Aquaman) takes advantage of the nearby body of water to swim into the facility because ... he can.

After beating up a few guards, Green Arrow rescues Clark, calling him Boy Scout. Clark objects to this code name, and Oliver says he didn't get to pick it since he wasn't around. He says Bart also didn't get to pick his code name — Impulse. Cyborg, Aquaman and Green Arrow then set about stealing as much information from the facility they can and planting some bombs, while Clark rescues Bart by dashing through the glass walls.

Green Arrow confronts Lex, telling him he has 10 minutes to evacuate everyone from the building. He then dramatically fires an arrow right past Lex's face, giving him a slight scratch on his cheek. Green Arrow meets up with Impulse and Clark, who is initially hesitant about blowing up the building. But once Chloe confirms everyone safely made it out, Clark agrees, and the whole team slowly walks away like "cool guys" as the entire facility goes up in flames.

The next day, Lionel berates Lex for letting Bart Allen go and the multimillion dollar facility be destroyed. Lex says the incident confirmed to him the great need for 33.1, saying that if Green Arrow is recruiting super-powered individuals, then he must fight fire with fire to preserve freedom and democracy. Lex also tells his dad that some security guards identified Clark Kent at the raid. But Lionel lies and says he was having dinner with Clark and Martha last night.

Our heroes, meanwhile, are in Clark's barn, lamenting the fact that the Luthor Corp. was once again able to cover its tracks and keep all the 33.1 information away from the public. But, they are glad they managed to rescue Bart, who boldly claims he had plenty of juice left. He then tries to flirt with Chloe again, to which Arthur says that's why they call him Impulse. Clark runs through all their code names and asks what their team name is. They don't have one yet, but Oliver is thinking of something with Justice in the name, saying they're going to bring Lex Luthor to justice. They all then head out to take down another 33.1 facility in Corto Maltese. They ask Clark to join them, but he says he has things to take care of in Smallville.




Two years later and this show still sucks. This episode especially ran against the greatest weakness of this show, namely that it's a show about superheroes without superheroes. They still can't let Clark be Superman, so it's really awkward when they want to start surrounding him with other heroes, but they can't really be heroes yet. They can't call them the Justice League, but they can almost reference it. They can give these heroes code names, but the style (or budget) prevents them from having real costumes. Green Arrow and Impulse had bright hoodies and sunglasses (even at night), Cyborg had a shiny jacket and Aquaman had an orange shirt. It all led to an underwhelming production, hampered by the usual weaknesses of a CW sitcom — tired, repeated sets and melodramatic romances (I spared you the subplot of Oliver's relationship with Lois Lane).

But it is worth noting that this was the first time a DC hero named Impulse appeared on TV. Unfortunately, he didn't really act all that impulsive. This show tried to tell us that he's impulsive, but they didn't show it at all. If anything, Bart was rather calm and calculating this episode. He resisted the urge to tell Clark about his superhero team, and he only got caught because Lex set a pretty good trap that fooled Green Arrow, too. I do wonder, however, why Bart didn't try to break through the glass of his torture chamber. I know he can't vibrate through objects and he doesn't have super strength, but it seems like he could have built up enough speed and smashed free, sustaining only a few cuts.

As weak as Smallville's attempt to dip their toe in the superhero world was, the show seemed to view this as an important milestone. They even produced a motion comic detailing further exploits of this "Justice" team against 33.1. I find it kind of hard to watch — poor pacing mixed with bland, receptive music and a story that isn't very compelling to begin with. But if you're interested, here it is: https://vimeo.com/27255139.

Next time, we'll take a very quick look at Shadowpact #10.

Teen Titans #43

Titans East Part 1

Geoff Johns Writer
Tony S. Daniel Penciller
Jonathan Glapion Inker
Tanya and Richard Horie Colorist
Travis Lanham Letterer
Tony S. Daniel & The Hories Cover
Adam Schlagen Assistant Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Tony S. Daniel is a very hit-or-miss artist for me. Sometimes, when he nails an image, it's the some of the best comic book art you'll ever see. But on a pretty regular basis, you'll see some of Daniel's art that just doesn't quite seem to meet his standards. Perhaps he's rushing, or just not putting as much love into it, or maybe he has the wrong inker. In any case, this cover is one of those Daniel images that lets me down a bit. Mainly I'm upset with his Inertia. Not only does he look too old, but his gloves are wrong! Why can't anyone get Inertia's gloves right?

Bart Allen isn't in this story, but his clone is, so I'm taking the opportunity to look in on Bart's former team. When we last left the Teen Titans, Deathstroke's son, Jericho, was essentially resurrected by Raven. Jericho is catching up with his sister, Rose, and Nightwing in New York. To Rose's surprise, Nightwing accepts them both.

We then head to Robin's secret lab underneath Titans Tower in San Francisco. Wonder Girl and Raven have discovered Tim's insane attempts to clone a new Superboy. Cassie, who went on her own insane path to resurrect Conner in 52, approves of Tim's methods. But Raven is not pleased. Despite Tim's heart-breaking pleas to bring their family back, Raven insists she can't just resurrect Conner. She explains that with Jericho, all she did was bring his body back — his soul never left this plane because it was hidden inside Deathstroke and then trapped on that computer disk. But Conner's soul has moved on.

Cassie still demands that Raven bring Conner's soul back, and Tim says the Titans are unifying and Conner will complete it. Suddenly, a voice asks, "What about me?" Robin and Raven are immediately knocked out by a speedster, who pauses in front of Cassie long enough to show he's dressed as Kid Flash. Wonder Girl knows this isn't Bart and she tries to attack, but misses. Inertia quickly changes his costume, noting that some people prefer Impulse.

Cassie still angrily insists that he's not Bart, so Inertia takes the time to recap his origin story while pummeling Wonder Girl. He says he was cloned from Bart in the 30th century, trained by Thaddeus Thawne to seek out Bart and replace him. Thad rationalizes his current attack, by saying his quest to destroy everything about Bart should also include his friends. Thad then jokes that he briefly considered following Bart's lead and calling himself Kid Zoom, but for now, he's sticking with Inertia.

Once Wonder Girl falls down, Inertia turns things over to Superboy's old evil clone, Match, whose body and mind has been breaking down over the past few years, essentially making him a Bizarro. Inertia admits that Match isn't much of a conversationalist anymore, but he says clones need to stick together. Match ominously lumbers toward Cassie, saying "I hate Wonder Girl."

At Belle Reve Prison, in Terrebone Parish, Louisiana, Cyborg and Miss Martian are interrogating Bombshell, who was revealed to be a spy last time. But as soon as Miss Martian probes Bombshell's mind and realizes she's working for Titans East, Risk and Batgirl break into the prison and savagely kill Bombshell. They cause a mass breakout in Belle Reve, overwhelming our heroes. And Kid Devil is also attacked by a member of Titans East in a Catholic church in Los Feliz, California.

We then cut to Robin, waking up to find he's been tied up in front of Batgirl and Deathstroke. Slade blames the Titans for taking away his family. He reveals that he's controlling Batgirl with chemicals, and warns that he will do the same to others if the Titans don't give him Jericho and Rose back. Speaking of whom, Jericho and Rose are startled to come across an ominous-looking Titans Tower made of wood in New York.




This was pretty fun. I don't care about half the characters here, but I do like the idea of Deathstroke battling the Teen Titans with a team of teenagers himself. And it was kind of nice to see Inertia prove how powerful a speedster can be when they want to. He took out Robin and Raven like it was nothing, before messing around with Wonder Girl and handing her off to Match. I do wish, however, that he would have left Robin conscious long enough to really drive home the guilt game for the Titans caring so much about Conner, but not Bart. Regardless, this does look like it'll be an interesting story.

Next time, we'll see Bart Allen return to the Smallville TV show.

The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #8

Speedquest Chapter 2: Double or Nothing

Danny Bilson & Paul DeMeo – Writers
Ron Adrian & Art Thibert – Penciller
Art Thibert – Inker
Travis Lanham – Letterer
Richard & Tanya Horie – Colorists
Rachel Gluckstern – Associate Editor
Joan Hilty – Editor
Cover by Daniel Acuna

Our cover shows an evil red demon attacking a defenseless child in a green jumpsuit. Oh, wait. That's supposed to be Bart fighting Inertia. Then how come Bart looks like the spawn of Satan? I do like the Las Vegas lights in the background, but the characters in the foreground are awful.

Our story picks up with Bart excitedly (and stupidly) racing to Las Vegas to meet Val. Apparently Inertia had also told Bart that "Val" had rented out a penthouse and left a keycard with the concierge. And Bart doesn't find any of this suspicious. So he heads up to the massive, two-story penthouse and hears Val's voice calling him up to the hot tub on the roof garden. Surprisingly, Bart manages to keep his clothes on as he heads upstairs, only to discover that it was Inertia using his voice-changing device summoning him.

Bart almost begins fighting Inertia, but Thad convinces him to follow him out to the desert, where Val is being held hostage. Naturally, Val has a bomb strapped to her chest, and Inertia explains that he's created a "Lady or the Tiger" situation for Bart. He can push the green button on Val's bomb to defuse it, but once he does, he'll ignite a gigantic photon cannon that somehow targets the Speed Force. If Bart tries to disarm the cannon, Val's bomb will go off. And to make things interesting, Thad only gives him five seconds to decide.

Despite Val's protests, Bart decides to push the button, assuring her he can run faster than the speed of light. The cannon immediately fires, drawing all the electricity from Las Vegas to do so. Bart then leads the photon ray on a race around the world — literally. He eventually end up back where he started, guiding the ray to crash into the back of the cannon, destroying it. Inertia teleports away before Bart can catch him.

Bart takes Val to the hotel penthouse and helps turn on backup power for hospitals and emergency services until the rest of Las Vegas' lights come back on. He immediately returns to the penthouse to find Val stepping out of the shower, suggesting they enjoy their time together while they can. Bart sadly notes a temporary tone in Val's comment, and she says it'll be harder for them to be together now that he's living in Los Angeles. But Bart says he's always only a few seconds away from her. And then Bart and Val ... um ... have sex. As soon as they're done, the lights come back on and he decides to quickly check out the city to make sure there weren't too many accidents during the blackout. But he promises to hurry back to Val.

Meanwhile, Manfred Mota has finished slowly reassembling himself after Inertia blew him up. He realizes he was betrayed, but more importantly, he realizes how wrong he was to try to kill his daughter to restore his body. Seeking to make amends, he somehow tracks Val's atomic design to Las Vegas, riding on the power lines to the city.

In that brief moment of Bart's absence, Mota appears before his daughter, who has thankfully gotten dressed in a new outfit (don't ask me where the clothes came from). Val naturally panics when she sees her dad, and she even threatens to jump off the hotel's roof. But Mota manages to keep her calm and begins to apologize to her. Bart suddenly shows up, and Mota says he's said what he needed to say and will be on his way. Bart says Mota needs to go Iron Heights, but Mota refuses to return to prison. To make sure Bart doesn't follow him, he freezes the atoms around Bart, essentially trapping him in a cage.

Bart can't vibrate through the force field, but he does break out by creating a mini whirlwind. He easily catches up to Mota, and even though he can't touch the being of pure energy, Bart does figure out how to drag Mota in his slipstream, leading him to an electromagnet in a junkyard. Sure enough, this does the trick and traps Mota. And Bart notes that Iron Heights should have no problem setting up a magnetic cell for him.

Later, Bart takes Val to finally meet the Garricks, who urge the young man to return to Keystone City.  But Bart instead asks Jay to help Val get her old job back at S.T.A.R. Labs and says he's planning on staying in Los Angeles. Inspired by his grandpa Barry, Bart has decided to apply for a job on the L.A. police department's forensics team.

Elsewhere ... well, in Inertia's lab ... Thad vows that the Speed Force won't save Bart next time. Next time, Thad will have an army behind him. He orders Craydl to give him the locations for February 2007 of Abra Kadabra, Mirror Master, Heat Wave and Captain Cold.




This was the final issue of Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo. And you can tell they knew it heading in to this one. After seven issues of a sluggish, plodding pace, this one was a mad scramble to cram in all the ideas they had. After the first issue of this series came out, which sold extremely well, by the way, Bilson and DeMeo proudly announced they had a story for at least 12 issues. (In that same interview, they admitted to not having read any comics previously, which explains a lot, in my opinion.) But here's the thing: Bilson and DeMeo sucked. I don't know if their scripts were always late, but through eight issues, they never had the same art team twice. And their story itself was long, boring and frustrating. They took way too long to put Bart in the Flash costume and dragged out the Griffin storyline to an obscene length.

And then we got whiplash with this issue. After spending so much time teasing and building up Mota, Flash defeats in an astonishingly quick and anticlimactic battle. Don't get me wrong: I am not a fan of Mota at all. He was a boring and annoying villain they kept trying to hype up as some classic Flash arch enemy, which he was not. I'm just frustrated by the poor pacing of this series. And you know that Bilson and DeMeo would have spent four or five issues having Bart struggling to choose a career if they had the room.

Oh, and let me complain about the art once more. This issue was particularly lazy. As you saw from the one page I posted, Inertia's gloves routinely changed from panel to panel. All through the book. And there was one panel where Bart was supposed to be examining the bomb on Val's chest, but the artist straight up forgot to draw the bomb. I kind of get the feeling that just about everyone involved in this series had given up by this point. Sales were plummeting and DC had already put their new Flash plans into motion. Perhaps those plans were an overreaction to the struggles of this series, but that's a discussion for another day.

I will say I kind of enjoyed Inertia's interaction with Bart. Even though Bart is now older, taller and more powerful than Inertia, Thad is still much, much smarter than Bart. And it was nice to him smugly laying out his death trap that Bart blindly waltzed right into. Of course, I still crave the Inertia of Todd Dezago, who got a taste of what it's like to be in a family and struggled making sense of that with his years of being programmed as a villain. But I know I'll never get that Inertia again, so I have to make do with what little scraps of cleverness I can get.

Whew! What a tough stretch this has been! Let's check out the new ads:

Batman: Year One in a deluxe softcover edition.

Batman: Year 100 now in graphic novel format.

A two-page "comic" for the Nintendo Wii. (The art for this ad actually looks better than much of the art in this series.)

One magic word ... and a boy becomes the world's mightiest mortal! Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil.

The return of the greatest superhero team-up book ever! The Brave and the Bold by Mark Waid and George Pérez.

52 action figures.

The DC Nation page contains a clue about 52, which essentially says that the multiverse still exists after Infinite Crisis.

International Fight League.

Vinsanity by Carter. Body by milk. got milk? with Vince Carter. The 2006-07 season was actually Carter's final year as an All-Star, averaging 25.2 points per game for the New Jersey Nets.

Next time, we'll follow Inertia upholding his end of the bargain to Deathstroke in Teen Titans #43.

DCU Infinite Holiday Special #1

Father Christmas

Ian Boothby – Writer
Giuseppe Camuncoli – Penciller
Lorenzo Ruggiero – Inker
John J. Hill – Letterer
Hifi Design – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Associate Editor
Joan Hilty – Editor
Cover by Howard Porter

Our cover shows each of the main characters in all seven of the stories in this issue. It is nice to see Bart standing next to Superman and Green Lantern. It's one of the few validations we've seen that he really is the Flash for the DC Universe, and not some awkward character on his own isolated title. Unfortunately, I can't say I'm a fan of this painted style. All the characters just look slightly off.

Bart's story begins with him feeling a little blue on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles. Jay calls him on the phone, inviting him over to the Garrick household for the holiday, but Bart lamely says the snow in Keystone makes his artificial knee sore. Joan tries tempting the young adult with some homemade butter tarts, but Bart just runs over there to grab some tarts and immediately returns to his Hollywood apartment.

After Bart hangs up the phone, he tells himself Christmas just doesn't mean anything to him. He quickly reviews his previous Christmases, starting with him spending the holiday in a virtual reality program in the 30th century, as his mom and dad sadly looked on from the other side of a window. On Bart's next Christmas, he and Max Mercury battled the Mirror Master, who had trapped Max inside a shiny Christmas tree ornament. The next year, still as Impulse, Bart helped Wally take down Captain Cold, trapping him in a giant snowman. And most recently, as Kid Flash, Bart joined Superboy, Robin and Cyborg in defeating Insaniac — the Joker possessed by Brainiac and given the ability to make anything mechanical go crazy.

Bart becomes even more depressed by the memories of his old friends Max, Wally and Conner, so he heads out to try to find something to do. Bart visits the police station, asking if he can go on a ride-along or something, but he's told they're all booked up. As he walks home, Bart briefly considers using the Speed Force to travel two weeks into the future to skip the holiday season, but he realizes that's too risky a proposition.

Suddenly, Bart's hit in the side of the head with a snowball. Since this is Los Angeles, Bart assumes this snow must be the work of one of the many cold-related super villains. So he turns into the Flash and quickly tracks down the source of the snow — a small apartment with a huge hole blasted through the wall. As he approaches the dwelling, he's hit with a bolt of lightning, followed by a whirlwind. Believing this to be the work of the Weather Wizard, Bart angrily fights through the wind and prepares to attack.

But once Bart manages to get inside the apartment, he instead finds a middle-aged man with a young boy begging the Flash not to hurt his dad. Bart does snap the man's weather wand in half and demands a good explanation for the chaos. The man introduces himself as Rick Thompson, formerly Tweak, a tech consultant for the Rogues. He was never around for his son, but after his wife was killed by an OMAC he decided to go straight. Rick thought it'd be fun to give his son a white Christmas, so he tried to build his own weather wand, but he had a hard time controlling it.

Looking at his destroyed apartment, Rick realizes he and Jimmy are now essentially homeless, and he blames himself for being a deadbeat dad overcompensating for lost time. Bart tells Rick he's no more of a deadbeat dad than Saint Nicholas, who, according to some legends, had 10 kids and left them all to live the life of a hermit. And those legends say St. Nick, aka Santa Claus, spent his time delivering gifts to other children to make up for abandoning his own. Jimmy says his friend's brother told him there's no way Santa's fast enough to go around the whole world in one night, but Bart says he can do it in a minute.

Bart tells Rick that he saved a hotel from a fire last week, and he believes they'd allow Rick and Jimmy to stay there until they get back on their feet. But in the meantime, Bart believes a hotel is no place to spend Christmas, so he runs the two of them to Keystone to have turkey dinner with the Garricks. Jay and Joan give Bart a signed first edition of Mark Twain's "Following the Equator," which Jay picked up on one of his time-travel adventures where he saved the author from drowning in the Mississippi River. Jay then turns on the radio to find some Christmas carols, but instead finds a report of Murmur holding a choir hostage. So our tale ends with Bart and Jay battling one of Wally's old villains.

This was a nice story. Yeah, it's your typical holiday special story, but at least it wasn't overly cheesy. I do wonder, though, why Bart didn't rebuild Rick's apartment. I mean, two free weeks in a hotel is nice and all, but fixing their existing home is better and shouldn't be outside of Bart's skill set. But really, this was a quality story with much better art than we normally get on The Fastest Man Alive.

The most interesting part was Bart's flashbacks to previous Christmases. None of those things happened. Impulse did have a couple of memorable Christmases, one involving his time-traveling mother and another where Max literally took Bart to the North Pole to show him Santa didn't exist. However, these new adventures with Mirror Master, Captain Cold and especially the Joker/Brainiac hybrid look really fun, and I kind of wish they actually did happen. Or maybe they did? We are in a new post-Infinite Crisis continuity with lots of subtle and strategic changes to the past. So I guess the Insaniac adventure is now an untold, yet canonical story in the Teen Titans continuity.

Next time, we'll begin covering comics with a March publication date (even though they technically came out in January), starting with The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #8.

The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #7

Speediest Chapter 1: Angel City

Danny Bilson & Paul DeMeo -- Writers
Ron Adrian -- Penciller, pages 1-10, 16-22
Art Thibert -- Artist, pages 11-15
Rob Lea & Alex Lei -- Inkers, pages 1-10, 16-22
Pat Brosseau -- Letterer
Richard & Tanya Horie -- Colorists
Rachel Gluckstern -- Assoc. Editor
Joan Hilty -- Editor
Cover by Daniel Acuna

Our cover shows Bart being pursued by the two new villains of the series, Mota and Inertia. I will admit to kind of liking calling them Force & Inertia. But beyond that, I do not like this cover. The bland background and the "blurred" effect don't work for me. And for some reason, Bart looks like he's 35 years old here. It's also worth noting that just seven issues in, Acuna is our third cover artist. And Thibert becomes our sixth penciller for this mess of a series.

Our story begins at the Flash Museum with a Flash Day celebration. Apparently word has gotten out that it was Griffin who caused the bridge to collapse and the Flash who stopped him, so Keystone has decided to show it's appreciation to the real hero of the day and present him with a medal. Jay and Joan Garrick are in attendance, but halfway through the parade, Bart still has yet to show up.

And that's because Bart has impulsively decided to move to Los Angeles without telling anyone or setting up a job or apartment in this new city. But Bart believes he now has his powers under control and can handle being by himself now, leaving Keystone in Jay's hands. Bart also acknowledges that Wally is still "out there" somewhere, but before beginning his search for him, Bart wants to "find himself" first. And this quest to inner peace apparently begins with a trip to the tourist destinations of Hollywood. But it turns out to be a good thing that Bart decided to take in the sights, since he stumbled across a live performance by the classic Flash villain, Abra Kadabra.

Abra Kadabra announces he'll make the condemned Hollywood Hotel disappear, but "accidentally" zaps the brand new jewelry store next door. As the building disappears, Bart throws on his Flash suit and rushes inside the store before it completely vanishes. The store reappears in the Swiss Alps, and Abra Kadabra also teleports himself there to direct his crew to empty the contents of the store and deposit them in his Swiss bank at the bottom of the hill.

Bart sees Kadabra's men heading toward building and he decides to empty the vault before they can. Instead of vibrating through the safe door, Bart types in thousands of number combinations at super speed to open the door. Once Kadabra and his men enter the building, they are shocked to find it completely empty. Bart locks Kadabra's men inside the vault, then gets right up in his face, saying the trick didn't fool him. Abra Kadabra tries to teleport Flash away, but he easily avoids the blasts from the magic wand. Bart then pulls out a small diamond he kept from the safe and uses it to cut a hole in a glass case covering a large diamond. Bart then uses that piece of glass to reflect Kadabra's teleportation blast back at him, causing the super villain to disappear. Our noble hero immediately takes off, letting the Swiss police clean up.

Bart runs back to Los Angeles, planning to find a place to live first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, Kadabra reappears in Cambodia, realizing that this Flash has gold eyes, which means Inertia was right. He now acknowledges that Inertia's plan might have some validity, and he plans to present this information to the Rogues.

We then cut to the Gila Canyon test site in Nevada, where Inertia has taken a break from prepping Mota's experiment to secretly meet with Deathstroke. Apparently Inertia has also lost his connection to the Speed Force, and he is relying on Deathstroke to provide him a drug called Velocity 9 to give him super speed. Inertia tells Deathstroke that Mota is currently analyzing his daughter's D.N.A., and he's about to head off to collect the final piece for the regeneration machine — the trigger. Deathstroke approves of Inertia's plan and reminds him to come out East to fulfill his end of their deal.

Once Deathstroke is gone, Inertia injects himself with the Velocity 9, blaming Bart for forcing him to "shoot up" like a back-alley junkie. He has Craydl reactivate the teleportal, which sends him back to his lab in the future. Craydl has developed a taste for classic rock for some reason, and Thad gives him a Rolling Stones CD with a promise to get some Pink Floyd on his next trip.

The next day, Bart is moving in to Casa La Brea Bungalow Court in Hollywood. He is trying to open the door to his apartment while balancing three boxes labeled "Bart's stuff." His neighbor, a pretty girl about his age, helps him open the door and quickly picks up on Bart's Midwest accent. She introduces herself as Roxanne Snow and says she's an aspiring actress working on her regional dialects. Bart thanks her by giving her a piece of Swiss chocolate.

Out in Nevada, Inertia finally begins the process of using Valerie Perez's genetic material to restore Manfred's Mota's body. Thad notes the coldness of Mota's willingness to sacrifice his daughter, but he admires their shared goal of seeking death for the speedsters. But when Inertia pushes the button to begin the process, the entire lab goes up in a massive blue explosion.

Meanwhile, Bart is sadly reading Val's goodbye letter for the thousandth time. He idiotically believes the letter to be genuine — despite all the clear warning signs around Val's sudden departure — and he decides that if Val really wants to talk to him then she'll give him a call.

Speaking of Val, she miraculously survived the explosion. She pulls herself out of the rubble and runs through the desert until she finds the highway. Val stops the first truck she sees, begging for a ride to the nearest town. The truck driver is eager to help her, but only if she lets him have his way with her first. But before the driver can do anything bad to Val, Inertia arrives, beats up the driver and ties him up. He explains to Val that he designed Mota's chamber to fail and Val's to protect her from the explosion. Inertia also reveals that Abra Kadabra has informed him that Bart has moved to Los Angeles, and he thinks it's time to reunite the two love birds.

Using a device that mimics Val's voice, Thad gives Bart a call, asking him to come to the Desert Star hotel in Las Vegas to talk. Bart doesn't ask any questions over the phone and agrees to race over there immediately.




I now see why Bilson and DeMeo dragged their feet so long on making Bart the Flash. They don't know how to write a good Flash action sequence. Everything about that Abra Kadabra scene was awful. So a super villain from the 64th century teleports a jewelry store to Switzerland. Pretty low brow for someone like Abra Kadabra, but whatever; he needs to fund some operation. Bart, as a superhero, has two main objectives here: 1) Take Abra Kadabra into custody, and 2) Return the jewelry store to Hollywood. And Bart failed on both those counts. What was the point of him removing all the diamonds? And where did he put them? Or why did he manually punch numbers into the safe combination? Or use a diamond to slice open a case of another diamond? All of these decisions were horribly stupid!

But Bart's worst decision was to move to Hollywood without telling anyone. He owes it to the Garricks to let them know what he's up to. Yes, a city as large as Los Angeles does need a superhero, but Bart shouldn't be going there at this time. Jay just barely got out of the hospital, and even though he healed quickly, this series has repeatedly told us that he's getting slower each day. Bart's not exactly leaving Keystone in good hands here. And Bart also owes it to Wally to try to find him and bring him home. Now's not the time for more "soul-searching." He's been doing that for a year now. Start acting like a hero for crying out loud!

The most interesting part of this issue was Inertia's interaction with Deathstroke. But I think the credit for that goes to Geoff Johns, who is building up a Titans East storyline, which we will be covering before too long. But really, this is a painful comic to read. It even fails on little, easy things, like Inertia's gloves. Even the cover had one fingerless glove and one full glove. So it was no surprise that this issue would switch between the two styles back and forth in this comic, even once on the same page. And the sense of time has always been all over the place this whole series. (How long ago did Mota kidnap Val?) And this issue struggled with that mightily. When Inertia pushed the button, the sun was just starting to rise. When Val pulled herself out of the rubble, it was the middle of the night with hundreds of stars in the sky. But on the very next page, when she found the highway, the sun was rising again. Are we to assume she spent the entire day under the rubble, then wandering through the desert all night? Or was this just a massively flawed book with too many errors for the two writers, two pencillers, two inkers, two colorists and two editors to catch?

There are two sides to every ghost story. It takes two to take back the castle. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for Nintendo DS.

If there's one thing you learn when you are a kid ... it's to never go into the forest ... alone. Death Jr. for Nintendo DS and PSP.

Action Comics Annual by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner.

From the pages of 52: Who will be the next to wear ... the helmet of Fate?

DC Nation announces a survey to choose the greatest DC comic book cover of all time.

Next time, we'll get a special Christmas story in DCU Infinite Holiday Special #1.