Red Robin #12

Collision: The Conclusion

Christopher Yost (Writer)
Marcus To (Penciller)
Ray McCarthy (Inker)
Guy Major (Colorist)
Sal Cipriano (Letterer)
Janelle Siegel (Assistant Editor)
Mike Marts (Editor)
To & McCarthy (Cover)

Our cover shows our old friend Tim Drake (now going as the stupidly named Red Robin) at the mercy of one of Batman's greatest foes, Ra's al Ghul. It's a pretty dramatic cover with the bleeding Batman symbol in the background. Sometimes I might call something like this over the top, but I kind of like it here — mainly because I enjoy Marcus To's style.

Our story picks up at the conclusion of a massive battle between Tim and Ra's. Apparently, Ra's had sought to coerce Tim by sending teams of ninjas out to kill several members of the extended Bat family. But Tim had previously gained access to al Ghul's computer systems and subsequently prepared for this event by calling in some friends. Superboy was sent to protect Alfred, Wonder Girl was asked to help Barbara Gordon (but Barbara took care of the ninjas by herself), and Kid Flash was sent to save Catwoman. Bart reported back to Tim that Selina Kyle is "super-fine" and that this might be the best day of his life.

So that just leaves Tim to fight Ra's one on one. Fittingly, Ra's does win the duel, beating the snot out of Tim before shoving him out a window. Luckily, Nightwing was there to catch him and bring him back to the Batcave. But this was not a defeat for Tim, as his true victory was behind the scenes, thwarting al Ghul's attempts to take control of Wayne Enterprises.

While tim recovers in the Batcave, the new Robin, Damian Wayne, complains that the Teen Titans "riffraff" are going through his father's kitchen upstairs. But that's the last mention of Kon, Bart and Cassie. And at the end of this story, we learn this whole battle was actually Ra's al Ghul testing Tim to see if he'd be a worthy heir. And Tim passed the test.




The obvious joke here is that Bart's calling this the best day of his life because he's in a bedroom with a beautiful woman. But I like to think he might also be referring to the fact that he, Kon and Cassie are finally working with Tim again. We never really got a proper reunion of the four Young Justice holdovers. They had a nice little fireside chat about Superboy's fight with Lex Luthor. Then we had Blackest Night and Superboy and Kid Flash re-joined the Teen Titans. But we haven't had an actual discussion about why Tim isn't with them anymore. At the very least, it is nice to see that Tim's friends will respond to his calls.

Next time, we'll return to Teen Titans #83.

DC Super Friends #27

Double Trouble

Sholly Fisch -- Writer
J. Bone -- Artist
Travis Lanham -- Letterer
Heroic Age -- Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern -- Editor

Our cover by Bone shows the John Stewart Green Lantern battling Sinestro, while the Wally West Flash faces off against the Reverse-Flash. Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Superman and Batman (oddly in a bubble) are looking on with worried faces. I'm not a fan of Bone's style, but I do understand the necessity of making large, simplistic figures that could easily be replicated as toys, if desired.

Our story, as you can probably guess, involves Flash and Green Lantern fighting two of their greatest enemies. And that's a real shame, because this fight interrupted Flash's plans to throw a surprise party for Green Lantern's birthday, as well as Green Lantern's plans to throw a surprise party for Flash (they both have a birthday on the same week). What follows is a cute, wacky adventure, suitable for all ages. Unfortunately, Bart doesn't show up until the big combined birthday party at the end.

I think it's safe to call this iteration of Bart a new version of Impulse. Sadly, we don't have a clear view of his costume — just a red sleeve and yellow glove, which is quite unique compared to other versions of Impulse we've seen. Anyway, this was a fun comic, and I have to say I enjoy this series more than Tiny Titans. True, I do appreciate the art of Tiny Titans a lot more than this art, but in terms of introducing these characters to young readers, I think it's better to show the heroes as their adult selves actually battling villains (in a light-hearted way) rather than turning the heroes into little kids and putting them in school. Not that the school setting isn't fun, I just think it's best to see superheroes being superheroes.

Next time, we'll return to the main DC Universe, where Bart has rejoined Kon and Cassie with the Teen Titans. But what about Tim? Let's check in on him with Red Robin #12.

Teen Titans #82

The Taking of Dakota

Felicia D. Henderson – Writer
José Luís – Penciller
Mariah Benes – Inker
Sal Cipriano – Letterer
Marcelo Maiolo – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor
Yildiray Cinar and Júlio Ferreira with Rod Reis – Cover

Our cover shows our entire Teen Titans roster in a classic triumphant hero team pose. The new guys, Superboy and Kid Flash, are front and center, right next to their old Young Justice teammate, Wonder Girl. Just as it should be. Kon's face and arms look a bit off, but Bart and Cassie both look pretty good. And everybody else behind them looks fine, too. I am, however, a bit worried about this crowded cast. Nine people is a lot to balance.

Our story picks right up where we left off last time, with Cyborg, Superboy and Kid Flash facing down Holocaust in his secret hole in Dakota. Cyborg offers Holocaust the chance to surrender, but the villain naturally refuses. Cyborg hits him with an energy blast, and Bart runs circles around Holocaust to get him dizzy, saying the offer was non-negotiable. Kon adds the words "... and binding" as he punches Holocaust in the face. Bart says that Static Shock is one of them now — a Teen Titan, and Kon makes sure to include the rest of Holocaust's prisoners, saying they're also off limits. And for good measure, Cyborg tells Holocaust the good people of Dakota also fall under the Titans' protection.

Holocaust then stomps on the ground, which somehow causes a blast of fire to erupt under Bart. Cyborg immediately extinguishes the flames, but this leaves him open to Holocaust, who jumps on his back and pounds him into the ground. As Bart recovers from the fire, he tells Kon to just give him a couple of minutes and he'll finish the jerk. So Superboy vows to merely do "a little prep work" for Bart, as he intercepts a fireball blast aimed at Kid Flash. Holocaust responds by punching Superboy in the face, and Cyborg hits Holocaust in the back with another energy blast. Holocaust turned to shoot a fireball at Cyborg, but Bart knocked him off his feet, causing the fire to shoot up at Wonder Girl's prison bubble, conveniently freeing her.

As Bart dances around Holocaust, dodging all his attacks, he tells Cyborg that he was initially hesitant to rejoin the Teen Titans, but now this battle has removed all doubt. Bart wants back in — if they want him. Cyborg asks Wonder Girl, the team leader, and she instantly agrees. Superboy asks if he can join, too, but Cassie hesitates, asking, "Personally ... or professionally?" While they were talking, everybody got a hit in on Holocaust, until Cyborg pulls out a pair of fancy-looking gold handcuffs. Bart quickly places these off on Holocaust, covering his entire hands, but Static Shock warns the others that those cuffs won't hold Holocaust long.

Our heroes work on freeing and reviving their teammates, and everyone seems OK, except for Raven, who ominously won't wake up. Everybody begins rounding up Holocaust's men, and Static tries to hack into his computer to find out about the epidemic virus he released on Dakota. During all the excitement, everyone somehow loses track of the main bad guy they're fighting. When Static spots the melted hand cuffs on the ground, he warns everyone to get out now, but he's too late.

Holocaust shoots a large fire blast at his hideout from the outside, causing the entire building to go in a massive explosion of flames. Holocaust immediately calls his accountant to begin the paperwork of writing off his now-destroyed warehouse, but he's suddenly attacked by Superboy. Apparently Kon got out in time, but he stupidly believes that blast killed all his teammates. He hits Holocaust with some heat vision, but that only makes the villain laugh. Kid Flash suddenly arrives and knocks Holocaust down with a flurry of punches. Kon was able to count 72 punches, but Bart says it was 74. And for some insane reason, Bart also believes everyone else died, and he tells Kon they need to find each of their fallen teammates, take their bodies home and give them proper respect. Bart and Kon then share a solemn fist bump.

Holocaust jumps right back up, and Bart lifts him up in the air with a whirlwind. Superboy then punches the airborne Holocaust into a nearby car. We then see that the rest of the Titans actually did survive, thanks to Beast Boy's new ability to transform into mythical creatures. He apparently turned into a large phoenix to absorb all the fire. Everybody takes turns getting in one more hit on Holocaust, and Kid Flash adds the finishing touch with a large whirlwind that created a vacuum strong enough to send Holocaust straight down to the Earth's core.

Cyborg offers praise to Beast Boy and Wonder Girl before checking on Superboy, who's forced to admit that Holocaust was pretty tough. Staring down the bottomless crater that Bart created, Static pessimistically believes Holocaust will still survive a trip to the Earth's core. But Cassie believes he'll have to climb out by hand, which should take him a very long time. Our heroes still aren't sure what, exactly, Holocaust was planning to do in Dakota, but they do have one of his men to question — a very fat man in a Superman T-shirt. So they take him on their T-jet and begin the flight home.

On the plane, Kon sits next to Cassie, who chooses to turn her back to him. He asks if she's purposely not talking to him, which she coldly confirms. Static asks the fat man who manufactured Holocaust's virus. The man says, "his silent partner," before flashing a wide grin and suddenly leaping out of the plane. Everybody immediately ejects from the destroyed aircraft, and those who can't fly (like Bart) beg for help from those who can. The fat man can fly, and he grabs Raven before anyone can react. Beast Boy turns into a dragon and even breathes fire at the fat man, but it's not use. The fat man appears to take Raven away into a large red ribbon in the sky that Cyborg describes as a dimensional rift that everyone should stay away from.




OK. Bart and Kon are officially back, thrown right into the middle of a chaotic and confusing battle. I never got a full grasp on what Holocaust's powers actually are — how is he resistant to psychic attacks? Can he summon fire anywhere? — and I really have no idea how Bart's "vacuum to the Earth's core" works. At the very least, could they have sealed up that giant hole to make it a little harder for Holocaust to come back? And don't even ask me about the fat man and dimensional rift at the end. But, all things considered, this was a decent action issue for Bart and Kon to get back into the swing of things and prove they belong.

The action scenes were easy enough to follow except for the part where Holocaust destroyed his base. First of all, how does anyone turn their back on this guy for even one second? Secondly, what was up with Superboy's and Kid Flash's incomprehensibly insane reactions to that fire? The smoke hadn't even cleared, and these guys are already planning out everybody's funeral. Was it just because these two have already experienced death that now they kind of expect everyone to die? In any case, calm down, guys! Give your team a little credit! Oh, and I also have no idea what's going on between Kon and Cassie. This sudden cold shoulder directly contradicts the emotional adventure they shared during Blackest Night and subsequent funeral scenes of the two standing arm-in-arm. I guess Cassie's just acting like a teenage girl.

I'm still having a hard time getting a read on Felicia D. Henderson. She has a lot of characters to juggle, and I'm jumping right in the middle of a story, so I can't really make a conclusive judgment until we finish it. But in the meantime, I will say her dialogue is quite clunky. She really likes to have people finish each other's sentences, which is not always natural. It's almost as if she has a specific one-liner in mind, but can't find a smooth way to set it up.

Ultimately, though, I am glad that Bart is still alive and active in the DC Universe. He easily could have ended up like Max Mercury or Wally West and his family — completely shoved to the side and never mentioned ever again. But I still wish we had a space somewhere to really explore Bart's head and personal life. He died as a 20-year-old and was brought back as a 16-year-old. It was implied that he remembered his time as an adult, but to what extent? Is he living with the Garricks or Max again? Is he going back to school? Has he attempted to reconnect with any of his old friends from Manchester, Alabama? Or, dare I say, his old girlfriend from his disastrous stint as an adult? These are questions that will never be answered. Geoff Johns won't explore any of these ideas in his Flash monthly series. And Henderson won't have time with all these other Titans to worry about. So, in a strange way, I almost feel like Bart never came after he was killed. This is just a shadow of Bart, running through the motions to provide the most basic impression of what a "Kid Flash" is.

Next time, we'll take a very quick look at Super Friends #27.

Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal #2

Staring into the Abyss

Written by J.T. Krul
Pencilled by Geraldo Borges & Kevin Sharpe
Inked by Mario Alquiza & Mark McKenna
Lettered by Rob Clark Jr.
Colored by Hi-Fi
Dream sequence by Mike Mayhew & Andy Troy
Cover by: Greg Horn
Associate Editor: Sean Ryan
Editor: Brian Cunningham

Our cover shows Roy Harper, sporting his new robotic arm, battling his occasional girlfriend, Cheshire. This is a well-done cover, but ... dang ... it's practically pornographic! I mean, seriously, it's not practical at all for Cheshire to let her boobs hang out of her outfit like that. I don't care how good a fighter you are, that is a massive weakness you're leaving exposed. Believe it or not, but it is actually possible to look sexy without being objectified.

Our story begins with a freaky dream sequence of Roy's late daughter, Lian, ripping off her father's arm as she falls into an abyss. Roy wakes up to the news that Green Arrow had murdered the man responsible for the loss of his arm and daughter, Prometheus, but doing so cost Oliver Queen his secret identity. Black Canary stops by to talk, but Roy is furious that he wasn't the one to kill Prometheus. Roy then visits Ollie in jail to yell at him for robbing him of his chance at revenge.

At S.T.A.R. Labs, Dr. Mid-Nite and Cyborg help attach a robotic arm to Roy, but because this story is as melodramatic as possible, the prosthetic causes an enormous amount of pain when connected. (Prometheus apparently infected Roy with some nanites.) Later, Roy finally holds a funeral for Lian, which is attended by all the major heroes with connections to the JLA or Titans. Barry, Wally and Jay are there, but Bart chooses to stand with Raven, Beast Boy, Atom, Wonder Girl and Superboy.

Roy hallucinates that Lian's heart begins beating again, so he hastily retreats from the group to pop some pills. Ravager saw this, and tries to share some positive memories of when she babysat Lian way back when. Mia Deardon also tries to comfort Roy, but he blames her for his daughter's death and even gets his hand around her throat before Dick Grayson and Donna Troy intervene. Roy yells at everyone before heading home, smashing his bow, popping more pills and being attacked by Cheshire.




I think it's pretty safe to say that this is a rather reviled comic. There's tragic stories, and then there's this. Let's pile on as many bad and terrible things as we possibly can on one character, and make the bleakest, most depressing, most melodramatic story we can. And you know what? Nobody likes that. Luckily for us, this funeral cameo is the complete extent of Bart's involvement in this story.

Next time, we'll watch Bart and Kon take on Holocaust in Teen Titans #82.

Teen Titans #81

Titans Together

Felicia D. Henderson – Writer
Joe Bennett – Penciller
Jack Jadson – Inker
Travis Lanham – Letterer
Marcelo Maiolo – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor
Yildiray Cinar and Julio Ferreira with Rod Reis – Cover

Our cover shows Superboy battling a villain named Holocaust. It's a bright, flashy, cover with lots of fire and energy. And Superboy doesn't look half-bad, either. Sadly, this issue is the grand return of Superboy AND Kid Flash to the team, but only Kon gets to be on the cover. The other downside is Cinar did not draw the inside pages, which is a shame, because I find Bennett's work a bit lackluster.

We're jumping right into the middle of a story, in which Holocaust and his men have captured Static Shock, Aquagirl, Bombshell and Wonder Girl. So that leaves Beast Boy, Raven, Blue Beetle and Miss Martian to search the streets of Dakota for their friends. Beast Boy is particularly distressed because his relationship with Raven has fallen apart, he's caught in a leadership struggle with Wonder Girl, and apparently he did call in Cyborg for help, but somehow did it in a way that caused Cyborg to doubt him.

In S.T.A.R. Labs, Cyborg is reviewing his long relationship with Garfield Logan. He remembers Gar's prankster personality in the early years, but then he reminds himself of how Gar has grown and matured through the years. Realizing he was wrong to doubt his old friend, Victor Stone turns to two shadowy figures in the lab, saying he needs to talk to them about retirement. The shadowy figures are clearly Superboy and Kid Flash, and I wonder why Henderson and Bennett even attempted to obscure them at this stage. I mean, we kind of already saw Superboy on the cover, so it's not like you're going to surprise us with his reveal later on.

Our heroes eventually find Holocaust's hideout, but he handles them easily. Not only can he withstand the physical attacks from Beast Boy and Blue Beetle, but he also has immunity to the psychic attacks from Raven and Miss Martian. Just when all seems lost, Cyborg, Superboy and Kid Flash burst into the lair. Cyborg explains that he tracked Beast Boy's biosignature to this location, and says it's time for all cowardly monsters to retire. Bart and Kon add that now is the perfect time for a couple of Teen Titans to come out of retirement. Holocaust turns to the new arrivals and says, "Bring it." Bart maliciously answers, "We were hoping you'd say that ..."

There's also a Ravager backup story, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Bart, so we'll skip it. All in all, I'm rather indifferent with this issue. I have no idea why Bart and Kon were hanging out with Cyborg in the dark instead of directly contacting the Titans and trying to rejoin their former team. And I'm even more perplexed by Cyborg having to go on a long, soul-searching journey to determine if his oldest and best friend was telling him the truth. But the important thing here is Kid Flash and Superboy are back. Sadly, they look a little evil in this final splash page, which kind of puts a sour note on what should be a glorious return.

Next time, we'll take a very quick look at the Rise of Arsenal.

The Flash Secret Files and Origins 2010 #1

Running to the Past

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Scott Kolins
Colors: Michael Atiyeh
Letters: Rob Clark Jr.
Cover: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato
Editors: Adam Schlagman & Eddie Berganza

Our cover is a simple, yet effective shot of Barry Allen turning into the Flash. As I've said before, I absolutely love Manapul's style, so I cherish every chance I get to post some of his work on this blog. I'm a little let down by Barry's grumpy face here, but at least he doesn't look evil like Ethan Van Sciver would draw. I took this image from dc.fandom.com since DC hasn't digitized this issue yet, which really surprises me.

Unlike previous Secret Files and Origins issue, this is not an oversized issue with one main story, several backup stories and a bunch of profile pages and timelines. This issue only has one story and a handful of profile pages. And everything about this issue is setting up the new monthly Flash series by Johns and Manapul. So the Rogues each got an individual profile page, but the Flash family all got crammed together, given minuscule blurbs that don't say anything we don't already know. It's hinted that Max Mercury might travel through time again, but nothing will come of that. And it says that Bart will soon join the Teen Titans, which seemed pretty obvious. So we'll only be dealing with the main story here.

Barry has a nightmare where he's a little kid getting picked on by bullies. His mom takes him to the comic shop to cheer him up, but she suddenly disappears right before his eyes. Barry wakes up at 3:05 a.m., and doesn't want to wake his wife, Iris, so he begins puttering around the house, but no time has passed. He eventually throws on his Flash uniform and runs out to his childhood house, which is abandoned and in disrepair. Barry remembers the fateful day of coming home to find his mother dead and lying in a pool of her own blood. Suddenly, Jay Garrick shows up at the house.

Jay says he was somehow drawn to Barry, able to feel his distress through the Speed Force. Barry laments that he's not as adept at time travel as Eobard Thawne, explaining that every time he tried to go back in time to change history, he ended up centuries off course or in a parallel world. Jay urges Barry to focus on the present and the future, and reminds Barry that he's not alone. Right on cue, they're joined by Jesse Quick, Bart Allen, Wally and Irey West and Max Mercury. Bart says he doesn't know why they're all here, and he asks if everything is OK. Barry gladly gives them all a big hug and tells them everything's going to be great. He then returns home and falls asleep next to his wife at 3:06 a.m.

At 3:07 a.m., the Rogues have broken into Sam Scudder's old glass factory five miles outside of Central City. Captain Cold leads them to Sam's old contingency plan — a massive mirror labeled "In case the Flash returns break glass." Trickster eagerly asks, "So ... are we gonna break it or what?"




I don't really much to say about this issue. It's your usual Johns-Kolins collaboration on the Flash, so you know it's a well-put-together comic book. I do think it's a bit odd, however, how all the speedsters were drawn to Barry just because he was feeling slightly upset. On one hand, it's kind of sweet to think of the Flash family being able to sense when one of their own is distressed. But on the other hand, this has never happened before or since. And I'm kind of glad for that. It would be kind of ridiculous for the entire Flash family to constantly show up for every little conflict, fight and moment of self doubt.

And in one year, Barry will completely ignore this heart-warming moment and go against all better judgment to run back in time to try to save his mom from Eobard Thawne, creating Flashpoint. In more ways than one, this little story will quickly be completely negated. So it kind of makes this whole comic completely pointless.

Next time, we'll see Kid Flash and Superboy finally return to the Teen Titans.

Titans #23

The Way Things Were

Writer: Eddie Berganza
Pencils: Scott Clark & Ardian Syaf
Inks: Dave Beaty & Vincente Cifuentes
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Cover by Angel Unzueta
Letters: Travis Lanham
Asst Editor: Rex Ogle
Editor: Brian Cunningham

Our cover shows a photograph of the original Teen Titans — Aqualad, Wonder Girl, Speedy, Robin and Kid Flash. The picture is on fire because ... dramatics! Fortunately, there's enough inexplicable extra white space above the actual photograph, so the flames haven't done any real damage yet. I'm normally not a fan of Unzueta, but this cover isn't too bad — minus the ridiculous fire bit.

Our story begins with Wally West, Donna Troy and Dick Grayson sharing conflicting memories of their early days with the Teen Titans. Wally paints a rosy picture, Dick, rather grim, and Donna somewhere in the middle. The occasion for their trip down memory lane is a memorial at Titans Tower in San Francisco for two heroes who did not survive Blackest Night — Tempest and Hawk. Everyone gathers outside in the rain — because it is actually against the law in the DC Universe to honor the dead when it's not raining — as Beast Boy guides the statues of the fallen inside. Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl and a boy in red I don't recognize are also present to show their support.

Dick apparently gives a touching eulogy off panel, and everyone leaves except for Wally, Dick and Donna. They share a few sad words for the loss of Garth, and lament not getting to know the new Hawk better. Wally wonders what's worse — the large amount of statues they have in this hall, or the fact that they've built in extra spaces for more statues.

Cyborg then calls them up, reminding us all that Roy Harper is still in the hospital. He says Dr. Mid-Nite and Raven have been working on Roy, but they're worried he might not survive the night. So Cyborg believes Roy's oldest teammates should be there just in case something happens. Our heroes all fly over to the hospital in Dick's Bat-Wing, sharing stories about Roy — both the good and the bad. After quite a bit of melodramatics, Wally runs home to give Jai and Irey a big hug.




I'm glad to see that some people at DC haven't forgotten that Wally and his family exist, despite Geoff Johns' best efforts to say otherwise. Other than that, though, I really wasn't a fan of this issue. I was looking for some closure to Blackest Night, but instead I got a prequel to Rise of Arsenal. And not to knock on Roy, but he is still alive. Tempest isn't, and he barely got two words in memoriam here. I also wasn't a fan of the art, especially the flashback scenes. Everyone looked way too old and straining under way too many muscles.

Next time, we'll take a quick look at the latest Secret Files and Origins issue of the Flash.

Blackest Night #8

Geoff Johns Writer
Ivan Reis Penciller
Eclair Albert & Joe Prado Inkers
Alex Sinclair Colorist
Nick J. Napolitano Letterer
Adam Schlagman Assoc. Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor
Cover: Reis • Albert • Sinclair
Alt. Cover: Doug Mahnke • Christian Alamy • Randy Mayor
Special thanks to Tony Avina

Our main cover shows the White Lantern Sinestro leading all the other Lanterns on a charge through a gigantic, crumbling skull, which, I assume, represents Nekron and death itself. Since this is the final issue of this story, this cover carries a strong implication that Sinestro will be the main hero at the end. That would truly be a shocking turn of events, but as we'll soon find out, that's not the case.

As usual, we get to see Reis' pencil work on this cover. I don't think this necessarily makes the cover any better. But it is interesting to see a bit of the process. Luckily, this cover isn't covered in excessive shading, so it is possible to distinguish the individual characters here.

Our alternate cover shows Hal Jordan reaching out to some hands in an almost spiritual pose. Unlike the main cover, this actually shows who the true hero is. This is a Green Lantern story, and Johns has spent several years now making sure nobody forgets that Hal is by far the best Green Lantern. I do like this cover, except for the fact it accentuates Mahnke's tendency to draw very pointy noses.

And we also have a variant to the alternate, eliminating the blinding light to make it more clear which hands are reaching out Hal. Some of these hands are vague enough to represent several different characters, but once you read the issue, it becomes clear who they are. These are all heroes who were dead before Blackest Night began or were killed in the early stages of the event.

Bart Allen did not appear in Blackest Night #7, so we're starting this issue on a rather abrupt note. Basically, our heroes have uncovered the light of life itself, known simply as the Entity, and Sinestro has selfishly merged with the Entity to become a White Lantern. He wraps Nekron in chains and rips out his heart, believing briefly that he had just saved the day. But the Black Lantern promptly commands Nekron to rise again, and he immediately reforms and strikes back at Sinestro.

Larfleeze finally manages to knock out Lex Luthor, while everyone else still has their hands full with the massive army of Black Lanterns. Finally, all the Lantern reinforcements arrive, after being summoned several issues ago. They join the fight in a crowded two-page spread, also joined by just about every hero in the DC Universe. (If you look closely, you can just make out Wally West and Jay Garrick.) Every single Lantern points their ring at Nekron in one large, focused attack of light. But this still isn't working. So Deadman takes control of Guy Gardner and explains to everybody that Nekron is just sentient darkness, and they can't actually destroy him because he's tethered to the land of the living through Black Hand. So Deadman suggests they bring Black Hand back to life, but nobody's really sure how they're supposed to do that.

Nekron eventually separates Sinestro from the Entity, so Hal decides to merge with it, using his power to seek out other heroes like himself, who had chosen to come back from the dead. Superman's Black Lantern ring is destroyed, as well as Wonder Woman's Purple Lantern ring and Barry Allen's Blue Lantern ring. These are replaced with White Lantern rings, forming a new corps with Donna Troy, Superboy, Ice, Kid Flash, Animal Man and Green Arrow.

However, the newly formed White Lantern Corps exists for exactly two seconds, as they all expend their energy into one blast that brings William Hand back to life. Everyone loses their White Lantern rings, and all that's left after this is a single ring flying around erratically. The ring flies through Nekron, injuring, but not killing him. It then plunges into the Black Lantern power battery, commanding the Anti-Monitor to live. The Anti-Monitor immediately attacks Nekron, saying he'll no longer be his prisoner and power source. But this shocking moment ends as quickly as it came, as Nekron easily banishes the Anti-Monitor to a different dimension.

Hand, meanwhile, has been vomiting up more White Lantern rings, which finally call Nekron's name, saying, "Let there be light." Nekron explodes in a flash of light, once and for all, while the rest of the rings begin seeking out a seemingly random group of heroes and villains to resurrect. And in a huge, four-page spread, we see the rings have brought back Eobard Thawne, Maxwell Lord, the original Hawk (but not the new, female one), Jade, Captain Boomerang (but not his son), Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Deadman and Osiris.

Mera's love for Aquaman overrides her Red Lantern ring of rage, and Carter and Shiera embrace, finally remembering all their past lives. Superman congratulates J'onn, who responds with a small smile, and Ronnie and Jason separate as Firestorm, wondering where Professor Stein is. Hawk is confused and potentially violent, but Dove keeps him calm. Guy Gardner is the only reasonable one who tries to restrain Maxwell Lord, but Lord uses his mind control powers to escape and disappear in the confusion.

Jade kisses Kyle Rayner, and Superboy and Kid Flash check out a former Teen Titan they both missed. Kon asks if this is Black Adam Junior, but Bart (who was alive, but a stupid, non-heroic adult during that time) vaguely remembers this hero's name as Osiris. Osiris, however, just meekly says he wants to go home. Eobard also says he's going home. Barry tries to stop him, but he's attacked by Captain Boomerang. Barry promptly knocks out Digger, but that gave Eobard more than enough time to take off and begin setting up his attack that was detailed in Flash: Rebirth.

Barry wonders where Ralph and Sue Dibny are, but Hal sadly tells him they're not here. Deadman begins freaking out when he realizes he's alive again, saying he's not supposed to be here. Larfleeze returns the unconscious Luthor to our heroes, and, as promised, he takes one of the Guardians, Sayd, as his personal slave. The Indigo Tribe, meanwhile, quietly took off with Black Hand, imprisoning and basically lobotomizing him on their home world.

Our story ends with Barry and Hal revisiting Bruce Wayne's unmarked grave in Gotham City. Hal points out that the Black Lantern Batman they briefly encountered didn't seem to recognize any of them, suggesting that it wasn't really Bruce. Which, Hal admits, means Tim Drake has been right all along — Bruce is still alive. Barry asks what happened to the Entity, and Hal vaguely says he can still feel the white light urging them forward, away from the blackest night. And at an unknown location, a couple of random bystanders come across a White Lantern power battery sitting at the bottom of a smoking crater.




Well, it's finally over. The massive, bloated event of Blackest Night has reached its insane, nonsensical conclusion. I would have preferred to pare this story down to six issues, but Johns clearly had enough ideas for 12 issues. So when he got to the end, he had to cram everything together at a breakneck pace. A new White Lantern Corps? Cool! But they only get two pages. The Anti-Monitor is back? Amazing! But he only gets two pages. And don't ask why Black Hand barfed up those White Lantern rings — you won't get a satisfactory answer. Although, there is a sequel to this event — another unnecessarily massive and even more perplexing story called Brightest Day. Luckily for us, though, Bart barely spends any time in that event.

On a whole, Blackest Night was an entertaining story. It had great artwork, and it provided a lot of opportunities for deep, emotional moments. Sadly, Bart never really had an emotional moment here (thanks, Geoff Johns), but plenty of other characters did. There was a bit of horror with this story, and lots of intense action, which sometimes got a bit too gory. And I really did get tired of reading issue after issue filled with grotesque zombies. But mostly, I'm sad that this story just kept reinforcing the idea that Hal Jordan is the only one who can do anything. We have this huge roster of heroes at our disposal, and some of them even got upgraded powers, but at the end of the day, the only one who mattered was Hal. Everybody else served no purpose.

Next time, we'll begin the post-Blackest Night healing with a very quick look at Titans #23.

Green Lantern #51

Parallax Rebirth Part Two

Geoff Johns Writer
Doug Mahnke Art
Colors: Randy Mayor
Letters: Rob Leigh
Cover: Mahnke, Christian Alamy & Hi-Fi
Variant Cover: Greg Horn
Assoc. Editor: Adam Schlagman
Editor: Eddie Berganza

Our main cover features the Yellow Lantern Scarecrow with tons of bugs and maggots pouring out of his mask. It's a well-done and appropriately creepy cover. The only problem is Scarecrow doesn't show up on a single panel in this issue. Which is completely ridiculous, seeing as how this story is dealing with Parallax, the literal embodiment of fear. Oh well.

Our variant cover shows all the other Lanterns facing off against the Parallax-possessed Hal Jordan, with Nekron looming large in the background. It's a nice enough cover, but I feel like we've already seen quite a few images just like this. And that's the problem with an eight-month event that gave a variant cover to almost every tie-in issue. Things start to feel a bit redundant.

Our story opens with the two Orange Lanterns — Lex Luthor and Larfleeze — bickering over who gets to use the Orange Lantern power battery. Lex probably would have defeated the Black Lantern Superman had Larfleeze's intense greed not got the better of him. But their squabbling is soon interrupted by the gigantic fight between Black Lantern Spectre and Parallax. All our other heroes are naturally worried about Hal's decision to bring back Parallax, but Ganthet urges everyone to let Hal carry out his plan, believing it to be the only way to tame the Spectre.

And that small panel is all we see of Kid Flash in this issue. Anyway, Hal's plan is largely a success. Parallax is able to free Spectre from the Black Lantern ring, but then Parallax immediately tries to destroy the Spectre. Carol Ferris manages to separate Parallax from Hal, and Sinestro tries to contain Parallax, but an unknown force pulls Parallax away. The Spectre then tries to help out our heroes by taking on Nekron, but soon discovers that Nekron has no soul and is immune to the Spectre's powers.




I really don't have anything to say about this issue. It was a decent Green Lantern story with nice art. I often get frustrated with all the other heroes not being able to do anything in the Blackest Night series, but I don't mind letting the Lanterns take charge in the Green Lantern series. I'll also note that I don't actually own this issue but am reading it off the DC Universe app. I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you're not a DC Universe member, then you're doing it wrong. Only $8 a month and access to more comics, movies and shows than you'll ever have time to get through.

Next time, we'll finally — finally! — bring this bloated event to a close with Blackest Night #8.

Blackest Night: The Flash #3

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Scott Kolins
Color: Michael Atiyeh
Letters: Rob Leigh
Cover: Kolins w/Atiyeh
Variant Cover: Francis Manapul w/Brian Buccellato
Editor: Adam Schlagman

Our main cover features the Blue Lantern Flash running ahead triumphantly. It's a fine cover, but I feel like Barry's chin is a bit big, and his face is kind of smug. Actually, I'm not exactly sure how to best describe that emotion. I'll just say it doesn't quite work for me and leave it at that.

I happen to own the variant cover, and I must admit: This is not Manapul's best work. It shows the battle-worn Rogues, with tears in their costumes and blood splattered on their faces. But it's just too much for me. Too messy. Too chaotic. And even Kolins, who loves to inflict meticulously detailed misery upon the Rogues, didn't have them get beat up this much inside.

Our story picks up in Keystone City, with Owen meeting with a random villain named Sandblast, who has come to the Twin Cities in hope of joining the Rogues. Owen promises to help Sandblast join the Rogues — he'll even get Captain Cold to overlook Sandblast's sex offender status — if he helps him find the missing Captain Boomerang. Sandblast agrees, so Owen leads him out to a large pit in a construction site.

Owen then suddenly shoves Sandblast down the pit, where he lands on a pile of corpses and is attacked by the chained-up Black Lantern Captain Boomerang. The zombie sees the fear in Sandblast's heart and promptly kills him. Digger then calls up to Owen, saying their plan is working. He can feel his heart starting to beat again, but he just needs to devour a few more hearts.

We then check in on the Blue Lantern Flash, who has put Wally in a protective bubble to shield him from the attacks of the undead Firestorm, Solovar, Reverse-Flash and Kid Flash. Solovar jokes about how "bright" Barry has always been, but Eobard contends that Barry hasn't always been bright. Bart agrees, mocking Barry's shock upon learning there was a new Kid Flash. Barry's mentor, Saint Walker, explains that unlike Solovar and Eobard, who are merely reanimated corpses, Bart is actually still alive and they should make saving him their priority. Sadly, this plan leaves out Firestorm, who does have a living person trapped within an animated corpse.

And speaking of Firestorm, he causes Barry to drop his protective shield around Wally by attacking him with a tidal wave of dirt. Bart seizes upon this opening, jumping on top of Wally's shoulders, saying that Wally hates him as much as he hates Wally. Eobard attacks Barry, and since Flash: Rebirth has finally finished, we're actually able now to acknowledge that the living Eobard is currently hanging upside down in Iron Heights.

Right on cue, we check in on the chaos of Iron Heights. Captain Cold puts up a sheet of ice to pull Mirror Master out of the Mirror World, and he manages to position all the zombie Rogues behind him and the living Rogues in a hallway. Heat Wave and Weather Wizard create a fiery inferno for the Black Lantern Rogues, hoping to incinerate them once and for all.

We cut back to Black Lantern Bart, who is now on top of Wally, mocking him for no longer being able to be the Kid Flash to Barry. In what might be an insight of Geoff Johns' true feelings, Bart tells Wally that he'd be better off dead. Bart vibrates his fingers into Wally's chest, but before he can pull out his heart, Bart screams out in pain and is surrounded by lightning. Wally and Bart find themselves floating in vast void of white, and Bart begins crying, saying he didn't mean what he said and he's sorry for screwing everything up. Bart's Black Lantern ring then detects an infection and moves to "expel" the infection.

Back in Iron Heights, the Trickster throws his entire bag of tricks into the inferno, creating a large explosion. But this was all for naught, as the zombie Rogues quickly reconstitute and continue to march menacingly toward the living Rogues. But as they pass Eobard's cell, the zombies suddenly become locked in a trance and stand motionless by the door. They seem to be drawn to him, but much like Dove, these Black Lanterns are unable to detect any emotion in Eobard. Captain Cold has no idea what's happening, but decides to freeze the zombies anyway, and drop a massive cold-grenade on their way out. The entire prison becomes covered in ice, and for some reason, the Black Lantern Eobard also becomes frozen in the middle of his fight with Barry.

Before Barry can try to figure out what happened, Wally tells him what just happened with Bart. Wally's figured out that they're still connected through the Speed Force, and he wants Barry to vibrate through Bart to pull him free. Apparently, Wally still causes objects to explode when he vibrates through them. Barry points out that he doesn't even know Bart and wouldn't know what to say, but Wally believes Barry always knows what to say. So Barry vibrates through his grandson's body.

Barry meets Bart in the white void, but Bart tries to push him away, claiming he's already dead. Barry assures Bart he's not dead. He admits they don't know each other, but he says they both know that Bart still has a long road to run. Bart tearfully embraces his grandfather, who somehow "pulls" Bart out of the clutches of the Black Lantern ring. Out in the real world, as soon as Barry passes through Bart, Bart joyfully erupts out of his black costume, and the ring reports the connection has been severed.

Bart tells Barry and Wally that he could see both of them and hear everything he said, but had no control of his actions. And he also could feel Nekron calling all the Black Lanterns back to Coast City. The speedsters then examine the frozen Reverse-Flash, but the only clue they discover is the face of the living Eobard reflected in the ice covering the zombie.

The Rogues somehow manage to track Owen and find him weeping at the edge of the pit. Cold reports that they've taken care of the rest of the zombie Rogues, but they still need to finish off Captain Boomerang. Owen pleads with them to leave his father alone, saying he's close to bringing him back — he just needs to feed a little more. Cold says these zombies don't work like they do in Hellraiser, pointing out that the Black Lanterns are playing with them like cats playing with mice.

Snart then peers down the pit and is horrified to see women and children among the victims Owen sacrificed to his father. He sternly tells Owen that Rogues do not kill women or children, and he shoves Owen down the pit. Zombie Digger sees the  fear, hope, love and avarice in his son and promptly shoves a boomerang through Owen's heart. The Rogues watch as a Black Lantern ring flies down the pit, commanding Owen Mercer of Earth to rise. Snart says it's Owen's own fault, and he leads the Rogues away, telling them to keep moving forward with a cold heart.

Our speedster heroes, meanwhile, reach Coast City to find it under attack by the gigantic and terrifying Black Lantern Spectre. Bart admits he's a little scared, and Barry says that's OK, but Hal needs their help. Wally's confused by this, saying he thought feeling emotions made them targets for the Black Lanterns. But Barry now believes they've been fighting this battle the wrong way, and that they shouldn't keep tossing aside emotion. And in direct contrast with Captain Cold's advice, Barry tells our heroes to move forward with an open heart.




I've given up trying to understand how these Black Lanterns work. That bit with Eobard made no sense at all. It almost seems like Johns was desperately searching for an easy way to get Reverse-Flash out of the picture. And frankly, the rescue of Bart didn't make much sense either. You're connected through the Speed Force ... true, true ... but how does that free you from the Black Lantern ring? I really wish Wally would have told Barry that they need to find Max Mercury to accomplish this task. Not only does he know the most about the Speed Force, but he actually has the strongest emotional connection to Bart. But I forgot: Johns doesn't care about Max, either. And I honestly believe that Johns was legitimately frustrated that he couldn't reduce the Flash family to just Barry as Flash and Wally as Kid Flash. Regardless, this issue was one more example of how Johns has not spent any time trying to understand Bart. Black Lantern Bart did not say anything mean or cruel, so it really fell flat when he began weeping and apologizing for what he said.

The best part of this issue was actually Owen's story. It's downright creepy that he fell for his zombie dad's trick and was so desperate to have some sense of family brought back that he didn't care about murdering dozens of people to chase this pipe dream. But all in all, I'd have to say this three-issue miniseries was a disappointment. Granted, part of the problem was it being hampered by the slow release of Flash: Rebirth. But beyond that, this just became another story of Johns telling us that Barry's the best and all the other speedsters suck. Wally literally did nothing this entire story. He just stood around like an idiot. And there was no mention of Max or Jesse — two perfectly qualified superheroes who would be able to help out quite a bit in this crisis. Oh well. None of that really matters anyway, because this whole thing is just a small part of a story that has the main purpose of showing us that the Green Lanterns are the best and everyone else sucks.

We don't have many new ads, but let's check them out, anyway:

Blackest Night Checklist Part 3. That's right, this event was so massive, it needed three separate checklists. And this list included 26 comics!

Green Lantern: Secret Origin now in softcover.

Women of the DC Universe limited edition busts.

The DC Nation page features a preview of The Web.

Next time, we'll see what the Black Lantern Spectre is up to in Green Lantern #51.

Adventure Comics #7

What Did Black Lantern Superboy Do?

Tony Bedard Writer
Travis Moore Penciller
Dan Green, Keith Champagne & Bob Wiacek Inkers
Brian Buccellato Colorist
Steve Wands Letterer
Sean Ryan Associate Editor
Brian Cunningham Editor
Special thanks to Geoff Johns, Eddie Berganza & Adam Schlagman

Our main cover by Aaron Lopresti shows Black Lantern Superboy battling his one-time girlfriend, Wonder Girl, in the Fortress of Solitude. There's a faint light emanating from Conner's ring, but I'm not sure what it's actually doing. Anyway, this is a solid, straight-forward cover. Nothing too special, but it gets the job done.

Our variant cover by Francis Manapul (from dc.fandom.com) again goes to the multi-panel gimmick, which I probably never will like. But I do like most of the original panels, giving us Manapul's take on some key moments in this issue. Although I will admit the largest panel in the middle looks a bit off. Something about zombie Superboy's face just doesn't work for me.

Our story begins with Black Lantern Superboy attacking Wonder Girl in Coast City. The real Superboy is trapped inside his body, unable to prevent himself from choking Cassie. Naturally, this reminds him of the last time he became someone else's puppet and was forced to attack his friends.

Superboy remembers that last time, he was able to shake off Lex Luthor's programming, and he attempts to do the same now. But his "real self" is manifested as a withering, weak body floating in endless darkness. He does gain some hope when Cassie begins calling out to him, but he's horrified by the mean-spirited words his "zombie self" begins hurling at Cassie. Luckily, Cassie is smart enough to know that's the ring talking, even though the words do hurt more than the punches. She wraps Conner in her lasso and electrocutes him, which enables the real Superboy to take control for a millisecond and whistle for Krypto.

Krypto arrives four seconds later, and Conner is thrilled to see the will, love and rage manifested in his faithful dog. But then he's surprised to see his zombie self use freeze breath on Krypto — a power Conner thought he didn't have. Zombie Superboy again turns on Wonder Girl, feeding her the usual Black Lantern lines about how everything will make more sense once she surrenders to Nekron. Conner suddenly gets a brilliant idea, and while his zombie self monologues, he takes control of his heat vision to carve out a message to Cassie: "Fortress."

Cassie understands the message well enough and immediately takes off for the Fortress of Solitude. Black Lantern Superboy naturally follows her, as does Krypto. Cassie quickly gets inside the fortress, but doesn't understand what, exactly, Conner was referring to. However, Krypto knows, and he digs up the healing chamber that currently holds Conner's corpse, undergoing its thousand-year recovery regiment. Krypto pulls the corpse out of the pod and the Black Lantern ring becomes confused.

Luckily, everything goes according to plan and the ring eventually flies off Conner's finger and heads toward the corpse, which Krypto keenly keeps away from the ring. Conner realizes he can't let the ring actually attach itself to the corpse, because then he wouldn't be able to destroy it without killing himself. So once he regains control of his body, he hits the ring with a blast of freeze breath while it's still in midair. Cassie scoops up the frozen ring and tosses it into space, hoping it'll stay frozen forever up there. (Remarkably, the ice did not melt on its path out of Earth's atmosphere.)

Conner and Cassie put his corpse back in the chamber so history can resume like normal and he can be revived in the future. Conner explains that he actually has Luthor to thank for giving him experience fighting off mind control, as well as Raven's subsequent trainings, otherwise he never would have been able to resist the Black Lantern. He then leads Wonder Girl and Krypto back to Coast City, where the Black Lantern Kid Flash is still running amok and none of our heroes have become Lantern deputies yet.




Bart only appeared in the background of a couple of panels in this issue, but it still was nice to see what his best friends were up to during this time. And it was especially nice to see the condition of an imprisoned soul in a Black Lantern body. I wish we could have received a similarly emotional story about Bart, but the only person writing Bart's story is Geoff Johns, and I don't think he's ever spent more than two seconds trying to get into Bart's head. Anyway, I thought this was a solid and fairly logical story. Granted, the pervading "logic" of these Black Lantern rings has always been a bit tenuous, but this story made enough sense for me. Now let's check out the new ads:

Perfect rebound. got milk? with Chauncey Billups. I know "rebound" is a basketball term, but Billups played point guard and was not a strong rebounder. In the 2009-10 season, Billups averaged 19.5 points, 5.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game for the Denver Nuggets, while reaching the All-Star team for the final time in his career.

EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate.

Human Target. A brand-new six-issue limited series inspired by the Fox TV show.

Dante's Inferno. Go to Hell.

A four-page black-and-white preview of First Wave, a six-issue limited series about Batman, Doc Savage and the Spirit.

The DC Nation page shows the black-and-white versions of the covers to the Return of Bruce Wayne.

Supreme Commander 2.

Halo Legends on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Next time, we'll see how Bart gets that Black Lantern ring off his finger in Blackest Night: The Flash #3.

Titans #22

Fractured Part 2

Writer: J.T. Krul
Pencils: Angel Unzueta
Inks: Wayne Faucher
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Cover: Angel Unzueta
Letters: Travis Lanham
Asst. Editor: Rex Ogle
Editor: Brian Cunningham

Our cover shows Starfire and Cyborg injured, but valiantly fighting back-to-back against an unseen enemy. This is a rough cover for me. I do not enjoy Unzueta's style, and I find this bland background rather lazy. I also hate the teaser: "Together ... for the last time?" Just last month we saw Starfire and Cyborg sharing the cover of Justice League of America #41. Besides, this issue takes place before Blackest Night (kind of wish the cover said that), and we know these two heroes will continue to fight together during and after that event.

Our story begins the day before that fateful Heroes Day when the dead began to rise. Cyborg and Starfire were ambushed at their East Coast headquarters by the villain named Phobia. She was among the large group of villains sent to another planet during Salvation Run, and although most of the villains eventually made their way back to Earth, some of them, including Phobia's best friends, never got off that planet. Embittered by this, Phobia decided to lash out at someone, and her victims just happened to be Cyborg and Starfire.

Phobia uses her psychic powers to make Cyborg see visions of some random Titans being killed before his eyes. Starfire's nightmares show her all alone, touring an empty Titans Tower, filled with monuments to all her deceased friends. Eventually, our heroes are able to break free of Phobia's illusions through sheer force of will. And the next day, they meet up in San Francisco for Heroes Day.

As our heroes gaze at the statues of their fallen comrades, Hawk decides to yell at Cyborg for letting Lagoon Boy be seriously injured and Power Boy actually be killed. As Hawk and Dove leave, Beast Boy questions Cyborg's decision to let Hawk be a Titan, but Cyborg defends her. He then asks Gar where the rest of his team is, noting that Cassie is the only actual member of the West Coast Titans in attendance (implying that Bart is not officially a member yet). Beast Boy says he told the team to go have some fun, since they're still mourning the death of Red Devil.

Starfire realizes this very room is her greatest fear, so she goes outside for a minute and spots Donna Troy returning from the hospital. Donna was visiting Roy Harper, who recently had his arm ripped off by the villain Prometheus. And our story ends with Starfire giving Donna a big hug about an hour before the Blackest Night begins.




Well, this issue did fill in a few gaps for me about a handful of characters I didn't pay attention to during Bart's death and return. But other than that, I find it kind of pointless. We didn't need to see Cyborg and Starfire attacked by psychic nightmares, because that already happened, or will soon happen, in Blackest Night: Titans. So everything here is rather redundant, with underwhelming art and a confusing timeline. Blackest Night is almost over. Many other series have already moved on. But J.T. Krul wants to keep going back to showing everyone sitting around feeling sorry about themselves before the zombie attacks begin.

Next time, we actually will return to Blackest Night (I swear!) in Adventure Comics #7.