Flash Forward #5

Chapter Five: Reunion

Scott Lobdell – Script

Brett Booth – Pencils

Norm Rapmund – Inks

Luis Guerrero – Colors

ALW's Troy Peteri – Letters

Doc Shaner – Cover

Inhyuk Lee – Variant Cover

Ben Meares – Associate Editor

Paul Kaminski – Editor

Ben Abernathy – Group Editor

Our cover shows Wally West sitting in the all-powerful Mobius Chair with his ... mind exploding ... in a rainbow of multiverse knowledge? I don't know. The whole concept of this just angers me. Supposedly, the purpose of this mini series was to redeem Wally after years of being neglected and abused by DC. But to try to redeem him with Lobdell and Booth? Yuck. And the Mobius Chair? Why? This is making things way more complicated than they need to be.

Luckily for me, this is a Bart Allen blog — not a Wally West blog. So I don't have to really talk about this series. True, I am a bit offended that Bart had no role in this series, but it does seem like I've dodged a bullet here. So anyway, why are we here? Well, Impulse did make one tiny cameo in a rather glorious two-page spread that recaps Wally's entire career.

At the center of this is our old friend from the Dark Multiverse stories, Tempus Fuginaut, because ... Multiverse! I guess. I don't really care. I still don't like Booth's artwork, but this is a very nice spread. Mostly it's the nostalgia factor that makes this enjoyable, but hey, sometimes nostalgia is all we've got.

Well, before I'm tempted to begin to recap this mess of a story, let's head straight to the ads:

DC heroes get a classic fairy-tale twist! Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime.

Once an assassin. Now a hero. Shadow of the Batgirl.

DC Nation Spotlight on Wonder Woman #750. DC Rebirth reestablished the legacy numbering for Action Comics and Detective Comics, but nothing else. I'm glad they finally started doing the same with some other titles, including The Flash.

Next time, another quick cameo in Dial H for Hero #11.

Young Justice #12

Lost in the Multiverse Finale

Brian Michael Bendis Script

John Timms Art

Gabe Eltaeb Colors

Wes Abbott Letters

Timms and Eltaeb Cover

Nick Bradshaw and Alex Sinclair Variant Cover

Brittany Holzherr Associate Editor

Mike Cotton Editor

Brian Cunningham Group Editor

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover shows Young Justice involved in an actual fight scene — one that has even damaged our heroes to the point of having a few small scrapes in their costumes (which is by far the most damage they've sustained in the past year). Joining our heroes are Naomi and the Wonder Twins, who do show up in this issue, but Miguel from Dial H for Heroes, who also shows up, is absent from the cover. Superboy also is prominently featured in the foreground, but he spends this whole issue trapped on Skartaris with Warlord. The text on the cover also says our heroes are assaulting S.T.A.R. Labs, which also does not happen in this issue. So, all in all, I'm a bit disappointed by this cover.

Our variant, sadly isn't much better. Everybody is awkwardly laying on top of each other. And by everybody, I mean 10 beautiful teenagers wearing skin-tight clothing. And was Naomi always barefoot?! Apparently so, but I never noticed. So yeah, this cover just feels weird.

Our story begins with Wonder Girl and Teen Lantern visiting the home of the Justice League, the Hall of Justice. (Tim thought it would be a good idea to send them there after Superboy took off.) Unfortunately, Keli's hacked piece of alien technology sets off the security alarm, and the two girls are trapped in an energy bubble. In another bit of unfortunate news, the Justice League is away, leaving only the Wonder Twins to deal with our heroes. The Wonder Twins have never heard of Young Justice, so they're treated to the usual recap page, this time with art lazily lifted from the cover of Young Justice #10.

Let's cut ahead to Impulse's return to the team. He apparently went on a doughnut run ... which took several hours. Tim seems doubtful that it would take Bart this long, but he claims there was a line at the shop. Tim tells Bart that Conner is missing, so he sent Cassie and Keli to the Hall of Justice because he thought Bart had gone back to Central City. Bart says he thought the mission was over, but when Tim insists he go check on the girls, Bart immediately heads out with a serious look on his face, abandoning his half-eaten doughnut.

Bart zooms into the Hall of Justice, shouting that everything the girls have said is true. Jayna is shocked to see a "tinier Flash," and Bart immediately frees Teen Lantern and Wonder Girl by telling the supercomputer "Hall of Justice I.D. Code FlashCode-87Fish-56ThrottleSpeed." The computer welcomes Bart as Barry Allen, but oddly brings us a picture of Bart. Cassie gives Bart a hug and Keli asks about the "Barry," but Bart just says, "Sshh! It worked, didn't it?"

Dr. Glory of S.T.A.R. Labs then calls, ranting and raving (and lying) about Naomi. Mostly, she's mad she can't complain to the Justice League directly. After she hangs up, the Wonder Twins reaffirm to our heroes that the Justice League really is away on an important mission. Bart asks if this includes Justice League Dark — a question that is ignored. However, the Wonder Twins do want to activate something Superman promised they could use only for emergencies. When the supercomputer denies them access, Bart overrides it with his same code. He then heroically tells the Wonder Twins, "Welcome to Young Justice."

Before too long, our heroes come flying back to Port Oswego, Oregon, to regroup with the team. And they are literally flying — in Wonder Woman's famed invisible jet (which is really that invisible, due to all the dust in the air). Tim blames himself for this extravagant entrance, knowing it was a mistake to send Impulse alone. Bart introduces everybody to the Wonder Twins, when suddenly Miguel and Summer from Dial H for Hero appear out of nowhere.

Miguel recognizes some of the members of Young Justice, and Tim recognizes the H-Dial, saying he's even spun it himself before (???). Summer says the H-Dial suddenly overcharged and brought them here, and the Wonder Twins' technology from the Hall of Justice shows that someone has overcharged the dimensional rift that brought Young Justice home. Bart suggests that the only possible suspect (Dr. Glory of S.T.A.R. Labs) is behind this. He also says he "follows" the Dial H for Heroes (???). Anyway, everybody instantly decides that they need to take down Dr. Glory at once (and possibly rescue Superboy). Miguel spins the H-Dial and turns into a rip-off of Spider-Man (because Bendis wrote Spider-Man for a long time).

The Wonder Comics line got off to a strong start. Dial H for Hero was charming and fantastically illustrated. Wonder Twins was deep and insightful, yet entertaining. I haven't read Naomi yet, but I've heard good things. And Young Justice, of course, was fun and amazing, but really started to wear on my nerves by this point. All these books came courtesy of Brian Michael Bendis (although he didn't write them all, thankfully). I still don't understand the need for a separate "Wonder Comics" brand, but I am glad we got this comics. But I'm not glad that Bendis shoe-horned everyone into Young Justice for a mega crossover. 

Young Justice's biggest weakness was having too many characters. Adding more characters to the mix only exacerbates the problem and delays the long-waited answers to all our pressing questions. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to try to enjoy what I can. In the meantime, here are the house ads:

This 13-year-old just inherited his grandmother's Green Lantern ring. No pressure. Green Lantern: Legacy.

A lost kingdom. A dark secret. A brave princess. Amethyst. Followed by a six-page preview of its first issue. (If she can get her own series, why can't Impulse?)

A DC Nation interview with Shannon and Dean Hale, writers of Diana: Princess of the Amazons.

Next time, we'll take a quick look at Flash Forward #5.

Year in Review: 2019

I know I said 2018 was the biggest year yet for superheroes. But 2019 surpassed that in every way. Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing film of all time at more than $2.7 billion. And there were three other superhero movies that passed the billion-dollar mark — Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel and Joker. DC's r-rated, non-DCEU Joker was the big surprise, not only in the box office, but at the Academy Awards, coming away with two Oscars — Best Original Score and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix. 

There were two other superhero movies in 2019 that didn't quite live up to the incredible standard set by these others. DC's other film, Shazam!, was a delightful romp that I quite enjoyed, but it didn't really find an audience. And for Marvel, Dark Phoenix was meant to be the swan song for Fox's X-Men franchise, but it felt like everyone gave up halfway through, as the Disney-Fox deal was finalized. Speaking of Disney, their box office domination was almost absolute in 2019. In addition to their Marvel blockbusters, Disney had five other sequels or remakes earn at least a billion dollars — The Lion King, Frozen II, The Rise of Skywalker, Toy Story 4 and Aladdin. Hopefully that gave them enough money before the pandemic of 2020 hit.

Let's see ... what else happened in 2019? Oh, nothing much. Just the biggest year for Bart Allen in almost 20 years! He returned to the world of animation as Kid Flash on Young Justice: Outsiders, via the DC Universe app. And, much more significantly, he became a founding member of the rebooted Young Justice series in the comics — not as Kid Flash, but as the original Impulse once again! It was quite exciting.

Best Story: Young Justice #1

After appearing on a glorious splash page in Flash #50 in July 2018, we didn't get a single glimpse of Bart until January 2019. There was a tease in Action Comics #1006 on the 2nd, then the Young Justice: Outsiders premiere on the 4th, which unfortunately made clear that Bart would not be a big part of this season. But then, finally, Young Justice #1 dropped on January 9, and boy was it something. It was loud, it was bright, it was colorful. It screamed from the mountaintops that Young Justice is back and Impulse is at the center of it. That issue was a loooong time coming, and it appropriately matched the level of excitement it needed. And, frankly, there wasn't any other issue or episode that came close. Bart had a ton of appearances in 2019, but nothing as big as this. His cameos in The Flash were forgettable, and his role on Outsiders was inconsequential. And, sadly, none of the subsequent issues of Young Justice were as good as the debut.

Best Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

This was another no-brainer award. I don't know if Joshua Williamson was not allowed or was simply unwilling to use Impulse, but he really didn't. So the vast majority of Bart's appearances this year fell under the massive Bendis umbrella. DC gave him a large corner of their universe to work with, and he made sure to frequently have his revamped Young Justice make cameos in his other titles — even if that didn't fit in his established continuity. Regardless, Bendis did do a very good job with Impulse this year. Although he never explained anything, he nailed Bart's personality and power set. And even though I started to sour on Young Justice around issue #10, the series was a lot of fun.

Best Artist: Patrick Gleason

Sadly, Gleason quickly bolted for Marvel after only a handful of Young Justice issues. But the work he did  was fantastic. In interviews, he spoke of how he saw Impulse as the heart of the team, and it showed every time he drew him. Gleason also was innovative in choosing to rarely — if ever — drawing Bart in a traditional running pose, opting instead for chaotic and random jumping, ducking and basically dancing. And that choice perfectly fits Bart's personality. He doesn't just run fast, he moves fast. Also, Gleason became the first artist since Humberto Ramos to redesign Impulse's look. He has a new costume, buck teeth (meh), new hair, new eyes (I miss the yellow), new everything. But, there is no mistaking that this is Impulse. And more important than how he looks, is how he feels ... if that makes any sense. Anyway, no other artist came close this year to matching Gleason's accomplishments.

Best Supporting Character: Eduardo Dorado Jr.

Poor Superboy is once again the runner-up in this category — a position he's in almost every year. Yes, Bart's reunion with Kon was by far the most emotional of this year. But Bendis oddly interrupted that glorious hug with a whole separate issue that neither of them appeared in. And after that hug, what have Bart and Kon actually done? Those 11 issues went by way too fast for any normal conservation or introspection. So that brings up Kid Flash's newest best friend, Eduardo. There is a very strong implication that the two of them are boyfriends — which would be a very interesting direction to explore — but there was no confirmation. (It's a little strange, considering how the third season of Young Justice didn't shy away from LGBTQ characters, but oh well.) At the very least, Bart and Eduardo are great friends who care a lot about each other. They were constantly at each others' side and deeply worried about each others' safety during battle. And that's more than I can say about Bart and Kon.

Best Villain: Granny Goodness

This was a tough one. Technically, the Dark Lord Opal was the main villain for the start of the Young Justice comic, but he never really felt like much of a threat, and was quickly, unceremoniously defeated. After that, Young Justice bounced around the multiverse for a little bit, before finally getting into a fight with their Earth-3 counterparts. But once again, they hardly provided a challenge and were easily beaten. So that leaves us with the main villain of Young Justice: Outsiders. And that was Granny Goodness. Bart didn't get to help defeat her at the end, but she did cause him and his teammates the most pain and torture they felt all year, so that gives ol' Granny the win.

Before I can move on to 2020, there is one final Impulse appearance I must record: the cover of Flash Forward #4.

The wonderful Doc Shaner snuck in a Bart and Wally straight from Mike Wieringo's Flash #97. But Bart didn't appear in the issue, which is fine with me, because that miniseries has two of my least favorite creators on it — Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth. Ugh! Unfortunately, I will have to take a quick look at Flash Forward #5.

But first, we'll start 2020 with Young Justice #12.

Superman #18

Truth

Brian Michael Bendis Writer

Ivan Reis Pencils

Joe Prado Inks

Alex Sinclair Colors

Dave Sharpe Letters

Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Alex Sinclair Cover

Bryan Hitch and Alex Sinclair Variant Cover

Jessica Chen Associate Editor

Mike Cotton Editor

Brian Cunningham Group Editor

Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Supergirl based on the characters created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our cover is simple, direct and effective. Superman is revealing his secret identity. It's a pretty momentous event, and the plain, white background was the right choice for it. Plus, it's done by one of my favorite artists, Ivan Reis (I really wish he was on Action Comics, instead, since that's where Young Justice has more appearances). All in all, this is a great cover.

The story is exactly what the cover states. Superman holds a massive news conference to tell the entire world that he is Clark Kent. He did tell a couple of people close to him beforehand, such as Perry White and Jimmy Olsen, prompting emotional and funny reactions. But for the most part, this issue is Superman giving a lengthy speech, while heroes and villains around the world watch. And from the heroes, there seems to be an overwhelmingly positive reaction — especially from the Flash and Impulse.

And that's basically it. The issue ends with a thrilling shot of Lex Luthor silently absorbing this information. And, of course, only time will tell if this moment leads to any lasting change. As for Young Justice ... well, this is yet another example of Bendis ignoring his own continuity. Young Justice just barely came back home, only to have Superboy promptly be sent away to another planet. So they really didn't have any time to sit around and watch this press conference on Tim's phone. Anyway ... this was certainly an ... interesting issue. I don't know. This isn't a Superman blog. So let's call things here and check out the new ads:

There is no justice without truth. Superman: Year One.

The Batman Who Laughs vs. "Apex" Lex. Hell Arisen.

And the DC Nation page is a spotlight on the aforementioned Hell Arisen comic.

Well, that's it for 2019. Next time will be the Year in Review, before we come hauntingly close to catching up to real time.

Young Justice #11

Lost in the Multiverse Part 5

Brian Michael Bendis Script

John Timms Art

Gabe Eltaeb Colors

Wes Abbott Letters

Timms and Eltaeb Cover

Nick Bradshaw and Alex Sinclair Variant Cover

Brittany Holzherr Associate Editor

Mike Cotton Editor

Brian Cunningham Group Editor

Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our main cover prominently features Naomi once again, visually making her Wonder Girl's equal, although the text creates intrigue with Superboy. It's a fine cover, but Impulse feels like an afterthought. And it would be nice to move away from these generic poses and actually show what the story inside is like. But then again, we would need an actual story inside to promote.

The variant cover is pretty nice, but kind of weird, since none of the characters are the same size. Everything's kind of random and hodgepodge — except for the deliberate choice to make Naomi front and center. Tim is accidentally still in his Robin costume. And poor Bart once again is the smallest afterthought. But for this issue, as we'll soon see, that is quite appropriate.

Our story picks up where we left off, with Young Justice arriving in Naomi's hometown of Port Oswego, Oregon. Everyone is desperately hanging onto Jinny's truck, more or less freaking out. Bart is loudly pleading for this Earth to finally be the right one.

When they finally do land, they're all surrounded by scientists and Naomi. Cassie and Tim try to diplomatically introduce themselves, but Jinny interrupts them by swearing and demanding to know which Earth this is. Naturally, nobody knows how to answer this question, but Naomi reveals she does know who Young Justice is. She calls Bart Kid Flash before correcting herself and saying Impulse. She calls Tim Red Robin, but he obstinately insists she call him Drake. Suddenly, Naomi collapses and passes out, as she has come to the end of a very long day.

Our heroes are also exhausted, and since nobody knew what to do with them, Naomi's parents brought all the teenagers to their house to sleep for the night. All except Impulse, who mysteriously takes off for who knows where. His disappearance isn't acknowledged until the morning, when Superboy announces he's taking off to investigate the S.T.A.R. Lab creeps who sent him to Gemworld in the first place. Unfortunately, they trick him once again, sending Kon to Warworld this time.

And that's it. Bendis was so hellbent on promoting his original character, Naomi, that he insisted on inserting her into this already-bloated cast of characters. Naturally, this forces several characters into the background, and Impulse drew the short straw this issue. Who cares that he's one of the three founding members of Young Justice and we haven't answered any questions about him in 11 issues? We need to promote Naomi! And send Superboy away again ... Well, let's take a break from complaining and look at the new ads:

Diana's oldest enemy returns — and wants to be her closest ally! Wonder Woman: The Just War.

We have an ad for Watchmen ... even though it's like 30 years old at this point ...

A DC Nation interview with Grant Morrison on Green Lantern: Blackstars.

Next time, we'll take a quick look at Superman #18.

Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night #1

Tim Seeley Writer

Kyle Hotz Pencils

Dexter Vines, Walden Wong & Danny Miki Inks

David Baron & Allen Passalaqua Colors

Tom Napolitano Letters

Lee Weeks & Brad Anderson Cover

Full disclosure: I was supposed to review this issue before the Infinite Crisis one, but I got them mixed up. I hope you can forgive me. Anyway, our cover shows Sinestro being attacked by the Black Lantern versions of the Justice League. If you look closely, you'll notice that Sinestro is wearing both a white ring and a black ring. It's a fine cover, recapturing the inherent creepiness of Blackest Night.

Much like the Infinite Crisis retelling, this story changes just one aspect of Blackest Night: What if Sinestro didn't share the White Lantern power? Well, the immediate answer is quickly taken care of in just two pages. Nekron wins and turns everybody into a Black Lantern zombie. Sinestro is so distraught by his failure, he commits suicide. The remaining 40 pages of comic deal with the aftermath of this crushing defeat.

We head to San Francisco 19 days later, where Lobo is smashing in the skull of zombie Kid Flash. (And poor Bart's head will permanently be squashed for the rest of this issue.) Lobo has been hired by a mysterious benefactor to capture Dove, whose connection to the Lord of Order makes her immune to the Black Lanterns. And as such, she is the last woman alive on Earth.

As Lobo viciously tears the zombie Titans apart, he's bitten by Starfire, which allows him to demonstrate his immunity to the Black Lanterns — being a Czarnian, he's able to regenerate at a cellular level at will, thus instantly expelling any infection. Anyway, Sinestro soon shows up, revealing that the White Lantern ring wouldn't let him completely kill himself. So he mainly spends his time torturing the Black Lantern zombies by briefly reviving them with his white ring before his black ring kills them again.

Eager to atone for his failure, Sinestro travels with Lobo and Dove into outer space, where we learn the man who hired Lobo is Mister Miracle — the only New God who was able to escape the Black Lanterns. Mister Miracle has a wild plan to harness the energy of the Source to destroy all the Black Lanterns at once. Well, that turns out to be pretty tricky, and in one cool moment, zombie Darkseid kills Lobo, only to witness each drop of Lobo's blood grow into another Lobo (just like we saw way back in Young Justice #36).

Anyway, Dove, the embodiment of peace, was supposed to be the template for the Source energy to create new life from. But Mister Miracle was tricked into killing her, so Lobo killed Miracle in retaliation. In desperation, Sinestro used Lobo as the template, which successfully destroyed all Black Lanterns in the universe ... but unfortunately created billions of violent Lobo-like creatures.

Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by how interesting this story was. If it didn't rely so heavily on over-the-top, grotesque violence, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more. Altogether, I'd say our two Dark Multiverse issues were a success.

Next time, we begin the final month of 2019 with Young Justice #11.

Action Comics #1017

Metropolis Doom!

Brian Michael Bendis Writer

John Romita Jr. Penciller

Klaus Janson Inker

Brad Anderson Colorist

Dave Sharpe Letterer

Romita Jr., Janson, Anderson Cover

Lucio Parillo Variant Cover

Jessica Chen Associate Editor

Mike Cotton Editor

Brian Cunningham Group Editor

Superman created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.

By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger.

Our cover shows a group of villains marching forward through rubble with the capes and accoutrements of the heroes they supposedly defeated. We have Gorilla Grodd, Cheetah, Brainiac, Sinestro, and, leading the way, is Lex Luthor, apparently. Why does he look like this? Because Year of the Villain. Anyway, I think this might be a fine cover ... if it wasn't drawn by John Romita Jr. I'm sorry, but I cannot stand his work and I will complain every time — especially when he tries to draw gorillas and cheetahs. And why are all the faces so squashed? (Sorry, not sorry.)

Our story basically opens on the scene shown in the cover. Metropolis is in ruins and these villains are standing triumphant. The only heroes left to oppose them are Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. And lying on the ground defeated are the rest of the Justice League, the Teen Titans and our lovable Young Justice.

That Robin in the foreground is most likely supposed to be Damian Wayne, even though he has a beard? Sorry, I'll stop complaining about the art. Anyway, I'm sure you're dying to know how and why Young Justice ended up lying battered and bruised alongside the Justice League and Teen Titans. But we don't find that out in this issue. After this shocking scene, the comic abruptly jumps backward in time and doesn't catch up to the beginning of this fight. I find it a rather annoying storytelling technique. But I do know we have a few more issues of Action Comics coming up ... so hopefully we'll get some answers before too long.

Not much to say this time, but we do have a couple of new ads:

They've been infected by the Batman who Laughs. Now these heroes are our worst nightmare! Year of the Villain: The Infected.

Don't get attached. Suicide Squad.

DC Nation interview with Simon Spurrier and Aaron Campbell on John Constantine: Hellblazer.

Next time: Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Blackest Night #1.