Countdown #2
In lieu of a review I've decided to substitute my words with the sound of me repeatedly smashing my head against my desk.
I figure that this course of action is still less likely to kill brain cells than actually reading this comic. But it's my own fault really, I haven't enjoyed a single issue of this comic and yet I continue to buy it. I'm my own worst enemy. However I take solace in the fact that Final Crisis is mere weeks away and that Grant Morrison will soon soothe my troubled soul.
The art on this issue is a little better than some of the stuff I've been subjected to on this title in recent weeks. But that still doesn't make up for the atrocious plotting, poor characterizations and weak writing that has plagued this series. If you haven't caught the scuttle butt on the internet already this issue was meant to tie together some loose ends that Jack Kirby left dangling a quarter of a century ago and open the door for Morrison's Fifth World, a concept he introduced in his final issues of JLA.
The Brave and the Bold #12
On the flip side of the quality scale B and B wrapped up it's inaugural plot arc. There's not much to add here. Waid, Perez and Ordway have done a fantastic job in shepherding this story, with a multitude of heroes from several different eras of the DCU, into a single mostly coherent storyline.
It's a fun comic that absolutely reeked of nostalgia and I'll be sorry to see the current creative team part ways and move on to new pastures.
Superman #673
Speaking of parting ways, this issue marks the end of Busiek's run on Superman. Busiek is on to bigger and better things, a year long stint at Trinity with Mark Bagley being one of them. I've read a lot of good Superman stories, a lot of blah Superman stories and some pretty terrible Superman stories. I'm glad to say that Busiek falls firmly into that first category.
His Camelot Falls plotline almost felt like retro Superman storytelling. It was a nice decompressed story that deftly managed to weave multiple plotlines into one coherent overarching story.
Plot synopsis, Superman takes on Paragon and a trio of Daxamite priests. There's some pre-requisite fighting and the standard Superman solution of managing to take on the baddies without having to dirty his hands. In this story he lets Paragon do all the dirty work, and the majority of the heavy lifting, only really doing anything constructive at the end of the story.
Speaking of Camelot Falls we see the last dregs of that plotline wrap up here with the creation of Alexandria II, a super-library of sorts containing all of Earth's scientific knowledge so that even if the planet is thrown into chaos the knowledge of mankind will never be lost.
Good luck Kurt, I look forward to see what you have to offer with Trinity.
Flash #239
This Flash story kind of felt like an old school Mark Waid tale.
The Flash is dealing with fallout from the bad vibes being pumped out by Spin, a new villain on the scene in Keystone. One of the perennial Flash III tales is that poor Wally West never has any money. Unlike Flash II, he's never really had a secret identity that required him to be duly employed, thus he's never really had a credible excuse for where he gets his money from.
Geoff Johns tried to address this by giving Wally back his secret identity and giving him a job (mechanic). But previous Flash writers have let the Flash win the lottery or start up a super-speed courier service.
Either way the "where does Flash get his money" story line is a bit hackneyed. Not as bad as "Superman gets hit with Kryptonite" or "Batman gets punchy" but it's in the ball park.
I'm fairly sure Peyer is just trying to knock out a quick story before DC gets caught up in Final Crisis mania. It's not a bad story, or even badly done. It just feels like everyone is putting in time here before we get on to the BIG things, oh say, like the return of Barry Allen.
Stay Tuned
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