-Flash Rebirth #3: I still don't really know what's going on here. Barry's still all mopey, he's got some sort of Midas Touch except he turns things into blackened ashes instead of gold, and Barry's costume is now black and made out of the Speed Force. I think. Oh... and he tried to commit suicide. I think. I'm pretty sure on that one. Geoff Johns is writing this, right? (Yes. He is.) I feel like I'm reading a Grant Morrison story where I'm not going to understand anything until the last page of the last issue and then I'll have to reread it all again so my head doesn't explode. Plus it doesn't help that I don't really understand anything about the Speed Force. The last few pages were pretty damn cool, though. I'm just going to avoid overanalyzing it and ride this thing out. We'll see where it goes.
-Batman #687: This was actually quite a bit better than I was expecting. The lesson, as always: keep your expectations low. For as bad a rep as Winick has, he has a few characters that he writes very well. Luckily, Dick Grayson is one of them. Alfred is pretty good, too. (Although he called Dick, "Sir," entirely too much for my liking...) Damian... meh... could use some work, but it sounds like he's not going to be in this too much, so... problem solved. Other than the fact that this book probably should have come out last week, or Batman & Robin #1 should have been held until this week, I really didn't have much too complain about.
Oh, I'm going to complain about more stuff, just because I can score some easy jokes off of it, but the following didn't really hurt the overall quality of the book: 1) Young Dick as Robin told Bruce that he had been "served," which was totally unnecessary. Look, I'm 23 and I think the first time anyone "got served" was five years ago. Dick was, what? 8? 9 when he became Robin? Even using the comic book sliding timeline (or whatever that's called), there's no way he should be saying that. At least not until books published in 2024 start showing those flashback scenes. 2) The solemn reaction to Alfred saying, "my son has died," where everyone is looking down at different parts of the floor all at the same time and avoiding eye contact with each other made me laugh out loud. That's probably not the reaction Mr. Benes was going for, but come on. And 3) Could the Scarecrow have any lamer evil plans? All he ever wants to do is release his toxic fear gas into Gotham City's air and/or water supply. The rest of the rogues gallery must get sick of him throwing out ideas whenever they get together. Okay... after you release the gas, then what, Mr. Crane? Are you going to rob people? Kill people? Punch some puppies? Blow up a building or two? I guarantee you the Joker scares the bejesus out of people while he's carrying out his schemes. His goal isn't to scare people. (Well, maybe sometimes.) That always just happens anyway.
Two more things I really liked while flipping through again: 1) When Dick told Damian to "get in the damn car!" I laughed out loud for the right reasons on that one. and 2) I really like that this is going to be about Dick as Batman, not Dick impersonating Bruce as Batman. I'm really really looking forward to that.
-Red Robin #1: Ugh... This was a rocky start, to say the least. Look, I really like the idea of Tim going out on his own and being his own man. I do. Doing his own Nightwing-esque journey, if you will, albeit under vastly different circumstances. (Dick to escape Bruce's shadow... Tim desperately clinging it.) That idea could work really well. But the execution here was just... I dunno... sloppy, I guess. For one thing, for all the talk Tim does about his conviction that Bruce is still alive and investigating his whereabouts, we see none of that. He takes down some kidnappers in Madrid and some armed robbers in Paris. And really, admirable and all, but it's sort of the exact opposite of the "no distractions" theory Tim keeps inner monologuing about to himself. (And really, Parisian criminals... If you can't shoot a guy on the hood of your car from the passenger seat with a machine gun, you really need to hand in your armed robber card and go into a different line of work. Might I suggest unarmed robber? More along the lines of burglar type work?) And that scene that supposedly takes place in Prague, Czechoslovakia? Come on. I don't really even care what happened there, but Czechoslovakia isn't a country anymore. Prague is now in the Czech Republic, which borders Slovakia. This isn't exactly a new international development either. It happened in 1993. Hey, I love saying "Czechoslovakia" as much as the next guy. It's fun to say. But so is "Zanzibar." Doesn't mean I can set stories there that take place in the modern day. Also, wasn't a big fan of the art... everyone's faces were too gaunt and malnourished looking. And come on... nobody's hair is that mussed up all the time. I don't think you could physically get hair to do that even if you tried to style it that way.
Other than that... Yeah, that may have been a little harsh. But I love Tim Drake (Tim WAYNE!!!) and just want to see him treated right. Here's hoping the book picks up a bit from here.
-Amazing Spider-Man #597: I kind of enjoyed this issue, despite the glaring fact that I couldn't figure out how Peter was making his costume do the "Venom-y" things like grow teeth and a tongue and whatnot. Is he actually wearing the symbiote? He can't be, right? That would be crazy. Right? I dunno. It bugged me the whole issue. And there was two page spread (the fight scene between Peter and New Wolverine) that I could not follow at all. It felt out of order somehow. Maybe it was just me. But I really have no other witty observations or snarky remarks to make about the issue. That may be good or bad for me. Hard to tell. Oh, except that Harry Osborn is clearly an idiot. But we've all known that for quite some time. And I have a very bad feeling about J. Jonah Jameson the Elder. It's just one of those "too good to be true," situations that always end up messing up Peter's life. (And yes, I realize that I probably sounded like a tween girl calling JJJ Sr. "soooo dreamy..." right there. I know it. But you know he is.)
Alright, I'm pretty exhausted, and that's all the books I had time to read for today. There will be a Fables, Green Lantern Corps, and Action Comics update sometime tomorrow.
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