One-paragraph reviews: Flashpoint, Flashpoint tie-in, Superboy and Sweet Tooth

(Reviews are spoilery.)

Flashpoint #2
Written by Geoff Johns; art by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope; DC

Four things happen in this issue: 1. Deathstroke sails into Atlantean territory and meets a very pissed off Aquaman. 2. A very pissed off Batman beats up Barry Allen until Barry manages to convince him that he's telling the truth. 3. Steve Trevor, who's a member of the resistance, gets ambushed by a group of Amazons led by a very pissed off Wonder Woman. And 4. Barry Allen tries to recreate the accident that initially gave him his powers and apparently gets fried in the process. None of this is very exciting or interesting or pleasant to read, though some of the art's nice. I'm getting really sick of seeing characters with clenched teeth, though. I kind of wish all these people would just lighten the fuck up. The variant cover for this issue shows Wonder Woman holding the decapitated head of Mera. Since this doesn't happen in this issue and, in fact, Mera does not even appear in it, I can only assume that the cover was produced for the specific purpose of pissing people off. Basically, that's the theme here. All the characters are angry and clenching their teeth, and DC seems to expect fans to do the same. Pissed off fans vent on the internet and apparently that gets people to buy more comics. I don't understand how any of this works.

WEAK SAUCE

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Flashpoint: Batman: Knight of Vengeance #1
Written by Brian Azzarello; art by Eduardo Risso; DC

There's Batman with his clenched teeth on the cover. But otherwise, I have to say this was a lot better than the main series. Maybe these mini-series are where all the good stuff is going to happen in this crossover event after all. Still, this feels a bit empty. Solid script and nice art, but I'm not sure yet where it's going.

OKAY

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Superboy #8
Written by Jeff Lemire; art by Pier Gallo; DC

It really pains me to admit this, but I don't think Jeff Lemire writes very good super-hero comics. I've been very lenient on this title since it started, because I like Lemire's work so much that I managed to convince myself that this would get good. But I think I have to finally accept that it's not good and it's probably not going to get any better before it ends in a couple of months. Every story beat feels artificial and calculated. The exposition is incredibly clumsy and all of the dialogue sounds awkward. I don't get it. There's no sign of the grace and seemingly effortless storytelling and quiet, reflective beauty found in Lemire's work outside of the super-hero genre. There are two possibilities: either he's not feeling comfortable in this format or he's phoning it in. There are only two issues left, and I'm not even sure I'm going to bother picking them up.

DISAPPOINTING

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Sweet Tooth #22
Written and drawn by Jeff Lemire; Vertigo

See? This is what I'm talking about.

AWESOME

Review: Flashpoint #1

Flashpoint #1 (of 5)
Written by Geoff Johns; art by Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope; DC

(Spoiler-free review.)

Let's start by talking about the art. I've seen both positive and negative responses to it online. I think it's good. Some of Andy Kubert's faces are a bit weird and occasionally the proportions seems to go a bit wonky, but it doesn't really bother me. I'd much rather have some quirks from an artist who has his own style than bland uniformity or lifeless photorealism. Alex Sinclair's colours are also worth mentioning. They give the book a crisp, saturated look, with sharp contrast between warm and cold hues. It works.

Now, about the story... If you've read my review of the final issue of Flash, which leads directly into Flashpoint, you know that I've been pretty hard on Geoff Johns' lazy scripts. This issue further cements my feeling that his strength is in the ideas, stories and concepts he comes up with, more than in the scene-by-scene scripting or dialogue.

The opening scenes where Barry realizes he's lost his powers and that his mother is still alive are fine, up until the point where they start talking. This is something that always bothers me in alternate reality stories where one character is the only person aware that the world has changed. As soon as they start saying things like "Where's Dad?" when their father died three years ago or "Do I own a car?" people would freak out. They would immediately become extremely concerned about their mental health and want to take them to a doctor. I've had friends who started showing signs of schizophrenia and let me tell you it's a very disturbing and frightening thing to see someone you love lose their grip on reality. It's not something you just shrug off and ask "Are you sure you're okay?"

Like the scenes in Flash #12 that were seemingly lifted right out of a bad TV drama, this tells me that Geoff Johns is not the kind of writer who draws a lot from his own experience  in terms of how human beings interact with each other, but instead takes his cues from television, movies and other comic books. This scene immediately calls to mind dozens of similar scenes from alternate reality stories we're all familiar with and it makes no effort to rise above the clichés.

Fortunately, the rest of the book is a lot better. There's still a lot of exposition through dialogue, but honestly I'm not sure how else you could convey so much information about a completely new world in a single issue without those types of info dumps, so I'm more willing to forgive it. The only thing that bothers me slightly is that all this time is spent introducing characters that will apparently not feature prominently in the main series but whose stories will instead be told in the four gazillion spin-off mini-series. So for those of us who don't plan on reading the spin-offs, this is just a lot of extra information that isn't going to pay off in any way. But, again, I understand that this is an "event" comic and this issue essentially functions as a big advertisement for all the other books DC is hoping you will buy. Anybody who buys the first issue of Flashpoint is a willing participant in that game, so to bitch about it too much would be kind of disingenuous.

The book ends on a very effective revelation about one of the major players, one that most readers will have probably seen coming by the time they get to the last page but that packs a good punch anyway just because of its implications and how it sets the tone for the next four issues.

Flashpoint #1 doesn't really rise above the problems you'd expect from the first issue of a big summer event comic book, but it gets the job done. It was a good choice to keep the two main antagonists (Aquaman and Wonder Woman) out of the book. Their threat is felt throughout the book, but Johns wisely delays the impact of their first appearance for a later issue. The business about the Amazons castrating all males who enter their territory definitely makes me groan - a lot! - but I'm willing to bite my tongue for now and wait to see exactly where they go with it before I critique that story decision. I plan on picking up the next issue. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to bother with any of the minis.

OKAY

Review: Batman #700

BATMAN #700
Written by Grant Morrison. Art by Tony Daniel, David Finch, Andy Kubert, Frank Quitely.

Although there are many awesome things about this issue, it ends up being a disappointment for a number of reasons:

1. The price. I think 4$ books are a rip off most of the time, because the extra pages are rarely worth the extra dollar. So when you price something at 5$, I expect it to have something very special in it, or at least make up for it with a longer story – quality or quantity. Although the cover claims this is a "giant-sized anniversary issue," there are only 31 pages of story inside, followed by a pin-up gallery of mostly recycled promotional images that have been floating around on the internet for a while. As a 4$ book, this would be a great value, but I don't see anything here to justify the extra dollar. Let's get something straight: "bonus" material isn't really a "bonus" if you make people pay extra for it!

2. The high expectations. Part of this comes simply from the landmark number. Part of it comes from all the hype, including stuff Grant Morrison said in interviews, features on DC's blog, and all the buzz and chatter on message boards. With all this excitement, it becomes very difficult for any comic book to hit a home run.

3. The art. The idea of having four different artists, each handling a specific time period that the epic story is set in, was good. Unfortunately, Frank Quitely (my favourite of the four artists) wasn't able to finish his section. (I've read some comments online about health problems being the reason for this, but I don't know where fans get that information or if there's any truth to it. Let's hope he's doing okay.) Quitely has a very unique style, so rather than to try to imitate it, Scott Kolins draws the remaining pages of the section in his own style. The shift becomes even more jarring because there's a different colorist working with each artist, and it occurs smack in the middle of the section, with no in-story justification for it. It's very distracting and it ruins the intended effect of having each time period in its distinct visual style.

Still, the few pages we do get from Quitely are amazing. The way he choreographs action scenes always brings a smile to my face. You're never quite sure if they're fighting or dancing a ballet, and while that might sound like negative criticism, I mean it as the highest form of praise:



Meanwhile, Tony Daniel, Andy Kubert and David Finch are all competent artists and they handle their sections well, if less spectacularly (at least for my tastes). Even Scott Kolins is pretty good, and if it weren't for the fact that I can't help looking at those pages while asking myself what they would have looked like if Quitely had drawn them, I would probably be able to enjoy them on their own merit.

As for the story, I didn't like it on my first read, but as often happens with Grant Morrison's work, it got a lot better the second time around. This is probably because of the way I read comics as much as it is because of the way he writes them. I tend to go through the book quickly, eager to find out what happens next and how it all comes together in the end. Even when I don't quite understand what's going on or the significance of certain details, I tend to just move on, expecting things to get become clear eventually. Once I get that out of the way, a second read-through allows me to savour the details and catch whatever subtleties I might have missed.

So the story is fine, and there are lots of very cool little character moments, as well as plenty of references to Batman history (past, present and future). As a regular, appropriately priced issue, I would rate this highly. As an overpriced anniversary issue, it falls a bit short of the mark, but is still a fun read once you forget about your initial expectations.

Review: Batman and Son

BATMAN AND SON (TPB)
Written by Grant Morrison; art by Andy Kubert

When I started reading Batman and Robin, the idea was to jump right in and not get bogged down trying to catch up to current continuity. It's always a losing battle, because by the time you make your way through all the trades, more issues have come out and you're still not up to date, and before you know it everyone's halfway through a major crossover event and you've been left behind. That's exactly what happened to me when I was trying to catch up on Green Lantern so I could read Blackest Night. I ended up reading a shit-ton of Green Lantern trades and by the time I was done, Blackest Night was almost over and I was sick of Green Lantern (and Geoff Johns).

So I read the first 11 issues of Batman and Robin without having read any of Grant Morrison's previous Batman work. And for the most part, it's been fine – I'm enjoying the books and the mystery that Morrison is setting up. But the more I get into it, the more I realize that I'm missing some very important parts of the puzzle and it would probably be more rewarding to read the whole story.

So I got the Batman and Son collection and read it fairly quickly. It's a good read, although it's kind of jarring to see what an annoying little brat Damian was when he was first introduced. His character has changed so much since then – and I mean that in a good way, not in the sense that Grant Morrison is writing him differently, but in the sense that the character himself has grown and matured.

I don't know what it is with me and the batkids, but they always turn out to be my favourite characters. Dick Grayson, Tim Drake and even Jason Todd are all very interesting, multi-faceted characters that I care about deeply. And now Damian has taken his place in that lineage and he's no exception. It'll be interesting to see what DC does with him after Grant Morrison stops writing Batman. I hope they find a way to keep using him.

But back to this book: I love Grant Morrison's frenetic pacing in these stories, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the opening story. How crazy is it that he started his Batman run with a scene featuring Jim Gordon gone insane from the Joker's toxin, followed by Batman shooting the Joker in the face?! Fans must have lost their shit the first time they read those pages. And Andy Kubert's art is brilliant and dynamic, and it perfectly suits the wild pacing of the storytelling.

Unfortunately, I thought the "interlude" written in prose was absolutely unreadable. And when I say "unreadable," that's exactly what I mean. I was unable to finish it. It's the worst prose I've ever read in my life, and although I suspect that part of it is intentionally bad, it's inexcusable. (I've read other prose pieces by Grant Morrison and they didn't suck like this.) Fittingly, John Van Fleet's artwork is terribly ugly and amateurish. This chapter feels completely out of place in the collection and I had to skip it entirely. I don't care if it contains important story points that I'm missing. I just want to pretend it doesn't exist.

The final chapter in the book is from Batman #666 and features a hellish "possible future" where Batman has died (but is it Dick Grayson or Bruce Wayne?), and Damian has apparently made a deal with the devil and is now Batman. It's appropriately demented and it ends with what must be one of the best lines of dialogue that Grant Morrison has ever written. How this nightmare future fits into the big story is still unclear. Are we heading toward that possible future, or have things deviated enough that it has been averted by now?