COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART ELEVEN]

 

[ACT XI - Reactionary]

• Adventures of Superman #644 - "Blame & Remorse" = This was great! Unfortunate that Rucka didn't do the scripting duties, but the pair that filled in for him ended up doing a good job regardless. The revamp of Toyman reminded me a lot of Fun-Land from that one issue of Gaiman's Sandman with the serial killer convention. The focus on Zatanna's guilt from the various mind-wipes paired with her having to carry the weight after the end of COC is definitely needed and handled very well. I enjoyed how Superman tries to lighten the load by forgiving her even if she can't forgive herself.
• JSA #77 - "Mixed Signals" = Man, I am not a fan of Jim Fern's pencils. This was okay, a fine little bridge between Return of Donna Troy and the earth-bound recruitment of heroes for the war at the center of the universe. Air-Wave is a fun enough character and I'm glad he's used as a vessel to prop up a team-up between Hal and Alan (which has been much needed since GL Rebirth). Excited to see who ends up stowing away on this cosmic JL squad as we see more players getting moved around before the Crisis begins. As for that final page, where in the world are Fury and Fate?
• JSAC #2 - Power Trip, Part II : "Andromeda" = The confusion continues! I think it's hilarious and brilliant how Geoff is able to come up with a disposable backstory that is totally believable for Power Girl (then again, anything is better than the "Arion connection" at this point). The explanation for the cleavage hole could have been comical but Johns handled it really well, and you can definitely sympathize with PG after all the crap and mind-trash she's had to deal with. I originally thought the ring they find in the opening sequence to be a Legion flight ring, but if the Legion origin is just a hoax portrayed by the Psycho Pirate, then what could it be?
• JSAC #3 - Power Trip, Part III : "Backstory Barrage" = It's not enough that I mentioned the plausibility of PG's proposed origin last issue, but now we get mowed down with various escape-hatch backstories to answer the mystery of Power Girl. The Titans of Tomorrow one has to be my favorite because it brings more relevance to that seemingly abandoned and irrelevant plotline (besides the obvious Connor-Lex hinting). Psycho Pirate goes off in this, and we see he's just another pawn maneuvered in Fake-Lex's agenda for the Crisis.
• Adventures of Superman #645 - "Breaking Point" = Point of impact! Cornered by OMACs, Luthor's machinations, and the endless enigma that is Ruin, the Man of Tomorrow must go headfirst into the shadow as the sun sets forever! Luthor is working with someone within the Society while suffering from debilitating migraines. We get an answer to the sniper mystery plaguing this series from the first arc, but it's an anticlimactic reveal as Max Lord and Checkmate did it as part of their agenda against Superman. Lupe hunts Ruin with help from Hamilton, whiles Supes brawls with Lex and Ruin as he discovers Ruin's use of the Phantom Zone for teleportation. We cap everything off with a distress call from the Watchtower, and Superman discovering the aftermath of Crisis Without Conscience. Crisis, begins here, but first we must deal with the death of magic...

COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART TEN]

 

[ACT X - Worlds At War]

• JLA #115 - Crisis of Conscience, Part I : "We Remember" = Fun opener! One of the things that I noticed was that while Carter seems out of character in scenes around the League, it might be the inner Katar Hol persona coming out. In the JSA arc "Hawkman Returns", Hawkgirl and the downsider Thanagarian priests free Carter from the spirit realm he had been in as a result of the Zero Hour Hawk-God shenanigans. When they freed him, he and the soul of Katar had been merged into one fused Hawkman, and I assume that his aggressive Thanagarian Wingman attitude appears in this scenario. Loving the continued Identity Crisis fallout with the other villains who were mind-wiped regaining their memories to get some good ol' revenge.
• JLA #116 - Crisis of Conscience, Part II : "Wiped Out!" = The Triad of Despair! Johns sure does love using this dude, he last appeared in the OGN JLA/JSA : Virtue & Vice where he worked with Johnny Sorrow and the Seven Deadly Sins to fuck some shit up. Enjoyed the reference to Matter Master getting his arm cut off by Carter when he was in his edgy phase during Black Reign. Interesting that we've had quite a bit of build-up to this convo as well as a simultaneous snowball effect from the events of the OMAC Project resulting in quite a few instances where Bruce tells people to get out of his cave. It's insane to see such a fluid and well executed progression of character for the Trinity: the descent for all three has been a sight to behold.
• JLA #117 - Crisis of Conscience, Part III : "Referendum" = Here we go again! Cast your ballots! Great rematch, though the cracks in the League widen as the team nears its expiration date. Loved Bruce's mention of Red Tornado's wind elemental Ulthoon, God bless Gardner Fox! The Despero recap at the beginning was great too, I love it when modern artists do panel recreations of the Silver Age. I honestly would advocate for the mind-wipe, it's the only thing that keeps the heroes safe, and these villains are psychos! Better than an execution.
• JLA #118 - Crisis of Conscience, Part IV : "Picking Up The Pieces" = The chess metaphors are back! Surprised that Despero was able to overpower J'onn and Arthur; is he being augmented by anything? I already stated my stance in the last entry, but I do respect Zatanna's firm resolve to not be used as a weapon of the Leagues desires. It worked last time, but their sins have been out, there is no second chance. The Wonder Woman/Supergirl sequence was awesome as well, but I fear for Zatanna having a similar fate to Diana. The crossroads is near! It's Crisis time baby!
• JLA #119 - Crisis of Conscience, Part V : "Some Things Are Best Forgotten" = And just like that! Great curtain call for an extremely personal story for the JLA. Despero's revamp, the powerful verbal sparring, and some wild revelations to cap it all off. The inclusion of Selina in this arc fits so well with this final mic drop of her persona shift possibly being a result of the mind-wipes; add it to the list of emotional concussions Bruce has endured since Identity Crisis! The League is over, and just as J'onn and John start any kind of rebuilding, they get hit with a bookending cliffhanger tease for the opening of Infinite Crisis. You know what time it is!
• Rann-Thanagar War #1 - "The Fires of War" = Nice recap of the Adam Strange Planet Heist arc: a rogue Thanagaran stole the Omega Beam (a device created by Sardath) to turn reality into pure energy, but just as she was defeated by Adam Strange, she used it to teleport Rann right next to Thanagar. The gravity imbalance caused by the proximity of the two planets resulted in Thanagar falling towards the sun Polaris, destroying the surface of the planet. The artwork is great, but the prose is way too crowded and mundane. There is no point in this issue where I feel like I should care about this war. It's a shame since a series with Kyle Rayner, Adam Strange, and the Hawks as the leads should absolutely be my kind of thing.
• Rann-Thanagar War #2 - "Dark Resurrection" = Two issues in and this is already a slog. Besides Chuck Austen's Action Comics (which was horrible), this is one of the few projects with Ivan Reis' art that fails to capture my attention. Onimar Synn super lame, and nothing interesting is attempted with the space characters.
• Rann-Thanagar War #3 - "Planetfall" = The problem with this series is that it's all tell and no show. Endless boxes of text and dialogue supply explaining everything that is happening at every moment. There is no time to breath. An onslaught of mundane prose that takes away the focus from Ivan Reis art to whatever cosmic hodgepodge delirium is occurring throughout this book.
• Rann-Thanagar War #4 - "Deadly Harvest" = I really do feel like I've been sleepwalking through these issues. It's a very sad thing to think that the legacy of Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, Julius Schwartz, and John Broome has been reduced to baseless drivel. Dave Gibbons, I love you, but man is this boring.
• Rann-Thanagar War #5 - "Betrayed" = They really killed Hawkwoman in this book. Wow. What an absolute shame.
• Rann-Thanagar War #6 - "Seven Hells" = So we finally get the link to Crisis, the mysterious space-time rift opening in the center of the universe. Now onto more interesting horizons!

COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART NINE]

 

[ACT IX - Mysteries In Space]

Return of Donna Troy #1 - "A Golden Age To Conquer" = 

• So Donna Troy has been resurrected by the Titans of Myth, believing herself to be one of them. Minosyss, but what is below its surface? What is the secret truth of the planet and its people?
• Coeus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Themis, Oceanus, Tethys, Thia, Crius, Mnemosyne, and Phoebe.
• History lesson! So we follow the basic Greek Mythology regarding the titans of myth, but instead of Zeus banishing them to Tartarus, they are sent to a distant moon which they terraform and call New Cronus. Since they are barren, the titan Rhea gives up her immortal life to gather orphans from across the universe as super-powered foundlings for the titans.
• So the Titans have been conquering planets and adding alien populations to their armies. That's why they have the Tamaraneans, Khunds, and Gordanians with them.
• What happened to Phoebe?
• What is this orb that has arrived at the Outsiders headquarters in LA? How does it have Donna's thoughts?

Return of Donna Troy #2 - "Stark Contrast" 

• A travel orb is sent by Athyns to Earth to summon the Titans and Outsiders so they can free Donna from the Titan brainwashing. 
• e get some history lessons regarding the time they went into space and witnessed the destruction of Tamaran at the hands of a Sun-Eater.
• Is the mentioning of the Green Lanterns and Khunds a reference to the Recharge series?
• Fascinating that Jimenez is contextualizing this mini as part of the grander cosmic playground, mentioning Rann-Thanagar War and its consequences as well as hints about the upcoming Crisis.

Return of Donna Troy #3 - "Nights of The Sun & Moon"

• Great stuff! Loved the showdown between Donna and Casse. Jimenes really hit the personal and emotional beats well.
• We learn that the secret beneath the surface is a sun-eater factory paired with the fact that Minosyss is a nexus for galactic travel that the Titans want to exploit.
• Just to briefly touch on the art, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez rocks! His panel layouts under Jimenez's direction do a fantastic job of channeling that 80's Perez signature style.

Return of Donna Troy #4 - "A Dark Fate Foretold"

• Titanomachy!
• So we finally learn the secret of Donna Troy: she's the multiverse's repository of information, the living key to the ocean of worlds that was.
• Because of that, she can access the nexus at the heart of Minosyss. However, she pulls a quick one on the Titans and sends them to Tartarus.
• Hyperion and Thia are consumed by a sun-eater and Coeus agrees to prevent his siblings from escaping. 
• Donna receives the Harbingers orb from Crisis and gets some hints as to the upcoming cataclysm that will befall the universe.
• Fun mini overall, and a nice conclusion to the threads set up back in Graduation Day.

GLC Recharge #1 - "The Gathering"

• Recruitment season!
• Mysterious black holes swallowing Green Lanterns! Where is Soranik Natu? We see her with the corpse of the lantern from the opening sequence.
• More crisis hinting as Kilowog fears for an upcoming universal change.
• Enter Vath Sarn and Isamot Kol, Rannian and Thanagarian recruits to the GLC. Fun dynamics ensue!
• For continuity's sake, I have to mention the presence of a united League here as somewhat of an anachronism. This story is being read before the Crisis of Conscience arc where the League splits up, but after Superman Sacrifice, where a huge split and disillusionment occurs between the Trinity as a result of the machinations of Maxwell Lord. Confusing as hell, but hey, at least we get to have Guy Gardner moon Batman.

GLC Recharge #2 - "Assignments"

• Mogo is forced to socialize with the Rann-Thanagar War!
• Guy and Kyle's dynamic is one of the best things about the entire franchise. We need to see this on-screen one day.
• The Lantern pilgrimage to Mogo. I wonder if this will be revisited one day...
• Once again a star has mysteriously collapsed into a singularity int he presence of Green Lanterns...
• So Kyle sees a vision of his deceased gf Alex DeWitt (sadly killed by Major Force back in the 90's) and she has a cryptic convo with Kyle about how his decision to join the Corps impact his and the lives of others. Immediately after, we see a projection of a strung up Soranik Natu.
• We see that the other lanterns hear what appears to be a distress signal from her ring.
• As Kilowog follows his allies into the singularity, Vath and Isamot awaken to find themselves within a den of the Vegan Spider-Guild!

GLC Recharge #3 - "Vega"

• Kilowog's entrance is freaking awesome!
• Bolphunga, Fatality, and some other randos work together as a bounty hunter entourage to hunt our Lantern-Protagonists!
• We see how Sora got to where she is: she ventured to the death-site of her ring's previous owner to pray for him, but the singularity ended up engulfing her, sending her to the spider-nests in the Vega system. Swallowing her ring to slow down her life support systems, Sora avoided death by the scavengers while her ring sent distress calls to other lanterns, explaining the projection Kyle saw in Mogo last issue.
• The black holes appear to be connected by some kind of network, all leading to the Vega system. Are they targeting Lanterns specifically?

GLC Recharge #4 - "Hunted"

• We get reveals of the Spider-Guild's true agenda along with some hinting towards the true significance of the space-plot of Infinite Crisis.
• The Spiders have constructed a sub-space web of black holes across the universe, explaining how the Lanterns arrived in Vega.
• We also see that for some reason Oa is not at the center of the universe anymore.
• So they weren't targeting Lanterns specifically, but they were consuming suns to garner energy for their future plans & invasions.
• Emerging from within Oa's sun, the Spider-Guild enacts a surprise assault on the Lantern capital.
• The mention of the parallax fear anomaly is interesting: since they kept Parallax in the Central Power Battery following GL Rebirth, Johns introduces the idea that the Lanterns can still use their power on yellow if they overcome parallax's influence.

GLC Recharge #5 - "Stardeath"

• John and Hal are summoned!
• The minute Guy started his rally speech and I turned the page to see "Recharge", I spent a good 30 seconds fist pumping into the air. Hell freaking yes!
• Defeating the villain via overloading their power is a trope used way too much, but drawn by Pat Gleason makes it worthwhile.
• Guy gets promoted to Honor Guard as the Guardians put together a perfect segway into the events of Rann-Thanagar War.
• I guess the Spider-Guild is extinguished? Still wonder how they got access to the singularities within every sun in the universe?
• Soranik Natu, Isamot Kol, and Vath Sarn are wonderful additions to the Lantern mythos, and I might be persuaded to read the sister book Green Lantern Corps alongside Johns main title.

COUNTDOWN TO INFINITE CRISIS REVIEW [PART EIGHT]

 

[ACT VIII - When The Sky Fell]

• Batman #645 - "Show Me Yesterday, For I Can't Find Today" = Nice history lesson retrospective on Jason Todd via some well-executed flashback sequences which Mahnke absolutely kills. Alfred's narration is written to perfection, and the final page reveal of Jason never having been in the coffin was so great. Crazy to think of this sub-story in the grand scheme of Countdown, as even Alfred mentions the toll this and the events of Sacrifice has taken on Bruce.
• The OMAC Project #5 - "Long Live The King!" = Glad they set up the Sasha as the Trojan Horse/Achilles Heel/Macguffin because I otherwise have no idea how they would defeat and army of 1.3 MILLION OMACs. Maybe just wait for Mxy to come back and snap them out of existence. My assumption is that Max infected Sasha with a variant of the virus to use her as his failsafe if Brother Eye ever got out of control. Nice to see the JLI remnants do some damage, but tragic to see them get disabled so quickly. Even heavy hitters like J'onn and Mary got taken out in a panel. RIP Rocket Red!
• The OMAC Project #6 - "Loss of Signal" = What a finale! And such a believable/well-executed solution to the OMAC problem. Greg Rucka is the freaking man! Final battle was awesome, especially Hal's mention of Ted as the united front of heroes engages their exterminators. One of the small things I enjoyed was the pairing of Sasha and Bruce; it's not often you see Bats paired with anyone outside Selina, but Sasha is a breath of fresh air. Jeez, and how about that last page! Diana! Absolutely perfect miniseries!
• Wonder Woman #221 - "Pride of The Amazons" = Twilight of the Superheroes! All the high castles have fallen, the Trinity is in ruins. Diana's world is shattered, the grace and confidence and stability from #195 has evaporated. Her allies at the embassy look at her with distrust, humanity cowers in fear, while her closest friends are disgusted. This is the price she has paid to save the world. This is the price she has paid to save her friends. And on Themyscira, what must Io build to protect the Amazons?
• Villains United #5 - "Victims of Aggression" = Evil! The grand design starts to come together as survivors of the first crisis appear at the mercy of the society! Sinestro joins their ranks after returning from the anti-world, while Lady Quark and Pariah are brought for reasons unknown. Scandal is revealed as daughter of Vandal Savage, Cheshire is revealed as the Society's mole, and Deadshot is revealed as the killer of Catman's pride! Will this super team of scoundrels survive the onslaught of 100 angry evildoers!?!
• Villains United #6 - "At the End of All Things" = A Tale of Two Luthors! The Secret War of the Bald Heads unveiled! Loved that not-Luthor didn't even use Pariah for info and just popped him. Real-Luthor on the other hand I assume has been power-suit Luthor, while the other one was the skinny, blue eyed, banana republic sweater Luthor. We saw Real-Luthor in "Public Enemies" and the "Insiders" crossover, while not-Luthor has been the brainchild of the Society, seen in JSA #70 and Adventures of Superman #636, as well as any other appearances of the Society. One of the best things about this series is how much it places emphasis on the impact of Identity Crisis. A unified continuity is one thing, but a multi-year multi-title interconnected story that actually matters should be common but is novel and scarcely done right in this day and age. I love that last sequence with Catman and Deadshot flooring Ollie; look at what y'all did you idiots! Man am I excited for Infinite Crisis!
• Batman #646 - Franchise, Part I : "Supply Side Economics" = Yes! This might be the hottest take ever, but I am a firm believer that Judd Winick writes better (and much less obnoxious) dialogue than Brian Michael Bendis. The banter we get in this from both those goons and the one and only Black Mask is just brilliant. Maybe the animated movie was just that good, but I swear I can hear the VA who played Sionis in the movie in my head every time he talks. The pacing is still unbeatable, and Shane Davis ended up being a wonderful temp fill-in for Mahnke.
• Batman #647 - Franchise, Part II : "The Away Team" = Great fight! Mask and Slade had some hilarious back and forth during that intro sequence, Alfred spat out straight bars in his monologue, and Batman won the prize for A-Tier hypocrisy by enabling Red Hood! Then again, it has to be the parent-guilt thing: Jason is his biggest failure come back to life! Whattaya gunna do! Last issue of Batman during Countdown, but I'm super hyped to see how the finale fits into the chaos of Infinite Crisis.

FLASH: ROGUE WAR REVIEW [Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Part 7)

 [ACT VII - Rogue War]

• The Flash #1/2 - Rogue War, Prologue : "Tricksters" = Prelude to the end! Crazy to think that Johns Flash run is practically over, though I have some high hopes for this finale. Check ins with each faction were fun, as well as mentions of our two wild cards: The Top and Zoom! I'm excited to see more of Owen Mercer as the new Boomerang as well as how Johns will frame this story against the backdrop of Countdown. Why were the reformed Rogues looking for Gambi/Replicant? What is Hunter's plan for Linda and Wally?
• The Flash #220 - Rogue War, Part I : "Suffer Together" = Loved the Cold monologue, as well as getting to see Owen in action. The attack on the FBI outpost was a lot of fun, and I'm pretty stoked to see this clash between both groups next issue. What will Zolomon use Jay to build? Another Cosmic Treadmill? What is the significance of Cold's weird trophy thing? I feel like we've seen that thing repeatedly for some reason. I have no idea how Jesse is going to resurrect Boomerang, but I do like the fact that Ashley is getting involved somehow. The whole Gotham Central tie in pages definitely flew over my head, but I'll get around to reading that run at some point.
• The Flash #221 - Rogue War, Part II : "Fire & Ice" = Scorched Earth! This issue read extremely fast, but if its goal was to get me hyped to pick up the next issue then it succeeded in spades. Unfortunately, this book peaked on that awesome first page monologue by Heat-Wave, easily one of the best Rogues to read. I think it's great that both of these groups have hijacked the title from Wally, and it is refreshing to have the focus on them after a couple arcs centered on Wally and Barry. Roscoe Dillon returns to wreak havoc, now to finally discover if he was bluffing about the artificial reformation! Mind-wipes galore!
• The Flash #222 - Rogue War, Part III : "Top of the Heap" = I'm not the biggest fan of the Top, but I can appreciate the fact that he's thrown a wrench into this entire storyline. From the Hartley situation, it appears that Top might not have actually reformed them but is instead shifting them in this instant. RIP Roscoe Dillon, not gone soon enough. Excited to see how Zoom factors into this. Who is Owen Mercer's mother?
• The Flash #223 - Rogue War, Part IV : "...And He Shall Appear" = Awww dang. It was me, Wally! Unfortunate that the spotlight has been wrested away from the Rogues and given to these Yellow Bastards. The Flash fatigue has gotten to me, but hopefully the return of Thawne will yield some grimdark developments for the Flashes before Infinite Crisis. I did enjoy the little fast speech of Zolomon; "SPKFDVL" for Speak of the Devil...
• The Flash #224 - Rogue War, Part V : "Teachers" = Jesus Christ this is getting out of hand? What is Zolomon's goal? Does he want Wally to get enough rage to actually interfere in the past and stop him from killing his unborn children? Is that what it takes to be a true hero? Where was Boomerang zapped to, and who was the woman he encountered? Is that the mother of Owen Mercer? What is happening to Linda in the present? What time period is this Barry from? Is it the same Barry that visited Wally back in #200?
• The Flash #225 - Rogue War, Part VI : "Push" = Well dang, that was pretty good. I think Johns was able to pull it off at the end, and I can't deny that this was a pretty good finale not only for this storyline, but for this run as a whole. Overall, Rogue War wasn't as bombastic as Crossfire or Blitz due to the jarring nature of the plot shifting gears multiple times. We go from a concentration on the Rogues to dealing with the top to fighting the Reverse Flashes through time, but I guess the only way to make a Flash story with high stakes is to make the plot itself schizophrenic and have twists and turn coming at you full speed. This may be controversial, but I think the Flash has been one of his weaker runs, even though this is probably the best run I've read on the character so far (though I am loving Jeremy Adams take as of this post). The high points were the period between Blitz and Identity Crisis where we got to see Wally grow and mature as he dealt with the fallout of his marriage and losing a child. Once we get through Infinite Crisis, I'm definitely excited to read Johns' second short and sweet run right before Flashpoint.