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!