TOP TEN COMICS OF ALL TIME

1 - Animal Man

• Written by Grant Morrison
• Art by Chaz Truog et al.

2 - Watchmen

• Written by Alan Moore
• Art by Dave Gibbons

3 - New Gods

• By Jack Kirby

4 - DC: The New Frontier

• By Darwyn Cooke

5 - The Dark Knight Returns

• By Frank Miller (& Klaus Janson)

6 - Justice League of America

• Written by Gardner Fox
• Art by Mike Sekowsky

7 - Identity Crisis

• Written by Brad Meltzer
• Art by Rags Morales

8 - Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics

• By Tom Scioli

9 - Green Lantern: Rebirth

• Written by Geoff Johns
• Art by Ethan Van Sciver

10 - Superman & Batman: World's Funnest

• Written by Evan Dorkin
• Art by Dave Gibbons et al.

NOTE: I limited my selections to one per writer, or else the entire list would be Grant Morrison and Alan Moore comics.

 

INFINITE CRISIS #2-4 + TIE-INS REVIEW!

[#2]

• Infinite Crisis #2 - "The Survivors" = Spotlight: Power Girl! We've been brewing on this Power Girl origin madness for so freaking long that I can't help but be satisfied at her getting the revelations she deserves. The History of the DCU segment by Ordway and Perez was wonderful, a much-needed streamline of Crisis continuity through the eyes of the Survivors! Buddy Baker joins the Space-League (after his power begin to go wack due to Spectre's war on magic I assume?). Superman decides to stop moping around and take action following the Ruin two-parter from Rucka's AoS. What does fake-Luthor want with the Marvels, and now Black Adam? Why is real-Luthor still having headaches? Did the New Earth cause the decay of Alex Luthor's Paradise Dimension and the decline of E2 Lois' health? Love that we get Donner crystal Kryptonian tech in the new Fort Superman. Booster returns from the future with a new and rebuilt Skeets after departing in tOP #6; why does he need Blue Beetle's scarab? Brother Eye gives us some huge confirmation and expo on how he came to be: Bruce created him after realizing he got mind-wiped, but once Max Lord took control, he implemented the OMAC project via 1.3 million sleeper agents. But what caused Batman to lose control over the satellite? Finally, the survivors reveal their plan to PG: to bring back Earth-2 in place of the current New Earth.
• JSA #81 - "My Heroes" = And Stargirl to bookend the JSA run! What a journey it has been, and only natural to end it all with a piece on the stars and stripes! Even though not much happens, we get sort of a conclusion to Courtney's daddy-issues arc that ties up her dynamic with Pat pretty full circle. A bit of expo and dev on Liberty Belle and Jesse with a cameo by Shade to top it off, presented beautifully by Dale Eaglesham's brilliant pencils.
• Wonder Woman #224 - "Marathon, Part II : "War In Paradise!" = Nothing comes without cost! The cunning of Brother Eye has secured one more victory against the heroes of Earth! Io's endeavor is revealed, her work has turned the purple ray of life into a violet beam of death. The mission is over. What will Brother Eye's final attack be? Are the Amazons & Paradise Island gone forever?

[#3]

• Infinite Crisis #3 - "Divine Intervention" = The gods have their own laws! Atlantis is decimated by the Spectre, as Athena and her pantheon of Goddesses remove Paradise Island from the Earth. Although I enjoyed Rucka's depiction of this sequence in WW #224, I appreciate that Johns thought this was important enough to be in the main title (and seeing it drawn by Jimenez was dope too). Is Aquaman killed in the destruction of Atlantis? Rehab'd Superman returns as Jaime finds the scarab, while we get one page referencing the space stuff to remind us of the "few seconds" foreshadowing. Sidestepping the Firestorm tie-ins was a good idea IMO and I hope we get the answers to the mystery of this elemental Firestorm in the coming issues or the RTW special. Wally check in is much needed (we've barely seen him since Rogue War). The E2 Supes and Batman sequences were great and I love the use of Dick as Bruce's north star to guide him back to sanity, an idea that is integral to Batman's rehabilitation in the midst of this OMAC and Red Hood stuff. The Luthor mystery is revealed; fake-Lex is E3 Alex Luthor who's theta brainwaves have been mucking up real-Lex's head. Though the power armor gets smashed, he escapes with a shard of the paradise dimension via neck shrapnel! Final dual revelation segments were wonderful, as we learn it was Superboy-Prime who destroyed the Watchtower and abducted J'onn to use in a cosmic tuning fork tower built from the corpse of the Anti-Monitor alongside other captured individuals such as Lady Quark, the Ray, and the freshly betrayed Black Adam.  But what is the purpose of this tower? IIRC the Monitor used these in the OG Crisis to merge the remaining Earths back into one; could Alex and Superboy be trying to do the opposite to restore E2?
• Day of Vengeance Special - "The Ninth Age Of Magic" = A sufficient wrap up to the Day of Vengeance death of magic plot line. Shadow-Pact and the magical heroes of the DCU hunt down seven deadly sins in Gotham City, Zatanna reconstructs the Rock of Eternity, and Nabu and Spectre have a final showdown. By killing Fate, Spectre ends the Ninth Age of Magic and begins the Tenth, alerting the Presence to his campaign and relocating himself to a new host. Nightshade gets nabbed by Felix Faust, presumably for the cosmic tuning fork we saw at the end of IC #3. Aquaman is confirmed to be alive (as I pondered in last issue's reflection), and Captain Marvel becomes the new "Wizard" within the Rock. As they send the helm of fate into space to find a new host, a bittersweet victory is all that remains for our heroes. Did they really win after all?
• Batman #648 - All They Do is Watch Us Kill, Part I : "Late Arrivals" = This isn't the end! It's a trick! Black Mask is so stupid for offing his lieutenants that it's kind of funny. At least we get a fantastic brawl illustrated by the brilliant Doug Mahnke. Seeing Sionis in combat was really cool since most stories don't tend to have the mob bosses get their own hands dirty. Choreography and use of set-pieces like Winick and Mahnke do is so great; I especially love it when Mask just breaks a chair over his head after Hood trolled him into cleaning house. Alfred's anecdotes continue to be fun additions, and I enjoyed how we get a frame of Batman over a deactivated OMAC. It really cements this story as a focal point of Infinite Crisis.
• Batman #649 - All They Do is Watch Us Kill, Part II : "Lazarus & Pagliacci" = The cover says Mahnke but it has pencils by Eric Battle! Art is obviously not as good, but Winick's story has such momentum that a switch like this is not going to slow it down. Jason and Joker's back and forth steals the issue and Winick does a phenomenal job of capturing the prime essence of each of them. Very cool and heartbreaking to have Batman witness the destruction of Bludhaven right as he's about to face off against Jason; really puts the emphasis on Infinite Crisis being an outright attack on the Trinity, actively pushing these characters to their breaking points. The trauma here segways nicely into the reborn-prime-ultimate Bat-Bruce that emerges in 52 and Morrison's run.
• Batman #650 - All They Do is Watch Us Kill, Part III : "It Only Hurts When I Laugh" = It ends just like it started: with a bomb, a bat, a clown, and a fallen son. The speeches by Bruce and Jason are more than enough to cement this issue in my top 5 Batman stories ever, though I do wish I lived in that alternate universe where it was illustrated by Mahnke. As for that last page with the multiversal Batmen, I'm sure that's a reflection of the fallout of Alex Luthor's machinations.

• Infinite Crisis #4 - "Homecoming" = Dump dump dump! Bludhaven gets blown up while the Titans get torn apart. Some continuity troubles with Batman finding Dick and claiming he was in New York when it happened even though he was in Gotham fighting the Red Hood when he saw Chemo's point of impact. The iconic fight between Prime and Conner and the Titans/Doom Patrol/JSA is great and made ever better by the Flashes intervening. I'm assuming Bart and the speedsters took Prime into the Speed Force, but Wally and Linda have departed for dimensions unknown. What does Jay mean when he says, "the Speed Force is gone?" Still don't care for the Firestorm stuff in space, but Jason has lost his co-pilot and might merge with this elemental? Also Air-Wave gets offed in one panel and Crispus Allen becomes our new Spectre! Now let's get into the reveals: Alex Luthor explains that he and Superboy-Prime escaped from the Paradise/Heaven Dimension while E2 Superman is distracted by Lois' failing health. They are the impetus behind all four of the Countdown minis: 
• Alex poses as the fake-lex, creating the Secret Society based on vengeance against the super-hero mind-wipes. They collect certain individuals to build a machine, a machine they believe will mind-wipe the entire super-hero community. Only Psycho-Pirate is in on the plan since he remembers the Crisis and the previous multiverse.
• Superboy-Prime finds the Heart of Darkness and Psycho-Pirate gives it to a mentally insane Jean Loring, who ends up convincing the host-less Spectre to wage war on magic.
• Alex wrests control of Brother Eye from Batman, giving it sentience as it falls into the hands of Max Lord, preying on the designs of the OMAC project.
• Superboy-Prime moves planets around space to shift the center of the universe away from Oa to where it was in the E2 universe. This creates the battleground for the Rann-Thanagar War.
• All of these endeavors worked in tandem to build Luthor's machine: a tower based on the Monitor's design of the cosmic tuning fork, but this time built from the remains of the Anti-Monitor's corpse. Using super-powered individuals who hailed from different universes before the crisis, this tower will do the opposite of its function during Crisis; it will divide the New Earth into a Multiverse so Alex Luthor can find the so called "Perfect Earth". The destruction of magic into its raw form will be the fuel, Brother Eye will be the programming, and the new center of the universe will be the playground for Alex to build the new Multiverse.
• Using the tower, Alex Luthor succeeds in bringing back Earth-2 as all the denizens of the former reality are returned.
• Teen Titans #32 - "Doom's Day" = Some nice extended sequences for the brawl against Prime from IC #4 along with an extra side-plot about Gar and the Doom Patrol. The John Byrne DP reboot seems to be undone in favor of embracing the OG Drake/Kupperberg/Morrison/Pollack runs which is an obvious plus. We get hinting in regards to Prime's place in altering continuity via his reality punches which will be explored soon.
• Wonder Woman #225 - "Nothing Finished, Only Abandoned" = THE MISSION NEVER ENDS! Gah damn Rucka is a freaking good writer. If I had to recommend one WW comic to anyone it would be this one. Athena's monologue was as brilliant as you can get with thesis/essay comics on certain characters. Interesting foreshadowing regarding the end of the Old Gods and the coming of the New Gods, I definitely did not expect any kind of hinting towards Final Crisis this early. I love how each of the Trinity has had their rehab issue so far: Diana in this, Superman in #647, and Batman being the last in his partial therapy sessions of #650 and IC #3. One more issue left to go in Rucka's run and I couldn't be more devastated!
• Rann/Thanagar War Special - "Hands of Fate" = And now Jenny! Why do we have to lose darling characters in mid books?! Giving it the benefit of the doubt since I enjoyed the framing around Alex Luthor's hands causing absolute chaos paired with the reveal that Superboy-Prime was actually the one who destabilized Thanagar's orbit back during the Adam Strange: Planet Heist series. The Kyle/Ion stuff is interesting, and it forced me to do a bit of research regarding pre-Johns GL stuff. From what I understand: Kyle became Ion a while ago from taking all the power of GLC, but then gave it up to restore the Guardians of the Universe. Before giving it up however, Kyle used some of the Ion power to restore Jade's star-heart ability, which is why when she is offed in this, he ends up reassuming that personality. Least favorite parts of this were witnessing Jade's corpse get disintegrated by Luthor's cosmic storm, and any panel with Blackfire in it was repulsive to the highest degree.
• Wonder Woman #226 - "Cover Date" = Loved it! If #225 was the finale, then this is the epilogue, a walk through the history of Diana and Clark up to this moment. The only gripe I have is the fact that the Challenge of Artemis storyline happens before Diana's death and return from Underworld Unleashed, whereas this issue has it backwards. I'm a huge continuity freak so what can I say. Really going to miss Rucka on this title, he's truly one of the few who understands Diana fundamentally to her core, and when I say few, I mean very very few. Thanking my past self for picking this and AoS as Countdown and Infinite Crisis adjacent pre-reading because it was so worth it. At the end of the day, I'm not sad because it's ending, I'm happy because it happened.
• Adventures of Superman #648 - "Look... Up In The Sky!" = I mentioned in my last review of A/S #647 that I could tell the difference between Rucka's prose and the fill-in couple's prose, but after this issue I'm pretty torn. This was a really well put together issue and a much-needed breather segment within the constant chaos of Infinite Crisis. I loved using an article by Lois as the framing device, as well as the mentions of the other heroes. I think that these kinds of issues can feel preachy sometimes, but all in all this was really honest in my opinion, and a wonderful way to cap off Rucka's run on Adventures of Superman.
• Teen Titans Annual #1 - "Love & War" = Last Night on Earth! Loved having Superboy focus in this, and the relationship stuff with Cassie is much needed after the events of the Insiders crossover. Lex in his Super Friends garb just reminds me of his appearances in the RCDC specials, but I'm excited to see more of him in this event and what Connor ends up doing with the shard. Very interesting to see the fallout of DOV affecting Raven's abilities and the fact that the Amazons + Greek Pantheon leaving is having similar effects on Wonder Girl as well. The Raven sequence of her empath power picking up residual feelings brings some good foreshadowing for #5, but I'm reading this before since it works better as buildup for #5 than reading after.

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.

Identity Crisis + Flash: The Secret of Barry Allen Review

[Identity Crisis] ~ {Written by Brad Meltzer}

• Identity Crisis #1 - "Coffin" = And away we go! Coming back to this after so many years was a breath of fresh air. For all the haters this book has, Meltzer and Morales show them up completely with sleek and yet classic art paired with powerful prose. Meltzer does an incredible job of sucking you in; while many dig on the retcons, Meltzer finds a way to stay true to the personalities of these characters, it all feels real. I can't recall a death in the DC universe being this meaningful since Supergirl and Flash during the Crisis, or even the Man of Tomorrow himself. The use of minor characters by Meltzer is excellent as well; Bolt and Calculator on the phone makes the universe seem so big, a commodity that just doesn't seem to exist in today's DC landscape. The foreshadowing is wonderful as well, and I do believe the murder-mystery to be one of the strongest aspects of this story.
• The Flash #213 - "Slow Motion" = So that's why Mirror Master's nose was bleeding! This issue suffered from the same problem I have with most Flash books; any villains besides the classic Rogues and Reverse Flashes are absolute trash. You can try to spin the Turtle to be a foil of Flash as much as you want, but at the end of the day he's still a stupid and boring character. The reveal that Ashley Zolomon didn't die in the crash came as a surprise to me, but the fact that Hunter somehow got out is even more interesting. Howard Porter's art wasn't that great in this, I'm hoping it gets better in time for Rogue War. The Identity Crisis mentions were fun, my only peeve was the discrepancy between how Boomerang looks in this compared to the actual IC book.
• Identity Crisis #2 - "House of Lies" = This is a tough book! As much as I understand the criticisms, everything else is so good! The c-listers and their underworld, the satellite league justifying themselves to the Wally and Kyle, and my boy Pieter Cross gets a sequence! Compared to any Millar or Ennis indulgent edginess, the rape scene done in this book was done as tastefully as one of these scenes can be done. The framing of the Leaguers mentalities at the moment of the mind-wipe makes sense, and I enjoyed the mention of Barry's decision being influenced by the death of Iris West. Merlyn dishing out crap on each of the villains is so much fun, and I'm excited for more of these snippets across the rest of the book.
• Identity Crisis #3 - "Serial Killer" = Super-Brawl! I for one love this fight; a perfect fusion proving and disproving the famous adage, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy...". Ollie breaking Slade's concentration is such a great way to take out the one-eyed assassin, and the quarrel that ensues is hilarious. Meltzer's internal monologue for Ollie is fantastic, and definitely makes me want to check out his Green Arrow run. The manner in which Light's memories are reactivated is wonderful, and I sure as mess spotted the foreshadowing in the flashback discrepancy. Ollie explaining to Wally the justifications for the mind-wipes may create a sense of grimdark infecting the bronze age, poisoned nostalgia, but this stuff makes sense! The clean-up works in the League's continuity! Ollie's line regarding him and Carter's differences is great, that is easily one of my favorite rivalries/friendships in all of comics. The Tim Drake sequence is easily the least interesting, but the set-up makes sense given what happens later in the series. Framing the ending with Jimmy cutting to Jean being "attacked" works flawlessly, and Rags executes every panel with grace and precision.
• Identity Crisis #4 - "Who Benefits?" = Gah damn, it just gets better and better! While the red herrings increase by the page, what gives this book life is how the DC universe responds to the mystery. The sequences with the villains, Batman's increased paranoia, the Slipknot scene, and even Spectre Hal coming down to increase the stakes. We can definitely say that Ollie is secured as our viewpoint character going forward, and I am not complaining whatsoever: he's the perfect fit for the tone of this story. The villain scenes are still my favorites, Meltzer has turned Merlyn and Calculator into some of my favorites.
• The Flash #214 - The Secret of Barry Allen, Part I : "Dear Wally..." = Fantastic issue! Johns was able to balance the run's current plot points alongside the fallout from IC extremely well. Wally's built-up despair has snowballed since Blitz and Ignition, and it spilling into this arc sets us up for some fascinating character exploration alongside this mystery surrounding Barry's letter. I enjoyed the reveal of the League's meeting with Wally from #209, connecting the mind-wipe themes. Once again, Ollie stole this issue and is continuing to steal this whole event with his witty dialogue and engaging pathos as a result of him and the League's sins being found out.
• Identity Crisis #5 - "Father's Day" = Dang! This book is a blast to read, mainly because I can agree with the criticisms while still getting everything I want out of it. You can definitely see the editorial mandates starting to seep into the narrative: Firestorm's random death, Jack Drake pruned to get Tim Drake into the orphan club and give him some pathos. The Boomerang death sticks for me, mainly because I'm eager to learn more about Owen Mercer. That whole sequence was very well put together in my opinion, and even though the image of an obese and disheveled Captain Boomerang busting into the Drake home is pretty jarring, Meltzer and Morales find a way to keep me engaged through every single panel.
• The Flash #215 - The Secret of Barry Allen, Part II : "Reformed" = Wow, I guess I was expecting something completely different. Let's get this over with; I don't care about the Top or whatever happened to his mind as a result of Zee's magic. The hilariously dumb and convoluted silver age lore dump on Roscoe Dillon brought some chuckles, but Barry's plan and execution was absolutely trash. I'm glad they're following up on the Top's scene from #210, but if we could just get to the Rogue War stuff already! The Wally pathos is still great, and the IC snippets were the standouts; let's see Zatanna try to put this rabbit back in the hat!
• JSA #67 - "The Autopsy" = Just wow. This might have been one of the best issues of JSA ever. Dave Gibbons killed this entire issue, though I shouldn't be surprised since he drew the greatest comic book ever. This whole book was a perfect storm: great art, great writing, tie in to a great event, and centered on the best member of the JSA: my boy Pieter Cross. The pacing and splicing of the check-ins with each JSA member were fantastic, but that Wildcat Mirror Master sequence had to be the best. The Power Girl stuff had me a bit confused until I remembered that at the end of the Loeb Supergirl S/B arc they kept Kara in hiding to prevent Darkseid's forces from coming back to kill her. Terrific and Mid-Nite cement their bro-bond (if they haven't already) in this, and I loved Michael going to confront his wife's accidental killer in the midst of all this IC chaos.
• Identity Crisis #6 - "Husbands & Wives" = Aftermath! The sequence with the lost family members of the JLA was fascinating: so much history in each member, a wonderful fusion of Bronze Age and Post-Crisis elements to give each character weight like we've been alongside their struggles and losses for years. There's something about Doctor Light remembering the rape that is extremely unnerving, I'm eager to see how this plays out in the upcoming Teen Titans arc. If I'm not mistaken, this whole event is what spawns the Green Arrow/Deathstroke rivalry that gets folded into the zeitgeist (Arrow) which I think is really cool. Now about that final sequence... GAH DAMN! Meltzer does an insane job of building that tension, and the biggest red herrings of all red herrings is planted, a twist to trick before the twist of the final issue!
• The Flash #216 - The Secret of Barry Allen, Part III : "Spinning" = I'm not sure if it's a result of the heavy hand of editorial, but why do comics require the invasive recap in the first couple of pages? It's kind of hard to get to the plot when there's a giant info dump shouting in your face. As for the twist, I get what Johns is going for, and I will admit that I am intrigued. The idea that this d-list villain used his powers to trick the Flash Rogues Gallery into reforming while maintaining the ability to turn it off at any moment is kinda cool. The classic Rogues may not get personal, but Johns has created the circumstances for Wally's villains (Top, Zoom, Grodd) to get pretty damn personal. It's a lot easier to see now that the Top will in fact be a major player in the Rogue War, given the scene with James Jesse's Rogues framing them as the future victims of the Top. The lovely red herring during the final sequence had me genuinely happy; someone needs a win right now!
• Identity Crisis #7 - "The Hero's Life" = What is most impressive about this final twist is that the set up for Atom being the murder has some perverted sense to it. Atom wanted his wife back, so he engineered this entire crisis to make way for her back into his arms. He leaves the JLA during #214 of the Flash to go set up that attempted murder of Jean Loring, he hires Boomerang, he sends the letter to Lois and the gun to Jack Drake. But it's not him, Ray is a Silver Age darling, nothing could justify him breaking bad, he's untouchable, it couldn't be him... but it could be his wife! Man, this one hurts, but it's supposed to I guess. Like the Arthur Miller quote included in this, Identity Crisis is the death of the Silver Age. It's a tone setter, a prelude for the end of the Post Crisis universe, an appetizer for the comics Dark Age of the 2010's. It hurts, but this book is so damn good that I just might have to keep on chewing. One of the saddest parts is that we won't be seeing Ray Palmer until that horrendous Countdown book (which I may or may not force myself to read in the far future). As for the mind-wipe ramifications, this is exactly what leads into Countdown to Infinite Crisis and the OMAC Project; that final scene with Bruce staring down Wally was perfect, the framing of Wally and the lasso of truth, and I like to think that in that moment he knows.
• The Flash #217 - "Post-Crisis" = WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT LAST PAGE? Jesus Christ, that actually made me audibly gasp. I really enjoyed this issue, great segmentation of Wally/Linda + Digger's funeral + Batman confrontation. The Hunter/Cheetah stuff was fun as well, and it seems like it's setting up the upcoming two part crossover. I do wonder what Bats said to Dick when he joined the Titans, but I was expecting some kind of mention of the mind-wipe stuff to follow up the Identity Crisis threads a little more. Then again, I don't think Bats would go to his face; he's definitely more likely to take other measures...
• The Flash #218 - "Rogue Profile: Heat Wave" = That was fire! I can tell it's hit or miss with these Rogue centered issues based how much I care, but when you get Johns and THE Peter Snejbjerg to do a book on Heat-Wave, you best know I'm going to read the mess out of it. It was so easy to get sucked into Mick's narration, and I love how Johns is able to set him and his motivations apart from the others. I get that the whole gallery has distinct personalities, but you can really tell when Johns hits the mark. The re-framed rivalry between Heat-Wave and Cold sets up an exciting conflict for the upcoming Rogue War, and I'm very interested to see how this and the other threads play out.