AVENGERS #678 MARVEL COMICS
After the disastrous pause in the action to spotlight Quicksilver last issue, the battle continues onward. So while action fans can rejoice, the rest of us are left wondering. This issues story really highlights the fact that this version of the Avengers has no leadership, no focal characters for the other Avengers to rally behind, and no real direction. Without a Steve Rogers Captain America, or a Tony Stark Iron Man, or even a Donald Blake Thor to lead the charge, this overwhelming group of Avengers just go off to do whatever they see fit and face the disaster these decisions lead to. And what’s worse is that the promised “first to fall” is left hanging and we get no definite death scene. I give it a 6 out of 10 Grahams.
DARK NIGHT METAL #5 DC COMICS
More doom and gloom as the DC Universe continues to end. And just to rub salt in all the wounds, there constantly seems to be a character ready to one-up the hope-filled plans of the remainder of the Justice League. Just as Wonder Woman frees Hawkgirl, Batman Who Laughs shows up to say that freeing her was all part of the evil plan. Every time! This quickly became a never ending game of I know you are but what am I. I can’t wait for someone to yell “Infinity” and be done with it. What I’d really like to see is the last remaining heroes just deciding they really can’t win, tell the evil versions of Batman “Hey, you win. We’re going to Boom Tube it into a parallel dimension where you are not and we’ll see you in about 30 years.” And then just leave them there. Then we could jump over and see how the Watchmen are going to re-reset the DC Universe. I give it a 6 out of 10 Grahams.
STRECH ARMSTRONG AND THE FLEX FIGHTER #1 IDW COMICS
While all in all not a bad story with good art, it did not live up to what I was hoping for. Not realizing that there was a cartoon on Netflix, I believed this was an original take on the classic Stretch Armstrong action figure that we all had back in the day (until a hole finally formed and pink ooze spilled from poor Stretch’s rubbery body.) Now this may be the case but not even knowing that the Netflix show existed definitely had affect on me reading this. This title has existing characters that have backstories that are known to the Netflix watchers but not to your average comic reader. If you’re a fan of the show, I have no doubt that you will love this book. If you’re just an old guy who saw the original Stretch Armstrong action figure on the alternate cover, you’ll have no idea what’s going on. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams.
FLASH ANNUAL #1 DC COMICS
An interesting and somewhat touching story of a young man whose very existence is gone. If you had been removed from existence and then found yourself back again, who would you try to get to remember you first? I agree with Wally’s choice as seeing if you could get an old girlfriend to remember you might be easier to handle than a family member or loved one. Unfortunately, Wally’s has super powers and is a bit of a nut job to boot. Add in old Rogue villain the Top and those future Meta-cops the Renegades (who dress closer to the Rogues gallery more than the current versions do, sigh) and you’ve got the start of a good mystery that may help bring about the return of the JSA? Or is that wishful thinking on my part. Oh well, time travel is back and so is Professor Zoom. I give it a 7 out of 10 Grahams.
JLA/DOOM PATROL SPECIAL #1 DC COMICS
Holy Schnikeys! This book is the text book definition of a WTF moment! Milkman Man?! Vixen in a 1950’s party dress?! Lord Manga Khan?!!! This one tops out the weird meter. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Matter-of-fact, its so weird, its amazing. This one’s got a whole lot going on. I’d love to do a page by page on this one but can’t. All I can say is read this one. First just to see how weird it really can be. And then a second time to try to figure it out. I give it a 9 out of 10 Grahams.
