Hello again GEN readers! It’s Jill a.k.a. The Nerdy Bird back with this week’s installment of DoubleDCoverage. It’s almost Christmas and all you speedsters have been so good, Santa says, “New costumes for EVERYONE!” What about Supergirl’s mom? Has she been naughty or nice this year? Reviews for Flash: Rebirth #5 and Supergirl #47 are ahead. Also, check out my star ratings for my other pulls from last Wednesday!
THE FLASH: REBIRTH #5 (OF 6)
The status quo of the Flash universe is changing as we speak. We had to wait a while for this issue and while the momentum of Flash: Rebirth has slowed down considerably (did I really just say that?), there’s still a story here that’s exciting to read.
It’s Professor Zoom against, well, pretty much every hero speedster this issue. Yet that’s still not quite enough seeing as how he’s employing that new negative speedforce he told us so much about last time. Wally’s kids Jai and Irey are going through speedster growing pains and Irey has an epiphany. The kids have been sharing their connection to the speed force and that’s why they’ve had so many problems with their powers. It appears as if Irey’s attempt to give Jai all the power backfired and instead went entirely to her. Liberty Bell shows up guided by her dead father and, in a way, inducts Irey into the speedster clan. This leads to the most awkward part of the issue. When Irey joins the fight against Zoom, Wally, through the use of the speed force…somehow…gives them all new costumes. A few people get a slight touch-up but Liberty Bell gets a completely different design and Irey is now the new Impulse. I have a few issues with the costumes but there were distinctions that needed to be made, I just wish they hadn’t been gift wrapped and handed to us.
A change in costumes wasn’t the only major event. Zoom has been talking trash while racing around with Barry and the other speedsters but they both take off for some “alone time.” It’s when he’s got Barry isolated that Zoom reveals his evil plans are farther reaching than Barry ever expected. “What if every bad thing that happened to you was orchestrated by one person,” asks Zoom. He then proceeds to point out several key moments in Barry’s life where tragedy truck. From a broken arm in the sixth grade all the way to his mother’s murder, he claims responsibility for all of it. He takes off promising he’s going to travel back in time to take Iris out of Barry’s already unbalanced equation.
Ethan Van Sciver’s art is on-point as usual. I still marvel at how much detail he can fit into one panel. This is one of the few times I’ve picked up on those little details he throws in that are almost subliminal. The flashes of yellow throughout Barry’s past signifying Zoom’s interference are genius. I think Geoff Johns’ writing is most powerful this issue when he’s inside Barry’s head. Hearing the self-doubt and the loneliness he’s been feeling makes you realize why this battle hasn’t been won yet. A whole lot of information was dumped on us in the last issue and there’s almost as much here but at least it’s a lot easier to comprehend, although sometimes it’s a little too on the nose. Like I said, all the costume nonsense had to be dealt with, it was just a painfully simple fix. With just one more issue to go I’m beginning to feel a little concerned about the entertainment value of this series versus it’s existence purely to “fix” things.
SUPERGIRL #47
Even though some terrible things happened, this was a beautiful issue. Reactron is finally back on New Krypton and faces the unknown as he must stand trial for Zor-El’s murder. Yes she’s been a raging b-i-t-c-h since the Kryptonians returned to normal size, yes I’ve wanted to punch her in the face repeatedly but Supergirl’s mom Alura has finally managed to make me feel bad for her thanks to Sterling Gates. Don’t worry, it didn’t last long.
The truth comes out. Alura was always a jerk. Even way back on Old Krypton when she was first dating Zor. She was all analytical about everything, including love. “Your compliments are designed to elicit an emotional response,” doesn’t really put a guy in the mood but it didn’t stop the romantic in Zor. Eventually he wore her down enough to marry him which makes it all the more heartbreaking when you remember his heart was basically obliterated by Reactron. Even more tragic when you consider she can’t seem to hold onto anything he stood for or tried to teach her during their time together.
Alura has been keeping Reactron’s capture and return to New Krypton a secret fearing the publics reaction to such an event. But the news manages to leak soon after his arrival and several Kryptonians come to her asking questions. She denies his presence on the planet and soon has him standing before the council. Although he murdered 15 Kryptonians, a lawyer asks that the charges be dropped simply stating the facts – they have no right to charge him on their planet because he’s from Earth. Before any decision can be reached however, a mob of angry citizens storm the council’s chamber in an attempt to murder Reactron. Supergirl, Alura and Commander Gor must step in to protect him. In the midst of the panic one of Gor’s guard is killed and he, in turn, kills Reactron. Only, he didn’t. Alura conspired with Gor to fake Reactron’s death in order to torture him instead.
I miss Jamal Ingle’s art but fill-in Matt Camp did a superb job. I’ll simply point to Alura’s face in the panel after she realizes her husband is not in her bed with her when she wakes. It’s heart wrenching. Really though, the credit for this amazing issue goes to Gates. The aptly named “Pain and Responsibility” was a story between arcs and could have easily been a throw-away issue, instead he’s made it one of the most powerful and vital issues to the Supergirl book. The emotional journey Alura has been on for the better part of her life would be unbearable to most and in fact, seems like it’s almost to that point with her now. This woman is going to crack soon.
ADVENTURE COMICS #4 – The Legion second feature was simple but really powerful this time around. The main story has just the right amount of whining from Superboy Prime.
BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #6 – Great storytelling by guest writer Chris Yost. More Huntress please!
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 80-PAGE GIANT – I didn’t enjoy this as much as the JLA Giant, mostly because it was very repetitious, but couple of really key JSA moments took place here.
THE OUTSIDERS #24 – Black Lantern Terra has the best characterization I’ve seen in almost any of the BL’s.
My pull list for this week:
ARKHAM REBORN #2 (OF 3)
BLACKEST NIGHT #5 (OF 8 )
DETECTIVE COMICS #859
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #6
GREEN LANTERN #48
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #39
JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE #5 (OF 7)
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #33
SUPERMAN #694
SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #3 (OF 6)
TEEN TITANS #77
WONDER WOMAN #38
WORLDS FINEST #2 (OF 4)
Which two should I review for DoubleDCoverage #36? You’ve got a lot to choose from this time.
November 25th, 2009 at 4:40 am
Looks like I’m gonna have to rush to get these.
November 29th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Jill,
Who is that on the cover of Supergirl? I love the costume design but haven’t read the series. The Superwoman design was nice too but I just don’t know any of these new Kryptonians.
November 29th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
That’s her mom, Alura.