It looks like it is going to happen. If you think I’m talking about sports then you know I’m talking about the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team winning the World Cup this weekend. If you think I’m talking about comics then you know I’m talking about San Diego Comic-Con, which starts in one week. Plus, we get Captain America: The First Avenger on July 22nd. Yeah, this is a good month. Anyway, we have some reviews. Let’s get in to it.
Birds of Prey #14: Let’s recap. Gail Simone’s last issue was last issue, DC relaunches/reboots in September, and Barbara Gordon will no longer be Oracle at the time. That means come September this will be an entirely different book. So why bother? I didn’t. Most of the story is a flashback that takes place in the 1940’s with the original Black Canary, Lady Blackhawk, and Phantom Lady invading Germany to take out super powered Nazis. Now I love a good Nazi beat down as much as the next guy (Captain America: The First Avenger July 22nd), but this really failed to keep my interest. None of this matters since it is all going to be wiped away in September.
Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #2: I like the concept of Citizen Cold. He’s the Flashpoint universe’s version of our Captain Cold, a Flash rogue. However, in the Flashpoint universe he is a hero. Actually, he is someone that uses his popularity as a hero to do bad things. The concept is cool (get it), but the story is not. Everything feels rushed. I was at the end of the issue and not really sure what happened. Also, how are all of Flash’s rogues here? Everything else in this universe is different except Flash’s bad guys? That doesn’t make sense. They even have the current Trickster here. Also, there is a confirmed death in this issue that long time Flash fans are not going to like. I have a feeling it will carry over to the relaunch/reboot.
Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #2: I was really impressed with the first issue of this series. We got to see what lead to the war between the Atlanteans and the Amazons. This issue we find out the origin of the Flashpoint universe’s Aquaman. Why? Do we really need an entire issue dedicated to this? I don’t care about his roots. This is a mini-series of an alternate version of our Aquaman. They could have even mentioned his origin in passing. “Hey fish breath! Didn’t you use to live on land with humans?” “Yup.” “Cool, let’s go fight some Amazons.” Instead, we get the better part of 20 pages stretching all that out. However, next issue looks to be promising.
Booster Gold #46: While other DC titles might not be worth reading until September, Booster Gold does not fall in to that category. This book is a great companion piece to the Flashpoint main series. While it is not my favorite of the Flashpoint tie-ins, it is the one works best with the overall story. Booster Gold is trying to figure a way to fix this alternate timeline. He has no idea that Barry Allen/The Flash is here also. However, the U.S. government thinks that Booster is actually an Atlantean spy and set their weapon on him. There weapon being Doomsday. However, the government loses control of Doomsday, and that is never a good thing. The only problem I have with this issue is this woman that is hanging around Booster. I know, I know, I sound like I’m jealous, but it goes deeper than that. She has the ability to absorb anyone’s powers that she touches. After touching Booster she was able to fly and shot lasers from her wrists. The problem I have with this is that Booster Gold doesn’t have any powers. He’s a regular human being. His suit has lasers on it, and he can fly because of a Legion flight ring that he stole. He has not real powers of his own, so if that really is her ability then the only thing she should of absorbed was how to be a ladies man. All in all though, a solid issue.
Captain America #1: Marvel said in an interview that they were restarting this series with a new number one, because of the movie (Captain America: The First Avenger July 22nd). Apparently, Marvel thinks that people that might want to read a Captain America comic book after watching the movie would be too stupid to figure anything out without a new number one issue. Never mind that the employees at local comic shops, such as Atomic Comics, would be able to steer new customers in the right direction. The thing that is unique about Captain America is that he is a man out of time. Created to fight Nazis during World War II, then somehow frozen, and then unfrozen in modern times gives you a pretty one of kind character. You know what’s not unique? That all of his villains seem to be from the same time period also. In this issue, Cap runs in to a new villain, new villain to us anyway, that he remembers from 1944. This guy turns out to be working for another villain from that same era. The art is fantastic, and Ed Brubaker is my favorite writer. However, this feels like it has already been done before, especially by Brubaker. However, I am more than confident that new readers will be pleasantly entertained.
Quote of the Week: “You can’t go to Paris now, it’s under water.” – Iris West from Flashpoint: Citizen Cold #2
Book of the Week: Booster Gold #46
If you live in the Phoenix area, all of these books can be purchased at Atomic Comics.
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