NewU Reviews: Flashpoint #5 and Justice League #1

So, it’s finally over – Flashpoint ends today, and with it, the DC Universe as we know it.  But every ending is just the beginning of something new, so I’m going to briefly discuss – since lebeau has already handled both books already – the beginning of the DCnU as well, including how DC’s same day digital release process treated me.  As always, spoilers ahead…

Review: Survival of the Dead

Review: Survival of the Dead.

Review: Justice League #1

Spoiler Warning!

Review: Flashpoint #5 *spoilers*

Spoiler Warning!

Final Thoughts on the DC Relaunch

It’s finally here… almost.  Just one more day until Flashpoint #5 brings the current DCU to an end and Justice League #1 launches the new DC Universe.  Before that happens, I thought I’d share a few thoughts about what is sure to be a landmark event.

Review: The Reef (2010)

Review: The Reef #2010#.

Review: Sucker Punch

 

Review: Sucker Punch

 

The Lowdown on Jaws Rip-Offs

 

 

The Lowdown on Jaws Rip-Offs.

Why this relaunch could have been done without

We should all know by now that the DC Relaunch is about to take place. In most regards at least, I think this relaunch could and should have been done without. Some of the things could even I will address things in no real order, and maybe add in a few other complaints.

Indefensible

I think the only preface I really need for this is Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire.

Double Flashpoint Review: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3, Emperor Aquaman #3

Flashpoint has had a lot of highlights.  Unfortunately, most of those highlights have not exactly been positive ones: insanity, poor storytelling, laughably overwrought cliffhangers and more are what we’ll remember about Flashpoint, while it’s sporadically good tie-ins will be forgotten.  Two of the stronger tie-ins, Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown and Emperor Aquaman, ended last week.  Here’s a review of both.

Review – Fear Itself #5 (of 7)

Fear Itself is not very exciting to write about.  I don’t think I’m supposed to say that, as a critic.  But where the wildly uneven Flashpoint provides something fascinating and bizarre each month, even if they aren’t  often good things, the workman like Fear Itself is hard to get excited about.  Call it event fatigue.  I feel bad punishing Fraction for telling what has thus far been a surprisingly well-paced, largely exciting action book, but I’d rather read the daring, inconsistent Final Crisis or the legitimately epic, occasionally dull and draggy Annihilation than yet another story, even a pretty good one, where the Avengers have to beat up a god.

Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

 

 

 

 

 

Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Superhero Movies 2011

Well, with Captain America coming out a couple weeks ago, we come to the end of superhero movies in 2011. Now, I posted a review of Green Lantern so my feelings are well known on that movie, but I didn’t talk about any of the others. So now, I’m going to talk about the movies and discuss their similarities and differences as well as try and sum up my feelings about each. Oh, and spoilers will be there since I don’t want to limit myself in the discussion.

The Lowdown on the Planet of the Apes Movies

The Lowdown on the Planet of the Apes Movies

Review: The Punisher #1

Let it never be said that Marvel doesn’t know how to launch a book.  Following hot on the heels of Bendis’ dark, well-received Moon Knight and Waid’s lighter, pitch-perfect Daredevil comes the third in a series of heavily hyped relaunches: Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto, working together on The Punisher.  Three high profile books, three high profile creative teams, and three high profile success stories so far.  The Punisher isn’t the strongest of the books, but Rucka and Checchetto’s innovative take on the character is just as daring and fascinating as either of the other two.

Review: Flashpoint #4

What can I say about Flashpoint that hasn’t already been said before?  It’s a lost series, a book that doesn’t know what it wants to be.  It certainly isn’t an adventure story – every time a team is formed to deal with a problem, they collapse or fail immediately.   Every attempt to become epic quickly backfires, every attempt to become post-apocalyptic is thwarted by the mundane.  In service of a more fully realized story, this dedication to defying expectation might be noble; in Flashpoint, it just feels like padding to keep a simple story running for the proper number of trade-worthy issues.