Watch Your Speed

Greetings, my name is Jordan. Last time, we looked at Batman 21: The Button Part One. This time: The Flash 21: The Button Part Two. This post shall provide a synopsis with some key points from the issue, and some speculation on the next issue.

This issue begins with Johnny Thunder, aka Thunderbolt, screaming into the rain from atop the roof of the home for the elderly in which he resides. Mr. Thunder was a former member of the Justice Society, until it was no more. We saw him in DC Universe: Rebirth Volume One, when Wally West appears to him. While lasting only the first page, I enjoyed Johnny's sequence: We have Saturn Girl and Pandora from the Legion of Superheroes, and a Justice Society member, as well as the Watchmen...hopefully, all three groups converge with the Justice League of America, as well as the Justice League International.

The actual story begins with Barry Allen (The Flash) analyzing the scene of Batman's defeat, and Reverse Flash's death. Interestingly, he takes little joy from the fact that his mother's killer has himself been killed. Much of this sequence is filled with Barry's internal monologue over the events in his past, and the crime scene analysis.
We eventually learn from Barry that Reverse Flash is covered in Barry's own energy signature, from the Speed Force, which is strange, as Reverse Flash uses a Negative Speed Force. Flash goes to Bruce Wayne, who is recuperating in his bed, and the two discuss the strange circumstances surrounding the villain's death, and the disappearance of the button.

At this point, Flash brings up the Flashpoint timeline he created when he traveled back in time to save his mother. The two continue talking, and speak about the changes in the timeline being caused by Flash, or by some outside hand. Knowing who the button belongs to, it is not difficult to determine who exactly this is, which creates a case of dramatic irony, as we (the readers) know that the Watchmen are behind this somehow, but the characters do not.

Flash goes to space, to the Justice League's Watchtower, to use a cosmic treadmill to run through time to find who killed Reverse Flash. He and Batman end up running through time, and through some of the most beautifully colored panels I have seen. The entire experience is astounding, with bright blues, greens, and purples, flashing around the two heroes as they see images of either parallel universes, or the missing 10 years brought up in DC Universe Rebirth Vol. One.

The time-travelling goes south, causing Flash and Batman to land in a more primitive version of the Batcave. The final page reveals that they have arrived in the Flashpoint timeline.

I cannot wait to read the final two parts of this crossover. The artwork is fantastic, the story is excellent so far, and the mysteries are nail-biting. Hopefully some questions will be answered in the next issue, such as the location of the Watchmen (what timeline they are in, or if they are even in one), as well as what happened to Reverse Flash. All we know right now is that he had Speed Force energy, and radiation of the type on the button, which I shall assume is Dr. Manhattan's.

Anyway, thank you for reading. Tune in next time for a similar post about Batman 22: The Button Part Three. 

Who Watches Batman?

Greetings, my name is Jordan. Last time, we talked about Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, from "Rebirth". This time: Batman: The Button Part One. Issue number 21 of Batman in "Rebirth", it is the first of a four part crossover with Flash, following issues 21-22 of each.

To start off, a brief synopsis of the issue. The first few panels are in Arkham Asylum, as the inmates watch a hockey match. In the background of a panel is a poster: 

The smiley face is the same as the Watchmen's button, except without blood on it. This is obvious foreshadowing for the rest of the crossover run, especially with a title like The Button. The audience also learns that the female is in some way related to a Legion, most likely being from the Legion of Superheroes, as was Pandora in DC Rebirth Volume One, who was killed by Dr. Manhattan. 

The hockey match goes on as the Legion member begins crying about two players killing each other, which we then witness on the screen in Arkham. This sets up a parallel for how the issue plays out. 

Batman is shown flipping the button around, watching the hockey match on his Batcave screen. He calls upon Flash once he notices something strange with the button and a mask, also in the cave. Apparently, the Speed Force, which is what gives Flash, Kid Flash, and other speedsters their speed, has something to do with the odd happenings, and Watchmen happenings. Flash gives Batman a minute, so a timer is placed in the bottom right of each panel until the time expires. During the majority of the comic, the panels are arranged 3 x 3, similar to Watchmen. 

Reverse Flash attacks Batman, and nearly kills him by the end of the minute, but then is sucked into the Speed Force after picking up the button, and is returned dead. The death of Reverse Flash is drawn with bright blues, like an explosion of sorts, similar to Dr. Manhattan's power. However, Reverse Flash burns up, instead of exploding. This entire time, the button symbol is all around, on all but one screen in the cave. 

Flash arrives after Reverse Flash is dead, and Batman is nearly dead. He stopped by the hockey game, to try and save the player being assaulted, but was too late. This completes the parallel from the beginning of the issue: Batman was the beaten player, and Reverse Flash was the one killing him. Flash was too late to help either. 

I must say, I am very excited to see how the rest of this crossover event goes. Hopefully, the Legion of Superheroes will play some part in this Watchmen plot. I find it interesting that we have not seen any Watchmen yet, only seen the text bubbles, and the deaths of some characters at their hands. It would not surprise me to find that we do not get an introduction to them in this crossover, but later on in the "Rebirth" run. 

This has been a synopsis with some analysis of Batman: The Button Part One. Tune in next time for The Flash: The Button Part Two. Thank you very much for reading. 

Seeing Green?

Greetings, my name is Jordan. Previously, we looked at three different comics that people reading "Rebirth" should check out at some point, either because of their storytelling, or the characters in them. This time, a look at the Green Lantern comics, and the differences between Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 1: Sinestro's Law and Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps Vol. 2: Bottled Light, and the Green Lantern I know from Blackest Night. I shall only be speaking of GL before "New 52", as I have not had the chance to read any of those yet.

In Volume One, Hal Jordan has left the Green Lantern Corps, having stolen a pair of prototype gloves (which would have been used instead of rings) to try and take the blame for the universe hating the Corps. The Corps itself has gone missing, and the Sinestro Corps has taken control of the world, establishing its form of order through the yellow color of Fear.

I absolutely loved this! Sinestro has control of Warworld, which is usually either Mongol's or Cyborg-Superman's. On Warworld, he has constructed a fear engine, to harness the emotion from the Universe in order to supercharge his corps' rings. Hal Jordan is elsewhere in the universe, and forges his own Green Lantern ring out of pure willpower, which was formerly impossible, except for the Guardians of the Universe (the little blue men creatures who created the Corps).

It was nice seeing the ring forging; a first for a Green Lantern. I hope this leads to a new level of power that we shall see in future GL comics under the "Rebirth" title.

Volume Two is even better than the first! Following the destruction of Warworld by Hal Jordan, and his supposed death, the Green Lantern Corps heads to the planet Xudar, where a distress call has been picked up. They find a massive star creature (aptly called Starro), who has been an issue for the Justice League in the past, hovering over the planet. However, this is not the main enemy the Corps faces, as once they run it off, they are trapped in the city. Eventually, it is revealed that Brainiac 2.0 has trapped both the Green Lantern Corps, and the good members of the Sinestro Corps, as well as the entire city, in a containment cell, for some grand collector.

During this time, Hal Jordan is being rescued from his assumed death by Kyle Rayner, the White Lantern, and two former Guardians: Sayd and Ganthet, the only two who remain alive. Near the end of the volume, both stories merge into one: Hal, Kyle, Sayd, and Ganthet arrive to help the two corps against the grand collector, who happens to be Larfleeze, the orange lantern of avarice.

This book was fantastic! It was awesome to see the two corps reconcile, and I hope they stay that way. Also, seeing a Brainiac was amazing!! He is usually an enemy of Superman, or at least his various versions are, and seeing him under control  of none other than Larfleeze was great! I am looking forward to future volumes, in hopes of seeing Larfleeze again, either as an enemy or a temporary ally.

In regards to the Blackest Night era, the characters all seem fairly similar. Soranik Natu, formerly a Green Lantern, and major player in the Blackest Night comics, is a Sinestro Corps member in "Rebirth", yet she acts similarly to the former series. Kyle Rayner is a White Lantern in "Rebirth", and the White Lanterns came around in Blackest Night, with Thaal Sinestro (during the alliance of all the color corps against the Black Lantern Corps) being the first. Sayd and Ganthet are still banished from the Green Lanterns, as each was in BN, though neither is part of any corps (Sayd having agreed to become the Orange Guardian for Larfleeze at the conclusion of the Blackest Night event, and Ganthet becoming a Green Lantern member). 

I do hope there are references to the event at some point in the "Rebirth" run, as I was a huge fan of the entire series. As for now though, I thank you for reading. Tune in next time for an unspecified post.

The First Issue

Greetings, my name is Jordan. Last time, a look was given into this blog and its purpose. This post shall cover which first issue comic volumes should be checked out by everyone following the "Rebirth" series.

To start off, my favorite volume would have to be Blue Beetle 1: The More Things Change, covering issues 1-5. In my opinion, this is one of the best comics "Rebirth" has. Some quick background on the character: Jaime Reyes is the Blue Beetle in this series. He was introduced in 2006, as the Beetle after Ted Kord, who was murdered before Jaime found the Scarab, which gives him his powers. In the "New 52", the "Blue Beetle" series was cancelled after almost two years.
In "Rebirth", Jaime is the Beetle, and Ted Kord is his mentor. The dynamic between the two is very interesting, as Jaime wants nothing more than to have the scarab removed from his back, and Ted wants to keep testing Jaime as a superhero.

Doctor Fate, a sorcerer from numerous other DC stories, is brought into this volume, warning Ted to stop messing with the powers of the scarab, as they represent a threat to the world. Fate told Kord that the scarab was magical, and not of some alien technology, as Ted had believed. I personally cannot wait to see where this goes, as I am used to the scarab being a product of The Reach, a powerful alien force that wishes to enslave the Earth.

The next comic would be Justice League of America: Road to Rebirth, as it establishes origins for numerous characters of interest. The comic introduces The Atom Ryan Choi (taking Ray Palmer's place, as he has gone missing), Vixen, The Ray, Killer Frost (reformed from villainy), Black Canary, and Lobo. Batman brought all of them together to form a team of people, instead of, as he put it, "Gods". Each character was altered in some way, either by accident, as in Killer Frost's case, or through science, as with The Atom, but they all maintain a human aspect which Superman, Martian Manhunter, and other aliens do not have.
This provides a fantastic setup for future conflict that the JLA may have with the regular Justice League of "Rebirth", if super-powered non-humans were taken control of, or had some desire to rule the Earth.

Speaking of the JLA, volume one of Justice League, The Extinction Machines, is the final major recommendation for reading the "Rebirth" series. "Justice League" centers around, of course, the Justice League, as they deal with alien machines destroying major cities, from some source called "The Kindred". Of course, the question is: Who are the Kindred? They seem to be a powerful threat, which could cross over to other "Rebirth" series. We may witness the JLA with the Justice League, or the Teen Titans could assist in containing and destroying the enemy. Time shall tell.

Thank you for reading this post. Tune in next time for a look at Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, and the similarities and differences in this timeline to the previous.

REBIRTH

Greetings, my name is Jordan. I am an avid fan of comics, as of late, and have taken particular interest in the "DC Rebirth" series. As such, this blog shall focus on short synopses, offering reading recommendations, ramblings of important events plot-wise, discussion of the plot and characters, along with various other analyses relating to the DC Universe as a whole.

For some background on the topic: DC launched "Rebirth" in June of 2016, altering numerous plot-lines that had been worked up for the years prior. "Rebirth" connects the DC Universe from before the Flashpoint story arc, released in 2011 as a special crossover with the world of DC, with the events of the "New 52" plot-line, which ran from 2011, after Flashpoint, till 2016, when "Rebirth" began.


(Flashpoint cover #1)                                  ("Rebirth" cover #1)                                                             ("New 52" Cover #1)

"Rebirth" begins with a one-shot, featuring many characters, but focused on Wally West (Kid Flash) trying to reenter the timeline. No one can remember him, yet he attempts to reach Batman, Flash, his girlfriend from the previous timelines, and many others. The volume ends with a major twist: Batman discovers a shirt pin. This pin is familiar to any fan who reads another series, or who watched the movie:

After the chapter ends, an epilogue, featuring a watch being disassembled, and two separate speech bubbles with no visible characters. The voices belonging to Adrian Veidt and Dr. Manhattan, of Watchmen fame. So the DC Universe has merged with Watchmen, and the reveal is that they are behind many of the Multiversal events affecting all of the characters.

So concludes a summary of Volume One, of "DC Rebirth", as well as an introduction to this blog, and what shall be addressed. Tune in next time for a list of the top first issues of the series, and what to follow for the overarching story line. 

Thank you for reading