Another Countdown to a Different Doomsday

The Batman/Flash crossover is a tease and, like most teases, the end result could have been presented in half of the time, and honestly, with more of a kicker to the ending that, anyone familiar with the origins of Comedian’s button, would have surmised from the beginning.

Looking at that beginning, Batman/Flash: The Button collection excludes the issue/s where the blood-splattered button from the Watchmen series first arrives in the DCU proper. Having the button residing in the Batcave is gospel and has as much needed backstory as that huge T-Rex statue Alfred is constantly dusting. Instead, this crossover provides a fun fight between the Batman and the Reverse Flash that any fan of the Flash’s CW TV show will enjoy, includes an unnecessary visit to the Flashpoint universe that no one really asked for, and is packed with tons of foreshadowing and set up for DC’s upcoming Geoff Johns’ project that is supposed to unite the Watchmen characters with the mainstays from the DCU. Most assuredly, Alan Moore is already spinning in his self-dug grave.

This edition collects two issues apiece from the current runs of both Batman and The Flash. Tom King writes Batman and is paired with artist Jason Fabok, whose art is really what elevates the book. Like the DCEU movie Batman, Fabok’s character is all scruffy and gray, silent and righteous. Fabok  borrows the nine-grid panel layout that the Watchmen made famous, and does justice to the homage. The Flash issues are written by Joshua Williamson, who is both contemporary and safe. Veteran artist Howard Porter provides visuals that are punchy at times, sketchy most others. The work of John Dell, his finisher from their long-time-ago JLA series, is sorely missed.

Throughout the issues, Batman and Flash fight Reverse Flash, run through time, and question the existence of the button without coming to a meaningful conclusion. A Watchmen character makes a kinda-sorta cameo. A tease of the incorporation of a long-standing DC icon fills the epilogue, concluding a tale that is over almost as fast as, well, you-know-who.

This collection is successful from the standpoint that the creators brought forth a product they were commissioned to make: an interesting lead-up for November’s Doomsday Clock. Another Countdown in the DCU, albeit tighter and contained. Another Doomsday, albeit less Kryptonian in origin. Consider me teased.

At least Blue Beetle didn’t die in this one.

A big Bat-thank you to my Flash-friends at NetGalley and DC Comics for the preview ARC.


As Always,
theJOE

Inconsequential Change

DC Comics’ Rebirth event, other than a marketing tag, really should be about the exploration of themes. A look at what makes the character appealing and an examination of those personal, internal forces while dealing with the colorfully-ludicrous external. Unfortunately, with the Rebirth collections DC Comics and NetGalley have graciously sent my way, there has not been a sense of regrouping, of growth, or internalization. The stories are an onslaught of constant motion opening with panel one and nary a chance for an asterisked footnote to a Wikipedia article let alone time for introductions, and no more so than Blue Beetle Vol. 1: The More Things Change.

Blue Beetle tries, sincerely, and sometimes achieves partial success, to be clever with the pairing of Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle, and his mentor/Alfred Pennyworth surrogate Ted Kord, the former, and formerly deceased, Blue Beetle. Their relationship is ripe with all the elements of great buddy-cop entertainment, but man, that fruit just ain’t ready to pick. Blue Beetle Vol. 1, again like other Rebirth titles, are full of these sudden starts, fits of action, with explosions of rat-a-tat dialogue, that don’t go anywhere and have no signs of resolution, which is extremely detrimental to, what should be, a contained graphic novel and an invitation to go further.

Keith Giffen, who created the Jaime Reyes character following the massive Infinite Crisis storyline, which began with the surprising murder of Ted Kord, presents dialogue-heavy issues and truly does wish to make Jaime as likeable and as important as his blue alter ego. After all, one of main reasons Spider-Man is immensely popular is due to the relational aspect of Peter Parker, as opposed, for instance, to the Hulk, where the very-human Banner can indeed come off as, well, puny. Alas, Giffen never gives that reader, and presumably a first-time reader at that, the chance to truly enjoy the character because the opportunity is never provided. The shark-like, always-moving-forward motion does not allow that pause for reflection.

Giffen and co-plotter/artist Scott Kolins present the Blue Beetle scarab as a threat to Jaime’s well-being, a plot element that will no doubt continue to grow as the series continues. Giffen allows Doctor Fate a co-starring gig in the title, and I, for one, always enjoy Giffen’s Fate. Kolins gives the character an updated makeover, but even the character’s inclusion is sparse and seemingly inconsequential as the mystery for his inclusion, and what should be a build up to this threat, is nearly trivialized away in an is-it-or-is-it-not dream sequence.

Comic books have a grand tradition of excelling at the slow burn. How many decades did Superman and Lois Lane flirt? Even Ted Kord’s own Blue Beetle title from the post-Crisis eighties had an over twelve-issue long b-plot that simmered, at varying levels, every issue. The problem with Blue Beetle Vol. 1: The More Things Change is there are too many simmering pots and not enough pasta. The old adage about waiting for that water to boil could very well result in no one bothering to pay attention when supper is ready.

As Always,

theJOE