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Tag Crisis on Infinite Earths
A Batman/The Flash: “The Button” Deep-Dive Review – Take the Good with the Bad
TITLE: “The Button”
AUTHORS: Joshua Williamson, Tom King
PENCILLERS: Jason Fabok, Howard Porter
COLLECTS: Batman #21–22, The Flash #21–22
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
TENTATIVE COLLECTION PRICE: $19.99
COLLECTION RELEASE: October 2017
***WARNING: Spoilers lay ahead.***
By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder
I want to like what I’m seeing here. And I guess I do, for the most part. I just have to turn a certain part of my brain off. Namely, the part that registers guilt about a company cashing in on imagery and characters from a landmark story without their creator’s blessing.
After months without any leads relating to the mysterious button Batman discovered during the events of DC Universe: Rebirth #1, the Dark Knight gets a surprise visitor: The Reverse-Flash. But what’s his connection to the Button? Where does it come from? How does it connect to the apparent changes made to the timeline? And how does all of this somehow involve the world of Flashpoint?
“The Button” doesn’t give us any answers. But it does wet your appetite for the just-announced Doomsday Clock event in November. It also manages to tug at your heartstrings with some pre-New 52 imagery and characters. So it does what it’s supposed to do. We even catch a little glimpse of Dr. Manhattan at the end…sort of (shown below).
While we’ve known about the DC Universe/Watchmen stuff for about a year now, I still feel dirty when I see the Watchmen imagery. It doesn’t do much good to complain about it, as what’s done is done. But considering what an achievement Watchmen was, and how revered it is to this day, without Alan Moore’s blessing there’s a certain lack of purity here.
Our inciting incident occurs when the button comes into contact with the Psycho-Pirate’s mask, causing the Reverse-Flash to materialize in the Batcave. After a fight, Batman and the Flash attempt to trace the button’s unique radiation to locate it’s source using Flash’s Cosmic Treadmill (Yup, that’s a thing.) After the Crisis on Infinite Earths reboot came and went in the mid-’80s, the Psycho-Pirate was the one character who retained his pre-Crisis memories. I assume Reverse-Flash’s reemergence has something to do with that memory retention. There’s no other explanation…is there?
“The Button” definitely gives us the vibe that this New 52 continuity we’ve been in for the past several years is an injustice perpetrated by Dr. Manhattan. Several years have been from the timeline, forcefully robbing our characters of their memories and in some cases their very existence. We check back in with Johnny Thunder, who at one point cries, “We lost the Justice Society! It’s all my fault!” We also see Saturn Girl of the Legion of Superheroes, who’s screaming about a future only she knows about. As Batman and Flash make their way through the timestream, we see glimpses of events from Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, and other stories that have seemingly been out of bounds for the New 52.
Then there’s the big surprise in the final issue: Jay Garrick’s brief return. Jay comes back much the way Wally West did in Rebirth, but is unable to find a tether to reality the way he did. He’s seemingly jerked back into non-existence via some familiar blue energy.
There’s a surreal and almost meta element to seeing characters like Jay and Wally pine to come back. Jay has a line, “They took everything from me, Barry. I don’t know how. I don’t know why.” Odd as it may sound, it feels like he’s talking about DC itself, doesn’t it? I’ve enjoyed the DC Rebirth initiative as much as anybody. But it does entail the company eating some crow. Yes, we’re happy to see so many familiar elements back in our books. But who took them away to begin with? Would they have gone through with the reboot if they knew they’d be backtracking it just four years later?
Oddly enough, the emotional meat of the story isn’t so much the return of Jay, or the drama of what’s been lost. It comes in when our heroes accidentally find themselves in the Flashpoint universe, and they come across that reality’s Batman, Thomas Wayne. Thus, we get a reunion of sorts between father and son, each Batman in their own world.
We’ve seen stories where Bruce somehow gets to talk to his parents again. Whether they’re ghosts, visions, or what not. But Batman #22 gives us two unique moments that manage to really hit home. The first is when Bruce tells Thomas, “You’re a grandfather. I have a son.” For older fans, that’s a really strong, relatable moment. The second comes as the Flashpoint sequence is ending. In their final moments together, Thomas asks Bruce not to be Batman anymore, and to instead find happiness. That’s a really compelling use of the Flashpoint Batman. I wasn’t expecting it here, but it creates a hell of a potential conflict for down the road. Can Bruce continue his crusade now?
Jason Fabok handles the Batman side of things, and handles them quite well. You can’t deny quality when you see it. His work has a definite epic quality to it, and is very much worthy of what we see here. The Flash issues are pencilled by Howard Porter, who I have a lot of respect for. That being said, his style has never really been my cup of tea. As cool as the time stream sequence in The Flash #21 is, Porter’s work gives it a certain awkwardness. For instance, there’s a panel where we can almost see up Batman’s nose. Not necessarily what we’re supposed to be looking at, is it?
“The Button” is a fine bridge between DC Universe Rebirth #1 and Doomsday Clock. For some of us, there’s going to be a lot of Watchmen-related discomfort on the horizon. But it looks like we’ll be getting our share of feel-good moments too. Take the good with the bad, I guess…
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Best of Batman & Superman: The Man of Steel #3
***Batman and Superman are friends. It’s an unlikely friendship, and one that can put them at odds. But ultimately, it’s a friendship based on mutual respect and trust. With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on the horizon, we’re going to hear a lot about these two fighting. “Best of Batman & Superman” will show us the opposite end of the spectrum. These are the moments that showed us why Superman and Batman are better friends than enemies.***
TITLE: The Man of Steel #3
AUTHOR/PENCILLER: John Byrne
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
ORIGINAL PRICE: $0.75
PUBLISHED: November 1986
By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder
The year was 1986, and it was a time for reboots, revamps, and retcons. Crisis on Infinite Earths had recently wrapped up, effectively given the entire DC Universe a clean slate. The heroes and icons we knew and loved could now be tweaked, and perhaps simplified for a new generation of fans. This era opened the door for stories like Batman: Year One, George Perez’s classic take on Wonder Woman’s origin, and even Justice League International.
And then there’s The Man of Steel, John Byrne’s revamping of Superman’s origin story. This six-issue miniseries reestablished Kal-El as the sole survivor of the planet Krypton, and redefined his relationships with core characters like Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Lana Lang, and various other characters with the initials L.L.
It also gave us the first meeting between the post-Crisis Superman and Batman, in what I believe is one of the best Superman/Batman stories ever told.
We open the issue in Gotham City, as Batman hunts down leads on our villain, Magpie. That’s right folks, the first meeting of post-Crisis Superman and Batman wasn’t over, say, The Joker, Lex Luthor, or Brainiac. Instead, we had Magpie, a villain obsessed with shiny objects. In essence, she’s the evil equivalent of a two-year-old who wants shiny toys.
The Dark Knight soon finds himself interrupted by Superman, who grabs his Batrope and attempts to take him to police headquarters. Remember, at this early point in his career Batman is considered a criminal outlaw. Batman escapes, and tells Superman he’s been preparing for an encounter with him. And here’s where suspension of disbelief comes in really handy…
Apparently, in preparation for Superman, Batman created a force field around himself, which can detect “super dense biological material,” i.e. Superman. If the force field is penetrated, a signal goes out that detonates a bomb and kills an innocent person. Naturally, the Man of Steel is shocked. With his undivided attention, Batman tells him Magpie’s story, and they end up going off to find her. But Superman insists they aren’t done.
Did you ever play pretend with the other kids on the playground, and somebody would shout: “You can’t touch me! I’ve got a force field!” This feels like the superhero comic book equivalent of that. If Byrne hadn’t stuck the landing so well with this idea, it would be laughable. Particularly by modern standards. But as we’ll see, the pay off is worth it.
Our heroes quickly dispose of Magpie’s goons, and when she releases an acid-like gas into the air, Superman inhales it all before blowing it out into space. When he returns, she has escaped. When they find her again, Superman rips her gimmicky headpiece off, only to see her break down in tears.
It’s here that Superman begins to learn about a different kind of criminal. Magpie is certainly a villain. But she’s also a victim, driven to the point of insanity by mental illness combined with a penchant for crime. She isn’t like the criminals Superman is used to facing. As such, he learns a valuable lesson about the different facets of criminality.
“Yes…I feel sorry for her, Superman,” Batman says.” But I feel more sorry for her victims.”
Superman comes to respect the need for someone like Batman in Gotham, but there’s still the matter of the bomb. The Dark Knight promptly removes a small explosive from his belt, revealing the “innocent” he placed in jeopardy was him all along. Because Superman would be able to tell if he were lying, Batman says this was the only way he could stop the Man of Steel.
While there’s a definite corn ball factor to the force field element, the ending makes it worthwhile. It perfectly illustrates Batman’s willingness to bend the rules to accomplish his goals, while at the same time adhering to the set of principles that set him aside from the criminals he fights. I’m reminded of a line from the Gotham Knight DVD Warner Bros. put out in 2008: “Im willing to put my life on the line to do what I have to. But it has to be mine, no one else’s.”
In the end, our heroes come to share a mutual respect for each other, and the methods they use to do their respective jobs. See, isn’t that nice? No fighting. No giant Bat-Robots. No Batman spitting in Superman’s face (I’m still mad at you for that Snyder & Capullo). None of that crap. Just two heroes with differences, who come to appreciate those differences and in time actually become friends.
What’s even more interesting about this issue is its placement within the six-issue Man of Steel story. Remember, the idea here was to reintroduce Superman for the modern era. Issue #1 established up his backstory with the Kents and the genesis of Superman. Issue #2 set up his status quo with Lois Lane and The Daily Planet. And here, we’re already bringing in Batman. We haven’t even met Lex Luthor yet! You can easily call this a case of Over-Baturation. But I’d like to give Byrne the benefit of the doubt here. Much like DC did with the New 52, they had to do some world-building in the early months of the post-Crisis DCU. The dynamic between Batman and Superman is obviously very important, regardless of what continuity you’re in. I like to think this issue is a testament to that, rather than Byrne shoving Batman into a Superman story to bolster readership.
While rather dated by its dialogue, The Man of Steel #3 is still a vital piece of the storied history between these two icons of pop culture. And it didn’t have to resort to cheap thrills. Or worse, awful condescending dialogue from Superman like: “So, what can you do?”
Incidentally, John Byrne wasn’t done with Superman and Batman after this issue. He wrote and drew the 12-issue Superman/Batman: Generations, and its two sequels. While I can’t speak for the sequels, the original is definitely worth a read.
For more “Best of Batman & Superman,” check out our looks at Superman #165 and Batman: Gotham Knights #27.
Image 1 from comicbookresources.com. Images 2 and 3 from fanboy.com. Image 4 from dvsgaming.com.
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A Secret Wars #1 Review – A Noob’s Nightmare
TITLE: Secret Wars #1
AUTHOR: Jonathan Hickman
PENCILLER: Esad Ribic. Cover by Alex Ross.
PUBLISHER: Marvel
PRICE: $4.99
RELEASED: May 6, 2015
By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder
I’m not a Marvel noob by any means. I’ve been a reader for a long time. But full disclosure: I’ve been out of the loop lately. As such, Secret Wars #1 was bewildering to me on a number of levels. But my God, if it threw me for a loop, imagine what it must have done to those poor noobs…
You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones that saw Avengers: Age of Ultron on the first of the month, then came out to the comic shop several days later to see what the hell these Marvel comic books were all about. And low and behold, they found this: A book that pits the primary Marvel Universe against the Ultimate Marvel Universe in a desperate fight to survive as the multiverse collapses. And what’s more, it’s wrapped in a gorgeous Alex Ross cover (Oh hell, they’re all gorgeous.) very much reminiscent of Crisis on Infinite Earths.
But indeed, a new Marvel Universe is about to be formed. And to be fair, Marvel is doing what it can to keep everybody in the know. The book has a plain white expository page that simply says: “The multiverse is dying. Only two universes remain. Today, Earths collide.” That’s a pretty simplistic view of something that’s not simple at all. But it states things pretty plainly. We also get cast page, that diagrams almost everybody in the issue. Hell, the issue even comes with a giant foldout of Battleworld, which as I understand it, is where much of the story will take place.
The issue also has a pretty damn good hook, as Doctor Doom, Doctor Strange, and Molecule Man come face-to-face with the Beyonders, as an unknown narrator talks to us about God, and what happens when we die. Heavy stuff. But appropriate I suppose, considering, you know, it’s the end of the universe. When we circle back to it at the end, it’s fairly strong.
If you’ve been following the Ultimate books and the main Marvel stuff, there are some cool moments to be found here. Captain Marvel and Ultimate Iron Man face off. We see the Triskelion fly into primary Marvel Manhattan. Both versions of Spider-Man seem to simply be caught up in the mayhem, which I find fitting considering their standing within their respective fictional universes. But most of my cool points go to the sequence with The Punisher in the bar (see below). Talk about a scene with a punch line…
Still, the issue jumps around so much between different characters that it can almost be frustrating, especially if you’re not familiar with who’s who. It’s understandable, considering the scope of what’s happening. But in the span of one issue (An oversized issue, but still a single issue.), we jump from Luke Cage and Iron Fist, to the Guardians of the Galaxy, to Storm and Thor, to Captain America and Iceman. And that’s just one page (shown above in part)! Throw in the fact that some of these characters don’t look the way mainstream culture knows them, i.e. Thor being a woman and Sam Wilson being Captain America, and the cyclone of confusion only gets stronger.
Both Esad Ribic and colorist Ive Svorcina deserve much credit for the much-needed epic feel they inject into the issue. While we don’t see a great deal of it here, Esad’s rendering of the Doctor Doom mask is awesomely intimidating. The desperation, terror, and determination he draws our heroes with is a beautiful thing. And Svorcina makes the issue a beautiful blaze of color, particularly in the way she reflects the colors in the sky off the various costumes. The issue as a whole is a lot to take in. But once you do, you know it’s gorgeous.
Regardless of how you rate the issue, between Secret Wars and Convergence, I’ve officially got event comic fatigue. More specifically, multiverse fatigue. No matter which worlds survive these respective crises, I can honestly say I’m ready to go back to my regularly scheduled comic books. Anybody else up for a non-event comic or two?
Image 1 from pastemagazine.com. Image 2 from gaish.tumblr.com.
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A Justice League #40 Review – His Mama Named Him Mobius
TITLE: Justice League #40
AUTHOR: Geoff Johns
PENCILLERS: Kevin Maguire, Phil Jimenez, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Scot Kolins, Jason Fabok, Jim Lee. Cover by Fabok.
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASED: April 29, 2015
By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder
This issue is HILARIOUS.
It’s not meant to be a funny issue, but it’s still hilarious. In putting together this issue about Metron and the Anti-Monitor, Geoff Johns has spotlighted a problem with not just DC Comics, but entertainment in general: Reboots, retcons, and remakes. This is particularly the case in the world of superheroes. We’re now on our third modern cinematic versions of Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. And as this issue points out (in so many words), the DC Universe has had five (maybe sixth, depending on what happens in Convergence) continuity adjustments in the last 30 years. Even Marvel is about to do a massive reboot.
Keep all in mind as you read these lines from Metron…
“Although it is unknown to all but a very few, the birth and destruction of the universe has been an ongoing cycle. And overtime, that cycle has accelerated. Because of that acceleration, the fabric of this universe is losing its cohesion. Reality has been taken apart and been put back together too many times.”
That last line is hysterical, especially considering the man writing this is the chief creative officer of DC Entertainment! It’s funny, but also somewhat gratifying as a fan, just to see this sort of thing acknowledged in a story. All things considered, I don’t think I’ve ever read an issue this “meta.”
As we learn in Justice League #40, the Anti-Monitor, in his latest conquest to consume universes and realities, has somehow “cracked open” the Multiverse (again, see Convergence) for others to exploit. Metron, the designated observer of the space-time continuum in the DCU, tries to reason with the Anti-Monitor, citing that reality cannot survive another crisis. What follows is a revelation that The Anti-Monitor is on a collision course with one of DC’s most powerful entities. And indeed, the very fabric of reality may unravel.
Evidently the coming conflict (Hint: The story is called Darkseid War.) is a very personal one for The Anti-Monitor. We even find out he has a birth name: Mobius. His involvement suggests cosmic, potentially time-altering consequences in the coming issues of Justice League. Of course, the stakes seem to be just as high in Convergence. How they’re connected, if at all, remains to be seen. But it would seemingly behoove them to connect the two stories in some way.
With an artistic team like this one, it’s no surprise this issue is gorgeous. I’m a huge Kevin Maguire fan, so opening the book with his work was big thrill for yours truly. He has such a gift for the little nuances in human expression, and that’s on great display with Johns goes over some of the Jack Kirby Fourth World stuff, specifically the switch involving Scot Free (later Mister Miracle) and Orion). After nine pages from Maguire, we get a two-page tribute to Crisis on Infinite Earths from Phil Jimenez. This is followed by nods to Zero Hour, Infinite Crisis, and Flashpoint by Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, and Scot Kolins respectively. After that, it’s a two-page callback to Justice League: Origin from Jason Fabok. Jim Lee, one of the true masters of the explosive superhero comic book, finishes it out from there. Most of this stuff is really gorgeous. It’s a tribute not only to the artists, but Johns’ ability to take what is essentially a giant info-dump, and turn it into a gorgeous issue.
Supposedly, this storyline has been planned since the New 52 began. I believe that. Justice League hasn’t been perfect. But it has had a certain flow to it, not unlike Johns’ Green Lantern run. We’ll be seeing a lot of heavy hitters on the pages of this book in the months to come. Let’s hope we see a home run.
Image 1 from dc.wikia.com. Image 2 from waitwhatpodcast.com.
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