The Flash #762 Review and *SPOILERS*

High Noon

Written By: Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter
Art By: Howard Porter, Hi-Fi
Letters By: Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 22, 2020

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

The Flash has finally come down to this. This is the culmination of 4 years of Joshua Williamson’s run with the character. So before we tackle this final issue, let’s just say a few words about the run in general. Williamson’s run has really been a series of ups and downs. There have been some tremendous ups and some horrendous downs. However, when I think back on this series, I can honestly say that I overall enjoyed it. Yes, there are some really bad stories, some boring tie-ins, and some stories that wasted potential. I think a lot of us will remember the beginning of this story and the introduction to Godspeed and when we reach the final issues, where that very story has been brought back, it’s also something that we can’t wait to read more of. The beginning and end of this book are amazing and there are some really good stories in between. Sure there are issues with it, but ultimately I enjoyed Williamson’s run and I think we will look back on it fondly, even if the time has come for a change. So, let’s jump into this final issue and see where things take us.

Batman/Superman #12 Review

 

Brain Damage

Writer: Joshua Williamson

Artist: Max Raynor

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 23, 2020

I have wanted to like this book, and while I won't blame Joshua Williamson for the first long arc that was only a setup for the Hell Arisen mini-series, it hasn't been great since that ended either.  He seems preoccupied with showing us what we already know, the fact that Batman and Superman are best friends, while his stories all go from cool to stool by the end.  This issue starts a new arc, so I hope it can buck the trend and keep the momentum going and stick the ending.  Does it at least start good right here and right now?  Let's find out...

Batman Beyond #47 Review

Mr. Zero Is Now Just Plain Zero

Written By: Dan Jurgens

Art By: Sean Chen, Sean Parsons, Chris Sotomayor, Travis Lanham

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 22, 2020

Mr. Zero plans on freezing the world until the majority of the population dies and then he can go back and reshape things in a way that he believes Ras Al Ghul would have wanted thus achieving the League of Assassins' goals. Well, we can't let everyone on Earth die so we have Batman, Batwoman, Damian Wayne and Goliath going into space to take on the new League of Assassins, where hopefully they'll be able to find a way to shut down the satellites blocking the sun while also beating Zeh-Ro and saving the day. Let's jump into this issue and see if our future Bat-Family is up to the task. Let's check it out.

Shazam! #15 Review

Holey Moley, It's Really Over

Written By: Jeff Loveness

Art By: Brandon Peterson, Mike Atiyeh, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 22, 2020

This is it folks, the end of the Mightiest Mortal's series and while I am sad to see it go, it did do a lot to keep people interested in the character, even if the book came out so sporadically that most people forgot it was a thing. Billy's done it though, beyond the Justice League backups in the New 52, we now have a clear-ish idea about who Captain Marvel "Shazam" is in this brave new world of comics after his reimagining to not only have we had new characters brought in, we've had old characters reestablished and also taken a decent look at Billy Batson's rogues' gallery of magical big bads. With this final issue let's see if we can send this Big Red Cheese out in style and maybe get people interested in this amazing character. Let's check it out.

Batgirl #49 Review

Killing Me Softly

Writer: Cecil Castellucci

Artist: Robbi Rodriguez

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 23, 2020

Cecil Castellucci has a tall order for this Batgirl book - tie it into the Joker War while also ending it at issue #50.  While the last issue showed that she probably will ignore the Joker War part of that, I am interested in seeing how the book ends.  While I haven't liked much of anything Castellucci has done with this series since she jumped on it, I hope that she can do herself and the previous creative teams justice by sticking the landing.  Is this penultimate issue looking promising?  Let's find out...

Justice League Dark #26 Review

That's The Power Of Belief!

Written By: Ram V

Art By: Amancay Nahuelpan, June Chung, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 22, 2020

Magic has changed and the Upside-Down Man wants to take back all the magic in the world because he believes that it belongs to him. Essentially you're caught up with what's been going on in this series, maybe a few Hecate things thrown in along the way, but basically you're all good. With that, we had Wonder Woman and Zatanna travel to the Upside-Down to confront their enemy and save Zatanna's father, but they wouldn't confront this monster alone. No, they had Swamp Thing use the Green to cross the magical landscapes and bought our heroes some time to wait for reinforcements. Hopefully, with the JLD getting together for this issue we can see our heroes come out with a win over this threat that's been looming over them since this series began. Let's check it out.

Suicide Squad #9 Review

 

Maimshot

Writer: Tom Taylor

Artist: Bruno Redondo

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 23, 2020

I will not spoil what I think everyone knows is going to happen in this issue!  I mean, you can figure it out from the cover, but I won't spoil it!  Besides that, though, I was looking forward to this issue because I love this book and enjoy reading it.  That's pretty cool, right?!?  I do like some things, so don't be so shocked.  Let's jump into the review, shall we?

Dark Nights: Death Metal Speed Metal #1 Review

Fast Enough To Beat The Devil

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas, Steve Wands

Cover Price: $5.99 

Release Date: September 22, 2020

It's time to not only explore the Metalverse more through this one-shot but also check out the other heroes that are out and about and trying to stop the Batman Who Laughs and the Mother of Creation, Perpetua. This time around we're amping up the speed as we see the Flash Family do their best to outrun the Batman Who Laughs, who now has become the Darkest Knight with his new body made up of Creation Energy or just simply, the Dr. Manhattan/Bruce Wayne body that he stole and inserted his brain into. The Metalverse is weird as hell and just silly at times while it throws out strange concepts that are rarely explored or explained and I don't know how anything is going to become truly clearer when we add the nonsense of the Speed Force into it, but let's see if Joshua Williamson shows us something interesting with this one-shot to this event. Let's dive into this issue and check it out.

Aquaman #63 Review

 

Trench Party

Writer: Jordan Clark
Artist: Marco Santucci
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 23, 2020

Jordan Clark finishes up his Aqualad story this month, and I liked the first issue, so I was looking forward to reading this. I am all about Grandpa Jessie AI, and I've been wondering how Clark would tie this one up and if you could teach an old AI new tricks. So, let's get to the review...

Action Comics #1025 Review

 

Draining!

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: John Romita Jr.

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 23, 2020

Brian Michael Bendis will be leaving the Super books in December, and while some were happy to find that out, we still have months of story to get through before then.  This House of Kent arc happening in Action Comics has not been great, but maybe Bendis can wrap it up in a way that makes it at least good.  Does that begin here, with issue #1025?  Let's find out...

PREVIEW: Shazam! #15

Written By: Jeff Loveness

Art By: Brandon Peterson, Mike Atiyeh, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 22, 2020

After a night battling robots across the globe, Billy Batson finds out not everyone loves superheroes when one of his teachers unleashes a lecture on the ethics of unchecked power and privilege. It’ll take more than just the wisdom of Solomon for the teen hero to figure this one out.

PREVIEW: Justice League Dark #26

Written By: Ram V

Art By: Amancay Nahuelpan, June Chung, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 22, 2020

This is it, the moment you’ve been waiting for! The entire Justice League Dark team storms the Other Place, with a little help from their friend/enemy John Constantine. And at what price his aid? With the Upside-Down Man in their sights, the team witnesses the true manifestation of his power, and the agonizing cost of his anger.

PREVIEW: Batman Beyond #47

Written By: Dan Jurgens

Art By: Sean Chen, Sean Parsons, Chris Sotomayor, Travis Lanham

Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 22, 2020

Mr. Zero’s plan is a success-and now the League of Assassins will finally achieve their goal of taking over the world. Will Batman and his allies be enough to reverse Earth’s new ice age? Or will they be left in space to die?

Detective Comics #1027 Review

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Dan Jurgens, Tom King, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Scott Snyder, Mariko Tamaki, Peter J. Tomasi, James Tynion IV, Marv Wolfman
Artist: Lee Bermejo, Chris Burnham, Jamal Campbell, Jim Cheung, Olivier Coipel, Jos L. Garca Lpez, Dan Jurgens, Emanuela Lupacchino, David Marquez, Dan Mora, Ivan Reis, Eduardo Risso, John Romita Jr., Riley Rossmo, Walt Simonson, Brad Walker, Chip Zdarsky
Cover Price: $9.99
Release Date: September 16, 2020


DC Comics is celebrating 1000 issues of Batman in Detective Comics, and they've got a big issue with a hefty price tag to show you just how important that is.  It says "epic" on the cover, but do the stories inside live up to that?  Let's find out...

Metal Men #10 Review

Dark Origins

Written By: Dan Didio, Shane Davis
Art By: Shane Davis, Michelle Delecki, Jason Wright, Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 15, 2020

It's time to take a look at one of my favorite books that DC Comics is putting out right now, where a Dark Multiverse Metal Man, the Nth Metal Man has come to this world to tear our team apart and to get his hands on Tina, but whatever his intentions originally were, we saw in the previous issue that he planned on destroying the portal to the Dark Multiverse that is located at Challengers Mountain, but before he could he was hung up by the Phantom Stranger, while the Nth Metal Man's brethren came through the portal looking for him. Let's hope that our Metal Men are up to the task of taking on whoever these Dark Metal Men are, but first, let's take a look at the origins of the Nth Metal Man. Let's check it out.

Teen Titans #45 Review

Titans In Toyland

Written By: Robbie Thompson
Art By: Javier Fernandez, Marcelo Maiolo, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 15, 2020

Damian has gone off the deep end...... and I'm not talking about locking up criminals in his secret dungeon, magically altering their brains or even killing them. No, I'm talking about him throwing the Robin moniker away and essentially stating to Batman, Robin No More. Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that he was the best leader for the Teen Titans or even a decent superhero when he was with the group, but the idea of him not being Robin anymore and out and about with the idea that murder is the way to stop crime just doesn't sit right with me. Now with no Damian Wayne around, let's see what the Teen Titans end up doing now that Batman told them that the team was getting shut down. Let's check it out.

Justice League #53 Review

Not Your Daddy's Justice League!

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 15, 2020

Guess what everybody, it's time to stop dicking around and get the Justice League book back on track to being important. Yeah, we might have had some decent issues and some fun stories thrown at us, but they were just around as a placeholder until this book could catch up to what's going on in Death Metal, and now that it finally has, maybe these tie-in issues can do something to make this event feel bigger and not just some random dark stuff that's always on the verge of being silly and what's striving to be deemed "Metal". Let's hope that's the case as we jump into this first issue of Justice League meaning something again since issue #39. Let's check it out.

Batman #99 Review and *SPOILERS*

Snooze Fest

Written By: James Tynion IV
Art By: Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey, Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 15, 2020

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Remember when Tynion took over this title for King and we all had such high hopes? Remember when Tynion took over and started this new and intriguing story that involved all these cool assassins executing a plan by a mysterious puppet master? Man those were the days! Now, all that intrigue was thrown away to do another “Joker is destroying the city” storyline. Honestly, I’m starting to doubt that any writer can do a proper Joker storyline these days. He always has to top himself so he always does something bigger than the last time and I think we’ve reached a point where it doesn’t really feel any different anymore. The last few Joker storylines have felt nearly identical to each other and this one is the same way. I hope things can turn around but it’s gonna take a lot. I’m hoping we can just end this crossover and get to something better.

Catwoman #25 Review

Writer: Ram V
Artist: Fernando Blanco, Juan E. Ferreyra, and John Paul Leon
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: September 16, 2020


We usually get an "anniversary" issue with a #25, and while that always makes me roll my eyes a bit, this Catwoman #25 also kicks off Ram V's Catwoman run.  It also is a Joker War tie-in and has three stories with three artists, so while I still laugh at it being an "anniversary," it makes sure fans get their money's worth!  However, is it quantity over quality?  Let's find out...

PREVIEW: Teen Titans #45

Written By: Robbie Thompson
Art By: Javier Fernandez, Marcelo Maiolo, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 15, 2020

After the shocking events of last month’s Teen Titans Annual, Crush has been named the new leader of the Teen Titans. With Damian Wayne missing, can Crush hold the teen team together? And now that she’s in charge, which villains will Lobo’s daughter go after first? And will Red Arrow, Kid Flash, and Roundhouse follow their hotheaded new leader into battle?

PREVIEW: Metal Men #10

Written By: Dan Didio, Shane Davis
Art By: Shane Davis, Michelle Delecki, Jason Wright, Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 15, 2020

In this issue, it’s the startling secret origin of the Nth Metal Man! As Tina, Gold, and Nth Metal Man get sucked into the Dark Multiverse and taken hostage by a mysterious organization, it’s up to the rest of the Metal Men and Magnus to risk a one-way ticket there to save them! If the Metal Men don’t know that the Dark Multiverse is a result of their deepest, darkest fears come to life, can they even trust the person who has led them straight to this nightmare realm…Nth Metal Man?

PREVIEW: Justice League #53

Written By: Joshua Williamson

Art By: Xermanico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: September 15, 2020

“Doom Metal” part one of five-the Dark Nights: Death Metal tie-in that will directly impact the finale of that event! Nightwing’s on a mission to free the Legion of Doom from Perpetua’s clutches. But to do so, he’ll need the help of none other than…Lex Luthor?! The surprises are only just beginning, as Nightwing, Lex, and a new Justice League must fight their way through an Earth twisted by the Dark Multiverse. Titans will be tested, hearts will be broken, and blood will be spilled!

PREVIEW: Detective Comics #1027

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Dan Jurgens, Tom King, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Scott Snyder, Mariko Tamaki, Peter J. Tomasi, James Tynion IV, and Marv Wolfman
Artist: Lee Bermejo, Chris Burnham, Jamal Campbell, Jim Cheung, Olivier Coipel, Jos L. Garca Lpez, Dan Jurgens, Emanuela Lupacchino, David Marquez, Dan Mora, Ivan Reis, Eduardo Risso, John Romita Jr., Riley Rossmo, Walt Simonson, Brad Walker, and Chip Zdarsky
Cover Price: $9.99
Release Date: September 16, 2020

Light the Bat-Signal, because Detective Comics #1027 is here! In honor of Batman’s first appearance in Detective Comics #27, this special, book-size celebration brings you the biggest names in comics as they chronicle the most epic Batman adventures Gotham City and the DC Universe have ever seen! The World’s Greatest Detective has a mountain of cases to crack: Who murdered Gotham’s most corrupt police officer? What does The Joker’s annual visit mean for Bruce Wayne? And most importantly, what WayneTech mystery will sow the seeds of the next epic Batman event? All this and more await you within the pages of the biggest Batman issue of them all!

PREVIEW: Batman #99

Writer: James Tynion IV
Artist: Jorge Jimenez
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: September 16, 2020
Cover Price: $3.99

“The Joker War” part five of six! Things have changed, as Batman realizes he can’t fight this war alone. He’s going to need help. Before he faces down The Joker, he must call up his trusty partner Dick Grayson! But can Dick reclaim his lost memories in time to join the battle?

PREVIEW: Catwoman #25

Writer: Ram V
Artist: Fernando Blanco, Juan E. Ferreyra, John Paul Leon
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: September 16, 2020
Cover Price: $5.99

A tie-in to “The Joker War”! Catwoman returns to Gotham City to get even with the people who stole her plans and used them against Batman…and if you’re the Riddler or the Penguin, you better watch your back, because Catwoman is coming to claim what she deserves…and that’s everything! Plus, two bonus tales: One a story about Catwoman going back to her home turf of Alleytown to start her empire, and another about a cat trying to intervene in a conflict of cat versus woman!