Flashpoint Thursday?

Legion of Doom #1 was a bit of a let down, and I hadn't expected much of it in the first place. Heatwave is a bit of a crap villain, and making him crazy for fire just makes him seem dumber in my book. I found the book 20 or so pages of Heatwave nattering away to himself about killing Cyborg and escaping the superjail, and it gets old fast. The art is quite good, but nothing spectacular, and I'm sure the final page will be a nice thing for fans of the character who appears (who I won't reveal), but it's not enough to bring me back. Thumbs down.

Wonder Woman and the Furies #1 was a good read, with the strongest thing about it being it actually explains how we got to the Amazonian-Atlantean war. The story feels very organic, from Diana leaving Themyscira out of curiosity for the outside world, deciding to unite the two mythical kingdoms though marriage as well as dissenters coming up with a way to ruin everything. The whole scheme looks to be a puzzler, and I'm interested enough to stick around for another issue. The art got a bit too "vector graphicy" for my liking, but in the spots that it isn't reduced to fit the panels it looks really good. The only thing I ended up questioning in this issue was a lack of Mera. I know this is a Wonder Woman book, but Aquaman seems really easy-going when it comes to marrying someone other than the one he loves, for whatever reason. You'd at least think he'd mention her...

Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1 was nice, but didn't really wow me with story. It had some nice cameos, and the interaction with Boston Brand and the Graysons was good, with Dick seeing right through Boston. The art was good, and fits the story well. J.T. Krul didn't really wow me with his Green Arrow, and I'm sorry to see that this mini isn't that great either. My hopes are raised with the last few pages promising some conflict next issue, and I'm willing to stick around for those beautiful covers.

Gorilla Grodd #1, it's a good thing this s only a one-shot, because it was boring. Grodd is bored in his kingdom, and that translated as boring from off the page. the final page promises some Gorilla vs. Amazon action (hopefully), but that is nowhere near enough to save this story. Catman makes an appearance in the final pages, and I can't help but think with the popularity of Gail Simone's Secret Six, a one-shot from his perspective ON Gorilla Grodd ruling Africa would have been much more interesting. The art is fine, but Grodd's facial expressions don't seem to match up with his dialogue, which may be hard to do with a gorilla anyway, I don't know.

Deadman and the Flying Graysons covers

I'd just like to take a moment and say how much I am in love with the covers for the "Flashpoint" tie-in "Deadman and the Flying Graysons". Cliff Chiang is the man responsible for these masterpieces, with Mikel Janin doing interior art.

The three issue mini-series is written by J.T. Krul, who is currently writing "Green Arrow" for DC. The tie-in focusses on Deadman (presumably still alive as Boston Brand) and Dick Grayson (with alive parents?) performing in their travelling circus and supporting the resistance against the Amazons. I'll be getting every issue of this mini for sure.


"Deadman and the Flying Graysons" #1, in stores June 15th.


"Deadman and the Flying Graysons" #2, in stores July 20th.