{"id":2538,"date":"2011-08-31T13:21:58","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T09:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/?p=2538"},"modified":"2011-08-31T13:21:58","modified_gmt":"2011-08-31T09:21:58","slug":"this-week-in-comics-8312011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/this-week-in-comics-8312011\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Comics – 8\/31\/2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are aware that DC Comics is making what they are calling “Comic Book History” by relaunching 52 of their stories. All of the favorite DC characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Mr. Terrific, and many more) are all starting over at issue #1 with new costumes, altered origins, and some new team-ups. Have you always wanted to own an Action Comics #1? Here’s your chance. Starting today with Justice League of America #1 DC is kicking off a month of number 1’s totaling 52 books in all. Fans (including yours truly) even flocked to comic shops across the country at midnight to be some of the first to pick up their copy of Flashpoint #5 (officially ending DC’s “old” stories) and Justice League of America #1. Visit the DC Comics blog<\/a> for more information on the new 52.<\/p>\n

For the sake of this “landmark” day in comics, I decided to review the 2 “big” books for this week. I will be trying to keep my weekly reviews to non-DC and independent books this next month (as well as, the rest of the year). For September I will post additional, separate reviews for various new DC titles. I kept SPOILERS out of the reviews (save for one small tidbit noted below).<\/p>\n

Flashpoint #5 – DC Comics – Johns; Kubert; Hope; Delperdang – $3.99<\/em><\/p>\n

“It all changes here!” is the tagline on the cover of this final issue of DC Comics’ summer saga, Flashpoint<\/em>. The DC Universe has been changed and the Flash is trying to make sense of it all. The Flash and a group of heroes have gone to Britain to try and stop the raging war between Wonder Woman’s Amazons and the Atlantean’s led by Aquaman; a war that is going to destroy mankind. Professor Zoom, a.k.a. the Reverse Flash, opens his arch nemesis’ eyes to what caused the Flashpoint and made the world’s heroes into these different, darker, weirder versions of their former selves (see Project Superman 1-3 for proof). Flash, with the help of the new Batman, must stop Zoom and get back in time to alter the past, prevent this future, and save the planet.<\/p>\n

I am not sure what I was expecting with the conclusion of this story because I had been overwhelmed with the barrage of marketing for the New 52 and the idea that previous DC stories were going to be over anyway. I was disappointed by the ending. It was not as big as I was hoping for. There were touching parts to the ending but this was no Death of Spiderman ending that tugged at the heart strings. The art was amazing as with most projects associated with Geoff Johns. Small SPOILER ALERT here: there is a splash page during Flash’s travels back to the past that segues into the New 52 where DC Comics seems to have left an opening for them to return back to their “old” universe if the need arises. At least that was my interpretation of what they showed, but nothing can be confirmed until the Flash storyline starts later this month (and the success of the New 52 is judged by fans and DC’s sales figures) [END SPOILER]. Unless you have been buying each issue of the series, save your $3.99 and buy an extra copy of JLA #1<\/em> to put away in a safe place until its worth millions.<\/p>\n

Justice League of America #1 – DC Comics – Johns; Lee; Williams<\/em> – $3.99-$4.99<\/em><\/p>\n

The long touted DC’s “New 52” has finally arrived with the release of Justice League of America #1<\/em>. And what better way to start than with a team up of DC’s two biggest talents, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. In this issue we learn that the world has a problem with “supers” and the heroes do not know each other yet. At the opening of the issue some sort of police\/military helicopter is after Batman as he leaps across the rooftops of Gotham City\u00a0 in pursuit of some sort of monster. Joining the chase, soon after, is Green Lantern who is just meeting Batman for the first time. As the two chase the bad guy all over the city and try to get the law enforcement off their trail, they learn about each others’ abilities (and thus informing the fans).\u00a0 After confrontation with the monster, who turns out to be a henchman of Darkseid (this news was announced weeks ago), the two heroes decide to hunt down Superman for help.<\/p>\n

I think Green Lantern and Batman are the new “odd couple.” The back and forth between them was funny and informative. I could begin to understand the new personalities of the heroes (Hal Jordan is especially different than I remember). Superman’s demeanor seemed alot more like Batman’s well-known seriousness. There was a lot of “So what’s your power?” chatter.\u00a0 The new costumes look great! I know many fans have complained about the changes to Batman or Superman, but they work and fit well within the modern day world that is illustrated. There was not much explanation about the suits, but I’m sure its coming.<\/p>\n

So, three characters introduced and the first big bad revealed, all in issue #1. That was not the BIG, first issue I was hoping for to kick off this relaunch. And the story was shorter than I expected. I think a double issue with more introduction time would have been better (for example, more than one page for Superman). Looking at it from a marketing perspective, the quick start and finish makes sense because now readers, like myself, will be waiting earnestly to get JLA #2<\/em> to see the next chapter, “Superman vs. Batman.” Spend the money to get this first issue and start following the new Justice League of America<\/em> from the very beginning. (For $4.99 you can get a bagged copy that includes a code for the download of the digital copy of the book too)<\/p>\n

Remember to visit ForbiddenPanel.com<\/a> often to keep up on other comic reviews, movies news, video game updates and alot more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are aware that DC Comics is making what they are calling “Comic Book History” by relaunching 52 of their stories. All of the favorite DC characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Mr. Terrific, and many more) are all starting over at issue #1 with new costumes, altered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-and-reviews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1opIU-EW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13823,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/superman-takes-flight-in-epic-new-52-inspired-statue\/","url_meta":{"origin":2538,"position":0},"title":"Superman Takes Flight In Epic New 52 Inspired Statue\u00a0","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"October 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"DC may have entered the Rebirth era, but the effects of the 5-year-long New 52 initiative are still being felt \u2014 and in the case of this new statue, that sentiment can be taken literally. Sideshow Collectibles has partnership with Prime 1 Studio to create a New 52 style statue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AJ's Side Panel"","block_context":{"text":"AJ's Side Panel","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/ajs-side-panel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"dc-comics-the-new-52-superman-statue-prime1-200509-01","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/dc-comics-the-new-52-superman-statue-prime1-200509-01-219x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5451,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/morrisoncon-morrison-officially-discusses-multiversity-comic-book-resources\/","url_meta":{"origin":2538,"position":1},"title":"MORRISONCON: Morrison Officially Discusses “Multiversity” – Comic Book Resources","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"October 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After years of rumor and delays, comic book writer and MorrisonCon star attraction Grant Morrison officially confirmed and announced his multi-part DC Comics epic \"Multiversity,\" tentatively scheduled for release late 2013. An eight-issue miniseries composed of six stories exploring parallel Earths, bookended by a single tale told in issues #1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2692,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/dc-the-new-52-week-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":2538,"position":2},"title":"DC the New 52: Week 1!","author":"Martin Bright","date":"September 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"September continued the relaunch of DC Comics\u2019 entire universe with 13 titles last week. In week one old faces like Batman, Green Arrow, and Swamp Thing and newer faces like Static Shock and Batwing return to the inked pages to start all new. 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The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles returned to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Blogs\/Reviews\/Stories","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/blog-and-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4495,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/chews-john-layman-takes-a-bite-out-of-dcs-detective-comics-comic-book-resources\/","url_meta":{"origin":2538,"position":4},"title":"“Chew’s” John Layman Takes A Bite Out Of DC’s “Detective Comics” – Comic Book Resources","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"July 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Each month, readers of the Image series \"Chew\" meet one of the oddest crime solvers in comics as Tony Chu eats his way into madcap conspiracy theories and intrigue. Now this fall, the writer behind that book will bring his sensibilities to comics original detective series and the DC Universe's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4834,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/martins-comic-con-day-2-sum-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":2538,"position":5},"title":"Martin’s Comic Con Day 2 Sum Up","author":"Martin Bright","date":"July 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"After 12 hours of Hall H the day before, I needed to stretch my legs around Comic Con. I spent day 2 walking the entire exhibit hall floor, exploring the gaslamp district and drooling over Batmobiles. The floor was alive with excitement and lines from open to close. 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