Who?
One of DC's oldest characters, the Flash was first created back in 1940 by Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert. Jay Garrick was a college student who inhaled hard water vapours (we all experiment a little in college, man) and developed the ability to move at superhuman speeds as a result.
An excellent example of a legacy superhero, Garrick was replaced as Scarlet Speedster in 1956 by forensic scientist Barry Allen in the pages of Showcase #4. Usually considered the "main" Flash, Barry was replaced by his nephew and sidekick Wally in 1986, who also went on to have a very successful run. Barry's grandson Bart briefly assumed the mantle in 2006 as well, but in 2008 Barry returned to the role for good.
Always at the forefront of DC events and milestones, the Flash is a much-loved character, regardless of who is filling the well-worn boots, and is known for fun, light-hearted stories with plenty of action and drama too.
Okay, so where do I start?
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Monday, 7 March 2011
Batman: Joker's Asylum, Volume One (Classic Review)
Originally released in 2008.
Writers: Various (see below)
Collects: Joker's Asylum: Joker; Penguin; Poison Ivy; Scarecrow; Two-Face
When this mini-series from DC first came out in 2008, I feared that it would get lost under the mountain of Bat-hype that was happening at the time. The Dark Knight was approaching cinemas faster than ticket sales could keep up with, and in comics Grant Morrison was taking Bruce Wayne on an interesting journey in Batman R.I.P.
And then there was Joker's Asylum. Five one-shots focusing on different members of Batman's infamous rogues gallery, each narrated by the Joker. These intriguing character pieces not only gave us an in-depth examination of each villain wrapped around a short story, but also spoke to that old chestnut we all secretly love: That the bad guys are always more interesting than the good guys.
Writers: Various (see below)Artists: Various (see below)
Publisher: DC ComicsCollects: Joker's Asylum: Joker; Penguin; Poison Ivy; Scarecrow; Two-Face
When this mini-series from DC first came out in 2008, I feared that it would get lost under the mountain of Bat-hype that was happening at the time. The Dark Knight was approaching cinemas faster than ticket sales could keep up with, and in comics Grant Morrison was taking Bruce Wayne on an interesting journey in Batman R.I.P.
And then there was Joker's Asylum. Five one-shots focusing on different members of Batman's infamous rogues gallery, each narrated by the Joker. These intriguing character pieces not only gave us an in-depth examination of each villain wrapped around a short story, but also spoke to that old chestnut we all secretly love: That the bad guys are always more interesting than the good guys.
Friday, 4 March 2011
Catwoman: Selina's Big Score (Classic Review)
Originally released in 2002.
Writer: Darwyn Cooke
But Selina's Big Score is one of those stories that superhero fans are somewhat afraid of. It feels almost free of the confines of the DC Universe, and could honestly be about a totally original group of characters and still be just as good. However, most comics readers won't pick anything up unless it has a big name they recognise on the front.
Writer: Darwyn CookeArtist: Darwyn Cooke
Publisher: DC Comics
Collects: Original graphic novel
As I was reading this gripping heist story, it occurred to me that it wasn't really about Catwoman.
No, sorry. Let me clarify that. Darwyn Cooke has an excellent handle on the character of Selina Kyle. She's a woman with a troubled past, looking towards a brighter future. She takes what she wants when she wants it and is not too proud to be proud without losing a shred of her grace or allure. This is a spot-on portrayal of Catwoman.
But Selina's Big Score is one of those stories that superhero fans are somewhat afraid of. It feels almost free of the confines of the DC Universe, and could honestly be about a totally original group of characters and still be just as good. However, most comics readers won't pick anything up unless it has a big name they recognise on the front.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
The Weekly Trade #15
And the nominees for Comics I Bought This Week are...
Batman: Time and the Batman (hardcover)
Written by Grant Morrison and Fabian Nicieza; art by various; published by DC Comics.
Bruce is back! So, what now? Featuring the brilliant 700th issue.
Thor: First Thunder (softcover)
Written by Bryan J.L. Glass; art by Tan Eng Huat; published by Marvel Comics.
An origin story of everyone's favourite Thunder God sounds like my kinda deal.
Catwoman: Selina's Big Score (softcover)
Written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke; published by DC Comics.
Yet another Catwoman tale, this one by one of my favourite artists. Nothing to do with any movie.
And the winner is...
Batman: Time and the Batman (hardcover)
Written by Grant Morrison and Fabian Nicieza; art by various; published by DC Comics.
Bruce is back! So, what now? Featuring the brilliant 700th issue.
Thor: First Thunder (softcover)
Written by Bryan J.L. Glass; art by Tan Eng Huat; published by Marvel Comics.
An origin story of everyone's favourite Thunder God sounds like my kinda deal.
Catwoman: Selina's Big Score (softcover)
Written and drawn by Darwyn Cooke; published by DC Comics.
Yet another Catwoman tale, this one by one of my favourite artists. Nothing to do with any movie.
And the winner is...
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
A-Musing: Mad Science
If you read a lot of superhero comics, then you may have noticed that science rarely goes right. There's radioactive spiders running amok, hazardous chemicals placed dangerously near non-lightning-proof windows, and extremely flimsy security around gamma bomb test sites -- and that's just on the hero side of things.
Whenever some ahead-of-his-time genius invents a freeze-ray or weather-control machine, he never seems to use it to benefit mankind, or even just get filthy rich from the profits. No, he tries and takes over the world, kill a superhero, or even just rob banks for much, much less money than his discovery is worth.
So why is it that superheroes are so closely tied to the "science gone wrong" sub-genre? What is it that makes characters like Spider-Man and The Hulk more popular than mystical heroes like Captain Marvel or Dr. Strange? Why do we like to see science fail and everything go wrong? Hopefully, before I get bored and just click "Publish", I will answer this conundrum.
Whenever some ahead-of-his-time genius invents a freeze-ray or weather-control machine, he never seems to use it to benefit mankind, or even just get filthy rich from the profits. No, he tries and takes over the world, kill a superhero, or even just rob banks for much, much less money than his discovery is worth.
So why is it that superheroes are so closely tied to the "science gone wrong" sub-genre? What is it that makes characters like Spider-Man and The Hulk more popular than mystical heroes like Captain Marvel or Dr. Strange? Why do we like to see science fail and everything go wrong? Hopefully, before I get bored and just click "Publish", I will answer this conundrum.
Thursday, 24 February 2011
The Weekly Trade #14
Let's see what you've won!
(Or what I got this week.)
Justice League: Rise and Fall (hardcover)
Written by J.T. Krul; art by various; published by DC Comics.
The current run of JLA stories hasn't exactly been "wowing" me, but I've heard some rather... interesting reports on this one.
Marvel 1985 (paperback)
Written by Mark Millar; art by Tommy Lee Edwards; published by Marvel Comics.
After Nemesis, I wanted to read something by Millar that was a little bit on the lighter side, and this story of a young boy in the "real" world who discovers that Marvel villains are breaking through sounds delightful.
Girl Comics (hardcover)
By various writers and artists; published by Marvel Comics.
Those crazy broads; what are up to now? A showcase of some wonderful female creators working on Marvel characters. I just hope they got paid the same...
That's our show, goodnight everybody!
(Or what I got this week.)
Justice League: Rise and Fall (hardcover)
Written by J.T. Krul; art by various; published by DC Comics.
The current run of JLA stories hasn't exactly been "wowing" me, but I've heard some rather... interesting reports on this one.
Marvel 1985 (paperback)
Written by Mark Millar; art by Tommy Lee Edwards; published by Marvel Comics.
After Nemesis, I wanted to read something by Millar that was a little bit on the lighter side, and this story of a young boy in the "real" world who discovers that Marvel villains are breaking through sounds delightful.
Girl Comics (hardcover)
By various writers and artists; published by Marvel Comics.
Those crazy broads; what are up to now? A showcase of some wonderful female creators working on Marvel characters. I just hope they got paid the same...
That's our show, goodnight everybody!
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
My Top Ten Justice League Episodes by Dwayne McDuffie
Writer, editor and founder of Milestone Media Dwayne McDuffie sadly passed away last Monday.
McDuffie had done a great deal of work for both Marvel and DC as well as writing several animated television programmes, including Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He was a very talented writer in all fields, and an all-round great person too, but it will be those two shows that I best remember him for.
Bright, fun, action-packed, and filled with captivating human drama, the Justice League animated shows are the best adaptation of comics I have ever seen, and a lot of their greatest episodes were penned by Mr. McDuffie.
In tribute, I thought I'd share some of my favourite episodes by Dwayne McDuffie. Indulge me, won't you?
10) Clash
One of the many strengths of this show was its highlighting of various DC characters in their own episodes, and in this one it was Captain Marvel. Initially portrayed as something of a simpleton who is just happy to be anywhere, he eventually stands up to the League, calling them out on some of their bad decisions.
This episode also featured not only a sensational fight between Superman and Captain Marvel (mirroring a scene in the comic book Kingdom Come) but a particularly vile Lex Luthor too, as he lures the innocent Marvel to his side.
9) The Brave and the Bold
The friendship between the Flash and Green Lantern is one of the cornerstones of DC's more lighthearted side, regardless of who might be filling those roles. This episode shows a more begrudging respect between Flash and John Stewart, who is somewhat more stoic than Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner. But it still works.
We are also introduced to supervillain Gorilla Grodd, voiced by the awesomely named Powers Boothe. He is superbly megalomaniacal and ridiculous all at the same time, in a plot that's just ape.
8) Wake the Dead
A sequel of sorts to Marvel homage episode "The Terror Beyond", Solomon Grundy is resurrected into an even more violent and powerful zombie and must be stopped by Dr. Fate, Amazo, Aquaman and Hawkgirl.
Not only is this show's rendition of Amazo amazing, but they actually made me manage to care about Hawkgirl too, and this episode is the best case for that. They also redeemed Aquaman's unjust public persona as a useless fish whisperer.
7) Starcrossed
More of that Hawkgirl stuff, this time in an earlier episode where her race invade Earth for a good cause. This was the first time (but not the last) we saw all Hell break loose for the League, as they become hunted on the streets, and torn apart from within.
It is also full of excellent character moments, including the sharing of secret identities, Batman and Wonder Woman's little moment together, and the final fate of Hawkgirl. A damn good example of this show's strengths, and the point at which it reallt took off.
6) Dead Reckoning
Maybe it's just cause I like Deadman, maybe it's the hilarious plot (once again masterminded by Grodd), maybe it's the tragedy of Batman using a gun, but I always think of this episode quite quickly when I think of JLU.
Their version of Black Manta (here called Devil Ray) is wonderfully amoral, and Luthor's "at last" usurping of Grodd was a long time coming too. A good villain episode all round.
5) Question Authority
One of the most popular supporting characters in this show was the conspirciy theorist, The Question, voiced by the splendid Mr. Jeffrey Combs, and this episode is his tour de force. Uncovering an evil plot that ties to Lex Luthor, the Question attempts to bring him down alone, knowing the League cannot be culpable. But things don't quite go down that way.
Fellow Charlton Comics character Captain Atom also gets his chance to shine here, going toe-to-toe with Superman, who, even after winning the fight, still tends to the Captain because "He's Justice League."
4) The Great Brain Robbery
One of the funniest episodes of the whole show, where the Flash and Lex Luthor switched bodies. It was a slight joke at the fact that Michael Rosenbaum, who voiced the Flash, also played Luthor on the TV show Smallville, but it really took off from there into its own thing.
Lex's attempts to escape the Watchtower provide some classy action, and seeing him outsmarted by Mr. Terrific is satisfying (super-speed is useless in zero gravity), but it's all down to the Flash-as-Luthor scenes. How he bluffs his way through villain meetings and conversations is priceless.
3) Divided We Fall
The culmination of an entire season-worth of build-up, the storyline about the League's name getting dragged through the mud sees its end in a showdown with an amped-up Lex Luthor. After a stunning, all-action episode featuring just about every character at their disposal, it was great to see the original seven strutting their stuff and beating the bad guy.
And the moment with the Flash at the end? Gets me every time. And Green Arrow's speech is second only to Superman's in...
2) Destroyer
Darkseid brings Apokalips to Earth in a big, honkin' battle that sees heroes teaming with villains against the God of Evil in the last ever episode of the show. Batman has some awesome moments, Lex Luthor has some awesome moments, but who would have thought we'd ever see Superman deliver the baddest of bad-ass speeches as he schools Darkseid up and down Metropolis?
Some say that the show could have gone on longer, but considering the perfect final scene (and line), I can't think of a grander finish.
1) The Once and Future Thing, Parts 1 & 2
When I saw that McDuffie had written this episode, I just knew it was going to be number one on this list, and it is indeed my favourite. A time-travel adventure as Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern chase bad guy Chronos across the old west and into the future, meeting some classic DC characters along the way, and crossing over with Batman Beyond too.
I honestly cannot think of a more enjoyable episode of this show, or a greater testement to Dwayne McDuffie's talents. He will be sorely missed, but in the meantime, I'm gonna go watch this episode. Excuse me.
And the adventure continues...
McDuffie had done a great deal of work for both Marvel and DC as well as writing several animated television programmes, including Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He was a very talented writer in all fields, and an all-round great person too, but it will be those two shows that I best remember him for.
Bright, fun, action-packed, and filled with captivating human drama, the Justice League animated shows are the best adaptation of comics I have ever seen, and a lot of their greatest episodes were penned by Mr. McDuffie.
In tribute, I thought I'd share some of my favourite episodes by Dwayne McDuffie. Indulge me, won't you?
10) Clash
One of the many strengths of this show was its highlighting of various DC characters in their own episodes, and in this one it was Captain Marvel. Initially portrayed as something of a simpleton who is just happy to be anywhere, he eventually stands up to the League, calling them out on some of their bad decisions.
This episode also featured not only a sensational fight between Superman and Captain Marvel (mirroring a scene in the comic book Kingdom Come) but a particularly vile Lex Luthor too, as he lures the innocent Marvel to his side.
9) The Brave and the Bold
The friendship between the Flash and Green Lantern is one of the cornerstones of DC's more lighthearted side, regardless of who might be filling those roles. This episode shows a more begrudging respect between Flash and John Stewart, who is somewhat more stoic than Hal Jordan or Kyle Rayner. But it still works.
We are also introduced to supervillain Gorilla Grodd, voiced by the awesomely named Powers Boothe. He is superbly megalomaniacal and ridiculous all at the same time, in a plot that's just ape.
8) Wake the Dead
A sequel of sorts to Marvel homage episode "The Terror Beyond", Solomon Grundy is resurrected into an even more violent and powerful zombie and must be stopped by Dr. Fate, Amazo, Aquaman and Hawkgirl.
Not only is this show's rendition of Amazo amazing, but they actually made me manage to care about Hawkgirl too, and this episode is the best case for that. They also redeemed Aquaman's unjust public persona as a useless fish whisperer.
7) Starcrossed
More of that Hawkgirl stuff, this time in an earlier episode where her race invade Earth for a good cause. This was the first time (but not the last) we saw all Hell break loose for the League, as they become hunted on the streets, and torn apart from within.
It is also full of excellent character moments, including the sharing of secret identities, Batman and Wonder Woman's little moment together, and the final fate of Hawkgirl. A damn good example of this show's strengths, and the point at which it reallt took off.
6) Dead Reckoning
Maybe it's just cause I like Deadman, maybe it's the hilarious plot (once again masterminded by Grodd), maybe it's the tragedy of Batman using a gun, but I always think of this episode quite quickly when I think of JLU.
Their version of Black Manta (here called Devil Ray) is wonderfully amoral, and Luthor's "at last" usurping of Grodd was a long time coming too. A good villain episode all round.
5) Question Authority
One of the most popular supporting characters in this show was the conspirciy theorist, The Question, voiced by the splendid Mr. Jeffrey Combs, and this episode is his tour de force. Uncovering an evil plot that ties to Lex Luthor, the Question attempts to bring him down alone, knowing the League cannot be culpable. But things don't quite go down that way.
Fellow Charlton Comics character Captain Atom also gets his chance to shine here, going toe-to-toe with Superman, who, even after winning the fight, still tends to the Captain because "He's Justice League."
4) The Great Brain Robbery
One of the funniest episodes of the whole show, where the Flash and Lex Luthor switched bodies. It was a slight joke at the fact that Michael Rosenbaum, who voiced the Flash, also played Luthor on the TV show Smallville, but it really took off from there into its own thing.
Lex's attempts to escape the Watchtower provide some classy action, and seeing him outsmarted by Mr. Terrific is satisfying (super-speed is useless in zero gravity), but it's all down to the Flash-as-Luthor scenes. How he bluffs his way through villain meetings and conversations is priceless.
3) Divided We Fall
The culmination of an entire season-worth of build-up, the storyline about the League's name getting dragged through the mud sees its end in a showdown with an amped-up Lex Luthor. After a stunning, all-action episode featuring just about every character at their disposal, it was great to see the original seven strutting their stuff and beating the bad guy.
And the moment with the Flash at the end? Gets me every time. And Green Arrow's speech is second only to Superman's in...
2) Destroyer
Darkseid brings Apokalips to Earth in a big, honkin' battle that sees heroes teaming with villains against the God of Evil in the last ever episode of the show. Batman has some awesome moments, Lex Luthor has some awesome moments, but who would have thought we'd ever see Superman deliver the baddest of bad-ass speeches as he schools Darkseid up and down Metropolis?
Some say that the show could have gone on longer, but considering the perfect final scene (and line), I can't think of a grander finish.
1) The Once and Future Thing, Parts 1 & 2
When I saw that McDuffie had written this episode, I just knew it was going to be number one on this list, and it is indeed my favourite. A time-travel adventure as Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern chase bad guy Chronos across the old west and into the future, meeting some classic DC characters along the way, and crossing over with Batman Beyond too.
I honestly cannot think of a more enjoyable episode of this show, or a greater testement to Dwayne McDuffie's talents. He will be sorely missed, but in the meantime, I'm gonna go watch this episode. Excuse me.
And the adventure continues...
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