Let's talk about: Post-Blackest Night DCU!

Due to the fact that a lot of different people seemed to enjoy chiming in on my Let's talk about: Batman post, I figured I'd give this concept another go. I was toying with a couple of ideas for this post, but in the end, since DC's Blackest Night has been monopolizing my comic reading time, as well as my wallet, I figured blogging about Blackest Night is the best way to go. I'd have liked to do a Marvel post, but I get the feeling that the overwhelming majority of my readers are primarily DC fans, and as such would prefer that I stick to DC topics. However, if some of you guys(and gals)want me to do a post on the Marvel U, I'd be all to happy to. Alright, let's get down to business.

I think most of the folks reading this probably already know what Blackest Night is all about, but for the uninitiated, here's the quick form. Blackest Night is basically a story about the undead in the DCU rising up under the leadership of a guy named Nekron, whose goal is to eliminate all life from the universe, returning it(the Universe)to its natural state of oblivion. In order to accomplish his goals, Nekron has reanimated dead heroes and villains with black rings, and has sent them loose to tear out the hearts of the living, which increases his power exponentially. The more full of emotion the victim is, the more power Nekron acquires from that heart. If not for the mass murder and heart eating, I could totally agree with Nekron's plight! The main protagonist in the Blackest Night x-over is Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and the story is being written by Geoff Johns, who is, in my most humble opinion, DC's BEST writer. There, now I think we're all on the same page. In two months(HOPEFULLY!)Blackest Night should be wrapping up, and since I somehow doubt that Nekron is going to be victorious and the DC Universe will be plunged into total darkness, it's safe to assume that the heroes are ultimately going to emerge the victors... But then what? That's what I hope to explore in this post. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts and comments, because that's what this blog is all about, comic book fans getting together and sharing thoughts and ideas. Let's start this look at the post-Blackest Night DCU by looking at the Green Lantern Corps itself.

Green Lantern Corps/The Guardians of the Universe: Once Nekron is defeated and gone, the Guardians of the Universe(the beings who command the GLC)have some explaining to do... They had advance knowledge that there would be a Blackest Night event, but chose to ignore all of the warning signs, putting not only their Green Lantern's in danger, but all of existence as well. Now, it's possible that Nekron kills off the Guardians before the conclusion of BN, but I doubt that, which means they will either admit they were wrong, and change their ways(doubtful)or continue to act like emotionless little overlords, which I think is the more probable occurrence. I kind of think the Guardians will face a revolt from their GL's, which will lead to the near break-up of the Corps... That is unless someone steps in to fill the leadership void...

Hal Jordan: When all is said and done, I think Hal is going to wind up as the leader of the GLC. Yeah sure, he may have nearly destroyed the universe a few short years ago himself, but characters in the DCU seem to have very short memories. I feel Hal will be instrumental in defeating Nekron, and such an act will solidify his place as the greatest Green Lantern of all-time. Now, since Hal is far from a genius(hell, in the past, he was practically a moron!), I don't think he'll lead the Corps alone. I can see Ganthet(the Guardian who left his fellow Oans and formed the Blue Lantern Corps)rejoining the GLC(possibly with the Blue Lantern Corps)to provide Hal with the help he would need to run the Corps. Since the Guardians are pretty much figureheads anyway, I really don't think they are necessary to the GLC, whereas Hal pretty much IS the GLC, and would have strong support from his fellow ring-slingers.

New Guardians: I guess I should at least pay these guys a lip service... These were the various characters who were deputized to work with a certain Corps in order to help stop Nekron's rampage. They consist of the original leaders of each respective Corps, as well as one deputy. Hal deputized Ganthet as a Green Lantern, Atrocitus deputized Mera as a Red Lantern, Sinestro deputized Scarecrow as a member of the Sinestro Corps, the Star Sapphires deputized Wonder Woman as a Sapphire, Indigo-1 deputized Atom as a member of the Indigo tribe, Saint Walker deputized Saint Barry Allen as a member of the Blue Lantern Corps, and Larfleeze reluctantly shared his powers with Lex Luthor. I don't think ANYTHING is actually going to come of this, the deputized characters will only be empowered for something like 24 hours, and then they lose their newfound powers. In a perfect world, Scarecrow would permanently join up with Sinestro(come on, they're made for each other!)and Lex would kill Larfleeze and steal away the Orange light. While I'd love that, I think that would make Lex WAY too powerful, so I doubt DC could allow something like that to take place.

Black Lanterns: Well, we can scratch the Black Lanterns off this list, since they should go away when Nekron is defeated, so I'll skip them.

Sinestro Corps: I figure the Sinestro Corps will continue to be the main thorn in the GLC side, especially since Sinestro rid his Corps of rival leader, Mongul. With Sinestro's Corps totally unified under his command, the Sinestro Corps should be the preeminent foe of the GLC.

Red Lanterns: The Red Lanterns will probably also stick around to pester the GLC, if for no other reason then the fact that they give off some of the coolest visuals out of all of the Corps.

Star Sapphires: I also don't see the Star Sapphires going anywhere, even though their Central Power Battery was destroyed by the Black Lanterns. I can see a weakened version of the Star Sapphires existing in the DCU, led by Hal's longtime sweetheart, Carol Ferris.

Blue Lanterns: As I stated in my Green Lantern summary, I think the Blue Lanterns will be folded into the GLC, and they will act as one Corps. Either that, or Ganthet will simply disband the Blue Lantern Corps, since the threat of the Blackest Night has passed.

Indigo Lanterns: I really don't know what to make of the Indigo Lanterns... They simply seem to be in the Blackest Night story to fill in missing story points for other characters, so I can't see any real place for them in the post-BN DCU. Let's just say when BN ends, they vanish back to wherever they came from.

Orange Lantern: All that's left is Larfleeze, the Orange Lantern... You either love Larfleeze or you hate him, and I most definitely fit into the later group. I can't stand him. Yeah, I'll admit, in the beginning, he seemed... dare I say cool? But now, he's simply an annoyance that I keep hoping winds up getting killed by Atrocitus(the Leader of the Red Lanterns). If I had things my way, Larfleeze would act completely out of character, and he would help Hal defeat Nekron at the expense of his own life, thus freeing up the Orange power to be used by a much less annoying character.

Kyle Rayner & John Stewart: I don't see Kyle or John's lives changing dramatically as a result of their Blackest Night experiences. Maybe John will be more melancholy thanks to his experiences on that Black Lantern planet, and Kyle has a ready made feud with Sinestro, since it was revealed that he is dating Sinestro's daughter... The eventual meeting between Kyle, Sinestro and Soranik should be great, since you've got to think Sinestro is going to take offense at the fact that his daughter is dating the "alley rat"!

Guy Gardner: Guy Gardner is a bit of a wildcard for me... I would actually prefer it if Guy were to remain a Red Lantern. To me, Guy is more a Red Lantern then a Green Lantern anyway. Now, that's not to say I want to see Guy running wild through out the universe vomiting blood at everybody, quite the contrary. I want to see Guy master his Red ring, and keep his violent urges(for the most part)in check. Give him his own series: "Red Lantern: Guy Gardner", and have it follow Guy around as he tries to master the power of the Red ring. He would naturally have enemies in the other more impulsive Red Lanterns, who would want Guy to just lose all control, as well as several misunderstandings with the GLC, and Earth's heroes, which would be fun to read. I can see making Guy a Red Lantern in order to further expand and grow his character.

Black Hand, Scar & the Anti-Monitor: In a perfect world, Scar and Black Hand would survive the aftermath of the climatic BN battle, and would vanish for a while, thus leaving them available to show up again down the road to further menace the GLC. As for the Anti-Monitor/Central Black Power Battery, let's hope this is the last we see of him... I think the Anti-Monitor has more then run his course. Now that's what I want to see happen, but what I think will happen is Scar will remain dead after her destruction at the hands of the combined Corps a few BN issues back, while Black Hand either gets killed, or when Nekron dies, he goes insane and gets locked up in an insane asylum somewhere.

Now, I'm going to separate the Black Lanterns into what I think will ultimately happen to them.

Black Lantern Group 1: These are the characters who were still alive when Nekron forced Black rings onto them, thus transforming them into Black Lanterns. Superman, Wonder Woman, Kid Flash, Superboy, Green Arrow, as well as a few others suffered this fate. Since these are DC's big names, there's NO way they're remaining dead, and as such, when Nekron falls, I see this group of Black Lanterns returning to the land of the living.

Black Lantern Group 2: These are the ORIGINAL Black Lanterns. They were dead, buried and forgotten about, that is before a Black Ring resurrected them. This group includes characters such as the Martian Manhunter, Ted Kord, Aquaman, Elongated Man and Sue Dibny, Ronnie Raymond Firestorm, Maxwell Lord, Dr. Light, Jade and many others. I think DC should allow these characters to return to life. My explanation for this? Well, while they were running around as angry corpses, tearing out hearts for Nekron, some of the life-force from the hearts were leaking into the Black Lanterns, thus slowly but surely filling them back up with life. Yeah, I know, that's a REALLY weak explanation, but that's the best I can do. However, the bottom line is that I expect to see most of, if not all of these Black Lanterns returning to the land of the living following BN.

Black Lantern Group 3: These are the unlucky Black Lanterns... These are the heroes who had their hearts torn out by Black Lanterns, thus turning the victim into a Black Lantern themself. Characters like Damage, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Tempest, and the like. Since their hearts were actually removed from them, and went to feed Nekron, I tend to think that anybody who has had their heart torn out will unfortunately NOT be coming back to life. Sure Hawkman and Hawkgirl may figure out a way around that rule, but sadly, for guys like Tempest and Damage, I think it's game over for them and their ilk.

Batman's Head!!!: OK, if ANYBODY has a theory as to what the hell Batman's head has to do with the whole Blackest Night storyline, I'd LOVE to know! As far as I know, in Final Crisis #6, Darkseid tossed Batman way back in time, leaving a skeleton in Batman's place. Most of the DC heroes not named Tim Drake figured the skeletal remains were Bruce's, and as such, buried him at his family plot. Before BN really gets underway, Black Hand breaks into the skeletal remains, and steals the head of "Bruce Wayne". Throughout Blackest Night, Hand has used the Bat-head for numerous actions, such as spitting out new Black Lantern rings, giving off a creepy glow, and in one instance, reanimating the head so that it looked exactly like Black Lantern Batman would look. After Black Lantern Batman defeats his foes, Hand returns him to a simple skull again... There are a few questions here, such as, if the skull is truly Batman's, why hasn't Hand allowed it to run rampant like the other Black Lanterns? Why keep such a tight leash on "Bruce's" skull? The way I feel is that the skull CAN'T be Bruce's, because Bruce wasn't killed by Darkseid, he was simply shunted elsewhere in time. But if we follow that logic, and say that the skull can't be Bruce's, because he was seen alive and well several million years ago, we're stuck with the original question, WHOSE SKULL IS IT?!? I can't help thinking that somehow Darkseid is involved in this whole Blackest Night story, and that when Superman sang him to death, Darkseid's spirit went to the nearest safe place, "Bruce's" skull. And why not? Darkseid believes in anti-life, and Nekron believes in NO life, so in a weird way, I could see them getting along rather well. But out of everything, the skull of "Bruce Wayne" is by far the most puzzling aspect of the BN story.

Hmm, I think that's it... I think I hit on all of the major Blackest Night players, and I think I made it clear as to what I think will happen to these characters during the upcoming months. Alright, now this is the part of the post where I say, if you have anything to add, anything AT ALL, feel free to leave me a few comments, whether you agree or disagree with what I typed up here. If you think I forgot to mention an important character that you think will have a huge impact on the BN story going forward, drop me a line and let me know who this character is, and what your thoughts on them are. Basically, I'm practically begging for you, my faithful, and highly intelligent readers, to leave me as many comments as you can detailing what you thought after you finished reading this. Well, that's it. Thanks for reading, and Long Live The Legion!

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5(of 5)

Well, this is the last of the main "Final Crisis" books. Wow, it took 14 months for us to get to the end of Final Crisis! This mini has been stellar throughout, and has given me the return of two of my favorite DC heroes, Kid Flash and Superboy. I won't even use the tired old "will this comic be worth the long wait" line because I'm confident that this comic is going to be awesome. The writer is the comic book GOD, Geoff Johns, while the legendary George Perez provides us with the pencils.

-While Superman, Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl are busy battling the Time Trapper(who was revealed to be Superboy Prime last issue)at the end of time, Superboy, Kid Flash and a mess of Legionnaires from various different universes are battling Superboy Prime in the 31st century.

-After a lot of fighting, the Time Trapper tells Supes that after he is finished killing the Man of Steel, he intends on travelling through the multiverse to kill as many Legions as he can. Upon hearing this, Cosmic Boy realizes that Time Trapper can travel to other dimensions at the end of time, and Cosmic Boy decides to use that against Trapper by summoning several different Legionnaires to him to battle the Time Trapper. The legion of Legions(ha!)attack the Time Trapper enmass and manage to knock him out momentarily.

-While Trapper is unconscious, Brainiac 5 has him transported to the 31st century where he comes face to face with his younger self, Superboy Prime. Prime, being a complete moron, begins to argue with his older self, refusing to believe the Time Trapper's claims that they are one and the same. Prime attacks the Time Trapper, and the physical contact between the two of them causes them both to explode and disappear.

-While it seems the Time Trapper was erased from existence, Superboy Prime was sent back to Earth Prime(which was restored after the events of Infinite Crisis)powerless.

-From there we get a whole slew of epilogues. The Legion rebuilds their damaged planet, they look for new members, Sodam Yat, the sole surviving Green Lantern, decides to rebuild the Corps, Sunboy rejoins the Legion, and White Witch(?)becomes the ominous Black Witch.

-We also learn that the most recent Legion(the Threeboot Legion)comes from Earth Prime(!!!). The other two Legions are sent back to their proper dimensions, and Superman is sent back to the present with the resurrected Kid Flash and Superboy, and Supes brings them back to see their old Titans teammates. This issue concludes with Superboy Prime swearing revenge on all of his various enemies.

Hmmm, how do I put this... I guess I'll just come right out with it. This comic was pretty disappointing. I know, I'm shocked too! I kind of expected something more... The build up to this issue was really amazing, but this comic just fell short to me. First off, anybody who has read both Lo3W #5 and my review will realize that I left out all the stuff that had to do with the White Witch and Mordru. The reason for that is because I had NO frigging idea what the hell was going on there! I know Mordru from the Justice Society but I have no idea who the White Witch is, and that lack of knowledge definitely hurt my understanding of that entire situation. If anybody cares to explain who the White Witch is/was, I'd be happy to hear it!

I also wasn't very pleased with the revelation that the Threeboot Legion was from Earth Prime. I read the entire Threeboot Legion series and there are a lot of holes in that revelation, the biggest one being Supergirl. Supergirl joined the Threeboot Legion after the events of Infinite Crisis, meaning that somehow Supergirl travelled to the future of an alternate dimension and then managed to return to her proper home dimension??? Huh? And on top of that the Threeboot Legion remembered Superman as a hero. If Prime was from the same dimension as the Threeboot Legion wouldn't they recall Superboy as a criminal(Prime)not a hero(Superman)?

And one more thing, I just don't like the Legion that Geoff keeps using(the old one). Why the hell are they still going by the girl/boy, lad/lass names? They obviously aren't kids anymore. I can't understand why a twenty-something would still refer to himself as Cosmic Boy... Isn't it time to become Cosmic Man? That's what really bothers me with Geoff's Legion. They aren't teenagers anymore. To me the Legion is supposed to be a teenage super-team, not a bunch of weird adults still referring to themselves as children... I understand that Superman grew up, but I just don't think the Legion should have grown up as well...

Alright, enough complaining, here's some praise. The art was beautiful(as usual). If I was going to write a comic book, I'd want George to do the artwork. His art is just amazing. I can totally understand why it took George so long to do the art for this book after reading it. There were dozens of different Legionnaires depicted here! The battle against the Time Trapper at the end of time must have had at least 30 different Legionnaires(all with different costumes)present. The detail in each different Legionnaire was a thing of beauty. Although I wasn't that high on this particular issue, overall, this mini-series was fantastic. In particular issues #3 and 4 were truly amazing. For a score I'll give this issue a 7 out of 10. Like I said, this issue just didn't dazzle me like the previous ones did. I'll always hold this mini in very high regard(it brought back Kid Flash and Superboy!)though.
Superboy Prime, proving once again that he is an idiot!

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #4(of 5)

As I said yesterday, even though I'm WAY behind in my schoolwork, NOTHING is going to prevent me from reading this comic book! Sorry Shakespeare, you'll have to wait.

-We begin this issue with Starman lurking around in a graveyard in Metropolis looking to complete the mission Brainiac 5 sent him back in time to complete. Starman arrives at a grave that is marked with the last name of Kent, and begins digging. Hmmm... It couldn't be him, could it???

-Back in the future, the 3 Legions are still battling against the villains while Superboy Prime is trying to contend with Kid Flash's return. Superman returns to the battle and it looks like things are going to work out for the forces of good...

-Not so fast! The Time Trapper grabs Supes, as well as the three founders of the original Legion and brings them to his spot at the end of time. With Supes removed from the battle, the heroes fall into some disarray, which leads to Prime and his gang regaining the upper hand.

-Meanwhile, the three Brainiac 5's arrive at the Fortress of Solitude and wait for the Legionnaires from the past to return to the future. They eventually do and hand over a strand of Lex Luthor's hair... Hee hee hee, THAT can only mean one thing!

-Prime is warned by Mordru that he had better get to the Fortress because if he doesn't all will be lost for the bad guys. Prime takes off and is pursued by Kid Flash and others.

-Back at the Fortress, the Brainiacs discover that Starman was successful in the past as they find a Kryptonian healing machine containing whatever body Starman exhumed back in the past. The Brainiacs add the strand of Lex's hair, and that can only mean one thing!

-However, before the Brainiacs can activate the machine, Prime destroys the roof above them and knocks all three Brainiacs out. Polar Boy, Dawnstar and Wildfire are the only Legionnaires left standing, and none of them understand the way the Kryptonian machine is supposed to work. Polar Boy tells Dawnstar to figure something out and he goes outside to stall Superboy Prime.

-Polar Boy fares pretty much as poorly as would be expected against Prime, but the last minute arrival of the original Sunboy helps buy Polar Boy some more time against Prime. Back in the Fortress, Dawnstar realizes that Wildfire has to be the one to activate the healing machine, and Wildfire tentatively presses one of the crystals, which revives... Superboy!

-Superboy charges outside and engages Prime in battle. The return of Superboy serves as a rallying point for the Legionnaires present, and they redouble their efforts to defeat Prime once and for all.

-Finally, at the end of time, Superman attacks the Time Trapper and winds up tearing off his shroud, revealing none other than an older version of Superboy Prime!

Well, right off the bat I should admit that I was pretty shocked that Geoff Johns decided to bring Superboy back in this series. I thought for sure that SB would be a part of the "Blackest Night" x-over. With that said, allow me to say that I couldn't be happier that SB is back! The past two issues of this series has heralded the returns of both Bart Allen and Conner Kent, two of my all-time favorite DC characters. Thanks Geoff! You sure know how to make me one happy comic book reader!

When Starman was digging up a grave in Metropolis marked Kent, the first thought to cross through my mind was that it had to be Superboy's grave. However, I dismissed that idea right away because I figured that would be too obvious. HA! Once the Brainiacs discovered the healing machine, and gained possession of Lex's hair though, there was no doubting what Geoff was planning. Now that SB is back(and not a Blackest Night zombie!)I can start thinking about his future. Here's hoping SB winds up in the new Legion book(Adventure Comics I think?)that will be popping up soon.

I have to admit that the revelation about the Time Trapper really doesn't mean all that much to me, because I really don't know anything about him. The Legion I am most familiar with is the Threeboot version, and Time Trapper never showed up there. Do you even have to ask what I'm going to give this comic book score-wise?!? With Superboy's return, coupled with Kid Flash kicking some Superboy Prime ass, this was the easiest 10 out of 10 I've ever given! Big time kudos to Geoff Johns for the excellent storytelling, and George Perez for the magnificent pencils. This series is definitely turning out to be one of my favorite mini-series of all-time... That's really saying something!

Post #600!

For my 600th post I figured I'd post some pictures of a VERY angry Superman. Damn, if I was Lex Luthor, I think I would get the hell out of Metropolis while I still could! Imagine that sight bearing down on you! And here I though the Hulk was the most destructive super-hero in all of comic books! Supes puts the Hulk to shame in this scene when it comes to property damage!

Superboy Prime... I just can't hate him...

I really want to hate Superboy Prime, he WAS responsible for the death of Superboy(one of my favorite DC characters)during Infinite Crisis, but I always find myself laughing at his childish antics. Usually, I really hate whiny characters, but it just works so well for Prime.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #3(of 5)

Overall- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH............ :-)

It's hard to put into words what I just read in this comic book, so I'm going to be quite brief with the beginning of this comic book, because, quite frankly, to me, NOTHING that happened in this comic book meant a thing until the last few pages. The story itself was the original Legion along with Superman battling an group of villains led by(in his mind)Superboy Prime. When things looked the bleakest for Superman and the Legionnaire's, the Legion of Super-Heroes from the reboot and threeboot era's arrived to even out the odds. With the villains now occupied, the three Brainiac 5's along with all 3 Lightning Lad's and all 3 Light Lass' meet up with Xs and a Cosmic Treadmill at the headquarters of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Superboy Prime begins to realize that the Legion is up to something that he really doesn't want to deal with, so he abandons the battle against the Legionnaire's and attacks the Legion headquarters. Xs gets on the Cosmic Treadmill and begins to run, while the Lightning Lads/Lass' hold up lightning rods, and things start to get crazy in Brainiac's lab, as lightning begins to shoot everywhere. Finally, Xs seems to find what the Brainiac 5's wanted her to find, and she stops running. An energy form stands there stating that it(the energy)feels much better now. Superboy Prime breeches the layer of the Brainiac 5's and rushes into the room just in time to see the energy take it's true form, that of Kid Flash!

Wooooooo-boy... Where to start? I'll start at the obvious. IF, and let me emphasise that, IF, that Kid Flash is Bart Allen, then I'll be doing frigging backflips, because, believe it or not, Bart Allen IS my favorite DC character. I proudly own Bart's first appearance in the Flash comic book, as well as his other early appearances in Flash, every single issue of Impulse(including the annuals and specials)the whole Young Justice series, all of Bart's run on the Teen Titans, and the Flash: Fastest Man Alive series that starred the adult Bart as the Flash. So, if this Kid Flash is who I hope it is, then this mini-series will go down as one of my favorites of all-time, solely due to the fact that it brought Bart back to life.

Now, there is a tiny little piece of me that is worried that this isn't the Bart Allen I've spent so much time reading about. The only reason I have any doubt that this isn't Bart, is the fact that the Kid Flash at the end of this comic book had blue eyes, and Bart had yellow eyes... Most likely this was just a coloring snafu, because EVERYTHING in this comic pointed to this Kid Flash being Bart Allen returned to life. The fact that Superboy Prime feared Kid Flash as much as he did leads me to believe that this Kid Flash HAS to be Bart, since it was Bart who posed such problems for Superboy Prime during Infinite Crisis.

Besides Bart's apparent rebirth, I have to say that I also enjoyed the antics of Superboy Prime. Yes, SuperBOY Prime. I loathe calling him SuperMAN Prime, due to his childish behavior/antics. I was also kind of pissed that out of all of the Legionnaire's present, Superboy Prime manages to kill the Sun Boy from my threeboot Legion. What the hell?!? As I've already stated previously, the threeboot Legion is the one I am most familiar with, so I was disheartened to see one of the Legionnaire's I cared about killed in such an offhanded manner.

Honestly though, that was the ONLY complaint I had about this comic. To me, a huge fan of Bart Allen, this comic book was practically perfect. Although Sun Boy's unnecessary death really bothered me, the return of Bart Allen trumps that by leaps and bounds. As such, for a score, I'm going to give this issue the score every comic book desires, a perfect 10 out of 10! This comic righted a wrong that has bothered me since I read the end of the Flash: The Fastest Man Alive series, which chronicled Bart's death. If this truly is Bart Allen returned from the dead and de-aged back to his Kid Flash days, then this comic will forever hold a special place in my heart. I CAN NOT wait for the next issue of this series!!!

Final Crisis: Revelations #5(of 5)

Overall- Meh, this series really never rocked my world(did I just type that?)from the first issue onward, and the final installment was no different. Basically, last issue we saw the Spectre become a slave to Cain. This caused Radiant's faith to become shaken to the point where she couldn't protect the citizens of Gotham who hadn't been effected by the Anti-Life Equation.

Cain and his minions used the Spear of Destiny and attempted to breach Radiant's protective barrier around the church the unaffected Gothamites were hiding out in. Before Cain could break in though, the Question and Huntress hatch a plan and wage a last ditch assault on Cain. Cain and his legions easily defeat the two women and the Question winds up getting speared through the gut with, well, with the Spear.

But, alas, that was the Question's plan all along! The only way the Question figured she'd get a hold of the Spear of Destiny would be if Cain attempted to physically use it on her. Witnessing this act, Radiant returns, with her faith renewed. In order to reunite the soul of Crispus Allen(the Spectre's human host)and the Spectre, Question uses the Spear to bring Cris' son back to life(or at least I think that's what happened). With the death of his son off his shoulders, Cris reunites with the Spectre and destroys all of the followers of Cain. As for Cain himself, he is banished to forever wander the world, scorned and hated by all who see him... Or something along those lines.

Oh, and then the Question went around rounding up Supermen from alternate dimensions and Mandrakk somehow magically captured both Radiant and the Spectre and "drained" them, somewhere between this comic book and Final Crisis #7. Off panel of course! Gee, I sure would have liked to have seen THAT battle..........

Anyway, Grant Morrison's "unique" storytelling aside, the other issues of this series were just OK for me, and this issue followed suit. Greg Rucka did an alright job, but out of all of the Final Crisis tie-ins, Revelations was the weakest in my eyes. For a final score, I'll give this issue a 6 out of 10. Reading this comic killed some time, but it's not something I'll remember in a week or so.

Final Crisis #7(of 7)... The Final Rant.

Overall- ...???...???????????. I think that just about adequately sums up my feelings regarding the events of Final Crisis #7. I'm not going to bother trying to review this comic book, because I don't think I possibly could... And I don't mean that in a good way either... I was absolutely lost from the beginning of this comic book to the end. I'll admit that there were certain aspects of the Final Crisis storyline that I didn't understand from the first issue of the series, but I was always able to come away from each issue of this series with a general understanding of what I had read... That was sure not the case here.

Where do I even begin? Let's start with Darkseid, the supposed villain who was behind the entire Final Crisis storyline... Darkseid was killed, by my count, THREE different times over the course of the last 2 issues! He was shot with a bullet that had killed one of his fellow New Gods by Batman last issue, he was struck by the Black Racer/Black Flash/Death which I guess killed him for the second time, then Darkseid was suddenly without a body(?)and Superman sang at him to kill him once and for all... Sang at him to kill him?!?!?! What the f### is that???

Then of course there was Mandrakk... Ah yes, Mandrakk, the evil Monitor(?)from the horrible Superman Beyond 3D mini-series... Why the hell was he even there??? What purpose did he serve exactly? What the hell was Grant Morrison thinking here? To be fair, if you read my review of Superman Beyond 3D(which you can find here), you know I didn't understand a damn thing from those two comic books. Which just made things even more confusing in THIS comic.

Who the hell were those super-powered Japanese people? Did Hawkman/Hawkgirl die? What about Green Arrow and Black Canary, are they dead? Why didn't Superman wish for Batman's return with the Miracle Machine? Can you believe Superman vanquished Darkseid with a song?!? What the hell was going on in the beginning of this comic? Why were Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson putting the Bat-signal and a newspaper in a rocketship??? I guess that was an alternate reality? Did Superman wish the Monitors out of existence? Do you see the problem here? When you come out of a comic book with absolutely NO idea about what you just read, that means the writer and editors failed miserably. As far as I'm concerned this comic book was a train wreck of nearly epic proportions.

And don't even get me started on Barry Allen... Someone please explain why he was necessary to this story. He WASN'T. Am I supposed to believe that Barry has been running from the Black Racer for the past several years??? I could have accepted Barry's return and Wally West's subsequent move to the back seat, IF the story involving Barry's return made a damn lick of sense. It didn't. You want to bring a dead hero back to life? Do it the way Geoff Johns did it in Green Lantern: Rebirth. Hal Jordan came back for a REASON. Hal was needed... I'm sorry to any fans of Barry Allen, but he was not needed in Final Crisis at all. All he did was lead the Black Racer into an already dying Darkseid, and THAT action didn't even finish Darkseid off once and for all! The thing with Barry and the Black Racer really pisses me off because it diminishes the role Batman played in the defeat of Darkseid.

Batman... I haven't even touched on THAT particular story element yet... All I'm going to say is that what was done with Batman was the ONLY thing that was done right in this comic book. Let's face it, the idea that DC was going to kill off Batman was ludicrous on so many levels. Batman/Bruce Wayne is probably the most popular comic book character PERIOD. Yeah, you've got Spider-Man and Superman, but realistically, Bruce Wayne is the best known comic book super-hero to both fans of comic books and non-fans alike. DC couldn't kill him. It's that simple. Killing Bruce would have led to fan outrage, so they actually did the next best thing, they banished Bruce. Now, Bruce can remain in comic book limbo until DC needs him to come back and reclaim the Batman mantle, which let's face it, is inevitable. DC comic fans will NEVER accept another man in the role of Batman, in the same manner that Marvel fans refused to see another man(Ben Reilly)in Peter Parker's Spider-Man role. I'd wager that in a years time, Bruce Wayne will once again be patrolling the streets of Gotham as the Batman.

What more is there to say? This comic book was a horrible ending to a mediocre at best crossover. While Final Crisis had it's high points and it's good moments, I'll remember it as being as bad, if not worse than Secret Invasion, and that's saying something. I kind of get the feeling that Grant was writing this comic for a group of maybe 10 people, while the rest of us are just left shrugging our shoulders saying, "What the hell did I just read?". For a score, I can't in good conscience give this comic book a score better than 1 out of 10... This series could/should have been much, MUCH better...

Sunday Night Thoughts on Starman and Final Crisis.

Seeing that I've got an early day of classes ahead of me tomorrow, coupled with the fact that it's Sunday, I really don't have much to post about. But, I promised myself that I would post at least something every day(well, not really, but it saying that makes me sound really dedicated!).

First and foremost, tomorrow, I will FINALLY get my hands on Final Crisis #7!!! I've been waiting for this f###ing comic book for a week and a half now... Hopefully, by the time I get home from school tomorrow, my package of comic books will be waiting by the front door. Besides really wanting to read this comic just to see how Grant Morrison finished things up, I'm also intrigued to read some of the opinions of my fellow bloggers. I've been deliberately avoiding some blogs in order to avoid spoiling FC #7 for myself, and after tomorrow, the flood gates will be open, and I can travel the Internet with impunity again, no longer afraid of spoilers. Yeah, so by tomorrow night, I should have a review of FC #7 up, as well as comments on several of the blogs I normally frequent... So be prepared, my rambling, ill-informed opinions might strike your blog tomorrow!!! MWA-HA-HA-HA!!!

On a sadder note, I've just about finished up the entire Starman series written by James Robinson back in the late 1990's. All I have left to read is the final 6 issues, which I'll polish off after I'm done with this post. I'm SURE I'll devote a post to the full Starman series when I find the time, but before then just let me simply say that I think Starman may just be the best comic book series I've ever read. I've read and collected A LOT of comic books over the course of my life, upwards of 8,000 now and ever growing. So, by stating that Starman is one of my favorites of all-time is really saying something. If I had the time, and nothing else to read, I would start the series over again from issue #1 and read the whole story again. I'd been told by a couple of my fellow bloggers that Starman was a spectacular comic(that's why I purchased it to begin with), and it sure as hell is.

The entire Starman series is really a masterpiece. That's really the best word I can use to describe it. A masterpiece. Some people are connoisseur of art, movies or music. Well, I am a connoisseur of comic books, and to me Starman is a nearly unequaled masterpiece. It is perfection in the form of a comic book. What the Mona Lisa is to art connoisseurs, Starman is to a comic book connoisseur like myself. While reading an issue of Starman today, I found myself laughing aloud hysterically in an empty room on one page, while a few short minutes later, on a different page in the same comic, my eyes were welling up with tears of sadness. I can't think of many other comic books that have the power to move me like Starman does.

While I can't wait to read how James Robinson finishes this series off, I'm overcome with sadness at the prospect that I won't have any new Starman comics to enjoy... No more watching Jack grow into a competent hero in the image of his father, no more inner monologues by Jack, no more entries from the journal of the Shade, no more learning about the history of Opal City, no more of Bobo's hilarious 1950's slang, no more of those wacky O'Dare's... I'm really going to miss these characters. I never expected to become as drawn into this series and these characters as I've become, but I sure did form a connection to these characters... Especially the Shade. That guy has to be one of the greatest comic book characters I've ever had the good fortune to read about! The Shade almost single-handedly makes this series for me. I can't even tell you how many times I'll chuckle or flat out crack up laughing at some of the things he says or writes down in his journal. If the Shade was to ever get his own series, I'd buy three frigging copies every month! That's how much I enjoy him and his antics.

Another thing this series proves once and for all that there are NO bad characters in comic books, there are only bad writers. James Robinson has taken every single character in this series and given them a life of their own. I truly care about every single character in this comic series. The heroes, the villains, the supporting cast, every single character is interesting in his or her own way. It's funny, since I've been reading Starman, I've noticed that for the most part, the newer comic books I've been reading just haven't been that satisfying. Lately, the new comics I've been reading have been receiving much lower scores than I usually hand out. Simply put, after reading Starman, most newer comics just don't come close to measuring up. After reading Starman, I now seem to look at other comics in a much different way...

I think I've spent more than enough time gushing about the glory that is Starman for tonight... All that's left to do now is to read those final six issues and discover just how the story of Jack Knight comes to an end... Oh, and if you've never read this series, do yourself a favor and PICK IT UP! Almost the entire series is available in tpb form, and there are plenty of places that sell these books at a pretty decent price. Trust me, you'd be doing yourself a favor by reading this comic book.

Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D #1&2... What the Hell?!?!

Overall- After reading these comic books, I came to a very sad realization. Basically, I didn't understand a damn thing I just read... I really mean that too, I didn't comprehend anything from these comics... Not a thing...

I don't know how many of you out there have read any of the works of William Shakespeare. Well, this semester, I'm taking a literature class, dealing solely with the works of Shakespeare. One thing I've realized while reading Shakespeare is that it's tough to understand certain aspects of his stories, because the English he used 500 years ago is so much different than the English we use nowadays. However, with that being said, despite the different English Shakespeare used, I CAN understand what his plays were about. Sometimes it's tough to decipher exactly what Shakespeare was trying to say, but in the end, I DO understand his stories, language barrier or not.

By now, you must be wondering what exactly I'm getting at. It's simple. While I can understand most of Shakespeare's English, I've come to the realization that I can barely understand ANYTHING Grant Morrison wrote in these 2 comic books. Even though Superman Beyond 3D was written in modern English, I didn't understand what the f### was going on! These comics might as well have been written in Swahili or something. I wish for just one hour out of one day I could crawl into the mind of Grant Morrison and see things the way he sees things... He must have some F###ING crazy thoughts! I honestly don't know if I can even write up a coherent review for these two comic books, but I'll give it a shot anyway...

Um, Superman and some of his counterparts from other Earths wind up in Limbo because of one of those Monitors... I think... Well, then the original(?)Monitor, Mandrakk, I think, is really evil or something and wants to kill all life in the multiverse for some reason... Well, Superman and his evil counterpart Ultraman get smashed together and become a giant robot somehow, and fight this Mandrakk guy. Mandrakk wipes the floor with the Superman/Ultraman robot and then kills one of the Monitors, but seems sad/upset that he did that... OK... The Superman robot then fights Mandrakk again and throws him into a bottomless pit......... Superman and Ultraman then leave the robot and become themselves again. For some reason, Ultraman and Mandrakk then make an alliance on some faraway universe. Superman returns to his proper Earth and heals Lois Lane from the brink of death..........

I would like to know exactly what drugs Grant Morrison is on, so I don't accidentally take them one day! Holy s###, I didn't understand a single thing about these comic books! What the hell did ANY of this have to do with Final Crisis??? Darkseid was never mentioned one single time! Isn't Darkseid/the Anti-Life Equation the main storypoint behind Final Crisis??? I mean, was it just me? Did everyone else understand what was going on in these comic books? I'll be honest when I say that I know next to nothing about the Monitors. But now they're a race of vampires or something??? WTF?!?!

Reading these two comics left me about as confused as I've ever been. How the hell can Grant Morrison be writing Final Crisis as well as Superman Beyond 3D??? One had absolutely nothing to do with the other as far as I can gather. My final question concerning this mini-series is simply "why???". What was the reasoning behind it? Maybe when I read Final Crisis #7 this coming Monday, Feb 9th, this will all make sense... It seems more likely though that if this series was any indication, Final Crisis # 7 is going to be a train wreck of epic proportions! For a score, I have to give these comics a combined score of 1 out of 10... This was bad... Really bad... If anyone wants to try to explain what exactly these comics were about(without spoiling FC #7), please, help me out!

Bah, foiled again!

The fates have conspired against me, and it looks like I won't be getting my copy of Final Crisis #7 until next Monday. That's going to be an unbearable wait... I don't know if I'll be able to hold out actually... I may either just read the spoilers, which I REALLY don't want to do, or I'll try to search out a copy of FC #7 in a book store or something. Damn, I really hope UPS is wrong with their estimated arrival time for that order...

Last man in line...

All over the Internet, people are posting their reaction/comments regarding Final Crisis #7... Well, everybody except for me that is! So far, I've managed to avoid potential spoilers, but since I won't be receiving/reading FC #7 until the end of this week, I've got a bad feeling that I'll eventually read something spoilerific. It really sucks living in a place where there aren't any comic book shops... It's kind of tough traveling to different websites now, because I've got that crazy, paranoid feeling that where ever I go there are going to be FC #7 spoilers. By the time I finally do read FC #7, I'm going to have a lot of website reading to catch up on. Oh well, the wait will just make reading this comic even better, right?

Nothing to say, nothing to do.

I really don't have all that much to say tonight. School was shut down today due to a few paltry inches of snow, so I spent most of the day sleeping, watching TV and playing Lego Batman, which I can(proudly?)say I completed 100% of. What a full, exciting day huh? Oh yeah, my replica Two-Face coin and Starman goggles arrived today, and they're both pretty good looking. I especially can't wait to wear the Starman goggles this spring/summer.

I did get around to ordering Final Crisis #7 last night, so now I have to wait until next week before I get my hands on that comic. Until then though, I'll be trying to avoid spoilers like the plague! After finishing this post, I'll probably post a random picture, before continuing to read Starman. I'm really enjoying this comic alot, and hopefully by tomorrow(yeah, I know I keep saying that)I'll have a review of the second Starman tpb posted. Until next time, LONG LIVE THE LEGION!

Just a random post.

Since I'm dead tired and don't have any new comic reviews to post(I'm currently half way through the second Starman tpb)I figured I'd just throw a quick post out with some random junk in it.

-I'll be ordering Final Crisis #7 once the clock strikes midnight Tuesday night, since that's the earliest my online comic shop will allow me to place an order containing new releases. While I'm waiting for FC #7 to arrive, I'll be avoiding any and all spoilers concerning that comic. I still have that old school mentality of wanting to read the comic as opposed to reading spoilers first before deciding if I want to buy a book or not. Once the ending of a comic has been spoiled, I really don't care about reading it, because I already know the end result... Huh, the sleep deprivation seems to be making my thought process more erratic than usual... I don't know what the hell I just wrote! The bottom line is until I read FC #7, I'm going to be VERY careful as to what websites I visit.

-To prove what a huge comic nerd I am, I ordered a replica Two-Face coin off of Amazon today. I always wanted a two headed coin, and now I'll finally have one! I was such a weird kid that I once mutilated one side of a quarter with a screwdriver, a saw and a hammer in order to make it look like the coin Two-Face had in the Batman: The Animated Series cartoon! Being a pack-rat, I may even still have that old mutilated coin stashed away someplace... Besides buying the coin, I also purchased a pair of goggles that look practically identical to the one's used by Starman. Yeah, I'm one strange dude...

-Speaking of my tendency to impulse buy stuff, I was THIS close to buying a couple of sweet looking DC t-shirts. In particular, I found really good looking Flash, Green Lantern and Superman t-shirts... In a rare show of willpower, I held off from buying those shirts, mainly due to the fact that I'm probably going to be spending a good chunk of cash on my comic book order this Tuesday night/Wednesday. One day those shirts will be mine though...

I'd better call it a night here, since I have an early class tomorrow. Why I let my advisor talk me into taking a "Vietnam and America" history class I'll never know... For a class that's only held twice a week, the professor LOVES to assign TONS of reading assignments. Not only that, but he then expects people to "role-play" the parts of policy makers during the Vietnam War. I took this class to listen to a lecture, not pretend I'm Richard frigging Nixon! Enough of that nonsense though, hopefully by tomorrow I'll have the review of the second Starman tpb posted. Until then, LONG LIVE THE LEGION!!! Man, I REALLY need to get to sleep...

Final Crisis #7... Already??? But what about Legion of Three Worlds?

I'm not complaining, but wow, DC sure isn't wasting any time releasing Final Crisis #7 are they? With that said, I have one simple question... What ever happened to Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds??? Being a huge fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes, I've really been looking forward to issue #3 of this Final Crisis tie-in. If I'm correct, Legion of Three Worlds was supposed to run 5 issues. If the main Final Crisis storyline is ending this week(January 28), I was wondering where this leaves Legion of Three Worlds. I know the last installment of Final Crisis: Revelations is coming out with FC #7, but I was just curious if anybody knows what the status of Legion of Three Worlds is...

Some Random Rambling.

Hey, I figured I'd treat(or punish)everyone by just posting about whatever comes to mind for the next 15 minutes(I've got 15 minutes to kill).

-First things first, and I'll be honest with you, I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I've been playing(and thoroughly enjoying)Lego Batman on my PS3. As a Batman fan, I LOVE that damn game! First off, you get to play as something like 40 different characters, including(obviously)Batman and Robin, as well as most of the villains in the Batman Universe. For me though, the real fun comes in getting to play as my personal favorite, Nightwing. There's nothing more fun than having the Scarecrow throw fear gas at a bunch of cops and then have Nightwing knock the cops out with a batarang. On top of that, you can create your own character and use them in the game, which is pretty cool. Yep, Lego Batman has been monopolizing what little free time I have left.

-And to be honest, I sure don't have much free time left anymore since school has started back up again this week. In the three days I've been back, I've been loaded with tons of homework! Jeez, usually the professors wait about a week before they start to pile on the homework! Every single class I'm taking this semester has already assigned homework, including a paper due for English tomorrow! So, if my posting seems sporadic or worse than usual(it can get WORSE?!?)blame the barrage of homework I'm dealing with.

-I finally decided to stop collecting Thunderbolts, which was a tough decision... I've collected every single issue of that series, but the team has strayed so far from it's roots, it made my decision a little bit easier. Besides dropping the T-Bolts, I won't be renewing my subscription to the Punisher series, ANY of the Ultimate titles and POSSIBLY the Runaways. I have like 7 issues of the Runaways to catch up on, but that series just hasn't been the same since Brian K. Vaughan left it. Joss Whedon's run really bothered me because of the constant delays. Having to wait 5 months between issues really hurt the flow of this comic for me. Eventually, I'll try to catch up on this series so I can see if I should bother to renew it or not.

-I placed an order for comics this week and was kind of surprised to see the price for Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D #2 to be $4.50... Isn't charging $3.99 enough? Jeez, I guess DC is trying to milk as many pennies from me as they possibly can...

-Speaking of DC, I've always wondered why they seem hesitant to put out as many trade paper backs as Marvel does. That's one good thing about Marvel, they put EVERYTHING in tpb. DC only puts a very select few book in trades, and it usually takes them months/years to put one out. Marvel on the other hand has already put out a trade collecting "Secret Invasion"! That's pretty damn impressive, considering the fact that Secret Invasion only ended 1 month ago. Although DC has definitely gotten alot better when it comes to releasing trades, they are still lagging behind Marvel on this front.

-8pm tomorrow(Friday)on Cartoon Network, Batman: The Brave and the Bold! I know I'll be watching.

-Alright! My 15 minutes are up, which means I can end this post. Before I do go though, I'd ask any readers who have read Final Crisis #6 to give this post and this post a read and tell me what you think about the events that played out in FC #6. Even if you're not planning to read FC #6, give those posts a look, and tell me what you think. Yes, that's right, I just shamelessly plugged my own blog! And with that pitiful act, I'm done!

So, what happens with Batman next?

In this post I'm going to throw out a few thoughts/feelings about what will/could/should happen to Batman in the post Final Crisis DC Universe. Now, I'm going to reference some of the events that took place in Final Crisis #6, so if you don't want to read spoilers about FC #6, you should stop reading right now.

Still here? Good. It APPEARS that DC is going to go through with killing off Bruce Wayne, as evident in FC #6. The cynic inside of me is screaming that Bruce isn't really dead, but after reading FC #6, we are obviously supposed to believe that Darkseid has killed the Dark Knight. So, if DC really did kill off Bruce Wayne, the question becomes who will inherit the mantle of Batman. There are a few choices, but in this post I'm going to talk about the most likely person to become the next Batman, Nightwing(Dick Grayson).

Dick started his career as the first of 4 Robins, and has been a costumed hero since he was about 12 years old, which amounts to more than half his life. So, the crime fighting credentials are there. Dick has worked in Gotham, and is known and trusted by Bruce's inner circle, so there's another plus on his behalf. To be perfectly honest, Dick would be the PERFECT replacement except for 2 glaring facts. The first one would be that he really isn't anything like the Bruce Wayne Batman. Dick is shorter, fights a MUCH more acrobatic style, and tends to wisecrack alot during his fights. I've always likened Nightwing to Spider-Man, in that they both like to crack jokes at the expense of their foes. That's not to say that Dick couldn't pull off the Batman act, but I've never really seen Dick as the same type of personality as Bruce Wayne.

What I mean is that deep down, Bruce Wayne IS Batman. Batman isn't really an act Bruce puts on when he pulls on the cowl, Batman and Bruce Wayne are practically one and the same. This is most evident when you see Bruce interact with people who know him as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. It isn't Bruce who speaks, it's always Batman. On the other hand, deep down at his core, Dick Grayson is still Robin. You can change his outfit, but he is still the fun-loving, thrill-seeking, wisecracking Robin. Nightwing is an act that Dick puts on when he pulls on his mask. Dick Grayson interacts with people in a different way than Nightwing interacts with people. That's the main reason I don't think Dick could pull off a convincing Batman for an extended period of time. At his core, he just isn't the same type of person Bruce Wayne is. While both men are obviously addicted to the thrill of fighting crime, Bruce Wayne fights crime because it is his life's mission, while I feel that Dick fights crime for fun/thrills.

The other reason for me not wanting to see Dick become Batman is a lot more simplistic. Whoever DC/Grant Morrison decides to replace Bruce Wayne with is doomed to fail. Simply put, Bruce Wayne CAN'T be replaced. Eventually, Bruce WILL come back and reclaim the Batman mantle, I can guarantee that. DC has a history of knee-jerk reactions when it comes to Batman, and I think if DC does decide to replace Bruce Wayne, it won't last long. In the 70(?)year history of Batman, there have been very few changes made to the book.

The first major change would be Dick Grayson leaving the Robin mantle behind, and Jason Todd becoming the second Robin. I wasn't even reading comics back then, but a little research into the subject will reveal that Batman fans almost universally HATED Jason Todd. Batfans connected Dick Grayson to Robin, and anyone else in that role was sacrilegious. The fan outrage reached such a fever pitch that DC actually left the fate of Jason Todd in the hands of the Batfans, and the Batfans voted to kill off the Jason Todd Robin in a telephone poll. After that, the more subdued Tim Drake was slowly brought along to become the third Robin. I think the shock of Jason Todd's brutal death(I don't know how that comic was approved by the Comics Code Authority), plus the fact that Tim was more like Dick Grayson is why Tim was embraced by the Batfans, and is still Robin to this day.

Another example of the Batfans steadfast refusal to accept change can be seen when you look back at the Knightfall event of the 1990's. I don't know that DC ever really intended to permanently replace Bruce Wayne with Jean-Paul Valley during this event, but I do remember the outrage of the fans, since by this time I was a regular comic book collector, and read "Wizard" and other comic industry publications on a monthly basis. Looking back on the whole Knightfall story, I think DC was setting Jean-Paul up for a fall from the start, but still, the Batfans were VERY vocal about their objections to anyone other than Bruce Wayne being Batman.

Then there is the saga of Stephanie Brown, AKA Spoiler... Don't even get me started on that. As far as I'm concerned, she was the forth Robin, even though some at DC(Dan DiDio, DC's Executive Editor)have stated that she was never officially Robin, even though she was trained and went out with Bruce dressed in Robin's outfit. Needless to say, a female Robin didn't sit well with many fans, and Stephanie was brutally beaten to death(although she has since returned). The bottom line here is that if Bruce Wayne is replaced as Batman, DC is going to face a mountain of fan outrage and criticism. It's for this reason that I really hope Dick DOESN'T become the next Batman. Whatever character inherits the Batman mantle from Bruce is almost bound to meet an unfortunate end. It's a proven fact that replacements in the Bat Universe don't work(Jason Todd, Spoiler, Jean-Paul Valley), the fans prefer the original.

Now, before I end this post, I'm going to temper everything I just wrote by stating that I REALLY don't think Bruce is going to wind up dead. The fact that DC keeps resurrecting Silver Age heroes(Hal Jordan, Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, etc.)would make killing off Bruce Wayne kind of senseless. How do you explain bringing back Barry Allen to reclaim the Flash mantle, and then replace Bruce Wayne? In the current climate of the DC Universe, where resurrections seem to be the latest craze, killing off Bruce Wayne just wouldn't make much sense. That's why I personally don't think DC will go through with killing off Bruce Wayne. Not only that, but I'd bet good money that by the end of this year, Bruce is once again fighting crime as Batman. I think the most likely scenario is that DC will keep Bruce around in a non-Batman role and allow several pretenders to run around claiming to be the one true Batman(ala the Reign of Supermen storyline from the 90's). I'd guess that in the end, the fake Batmen will do Gotham City more harm than good, and Bruce will step back in and take out the phony Batmen. I could see Bruce asking Dick to step up and fill in for him temporarily, and Dick accepting, but not for long. Eventually, my guess is that when Bruce reclaims the Batman mantle, Dick will don a new costume, since it looks like DC is giving the Nightwing name to some Kryptonian hero over in the Superman books.

So what exactly did we learn from this post? #1, I really devote WAY too much time thinking/posting about comic books and their characters, #2, I REALLY don't want Dick Grayson to claim the Batman mantle, and #3, by this time next year, Bruce Wayne will still be cracking heads as Batman. That's my ideas on the Batman subject, what do you think?

Final Crisis #6(of 7) + a much deeper look into this comic book.

OK, be forewarned, from this point onward there are going to be alot of SPOILERS(I even made the letters bold, so don't say I didn't tell you so!)

Overall- Let's start out with the story, then I'll start to comment on what happened in this comic(I have ALOT to comment on!). We open in the future, where Brainiac 5 is showing Superman a futuristic machine, which the Legion of Super-Heroes had locked away. The machine was locked up because it is able to literally turn a person's thoughts into reality. As Superman begins to fade away, due to the disruption Darkseid has caused to the space-time continuum, Brainiac 5 tells Superman not to touch the machine, but to LOOK at it. Supes stares at the machine before vanishing.

Back in the present, the JLA Watchtower is invaded by the forces of Darkseid, which includes Black Lightning and Green Arrow. Black Canary, the Ray and the Tattooed Man(along with Iris West and Wally's kids)try to stand up to the overwhelming forces, but seem to be fighting a losing battle. When all looks lost, Tattooed Man is able to counter the Anti-Life equation with the pattern he was told to memorize by Black Lightning(I think... I may be wrong on that one...).

Meanwhile, on Earth, the battle continues on several fronts, and it would be nearly impossible for me to recount everything that was happening, because there was a whole lot of fighting going on here! The main point of interest is that the rag-tag group of heroes including Supergirl, Captain Marvel(Freddy Freeman), Black Adam, Red Arrow and the Wildcats(along with a few others)manage to free Mary Marvel from Darkseid's corruption and manage to turn most of Darkseid's forces away.

Mr. Terrific and his group discover that there is a design(the same one Tattooed Man used)that provides protection against the Anti-Life equation. Mr. Terrific ponders this as Darkseid's forces prepare to overwhelm his position. The Question(Renee Montoya)is with the remnants of Checkmate, where telepaths and mystics have gathered in a last desperate attempt to stave off Darkseid's impending victory. Apparently(and once again, I could be WAY off), Checkmate has conceded that Darkseid will win, and they are making plans to move to an alternate universe where Renee will be expected to lead a global peace keeping agency that will be established there to maintain order. Say what?!?!

Lex Luthor and Dr. Sivana secretly plot against Libra at the gallows, where the Calculator was left to hang. As they were talking, Libra and a horde of Darkseid's soldiers approach, and Libra reveals to Lex Luthor that he knows that Lex had been secretly feeding the anti-Darkseid forces information. Sivana touches a hidden device he created, which scrambles the brains of Darkseid's soldiers. Lex then proceeds to unleash a massive blast at Libra , blowing a huge hole through him. Sivana then gives Lex something and tells him that if he speaks into it "they will hear your voice as the voice of Darkseid.".

The Flash's(Barry Allen, Wally West and Jay Garrick)talk, and Barry reveals that he is on the run from the Black Racer, who Wally refers to as the Black Flash. Barry reveals that he and Wally were going to use the Black Racer to move faster then the speed of light in order to reach Darkseid and spoil his plans.

Finally, the main event. The reason I've been dying to get my hands on this comic book. Batman vs. Darkseid. We pick up directly after the events of Batman #682-683. Batman, free from Darkseid's labs searches until he is face to face with Darkseid himself. Batman notices that Darkseid doesn't look very well, before pulling a gun. Batman reveals that the gun has one bullet, the same bullet that Darkseid used to kill Orion, a fellow New God. The bullet in the gun contains Radion, which is toxic to the New Gods. Batman says that although he abhors using guns, he's making a once in a lifetime exception and fires the toxic bullet into Darkseid. As Batman pulls the trigger, Darkseid unleashes his deadly Omega Beams from his eyes and while Batman watches Darkseid fall, Batman is struck by the Omega Beams.

At this moment, Superman appears in the sky, which has turned a crimson red, with the alternate Earth's visible. Superman cuts through Darkseid's forces and burns through the wall of Darkseid's citadel, while the heroes outside watch stunned. Superman emerges from the rubble of Darkseid's fortress, carrying the burned out carcass of Batman in his arms.

Wow... I mean WOW... Where do I even start? This was one of the most action packed comic books I have EVER read. It was just non-stop action from cover to cover. Let's start with the beginning of this comic, the conversation between Superman and Brainiac 5. To me, Brainiac 5 was telling Superman to not just look at the reality warping God Machine, but to look INTO it, meaning, understand its inner workings. To me, the easiest way Grant Morrison can end the Final Crisis storyline is to have Superman and his allies re-create this "God-Machine", and then wish the world back to it's pre-Final Crisis condition. Now, if Morrison goes this route, and Superman uses the God-Machine to alter reality, I can't imagine Supes would allow Batman to remain dead. And let's face it, Batman's death is the main selling point of Final Crisis for most people. With all of the fuss about the death of Bats though, I'm not sure that it would look good to kill Batman off in issue #6, and then resurrect him in issue #7...

But enough about everyone/thing else, this comic book was all about the "death" of Batman(Bruce Wayne). If you are to believe your eyes, Batman is fried by Darkseid's Omega Beams. Superman walks out of the wreckage of Darkseid's fortress, carrying what we are to believe is the corpse of the Batman. Now, this being comic books, we fans are often taught to not believe everything we see/read. Characters "die" all the time, only to later turn up fine. That is why I still won't believe that DC is going to actually pull the trigger and kill off Bruce Wayne. After putting this comic down, my mind was already racing with dozens of ways Bruce could return. The God-Machine could probably do it, it's possible that Darkseid teleported Bruce elsewhere(I know Darkseid can teleport matter with his Omega Beams), and the corpse Superman was holding was a faux-Batman.

The bottom line is, in plain, blunt English, I don't think DC has the balls to kill off Bruce Wayne. Captain America(Steve Rogers)is/was one of my all-time favorite characters. Marvel killed Steve off in a very straight forward way. Steve was gunned down in the middle of the street as he was being led away in handcuffs. There was NOTHING deceptive about Steve's death, he was shot on panel, and we saw him expire ON PANEL. We saw Batman struck by the Omega Beams on panel, but the story moved away after that fateful moment. When next we see Batman, his "corpse" is being carried by Superman. The cynic in me, can just feel that DC has left themselves a loophole to return Batman to life.

Hell, maybe that was it, and Bruce Wayne IS really dead as of this comic book. Maybe DC will try to move on with a Batman who isn't Bruce Wayne. However, I think if there is a huge uproar about a new Batman, DC can always easily explain that Batman was transported to Apokolips by the Omega Beams, and simply move Bruce back into the Batman cowl. You see, although Steve Rogers is/was one of my favorite characters, and a comic book icon, he was no Batman. Yes, every comic book fan knows who Captain America/Steve Rogers is, but ask the average, non-comic book reader who Steve Rogers/Captain America is, and I'll bet you they won't know. Now, ask the same non-comic book reader who Bruce Wayne/Batman is, and I can almost promise you they'll be able to tell you. That's because Batman is one of only 3 comic book characters who have managed to transcend comics. Trust me, I hate to say this, but Bruce Wayne is a much more important character in fiction than Captain America. That is why I don't think DC CAN kill Bruce off. Bruce Wayne and Batman are too strongly connected, the same way Superman and Clark Kent are, which is why the "Death of Superman" event of the 90's was such a monumental failure. Clark Kent IS Superman, not four replacement characters. Peter Parker IS Spider-Man, not Ben Reilly. And Bruce Wayne IS Batman, not Azrael. Replacing Bruce Wayne didn't work in the 1990's, and I honestly don't think it will work in 2009 either.

Damn, I sure wrote ALOT here... I was going to post some other things, like what else I've been reading recently, but this post just ate up an 1 1/2 of my time! I would really love to hear from anyone else who has read this comic, and I'll definitely be looking to see what others are saying about FC #6. For a score, I'm going to give this comic book a 9 1/2 out of 10. In time, depending on what happens to Batman, the score for this comic may wind up being higher, or much lower. But as it is right now, not knowing what the future holds, this comic was nearly perfect.

Media Blackout Time!

OK, I mentioned in an earlier post that as of the end of this post, I will NOT be reading the newspaper, watching any news channels, or even going online. Yes, I am avoiding all things that could potentially spoil the events of Final Crisis #6, which is being released today, Wednesday, January 14. Supposedly, this issue is going to reveal the final fate of Batman, and NOTHING will spoil the events of this comic book for me. Now, checking out the online store I ordered FC #6 from, I'm shocked to discover that my order was shipped 6:30 pm Tuesday night, which means it's possible that I might be able to get my hands on FC #6 today(yes, I paid extra for expedited shipping!). However, until I've read FC #6, I won't be posting anything to my blog...
Yes, I'm upset about not posting anything as well, but after having the events of Captain America #25(Steve Rogers' death)spoiled for me by a news channel a few years back, I'm taking no chances of accidentally hearing or reading about what happens to Batman in FC #6. Once I read FC #6 though, I'll have a full review of it up, so if you too are avoiding spoilers in regard to FC #6, steer clear of my blog until you've read that issue, because I can guarantee, when I post my next post, it will be chock FULL of spoilers. Well, until then, so long.

Final Crisis: Secret Files

Overall- This comic was basically a telling of the life story of the villain Libra, who as anyone reading Final Crisis knows, is one of the main antagonists. We watch Libra grow up from an abused youth to a young man who was willing to do anything to attain his goal of absolute power. In order to reach his goals, Libra unknowingly makes a deal with Darkseid, and attacks the Justice League, many years ago. Libra manages to gain absolute power, after capturing the entire Justice League, but is driven insane by the knowledge that came with his absolute power, and his body dissipates.

Several years later, Libra's body reforms on Apokolips, and he is taken under the wing of Darkseid, who plans to use the knowledge Libra gained in some way that is not revealed. After that, Libra returns to Earth, kills the Martian Manhunter, unites the Secret Society of Villains under his leadership, and ultimately unleashes the Anti-Life Equation on the planet Earth.

For what was basically a glorified origin issue, this was a pretty good read. I don't really care about Libra one way or the other(the guy is basically only Darkseid's lackey), but Len Wein(writer)put together a good story. Nothing really memorable happened, and if you didn't read this comic you wouldn't be missing out on any of the Final Crisis story, but it was a good story nonetheless. For a score I'll give this comic a 7 out of 10. Like I said, this was an OK comic book, but all it really did was recapped the life of Libra and the events of Final Crisis thus far.