As most of the comic reading world knows, DC Comics has recently decided to reboot their entire line of mainstream comics books and make their characters more modern and accessible to the current audience. This all began with the FLASHPOINT mini-series that put The Flash into an alternate reality-one where Thomas Wayne was the Batman and the world was on the verge of being torn apart by a war between Aquaman's undersea forces and Wonder Woman's amazon army. With the end of that series, The Flash sees three different timelines and a mysterious hooded figure who tells him that three timelines need to be reunited to combat a mysterious evil. As a result, the DC, Vertigo, and WildStorm universes merge to create was is now known as the DCnU.
Following the conclusion of this mini-series, DC ended publication of all it's core books, including such time honored and long running titles as ACTION COMICS, DETECTIVE COMICS and WONDER WOMAN. All DC titles were renumbered and relaunched with new #1 issues. The new continuity featured new outfits and revised history for many heroes and villains. DC editors Eddie Berganza and Bob Harras refer to this as a "soft reboot", with many classic stories remaining intact including BRIGHTEST DAY, IDENTITY CRISIS, THE KILLING JOKE, BLACKEST NIGHT and A DEATH IN THE FAMILY. Among the major changes were alterations in Superman's history(he never married Lois Lane, is a bachelor and The Kents have passed away), turning Booster Gold into a Canadian, the rolling of the Wildstorm Universe into the DCnU and the fact that superheroes only began to appear in the DC Universe five years ago, meaning most of DC's 70 plus years of continuity were swept away. Much of Batman's continuity remains intact with there being only one Batman(Bruce Wayne), one Robin(his son Damien) and Barbara Gordon, paralyzed by the incident in KILLING JOKE, returning to her career as Batgirl. The Green Lantern line is also not affected, following events that transpired in "War of the Green Lanterns".
On August 31, DC released FLASHPOINT #5 and it's flagship book, JUSTICE LEAGUE #1.The book, by Geoff Johns, Jim Lee and Scott Williams, begins five years ago with the Gotham police taking target practice at Batman and a strange extraterrestrial creature. In the midst of the battle, Green Lantern arrives to introduce himself and lend a hand.They track the creature underground and discover what those long term comic fans once would call a Mother Box. The creature activates it, screams "For Darkseid" and proceeds to explode. The Box is left unharmed.Meanwhile, star football player Vic Stone, who comic fans know became Cyborg,is running up numbers and looking forward to the state finals. Batman and Green Lantern end up in Metropolis, certainly not the city we know and love. In fact, they land at a demolition site with a sign reading "Lexcorp"-Building the City of Tomorrow Today". Before Green Lantern can even spout off much more than a couple of lines of dialogue, he finds himself laid out by Superman, complete with new Kryptonian styled suit. Thus ends issue #1.
Well, not long after this hit the stands, the firestorm began from fans. So just how bad is it?
It's a mess...
I had such high hopes for this book, being that all of the Justice League related titled represent the core of the New 52. The dialogue is old school corny and not in a good way. Green Lantern has become the embodiment of everything the Ryan Reynolds movie character had become. He spouts lines like "Green Lantern's got this", "Dark Side. What's that? A band?" and how the Space Sector is his "beat", he outdoes himself when he learns that Batman has no super powers and exclaims: "you're not just some guy in a bat costume, are you? Are you freaking kidding me?" His Hal Jordan bravado has been replaced by juvenile lines and the angst of a teenager. Batman is no better. He may be the brooding Dark Knight but, in his spiffy new costume(must EVERYONE wear body armor now), he just comes off as...well, a guy in a bat costume.And the once and future Cyborg making a cameo just sets him up for his origin and becoming a part of this new team.
The book is a solid 20 minute read at best-the perfect time, to refer to an old John byrne line, to sit on the toilet and kill some time. The artwok is typical Jim Lee which is clean and all flash. It looks like an Image book and reads like one. And I have no problem with revising history. After all, I really enjoyed SMALLVILLE and that show made major changes into the Superman mythos. But the whole change in characterization and costumes has left me cold. For this to be the documentation of the first meeting of two of the architects of the DC Universe is pretty embarrassing.
While I will probably read the first five issue arc, just to see how Johns puts this monumental team together, I don't see myself in for the long haul. It is not representative of the great DC superhero team...and I suffered through some of the JLA's lean years(remember Gypsy?). This is nothing but fluff with no substance.
By the way, the mysterious figure from FLASHPOINT #5? Well, that person appears in all of the New 52 books. Who is it? Internet speculation has been running rampant with everyone from The Time Trapper to Pariah being predicted. Look for our mysterious visitor in the stands during Vic Stone's football game.
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