Who'd Like A Cocktail? #136

Something tells me the Challengers of the Unknown aren't taking things seriously any more

Sunday! Comics! Bullet points! Ah, you know the drill by now . . .

• FLASHPOINT: GREEN ARROW INDUSTRIES #1 - the thing that struck me about this one-shot was the distinct paucity of Green Arrow's enemies. In the world of Flashpoint, Ollie is the head of Green Arrow Industries which specialises in taking super villain weaponry and replicating them for military contracts. After being attacked by a bunch of raiders, Ollie tracks the lone survivor after arming himself with the weapons of Flash's Rogues Gallery. Despite that, it's not a bad issue at all.
• FLASPOINT: HAL JORDAN #1 - aside from not being Green Lantern, the Flashpoint Hal Jordan seems to have changed the least: still a test pilot, still trying to date Carol Ferris, still the reckless idiot. And then Abin Sur turns up. Chances of Jordan being Green Lantern in a couple of issues? I'd say they're very good.
• FLASHPOINT: PROJECT SUPERMAN #1 - this was good: one average soldier being turned into a superhero by the American military, becoming disconnected from humanity and starting to lose control. The parallels between Subject Zero and Dr Manhattan go deeper than the black body suit and the blue eyes and I'm keen to see where this goes.
• FLASHPOINT: THE CANTERBURY CRICKET #1 - tell me something: is the Canterbury Cricket meant to be some sort of fan-favourite breakout character from Flashpoint? I seem to have sensed a lot of anticipation about this character but, in this one shot, it seems unfounded. Is it meant to be a pastiche or taken seriously? A confused mess, all in all.
• FLASHPOINT: THE LEGION OF DOOM #1 - you lot may have had this a couple of weeks ago but it turned up late in my buy pile. Despite my thoughts that the Flashpoint Heat Wave was going to be a woman it turns out to be dear old Mick Rory as usual in a tale that's fairly bog-standard until the last page reveal which is done very nicely.
• GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS #11 - this appears to be a done in one tale of an alien attempting to steal Guy's ring and failing. It was okay but nothing special.
• JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #52 - there's basically two stories here: first Mr Terrific addresses his failing intellect, finding out who did it and why but not, crucially, how to reverse it. Second, the Flash calls in the Challengers of the Unknown to open the huge door beneath Monument Point to discover an enormous city hidden away. Typically, just as Guggenheim's run on this title has been picking up over the last few issues, it's going to disappear in the DC relaunch which is a shame.
• JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 80-PAGE GIANT 2011 #1 - but before it disappears, DC'll crank out another 80-page giant. As with all these anthologies it's a bit hit and miss but none of the stories within are terrible, Guiding The Gifted featuring Jesse Quick being probably the best of them, though Duty, Honor, Country manages to overcome Howard Chaykin's art and tell a good tale, too.
• TAROT WITH OF THE BLACK ROSE VOL 9 - I've absolutely nothing against Jim Balent's predilection for drawing buxom wenches either nude or wearing so little as to make no difference. I don't really mind his very heavy-handed philosophising about how hard it is to be a witch. What I would like, though, is a coherent story, something with a plot that moves forward and allows the characters to grow. I'm not saying that this has been evident in previous volumes of Tarot..., just that its absence in this one is more pronounced. I think I may have finally given up on these collections.

And what made me smile:

Nothing more need be said!