Beware Contains Spoilers from The Flash: Rebirth
Ok, so for me Blackest Night has been the event the year so far, but I'm choosing an underdog for the second best. First of all, I am a huge fan of Geoff Johns. His past run (No pun intended) with Wally West as the Flash has always been one of my all time favorite storylines (especially Rogue War). Ethan Van Sciver is also one of the top players in my book, his work in Green Lantern never ceases to amaze me. So when we saw that these two legends would be bringing Barry Allen back at the conclusion of Final Crisis Aftermath: Rogue's Revenge in The Flash: Rebirth, I was syched. At first the series started out pretty slow and I wasn't liking the changes in continuity, but the promising storyline and return of a hero among heroes kept me hooked. This really starts to get interesting when we see that the Black Flash has been killed and from there the hits keep coming from every direction. The return of Barry Allen, Savitar, Lady Flash, and Johnny Quick all crumble to dust after touching Barry, Barry starts turning into the new Black Flash, Barry's accident that turned him into the Flash also created the Speed Force, the return of Professor Zoom, and of course what has made this series all worth it for me thus far...........................The escape of Max Mercury from the Speed Force back to the world of the living. This series is really picking up with two issues left. I can't wait to see what happens to our favorite speedsters and what lasting effects this will have on all the people surrounding them. The Flash: Rebirth is the front runner for the silver  medal so far.......  What do you guys think? Have you read it? Are you planning on reading it? What are your thoughts?

 

   BEWARE: THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM BLACKEST NIGHT #2 
 

   

   My dad's favorite superhero is Aquaman and for as long as I can remember I always made fun of him for it. I was never a huge fan of Aquaman, I always considered him to be a limited character, only useful if the JLA had a problem in the oceans or if the sink was broken. I always thought his powers were lame, he was talking to fish, riding seahorses, swimming fast, and throwing water balls, while Green Lantern could construct virtually anything using his ring and Batman was the best Crimefighter known to man. And as if cutting of his hand and replacing it with a hook (or later ugh....a mystical water hand), or changing his apperance to make him look edgier would make him any more popular among fans, it didn't. The point is, Aquaman has been the subject of countless jokes for a long time. But, as of Blackest Night #2, I stand a humbled man. When Arthur Curry is resurrected as a Black Lantern, the reader gets a frightening glimpse into the full extent of aquaman's powers. We now see that he can control sea life maliciously just as well as he could use them to save lives. After seeing him use a school of sharks, eels, and squids to ravage a platoon of atlantean soldiers, you no longer feel like its ok to consider him the black sheep of the JLA. So after a long time, I along with many others, finally feel it's time to give Aquaman the respect he deserves. He was a fantastic hero and unfortunatley, a deadly villain. My apologies Aquaman.         

The more I think about, the more I feel sorry for Jason Todd's character and the situation he has been put in. He very well might be the most tragic tale in the DC Universe.

When we first meet Jason Todd, he is a lowly street urchin in Gotham City fighting to survive. One night he came across the batmobile and decided to steal it's tires, but didn't get very far because its owner had arrived. Batman took pity on the boy realizing his situation. He was alone, completley and utterly alone. With the recent loss of Dick Grayson as Robin, Batman saw an oppurtunity to rehabilitate and watch after the troubled youth. Batman dubbed Jason the second Robin, telling him it was a desicion he wasn't making lightly.

 For once in his life Jason had something good going for him, fighting along side Gotham's Caped Crusader. Unfortunatley, the good times wouldn't last. On multiple occassions, Jason's teenage angst and aggression got under Bruce's skin and caused problems between the Dynamic Duo. What would become his last adventure as Robin The Boy Wonder, seemed promising for the youth. Jason discovered the whereabouts of his biological mother and he travels to Africa to reunite with her. Unfortunatley, his mother is a pawn in one of the Joker's grand schemes. His mother betrays him to the Joker, who proceeds to beat the boy to the edge of death with a crowbar. The Joker then blows up the building Jason and his mother are in, killing the second Boy Wonder. Batman is sent into a deep depression and forever onward considers jason his greatest failure. He wanted to help the boy, save him from the harsh life on the streets and ultimatley failed both jason and himself.
 During the 'Hush Arc', Jason Todd has returned from the dead from an altering reality and the help of Ra's al ghul's lazarus pits. Jason is distraught to see that his death has not been avenged and the Joker has not been made to pay for his crimes. After this Jason goes through a series of other identities including the Red Hood and a dark and murderous Nightwing. He commits notorius crimes in these guises and beats the Joker with a crowbar, just as he did so many years ago. During Countdown to Final Crisis, it appears as if the returned Jason has had a change of heart.

He becomes the Red Robin and works with other heroes to find Ray Palmer. For awhile he seems to have returned to the just side of the law, but once again it is short lived.  

After Batman's death in Final Crisis, the Batman Family is trying to decide Batman's legacy and Gotham City is in shambles. During this time a malicious gun-slinging Batman appears in Gotham killing off the criminals plauging the streets and taunting the Batman Family. He explains Batman feared that one day Jason would become his enemy, but those were never his intentions. Instead he only dreamed of replacing Bruce and that time was now, revealing himself as Jason. Since Nightwing won't take up the legacy of Bruce or deal with the growing threat of Jason has become, Tim Drake (The Third Robin) decides to go after him himself. He follows Jason to his own makeshift Batcave deep in the ruins of a destroyed subway station. A vicious battle ensues with Tim savagely beating Jason with a crowbar and then Jason ending the battle by stabbing Tim in the chest with a batarang. Nightwing finally goes after Jason and confronts him in his 'batcave'. During their battle, Nightwing replays Bruce's final message to jason. Bruce tells jason how he still considers him his greater failure and pleads for him to get the help he needs. This only angers Jason more and their battle leads to the top of a moving train. Nightwing kicks jason off the train who at the last minute grabs hold of the side of a bridge. Nightwing pleads for Jason to give him his hand and tells him he can still reform. Jason refuses and lets go of his grip, plunging into the water below. he hasn't been seen since.


Jason has been alone most of his life and everytime something seems to be going well for him it ends in tragedy.
So do you agree? disagree? why? why not?

In Batman Battle for the Cowl an old face returns to Gotham City, but who is under the mask?

With Batman absent, terror has filled the streets of Gotham. Two-Face and The Penguin are in the midst of a bloody and violent turf war that is leaving the city in shambles. In the wake of it all, a new Black Mask arrives on the scene and releases arkham imates being transfered from Blackgate. He then proceeds to blow Arkham Asylum to smithereens and forcing the newly released prisoners into serving him. Firefly, The Scarecrow, Killer Croc. Poison Ivy, Jane Doe, Mr. Zaasz, and Great White Shark are among Black Mask's new "army" and have been injected with potentially fatal chemicals demanding their loyalty.

 Black Mask wants control of the city and works to destroy both Two-Face's gang and The Penguin's operations without bringing any attention to himself. He has his "army" steal a supply of weapons being delivered to Two-Face under the guise that its the work of The Penguin. He continues by having Jane Doe kill the new District Attorney, who tells Commisioner Gordon it was ordered by Two-Face. At the same time Black Mask has all the goverment buildings in the city blown up, making it look once again as if it is the work of Two-Face. These acts bring the full force of the National Guard down on Gotham City and a major manhunt begins for Two-Face. Black Mask looks over the burning Gotham in triumph (Picture to the left). He has the city in his grasp, becoming the most powerful force in Gotham's underworld.

So who is under the mask? Is it an old rouge taking up a new identity? Is it a new character all together?

What do you guys think?

I have one simple question: Where is the Joker?




The last time any of us saw the Joker he was run off the road into the river by damien in Batman R.I.P. So where is he? You would think that during the most drastic turn of events for Gotham City, the Batman Family, and the rouges of arkham, Joker would be in the middle of it all. Joker would undoubtley notice that the recentley returned  Batman is not his old arch-nemesis and he would be one of the most affected by it. Bruce was the ying to Joker's yang, the Joker lived to terrorize him. His response to what has happened to batman is vital to his character's future in Gotham. So why have we seen nothing of him? What happened to Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime?

Your thoughts...