It's trying too hard. It's trying too hard to be two different things. The final nail in the coffin, the moment of realization came when I saw Earth 2 Superman's design. It looks cool and all, a little too stylized to work for the Earth 0 Superman, but pretty cool. But it's the worst of the Earth 2 designs, especially considering the description.

I've said a lot of things about the prior Earth 2 designs, good and bad. A Batman who kills kind of guts the entire 'mood' Earth 2 used to convey, and many fans assumed would convey. It was an awesome design, but not an 'Earth 2' design. Supergirl's gave me no strong feelings one way or the other about 'Earth 2', but looked kind of nice. (As a design. The art style was bad.) Robin's gave me exactly what I was expecting to feel from 'Earth 2.'

That said, all of this can be thrown out the window because 'NEW 52!' However, this line of thinking can only go so far. It's been confirmed to include classic JSA characters like Jay Garrick, and Alan Scott. THIS is why Earth 2 WILL go for a certain degree of what it used to be. Jay Garrick and Alan Scott are characters who rely on nostalgia far more than others. When I was a new reader, it took me a while to grow accustomed to them, and actually develop any interest in them whatsoever. Because I KNEW they were relics. They were the outdated prototypes for Wally West, Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner; etc. They're appeal relies on nostalgic value more than their current counterparts. This isn't to say they should be eliminated or that they're not interesting, but its much harder for new readers to latch onto them because they have the newer, more hip and modern versions more readily accessible and out there. Earth 2 is a universe for old fans. There's no two ways around it. Thus, they definitely have to keep a certain degree of nostalgic 'Golden Age' style to it, because Earth 2 is a series for the people who already want it. It isn't meant to reach for new fans as strongly as the rest because of what it is.

So why does this make Superman's design so terrible? He looks too young. He's slim, sleek, hair gelled up, etc. So why is Lois Lane dead? If she was murdered, it's the final nail in the coffin, and it will mean the failure of Earth 2 as a series. Because if Lois was murdered, Bruce is willing to kill, the Amazons are all dead; it means this is a darker and edgier universe. Which would be fine IF IT WASN'T EARTH 2. Because we know we're getting Jay Garrick and Alan Scott and such, Earth 2 already has a bigger hand in the 'old fan' pool then it does the 'new fan' pool. But if its all darker and edgier, a lot of the 'old fan' pool will dry up. I'm willing to give it a shot no matter what; I'm not saying it won't be good if its darker and edgier. The problem is that it wont SELL as well as it should because it's trying too hard to balance nostalgia with new ideas. New readers want new ideas but not the retro characters. Old readers want the retro characters, but not the darker and edgier stuff because it goes against the very core of the retro characters.

Lois being dead could have worked, but Superman would need to look OLD. Gray hair and such; essentially THE SUPERMAN OF EARTH 2 FROM INFINITE CRISIS. Why? BECAUSE LOIS DIED OF OLD AGE. Superman outlived her, but in a world that old fans assume and want Earth 2 to be, this would make Superman more of a wise old 'Morgan Freeman' man, but if she was murdered, he's going to be more brooding and short tempered. He'll have lost his anchor to his humanity. And more importantly, we already have a more brooding Superman over in Earth 1. But this Superman looks FAR too young to have outlived Lois Lane, so the best thing we can hope for is her dying of natural causes.

LONG STORY SHORT: I'm not saying Earth 2 will be 'bad' because of all these darker and edgier things. True it won't be the 'Earth 2' many people want, but it doesn't mean it will automatically be bad just because it isn't exactly what you want. But it DOES mean the series won't have a strong chance at escaping cancellation because its trying too hard to reach for 2 audiences, will alienating both of them at least a bit. James Robinson is great, and he seems like he'd be a great fit for this series. But it wont be able to achieve very strong sales because a lot of old fans won't want to give it a chance, and a lot of new fans I think won't stick with it. I've defended the intelligence of New Readers in the wake of a lot of old fans saying the Multiverse would be hard to understand. But I do think they'll be confused by Earth 2. The premise seems like its leaning more towards the Ultimate Marvel Universe. New Fans will see a very similar and familiar Trinity, but then a radically different Green Lantern and Flash. These two ideas just don't mix well, and there won't be a strong following.

EDIT: Take all of what I said, and tone down the enthusiasm a bit. I don't feel like going into each and every sentence to tweak it to specifically reduce the intensity of my conjectures. The Optimist convinced me of a greater potential. (Not that I ever personally thought the series would definitely be bad.)

@TheOptimist said:

There is a story to be told, apparently one which requires the conflicting ideologies of a more violent tendency within the Justice League that could run in conflict with the more classic portrayal of golden age heroism.

^ Any old fans who doubt the integrity of Earth 2, take a look at this. ^

DC, there had better have been some kind of a mix up...

One OF FOUR?

This was announced as an ongoing wasn't it? Am I crazy? The solicits don't list any of the issues as 'of 4.' The 4th issue doesn't even say its the last. It'd be bad enough to gives us back Batman Beyond after ending it with The New 52 as only a 4 issue miniseries, but to reassure us for MONTHS that it was an ongoing only to reduce it to 4 issues? Not even The Joker is that cruel. I have until wednesday to maintain plausible denial... PLEASE don't let this be true.

EDIT: So I went to my LCS today, and though obviously they weren't selling them yet, they had tomorrow's comics on the counter, ready to put them in boxes for people's pull lists and the shelf; etc.

Long story short, CBR, for whatever reason, had an incorrect image. Still confused at why they're have a picture of the cover screwed up so specifically, but regardless, the actual print copies DO NOT say "1 of 4" they simply say '1'. Batman Beyond Unlimited is still and ongoing.

This is not a game I would've normally bought, and though I've done plenty of comic reviews, I haven't done any video game reviews, ALTHOUGH, I'm as deeply engaged in video games as I am in comics. This happened to be a happy medium. Also, more importantly, my girlfriend got it, and she likes to watch me play video games as opposed to playing them herself. Most of the time.
So here I am, playing a game I had kind of assumed would be a worthless half-assed tie-in game. And it kind of is. But it also kind of isn't. Because dammit I enjoyed myself. Although the lacking in proper production is obvious.
 
Gameplay: Well.... the gameplay is, for the most part, shamelessly ripped off from God of War, and honestly, there's no shame in that. God of War had the most elegant and satisfying combat of just about any video game ever made. Green Lantern doesn't TOTALLY get it right, but the general feel is there, and it made the combat fun enough. Plus there's a nice variety of abilities, although aside from the ones nessecary for puzzles, you'll likely only pick a small few of them you like.... though at the same time, I think its easy to find fun in discovering which abilities suit your playstyle the best. Ok, so I take it back, that's a positive. Hardcore Green Lantern fans might notice the fact that Hal is given several abilites FAR more suited to other lanterns like Kyle's mecha armor and Guy's baseball bat, but it's a tie-in to the movie.  
Oh, and there's also a few Starfox-riped-off flying levels. These feel like a much cheaper imitation of the superior game than the God of War combat. Visuals in the flying levels don't have a great perspective, so it's frequently hard to tell what's going on. There's also very little depth, so just about everything tends to look like it's the wrong distance from the screen.
 
Level Design: The levels themselves, LOOK nice. Along with the gameplay, the creators clearly took some of the environment design from God of War. The Temple of Knowledge on Zamaron looks amazing. There's just two major problems. One is that the levels are broken up into tiny segments that require cutscene jumps to navigate between. This makes the game feel smaller, since it's not really an open world, just a series of platforms. God of War was very clearly linear, but it never felt that way. Rise of the Manhunters feels more awkwardly linear than a rail shooter. The second problem is similar, but it's that they didn't make things convoluted enough. God of War games always have short plots that feel incredibly long while in progress due to the impressive complexity of the levels. They're linear, but so amazingly sprawling. No backtrack or loop around or side journey EVER feels forced or drwan out. Rise of the Manhunters doesn't even attempt this. The game just plows straight through the story with barely ANY side tracking. Sidetracking is something almost vital to an action-adventure game of this genre, it's what gives you the real 'meat' of the game. ROTM just... completely misses it. It forgot that its a video game, and its trying to be a movie. There are a few puzzles with some very clever design though.
 
Plot: The game is very short. The plot feels pretty rushed. It's something that could fit into maybe a three issue arc. Well, I guess the PLOT doesn't feel rushed, everything moves along at a nice pace, it's just that it takes only about 10 minutes to realize the game's going to be over in about 6 hours. Pretty much every big plot twist will be seen coming MILES away by a dedicated fan, BUT on the plus side, it's a GREAT introduction to a LOT of deeper concepts of the moder GL universe for people who only saw the film. They get a full scope of the Manhunters, more development of the idea of Yellow Fear Energy, a look at Zamaron brushing up against the idea of the Star Sapphires, and even a little tinge of Blue Hope. I enjoyed the plot for the most part. It was fairly simplistic and predictable, but not altogether terrible.
 
Voice Acting: Sinestro clearly wasn't the same actor as in the movie. It was painfully obvious. Whoevere they had filling in for him was not too bad, but again, this IS the movie tie in. Kilowog did a fine job, and the Manhunters were pretty great, but I'm really disappointed in Ryan Reynolds' performance. Many of the most vital lines in the game felt incredibly half assed. Like when he was declaring the manhunters would pay if they killed Kilowog... but there wasn't any emotion in it. I was most impressed with whoever was Queen Aga'po. She seemed like she knew what she was doing.

There's also a Co-Op mode, but that feels stupidly phoned in. Trying to keep both characters on screen in a chore, especially with how limiting it gets. Invisible walls get enacted so the players can;t be too far from each other. The second player is forced to be Sinestro, but the plot never gives any justification for it. There were frequent glitches in the second player's stuff in general. A few times the health bar was invisible, an aquired ability was suddenly locked and impossible to unlock despite it still being in the abilites quene to use, etc. Also, the second player can come in or out at any time, and will instantly have the same abilities unlocked, experience, and health EXACTLY the same as the first player. It just feels so phoned in. They could've made the second player someone like Tomar-Tu or someone who ISN'T still in the plot. But the biggest problem with the second player is that the screen keeps the characters small to accomodate both of them, but makes it hard to tell them apart.Sure Sinestro has pink skin and Hal is flesh colored, but they're both 90% green, and when they're as small as they are, a tiny dot over their heads doesn't always help.
And speaking of glitches, the game definitely has a few overt ones, and they become more noticable later. The second to last boss can be rendered temporarily unbeateable if you screw up the right way, and the camerawork in that same boss fight is an absolute nightmare. It also is not too difficult to completely screw up the background in the second to last level, making you start a section over again.

But finally, the game is just too easy. Combat gives you a ton of great abilities, and a ton of weak enemies. Even with the glitches and the terrible perspective in the flying sections, NOTHING really poses any kind of challenge. Though I've only played though the second hardest difficulty. But something tells me the hardest wont' be too challenging either. I was able to beat the game on Normal, and obtain 90% of the trophies, all in about 6-8 hours. And my girlfriend was playing co-op which, due to the difficulties in the design of the co-op, made things take LONGER than they would've solo. Though it did make things easier, since no matter who dies, the other keeps going solo for all of 8 seconds until a respawn. We only both died ONCE, and that was when a glitch rendered a boss unbeatable.
 
IN CONCLUSION
Is it a bad game? Not really. Is it worth buying it? Absolutely NOT. If you're a Green Lantern fan, you almost definitely WILL enjoy it... not a pun. Moving on! Play this with a friend new to the mythos. Give them some more info on  the GL universe on their own. But don't buy it, you'll be done in haf a day. Compeltely done. But do give it a try, because it is quite fun to snipe manhunters using jets as bullets.
 
FINAL SCORE: 3/5

Ok, so, I just HAVE to say, that I'm super excited about the upcoming T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents miniseries. Nick Spencer's going to keep writing, and his previous T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents was simply phenomenal. Although, considering its continuing his run, I was REALLY hoping it would be an ongoing series. But, you win some you lose some.
 
My main point is this, as much as I think it's always better when series have the same cover artist as interior artist, there are exceptions. The first few covers of the previous Green Arrow series, Men of War, Batman Beyond, Justice League: Generation Lost; etc. Plenty of series have covers that form good counterparts to the interior art. A rarer case is when you constantly change cover artists. I have no piror exposure to We Craig's art, but I have to say, the lineup for the covers for the upcoming T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is nothing short of PHENOMENAL. We start off with the consistently great Andy Kubert, doing one of his best covers ever, then we get a wide range of amazing and more unique artists. Frazer Irving, Dustin Nguyen, Rafael Albequerque!? This is easily the best use of rotating cover artists I've ever seen. The covers for this series all look amazing and incredibly varied. They say not to judge a book by its cover but come on! A: People ALWAYS do, B: a comic cover is something to grab the reader, and C: GOD DAMN ARE THOSE SOME AMAZING COVERS.
 
Yeah this was probably a useless blog post but hey! It's a blog. It's my thoughts. And I just HAD to gush over the amazing covers for T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. It makes me wonder why DC would cancel a series, then bring it back right away only as a miniseries when they're willing to give such top notch artists for the covers. And they aren't just phoning it in, they did some great work on these covers! Maybe it's a thin ray of hope at the chance of renewing T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents for an ongoing after the miniseries? Please buy this people, you will not be disappointed.

Amanda Waller is hands down the single worst redesign of the entire 52. How many female characters in comics are skinny and attractive? How many are heavy and robust? How many are heavy, robust, and POPULAR? AMANDA FUCKING WALLER. THE WALL. You can't take The Wall out of Amanda Waller, or you're just left with Amanda Er. As in, errr, who the hell is this useless unintimidating government administrator bitch? Certain ain't no Amanda Waller I know. Seriously, whoever designed this atrocity or even approved of this bullshit needs to be sacked. Immediately. I'm dead serious. Red Hood may have made Starfire into a walking blob of sex, ditto for Godiva in JLI; but THIS is a bigger contribution to the negative objectification of women in comic books. Taking a popular and damn well respected figure who happened to be heavy (And was indeed defined by her epic weight and uniqueness) and making her a skinny sexy cardboard cutout. FUCK YOU DC. 
  

Disclaimer: I have to give credit to Rixec for mentioning this in their JLI #1 review, thus opening my eyes to this insane Easter Egg. The mysterious hooded woman from Flashpoint #5 who told Barry about the rejoining of the 3 universe makes cameos in every single #1 so far in the relaunch. I'm assuming it'll continue for the rest of the new #1's and we'll see if she keeps showing up in the #2's and beyond. And what about the miniseries' too? Anyways, keep an eye out for her. She usually has a redish glow, and generally appears in crowd scenes.

The following is technically spoilers as I will identify her locations.

Action Comics #1 Page 26, Panel 3

Animal Man #1 Page 12, Panel 2

Batgirl #1 Page 19, Panel 5

Batwing #1 Page 17, Panel 1

Detective Comics #1 Page 15, Panel 6?

Green Arrow #1 Page 8, Panel 1

Hawk and Dove #1 Page 19, Panel 1

Justice League #1 Page 18, Panel 2

Justice League International #1 Page 8, Panel 2

Men of War #1 Page 17, Panel 4

O.M.A.C. #1 Page 6, Panel 4

Static Shock #1 Page 15, Panel 1

Stormwatch #1 Page 15, Panel 1

Swamp Thing #1 Page 5, Panel 3

WEEK TWO

Batman and Robin #1 Page 17, Panel 4

Batwoman #1 Page 16, Panel 1

Demon Knights #1 Page 7, Panel 1

Deathstroke #1 Page 1, Panel 3

Frankenstein Agent of SHADE #1 Page 18, Panel 1

Green Lantern #1 Page 12, Panel 4

Grifter #1 Page 13, Panel 3

Legion Lost #1 Page 10, Panel 1

Mister Terrific #1 Page 4, Panel 2

Red Lanterns #1 Page 17, Panel 1

Resurrection Man #1 Page 15, Panel 6

Suicide Squad #1 Page 4, Panel 2

Superboy #1 Page 19, Panel 1

Some thoughts. In Batman and Robin she was in plain view of the public, still in her trench coat at a pool. She likely has some cloaking ability or else she'd be very conspicuous there. Same goes for Demon Knights where she was wearing modern clothing in a medieval world.

In Grifter she was definitely floating.

Red Lanterns she appeared with no current main characters nearby, at least, no former or current Red Lanterns.

The appearance that has bothered me the most is Resurrection Man. It was interesting to see she had clawlike fingers, but she was just WAY too obvious, if I didn't know better I'd DEFINITELY mistake her for something directly relating to the plot of the series rather than the full DCU.

As DC's titles are all coming to a close to prepare for the relaunch, I've been observing people's thoughts on the ends of various series, and coming up with my own. I thought I'd sort of make a blog about how each final issue impacted me. (Aside from the ones I didn't read.) Some spoilers follow, I'm trying to avoid major ones, but each of these is meant mostly for people who read the issues.
 
PRIOR TO AUGUST
-Green Lantern: Green Lantern is a pretty perfect not-quite-final final issue. As my good friend Slikcuts said about Batman: The Return, it is the turn in a Mobius Strip. Green Lantern is still going the same way, building upon everything Johns has been doing since 2005's GL: Rebirth. But the status quo has been significantly altered, giving readers a good point to jump on the bandwagon. I feel certain that the new series will recap the past 6 years, hopefully without too much overt exposition, but this volume of Green Lantern went out with a serious bang, and the perfect kind of bang that represents a transition between 2 series that are mostly the same. Similar to the end of the Justice League animated series before it became Justice League Unlimited. It was an epic climax with shocking twists that invited new readers to jump in when #1 comes without doing any disservice to those who've been loyal the whole run. 
EDIT: After rereading this blog post, I have to take back part of what I said. This wasn't the turn itself on the Mobius Strip, it was the last part right BEFORE. And the new #1 will be the first part AFTER the turn. The turn in the Mobius Strip is in fact War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath.
 
-Doom Patrol: This was a casualty of Flashpoint, but I count it here since it would've apparently ended soon anyways. Doom Patrol was unfortunately rushed into a slapdash ending to a story that it spent it's entire run building up to, but Giffen managed to do a great job with it. Using Ambush Bug to lampshade his situation was a brilliant move that didn't leave me feeling too cheated out of a final battle, and there still was a satisfying fight between the Doom Patrol and their current mortal enemies the Front Men. Giffen pulled out all the stops he could even left us with a little treat in the end as a nice challenge for the next writer to take up the Doom Patrol mantle. 
 
-Outsiders: A series that started off so well, and then rode a rocket downhill at mach 4. Luckily we had Philip Tan back on art for the finale, and a pretty poignant retrospect of the Outsiders history. Cameos were made by almost EVERY OUTSIDER THERE EVER WAS. Some of it felt a bit forced, but overall it worked pretty well. Some of the story elements that had been utterly ruined were patched up a bit, and some new stuff was set off for the Outsider's future. It's unfortunate that readers were forced to endure some pretty terrible dreg to get to the end, but anyone who read this series from beginning to end should be satisfied with the finale. 
 
WEEK ONE 
-Batman Beyond: This is one of those series that isn't 'really' ending. Even more so than Green Lantern, Batman Beyond gives a sense that the only effect of the relaunch is a renumbering. As a 'final issue' it's pretty lackluster. Expanding on the history of a major villain who didn't really need too much expansion, and really only telling us 'her backstory is sad,' without much of a real reason for presenting it to us. It does touch upon a minor twist from the end of the miniseries, so in a way both recent Batman Beyonds end with the cameo of the same new character, which is sort of neat, but it's very obvious that this isn't really a 'final' issue at all. Just a pointless little hiccup in the numbering. 
 
-Secret Six: What a wild 3 year ride this series has been. Gail Simone seems to have been caught in a bit of a corner, bigger than some others, but still. This arc probably could've been better with another issue or few. But Simone goes big as big can get here, getting to the root of what has made her series great, her characters. All of them are forced to confront everything that's happened to them from the moment this series began, and they realize what truly defines them. Simone has taken a couple of mostly minor faces in the DCU and completely turned them around into a group of likable terrible people. Even though this finale is probably sooner than Simone might've wanted, in some ways it feels like the one that was planned from the start. And its even got a fantastic twist at the end that turns things completely around. All in all a fantastic bittersweet ending to this excellent series. 
 
WEEK TWO 
-Batgirl: Everything in the second year of Batgirl was leading up to this. A defining story in Stephanie Brown's superhero career. Nearly half the issue was hallucinations, but they were BRILLIANT. And unique, and I like the way they stuck the Black Mercy in every dream. After the big climax, the heartwarming reunions, and the emotional revelations; having the dreams set after all this gives them a perfect 'last issue montage' feel. Even Damian gives her a salute from out the window. And as the dust settles we get one of the greatest 'the fight is never over' moments. All in all this was a PERFECT final issue to this series. It tugged at my heartstrings mightily, and anyone who's been following this series will feel very satisfied. The only problem is that it still hasn't given any indication of how or why the transition between Batgirl's is occurring. If anything it just makes it seem like Stephanie Brown is going to continue being Batgirl. Still, the impact overshadows this minor gnawing flaw. 
 
-Batman and Robin: I said pretty much all that can be said in my review, but to summarize; When Morrison was writing B&R, the series was moving in one solid direction broken up into arcs, after Morrison the series was made up of random disconnected arcs by different creative teams. Thus having an ending with a huge bang wasn't exactly something feasible, nor would it be 'right' for this series at this point. Thus having an ending that is a perfect representation of Dada in themes and tone, begging you not to take it seriously is in fact the PERFECT ending for what the series is now, and is one of my favorite issues of any comic despite some minor hiccups. And DC needs to make a Nightrunner ongoing by David Hine. 
  
-Birds of Prey: [COMING SOON] 

-Booster Gold: Mostly it's just a conclusion to Booster Gold's tie-in to Flashpoint, which was fairly interesting, and pretty unique in this series, but not a big climactic ending. All it really did in the end was come full circle to Time Masters: Vanishing Point. Sort of. There's no greater sense of resolution, but Vanishing Point was like that too. A weird string of barely connected adventures while searching for Batman, but the same as the usual Booster Gold faire. And Booster tries for about the 10 freaking time to break the rules of time travel, this time for a girl he only just met. Whatever. Sure it was kind of unique since Hunter and Skeets were gone, but Booster's done this before. His series has ALWAYS been about being in the 'real' earth with time screwed up. Flashpoint is fairly unique for an event, but for Booster Gold this is 'the usual.' And the end ties it back into Vanishing Point, whose uselessness I had forgotten about until this reminded me. The Giffen/DeMattihis run had a WAY better conclusion to the series. I kind of wish this was just it's own miniseries so that he main series would've had a more satisfying finale. But my biggest pet peeve is that THERE'S STILL NO RESOLUTION TO BLACK BEETLE! He's been the biggest recurring baddie for this entire series. Is his storyline just being completely dropped? Black Beetle was AWESOME! And we still have no idea who he is! He's an awesome mystery! But sadly I don't know that we'll ever see him again in the new DCU. One of the more lackluster final issue when it's judged as a final issue. Perfectly decent on its own.
 
-Detective Comics: Scott Snyder brings everything he's been building in Detective Comics to a close, and everything is tie together in a neat bow. There's a superb degree of symbolism and metaphors representing the full circle of Dick Grayson's journey in this run. As well as Babs and Commissioner Gordon. But some of the ways things tie together kind of feel forced. And the ambiguous ending is something very overused, and this issue clearly represents why it doesn't always work. If the end is suggesting that James succeeded, then the city of Gotham is SERIOUSLY BEYOND SCREWED. This is one of those situations where ambiguity is not allowed, because the negative outcome is RIDICULOUSLY bad. Except, actually is it? He made the anti-anti-psychotics and possibly put them in the medicine for the babies? But he didn't taint all of it forever, and it's not like the pills permanently change people, right? I don't think they ever said it would. But even if they did it shouldn't, because pils don't worj that way. That's why you have to KEEP TAKING THEM. And sure it was an amazing run, possibly one of the best in the series, but it doesn't exactly scream 'FINAL ISSUE OF DETECTIVE COMICS.' It's a fine ending to Snyder's run, but not a great ending to the whole series.
 
-Red Robin: This week was a pretty good week for endings. I read this right before Batgirl and both were immensely satisfying as endings, yet left too open ended to fit the relaunch. Both ended leaving me feeling warm and fuzzy, yet sad that these character's likely won't be the same as I've come to know and love come September; without any explanation in the series' themselves. Red Robin took the series back to it's roots. I'm not too familiar with Tim Pre-Red Robin, but this issue took him full circle back to being a darker Robin than his predecessors (when they were Robin.) It sounds bad but it worked. The Tim i saw here was very much the same Tim Ra's Al Ghul took an interest in. Tim is right on the line, but he's not ready to cross them. Yet if he looks inside himself, he sees a self that is willing to cross those lines, and he's not afraid. I'm not saying I see Tim going all Punisher one day, But I can see him choosing to 'make an exception' where Bruce wouldn't, sending him on a downward spiral, slowly decreasing the limits of what is an appropriate 'exception.' In the end, Tim continued to show us why he isn't quite like any other member of the Bat Family, and how he's also like all of them. A great bitterweet ending. 
 
-T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents: Like Batman Beyond, this is much less of a final issue than most, because it's picking up right where it left off no changes. It just seems that the renumbering is mandatory, which is weird and obnoxious for titles like these 2. The art for the main story when downhill the past few issues, and this one went even worse, and the overall story wasn't advanced all that much. It was the conclusion to the second arc, with some cool stuff, but not really a 'final' issue. But it isn't really that anyways so whatever. 
 
WEEK THREE 
-Batman: It tries to do what Detective Comics didn't and end such a long running prominent series with a retrospective look upon itself. It just doesn't work right. And trips up on itself by focusing the wrong direction. Sure it's a giant retrospective look at the long history of..... ROBIN. Was this comic called Robin? Or even Batman and Robin? NO. It's BATMAN. And it just kind of tells us everything we already know. It feels like it's trying to appeal to new readers. But this is exactly the last issue BEFORE the ones meant to appeal to new readers. It should be a treat for long time fans. Something more like #700 would've been FAR more appropriate for the 'final issue.' This was just a mediocre look at the wrong character. There was a fun twist at the end, but overall it was mediocre. It tried to jump through all the right hoops, but tripped over itself far too many times to come out looking respectable. I felt like it was talking down to me the whole time. Giving me the barest of information summarizing the careers of the 5 Robins. I gave my non-comic reading parents more info on the Robins witout them getting bored when they asked about them. 
 
-Green Lantern Corps: There were some neat stories about very influential members of the corps, but it mostly felt like it was rehashing old stories. For Boodika we got reminded of her history and who she is by having it narrated straight to us. Kyle gets harassed for being an Earthman. Yawn. The best story involved Salaak, Voz, and Ry'Jll. It  dug down and really showed that just because the Lanterns were brainwashed, doesn't mean there can't be severe emotional toll on them as a whole. I honestly think that this War has done one of the best jobs with the whole 'brainwashed/controlled' plot to still be respectable. Just because they were forced to fight, doesn't mean it can't cause deep emotional scars, and this is well shown. And actually it does a good job in the end at strengthening the ideals of the Corps. They don't have to like the Guardians the be Green Lanterns. They don't fight for the Guardians, they fight for the Corps. And this issue hammered that point home well. As an issue it's not exactly fantastic, but as a final issue, it's actually pretty great. 
 
-Justice League of America: This one does some weird things. It has the characters retrospect on adventures that happened between the last arc and now. I'll admit, they all seem like super epic adventures worthy of JLA, but it makes everything feel wrong somehow. Like Robinson took his ideas for future arcs, and then just stuck them in here. There's a weirdness with time, and having tales told about these huge scale stories as standard conversation just feel off. But the whole team gives insight to the contributions of the others, and introspects into their own lives. And this JLA disassembles amicably. It works well as a final issue, but like Corps didn't wow me as an issue. Plus it's in JLA we get Dick talking about returning to the role of Nightwing? This is really not the place to have such major developments. And something doesn't quite ring right about his logic. 
 
-Titans: From the change until now, Titans has been running one long-term big game story. And it all comes to a big close. The characters have come a long way, and the fact that this is basically a new series but with the same name and numbering is actually kind of worked into the story in this final issue. It manages to properly conclude the big major story of the second version of the title, while being a proper conclusion to both versions as a whole. 
 
-Zatanna: A completely standard one-shot story issue. No kind of 'final issue' vibe whatsoever. It just makes me sad to see it go, but doesn't do anything to signify the end. It's just an issue. One of the worst 'Final Issues' if it's judged strictly as a final issue.  
 
WEEK FOUR 

-Action Comics: I can say that the Reign of Doomsdays arc feels VERY rushed. I think Paul Cornell had a lot planned out, probably to be longer more like The Black Ring, but the relaunch forced him to cram all his plot elements in here, making this finale very rushed and confusing. However, he does an excellent job at getting to the core of who Superman is, and what he stands for. He manages to give this series of over 900 issue a very subtly satisfying finale. It also forms an interesting parallel to the Detective Comics Finale. Both ended the long recent run of one creator, but AC focused on wrapping up the elements of Superman and giving the series a send off, while DC focused more on wrapping up the story of the run. DC was a better issue, AC was a better 'final issue.'

-Gotham City Sirens: Definitely one of the best 'final issues.' it drew back across the entire series, taking the beginning and viewing it in a new light. It got down into the core of the series itself and gave us a nice retrospect into the very depths of the soul of this series.

-Green Arrow : A good end to the arc, but a decent end to the series. Somewhere right smack dab in the middle of Dramatic Send-Off and Nothing's Changing. Green Arrow is an honorary U.S. Marshal? Weird, but so much of the last few pages was a good end to this GA series. Not the greatest, but pretty damn fine considering this was just a filler arc to kill 3 issues.

-Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors : A completely standard one-shot story issue. No kind of 'final issue' vibe whatsoever. It just makes me sad to see it go, but doesn't do anything to signify the end. It's just an issue. One of the worst 'Final Issues' if it's judged strictly as a final issue. Although I do absolutely LOVE the final scene. Guy Gardner incarnate.

-Teen Titans : Pretty epic finale really. Lot's of great cameos, some fantastically heartwarming post-battle moments and reunions. It just DOESNT. EXPLAIN. A GODDMAN. THING. But I'm cutting it come slack because A: It was coooooool. B: Series is ending and it's continuity is getting totally screwed over so what the hell just do it. C: LOOK AT THAT SHIT THE NEW TEEN TITNAS IS! LOOK AT SUPERBOY'S TAPED ON CAPE. WHAT THE HELL LOBDELL? Final posters are pretty awesome. One of the very best 'Final Issues.'

-Xombi: DON'T LEAVE MEEEEEEEE! Also, AMAZING. Amazing issue. Amazing end to the story arc. Amazing final issue. Of everything on this list, Xombi #6 achieved Perfection in the require criteria. Congrats John Rozum, you've just won a Milestone Award for Best Final Issue. (Obvious, yet strangely deep on multiple levels, pun. Still though. Best.)

Some of the older (early 90's mostly) comics I'm attempting to collect. Since I only really got started reading comics about 2 years ago (Though I'm already REALLY well versed in the DCU and have read plenty of the older material.)

Doom Patrol

My Greatest Adventure #80-85

Doom Patrol (Vol. 1) #86-124

Doom Patrol (Vol. 2) #5-18, 78-87

Doom Patrol (Vol. 3) #13-19

Doom Patrol (Vol. 4) #6-16, 18 (Yeah, I know this one is pretty bad, but I want it for the sake of completion.)

Outsiders

Batman and the Outsiders (Vol. 1) #21-23, 31, Annual #2

Outsiders Special #1

Adventures of the Outsiders #34-38

The Outsiders (Vol. 1) #1-20, 24-28, Annual #1

The Outsiders (Vol. 2) #4-5, 8-19, 21-26

The Outsiders (Vol. 3) #27, 34-50*, Annual #1*

Outsiders: Five of a Kind*

DC One Million

Nightwing #1,000,000

Power of SHAZAM #1,000,000

Young Justice #1,000,000

Legionnaires #1,000,000

Superboy #1,000,000

Aquaman #1,000,000

Wonder Woman #1,000,000

Chase #1,000,000

Creeper #1,000,000

Adventure of Superman #1,000,000

Resurrection Man #1,000,000

Chronos #1,000,000

DC One Million #4

Lobo #1,000,000

Hitman #1,000,000

Legion of Super-Heroes #1,000,000

DC One Million 80-Page Giant #1

Hourman #11-13

Milestone

Xombi (Vol. 1) #6, 8-12 14-21

Shadow Cabinet #14-17

Hardware #19, 29-50

Kobalt #6-16

The World Needs Heroes #1-6

Wise Son: The White Wolf #1-4

Deathwish #1-4

Long Hot Summer #1-3

My Name is Holocaust #1-3

Worlds Collide #1

Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory

Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #2

Seven Soldiers: The Guardian #1, 3

Seven Soldiers: Zatanna #1-4

Seven Soldiers: Bulleteer #2-3

Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #4

Seven Soldiers of Victory #1

Knightfall

Batman: Vengeance of Bane

Batman #484-490, 496, 501, 509-510

Detective Comics #654-658, 672-674, 676-677

Justice League Task Force #5-6

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #62-63

Robin #1, 7-9

Batman: Shadow of the Bat #29-30

Catwoman #7, 12-13

Showcase '94 #10

Other

Killer7 #2-3

Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham #1-3

Azrael #15-16, 22-46, Annual #3

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #47-72, 86, 89-91, 96-100

Booster Gold (Vol. 1) #1-4, 6-14, 17-25

Blue Beetle (Vol. 6) #1-19, 21-22

Blue Beetle (Vol. 7) #1-36

Martian Manhunter (Vol. 2) #3, 6-31, 33-36

Martian Manhunter (Vol. 3) #4-8

*In Trade

I love how people want the movies to be exactly like the comics. *Rolls Eyes* 
 
They took the core elements of the Green Lantern mythos, and sewed something new and original from it. Why do you want to see a rehashing of the same stories you already know? Take bits and pieces of those old stories and make something new. Movies 2 and 3 should NOT be Sinestro Corps War and Blackest Night respectively. Don't shoehorn in the Antimatter Universe or the Blackest Night prophecy or the entire emotional spectrum. Star Sapphire and the original Predator could work. Atrocitus could work, but the Blue Lantern Corps, most of the Red Lantern Corps, and ESPECIALLY the Indigo Tribe could NOT fit into a movie, even if there's more than a trilogy. 
 
By all means, have Sinestro recruit a few more lanterns for his coup, but keep him as the only one with an actual Yellow Ring! That's why he would be a credible villain. Keep the focus in space, give more screen time to Kilowog and Tomar-Re, maybe a select few others and have them participate in the final battle with Sinestro's Squad. Put some emphasis on Hal's distance from Carol while he's in space. Set up Star Sapphire for the third movie. 
 
Have Star Sapphire in the third movie, maybe don't let Hal know it's Carol at first. Put in The Predator. Free Carol. 
 
THEN for a fourth OR instead for the third would be when Hal could start getting into the darker side of the corps. Bring in Atrocitus. He's just broken free from the Sciencells. Who is this mysterious baddie? What's that he's saying about the Guardians? Hal investigates. Hal uncovers the secrets of the Manhunters and the massacre of Sector 666. 3 or 4 movies in, now that Hal is in tune with the corps is the right time to have him gain doubts, not from the very beginning. 
 
ALTERNATIVELY Larfleeze could be used. Greedy being from the forbidden sectors storms across the universe to satiate his hunger. Although actually since he has an army of his constructs he could be the biggest of the movie villains yet, and potential for a 5th film if the others all go through. Or even just an alternative idea for the 3rd or 4th. The point is, Sinestro Corps is just too big for the second movie. Sinestro and a potential coup? That works. Even the Red Lantern Corps wouldn't be great for a movie. Atrocitus would be more credible mostly solo, especially if it worked out the way I suggested. But they should try to set him up on his own, try not to go too Red Lantern or else people will say it's too much like Sinestro, just another color to fight. The Predator works differently, and Larfleeze technically does too, so it works better. And out of all of those, Larfleeze would be the biggest threat. 
 
Finally, NO NO NO NO NO to Emerald Twilight. Yes, Emerald Twilight was epic and awesome. But this movie is trying to appeal to a mainstream audience to bring them in. Mainstream would not accept their big commendable superhero doing such a huge 180…. 
Scratch that, it MIGHT work. ONLY if Atrocitus AND Larfleeze get movies, because THEN Hal would have sufficient enough disgust for the Guardians for such a path to be even conceivable for him. That would be a good way to introduce a new lantern of Earth, probably Kyle. But A LOT of the story would have to be changed, but it MIGHT work.