Batman: Time and the Batman HC

Grant Morrison is one insane dude. I’m not sure what the point of these stories actually was, but it’s a weird mix.

The lead story is a fun one taking place in three time periods. Morrison has a neat approach to give the spotlight to Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in their separate identities of Batman. Time travel stories can be quite fun when they are put together right and this one works well. I’m not sure I totally get the doctor’s actions, but the story is pretty dramatic and fun.

The next few issues cover missing time from the close of Batman RIP to Final Crisis. The issues are enjoyable and filled with Morrison’s trademark madness, but why were these chapters not released in order? Remember how a lot of us were always saying it felt like were only getting part of the story? Well, this is one of the missing pieces that would have helped with that!

Tony Daniel handles a lot of the art, and he remains adequate. I’m not a big fan of his work, it can get a bit sketchy and sometimes his characters don’t look like they are actually interacting, just glowering. His faces have a tendency to look the same too.

Fair

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #6

Matthew Sturges brings the series home in a solid manner. After months and months, I'm finally ok with the idea that the best the JLA can send after the Human Flame is John Stewart, Firestorm, and Red Tornado. Red Tornado never really had much of a voice here; he was very generic sounding in his interaction with the other characters. Sturges did a much better job with Stewart, Firestorm, and the Flame himself. The Human Flame is such a jerk that it is wonderful seeing him get taken down. Having the Flame increase in size until he can't move is a genius resolution. The Flame never thought about making himself smaller, which would have freed him. He always wanted to be bigger and better, so this poetic justice ending for his run is wonderful.

I loved the closing scene with the JLA'ers flying away from the Flame's space-cell. After trapping the Flame in an asteroid, John Stewart takes a moment to fly back, rub the Flame's face in defeat, and snap a picture. Just like what the Flame did to Martian Manhunter in Final Crisis. Human Flame is obsessed with his rep and being viewed as a powerful guy, so circulating that picture will humiliate him. Strong ending from Sturges. This ended up being the only Final Crisis Aftermath book I saw through to the end, and it was an enjoyable story.

Freddie Williams III has that great cartoony style that is just realistic enough for me to like his work. Everyone is a bit bubbly-looking, but the bright colors really set the tone of the art. Everything "looks" nice and comic-y.

Good

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #2-5

I'm not sure anything planted in this series will ever impact the greater DCU, which is interesting considering this is a Final Crisis tie-in, and that was a line-wide event. The other problem is that Joe Casey still hasn't convinced me that I should like any of the Super Young Team. In fact, the coolest characters in the issues I've read are the Big Science Team. They are the senior Japanese hero squad, and they're pretty interesting. I would have preferred 6 issues about these guys than the fairly vapid Most Excellent Super Bat and his doofballs. I understand the purpose of this series is having the SYT graduate from frauds to heroes, but I just don't care to see most of them make the switch. I think the Aquazon and possibly the little alcoholic fairy-gal could fit in other places in the DCU, but I can't even remember the names of the speedster or Lantern Boy.

Rising Sun has morphed from a sad old has-been issue in issue 1 to a full-on villain in these two issues. It seems his Mind is no longer his own. That's a nice surprise appearance from a classic DCU villain. I'm actually surprised they'd have that villain show up here after his last appearance in 52. As always there are some great moments of Joe Casey dialogue that really make me want to like this. Casey's high-concept nonsense is as wonderful as it always is, but my lack of connection to the characters is killing my interest.

The art is wildly inconsistent. Chris Cross has been bouncing on and off the title, and his chapters are the strongest, of course. It seems like these Aftermath books are an afterthought to DC. This should have been held until Cross and Casey could have done the whole series and at least the top-notch creative team would be a draw for readers.

Average

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #3

This is the last Final Crisis series standing for me, as I'm not picking up any more of the others. Matt Sturges is winning me over with his crazy pacing and great dialogue. I don't like Human Flame any more than I have in previous issues, but Sturges is so good at dealing with all the surrounding characters that I can't help but get caught up in the action. The Human Flame isn't interested in being a pawn of Immortus, and so he of course busts loose from the gang of losers he was forced to join last issue. Before that happens, there is a great battle sequence with the losers going up against the US Army. Condiment King yelling out mustard-related threats and Imposter in the uniform of another branch of the service were one thing, but Clayface's appearance was awesome. Clayface was a bruising force of nature. It was great watching him mock and threaten the Flame. The high point of the issue is actually when the Army is carting Clayface away and he yells back to the JLAers "See you around Losers! Tell Human Flame I said to eat it!" That casual jerkiness is missing in way too many bad guys these days! I liked Angel Dust too, she's a generic looking character but her manic dialogue was quite fun.

Freddie Williams III has that nice cartoony style that is working well on parts of the story, especially the JLA and the more "heroic" aspects of the book. I'm not sure if the Flame is supposed to be out of shape or not in his new form, since he looks buff but thinks about how he is out of shape.

Good

Final Crisis: Escape #2

Ok, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. This second issue is filled with the same nonsense and non-plot that made up the first issue. We don't know anything more than we did when we started. Nemesis is still waking up confused and seeing Amada Waller. There are a ton of cameos of DCU spy-types who I hope can escape from this story pretty quickly, because they could be appearing in much better comics than this one. There are still no clues as to who is running Electric City (at least that I can discern). I'm not even sure that anything we've seen is really happening. There is barely a narrative going through the book, so there really isn't anything to recap.

There is a place for this type of story, and I can see what writer Ivan Brandon is going for. I loved A Scanner Darkly, Donnie Darko, Adaptation; all identity-bending stories. But this is just a load of nonsense. After two issues, we should know something. I will not make the mistake of figuring out what is happening. I'm out. I hope all these spies are back to normal in their next DCU appearances.

Marco Rudy's figures are ok, I suppose, but the art is confusing throughout. Are the men being pulled up from the glowing circle supposed to be younger and older versions of Nemesis? I couldn't tell if I should recognize them or what.

Poor

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #2

Hmm. I'm not sure I like where this is going. Matthew Sturges is doing some really neat stuff in this book. My favorite part is actually the small bits we get with John Stewart and Firestorm as they track the Human Flame. Forget founding a spin-off JLA, these two are actually going after the guy responsible for Martian Manhunter's death. Frankly, I would like to see a lot more of this type of thing with heroes going after the real culprit. There isn't much of that, but what we get is nicely done. The Human Flame is still a piece of garbage, but he's awful enough that I am interested in seeing where he ends up. He tosses some guard-corgi's out of a high-rise apartment this issue, fulfilling his despicable act quotient, but DC wimped out and had them land in a pool. I suppose it is easier to see humans die than animals in most cases though. The Flame ends up meeting up with a band of villains who offer to increase his powers. After a graphic, disgusting operation, the Human Flame can now shoot fire from his palms, under his tongue, and of course he still has his flame nipples. It seems he's also buffed up and tougher looking, which is the element I'm not sure I like. What made the Flame stand out was how much of a loser he is. Now that he actually has powers, he is kind of becoming a normal villain. However, right now his flame powers are agonizing to use, so perhaps he won't be a normal villain after all.

Freddie Williams III has that neat cartoony style that works well with super heroes. I liked his loser villain team, how they ALMOST look threatening, but not quite. That's a hard balance to strike. The operation sequence was surprisingly graphic. But hey, I guess comics aren't for kids anyway, right?

Fair

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1

Let me start by saying I'm a big Joe Casey fan. But after reading the first issue of Dance, I feel like I've seen this before. I'm amazed how similar this feels to the most recent launch of Youngblood. The supporting cast PR men, the pre-fab HQ and fanbases, even some of the dialogue seemed very similar. I don't think that many people read Youngblood, but I picked up every issue Casey did and really liked it. I know the story won't be concluded, so maybe Casey is getting to handle that kind of story here in the DCU, but still... it feels so familiar. As far as the leads, other than Most Excellent Super Bat, I haven't really been won over by anyone yet. The characters are interesting even while they are unlikable, but I'm not sure these guys count as heroes at all. And since I come to comics for a heroic fix, I don't know if there is enough here to keep me coming back. The series is well-written and the dialogue does sparkle in places, and I loved the bit with the tiny flying gal looking for Japan from their space station, it was a nice moment from someone who's suddenly in a very different place in life than she's used to. But the overall tone is so familiar.

Chris Cross is one of my favorite artists but he's a little more restrained here than I'm used to. I loved his work so much on the comedy-tinged Captain Marvel series that I think he's the right choice for the series' sensibilities, but I'm not sure if I love his take on the Super Young Team's oddball costumes.

Fair

Final Crisis Aftermath: Escape #1

Well, this was kind of a load of hot nonsense, wasn't it? I have never seen The Prisoner, which I understand this story is supposed to be based on, so maybe I'm missing the point. But when I read this I found there was a lot of nonsensical art, no real forward narrative, and odd characterization. In fact, based on part one, I fear this is going to do damage to the characters involved (like Amanda Waller and Cameron Chase). I had been kind of excited to read this book since the Electric City location mentioned in the previews sounded like it could be neat. I like the idea of a secret prison. But in an attempt to be mind-bending, the art just ends up with a lot of swirling unrelated images. I, of course, like the inclusion of OMAC pleasure bots, but when that is the highlight of an issue? That's not going to cut it with me. The heavy handed narration is kind of tough to read too. "Tom Tresser is awake." It is like it wants to be noir, but instead jumps over to pretentious. I'm not sure I've read enough of Ivan Brandon's work to really know if this is his baby or if it is from editorial, but this wasn't so hot.

Marco Rudy's art is confusing. The psychadelic pages are so out there I find myself having a hard time figuring out what's happening. His figure work on the actual cast is fine, but I really found myself lost in the storytelling. I'll be sitting out the rest of this one.

Poor

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run #1

The big question for me is: Can Matt Sturges make me care about the Human Flame, the annoying villain who killed my favorite DC character? The answer is yes. Because the Flame is such a unrepentant jerk that there is no way to like him. He hurts or betrays everyone who crosses his path. He's a selfish idiot, and I can't wait to see him get what he deserves. There are a few heroes here when John Stewart and Firestorm show up, but for the most part, we're all villains all the time. In fact, so far, the Flame is the only meta villain in the hunt, although I expect that will change. I'm not convinced this is a story that really needs to be told, because I don't care about reading the next issue, however, Sturges is a strong enough writer to make the exercise entertaining.

Freddie Williams does a bang-up job with the Flame. He's repulsive in his hospital robe and ridiculous in his villain outfit. I do wonder if Williams drew the wrong Firestorm though. Isn't Jason Rusch black? And I'm pretty sure he's never met the Martian Manhunter too, so I don't understand why he's holding a personal grudge against the Flame.

I'm not sure I care enough to see what happens next issue due to my apathy about the main character, but at least it is well put together.

Fair

Final Crisis: Revelations #5

Please tell me how this related to Final Crisis in any way. Nothing that happened in this comic had anything to do with the greater story in Final Crisis. We had a classic DCU villain wrecked when Vandal Savage turned into the ridiculous Cain. We had the Spectre split from his host then re-connected. We had the Question (new one) wrapped up in a spiritual battle that is certainly not where the character seems to work best. We had a kind of silly new character called the Radiant introduced as God's spirit of peace or forgiveness. I just don't see the point of this series at all. Huntress was in this last issue, but she was pretty unrecognizable from the character I liked so much in Birds of Prey. Question's tough gal dialogue in the face of overwhelming odds was decent, but Cain's part in this was awful. He turned out to not really have any power at all, and all we've lost is a good villain. As a tie-in, this was a failure too, as nothing Question did here had anything to do with how she acted in Final Crisis.

Philip Tan's art is dynamic, but pretty unclear in places.

Poor

Final Crisis #7

Well. I've been posting about this book all over the interwebs, but here's the main deal. This story is a failure as a narrative. It certainly had some wonderful dialogue, some fantastic art, great ideas, and neat plot twists. But the story does not hold up. If Final Crisis were the alphabet, it would have been A, C, J, K, M, D, E, X, Z. So basically, out of order and missing a lot of pieces. There is too much that doesn't make sense for this comic to be considered a success. There are too many glaring plot problems. I'm totally unclear on the resolution and current status of most of the key players. In the spirit of Final Crisis, here's a list of my first thoughts and questions in no particular order:

• Is 1/2 of Earth 0's population now on Earth 51: the new Kirby-verse?
  
• But much of the survivors remained on Earth 0, correct?
  
• Now Checkmate moved as a whole to 51, so they live there now, but a lot of heroes died while trying to get there. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Mr. Terrific, Black Canary, and Green Arrow died in this issue?
  
• If they were remade by Superman's wishing machine, then did he bring back other people who died like Martian Manhunter or Blue Beetle?
  
• Did Fire, Ice, Sasha Bordeux and most of Checkmate die in FC: Resist?
  
• What did Rage of the Red Lanterns have to do with this comic?
• Why were the Monitors in this story? Did Nix Uotan remake the universe or did Superman?
  
• How were some characters shown to be in two different places in consecutive panels (like Supergirl was)?
• So everyone knows about the Multiverse now. What does that accomplish? Are we rebooted to pre-Crisis continuity?
• How can the DCU ever seem at all like the "real" world now that the general population is aware of the multiverse?
• I love the idea of Batman in caveman times, but which Earth is he on? Does it matter?
• Can Booster Gold still travel between these universes? I wouldn't ask, except that's pretty core to his character, isn't it?
• So the New Gods are reborn on Earth 51, but no Orion or Darkseid. At least, we see Orion's astro harness and a white flower, so I figure he's dead, and the Black Flash/Racer got Darkseid, so they are both out of it?
• I love the idea of Earth-Kirby, fantastic.
• Did the rocketship of items from the JLA watchtower arrive in Batman's cave?
  
• If those items are in the cave, does that mean they could not be re-created when Superman remade the universe?
• Does it make a difference if a character died and was remade or if they survived? It seemed like a few people made it through (Supergirl, Power Girl, Frankenstein, Kid Devil, Blue Devil, etc.)
  

This comic is a mess that leaves a greater mess behind. I'm furious that this experiment in story-telling cost me my favorite DCU hero: Martian Manhunter. I am fine with this type of storytelling in a fringe book, but as a tentpole for the entire DCU that sets the direction of the line, this is a failure.

Doug Mahnke's art in this last issue is fantastic, I wonder how great the whole series would have been if he had been the artist from the start?

I really wanted to give this issue a Fair or Average rating, but I can't. I stated that an Average comic is put together professionally and competently, and for all its great ideas, this comic is not put together in a professional fashion. Please comment people, this is one that would make for great discussion.

Poor