Wonder Woman 1, 2; The Flash 4; All-Star Superman 5

Today's DC time. Yesterday I filled up on Marvel, now it's time to dash back into DC.

I actually consider myself a DC fan moreso than a Marvel fan, so I'm admitting my biases up front. Wonder Woman is my current favorite character in DC. Batman is numero dos. I'm an avowed Superman hater. Just plain don't like him.

With that said:

Wonder Woman 1 and 2
by Alan Heinberg, Terry Dodson
Honestly it was Greg Rucka's run that made me fall in love with Wonder Woman. I read his run in trades, and absolutely loved the balance of action, politics, and just general angst. So crisis happened. Diana justifiably killed Maxwell Lord. Everyone gave her a hard time about it, and so she has disappeared, leaving the Wonder Woman mantle to Donna Troy, her sister. And these books written by Alan Heinberg start off there in the whole One Year Later relaunch shindig.

Right now this is a book with a huge identity crisis(pun not intended). And I know Heinberg realizes it because he keeps throwing in that title "Who is Wonder Woman?" This book could go in any number of directions. It could be about Donna Troy trying to fill Dianna's boots. Diana as a secret agent trying to continue to fight crime. Diana as some sort of Clark Kent dual persona thing. Or it could just devolve back into the same character we all know and love, and pretty much continue down the path it was already on, just with the minor annoyance of the whole crisis/one year later shindig.

For my money the track that is working the best and has the bulk of my interest is Donna Troy as Wonder Woman. I like to see her struggling to get out of Diana's shadow and actually live up to the ideals of Wonder Woman. I don't know. Is it wrong to like Heinberg's Donna Troy more than his Diana?

I think this is a decent relaunch title. I think it's a good starting point for someone looking to jump in to Wonder Woman, because you don't really have to know as much about the history of Diana. Heinberg does a good job of catching you up. I don't know though. It's not amazing. I've certainly read a lot of better books. But I'm such a fan of Wonder Woman that it really just has to be decent, and this book is. So it's definitely a book I plan to keep up on.

The Flash #4
by I'm doing us both a favor
Awful.
Terrible.
Burning this book would be a waste of good fire.
The artwork somehow manages to look both weird and cliched.
The writing makes the art work look like Frank Quitley.
Why oh why does this book suck so bad?
What have you bastards done to my flash?
I've got no beef with Bart Allen. I think he'll do fine as The Flash.
But this book is just stupid.

All-Star Superman 5
by Grant Morison, Frank Quitely
Clark Kent goes to visit Luthor in jail, and hilarity ensues. Kent bumbles his way through stopping a prison riot, and saving Luthor's life multiple times, while Luthor babbles on about his obsession with superman.

The book is fuggin' brilliant.

Quitely's art is so perfect to look at. And Morrison is laugh out loud funny. This book has a kind of golden age innocence to it that is just infectious. After reading this book, I love comics more.

With that said. This book has a massive tinge of saddness running through the background.

Superman is dying, and his knowledge of this fact, and the things he does in what he knows are his final days, make the character. I usually hate Superman because he feels so blank. But morrison, while staying true to the character, has embedded a working pathos for this book. We can have our fun, and still feel like something serious is happening.

For my money this is the best thing DC is putting out right now. Every issue gets better.

Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are beautiful for making this book.

This is a book that you will pick up when it comes out as a trade. But it also works great as a monthly. This is the kind of book that if you plan to have children, you owe it to them to read. Because after you read it, your genetics and breeding stock will be improved. It's just that good. So think of the children, read All-Star Superman....shave a whale.