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Hopefully, it'll blow his mind.
Thoughts on Book 2, again, rough and tumble. All shuffled together as I start my second read-through:
1. Adam Strange as paranoid schizophrenic. I can see this being an inspiration for Adam's more recent depiction (at the beginning of Planet Heist, but how often has this angle been thrown on him? Other than the Journey into Mystery Julie Schartwz comic.
2. An explanation of Batman & Superman's fight, finally, along with Batman's changed costume and new sidekick. I like his rationale for things, the hint that his modus operandi has changed (there needs to be more light, essentially), and I like Batman's interactions with Superman, the obvious friendship and underlying machinations they've put in motion - to be spurred on, further, by Wonder Woman's words to Superman. I still think, of the three of them, Diana is presented as the most complex and honest of the three of them, but ultimately their part in this is as Superman's Parents, pushing him past their interpersonal conflict and driving him to be less a tool and more an active individual. Shedding the Bishop Six alias to become someone...more.
3. J'onn and Hal are very clearly the stars of the show - they have the most well-developed character arcs. I thought that the way Hal reveals himself in the end was a bit complicated, but I did like that he resisted using the ring as anything more than an aid for his flying saucer thingee. J'onn's interactions with Faraday held a lot of strength in them, and I love the moment where he breaks through Faraday's illusions about himself and the Alien Other.
4. June Robbins and the Challengers! June's presented as very playful, which I enjoyed a lot; she clearly had the brains and the wit, and a unique appearence what with all the saucy brunettes running around (Lois, and Carol).
5. The absence of the JSA struck me - this is as much about their absence as it is about the presence of the Silver Age heroes; we're told as much when the mystical types muse on the fact that the JSA just hung up their masks and walked away. They've forfeited the right to intervene. That scene with the mystical heroes - Billy Batson, Doc Fate, Spectre, Zatanna, and the Phantom Stranger - was a lot of fun but ultimately felt like the obligatory "why don't the big guns help?" moments. I liked it, but only because it was a much better version of the similar scene in Alan Davis' JLA: The Nail #3, where the Spectre's the one intervening.
6. Barry Allen's less prevalent in this volume but he still steals the show for me - Cooke's portrayal of his superspeed and the way he writes Barry feels smart, beautiful, and cunning. He's allowed to be hotheaded in a way that isn't traditionally associated with him, but we're given motivation - Iris. She's very much a background player in this, obviously, but she's written with a lot of punch and heart. I would love to read a series by Cooke focused on Lois, Iris, Carol, maybe Steve Trevor, though - without the heroes in front of them. In Volume 1, the page where Flash goes out to look all over Vegas for Captain Cold's cryogenic bombs is par excellence with regard to how Cooke shows the Flash. An earlier double page spread with Barry running across country is similarly brilliant, and I love the narration about vibrating his molecules at that speed to avoid bugs and telephone poles and things.
7. The resulting end battle, as mentioned upthread, degenerates quickly and it was hard to follow on first reading. It felt like it was needlessly complicated, just to fit everyone in. I assume Nathaniel Adam will pop up again sometime in this world's future. How Hal reveals himself as the new Green Lantern - well. It was a bit awkward, but I like that it gave him more of a reason to come out of the skintights closet, into the open. I was a bit frustrated that nobody seemed to remember Alan Scott as GL, other than a voiceover bubble referring to him by secret ID - did no one remember him?
8. The John Henry sequences. I think the best one was the scene with him hiding in the shed, and the little girl finds him, and you have this long pause where you think, maybe there's going to be some sort of saccahrine moment, but it turns to ash in your mouth. Right up against the news program about John Henry. Interesting dichotomy, I like that it showed the utter despair and injustice but gave some hope for the developing Silver Age.
9. Aquaman, the Blackhawks - they all seemed a bit thrown in at the last minute, ditto the Sea Devils. Nice to see them included, but was it necessary?
10. I really don't think I could have dealt with Hal calling Ace Morgan his "Big Daddy" much more.  |
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