Flashpoint

I was trolling around my local library (I've only been in town a few months and haven't had time to really explore the tiny library they have here) and I stumbled upon their little baby graphic novel section. BUT STILL. They have grpahic novels here. I can go back to reading comic books without buying them! Woo! AND the librarian that checked me out, when I mentioned how excited I was to find their graphic novel section (even if it's only a shelf long), she told me that in the next month or so they're supposed to be getting a lot more. I'M SO EXCITED! I got a stack of books and of those I'm going to be posting about this one:

 

Why is Andy Kubert so good at drawing things?

I didn't know how I was going to feel about this because this is the comic they used to launch the new 52 and we all know that I'm still coming to terms with what the new 52 has done to my comic book life (TIM DRAKE WHYYYYYYYY) but, surprisingly, I really enjoyed this comic/graphic novel/trade/whatever. Maybe that's because it was all about Barry Allen who holds a very small but very special place in my heart. And the focus was kind of (not really but kind of) on Batman, and you know I love that.

So the basic concept for FLASHPOINT is that time has been altered so the Flash wakes up in a world in which Superman never existed (kind of), the Flash is no more and Aquaman and Wonder Woman are tearing the world apart as they fight a dangerous war against each other. Barry (who doesn't have his Flash powers) teams up with Batman and Cyborg (and the SHAZAM! kids, which is an idea I love) to try to save the world/fix the altered time stream. Oh, and he does get his powers back, eventually.

It is fun for no man. Except Batman. Maybe.

I really liked the story, the tiny little references Jones and Co. included for the reader. Like those to Hal and Lois. Plus Kubert's art is BEYOND AMAZING. Seriously. Andy Kubert is so good. I think God made his hands to draw the Flash. No joke.

In the end, I really did enjoy this comic. In fact, I probably like this more than what most of the new 52 is doing. That's just wrong. And a little sad. Especially that weird thing at the end when Flash is running and he sees, like, three different timelines. One of them is the one we've had recently (note that Batman is wearing the kind of lame "lit up" bat-symbol) and another is clearly the new 52 one (see the costume Superman's rocking, his Kryptonian "battle armor"). I just wish we would have ended up in the first time line I mentioned. I hate the lit up bat-symbol but I miss the way Superman once was.

My only hangup is with the treatment of Bruce/Batman in the last little bit. It's a very touching scene between him and the Flash (I loved by the way when Flash said Bruce was/is one of his closest friends. Too cute!) but I can't help but feel it's a little too out of character for Bruce. Also, does Barry remember the way the world would be before this episode into the messed up future/world thing? I mean, does he remember all the things that happened in the DCU before the new 52? Before it was five years old or whatever. You get what I mean? Care to shed any light, friends?

Look, look with your glowing red eyes.

Is this an Arrow recap?

Currently watching Arrow. Convinced more than ever that mysterious blond woman is China White. Or just an evil white/blond assassin of doom. Not impressed by Oliver's attempt at doing a Batman voice. The Green Arrow I know and love doesn't try to sound gruff and intense. He comes off sounded like he's bad at acting. That thing at the beginning with the fan blades and the dude's face: Oh, hello, Bruce, I didn't see you there.

This is the best I could do.

I'll be back next commercial break.

Back again! "Applied Sciences Division." That sounds familiar. Where have I heard that?

Thanks Lucius.

I know it's probably, like, a term or whatever but I can't help pointing out the similarity. ALSO why does Oliver's mother act like he WASN'T JUST ON AN ISLAND ALONE FENDING FOR HIS LIFE FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS. His irresponsibility is less charming now? HE CLEARLY HAS PTSD, WOMAN! GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF! I like being on the island with Ollie way more than being in "Starling City." That part with his father and the seagulls in the boat seriously broke my heart. HELLLLOOOOOOOO CHINA WHITE.You're sinister. And your hair looks fake.

It has to be.

See you in a few!

Hello again. Scars = battle with Deathstroke.

Ta da! Does this mean Ollie won?

Stop getting mad at Oliver for not wanting to talk to you guys because he is seriously traumatized and it takes more than a WEEK to get over all the emotional scarring someone's been through. OMG THEA STOP COMPARING THIS STUFF AND SERIOUSLY YOU THINK IT MAKES HIM FEEL NOT HORRIBLE WHEN YOU TELL HIM YOU KIND OF STILL WISH HE WAS DEAD BECAUSE LIVING OLLIE SUCKS MAJOR MONKEY BALLS? It's okay Dinah, I couldn't say no to him either. Dinah, you're being really mean... I SHIP DINAH AND OLLIE SO HARD RIGHT NOW OMG I love you now Laurel. This scene has redeemed you in my eyes. BE TOGETHER FOREVER.

This show just got more enjoyable.

Dear Ollie, I think Diggle (You know Andy Diggle? He wrote GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE) is your Alfred.

He's not nearly as cute thought.

Also, shouldn't more people make the connection between Oliver's return after five years and the "hooded vigilante"s sudden appearance? P.S. GET AWAY FROM ME NEW 52 COMMERCIAL YOU WRECKED GREEN ARROW AND YOU WRECKED TIM DRAKE AND WE NEED TO TAKE A BREAK FROM EACH OTHER FOR A LITTLE WHILE OKAY?

Later...

Why are the captions in all caps? Also, I just can't get the hang of Green Arrow's intimidation tactics. They make me giggle a tiny bit. That fight with China White seemed kind of pointless and stupid. Are you just trying wet my appetite CW? OH SHUT DOWN LAUREL'S DAD GREEN ARROW SO TOTALLY WON YOU THAT CASE. The person they need to see you as? You mean Bruce Wayne 2.0? Wait, so Tommy doesn't want Laurel? He's loyal to Oliver? For now. NO OLIVER I HATE YOU FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW. IT'S ALL A LIE IT'S NOT REAL AND STUPID AND IT'S MAKING ME WANT TO SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM. Okay that part about Walter being his new dad made me giggle. Didn't we just do this whole "I'm not what you want/think/whatever" thing last week with Laurel? I kind of want to cry, like, a lot right now. I hate you Arrow for making me care.

"He's going to jail Emily for the rest of his life because Green Arrow got us a confession. I'm not totally sure what I did here." Wouldn't Laurel still need some protection because wouldn't China White and Co. go after her? Green Arrow's an anarchist... That's not really but kind of the closet we've gotten to the real Ollie I know and love. Still, I can't make myself hate this show. Curse you, CW, curse you. OH LOOK, more treacherous momma Queen crap. The yacht was sabotaged?!! What's that weird symbol mean. WHY IS HIS MOM EVIL?! Oh, Ollie, you're breaking my heart right now with the grave and the speech and the waaahhhhhhhhh. Wait, did Green Arrow just shoot Green Arrow? PLOT TWISTS OR SOME OTHER CONFUSING STUFF.

OOOOOOHHHHHHH DEADSHOT IS IN NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE. That makes it kind of exciting, right? Whatever. I'll keep watching this show and I'll probably hate myself a little more ewith every new instance I like. Meh. I still miss the real Oliver Queen.

Hello beautiful.

Edit: I just read a recap of last night's episode and the recapper kept referring to not-Ollie as "Arrow." Does that mean CW's dropping the "Green"? Unsure how I feel about this... 

Edit Edit: I've been watching (why?) and they call him "The Hood" like Robin Hood or the hood he wears or how about that is so stupid OMG why?

Green Arrow...

Dear DC Comics,
It will take me a very, very long time to forgive you what you've done to Oliver Queen.

What is your facial hair doing?

I was trying to figure out how to say how much I hate, like, almost everything in this awful reboot but then I found this blogger that did it for me.

Go here and read this and you'll know how I feel about what the New 52 has done to one of my very favorite superheroes. My hat off to you C.J. Bunce. You speak for us all. Also, thanks for reminding about the wonderful Hal/Ollie dynamic. Makes me want to go reread IDENTITY CRISIS.

 

Good comics make Kent happy.

Maybe I will. I need some good comics to purge the awful from my brain.

Seriously, Reed. What have they done to us?

Time for some good Green Arrow spam:

 I remember when you in love and it was wonderful and I loved it.

 Bromance is the best thing ever. I love(d) yours.

 He has a hood! Like Robin Hood, who INSPIRED him. Also. This animated short rocks.

 Rah rah rah CANARY CRY!

 You were in love once. I remember. It happened.

 AND you used to be in comic titles TOGETHER.

 GREEN Arrow. GREEN Lantern. Match made in Crayola heaven.

 I remember when you had socially relevant comics there were totes the first to deal with drugs. I don't think DC does.

 BOXING GLOVE ARROW = AWESOME. You have no right to mock it super lame New 52 GA.

Hey, Ollie, I remember when you were witty and funny and worth reading!

Look! Social relevance!

 Green Arrow on JLU was the best. And the show totally shipped him with Black Canary. CAUSE IT'S CANON. Or was canon. Once upon a time when life was worth living.

 Ollie, I love your hood and your baller goatee. Never change. (Too late.)

 Quiver Ollie totally rocked that adorable little hat.

 Aw, GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE. How real origin stories are supposed to be.

 

Our last look at Oliver Queen, Green Arrow, the badass. He is no more. He will be mourned.

Arrow: Revisted & In Depth

Conclusion: I'm not a fan of the CW's ARROW.

Mainly because it seems they are trying to capitalize on Dark Knight popularity to make Ollie more like Bruce Wayne/Batman than the Green Arrow most people have loved since the late 60s. The crazy liberal, environmentalist, socialist Green Arrow. With the Robin Hood costume. And the goatee.

This guy.

I learned recently that up until 1969, Green Arrow was a light hearted version of Batman (maybe not as gritty as the CW's trying to make it) but then he got a "reboot" (that no one called a reboot) when Ollie lost his moeny and saw what life was like for the poor people of Star City. (Why do they call it Starling City in the TV show? That just sounds stupid.) The crazy liberal Ollie was genuinely complicated AND unique, not exactly an easy thing for a superhero to achieve. And I also just really love Ollie and I feel possessive of him, mainly because of how they totally wrecked right before the reboot (Yeah, JUSTICE LEAGUE: RISE AND FALL, I hate youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu--

--uuuuuuuuuuu.)

and apparenlty after the reboot as well. I have a friend that's going to let me borrow the GREEN ARROW issues he possesses but until then I have only what wikipedia has told me. Which is this:

In DC's 2011 launch of the New 52, Green Arrow was given his own ongoing series.^[20] Ollie Queen is Green Arrow and he balances his own breaking of laws with his efforts to bring outlaws to justice across the globe.
Roy's memories in Red Hood and the Outlaws bring to the surface that when Ollie cut their partnership ties, he publicly took all of Roy's stocks in his company and left Roy to his own devices leading Roy to an attempted assisted suicide by the hands of Killer Croc. Roy also comments how he steals from Ollie's company to get the arrows for his adventures.^[21]

This is, obviously, unacceptable and a totally stupid and obnoxious way to handle the character. Yeah, Ollie always kind of sucked as a dad but he tried, for goodness sake! But none of this really has anything to do with why I don't hate the Green Arrow tv show so I should probably focus on that. Sorry, Reed. The New 52 just keeps breaking my heart.

 A list would probably be easiest. So. Reasons I don't like ARROW:

1. Ollie's really young. I get most people aren't going to tune in for a middle aged sassy wonderful man with an awesome goatee and all but, still, it's so weird seeing him so young. I mean, I'll buy it's an origin story kind of like Smallville but it's just so weird because for most of his career, Ollie hasn't been, like twenty. He's been more of a thirties kind of guy.
2. They're trying too hard to make him exactly like Batman. He's all crazy and vegenence oriented. He's putting on the drunken playboy facade for all to see. Lameeeeeeee.
3. Merlin is his best friend. I get that will make the betrayal more painful but it's so stupiddddddddddddd. (I wonder if Hal will ever be on this show... That would be AMAZING. I love Hal. And the Hal/Ollie bromance.)

Behold their beauty.

     4.  They've made his sister's nickname Speedy. Makes me miss Roy :( But because it's a girl I
           insantly think of Mia. Oliver's sister's name is Thea in this show so that's a fail. But she is
           getting addicted to drugs so it has me half convinced that they'll make her get AIDS, Mia style
     5.   I have no idea if Green Arrow is killing people or not. He grabbed that one thug and was all
           "no one can know my secret" and... broke his neck? Magically erased his memory? I'm unsure.
           I just know that if they make him kill people that is totally NOT OKAY.
     6.   It's too gritty and dark and he's all broody. Lame compared to how witty and funny the Ollie I
           fell in love with used to be.
     7.   Why are they calling Dinah "Laurel"? That's her middle name. Though they did have Merlin
           call her "Dinah Laurel Lance" at the very end. ALSO. A love triangle?! WHY?!?!?!
     8.   Why is Huntress in this show? She's a Batman girl. EDIT: I was reminded that Huntress was
           in BIRDS OF PREY with Dinah so that actually makes a lot of sense. Also. Will Black
           Canary ever make an appearance. It kind of looked like her in the previews for next week.
           Unless that was supposed to be Huntress? But Huntress was never blond... EDIT: I recently
           read that China White from GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE is supposed to be in this show, so
           maybe that's the blond person?

Pictured: Not blond. Also, bad ass.

       9.   Last night's episode felt really rushed. They crammed A LOT in. This is supposed to stretch
             to be a series, remember?
     10.   My main problem is that this show is trying to make Green Arrow into Batman because
             Batman is gritty and cool and popular. I love Batman. We all know this. But Green Arrow
             ISN'T Batman. PLEASE STOP TRYING TO MAKE THEM THE SAME! I know it will
             probably make the studio money, so what do they care, but I (and hopefully other comic fans
             with me) will care very much!

Let's be real. I'm going to keep watching this show, if only to see where it goes. But it makes me miss the Ollie I used to know and love. BEFORE this show. BEFORE the New 52. BEFORE freakin' awful JUSTICE LEAGUE: RISE AND FALL.

I also miss this:

Best. Couple. Ever.

When they wreck my comics that's when I don't love comics that much.

Arrow

Watched the series premiere of the CW's Arrow. Unsure how I feel about it. Will make a longer post in the near future.

Also, need to discuss watching the animated movie for The Dark Knight Returns. That, I loved. Two new posts will follow soon.

I know you've missed me, Reed. I'm sorry for the impromptu vaycay.