Flash versus Hermes should be a lot more fun.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Xermanico
What They Say:
Just when it looks like there might be a winner between Superman and Wonder Woman, all hell breaks loose, and the Amazons get into a full-scale war against The Man of Steel’s army of Super Soldiers.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The tenth installment of this year of the series is one that has to deal with some of the fallout from the previous issue while also spending a lot of time on background to establish certain character traits. Traits that are, admittedly, well cemented in the mainline universe, so it may be a bit of familiar ground for a lot of readers. The overall plan that’s been cooked up here is one that is definitely playing to scale well, but it also feels like it’s hedging itself in a way. When you have the actual Olympian gods walking the Hall of Justice grounds, it needs to be a lot bigger and more apparent with what’s going on. And as much as I like Xermanico’s artwork, what we get is a lot of close-up material instead and that just makes things feel small.
Sinestro’s return is ill timed in a lot of ways because he simply inserts himself into the battle and takes out Wonder Woman – though it feels like her fate is still unclear. The chewing out he gets from Hal is comical, especially the coloring tidbit, but there’s a trueness to Sinestro that’s uncomfortable for people like Hal. Even more so in this particular world because these heroes have made choices, have drawn lines and have drawn blood from old friends. Sinestro’s view of the weaknesses that Superman has is well intentioned and fits completely with his personality, but it also makes sense that Superman would basically knock him out of the park for what he did. And while some of Superman’s motivations in the back half aren’t quite clear yet, it’s good to see him getting more serious about this situation and trying to protect those aligned with him.
A decent chunk of this book is given over to that material, especially as the fights get underway under Zeus’ order and there’s some brief fun with a Hermes/Flash match that doesn’t end well. But the book also wants to go back quite some time earlier to the Watchtower where the recently joined Diana is sparring with Clark as she tries to get him to adjust his methods for some of the threats they face. Batman’s involvement basically paints a picture of how Clark isn’t willing to truly grow because of the way he’s been for so long with his powers, but he also delves into the need to be able to handle those they call friends. It’s still somewhat of a controversial story in the mainline universe, but it’s at the core of who Batman is in looking at every angle and possibility that I’m glad to see it presented here. Who is thinking of it in the present is what’s left unsaid, as both Batman and Superman can take different things from it in the present.
In Summary:
Though it continues to feel like some of the scale is missing from this fight, the book continues to move on as it pushes Superman to finally take a stand once again. While he wasn’t becoming weak after the fallout from the third year series, he was taking a chance to evaluate and take stock of what they’ve done and potentially to look for other ways going forward. Events like this just cement for him that there’s only so much that can be done and he has to be the hard badass that’s needed in order to ensure the world spins as he wants it to under his protection. It’s still not clear what direction he’ll take by the end of the book, but he’s finally coming to the position of making a decision and the execution of it could have a lot of bodies falling along the way – again.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: July 7th, 2015
MSRP: $0.99
