BatSledge's Profile

Wtf did I just read? And this is only part one???

Well that happened. We’re a year and six issues in and I still don’t know what’s going on, what villains’ motive are, and why things are happening.

Even the art looks rushed and cramped and dark. And Hush killed Batman and then Talia saved Bats with a conveniently located Lazarus Pit. When Bats revives, he kisses Talia. Meanwhile we learn The Bats the gang was fighting is dun dun dun CL AYFACE. OK, whatever.

There’s so many characters that no one is in focus. We have Cats saying she loved Bats, and Jason shoots a train. That’s exciting, right.

Overall, this issue was a nothing burger that that follows several issues of nothing burgers. It’s so late I doubt anyone cares.

Not a good story. Or I could be wrong.more

I figured out what I hate the most about this storyline: every featured character is unlikable. I’ll give credit to Loeb for that, since it’s not an easy feat to pull off, and I doubt it was his intention. The other things I hate about this so-called finale? Horrible, cheesy dialogue, including Bats’ own stupefying internal monologue; amateurish plotting that simply has things happen whenever and wherever the writer needs them to, not because it makes any sense, but just ‘cuz; a lack of respect for the work of other Bat family writers from the last 23 years who have moved characters forward from where Loeb left them at the end of the original “Hush”, including Hush himself; turning the interesting and menacing Tommy Elliot character from the original into a silly, pathetic and utterly unoriginal shell of that character in this sequel; having characters show up out of nowhere simply because the plot requires it; overblown and cliched dialogue; and not concluding in any way, shape or form a pathetic storyline that the poor reader has waited for 14 months to finish up. I’m sure I could go on and on with additional problems facing this story, suffice it to say that it was a very sad and broken way to finish this volume’s 10-year run. Where were the f***ing editors, for crying out loud? Did they tap out after the first issue?

The only saving grace for this issue is Jim Lee’s artwork, which was a very notable step up from his previous issues in this storyline. He has lots of detailed backgrounds here, unlike before, and the characters are far more developed instead of being barely finished sketches like in some of the previous issues. There are many gorgeous panels here. It’s too bad that Lee’s hard work in this final issue was in service to a bullshit story that never should have seen print. Thank you, Jim Lee, for getting this to the finish line. And Jeph Loeb, you are a pale imitation of your former great self. Please consider returning some of the money you were paid for this and give it to charity, and also please consider retiring before you tarnish your legacy any further.more

Literally created an account just so I could gush about how much I love this issue

I am going to be honest as I'm seriously not a Green Arrow fan. I mostly enjoyed the TV series but as for the comics, we'll not so much. So like a lot of comic readers I find myself buying into the Absolute fan based hype. The problem with hype in an ever expanding market is it's either crap or ok at best. That leads to readers buying it to be part of the experience and probably again for the wors t. Then comes Absolute Green Arrow and I just get it. Hook , line and sinker. Violence, tragedy, and above all else a seriously great start to what Detective Comics should be. Oh did I also say the art was stunning at times and the costume is a fan boys dream....... awesome..JMmore

This is absolutely fantastic. Pun intended.

A scathing indictment of corporate America and the greed of the rich.

The Absolute universe holding a mirror up to America and what a hideous reflection that looks back.

The courage to challenge norms makes Oliver and Dinah, empathetic and relatable, though not without faults. Men and Women of the people, functioning to support the masses. Oliver being a rare example of a rich person actually trying to improve society, rather than use it for their own greed. In times such as these, even seeing such empathy in our world is tantamount to acts of super heroism. That's sad as a more compassionate society is what we should be.

Seeing the villains fall in the context of this story offers some catharsis. The indentity of the Absolute Green Arrow remains a mystery. It could be Oliver, potentially faking his death but that feels too simple. I can't wait to read more. The Absolute universe continues to dominate comics.
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For a first Absolute issue, I’d rank this somewhere around the first issues of Absolute GL or Absolute Flash, but beneath the debuts of the other four. It has a very compelling mystery, a very gripping and violent prelude, a very interesting lead character, and some interesting little twists….plus a whole lotta exposition. I’m not familiar with Pornsak’s other work but I definitely enjoyed Rafael Albuquerque’s stylish artwork, which at times is haunting and visceral. His style is a much better fit for this book than it was recently on Superman Unlimited, and is the best part of this book.

The politics expressed in the book don’t really bother me one way or the other. It helps set up the interesting premise, and it’s in keeping with the social justice themes of previous Green Arrow books that were often a reflection of their times, particularly in the 70s and 80s.

Since this is (so far) a six-issue limited series, I like that the writer already should have the beginning, middle, and end to his story already figured out. Hopefully he can avoid the trap that Absolute GL fell into, which kicked off with a tantalizing first issue and then let the mystery and thrills slowly dissipate by not giving the audience enough answers soon enough. He’s given us a strong female lead with a checkered background to root for in the form of Dinah Lance.

DC has been on a roll this year with immensely satisfying and thrilling first issues (the very best for me so far are Fury of Firestorm and End of Life), and I’m pleased that this book upholds that standard.more

This book hasn’t missed a beat, or a 10 rating, with this issue continuing the trend. We go from a taut suspense-thriller of a scene to another comical assassin beatdown at—where else—the gas station. This issue packs an emotional wallop or two, while also continuing to deliver big laughs through the rapid-fire dialogue and dark humored-situations. There’s also a nod here to Tarantino in a “True R omance”-type of scene. On top of all the shenanigans, we also get a heart-wrenching cliffhanger.I can’t recommend this book enough.

This storytelling team continues to knock each issue out of the park. The little details in Pugh’s artwork enhance the story even further, and he makes every panel count here.

Do yourself a favor and buy two copies, one for yourself and one for a friend!more

THIS! I knew from the first few issues that Fraction was playing the long game, doling out enough good character development and forward plot movement to slowly build towards a big payoff. I feel like this issue is the beginning of that payoff. This issue’s storytelling has a very cinematic pace and quality to it, courtesy of Fraction and Sook, who does a fantastic fill-in job once again. Things b oil over as Team Batman races against the clock, and against Savage’s special TUCO unit, to destroy their remote bases around the city before they are penetrated and their equipment seized. They’re too late in a few instances, and there were moments in this issue where I truly wondered if certain characters might not survive the assault. One character does get apprehended in a very dramatic moment, while a legacy location that has been in the Bat-family for decades is destroyed, à la the USS Enterprise in Star Trek III.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this issue and am already eager for a re-read! Amazing things are happening in this book at last, and it’s gonna be one helluva ride!more

This edition is superior to the DC/Marvel one from last month. While I loved last month’s Waid/Mora lead story, the backup stories in that one were a mixed bag. This version, however, has an even better, dare I say EXCELLENT, lead story by Brad Meltzer and the amazing Pepe Larraz on art chores. The story features a nice blend of action, suspense, and emotional character work as Superman helps to a ssuage Peter’s guilt at not being able to save everyone. Larraz’s art has a nice, classic 70s Neal Adams quality to it, a style which I see very little of these days. The final pages with the family dinner and the early pages with Supes and Spidey in a death trap were the key highlights for me, and the venom appearance was fun, too.

Among the backups, all of which I enjoyed to varying degrees, the standouts were Slott’s Spider-Man Noir story, the Mysterio/Superman story by Johns and Frank, Simonson’s Hobgoblin/Steel story, the Ghost Spider/Supergirl story, and Loeb’s brief Spidey/Supes wrap-up at the end. I feel like greater editorial care was taken with the selection of back-up stories, character team-ups, and creative teams than with the DC book or either of the 2 Deadpool/Batman collections from last fall.

Most definitely worth your $7.99! I got the awesome Greg Capullo cover, btw, but there were so many great ones to choose from at my store.more

This issue is a must-have for any SWAMP THING fan past or present, as well as collectors of milestone issues. It’s a beautifully told story of Swampy’s time-traveling encounter with Jesus, his disciples, and the Romans, culminating in the Crucifixion. There’s a wonderful essay included in the issue by Stephen Bissette that gives proper background and context to the series in 1989, along with a loo k at the cultural underpinnings taking place that year in entertainment and politics that DC was being influenced by in terms of their decision to cancel the publication of issue 88. It’s easy to see some of those same turbulent political and cultural forces still in play here in 2026, which makes DC’s decision to finally publish the issue very commendable.

What’s especially cool about the issue to this 47-year comic collector is that the issue features both the original DC house ads from May 1988 as well as a nifty “Johnny DC” column, done in the style of the original columns DC featured at the time, right down to that week’s checklist of May 1988 issues.

From the amazing story and script to the beautiful art, colors and lettering, this book is worthy of your attention and your dollars. Better late than never!more

What has happened to this book? Last issue’s #600 was underwhelming, but not bad by any means. However, this issue, which was supposed to feature Kyle in the spotlight, gives him 11 of 22 pages, with Hal getting the other half. Fair enough, as I’m still a Hal fan as well. But it gets worse from there…With a green golf club, followed by a sledgehammer, Kyle takes down a ferocious alien escapee who’ s disrupting traffic and named Gridlock. Apparently, he was originally imprisoned after trying to destroy a planet’s core and after murdering a bunch of GLs; it took 10 to take him down. Kyle does it with a wink and a smirk. He then spends the rest of the issue in Odyssey’s acting job interview playing his own new gig: second banana.

Elsewhere, Hal Jordan accidentally stumbles upon the missing Guardians, who determine that he’s a threat to all life everywhere and try to chase him down and murder him.PS… The cover is VERY misleading, there’s definitely no Flash in this issue. None. Which is too bad, as it only would’ve helped Kyle’s story.That’s it…that’s the issue in a nutshell. And I’m starting to think that’s where Jeremy Adams belongs. He did a great job writing The Flash, and since then, he’s had a couple good ideas on Green Lantern. However, it seems like he’s run out of gas, and the horrible sales of this book reflect this lack of reader enthusiasm. This book is quickly spiraling, and this issue’s cartoony art by Ig Guara certainly doesn’t help, when even Hal is borderline unrecognizable. Send out an SOS, because this book needs help stat! Ron Marz and Darryl Banks seem to still enjoy writing Kyle. Give them 6 issues to rehab the book and right the ship, boost the sales, and then hand it over to a fresh new writer with a big vision for the book and fresh, exciting ideas. That blueprint has turned out very well for THE FLASH book (exit Spurrier, bring in Waid for 6 exciting issues, then hand off to Ryan North).more

The 2nd issue of Ryan North’s run is even better than his first! I haven’t laughed this hard at a Flash comic in decades, if ever. The various escalating attempts by people to throw themselves in harm’s way and win $10,000 when Flash saves them is a hysterically insane, and funny, premise that soon overwhelms Wally despite his best efforts to stop the madness. Additionally, we get Captain Cold thr own into the mix for even more humor. Things turn serious, quickly, near the end when a major threat to the city presents itself.North and Guidry make an excellent team here. In addition to the brilliant visuals, the dialogue is clever and witty as well. I am ecstatic that we seem to have a new permanent team on the book that will make things fun and inventive and exciting month in and month out.

Help spread the word on this book, as we need the sales to improve, thereby ensuring a long and healthy run for this team, who are healing this book from the damage that Spurrier did to it.more

Issue #3 serves up Pluto Fried Chicken in the form of the bizarre Menagerie assassin cleverly named Big Cock, because he has a giant…chicken mask. This comic keeps batting 1000 every issue so far, and this issue certainly doesn’t disappoint. We see a (slightly) less profane, softer side of Eddie, who helps out his ailing dad with a shitty situation, and in gratitude, his dad offers not to try and murder him for one day. This relationship is the heart and soul of an otherwise bananas storyline that sees the townspeople get a big kick out of watching a rude, foul-mouthed assassin and another rude, monosyllabic fowl beaked assassin beat the living shit out of one another for half the issue in one of the funniest, most bizarre throw downs I’ve ever seen in any comic! I find myself at a loss for words over how to describe the details of this fight, other than to say Eddie gets tossed around like a 180-pound human pinwheel.

This is the funniest, wildest comic that most people aren’t reading, and I’m trying to do my part to change that. I can only hope this comic gets optioned as a movie or HBO series, because only then will it really take off into the stratosphere. Until then, this delightful book will be DC’S (and a few select fans such as myself) naughty little secret!more

This book continues to be a glorious mess, both in terms of writing and now art as well. A new storyline seems to kick off involving an Overseer on Rann called Shade, who is dealing with an insurrectionist (Agent Carter type seems like a good comparison) that comes through a portal aka a zeta beam. This is the main story while in the secondary plot, we are told that Absolute Sinestro is sending a planet-killer called Mogo to Earth and that the Overseer on Rann must prepare his troops (Black Hands) for the arrival of the Tomar.

If any of this shit makes sense to anyone else reading this book, more power to you. I hope you continue to enjoy this book, which from my perspective has turned into an Absolute Mess, written by Al Ewing as a Grant Morrison-wannabe. He has taken all of the intergalactic DCU concepts he could scoop up, ranging from Green Lanterns, Red Lanterns, Fuscia Lanterns, Darkstars, Blackstars, Black Hand, Mr. Hand, Black Head, Gold Face, Brown Arse and so forth, threw them into his Absolute Blender, and vomited it all back up into a Steaming Absolute Pile (the first 6 or so of which were actually quite good). I’m out after 13 issues and I doubt I’ll look in on it in the DC Infinite Ultra App unless there’s nothing else to read in there. Peace out!more

Wow! This is everything a first issue should be, and everything a 44-year FURY OF FIRESTORM fan could hope for. Something new yet familiar, scary and yet fun, mysterious and nail-biting…and a blast of nostalgia seeing familiar faces once again that have been absent far too long. Lemire is one of DC’s best writers when given material that he’s passionate about, and according to his Substack, he’s a fan of the original Gerry Conway material. This love for the characters is on display here with the first issue, which sucks you right in from the first couple pages and doesn’t let go! Lemire has crafted a fascinating mystery here, as Firestorm is most definitely not what he seems. Something is horrifically wrong with him, and the U.S. Military tries to contain him by bringing in a familiar face from his past. We are also treated to what seems to be a fun, 1982-era interlude with the classic Conway version…but is it really happening, or is it a distant memory?

The art by De LaTorre rises to the level of the writing, alternately portraying Firestorm as dark and menacing in some panels, particularly with the horrors that the small Colorado town and its inhabitants are subjected to, and fun and bright in other parts of the story.

Can’t wait to see the mystery unfold, and I seriously hope this book will not be limited to 8 issues. Highly recommended to both old fans and new fans, who will find themselves easily brought up to speed on Firestorm’s origin and a few key historical touchpoints along the way.more