Art not as good as usual and the plot is ponderous and meandering.

I have no doubt, however, that AMS will be must-read when things finally get moving!

Very good issue.

I'm getting flashbacks to after school specials. If the only way to demonstrate your point is to make a story where characters have to act out of character and be way more stupid than usual, maybe it's best to write something else instead. In more capable hands, this could be a very poignant story that maybe introduces some new ideas to people, or at least brings them a new perspective. Instead we get the Ferngully Effect where as much as one may agree with the thesis, the execution almost makes you not want to. more

So we get an extra-sized issue to wrap up a poorly written story. Turns out all it took to wrap things up was our characters deciding to actually be reasonable heroes. Who knew? It just doesn't make up for the fact that we had to endure 2 and a half issues of having a very simple message beaten into us again and again, while devaluing the intended message. Ironically, by the end of this, the message is lost. There's... I guess you'd call it nuance, for lack of a better word. But it doesn't work. It plays out like the writer wanted to pull the rug out from under the readers like, "Aha! You would've never guessed these characters you like would be heroes!" This is just so poorly written. I'm glad it's over. Let us never speak of it again. more

All 3 points are for the art.

It's amazing how malleable long-established characters become when you've got some sophomoric Tumblr politics to shoehorn in.

who would have thought that saving a planet was boring af

“I’m not going to help with any of the work that has to be done or tell you anything that I have learned until it is too late, but yes I will judge you constantly when you fail to meet my expectations. No I will not tell you what they are” – Wonder Woman, probably.

Oh no, what's this? A politically charged story where characters become stand ins for Opinions™. Who could've seen this coming from the guy who wrote The Dreaming? Not me! Not I! Wonder Woman's opinion seems to change based on the argument being presented on that page. I'm not getting into the political conversation, because I couldn't give a fuck less about exploring these themes in a short, possibly poorly thought out review of a comic that's not entirely worth the time. I will just say that I don't think the ideologies are being represented by the right characters, nor is either side incredibly well written here. Wonder Woman gets the worst of it on both ends and it really just... I'll just say it, this is... why people need to learn to listen to every side. You may hate to hear it. You may not want to, ahem, "signal boost." It'd make this comic a hell of a lot more interesting if Simon Spurrier had a higher level of knowledge of both sides, though. And it would've made his political insertions more natural since they'd be more nuanced instead of characters blurting out... just every talking point any idiot can throw together in a few seconds on Twitter. Did I just do a politicism? more

Great art let down by obnoxiously on-the-nose Twitter politics.

Intriguing stuff.

Art overall is fine but a little wonky and rushed in places.

This issue is kind of like that pitiful plate of spaghetti and meatballs that Barry scarfs down. This is the only time I've related to Barry on a real level. Just re-heated plain spaghetti and meatballs. Yeah it'll fill you up. Give you some much needed calories. But man, no pasta sauce?

Not a bad book but very much a tedious one.

I would be thrilled if the Rogues and Turtle don't appear in another Flash book for a long time.

A mercifully snappy read which marginally improves on the previous issue.

This arc must surely close off this horrific amnesia malarkey, surely?

Brilliant.

After King's disastrous Batman arc, leaving more loose ties and unresolved plot points I can possibly name, DC decided to play safe for once and give fans a more... conventional story, one that wouldn't try to reinvent and deconstruct avery aspect of what it means to be Batman, one that wouldn't feature more filler than actual plot, and one that certainly would not smell its own farts pretending to be deeper and more intelligent than it really is. You know, exactly like a certain controversial game everyone hates and mocks, released few days ago.

Tynion crafted a big mystery that instantly captured our imaginations. It was big, it was convoluted, and and it was made with a plan in mind. It wasn't yet another War of Jokes and Riddles, promising a huge event and then turning out to be a shallow, pointless shell. No, the stakes were seemingly real and you never knew where the plot leads really. It lead here.

Depending on whether or not you've been a fan of Tynion's arc so far, this issue will either satisfy you with several important revelations and answers to questions you may have had, or it's going to convince you it was all just a marketing apéritif leading to the main event, Joker War. That I'll leave to your personal interpretation. To me the comic was definitely good, finally providing a ton of long awaited explanations and also setting up few new twists to be explored in the foreseeable future. Was it outstanding, though? Nah, I wouldn't say so. Not when it comes to uneven art drawn by several artists, not when it comes to storytelling. It's an example of a good, solid book, but as the grand finale, conclusion of an arc, especially in Batman series, I guess I expected a bit more. more

This is not good.

I personally have no problems with disjointed, nonlinear, or triptych storytelling. What I do have a problem with is when an incompetent writer makes a mockery out of the technique.

Clay Mann's art is wasted on this series. Just a clip-show of ass shots and Bat/Cat tongue hockey.

I like Mask of the Phantasm and BTAS but they've never been the "greatest Batman adaptation" in my eyes (I save that for The Brave & The Bold). I could really care less for Andrea Beaumont, but I do think that King will end up butchering her and other lifts from BTAS.

Regardless, King's Batman is not for me and in general far from what the Caped Crusader should be. I'm still sticking with Strange Adventures for now but I've already dropped Rorschach; might have to lose the dead weight from my pull list. In the end...

This is not good at all. more

I need to stop buying this book.

DC needs to end the double shipping because it's seriously affecting the quality of the stories being put out. The strategy worked perfectly during Rebirth because they were coordinated really well what with the event void, and the creators were able to follow their blueprint/run plans with little opposing editorial interference.

And why the fuck is it called the Legion of Zoom if half of them aren't speedsters, just time displaced rogues? I want to see Savitar + Inertia + Rival so they can face off against Chain Lightning flash family from Pre-N52!

And btw, the Tornado Twins are definitely Thawne's kids and not Barry's. more

August Heart. Cop. Friend. Hero. Killed a bunch of people but he seemed real sorry for it so lol I guess that’s fine. The rest of this issue was boring but whatever. I don’t love the idea of the Rogues being dragged into this again, but okay.

By-the-numbers Flash storytelling.

Going back to monthly and bringing a new writer in could give this book the shot in the arm it so sorely needs.

This was a struggle to read and I felt like I was missing something that would have helped me make sense of everything. I’m so frustrated, because this used to be a really fun run! The art was distressing.

Over-indulgent this time around.

There's a lot to be said about comics and how to expand this format of storytelling. I don't think this is the way to go, honestly. The medium is ever expanding and there are creators who are breaking the boundaries of comics much better than Grant Morrison is seemingly attempting to do here. It's so unclear. I don't even know if his intention is to do something different with the medium, or if he's just having a laugh, or if his work has just devolved into something this unpleasant now. I don't understand the thought process behind a lot of the storytelling techniques being used in this series. And maybe there is none. Maybe Morrison is just doing drugs and writing scripts, and whatever comes out the other end is what we get. I honestly would not be surprised if that's all this is. If I want an untraditional comic that plays with the format and the medium, I'm going to go read Decorum. I don't want whatever this is and it's really frustrating because there have been issues in this run that are phenomenal. I don't find enjoyment in reading comics filled with annoying, near incomprehensible dialogue tropes. And the story itself is just... Nothing.

Oh and the art... What the fuck was up with the art. Unlike the last issue, where the change was obvious and intentional, I can't tell if this was a style choice or if Liam Sharp just did a poor job.

This is not a good issue. I don't know what other people are seeing in it, but it just feels like Morrison doesn't care and therefore why should I? more