Sad to see this title is ending. It’s so compelling and fun!

The "villain is defeated by absorbing too much" trope is overused as hell but WHO CARES because we get a happy ending and the JSA too! It's so refreshing to read a book that doesn't have grand multiversal/world ending stakes, or in this case one that does but doesn't overblow it and keeps it character focused. Excited to see Carter and Shiera back in the 1940's alongside our dear Society.

I didn't mind this issue. It wasn't a bore like the past few. The art was a bit weird. I think this issue has the only time I've ever liked Impulse. I'm glad the body snatcher bit already played out, as well.

Jumping on to Flash for Finishline since this is Joshua Williamson's final arc before leaving the title. Man, Williamson has written about 100+ issues for Flash Rebirth since its conception in 2016. Out of all of the ongoing Rebirth titles, Flash has probably been the most consistent out of all of them, with Williamson being the only writer to stick it though the end. And now its all coming to a close with Finishline, a big finale to Williamson's legacy on Flash.

Overall, I liked this issue. I didn't need to read anything prior to understand what was happening, this issue covers that itself. The art? Kinda inconsistent with the Force scene. Pretty sure Sandoval needed Kolins to fill in for him on certain frames, and it kinda jumbled the flow of the story there. But other than that, Sandoval's art was nice.

Things seems to be hyping up with parts of the Flash family assembling from literally all parts of time and space. And the ending, hell yes. Hypes up Finishline to be one hell of a arc. You just can't go wrong with Flash. You got Barry, you got Impulse, you got a fan-favorite Speedster returning for this, they are all coming together to fight Eobard Thawne and the Rogues. Some of the dialogue from Thawne was kind of corny and overly-edgy with how much he wants to be the Flash, but it gets the job down to move the story forward. Gotta go fast! more

" You're mean. Barry Allen isn't mean."
- IMPULSE

I really wanted this book to be good. To explain the rich lore of the entire event, show what happened to the main characters before issue #1 happened. To delve deep into the craziness of this new world. You know, be an actual guidebook, like the name suggests.

Too bad out of all the stories, only the first one does something substantive. The rest isn't bad, but at the same time doesn't do much to tell you more than short stories set in the very same universe, thus ultimately the book feels way less than an actual guidebook and more than an average anthology. That's a shame, because I've been looking to it for a while now, hoping it'd provide me some unique insight. Instead the most important plot points still happen either off page, or are limited to singular panels ("Aquaman kneeled. So did Wonder Woman. The end"). more

Like the first Death Metal one shot, Guidebook is surprisingly additive to the main event while also throwing in some fun side stories that may not he crucial to the reader's understanding of Death Metal but do expand the world Snyder and co. are creating.

The main story by Snyder, Tynion, Williamson and Mahnke is simultaneously the most important story while also the least interesting. It does what it needs to do by contextualizing how the Death Metal world came to be, and ends in an interesting cliffhanger. The pacing, however, was a bit too fast for me and ended up losing whatever emotional aspect it could've had.

The Harley Quinn story by Zdarsky and Randolph is one of the silliest and most entertaining ones, and makes me hope that these two are the creative team for Harley's inevitable post-Death Metal relaunch.

Becky Cloonan's Aquaman story looks gorgeous, as her art always does, and I really enjoyed the poetic writing as well as the context of what Arthur has been forced to endure since the Batman Who Laughs took over Earth Prime.

Vita Ayala and Dan Panosian's Diana and Poison Ivy story is my favourite, as it turns an odd couple of characters into perhaps the most emotional moment Death Metal has provided yet. Panosian's art has also never looked better.

Finally, Priest and Eduardo Risso's Batman and Jonah Hex story was a bit confusing what with all the talk about dangerous potential of milk, yet the constant dark reminder that "All Light Dies" paired with Risso's dreary and stylish art gave me chills from start to finish. The Black Lantern oath has sadly never been more relatable than in 2020. more

Great backstories from this killer event.

I want whatever Snyder and Capullo are having.

Death Metal #1 is an awesome first issue. Surprisingly, this issue is unlike many of Snyder's first issues in that there is not as much exposition as usual, which is a welcome addition. Instead, the issue features glimpses into a world that is largely conquered by Perpetua and her stooge the Batman Who Laughs. The premise for this event is interesting, and the stakes seem to be high. The issue features some awesome moments for different characters like Batman and Wonder Woman. Also, it is always nice to see Swamp Thing get some love in an event. Additionally, there were some new batmen characters featured in this comic book, and for that reason alone this book is worth getting. This issue sets up what looks to be an exciting event going forward with lots of action. This is one I enjoyed and I am looking forward to more. 9/10. more

This series is really all over the place. It's bad when a few pages of Batman are better than the last 8 issues of Lois Lane, plus the pages she's in this time around. This series feels almost enthusiastically uninterested in Lois Lane herself. Which, y'know, I can see, when she's doing her Instagram pose on the cover to show how hard she cares. She's an increasingly arrogant character that never really shows, even in her own series, why she's so full of herself. Or why we should like her. Or why she deserves the praise she constantly gets. I don't know what the plot is anymore beyond the assassination attempt and the tendrils of plot outreaching from that, but I know that's not how this series started. We've got 3 issues before this is over, and it feels like barely anything of note has happened. Just make the rest of this series a Batman/Question comic. That would be fine with me. I know it's what the creative team really wants. more

Excellent art wasted on a boring story. A thriller that offers no thrills or excitement. Also the book is nothing more than an ad for things to come. As I said in other reviews, Bendis stopped caring because none of these stories will matter with the reboot.

And thank you ... For one last perfect day with my kids.

Usually when the backstory of a character is expanded on, it adds to them and showcases more of who they are. All this is issue does is elaborate on the “secret origins” of the 3 so-called “leaders” of the Legion.

Thing is, this simple premise is botched completely. Somehow each of the leaders feel like less of a character and just a pointless addition to the roster than before.

The actual information added from the multiple pages of this issue expanding on character story could be fit into a small blurb in a character introduction.

This is lowest tier writing. I kinda question why I even read it, because it’s a waste of time and NOTHING HAPPENS. more

A very slow start for a book with limited number of issues. It's OK I guess if you like DCEASED but it lacks the plot density of the original book. Art feels plasticky.

Don’t listen to Mr. 5 Paragraphs, he hates everything, it was really enjoyable

Prelude:
It's the conclusion to The Witching War and Tynion's run on Justice League Dark before he begins his handover to Ram V next month. Let's see how it goes.

The Good:
Love Kirk's question and framing at the start of the issue. How everyone sees magic in it's own different way but still something negative and to be feared.

Constantine's idea of magic sounds right.

Triple Wonder Woman! We have Hecate, Lord of Chaos and Traditional Wonder Woman. Way to tie the series together.

Why can't Tynion write Wonder Woman's solo? He understands her so well.

It'll be interesting to see where things go from here.

Alvaro Martinez Bueno's art is great.

The Bad:
Nothing.

Conclusion:
A wonderful conclusion to the Witching War and Tynion's run on the series. All that's left to do is the passover to Ram V. more

Prelude:
It's the final issue of Scott Snyder's run. But after everything that has happened, can it conclude itself in a satisfying way?

The Good:
Loved J'onn's speech.

The tying together of everything was great.

It's going to be interesting to see where things go from here.

Jimenez's art is great.

The Bad:
It doesn't really end.

Also it ends on a loss. Not sure how I feel about that.

Conclusion:
Hmm... this was a hard one. It was good but it's not really concluded is it? more

A series of short stories loosely connected with a murder mystery framing device which itself only exists to pimp Empyre. The other stories all exist solely to hype upcoming storylines of various current and upcoming titles. This would have been great as a free comic giveaway, but to charge $10 for a glorified preview comic is shady even by Big Two standards.

Nothing of consequence here. Save your money more

Prelude:
Incoming aims to solve a murder mystery while showcasing the Marvel Universe going into 2020. Let's see how it goes.

The Good:
It was nice seeing how the entire Marvel Universe is going right now.

The Bad:
The detective story fell flat.

It is boring at certain points which isn't helped by the length of the issue.

Conclusion:
If you want a catch up on the Marvel Universe, this works well. However, it is just set-up and falls flat in it's main selling point. more

It's not bad...

But these type of initiative starting one-shot advertisements should be FCBD giveaways or 1$ promotional issues at most... not 10$ overpriced/sized collectors bait.

Pure garbage. Miller really needs to move on to something new.

Why did I read this? I felt like wasting my time and sanity, that's why. Ugh, this was an insane slog filled with social commentary and all the bullshit that entails. I was getting hints of Legends Darkseid until he became... whatever he became. And then he was taken out like a chump *yet again* by Wunderkind Jon Kent. So, I guess he was Legends Darkseid throughout. I don't know if any of this was set up in DK3, as I opted out of reading that one. I hope so, or else this book is even worse than I am giving it credit for. When is DC going to learn that sometimes dead is better? more

I don't even know why Miller insists on writing comics.

Utterly forgettable issue, adds nothing of consequence to the overarching story or furthers Donna Troy's character. All it does is give is create "edgy" Donna that is somehow just a far less effective Troia, so it's not even original.

I can't say the writer did much of anything, while the artwork is decidedly what carried the issue.

Not worth a purchase, not really even worth reading to be honest. more

100% garbage. There is no reason to buy this. Zoe Quinn is an awful writer and I wonder when this madness will end and they hire someone who can actually write a decent story to replace this crap. Writing lots of words doesn't mean you have anything to say and by the end, we are left with an issue that will be forgotten by this weekend.

King fans after this issue: The book was kind of rushed and sloppy in execution; not a great penultimate issue either. It also has some plot-holes and raises more questions than before.

Also King fans after this issue: 10/10 rating

I don't care anymore. This book is an embarrassment to the comic industry. I feel bad for anyone who enjoys this book.

You can say what you will about taste being subjective, but Tom King is nothing more than a stain on the legacy of Batman that urgently needs to be removed. more

I see no reedeeming qualities here. Not one. Everything in this issue is just bad - writing is awful, dialogues, the very little there is, are even worse, which is nothing new in this series, art is bad, story is pretty much nonexistent. Aside from maybe two pages, every panel is a retrospective of Thomas' life, but it... sucks. It lacks any real depth and emotional weigth for us to truly care about it. 84 issues, that's how many opportunities King had to explore the character, to set up his motivations, slowly, step by step, foreshadow some things, explain others, creating even more questions in the process. But no. This is what we got instead - a piece of meaningless filler, because there's no other term to honestly call it, which neither pushes the story to its end, nor offers satisactory flashbacks to give us some insight into what, how and why. If Miller's horrendous All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder was euthanized, I see no reason why King's run wasn't. I mean, it was cut short by 15 issues, so let's be thankful for that, but 85 issues is still way too much, considering the writer didn't tell us anything of value since 2016.
This trash ain't even worth torrenting at this point. more

I don't know what linear story telling did to King as a child, but it must be terrible. Because King just refuses to tell a story in linear order.

Apparently Thomas Wayne's whole motivation is that he fell in love with the Selina Kyle of his world and he wants Bruce to, in some sort of weird psycho-sexual transference thing, seal the deal.

Apparently Martha Joker killed Selina and Thomas Bats doesn't want Bruce to miss out. Again, we get huge amounts of decompression. The Bruce Thomas confrontation amounts to one punch then we cut to non--linear flashbacks that don't really amount to anything.

We see how Thomas came to Bruce's world, but the labored backstory was overly complicated. All it amounts to is "Father Knows Best." I remained unconvinced.

Just be over story. It's SOOO SSSLLOOWWW. Everything hits with the impact of week-old bread, stale and moldy. Do things so the story stays fresh. Any baker knows that.

Or I could be wrong. more