Holy goated.

Not a page is wasted in this issue, every word chosen by V becomes a piece of this great debate's foundation. Mike Perkins' pencils are only a glimpse into the true vision of Ram V's elemental epic, but even that is more than enough. The symbiosis between Perkins and Spicer is incredible, and their ability to adapt V's world of cosmic beauty and horror to the page is a godsend.

Everyone needs to be reading this right now. more

PRIEST IS BACK!

The goat himself is once again setting the record straight for DC's villains; enough with the anti-hero bullshit, they are the bad guys! Sandoval's art is awesome, but I'm sure you already knew that before picking this up.

I think that the most divisive part of this issue is the new OC Malik Adam, who of course comes off as a snarky loudmouth (but remember ladies and gents, that's what character arcs are for!). His dialogue is pretty hilarious though (granted this is coming from a 19 year old).

The supporting cast was fun, and i'm still trying to figure out if Shep is an OC or from some ancient set of back issue Captain Marvel stories. Interesting set of characters at the end (a chef?), and the twist is pretty obvious but the murder mystery and death sentence plots will sustain me until next issue.

The pacing is wonderful, and I feel like I got my money's worth from this book.

Working on annotations as you read this... more

I love benday dots and I love pre-digital coloring. If the comic uses those two things in its art, I'm on board.

Flash continues to be great, and this event is a blessing and a curse for this book: we derail the plot once more for an event, but hopefully this will reward the series in the long run with some character development and increased reader-ship.

Meddling kids gonna meddle, but I like the twins and I'm excited to see each of the alternate goose chases. The Earth-Flash sequence was without a doubt the best thing about this issue (mainly because of the art). I love Pasarin, but Nahuelpan knocks it out of the park.

Based on the first page flash-forward, I wonder if that will truly be thawne/zolomon, or if it's wally in the zoom suit. more

Still a lot of fun and Mora's art is great. This book is definitely a palette cleanser for more taxing and cerebral books, and it's able to do that and still maintain competent quality. The Supes/Bats dynamic flows naturally and I can see that Supergirl is one of his favorites to write.

The best moment was when the Doom Patrol started panicking: "Coming in hot Doom Patrol! Scramble! SCRAMBLE!" more

Williamson is such a mediocre writer. This was a real nothing burger.

Absolutely no interest in reading the next issue.

Mid in excelsis!

I thought the Dick/Jon story was good, I think the themes carried it more than the dialogue. The art by Jurgens is great however.

The Flash story by Adams is more of what I'm loving about the main title, the Wally + Ace interactions are awesome. I feel like we are in a Flash renaissance due to the work Adams has done for the title and these two characters. r/>
I wanted to like the Pariah story since it was written by the goat PJK, but it was just meandering. They want to give some impetus behind Pariah, but they spent the whole time beating around the bush. The major revelations are most definitely being saved for the event, and this was a waste of time.

Something I have found pretty compelling is the idea that the heroes are used to the lessened impact of death in the DCU, but they are still worried and have doubts of as to if the League will come back (even though they definitely will). This theme is one that I'm looking forward to being explored in the event. more

The ideas are there, the dialogue isn't. Segovia's art, especially during the Geo-Force sequences, was actually a lot of fun. The first epilogue was super lacking, it looked like fan art. The Deathstroke epilogue had some of the best Howard Porter art I've ever seen. His depiction of Deathstroke's corpse was incredible.

Everyone needs to be reading this book right now!

The Clark section was beautiful. It was reminiscent of Jeph Loeb's tribute to his late son in "Sam's Story" back from Superman/Batman #26, but the continued reinforcement of the Kent's lessons of humility and moral virtue in Clark are awesome. I hope that this gets more popular so we can phase out all of the Hack Snyder DCEU supes personality from the zeitgeist.

The Mongul section was enjoyable as well, the reverse moral code of war-world to ours is extremely fascinating. It makes a lot of sense that the Mongul dynasty would be "Mongol-like"; Genghis Khan fathered so many children, the Mongul's spread their seed and wait for the successor to come and pay for the throne with blood. more

PKJ is the man!

Lots to unpack from a fantastically dense issue:

The worms generating an inhabitable atmosphere reminds me of the Shai-Hulud from Dune, and its interesting that the genesis has become the lifeblood of the planet while sustaining the worms themselves. I assumed that the genesis metal came from the fallen star + necropolis, but more on that later.

The origin of Mother got me thinking about Circe and the revenant queen from Byla's stories. After Mongul smacking around the mysterious scavenger, my theory that they are Circe might go out the window in favor of the link with this Mother character.

The Olgrun myth is pretty fascinating: elder gods from the first world, hidden stones of great power, and a test of worthiness to claim the ultimate fire of creation. I don't know how genesis metal and the necropolis factors in to the rest of the stones: they could either be source wall debris or remnants from this first world of Olgrun. Also interesting that the aspects of Olgrun have a failsafe where the universe will essentially end if they fall in the wrong hands. That's a pretty big gambit for the power of the aspects, so Olgrun must be a bad mf. We don't know what the seven worlds are yet, but I'll be sure to look out for more hinting.

Interesting that Mongul was able to get the thanagarian ships so quickly from the United Planets. Once again, bureaucracy will always fail in the face of a true threat; heroes and virtue are the viable solution!

The Myth of Mongul was great! It does get messy if you remember the pre-crisis mongul origin involving Arkymadryte and the warworld's crystal key, but you could easily chalk that off to one of the previous Mongul's having gone off and fought superman while using a fake Warworld or whatnot. The crystal from the dead god that the first Mongul/Guldejo wears might be connected to the Olgrun origin. The ship of the dead god looks exactly like the thanagarian ships seen above the resistance before the backup story starts, unless I'm just misreading and those aren't the thanagarian ships and the Monguls had crafted their armada after the design of the dead god.

Ricardo Federici continues to knock it out of the park! Will Conrad's art was better than before, as long as he stays away from the gross computer/3d vomit of the likes of Mike Deodato Jr and Brandon Petersen, he has my approval at least. I really liked his work during Justice League Odyssey, and his art in this issue especially reminded me of that. more

The twist I saw coming since Batman #122. Motivations make sense for hating Talia and Slade with Judas Contract & Event Leviathan, though I would tell you to only read JC because the other one is indecipherable garbage.

Nobody gives a shit about Angelbreaker, and I'm sure everyone is tired of death-bait when we've already seen him in the Dark Crisis promo material and covers.

>I miss Chris Priest. This makes me want to buy the omnibus. more

No way they are really linking this to Mark Waid's World's Finest, but doesn't that book take place in the past? How the fuck does Nehza factor into this bullshit?

Weak dialogue, mundane story beats, and a couple continuity discrepancies (Girder is currently merc'd in the Flash Book).

I can put money that the twist is Geo-force like I've been saying since this event started.

A very dynamic issue, a lot happens and we are finally able to see how this half-season of Swamp Thing is going to ramp up as well as the direction it's going in.

I'm always a fan of the writers utilizing the vast scope of the DC universe like in the pre-flashpoint days, and Ram V does this very well with the various characters he's pulled in to represent the war of ideas that is to come.

My favorite segment was the journey of Trinity; her internal dialogue just sucked me in immediately and I'm very excited to see where this storyline goes in the next issue. more

Always well written, though I can't help but say that I was expecting something a little more bombastic for the finale of the series. Solicits and the FCBD special without a doubt had a lot of it spelled out for us, which I feel definitely worked to the detriment of this issue especially. In the end, I'm curious how everything will fit together upon re-read but I am still very excited for Judgement Day. more

What's not to love about this book! It's wholesome, action packed, the script is tight and the dialogue is superb. Everything that happens in this comic is great! Fernando Pasarin's pencils have elevated this run to new heights after the cringe inducing digital vomit that is Brandon Petersen's art. The Flash is a book you simply can't put down, and everyone needs to buy this every month.
/>Jeremy Adams has been a godsend, and I give a lot of credit to him due to the fact that he's had to weave through an absurd amount of event fallout into his books. He redeemed Wally after Heroes In Crisis, sidestepped the Earth-3 crossover, and now has to derail the plot once more for Dark Crisis shenanigans. Godspeed to you Adams and Pasarin! more

Howard Porter's art is unbelievable in this issue. The action in this book is pretty much what kept me engaged throughout all 22 pages. However, Williamson's dialogue continues to be weak.

They didn't have to do my boy Hood like that, and I felt nothing with Respawn's death. Grade-A bait: Prometheus is on the cover and does nothing of importance. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that the masked Deathstroke is Geo-Force by now, and kudos to Williamson for bringing up that Bendis-League arc that no one read with the imposter Deathstrokes. more

Can't decide if I like PKJ's writing or Federici's art better. This book continues to be spectacular, easily the best thing DC is putting out right now. Although the plot was confined to that specific brawl, this issue was integral in displaying the turning point in the war. The revolution is underway and Mongul finally understands that he might be powerless to stop it. The Lois bookends are great as well, and I'm excited to see how the mystery of the Genesis Fragment unfolds. more

Let's be honest with ourselves, I'm certain we all know that the Justice League is not dead and they will come back in some form or fashion. However, this bait concept could have been a great outlet for some meaningful and emotionally impacting moments as the Justice League fights for their lives on a world beyond the void.

Everything in this book is dull, the writing is static and the play by play is just boring. I did not feel anything seeing my heroes getting trashed. The dialogue is just horrid. I'm sure the idea of Pariah using the Anti-Matter chamber to bring back Multiverse-2 could lead to a lot o interesting things, but the execution sucks.

Rafa Sandoval's art has always been great, but the writing only seems to drag it down. They make an excuse for the Army of Darkness being evenly matched with the JLA by claiming they are shadows and the Darkness can't use their full power since Pariah is the conduit controlling them: which doesn't make sense since the Darkness one shotted the Quintessence, the Empty Hand was at full power during JLI, and Pariah wasn't even controlling him during the events of those miniseries. The Empty Hand brawling against a character like Hawkgirl is so lame. All of this plot is the equivalent of a wet fart. more

This is easily one of the best Flash stories I have read in a while. I started reading comics during the cusp of the Rebirth era, so I was caught in a tale of two Wallys and have great appreciation for both of them. Jeremy Adams does character interactions better than anyone in the industry right now. He does Bendis better than Bendis. This was an entire issue of two cousins having a heart to heart and it never failed to keep me interested. Pasarin's art suits Adam's style better than any other artist, the expressions along with his beautiful rendition of Wally's Flash suit is always great to see. This was a brilliant issue and I continue to look forward every month to picking up this book. more

I had to check the date while reading this comic, I thought I was in the 60's with how Silver Age this was. I am a huge fan of Morrison's DP, but the classic Arnold Drake team fits so well! Supergirl breaking the time barrier might seem jarring at first, but once you embrace the super-dickery of the 60's antics it's extremely hard not to have fun. Bravo Waid and Mora!

Some Thoughts:
-Seems like Thomas got zapped by Darkseid back to the Flashpoint Earth preserved in Hypertime.
-The concept of the Divine Continuum presents some interesting ideas and I think you could find a way to fold it into Morrison's Cosmology as well.
-Set up for World of Flashpoint plots: Per Degaton in SA, project Superman, Wesley Dodd, and even a possible Prime Earth Psycho Pirate? He's being used in the Detective Crossover right now if I'm not wrong, but then that would mean that this is the Flashpoint version with memories/visions of prime earth.
-Most intrigued by the Doomsday Clock mentions; Slater's watch, Mime & Marionette, and the Dreiberg kids mentioned on the chalkboard.
-More Zoom fuckery is on the way! And the Flashpoint Barry Allen stuff was a lot of fun.
-The Clockwork Killer mystery is pretty cool, someone is killing time traveler counterparts and stuffing them with gears and shit. The Scavenger stuff was a little out of place, but I wonder if he was really just working for Aquaman and ended up killing Barry and the Dents just because.
-I'm praying that Johns follows up on the Stargirl Spring Break plot threads. more

Bruh this book is a complete lie: I read through the issue extremely dissatisfied with the dialogue and plot while sensing some kind of dissonance with everything put out before the crossover. When I go to write this review, I see someone else pose the brilliant question of where Robbie Thompson is on this book. I proceed to go back to the credits, finding Thompson's name nowhere on the book besides the cover; it was written by Hopeless. No wonder this was ass. more

Magnificent art by Howard Porter, but this is definitely a breather issue after the explosive status quo shake-up from last issue. I'm convinced that the fake Deathstroke is Geo-Force now due to his vendetta against Slade bc of Terra, the tunnel carved through underground, and the Markovian setting. He would also have beef with Talia & the Al Ghuls after the Leviathan incidents.

I could care less about who Batman is playing tongue hockey with this week. more

Mister Sinister is my new favorite Marvel character.

The art is so good! Slow burn, but super excited to see what Ram V does with these next 6 issues!

Very solid start to this crossover. I have no doubt been a Williamson critic for these last couple months, but this was so much fun. Bogdanovic's art is spectacular, and Williamson really gives you a lot out of this issue. The pacing was fantastic, and the continuity was on point with the rest of the DCU. Props to the team for a status quo shakeup done the right way.

What a garbage event. The only thing worse than the writing is the pacing of this book; a band of uninteresting storylines Frankenstein-ed together into this monstrosity. I'm only pissed because Thompson's 12 issues of Suicide Squad were fucking solid, and I hope I'll look back at that run with rose tinted glasses and ignore whatever the hell this is.

"Ghost Dance" is horrifically fun. Watch out Mystery Gang; when four yuppies and a beast enter the house of the restless dead, not everyone is going to come out alive! Something fascinating about the standalone triptych of these past few stories is the lack of focus on our titular protagonist in favor of Moore taking us readers on our own American Gothic Road-Trip, only now Swamp Thing is the guest star as we watch flawed and helpless POV cannon fodder ravaged by new age urban horrors. Once again, Alan Moore's endings leave one shocked and hungry for more, his mark sealed by letters and ink within our minds forcing us to do his bidding; turn the page! more

Bissette & Totleben are the dream team for this run so far; everything about this comic makess me re-evaluate how I view the comics that are put out today and the lack of quality between current monthlies and this masterpiece of a run. "Bogeymen" is easily one of the best stories in this entire collection, and when looking at how good everything in this run has been, this story rising above should hopefully say something.

If there's one thing I can say, just read this issue. Please. more