I've been gently drifting away from new superhero comics in the last year, and while competently executed, this comic's weary exhumation of the moldering corpse of Warren Ellis's early oughts peak really sums up why. I miss the days when comics were new and exciting and full of big ideas, instead of "We've grabbed a thing readers were very excited about 25 years ago and several randomly selected Bat characters, ground them into a bland slurry, and poured them into a trough for our dwindling middle-aged fanbase to stick their little snouts into" more

Not big into current comics recently, but I felt I had to pick this up.

Was not disappointed whatsoever.

I pray for the day that mainstream heroes are allowed to evolve into new configurations like this, innovative status quos that stay true to the heart and history of the character.

Very hyped to see where this one goes.

BEHOLD BABYLON!

Loved this! Very happy I picked up physical instead of digital this time.

Dense, thought provoking, and controversial.

Even though my own personal politics would most likely be against Tom King's, it's very difficult to weigh real-world issues within a fictional reality with Superman and the Justice League running around the US while Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor try to turn the planet into an ashtray. The whole discussion is futile, in my opinion.

However, none of that changes the fact that this is a beautifully drawn book, and King (recently, in my eyes) hasn't missed a step with his prose.

This issue is very well paced and structured, while the concept/pitch brings some much-needed intrigue and excitement to the Amazing Amazon. I haven't been this hooked since Greg Rucka's run back at the start of Rebirth, but then again, we haven't had this talented of a writer on the book either.

Hope we get to see more Sarge Steel! He seems like such a fun monster to write. more

BEST OF THE YEAR!

Prose is unmatched!

Very fun to see King turn Penguin into this mythological boogeyman of the underworld.

I didn't read Batman: Killing Time, but this might convince me to.

In for the ride!

Any comic with Eddy Barrows' art already has a claim on my wallet, but Dan Watter's locomotive of an idea was such a joy to read. To see a Doomsday special led by Supergirl and Martian Manhunter in this day and age of Bat-Crap polluting the entire publishing line gives me so much hope; keep putting out more stuff like this DC!

Empires fall. Parliaments dissolve. Dreams crash into the harsh light of morning. Summer ends. The Quiet Council was always a tower built on sand, and Gillen & Werneck make the inevitable collapse feel like a panic attack. Every move is wrong. Every attempt to do the right thing, to fix the well-intentioned mistakes of the past only makes the doom of the dream more certain. There is no way out. It's fall, and there's nothing you can do about it. more

Absolutely fascinating.

Even with a couple story strands left to the winds, the main pathos Black Adam has been tackling across these twelve issues is brought to an impasse: the Red Sea is pulled apart by mortality's revelation as Theo Adam embarks on a new dawn.

He is no longer a slave to a legacy of ebony lightning that has chained him to the Sinai. He's emerged from a staring match with the abyss, scathed, and yet liberated.

Black Adam will return, but Theo Adam's long march is just beginning. more

Welcome to the Oblivion Bar where the first round is on me and the pretzels are free! Be warned: like the pickled eggs at the bar, this issue is going to get SPOILED rotten.

Trying to decipher this issue with one read is like trying to understand how Balki Bartokomous and Larry Appleton from “Perfect Strangers” were related, how it lasted for 8 seasons and (no lie) 150 episodes!!! So, I read it four times.... maybe more... and I’ll try my best to tell you what I learned. Hickman went big, and epic, and he didn’t disappoint.... like usual. It was deep and confusing but totally interesting and far out at the same time.

The main point behind this entire run, in my humble opinion, was not only to show how long SHIELD has been around but to also give us the battle between fate and free will. This issue’s foundation was that discussion. On one side you have Sir Isaac Newton believing in fate and that he will be the one to see the end of the world as we know it. And on the other side we have Michelangelo who believes in choice and free will. Leonid becomes Judge Judy in the middle and by the end of the issue, shows them what this tilt-a-whirl of desire we call the universe is all about.

The issue opens with Leonid piloting the Human Machine... all 3 realities of him. He is able to see past, present, and future and it appears to all run through him at the same time. However, Michelangelo is no longer able to see the future and all of its possibilities like he once could. Personally, I feel it was because their was no future anymore and Leonid folded space and time on top of itself. This, the Human Machine stopped time itself and restarted it with Leonid inside it.

Leonid asks Newton if we can just talk and put his infatuation with annihilation behind him. Well, Newton freaks out and literally shoots Nostradamus’ Quiet Math at Leonid trying to destroy him but he just brushes it off and demands he listen or he’ll just make him. And with powers that resemble Eternity, Leonid tears Newton apart by his skin, bone, muscle, and organs. This gets Newtons attention and he decides to listen, as would anyone who tore my body apart and had it float in the air directly in from of me.

Both Michelangelo and Sir Isaac Newton wonder what the Human Machine did to Leonid and he tries to explain it in terms of evolution. The Human Machine evolves you to your full potential and again in Leonid’s case, he appears to have the abilities of Eternity which is immortality, time manipulation, multiverse manipulation, unaffected by the passage of time, and can create avatars as well as body possessions to communicate with lesser beings. Basically, he can do whatever the heck he wants. And to be honest, I partially wonder if he is Eternity.

The question Leonid is discussing with two opposite sides, fate and free will, Newton and Michelangelo, is “what now?” or “what’s next?”. If you believe in free will, anything is possible and you can continue on with something new. If you believe in fate and you accomplish what you feel you were supposed to, then are you done? Is that it? The point Leonid is trying to make to both sides is that question of “what now” happens not just to individuals but entire species as well.

So, Leonid explains why everyone is here. Technically once Leonid stepped foot in the Human Machine, that was it. That was the end of everything, except him. With his abilities, Leonid was reborn like a universe inside an exploding star. And after his recreation, he decided to answer this question with two polar opposites of the same coin; Newton (fate) and Michelangelo (free will). And he resurrected them at their most perfect state, which was right before the end of everything.

Being ( in my opinion) Eternity, or at least representing the full potential of a human being, he feels he has a solution that will help both sides by giving them both exactly what they want. He shows both of them the universe from a God’s perspective, which is time as a single moment lasting forever. Looking at it from this perspective, choice and destiny become the same thing. He explains that time is a loop but that loop can be changed. Your destiny is written and is true but it can be altered at any moment so it’s not fixed due to free will and choice. Your fate and destiny is ever changing. Heck we could take the Doc Brown theory and say, “It means your future hasn't been written yet, no one's has. Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one.” Michelangelo excepts this idea and is this rewarded.

On the next page, we pick up right as the group left to track down Newton in issue 4 except instead of landing in three realities simultaneously, they land in the present with everything fixed and Da Vinci waiting for them. Newton was given what he wanted; a world of ash in his on reality. Alone and filled with his fate he forced on the world all along. The epilogue continues with Howard Stark leaving a message for Tony explaining to him the journeys he’s been apart of, his time in SHIELD, it’s purpose, it’s importance, and indirectly setting up the future of SHIELD to come. And I personally hope we see this information continue on to Tony because this would be amazing to see what Tony and Reed Richards could do with this information.

This is what I think happened. The problem is we won’t get a summary page as to what happened in the last issue because this was the last issue. So, did I decipher it right? Who knows! I feel like I did but you never know. I personally loved the series in general. It was confusing but I could name for you dozens of things MORE confusing like Teletubies, why the Kardashians were so dang popular, Burger King foot lettuce, and Furbies. And sometimes confusing can be good if it’s done well. Hickman’s intent was to ultimately use real life characters, as well as Marvel characters, to show us what this “thing” we call life is all about.

He wants us to all to live up to our full potentials and create our own destiny using the gift given to our species that know one else has; free will. I hope Hickman branches off with a new series about SHIELD. I would love to see more stories related to SHIELD throughout time as well as the direction Marvel goes currently with Da Vinci running the show, which he was in Invincible Ironman on Bendis’ last issue of you didn’t read that. The potential for great things involving SHIELD is currently out there now and I hope Hickman, or anyone for that matter runs with it. If you’re a Hickman fan, get the issue. If you can wait, the hardcover come out next month with 6 issues in it. I totally recommend a reread of the entire thing and have no doubt this hardcover will be on my bookshelf at home.

If you like what you heard, love talking all types of comics, and are interested in joining a comic chat group, hit me up at dispatchdcu@gmail.com or @dispatchdcu on twitter. Catch you all later! Peace more

At the end of the day, I express great pride in saying that I spent $10 on this book solely for the Grant Morrison story. And you know what, it was totally worth it.

And it said to be continued at the end! Please Moz! Multiversity Too!

Also, that Rachel Pollack tribute was beautiful. I wish DC would do that for more creators when they pass instead of just one page ad. Having writers recount stories and their own experiences with the deceased I feel allows the readership to unlock a new dimension of that writer, and truly cement them in the tapestry forever. The people who make these books are just as important as the characters that appear in them, and I would love to see more of their stories told. more

Scattered Thoughts:
-So Degaton made a deal with Mordru?

-Degaton's ritual is an attempt to replace the JSA with his own team.

-There is an older Degaton stuck in 1947? And they made a deal with Salem the Witch Girl against Doctor Fate?

-Beth and Yolanda have Eclipso's influence inside of them, and they're taking Lazarus Pills?

-Helena goes to Gotham and reveals herself to Batman, telling him she is his daughter and she's come to save him from dying.

-What is the disturbance in the speed force that jay senses? Related to his daughter Judy? more

This has really grown on me.

When he's not paired with Williamson, Culver ends up doing some really nice things.

But the real superstar is Burnham! Love the DP, but the minute CB isn't on art, I'm dropping it.

Tom King/Gerads story was amazing, the Cantwell/Rodriguez story was amazing, the Mora one was good, but I could care less for Ed Brisson's work. Jeff Spokes art was very good, but wasted on a mundane script.

Have Black Adam and Theo split into two individuals?

So Ishtar fucks with Black Adam, causing a rift between him, Malik, and Jasmin.

Nergal manipulates the Sanheoli to send an airstrike against Black Adam. Adam battles the air-force and Nergal, who turns to dust that is inhaled by Adam, but then expelled via the Living Lightning.

In DC, Malik and Shep are attacked by Sargon, pawn of the Akkad. He tries to turn Malik into the new Sargon by putting the mask on him, but is defeated by Black Adam. Sargon the Sorceror is freed of the Akkadian Mask's thrall, and zaps Adam with a spell that turns him back to Theo while he is enveloped in a red aura. We then see that someone has put on the mask of Sargon.

In the framing sequence, we have Theo visit a catholic Priest to recount the events of the issue, but the priest mentions that while Theo is there confessing, Black Adam is simultaneously brokering for peace with the Sanheoli. Two Adams two different places.

Did Sargon's spell split Theo and Adam, and Adam is the one who put on the Mask?

If not, then who put on the mask?

Is Nergal truly defeated after his brief skirmish with Adam?

Subtitles: "Long Division" , "Severance" , "Kismet" , "Road Rage" , "The Two Adams" , "Dusted" more

Hourman is back! I wonder how this connects to his appearances in Johns' Stargirl: Lost Children mini? I loved the explanation for his return and the reference to him taking the place of Rick Tyler and fighting Extant during Zero Hour back in JSA #66.

Fernando Pasarin is one of the best in the business right now,and Will Robson did a great job too!

The team Jeremy Adams has assembled is so freaking great: both Wallys, the Terrifics, Hourman Android and Gold Beetle! And then on top of it we get the return of OMEGA-BAM-MAN!

Screw Batman #900, buy this instead! more

Here for the art!

-Random thought from last issue: if the circle of crows are servants of the nth world, and the nth world is Thanagar, does that mean that they are Thanagarians or evil hath-set bad guys? Could this lead to a unified Egyptian DC lore that folds in Doctor Fate/Nabu, Khufu/Hawkman, and Teth Adam!?!?

-Final confirmation? Teth-Adam created the Akkad by breathing in the space dust!

-So the mystery is revealed? Adam can access the memories of his progeny/descendants! The original Theo Adam from Pre-Flashpoint continuity was a descendant of Black Adam, and his soul was possessed once he said SHAZAM. Black Adam would eventually expel the Theo persona during Johns' JSA.

-So the nth metal signet rings and the power of Shazam are the floodgates holding back this mysterious plague that is consuming both Malik and Teth-Adam.

-The Fawcett lore! Ibac was originally a dude named Stanley Printwhistle, imbued by powers given to him by Satan himself IIRC.

-So apparently the Circle of Crows pick an orphan every generation to host Ibac, and this incarnation seems tired of the neverending cycle of revenge: he sees himself and Adam as relics that have overstayed their welcome and are just pawns of Oni Grace's machinations.

-No idea who the Sanheoli are, but why is Nergal trying to use them specifically as a tool in his agenda (that we don't know yet)?

-When he refers to the man that raised him, is he talking about his dad Anu or is he talking about Adam (since he technically created all the Akkad)?

-So Ishtar possesses Jasmin and is using her to fulfill her fantasies? Or is she trying to start a fight between him and Malik on purpose?

-Subtitles: "Love & War" , "Strike Force" , "Probable Cause" , "Unexpected" , "Stanley" , "Flattered" more

The Commodore sells his boys out! Interesting that Codename: Assassin can generate force-fields around an individual even if he's not present. I now realize that the Manhunter Grandmaster didn't commit suicide, but it was CA's telekinetic powers manifesting as kind of a purple mist.

Interesting TLDR on the Manhunters, and the connection to the whole "Sky is Falling" stuff might yield more answers. If they're hunting the Green Team, then how did the Green Team cause the Fall of Atlas? Was it because they gave Metamorpho the Helm of Fate? Could they have tampered with the incantation as part of some plan, leading the trio of heroes to bring Atlas instead of Darkseid?

Didn't care for the Batman/Creeper interaction, nor did I care for Orion jobbing to Starman. King really does seem to have a hate-boner for that character.

The crash was pretty crazy, and I'm interested to see how that ends up panning out. I'm assuming the Helm is still in the car, so will Warlord still use it to bring back Good-Looks or will Lady Cop get to it first (or put it on!)? more

So Batman believes the senator to be clean, though they did go fishing with the opposition.

What is the lasso of truth motif that's repeated in multiple scenes?

Furtum Contrectatio = Prevention of theft in Latin

He meets some scavenger aliens, and then ventures to a post-apocalyptic possible-future alter-earth with a non-interventionist Superman called The Victor. The Victor has created his own Eden style paradise at the top of the world where the fortress should be, far away from the tapestry-wasteland of the mud people. In[action] Comics in excelsis!

Seems like a fun Silver Age homage with some haunting socio-political commentary, all written in classic Priest fashion, and I'm all for it!

Subtitles: "Air Supply" , "Furtum Contrectatio" , "It Always Rains In Newark" , "Homeland" more

Would have loved if all of it was drawn by Fernando Pasarin!

Great read!

Would be crazy if Thomas Wayne was the secret love-child of Constance and Slam (since she might have gotten preggers from their tryst back in #4).

This book made me love Phil Hester's art! I'm not sure if it was the colorist or just how suited he is for this kind of narrative, but his work here looks night and day compared to other stuff I've seen him do.

Eddy Barrows' art is top tier! And that prose page with Priest's thesis on Black Adam was PEAK.

Here are some annotations I compiled:

-We finally meet the "wife" of Shakur Nassar and get the rest of Teth-Adam's revamped backstory.

-Nassar's wife is Oni Grace, a character I'm not sure has been pre-established before this issue. She seems to be a temptress and a manipulator with ambitions and unknown motives.

-We learn that Mighty Adam had built a secret getaway so he could retire and become mortal in his off-hours. One day he is attacked by a resurrected Ibac and his master, Mereuka, leader of the Circle of Crows (minions of the Nth World). Adam escapes, but Ibac releases Mamaragan from his slumber, resulting in Adam being banished to space.

-The getaway temple Adam had constructed ended up becoming Kahndaq.
Jasmin returns the signet/ring to Black Adam. Will combining the two rings cure Malik of the plague?

-Did Oni Grace kill Shakur?

-Is Oni Grace a version of Amazing Grace from Darkseid's Elite?

-Now we know why #5 was called 2325; because that was the year Black Adam was banished.

-It's been mentioned multiple times now the fact that Black Adam talks about these Egyptian Pharaohs even though he was banished to space long before they were born. Adam explains (in #6 IIRC) that lightspeed travel warps time, allowing him to be on Earth during times he shouldn't be.

-What is the mystery within mystery of Black Adam?

-What is Ishtar's intent with Malik?

-Subtitles: "For All & None" , "Romulans" , "The Widow" , "The Overcoat" more

The pacing of this book is a whole other animal. King uses the inherent mundanity found in "calm before the storm" type sequences to lower your defenses and prevent narrative predictability, just to hit you with a page turning reveal moving at 100 miles an hour!

Though the prose is dominated by seemingly useless anecdotal clutter, the actual STORY and PLOT are wonderfully executed thanks to King's direction and Fornes' brilliant art. more