I love this. I get that it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I love putting Wally back into the shoes of a younger man only now he's alone. There is no Flash-Family. There is no support system. He's worried his dad hates him and he's being hunted. He's a Wally West that didn't have Barry to teach him how to BE the Flash. That's his "Darkseid trait". Who is Wally without Barry's mentorship? A hero or a monster. Lemire has me hooked. more

I loved this comic instantly. I have to say, this has already completely eclipsed Lemire's current JLA run. Honestly? I'd have Lemire focus on this and this alone, DC wise of course.

Barry is depicted as a good man from the off and his fondess for Wally is compelling. He has a vested interest in Wally that Wally's father seems to find problematic. It feels like there is more to this. Is Wally himself an experiment? Created by his dad maybe!

Wally's regret over what he did to Barry is felt in every page.

I feel it. But what exactly did Barry do here?

In terms of character designs, I dig the new version of Captain Cold. Hoping to see more character development for him.

Lemire does family drama as good as anyone in comics and that West family drama is the beating heart of this story.

Absolute DC continues this renaissance era for DC comics. I look forward to every issue. I haven't felt this way about so many comics at once in years. Long may it run. more

Let's start with the obvious.

The art is amazing. Just so beautiful. Welcome to ASM Pepe Laraz, I hope you are staying for a long time.

As for stories? Kelly did good. This is so much better than #61 was and I think it is because it feels like there is a direction here. We are actually going somewhere and not just waiting for plot to happen. That is great and Kelly uses his time here well. I have seen comparisons to Big Time and it certainly feels like that.

First backup is great. I love that Kelly continues to work on Norman's redemption. And it won't be easy.

Second one is... I do not like it. I hope this isn't a random magical hell-related bad guy that has zero connection to Spider-Man like Cyttorak or The Blight, or a friend turned demon like Kindred (that is actually a demonic AI controlling cloned bodies made from DNA of your nemesis and your former love with memories from your friend). Because neither of them worked. Kindred especially was bad.

And that brings me to my biggest problem here. I am not excited for this run. I have been this down before, and I don't want to be burned for the third time. And it's all because of the editor.

Lowe seems like a nice guy. I have nothing against him personally and he seems cool in his responses on letter pages. But his work output has been mediocre or terrible for the past decade, with some standouts. If two last runs of ASM suffered because of poor editing and somehow opposite mistakes, I think that tells something.

From the getgo, Kelly seemed like a safe pic. And that he is. This is a solid introduction. But for me, not an exciting one because editorial stays the same. more

A 10 for those that cannot get their brains around the fact this is a different Batman. If you want normal Batman and get upset at the notion of a variant, please - spare us your redundant commentary and just don't read it.

This is the perfect comic for 2025. A working class Batman, he fights for the people and stands up to the rich. A mirror pointed at today's society. The rich getting richer, the poor poorer. A gross over simplification but you know the deal. He is defined, not by his wealth and social status, but by his will to help others

"Oh but that's too heavy handed and political! My conservative mind can't handle social commentary because said commentary doesn't align with my beliefs! I can't enjoy anything that deviates from my core values!"

And what next?

"Oh, they changed Matches Mallone!" Like that character is so utterly sacred and can't be different. They did Matches dirty!" Give me strength.

'Edgelord Batman'. Bloody hell, is this a Fox News message board? "Oh everything he says is so extreme and on the nose!" Conservative speak for "I get upset when politics I don't agree with are espoused." Despite the cold hard fact that superheroes are an inherently liberal ideal.

"Ohhh,too much dialogue! Not enough action!" If it was the other way about, they'd say there wasn't enough dialogue - and point out that it's needed as it's a new universe.

This is a new Batman universe and it is still being defined. As such, exposition is required. Is this not obvious? I'd understand the criticism if it was Tom King levels of exposition, this is literally nowhere near that.

Scott Snyders supposed 'shortcomings' have netted him the no 1 comic book in the industry. This series has people excited about comics again. But no - forget that and let's just go back to the same formula we've seen a million times. Let's not try to evolve or innovate.



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Finster explaining Homecoming rituals to Goldar is peak. Putty Matt sowing seeds of discord within the group is a tired trope but works very well when placed in a high school setting. Kids that age take everything at face value and hang onto every word their friends tell them as fact. It's all very believable.

I loved the small bit of backstory for Billy and Skull. Really adding stakes to these giant monsters with Kimmy's boyfriend getting hit makes this feel a lot heavier than the show ever did.