Justinsayne's Comic Spotlight Thread

[justinsayne]

The Flash: Rebirth

The Flash: Rebirth is a six issue monthly American comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Ethan Van Sciver. Published by DC Comics, the series features characters from throughout the nearly seventy year history of Flash comics. This is the creative team's second "rebirth" limited series, preceded by 2005's Green Lantern: Rebirth. The first issue was released on April 1, 2009. The series was first solicited to last five issues, but was extended to six issues in May 2009.

The storyline follows the "rebirth" of the Silver Age Flash Barry Allen, after an initial return in the pages of DC's 2008 crossover event Final Crisis. The creative team, when asked which Flashes would appear in the series at Comic Con International 2008, replied, "All of them."

The Flash: Rebirth is the first Flash thing I have ever really read, & it was a damn good place to start, as this really gives you a good idea of everything to expect in the Flash universe. In Rebirth you see Barry's relationships with pretty much everyone close to him in the DCU, from all those connected to the speedforce, to his relationship with Hal Jordon, to his wife Iris, to the rest of the Justice League. You see him deal with coming back to life, after escaping the speedforce, & dealing with all the changes that have happened since he's been gone. You also get a look back and see how he & Iris met, & you get to see him go up with perhaps his greatest foe in the Reverse Flash, in this he talks about how he & Batman used to compare villains, and Flash considers Reverse Flash to be his Joker. This was a really fun read, filled with great writing & great art. I would recommend this to anyone either looking for a good Flash tpb or to anyone that is looking to get into The Flash & has been looking for a jumping on point.

The Flash: Rebirth is available as a tpb for $14.99

 

[justinsayne]

Locke & Key Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft

Locke & Key is a comic book metaseries written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez and published by IDW Publishing. It's made up of six six issue mini-series, the first of which was Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovercraft.

An Issue By Issue Summery of Welcome to Lovecraft

Issue #1- After the murder of their father, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode Locke relocate with their mother to the family estate of Keyhouse, located in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. Sam Lesser, one of the teens who murdered Mr. Locke, is in a juvenile detention center and, by gazing in water, communicates with a supernatural force that promises to free him. Bode Locke, the youngest of the family, uncovers The Ghost Door, which separates his spirit from his body.

Issue#2- Bode continues to experiment with The Ghost Door and, in his incorporeal form, spies on his brother, sister, and mother. During his journeys, Bode discovers a well that houses a creature who appears as a girl, the supernatural force previously communicating with Sam Lesser.

Issue #3- Sam Lesser uses the tools the girl gave him to escape from the detention center.

Issue #4- Sam Lesser travels across America, traveling towards Keyhouse. His cross-country journey is mirrored by a series of flashbacks into his memories.

Issue #5- The Locke family is taken hostage by Sam Lesser who is seeking the Anywhere Key for his Master, the girl in the well.

Issue #6- Bode must save his family, the girl is the well says she can make Sam Lesser go away if Bode finds the "Anywhere Key" & sets her free.

Locke & Key is by far my favorite series going right now. Vol.1 is a great start to this story, & keeps you hooked right up to the very end. After I finished Vol. 1 I wanted to start Vol. 2 immediately. Unlike most comic book stories this doesn't have too many happy endings for our heros, the first few pages you start off with seeing the Father of the Locke Family being brutally murdered, then through the next few chapters you see the family dealing with their grief in their own ways, Tyler & Kinsey both sorta become loaners in the book. Tyler finds himself taking a lot of showers, where Kinsey joins the track team because it allows her to do the one thing she knows how to do best, run. Kinsey also drastically changes her appearance after her father dies, she goes from sorta a punkish look with died hair & piercings, to a more "normal" look, because she feels people are already gonna think she's a freak due to the whole father being brutally slain thing, she doesn't need people looking at her & judging her on her appearance as well. Bode deals with his grief by exploring Lovecraft, and finding the keys. Bode is your typical reckless little kid, always finding himself in trouble, always getting into things. The mom deals with her grief by turning to alcohol. The end of the book is very stisfying and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Locke & Key is very very well written, though that's to be expected when the author, Joe Hill, is the son of two best selling authors, Steven King, & Tabitha King. The art is also fantastic, Gabriel Rodriguez was a perfect choice to do this series, and just has an eye for the little details. I can not recommend Locke & Key enough, this is just a fucking awesome series, that you need to start from the beginning on, though this is not, I repeat NOT for children, this is very much an adult book.

Locke & Key: Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft is available in TPB for $19.99

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

I haven't read Locke and Key as of yet but the flash rebirth for me is a great way to re-introduce the flash family back into DC continum, The re-telling of Barry Alans life and the struggles of each flash to come to terms with their rebirth through the speed force was a good read, it makes the characters seem more human and helps a new reader (such as myself) to establish a connection to the Flash Universe.

I'm looking forward to the new DC 52 and want to see how they establish these characters in the new universe.