Now That's How You Do a Crossover

"Crisis On Earth X"
The CW's Arrowverse
Release Date: Nov. 27-28, 2017

Previous crossovers within the shows of the Arrowverse of CW shows have had some truly great moments, but this year's megacrossover was by far the best to date. In the past, the individual shows very much retained their own individual feel, leaving each chapter feeling like merely a special episode of "Supergirl," "The Flash," "Legends of Tomorrow" or "Arrow" with cameos, but the overall storyline would feel a bit disjointed.

This year's crossover event felt like four hour-long chapters of a single storyline that happened to star characters from each of the aforementioned shows. Even the intros and outros were specially created to contain elements from all four shows as a unified entity. Without an episode guide to indicate which hour belonged to which series, it was very hard to tell that they weren't a new unified show, which is as it should be for a project like this.

I confess, I haven't been keeping up with "Supergirl" this season; I just haven't had time to watch everything, and that show has fallen by the wayside. But the writers did a great job of briefly bringing viewers up to speed on the relevant status quo of each series without belaboring things, so I knew everything I needed to know about the "Supergirl" participants and where they were at coming into the crossover, without feeling like I was getting unnecessary exposition about the other shows I knew more about.

I also felt like there was a lot of character and plot development in this crossover for the individual series. Viewers of the next episodes of "The Flash," "Arrow" and "Legends" will definitely have some changes from the crossover to be addressed. I didn't see as much change in the characters from "Supergirl," but again, maybe that is because I'm not current on that show right now.

If there was a weak spot in the whole thing, I'd have to say it was the absence of some of the "Legends" cast until the very end. But let's be honest, this was a massive cast of regulars and new characters to service. I can't blame the creators involved for giving some of the "Legends" a little less to do until the big finale.

Now, a lot of what I've read since watching the crossover indicates that it was a lot of work coordinating on the part of the creators, crews and staffs of each show to pull this type of thing off. I'm sure it was. But the effort was well worth it for this kind of finished product. If all of the shows continue on, I hope this can continue to be an annual tradition, and that this quality level can be maintained.

Cleaning Out The Last Of The November Clutter

Let's jump right in:

52 Week 29 (DC Comics) — This issue encapsulates what is wrong with Luthor’s Everyman project and “instant powers” in general. Luthor bought the Infinity Inc. name, and apparently the rights to many of the currently unused code names, too. Do the newbies want to live up to the ideals of their predecessors? That’s the last thing on their minds, well behind instant fame, living in the moment, glory-hogging. With some guidance and training, some of these folks might make decent heroes someday. But the selfless, heroic ideal holds no value for them whatsoever. This issue’s characterization of the Everyman heroes is spot-on for today’s live-for-the-moment/what’s-in-it-for-me/if-you-don’t-agree-with-me-you’re-a-moron mentality.

Supergirl 11-12 (DC Comics) — The constant changes in creative talent aren’t doing this title any favors. There’s just no story flow, and the rest of the DCU seems to just ignore the character completely. For instance, in issue #11, Supergirl is working with the Outsiders; didn’t she already “try out” that team in her first stroy arc, along with the Titans? I bought this issue because the advance solicit info mentioned Nightwing, but the story is so disjointed, who cares? Is Kara dating Boomer now or just staying with him? Is she with the team? Doesn’t seem to be any mention of her in the Outsiders book. Then comes #12, which does not pick up after this issue. No, other than the presence of Boomer and a page-long talk between Nightwing and Boomer about Kara, this could be a completely different character. Again, I only bought this issue for the new Terra preview, but nothing here is making me want to pick this title up for the star character. I do wanna see more of this new Terra, though.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes 24 (DC Comics) — Now this title is Kara done right. This is still supposed to be the “new” Supergirl, but she’s a more recognizable Supergirl than the other one. No efforts have been made to explain exactly where she came from in the timeline, but the future/time travel element let’s Waid, Kitson and Gray get away with it. This is a fun read.

Donald Duck and Friends 346 (Gemstone) — Sadly, this is the last issue of this title for a while. Cost of paper is forcing Gemstone to limit their offerings in the immediate future. Another, kid-friendly title bites the dust.

JSA Classified 19 (DC Comics) — This looks like an interesting arc pitting a metahuman body parts stealing Ultra-Humanite against Dr. Mid-Nite. The concept is somewhat gruesome, but this first chapter by Scott Beatty, Rags Morales and Michael Bair is a solid, entertaining read.

Civil War: Choosing Sides (Marvel Comics) — For the most part, I was disappointed in this comic. The Iron Fist chapter doesn’t give readers any information not already available in Daredevil or the new Iron Fist book. I didn’t much care for the Venom, Ant-Man or USAgent installments; they just did nothing for me. Part of why I bought the issue was for the appearance of Howard the Duck. His brush with the registration act is humorous, but I didn’t care for Roger Langridge’s art. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t quite Howard, either. This issue also includes the Marvel Comics/Guiding Light crossover, a story that seems oddly placed as all of the New Avengers are shown working side-by-side, and did little for me.

That’s it for today. Depending on holiday activities, we’ll try for some Retro-Reviews next week before my December comics arrive. Happy collecting, and Happy Holidays, everybody.

Why I Hate Supergirl

OK, kiddie-cops, I’m back for another lightning round of comics reviews looking back over mags that I’ve recently read. And starting us off is

Supergirl (2005) 7-8 (DC Comics) — OK, I cheated a little bit here in reading order since #8 didn’t come out until almost the end of July, but I didn’t expect to like either of these books much, so I read ‘em both together. Why buy them if I didn’t expect to like them, you ask. It’s the problem with advance ordering your comics. I didn’t expect to like them after reading #6 a couple months ago, but by that time, I’d already ordered these two. I have NOT ordered #9.

I like the original Supergirl. And I’m not necessarily opposed to updating and reintroducing old characters as new ones. I like the new Supergirl, Matrix, introduced after Superman’s revamp. I just don’t like this latest ultra-teen, sorority-chick, stereotype that DC is parading around as the Maid of Steel.

I could handle her introduction in the pages of Superman/Batman. I’m not altogether certain if she truly had an evil personality to begin with or if Darkseid “created” one when he kidnapped her, but that tale was passable, and even had some memorable moments. Her next adventure, kicking off her own title, wasn’t too bad either, tying in with the events of Infinite Crisis and Luthor and such, and the use of her evil side was a nice touch. But the story was so drawn out what with all of the delayed issues, it was a little hard to follow. But now, the midriff-baring whiner moves into One Year Later, dragging Power Girl along with her, into a twisted vision of the bottle city of Kandor. Making this story, even more lame, in my opinion, is the use of Ultraman and the evil Saturn Girl from another Superman/Batman arc. I’m just not buying it, literally.

Detective Comics 821 (DC Comics) — New writer Paul Dini is not the first scribe to return this title to one that lives up to its name, but as a creator on Batman, The Animated Series, he’s proven he gets Batman, isn’t afraid to use Bruce Wayne in a story as more than a fool, and above all, shows us why Batman is known as the World’s Greatest Detective. He doesn’t just punch his way to a resolution in this done-in-one tale, he searches out clues, follows leads and uncovers a new villain with good, old-fashioned detective work.

Teen Titans 37 (DC Comics) — I’ve been reading a lot of people bashing this title of late online. I’m starting to agree that maybe it's lost its focus a little bit with the jump One Year Later. I’m not opposed to having new characters in the group, but its almost like Johns is bored with keeping Cyborg, Robin and Wonder Girl around but feels he has to to keep his audience. Or maybe he’s stretched a little thin right now with all he’s doing. It’s the Titans; I have high hopes, so I’m not dropping it yet, but I’m disappointed in this most recent arc.

Secret Six 2 (DC Comics) — Just not quite sure about this one either. Gail Simone is such a great writer and Villains United such a great read, I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt so far. But this follow-up miniseries seems even more violent, and with somewhat less focus, so far.

The Thing (2005) 8 (Marvel Comics) — Now this is good comics, people!!!! Naturally, it’s the last issue. I don’t like everything Dan Slott writes. I just don’t get the appeal behind his latest reimagining of She-Hulk. It’s just not that funny to me. But he did right by bashful Benjy, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing. And in true style for a fun comic, Slott takes this book out on a high note. Just about evertbody who’s anybody in the Marvel Universe shows up in this blowout final issue for a rollicking Superhero Championship poker match.

Slott went out on such a high note, how can I do any less? That’s it for today. Happy collecting.