Batman #35

Endgame Part One

Writer Scott Snyder
Penciller Greg Capullo
Inker Danny Miki
Colorist FCO Plascencia
Letterer Steve Wands
Cover Capullo, Miki & Plascencia
Assistant Editor Matt Humphreys
Editor Mark Doyle
Batman created by Bob Kane

The cover shows us something I think we've always wanted to see — Batman taking on the entire Justice League. It's a really nice image, helped by Capullo's solid artwork and the simple grey background. However, Cyborg and Green Lantern do not appear in this issue, which is a major letdown.

Our story begins with a large chunk of Gotham City being evacuated by some sort of chemical attack. But on further analysis, the gas turns out to be harmless, leading a news crew to suspect that whoever launched the gas actually wanted to clear out space for an arena. And those reporters were exactly right, because right in the middle of this gas cloud is Batman, sitting in a gigantic suit of armor.

We find out that Bruce Wayne was suddenly attacked by Wonder Woman not too long ago. She announced that the Justice League is here with her to do something they've all wanted to do for a long time — kill Batman. Somehow, Batman was able to get away from her long enough to get into his suit and unleash the gas to clear out the civilians.

Now, the armored Batman is fighting Wonder Woman. He notices she's a bit slower than usual, but she's not pulling her punches. So Batman tries to respond with equal ferocity. But Wonder Woman gets the best of him, slicing off his hand with her sword, then shoving it right through his chest. Wonder Woman stands triumphantly over Batman's dying body, but then we realize that final blow only occurred inside Wonder Woman's head. Batman's suit was specifically designed to take down the Justice League, and for Wonder Woman, he acquired the "bind of veils," a rope that creates lies. It was created by Hephaestus in a moment of doubt, using an inverted version of the weave of the lasso of truth.

As soon as Wonder Woman stops fighting, Batman is hit by a red blur. He manages to shout out "run red" to activate his anti-Flash protocol before being taken down. Batman has put more money into this suit than 60 percent of the world's nations put into their militaries, and most of that money was spent developing servers fast enough to map the Flash's movements — assuming he wasn't at optimal speed.

As the Flash races toward Batman, his suit is able to fire a frictionless coating on the ground right in front of the Flash, causing him to trip and crash into a building, all before Batman even knows it. As soon as the Flash crashes, Aquaman attacks Batman from behind. But he is blasted by a purple foam that is made of the most absorbent material on Earth. Batman explains to Aquaman that the more he struggles, the more moisture it rips from his body.

Batman asks Aquaman who's behind this, but before he can answer, Superman swoops in and slams Batman into an opera house. Batman asks Superman who did this, and he responds by saying it's actually sort of funny. Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman and Superman begin laughing, as Batman finally realizes the Joker has taken over the Justice League.

There's also a backup story called The Paleman, in which several Arkham inmates trade stories about who and what the Joker really is. It's rather interesting, but it doesn't involve the Flash, so I'll skip it.

The Good:

Great way to fight the Flash. I liked how Batman explained that it cost him billions and billions of dollars just to make something that would trip up the Flash, and then only if the Flash was somehow slowed down. It was a very logical, and satisfying way to handle the situation. Sometimes, Batman kind of becomes a "Batgod" with things like this. But in this case, I think the Flash's powers were fully respected, and Batman didn't look too omnipotent. In fact, I was quite happy with how Batman defeated Wonder Woman and Aquaman, as well.

Solid art. He only showed up in a couple of panels, but I absolutely loved the way the Flash was drawn by Capullo. I actually liked it a lot more than Brett Booth's Flash. If Capullo ever gets bored drawing Batman, I hope he moves over to The Flash, or even Justice League. Everything looked very good in this issue.

The Bad:

I'm going to need a solid explanation for how the Joker was able to infect Wonder Woman, the Flash, Aquaman and Superman. Those are four of the most powerful people on the planet, who are basically impervious to just about everything. Of course, I don't expect this issue to explain that — I just hope I get a satisfactory explanation sometime down the line.

Final score: 7 out of 10

Next: He's baaaaaaaaack!

The Flash Annual #3

Slip

Robert Venditti & Van Jensen Writers
Brett Booth (future Flash) & Ron Frenz (present Flash) Pencillers
Norm Rapmund (future Flash) & Livesay (present Flash) Inkers
Andrew Dalhouse Colorist
Taylor Esposito Letterer
Booth, Rapmund & Dalhouse Cover
Kate Durré & Amedo Turturro Assistant Editors
Brian Cunningham Group Editor

The cover features the blue future Flash, which isn't that bad of a design. Scattered around him are several random scenes. I believe the top middle is supposed to be the fateful lightning bolt that gave Barry Allen his super speed. On the right, we have Gorilla Grodd, who is in this issue, as well as a spray-painting youth (Wally West), who also makes an appearance here. I think the bottom middle is Flash fighting Captain Cold, who is not in this issue. Altogether, it's rather random and cluttered. Not Booth's best work.

Our story begins now, in Central City. Barry stops at a newsstand on his way to work, and is thoroughly pleased with how well his hometown has cleaned itself up since the Crime Syndicate attack. But just as he comments on how great it is for everything to be back to normal, he spots a kid in a blue hoody spray-painting anti-Flash graffiti on a wall. Barry confronts the youngster, who sprays Barry's shirt and tie, and takes off. But Barry sneaks in some super speed and catches the kid. A couple of cops happen to be passing by, and they take the vandal to the station to call his parents.

At the Central City Police Station Downtown Precinct, Barry enjoys a hot cup of coffee with his girlfriend, Patty Spivot. Patty has a craving for níspero, an exotic fruit she had in Guatemala. I think it's odd that she has positive memories from the trip on which she was kidnapped by the Weather Wizard, but I guess she's a pretty strong, stable woman. Anyway, Barry decides to be a good boyfriend, and zips down to Guatemala to grab some fruit. But when he returns, he finds his coffee is ice cold and Director David Singh is furious with Barry's tardiness.

Singh explains that the crime lab is way behind on the massive amount of cases caused by the Crime Syndicate attack, and he gives Barry a case that should be pretty easy to close quickly. Ernest Flake, aka Mogul, escaped Iron Heights during Forever Evil, and was caught two days ago on a bus to Canada. And detectives found a body they're positive was killed by one of Flake's weapons. Singh orders Barry to visit Iron Heights to swab Flake for a DNA sample and close the case as soon as possible.

On his way out, Barry runs into Iris West, who says she's there to pick up her nephew, Wallace R. West. Barry recognizes Wally as the vandal from earlier, and Wally starts to tease Barry about his shirt before adamantly denying to Iris that he's met him before. Iris tells Barry that Wally is the son of her never-before-mentioned older brother, Rudy, who took off shortly after Wally was born. Wally's mom disappeared during Forever Evil, so Iris took him in to keep him out of foster care. She then rather oddly asks Barry to spend some time with Wally, saying he grew up with no father figure and idolized his uncle, Daniel, even though he was a criminal. Wally blames the Flash for imprisoning Daniel, and Iris is worried that he'll head down a bad path if nobody steps in to guide him. Barry said he'd like to help, but he's busy working a case right now.

Twenty years from now, the future Flash in his blue suit visits the grave of Wallace Rudolph West — Beloved Son and Nephew. Iris soon arrives in a wheelchair, saying she was tipped off that someone was at Wally's grave by the night watchman, whom she has on payroll for some reason. Iris is surprised to see the Flash there, feeling guilty for what must have been just one of many people he wasn't able to save. So Flash takes off his mask and says he loved Wally as if he were family. Iris is shocked to learn Barry has been the Flash all these years, but he cuts her off by saying he's going to leave to repair all the damage. Iris knows he's referring to time travel, and she reminds him how Daniel tried that, too, and failed. She further warns Barry, saying that even if he succeeds, he won't come back the same. Barry says he's not planning on coming back, and he takes off.

Now, at Iron Heights Prison, Barry visits Mogul in his cell. He shows him a photograph of Wyatt Hill, who was found dead in a snowbank in his apartment. But Wyatt didn't freeze to death, he had all the moisture drained from his body. And when Ernest Flake was the villain Mogul, he used guns that sucked up the water from the air to create snow, which he would ski on to get away from the cops. While Flake admits his weapon could have killed Wyatt, he denies the murder, saying he didn't even know the victim. He says he initially built the device to create snow for a year-round ski slope, but the project went under, leaving him broke, but with a nifty gadget. But when Mogul was arrested, his gun was confiscated by the police, and as far as he knew, it was still locked up when the Crime Syndicate attacked. Barry takes his DNA sample and vows to find the real killer.

Twenty years from now, in Gorilla City, Grodd is visited by the Flash. Grodd is munching on a brain, which he says comes from the greatest scientific mind of the 25th century — Eobard Thawne — and by consuming his brains, Grodd claims to gain all his knowledge. Flash says the Speed Force was broken when Daniel West first traveled through time, and they have only been making it worse since then. Grodd says he also ate Daniel's brain, which gave him the ability to travel through time and collect a library of lost knowledge. Flash then attacks Grodd, saying the power of the Speed Force was always his responsibility, and he should have stopped Grodd and Daniel before they abused that power. And Flash promises Grodd a fight to the death.

Now, in the Central City Police Station Downtown Precinct, in Director Singh's office, Captain Darryl Frye is delivering some bad new to the overworked director. Frye wants to send a message that order has been restored, so he's opened 467 new cases in the past two days. As he leaves the overwhelmed Singh, Barry enters his office to deliver more bad news. There was no trace of Flake's fingerprints or DNA at the scene of the murder, no connection with him and the victim, and proof that he was on the bus to Canada at the time of the murder. Barry is convinced the murder weapon was Mogul's, but it was taken from the police's evidence room during the Crime Syndicate attack, meaning anybody could have killed Wyatt Hill. Singh shouts at Barry, and as he leaves, Forrest tells Barry to stand up for himself. But a grumpy Barry makes a snide comment about Forrest's toughness.

Barry then visits Patty to complain about Singh. She helps him realize that Singh's under a lot of pressure to close these unsolved cases. Barry quickly recovers, and Patty teases him about moping. Forrest then interrupts their romantic moment by announcing a robbery at the Dearborn Gallery. So Barry throws on his Flash outfit and rushes off to save the day.

The art gallery is being robbed by about eight people in black outfits. They're prepared for the Flash, using guns that emit ultrasonic vibrations to throw him off balance. The robbers mention their boss, who hypothesized that these weapons would rob the Flash of the ability to control his power. But Flash realizes that just because he can't control his power doesn't mean he can't use it. He spins around in a wild whirlwind, which knocks the crooks down, and takes their guns off him. The whirlwind also knocked all the paintings up in the air, so Flash has to spend time catching them all, while the robbers recover.

With their guns once again aimed at him, Flash warns them about destroying the paintings and losing their big score. But they say the paintings were never their only target, and they open fire on the Flash anyway. But this time, Flash is ready for them, dodging the guns' blast and putting the paintings in one of the crook's arms and dismantling his gun, before turning on the others.

In the future, Flash has engaged Grodd, accusing him of slaughtering his people and plundering the past, present and future. Flash says before he leaves, he wants to make sure Grodd's done batting the world around like a tire on a rope. But Grodd is able to grab Flash by the throat and slam him into the wall.

Now, Flash has pinned one of the robbers up against the wall in a similar choke hold. Flash challenges the crook to see what happens when he's pushed to his limits, but then the other criminals pull out machine guns on Flash and their teammate. Flash is shocked that they would so easily turn against one of their own, and he opts to save the crook's life by swinging him around and into his group — a move Flash calls "bowling for burglars." With all the robbers finally subdued, the police arrive and start to take them away. Flash asks them who their boss is, but they refuse to say. The one who was saved by the Flash asks why he saved him, and Flash says that letting him die would have been the same as killing him himself. And Flash says he'll never take a life for any reason.

In the future, Grodd moves in for the kill, and prepares to feast on Flash's brain. But he's thrown off by a large explosion — negative feedback from the Speed Force. Flash says the Speed Force is the lifeblood of time itself, and it's now bleeding out thanks to Grodd. He then hits Grodd with a series of quick hits on the side of his head, and sneaks a micro-bomb inside his ear. Grodd's fingers are too large to pull the bomb out in time, and his explodes. Flash stands over the headless corpse of Grodd and says that if he succeeds in his mission, he won't have needed to execute him. And the blue future Flash then takes off to kill himself.

The Good:

Follow up on Forever Evil. The first big crossover event of the New 52 was supposed to be Trinity War, but it turned out to merely be setting the stage for Forever Evil — the bloated, disappointing story that lasted way too long, mainly because of some inexplicable publishing delays. But it was still a huge, epic event, and it's nice to see at least one book treat it as such. Yeah, I still have a few questions, such as what happened to all the gorillas and whether Solovar survived. But I am happy that Venditti and Jensen remembered that Central City was destroyed and will take some time to fully get back to normal. And it is a nice touch to see the police begin the long, arduous process of figuring out exactly who escaped from Iron Heights and who killed who during all the ruckus.

The Bad:

Wally West. I've already complained about him being black, so I won't repeat myself here. Now, I'm complaining that he's fallen under the negative stereotype of young black men. He grew up without a father, and is therefore a troubled teen, falling into a life of crime. Such a characterization seems to discount some of the progressiveness I'm sure DC intended by changing Wally's ethnicity in the first place. And it is awfully convenient for Iris to have a never-before-mentioned older brother, completely disregarding the heartfelt look into the West family as told by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato.

Iris West. Why on Earth would she ask Barry to spend time with her wayward nephew? She dated Barry briefly like six years ago. And since then, she's really only used him as a source for her stories. Yeah, I guess she did try to get closer to him after she was rescued from the Speed Force, but she always seemed to understand that Patty was Barry's girlfriend. Is she using Wally to get closer to Barry? Whatever the reason, I think it is very strange and unnatural for Iris to make this request of Barry. Why doesn't she use her reporter skills to track down her long-lost brother, Rudy? Or look for Wally's mom and/or relatives on that side of the family? The answer to these questions is that Venditti and Jensen needed to find a way to get Barry and Wally together, and between the two of them, this is apparently the best they could do.

I also have a bunch of very small, trivial complaints, but nothing large enough to deduct points from the final score. I'm not a fan of the art in this issue, but it was passable. And I suppose I need to mention the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Half of me was disgusted by Grodd's death, but the other half of me kind of liked it. So I remain neutral on the issue. It was an effective way of showing us that this Flash is a very different, and more violent person.

Final score: 4 out of 10

Next time, we'll Flash take on the Dark Knight himself in Batman #35.

Earth 2: World's End #18

Run

Story by Daniel H. Wilson
Written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson and Cullen Bunn
Breakdowns by Scott McDaniel
Art by Eddy Barrows & Eber Ferreira, R.B. Silva & Walden Wong, Eduardo Pansica & Marc Deering, Jorge Jimenez, and Tyler Kirkham
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Lettering by Corey Breen
Cover by Guilem March & Tomeu Morey
Associate Editor Rickey Purdin
Editor Mike Cotton
Group Editor Eddie Berganza
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.
Batman created by Bob Kane.

This cover is a symbolic representation of something that really doesn't happen in this issue. So what we have here is Earth 2's Green Lantern, Alan Scott, who is the avatar of the green, just as Swamp Thing is on Earth 1. And since Earth 2 is being attacked by Apokolips, I guess Alan Scott is feeling the Earth's pain, as well. Or something like that. Like I said, nothing like this really happens in this issue.

The Earth 1 Flash in The New 52, Barry Allen, has never had an occasion to cross paths with the people of Earth 2 and their Flash, Jay Garrick. And that's really sad, when you consider that it was the original Barry Allen back in the '60s who was the first character to cross over to Earth 2. But anyway, what I'm saying is that I haven't read any New 52 Earth 2 stories, but I do know the basics ... I think. In any case, this won't be a very in-depth review because the Flash — our Flash — only appears on a computer screen in one panel.

So there's a whole lot going on, but we're only going to focus on the story of Batman (Thomas Wayne) and his granddaughter Huntress (Helena Wayne). The two of them have apparently survived some big battle and are rescued by the world army. While they regroup at an outpost in France, Batman is contacted by Jimmy Olsen, who claims to have plans to evacuate the planet to another dimension.

But, more importantly to the plot, Jimmy says he found a note left by Helena's late father, Bruce, directing her to get in touch with Oliver Queen. So Batman and Huntress prepare to go on one more adventure while everyone else tries to stop Darkseid from turning Earth into a second Apokolips.

The Good:

I suppose this could be an exciting, epic story if I knew anything that was going on. But coming in right in the middle like this, kind of leaves me saying, "So what?" I don't care what happens to this Batman — my Batman is perfectly fine. And so on and so on.

The Bad:

Little to no Flash. I have no idea why he's with Hawkman on this computer screen. The only time I could think of this happening was during Trinity War. So I'm not sure if this image Earth 2 Jimmy Olsen has found is an image from the past, future, or an entirely different Earth altogether. I found an interview with Daniel H. Wilson where he was asked specifically about this very panel, and he basically said it had nothing to do with the story and was only an easter egg thrown in by the artist. And since this is the only Earth 2 issue to feature the Earth 1 Flash (and Hawkman), I have to assume that their inclusion was actually accidental.

Too many cooks in the kitchen. Twenty different people worked on this issue, which is almost one person per page. That's not exactly how it broke down, but every few pages, the story did shift dramatically in tone and art. I hate issues where the art is done by committee. It really devalues the art, treating it as a secondary afterthought. But art in comic books is every bit as essential to the story. And when it's a hodgepodge like this, it really weakens the overall product. I know this was a weekly series, but I imagine there's got to be a better way to present the story.

Final score: 3 out of 10

Next time: Hey, this is a Flash blog; why don't we review an issue of the Flash? OK, let's do it with The Flash Annual #3.

Wonder Woman #40

War-Torn Chapter 5

Writer: Meredith Finch
Penciller: David Finch
Inker: Jonathan Glapion
Colorist: Aspen MLT's Peter Steigerwald
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover: Finch, Glapion & Sonia Oback
Assistant Editor: David Piña
Group Editor: Matt Idelson
Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston.
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

The cover is fairly well-done. It's a bit symbolic, showing Wonder Woman slowly being consumed by what I suppose is the main villain of this story arc. But the Flash has only been in a few issues of Wonder Woman, so I really don't know what's going on.

Our story begins with lots of drama with the Amazons that doesn't concern the Flash at all. So I'm going to skip ahead to the part where Wonder Woman meets up with the Justice League. Apparently, most of the members of the team have continued to help Wonder Woman try to solve the problem of the vanishing villages, except for the Flash who has only showed up here at the end.

Turns out a race of insectoid people have been responsible for the vanishing villages, and Cyborg was able to locate their main nest. He, Flash, Batman, Superman, Aquaman and Wonder Woman have all gathered to stop this once and for all, and Flash is especially eager to prevent the world from being overrun by more "bug boys." As the Justice League heads into the cave, passing tons of giant bugs, Flash asks Superman, "What did you say these guys ate again?" Superman says, "You don't want to know," and Flash answers with, "I was afraid you were going to say something like that."

Soon, the team reaches the queen, who we saw on the cover. Wonder Woman confront the queen about claiming the lives of thousands of people, but the queen says she and her people were just doing that which is in their nature. The queen then shifts the blame to Wonder Woman, saying that her race of insectoid people were awaken when Wonder Woman threw her former villain, the First Born, into the heart of the earth.

And then we see more drama going on with the Amazons and Donna Troy. At the end of the issue, there's a note saying the epic conclusion will come in Wonder Woman Annual #1, but I highly suspect that issue will not be printed under the New 52 label, and will therefore fall out of the jurisdiction of this blog. So, for all intents and purposes, this is the final issue of Wonder Woman I'll be covering.

The Good:

This was a pretty solid comic book. The art was good, and the story was interesting enough. I do like the idea of having Wonder Woman face consequences for burying some ultimate evil in the earth. If I were a regular reader of the series, I'd probably quite enjoy this issue.

The Bad:

Well, Flash really didn't do too much here, and I am a bit bummed out that he only showed up at the beginning and the end of this storyline. But he wasn't relegated to the background here. Flash made his presence felt, injecting a bit of comedy without going over the top, and, most importantly, helping fill in new readers like me by asking questions. So, in a way, it was good for the Flash to be absent for the bulk of this story.

Final score: 5 out of 10

Next time, we'll take a quick look at a passive Flash appearance in Earth 2: World's End #18.

Superman/Wonder Woman #13

Battlefield of Love

Writer Peter J. Tomasi
Penciller Doug Mahnke
Inkers Jaime Mendoza and Don Ho (pgs. 14-15)
Colorist Tomeu Morey
Letterer Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Mahnke & Morey
Assistant Editor Jeremy Bent
Group Editor Eddie Berganza
Superman crated by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.
Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston

This cover, I believe, is a good example of the difference an inker can make. Mahnke apparently inked this himself, and I think it looks terrible. Superman's face is supposed to be in shadows, but it just looks like his eye got melted away. Luckily, the inside pages don't look quite as bad.

Our story begins with a flashback to the Darkseid invasion five years ago — specifically the moment Superman first met Wonder Woman and commented on her strength.

We then get an extension of that original conversation. Superman suggests they build a wall to protect the bystanders from the parademons, but Wonder Woman believes their time is better spent on killing the beasts. They argue a bit about their tactics, and Superman becomes frustrated when it appears Wonder Woman isn't concerned about protecting the innocent.

The story then skips ahead to today, where Superman and Wonder Woman try to go out on a date, but get sidetracked by two villains named Major Disaster and Atomic Skull. The Flash isn't involved at all, so I'll end my review here.

The Good:

It was nice to see a flashback that didn't contradict what previously happened. This was just a quick extension of a conversation that felt like it easily could have taken place during the fight. I wish more people at DC would be careful like this when adding details to flashbacks.

The Bad:

Little to no Flash. Trying to find Flash in this issue was like a game of Where's Waldo. I'm not saying he needed to be a big part of this issue, but it would have been nice to have seen him doing something interesting in the flashback.

Final score: 4 out of 10

Next time, we'll return to Wonder Woman's mystery of the disappearing villages in Wonder Woman #40.

Wonder Woman #36

War-Torn

Writer: Meredith Firth
Penciller: David Finch
Inker: Richard Friend
Colorist: Sonia Oback
Letters: Sal Cipriano
Cover: Finch, Friend, & Oback
Assistant Editor: David Piña
Group Editor: Matt Idelson
Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston

This issue of Wonder Woman marks the start of a new creative team. Whereas the previous team seemed to keep Wonder Woman mostly isolated from the rest of the DC Universe, this team demonstrated a desire to include the Justice League right off the bat. The cover is a perfectly solid cover by David Finch, who is a perfectly solid artist, which really helps the book out as a whole.

There's a lot of backstory stuff going on with the Amazons that doesn't involve the Flash, so I'll just hit on the points that do matter. When several villages are seemingly wiped off the face of the Earth by natural causes, Cyborg summons the entire Justice League to the new Watchtower. Flash has installed some plug-ins to help get rid of the Lex Luthor smell in the satellite.

Cyborg shows them the devastation in Thailand and Ecuador, and Flash suggests it could have been caused by sinkholes. But Batman shoots that theory down, saying sinkholes don't close up like that overnight. The only reading Cyborg is able to gather is a high amount of vegetation, so Wonder Woman tracks down Swamp Thing in Thailand and ruthlessly attacks him.

Aquaman soon arrives to help calm Wonder Woman down, and Swamp Thing angrily explains he had nothing to do with the villages and is just concerned by their disappearance as the Justice League is. As Aquaman and Wonder Woman fly off in a jet, he confronts her about her rash attitude. She admits she feels like she's being pulled in a million different directions with all the trouble the Amazons are facing and Superman's recent battle with Doomsday. Diana says with all her responsibilities, no matter what she does, she'll always be letting someone down. So Aquaman tells her to make sure she doesn't let herself down.

The Good:

This was a perfectly fine start for a new creative team. It introduced a new mystery for Wonder Woman to solve, involved some nice guest stars through the Justice League, and including a surprise fight with Swamp Thing. The art was nice and clean, but not particularly spectacular. I'm sure I'd have different feelings if I were a Wonder Woman fan, but as a general DC comics fan, I thought this issue was fairly decent.

The Bad:

There wasn't a whole lot of Flash here, but it was nice to see he wasn't forgotten. His sinkhole suggestion wasn't particularly bright — I'd expect more from a scientist — but at least he offered up a suggestion, something none of the other Leaguers did. And Flash's joke about Luthor was rather lame, but it did help me figure out where to put this issue in my timeline. This is after Luthor gave the Justice League his satellite, but before they officially made him a member of the team.

Final score: 5 out of 10

Next time, we'll continue with the Wonder Woman theme with a passive Flash appearance in Superman/Wonder Woman #13.