Brett Booth Leaving DC's The Flash Comic

Say it ain't so Brett!  

When the February 2016 Solicits dropped on Monday, one thing that stuck out to me was the solicit for The Flash #49.

THE FLASH #49

Written by ROBERT VENDITTI and VAN JENSEN

Art by JESUS MERINO

Cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO

Variant cover by NEAL ADAMS

On sale FEBRUARY 24 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T

Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.

On the run from a police task force assigned to take him out, The Flash must face the CCPD’s newest deputies: The Rogues. As you can tell from the cover, it does not go particularly well.

If you have been paying attention, that is two issues in a row with Jesus Merino on art and no Booth.  I'm no rocket surgeon, but even I could tell something was up.  In fact, I joked with Eric on Tuesday that I was going to report that Booth was off the book in a half joking way, but inside I feared that it was actually true.

Top 5 Fridays: Top Five Versions of Batman(in comics)

Welcome back to another mediocre-I MEAN EXCITING edition of Top 5 Fridays! Last week we covered the Top 5 Versions of Superman (which you can read HERE ) in honor of the Dark Knight III: The Master Race coming out next week. We covered that major character, but we still have one other to look at! The Caped Crusader himself; BATMAN! That's right, today we'll be covering the Top 5 versions of the Dark Knight. As per usual, this is my list and I haven't read every Batman comic so if you don't see your favorite, I apologize. Enough talk! Let's begin!

New Suicide Squad #14 Review

Don't Be Afraid of Your Freedom

Written by: Sean Ryan
Art by: Phillipe Briones, Blond and Dave Sharp
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

If you thought that last month's cliffhanger showing Vic Sage hitting the "Heads Go Boom!" button and ending the run (and the lives) of the current Suicide Squad, then I have some swampland in Florida I can get you real cheap.  However, I'm sure that Sean Ryan wasn't trying to make us think that DC's future plans for Harley Quinn and crew were doomed, but to show you what Vic really is...a dick!  Things are going to come to a head between him and Amanda Waller and my guess is it will be sooner than later because unfortunately, Sean Ryan and Phillipe Briones will be leaving the book in January to make way for a new creative team.  It's a real shame because they have  been putting out one of the most underrated books that also has had some consistently good sales numbers to boot.  That really sucks, but this issue doesn't.  How good was it?  Let's find out...

Countdown to The Dark Knight: The Master Race: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #4 Review *SPOILERS*

Sore Losers


Written By: Frank Miller
Art By: Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley
Price: $2.99
Release Date: June 1986

Well this is it boys and girls. The issue everyone knows the series for. The final issue to the critically acclaimed The Dark Knight Returns series. The thing that the movie in 2016 is going to be based on.

BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN

Well theres actually a lot more than just that in this issue! After facing his oldest enemy, Batman is bleeding out, surrounded by cops, and his partner in the field is in shock from the violence that transpired. Meanwhile across the sea, Superman has been wrecking the Soviet forces in Corto Maltese. Why do I bring this up? Because this is where the political satire finally crosses paths with Batman's story. How so? Well lets dive in and finish this...

Clean Room #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

It’s a Nice Day For a White Monkey

Written By: Gail Simone

Art By: Jon Davis-Hunt, Todd Klein

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I hope everyone that read Clean Room #1 and expected a fictional exposé of a sinister cult is feeling apologetic, as it was conclusively shown that Astrid Mueller’s pyschic lifestyle club that is totally not anything like Scientology was completely above board and beneficial for everyone except for Chloe Pierce’s fiancée Phillip who blew half his face off. Also people in Astrid’s inner circle seem to have giant foul-mouthed monsters surrounding them that only Chloe can see. And Chloe may or may not have been driven insane from reading a novel without punctuation. Okay, so things were left a little weird with the first issue, but now is the chance to make things right and sensible so we can feel safe and secure in our work-a-day worlds! It isn’t fair to have a comic book world so strange and then I still have to pay three-fifty for coffee. Keep reading to enter the unknown world of Clean Room together.

Action Comics #46 Review

Your Shoes are Untied

Written by: Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder
Art by: Scott Kolins, Tomeu Morey, Pete Pantazis and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 18, 2015

I really don't want to start another review telling everyone how much I didn't like the Truth arc so I'll begin by talking about the Superman books in general.  To say they are a bit of a mess is an understatement and to say that most fans are disappointed with the direction since the DC You started is even worse.  No secret identity?  No (or fluctuating) powers?  It's no wonder that a bunch of people we talk to here at Weird Science have bailed on Superman until things go back to "normal".  The wait is not over yet people and while I have enjoyed the books since the Truth (there I go again), they still are not good enough to recommend.  Does that all end this month in Action Comics?  Let's find out...

Batman Europa #1 Review with *SPOILERS*

Krankheit

Written By: Brian Azzarello, Mateo Casali
Art By: Jim Lee
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Fun fact: This comic was first announced for release since 2004. Jim Lee announced it and it eventually just faded into the night ever since the start of the New 52. 
Well with the New 52 imprint gone, this story came out of the shadows, ready to tell the story of a desperate Batman traveling to Europe in an attempt to cure him of a deadly ailment...That's all I really know about the story itself. Jim asked me to review it and my first response was, "The %$#!'s a Europa?" But if Azzarello is writing and Lee is doing the art, It seems like the equation for a good comic! 
Is it though? Lets dive in and find out...

Batman: Arkham Knight – Genesis #4 Review and *SPOILERS*

When the Joker Asks You to Have a Seat, Tell Him You'd Rather Stand

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi
Art By: Dexter Soy, Dave McCaig, Deron Bennett

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

There’s a persistent and pervasive belief that video games and comic books are kids’ stuff. A review of the facts, of course, proves this to be untrue: currently, the average age of video gamers is thirty-one, while any comic convention attendee will tell you that middle-aged fans comprise a large minority if not a full half of readership. You can get a crash course in how adult these media have become by reading Batman: Arkham Knight – Genesis, a story at once too complex and too violent for younger readers who might still believe there is good in the world. Because there is no more good, my fellow Bat-fans, not in the Arkhamverse. Let’s check it out together, shall we?

Secret Six #8 Review and *SPOILERS*

Cats Hate Water, but They Love Fish. Cats are Stupid.

Written By: Gail Simone

Art By: Dale Eaglesham and Tom Derenick, Jason Wright, Travis Lanham

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Here’s the big secret about the Secret Six: this is a silly comic book. It’s gross, it’s crass, it’s dumb and so very touching that you almost want to punch it in the arm and call it a jerk for giving you feelings. Perhaps you don’t want a goof. Perhaps you want something a little more stoic and reserved in a comic book. That’s fine. You can just count yourself among the majority of people who are dead inside and for whom life has no meaning. Me, I’d rather read a comic book where a game of mini golf with Etrigan concludes with a visit to the outskirts of Atlantis and a fight between Catman and Aquaman. Who’s coming with me on this ride? Read on, if you have the stones!

Batman and Robin Eternal #7 Review

A Bear Driving a Small Car

Written by: Genevieve Valentine
Art by: Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, Sandra Molina and Joshua Cozine
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

It seems commonplace with these weekly books to use phrases like "up and down", "ebb and flow" and "Guess the Kumite starts one day earlier this year, huh fellas?"  The show fits once again because after one of the best #1 issues I've read in a long time, the book took a down swing as Tim Seeley and Steve Orlando took over for James Tynion IV.  It wasn't much of a surprise when it rebounded last week...when Tynion returned.  This week we get Genevieve Valentine and because I simply loved her run on Catwoman, I have high hopes that she will beat the trend.  Well, did she?  Let's find out...

Green Lantern: Lost Army #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

Mogo Is A Whirlwind of Emotions

Written By: Cullen Bunn
Art By: Jesus Saiz, Dave Sharpe
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

So far from this series we've had space battles, flashbacks, flying through space and a prison break and that's about it.  Green Lantern in general is one of my favorite heroes....... I say in general because I just love me some ring slinging so you could throw any of the Earth based Lanterns in that role and I'd be okay with it because I just love the idea of the characters so much.  Sadly though, this series has done nothing for me since it began and I even find myself dreading it each time it's set to come out.  That all ends today though because this is the final issue to the series and we'll see what happens from when our heroes escaped the light pirate prison at the end of the last issue and found Mogo being attacked by spectrum converting pyramids to what brings them to the Edge of Oblivion.  Okay, so let's jump into Lost Army one more time to see if the final issue can make the whole thing worthwhile.  Let's check it out.

Earth 2: Society #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

Civil War

Written By: Daniel H. Wilson
Art By: Alisson Borges, Alejandro Sanchez, Blond, Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Earth 2: Society has been a tough sell for me so far with it's Convergence reboot, it's one year laters and flashbacks and characters being so different from when we left them in World's End...... which really shouldn't be a bad thing, but it's just hard getting into this book when I'm not positive what it's going to be or what it wants to do.  Hopefully, that changes here because in the previous issue we saw Val-Zod, Flash and Batman team up to stop Overwatch-One from crashing into Neotropolis and after the deed was done, we were let in on the fact that Jimmy Olsen, or Doctor Impossible as he goes by now, was the one responsible for the act.  Yeah, this could be something worth reading now that we know Jimmy Olsen is the big bad of the story and I hope beyond hope that I'm not wrong and that this book becomes as great as Earth 2 was when it first began.......Here's hoping!  Let's check it out.

Titans Hunt #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

I've Got a Strange Feeling About This

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Stephan Segovia, Hi-Fi, Carlos M. Mangual
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It's time to get to another story that has spun out of the pages of Convergence and while I didn't mind the first issue to this series, it felt like it just didn't provide enough to get me really excited.  Maybe this is due to the team that was presented and me not having a lot of background with them besides for Dick Grayson, Roy Harper and Donna Troy, but whatever it was; I really hope to get a decent Titans book because it really hasn't happened since the New 52 reboot.  In the previous issue, we had all the characters of this book feeling the heebies and jeebies as they were put in scenarios or saw things that seemed familiar to them, but couldn't quite put their fingers on how or why.  By the end, we saw that the character Lilith was reaching out to our heroes trying to get them to come together because something dangerous is coming that wants to destroy them.  Hopefully, we get a little more to the story so everything doesn't feel completely cryptic and we find out why these characters are being reminded of a past that never should have happened.  Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Telos #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

Kicking Ass and Giving Out Names

Written By: Jeff King
Art By: Carlo Pagulayan, Igor Vitorino, Jason Paz, Marc Deering, Sean Parsons, Peter Steigerwald, Travis Lanham
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I gotta tell you, after everything that we saw from Convergence, I can't say that a Telos book is something that I'll ever be able to get into and I don't want to speak for anyone else...... but I will, I don't think that anyone is begging for a Telos book and running to the comic shops to get their hands on the latest issue.  Maybe I'm wrong........ It's happened before, but I seriously doubt it.  In the previous issue we saw Telos take on Brainiac because apparently Telos' family wasn't where the former mad god told him they would be and now Telos is out for blood.  After a lengthy battle, Brainiac tells Telos that his memory was corrupted when he gave up his godhood, but there's a backup on his home planet and Brainiac would gladly give Telos the information if he goes down, meets up with a rebel leader, overthrows society and gets the backup that he stored in the planet's data core.  Yeah, easy peasy.  I guess Telos is desperate because he takes on this terrible mission and I guess we'll see if he's able to do all these tasks in order to get back to his lost family.  Let's jump in and see.

Martian Manhunter #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

Turning Against Yourself

Written By: Rob Williams
Art By: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Gabe Eltaeb, Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 18, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

It's been great being able to run around the streets and dance in circles, while singing "Martian Manhunter is Amazing" because for one thing, I never thought I would be able to say that and even if I did say it, I never thought that it would be true.  Now don't get me wrong here, I like Martian Manhunter, I just never thought that he'd be able to hold his own series and have it come off as entertaining and as it's been from the last five issues of this book....... I was wrong as hell.  Check this, Martian Manhunter, in order to save the world split himself into multiple people and gave them false memories so that the White Martians wouldn't be able to use him to bring Mars back from the dead, while killing Earth at the same time.  Too bad that these personalities have come together anyway and everything that is required to happen for the return of Mars seems to be falling in place like tumblers in a lock.  Hopefully our heroes will be able to stop the White Martians from resurrecting Mars before it's too late.  Let's jump into this issue and find out.

Weird Science DC Comics Podcast Episode 45: The Frog Brothers Phone Home

Jim and Eric get together to talk all of this week's DC Comics comic books and news and this week was a little better.  The books, not them as Jim gets flashbacks of being a special needs punching bag and Eric realizes that he may have tried to abduct himself using an ice cream truck.  They also learn that a fellow named Glen thinks they have a podcast full of curse words and awfulness...and then go out of their way to prove him right!  We also get a full dose of Reggie's Recklessness and Ryan Clark's Other Side segment so sit back and enjoy the nonsense.

Starfire #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

Two Baddies For The Price of One

Written By: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti
Art By: Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy, Hi-Fi, Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 11, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Starfire has not been a book that I've really been a fan of because it comes off almost as a one trick pony, where I'm supposed to just be happy that it has a bunch of silly understandings, maybe a super villain battle if I've been a good boy and then I'm supposed to go about my day thinking that it's the best I've seen of Starfire in a long time........... Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but it sure comes off that way in my neurotic mind.  It's just not doing much for me because we're focusing on Kori acting like she's never interacted with a human before and on top of that, it's just a day in the life of, where she needs to pay the rent and get a job....... and maybe a boyfriend.  Besides for the boyfriend bit, I've been personally dealing with this story for decades and as someone who doesn't know shit about shit, maybe it's a little too close to home or maybe I read superhero books for something different than my normal life.  Anyway, in the previous issue we had Starfire meet that mind killer Soren Hook, but before it could get really interesting, the story moved on to Kori getting a job at Seaworld and making out with a dolphin.  Finally though, at the end of her day we got back to some Soren Hook stuff when we saw that Soren might have killed Starfire's friend Sol........ but that was the cliffhanger....... so yeah, not much going on.  Let's jump into this issue and see if the story gets interesting.  Let's check it out.

Constantine: The Hellblazer #6 Review and *SPOILERS*

No Rest For The Wicked

Written By: James Tynion IV, Ming Doyle
Art By: Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: November 11, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Constantine has had to deal with a lot of personal shit lately....... and while it was mainly do to his own actions, you know, reaping what you sow and all that, he's had enough and just wants to get back to his life in good old New York City.  As we saw in the previous arc, Constantine's ghosts were getting slaughtered around him and as it turns out, the culprit was an old girlfriend who like anyone else, Constantine fucked over and the girl became trapped in between dimensions, where her soul was perverted and the only reason she was able to come back at all was because of the strong feelings of rage she had towards our title character.  The fucking over continued when Constantine got his ex Veronica's former best friend to destroy this visage of Veronica without telling her who it really was....... and boy was Georgie pissed when she found out.  So yeah, just a bunch of fucking over people and ghosts and now our brash Brit has returned home...... to probably fuck over a bunch more people.  Let's jump into this issue and see what goes down.  Let's check it out.

DC Comics Estimated Sales For October 2015

Who's ready to start Checking The Numbers?  Probably none of us because damn have the sales been dropping for our favorite comics for awhile now and besides for a couple of titles, that trend continues here.  As usual, we're only looking at the superhero books that we all know and love and leaving out collected issues of Digital Firsts and any other title that I just don't want to add to the list...... That's how I roll, so pretty much anything that Weird Science considers "The Main Books".  It was a really harsh month with DC only taking up two of the top 20 books of last month and I'm afraid if they don't start doing something drastic soon.......... Well, I don't know what will happen because I don't live in that money making world, but I'll continue to be afraid for the books that I love so much because I hate to see anything go.......... except for those books that I could care less about....... Yeah, I'm a complicated and selfish fellow.  Let's get on with the numbers already.

Doomed #5 Review

Doomed Indeed

Written by: Scott Lobdell
Art by: Javier Fernandez, Ulises Arreola and Corey Breen
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: October 21, 2015

I'd say it's a shame this book was canceled, but as far as I can tell, Eric and myself are the only ones who really enjoy it.  Neither of us will ever claim it is a great book, but it's fun and has a certain charm that goes a long way in the Weird Science book of what's good.  In a perfect world, this book could have been DC's answer to Spiderman, but in our world, Scott Lobdell threw too many new characters at the reader without first really establishing his main character(s)...Reiser/Doomed.  This issue doesn't change that fact and actually is a microcosm of the entire series by developing a character that isn't the one on the marquee.  So, how was it?  Let's find out...

Justice League United #15 Review

Absolutely Nothing

Written by: Jeff Parker
Art by: Paul Pelletier, Rob Hunter, Jeromy Cox and Steve Wands
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 11, 2015

When the Justice League United (kind of) reboot was announced, my reaction was somewhere between "What the Fuck" and "That is so awesome" and it really hasn't changed since.  Anomalies?  Breakers? Zeta Beam?  I'll take it all if it means that we get crazy teams of popular and obscure characters thrown into crazy situations month after month.  Throw in the idea that this book was leading to something bigger and better for the entire DCU and it seemed like a step up to the plate home run (ask Eric what that means because I still don't know) to me.  Yes, I said "was leading" because unfortunately, this book has been canceled.  While it hasn't been perfect since the new direction in June, it has been fun, but the fun ends next month.  This month finishes the second and last anomaly story and Jeff Parker has thrown more players on stage than a Chicago/Earth, Wind & Fire double bill which is crazy, but does it make it good?  Let's find out...

Y’All So Stupid, Van Full of Pakistans – Just For the Hell of It Mondays Review

Today This Album Title is an NSA Search Trigger

Artists: H2O, Unkle Buk,
Sha Boogie, Spearhead X, Logic

Produced by: Rowdy Records

Price: Approximately $25.00 on eBay

Release Date: May 25, 1993

*Songs ahead, score at the bottom*

Despite having sold millions of records for nearly a decade, hip-hop’s rising popularity escaped the notice of mainstream record labels for most of the 1980s. Once MTV aired Yo! MTV Raps and suburban parents began cringing at the militaristic assertions of NWA, labels great and small began snapping up rappers left and right, a small gold rush right as ostentatious jewelry fell out of favor. At this point, however, the A&Rs signing artists and acts had some connection to the culture, and so we get seminal debut albums by groups like Brand Nubian and the Pharcyde. But not every artist can be groundbreaking, and not every album can be classic, as we will come to learn in this review of Van Full of Pakistans by Georgia-based group Y’All So Stupid. Wait, I sort of gave my opinion away right there, didn’t I? Oh, well keep reading anyway, there are snippets of rap music to listen to.

The Twilight Children #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

Who’s Screwing Who?

Written By: Gilbert Hernandez

Art By: Darwyn Cooke, Dave Stewart

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: November 11, 2015

*Non-Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

We return to the tiny Latin fishing village where mysterious glowing orbs appear and disappear without warning, the children have been struck blind and only show the whites of their eyes, and chain-smoking hussy Tito will probably sleep with you if you lock eyes with her for twenty seconds. In this issue, we delve deeper into the relationships between our main characters as well as learn of a new phenomenon that seems linked to the glowing orbs…along with a new white-haired village resident. Will all our questions be answered? Nope, but it’s gonna look really good as the story unfolds. Read on for more gushing!