Bottom of the Pile - Sept. 24th, 2014

Batman Eternal

The Bat-Family reunited.

Too bad they're just gonna break-up again the second they discover Bruce has been lying about Dick Grayson being dead.  You know, I never bought "Death of the Family" as something that would actually break the family up, but I do know that this is the first time they've seriously worked with Bruce since then...and I can't help but wonder why what should be an iconic moment is being portrayed with art like this.   You had one of your best artists in Jason Fabok working on this--you should've let this be his last issue if only because of this panel.

Booster Gold - Futures End

Okay, if nothing else we finally know that in some timeline, somewhere there's a Legion of Super-Heroes.  Looks like the boring 1970's version, but that's besides the point.  The Legion that we were reading about at the beginning of the New 52 was from Earth 2, and whatever Earth JL3000 is set on sure isn't New Earth, so perhaps we might see a comeback for these guys one day. 

There's actually a lot of cool elements to this new Booster Gold comic, and it's probably the most relevant Futures End spin-off they published this month besides the New 52 maxi-series and the Flash one.  If you get the chance be sure to pick it up. 

 Cyclops

So maybe present-day Cyclops is a bit of a jerk.  If you had his life you wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows either.  But how can you hate teen Cyke?  He does quips.  He does swashbuckling on alien planets with no civilization with bounty hunters looking for his space pirate dad.  He's just cool, okay? 

 Edge of Spider-Verse

You want me to say it?  Fine.  As awesome a visual as this is (I'm a sucker for closets revealing tons of cool costumes, gadgets and weaponry), I don't get it.  The other Edge of Spider-Verse tales had stories where I get the core concept behind it.   "Here's an Earth where Peter Parker existed in the 40's, here's one where Gwen Stacy became Spidey, etc. etc."   So this Earth is one...where Spider-Man rides a bike and wears armor even though he's got super-strength?   I'm lost.

Loki: Agents of Asgard

Oh man.  Doom is on fire this week.  Props to Al Ewing for remembering that Victor is not just a magician, but a damned good one too.  (Second only to Stephen Strange.)   I also love when writers come up with their own view of how magic works--since it doesn't exist, you can literally say anything as long as it's convincing and sounds cool enough for high school kids to parrot to their friends and think they sound deep.   This pretty much checks off both those requirements.  Great issue.

New 52: Futures End

 Y'know, part of the reason why I was hyped for Flashpoint is that I thought we were done with this; random events where the Titans are killed quickly and easily as collateral damage.    Of course, this is a crappy future that will hopefully be avoided, so who knows?

New Avengers

Technically you're saying Doom is no man's third choice, Victor.  

Still and all...this whole issue was the nuts.  New Avengers is usually the calm to Avengers' storm, but this issue manages a bit of both as we get to see Namor and his cabal after the time skip.   While I'm still curious as to the whereabouts and the doings of the rest of the Illuminati, I love just how low Namor is being put here.   The rest of the group saw nine months ago that they simply could not do what the incursions called for.   The events of the New Avengers book demanded that they become monsters just to save everything they loved, but they couldn't throw their souls.   All of them, to a man, failed.

Except Namor.  Namor was the one member of the Illuminati that allowed the abyss to stare back into him.  The one member who decided to become a monster for the sake of everyone else.  And now, he looks at himself, and those he has chosen to surround himself with for his accursed task...and he is afraid.   He turns to the one man who is of his stature, who knows what it is to reign over a people, who knows what it is to want to protect his kingdom, and asks for help.

So of course, disgusted by the wretched, broken man at the end of his table, Doom kicks him the fuck out.   Best scene this week. 

Superman: Futures End

....Get the fuck out of here, with this bullshit.  This whole issue is literally about the consequences of Lois snitching on Billy for pretending to be Superman, all of which are negative, and she still manages to skate away karma free?   Gross.

Flash: Futures End

The problem I have with new Kid Flash's origin...for one, if thirty five years into the future Barry has killed Barry from five years into the future, why hasn't he vanished?  More importantly, if you're worried about holes in time, doesn't something like that make things worse?

And lastly, isn't this Bart's (the other Kid Flash's) origin?  Or are we just retconning Bart out because of Wally?  If so, I'm more than a little annoyed. 

Transformers: Robots in Disguise

Transformers: Robots in Disguise is readable for the first time in several months.  I couldn't figure out why I was so enthralled with this story until I noticed: the whole thing takes place on Cybertron.  Not a mention of Earth anywhere in sight.  Everyone involved in Transformers creative, I want you to write on the board 500 times: "In this world, humans are boring."

Also, we're finally starting to talk about the Combiners, no doubt gearing up for next spring's Combiner War storyline.  Hype.  Hopefully this gives them even more reason to be dragged off of Earth.

Author's Note: Bottom of the Pile is a weekly column (or at least, my attempt at said) in which I cover the comics that found their way to the bottom of my pile, thus being the best as I've always been a proponent of "saving the best for last".   Since bog standard reviews can be found literally anywhere, coverage can range from mini-reviews to funny comments to commentary on a creator's run or comics as a whole, depending on a wide range of factors including the comic itself, the amount of time I have, and my general mood.