Reilly2040's Blog

Its been an interesting week for fans of The Flash, with the announcement that not only will there no longer be a Wally West co-feature in the main Flash title when it relaunches next year, but also the Kid Flash book that was supposed to accompany it has also been scrubbed.

Its quite disappointing news as far as I’m concerned.  The loss of the Wally co-feature stings as the character was the main Flash for over 20 years, so it had been nice to think he still had a home in the DCU with Barry’s return, however the real pain comes from the cancellation of Bart’s book before it even began.   As a fan of the old Impulse series and Bart as a character, the prospect of a new book, with Bart and Max (and whoever else from the Flash family crossed over, Iris West being an obvious candidate) had been something I was really excited about and was possibly the new book I was most looking forward to next year.

So what happened to change DC’s mind?  No one’s really sure at the moment (and in honesty, its probably unlikely we’ll ever really know).  Regarding the loss of the co-feature from Barry’s book I can understand that from a certain point of view.  Co-features push the price of the book up to $3.99, and a lot of the comic buyers have complained about that price point.   So, with Barry currently getting a big push in Blackest Night, it makes sense that DC would want to target the Flash ongoing at the $2.99 price point to keep the book affordable to new readers.

The loss of the Kid Flash companion book makes less sense to me.  Ever since Green Lantern successfully relaunched, Green Lantern Corps has done well.  Now admittedly, Green Lantern Corps waited a little before launching as a monthly, although it did have the Recharge mini-series as a lead in post-Rebirth.  So I wonder why something similar couldn’t have happened here.  The Rebirth format is proven through Green Lantern, and Bart and Max sustained the Impulse ongoing for many years, so at least having a Kid Flash mini-series to test the water in a similar way to Green Lantern Corps Recharge might’ve made sense.

Of course I think its also fair to say that Flash: Rebirth hasn’t entirely been as well received as Green Lantern: Rebirth.  Complaints about the delays, story pacing and retcons to Barry’s history have dogged the series (not that Green Lantern Rebirth didn’t have its share of complaints about the Parallax space bug retcon).  So I have to wonder if this is in part to attempt to focus a build up on Barry once again to try and drum up some more enthusiasm for the franchise that might’ve been lost by the complaints about Rebirth.

The Flash as a franchise has really struggled since Infinite Crisis.  Prior to that, the series was wobbling, trying to re-find its feet after the stellar run from Geoff Johns.  Then came down the editorial edict that Wally was to die in Infinite Crisis as a way to shake up the DCU, and place Bart as the Flash.  The backlash to this move was pretty strong, and the Bart series failed pretty much straight out the gate (a pity as there was some good creative talent on board, and given time to breath it might’ve worked, however I still feel it was pushing Bart into the main role way too soon).  Then Wally comes back, with his new familly, but that doesn’t take either, so now we’ve got Barry.   But then Rebirth isn’t as well received as planned, so now there seems to be yet another shakeup in direction.

There’s definitely the feeling that DC recognise the importance of the Flash, and really want it to succeed, but they just can’t get it to work.  Look at the two most recent reboots.  First the return of Wally, with Mark Waid writing, and then Flash: Rebirth with Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Skiver.  Both of these come across as really winning ideas.   Both should’ve really worked, and yet when its come down to it, neither has particular taken off.

Which kind of leaves me wondering if this latest move, to slim the proposed franchise right back to just a single Barry Allen title is a move to try and bolster the new direction once again.  To keep reader’s attentions focused purely on Barry and on Geoff John’s plans for the character, and then, when the direction is firmly in place, we can hope that the Kid Flash book resurfaces, or some other “Flash family” type book.

For myself, I must admit, while I’m now a bit less enthusiastic about the Flash next year, I’ll probably still pick up the first few issues of Barry’s book to see where Geoff Johns is going with it.  While I’ve not been a huge fan of some of the Rebirth retcons, his take on the character in Blackest Night appeals to me so I’m happy to give the book a try, and after Geoff’s run on both Wally’s book and now his Green Lantern work, can anyone really say they’re not expecting big things from the Flash book over the next 2-3 years?

But I’ll definitely miss the Bart book we never got.

Despite continually distracting myself with other models, I’m slowly coming to the end of the Black Reach kit.  The second last Space Marine unit I’ve completed being the Dreadnought.

It was an interesting experience painting this model up.  For most of the painting, I wasn’t actually happy with how it was turning out at all.  The large expanses of red (as per the colour scheme I’m using) and boltgun metal were resulting in a hugely bland-looking model, even despite the gold detailing on the front, and the brighter silver I used in the skull emblem.

Once again, the washes came to the rescue, at least partly.  A nice thick black wash on all the boltgun metal parts brought them up a lot more nicely.

However, there were a couple of little touches I made which really seem to have made a difference.  Firstly, was to try and use the mithril silver paint to add a little definition to the gold at the front, which while I’ve still not got the hang of dry-brushing at all, has definitely helped.

The second thing I did was to use the boltgun metal on the red parts of the Dreadnought to give an idea of battle damage.  This I did by putting some of the paint on my brush, and then wiping most of it off (a la dry-brushing) before putting quick strokes on random parts of the dreadnought. It seems to have produced quite a good effect, giving the model a much more beaten, worn look.

I’m also trying to get more into basing my models, which in this case also included using some of the base decorations that came in the Black Reach set.  Being a bit new to the whole thing, I really couldn’t figure out what the random skulls and shell-casings on the sprues were for for quite a while.   Eventually it clicked, so I drilled a couple more holes in the Dreadnought’s base and grabbed the polystyrene cement.  They’re nice little extras in the set for adding a little more to the models.

Its amazing the difference the little bit of battle damage did to the model.  While I wasn’t happy with the model for most of the painting I’m now pretty happy with the way it turned out.  And it now means the only remaining Space Marine from the Black Reach set I’ve got to do is the Space Marine Captain and then they’re finished

I haven’t really talked much about Merlin on this blog for some reason, but with the second series having come to a close this weekend, it seemed like a good reason to revisit it.

For me, this series has undoubtedly been a big success.  Its an interesting world it inhabits.  We, the viewers, know that eventually Arthur and Merlin emerge to lead Camelot into a new golden age of general goodness.  However aside from that knowledge, the world of the show is filled with shades of grey.  Uther’s campaign to wipe out all magic undoubtedly paints him as the villain.  And certainly more than a few times he’s created the very enemies he’s been trying to wipe out (Morgause and the Druids for example).

However often these people are portrayed as the villains, while Merlin and Arthur fight to preserve the status quo of Uther’s anti-magic reign. From the point of view of Arthur this makes sense, and Merlin’s been told of his destiny by the dragon, so you can understand him backing up Arthur.  However it does make you question who exactly in the right sometimes, which is nice.  Granted, the Druids etc are usually heavy-handed enough with their desire to dethrone Uther that they’re as bad as he is, and therefore understandable that they be stopped.  But how this will be tackled next year, with Morgana could be very interesting indeed.

And regarding Morgana, what a great turn of events that was.  Her distancing from Uther after discovering her own magical talents was built up over the course of the series, alongside her growing allegiance to the Druids.  The viewers of course, could also see her being manipulated by various parties throughout the series, but none-the-less her stance against Uther is entirely justifiable, and to actually have her used by Morgause, resulting in Merlin poisoning her was a brave move by the series.  All the actors played those scenes exceptionally well, and it adds an edge to Merlin’s character, in what he was willing to do to save Camelot.  And nicely sets up Morgana to want revenge against him (even if it was Morgause using her as the anchor of the spell that led to Merlin’s actions).

The second half of the series definitely saw things moving forward.  Arthur and Merlin’s friendship is well established now, and Merlin’s usual port of call when things got out of hand, the dragon, is now gone from Camelot (although did at least seem grateful Merlin spared him).  Hopefully this will lead to Merlin having to stand more on his own two feet in series 3.  Also we have Morgana’s situation turned on its head, with her now in place to return as a villain, or perhaps, not even a villain.  Just someone who justifiably wants Uther removed from power.

I’m hoping things regarding Merlin’s secret will also move on next year.  If Morgana does return and target Merlin, then she may well discover his magic.  However I’d also like Gwen to find out as well.  Granted, Arthur finding out might make a bit more sense from the larger view of their destiny and the legend, however I can’t help but think the show won’t go quite that far yet.  Gwen finding out, would give Merlin another ally in the palace, and someone his own age he can confide in.

We’ve also got some recurring villains to hopefully look forward to.  Mordred, despite his age, is being shown as someone to be feared, and who has no problems with who gets in the way with removing Uther.  Morgause will also hopefully be back, and likely linked to Morgana.  Certainly a mistake I felt the show made in the first series was killing off Nimueh, so I was glad to see them not repeat that here and leave Morgause alive to return.

That’s just some random musings regarding Merlin.  The show is a lot of fun, but has some interesting layers to it.  This year, I did feel the two-part silly story with the Troll was a bit much, however having seen how dark the later episodes were (and how the events with the Troll also drove a more hardline stance from Uther, resulting in him calling the Witchfinder etc) going for a couple of comedy episodes makes sense, even if I wasn’t keen on them.  Given the excellence of the final episodes though, and that they were just two episodes out of thirteen, they’re easily overlooked, and I find myself very excited to see what the show will bring with its third series.

So, when we last (ie the preview) left things, Guy and Soranik were struggling with Kyle’s death and to bring him back, only for Guy to fall victim to Vice’s red ring.

Its interesting that Red Lantern Guy then completely full fills Kyle’s plan from last issue.  Guy appears to maintain more control than any Red Lantern we’ve seen other than Atrocitous himself, while still giving into his rage, he’s still able to talk, and uses both his rings to devastating effect with the combination of green and red light immediately disconnecting any Black Lanterns that run into him.

And while Guy’s running amok, Soranik finds herself getting help from all sides, as Munk and the various other Green Lanterns come to her aid to help destroy the black rings that are trying to claim Kyle.  However, its the intervention of Star Sapphire Miri whose powers tether onto Soranik’s love for Kyle that finally leads to Kyle’s resurrection.

If there’s one thing I’ve always said Peter Tomasi does well, its juggling various characters and plotlines, and in many ways this issue brings several of those together.  We see Kryb and Miri’s hunt for the Orphans lead them to Oa, placing Miri where she needs to be to save Kyle.  Kyle and Soranik’s relationship has of course been a feature of the series for a while now, and it’ll be interesting to see how this effects them going forward.

Guy’s anger has also been hinted at for a while, leading up to the Black Lanterns seeing rage in him where they saw will in other Green Lanterns and that pays off here with the red ring claiming him, and finally Tomasi brings together all the main characters from his run as Kyle vows to lead them to save Guy.

Peter Tomasi has really been making the most of this crossover.  In some ways Green Lantern Corps is coming across the slightly better of the two main tie-ins, but much like the build up, I think this is probably due to being slightly less coupled to the main narrative.  While Geoff Johns is having to focus on introducing plot elements and getting things to a specific point (such as assembling the different Corps members together), Peter Tomasi’s been much freer in terms of what he’s doing, especially under the very basic premise of “Black Lanterns attack Oa”.  From that point of view, this week’s issue of Green Lantern should be very interesting, since it looks to be focusing on the similarly separate plotline of John Stewart on Xanshi and I’ll be intrigued to see what Geoff Johns does with the book uncoupled from the main mini-series.

The official Iron Man 2 trailer is now up on Apple’s site or around the net.

Looks superb.  Seems to have exactly the same tone as the first film and the cast once again looks amazing.  And, of course, there’s War Machine

Also interesting to note that Tony’s clearly in a new suit at the end of the film.  There’s a Silver Centurion-style triangular unibeam visible on it as opposed to the round one (the arc reactor) we saw on the Mark 3 in the first film.

Next summer can’t come fast enough

Its been a while since I was motivated to throw up a quick post just talking about an issue preview.  Largely its due to making writing the post once the full issue is out a bit trickier.  However I loved IGN’s preview for GLC #43 so much I just had to say something.

Guy turning to a Red Lantern’s been known for a while now, and Kyle’s death last issue was obviously the event that was going to push him over the edge.  What surprised me was how quickly it happens, within the first few pages presented in this preview.  But what a preview.

I really love how Soranik and Guy’s grief is played against their individual struggles to save Kyle, between Soranik trying to resuscitate Kyle himself while Guy is struggling to prevent Kyle’s ring leaving for Mogo.  And then when Guy’s grief gives way to rage as the Black Lanterns reform around them, he gets nabbed by Vice’s red ring, giving us a superb splash page of Red Lantern Guy.

I really love the design and artwork of Guy as a Red Lantern.  The armoured look is suitably menacing given what’s happening, and the colouring reminds me very much of Gleason’s take on the Alpha Lanterns.  Guy bathed in red light is a striking image with the light coming off of him really adding to the feeling of his rage that comes off the page.

Of course, he’s still got his Green Lantern ring on his right hand as well, and its similarly lit up.  Given Hal maintained an element of control while possessed by the red ring (and was able to form red constructs), I wonder if Guy’ll be the same.  Its a marked difference to the other Green Lantern-turned-red we’ve seen, Laira, who had been stripped of her green ring prior to the red one coming along.

And with Guy’s rage focused on the Black Lanterns, its a safe bet that the combination of his green and red rings will allow him to thin out their numbers while Soranik tries to save Kyle.

Really looking forward to getting this issue on Thursday.

Superboy Prime is a character that’s polarised DC fandom since his re-introduction in Infinite Crisis.  When Legion of 3 Worlds finished, it seemed like a line had been drawn under the character for the time being, but then to everyone’s surprise, he immediately turned up again in the solicits for Adventure Comics #4 and #5 as these Blackest Night tie-in issues shifted their focus from Conner Kent.

To quickly lay my cards on the table, I definitely enjoyed these issues.  However, given that the Superboy storyline is being ended with issue 6 (which most people are putting down to some rapid reshuffling which will see Paul Levitz take over the book as a Legion-only title), I think a lot of people have been put out by losing two more issues of what has been an (and I don’t use this word lightly) outstanding Superboy storyline.  To be honest, I’m quite sad that we’re not seeing a spin-off Superboy or Legion book from this title, allowing Geoff to continue the Superboy run as its just been fantastic.  From that point of view, the Superboy second-feature in issue 5 continuing the storyline was very welcome.

However, that aside, what about Superboy Prime’s storyline?

So, we’re back on Earth-Prime where Superboy Prime is living in his parents basement, reading his comics and posting on the internet.  However, when he sees the Blackest Night tie-ins coming out from DC and realises he’s in them, he’s not happy.  And then the Black Lanterns, led by Black Lantern Alex Luthor turn up to claim Prime.

Geoff Johns has made no bones about the fact he really enjoys writing Superboy Prime.  And here he’s clearly having a lot of fun playing with the “real world” setting, as Prime heads to comic shops trying to find the next issue to see if he survives, before finally crashing the DC offices, blaming them for making him the bad guy and never giving him a happy ending. Of course, if Prime’s right, and its ultimately the fault of the DC writers that have made him turn evil, then does this mean that the villain behind Infinite Crisis was actually Geoff Johns?   Or is Superboy Prime simply holding onto excuses, and in some ways he’s actually the only character in DC with true free will?

Over-thinking things aside, there’s a lot of fun to be had here as Johns has always enjoyed using Superboy Prime as a commentary on online fandom (, although I can’t help but think that if we’re now going to be moving the character of Superboy Prime to the side for a while, then Legion of 3 Worlds probably had a stronger “ending” for the character than this one.  And from the point of view of Adventure Comics as a title, I think I’d rather have had two more issues of Conner Kent’s storyline.  Blackest Night and Superboy Prime are probably big enough draws that having a 2-issue Blackest Night: Superboy Prime tie-in mini-series would’ve sold well enough, without having to interrupt the superb ongoing story in Adventure Comics.  I know I’d have happily picked it up.

After the kicking my poor Tau took from the Tyrannids last weekend, I decided two things were needed.

First up.  Bigger guns.

I’d had my eye on the Tau for a while due to the cool look of the Firewarriors and Crisis suits, and in particular the Broadside Heavy Support version of the Crisis suit always stood out as one of those great pieces that’s just ridiculously well-armed.  With its shoulder-mounted twin-linked rail guns and smart-missle system replacing its hands, this unit just screams “firepower”.

From a model-making perspective its been an interesting unit as well for me.  Up until now, all my models have been modern, all-plastic models.  Fairly easily put together with polystyrene cement.  However this piece marks my first plastic/metal hybrid model, meaning I needed to break out the super glue.

While I realise that the metal models have a long history in Warhammer, I must admit I found building this up a lot less fun than the all-plastic models.  Supergluing myself to the pieces aside (thankfully only happened the once), the casting of the metal components didn’t seem as reliable as the plastic variety.  There was an awful lot of trimming and tidying up with a model knife and the snips needed to get the pieces ready to be assembled, and even then, one of the pieces was slightly skewed meaning it didn’t sit on correctly.  I had to start cutting away some of the plastic parts I’d assembled in order to get it to sit on in a way that looked ok.  Contrast this with the plastic models, where once off of their sprue they may need a little tidying up, however I’ve always found they’ll then fit where they’re supposed to.   I know the plastic moulding is still a growing thing with the Warhammer miniatures, and the level of detail we’re now seeing in the plastic pieces is a recent affair, but from the perspective of someone new to the hobby I have to admit the all-plastic kits are going to remain a lot more appealing than all-metal or hybrid ones (although realistically that’s going to limit my army building).

However now its assembled its looking ok, and should look even better once painted.  And I must admit, the extra weight the metal lends to the unit is satisfying in a way you don’t get with the plastic units.

The second thing I’ve started working on is a proper army list.  Playing at the weekend I found myself scrabbling around with the reference sheets and the Tau Codex.  So instead I’m trying to sit down and list what units I’ve got, any extra equipment or special rules they have, and what their points value is, with the idea being to give myself a one-stop handy reference, but also so I’ve got it better defined in my head what each unit has.

Its turned into an interesting exercise, making me sit down and focus on each unit in turn and get a better understanding for what they can or can’t do.  While a lot of my focus on the hobby so far has been model-making and painting, this brings the focus very much back onto the gaming side of things and is giving me a much better appreciation of the units that up until now I was just concerned about looking good when I was assembling.  Whereas before certain weapons or equipment might be chosen because they looked cool, now I’m getting an understanding as to their benefits in the game as well.  Not that I’m playing down making the models look good, its just nice to know what each piece actually is as well.  At the end of the day, I’m not playing with anyone who’s going to complain if the equipment in my army list is different to what’s actually on the model.

So its been quite an interesting week, from both a model-making and gaming perspective.  There’s still a lot of work to be done on my Tau army list, and then I’ll need to go through my Space Marines as well.  Thankfully the Black Reach guides will make the basic marine stuff a lot easier to go through as its already listed, but it should still give me a better appreciation for my miniatures.

Its a big week for fans of Iron Man.  Not only do we get the latest part of the Stark Disassembled storyline, but we also get the final issue of the current series of War Machine.  Its worth noting that War Machine should be read before Iron Man, as Iron Man will spoil the finale of War Machine otherwise.

However just to be contrary, I’m going to review Iron Man first

Continuing on from last issue, Stark’s closest friends are gathered around his body as Rescue continues to recite Stark’s plan to bring himself back from the self-lobotomy he performed during World’s Most Wanted.  Interestingly Pepper’s reluctance to help last issue is revisited here in a way that makes complete sense as we see what exactly Stark’s rebirth will cost her.  Its a testament to Fraction’s writing and the development he’s done with the character that I really found myself feeling for her, and in some ways Stark’s plan seems cruel to her (although, of course, when it comes down to the crunch she signs up with little hesitation).

The contents of the mysterious hard disc Maria Hill retrieved during World’s Most Wanted are revealed, and while not being a great surprise, its perfectly in character for Tony.  In fact, despite being brain dead for the issue, Tony continues to get the best lines, via the holographic recording he left with Rescue.

Its also nice to see Ghost turning up here.  He’s a character I hadn’t really seen much of, prior to picking up Andy Diggle’s Thunderbolts run the other month, and he’s become a real favourite as mine.  There’s something wonderfully freaky about his design, and the way he operates completely under his own agenda under Osborn’s nose remains interesting (especially as that agenda isn’t the usual supervillain posturing).

There is also the symbolism at play here, as Fraction brings together the newly-Reborn Steve Rogers and Thor to help in Tony’s resurrection.  We’re seeing the big 3 Avengers come back together here, in preparation for the upcoming Seige event, and it does feel like something big is coming in Marvel just through these characters being together again.

While I wasn’t entirely sure about the ending of World’s Most Wanted, and this Disassembled arc from the solicits, I think its paying off nicely, helped in part by moving along quite quickly, obviously so we can have Tony back on his feet and in armour in time for Siege.

Over in War Machine #12, things aren’t looking particularly rosy for Jim Rhodes either.   While he’s not lobotomised himself, Osborn has captured him and has him on trial for war crimes and facing execution.

As a wrap up to the year of War Machine we’ve had this issue works brilliantly.  Osborn remains centre-stage as the villain of the piece and the main characters from throughout the run are all spotlighted with James’ mother visiting him in prison, Ares turning up to free his champion and team War Machine in their usual support roles.

Its actually a real shame to see this series come to an end, if only because this issue would’ve marked a major turning point that would’ve set things up to go off in a different direction to the first year of the run.  And with War Machine turning up in Iron Man 2 next year, you have to wonder how long it’ll be before we at least get a new mini-series.

I do like how Greg Pak turns Osborn against himself here.   There’s an interesting parallel between this and the ending of World’s Most Wanted, which in both cases sees Tony and Rhodey turn Osborn’s own arrogance against him (as we see with Osborn himself exonerating Rhodey from War Machine’s crimes).  In both cases, the resolution came down to the planning by the main characters, rather than a knock-down fight.  Which especially in the case of War Machine is an interesting way to go.

There’s also an interesting clearing of the decks going on across these titles in time for the new year and the new film.  It’ll be interesting to see how Matt Fraction continues to rebuild Tony for example, since he’ll now be free from Extremis, have a movie-styled repulsor unit in his chest, and have to rebuild Stark Industries from the ground up.  And how Rhodey will feature into the Marvel universe will be interesting to see.  If nothing else, it might be nice to have him feature in Iron Man for a while again (while Tony’s getting back on his feet).  Certainly I hope the character doesn’t languish like he did after his first ongoing was cancelled.

One of the new shows I’ve been really enjoying, which just finished its first season on Sci-Fi UK is Warehouse 13.

A Syfy original program, it follows Secret Service Agents Peter Lattimer and Myka Bering who find themselves reassigned from their normal duties to work for Artie Nielsen in the top-secret Warehouse 13 where supernatural artefacts are stored away to protect the general public from their dangers.

On the surface, the show comes across as a kookier version of the X-files, without the Government Conspiracy stuff.  However where the show really shines is in the dialogue between the various leads.  Peter and Myka are really well written as the banter flies back and forth between them and its a lot of fun to watch.

Another thing that really makes the show stand out is the steampunk styling given to most of the Warehouse and its associated technology, with most of it being said to having been created by Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla and MC Escher as well as their main video communications devices, the Farnsworths.  It really helps give the show a unique feel compared to most other Sci-Fi shows currently airing.

As the show goes on, despite the seemingly goofy tone, its not afraid to build up arc plots.  Some, primarily the threat of rogue Warehouse Agent MacPherson, are built up heavily across the season, whereas others such as Artie’s mysterious past and the exact nature of the Warehouse and who runs it are left bubbling under the surface to be built upon as the show goes on longer term.  We know this is the 13th iteration of Warehouses that stretch back to the Library at Alexandria, which is said to be the first Warehouse.  This raises all kinds of questions regarding the group who run the Warehouses and the influence they must have.

Overall, I found this to be a really strong first season, and I’m keen to see what the second brings.  While the show may not have grabbed the immediate cult fame of some other shows, it strikes me that Sci-Fi have a nice little sleeper hit here.  The majority of the episodes allow you to drop in and out of the show, so there’s easily scope to pick up additional viewers as more people find out about it.