I’m a huge Flash fan but when I learned that THE FLASH (2023) would be yet another version of Geoff Johns’ Flashpoint arc (there’s also the animated Flashpoint Paradox and the third season of the CW’s Flash) I can’t say I cared. Then I heard that it was good so when it made it to Max, I sat down and watched. I’m glad I didn’t pay for a theatrical viewing (while I’m aware of the grooming and other allegations against star Ezra Miller they weren’t part of why I thumbed it down).
No sooner does Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) lose his last shot at proving his dad didn’t murder mom than he discovers he can travel through time and prevent the killing (unlike the comic and the TV show. it appears it was a genuine random murder). He makes the change, returns to the present but crashes into his college years instead, then loses his powers making sure his alt.self acquires them. Worse, he discovers that Zod is attacking the Earth (from the execrable Man of Steel) and in this timeline there’s no Superman, no Cyborg, no Wonder Woman (like the comics original, the rationale for how saving Nora Allen led to this is ultra-flimsy). We have Flash, one depowered Flash, an old and retired Batman (Michael Keaton) and a Supergirl they break out of a Soviet prison. Will it be enough?
Part of the problem is that the CW already did Flashpoint and the Nora Allen murder (something Johns tacked on to Barry’s backstory) and better. Another problem is that this winds up being as much a Justice League movie as it does a Flash film, which doesn’t work for me. Similarly, I see no reason for making a Flash movie into a remake of Man of Steel other than to match the comics’ apocalyptic effects of Flashpoint — and like I said, I don’t care for Flashpoint. At 2.5 hours it’s not padded so much as stuffed with material I wish wasn’t in there. It has its moments, but not enough. “I’ve come to accept that I’m the janitor of the Justice League.”
I could have sworn I reviewed the second and third seasons of STARGIRL like I did the first but as I can’t find any posts about them, here we go. The second season, subtitled Summer School has Silver Age villain Eclipso (Nick Taraby) come to Blue Valley to spread darkness both emotional and physical over the town. Stargirl and the JSA have to fight back while dealing with villains Sportsmaster and Huntress, a possibly reformed Cindy Berman (Meg DeLacy) and the Shade (Jonathan Cake) who might not be all-bad under his villain pose.
Eclipso is one of those characters who looks dreadful in live action and his style of turning people to the dark side is old hat in comics. That said, the season still worked well. I particularly liked one scene in which he tries to cripple Dr. Mid-Nite (Anjelika Washington) by playing on her insecurities as a black teen. Turns out she’s heard everything he hisses at her before, and her parents have taught her never, ever to buy into it. It was a great scene.
The season ender with multiple villains reforming after the JSA saved them from the Eclipso made me optimistic for S3 and STARGIRL: Frenemies delivers. While the A-plot is investigating the murder of the (apparently) reformed villain the Gambler, Courtney and her friends have to deal with the reformed crooks (their idea of going straight is frequently comical) and the resurrection of Starman, the previous wielder of Courtney’s cosmic staff. Should she hang up her mantle? Why is the JSA falling apart? It’s a solid season with a twist late in the series that I absolutely did not see coming. It’s a shame the series wrapped up so soon but it went out on a win.
I caught enough of the first season of the CW’s RIVERDALE to decide it didn’t work for me, though I predicted it might be a hit anyway — and sure enough, it made it to seven seasons, wrapping up just recently. I started watching this season on learning the fallout of last season’s apocalypse would result in them all back in high school (they’d graduated) in the 1950s. And yep, Jughead’s “chronokinetic” girlfriend flung the cast back in time in hopes of repairing time and saving Riverdale from destruction. While they don’t remember their prior existence they still have enough of their 21st century attitude to push back on things like comic-book censorship, homophobia, sexism and commie-bashing before things finally resolve. I can’t say I regret skipping S1 through S6 but it was interesting to watch. “Now you must be ready for a new danger — the atomic bomb!”
Last but definitely not least, the first season of the animated MY ADVENTURES WITH SUPERMAN (2023) just wrapped up on HBO Max. Reminiscent of SMALLVILLE in that it has Clark struggling into grow into his destiny as the Man of Steel: he has no idea of his origins (the Jor-El hologram doesn’t speak English), he’s working as a Daily Planet intern alongside this adorable cutie Lois Lane, and while he’s trying to help people, a shadowy government agency has marked him for termination.
While I saw one major Reveal several episodes ahead, this was funny, charming and as much of its time as the Chris Reeve version. Given that in comics Lois has been married to Superman (outside of the New 52 retcon) for around 30 years and knows Clark’s identity I think it’s natural that by the end of S1 she’s learned the truth and the relationship is openly romantic (I don’t think saying this spoils too much). Proves there’s still life in the old icon. “So you finally get a shot at a date with the woman of your dreams and your first thought is to make a flow chart?”
#SFWApro. Covers by Carmine Infantino (top) and Fiona Staples, all rights to images remain with current holder.
The first season had God giving Joan messages about how she can help in her community, usually without explaining why or what the outcome is. At the end of the season, Joan got the devastating diagnosis that this was all a delusion — but when S2 starts up, God’s back, giving her more directives. The show’s a little darker, with tragic endings for some of the characters, but still following the same format while exploring character arcs for Joan’s family and friends. Then, in the last two episodes, we meet Ryan Hunter (Wentworth Miller), a wealthy, community oriented man who also hears God’s voice. Only he got fed up with everyone needing his help and decided not to listen. Now he’s set himself against Joan and God, though it’s unclear exactly what his agenda will be. Everyone else thinks Hunter’s a good guy; Joan’s in this alone. It would have made an interesting S3 but alas, we didn’t get one. Still, S2 was a pleasure to rewatch. “Unravelling a scarf doesn’t make the threads go away.”
The final season of FLASH was a lot shorter than the two full seasons the show-runners were hoping for but they still ended on a win. It opens with the Red Death — the Batwoman of a parallel Earth, amped up by super-speed — waging war on Central City and ends with Eddie Thawne — Iris’s boyfriend from the first season — returning from the dead as an agent of the Negative Speed Force, resurrecting a legion of evil speedsters to take Barry and Team Flash down.
BATWOMAN‘s second half-season kept up the level of the 
