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DC Dice Masters: Green Arrow and The Flash Review: Barry Allen, Firestorm, and Superman

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In September, the latest DC Dice Masters set, DC Dice Masters: Green Arrow and The Flash will be released. Wizkids hooked us up with ten booster packs and after an unboxing video, I’m now going over groupings of the cards to discuss their playability and how they stack up to previous versions of the characters.

Up next, the common Barry Allen, Firestorm, and Superman!

DC Dice Masters The Flash Green Arrow Barry Allen Firestorm Superman

Barry Allen: Super-Sonic Punch (common)

Team: Justice League

Purchase: 5 BOLT FIST

Die – Generic / Bolt & Fist / Bolt & Fist

Level: 1 3 3 / 1 4 4 / 2 7 4

Character Previous Set: None (though The Flash has appeared in both DC Dice Masters: Justice League and DC Dice Masters War of Light)

Synergy -While Barry Allen is active, you may pay BOLT FIST to give Barry Allen character die +2A and +4D (until end of turn). (Synergy abilities can be used while the character is active, any time you could use a Global Ability).

Thoughts: Wow is The Flash expensive in sets. The character at a cost of 5 where you must use a BOLT and FIST to purchase make this not the easiest card to purchase. What I do like about the card is that it really reflects the speed of the character with his ability to act quickly and up his attack and defense. Compared to other Flash dice, the cost is similar and potentially getting a 9A/8D character is solid. Still, when it comes to speedsters, I’d rather get the Justice League versions that can be unblockable and are 1 less to purchase. Still, since this is named The Flash, use both!

 

Firestorm: Host of the Matrix (common)

Team: Justice League

Purchase: 4 BOLT

Die – Bolt / Bolt and Bolt / Bolt and Bolt

Level: 1 3 5 / 1 4 6 / 2 5 6

Character Previous Set: DC Dice Masters: Justice League, DC Dice Masters: Justice League OP

When Firestorm attacks, deal 1 damage to target character die for each character die in your Field Zone.

Thoughts: We’ve seen Firestorm before and compared to it, this is one of the better versions of the card. The die characteristics are exactly the same, so all that differs is its ability.The ability to deal a high amount of damage in an attack will make this a key character to potentially wipe out tough characters. I myself tend to play a style with a lot of characters attacking, so this will be one I’ll be looking at when putting together a team, especially a Justice League one.

The chance to deal a high amount of damage in an attack will make this a key character to potentially wipe out tough characters and is one way to handle that potential issue. While on its own it’s ok, I can see it being a nice back up character used in certain situations. I myself tend to play a style with a lot of characters attacking, so this will be one I’ll be looking at when putting together a team, especially a Justice League one.

 

Superman: Man of Tomorrow (common)

Team: Justice League

Purchase: 6 SHIELD

Die – Shield / Shield and Shield / Shield and Shield

Level: 1 4 6 / 2 6 7 / 2 7 8

Character Previous Set: DC Dice Masters: Justice League, DC Dice Masters: Justice League OP, and DC Dice Masters World’s Finest

Superman gets +1A and +1D for each of your active Justice League characters.

Thoughts: This character die is similar cost to previous versions and the stats are the same as the World’s Finest version. The ability is really interesting, first because I think it’d give itself +1A and +1D, so it’d start off stronger than the WF version and slightly better than the JL version. Running just a Justice League team, I can see Superman becoming a beast to deal with easily getting in the double digests for attack and defense. Throw in Overcrush and you can easily see where this one’s going.

 

Final thoughts: Three interesting possible additions to Justice League teams (and teams in general). All three could be fun playing in casual and I can see some teams being put together for competitive, though the high initial purchase costs will get people to hold off of that. Still, if this set shakes up the meta like I think it will, expect to see all three of these cards of the table. Now, I’m off to go make a Justice League team.

Pop! Heroes: DC in May!

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Funko is proud to introduce the latest Pop! figures from DC Comics!

The newest installment includes powerful heroes like Firestorm, Supergirl, Power Girl, and Cyborg!

It’ll take the whole team to bring down supervillian Black Manta!

Pop! Heroes: DC are out from Funko in May.

DC Announces a Legends of Tomorrow Anthology Series

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LOT_1_cover_colIn a show of synergy between television and comics, DC Comics has announced the Legends of Tomorrow Anthology Series!

It’s four powerhouse tales in one colossal comic, as some of comics’ most legendary talents launch new tales of Firestorm, Metamorpho, Metal Men and Sugar and Spike—that’s right, Sugar and Spike!

This new anthology series will reunite several characters from DC Comics’ rich history with the writers that made them fan favorites: Gerry Conway returns to Firestorm, Len Wein will handle the writing chores on Metal Men, Aaron Lopresti will pen Metamorpho, while the always interesting Keith Giffen puts his own unique spin on one of DC’s more offbeat titles, Sugar & Spike.

FIRESTORM, written by Gerry Conway with art by Eduardo Pansica and Rob Hunter:

Firestorm is back! To save Jason Rausch, Firestorm will need to retrieve Danton Black’s stolen research from Professor Stein’s lab. But if Jason can’t fuse with Ronnie by the Firestorm Protocol…who can?

METAL MEN, written by Len Wein with art by Yildiray Cinar and Trevor Scott:

Doctor Will Magnus’ Metal Men may be the next step in robotics technology, but when the mysterious cyber-terrorist known only as Nameless comes after them, they may have met their match!

METAMORPHO, written by Aaron Lopresti with art by Aaron Lopresti and Matt Banning:

Metamorpho—a prisoner of millionaire industrialist Simon Stagg! Now, the only person who can save him is Stagg’s beautiful daughter, Sapphire!? But can they defeat Stagg’s prehistoric bodyguard, Java?

SUGAR & SPIKE, written by Keith Giffen with art by Bilquis Evely:

The last time we saw Sugar and Spike, they were still in diapers! Now, they’re grown up, and they’ve become private investigators who specialize in cleaning up embarrassing problems for the DCU’s greatest heroes. Sugar & Spike’s first assignment: retrieve a cache of Batman’s retired costumes that have been stolen by Killer Moth!

Legends of Tomorrow #1, with cover artwork by Aaron Lopresti will be on sale March 9th, 2016 with 80 pages at $7.99 US.

Fashion Spotlight: Little Ninjas, Doug Time, and City Smash Bros.

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Ript Apparel has three new designs! Little Ninjas, Doug Time, and City Smash Bros., by onebluebird, JCMaziu, and PrimePremme, are on sale today only! Get them before they’re gone!

Little Ninjas

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Doug Time

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City Smash Bros.

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The Strangest Members of the Justice League

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snapperThe Justice League of America is best defined by its core of main characters.  As opposed to other major superhero teams like the X-Men, Avengers, or Teen Titans, the core seven members of the team are considered as almost sacrosanct.  Without Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter, the League is considered to not be at full power (though Manhunter has been somewhat replaced on this list by Cyborg.)  That being the case, the membership of the League has mostly remained constant over its publication history, but as with every team there are always the odd ones that find their way in.

Snapper Carr – The modern reader of comics might not recognize it immediately at a glance, but the history of comics is the history of trends.  Characters that might seem to represent some diversity in the modern day such as Power Man/Luke Cage or Shang Chi were in fact added to comics as they helped to capitalize respectively on the popularity of blaxpoitation and kung fu films.  One character long before them was Snapper Carr.  Although he existed as a sidekick more than actual superhero, he was nonetheless a vital member on some missions, (such as the first involving Starro).  The character was inspired by the Beatnik generation which was somewhat popular at the time, and for those that might look for a related Marvel character, they would be wasting their time, because the trend of beatnik characters came and went long before Marvel got established.

daleDale Gunn – After the X-Men took over the medium of comics in the 1970s it was determined that the Teen Titans became DC’s best hope to fight against this success.  After the youth oriented book performed well it was decided to give the Justice League a makeover as well, and what resulted was what has become known as Justice League Detroit, a weaker version of the team, but one focused more towards the street.  Out were Batman and Wonder Woman, in were street level characters like Gypsy and Vibe, the latter of which was enough of an attempt to cash in on the breakdancing genre that was actually popular for a while, for those that remember their Electric Boogaloo.  The stranger character though was Dale Gunn, introduced as a ladies-man character that was the custodian/tech expert for the new team, who wore a superpowered suit of armor in his first appearance, but then just faded into the background.  Zatanna and Vixen both fell in love with him almost from the get go, but his impact was never really noticed after a few issues.

maxMaxwell Lord – Whereas the X-Men had Dazzler and the Outsiders had Looker, the Justice League never really managed to capitalize on the big hair and big money 1980s, or at least they wouldn’t have except for the influence of Maxwell Lord.  The character was essentially a Gordon Gecko rip-off, and one whose moral code was also somewhat skewed.  He served as the bank roll for the team, but had delusions of heroism at times, and eventually went bad when he almost had every superhero killed during Infinite Crisis.

Blue Beetle – The Justice League of the post-Legends DC Universe was one very different from what came before.  Legends was kind of an attempt to do the final clean-up on what had happened during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it resulted in a new Justice League.  Whereas a lot of titles were getting darker at the time, or at least geared more to a mature audience, this team went the opposite route, becoming goofy.  Another trend at the time was that the Justice League becoming a dumping ground for characters who couldn’t hold their own series.  Thus the League assimilated Booster Gold, Blue Beetle and Captain Atom among others, but it really became the Blue Beetle and Booster Gold show, with their not-so-serious antics proving to be the fodder for most issues as opposed to real threats.  The character had been serious before, but never really recovered before being killed off.

drfateZan and Jayna – The so-called Wonder Twins didn’t come from the Justice League exactly, but instead came from the children’s show spin-off, the Super Friends.  It might have seemed likely that the characters might have just retired into obscurity as many others did, but they were actually revived for a time in the 1990s.  As a bit of a running joke before hand they never really caught on, and were used for only a few issues.

Dr. Fate/Guy Gardner – These two are not exactly the strangest characters exactly, except in how they were used.  Once again another influence of the post Legends Justice League, the writer Keith Giffen was a big enough fan of gender swapping some of his characters.  Not as in the usual sense of making a separate character like Supergirl or Batgirl, but in simply finding a way to switch genders.  It was done first with Doctor Fate and recently with Guy Gardner.

Ambush Bug/Super-Chief  – After Infinite Crisis the creators promised to give exposure to pretty much every character that had ever shown up in the pages of DC Comics.  This meant that some strange and obscure characters had to be brought in.  In this case it was a Firestorm led Justice League that contained among its members the Ambush Bug and Super-Chief.  They showed up for a couple of panels and then were never seen of again.

poisonivyPoison Ivy, Lex Luthor and Captain Cold – It turned some heads in the pages of the Waid led JLA when the rotating cast of team members included what was kind of Catwoman for one issue.  People wondered how it was that a thief was allowed membership to the team, even when she didn’t really join.  This was later rendered somewhat moot in the era of rooting for the bad guys in comics.  In the modern day, many series focus on villains, and Lex Luthor, Captain Cold and poison Ivy have worked alongside the Justice League, the latter in the most recent issue of Justice League United.  As villains become the new cool characters, it is not surprising to see some join the ranks of the superheroes.

To read the list of the strangest members of the League is partially a way to read the trends which have defined the medium of comics since the team’s inception.  There have been characters that have been stunts, or put in place to take advantage of what was happening in popular culture.  The team usually goes back to the main seven, but it is interesting to note that they are not always there, and sometimes some odd choices are made.

Robbie Amell Joins The Flash as Ronnie Raymond, 1/2 of Firestorm

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Robbie Amell 3_53bcccd9e70f72.87499037Actor Robbie Amell is joining this falls The Flash in a recurring role as Ronnie Raymond. Folks might know Raymond better as his superhero alter-ego, 1/2 of Firestorm!

In the world of The Flash, Ronnie is a maintenance worker at S.T.A.R. Labs and Dr. Caitlin Snow’s fiancé, and he plays an integral part in the particle accelerator accident that transforms Barry Allen into the Flash.

Firestorm is a bit different, in that it takes two individuals to “make” the hero, as Ronnie gets fused with his Firestorm partner in herodom, Jason Rusch. Will we see Rusch be popping up too?

Interestingly enough, Amell is the younger cousin of fellow DC Comics’ alum, actor Stephen Amell, star of Arrow.

The Flash airs on The CW this fall.

Around the Tubes

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Lots of comics were released and today continues the deluge of previews for comics released this week as well as a lot of reviews!  While you wait for that, here’s the news you might have missed.

Around the Blogs:

So So Gay – An alternative universe: gay characters on the rise in comic books – A good article about gay characters in comic books.

Wired – Frank Miller’s Holy Terror Is Fodder for Anti-Islam Set – Spencer Ackerman has a great response to Frank Miller’s Holy Terror.

Around the Tubes Reviews:

CBR – Aquaman #1

MTV Geek – Aquaman #1

MTV Geek – The Flash #1

CBR – The Flash #1

Publishers Weekly – ‘PW Comics World’ Reviews DC’s ‘The New 52’: Week 3

Bleeding Cool – Wednesday Comics Reviews – Aquaman, Justice League Dark, Voodoo, Firestorm, Dark Knight, New Guardians, Blackhawks, Superman, I Vampire, Hawkman, Flash, Teen Titans, All Star Western

52 Reviews, Part 4

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So, for the fun of it, I collected all 52 DC #1 issues. And I’m offering up my final reviews of the entire group. Keep in mind, though, that I’m generally a Marvel fan and, while I’m working may way through DC’s recent big events, I’m only up through the middle of Countdown and I haven’t read any of DC’s non-event comics in a long time, so I’m coming at these stories with a bit of a disadvantage in terms of chronology and character knowledge. Since DC is certainly trying to attract new readers, though, this makes me come at them with a perspective similar to their hypothetical new fans… Tomorrow or the next day, I’ll have a post on my overall thoughts on the whole reboot.

All Star Western #1 (DC) – I was prepared not to like this too much. I liked Jonah Hex as a kid, but I hadn’t read it since then. And I generally don’t like anything Western. Add to the mix that Hex wears a Confederate uniform and is anti-science and anti-urban and there’s no reason I should’ve liked this. And yet I loved it. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti tell a very well-written tale that incorporates Western tropes, Jack the Ripper, Sherlock Holmes and the mythology of Gotham City. It all fits together very well, although a possible turn with the villains of the story could upset me if it goes the way it looks. I could probably do without another dead hooker story, but since it’s a Jack the Ripper homage, I’m okay with it in this case. It’s hard to argue that Moritat’s art isn’t perfect and while I don’t usually notice color artists in comics, Gabriel Bautista’s work is good enough here to get a shout out.

Story: 9.5 Art: 10 Overall: 9.75

Aquaman #1 (DC) – Aquaman is a character I’ve never really liked. I bought all the jokes about how lame he and his powers were, so I never really paid much attention. Which played me right into Geoff Johns’ hands in this one. This is a funny comic book, maybe the funniest of the entire New 52. It makes fun of all of those jokes and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It also puts all of those jokes to rest and shows us that Aquaman isn’t the joke we think he is, he’s much more powerful than that. This issue also sets a new paradigm for the character and is a great way to re-introduce him to the world.

Story: 10 Art: 8 Overall: 9

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (DC) – Hands down the Batman books are the backbone of the New 52. Every one of this is good to great and they give us a lot to look forward to. This is the worst of the bunch, but it is still readable, entertaining and looks good.

Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5

Blackhawks #1 (DC) – My deceased father was a childhood fan of Blackhawks and he always talked about them, even into his 60s. They weren’t really ever around much in my comic reading days, so I was interested in giving this one a shot as a way to connect with my dad’s comic book tastes. I think he would’ve liked this one and I thank the creators for giving me that connection to my father once again.

Story: 7.5 Art: 8 Overall: 7.75

The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 (DC) – Another character I haven’t read much of since my childhood is Firestorm. The way the character(s) work here is quite a bit different, so far, than what I remember. The issue is pretty good and Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone do some pretty strong writing in terms of tackling stereotypes and race. I will say the ending to the issue left me a bit confused, but hopefully that will be cleared up next month.

Story: 8.5 Art: 8 Overall: 8.25

The Flash #1 (DC) – This one was a bit of a spoiler for me, since I’ve only read major DC events up to Countdown. I had no idea Barry Allen was back. This is a pretty nice story with a good mystery and a pretty awesome last page. Brian Buccellato’s art is quite good, too.

Story: 8 Art: 9 Overall: 8.5

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 (DC) – The Green Lantern comics have also been pretty strong across the board and this one adds to that. The story here is quite interesting and leaves with a pretty good cliffhanger that will definitely have me back next issue.

Story: 8 Art: 7 Overall: 7.5

I, Vampire #1 (DC) – Wow. That’s really the best word to describe this, which I think is the best issue of the entire New 52. And I generally hate vampire tales. But this one is so well-written and so beautiful that I am now officially hooked on this series. The plot has such a great apocalyptic feel to it that I find myself wondering if the old I, Vampire tales were quite this good. I don’t remember them ever getting to this level.

Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10

Justice League Dark #1 (DC) – Magic tales are not usually my cup of tea, but DC seems to have been getting them right in recent years and this is no exception. Unlike most of the new issues, this one really is the start of something new and it is a good beginning that really makes me want more. There are some amazing visuals in this book, particularly the June Moone splash. Some of the dialog and text is superbly written as well, such as the line: “The reek of skinned babies and sliced eyeballs.” Man, is that creepy or what? There’s more where that came from.

Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9

The Savage Hawkman #1 (DC) – No question this is the weakest book of the week. For one, I’ve never really been a huge Hawkman fan, but this issue is confusing, makes no sense at times (Hawkman starts off by shooting his old costume) and doesn’t look very good at times. It’s not terrible, but with all the other great comics DC put out this week, this one pales in comparison.

Story: 6 Art: 6.5 Overall: 6.25

Superman #1 (DC) – George Perez re-introduces Superman here with a tale told in a throwback style with lots of third-person narration, a nostalgic tale of Metropolis’s history and a strong introduction to the themes and supporting characters in the series. Oh, and there’s some kind of epic battle with a fire-monster alien, too.

Story: 9 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.75

Teen Titans #1 (DC) – Another tale launching a new team with introductions to some of the team members, this one is entertaining and has a lot of potential. Scott Lobdell does much better here than on Red Hood, so much so it’s hard to believe this is the same writer as that crap. Red Hood looks even worse now that we see that Lobdell can write a strong female character (in this case Wonder Girl).

Story: 8 Art: 8 Overall: 8

Voodoo #1 (DC) – This issue conflicted me the most this week. After two weeks with controversies over female characters and their depictions as weak or nearly naked, it was disappointing to open this issue and see a half-naked stripper jump out at me. And then to see page after page of half-naked strippers for the entire issue. But Ron Marz shows that he isn’t writing as simplistically as you might expect. The opening page, as Brett pointed out to me, says “Are you ready gentlemen? Because this is why you’re here!” as if the near-nudity is meant as a tongue-in-cheek (no pun intended) thing and a slap at the fans who buy books for that purpose. But I kind of got the same feeling from this as I got from a story on Fox News where they condemn pornography while showing a clip from a porn movie. Marz does make sure to show us that the female characters in the issue are, at a minimum, intellectually, physically and even morally superior to the male characters (except for maybe the end of the issue where moral superiority drops off). This is definitely a comic where the female characters are the only characters that matter, but I wonder if that same point couldn’t have been made by having Voodoo work as a waitress instead of a stripper, since that would’ve fit the logic of the story just as well.

Story: 7 Art: 8 Overall: 7.5

Heroclix Brightest Day Firestorm

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Wizkids has released a preview of the Firestorm figure for it’s upcoming Heroclix release Brightest Day.

Heroclix FirestormFrom the Wizkids website:

The Fight for Control Trait represents Jason and Ronnie’s unbalanced control of the Firestorm Matrix, and allows you access to powers which could be very useful in your game.  Couple this with a dial allowing for many combat options, and you have a versatile and useful aerial figure.

Some mid-dial Running Shot ensures that Firestorm can still bring the fight to your opponents, and the Pulse Wave doesn’t hurt either!

Lastly, let’s not forget that Firestorm can remove those pesky walls or squares of Blocking Terrain your opponent’s figs keep hiding behind! Now your other attackers can take shots at their leisure and Firestorm can continue to support their efforts with that aforementioned Perplex! (Just make sure to roll for Perplex before you give him the Power Action to remove the walls/Blocking Terrain!)