The Flash #0 review

The Flash’s Zero Month issue takes us back to the weeks after Barry Allen was hit by a lightning bolt. Swathed in bandages while his burns defy medical expectations by clearing up, he’s visited by newly promoted police Captain Darryl Frye. It turns out that Frye took Barry in after the tragedy of his mother’s […]

Superman #0 review

Last week, we saw the last days of Krypton from the perspective of Zor-El and Alura, parents of Supergirl. Now here’s how it was for Jor-El and Lara, Superman’s folks, in DC’s rebooted comics line. The broad strokes of the story are the same – DC was never going to change those – but the […]

National Comics #1: Rose and Thorn review

Teenager Rose Canton wakes one morning covered in blood – and it’s not her own. There’s a spiky rose freshly tattooed on her back, along with the word ‘Thorn’. She has missing memories, and the boy she was with the previous night, Troy, doesn’t show up at school. Having recently rejoined the community after time […]

Sword of Sorcery featuring Amethyst #0 review

She learned the truth at 17, that she was born to be a queen. OK, sorry, I couldn’t resist riffing on the old Janis Ian song after reading the lead strip in this new DC title. A reinterpretation of an Eighties cult favourite, Amethyst tells of how school outsider Amy Winston receives a very special […]

Supergirl #0 review

Of all the DC Zero Month titles I’ve read so far, none gives up as many secrets as this issue. More than just a story set Before the New 52, it’s the culmination of a year’s worth of mysteries for Supergirl readers. Here we learn the disturbing details of Kara’s departure from the planet Krypton; […]

Wonder Woman #0 review

For Wonder Woman readers, DC’s Zero Month means a trip back to Diana’s childhood, and harsh lessons from an Olympian. The story opens with the 12-year-old princess of Themyscira stealing a harpy’s egg to make her birthday cake. She hands the egg to her mother, because on Paradise Island, says Hippolyta, ‘you need to present […]

Uncanny X-Men #18 review

Now here’s a surprise – an entirely different perspective on the fight between Cyclops and Emma Frost, and the united X-Men and Avengers, in this week’s Avengers vs X-Men #11. It turns out that as Professor Xavier confronts Scott Summers with the news that he’s invaded his mind, Scott and Emma are sharing an intimate […]

Batgirl #0 review

Here’s the DC New 52 origin of Batgirl. Bang goes the daft-but-charming costume party business, in comes a moment of desperate bravery during a tour of Gotham police headquarters. It’s still the same old Barbara Gordon, though: bright, bold, with a few good self-defence moves and the element of surprise – well, what massive thug […]

Team Seven #0 review

It’s the DC Universe of five years ago. World governments are noting the emergence of superheroes and villains, and have identified the metagene that means more are coming. Believing a superhuman arms race has begun, they put together Team Seven from a motley bunch of agents and outsiders. This debut issue quickly finds a formula […]

Avengers vs X-Men #11 review

The Phoenix Five are now two. Cyclops and Emma Frost share the cosmic power that can shape reality, and while they started out by changing the world for the better, the Phoenix entity is corrupting them. With the aid of brain scrambler supreme Professor Charles Xavier, the united Avengers and X-Men confront them, demanding that Cyclops stand […]