Martin's DW

( Batman #901 )

( Fantastic Four #701 )

( The Flash #800 )

My Flash collection is up to 268 issues (plus annuals and specials) after last weekend, including all but four of the Baron and Messner-Loebs issues. Really hoping to track those down soon.

( Shazam! (vol. 4) #2 )

Batman #900 (“The Bat-Man of Gotham: Conclusion”): This is Chip Zdarsky arguing that Batman's rogues (more specifically, the Joker) would exist whether or not Batman did, just in a different form; he also argues that just killing the Joker wouldn't fix things. This was very much a Big Anniversary Issue in that we get the whole tour of the Batman side of the multiverse, with both Batman '66 and The Dark Knight Returns featuring prominently. It's weird to me that Spider-Man and Batman (although obviously way more on the former's side) seem to be getting the big multiversal pushes given that they're both more traditionally on the lower-powered end of things, although I think that's more an argument for a Spider-comic.

Of the 900 Batman issues that have been published, it appears that I own a grand total of 34. And yes, most of them feature Tim Drake. Who got to show up at the end of #900 and give Bruce a way home. (We're never going to get the explanation of why he moved out and headed to the marina in Tim Drake: Robin, are we?)

The Flash #798 (“Time Heist”): The cover said this issue featured Mister Terrific, and it wasn't lying—but the real surprise guest star was the Matthew Tyler Hourman, who was a Geoff Johns victim back in JSA #66 (December 2004). With Wade West being born it does feel like we're wrapping up the loose ends before Jeremy Adams's run is cut short in a couple issues.

Shazam! (vol. 4) #1 (“Meet the Captain”): Picked this up primarily due to creative team (doing something that isn't Bronze Age nostalgia, thank you). I was not disappointed. It did a good job introducing and selling Captain Marvel as both superhero and overgrown kid while setting up a bunch for the next issues. (Continuity note: Fawcett City is now a suburb of Philadelphia.) Plus it opened with sentient interstellar dinosaurs. What's not to like?

This week's issue of The Flash continues to be good fun comics. ( Spoilers )