Supergirl: Last Children of Krypton

“The Last Children of Krypton” begins with the CW tradition of updating their introductory voice over, with Kara now mentioning she’s a reporter, which I still think is a bad idea. After that, Kara and Kal-El help out National City’s Fire Department when there’s a major blaze. Kara fights the flames directly while Superman does something new and different and somehow makes it rain. That’s a new power. Maybe it was a speed-vortex that sucked up the water from the hoses. Then they fly off to break up an armed robbery. That goes as smoothly as you’d expect for two normals fighting two Krpytonians. Superman even shakes his head at one of them, saying, “If the bullets don’t work, why the punching? I’ve never understood that,” echoing an in-joke among comics fans for years.

Gotham: Anything For You

I’ve been commenting that all of the comic book based shows seem to have improved a lot this season. Well, this week Gotham joins those ranks with “Mad City: Anything For You.” There are a lot of twists and turns to the complex, scheming plot, and some good character moments as well. I think it was one of their better episodes, in my personal top few favorites of the series. Because there are so many intricate plot points, there are spoilers in this review. Be warned.

Legends of Tomorrow: Out of Time

The Legends of Tomorrow are back with a new line up, new season, and the introductory voice-over by Martin Stein gives a brief rundown of the members. The season opens with the somewhat ominous title of “Out of Time,” which starts us off in a new status quo. A lot has happened since the last time we saw the team.

Arrow: The Recruits

Arrow’s new voiceover at the top of the show mentions that he’s working as both hero and mayor. I like that they adapt the voiceover/introductions for the CW hero shows as they go. It’s a nice touch, and a nod that the shows change as time passes. Arrow is now trying to deal with “Recruits.”

Flash: Paradox

Flash’s second episode is “Paradox,” as Barry continues to find differences between what he remembers and the changes and ripples he’s caused by traveling in time. They do a good job of this even with the new voice over. Instead of the heroic narration, Barry sounds like he’s not very far from a nervous breakdown, which was both entertaining and gave a feel for how bad things are for the Fastest Man Alive.

Gotham: New Day Rising

Gotham’s Mad City arc continues with “New Day Rising.” It’s more or less part two of last week’s Mad Hatter and Alice adventure. I have to admit, I’m not loving Jim Gordon as mercenary bounty hunter, but I think I see how they are going to end it and I’m thinking it might be soon. I hope so, anyway.

Supergirl: Adventures of Supergirl

Supergirl returns for a second season with “The Adventures of Supergirl.” Most likely that’s a reference to one of her past comic book titles, “The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl.” Not only is she back for a new season, she’s on a new network and has several changes from the opening forward. For one thing, now that she’s on the CW with most of DC’s other currently running shows (Gotham over on Fox being the exception), she’s being drawn into the “CW-verse” or “Arrow-verse” as I’ve heard it called. Flash appears in her opening credits from their crossover episode, which I thought was a nice touch.

Aquaman #8 review

“Unstoppable” is a well-named story. NEMO, the new society that Black Manta has become part of (which has a really goofy name) had unleashed a terrible weapon that is heading straight for Atlantis. Not only can Aquaman and the Drift not stop it, they can’t even figure out what this hulking monster is. When Aquaman finally works it out, the answer is pretty damn terrifying, and it makes perfect sense. I have no idea how they are going to manage to stop this next issue.

Arrow: Legacy

Arrow returns for season five with “Legacy,” a concept that’s a part of a lot of DC’s history. Unfortunately, they don’t live up to the word on pretty much any front. I’ve been a fan of the show with varying degrees of intensity over the years. If nothing else, I like the show for starting off the “CW-verse.” But this may be, in my opinion, one of their worst individual episodes.

Green Arrow #8 review

One of the things I was happiest about when DC started their Rebirth event was bringing back the relationship between Green Arrow and Black Canary. They’ve always been one of my favorite comic book couples. This issue has a lot of them together, trapped on an island. As the old song goes, “Reunited, and it feels so good.”