Happy Thursday r/OmnibusCollectors!

Last week I took you through Paul Dini's Zatanna. It's just such a wildly fun, character-driven romp through the magical side of the DCU that scored an 8.2/10 for me.

This week we're going somewhere I've been wanting to take you for a while. Flash is one of my all-time favorites and today we're starting from the very beginning of Wally West's tenure as the Scarlet Speedster. This is the run that paved the way for everything Mark Waid would later build on. Let's get into it.

The early TL;DR: A rough, sometimes genuinely frustrating first half by Mike Baron almost sinks this book before it finds its soul. Then William Messner-Loebs walks in and turns it into something special, not perfect, but essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why Wally West is THE Flash for entire generations.

Feel free to read through the whole review or simply skip to the overall score and TL;DR at the bottom. Let's go!

The Flash by William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque Omnibus Vol. 1

Quick Stats: 984 pages, $125 MSRP. It collects The Flash (1987) #1-28, The Flash Annual #1-3, Manhunter #8-9, Secret Origins Annual #2 and selections from Invasion! #2-3. That's 34 issues plus extras, covering the complete post-Crisis birth of Wally West's Flash.

The Story

This omnibus tells a very specific story: what happens when a sidekick has to become the hero. Barry Allen died in Crisis on Infinite Earths and Wally West, who's Barry's nephew, his Kid Flash, inherited the mantle. The thing is.. Wally is 20 years old, broke, slower than Barry ever was and.. kind of a jerk.

Mike Baron's Run (#1-14)

The first 14 issues are written by Mike Baron with art primarily by Jackson Guice and Larry Mahlstedt. And let me be honest with you.. Baron's Wally is rough.

He wins the lottery in issue #1 and immediately starts living like a playboy. He hits on basically every woman he meets. He's cocky, impulsive and treats the people around him poorly. The "seductive narrative voice" Baron mentions in his introduction? Yeah, it reads very differently in 2026. Some of these stories haven't aged well at all, particularly in how they treat female characters.

I don't think the unlikeability is accidental. Wally should be a mess. He's a kid who just lost his mentor, inherited a mantle he doesn't feel worthy of and has zero support system. The arrogance is a shield. The womanizing is overcompensation. Baron is writing a 20-year-old who has no idea who he is yet and that's actually.. kind of the point? I guess?

That said, even with that charitable reading, some of these issues just aren't very good. The plotting is uneven. Some of the villains are super silly (I'm looking at you, Kilg%re and yes that's how it's spelled). And the Invasion! tie-in material? Holy hell.. it was terrible. It kills whatever momentum the book builds.

The standout from this era is Secret Origins Annual #2, which retells Barry Allen's origin. That one is genuinely excellent and shows what this book could be.

And then everything changes.

William Messner-Loebs Takes Over (#15-28)

Messner-Loebs takes over with #15 and the transformation is immediate. The playboy act gets stripped away. The lottery money is gone. Wally is broke, living with his overbearing mother Mary West and is actually struggling for the first time in his life. Not just with villains. He struggles with rent, with relationships, with figuring out who he is without the Kid Flash safety net.

This is where Wally starts becoming someone you actually root for. Not because he's perfect, but because he's trying. Messner-Loebs keeps the impulsiveness and the brashness.. he doesn't rewrite Wally's personality, he just gives it depth. The emotional beats land because they're earned through all that messiness Baron put on the page.

The Messner-Loebs era also introduces Linda Park, who would go on to become arguably the most important supporting character in Flash history. Her first appearance here is quiet, easy to miss, but knowing where she ends up? It's like watching the first few minutes of a movie knowing the payoff is coming.

The supporting cast here is the secret weapon. It is where Messner-Loebs truly shines. He doesn't just write Wally well. He makes you care about people you'd never expect to care about:

Pied Piper gets one of the quietest, most meaningful character transformations in late-80s DC. He goes from C-list Rogue to someone with moral conviction and complexity. By the time you're 20 issues deep, you realize Messner-Loebs has been building a real person, not just a gimmick villain-turned-ally.

Chunk is one of the community darling I feel and for good reason. He's bizarre, lovable, completely unique and has no equivalent in modern comics. The man literally absorbed things into his body. And you cared about him. That's writing.

Tina and Jerry McGee bring a grounded scientific angle to the speed powers. Their troubled marriage gives the book an adult emotional texture that Baron's run never achieved. And Jerry's arc, from Tina's husband to Speed Demon to something more complicated is super compelling.

Vandal Savage shows up as well and is a menacing antagonist during this run, not just a plot device. His appearances have weight.

The Art

Greg LaRocque handles the bulk of the art from #15 onward and his work is exactly what this book needs. It's not going to blow your mind panel-to-panel.. this isn't a Mignola or a J.H. Williams situation. But LaRocque tells the story clearly, gives characters expressive and distinct faces and his action sequences have genuine energy. The speed effects work. The quiet character moments work. It's solid, professional and to me: just effective comics storytelling.

Guice's work on the Baron issues is similarly competent. Slightly more polished, slightly less expressive. The real treat is getting Carmine Infantino on some of the annual material. The man who co-created Barry Allen's Flash drawing Wally's early adventures? That's the kind of lineage that gives you chills if you know the history.

The coloring is probably the weakest link. Some of the reproduction looks a bit washed out compared to the original floppies. It's never hard to tell what's happening, but it doesn't pop the way modern coloring does. For an omni, I wish DC had done a bit more restoration work here.

Where It Stumbles

The Baron era is a slog in places. Not "of its time" slog. Just.. not good slog. Maybe it's just me. Issues #5-10 in particular feel like they're spinning wheels. The Invasion! crossover material is terrible and kills whatever momentum the book has built. I almost put this down during that stretch and I'm someone who considers Flash a top-5 character. If you're not already invested? I can see people bouncing off this entirely.

The tonal whiplash is real. Going from Baron's abrasive playboy Wally to Messner-Loebs' more grounded, human Wally is jarring. It works as character development in theory, but in practice you're reading 14 issues of a character you don't like before the book finds its heart.

The crossover material adds bulk without value. The Manhunter issues by Ostrander and Yale are a nice inclusion for completists, but they break the flow. The Invasion! pages are unreadable as standalone entries. I get why DC included them for historical completeness, but they're padding in a book that didn't need it.

The price is steep for a book where the first third is actively off-putting. I own this and I'm glad I do, but I'd have a hard time recommending it at full price to anyone who isn't already a Flash devotee.

What Works

Messner-Loebs' character work is extraordinary. This cannot be overstated. He took over a book that was circling the drain and spun gold. Wally's journey from obnoxious kid to someone you root for happens issue by issue, moment by moment and it never feels rushed or unearned. The supporting cast work alone: Pied Piper, Chunk, Linda Park, the McGees, Mary West would make this run noteworthy. Doing it while also writing compelling speedster action? That's a masterclass.

The omnibus format is the definitive way to read this. Having the complete Baron → Messner-Loebs transition in one volume transforms what was a scattered, hard-to-collect reading experience into a cohesive character study. You need to read the messy beginning to appreciate the transformation. The Annuals and crossover material, while uneven, fill out the picture in ways that piecemeal trade paperbacks never could.

Wally West's origin as THE Flash is essential DC history. This isn't a sidebar. This is the main event. For almost 30 years, Wally West was the Flash. Not a fill-in, not a replacement, but THE Flash. And this omnibus shows you exactly how that happened. Skipping this and jumping straight to Waid's run means missing why Waid's work hits as hard as it does. The Waid run is great partially because Messner-Loebs did the hard work of making Wally someone worth caring about first. One could argue that Messner-Loebs did the heavy lifting and Waid got the glory, but I'll come back to that in a later review.

Overall

The Messner-Loebs material is genuinely great. Issues #15-28, the relevant Annuals, the character work, that's an easy 8.0-8.5 range for me. The Baron material is.. mixed. The first issue is solid, the origin retelling in Secret Origins Annual #2 is excellent, but the middle stretch is a real drag. I'd put the Baron era around 5.5-6.0 on its own. Sorry.

So we're weighting roughly half the book at 5.5-6.0 and half at 8.0-8.5. The crossover material pulls down slightly. The omnibus packaging and the fact that the Baron stuff does serve a narrative purpose (even if not always gracefully) pulls it back up.

As a Flash fan, I'm rating this higher because I know where it leads. The Messner-Loebs run is the foundation of everything I love about Wally West. But I need to be honest, if this weren't a Flash book, if it were some random character I had no attachment to, I'd probably be more harsh about the first 14 issues.

The art is consistent and professional but not spectacular. The writing improves dramatically in the back half. The historical importance is undeniable.

I'll land at 7.4/10.

You should buy this omnibus if:

• You're a Wally West fan who wants to understand the complete foundation of his Flash run
• You appreciate character transformation stories and don't mind rough starts
• You want the essential prequel to Mark Waid's legendary Flash run
• You're building a comprehensive DC post-Crisis collection
• You're curious about Pied Piper's origin as one of DC's most interesting reformed villains

You should skip if:

• You need to like the protagonist from issue #1
• You're on a budget and want guaranteed quality from page 1
• You have no attachment to Flash and are looking for a "blind buy" recommendation
• Crossover/event tie-in issues that break story momentum bother you

Wally West's journey from the arrogant kid in issue #1 to the hero who earns the right to wear the lightning bolt by issue #28 is one of the most underappreciated character arcs in DC history. Messner-Loebs didn't just write good Flash stories.. he built the emotional infrastructure that every great Flash run after him would depend on. Waid gets the spotlight, Johns gets the blockbuster action, but Messner-Loebs? He did the hard, unglamorous work of making Wally West someone worth caring about. And that matters. And I'm still waiting for that Volume 2.

Anyways thats it for this weeks two cents, next week I'll be diving into more Flash staying in the Wally West era. Where we go from here depends on how much you all want to ride the speed force with me. :)

Did the Baron era work for you as setup or was it just bad writing? And is Messner-Loebs underrated compared to Waid? Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading!

Read my other reviews here.

Hey r/DCComics!

Last time in Event Deep Dive we waded through The Janus Directive. Spy agencies at war, Amanda Waller being brilliant and a crossover that was fine when it focused on the Squad and forgettable when it didn't.

This week we're going back to Gotham.

A Lonely Place of Dying is the story of how Tim Drake became Robin. It's also one of the best Batman stories I've read so far. It's tight, emotionally resonant and remarkably consistent. Five issues. No filler. Just peak Batman. Also btw it right follows "A Death in the Family" which is an amazing read as well. Both storylines are collected in the "Batman: A Death in the Family" Deluxe Edition. Anyways.

One post a week until we catch up to the present. Grab your detective notebooks, let's dive in.

(These are my takes, and they can get pretty lengthy, so feel free to skip to the TL;DR if you just want the rundown.)

Event Deep Dive #11: Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying

What Is A Lonely Place of Dying?

Jason Todd is dead. The Joker killed him in "A Death in the Family" and Batman watched it happen.

In the aftermath, Bruce Wayne is spiraling. He's more violent, more reckless, pushing himself past breaking points. Alfred sees it. Dick Grayson sees it. But neither knows how to reach him.

Enter Tim Drake, a kid who's been watching. A kid who figured out Batman and Robin's identities by connecting the dots from a circus performance he saw as a child. A kid who believes, with absolute certainty, that Batman needs a Robin to stay human.

This is his argument. This is his origin. And it's one of the best Robin stories ever told imo.

The Story

The story alternates between Batman and New Titans, weaving Dick Grayson's perspective with Tim's investigation:

• Batman #440: A Death in the Family's Shadow. The opening issue establishes everything wrong with post-Jason Batman. He's brutal. Reckless. Alfred's voice runs through his mind: "We're not brutalizers... We've got to think with our heads, not with our fists" but Bruce isn't listening. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure is stalking both Batman and Dick Grayson, gathering information. We don't know who yet, but we know they've figured out both identities. The mystery hook is compelling even when you know the answer. Jim Aparo's art returns for this story and it's simply superior. The moments of self-reflection from Batman land because Aparo sells Bruce's internal struggle visually. This is an all-time great issue just for how it handles grief and trauma and the acknowledgment that Bruce is letting his pain blind his sense of justice.
• New Titans #60: Dick Grayson goes back to where it all began: Haly's Circus. It's a journey of self-discovery that gets interrupted when Tim Drake shows up with a proposition. The circus setting is perfect. Dick's origin lives there, and returning to it while someone asks him about Robin's future creates beautiful thematic resonance. Tim's approach is bold. He's basically telling Dick "here's how the worst thing to ever happen to you affected me" but it works because Tim's sincerity is undeniable.
• Batman #441: This is peak Batman comics. Peak. Just absolute peak. The issue is all about obsession. Tim's obsession with Batman and Robin. Batman's obsession with fighting crime regardless of cost. Two-Face's obsession with duality. Every thread connects thematically. Tim's fixation on the Flying Graysons' death and how it led him to deduce Batman's identity adds so much to Batman lore. It makes the world feel lived in. It shows Batman and Robin having an impact on regular people in Gotham. Tim isn't just a convenient plot device. He's someone whose entire worldview was shaped by witnessing heroism. The "why does Batman need Robin" question gets its definitive answer here: Bruce works best with people who remind him of his humanity. Without Robin, he becomes something else. Something worse.
• New Titans #61: Batman and Nightwing team up to stop Two-Face. It should be triumphant.. the original Dynamic Duo back in action, but there's tension. Dick isn't Robin anymore. He can't be what Bruce needs. The issue works as action and as character study. Dick and Bruce fighting together highlights how much has changed since Dick left. The partnership is different now. Nightwing is his own hero, not Batman's sidekick. That gap is exactly what Tim is positioning himself to fill.
• Batman #442: "Batman has to have a Robin." -"Where is that written in stone? There's no more need for there to be a Robin..." "Than there is for a Batman?" INJECT IT INTO MY VEINS. The perfect conclusion. With Batman and Nightwing trapped by Two-Face, there's only one person left to save the day. Tim Drake puts on the suit not because he wants glory, but because Batman needs Robin to survive. Every character is utilized perfectly. Alfred's feelings about Batman get explored. Dick's perspective on passing the mantle comes through. Bruce's resistance crumbles against Tim's simple logic: if there's no need for Robin, there's no need for Batman. Tim skirts the line between endearing rookie and Mary Sue just right. He's smart enough to figure out the identities, brave enough to act, but still clearly in over his head. The balance is perfect. This is one of, if not the most favorite Batman stories for me. The conclusion earns everything it's built toward.

What Works

• Tim Drake's origin is perfectly constructed. He's not an orphan who fell into Bruce's lap. He's a detective who figured things out and made a logical argument for why Batman needs him. That's so much more compelling than tragedy-based origins.
• Every character has purpose. Alfred expresses his fears for Bruce. Dick grapples with no longer being Robin. Bruce confronts his post-Jason trauma. Two-Face provides thematic counterpoint. Nobody is wasted.
• The grief is real. Jason Todd's death actually matters here. Bruce's spiral feels earned, not performative. The story takes "A Death in the Family" very seriously.
• The crossover structure enhances the story. Batman issues focus on Bruce's perspective, Titans issues focus on Dick's. The alternation creates natural pacing and avoids repetition.
• Jim Aparo's art is phenomenal. His return for this story elevates everything. The emotional beats land because Aparo draws them perfectly.

What Doesn't Work

• Honestly? Almost nothing. This is very nitpicky territory.
• Two-Face is functional but not exceptional. He serves the plot well and provides thematic duality, but this isn't a great Two-Face story specifically. He's a means to an end.
• You could say you find Tim's deduction a bit much. A kid figuring out Batman and Robin from a childhood memory of Dick's quadruple somersault is a lot. But I buy it. Tim's obsessive attention to detail is his whole character.

The Art

Jim Aparo delivers career-highlight work on the Batman issues. His Bruce Wayne is expressive and haunted. His action is dynamic without losing emotional clarity.

George Pérez handles the New Titans issues with his usual detail-rich style. The circus scenes are gorgeous and his Dick Grayson feels lived-in and real.

The visual consistency between titles, both artists are frickin masters of their craft, means the crossover flows smoothly. No jarring style shifts, no quality drops.

Rating and TL;DR

A Lonely Place of Dying is one of the best Batman stories of the 1980s. It takes Jason Todd's death seriously, uses it as the foundation for genuine character exploration, and introduces Tim Drake in a way that immediately justifies his existence.

Tim's argument is the story's thesis: Batman needs Robin not as a sidekick, but as a reminder of his humanity. Without someone to protect, someone to model heroism for, Bruce becomes something darker. The story proves this through Bruce's post-Jason spiral, and the proof makes Tim's arrival feel necessary rather than convenient.

Five issues. No filler. This is how you do a character introduction. This is how you do a crossover. This is how you write Batman.

If you've never read Tim Drake's origin, start here. If you've read it before, it holds up. One of my favorite Batman stories, full stop.

I'll give the story an easy 9/10.

Read First

• A Death in the Family (Batman #426-429): Jason's death, the inciting incident
• Basic familiarity with Dick Grayson/Nightwing but not really necessary

Read If...

• Tim Drake is your Robin
• You want to understand why Robin matters to Batman
• Character-driven Batman appeals to you
• You appreciate tight, focused storytelling

Skip If...

• You need high action throughout
• Tim figuring out identities bothers you
• You're not invested in Robin legacy

That's it for Event Deep Dive #11. I'd love to hear what you all think. Is this your definitive Robin origin? For me it is at least. Does Tim's detective work hold up? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Let's make this a discussion!

Next week: War of the Gods, where George Pérez orchestrates a divine clusterfudge as every pantheon on Earth goes for the throat. Also: Circe plays the long game, the entire DC Universe gets a headache and Diana tries to prevent a literal apocalypse while her own history is being rewritten. It’s the maximalist, operatic spectacle we need after the grounded grief of Gotham.

Grab your capes, happy reading, see you next week!

I you're interested in my other reviews: read them here.

Happy Thursday r/OmnibusCollectors!

This week we're diving into something I've been itching to talk about: one of DC's most underrated characters finally getting the omnibus treatment she deserves.

Paul Dini's Zatanna run is a wildly fun, character-driven romp through the magical side of the DCU that consistently punches above its weight class. The art roster is stacked, the storytelling is confident, and while it doesn't stick the landing perfectly (thanks to some creative team shakeups), the highs are high. This is a love letter to one of DC's most iconic yet underutilized characters.

Feel free to read through the whole review or simply skip to the overall score and TL;DR at the bottom. Let's go!

Zatanna by Paul Dini Omnibus by Paul Dini

Quick Stats: 720 pages, $100 MSRP, published by DC Comics. It collects Zatanna: Everyday Magic #1, Detective Comics #824, 833-834, 843-844, DC Infinite Halloween Special #1, Zatanna #1-16, Black Canary and Zatanna: Bloodspell HC, and Secrets of Sinister House #1. That's 25 issues total, a meaty chunk of Zatanna content and I loved every bit of it.

The Story

This omnibus is really two things woven together: Dini's Batman work that featured Zatanna prominently and then her solo ongoing that launched in 2010. And honestly? The Batman material is some of the best setup for a solo book I've ever seen.

The Batman Prelude (Detective Comics #824, 833-834, 843-844)

We open with "Night of the Penguin" (Detective #824), which is seemingly a Batman story but plants the seeds for everything that follows. Dini cleverly uses a poker-cheating murder mystery at the Iceberg Lounge to bring Lois Lane and Zatanna into Bruce's orbit and the issue just buzzes with charm. It's fun in a way that mainstream cape comics sometimes forget to be.

Then "Trust" (Detective #833-834) hits and the tone shifts dramatically. This is where Dini tackles the elephant in the room: the Identity Crisis mindwipe. Zatanna's former assistant is killed in a stage trick gone wrong and she turns to Batman for help. The culprit, Ivar Loxias, is revealed to be the Joker in disguise and what follows is a brutal, claustrophobic two-parter that forces Bruce and Zee to confront their fractured trust head-on.

The Ventriloquist two-parter (#843-844) rounds out the Batman material with a new Scarface story. It's solid. Peyton Riley's origin as the new Ventriloquist gets properly fleshed out, though it occasionally suffers from Dini's tendency to write Zatanna as someone whose inner monologue revolves around Bruce Wayne a bit too much imo.

The Solo Series (Zatanna #1-16)

And then the main event begins. Zatanna #1 drops us into San Francisco with a fully realized Zatanna: stage magician by night, superhero by.. also night. The premise is brilliant in its simplicity: a magical crime boss named Brother Night has taken over San Francisco's underworld and the police are powerless. Enter Zee.

The Brother Night arc (#1-3) is a tight, propulsive opening salvo. Issue #1 introduces the concept of magical gangsters running a city. Issue #2 brings in Fuseli, a nightmare imp who attacks Zee in her dreams.. creepy stuff. Issue #3 delivers a spectacular magical brawl on Devil Mountain with a gut-punch of an emotional beat between Zatanna and her father's memory.

Then Dini pivots. Issues #4-6 take Zee to Vegas for a Royal Flush Gang / demonic soul-gambling storyline and this is where the book finds its groove. Issue #6 in particular is a standout. Zatanna's cousin Zachary has to rescue her from a demon and the emotional undercurrent about Zee's loneliness manifesting as a dream wedding? That's Dini writing circles around most cape comics..

Issue #7, written by Adam Beechen, is a slight dip imo. A museum-of-magical-artifacts story that's perfectly fine but lacks Dini's spark. But then comes the Pupaphobia arc (#8-11) and oh man, this is the run's crown jewel.

Cliff Chiang takes over art duties and the book ascends, holy moly. Zatanna has an irrational fear of puppets stemming from a childhood trauma, sounds silly right? Dini makes it really fricking unsettling. Oscar Hempel, a puppeteer who tried to kill young Zee, was turned into a puppet by her father's curse. Now he's free, human again and Zee has been transformed into the puppet. Issues #8-10 are a masterclass in horror-comedy pacing.

Issue #11 wraps the arc with Jamal Igle on art. Solid, if slightly less electrifying than Chiang's work. But the resolution, with Zee learning about the moral cost of magic, adds philosophical weight.

The Back Half (Issues #12-16)

This is where things get complicated. Issue #12, written by Lilah Sturges, features an enemy who can reverse Zee's backward spells. Probably the most brilliant, funniest, smartest use of magic I've ever seen so far.

Issues #13-14 bring back Brother Night for a final confrontation, but Dini departed the book after #13. The last three issues are handled by fill-in writers (Derek Fridolfs, Adam Beechen), and while they're not bad, the Spectre courtroom trial in #15 is really fun. You can feel the narrative engine losing steam.

The Extras

Everyday Magic (#1) is a gorgeous prestige-format one-shot that predates the ongoing. Constantine and Zee's chemistry is electric. Bloodspell, the Black Canary team-up original graphic novel, is pure fun with spectacular Joe Quinones art. The Halloween Special and Secrets of Sinister House are minor anthology entries that add flavor without being essential.

The Art

This book has no business looking this good across 25 issues with this many artists.

Stéphane Roux handles the bulk of the early ongoing (#1-6, #12) and his work is clean, expressive and perfectly suited to a book about a stage magician. His Zatanna is confident and expressive, the Las Vegas sequences in particular pop with energy.

Cliff Chiang on the Pupaphobia arc (#8-10) is transformative. His style is more stylized, more European, and it brings out the horror elements in Dini's script without losing the fun. The puppet designs are genuinely unsettling and his action choreography in the nightmare sequences is top-tier.

Dustin Nguyen on the Detective Comics issues brings his signature watercolor-esque style that gives Gotham an appropriately moody atmosphere. Don Kramer on the "Trust" arc delivers gritty, grounded work that sells the Joker's menace.

Joe Quinones on Bloodspell is the secret weapon. His artwork is dynamic, expressive and captures the Dinah/Zee friendship in a way that feels lived-in and real.

The art isn't perfectly consistent, it probably can't be with this many hands on deck, but there's not a single bad-looking issue in the bunch.

Where It Stumbles

The unresolved threads. This is the big one. Dini clearly had plans for Brother Night, Mikey Dowling's arc, and the larger magical ecosystem he was building. The New 52 reboot killed the book before it could deliver on its promises. Issue #16 ends not with a conclusion but with a shrug. That hurts.

The fill-in issues. Issues #7, #14, #15, and #16 aren't written by Dini, and the difference is palpable. They're competent, but they lack the specific voice and emotional intelligence that makes Dini's work sing. Issue #14 ("Wingman") in specific is the weakest link here for me.. a standalone story jammed into the Brother Night resolution arc that kills momentum.

The Batman relationship whiplash. Dini clearly loves the Bruce/Zee dynamic, but the book can't quite decide what their relationship is. Mentor/mentee? Ex-lovers? Trusted confidants? The Detective Comics issues portray a deep, complicated friendship scarred by betrayal, while the solo series barely acknowledges it. The whiplash is jarring in an omnibus format.

The cheesecake. Look, Zatanna's costume is what it is, and Dini generally writes her with agency and intelligence. But there are moments, particularly in the Roux issues, where the camera lingers in ways that undercut the character work. It's not gratuitous by mid-2000s DC standards, but it hasn't aged perfectly either.

What Works

Dini's voice. The man wrote Batman: The Animated Series. He wrote Harley Quinn's origin. And here he brings that same character-first sensibility to Zatanna. She's funny, she's powerful, she's vulnerable, and she's specific. This isn't Generic Magic Hero.. this is Zatanna Zatara, with all her contradictions and charm intact.

The supporting cast. Mikey Dowling (Zee's stage manager), Dale Colton (cop ally) and Brother Night form a core ensemble that gives the book its backbone. Mikey's arc, revealed in issue #13 to be a trans woman, is handled with surprising grace for 2011.

The magical worldbuilding. San Francisco as a magical underworld hub, magical gangsters, nightmare imps, cursed puppeteers. Dini builds a corner of the DCU that feels distinct from Doctor Strange or Constantine's turf.

The omnibus format itself. Having the Batman prelude stories, the ongoing, Everyday Magic, and Bloodspell all in one place transforms what was a scattered reading experience into a cohesive character study. It's the definitive way to read this material.

Overall

Alright, let me think through this score.

The highs are great. Pupaphobia is an 8.5+ arc on its own for me, the Batman material is excellent, and Bloodspell is a delight. Dini's voice is pitch-perfect for the character. The art is consistently strong even across multiple hands.

But.. the unresolved ending is a real problem for a $100 omnibus. You're investing in a story that doesn't stick the landing. The fill-in issues pull the average down. And some of the relationship writing hasn't aged as well as I'd like.

I'm going back and forth. The Dini-written material is a solid 8.0-8.5. The fill-ins and the abrupt ending pull it down. The omnibus packaging and the extras (Everyday Magic, Bloodspell) pull it back up. I'll give it a very solid 8.2/10. It was a very fun read, I binged it within like 3 days.

You should buy this omnibus if:

• You're a Zatanna fan who's been waiting for definitive collection of her best solo material
• You love Paul Dini's character-first approach to DC storytelling
• You want the Detective Comics Batman/Zatanna stories in an accessible format
• You appreciate strong art variety and don't mind rotating creative teams
• You're building a DC magic shelf

You should skip if:

• You need a complete, resolved story.. this ends with loose threads due to the New 52
• Fill-in creative teams on later issues bother you
• You already own the original trades and Everyday Magic
• $100 is a stretch for an unfinished narrative

Here's what I'll say: Paul Dini understood Zatanna in a way no one before or since really has. He saw past the fishnets and the backward-talking gimmick to find a woman who performs for a living because she doesn't know how to be honest about her feelings, who's powerful enough to rewrite reality but can't fix her own loneliness, and who carries the weight of her father's legacy like a crown she never asked for. That's a character worth 720 pages.

The tragedy is that we never got to see where Dini was going with all of this. The Brother Night arc was clearly building to something bigger. Mikey's story had more to tell. The magical San Francisco ecosystem was just getting started. But what we got? It's pretty damn good.

Did the Pupaphobia arc work for you as well as it did for the community? And who else thinks Dini deserves another shot at Zee? Let me know in the comments!

Happy reading! See you next week! I'll probably start reviewing the Flash next week, what do you think?

Read my other reviews here.

Hey r/DCComics!

Last week we followed Superman through his self-imposed exile. We went through 13 issues of guilt, gladiators and the Eradicator's origin. It was intimate, consistent and surprisingly moving.

This week we're going bureaucratic.

The Janus Directive is what happens when DC's spy agencies go to war with each other. Checkmate, Suicide Squad, Captain Atom, Firestorm, Manhunter.. all convinced the others have been compromised. It's government paranoia as crossover event and it's.. fine. Mostly fine.

One post a week until we catch up to the present. Grab your clearance badges, let's dive in.

(These are my takes, and they can get pretty lengthy, so feel free to skip to the TL;DR if you just want the rundown.)

Event Deep Dive #10: The Janus Directive

What Is The Janus Directive?

Someone is manipulating America's metahuman intelligence agencies into destroying each other.

Checkmate, the Suicide Squad, Project Atom and Firestorm's handlers are all being fed false information suggesting the others have been compromised by Kobra, a terrorist organization. As paranoia spreads, these agencies stop cooperating and start shooting. It's spy thriller meets superhero crossover, with Amanda Waller caught in the middle.

The premise is clever: what if the government's metahuman assets turned on each other? The execution is.. uneven. When it focuses on Waller and the Squad, it sings. When it wanders into Firestorm or Captain Atom territory, it just drags imo.

The Structure

The event weaves through five titles but really lives in two: Suicide Squad and Checkmate. The others feel obligatory rather than essential.

The Journey

• Checkmate #15: Something is destroying America's spy agencies from within. Harry Stein's Checkmate organization is under attack and evidence points to Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad as the culprit. Except Waller's getting the same intel about Checkmate. The opening issue establishes the paranoid tone effectively. Nobody knows who to trust. Alliances that should be solid are fracturing. It's a good hook, I just wish the payoff matched it.
• Suicide Squad #27: This is where the event comes alive. Ostrander's Squad takes on the Force of July and things get dark fast. There's a moment with Dr. Light that shouldn't work as character development, it involves a child's death, but somehow Ostrander makes it land. Only in Suicide Squad can that kind of moral horror feel like growth. The Force of July are fascinating antagonists, holdovers from Reagan-era patriotic superteams who feel increasingly out of place in a morally gray world. Their clash with the Squad is ideological as much as physical.
• Checkmate #16-17: Checkmate tries to grab Waller before she can escalate. Knights are dying. Black Thorn and Valentina Vostok get their spotlight moments. It's competent spy thriller material, though it lacks the Squad's moral complexity. The Black Thorn subplot works well enough, but these issues feel like connective tissue more than destination.
• Suicide Squad #28-29: The agencies are in open conflict now. Bronze Tiger, Duchess and the Squad's heavy hitters get their moments. The action escalates appropriately, but I found myself waiting for the Waller scenes. The problem with crossovers like this for me is dilution. Ostrander's Suicide Squad is one of DC's best runs, but spreading it across five titles means less Ostrander per issue.
• Manhunter #14 / Firestorm #86: Manhunter's involvement feels obligatory.. he stumbles into the conspiracy without adding much. Firestorm's issue involves the Parasite and barely connects to the main plot. These are the issues you can skip without losing anything.
• Checkmate #18: The agencies finally unite against the real enemy: Kobra's floating fortress. It's big action, explosions, the kind of climax a spy crossover needs. Competent but not memorable.
• Suicide Squad #30: The finale returns to what works: Amanda Waller being Amanda Waller. She's the standout of the entire event. A character with depth and nuance that modern interpretations completely lack. Here, she explicitly states she never intentionally throws her people's lives away. That's not the Waller we get in recent comics and it's a reminder of what the character used to be. The resolution is satisfying enough, though there's a dropped thread about a launched nuke that never pays off. Editorial coordination issues, probably.

What Works

• Amanda Waller carries the event. When she's on page, the moral complexity clicks. She's ruthless but principled, manipulative but protective of her people. Modern Waller is just evil, 1989 Waller is interesting.
• Suicide Squad issues are consistently best. Ostrander understands what makes spy fiction work: characters you care about in impossible situations.
• The premise is clever. Government agencies manipulated into civil war is a strong hook. It feels plausible in a way superhero crossovers often don't.
• Force of July are great antagonists. Patriotic superheroes as villains-by-circumstance creates interesting moral friction.

What Doesn't Work

• The tangent issues drag it down. Firestorm and Captain Atom issues feel disconnected. You're reading about Parasite when you want to know what Waller's planning.
• The crossover structure dilutes the best material. Ostrander's Squad is A-tier comics. Spreading it across five titles means less of what works.
• Dropped plot threads. That launched nuke? Never comes back. The coordination between titles isn't tight enough.
• It's frankly a bit boring. I have to be honest.. the spy thriller pacing that works in a single title becomes repetitive across 11 issues. The paranoia premise runs out of steam before the event does.

The Art

Multiple artists across five titles means inconsistent visuals. The Suicide Squad issues benefit from the ongoing team's familiarity with the characters. Checkmate maintains a grounded spy aesthetic that suits the material.

Nothing here is bad, but nothing is memorable either. This is workmanlike crossover art.. it tells the story without elevating it.

Rating and TL;DR

The Janus Directive is a good idea that doesn't quite come together. The premise, spy agencies manipulated into civil war, deserves better than the scattered execution it gets. When it focuses on Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad, it just works. When it wanders into tangential titles, it loses momentum.

I'll give it a 7.2, it's decent but flawed. The Suicide Squad issues alone would rate higher.. the package deal brings it down for me. If you're reading Ostrander's Squad run, you need this for continuity. If you're looking for a standalone spy thriller crossover, you might find it drags.

Waller is the highlight and the tragedy. She's written here with depth and nuance that modern comics have completely abandoned. Reading this, I understand why people mourn what the character became. 1989 Waller is a person, while 2020s Waller is a plot device.

Read this as Suicide Squad supplemental material, not as a crossover event.

Read If...

• You're reading Ostrander's Suicide Squad run
• Amanda Waller is your favorite character
• Spy thriller crossovers appeal to you

Skip If...

• You need tight crossover coordination
• Five titles feels like too much
• You want consistent quality throughout

That's it for Event Deep Dive #10. I'd love to hear what you all think. Is this crossover underrated or does it deserve its obscurity? Does anyone else miss old Waller? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Let's make this a discussion!

Next week: A Lonely Place of Dying, where Marv Wolfman and Jim Aparo pick up the pieces of a shattered Dark Knight. Also: Tim Drake stalks his way into a job, Two-Face gets a logic check, and Batman finally gets the intervention he deserves. It’s the structural rebuild we need after this absolute catastrophe.

I you're interested in my other reviews: read them here.

Happy Thursday, r/OmnibusCollectors!

Last week I went through Tony Daniel's Deathstroke. A frustrating New 52 run where the art was great but young Slade felt wrong. Annual #2 was the highlight and I gave it a 6.8.

Now we already reach the finale of our Deathstroke journey and boy what a finale it is. Christopher Priest's Rebirth run is widely considered the definitive modern take on Slade Wilson. 1,392 pages. 59 issues. One complete story. Let's see if it lives up to the hype.

Feel free to read through the whole review or simply skip to the overall score and TL;DR at the bottom. Let's go!

Deathstroke by Christopher Priest

This omnibus collects Deathstroke: Rebirth #1, Deathstroke #1-50, both Annuals and the relevant crossover issues (Lazarus Contract, Terminus Agenda). It's Priest's complete run an epic that treats Slade Wilson as a literary character worth examining.

Priest doesn't just write action. He writes family dysfunction, moral ambiguity and unreliable narration. He writes a broken man who keeps making things worse for everyone around him, including himself.

What works

The Professional (#1-8). The opening arc establishes everything. Slade's relationships with his children, his complicated history, his current mission. It is so good, it's ridiculous. Priest's plotting is dense. Traps within traps, spy vs. spy maneuvering, every issue layered with reveals that recontextualize earlier moments. The Batman confrontation is earned. The Superman fight is clever. Using glow stick dye to fake Kryptonite bullets is exactly the kind of preparation that makes Slade dangerous. This is how you write a tactical genius.

Issue #11 (Chicago). A filler issue that's better than most comics' main arcs. This for me was the best issue and it will probably be the best of the entire run. Featuring the Creeper, drawn by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz. The art collaboration is stunning. The story is tight.

The Psychological Depth. What Priest is doing here feels like a Moon Knight book in terms of crazy, but I think it goes even a little deeper. We got into Slade's mind, how he is broken, why he is broken. The Arkham arc (#36-40) especially digs into Slade's fracturing psyche. We can feel the craziness. This isn't just action, but a character study disguised as a superhero comic.

The Family Dynamics. This run is fundamentally about a terrible father and his broken children. Jericho, Rose, Grant (in memory).. everyone orbits Slade's dysfunction. The Damian interactions are gold. Defiance (#21-27) is Slade's attempt at leading a heroic team. It is compelling precisely because you know it can't last. Watching him try and fail, to be better is the run's emotional core.

Where It Stumbles

Batman's characterization in #5 is weird. "Lost boys are a dime a dozen. I'll just get another one." Batman says this about Damian. He probably would not say that. It works as a foil to Deathstroke's parenting failures, but it reads as out-of-character to Batman fans. Priest pushed too hard here imo.

Too many plots at once. Priest juggles a lot. Multiple children, multiple timelines, multiple schemes.. If you lose track, the book can become frustrating. This requires attention.

Defiance didn't last long enough. I just wanted more time with that status quo before it collapsed.

The crossovers interrupt momentum. Lazarus Contract and Terminus Agenda are necessary for the story, but pulling in Teen Titans issues can feel disruptive if you're just here for Slade.

The Finale

A really strong ending, no holding back. Everything comes together. The threads pay off. The character arc completes. Priest stuck the landing. It's been a bash. And I loved it.

The Art

Rotating artists throughout, but highlights include Carlo Pagulayan, Denys Cowan and Joe Bennett. #11's Cowan/Sienkiewicz collaboration was the visual peak for me. The art serves the story throughout. Never a weak point.

Overall

It's just such a great run, my favorite comic in the last 5 years. Easily an 8.8/10.

This is the definitive modern Deathstroke. Priest treats Slade as a character worth taking seriously.. a terrible father, a skilled killer, a man who can't stop making things worse for everyone including himself. The plotting is dense and rewards attention. The character work is excellent. The finale satisfies.

It's not perfect, the Batman characterization in #5 feels a bit off, some readers will get lost in the multiple plotlines and the crossovers can feel intrusive. But when it works, it's a masterclass in long-form superhero storytelling.

If you're going to own one Deathstroke omnibus, this is the one. I'm super happy that it's gonna be reprinted this year, so please do yourself a favor and get a copy.

You should buy this run if:

• You want THE definitive modern Deathstroke
• Dense, literary superhero comics appeal to you
• Family dysfunction as narrative engine sounds compelling
• You can handle multiple plotlines and timelines
• You want 1,400 pages of quality content

You should skip if:

• You need straightforward, linear storytelling
• Crossover interruptions frustrate you
• You're a Batman purist who'll be bothered by #5
• 59 issues feels overwhelming
• You just want action without character study

That completes my Deathstroke omnibus journey! From Wolfman's 80s action movie energy through Daniel's controversial New 52 take to Priest's literary masterpiece, we've covered nearly 3000+ pages of Slade Wilson.

Is Priest the best Deathstroke run ever? Did the family drama land for you? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for following along! What character should I tackle next? I was thinking about maybe the Flash?

Happy reading!

Read my other reviews here.

Hey r/DCComics!

Last time in Event Deep Dive we survived an Invasion. Invasion! Aliens attacked Earth for our metagenes, Australia fell, yada yada yada, Grant Morrison's Animal Man tie-ins somehow became the best part of the whole event, you know the drill. The Gene Bomb changed everything.

This week we're going personal.

Superman: Exile is not a universe-ending crisis or an alien invasion. It's one man's journey through guilt, redemption and the question of what it means to be Superman when you've crossed a line you swore you'd never cross. It's also remarkably good.

One post a week until we catch up to the present. Grab your Eradicators, let's dive in.

(These are my takes, and they can get pretty lengthy, so feel free to skip to the TL;DR if you just want the rundown.)

Event Deep Dive #9: Superman: Exile

What Is Superman: Exile?

This is basically the aftermath of one of Superman's darkest moments.

In the "Supergirl Saga" that preceded Exile, Superman encountered a pocket universe where three Kryptonian criminals, namely General Zod, Quex-Ul and Zaora had murdered the entire population of Earth. With no Phantom Zone, no Kryptonite prison, no other option, Superman executed them with green Kryptonite. He killed. Phew.

Exile is what happens next. Wracked with guilt, Clark Kent develops a split personality. Gangbuster emerges at night, violently attacking criminals while Superman sleeps. When Clark realizes what he's becoming, he makes a choice: exile himself from Earth until he can trust himself again.

What follows is a 13-issue journey through deep space, gladiatorial combat, ancient Kryptonian artifacts and ultimately, a confrontation with Darkseid himself. It's Superman at his most vulnerable and I think it's excellent.

The Structure

Exile weaves through three Superman titles in the classic triangle numbering era: Superman, Adventures of Superman and Action Comics (+Annual). There are no bad issues here imo, just good ones and great ones. That consistency is rare for crossovers.

The Journey

• Superman #28: The story opens with Superman already broken. He's discovered his Gangbuster episodes, realized he can't control himself and made the devastating choice to leave Earth entirely. This isn't just a hero being exiled by others, but more like self-imposed penance. Ordway and Stern handle the emotional weight beautifully. Clark says goodbye to no one. He just leaves. Gone. The loneliness is immediate and palpable. Reading this, I understood why this storyline resonates. It's not about punching cosmic threats. It's about a man who doesn't trust himself anymore.
• Adventures of Superman #451-452: While Superman wanders space, life continues on Earth. Lois investigates Clark's disappearance. A mutilated body is found that might be Superman. The supporting cast gets room to breathe.. something the triangle-era Superman books did better than almost any modern run. These issues also introduce the Word-Bringer subplot, a cosmic serial killer that gives Superman something external to fight while processing his internal crisis. It's smart storytelling: action for readers who need it, character work for those paying attention.
• Superman #29-30: Deep space Superman is haunting. He drifts. He fights the Word-Bringer. He hallucinates. The cosmos doesn't care about his guilt. It's vast and indifferent, which somehow makes his struggle feel more real. These issues lean into the isolation without becoming boring. Ordway's art sells the emptiness of space while keeping Superman visually compelling. The pacing is deliberate but never slow.
• Adventures of Superman #453-454: Superman is captured by slavers and forced into gladiatorial combat. Enter Mongul's Warworld, a callback to classic Superman stories that grounds the cosmic journey in familiar territory. The gladiator arc is the weakest stretch for me, but "weakest" here means like 7.6+. It's still solid superhero comics. Superman fighting his way through alien arenas while wrestling with whether he deserves to survive is compelling stuff.
• Action Comics Annual #2: The Warworld arc culminates in Superman defeating Mongul and encountering the Cleric, an ancient being who possesses the Eradicator, a Kryptonian artifact that will define Superman stories for years to come. This is where Exile pivots from exile to discovery. Superman isn't just punishing himself anymore. He's learning about his heritage. The Eradicator's introduction feels organic rather than forced, which is impressive given how important it becomes.
• Superman #32-33: The Exile's emotional peak. The Cleric uses the Eradicator to send Superman on a psychic journey through his worst memories and through the Cleric's own guilt over failing to save Kryptonians centuries ago.
• Superman #33 was the best issue of the entire arc for me. It's a vision quest that finally gives Clark closure on the executions that started this journey. The parallel between Superman's guilt and the Cleric's guilt is elegant. Both men carry the weight of deaths they couldn't prevent or chose to cause. It's just beautifully illustrated, so well written amd provides closure on the moral crisis that began in Byrne's final issues.
• Adventures of Superman #455-456: The wrap-up issues basically. Superman heads back toward Earth, the Eradicator in hand. On Earth, Darkseid sends Turmoil to deal with Lois Lane, setting up the finale's stakes. They're transition issues doing.. transition work.
• Action Comics #643: George Pérez writes and draws the finale. I'm happy. Incredible art from the first page. Pérez's Superman flying through space is just iconic. The issue delivers on every level. Superman rescues Lois and Gangbuster from Turmoil, Morgan Edge's Intergang connection pays off and Clark finally returns to a world that missed him. The emotional reunion lands because we've spent 12 issues earning it.

What Works

• The premise is challenging. Superman killed. Not in self-defense, not by accident, he executed three criminals because he saw no other option. Exile takes that seriously instead of hand-waving it away. The guilt feels real because the transgression was real.
• Consistent quality throughout. You can read this start to finish without hitting a wall.
• The Eradicator introduction is earned. This artifact becomes hugely important to Superman mythology. Introducing it during a story about Kryptonian heritage makes perfect sense
• The supporting cast shines. Lois investigating Clark's disappearance, Jimmy dealing with the fallout, the Daily Planet continuing without its star reporter.. these threads make Earth feel alive while Superman is gone.
• The ending is satisfying. Clark comes home. He's not "fixed," but he's ready to be Superman again. The journey feels complete without being tidy.

What Doesn't Work

• The Warworld stretch slightly drags. The gladiator issues are the weakest part. They're fine, but the momentum dips before the Cleric/Eradicator material picks it back up.
• The pocket universe context requires homework. If you haven't read the Supergirl Saga, the executions that haunt Superman feel abstract. The story explains enough to follow, but the emotional impact is stronger with context.
• Adventures of Superman issues were consistently less enjoyable for me. There's a quality gap between the Superman Vol. 2 issues and Adventures. Not huge, but noticeable.

The Art

Three artists rotate through the triangle titles, and all deliver:

Jerry Ordway (Superman Vol. 2) provides the emotional anchor. His Clark Kent is expressive, his space vistas are lonely and his action is dynamic without losing character.

Dan Jurgens (Adventures of Superman) handles the Earth-side material and gladiator sequences. Solid superhero storytelling throughout.

George Pérez (Action Comics #643) delivers the finale with his trademark detail and energy. Having Pérez close out the arc is just a gift. His Superman homecoming is the visual payoff the story needed.

Rating and TL;DR

Superman: Exile is a character study disguised as a space opera. It takes Superman's darkest moment, executing criminals when he saw no other choice and treats it with the weight it deserves. The result is 13 issues of genuinely compelling comics.

This isn't Crisis or Invasion. There's no multiverse collapse, no alien armada. It's smaller in scope but deeper in impact. Superman wrestling with guilt, isolation, and the question of whether he deserves to wear the S is more interesting than most cosmic threats.

Confession time. I'm not a huge Superman fan. But damn, this story was really great. Read this if you want Superman treated as a character rather than a power set. Read it for the Eradicator's origin. Read it because Ordway, Jurgens and Pérez all bring their best. Just maybe read the Supergirl Saga first so the guilt has context.

The Man of Steel fell. This is how he got back up. 8.2/10.

Reading Recommendations

Essential Reading

• All 13 issues. It's just so tight, no skips needed

Read First

• Supergirl Saga (Superman #21-22, Adventures #444, Superman #23). The executions that start this. It's not necessary, but definitely helps a lot.
• Basic familiarity with post-Crisis Superman

Read If...

• You want Superman treated as a human being
• Character-driven crossovers appeal to you
• You're interested in the Eradicator's origin
• You appreciate consistent quality over 13 issues

Skip If...

• You need universe-ending stakes
• Slower character work bores you
• You haven't read the Supergirl Saga (read that first instead)

That's it for Event Deep Dive #9. I'd love to hear what you all think. Is this the best post-Crisis Superman arc? Does the execution dilemma still resonate? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Let's make this a discussion!

Next week: Janus Directive. Spy agencies go to war with each other? Sounds amazing? Let's see.

Grab your capes, see you next week!

I you're interested in my other reviews: read them here.