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Mild Mannered Reviews - DC Universe

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #2

Time Masters: Vanishing Point #2

Scheduled to arrive in stores: August 25, 2010

Cover date: October 2010

"Passageway" - Part Two

Writer: Dan Jurgens
Art: Dan Jurgens
Finished Art: Norm Rapmund
Cover: Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund

Reviewed by: James Lantz

Click to enlarge



Young Rip Hunter and his father are witnessing an event so great that villains with the knowledge and means to do so would interfere with it - maybe even work to prevent it. The ship carrying the Kryptonian infant Kal-El has landed in Smallville, Kansas. Beings of great evil would do anything to stop the baby from eventually becoming Superman by attacking him during his most vulnerable moments like this one. Rip's father, and someday Rip himself, must do everything he can to protect the time stream from such forces. Rip is now hoping to one day see Krypton as he and his father move on to their next location.

Valcan, better known as Claw the Conqueror and the swordsman from the previous issue's conclusion, believes that Rip is an evil wizard named Serhatuu. Villagers had hired Claw to kill Serhatuu after he had stolen crops, resources and women from them. Claw begins to attack Hunter. Only the timely arrival of Skeets prevents the Time Master from being killed. The flying artificial intelligence blinds Claw with intense light. Now, after Skeets sees chronal energy mixed with something unknown around the sorcerer's castle, Rip and Claw strike up a reluctant alliance. This leaves Rip to wonder where his comrades Booster Gold, Green Lantern and Superman are. He can only hope that they have found Bruce Wayne, wherever or whenever he may be.

We now go to the time stream, where the Black Beetle is discussing his plans with his partners Despero, Degaton and the Ultra-Humanite. The Black Beetle took his three allies from key points in their careers for one objective: to dominate time. To do this, they must discover who or what is powerful enough to destroy Vanishing Point. With Rip Hunter missing, Black Beetle knows exactly how he and his group of chronal conquerors can find the answers they seek.

Booster Gold is commonly known as a hero who wants to merchandise and promote his image. In reality, he is a guardian of time recruited by Rip Hunter. Should anyone, even fellow heroes, learn this, he could be in grave danger from the forces of evil. Booster Gold, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Superman have been separated from Hunter in their search for Bruce Wayne. The trio is in what appears to be a futuristic world where beastly aliens attack unarmed humans. Not being one to allow innocents to be harmed, Superman leads the group to defend the helpless. Meanwhile, Jordan believes that Booster is saving Batman for the publicity. His opinion seems to change when Booster takes a laser blast intended for the Lantern. Now, Booster Gold faces something he never thought he'd ever confront. A beautiful woman has a sword to his throat, and she demands to know what he, Green Lantern and Superman are doing in this strange land.

Claw and Rip's mission does not seem to be going well. A tentacled creature has pulled them underwater. Rip sees something that surprises him. Windows to various points in time are visible. Somehow, a natural version of Vanishing Point has been created on Claw the Conqueror's unusual world. This leads to more questions in Hunter's mind. Hopefully he will find the answers, his allies and Bruce Wayne before it's too late.

Goldstar and Supernova are in Rip Hunter's laboratory in Arizona. They are looking for clues to Rip's whereabouts when they find the following written with a bat symbol next to it:

"Darkseid - What's his goal? Is Wayne the key?"

Something big is happening, and Goldstar and Supernova may not be able to prevent it from destroying all that exists.

Booster is fighting with the woman named Starfire, an enemy of the beasts called the Mygorg. After the brief conflict, Booster tells her that he arrived with two others. Unfortunately, they are now in the clutches of a giant flying reptile controlled by a blonde woman. Booster Gold, Green Lantern and Superman are now in a complicated situation.

4Story - 4: I've been catching up on the Batman books, including The Return of Bruce Wayne, and I've started to read the trade of Final Crisis. They all seem to be required reading for this series. It would have been nice for some footnotes or a "Previously" page to help catch the audience up as the first two issues have not been very reader friendly. Other than that, it's a decent story. It just doesn't merit a five.

I get the feeling that Jurgens is deliberately pacing this series for the trade or hardcover release. As a whole, numbers one and two work well if you read them together. Separately, they only seem like pieces instead of an entire chapter. The second part isn't as off kilter as the first, but it does move slower than other Jurgens stories. Still the pace has increased a little, and I'm curious about what will happen next month.

4Art - 4: The first issue's art looks rushed to meet the deadline and didn't impress me. This time around, there are some flaws here and there. However, it still retains the Jurgens magic fans expect.

3Cover Art - 3: Is Claw a Conan knockoff? His pose seems copied from numerous covers featuring Robert E. Howard's character. The image is decent, but it's nothing I haven't seen before in my Conan collection.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2010

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

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