COMIC REVIEW: Time Masters: Vanishing Point #2

The search for Batman continues in the entertaining, albeit contrived, Time Masters series from DC. The second installment in the six-issue saga finds Hunter battling Claw after our hero became lost in the time stream.

Claw thinks this time-traveling weirdo is a wizard of some sorts, while Hunter tries explaining to him that he’s really just a good guy. It’s an action-packed sequence that is first introduced with a two-page memory of Hunter growing up and visiting Superman’s first introduction to Planet Earth.

After Hunter wins over Claw, which we all knew was inevitable, we find that Booster Gold, Green Lantern and Superman are up to their necks in their own alternative universe. Their enemies are gargoyle-like aliens that fly around in ships and shoot guns that look like they came out of Star Trek. The bad guys are called Mygorgs, which seems entirely appropriate.

I do love the humor that Booster provides the series; he’s one of the more well-written superheroes from the DC Universe. His interactions with the Green Lantern are precious, mostly because the two characters have so many similar traits. I could see these two painting the town red in their college days.

Oddly, Superman feels like the odd man out in this second issue. He doesn’t have much to say or do; all he does is survive, as usual.

The fighting eventually ends when Booster stumbles upon the luscious Starfire in her carefully cut lizard-like bikini. Booster being Booster begins to put on the smooth moves, but the woman doesn’t want to hear it.

After Claw and Hunter become BFFs, they battle an awesome giant squid that latches onto their bodies and tries to drown them. Right when their lungs are about to explode, they surface in a mysterious place with a natural version of the vanishing point. This puddle television may hold some clues in the search for Batman.

Time Masters: Vanishing Point, which was released in fall 2010, is proving to be an effective series that sticks to well-drawn action sequences and doesn’t weigh down the plot in too much exposition. If Superman is given a little more to do, and we learn more about Batman’s whereabouts, the six issues will truly be a cut above the rest.

Until next time…