Supergirl/Wonder Girl 1: The one with the set-up.

I blame Professor Zoom.

Or Reverse-Flash, or whatever his name is. Even though I've read a few Flash stories with different versions of him, he's not a character for whom I had any affection. (Why aren't we supposed to put prepositions at the ends of sentences again?) And his figure wasn't amazing, just the standard first-wave DC Infinite Heroes. But he was a buck, so...

How Supergirl and Wonder Girl ended up dragged into this, I'm still not sure. While I'm enjoying the adorable Supergirl strip in Wednesday's Comics, I could not tell you the last time I read a mainstream DC Universe story with her or Wonder Girl. But as I thought about it...I thought they were in an interesting place in the DCU: they were junior members, but not really sidekicks; and even though they were younger they were more than powerful enough to take care of most situations. And as teenaged girls, I figured they would be a bit more brutally honest in their gossip and commentary.

I got their figures in a three-pack, with Superman, for five bucks. They are terrible. The price was the only saving grace. Wonder Girl's logo isn't blurry, that's what it looks like on the toy. Is it supposed to be an abstract gold shape? The girls don't even get the elbow joint other DCIH figures do, so their body language is limited. And even for their scale, the sculpts don't pop. And I'm totally blaming the girls for my failings in photography: they reflect light like no one's business.

And even with all that, I got ten pages of snark about the current DC Universe out of it. The Gotham City Police Department would be like a turtle on its back if faced by a villain like Zoom. (Not that Central City's PD fares any better, true.) After Superboy (Connor) (EDIT: Oops, Conner. Damn.) died in Infinite Crisis, the grieving Cassie went on to join a cult and build an altar for him in 52. Just as weird: then-Robin Tim was trying to clone his best friend in Teen Titans, and Cassie and Tim had an awkward attraction that they couldn't work out.

Connoer would return in Legion of Three Worlds, but now of course Batman's believed dead. Tim isn't buying it, and is currently wearing the Red Robin outfit, since Dick moved Batman's son Damien into the Robin position. Officially, the rationale is that Dick believes Tim can handle himself, while Damien needs watching over; but storywise I'd say Damien brings more tension to the table: Tim's a good soldier, while Damien is a loose cannon, by which I mean borderline sociopath.

While we all know Bruce Wayne is coming back, in-story everyone is being portrayed as if they firmly believe he's dead, except for Tim. Tim is thus supposed to seem unhinged by grief, wild; but we know he's right, even if he's wrong. As Red Robin, he's going to be chasing red herrings until Bruce comes back in a completely unrelated event. I don't think Bruce will be back in the Black Lantern storylines, and while it would be nice if Tim pieced together the clues and was the one to bring his adopted dad back, I don't think that's going to happen.

Wow, I am surprisingly up on my DC continuity, for someone who spends more on DC toys than I do on DC comics...next strip Wednesday!