We're into the second month of DC's 'The New 52.' Most of the characters have been revealed and we've had a good idea who has had tweaks to their pasts and who has remained the same. While we still have many questions as to how things played out 'in the beginning,' Justice League is serving to pave the way as to who the world's greatest heroes got together to form the team. We've seen some changes as a result of the first issue and we're still getting some more in the second.

The second issue was a blast from a fanboy's perspective. You have to hand it to Geoff Johns and Jim Lee to giving us some action packed bickering between the future team members. There will be some spoilers for issue #2 below but you owe it to yourself to read the issue for yourself to see everything that happens. You can also check out our review for the issue here.

There was a Flash Task Force

We've heard of a 'Batman Task Force' before. Batman was immediately accepted by the police force and we've seen stories of the mayor ordering a team dedicated to putting a stop to his vigilante ways. When Barry Allen became the Flash, he didn't have those problems. It could've been because he didn't operate in the shadows and was a little more open with the public. He was accepted as a hero. Due to an incident in trying to capture a certain villain, some destruction resulted and Central City wasn't too crazy about him.

This is also the first time we're seeing a 'younger' Barry Allen. If last month's Flash #1, Flash appears to be considered more of a hero. We also find out Barry and Hal are sort of friends at this point.

Superman's strength is stronger than Hal's willpower

We all know that Superman is stronger than just about anyone. We have seen Green Lantern constructs shattered before but usually it's by other power rings. Hal is said to have one of the strongest will around. The fact that he's so surprised here that Superman is able to shatter them shows that either he's stronger that before or this is just the first time Hal faced someone at this strength level. Then again, maybe his focus slipped a little during all the chaos.

Flash is faster than Superman...maybe

There's always been the debate, who's faster, Flash or Superman? Over the years, when we had the Superman/Flash races, it seemed the winner always flipped back and forth. When the two tangle here, it's almost embarrassing for Superman. But, Superman does manage to get the upper hand eventually. It appears that Flash is faster and Superman either proved that wrong or was able to anticipate his next move. Superman should have a super-brain after all so I took it as he actually used it to deal with Flash. The look in his eyes are pretty convincing that this was the case.

There's no Fortress of Solitude?

Poor Superman. It's been spoiled what happened to his parents in the back of Action Comics #2 and in Superman #1 we saw that Lois has a boyfriend and isn't interested in Clark. We see that he uses an abandoned printing press so what does this mean for the Fortress of Solitude? It would't really make sense for everyone to take a trip there just to have a chat but he specifically says he doesn't have a base of operations. It's possible, since this is taking place a few years ago, he might still go about acquiring the Fortress. For now, he's stuck entertaining at a place that isn't too fancy.

Cyborg's 'accident' is because of Darkseid

Originally Victor's parents were messing around experimenting at STAR Labs and an accident caused Victor's body to get damaged. Victor's dad then tries to rebuild it and Cyborg is born. Because they were examining a Mother Box. As you can imagine, something happens and Victor happens to get caught in the blast. Another thing that could have a big affect on Cyborg is the blast of energy he's hit with. Could we be seeing a new set of powers when we officially see Cyborg in 'The New 52'? What's going to happen when Darkseid finally shows up? We'll have to wait for the next issue.

I always wondered who was faster: Flash or Superman. Looks like this new issue will finally answer that question for me lol. Goodbye Fortress of Solitude, hello Printing Press of Embarrassment

@frozenedge:yeah

Flash > Superman! Oh yeah! Superman's strength > Hal's will! Double Oh yeah!

I'm still not sure whether or not I like this new, cockier Superman. It's jarring, but in a way it almost makes him more human. Being human doesn't necessarily mean being a super powered boyscout; people somehow always associate Clark's humanity with his morals. Being human is being flawed. If any of us got Supes' powers this instant, yeah we'd become huge jerks. Being the biggest guy on the block does that.

Keep in mind, of course, we haven't really seen much of modern Superman yet. We've seen action comics, where he's a spritely, developing, loose cannon of late teen/early 20's man, and this, which takes place five years in the past with a still cocky, short tempered superman with a cool suit. There's a good chance that in the five years that pass between this and present day, exposure to the public and the influence of his fellow Leaguers (possibly sans Batman, since I can't see Batman influencing anyone to be more docile.), develop Clark into a more grounded individual than he is here.

I always thought Flash was unquestionably faster than Supes - especially when the whole Speedforce thing became more prevalent. Hal seriously needs to whip out that Kryptonite-planet-construct for old times' sake, show the big bad bully who's the boss ( I know one can only wish =] ).

I glad this book showed just how powerful Flash's punches are. One punch threw Superman pretty damn far and threw a brick wall.

@ssejllenrad said:

Flash > Superman! Oh yeah! Superman's strength > Hal's will! Double Oh yeah!

agreed flash is faster but this is five years in the past,so in the present if flash hasn't fully exploited his speed force yet he's still faster but won't be able to embarass supes(cuz supes wldv absorbed alot more sun in that time) like that, even if supes did show him whos boss in the end(as a superman fan,i LOVED that part :D thx geoff!!) oh n totally Superman's strength > Hal's will! even when hes not at full power lol,he musta been srsly angry.

@goldenkey said:

I glad this book showed just how powerful Flash's punches are. One punch threw Superman pretty damn far and threw a brick wall.

flash wouldv shattered his hand if he actually punched supes,he just pushed him at like 2000 miles an hour and inertia did the rest,simple physics......but the super flick totally overshadowed that push.

Also the heroes, when first banded together, were more like rebels. Not god-like heroic heroes.

Hal is still a D-bag

@UltimateSMfan: I always preferred Superman to be slower than Flash. Yeah Supes is my man but he shouldn't be the top dog in the speed division. He should be fast and not a pushover but that must be Flash's specialty. The way I see it, Speedforce should always be above Supes. Though I would have liked it better if that was Wally... Nyehehe! But still no biggie.

And I'm loving how Supes just shows he's the alpha male. This is what Supes should be.

Red eyes Supes is pretty rad.

I loved this issue and I loved the art I am hoping jim lee stays on this book for a while. Favorite part was when supes grabs bat and slams him into the brick wall and bats trying to explain lol

The one thing I liked more about this issue than anything..........no kryptonite in Batman's belt or simulating the radiation from Green Lantern's ring. At this point it doesn't appear that anyone knows about kryptonite (if it even exists in the new 52) and that makes this an interesting battle as there is no trick the two of them can use to stop Superman. The fact that Batman is trying to cool Superman and GL down and have everyone talk was also great as he's generally the one intimidating or threatening but I think Johns is correct in depicting him out of his element in a battle between these two and the best thing would be to calm the situation. However I didn't like how dumb Johns made Flash by having him reveal pieces of his secret identity (though Hal's line was on par with his character) and thought he should have said something more along the lines of "What, you don't like cops?" in response to Batman's observation of his mannerism.

I still think in the end that Flash is the faster of the two if they were going to run full out or Flash runs and Superman flies. Flash is the fastest man alive but consider the fact that he can't move at top speed in a battle. Its only when he actually has the room to run that he can achieve maximum velocity. So in this issue he's slower by nature of the fact he's simply moving around Superman and so is moving at a speed that Superman can almost match if not watch and react to. Remember Superman's eyes and reflexes are near on par with the Flash, he's just can't make the same top speed, so being able to follow the Flash's movements he could predict where he would end up at. But Flash is still faster.

Funny nobody mentioned the initial blow Flash dealt Superman. Was it amplified strength by way of the speed force or just the fact that he was moving so fast? The blow didn't seem to actually hurt Superman (whereas GL's ball and chain construct drew blood) but its definitely not a use of his powers we see very often from a Flash (though Wally did use velocity enhanced strength more).

I think Superman was always stronger than Green Lantern, and slower than the Flash

didn't the flash rebirth outright state that barry is faster than clark?

@ssejllenrad said:

@UltimateSMfan: I always preferred Superman to be slower than Flash. Yeah Supes is my man but he shouldn't be the top dog in the speed division. He should be fast and not a pushover but that must be Flash's specialty. The way I see it, Speedforce should always be above Supes. Though I would have liked it better if that was Wally... Nyehehe! But still no biggie.

And I'm loving how Supes just shows he's the alpha male. This is what Supes should be.

While i do prefer Flash being faster, that was probably a poor example. I mean it's obvious that Superman isn't focused and is rushing everything too fast. I mean he's trying to capture Flash with 2 hands, when normally he'd only one.

I think, overall, DC has gone too far over the Douche Bag Line. Hal and Superman have jumped the shark.

I guess they ( being DC ) think it's "edgy" ... but alas they are wrong. They went full retar ... er .... Douche Bag.

Looks more to me like Hall's lost concentration or "will", if you will, while fighting Kal-El. Something that happens a lot to GL outside their own books it seems :P

And I always considered the Flash fastest...when he's portrayed in his own title too :P

Always thought it was a pretty silly moniker to put on the GL-rings; "The most powerful weapon in the universe" when GL's are generally massacred in short order whenever something slightly different pops up, so Superman busting loose from Hal's constructs gets a thumbs up from me.
 
And woosaa for Cyborg being a product of Apokaliptian tech (cant see any other way he'd be back on his feet in time for all of this to resolve...unless we skip a few months suddenly).

Justice League 1 & 2 have been so very enjoyable because of the interaction between the heroes. I like them feeling each other out and their personalities coming out, even if they kinda come off in a WWE kinda of way. For whatever its worth, my wife is picking up comics for the first time and loving the new Justice League, I think she would be happy with just a Batman Green Lantern spinoff show where they just bicker back and forth.

really loved both the issues..especially superman's new attitude..i love bad boys... cant wait fr issue 3 and finally some GIRL POWER.. :P

If a green power ring is supposed to be one of the most formidable weapons in the universe and Hal has the strongest will, I don't think Superman should have been able to best the contructs. By that logic anyone one with his strength level i.e. all the universe threatening enemies that Green Lanterns fight against would be able to. Silly. Flash being faster than Supes is great though.

Nice to see the "boys" getting together.
As a kid, I always thought that the Flash/Superman races were more "tongue and cheek" than comic book reality.  And, they got more silly as time went on. Flash is the fastest man alive... if Superman were faster... why would he fly everywhere?  Or not dis-arm bank-robbers before they could blink? Or maybe he just likes the feel of bullets bouncing off his chest. (I'm sure that this could become additive over time.) I noticed that nobody challenges Superman to an arm wrestling contest!
Thing vs Hulk   Hulk vs Thor   Wolverine vs Hulk  
Great comic book covers that sold comic books.
Thing loses, Thor wins, and Wolverine gets SMASHED!
Nice to see Superman has grown a set of walnuts this time around... and can be taunted by a fellow hero or two.  (Stop crying GL.)
Only a Super Man can break thru a Green Lanterns' construct... but, how often do they fight someone as powerful as Kal-El?
So Batman ain't afraid of the powerful alien, and I wonder if he will hang around with these "losers" for very long.
Only Captain America knows for sure.
(Where's the Amazon and Atlantian?)

I think, overall, DC has gone too far over the Douche Bag Line. Hal and Superman have jumped the shark.

I guess they ( being DC ) think it's "edgy" ... but alas they are wrong. They went full retar ... er .... Douche Bag.

That's actually quite surprising to see that Supes can destroy Hal's willpower constructs so easily and really shows how his powers have developed between his "earlier" days in Action to how he is in the Superman title. As for the speed factor against Barry I was really expecting that and knew that if Clark realized he couldn't catch the Fastest Man Alive, the best chance he would have had yet was to try and figure out what his next steps would be. It would seem to me that maybe Clark is still finding all the pieces for the Fortress of Solitude and hopefully, HOPEFULLY it will be constructed immediately. Victor's origins as a result of a deadly mother box attack from Darkseid is inventive, to say the least. A Flash Task Force seems a novel idea! You really gotta enjoy the changes and storyline that the JL book is bringing to the table thus far. All of this seems to be the great buildup to the gathering of the team, as if this storyline that is being written is a "before I met you" kind of inspiration.

is not the first superman has been breaking threw constructs he did it before the only problem i had with this is that the way he caught flash won't spoil it all in a great comic man i am looking for darkseid so bad

i wanna see how they're gonna tie Aquaman in to this

Another change: they can't shut up about The Flash's secret identity!

@buttersdaman000 said:

@Iridium said:

I think, overall, DC has gone too far over the Douche Bag Line. Hal and Superman have jumped the shark.

I guess they ( being DC ) think it's "edgy" ... but alas they are wrong. They went full retar ... er .... Douche Bag.

Hals always been a douche......and Superman is fine.

I would agree, to a point. I think the post Green Lantern:Rebirth, Geoff John's Hal Jordan has always been a douche. Sure that has been like the last 6 years, but for a character who started in the 50's that is still a relatively short period of time to be a DB, all things considered.

And for me, personally, I think they are overboard with Superman's arrogance ( for lack of a better word ) but it is still early in this new universe and the jury is still out as to if / when he will mature. As an earlier article here asked the question ... is Superman being a jerk the result of not having Ma and Pa Kent around? M'eh, sounds as reasonable as anything ...

he should be faster

would be stupid to have him on the team if superman's faster

I think the Flash should always be faster than Superman considering that is his super power. When Superman is faster than the Flash I think it belittles the Flashes power and it lessens his luster.

Wow! Really Big Changes! I was asking myself who was faster...Now I got my answer...Thanks Geoff!

About the Willpower, I'ts hard to belive...

I feel bad because Supey doesn't have a fortress of solitude...Snif, Snif...

Amzing art from Jim Lee!

Flash is faster than Superman, but Superman is still fast enough to remain in Flash's class. Just relate this to sports where one player is clearly faster than the another yet they are both able to compete. Constructs are far from indestructable and they are often destroyed in the GL titles. Not sure why everyone seems so surprised.

I never buy comics (expect for Invincible trade paperbacks)... ...but I love what they are doing with these characters...especially Superman... ...I may have to actually start getting these.

Nice! I can imagine Superman looking like such an idiot in those three panels you have against Flash.

In Flash: Rebirth Barry outpaced Clark easily. Clark even mentions that they had raced a couple of times and a couple of those time he'd won. Barry responds with "those races where for charity, Clark" and leaves him in the dust. It might be that Barry doesn't know just how fast he is at this point, but I'd kind of always assumed that he was much faster than Clark, especially given his connection to the speed force, something Clark doesn't share.

Flash has always been faster than Superman. Both Wally and Barry. As for Hal, meh, maybe his will isn't as strong as it currently is. Or just that he wasn't focused

I'd like it if Flash was faster than Supes.

We found out who was faster in Flash Rebirth, unless sups can run into the speed force, he's not faster then Flash. But 52 could put a spin on things

Flash is faster than Superman, but Superman is still fast enough to remain in Flash's class. Just relate this to sports where one player is clearly faster than the another yet they are both able to compete. Constructs are far from indestructable and they are often destroyed in the GL titles. Not sure why everyone seems so surprised.

Hal is drifting more and more towards the ryan renolds dark side...calling batman a pain in the ass? Hals always been cocky but hes like a high school popular kid in some teen movie right now

As for supes, I like that hes finally getting to flex his muscle alil. In the former comics he always held back or they found stupid reasons why EVERYONE in the Justice league could take him down if they really wanted to. Now in the first 2 issues, hes pretty much made them all look kind of lower level compared to him. I'm sure it will balance out eventually but him eventually timing the flashes movements (although hes shown to be able to sync his speed to flashes in the past) and flicking him through a building, walking through all of batmans gadgets and putting him through a wall, and sadly making hall look like guy gardner are all cool feats that really set the tone right out the gate.

The young Flash has also beaten Clark in Smallville.

@GLforHIRE said:

Hals always been cocky but hes like a high school popular kid in some teen movie right now

by that you mean he is 25-30 years old but were supposed to believe he's 16?

Are they making Superman's in the past more aggressive and angry so that Superman in the future will appeal to more readers? Before, Superman's past, was him being sort of bland going in (aggressively) saving the day and going back to the Daily Planet as Clark Kent and winking at the reader. But if his origins give him more character, more emotion and motivation, maybe that would make him in current comics (if he returns to being more fatherly and subdued) more interesting because you know he has a past and was really angry and aggressive and maybe gives his current boy scout self more depth because he isn't just a boy scout and wasn't one earlier. Could that be the reason he is more angry and agitated now? So angry he attacks first and asks questions later.

@Iridium said:

I think, overall, DC has gone too far over the Douche Bag Line. Hal and Superman have jumped the shark.

I guess they ( being DC ) think it's "edgy" ... but alas they are wrong. They went full retar ... er .... Douche Bag.

Yeah I think this is where I'm at with Supes. 'Edgy' doesn't have to mean being a D-Bag. which is what DC seems to think atm.

i didn't appreciate the power levels being "defined" only to have myself second guessing because of circumstances...

My only complaint about this issues Barry is Flash. I want Wally back. Wally has always been a more interesting character than Barry imo. other than a great action packed story and I cant wait for wonder-woman introduction in the next issue.

Wow Green Lantern is a d%ck in that image.

rebooted superman...disappointing

flash needs to be faster than superman. otherwise, the flash is obsolete and not needed. you cant have superman be the best at everything.