Access Back in Action! The Unlimited Access 1 Review!

Pat Oliffe's cover is very cool! Access is the keeper of the Amalgam Universe. "Inside" Access, too, is the gateway between the DC and Marvel Universes as well! The cover shows that within Access is The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Wonder Woman and The Juggernaut!

The unique and fresh spin for Unlimited Access, is not just space. The two universes, Marvel and DC coming together and teaming up against mutual foes, but bouncing around - or, quantum leaping - through different time periods of each universe! What starts in the present, with Spider-Man and Wonder Woman facing Mantis and The Juggernaut, bounces to Coast City four years after Barry Allen died and Hal Jordan facing The Hulk! Next, Access encounters Jonah Hex and Two-Gun Kid! After sending Jonah Hex off into the future to end up as Hex, possibly, Access ends up with The Legion of Super-Heroes facing The Sentinels!

Karl Kesel, Pat Olliffe and Al Williamson make an enjoyable team for an enjoyable story. The time travel element keeps things fresh!

Bouncing around significant time periods in each universe is a brilliant idea. Okay, maybe not so much original, as Access is now following a somewhat typical story trope. Kesel, Olliffe and Williamson manage to keep things interesting. It's nice that they manage to bounce Axel's relationship troubles off Peter and MJ. There's another laugh when MJ calls out Spider-Man flirting with Wonder Woman.

It's a fun, exciting, thrilling story. "No Time Like the Present" Unlimited Access earns five stars.   
 

Beware The Power of the Darkest Night! JLA: Age of Wonder 2 Review!

Years pass in "The Age of Wonder". Ambition grows. Barry Allen and Ted Knight, now joined by Ray Palmer as The Atom and the enigmatic Plastic Man investigate the explosion at a munitions warehouse that killed Oliver Queen, The Green Arrow. Diana, Princess of the Amazons of Themyscira, was seen escaping the blast. Urban legend The Batman advises that the League should have paid closer attention to an eyewitness. He tells them to find the woman.

As Bruce Wayne, he does. Lex Luthor now is President Wilson's secretary of defense. Diana, an emissary from a Paradise Island, is also Luthor's protege. Luthor is manipulating world events toward world war! Hal Jordan advises the British Army against the Kaiser's forces. He discovers Luthor's treason. In attempting to stop Luthor and Diana, Hal is murdered. 

What comes next is the unimaginable. The Kaiser unleashes an atomic bomb on London, leaving more than 200,000 dead, the city in ruins and uninhabitable.

The one hope is the dying General Jordan send his ring to find Clark Kent. The Super Man returns and unites the League to crush the Prussians. Batman and Diana defeat Luthor. As Luthor is executed for treason, Clark Kent forms the Justice League of Nations.

Adisakdi Tantimedh's story is truly the darkest before the dawn. Luthor's naked ambition to leave a mark and be remembered as greater than The Super Man brings a hellish world tomorrow. P. Craig Russell, Galen Showman and Dave McCaig ignite the explosive fury of Luthor's devilish machinations. It is tragic that Hal and Diana are casualties of Luthor's madness. The hope is that a brighter day rises like a phoenix from the ashes.

JLA: Age of Wonder 2 earns five stars
 

The Man of Tomorrow Can't Catch a Break! "JLA: The Age of Wonder" 1 Review

Jonathan and Martha Wayne are in Philadelphia for the 1876 Exposition. Lois Lane is there, interviewing one of Thomas Edison's top men, Lex Luthor. "The Age of Wonder" opens with Clark Kent making his debut as "The Super Man" at the Exhibition. He selflessly and generously offers his services to Edison. While most men work toward advancement for financial gain. Kent is a humanitarian and philanthropist. Persuaded by Lex Luthor, Kent, Nikola Tesla, Barry Allen and Ted Knight decide to branch off from Edison. Knight develops a power rod, becoming The Starman. Following a freak accident, Barry Allen becomes The Human Flash. With Luthor and Thomas Wayne funding, they become The Justice League of Science. When an alien wielding a Green Lantern power ring arrives on Earth and dies, Hal Jordan joins the group as The Green Lantern. 

Kent maintains his firm stance as a generous humanitarian, even when the public's greed turns noble efforts to failure. Luthor tires to make his mark with unique and singular discoveries, which bring him into direct conflict with Kent. 

Luthor manipulates Jordan to an extreme effort against The Man of Tomorrow.

Adisakdi Tantimedh's story is quite riveting, an ideal Elseworlds "What if..." tale. Unfortunately, the utopian future crumbles under human nature, ambition, avarice and greed. 

P. Craig Russell, Galen Showman and Dave McCaig capture the Industrial Revolution quite vividly and enjoyably. Bob Lappan's lettering enhances the period piece.

JLA: Age of Wonder 1 earns five stars.