Aftermath Bludhaven #1

Probably not good form to write up a review based on only a chunk of the first issue, but I was wondering earlier which of the cities dismantled by Infinite Crisis was going to serve as the New Orleans analogue. Looks like both Star City and Bludhaven are getting the "walled-in, quarantined city," though Bludhaven is marginally closer, as it's being (mis-)managed by the federal government. More troubling is the decision to bring back the Force of July (now given the equally horrible title of Freedom's Ring).

I'm not sure what the fascination with the horrible Barr-created villains of the 80's is. Maybe it's just coinicidence that I encounter the Duke of Oil and the Force of July in the same week, but shouldn't both have been stricken from continuity by now? What's worse is the introduction of a new character using the name Firebrand, who introduces himself with the following bit of exposition:

"The bomb changed all of us emotionally, but it changed me in other ways. I've been given this flame for a reason. I have to illuminate the truth. I am a firebrand."

Needless to say, he is creating a little fire in his hand while he says this. Now, I know Firebrand's a fairly long-running DC character (and, previously, a Quality character), it's just more than a little heavy-handed to introduce the character like this.

Incidentally, we also seem to meet the new Human Bomb (introduced with "As a result of the blast, he's become some sort of human bomb." - I suppose I should be thankful they didn't bold "human bomb"), so I'm assuming this is all going to be some kind of tie-in to the Palmiotti/Grey Freedom Fighters miniseries, but the dialogue is really very ham-fisted. I actually felt a little embarassed to be reading this. By the time the Nuclear Legion showed up ("We're the Nuclear Legion, and you're about to become little piles of ash") for a completely pointless fight with the Force of July, I was just about done with this comic.