DC's NEW 52: issue#7, Part 2

NIGHTWING #7: The final battle between Raymond and Nightwing, amidst a flaming circus. It seems that Mr. Haly was tied in to the whole The Court of Owls thing and the Haly family used the circus to deliver Talons when needed(that explains Dick’s name in the secret book he discovered). When Dick’s parents were murdered and Dick left the circus, Haly had to find a new Talon and thus Raymond got the call whether he wanted it or not.  Maya ends up saving the day by opening the barred doors and allowing the captives to escape. Raymond prevents Dick from saving hi and apparently perishes in the flaming abyss. Back at the Batcave, Robin discovers the Talon floating around as of late is actually his Great Grandfather. This revelation will lead directly into Dick’s involvement in the Court of Owls mega-crossover.

What an awesome and totally unexpected conclusion to this initial story arc. So Dick Grayson was supposed to be a Talon? Wow! I definitely did not see that coming. This title has done so much to keep me interested and that is totally because of the trio of Kyle Higgins, Eddy Barrows and Geraldo Borges. Not that there hasn’t been uneven issues. But the fact that we’ve taken the Boy Wonder from being the defender of  Bludhaven to the Man who got to wear the cowl to end up as Nightwing once more. Higgins has managed to redefine Dick Grayson and, for the most part, is succeeding. Now it’s on to the Court of Owls.

O.M.A.C #7: The issue begins with a major battle between O.M.A.C. and Superman which ends with Brother Eye changing his ultimate weapon back to save him. Kevin ends up in a zoo with a group of talking animals. They end up going to The Evil factory where we meet the warden, who is actually Simyan: a talking monkey. After issuing “Attack Command D”, Tuffy the tiger’s father arrives, mutated and ready to fight. O.M.A.C. eventually joins the fray but it’s Tuffy who is responsible for killing his father. Simyan escapes and O.M.A.C.  arranges for the Evil Factory to be destroyed. So Tuffy, now known as Prince Tuftan, leaves to seek his brother, Prince Talken.

As a big fan of classic Jack Kirby DC titles, this issue made me smile from ear to ear and made me realize that I am still completely pissed off at the canceling of this title. For those who don’t get it, the 1972 Kirby tale KAMANDI THE LAST BOY ON EARTH ties in to ancient O.M.A.C. history in a big way. Kamandi is the last survivor of the "Command D" bunker near what was once New York City. He was raised by his grandfather, who may or may not have been the ORIGINAL O.M.A.C. When he eventually left the bunker he met animals that had gained speech because of a drug Cortexin. Among those animals was Great Caesar, leader of the Tiger Empire, and his son, Tuftan.

Dan Didio and Keith Giffen so pay tribute to the Kirby legacy that it is scary. I can only hope that Jack is smoking a cigar in the afterlife and smiling. I don’t know how much of a proper resolution we can get in one final issue but all I could ask for is that we get Ben Boxer, Steve, Renzi, and Dr. Canus. PLEASE!

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #7:  The issue begins with Red Hood delivering Crux to his new permanent home(like all super villains, he’ll get free some day). The trio end up flying off in Crux’ spaceship and Red Hood gets a visit from Essence, who no one else sees. Eventually, she does appear and we get the secret history of The Untitled. And that’s when we learn that Essence is Ducra’s daughter. Red Hood dispatches her to somewhere unknown and a very upset Suzie Su lies in a hospital bed and plots revenge.

Nice to see an issue that kind of goes back to the regular story. Overall, it’s an okay issue. I was excited to get the back story on Essence and the Untitled but it could have used a bit more action. I’m dying to see what happens when Suzie Su gets out of bed. But I guess we’ll have to wait until next issue to see what Lobdell and Rocafort have in store.

RED LANTERN #7:  Bleez takes matters into her own hands and leads an attack on the denizens in Sector 666. Meanwhile, Rankorr struggles to maintain some of his humanity while battling with Guy Gardner. And Atrocitus continues to search for Krona but ends up in a battle with Abysmus that apparently kills him.

No more long-winded spiels from me. Just buy the damned book already!

RESURRECTION MAN #7: Mitch Shelley finds himself in the middle of a police attack on a Meth Lab run by a guy named Mr. Untouchable. Shelley jumps into the find and finds that the bad guy is untouchable because he’s wearing a suit similar to one Shelley remembers wearing. Of course his momentary lapse of concentration costs him his life and he has to resurrect again. New life, new powers and he saves a burning building. Now he needs to find a way to totally recall his past life, for better or worse.

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are such my heroes. They have always been behind this character from his humble origins and now they tempt us with what may soon be his humble origins. Not to mention we have a cameo from Jimmy Olsen which just helps to tie him into the continuity of the NEW 52. Great book and I can’t wait to see where the next issue takes us.

STORMWATCH #7: Aliens come to Earth to mine our gravity and start in the former Soviet Union. Apollo ends up in a bad way at Chernobyl and Jack Hawksmoor visits the city-spirit, who appears in the form of a terminal cancer patient(and he’s taken care of by the spirits of Hiroshima and Nagasaki-VERY HEAVY!!!). And, above all of this, Jenny still wants a puppy.

With the departure of Paul Cornell, Paul Jenkins takes over for the next two issues until Pete Milligan gets on board. With him is Ignacio Calero. It’s a fun issue that does a nice job of adding a bit more color to the characters. My favorite line is when Midnighter tells Apollo to be careful (as he is going down the the surface). His response: "If I wanted to be careful, I would've worked on a bookstore."

SUICIDE SQUAD #7:  While the Suicide Squad does their best to capture her, we get the true NEW 52 origin of Harley Quinn. Harleen Quinzel develops a crush on the Joker and is reprimanded by her boss, who is also stealing her notes for a new book she is writing. She breaks Joker out and he repays her by dumping her into the chemical vat that made him, thus making her. The team is having their problems, especially when Lime threatens to spill the beans and Waller blows her head off with the Nano Bomb in her head. Deadshot gets captured by Harley and she puts the skinned face of her boy Mr. J. on him and they talk…and they kiss…and he shoots her, apparently dead!

And the wild ride that began last issue continues on. Holy Smokes, Batman. The origin story gets updated, Lime loses her head and she swaps spit with Joker’s face attached to Deadshot’s head! Adam Glass and Clayton Henry push the envelope big time on this issue.

SUPERBOY #7: Superboy continues his battle with Rose Wilson and also with Centerhall, who again takes a beating. But it’s Rose who gets the upper hand and stabs him straight through with her sword. He lives and Templar feels he may hold the secret to a cure. Meanwhile, Rose has a run in with Wonder Girl who is pissed at Superboy for a certain teen Titans beatdown. And Caitlin Fairchild wakes up in a safe house and is pissed at Superboy for rescuing her. Things are going to get messy!

Scott Lobdell and Tom DeFalco continue to gear up towards THE CULLING, which will lead to THE RAVAGERS series. It’s a great reading book and R.B. Silva and Rob Lean do bang up work on the art. One of my favorite titles that I was pretty certain would suck. Thanks for making this one a winner!

SUPERGIRL #7:  Kara battles the world killers…and eventually wins.

YAWN! What a horribly boring issue this was! Okay, I get the whole baptism of fire thing, but enough! Lifeless work all around by Michael Green,  Mike Johnson, and Mahmud Asrar. 

SUPERMAN#7:  Clark is having a bad enough day, with getting yelled at by Perry, having Jimmy want to temporarily move in and having Lois convince him to pick up her sister Lucy at the monorail station. To make matters worse, he ends up in the Himalayas and gets whipped about by Helspont (if you don’t know Helspont, then you obviously haven’t read WILDC.A.T.S., but also fought TEAM ONE, GEN13 or even BACKLASH!). And how pissed is Lois going to be since Clark isn’t around to pick up Lucy?

And thus it begins: the introduction of the Wildstorm villains into the Man of Steel’s life. Not that this hasn’t been brewing since the horn incident back in issue #5. Nice work overall from Dan Jurgens and Keith Giffen, especially the name of the monorail station(I won’t tell you…and you’d have to be old school DC Comics reader to get the joke). Personally, I was most excited by the introduction of Lucy Lane. Can Lori Lemaris be far behind?

SWAMP THING #7: Alec Holland dies again and, after a lengthy discussion with the Parliament of Trees, voluntarily becomes Swamp Thing again.

Another amazing issue by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette. Seven issues into the series and we FINALLY get the moment we have waited for: the return of Alec Holland as THE SWAMP THING. And it was definitely worth the wait. Just go buy the book. It so does a wonderful job of tapping into the title’s glory days!

TEEN TITANS #7:  Continuing from plots dropped in SUPERBOY #7, the Teen Titans bust into N.O.W.H.E.R.E. to rescue Superboy. Wonder Girl beats the you know what out of Templar and they all meet The Harvest.

Another wild ride from Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth, although a bit wordy. I dunno: maybe less dialogue in fight scenes and more room for Brett Booth’s amazing artwork. Overall, it truly does rank right up there with the legendary Wolfman/Perez run.

WONDER WOMAN #7:  Zola has been taken and the team, as it were, seeks help from Eros, who appear to be as much a fighter as he is a legendary lover. Eros takes them to Mount Etna, where we meet Hephaestus who sees about crafting a weapon for Diana. Hell sends a creature that she defeats and we learn that Hephaestus’ servants are the male children of Zeus (that explains why there are no men on Paradise Island!). There is some history as the sirens seek seminal male vessels (what an AMAZING LINE that I wish I had written!). She decides to release her brothers. but they owe their lives and allegiance to Hephaestus and they decide to stay. Tomorrow, they go to Hell.

For those people crying foul at Brian Azzarello for shaking up the mythology, all I can say is I’m sorry you feel that way and I wish you would reconsider. This book is amazing and gets better with each issue. And the quirky art stylings of the always amazing Cliff Chiang just adds fuel to this amazing fire. on the art side. BUY THIS BOOK!