NEW 52 MONTH 13 Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE #13: We begin with “the kiss” and then it’s five days later and Wonder Woman is battling Cheetah in Central Park. And apparently she does a pretty good job of knocking her about. Batman and Aquaman go talk with a recuperating Steve Trevor for some information on Cheetah. We discover that her alter ego, Barbara Minerva, was one of the first friends Wonder Woman when she arrived in our world. At one ppoint she was even asked to help A.R.G.U.S. with their legendary Black Room. But she cut herself on a dagger from an Amazonian tribe and became possessed by the spirit of the Cheetah. The Flash and Cyborg start discussing their personal concerns and it feels like the team is falling apart. The team heads to the Congo to where the infamous dagger was found. The team gets attacked by Cheetah who bites Superman and turns him into a Cheetah! In the backup story, Steve Trevor is drinking his troubles away when he gets a visit from Oliver Queen. There is a strange communicator produced with a bizarre insignia on it. And this story gets to continue in the forthcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1.

This is one jam packed issue from Geoff Johns and Tony S. Daniel who blows me away with his art. Nothing against Jim Lee, but another issue of his work is like having to look at a Rob Liefeld six fingered hand-been there, done that…seen it before. Daniel’s take on the team looks so fresh it lets me get past some of Johns’ flawed dialogue. But despite that, the plot wavers here and there. It is nice to see Barry Allen accompany a new wingman in the form of a confused Cyborg. Is he man or is he machine. Is this Johns way of writing an allegory for someone coming out of the closet? Or am I reading too much into all that?

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #13:  We start the tale in Slaughter Swamp, where Constantine and Black Orchid are seeking the Books or Magic but are being attacked by Black Boris. He gets restrained and they deduce that the Books are not here, so they head back to the House of Mystery and begin to travel to where Zatanna and Deadman are.  THEY are under attack by Blackbriar Thorn so Deadman enters the wizard’s body and shuts him down. A giant house arrives but unfortunately for them, it’s The House of Secrets and it’s powered by Nick Necro who, you might recall, is Zatanna’s former boyfriend. He claims he is here to gain revenge on Zatanna and Constantine for having betrayed him and uses powers he learned in Hell on Deadman and Zatanna. Constantine and Black Orchid arrive  and are immediately attacked by Necro. Zatanna offers herself to necro to get him to stop. Soon we have the House of Mystery chasing the House of Secrets. But Doctor Mist uses his magic to bring down the House of Mystery in the Sahara Desert.
Meanwhile, over in London, Tim Hunter finds himself under attack by Felix Faust and Madame Xanadu is forced to take the boy away from his house, leaving his poor father behind.

Jeff Lemire certainly has control of the dark corner of the NEW 52. In my opinion, this book is ALMOST flawless. Mikel Janin does a monstrously great job on the afrtwork and the whole title just rocks. There was a point, several issues back, where the story was moving slowly and I had thoughts of dropping it. But now, with this creative team flexing its’ mighty muscles, I see no stopping now. And by adding the news that CONSTANTINE will be debuting as a NEW 52 book in February (under the hands of author Robert Venditti, of The Homeland Directive fame, and Renato Guedes), all is good in the world of magic . Oh, by the way, the tale is continued in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK ANNUAL #1, which a review of follows immediately.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK ANNUAL #1:  This issue begins where #13 left off: stuck in the Sahara Desert. But then Frankenstein, fresh from his own, so to be cancelled title, arrives, for no reason I can see. But Constantine manages to get him to join their team as the House of Mystery miraculously repairs itself. Back in the House of Secrets, Nick Necro tells his life story. Apparently, he found the map to the Books of Magic on the bones of legendary wizard Mordru. He learned that no one can use the Books of Magic unless Tim Hunter is dead AND he also takes claim for getting Steve Trevor to form Justice League Dark. To take a cue from THE INCREDIBLES, he is running his monologue way too much. Madame Xanadu arrives with a powerless Tim Hunter, who Constantine manages to fire him up by using the Amethyst gemstone he scoffed up in SWORD OF SORCERY #0. Actually, he uses the gemstone to bring Princess Amaya to the House. He then manages to convince Andrew Bennett to come back (obviously before the events of issue #12 of I, VAMPIRE). Defeating Faust’s army, they head off to battle. They arrive just as Necro and Faust find the Books of Magic. But Hunter needs to die to allow them to be used. Necro tells Constantine to kill Hunter and he will free Zatanna. So John snaps Hunter’s neck. But the team easily subdues Necro because Black Orchid was masquerading as Hunter. Tim opens the one of the Books of Magic and we discover it is really a futuristic device that opens a portal and sucks Tim in, along with Zatanna.

BIG CLIFFHANGER HERE!!! Again the team of Jeff Lemire and Mikel Janin deliver with a great conclusion to a great storyline. Plus, we load the issue with a bunch of useless cameos. Well, not totally useless, I guess. This introduces some readers to Amethyst that most readers aren’t reading anyway. It brings back Andrew Bennett, perhaps to try and bolster those sales. But, most importantly, it brings Frankenstein into the group so he has a place to hang out with his title ending in a few months. Overall, this was a fun issue that made me feel like a kid again as there were just enough of those cute geeky moments to make me want to throw on a pair of feety pajamas and climb under the covers with a flashlight!

NATIONAL COMICS: MADAME X #1: Meet Madame X. She’s a former television psychic turned investigator for a law firm. Part of her psychic ability is to turn her tarot cards and see the future. She “witnesses” the murder of New Orleans Councilman Ben Meachum who seems to have been killed by a zombie. Her firm’s client is Lauren Goucuff: owner of the sobriquet Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. She admits to threatening him but denies killing him OR sending a zombie after him. X and fellow investigator Salinger find themselves deep in the mystery that eventually drops them in Pearl River, where they run into a group of junkies. When all is said and done, it wasn’t a zombie after all. It was the Councilman’s wife who caught him in bed with one of the druggies. And she used a knife that Goucuff had given him, because they had a relationship too. So the voodoo queen goes free and once it’s all done, another mystery awaits.

Yawn! This was my least favorite of the NATIONAL COMICS released thus far. It’s just a little too Agatha Christie for me. And did I mentioned that Madame X reminds me of Madame Xanadu? Did I also mention that she is referred to as Nima. Now, if you ever read the Vertigo series, you know that her full name is Nimue Inwudu. She is the younger sister of Morgaine LeFay and The Lady of the Lake. Nima…Nimue. Coincidence? Probably not! So we have a modern version of Madame Xanadu who happens to be a ;aw firm investigator. And this is different than a modern version of Madame Xanadu that is different from the one who works with Justice League Dark? And that would make her different from the one who is in Demon Knights, which later became Stormwatch? So what Earth is this story on? Earth 52?  Rob Williams provides the story and I found it interesting for about 6 pages and then got totally bored with it. When the resolution came about, I felt I had watched an old Sixties detective show. And for me, that’s a let down because it was Rob Williams who created the new GHOST RIDER for Marvel. Trevor Hairsine’s art is great, especially if you happen to like his stylized art. His layouts are nice and by inking himself, he takes total control of it. I find his style very reminiscent of Brent Anderson and Bryan Hitch. For me, that was the highlight of the book. So, while it seems that NATIONAL COMICS is designed to be a testing ground for future books, I feel this one can stay under wraps.

 NIGHTWING #13: Nightwing is on patrol and finds that all is quieter than normal, possibly becausew the Joker has returned. He tries to reach Batman and Alfred but can’t reach either. So he heads over the vist The Penguin where we learn that Lady Shiva has returned to Gotham. Dick decides to go after Shiva, even though she pretty much kicked his butt some time ago. Meanwhile, the rebuilding of the amusement park isn’t quite going as great as it could be, as many of the performers from Haly’s Circus have left. But they have hired a new aerial act known as The Soaring Sopranos.  Sophia blows off a dinner date with Dick, so he meets up with Batgirl (in a major continuity gaffe as this story takes place AFTER BATGIRL #14, which isn’t out until NEXT MONTH!). She asks for his help in tracking down the Joker. But, before he can blow her off, SHE blows him off. It turns out that Shiva is after a small time crook name Chipper Panoicia. In actuality, that is just a ruse. Shiva has another target, who she takes out. And her victim…one of Sophia’s clients.

Man, this story is full of twists and turns…and I love it! After the whole NIGHT OF THE OWLS story, this book suffered a bit of a letdown. but this perks right up again by dropping red herrings and intrigue all over the place. It’s a really great job by Tom DeFalco, who has been uneven in his writing on DC titles as of late, and Andres Guinaldo. What is Sophia’s deal? Is it just a coincidence that one of her clients is getting bumped off…or is she dealing in the old family business?

PHANTOM STRANGER #1: The Stranger ends up being directly responsible for the death of a boy named Billy. At Billy’s wake, a girl named Rachel Roth looses control as it appears she can feel everyone’s emotions. The Stranger meets with her and she explains that she is the daughter of the Demon Trigon and her father has sent people out hunting for her. The Stranger says he can help but it isn’t long before the followers find them. Luckily, The Stranger teleports them away to Stonehenge. This is bad news because this is where the portal to Azarath is. Trigon arrives and takes Rachel aware and another cpoin falls off The Stranger’s necklace. It seems that Trigon was about to attack our world to find Rachel, so The Stranger betraying her saves our world. The book ends with The Stranger returning home to his wife and kids. And Pandora watches through the window of his happy home.

I did not think it was possible for any issue to be as bad as the first but I guess I was plain wrong! First, the good point: Brent Andreson’s art is rocking as usual! Yeah…that’s all I got. On the bad side: Dan Didio’s dialogue is so droll, so lame, so 1970’s that it crawls across the pages as less than light speed. It’s convoluted, confusing and just reeks of bad. We’ve killed a kid, introduced the future Raven and Trigon and STILL the book is boring. And then we get a wife and kids? Since when? Will this not stop until all 39 coins drop off. This was one book that I was so excited to see come out and it has just proven to be one big bucket of hog slop.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS#13: If you remember where this story left off, Roy is opur narrator as he tells how the Blight believes they have won their battle against the Tamaranians. Kori and her sister Komand’r show up, along with the crew of the Starfire. Captain DePalo tells the Blight that they surrender. But the ship is set for self destruct and the Captain decides to ride the ship to it’s final end. He recalls his feelings for Kori as the Blight transport him aboard and the ship explodes. Back at the battle, the Blight Overlord spears Komand’r. Kori cremates the Blight and kills the Overlord with a kiss. Komand’r survives and the sisters patch their differences. The Outlaw2s get to go home on the H.M.S. DePalo. But waiting at home: a very upset clown who has his hands all over a certain Red Hood mask.

Scott Lobdell finishes this story of the Outlaws in outer space. It was just an okay trip for me, with some of the silliest dialogue dropping in from time to time. Kori’s sister gets a spear run through her and Roy says: “Oh no, he didn’t”. That is almost as silly as having him say “Oh Snap!”  On the plus side, the art by Timothy Green II is amazing! It’s equal parts classic Keith Giffen meets Kenneth Rocafort. After 14 issues, I still have mixed emotions about this title. I like the characters and most of the characterization. My problem is with the stories which run from casual adventure to space opera to silly. Jason Todd gets a girlfriend and they go off in space together. Silly…but fun.

RED LANTERNS #13: The Red Lanterns hear the rage of a girl on the planet Arhtky. Captured by a nasty tribal bunch who have killed her family, the Red Lanterns arrive to grant the wishes to the dying girl(complete with ripping her captors apart). Just then the “other” Lanterns arrive, those that are making up this third army,  Apparently once a Lantern is removed from its’ power ring, they’re able to assimilate it into the Third Army and Skorch is quickly turned into one of the Third Army. Atrocitus pulls out her eyes and all of these new lanterns feel the pain. The book ends with the young girl being slowly assimilated.

Okay, I am getting tired of the Red lanterns bopping from planet to planet and behaving like The Punisher. Wrong book…wrong company. As much as I have loved this title, I don’t seem how much further Milligan and Sepulveda can go with it once the Third Army storyline is done. The characters are getting stale and, unless some new life is breathed into the red avengers, I see a book going away and the characters being absorbed into other Lantern titles.

STORMWATCH #13: We learn that Malory House in London is a very unlucky place. Among other things, we have a woman killing someone and a guy who keeps organs of his victims in his freezer next to the pickled eyeballs. We also learn that the demon Etrigan is buried beneath Malory House. Nearby, Apollo and Midnighter try to have a quiet night and share some beers. Fights break out and they leave the bar only to wander into a full on street brawl. The next thing you know, a boy in the Malory who has been drawing on the walls of his room with crayon recites the "naughty words" and releases Etrigan, which sends major repercussions through the psychic linked lives of Madame Xanadu, The Spectre and John Constantine. And once he busts loose, he quickly takes out Midnighter. Meanwhile, Jenny, Jack Hawksmoor and The Engineer discuss Adam One’s demise and Jenny’s future in the world. And Harry Tanner plans to convince the Shadow Lords into believing that he is the Fourth Man. And wait until you see his portal!

This is a very weird and typical Peter Milligan issue here. The problem is that the title just rambles all over the place, jumping from sub-plot to sub-plot. While I truly love the concepts and all, especially last month’s #0 issue which told us that Adam One was Merlin, I find myself continually being left feeling blasé about the book in general. Will Conrad’s art is nice and very British. I don’t know how else to explain that other than to tell you to go look at some of the classic British artist of the Seventies and the Eighties. It’s a style thing. As far as this title goes, I don’t see much hope for me on it, unless there is a MAJOR reveal next issue that makes Etrigan part of the team. If that happens, the whole ball game changes!

SUICIDE SQUAD #13: Basilisk has three Suicide Squad members under mind control while Black Spider, the traitor all along, taunts Deadshot and Harley. So Deadshot just shoots him dead and reveals this wasn’t the real Black Spider. The real Black Spider, still a traitor, has taken Amanda Waller’s grandmother hostage at her home in Lafayette Louisiana. Amanda tries to cut a deal with him and grandma sends an electric shock through her wheelchair (no kidding!) to him. He drops a smoke bomb and things get really chaotic. He grabs the gun out of grandma’s hand and tries to kill Amanda. Fortunately, she gave granny an empty gun! They head into a safe room while Basilisk agents arrive. Black Spider bursts into the safe room, crushing granny under the door. Amanda blasts her stiletto heel through Black Spider’s eye and proceeds to wipe out Basilisk’s troops. Back in the jungle, Harley hits King Shark with a fire hose to snap him out of his trance. Iceberg gets his hand sliced off by Deadshot and that snaps him out of his trance. The frozen hand gets thrown at El Diablo and he’s put in the deep freeze. With everything going crazy, Captain Boomerang arrives to lend a hand. Regulus shows up and attempts to control Harley’s mind. Deadshot raises gun and shoots through his own chest, killing Regulus. Next month: a lot of funerals.

Wow-did we really just watch Duane Swierczynski and Cliff Richards cap Deadshot? I know: it’s comics and only Uncle Ben stays dead forever, besides Thomas and Martha Wayne and a few other characters. But someone who has served DC so well, not to mention does his time on animated TV, certainly can’t be dead. This was a fun issue with some touching moments between Amanda and her grandmother. And Harley rushing to Floyd’s side at his apparent death…has she dropped Mr. J for someone new?

SUPERBOY #13: Joceyln Lure shows up in Superboy’s apartment to talk to him…with a gun pointed at his head, that is. Apparently she wants to discuss the missing money that Superboy has been borrowing all over the place. They agree to work as a team and the next day, Superboy is back on a date with his landlady. But that doesn’t go so well, as some guys who want Dallas’ money start beating up Superboy. The police try to stop Superboy, who is mopping up the bad guys. Soon Jocelyn transports him to see Caitlin and they’ve got some catching up to do.

And me, I’ve got some checking out to do. This issue is a mess. This so reminds me of the first issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE-the one that was written for a thirteen year old. Well this thing read like it was written BY A 13 year old. Tom DeFalco mails this one in. We’d don’t care that Superboy is a crook, trying to get laid and trying to find his girlfriend. And the fact that it now crosses over with the horrible RAVAGERS title just makes me drop it sooner. Oh wait: there’s a crossover with the H'El on Earth storyline running through the Super titles next month. Nah-forget it!

SUPERMAN #13: This issue is the first part, actually the prologue to the “H’El on Earth” crossover. Superman is seen testing his strength at an underground research facility run by Dr Veritas. After five days, he leaves to go back to work at his real job. Stopping by his apartment long enough to change, and walk in on Jimmy Olsen taking a shower with a female friend, he goes to work and gets chewed out by Perry and Lois. Lois takes a text from her boyfriend and this doesn’t sit well with Clark. Neither does the chewing he gets from Morgan Edge. Clark gives a variation of his truth, justice and the American Way speech and finds himself leading no walkout…except his own. Well, Cat joins him because she has the hots for him. No sooner than they sit and talk that Clark races off to fight an alien creature. He can’t seem to use his tremendous strength to defeat the creature, so he roasts it by igniting an underground oil drilling station. Supergirl shows up and chastises him as he has apparently killed a Kryptonian dinosaur. Unknown to either of them, someone is watching them.

Is it me or do Scott Lobdell scripts drip with sexy situations? We have seen it in TEEN TITANS and he have seen it in RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS. Now we have Jimmy Olsen getting busy in Clark’s shower? Enough already! I like a good comic too but I want something I can read to my four year old and not have to censor! Other than that, this issue shows Clark being fed up with his love life, his boss and decides to make a stand. Unfortunately, that puts him out of work. What-in THIS ECONOMY!?  The title features that usual clean art from Kenneth Rocafort, which I am still undecided about. Sure, I like his style but I’m not sure if it fits the Man of Steel. We’ll see how well this upcoming crossover does. One thing about the NEW 52-it seems to survive on crossovers.

SWAMP THING #13: Swamp Thing discovers that a year has gone by. This he is told by the people who greet him back in the world:  Poison Ivy and Deadman. Deadman enters Swamp Thing to discover that Alec Holland is truly inside of the creature. He demands to be taken to the Parliament and is. At the apex of a very tall stalk lie the last living things on Earth. The Parliament explains that the portal to Rotworld was a trap which allowed Arcane to attack Earth without the defenders available. Most of the heroes of Earth now serve the Rot. Soon Ivy, Deadman and Swamp Thing find themselves being attacked by The Rot and The Teen Titans. And one last thing, Abby is dead.

ROTWORLD!!! Scott Snyder bangs this one hard and Yannick Paquedtte continues to up the icky factor! The world is a year older and it’s all hit the fan apparently. Just how will all of this get turned around is anyone’s guess. And for now, I’m with everyone else as to enjoying the ride. This is the creepy crossover of the year!

SWAMP THING ANNUAL #1: Filled with rage and disbelief over Abby’s death, the Parliament of Trees gives him the secret history of his first meeting with Abby and how his memory had been wiped. Apparently Alec Holland had journeyed to Europe at the request of Anton Arcane, who wanted Alec to investigate the problem with plant life in the Carpathian Mountains. Arcane was already wearing human flesh to hide The Rot from the rest of the world. Alec discovers a strange flower that seems to be a mutation  He also meets Arcane’s niece Abby who tells him the flower sample is the only flower growing in the village. The two quickly become close friends and eventually lovers. Alec eventually presents his findings to Arcane and we learn that Abby’s memory loss is due to exposure to the flower, which contains The Rot and attacks Alec. Springing from fox glove seed Alec drooped into the nearby river, an avatar of the Parliament of Trees comes to the rescue. With only moments left in its life, the Swamp Thing passed Alec to Jason Woodrue, who took Alec to the airport and then to the swamp, with his mind wiped for safety. In present day, Alec promises to get revenge.

Thank to Scott Snyder for the untold origin. Some may call this blasphemy but, as I have said before, Snyder has enough knowledge of DC lore and enough respect for it to play with it and not upset me. This is a great addition to the legend of Alec Holland. And the art by Scott tuft fits the tale perfectly. After all, there is nothing so cookl as watching Anton Arcane zipping himself into a skin.!

SWORD OF SORCERY #1: Amy and her mother face warriors in this land they have been transported to. With the help of princess Ingvie of House Citrine, they battle the attackers, even as Amy accidentally kills one of them. Surrounded by Mordiel’s troops, Amy’s mother uses the power of the Amethyst to shoot sharp purple spears from the ground and skewers the enemy. We discover that Amy is really Amaya and is a princess of the Amethyst house. Using a portal crystal, the trio leave the dead behind and travel to the safety of House Citrine, while one person stays behind to hide the crystal to prevent Mordiel from following them. Meanwhile, Mordriel, who is making her people collect the best pieces of amethyst they can find, is informed of Lady Graciel’s arrival on this place. Mordiel soon arrives where Graciel and Amaya were and discovers a message-gem. Later, she watches the message gem as Graciel begs her to change her ways. Elsewhere, Lord Reishan of House Diamond learns Graceil’s return and predicts a shift in the power structure in Gemworld. Wiglef  and Beowulf battle Iron Trolls, that are really  Waynetech robots. Arriving in Hearot, Hrothgar welcomes Beowulf and the barbarian wants information on Grendel, who may or may not be in the house.

This is such a strange and uninteresting book, except for my four year old who loves it!. I don’t care anything about the characters in the Amethyst storyline, although Aaron Lopresti turns in his usual stellar job on the artwork. Christy Marx has been saddled with a group of the most boring characters imaginable. Amethyst wasn’t the most creative character back in the day but this whole tale of political intrigue in the Gemworld surround by a teenage warrior princess is just a mess. More interesting is Tony Bedard and Jesus Saiz’ BEOWULF back-up which is so beguiling that I WANT this to be a full length tale. In the #0 issue, we had Beowulf watching everything transpire outside of his cave via monitor. Now we get Waynetech robots? What kind of future world or alternate reality are we dealing with here? I don’t know but I do know that I like it…A LOT!

TEAM 7 #1: Welcome to Team 7’s first mission. They are sent to Facility 9, a metahuman prison. The prison, which is also known as The Float because it sits five miles up in the air, went dark twelve hours ago. In actuality, this is part of a test for Team 7 to weed out the true heroes from those just collecting a paycheck. Inside, they find pre-Sumerian writing and a lot of blood. hey find a nurse and she attacks them.. She becomes almost rabid and has claws and part of her face turns blue, like an Eclipso effect. The team unloads their weapons on her. But the gunfire has awakened the rest of the residents here and they are all looking like the nurse. Let’s get ready to rumble.

I so want to like this book because it is set at the early days of the NEW 52 DCU and it’s not just a bunch of Wildstorm characters thrown together. We have early Black Canary and Amanda Waller and Deathstroke bumping elbows with John Lynch and Grifter. But the book just feels like a bad action movie gone incredibly wrong. Justin Jordan’s story is fine as action tales go, the dialogue is okay, if not a little hokey and Jesus Merino’s art is the highlight of it all. I might give this until next issue to see how this arc turns out and them I am probably out.

TEEN TITANS #13: A little more than a year ago, Cassie was getting in trouble while her mo was out being an archeologist. That was when she met and got involved with Diesel, who was more interested in using her to fence stuff from the digs. One day, he ends up bonding with a strange armor which eventually bonds itself to Cassie. In the process, the dig site collapses and apparently Diesel dies there. So the Titans head back to the dig site to see if they can unravel the mystery of the armor and Diesel. Meanwhile, Amanda Waller has other plans.

So this is the origin of “Don’t call me” Wonder Girl.  This is better than most of the last issue have been, but still nowhere near the glory days. Fabian Nicieza is responsible for the script from a plot by Scott Lobdell and I can see Nicieza stepping into his own comfort zone here, especially with his dialogue which isn’t as stilted as it has been. Ale Garza provides the art and he kills it. In a good way! This book is filled with energy, even during the long dialogue sequences. This is one of the better issues in a while and may be enough to keep me from dumping the title…al least for now.

WONDER WOMAN #13: So here we are in Antarctica where a team of explorers discovers a huge naked guy sitting in a crater. One explorer who tries to make contact gets the top of his head chomped on. The naked man claims he has no name-he is known as the crippler of souls and first born. Meanwhile, Dionysus and many of the other gods gather at the recently rebuilt Mount Olympus. Apollo tells those gathered there that a prophecy claims that a child of Zeus would kill one of the gods and take the throne. Apollo believes the prophecy may refer to Wonder Woman. Over in London, Diana and Lennox find themselves refereeing constantly between the war of words between Zola and Hera, who is now a mortal. Lennox reveals that he once received his information from Siracca, the Wind, but she no longer speaks to him because of his alliance with Diana. So Diana heads off to Libya find her. She gets attacks by the army but they run  off as she shows her might. She finds a small child in a water barrel and promises to protect her. But the child dies in a flash of sharp blades, telling Diana that she broke her promise. The child turns to sand and Siracca attacks.

Okay…now I find myself totally confused. And I have been totally on track with this title since issue #1. But this just gets weirder and weirder. Is Diana destined to kill one of the gods or will it be some other sibling? How long will the war between Hera and Zola go on. Does Lennox always talk to the Wind and, if so, what issue does she have with Diana? Brian Azzarello continues to amaze and mystify with his taken on the legendary Amazon. Tony Akins and Dan Green handle the art work and while it may look like Cliff Chiang, it’s not. But a nice job is done by them nonetheless. So, don’t expect me to be diving off this title any time soon as it remains one of my favorite DC Comics out there today.

WORLD’S FINEST #5: Helena and Karen are trying to figure out what the effects of the radiation during the Japan incident had on Karen. We also learn that Karen had spent time in the Alps working with scientists to come up with a super-accelerator to try and find a way back to their home after five years. While getting the grand tour, a portal opens to another dimension and Karen finds herself in a battle with this robot. When all is done, Karen believes that the testing of this thing called an Atlas detector caused the portal to open. So she hires this scientist she has the hots for to some work for her. Meanwhile, Helena helps take down a sniper at a Take Back the Night protest.

This book is truly a mess. First off, we get more of Paul Levitz’ writing and this just continues to become DC’s answer to THELMA AND LOUISE. It’s a chick flick in a book form and it goes nowhere. I have said previously that I liked the past sequences more than the present day storyline. And that continues. And, when you need three artists to tell the tale, you know it’s a mess. George Perez and Scott Koblish handle the framing sequence. Wes Craig and Serge Lapointe handle the Huntress story and Jerry Ordway takes care of Power Girl’s tale. Really? THREE ART TEAMS?? Here’s one for tyou: one less reader. I am out

NEW 52 Month 13, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #13: We are witness to the sentencing of Dr. Xa-Du to the Phantom Zone. As he is being sent away for 20 years, he promises to make Jor-El and his family pay. He never gets a parole hearing because that is that day Krypton explodes. So he is stuck there for a long, long time. In the present day Fortress of Solitude, Superman gets projected into the Phantom Zone by a mysterious figure. While attacked by hardened criminals, it’s Krypto who comes to his defense, along with that of the Phantom Stranger, who has been trapped here by Xa-Du. With Krypto’s help, Superman gets free and sends the villain back to the Phantom Zone, even as a mysterious villain plots to free him again. In the back-up story, we get Krypto’s orgin, complete with his being trapped in the Phantom Zone to save his master. Throughout his life on Earth, the phantom dog has always been there.

Grant Morrison turns in an average story in the main piece which just manages to act as a point to introduce Krypto to the New 52 Universe. Travel Foreman does an okay job with the art. Maybe it’s me, but there are some books that cry for comic style art, as opposed to painted ones. This is one of them. As far as the back-up goes, a very nice and touching piece by Sholly Fisch and Brad Walker.

ALL STAR WESTERN #13:  We start out with a killer clown taking out a priest in rather grisly fashion and it’s up to the trio of Arkham, Black and Hex to investigate. Haly’s Circus is in town and all sorts of weird things are going on. Then there’s Yanmei Tsen. who is being hunted by The Golden Dragons(as it appears everyone is as of late). She fights them off with a little help from Jonah Hex, but then disappears. In case you might forget, Yanmei Tsen is The Barbary Ghost. Anyway, they go to talk to Mr. Haly and we discover the several of his performers are missing AND ONE OF THEM, Jingles the Clown, goes on a psychotic rage and gets a bullet in the head for his troubles. The animal trainer gets eaten by one of his own tigers before Tallulah takes it out. It looks like the Dr. Jekyll formula is getting distributed to folks via the ever popular medicine man. Meanwhile, Doctor Jekyll has become Mr. Hyde and he wants his little black diamond back. Can you say Eclipso? The back-up story features the NEW 52 version of Tomahawk and he isn’t the character I grew up with.

This is just another killer issue from the team of Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Moitat. The book looks great; the story is just a roller coaster that does for comic Westerns what DEADWOOD did for TV Westerns, minus the cussing! Ariel Olivetti provides one really creepy cover and if you weren’t afraid of clowns before reading this book, you will be now!. The back up story, by Gray, Palmiotti and Phil Winslade, crafts a new legend for Tomahawk. He’s not an Indian a scout anymore. He’s an Indian with an agenda, especially after the slaughter of his family. Yeah, this guy is the Native American version of The Punisher: the character who does what he needs to and you find yourself cheering for him. This a great title and DC should be proud of it.

ANIMAL MAN #13: Buddy Baker finds himself back home and highly confused. A zombie Hawkman attacks and the save gets made by Steel, Black Orchid, and Beast Boy. The trio find is hard to believe that Buddy is who he says he is, but they head off to Red City as Steel tells the story of the past year. We see most of the heroes fall including The Flash, Batwoman, Supergirl and Poison Ivy. We also learn that Red City is created by the Totems and they keep the city alive and safe. Upon arrival, Buddy finds John Constantine, who quickly blames Buddy for the end of the world. He also finds the Shepherd, who informs Buddy that the rest of hi family is dead, including his daughter.  And that’s understandable as, in the parallel portion of the story set in the here and now, the family seek Cliff, who has been possessed and passes his disease along to his mom.

Poor Buddy. He is gone for what he thinks is a month and finds out it’s a whole year and almost everyone he knows is dead. And now he has to deal with the consequences and the guilt. And how DOES this tie into continuity? We have stories five years in the past, in the now and now one year in the future. Jeff Lemire and Steve Pugh continue to make Rotworld a very scary place!.

AQUAMAN #13: We start with a conversation from six years ago between Vostok and Aquaman. But now Vostok is dead and Aquaman is pissed!  Black Manta has Ya’wara’s teleportation orb and manages to split just as Aquaman gets there. The Others use the Operative’s airplane to track Manta. We learn that Dr. Shin hired Black Manta back in the day, which led to Arthur’s father’s death. Aquaman takes blame for accidentally killing Manta’s father, even though the rest try to convince him it was righteous because Manta’s father was wanted for murder. Black Manta meets with a group of Atlanteans who pay him for the scepter and promise to give him control of the surface world once they take over the world. Aquaman arrives to break the deal and tries to gain access into this Atlantean ship that he believes contains his brother the Ocean Master. The ship leaves, after taking possession of the scepter, and the two foes duel with Aquaman defeating Manta, but not killing him. The Others are left in charge of keeping the artifacts safe while The Operative gets to go to the families of the dead and give them a moment to come to grips with their grief. And Arthur and Mera? A time will come when the Atlanteans attack and fear that Mera will stand in their way.

Here we have another awesome issue from Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. The art looks great and the tale, which has lumbered on for so many issues now, comes to a satisfying conclusion. But where is Ocean Master? This tease is killing me! Bring on the brother!!! This remains one of my favorite books, which I thought I’d never say, especially after Geoff Johns habit for writing goofy dialogue. But THIS is his finest work!

BATGIRL #13: Back in issue #12, Batgirl was stabbed by Knightfall. Knightfall is preparing to make the killing blow when Batgirl convinces her that her the rest of her villainous team has been taken out by Batwoman and company. Knightfall removes her mask and reveals she is Charise Carnes. She then reveals her origin: how her boyfriend Trevor murdered her entire family. She never mentioned him when she was tried for their murder, and went to Arkham just to learn from the inmates there. She got out , found Trevor and has been keeping him captive. As Knightfall beats on Batgirl, Ricky lends a hand so Batgirl can finish Knightfall off. Meldoy McKenna and Batwoman arrive, placing Carnes under arrest. McKenna takes Batgirl to a doctor who won’t ask questions and she gets stitched up. Later, Barbara’s roommate introduces her to their new cat, Alaska. Barabra mentions that her family had the same breed of cat when she was a chuld. And the cat was named Alaska. Mrs. Gordon gets a visit from three men dressed as clowns in Hawaiian shirts. They claim it’s a night for making new memories. Lastly, The Disgraced get Mirror, Gretal and Grotesque out of prison with one goal” kill Batgirl.

Gail Simone, or perhaps the editors at DC, pull a fast one on us by saying it’s a DEATH OF THE FAMILY tie-in when it really is just the conclusion to the KNIGHTFALL story arc. Either way, we see the reach that James Jr. has into his sister’s life and that someone thinks it may be funny to duplicate Barbara’s crippling act. Some really nice art from Ed Benes on this issue too.

BATMAN #13: Bad omens have been popping up in Gotham City. Gotham River has been running backwards and a two-headed lion was born at the zoo. The Joker shows up at GCPD wearing the same Hawaiian shirt that he wore when he shot Barbara. The lights go out and soon Gordon is surround by an army of dead cops with broken necks. The Joker is gone and so is his face. Batman gets on the phone and he makes the rest of the Batman family aware of the situation. The Joker appears on TV and kills John Claridge, the son of Henry Claridge, thus repeating his first murder he ever committed in Gotham on the son of the first guy he murdered. He also threatens to kill the mayor in 24 hours. The mayor’s office is locked down but The Joker manages to poison all of the police officers with a a toxin of Acetaminophen, Chlorine, and Ethane. Batman realizes that refers to ACE chemicals where Red Hood became the Joker. Batman confronts The Joker in his Red Hood costume. It’s actually Harley Quinn and she traps him in a vat that is filling with some liquid. Meanwhile, Alfred finds a two-headed lion cub at the front door of Wayne Manor and finds the Joker wearing his old face and laughing. In the back-up story, we find out how Harley ends up in the Red Hood costume and what mental mind games her “puddin” puts her through.

Scott Snyder brings back our favorite psycho villain and he is bigger, badder, and more insane than ever. And this is just one of the prelude titles to DEATH OF THE FAMILY. By the time December rolls around, the crossover will be ripping through eight DC titles bringing the final total to 23 parts. Greg Capullo’s art is totally creepy and The Joker wearing his own face is both hilarious and scary at the same time. Best reference: during The Joker’s rant on TV he says that the mayor is going to be as dead as a baby bird smashed with a crowbar. Yeah-nice Jason Todd reference there. Regarding the back-up, it just goes to show how far Mr. J. will go to make his plans work. Great moody artwork from Jock on this one.

BATMAN INCORPORATED # 4: As you may remember, Leviathan has pretty much infiltrated all walks of life. Matches Malone, one of Batman’s alter egos, finds himself being strangled and suffocated. But Matches gets free just as all of Batman Incorporated attacks this safe house, including Wingman and Red Bird (Damien’s new identity!). Bruce shows his displeasure with Damian but allows him to continue on with them. They all defeat Leviathan’s henchmen and Batman arranges for GCPD to pick them up. He also calls Talia and asks her to call off this war, which she refuses to do. Meanwhile, Wingman reveals his identity to Damien. It’s Jason Todd, which really pisses off Damien who feels he has been totally left in the dark by Batman. The issue concludes with Batman telling his son that, for the safety of all of Gotham, Damien must go back home to his mother.

Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham continue to weave an amazing story! We all know who Leviathan is, and have known since the Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes! But the question is how far Talia will go to see her version of world domination come to fruition? She already has a huge bounty out on her own son. What’s next? Only Morrison and Burnham know. Check this title out while Grant is still writing it.  

BATMAN AND ROBIN #13: Batman and Robin take the rocket ship out to perform maintenance on a communications satellite. Damian then asks his father if he ever loved Talia. We know Damian doesn’t ad Talia has a $500 million bounty on her son. Back in the atmosphere, they spy the Bat Signal. Damien takes the Bat-Shuttle back to the cave, while Batman goes to meet with Commissioner Gordon. Damien doesn’t stay at home for long and he’s off to look for one of the assassins Talia has sent after him. In the process, he runs into a band of zombies who are chanting “Eat to Live.”  No matter how hard bhe fights, Damien is soon overwhelmed by them, Damian attempts to fight them off, but is soon overtaken.

Another gem from Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, with a four page art assist from Tomas Giorello. Batman has a spaceship? Well, of course he does!  The writing bounces from being campy fun (not total camp but enough to make me smile) to ghastly nasty. Zombies in Gotham? When did this become THE WALKING DEAD? The artwork shines and next issue, we get DEATH OF THE FAMILY.

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #13: We start with Scarecrow collecting the tears from the girl he kidnapped. But he is also troubled by the horrific memories that his father’s research put him through. Batman wakes and finds himself strapped to a table. He orders his wrist armor, which is attached to the Batsuit across the room, to activate a laser and cut his chains for him. Batman puts on the suit and goes after the Scarecrow, who cuts him open with a scythe and then points out that Batman is still strapped to the table, thanks to the fear toxin. This has all been an illusion. By now, the Super Toxin is complete. It has no antidote and is so strong that Scarecrow has to wear a special mask to keep himself from falling victim to it. We get Jonathan Crane’s truly twisted origin as we learn that he was locked in a little dark room, while his father conducted tests on him. Crane’s father had a heart attack and died. It was several days before Crane’s colleague found the young boy afraid and starving. As he monologue’s away and goes to get his scythe, Batman breaks free and is now ready for the showdown.

Gregg Hurwitz has been responsible for writing the most twisted version of Scarecrow yet. And, at the same time, he has made him somewhat sympathetic due to the way his father treated him. This story is amazing. And David Finch, inking over his pencils, totally submits himself to his art. While he is a great writer and I love what he has done in the past, his concentrating on one medium instead of two just allows his work to be that much more intense! This is just another awesome issue and continues to be a true cornerstone in the Batman Universe.

BATWOMAN #13: Wonder Woman and Batwoman team up and head beneath the coean to see what is going on with Medusa. It turns out that prisoners and guards are dead and Medusa has escaped. It also turns out that Nyx, the goddess of night, was responsible for all this carnage. They get attacked by a huge amount of black worms and become captured by Nyx. Batwoman sets off a flash grenade and uses one of Black Manta’s flying subs to help them escape. They head off to the desert, where they meet with a decaying Pegasus-the child of Medusa and Poseidon. Back in Gotham, Cameron Chase and Bones plot the future. f Kate comes back alive, they will blackmail her into telling Wonder Woman’s secrets. If she does not return, they will recruit a recuperating Bette Kane to replace her.

I so LOVE having the team of J. H.Williams III and W. Haden Blackman back as the driving forces on this book. Kate Kane is such a great character and her entire supporting cast shines, from Maggie Sawyer to Director Bones and everyone in between. This still remains one of my favorite NEW 52 titles and is always at the top of my MUST READ stack.

BIRDS OF PREY #13: The Birds are in the process of recovering from being poisoned and remain isolated. Katana makes a food run, gets attacked by ninjas and has her sword stolen by the Dagger Clan. So, despite being warned not to do it because of her weakened condition, Tatsu heads to Japan where she is quickly drugged, blindfolded, and tasered. When she wakes, the Dagger Clan's leader wants her punished for dishonoring the clan. They plan on torturing her and then melting down the sword. And they are also getting ready to set off a bomb that will poison Japan for generations to come. The Birds come to the rescue but are outnumbered 100 to 1. They capture one of the Clan and Starling threatens to remove his eye from his socket, but leave his optic nerve intact so she can “turn it around so he can look at his own face.” He explains the man with the sword is named Condor and he wears a bird suit. Unseen by the Birds, the man grins, knowing he has totally lied to them.

One month, we have Poison Ivy being a total anarchist and the next, we have the team in Japan getting lied to about a guy in a bird suit. This is one wild ride. Thank you to Duane Swierczynski for writing such a compelling series for me to dwell over. And an equal number of kudos to the amazing Romano Molenaar for providing the art. Critics and fans have complained that this isn’t the BIRDS OF PREY they were used to. And they’re right…DEAL WITH IT!

CATWOMAN #13: Selina finds herself in a funk because The Joker has stolen some of Lola’s old toys and is using them to freak out Selina. So she ends up getting rid of a bunch of Lola’s belongings. She later meets a mystery man and gets contracted to make changes in a game of human chess which results in a pawn being taken off the table.

This is one weird issue and probably the weakest in the series so far. Ann Nocenti is not scoring any points with me with her work thus far and she can’t really make me feel for Selina like Judd Winick could. And Rafa Sandoval is good but is not Gullem Marsh. I am finding myself losing interest and it will certainly take a shot in the arm from DEATH OF THE FAMILY to really energize me again. Also, not points to listing this as a prologue unless we find out that the chess game is part of Joker’s plot.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #13:  Our story begins in Los Angeles where Blue Devil arrives to break up a drug deal being orchestrated by Tobias Whale. Black Lightning also arrives and the two heroes, not realizing each other are herfoes, begin to fight and let the bad guys get away. The Los Angeles Police show up and cause the heores to go in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Tobias Whale  has a plan and that is to figure out who these two heroes are and have them killed. As in pre NEW 52 times, Blue Devil is really a stunt man(or was at one point) and Black Lightning is a school teacher. Bad guys are threatening Black Lightning’s father and he attempts to save him. At the same time, one of the thugs shows up at the movie studio where the Devil is working and kills Blue Devil’s grandfather who dies in his grandson’s arms.

Okay, this title has just enough cool stuff in it to keep me interested. If you haven’t noticed, DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS is the NEW 52’s way of trying out possible future titles. Some have been really good, like CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN. Others, like the KID FLASH piece, were awful! This one harkens back to the good old days and I love it. Blue Devil BEFORE he became a devil (maybe Grandpa’s death will kick start that). And we get Black Lightning fighting crime in a suit nowhere near as ugly as his old one. And the ‘fro is gone too. But his major foil, Tobias Whale is BACK and that just makes me giddy like a schoolgirl, kids!!! Marc Andreyko writes a fun story but it’s the art of Robson Rocha and, more specifically, the coloring of Gabe Eltaeb that elevates this to new levels. The final splash page is magnificent! I cannot wait for the next issue of this one. It was just way too much fun!

DEATHSTROKE  #13: Deathstroke tries to spend some quality time with Zealot but ends up being ambushed by a guy named Deadborn, who spends the entire issue beating the heck out of our anti-hero. Before the end, Deathstroke uses his sword to take off the guys’ arm, who informs Slade that he was only warming up. Meanwhile, Jericho trains to build an army and kill his father.

Aren’t we through with Liefeld yet? Nope-he shows up with a crappy plot and leaves it in the hands of Joshua Williamson who can’t do much with it except gives us a fight issue with a lot of diary entries. Eduardo Panscia provides the art and it’s better than looking at Rob’s six fingered figures, but not by much. I have tried and tried but the specter of Mr. Liefeld Has tainted this book way too much for me. I had hope that it would be restored to the earlier greatness. But I don’t think there is hope here. This is the last of it.

DEMON KNIGHTS #13: Down in Hell, Etrigan’s companions are acting out strange scenarios. The Shining Knight witnesses his/her wedding day and is told to make a decision about his/her sexual orientation by a demon priest. The Knight, having drunk from the Holy Grail, manages to destroy the demon and heads off to rescue the rest.  Al Jabr is offered a cool alcoholic beverage to relieve his parched throat; something his religion forbids. Vandal Savage is hung upside down and has to deal with the droves of children he has abandoned. They want him to confess to all the horrible things he has done, but he begins bragging about his acts. The Horsewoman watches her parents be slaughtered again, just as in her past. Lucifer tells Exoristos that he will send her back to Earth if she sends souls back to him. He also shows her a black diamond which he claims will be important in the future. Madame Xanadu finds herself forced to tend to every whim of Etrigan. Meanwhile, Jason Blood, still on Earth, decides he can’t go on without Xanadu and prepares to kill himself. But his suicide attempt is interrupted by The Questing Queen and Mordru.

So how DO our heroes manage to break themselves out of Hell? Paul Cornell continues to lead us down all sorts of weird roads without ever truly answering the question fans have been asking since issue #1. Bernard Chang’s art is a nice substitute for Diogrenes Neves work. In fact, it’s almost seamless. Of course, we all know this storyline gets a full wrap-up with issue # 15 as Robert Venditti, who will be writing the recently announced CONSTANTINE title, will be taking over this title with issue #16. And he jumps the tale thirty years from now. THAT should be interesting! So…I guess we’re STILL not going to get many answers from Paul Cornell.

DETECTIVE COMICS #13: Bruce Wayne is supposed to be at The Neville Community Center for a donation and the opening of the Martha Wayne Children’s Wing. But he keeps getting involved in handling problems. These problems have all been set in motion by The Penguin to keep the Dark Knight busy. It seems Mr. Cobblepot has hired the Ghost Dragons to assassinate Bruce Wayne. And with Bruce Wayne out of the way, Cobblepot, who says he is one of Gotham’s four founding families, uses his threats to have the wing named in honor of HIS mother. Batman takes out the assassins but arrives at the Center, as Bruce, just in time to see it named for Esther Cobblepot. Penguin orders his assistant to cancel the hit, but it is too late. The Dragons finish a job once it is started and one Dragon is here to attack Bruce with a flaming sword. In the back up, an out of town crook proves he is too smart to work with one of The Penguin’s crooks and gets himself killed in the process.

This is the first issue by the new creative team of John Layman and Jason Fabok. While Tony Daniel set the bar especially high on the title, I happen to really like Layman’s story and his dialogue is very peppery. And Fabok’s art style is nowhere near as dark as his predecessors. It reminds me a lot of John Workman’s style and I’m good with that. His proportions are right on and his lines are nice and crisp. I cannot wait to see more from this crew.

DIAL H #5: Although his best friend was killed by the Squid, Jent teams up with him. His dial has stopped working and he needs to rescue Manteau from Ex Nihilo. Nihilo has let Abyss loose but the creature refuses to listen to her. Squid sacrifices himself so Jent and Manteau can escape and try and fix his dial. While watching Twitter feeds looking for Abyss, Manteau reveals her origin. She was once known as Roxie Hodder and ws a PhD candidate back in 1967. Soon after the Joy Festival, she discovered the dial and was overwhelmed with it. Ex Nihilo dials up and becomes the Hairbringer. Manteau fixes Nelson's dial, but not 100%. He becomes the silly looking Cock-a-Hoop. The US Army shows up and launches missiles into Abyss, to no avail. Nelson ends up teaming up with Ex Nihilo, who turns Abyss into stone. A strange figure with its’ own dial on its’ checst, flies out of Abyss and damages Ex Nihilo's dial with a screwdriver. She becomes human and falls to her death. Manteau and Nelson head home and wonder what will happen with a new player with a dial.

This is the most screwed up title in the NEW 52. I really have nothing else to say. If you want cute comic superhero stuff, this is NOT the book for you. If you want to scratch your head trying to figure out where the creative team is sending you, dive in.

EARTH 2 #5: Wesley Dodds, better known as The Sandman, leads his Sandmen and helps extract the President from the situation. Khan, the Commander of a group known as Sentinel tries to convince The World Council that Captain Al Pratt can handle the Grundy situation and there is no need to drop a Nuke on the area. Pratt has taken out Grundy and Green Lantern, but the dead vines get hold of him and it takes Hawkgirl and Flash to get Atom out. Green Lantern tries to convince the heroes to let him communicate with the Green and battle the Grey that way. The Grey tries to convince Alan to let them turn the world into decay and offer him his dead lover. Meanwhile, Terry Sloan is sent to Sentinel as a new advisor, much to Khan’s dismay. Sloan has ordered a nuclear strike.

Leave it to James Robinson to take these classic DC characters to a whole new place. Here is a man who knows these characters too well and it not afraid to break the mold and start anew. Factor in Nicola Scott’s beautiful art and this book is a major winner!

FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #13:  Frankenstein continues to spar with his reborn creator, who now serves Anton Arcane.  Victor explains how he was rescued from death by The Rot and plans to help it conquer the world. In the middle of it all, condors arrive to take Frankenstein to metropolis, which has been overrun by the creatures of The Rot. He battles his way through and eventually is found by Vincent Velcoro, who informs him that Victor showed up at S.H.A.D.E. Headquarters and destroyed it and everyone in it.

Matt Kindt and Alberto Ponticelli weave the next portion of the ROTWORLD crossover and it’s a shocker. However, as much as I love this book, DC has put the axe in and this book will end with issue #16. That gives the crew three more issues to help out the Green and wrap up any loose plot threads.

GREEN LANTERN #13: We begin with Amanda Waller briefing the President about the new Green Lantern. Simon Baz is a presumed terrorist so President Obama tells her to make the Justice League aware. Meanwhile, Simon wakes up in Florida and hears parts of a corrupted message from Hal Jordan and Sinestro that tells him to find Arkillo and Carol Ferris. It gives him a Green Lantern uniform and tells him to fight the Guardians of the Galaxy. Now able to fly, Simon heads to Michigan where he finds Sira. He tells her that the ring has chosen him for a reason. He asks her to meet him that night and, when he arrives at his old school, he is surrounded by the Justice League. Meanwhile the Third Army begins their invasion.

Geoff Johns and Doug Mahnke make you sit up and take notice with this NEW Green Lantern. Already the government is branding him as a terrorist and the Justice League is after him. It even looks like his sister may have sold him out. Goeff Johns lights this book up monthly and Mahnke continues to make the visuals pop. And, with the whole Third Army crossover in play, this is a must read title.

I, VAMPIRE #13: Andrew Bennett has technically wiped out all vampires on earth by absorbing their energy. Now he is the sole vampire and he has turned to the dark side. He took Tig as his queen and has corrupted her too. Matry Seward, long a vampire queen, is now human and struggling to deal with that. Despite being powerless, she confronts a mugger in the streets of Boston and he proceeds to knock her out. She strokes back the only way she can: she partially impales the guy on a spike of splintered wood. She may be powerless, but she is still a cold bitch. The decision is to go back to the beginning. John and Mary decide to look for any five -hundred-year-old man living in England. To do that, they seek out Deborah Dancer in the woods of Maine. But Andrew gets there first. Tig attempts to feed, but Andrew explains that she had once been his companion before John was. Mary and John burst in, armed to the teeth with the tools of the trade. Deborah is confused: just WHO IS the good guys here?

Joshua Hale Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino have done such amazing things with this title and this is just another issue in a series of great ones. Each issue turns in a new twist. Here, we see the hero become the villain and the former villain become the hero. What happens now? Follow the last true vampire as he attempt to try and rebuild his empire. This is definitely NOT your father’s Gothic horror tale!