DC's NEW 52, Month 25, Part 2

HARLEY QUINN #0: Harley wonders what life would be like if she was in a comic book and she dreams that Jimmy Palmiotti, who writes about cowboys, and Amanda Conner, who draws “big boobs”, wrote her tale. From here, a bevy of artists take her on a wild ride. Becky Cloonan makes her a rock star. The audience hates it and she shoots her own band to death. Tony Daniel makes her into a giant robot and she eats Citi Field. Stephane Roux has her fighting crime on the back of a dolphin, where she saves a group of muscle-men from Spanish pirates. Dan Panosian does a MAD MEN take with Harley as a hot secretary. She learns that the office boss is the Joker, which gets her too excited for T RATED book. Walt Simonson steps in to make her a crazy ninja. Jim Lee is next, but it is a modified reprint of an earlier Lee work. She gets treated to a dose of Bruce Timm and, naked in a church, gives her classic line: "Aw, c'mon puddin', don'tcha wanna rev up your Harley?!" Charlie Adlard lets her get mocked by her soccer team, so she pulls out a gun and murders them. Adam Hughes gives her blue pencil roughs and one killer image, but she rejects him because he can’t keep a monthly schedule. Next is Art Baltazar and she smashes all of his Tiny Titans with an over-sized hammer. Tradd Moore gives her and Poison Ivy the THELMA AND LOUISE treatment and Dave Johnson lightens the drama up by having the car crash through the Hollywood sign. A newcomer, Jeremy Roberts, places her in a series of suicidal situations, which makes her move on to Sam Kieth. He puts her in a swamp, where the Joker is a monster who tries to eat her. Darwyn Cooke arrives to have her and Catwoman rob Amanda and Jimmy at their own wedding. Harley wakes and gets blown up by a bomb in a box of old comics. She sees an open book and decides that is the artist for her: Chad Hardin. A car pulls up and informs her that the will of an anonymous benefactor has given her a four-story property on Coney Island.

This is a weird introduction to a book that could be a shining star in the NEW 52 Universe. Will it be funny or serious? Find out next month!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #25: Thirty years ago, Thomas Wayne Jr. murdered his parents and Alfred killed his younger brother Bruce. Moving forward to today, we see Eel O’Brien and fellow Gotham gangsters gathered and taking a beating from Owlman, with O’Brien getting shot and ending up becoming altered by chemicals he gets doused in. When all is said and done, only Frank Bertinelli remains and he is told that Owlman now runs organized crime. We learn of the Flying Grayson disaster on Earth 3: where John Grayson murdered Anthony Zucco and forced the circus acts into following him. Until the night Dick Grayson’s parents and sister were murdered by Thomas Wayne Jr. Back on this world, Owlman tells his tale to Dick Grayson and explains that the Society has blown up his apartment in Chicago and begun hunting his friends. He convinces Grayson to join him to fight the Crime Syndicate. Unfortunately, Superwoman has heard the whole thing.

Geoff Johns is a mastermind! He gives us the life story of Owlman, complete with how the corrupt Grayson family, including a sister we never knew about in our world, was murdered by him. And then he tries to and apparently succeeds in convincing Nightwing to be his new boy. And, if that were not truly enough, we get the first appearance of Eel O’Brien and apparent origin of the Once and Future Plastic Man. Throw in some awesome art by the always dependable Doug Mahnke and this is a winner. Forget the much heralded launch of this title with Jim Lee. This book is light years away from where his issues were, both in style and content!

JUSTICE LEAGE DARK #25: John Constantine gets a visit from the Nightmare Nurse, who brought him her own version of Swamp Thing, which gives birth to a very pissed off original Swamp Thing. Despite that, Alec Holland knows he is needed to help fight the Crime Syndicate. The trio begins the spells they need to find Zatanna and the rest of the Justice Leagues. John decides they need to use the Nurse’s potions to kill evil, which is magnifying exponentially in everyone. The trio enters the human psyche, and encounters being called a blight, that is the disease that is making mankind adore the darkness within them. It reduces Alec Holland back to the man he is beneath the green. It fills Nightmare Nurse with the disease she swore to fight. John is unaffected as he embraces the darkness. He grabs the others and runs. They return to the House of Mystery, where John enters one of the mansion's doors only to emerge twelve hours later, naked and bloodied. The blight can only be defeated by the Trinity of Sin. Meanwhile Cassandra Craft is kidnapped by a gang of Demons that spring up from beneath the floor of her shop.

J. M. DeMatteis chips in and provides another chapter in the epic FOREVER EVIL crossover and this one is a weird one. So, I am to believe that all mankind is evil and this thing called the blight is responsible, only it has been amped up by recent events. Yeah…not quite totally buying that. However, it was a fun read and Mikel Janin’s artwork blew me away, with Nightmare Nurse looking extremely hot. Yeah, I know: she’s a comic character. But she is totally brought to seductive life by Janin and by inkers Guillermo Ortego and Cifuentes. So, it comes down to an issue that looked better than it actually read. But that’s okay, as this book has been pretty consistent through it’s run thus far.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #9: Martian Manhunter has learned that their prison is their own weaknesses. Green Lantern fears the world hates him because he is a Muslim. He finds Madame Xanadu and she has been using dark magic to try and get free with no avail. Aquaman is faced with visions of polluted oceans and threatens anything on two legs. Stargirl decides she must follow after him. She finds Wonder Woman who recognizes her and protects her from the demons threatening her, giving her time to move on, stopping briefly to watch Shazam take joy in destroying everything. J'onn J’onzz final prison is his own and it’s a world full of fire where he has a double who taunts him. Stargirl arrives at J'onn's prison and manages to free him with the use of her staff. She makes her way out of this illusionary prison but does so alone as J'onn is in her head only. Unfortunately, Deathstroke and the Secret Society are here to greet her.

Wow, that Deathstroke sure gets around a lot no that he has no title to work with. That having been said, it sure looks like the youngest member of the group turned out to be the smartest! However she is finding herself in a bit of a bind and is about to be captured by the one eyed bad guy and company.  Matt Kindt and Tom Derenick do a nice job with this tale as we all wonder how the most powerful heroes in the world are going to get their minds free and their bodies with it. This is another cool chapter in the ongoing FOREVER EVIL saga and one I am really enjoying.

THE MOVEMENT #6: Kartharsis finds Tremor allowing the Movement's prisoners to escape and is convinced she is a traitor. A fight breaks out that only Virtue manages to stop by threatening to kick both members out of the group. Burden is still suffering from his demon and the Cornea Killer is still on the loose. Virtue orders Katharsis and Tremor talk out their problems over ice cream at Calvin's. As they prepare for Burden’s exorcism, Virtue tells Vengeance Moth that the whole thing is a fake exorcism and prepares to use vitamin water and manages to absorb his energy, exorcising him of his fear. Meanwhile, Officers Whitt and Peña continue their race to freedom. Mouse has encountered the Cornea Killer, who is really the son of James Cannon. He has brought a gang of super-villains-for-hire with him called the Graveyard Faction. Meanwhile, Katharsis and Tremor come to a truce over ice cream. As they leave Calvin's, they discover that Mouse's beaten body has been hanging from a nearby lamppost.

I still don’t know how this book survives each month. The story by Gail Simone is non a true superhero tale and the art by Freddie Williams II is nothing to jump up and down about. But somehow, the title drags me in each month and makes me come back next month just to see what Simone has planned.  Six issues in and still playing with plot threads dating back to issue #1.

NIGHTWING #25: It’s ZERO YEAR and Gotham is blacked out. Two hours earlier, Dick Grayson had been showing off on the trapeze to impress Raya Vestri. After a difficult maneuver, Dick's father scolded him and forbid him from going to the movies alone in an evil place like Gotham City. But he went and when the power went out, Dick got trampled. When he woke, three people were over him and agreed to help Dick find his way back to the circus. Dick’s family found themselves concerned about him being missing, but felt it wouldn’t be safe to search for him in the dark. As the trio headed through Gotham, a patient who had escaped from Gotham General Hospital attacked them.  Eventually the foursome became a trio, carrying one of the youth’s who had been injured by the hospital patient. Eventually, the patient caught up with them, but fell from a rooftop while chasing Dick. Dick and his new friends found their way back to the circus, where one boy, CJ, who had left the injured Josh behind to die, was picked up by his father-Sal Maroni. Dick got ground by his mother for his trouble and he decided that Raya, Raymond and he should wear matching costumes so they could be a team.

This was not one of Kyle Higgins’ best stories. Sure, it taught Dick a lesson and proved to be interesting as to the Raya, Raymond and Dick team and what would later become of them. But the whole ESCAPE FROM GOTHAM CITY story was long and not interesting, basically because I didn’t care for the three kids. And finding out one of them was Sal Maroni’s son was even less of a thriller. We do get nice art from Will Conrad and know that starting with the net issue, the repercussions of FOREVER EVIL should be felt.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #25: It’s ZERO YEAR and super-storm Rene is bearing down on a blacked out Gotham City and Jason Todd is out in the streets fighting for food for himself and his drug addicted mother. His friend Chris arrives saying he found the dead bodies of two members of the Red Hood Gang and then suggest the two take the masks and infiltrate a revival of the gang, while a disfigured person watches from the shadows. Despite his uncertainty, Jason puts on a mask and tries to defend a woman in the midst of a fight. Introducing himself as Red Hood #4, she takes him to watch as she practiced a strike that she had been taught by Ducra of the All-Caste. Outside the meeting, Jason, who had been knocked out by the woman to protect him,  was awakened by a man whose face was covered in bloodied bandages. Jason got away even as the man warned he would get them all. Jason entered and saw the woman in danger and allowed her to decapitate her enemy. They escape as the disfigured man set the building on fire, burning his old gang alive. Outside, Jason gave the mask back to Chris saying he didn’t want to be a Red Hood. Later, Talia al Ghul reunited with her father.

Thank you James Tynion IV for going back to a scene from DEATH OF THE FAMILY where the Joker told Jason Todd that he was responsible for his origin. So, I guess this is the proof. No kids: all of you who thought that the bandaged man was Hush-you are wrong. It was the Joker and he DID kill off his entire gang. I love Tynion’s writing style and would love to read his TALON, except I really don’t like the character. Jeremy Haun provides some nice art for this tale and it’s also notable to see Talia reunited with her father. It is a nice foreshadow of things to come.

RED LANTERNS #25: Guy Gardner tells Rankorr about the various Space Sectors that the Guardians set up and how they are in charge of Earth’s Sector 2814. Meanwhile out in Sector 1107, Dex-Starr and Atrocitus are hunting the Red Rings Atrocitus sent out to find new recruits. One of them chose Itro, who begins the issue by destroying Goswam on the planet Shoum. The Lanterns go to the planet Kormoraz to take out the dictator there named Gensui. Rankorr creates an illusion to look like Barg: a pirate who is friends with Gensui. The idea is to make him surrender. Unfortunately, Barg has been on the planet the entire time.

So, just when I thought this would be a bold new era for RED LANTERNS, this issue comes along and limps on through. Why would the Red Lanterns go to the planet Kormoraz to impress the people of Earth Sector 2814. No one on Earth cares about Kormoraz. Charles Soule writes an extremely confusing tale that has no bite, but bites! Alessandro Vitti’s art is as nice as always, but can’t seem to save this boring tale.

SUICIDE SQUAD #25: The Thinker has been promised to have his body restored to it’s proper age once he delivers OMAC to the Crime Syndicate and has used a hologram of Amanda Waller to recruit Power Girl, Steel, and Warrant his Suicide Squad and have them destroy the “real” Squad. The two teams meet and battle and realize they have been duped. As both teams debate this, Harley Quinn, who has been recruited by the Syndicate, escapes with OMAC. Meanwhile, back at what is left of Belle Reve, the real Amanda Waller, who now has an explosive device attached to her neck, decides she must go to Level 7 of the prison. If The Thinker dies, she dies. If she leaves the prison, she also dies. She opens the final door, just as King Shark finds them. He has been told by The Thinker to find her and eat her. James Gordon Jr. tells Shark that The Thinker's promises about King Shark's father were lies and the only person who knows the truth is Waller. Waller approaches the door to Project Y and decides that, of all the evil things she has done, this one will be the one that kills her.

Matt Kindt does the best he can with having to step away from his regular plot and delve into FOREVER EVIL. It’s an okay story, but not great. Sure, we get to see OMAC again, a character I really miss and had wished that his series had continued. And we get to see the lower level of Belle Reve and get ready to learn about Project Y. But that doesn’t satisfy my appetite for action and this issue lacks it. Patrick Zircher gives us some great looking art, as always and the cover by Gary Frank and Brad Anderson is spectacular. I just wish the rest of the book was as spectacular. Here is what I have found about FOREVER EVIL: either the interconnecting stories are really good or really lame. unfortunately, this is one of the lame ones.

SUPERMAN #25: In the conclusion of KRYPTON RETURNS, Supergirl, Superboy and Superman exist in three different eras of Krypton. At Argo City, a few days before Krypton's destruction, Superboy has protected Kara Zor-El from H'El, who he defeats in combat. He erases Kara’s memories of him so, when they meet in modern time, she won’t remember him. At the same time, in the city of Kryptonopolis, months before Krypton's destruction, Superman meets Jor-El, who has come from an alternate future where Krypton never died. He sent  Kal-El to Earth and was imprisoned and sentenced to hard labor because his warnings were false. Superman and Jor-El go to the research center to try and reach the planet's core and stop H'El once and for all, by destroying Krypton. Meanwhile, in Valley of Wartros, Supergirl and the clones have also defeated H'El, who commits suicide and disappears. At Krypton's core, Superman and Jor-El battle H'El, who has his essence dispersed across space and time. Superboy uses his powers to throw the entire city of Argo into space. Superboy dies a hero as Krypton explodes. In the present, Superman and Supergirl reunite as the Oracle informs them of Superboy's death.

So, does this mean Superboy’s comic gets cancelled? I mean, we killed off Superboy AGAIN(think of how many times and how many different Superboy’s in the OLD DCU got offed) and I don’t care because I’m not reading the book. After all, he can be cloned anew. Scott Lobdell concludes a story I didn’t follow because I didn’t care. And I still don’t particularly like Kenneth Rocafort’s art. Well, now that this silly crossover is done, can we get back to business. After all, how many Superman titles DO we really need? I just want one good one that doesn’t suck!

SWAMP THING #25: Swamp Thing is preparing to battle the Seeder. Wolf, a former avatar of The Green explains the rules of the contest. Neither may bring anything into the arena to use as a weapon and neither can leave the arena. Woodrue and Alec battle, with Woodrue making use of his special seeds and eventually causes Alec to concede defeat. Woodrue opens a doorway out of the arena and his walking stick sprouts legs, dragging Alec out of the doorway. He ends up on a dead planet and will probably die there. As he proudly announces that he has beaten the Parliament of Trees' champion, Woodrue demands the power due an Avatar. Suddenly, the vegetation around him takes the form of the Swamp Thing. The Green demands he kills the challenger because he knows too many secrets of the Green. He refuses, pulling off his own leg to keep himself from crushing Woodrue with it. Suddenly he feels the Green pulling away and they tell him his service as Avatar has ended. As he dries up and rots, Woodrue is named the new Avatar of the Green.

Is this where the title of the book becomes THE ADVENTURES OF THE FLORONIC MAN? Jason Woodrue is now the Avatar of the Green, thanks to Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz. And Alec Holland has dried up and is going to the place where all Avatars end up to live out his existence. This is a great story with some interesting twists. of course, I want to know WHERE this sits in regards to everything else happening in the NEW DC Universe. Does this occur before or AFTER the whole FOREVER EVIL thing? Honestly, DC Editorial: we need a timeline or something.

TRINITY OF SIN: PANDORA #5: Pandora is at the downed Justice League Satellite and corners The Outsider,demanding to know how to reopen the gate. He tells her all a out her and says that she didn’t open the box, it opened on its’ own. The bigger question should have been who made the boxes and why did one end up here? Before she gets a true answer, the Grid becomes aware of presence and she flees. Meanwhile, Marcus Severin tries to hack the device to make it work again. Pandora soon finds herself transported to the Rock of Eternity, where she finds John Constantine, Swamp Thing, and the Nightmare Nurse. She is chained to the Rock along with Phantom Stranger and The Question. Constantine explains that he has brought them together to kill evil.

So, this tale gets a bit confusing because it ties together with JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and THE PHANTOM STRANGER. So, if you’re not reading those titles, you will be lost. In a nutshell, Ray Fawkes and Francis Portela will have to have the Trinity of Sin help destroy the Crime Syndicate by trying to eliminate evil. Will it work? Bet it don’t otherwise there would be no need for superheroes to fight evil ever again. Stay tuned…

TRINITY OF SIN: PHANTOM STRANGER #13: Last issue, Sineater and Natas burned down his house. This issue, Zauriel shows up and reminds The Phantom Stranger that he has Doctor Light’s power within him and he is supposed to return it to Doctor Light’s wife. He delivers the power, which takes the form of Arthur Light and kisses his wife. This task down, he visits The Question who wants to know what sin he committed to be one of the Trinity of Sin. Eventually, he is captured by John Constantine and transported to The Rock of Eternity, where Pandora and The Question await. Constantine is seeking a favor.

Let’s begin by saying that this issue features a stunning cover from Guillem March. J.M. DeMatteis writes a super boring story this issue as the bits and pieces from the last storyline intersect with the whole FOREVER EVIL story and we end up with a bit of a major mess. The Stranger mourns the loss of his family, which isn’t really HIS to mourn. Then we have a very long dialogue between The Question and The Stranger that just drags. Finally, the full Trinity of Sin end up together chained to the Rock of Eternity so Constatine can drag them into battle with the Crime Syndicate. The highlight of this mess is Fernando Blanco’s art which keeps this thing from being a total disaster.

WONDER WOMAN #25: We begin with Strife paying Hephaestus to create a weapon so she can kill Wonder Woman. Meanwhile, Cassandra has captured the seer Milan in order so she can find Zeke and the First Born. In London, Wonder Woman and her crew are amused at how poorly Hermes is trying to discretely watch Zeke. Orion arrives and attacks Hermes, which is halted when Strife shows up in funeral attire, as she is grieving for War. She offers gifts to the group. She gives Hera back her cloak. She gives Diana War's helmet and that the murderer should get the spoils. Milan’s half-sister Siraca travels there and asks for Wonder Woman’s help. Orion heads off and Diana asks Hermes to get her to Chernobyl, which leaves Strife watching Zeke and company. Meanwhile, up on Mount Olympus, Apollo and Dionysus torture the First Born by eating his internal organs while he still lives.

Brian Azzarello does it again by making this the most dysfunctional family in all of comics. This is like MARRIED WITH CHILDREN on Olympus! These are some of the wildest characterizations, complete with Apollo and Dio feasting on a still living First Born. Gordan Sudzuka does his best Cliff Chiang imitation and, to be honest, it’s pretty darned good! This is a fun book-will someone listen to me? BUY THIS SUCKER!!!

WORLD’S FINEST #17: While her powers are down, Karen tries to get a tattoo, but her skin is still impervious to the needle of the tattoo artist. So she drops 10 million and charters a shuttle into space to do some outer space sunbathing. But it overcharges her body and she drops through Earth’s atmosphere and sends a message to Helena top save her. Helena is still seeking the arsonist that had been causing havoc as of late, but fails again to stop her. But the NYPD do and she uses her shadow-arms to attack them, almost killing them until Helena saves them with an arrow shot.  Suddenly Karen crashes into the bridge and ends up in the water below. Helena dives in to save her as the arsonist turns her attention back to the police. For Karen, her powers are totally out of control.

Can we get this whole out of control powers thing over with? The story is going on too long and, between that and Helena chasing Shadow Thief, this is getting to have as much estrogen fueled drama as BIRDS OF PREY. Kudos to Paul Levitz for coming up with the Karen Starr goes sunbathing in space plot, which was mildly amusing! And, as always, we get nice work from artist R. B. Silva. Once again, this title is hit or miss, depending on the issue. This one is a bit of a miss.

DC'S NEW 52, Month 25, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #25: It’s prior to ZERO YEAR and we see Lana Lang leaving Smallville and Clark Kent behind. Four years go by and later, Clark has moved to Metropolis and has become Superman. We see him defeating a group of cultists who were going to sacrifice illegal immigrants to gods from the Fifth Dimension. Afterwards, he sees a news report about a super storm aiming towards Gotham City and decides to go there an lend a hand. Lana has become an electrical engineer working on a cargo vessel that is in the middle of the storm. Most of the workers are evacuated but she and a few of her co-workers stay. Superman arrives in time to try to keep a another ship from striking Lana’s. Lana is confused as to why there was no crash, but the captain congratulates her on a good work. Meanwhile, Superman goes to the shore and helps a man asks him to build a refuge. In the back-up, Clark realizes his talent allows him to hear every problem in Metropolis and around the world, but also knows he can’t solve every problem.So he decides to do small things to help people out unless there is a major crisis. Then he hears something underground. In Venezuela, Lana is working in a construction site when tremors cause a large creature to emerge.

An average issue here as Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder continue to pave new and better ground than their predecessors did. Set in the past, it is nice to see where Lana’s life took her after leaving Smallville. The back-up by Pak and Scott McDaniel, with a final page by Kuder, sets up the next storyline where, I imagine, we will get to see Lana and Clark reunited once more.

ALL STAR WESTERN #25: At the Burning Man Festival, Hex and Gina discover that the attendees had been replaced by demons called Ki'yathe. Constantine arrives and says this is just the beginning as a greater demon is coming. Constantine gets captured by it and hex intervenes, leading the demon to grab hex and discover exactly who and what Jonah Hex is. Constantine shoves the Anniquis into its back, capturing the demon within the knife. Constantine deduces that a Jonah has a former angel watching over him. after having some drinks, Jonah  wonders if Constantine can use his magic to send him back to his original time. john says it may be tough, but he needs the House of Secrets to do so. Gina, having grown attached to Jonah, wishes to come with him and Hex reluctantly agrees. As the pair go off into the bushes to have sex, the Swamp Thing arrives, unsure of whether he can help or not. Suddenly, an alien flower from sprouts within his body and he tells Jonah and Gina to flee or they will become victims too.

Hey, it’s another kick-ass issue from that kick-ass team of Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Moritat. Jonah and his new lady get busy and up pops…Swamp thing? Now, which Swamp Thing is this and when? Keep reading and you will understand! Anyway, this tale has taken so many twists and turns. We went from Jonah and Booster fighting crime in the Old West to Jonah coming to the present, dealing with Bruce Wayne and now he finds himself yearning to go home and needs to House of Secrets to do it. This is an awesome series and I am SO HAPPY that we have lost the back-ups tales.

ANIMAL MAN #25: When we last saw our hero, the Church of Blood had taken the Hollywood Screen Awards. Their demands were simple: Animal Man give himself up or the audience will die. Buddy and Ellen leave their home and head there in the hopes to stop this and save Maxine, who is in The Red, running from Brother Blood. As Buddy and Ellen land at the Hollywood Palace, the skies begin raining blood. Once inside, Buddy battles Clinton Hogue while Ellen has her own battle with a cultist, who she knocks out with Buddy's winning trophy for Best Actor. Hogue orders all the cultists to slit their own throats, surviving in spirit form once dead. The Church of Blood is trying to gain followers who witness this miracle on live television. As badly as Buddy wants to kill Hogue, Ellen convinces him not to make him a martyr. Suddenly, Buddy disappears and is transported to another planet.

Well, it’s nice to know after all he has been through, and is going through, Buddy Baker wins the Best Actor award for his role in TIGHTS! Jeff Lemire and Rafael Albuquerque do a great job of leading us down this twisted road as Brother Blood and his cultists use television to get the message across. What was it that Marshall McLuhan once said: The medium IS the message. Enjoy the title while you can as DC has announced it's cancellation.

AQUAMAN#25: Arthur and Vulko head to the coast of Spain, where they find an abandoned shipwreck and take the scepter of the Dead King. Aquaman plans to control the Trench and defeat the Dead King. Back in Atlantis, the Dead King, whose given name is Atlan, has commanded Nereus to search for the other sea kingdoms he founded or he shall kill Mera or any other Atlanteans loyal to Arthur. Nereus visits Mera and says he will release her if she marries him, but she refuses. Just then, Arthur and the Trench attack Atlantis, freeing Mera and the other Atlanteans. Tula, Mera and Swatt apologize for attempting to free Orm and bow to their king. Atlan stabs Arthur with the trident, but the Atlanteans along with the Trench, defend him. Arthur kills Atlan and destroys the scepter. He decides to become the king again but Mera leaves him, going to Amnesty Bay to consider her decision. Later, she returns and they become the king and queen of Atlantis once again. Meanwhile, Orm has decided to live in peace in Louisiana. That is until Nereus finds him and tells him he discovered the other four kingdoms.

Geoff Johns and Paul Pelletier bring this epic tale to a dramatic conclusion with Atlan being killed by Arthur, who rightfully ascends again to the throne of Atlantis with his wife by his side. This is a nice little ending that ties up loose threads and introduces potentially others as Orm may or may not turn villain again. It’s a perfect jumping off point for some and will lead to next issue being a perfect jumping on point for others. Nice job, gentlemen!

BATGIRL #25: Back in the days of ZERO YEAR, Barbara Gordon has been out gathering supplies for her family as the super storm approaches Gotham City. But now her father was on his way to G.C.P.D. and she had the responsibility of protecting her home and her younger brother. Soon, she discovers that her home had been declared a possible flood zone and would have to leave. They end up with others at a fire station where she meets a friendly guy named Henry. Soon the windows of the fire station begin to leak and James Jr. realizes the building is flooding. As the building fills, Barbara begins to help people there. Along with Henry, they make a desperate escape to the next building. But, in the process, the hero turned, stealing their packs full of their valuables  and leaving them all to die. Barbara leapt across the building and fought with him, with him eventually falling into the water below. He swam away, promising that he would see her around. The future Batgirl returned to the others and waited for the worst of the storm to come.

I’m pretty ambivalent about this issue. While the writing and art are good, the story does nothing for me. Yawn! Okay-Barbara Gordon learns that nice people will sometimes do anything to save themselves or their family. And we see her as the superhero she eventually becomes. Other than that, Marguerite Bennett and Fernando Pasarin give me nothing great here. Oh, that is except the photo-realistic cover by Alex Garner.

BATMAN #25: The issue begins with G.C.P. D. chasing Batman and, just when they think they have him trapped, his Batmobile attaches to the roof of the tunnel it’s in and speeds away, much to the disgust of Commissioner Loeb. Lt. Jim Gordon reports that the Batman was at the crime scene, but only as an observer. Apparently someone is injecting poison into victims and causing their bones to burst out of their bodies. The current victim, a Doctor Paji was a speculative botanist for Wayne Enterprises. The only witness was a research assistant named Pamela Isley. Meanwhile, Batman has designed a signal jammer that will keep Edward Nygma, the man the newspapers call "The Riddler", from knocking out the grid again once power is restored. He has also isolated formula used to kill Kelver and Paji. It was developed by a former Wayne employee by the name of Dr. Karl Helfern. Whoever is responsible for these murders is being called Dr. Death. Exiting the cave via a well, he is greeted by a curious Lt. Gordon and we learn that he was one of the officers at the scene of the crime when the Waynes died and there are secrets about their death that Bruce doesn't know. Bruce meets with Lucius Fox, who was recently fired by Bruce’s late uncle Philip Kane. He inquires about Dr. Helfern and receives some startling information. The serum was a joint effort between himself and Helfern. At this point, Fox injects Bruce with a syringe and warns that Doctor Death is coming and nobody will be able to stop him. In the back-up, Harper Row and her brother Cullen find a way to chase away the fear in the darkness as their father has left them alone during the blackout.

And this is why BATMAN is probably THE best NEW 52 title on the shelf today! What Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo do is deliver a tale of Batman’s past that is totally filled with hints, tips and Easter Eggs for fans to drool over. Plus, we get the official introduction of Pamela Isley, she who will become Poison Ivy. Dr. Helfern? Helfern? FERN? So totally cool! And just what does Jim Gordon know about the deaths of the Waynes that our boy Bruce doesn’t? While we ARE rewiring history by putting Gordon at the scene of the deaths, it all works. Nygma earns his name from the media, Gordon gets bitten by a bat after being too nosy and Lucius Fox has his bad guy moment. Even the back-up works, painting Harper Row as the heroine she might possibly become.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #25: Erin McKillen is in jail and uses her one phone call to call Bruce Wayne. But Gordon notices a highly corrosive substance is leaking through the ceiling, so he races to the roof to find that half of the Bat-Signal has been corroded away by acid. Two-Face observes from a distance while Batman tells him that she must go through the system and pay for what she did to his wife and to him. Two-Face tosses him a bomb which allows him to get away. It seems that some time ago, Erin had arrived at the Dent’s house and held them hostage. She shoved a letter opener into Gilda's chest, killing her. Harvey shot her accomplices but was eventually knocked unconscious. Back in present day, Wayne met with Erin and we learn that they had spent time in school together, but she really called him to use his connection to Batman Incorporated to protect her from Harvey Dent. he refuses saying that Batman Incorporated. She reminds him that he once had come to her for help in finding Joe Chill-the man who had killed his parents. In Blackgate, Erin is attacked by inmates who Two-Face have demanded kill her. She gets saved by Matches Malone, who acts as her protector and who, by doing so, leads to a riot that allows Matches and McKillen to escape the prison. Malone injects her with a sedative and when she wakes, she is greeted by her old romance and realizes she is in Wayne Manor.

Okay, is it me or does it seem like EVERYONE gets out of Blackgate with relative ease? Maybe THAT is why almost all the guards got killed during FOREVER EVIL!  That having been said, Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason bring us another chapter in the life AFTER DAMIAN of Bruce Wayne, where we learn that McKillen (GREAT NAME!) murdered Gilda Dent with a letter opener! Again, great stuff!  So, for everyone who thought this title was doomed with the death of Robin, you were SO WRONG!!! By the way, rumor has it that the original version of the cover, which shows a close-up of Two-face’s scarred coin, was to have Carrie Kelly’s face on it. Interesting…

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #25: Oswald Cobblepot decides he needs Clayface broken out of Arkham. But Clayface is not too happy, saying he has paid his debt to the Penguin. While Comissioner Gordon wonders why Clayface broke out, Batman arrives to say it was because he lost his audience. Clayface has begun to kidnap people off the street, injected them with a mild version of Joker Toxin that will keep that alive and laughing, and has taken then to an abandoned theatre to watch him perform. Batman has no time to search for all the possible places, so Alfred convinces Black Canary and Condor to lend a hand. batman finally finds the right theater and battles the former actor, knocking him from a catwalk into a vat of chemicals. Canary and Condor arrive, freeing the captives. Batman has devised a special prison for Clayface this time, which is designed to keep him in this time.

This is a nice conclusion to this mini-epic by Gregg Hurwitz and Alex Maleev, as both have turned in some of the best work of their careers. Hurwitz has painted Karlo as a madman but one we feel sympathy for. Maleev has just turned himself loose on this title and I hope he stays with it for some time. This was a title that was floundering for awhile with a rotating cast of creators. But now, with new life, I hope this will be one of the premiere Batman titles.

BATWOMAN #25: With a ZERO YEAR tale, Kate Kane travels to her home town of Gotham for the funeral of her uncle Phillip, killed at the hands of the Red Hood. At the funeral, she is reunited with Alfred Pennyworth and ends up at a reception at Wayne Manor following the burial. On the way there, she hears of impending tropical storm Rene and also learns of the Riddler's attack on Gotham. So big is this event, that members of the Metropolis Police Department, including Maggie Sawyer, have been sent to help GCPD.  At Wayne Manor, Kate  reconnects with Bruce, asking him if he believes the family is cursed. Later, back at her father’s house, she decides to go out and patrol the streets to help maintain the peace. In the process, she ends up in a tussle with a gang of thieves and gets shot in the process. Faking her own death, she beats up the crooks until she has a gun pointed at her by Maggie Sawyer. later, her father takes her home from the hospital and she sleeps as he realizes she was a good soldier.

Here we see the once and future Batwoman and the love of her life in a story which would have been a little different if DC had let the ORIGINAL CREATORS tell the story they wanted to. Instead, we get a tie-in to the ZERO YEAR and a name for the super storm (I think this is the first time I have seen it mentioned as Tropical Storm Rene). Marc Andreyko tells a nice story about a homecoming and a hero and allows the two future lovers to meet. Art from the combined efforts of Trevor McCarthy, Abdrea Mutti, Jim Fern, and Pat Plliffe fit in well. The question from here is where does the character go with a new creative team in place.

BIRDS OF PREY #25: Set during ZERO YEAR, Dinah Drake had taken over her old sensei's dojo following his death. We see her chases out one of the local gangs trying to get protection money out of her. Despite chasing them away, one of her students withdrew because one of the gang members lived nearby him. With a super storm on its’ way to Gotham, she visited the sensei’s grave and recalled how they met and everything he had done to make her the person she was. Discovering he was dying of brain cancer, he decided to leave the dojo to Dinah. As the storm approached, she helped other passengers off a subway train and help them through the tunnel. Meanwhile, John Lynch was trying to find a field agent he had sent to Gotham to investigate the blackout. Dinah found her neighborhood and dojo subject to vandalism and looting and, while trying to intervene, discovered a gravely wounded Agent Ye / He handed her a device and begged her to find Lynch, even as he died in her arms. She then found herself battling off ninjas with swords. Eventually, Lunch catches up with her and she delivers the device. As he explained what the device was and drove her home, they got word that the dojo had burned down. So Lynch offered to recruit her and she accepted.

And how many people think the fire at the dojo was an accident and not some way for Lynch to recruit her? Raise your hands! Jorge Molina gives us a great looking cover while Christy Marx once again gives us a winded ninja tale. Remember-Christy Marx LOVES writing modified Sword and Sorcery stuff, so this tale of redemption and loss and all this stuff from a Bruce lee movie is just that-rehashed Kurosawa come Kung Fu. Sorry kids: this title is on wobbly legs with me.

CATWOMAN #25: Back in the day of the ZERO YEAR, Selina Kyle decided to hang around during the super storm and break into the home of socialite Arnett Crocker, whose crew had recently roughed up store owner Mr. Archeluta and emptied the grocery store because he could. Selina, once inside, grabbed a black dress and mingled with those at the party. Among the guests are Oswald Cobblepot and Basil Karlo. Crocker approaches and she suggests they go to one of his back rooms; the place for drunken orgies. Crocker firsts meets with the crook Selina had fought earlier and he informs him of some earlier news. Selina tries to listen through the keyhole but gets caught by the scarred crook and dragged in to see Crocker, who immediately orders her killed. But she uses a bullwhip stolen from one of the sex-rooms to keep the thug at bay. She cleaned out Crocker's safe including special batteries that allowed her to power her own city block. It also gave her the idea that she would be a great master thief.

So what we learn here is that Selina Kyle was a small time crook who discovered her legendary bullwhip in a SEX ROOM while she was canvassing Arnett Crocker’s penthouse. Wow! That’s some pretty messed up stuff! And we get to see early DC glimpses of the future Penguin and Clayface. All in all, this was a very cool pseudo origin story for Catwoman and definitely a nice break from the current storyline. It is also nice to see Aaron Lopresti handling the art chores, as I really like his work, always have, and miss seeing it on a regular basis. And, if that wasn’t enough, we get a killer cover from Terry and Rachel Dodson.

CONSTANTINE #8: John Constantine has been seduced by Sargon the Sorceress and Mister E attacks,, trying to tear his soul from his body. He gets Mister E's cane from his hand and breaks the spell upon him. He realizes that Sargon and Tannarak were setting both himself and Mister E up. John uses his moonblade to kill Mister E. With his death, all of the magic inside him transfers into his allies. John agrees to join the Cult and kisses Sargon. Later, he calls on the spirit of Mister E, who is trapped in the moonblade. He reveals the treachery of Sargon and Tannarak and challenges Mister E to tell him everything about the Cold Flame. If he is satisfied, he will give Mister E the honor of telling him who to kill first. Later, John discovers that the battle for the Pandora's Box is not going very well.

Ray Fawkes puts an end to Mister E but not the Cult of the Cold Flame as John Constantine plays the game and works his way into the operation just to get revenge. but, before he can do that, he needs to get involved with Justice League Dark and the whole FOREVER EVIL event. A nice story from Fawkes who has truly managed to make this book the success I thought it would never be after its first issue. And who is Aco? Apparently he(or she) is another DC artist new to the scene. This is starting to remind me of the Philippine invasion into Marvel back in the Seventies. There’s nothing wrong with it but don’t we have a lot of starving artists here?

DETECTIVE COMICS #25: During ZERO YEAR, Lt. Jim Gordon was in the process of taking down Roman Sionis' criminal empire when he was betrayed by one of the GCPD's own. Sionis had Jim thrown from the Trigate Bridge. Sionis had been leading the Black Mask gang. Jim Gordon also discovered a connection between recent Black Mask robberies and Janus Cosmetics. Commissioner Loeb warned him not to investigate Janus' CEO, Roman Sionis. Instead, he told him to bring in the Batman. He did the opposite. Loeb finally agreed to get him some help in the form of Zachary Henshaw from Internal Affairs. It was Henshaw who had been working for Sionis the whole time, that betrayed him. Surprised that he survived the fall off the bridge, returned to the precinct to find Henshaw talking about the discovery of Gordon’s suicide. Gordon punched out Henshaw and placed him under arrest, but the other officers turned on him. Gordon had broken into the Henshaw's apartment and discovered the files containing all of the evidence he had collected against the other officers. At that moment, Laney pulled a gun on his partner and it was Harvey Bullock who saved Jim's life. Sionis managed to escape and became the Black Mask. He also made sure that all of the police on his payroll, including Laney and Henshaw, were killed. Whether he knew it or not, his flashlight acted as a signal and it was the Batman who had saved his life that night. In the back-up, Commissioner Gordon and Officer Henry Wallace investigate an apparent suicide from the New Trigate Bridge. Apparently, Kirk Langstrom  is involved and that’s a bad thing.

This is another great offbeat story from John Layman with absolutely awesome art from Jason Fabok. This is a nice tale, featuring the origin of the Black Mask, the beginnings of friendship/partnership with Harvey Bullock and a cute comparison between the flashlight and the Bat Signal. Even the backup by Layman and Jorge Lucas is okay and, as you know, I am not a huge fan of back-up tales adding a dollar to my book.

EARTH 2 #17: Superman appears to be reborn as a servant of Darkseid and Earth 2 appears to be out of options. But General Sam lane has one and downloads Lois Lane’s consciousness into Red Tornado. Inside World Army Headquarters, Mister Terrific suggest they need Kryptonite to stop him. But Doctor fate believes he has to use magic this time and heads off to fight Superman. Meanwhile, Headquarters are breached as Batman breaks in and takes on members of the World Army in search of the chambers where they keep their prisoners. Doctor Fate battles Superman and suffers a horrific beating. Jay Garrick arrives and saves Doctor Fate, who mumbles something about “crumbles”. Back at World Army Headquarters, Lois watches her father die as batman arrives at the stasis chamber, intent on freeing the criminals and madmen who may save Earth.

Again, we are left with more questions than answers here. Thank you Tom Taylor! First off: who is this resurrected Superman? Has anyone noticed that his eyes shoot Omega Rays. Does that tell us he is really from Apokolips? Second: who is the New Batman? This guy is plenty beefy looking and seems almost Frank Miller DARK KNIGHT tough. Third: at what point in history did General Lane manage to get hold of his daughter’s consciousness and store it for implantation into a sexy looking Red Tornado? Fourth: no points for the line NO MORE MAGIC as we already lived through NO MORE MUTANTS at the competition. And just how does Batman expect to let the villains of Earth 2 save the world? Doesn’t that make the problem become THEIR VERSION of FOREVER EVIL? That all having been said, with Nicola and Trevor Scott’s art behind it, this book is picking up steam from where James Robinson, off to write FANTASTIC FOUR, left his enthusiasm.

GREEN ARROW #25: In the ZERO YEAR, Walter Emerson is visited by a hooded man who reveals himself to be Oliver Queen. He explained how he had been caught in explosion on a Queen Industries oil rig and ended up on an island until three weeks ago. He also learned that his mother Moira Queen went to Gotham to help with the blackout. Despite warnings from her head of security John Diggle, Moira stays there and finds her shelter attacked. Batman, armed with a small crossbow, tries to free her from the terrorist known as The Moth, who targeted her for her money. Soon Oliver arrives with a bow of his own. Despite Batman’s insistence, once the Moth was defeated, that he would get her out of Gotham, she decided to go with the hooded man, aware that he might be her son. She confirmed her suspicion, even though he was not ready to tell her what had happened on the island.

Another great issue from Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, even if it feels like a fill-in issue because of the whole ZERO YEAR thing. No real light is shed on the Queen legacy except that this represents the first meeting between Arrow and The Bat and we get to see a tearful reunion between mother and son. As always, Sorrentino’s art is amazing and Jeff Lemire, who spends his time moving between scary stories and cool superhero stuff, never ceases to amaze me.

GREEN LANTERN #25: Following the destruction of Oa and Kyle Rayner’s assumed death during the LIGHTS OUT story, many Green Lanterns are now hesitant to use the rings, for fear it will lead to the destruction of this universe. Hal, however, seems to think the power battery being constructed anew has refilled the energy reservoir. But, to be safe, he wants to punish unauthorized ring users, which leads to a verbal fight between Jordan and Carol Ferris. Hal decides their next mission is to hunt down renegade Star Sapphire Nol Anj. Killowog and Jordan attempt to arrest her for the murder of Green Lantern Cossite but soon find themselves outnumbered by a number of her supporters.

If this is the direction the NEW Green Lantern Universe is going to take, I’m taking to the road. Robert Venditti does a great job of emasculating the Green Lantern Corps by allowing Hal Jordan to become more of a whiner than he was in the early days of the classic Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams run. And Killowog is his Robin? Nice art from Billy Tan can’t salvage this issue which wallows too much in the whole idea of power and responsibility that just doesn’t work. Hal Jordan has lost his energy and maybe it’s time for that OTHER Green Lantern to take over-you know: the one that everyone thought was a terrorist and no one really cares about. He may be better than this guy!

THE GREEN TEAM #6: During the battle with Icicle, he smashes the meteor everyone is on, destroying the shuttle and sending everybody and everything crashing down into Earth’s atmosphere and landing in Chicago, just outside of the office of .Bellachek Temple. Bellachek, who was responsible for creating the special discs the team uses, and Commodore 64 debate about whose version of idealism is the right one. Temple decides to have his men kill Commodore 64 but Cecilia jumps in front and takes the bullet for him, apparently dying in the process. J.P. is devastated and turns into a werewolf.

Yes…you did read that right. J.P. turns into a werewolf after Cecilia gets killed. This book continues on it’s final run as no one understands what Art Baltazaar and Franco are doing with this title.

FOREVER EVIL Month #3

FOREVER EVIL #3: Batman and Catwoman have gotten Vic Stone’s remains to his father’s lab in the Red Room and avoided being trapped in Deathstorm’s Matrix. Dr. Stone and Dr. Morrow begin to try and save Vic while Batman and Catwoman search for Nightwing, whose identity has been revealed to the world. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor gets Subject B-Zero to move a satellite dish, allowing Luthor’s war suit to become fully operational. In the process, he finds the location of Ultraman, who is battling Black Adam. The villain crushes Black Adam’s jaw and tosses him into the sea. Luthor discovers Ultraman, who searches for Metallo to get access to the Kryptonite he needs to keep his powers, avoids leaving the shadow of the eclipse. In Central City, the Rogues are battling Deathstorm and Power Ring as a result of Power Ring’s paranoia. The Rogues try to escape but Deathstorm renders Captain Cold powerless by pulling his weapon from out of his DNA. The others head into Mirror World, but Power Ring smashes the mirror, trapping everyone except Captain Cold. Elsewhere, Luthor and Bizarro watch as Black Manta emerges with Black Adam’s still living but badly beaten body. The five villains, Luthor, Bizarro, Captain Cold, Black Adam and Black Manta realize that they may end up having to be responsible for saving the world.

Geoff Johns and David Finch continue their epic story of evil versus evil and now it looks like the bad guys may have to save the world after all. The story reads like a classic DC crossover of the Sixties and early Seventies, the art is mind blowing and this is one of the most fun adventures I’ve had in years. With Dick Grayson’s identity revealed, what does that mean for the Batman Family status quo? Too may questions and no real answers yet. but that’s okay, as this story is only halfway to the finish line.

FOREVER EVIL: A.R.G.U.S. #2: Steve Trevor is tasked with saving the President of the United States from Deathstroke and his team of bad guys, which he does, defeating Deathstroke, Blockbuster and Shadow Thief in the process. He gets back to A.R.G.U.S  with the President and secures him and Etta Candy in the Green Room: a room that exists out of time and space. Steve then heads to the Wonder Room, filled with artifacts of his time with Wonder Woman to visit the Delphi Mirror and communicate with The Weird Sisters about Wonder Woman’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, Killer Frost toes the line between good and evil as she no longer has Firestorm’s powers to keep her alive. She desperately needs to feed and does so on a villain named The Hotness, saving a mother and child in the process. And, in the middle of all that, Dr. Light is reborn and not happy.

Sterling Gates does a nice job of adding some depth to a character who has been pretty much background fodder since Lyle Waggoner played him on television. And the addition of the new Rooms and what is inside them leads to a whole world of future possibilities in the NEW 52 Universe. But the promised battle on the cover between Trevor and Deathstroke lasts only three panels. That’s false advertising and DC is getting really good at that. And if you are wondering where you might have seen Neil Edwards work before, it was when he was doing DARK AVENGERS for Marvel. This is definitely not his best work and a lot of that is because the inking seems to change from page to page, but it doesn’t clutter the story too much.

FOREVER EVIL: ARKHAM WAR #2: In an effort to stop the fighting in Gotham City, Kirk Langstrom has given his Man-Bat Serum to a select few. Unfortunately, Bane and his army of soldiers has merged Blackgate Penitentiary inmates as they try to take control of Gotham away from the Arkham Asylum inmates. But Kirk and his man-bats take down Brute, telling his survivors that “science is always at war against ignorance.”  Soon Penguin decides to play both sides. When the Arkham inmates come to him for protection, Penguin will go to Bane with information. In return, Penguin wants the life of Ignatius Ogilvy. Bane agrees and then heads off to keep the Arkhamites from freeing the Talons. Penguin opens the door of an abandoned food truck, where Commissioner Gordon and Detective Pierce have been inside of, and offers a deal to save the staff at Blackgate. That night, Gordon and Pierce sneak into the prison and find the interim warden, Agatha Zorbatos. She explains that most of her staff were murdered.  The Scarecrow has allied the Arkhamites with the Man-Bats, but Bane returns before they can get all the Talon pods out. He steals a off of Langstrom's back, declaring this is his Talon. Gordon, Pierce and Zorbatos escape in an ancient police cruiser, when they discover Bane who claims he can work the angles as well as The Penguin can.

Peter Tomasi and Scot Eaton weave an interesting sub chapter in the FOREVER EVIL story. With Gotham under siege, it becomes hard to know the good guys from the bad. Apparently, Bane is the baddest and everyone else pales by comparison. Disappointing is the cover which leads you to believe that bane battles the talons when in fact, the Talons don’t really make their presence known in this book. Other than that, it was a nice tale that just continues to help define when a villain is really a hero.

FOREVER EVIL: ROGUE’S REBELLION #2: In Central City, the Rogues are battling Deathstorm and Power Ring as a result of Power Ring’s paranoia. The Rogues try to escape but Deathstorm renders Captain Cold powerless by pulling his weapon from out of his DNA. The others head into Mirror World, but Power Ring smashes the mirror, tossing the Rogues throughout the city. Mirror Master keeps Heat Wave and Trickster from falling to their deaths. Weather Wizard joins them and they quickly determine that they have landed in Metropolis, without Captain Cold. Soon they find themselves in battle with a man in a red hoodie calling himself the Archer and then the Parasite. Rather than battle this creature who is using their powers to feed him, they duck into Mirror World and soon find themselves in Gotham City, where they they are captive to the queen of Robinson Park: Poison Ivy.

If you read FOREVER EVIL #3, then you have seen bits and pieces o this story. This is the more complete version, with the Rogues ending up in Metropolis and then Gotham City where they are taken captive by Posion Ivy. Very cool. I haven’t been a big fan of what DC did prior to the NEW 52 with The Rogues, but these new versions are slowly starting to grow on me, as each has their own idiosyncrasies that I truly love. Brian Buccellato and Scott Hepburn have done a nice job with the story, obviously within the framework laid out by Geoff Johns, I am sure. If you are only reading FOREVER EVIL, you are only getting part of the story.

DC'S NEW 52 Month 24, Part 2

GREEN LANTERN #24:Kyle Rayner and Star Sapphire arrive on Oa after surviving a battle with Relic that has destroyed the rest of the Blue Lantern Corps. Relic’s universe was destroyed because the lightsmiths drained the emotional spectrum. Now he is here to eliminate the Corp members and keep them from using their powers, as it will destroy this universe. He arrives at OA and sends his iron locusts to absorb the power of the Green Lantern Corps’ Central Battery, which causes the destruction of the Battery. With the destruction of the battery comes the seeming destruction of OA itself.

Robert Venditti and Billy Tan craft the first chapter of LIGHTS OUT: what is being called, by DC, as the newest epic change in the Green Lantern Universe. Relic is the big bad guy who is going to make it all happen and the fact that he has trashed the Main Power Battery on OA and now it looks like OA is doomed because of that, means that this needs to be resolved very quickly or the Lantern Universe, which just went through all sorts of conflagration, is about to be altered forever. This is a good start, but it depends on how the other chapters running through the other Lantern books plays before it all ends up in GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #2.

GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #2: Hal gives Guy the bad news that Oa is gone and John Stewart went with it. Star Sapphire says she knows where Kyle is which sets Hal off because her ring is powered by love…and we all know what THAT means for Hal. Meanwhile, at the Source Wall, Kyle is attacked by Relic, who is drawing all the spectrums of energy from within him to gain enough power the break through the wall. That’s when Hal and the remains of the Corps arrive. As the battle commences, John Stewart arrives, having been on the Indigo Planet. First thing he does his punch out Guy Gardner for switching to a Red Lantern and then jumps into the fray. As the battle continues and Relic takes a pretty good beating , Kyle states that he is the key and his powers reach 100%. Relic has his way to the Source and he becomes part of it. With Kyle seemingly dead and gone and power levels crashing, the Indigos transport the Lanterns to their new home: Mogo. The Lanterns who remain are now reluctant to use their powers for fear of extinguishing this universe. Unbeknownst to them, Kyle Rayner did not perish, as he emerges from the Source Wall not remembering what he had seen. It is decided to keep his return a secret…for now.

Robert Venditti brings this mini-epic to a close with a moral: never burn your candles at both ends. The Lanterns are now hesitant about using their power, the big bad villain is part of the Source and Kyle Rayner emerges from what looked like absolute death to become the White Lantern once again. The biggest “the Guardians will change forever” piece that came from this is the rescued power usage and the destruction of Oa, which is pretty significant. But when you have a sentient planet like Mogo waiting to take you in, everything is fine. All in all, it was an okay mini-series that would have been that much better if Geoff Johns had been behind it.

GREEN TEAM #5: The Team finds themselves on a space mission to a runaway meteor that is owned by Bellachek Temple owns the runaway meteor. They land on the meteor to start exploring. Not long after they land, a villain named Icicle attacks and destroys the spaceship, leaving them stranded.

All I have to say is it’s a good thing this book is getting cancelled, because it just gets worse with every issue. And I’m a fan of Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani. But PLEASE go back to writing funny kids books because this thing is going nowhere and making next to no sense. The characters are cardboard, Ig Guara is just phoning in his art and it just is like taking three bucks and tossing it away. How many more issues? I just want it to end!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #8: Stargirl finds herself in a field of grass next to the unconscious body of the Martian Manhunter. He awakens and they are in some kind of prison. The voice of Jason Rusch, explains they are just the most recent inmates of a high-tech prison created for them. He believes they are in the outer layer and that the only way to get out is to go down. They discover a trap door in the middle of a field and Jason and J'onn open a hatch into a lower level that looks like Themyscira, where the Amazons and Wonder Woman are in battle with the military. Diana explains that the Amazons have captured Steve Trevor, while the mortals have captured Superman.  J'onn warns Stargirl to stay up top as each prison seems specifically designed to prey on their weaknesses. Jason leads J'onn in to a recreated Fawcett City, where Shazam is destroying everything and has no desire to leave. They move on to the Flash's cell, where he spends his time listing all of the numerous things he did all in one morning.  J'onn moves on to the next level as Jason stays behind He finds Superman wallowing in the guilt he feels for killing Dr. Light. He next finds Green Lantern Simon Baz, who has given in to everyone’s belief that he was a terrorist. Stargirl contacts J'onn, saying she found a way out. She steps through an illusory wall and finds herself back in the real world…or what is left of it.

So the heroes aren’t dead, not that we thought they REALLY were. They are being held in some strange prison that preys on their weaknesses. Because, let’s be honest, even the greatest heroes have weaknesses. Matt Kindt and Doug Mahnke turn up the heat and give us a crucial chapter in this epic. Without this information, you go on thinking that the heroes are dead…or something else. Kindt writing, despite what some seem to think, works really well and I love Doug Mahnke’s art. I’ve always love Mahnke’s art, going back to such things as THE MASK and MAJOR DISASTER. This was a fun chapter in the FOREVER EVIL saga.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #24: A quarter of a century ago, Jor-Il and his wife Lara fought to get their son Kal to a rocket that would save him from the destruction their planet was facing. Jor-Il’s final warning to his son was this: Be the strongest there is or be nothing at all. His rocket crashed through the roof of the Kent home is Smallville, Kansas. Jonathan and his drug-addicted wife Martha discover Kal in the rubble eating chunks of Kryptonite. He used his heat vision to burn away Jonathan's hand, telling them they would be his parents from now on. That was until he was seven years old, when he killed them and burned their farm to the ground. Over the years, he murdered the President of the United States Lee Harvey Oswald, convinced Hal Jordan into being Power Ring, and found himself manipulated by Lois Lane. But the Crime Syndicate ultimately had to face the destruction of their Earth by the same being who destroyed Krypton. Ultraman is concerned that this world the Crime Syndicate has invaded is so weak that it could never survive an attack like his Earth had faced. Deathstorm and Power Ring are off to battle the Rogues. Atomica and Johnny Quick seem to have their own agenda; attacking any superhuman they find. Superwoman is watching over their prisoner, Dick Grayson. Meanwhile, Ultraman has gone to stop a problem in Khandaq, but stops at the Daily Planet in the process. He corners Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane and crushes the hand Jimmy uses to take his photos. Jimmy's signal watch goes off but tells Jimmy, willing to sacrifice himself to save his friends that no one is coming to save them. Grid interrupts, telling him the problem in Khandaq, Black Adam, is headed right for him. That makes him very happy as he intends to kill this example one of the worlds strongest.

Geoff Johns gives us a great, if not bizarre origin for Ultraman and proves he is a complete megalomaniac. C’mon: he killed his parents when he was seven. Be broke Jimmy Olsen’s hand because he doesn’t use his photo abilities to blackmail people. And now he’s off to battle Black Adam. Any bets, folks? Ivan Reis is putting out some of his best art in his career and this issue sure highlights it. I hate to say it, but while people are going crazy over INFINITY and CATACLYSM over at Marvel, I am TRULY enjoying FOREVER EVIL. Maybe it’s just further proof that my years of being a Marvel Zombie is over.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #24: Constantine wakes in the House of Mystery to find himself surrounded by small, demonic versions of himself. All are prepared to torment him. He also is confused, as he should have been killed with the rest of the various Justice League teams. He believes the House itself is a sentient being that saved him. He then finds himself transported to various places across the globe. He goes to a house in Paris, where a married couple is having trouble. He spots a dark force looming over them before he is transported to New York City where he spies a young woman with the same darkness around her. He learns that evil grows from the darkness within people, assuring victory for the Crime Syndicate from the very start. Back in the House, John is taunted by visions of the friends he left to die. Zatanna explains that he is under the effect of Pandora's Box and she came to cure him. She shoves her arm into his chest, tearing out a black mass. When he awakens, he finds her next to him. Despite her solid advice, he realizes it’s the Nightmare Nurse who cured him of the virus. And she has brought reinforcements in the form of a Swamp Thing of her own making.

J.M. DeMatteis weaves another connecting chapter in the saga of JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK as they cross through FOREVER EVIL. What we discover is that evil is inside everyone and that is what the Crime Syndicate was hoping for. By opening the box, those evils have come to the forefront and infected Constantine with it’s virus. Now the Nightmare Nurse has saved him, but he owes her. Can’t wait to see what that payback entails. Nice art from Mikel Janin makes this story a winner and a crucial part of this tale.

LARFLEEZE #4: Larfleeze’s Orange Lantern Corps have a major bone to pick with their leader. Basically, they have come back from the dead bur must kill Larfleeze. He blames his trouble on The Wanderer who, among other things, has stolen his butler, who finds himself on a dreadful planet and in an awful place. The Orange Lanterns defeat Larfleeze and then argue about who gets to kill him. Then they realize that they cannot kill him as he has become the Orange Light’s Power Source, meaning they will lose their powers too. So they him bind up Larfleeze and fly away. My only question is where they charge those rings.

Yeah, I am starting to find this title to be a complete and total drag. The jokes have kind of worn thin and the plot is totally missing the mark. Keith Giffen is a crazy genius, but this one is starting to fall away. Goodbye Orange Lantern, It’s been an interesting ride.

THE MOVEMENT #5: The Movement is growing, much to the dismay of James Cannon, with offshoots as far away as Beijing China. Captain Meers has a meeting with Virtue at a local doughnut shop. Meers begs her not to continue on with the trial of his two men. In exchange for his men, he offers a civilian review board and have patrols return to the 'Tweens. She decides that she needs to stop the trial but, unfortunately, it has already begun. Meers returns to his car with a cell phone he had a wino use to take pictures of the meet. He believes Virture works a job where she relies on tips. Meanwhile, Mouse tries to write a love letter to Tremor, when the rats bring him word that the Cornea Killer has struck again. He and the rats hurry to rescue a woman arriving just in time, but the killer turns his knife toward him. Vengeance Moth introduces Katharsis as the prosecutor with Tremor as the advocate for the defense and then asks Peña and Whitt for their pleas. Whitt stays silent, but Peña pleads guilty and offers his apology, which they girl they assaulted refuses. Tremor defends her clients' character by bringing up their commendations for bravery. Peña apologizes again while Whitt demands whatever punishment is due. Vengeance Moth calls a recess so the jury can deliberate. During deliberations, Whitt decides to escape, and pushes Vengeance Moth out of her wheelchair. Peña tries to help her back up, but with a scary glow in her eyes, warns Whitt that was the wrong thing to do. He gets tackled by Katharsis who prepares to run him through with her sword, but loses his balance when Tremor causes the floor to shake, warning Peña and Whitt to flee through the tunnels behind her. Katharsis calls Tremor a traitor. Tremor says that if this is what the Movement does, she wants out. The Cornea Killer arrives with the Graveyard Faction: a group of metahumans hired to oppose the Movement.

I still do not quite know what Gail Simone and Freddie Williams II are doing here but I like it. I don’t know why, but I find this book an intriguing mess of a comic. Seriously: I don’t really know why I like this book because, except for the writing and artwork, it’s a mess. It’s a confusing mess that wouldn’t pass for a bad teen soap opera movie.  AND I LOVE IT! Is it in my Top Ten? Not quite. But it’s just below it. Pick this up and give it a try: it is a very quirky little read that just tickles my fancy.

NIGHTWING #24: Nightwing  finds himself having to team up with the man who murdered his parents: Tony Zucco. Zucco tells Nightwing that Wallace Cole became mayor of Chicago because of two things. The first was a train line that he and his brother convinced City Hall to run through their old neighborhood. One Halloween, the project's electrical engineer, died. The Prankster is Harold Loomis' son. Zucco learned all of this because he shared a cell with Wallace Cole’s brother, William. Tonight is Halloween and the Prankster intends to finish things. Wallace Cole, who claims he is innocent of everything he has been accused of, is being held hostage by Oswald Loomis. The Prankster explains this is payback from the Coles taking away all that Oswald loved. His people have filled old Pilsen station with enough explosives to collapse the south side. He gives Wallace a remote and tells him he is the only one who can stop the countdown and he is the person Chicago hates the most. The citizens begin to attack him, which may prevent him from getting to the station in time. Nightwing arrives in time to protect the Mayor, but the remote gets destroyed by the feet of the citizens. Nightwing gets the mayor to safety and hopes he can get to the station before the explosives detonate. He starts the train and it crosses the Kinzie Street Bridge, where it explodes away from residents. He gets attacked by the Prankster, but gets saved by Tony Zucco. The police arrive to arrest Zucco and Loomis. Dick returns to his apartment, where Joey tells him she’s taking her room back, and he's going back to the couch. Tony Zucco receives a visit from a man who tells him his employers can help him beat the rap. Zucco insists on taking responsibility even as the man reveals that Tony's wife and son have left him. Meanwhile, Maxwell Morgan calls Michael Pearson to warn that vigilantes like Nightwing need to be out of Chicago. Michael claims he had been a big fan of Ghostwalker's until things went wrong. Maxwell says there are no heroes anymore and Chicago must make sure it stays that way. It is revealed that Maxwell Morgan once was Ghostwalker.

Kyle Higgins, with art by Will Conrad does a great job of tying up the loose ends involving Dick Grayson and his long sought after enemy Tony Zucco. He moved him to Chicago for what looks to be a permanent, or semi-permanent stay and let him carve out his own niche with a whole new supporting cast. And, since the vigilantes have long been gone from Chicago, it looks like a certain former hero may become a part of this whole thing, either as a foil or possibly a sidekick. Just what we need: a former teen sidekick with a sidekick. That could be fun. Anyway, I really like the direction this is going. Dick is not as serious as he was when he was in Bludhaven, but he still knows when to kick ass!

NIGHTWING ANNUAL #1: Dick Grayson has decided to make the move to Chicago permanent and Barbara Gordon has agreed to help him pack up. She is not happy, but he explains that he can do some good in Chicago. He finds a photograph of himself with Barbara as Robin and Batgirl. The Bat-Signal lights up the sky shining in the night sky. He remarks that Bruce Wayne is out of town and he suggests that he and her should handle it. We learn that actress Cindy Cooke might be the target of an arsonist, especially since her ex-boyfriend Ted Carson has recently burned to death. She suspects the arsonist is Garfield Lynns: a pyrotechnics professional she fired some time ago. Dick and Barbara search Lynns' loft. While they search, he proposes that she move with him to Chicago. Based on evidence they find, they think his next target may be the Willowbrook Charity Dinner. They arrive in time to stop Lynns, using the name Firefly, from setting Cindy on fire. They lose track of her long enough to see a grenade explode. Diving into the flames, Dick returns with the woman's charred remains in his arms. But somehow Lynns switched out Cindy for her agent. In another location, Cindy is held captive by Firefly, who is really Ted Carson, but Barbara and Dick arrive to save her with Firefly apparently dying a second time. The next morning, despite admitting to meet before he left, Barbara finds his apartment empty. He has already left for Chicago without talking to her.

Yeah, I really love Kyle Higgins and what he has done with this character. If you want to watch me gush over his work, refer to the previous review. And check out Jason Masters artwork on this one. He just continues to get better with each new piece he works on. This was a nice departure from the current NIGHTWING storyline but, at the same time, ties into that storyline while also tying in to the current BATGIRL tale. This was a nice effort all around.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #24: Jason Todd is currently leading the League of Assassins against the Untitled. Meanwhile, Roy Harper has been placed in a holding cell with Cheshire sitting across from him. He whines and cries that he has been horrible to his friends and begins to cry, wanting to know why he's broken. Cheshire slips between the bars of his cell and says he's not broken. She attempts to kiss him, but Roy pulls away. Cheshire holds out her hand and orders him to take it and they transport to Kori’s cell, where he apologizes for what he did wrong. Meanwhile, Jason is in battle with Drakar, who senses Ducra somewhere in his mind. Confused, Drakar collapses into the fountain that hides the Well of Sins. He begs to be removed as the pool strips him of both his power and life-force. When it vomits him out, he is an old man. Jason warns the remainder of the Untitled that they will all suffer the same fate at which point Lady Shiva unleashing the Man-Bats and casting the Untitled into the Well of Sins. Suddenly Drakar leaps onto his back, warning that he can’t be killed so easily. But he’s wrong as Bronze Tiger reaches out and breaks the old man's neck. Suddenly, a cloaked figure appears and heads toward the Well of Sins. Jason blocks him and demands to know who the man is. The man introduces himself as Ra's al Ghul.

Finally the big guy shows up and it’s truly about rime. We could see this coming from miles and issues away. So, now what does Jason do? Does he follow his current calling and lead the League of Assassins or does some small remnant of what was in his past come forward and allow him to save his friends? And what of that wonderful triangle forming between Kori, Roy and Cheshire. That could be interesting if played right. Let’s not forget that Cheshire and Roy had a major relationship in the old DCU. It’s a nice bit of intrigue from James Tynion IV and Julius Gopez.

RED LANTERNS #24: After being caught by Bleez as he was trying to convince Hal Jordan to come get him off Ysmault, he tells the Lanterns about his real reasons for becoming a Red Lantern. he also says that, despite his original intentions, he is through with the Green lantern Corps. In the midst of it all, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps, which tends to cast doubt on the revelation that he’s done with the Green Lantern Corps and the Red lanterns attack. Since the Power Battery has been destroyed and the Green Lanterns don’t have much power, Hal orders the Corps to defend themselves while he talks with Guy. He agrees to help the Corps against Relic, provided the Red Lanterns get their own sector. Meanwhile, at the edge of the Omniverse, Relic is trying to penetrate the Source Wall.

Charles Soule is killing this title. No, not in a bad way-in a VERY good way. The bad way was the way that Pete Milligan dragged this book through the muck when we were all hoping for better. Soule has made the Red Lanterns cool again instead of being a complete bunch of whining, fighting psychos. Of course, Atrocitus is still lurking in the wings. On a somewhat related note, what is this whole thing with the Omniverse? Is this the NEW 52’s version of the Multiverse? And The Source Wall-when do we get through it and realize it leads to New Genesis. Oh yeah: let me not forget to give credit to Allessandro Vitti whose artwork also is killing this title!

SUICIDE SQUAD #24:With the power out, Amanda Waller has been cornered during the riot at Belle Reve by El Diablo. She tells him he was never worthy of being a part of the Squad and activates the nanobomb in his neck, causing his head to explode. She runs into Deadshot and reminds him that she still has Suchin. If he does one more mission she will hand over all her intel on the girl. She tells him to put a team together for a mission in the Rocky Mountains where it is believed that the Crime Syndicate has a weapon. Meanwhile, the Crime Syndicate has the inmates building a powerful satellite for them. They are kept in line by King Shark, based on the orders of a man in cell nine called the "Thinker”: a genius level man who suffers from a nerve-degenerating disease. Deadshot and Harley recruits Captain Boomerang, who is promised first shot at Waller when the mission is finished, along with a vigilante called Warrant. When they arrive, they meet Steel and the Unknown Soldier, who claims to be in charge of this operation. Suddenly they find themselves under attack by the Crime Syndicate's soldiers but managed to get saved by Waller’s final recruit: Power Girl. The Crime Syndicate's weapon is OMAC and they are ready to extract him when Waller contacts the Unknown Soldier and orders him to kill Deadshot's team. It is revealed that The Thinker used a device to disguise his voice as Waller's. And the real Waller orders Deadshot not to bring OMAC to Belle Reve.

Matt Kindt and Patrick Zircher weave their web on this title, which has now been thrust into the very middle of FOREVER EVIL. Will OMAC make his way to Belle Reve where he can be put to use by the Crime Syndicate? Will The Unknown Soldier be able to finish the business that the false Waller has demanded?  Will Deadshot and his team survive the mission? Stay tuned, kids: this wild ride is just beginning.

SUPERMAN #24: Lois, out of her coma and transformed, battles the Psycho Pirate in psychic combat, only to be defeated. However she manages to pull Superman out of his coma just in time for Hector Hammond and the H.I.V.E. Queen, stripped of the illusion she once illustrated, join forces with our heroes. Superman attacks the Pirate while Lois attempts to free the people of Metropolis from his grasp. Hammond and the Queen use telepathic attacks on the Pirate while Lois has rip the mask off. Illusions of Jonathan and Martha Kent implore him to wear the mask but Lois convinces him not to, which reveals that she knows he is really Clark Kent. He destroys the mask with his heat vision as Lois falls back into a coma. Superman takes her to the hospital, leaving Hammond, the Queen and the Pirate to escape. As Superman leaves the hospital, a mysterious force pulls him into outer space.

Mike Johnson does something Scott Lobdell couldn’t: write a fun story that doesn’t suck! So we see Lois divulging the information that she knows Clark is Superman. But will that be with her when she eventually awakens from her coma? My guess is probably not, unless we want to split up Superman and Wonder Woman and create the relationship that we should rightfully have: Lois and Clark! Eddy Barrows’ art is a joy to behold and the whole issue rocked right along, not plodded as past ones have done. Johnson needs to stay on this book and help to propel it back to some semblance of greatness, especially with ACTION, SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN and SUPERMAN BATMAN just filling shelf space.

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #1: Superman and Wonder Woman are flying together and trying to handle a disturbance in Norway so they can go to dinner in Oslo. Earlier, Clark Kent and Cat Grant were discussing creating a high-profile news blog. Clark is introduced to Cat's new boyfriend, but leaves as soon as he can. Wonder Woman was in London, sparring with Hessia who eventually yields. Diana confided to Hessia that she dislikes the secrecy in her relationship with Superman.  A little later, Clark arrives for his date with Diana , carrying an exotic, other-worldly potted flower from his Fortress. She explains her displeasure that they are keeping their relationship a secret. Clark explains he wants to save this one thing just for the two of them. They do some cuddling when they are interrupted by the Justice League message about the situation in Norway. Back in the present, the military plane is saved by Wonder Woman when and uncontrollable Superman smashes through the plane. Wonder Woman grabs the two pilots and gives them to Superman to take them down to Earth. Seems they have both been attacked by the Royal Norwegian Navy, who believed they deliberately destroyed the plane. Wonder Woman dismantles their forward gun mount. Superman’s attacker, Doomsday, lands on the deck of the ship and rips apart the two pilots forcing Wonder Woman to battle him.

So here we have the Superman/Wonder Woman romance peppered with a little action. I am sorry: am I the ONLY ONE who doesn’t like the pairing of these two as lovers? Am I the only one who wants Lois and Clark together, the way it should be? Charles Soule and Tony Daniel make the book look and sound great. But I totally dislike their relationship and don’t give a crap about Cat Grant and her business prospects. Despite dropping Doomsday into the book with a rather graphic killing rage, I won’t be following this love story.

SWAMP THING #24: The Seeder had attacked Capucine and left the message: "It's Time, Professor." Alec determines that The Seeder must be someone who used to know Alec and apparently will be back. Alec leads her deep in the swamp, showing her to the house that he had built for Abby many years ago. She tells him she was born in the year 1114 on an island off the coast of France. Before she can continue, Alec senses the Seeder's presence and leaves.The Seeder is arguing with the Parliament of Trees. The Parliament says they once saw promise in him and gave him power for saving Alec's life. Alec arrives and unmasks the Seeder. It is Jason Woodrue who did save Alec's life many years ago. He tries to tell Alec that together they could use the Green to make things better for the world. He explains that things don’t work that way; that there is a balance in The Green. Helping one area of the world could lead to death somewhere else. Woodrue throws some seeds at the Swamp Thing and a thorny flower vine grows from Alec's body, tearing him to pieces. Capucine arrives and snaps his arm, which frees Alex and allows him to trap Woodrue. The vines fall away, freeing Woodrue. The Parliament has returned Woodrue's gifts to him to see who would be the better avatar.

Thank you Charles Soules for bringing Jason Woodrue back into the NEW 52 Universe. And it looks like we’re heading to a battle to see who will be the Avatar of the Green. And just HOW did Woodrue save Alec’s life? And will we EVER get to hear Capucine’s full story? Too many questions and I want some answers…NOW! Adrei Bressan’s art shines through too and is a nice compliment to the story. I can’t wait for the next issue to see how this turns out. As always, SWAMP THING is a great read in this corner of the NEW 52.

TEEN TITANS #24: At the end of the last issue, the Teen Titans were sucked into the future. In this issue, they find themselves rocked through the time stream where they meet themselves and their teammates at crucial points in their careers. Red Robin finds Miguel in a church talking to himself. He explains how to meet up with Red Robin in TEEN TITANS #3 and makes him promise never to tell Red Robin about this encounter. Next stop is Egypt where the Sunturians are trying to conquer Earth. Wonder Girl and Superboy arrive to help him. In the future, Kid Flash and Solstice find themselves on a ship belonging to The Functionary. Kid Flash tries to stop Bar Tor, who is really himself, from blowing up a ship full of soldiers but fails, which explains why he is a hunted man. Raven finds herself in the distant past battling Etrigan and gets saved by Wonder Girfl, who arrives and snaps the demon’s neck. Wonder Girl tells Raven she has to collect their souls to save them looping forever. She does and then informs Trigon that she has caught them all.

The fact that I have to endure Scott Lobdell putting really bad rhymes within Etrigan’s mouth is enough to make me want to burn this title. To have the Crime Syndicate send them through time just to meet themselves and drop hints that would lead them together is a plot device so old that I can’t believe it has been used. And Raven still continues to play the good witch/bad witch role as she works with Trigon. Seriously; I am sick of Trigon and this title. Give me the good old days of the NEW TEEN TITANS and I’ll be happy. Actually, I feel like reading the classic Marv Wolfman stuff just because it is so much better than this could ever be. And Angel Unzueta, even with Art Thibert assisting, is certainly no George Perez.

TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #2: Continuing from TEEN TITANS #24, Red Robin, Superboy and Wonder Girl have found themselves stuck twenty years in the future with no easy way to get out. Tim leads them to the Batcave so he can use the Batcomputers to find Kid Flash and Solstice. But the Batcave has been torn apart and finds a stuffed Batman there along with a pile of ashes on the floor. A Holographic Batman appears pointing out that one person is responsible for this. At that point, they are teleported to the Justice League Watchtower where they meet a grown Garfield Logan(who is now his traditional green): last member of the Justice League. Then he introduces them to the New Teen Titans: Red(daughter of Rose Wilson), Blur, Stonehenge and Irony. Superboy steps outside the Watchtower and receives a psychic message from Jon-El and eventually the pair battle inside the moon. It seems that It seems that in the future, Jon-El, the son of a future Lois Lane and future Superman is the one responsible for killing Batman, Aquaman and other members of the Justice League. Garfield explains that this is Harvest’s timeline. Wonder Girl sees a hologram from Tim explaining a future betrayal. Does HE become Harvest? And do we now have two Jon Kents in the current New 52 Universe? It sure seems that way.

No comments here. The whole thing is silly and confusing.

TRINITY OF SIN PANDORA #4: Pandora finds herself amongst the ruins of the Washington Capitol Building. She finds a badly injured Earth 3 version of the Martian Manhunter, who begs to now if the rest of the Crime Syndicate made it through the portal. He dies in hr arms before he can tell her how to prevent the conquest. Suddenly, she finds herself back on our Earth and realizes she will always bear the curse of the seven sins. Two days later, she visits Marcus Severin and tells him he must reassemble the remains of the Box. She explains that the Box is an alien transport device that was responsible for bringing the Crime Syndicate here. But he has neither the tools nor the knowledge to do that. Pandora knows that the Outsider must be involved and she seeks Vandal Savage to help her. When they meet, he immediately crushes her jaw and she shoots off his hand. He offers her the communications device that the Society gave him, with coordinates for a meeting he will not attend. She arrives at the ruins of the Justice League Satellite, finds the Outsider inside, and places her gun against his spine, demanding that he provide the answer.

I have to say that I am surprised that Ray Fawkes is able to keep this story going. You would think that after the Box was opened and destroyed and turned out to be a transport device, that DC would have nowhere to go with this. But I guess I was wrong as Fawkes has now turned her into the DC version of the Punisher. With guns a blazin’, she’s gonna make the world right again! Yeah, and with Francis Portela handling the artwork, that is probably gonna happen.

TRINITY OF SIN THE PHANTON STRANGER #12: Last issue, The Phantom Stranger was destroyed by the Angel Zauriel. This issue, The Phantom Stranger finds himself in his old home with the dog, who rewards the Stranger . with the loss of two coins. He is told his next task is to reclaim two souls. Chris decides he needs to confront The Phantom Stranger, as even his own family is creeped out by him. Among other things, he is able to teleport when The Phantom Stranger does. They visit Terrance Thirteen who is dying in his bathtub after slitting his wrists. Chris grabs Thirteen’s wrists and brings him back to life. Thirteen tells The Stranger that The Question his murder attempt of The Stranger. The Phantom Stranger heads back home to find his house on fire and The Sin Eater appears to be the cause.

Okay, so now THE PHANTOM STRANGER has become a buddy book? Chris is now going to be The Stranger’s partner, possibly with Dr. Thirteen tagging along. Seriously? And The Sin Eater, the guy who The Phantom Stranger killed to become, is back and burning down the house of memories. J. M. DeMatteis and Fernando Blanco write a pretty lame issue. Lose the sidekicks and let The Stranger hang with JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK. In other words, perhaps it is time to close the chapter on this title.

WONDER WOMAN #24: Apollo calls the Gods of Olympus, minus the captured First Born to a meeting. But one of the Gods is missing. Diana is helping to decorate a house in London she will share with Zola and Hera, who decides to decorate their mantle with Lennox's head. Hermes appears and, against her will, takes Diana to Mount Olympus. Apollo explains that, because of her actions, she is now the God of War.  She has fulfilled the prophecy of a child of Zeus killing another. In return, she wants Hera restored to her place among the gods, but Apollo refuses. Diana leaves, warning that a war is coming. Hermes returns Diana to London, who insists that he leaves. She calls him a traitor, a kidnapper, and a liar. He says he would do it again if needed and Zola slaps his face. Back on Olympus, Strife insists that Wonder Woman will die by her hand. Meanwhile, Milan is pursued by a helicopter that blinds him. His pursuer is Cassandra, his half-sister.

Brian Azzarello continues to shake up the Olympian Universe and is sure to piss off die hard fans with this one. Especially making Diana the Goddess of War and mounting poor Lennox’ head on a mantle. Another great issue which is only hampered by Goran Sudzuka artwork. It’s not bad, but it’s not Cliff Chiang.

WORLDS’ FINEST #16: Huntress races to an explosion during New York Fashion Week and quickly starts saving lives. Smelling an accelerant, she spots the arsonist and gives chase, eventually finding the suspect is a woman with powers. She jumps on a train and Helena chases it down the tracks, eventually losing her. Meanwhile, Karen Starr is ticked that her employees have failed to retrieve her Starr Industries assets and demand they resolve the situation quickly. While picking out professional outfits she can wear as a business woman again when Helena arrives, explaining the story of the arsonist. Karen spots smoke on the horizon and, once arriving Helena notices this is happening at another Fashion Week event. Power Girl tries to put out the fire by drawing water from a lake. Huntress wants to apprehend the arsonist, but is detoured by having to rescue a group of models who were purposely tied up to burn. The pair eventually catches the arsonist who uses her powers to escape. Once again, Karen’s powers are on the fritz and she is left feeling she needs to figure out the problem and soon.


Okay, first the good: great art from R. B. Silva. Now the bad: Paul Levitz’ worst story since he was writing THE HUNTRESS mini-series. It just is boring. Karen wants her powers back and wants her toys back. The Huntress keeps missing the arsonist who we know has powers. There is no forward progression  here and I really could care less WHO the arsonist is, although I expect her to be either one of Darkseid’s minions or someone from Earth 2 or 3 who we haven’t met yet. Sorry, Paul: if this had been my first issue of the title, I wouldn’t pick up another one.