JUSTICE LEAGUE #16: This issue begins where AQUAMAN #15 left off with Aquaman ready to go to war with the League because they are interfering with Atlantean business. Aquaman knocks Superman out in the process and then proceeds to have a verbal battle with Batman, who he calls Bruce in front of everyone. So, as the Atlantean invasion continues, Cyborg is trying to rescue Dr. Shin from Aquagirl. He needs to get to the League quickly as Orm has taken out the entire League and encased them in solid water. But before he does, he visits his father at S.T.A.R. Labs to have his human lung removed so he can battle underwater. But before that happens, he contacts the heroes of the world to assist, including Goldrush, Vixen, Element Woman and Black Lightning, among others. In the back up, Sivanaus is still collecting Sins and Black Adam finally confronts Shazam.
Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis move the THRONE OF ATLANTIS story along nicely as we race towards the next chapter in AQUAMAN #16. I’m pretty excited to see some of these heroes make their NEW 52 debut, like Vixen. I hope that we will get to see red Tornado and the Metal Men as both T.O. Morrow and Will Magnus are referred to. At the same time, I give a BIG SLAP to Geoff Johns for the dumbest thing I have seen since the dialogue in issue #1. Superman gets knocked out by Aquaman? Are you kidding me? Then he blurts out Bruce’s name in front of his brother? Yeah: nothing like ruining someone’s secret identity now! Regarding the SHAZAM tale: it needs to be a regular series. And this issue’s art looks much cleaner than previously. I think Gary Frank has finally been able to catch up and not rush through his stuff.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #16: Poor Boston Brand. He was dead, then he was alive and now he’s dead again and has to fight a fiery creature who wants a tool for Deadman to get through. He just powers through and that is the end of that problem. Meanwhile, Zatanna and Tim Hunter learn from the creatures of the Wild Underground that Tim is expected to be the ruler of this place as his ancestor, The Hunter, was once a ruler here. Vikar is doing a great job of taking apart the team. Black Orchid is an elemental shambler. Madame Xanadu is aging rapidly and John Constantine can no longer lie. So, with nothing to help them, they are forced to surrender. But, before Vikar can bring them to the Network, Epoch is struck by global tremors. Obviously, something is terribly wrong here. Back on Earth, Dr. Peril realizes that the tremors are crossing through the portal. If he doesn’t close it and trap the team in Epoch forever, this could lead to Earth’s doom.
Things certainly don’t look good for our team of supernatural superheroes. How are Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes going to paint them out of this corner? Will Mikel Janin be around to help them? And when all is said and done, will the team ever be the same again? Tune in next month for all the answers…or at least a bunch of them.
NIGHTWING #16: The Joker has killed Jimmy Clark and Raya Vestri and Dick Grayson is completely convinced that the villain knows the identity of the Bat-Family. A message was carved onto Raya’s stomach directing Nightwing to Amusement Mile. When he arrives there, it’s Joker’s voice on the PA system that directs him through the park. He taunts him, telling him he doesn’t understand why Nightwing would come back to Gotham after so many years being Robin. He ends up in a football field, where he finds the corpses of former Haly's Circus performers. The Joker detonates a bomb that fills the place with Joker Gas. Despite the toxin, Nightwing assaults Joker who stabs our hero with a screwdriver from his tool belt. The entire population of Haly's Circus, including young Christina Sorrano, is affected by Joker Venom. Nightwing passes out and when he wakes, he sees the Joker with a bloodstained dinner platter.
I have nothing to say about this issue except that it is shear brilliance. This Joker is about as sick as he has ever been and BATMAN #17 is going to show us just how demented he is.
PHANTOM STRANGER #4: The Stranger, in his alter ego, finds himself stuck clothing shopping with his wife. He feels a shift on the “perceptual and energetic plane” and realizes his wife has been abducted. Shortly after, Constantine and Justice League Dark summon him to the House of Mystery, as the wily Brit wants the Stranger to join the team and take part in the upcoming War of the Three. Wanting no part of this, the Stranger attempts to leave. Frankenstein attempts to stop him and has his arm ripped off for his troubles. Deadman tries to possess him, but he is too pure and the ghost man is bounced out of the body. Sending his teammates outside, Constantine and the Stranger talk amongst themselves regarding the situation at hand. The Brit also reveals a missing silver coin from the chain around the Stranger’s neck. Without it, he can never obtain redemption. With that, John sends the Stranger back to the mall, where he learns his wife is truly gone. Teleporting home, he finds the hung bodies of his children’s baby-sitter-they too are missing. Pandora arrives and puts the blame on the Spectre.
As you may know, I have hated this book since the first issue. But I have hung on because I wanted to see how badly it would mess with such an iconic character and prayed for something better. Well, we finally have gotten a LITTLE better and here’s why. Dan Didio, who wrote the horrendous first few issues, is now only credited to plotting the book. J. M. DeMatteis, whose credits are long and well respected, is now writing the script and that means the dialogue isn’t as dopey as it was. My other complaint was that Brent Anderson art was looking incredibly sloppy. But that too has been rectified as Phillip Tan and Rob Hunter and inking his work. The wait may have been worth it. With an upcoming battle with The Spectre looming, this title may surprise yet!
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #16: Arsenal, Starfire and the Teen Titans get attacked by a gang of homeless people affected by Joker Venom. Wonder Girl joins in and help hold off the gang. They also agree they should work together to find their missing teammates: Red Robin and Red Hood. Arsenal analyzes a blood sample and discovers that a nearby warehouse has the needed chemicals to make an anti-toxin to cure the vagrants. While the Titans and Starfire go to the warehouse, Bunker and Arsenal hold off the crowd. Roy flashes back to a time when Killer Croc' had dragged him into the sewer and gave him a place to stay, as long as he stayed in Alcoholics Anonymous. At the warehouse, the Joker left a bomb for them but Bart gets them all to safety and some of the counter-synthetics. With his super speed, Bart administers the anti-toxin. Elsewhere, Deathstroke has been hired to kill Red Hood and his companions. And Hugo Strange holds a book signing for his latest publication. Lastly, the Joker has a special platter for Jason Todd.
Okay…the race to the conclusion is here. This somewhat silly chapter filled with Joker Zombie vagrants and the debate about whether to kill these homeless people or not. At least gives us some Roy Harper back-story. Instead of being a junkie, he is an alcoholic. And he is helped by Killer Croc? Interesting! And Hugo Strange shows up as an author? Also interesting! We get some fun, teenage dialogue from Scott Lobdell and some Image infused artwork from Timothy Green II and Wayne Faucher. Let’s see how well the book stands up AFTER this crossover.
RED LANTERNS #16: Atrocitus takes out an Alpha Manhunter and gets the rest of the manhunters on Ryutt to come to his aid and follower his lead. They eventually end up on Maltus where they discover the ghosts of the past, one of whom appears to be alive. That would be Krona. Meanwhile, on Ysmault, Ratchet, the Guardian of the power battery, discovers that the planet is a vampire planet sucking the energy out of the battery. And,. In the process, confronts Roixaeume, who Atrocitus supposedly killed in RED LANTERNS #0. And Rankorr and Bleez confront the perosn who killed Rancorr’s grandfather. Bleez spits hot blood into his spleen to make him suffer. Rancorr is much more direct, kills him, and then has to deal with a construct of his grandfather berating him. Bleez tries to get romantic with him and he rejects her. A rejected Bleez means trouble for everyone.
Where is this book going? Peter Milligan again tries to recapture his earlier glory as a writer, but this isn’t the book. The only truly interesting character in the bunch is Bleez and that’s because she is a viscous two faced Lantern. We seem to have forgotten most of the Red Lanterns and now only focus on Bleez, Rancorr and Atrocitus. By the way: editorial drops the ball again. The cover says that Miguel Sepulveda is the artist on the issue but that’s wrong. Andres Guinaldo and Bit(I kid you not) are the guest penciller and inker this month. And the book hasn’t looked this great in a while!
SUICIDE SQUAD #16: We begin with Deadshot, allegedly dead, waking in the Belle Reve infirmary. Amanda Waller tells him that, although Floyd never misses, he missed his heart by an inch. Waller also tells him how Harley risked her life to get the entire team out alive, including killing Grey Lorna's with her own electrified tail. Waller leaves and Lawton demands that Dr. Visyak tell him the truth. She warns that he should also know by now that she cannot tell him anything. Later, Deadshot visits Harley in her hospital bed. She wakes and the pair fight strongly with each other, whispering that Waller is watching them and they need to make the fight look real. She has even gone as far as to fit Harley with specially designed contact lenses and encourages Floyd to break her nose. Waller spies on the rest of the team. Iceberg is some kind of ice cocoon. El Diablo has decided to embrace Satan instead. After being tested, it seems Black Spider betrayed the Suicide Squad of his own accord. Waller then sends Harley and Deadshot on their next mission, along with Yo-Yo and Voltaic, who was killed by Deadshot a few issues back. They are sent to Chinatown to find the Chang Gang and kill their leader, Red Orchid Red Orchid is also Yo-Yo's sister.
Once again, Adam Glass delivers the goods, this time with Henrik Jonsson providing the art. I so love this book, as it’s a fun ride through weirdville. This is NOT the SUICIDE SQUAD title that I matured with. This is a team of major misfits banding together for their own good. And a romance between Deadshot and Harley? That may mean problems in the future when Mr. J. hears about that! While this Amanda Waller is about 50 pounds lighter than her DCU predecessor, she is just as sneaky. There is more than meets the eye here and the fact that she was in TEAM 7 just means she knows how to work things. As always, this is a highly recommended read.
SUPERMAN #16: We begin many years ago on Krypton, where Jor-El and H'El were finishing the construction of a manned spaceship. In the present, at the Fortress of Solitude, H'El and Supergirl, still within the Fortress of Solitude, finish preparations of their ship. Superman and the Justice League continue their attack on the Fortress, finally making their way inside. With the completion of the star chamber, H'El claims to feels sorry to sacrifice the human race to help Krypton be reborn. Superman arrives and attacks H'El as Supergirl tries to stop him. Superboy attacks Supergirl and the Justice League finds itself outside the Fortress as H'El relocated the Fortress. The star chamber activates, awakening the Oracle which prepares to descend upon Earth and destroy it.
YAWN!!! I’m sorry: I find this to be the most boring of crossovers. Maybe I am being too picky,. Maybe I should be reading ALL the pieces in SUPERBOY and SUPERGIRL. Maybe I am just too blown away by DEATH OF THE FAMILY and THRONE OF ATLANTIS and find this to be…well, BORING! How do the heroes win? Did I even care. And I STILL can’t get past Kenneth Rocafort’s art. PLEASE give me someone who doesn’t just digitally paint!
SWAMP THING #16: Swamp Thing has learned that Batman has fallen victim to The Rot but was prepared for the Swamp Thing’s arrival. He sees a video recorded by Bruce Wayne where he begs Swamp Thing to finish his work. Barbara Gordon, injected with the Man Bat Serum agrees to lead Alec to their destination: Arkham Asylum. When they arrive, Barbara reveals that Batman had been working on a version of the Bio-Restorative Formula to be used to fight The Rot. Alec adds his own qualities to the formula but his very presence has attacked Arcane’s army, including Giganta, who begins breaking down the barrier. The weaponized formula ends up being put into a Bat-Bot tank which is now weaponized. Alec straps on the harness Bane used to inject his Venom and the populations from Arkham are also ready to attack Arcane's forces. In the parallel tale, set a year ago, we learn that Abby was in Blestemat trying to contact the Parliament of Decay. What happened was Arcane presented the Parliament of Decay with Abby's head, torn from her body with her spine still attached.
Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette bring the gore to the top with this last, grisly and totally shocking panel! I guess this answers the question if Abby survived the last year. Of course, we have to expect all of this to be corrected when Animal man, Swamp Thing and the teams defeat Arcane. But I still wonder how all of this is going to flow back into regular continuity. Come back next month as ANIMAL MAN #17 and SWAMP THING #17 are released on the same day and we will have our answers.
TEAM 7 #4: Eclipso has possessed Slade Wilson, the man who will be Deathstroke, and the rest of the team are ready to turn on him. They get saved by Essence, who convinces them to run while she distracts him. Cole Cash stays behind to help her, but she disappears and he finds himself alone against Wilson. Cash unleashes a bomb upon Eclipso and runs, taking the diamond with him. He catches up with the rest of the team and explains that he has the diamond. Essence appears, saying this may help them free Wilson. She provides them with a sword that she claims will weaken Eclipso so he can be returned to the diamond. The villain appears and Fairchild impales him with the sword, causing the spiriut to leave him and head towards Cole’s body. Back home, Lynch puts the Black Diamond and then visits Slade, suggesting he volunteer for Project Majestic.
Justin Jordan and Jesús Merino give us a great, action packed conclusion to their piece of the Black Diamond Probability. But all their efforts seem to be a moot point as this title has been given the axe in May, along with DEATHSTROKE, FURY OF THE FIRESTORM, THE SAVAGE HAWKMAN, RAVAGERS, and SWORD OF SORCERY. I don’t have a lot more to say about that. While this has not been a great title, it has been fun to see some of DC’s major players in the NEW 52 in the “good old days”.
TEEN TITANS #16: The Joker has kidnapped Tim Drake and Jason Todd and he has a surprise for them. He presents their kidnapped “fathers”, tied up and bags upon their head. The deal is to fight to the death to save their dad. And that’s what they do. Up to a point and then Jason unloads his pistol into the villain. Or so it seemed. The body suddenly erupts with gas, knocking the pair out again. They will be awake shortly, as it is almost time for dinner and or boy the Joker has a serving platter ready. Meanwhile, Trigon is getting ready to unveil the “Black Bird of Terror”-Raven.
Scott Lobdell, who plotted it, and Fabian Nicieza, who is responsible for the dialogue, does an adequate jobs on this issue. But when did they get to be “like brothers”. I didn’t even think they liked each other. And we have Brett Booth’ typically knockout art throughout. I love his style and it adds a certain amount of flair to this book that even the cheesiest dialogue can’t kill. And what the *&%^ is under the platter lid? We will find out soon, everything comes to it’s climax in BATMAN #17.
THRESHOLD #1: This is the story of an Intergalactic game show called THE HUNTED. Jediah Caul, renegade Green Lantern, is wandering through a the city of Tolerance when the word goes out that he can be murdered. At this point, everyone on the street pulls out weapons and begins to hunt him. An alien named Ember leads leads him to the sewers where they can hide. She is another of The Hunted and tells him that many of them have set up safe zones they call Blind Points, meaning the live feeds can’t find them there. Meanwhile we meet two more of The Hunted: Ric Starr Space Ranger and Stealth. In the back up, Orange Lantern Larfleeze is writing a book about himself and the adventure goes from there.
Okay, despite having Keith Giffen writing this, the book goes nowhere fast! I was a huge fan of Ric Starr when I was growing up(yeah-I AM that old!). But his character was erased from with the collapse of the Multiverse during CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. Therefore, I was thrilled to see he was coming back in this book, along with Blue beetle, since he had to go somewhere with the demise of his title. Unfortunately, this thing is almost unreadable. And the back up? I never truly cared for Larfleeze anyway and now he comes off as an Orange Ambush Bug. Give me the real deal, as has been teased in DC in-house promos. I won'’ be reading issue #2 or beyond. Nice art in the lead from Tom Raney and typical Scott Kolins art in the back up story. But that’s not enough to excite me to buy.
WONDER WOMAN #16: Milan, Wonder Woman's new-found half-brother, fights back with a huge swarm of flies that threatens to choke Diana and Lennox. It takes the A4 robot to send the flies back to Milan. Orion introduces himself to Diana and Lennox, saying he recently learned of a universal threat caused by a new god. The thought is the new god is Zola’s missing child. Diana begs Milan to help them find the child. He agrees and removes his blindfold, revealing eye sockets filled with maggots. Through the eyes of his flies, he sees the child being nursed by Demeter. Over in Antarctica, Cassandra and the Olympian giant are on the run from three ice-giants sent by the Olympian’s uncle Hades that want to kill him. One of the giants tears the parka off Cassandra and reveals cybernetics. Meanwhile, Zola and Hera are in a Manhattan restaurant drinking. Ares joins Zola and his mother at the bar. Zola heads to the bathroom, where she meets a young man who flirts with her. He reveals himself an Olympian and says Ares is there to kill Wonder Woman. He tells her what Ares is capable of and it causes her to rush into the bathroom and be ill. Stryfe overhears and promises to make whatever is bothering her go away.
If you have read my reviews over the last 16 months, you know this is one of my favorite NEW 52 books. It continues to set the great Olympian legends on their collective ears. Majors kudos to Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang who continue to pave bold new ground with each issue!
WORLDS’ FINEST #8: Helena Wayne is gunned down by a sniper looking to collect Ibn Hassan’s bounty (remember the mini-series). Police get involved, since she is a known terrorist. But before she can be taken away, Power Girl arrives and takes her from the EMT’s to a hospital bed on Starr Island. Somya arrives and tells Karen that one of the shooters police custody. She breaks him out, flies him up into the sky, and threatens to drop him if he doesn't tell her who hired him. This leads her to Kufra, where she fights her way to Ibn Hassan's compound and has a discussion with him about losing the billion-Euro price he put on Helena's head. Throughout all of this, Helena dreams of her life as a young girl and how her father pushed her to train so hard and how her mother fought with her father about being ready to take on the mantle of Robin. Meanwhile, Batman is worried about where Damien is going as Robin and how it seems he enjoys it.
I get concerned when I see a creative team, writers and pencillers, that has a many people working on it as this issue does. Paul Levitz delivers the story while George Perez (pages 1-6 +8-Helena’s current story), Cafu (pages 7,9,10,13,+20-Helena’s flashback pages) and Cliff Richards(11,12,14-19-Power Girl’s story) provide the art. The story is fair, the artwork is too schizophrenic, and we really do not need Damian Wayne co-starring in another title.
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