BEFORE WATCHMEN THE FINAL BOOK

COMEDIAN #6: Eddie Blake is back from Viet Nam, apparently trying to protect Booby Kennedy on the night he is assassinated. From there, we flashback to the events that lead up to that night. Based on his actions in Viet Nam, the state department sends him home, where he once again takes up crime fighting. he has a run in with Nite Owl and Rorschach and claims he’s doing the job they couldn’t do. He flies out to California and meets with G. Gordon Liddy. Liddy presents evidence that the C.I.A. has a brainwashed assassin named Sirhan Sirhan who is going to assassinate Bobby Kennedy to allow Richard Nixon, who Liddy is working for, to get elected. Later Kennedy ends up in Blake’s room where they talk of old times and Kennedy promises to publicly reveal that Blake was responsible for the Mai Lai Massacre. Blake asks the Presidential candidate to let him do it himself to save face. That night, following his Primary win, Kennedy is gunned down in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel. Apparently, Eddie Blake is responsible, thus tying up that loose end. The last image we see is the Happy Face button he wears with a blood stain on it.

And thus Brian Azzarello and J. G. Jones bring the series of WATCHMEN prequels to a close, not with a bang but with a thud and several months after all the other series ended. Filled with potential, this title dropped Eddie Blake, a real American Hero, into several important places in Modern American and World history but actually managed to do nothing more than show us what we already knew: Blake had his own agendas in life and, while claiming to be loyal to his country he was truly loyal to himself. As I have stated throughout this series, I love Azzarello’s rhythmic dialogue and Jones beautiful art. But this series comes to a close and really what have we TRULY LEARNED: Eddie Blake was a bastard.

DC's NEW 52 Month 19, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #3: The issue begins with Stargirl having a debate with Amanda Waller who would just assume have the super heroine be a mouthpiece for the Justice League of America rather than be a true fighter on a mission. She even goes as far as threatening to put Stargirl’s father in jail if she doesn’t tow the line. Meanwhile, the rest of the team is battling Professor Ivo’s robot versions of Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman and it takes Vibe’s powers to fully put the robots down. Katana hears her husband’s voice and puts her sword to Catwoman’s throat. It takes Martian Manhunter, who scans Catwoman’s thoughts, to convince Katana to let her go. The lair of the Secret Society of Super-Villains has disappeared and they decide to “capture” Catwoman, which would possibly get her into the Secret Society. As the ruse is played out, Green Arrow gets involved and almost blows the plan. Despite his best effort, she gets captured and thrown into Arkham Asylum, as seen in CATWOMAN #19. She escapes and gets captured by Signal Man and Blockbuster, finding herself strapped in the same chair The Scarecrow was strapped in at the beginning of issue #2. In the back-up story, we get an up close version of what happens when Martian Manhunter scans Catwoman’s mind. At the same time, she sees HIS past and it is not a pretty picture.

Okay, this title found a way to go downhill really fast! Geoff Johns’ plot can be told in very few words: put Catwoman in jail to put her undercover. His dialogue has dropped back into the childish area that was floating through the JUSTICE LEAGUE title for the first few issues. David Finch’s art is typically beautiful but who was the rocket scientist, probably colorist Sonia Oback, who totally screwed up the red and white stripes on the United States flag, as they are completely backwards! The back-up story by Matt Kindt and Manuel Garcia is the highlight of the book. It provides back story to both Catwoman and Martian Manhunter and fleshes out the main story, which Johns just skated through. Not only does it read nicely, it looks fantastic!

NIGHTWING #19: Nightwing has left Gotham City and headed to Chicago in search of Tony Zucco. At the moment, Chicago is somewhat at the mercy of a villain who calls himself the Prankster. The mayor has had enough of masked vigilantes and has a plan he calls "closure". Soon after, Dick meets someone named Mike who sublets a room to Dick. It’s a noisy place, but allows him easy access out onto the rooftops. Later, Cory Hutchinson meets with Johnny Spade and a woman named Lisa, who is really named Mali and is a mimic. She goes crazy during the meeting, but Nightwing arrives in time to stop her from killing Johnny and manages to attempt to gather some intel. Johnny wants Dick’s identity as payment but the police arrive and begin chasing our hero. In the process, a police copter is destroyed although Nightwing saves the pilots. The mayor learns that Nightwing is here searching for Tony Zucco, which he already knows as Zucco is the mayor’s driver. Meanwhile, alderman Laine meets with the Prankster to pay him off to bury his troubles. However he finds himself at the mercy of a wolf and burn the money he has brought to keep the wolf at bay. He better hope he didn’t short himself.

Leave it to Kyle Higgins to transplant our boy Dick Grayson and still have him knee deep in the action. And now we have Brett Booth on the art? Well, that’s a bonus. I am kind of glad to see Tony Zucco’s daughter out of the picture for a time as that subplot was getting old. But this should be a fun one, complete with Zucco and the Mayor involved with each other! It looks great and reads the same. This is one of my favorite titles this month.

PHANTOM STRANGER #7: The Phantom Stranger sits a church and has a conversation with the priest there. As he exists, he meets with Dog who send him to meet with Jack Ryder. Stranger meets with Ryder, who has just been fired by Morgan Edge. Stranger tries to convince Ryder he can be useful in another way. Ryder decides to make use of the Stranger’s powers to get himself back on the air. As the PGN building is in threat of being destroyed, Ryder tells Edge he wants to be rehired and he’s going to broadcast from within the building during this dangerous event. Unfortunately, even with the Challengers of the Unknown there in the midst of it all, it costs Ryder his life and another coin falls off the Stranger. Immediately, Morgan Edge declares Ryder a hero. Stranger goes to visit Terrance Thirteen and confront him about his missing family. That’s when The Question appears and Thirteen impales him with The Spear of Destiny.

After months of trying to climb up from it’s truly awful beginnings, this title fell right back into the stink pile this month! First off, the WTF gatefold cover REVEALS the ending of the book. So guess this cliffhanger was no BIG SURPRISE, huh? Second, we wipe out Jack Ryder, the once and future Creeper, so our hero can lose another coin? Really? If The Creeper had been relegated to DC’s past, sure. But let’s not forget this character has appeared in animated DC productions of the past and not so distant past. The dialogue is really dumb (are we letting Dan Didio write again, even if he is only listed as the plotter) and, if J. M. DeMatteis is fully responsible he should be ashamed. this is the man responsible for the legendary MOONSHADOW comic and so many other classic works including the “Clone Saga” in AMAZING SPIDER MAN and winning an Eisner for FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE JUSTICE LEAGUE. Anyway, dumb issue that lowered my I.Q. by a few points. On the plus side: Gene Ha and Zander Cannon. ‘Nuff said.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS:#19:  Jason Todd finds his chartered jet being attacked by Khanate sky pirates over the Himalayas. Soon after, Arsenal and Starfire find the plane wreck but can’t find Jason. The pair ask the townspeople about the All caste and they turn away except for one old woman who claims there is an entrance in a different plane of reality. Once the pair leaves, the woman turns into Essence. To keep from freezing on their journey, Roy attempts to go into deep meditation. Essence visits them while they sleep and she is greeted with a vision of Ducra who claims that Roy’s love for Jason will allow him to find his friend. So Essence enters his dream to dissuade him. No matter how many roadblocks she throws at him, he is determined and she is forced out of his dream. When he wakes, he tells Kori he knows where the entrance is and they fly through a wall that is only an illusion. This leads them to the Acres of All. They find Jason who, because of everything ugly that Joker touched inside his mind, has had his memory erased by S’aru. He has no memory of his friends at all.

So now we’re letting James Tynion IV write the title while Jullius Gopez illustrates it. The book looks really, REALLY good. But I am not quite certain if I happen to like the direction it seems to be heading. I always felt that Roy Harper’s NEW 52 character had a great deal of potential if done right. By taking the old drug addict Speedy from the Denny O’Neil days and transforming it and synthesizing it worked well for me, especially after the one shot in DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS fleshed out his history. And I like Jason Todd as the troubled soul more than I liked the Jason Todd, troubled soul who HATED Batman enough to want to kill him. In my mind, this should be a buddy book without the third wheel as Kori is just…there. So if we make it the Adventures of Red Hood and Speedy, I’d be good with that!

RED LANTERNS #19: Rankorr and Kim’s date ends badly as Bleez makes her presence felt. But soon they and all the rest of the Red Lanterns are called together by Atrocitus who is despondent over not choosing the reality he should have, where the 666 never died. So he orders the Lanterns to come and kill him. And they all arrive and pour all the rage into him, which revives him and gives him new meaning. And, with his fellow Lanterns by his side, he heads off to Oa to kill the Guardians.

Talk about a long waste of a book and the next issue may very well be my last…for real this time. I am tired of Peter Milligan giving me the same wrung out angst each issue and going nowhere with it. Think about it: I just summarized this story in less than 100 words and I probably could have done it in even less. Let’s try it. Atrocitus asks his fellow Lanterns to kill him, they fill him with their rage during battle and he is reborn with a new rage and a new mission: kill the Guardians. There-that’s less than 40. Art this month is from Will Conrad and the rotating artist go round is getting annoying too. I had great hope when there was a news creative team introduced but since there have been editorial issues here, I don’t know if they new NEW creative team can save it.

STORMWATCH #19: This issue begins with some mysterious aliens initiating something called the Magenta Timeline which eliminates the existing universe and kills Adam One. The Storm King, one of the Shadow Lords, realizes that reality has changed and that Stormwatch has been erased from existence. So he and the mysterious leader discuss possible candidates for a new Stormwatch including Angie the Engineer, Apollo and Midnighter. They also look to recruit Jenny Soul, Force, Hellstrike and The Weird. The Engineer has been sent to recruit someone who may eventually be the Shaman of the group but, at the moment, he is a drug addict. The new assembled team meets for the first time while one of the aliens who caused the universe to blink out of existence finds a certain drunken alien named Lobo.

Okay…this is what happens when you miss some issues. If you recall, I dumped this issue about six months ago because I didn’t like the direction is was moving in. Well, I guess I wasn’t alone, because the powers at be at DC have let Jim Starlin take over the title with art from Yvel Guichet and I really don’t have much faith in this. First off, your answer to fixing the title is to wipe out the previous team and the universe with it. So…what does that say for the current NEW 52? Or is this another Earth? So Starlin eliminates the current status quo, but manages to keep Apollo, Midnighter (who apparently are still lovers) and The Engineer. Not to mention a version of Jenny, who is now Jenny Soul. Into that mix, we throw in Hellstrike and THE WEIRD? Jim: your answer is to populate this book with one of your own creations? That’s almost as weird as marvel dropping a SPAWN character into one of their books. Oh wait-SPOILER! The saving grace on this book is Lobo, and he shows up on the last page with a bra on his head! I will give this another issue to see if things improve, but I’m not holding my breath.

SUICIDE SQUAD #19: When we ended last issue, Deadshot shot Yo Yo, killing him and his sister Red Orchird. Amanda Waller arrives and gets into an argument with Deadshot. She claims this has to do with Kurt Lance and Team 7 and this is totally personal. She shuts down everyone’s nanobombs and joins the team to save him from Regulus. Harley and Deadshot find their teammates unconscious from a group called the Swamp Angels led by a creature named Trench. They are kidnapping Amanda Waller to take to Regulus. Voltaic, who Trench thinks he drowned, along with King Shark shock Trench and kills him. Just then, The Unknown Soldier arrives, claiming to be the new leader of the team. Deadshot attacks him and the Solider kills him…again. Meanwhile in New Zealand, some mysterious soldiers are digging OMAC out of the snow.

I have been a firm defender of this book but Adam Glass dropped the ball big time here, maybe because this is his last issue as Ales Kot (CHANGE) and Patrick Zircher take over next month. This book features some of the worst dialogue I have read since PHANTOM STRANGER #1 or JUSTICE LEAGUE #1. The plotline is incredibly dumb. Amanda Waller has such an attachment, for whatever reason, to Kurt Lance that she leaves Belle Reve to go on a mission. And then shuts down the nanobombs? Really?! I would think you can still get them to work for you WITH the bombs in place, but that’s just me. Is this supposed to make them think that you trusty them. They are super villains…DUH!  And then we have the Unknown Soldier show up as team leader for no reason except he doesn’t have a back-up gig in comics any more. On the plus side, Cliff Richards’ art makes me forget how badly written the story was.

SUPERMAN #19: Superman finds himself captured by an alien race called the Suntarians. But he is running about three steps ahead of them and manages to flood and then freeze them, before sending them into space and managing to be late for Lois’ party, where it seems Diana Prince has arrived first. And she is managing to turn most heads, except for that of Lois’ boyfriend Jonathon. When Clark finally arrives, he is greeted by Lois dressed as Wonder Woman, who gives him a huge kiss. Actually, that never happens and he imagined it. As the night goes on, it seems no one is truly themselves. Meanwhile, hector Hammond is in the final stages of Psiopic Dysplasia even before Orion of the new Gods pays him a visit and realizes this isn’t the threat Highfather saw. So that leads him to Lois’ apartment where he forcibly removes Clark, telling him that Superman must die so the universe can live.

I continue to have completely mixed feelings about this title and actually find myself looking forward to the TWO new Superman titles (because we need him appearing in four books PLUS the JUSTICE LEAGUE. I just don’t find Scott Lobdell’s stories in the book THAT exciting. And we all know how little I thought of the whole H’el on Earth story. And I still am not a fan of Kenneth Rocafort’s art. I find myself yearning the classic artists who drew this iconic character-people like Curt Swan and Neal Adams and José Luis García-López. This is not my Man of Steel and the hair style has GOT TO GO!!!

SWAMP THING #19: Swamp Thing finds himself in a tropical rain forest that should be a desert. In the middle of a minor skirmish, he learns that someone called the Seeder made the desert. Apologizing, he removes it. In his search, he ends up in Metropolis where he finds the Scarecrow stealing a digitalis terrorem flower. This flower is known to cause terrifying hallucinations. Scarecrow unloads fear gas into Alec’s face with no effect. Alec takes the straw in Scarecrow's costume and uses it to strangle the villain. Scarecrow ends up unleashing a gas that is mostly carbon dioxide to knock Swamp Thing out. At this point, vines burst cover the entire city, raising the attention of the Man of Steel.

Charles Soule and Kano get the unenviable task of following Scott Snyder and Yannick Paquette and their tremendous ROTWORLD storyline. The surprising part of that is they actually pull it off. Now, let’s realize that it is early and there is an awful lot of ground between the starting line and the finish. So far, they haven’t screwed anything up.

TEAM 7 #7: The team has landed on Gamorra Island and is immediately attacked by Basilisk agents. Kurt Lance gets wounded and his wife Dinah lets out a sonic scream that splits skulls and bursts eardrums. It seems that Lynch had wakened a dormant metagene. Once in Kaizen’s compound, they come across precog children are kept and they warn of a future where the Pandora's Box is opened. Kaizen opens the Box as Majestic comes flying down from outer space with an impact that creates a wave that may submerge the island. If this happens, Majestic saves the potential future by killing everyone on the island.

This title, which never quite caught on with fans, roars to its’ epic conclusion next month. Justin Jordan and Tony Bedard are doing their best to get the plotlines wrapped up and set up the fates of the characters in today’s NEW 52. Jesus Merino and Pascal Alixe do a nice job with the art and it’s unfortunate that it took seven issues to get to a point where the title was fully cohesive and fun. If this had happened three or four issues back, it might not have ended up on the chopping block. By the way, for your chronologists out there, this is the first time that the Canary Cry is used.

TEEN TITANS #19:  We find Wonder Girl with her hands around Red Robin’s throat as she demands to know why he put them in danger regarding the recent incident with the Suicide Squad. When the rest of the team gets him free he tells them he is the leader and, if they don’t like it, they can leave. Wonder Girl then feels the connection to Trigon through her armor and she knows he is in the process of destroying New York and getting ready to pummel Psimon. Soon Wonder Girl and the rest of the Teen Titans are battling him, but not after he teases her with her true lineage. It looks like her father may be Lennox from WONDER WOMAN. Meanwhile, Gar Logan is found in a pile of rubble by Raven after being whipped around by Deathstroke in THE RAVAGERS #12, who takes over his mind. Back in New York, Trigon is mentally torturing Kid Flash while Red Robin wonders what Trigon’s true plan is. Raven arrives with Beast Boy in tow and forces him to attack The Teen Titans. Psimon gets involved and attacks gar and their powers knock each other out. When all is said and done, a lot of soldiers are dead, Red Robin is grief stricken and Raven stands ready to continue her father’s attack.

What a mess! Let’s start by having something happen that we haven’t read yet because THE RAVAGERS #12 isn’t out until NEXT MONTH. We also have some horrible dialogue, not to mention swooning over Red Robin while being concerned that he hasn’t been the same since they “made out”. EWWWW! Is this a romance title. Oh wait-it is rated T for Teen. I somehow thought the level of intelligence would be higher and not aimed at pre-pubescent teens! Scott Lobdell seems to be regressing in his writing because I don’t think I have read ANYTHING from him this month that I liked. Pluses in the issue go to Eddie Barrows for his art and Lobdell gets TWO MEASLY POINTS for introducing Psimon into the NEW 52 and hinting that Cassie may be Wonder Woman’s niece. Other than that, this is a train wreck of epic proportions.

WONDER WOMAN #19: In London, Zola challenges Wonder Woman and her acquaintances to come up with a name for the lat son of Zeus. Zola eventually decides on Zeke. Diana and War have a drink and he credits her for being a real leader. Lennox decides it is time for him to leave this group, which makes Orion happy as he now sees a chance to seduce Diana. She kisses Orion and then grabs him by the crotch, saying she can live without his disrespect but thinks he can’t live without them. She hits him and his face changes drastically. She announces he too will be leaving. Meanwhile, in Poseidon’s belly, the First Born and Cassandra end up at Poseidon's home and he offers them a deal. He will give the First Born back his weapon if he leaves the sea and hell to those currently ruling. The First Born refuses. Naturally, the First Born refuses but eventually makes a deal with Poseidon, who informs him that Apollo rules Olympus. He also is told he can’t win Olympus without Zeke, who is protected by Wonder Woman. Lastly, Artemis returns ti earth in an effort to take Zeke from Zola. 

With Cliff Chiang absent and Goran Sudzuka and Tony Akins handling the art chores, Brian Azzarello continues to weave an intricate tale of our favorite Amazon. So we know that Orion has the hots for Diana and that she really knows how to put a damper on that urge. We also know that a man scorned can often change into a nasty looking monster. At least when that man is the son of Darkseid, or at least he was in the OLD DCU. This remains one of my favorite books in the NEW 52, despite it having its’ critics.

WORLDS’ FINEST #11: Huntress has figured out that someone has been stealing some of Bruce Wayne’s fortune to give weapons to unstable nations. Holt Industries used technology from Apokolips to break into Power Girl’s labs. So she breaks into Michael Holt’s mansion again and finds that security has been upgraded. Later, Karen and Helena appear representing Starr Enterprises at a Las Vegas Convention. Michael Holt, allegedly off planet, arrives on stage. Seeing Karen, he stops his speech to meet her. But he is not who he seems, as he reveals himself as DeSaad.

So here we go: the members of the legendary Kirby Fourth World continue to make themselves apparent inside the NEW 52. DeSaad is here! Let’s all rejoice! Seriously: the whole wiping out of the New Gods and the Kirby Universe pretty much ticked me off, even if it did have Jim Starlin’s name on it. Reading Kirby’s JIMMY OLSEN, THE NEW GODS, MISTER MIRACLE and THE FOREVER PEOPLE are some of my fondest childhood memories and to see those characters so radically altered and even wiped out left a really bad taste in my mouth. Nice to see Paul Levitz, Ken Lashley, Barry Kitson and Robson Roch bring another back to the fold. And, although there is more plot going on than just that, THAT’S what gets me going this month!

DC's NEW 52 Month 19, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #19:  Set four years after the events in ACTION COMICS #1 and one years before SUJPERMAN #1, we find Lois and Clark in Qurac, where she has secured a major interview. Soon he finds himself called away, changing into Superman and battling human-piloted war machines. Superman wants to talk, but that doesn’t happen as they attack. Then he discovers one of the human pilots is Jimmy Olsen, who is blown up by a hidden thermite implant. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor visits with his psychoanalyst who tells him he is a psychotic megalomaniac who could be the most dangerous man on the planet. It also appears that Lex was responsible for the war machines in Qurac and that the mission was a failure. But not really, as he has managed to embed sensors under Superman's skin. Three weeks go by and Luthor’s plan falls into place as a strange infection begins to spread on Superman’s hand.
Welcome to the first issue in a new direction with a new creative team. Andy Diggle and Tony S. Daniel bring a new era…for a few issues, at least. On March 20^th, a full weeks before this issue hit the stands, Diggle tweeted that he was quitting the book for “professional reasons”. So we have a new storyline that, at some point, will be taken over by Daniel, who will handle both the writing and art. We all know how THAT usually works on a monthly book. I plan to expect fill-ins all over the place. So far, the story is just okay. Diggle is no Grant Morrison but who is. 

ANIMAL MAN #19: It’s a hard day for the Baker family as they prepare o bury young Cliff. Following the funeral, Ellen tells her husband that their marriage is over. On the way to his hotel, Buddy is accosted by a group of paparazzi. He warns them that if they ever come near his family again, he will kill them. Maxine has a conversation with Socks, who tells her she needs to accept that her brother is dead. Meanwhile, Buddy enters the Red and demands that the Parliament of Limbs takes away his family’s connection. They chastise him and tell him that Maxine is their avatar and that he will never be allowed back in The Red again. And he finds himself alone in the desert.

Jeff Lemire and Steve Pugh present the continuing spiral in Buddy Baker’s life. He’s battled through the last few issues, watched his daughter die and get reborn, watched everyone he knew die, only to get reversed by the actions of he and Swamp Thing. But he couldn’t save his son Cliff and it looks like his marriage is officially shot. And, if that wasn’t enough, the Parliament of Limbs has booted him out of the Red. So, over the next few issues expect the rebirth and retooling of Animal Man. 

ALL STAR WESTERN #19: We find Jonah hex panning for gold when Booster Gold shows up, claiming to be the Sheriff of Red River Junction. Hex claims he is on the hunt for  Clem Hootkins. As luck would have it, the Hootkins' gang has just arrived in Red River Junction, where they robbing the bank and pretty much kill of the entire town. When Booster and Jonah arrive, Booster is completely shocked that anyone could be so cruel. Over drinks, at what is left of the saloon, Booster tells how he arrived here from the future. In a flashback, we learn that Sheriff Moss had put Pete Stone into jail for drunkenness. His brother Emmet and his friends decided to break him out and nearly beat the Sheriff to death. Booster Gold appeared and, as Moss died in his arms, Gold decided to declare he is the new sheriff. Later, a drunk Booster is wakened by Jonah and the two decide to track down Clem and his gang together. But not before a hungover Booster throws up all in front of the bounty hunter. In the back-up tale, we meet Cody Barrows, a master gunfighter who had been forced to kill his family after they were all turned into vampires. During his travels, he saves a caravan from werewolves before being visited by Adam One.

Okay…maybe it’s me, but Booster Gold in the Wild Wild West? That sounds like a calamity waiting to happen! Here’s a guy who can’t believe man’s inhumanity to man and is hesitant to use a gun. Yeah-he’ll make a great partner on THIS road trip! Anyway, it’s a fun little story by the usual gang (Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Moritat). The back-up by Palmiotti, Gray and Staz Johnson continues to introduce the players who became the 19^th Century version of Stormwatch. Well, considering all continuity in THAT title has gone to hell, maybe none of this will matter soon! Personally, give me my Jonah Hex story, lose the back-up and cut the price.

AQUAMAN #19: Aquaman summons a gigantic creature named Topo that he has a telepathic conversation with regarding the missing Atlantean Tech.  His plan is to have Topo get involved with finding the Scavenger. Topo retreats back to his resting place and the Atlantean guard, who thinks Orm should still be their king, stands down. Meanwhile Orm is in Belle Reve where he argues with his attorney regarding the possible death penalty he is facing. Unknown to him is that Tula and Murk have plans to break Orm by finding an air breathing Atlantean named Swatt. Unfortunately Murk lets his temper get the best of him and he almost kills Swatt. Aquaman and some of his guards get a message from two Atlanteans who found the Scavenger’s ship. When Aquaman and the guards arrive, they find one of the men dead and the other alive in the submarine, but with a large scar where his right kidney should be. Finally, in the area of the Bermuda Triangle, the frozen King of the Seven Seas sinks a ship and tells Mera this is the only way to travel through the portal. Mera gets free and enters the portal, where she seeks Nereus, who claims to be her husband.

I wish I knew what Geoff Johns was doing here and what is going on with the mysterious King of Atlantis and Mera’s other husband. And I wish I didn’t have to wait a month for another chapter.  I am just having way too much fun with this title and am glad the book is continuing to move along with the same great dialogue that has been prevalent throughout the title since it began. Paul Pelletier’s art is also fantastic. This is just a fun title with a ton of great stuff flowing through it. I feel this is consistently among the first books I read on the week it comes out.

BATGIRL #19: After all that has happened, Barbara goes home and sees her roommate Alysia. She tells how she was shot during a home invasion, and was paralyzed from the waste down. She also tells that her brother James, Jr. was a convicted serial killer. Alysia confesses that she is transgender. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon gets a call from James, Jr. who orders his father to meet him at the old Gotham Bay Aquarium alone. James meets his mother and taunts how he threw her severed finger into a dumpster two blocks away from the emergency room. He pulls a gun on her and Batgirl leaps in to action. He asks if she has revealed to their mother that she and Batgirl are one and the same and mother says she knew that, as she pulls a gun out of her coat and fires at him. James attacks Batgirl and hits her with a hammer, causing a concussion. He threatens to put her back in the wheelchair, drive their mother insane and kill Alysia. He reveals his hatred comes from Barbara's successes. She throws a Batarang into his left eye, throwing back against the bridge rail and she hears his spine crack, forcing him over the railing and into Gotham Bay. The commissioner arrives declares that she is under arrest for the murder of his son and Barbara flees. 

Let’s all rejoice: Gail Simone IS BACK!!! And she is back with a vengeance. While the true DC geeks will continue to whine that we STILL don’t know how Barbara got the use of her legs back, we do get some killer writing. Gail steps in and wraps up the storyline with Barbara’s crazy brother in hardcore style. And…Alysia is transgender? Wow: didn’t see THAT coming! Is that just because DC’s NEW 52 is designed to represent a diversified audience? Anyway, that would definitely have messed with James Jr.’s already messed up head. Personally, I think he will be back looking like The Governor from THE WALKING DEAD, eye patch and all. This is a nice conclusion and a great new beginning. And Daniel Sampere’s art rocks!

BATMAN #19: Commissioner Gordon goes to an armed robbery where Bruce Wayne is reported to have taken a hostage. Wayne does have a hostage and he has strapped explosives to her chest. Gordon sets his gun down and Wayne sets off a smoke bomb, steals a motorcycle and rides off. We flash back to six days ago as Batman finds himself stunned at the suicide of an architect who had worked on the Gotham Initiative. He is also surprised tom find he was on the verge of being arrested for the murder of several of the Penguin’s henchmen. Batman breaks into the Wade Design and is interrupted by Brian Wade himself, who pulls a flame-thrower Batman. He throws a batarang at his face, but he escapes into an elevator leaving only the bloody batarang. When he analyzes the DNA the results lead him to Basil Karlo. It seems his clay had gained the ability to mimic peoples’ DNA. Later, Bruce called Lucius Fox to create a modified Batsuit. It turns out that Clayface has taken Lucius' identity and announces that they will now be twins who will end Batman. In the back-up, Superman and Batman investgate what may be Will O’ The Wisps. 

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue their epic run on BATMAN and this issue gives us the NEW 52 Clayface. AWESOME!!!  What I loved was going partway through the book and NOT figuring it was Clayface being Bruce Wayne until he discovered Basil Karlo’s DNA. If you recall, Poison Ivy broke him out of Arkham claiming she would marry him. Of course, she left him hanging and he was pretty pissed. I shall be interested to see if that storyline gets picked up. Regarding the back-up story by James Tynion IV and Alex Maleev: It’s nice to see Maleev’s art back to it’s old self. The story? I could care less.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #19: Carrie Kelley has been tutoring Damian and she shows up at Wayne Manor with a stack of PLAYHOUSE 90 DVD’s and a bill for $1000. When no one answers the door, she leaves the package with a note. Bruce goes to her house to deliver the money and sees her dressed as Robin as part of a super-hero costume party. We eventually find Bruce gave her a check for $10,000. Batman looks to take some time off and ends up at Castle Frankenstein, where Batman takes Frankenstein as his prisoner, removed his S.H.A.D.E. Net Implant and proceeds to dismantle him so he can figure how to resurrect Damian. Red Robin arrives and he and his mentor brawl. Frankenstein explains that he let Batman take him apart so he could see that the creature is not truly alive. Red Robin orders his own plane to destroy the castle's equipment, angering Batman who leaves Tim and the creature behind in the burning building. 

This is a nice story by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleeson…once you get past the gimmick cover. This month was supposed to be WTF Month, but that went south real quick. What remained were the gatefold covers that, when opened, was supposed to make readers go “WTF”. Well this cover, once you open it, shows Carrie Kelley as Robin. Little did we know that she was Robin…AT A COSTUME PARTY? By the way, in case you forgot, Caroline Keene "Carrie" Kelley was Robin in THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. So…we can all hope!

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #19: The tormented tale of The Mad Hatter continues. In flashbacks we learn that Jervis Tetch’ medication had some pretty adverse effects on him. Besides making him lose his hair, it made him homicidal enough to kill his pet bunny and land him a stint in the Arkham Detention Facility for Youth. Meanwhile, Natalya gets used to knowing Bruce’s secret, especially when he uses his special talent to bring her to the theater to perform. Overseen by The Mad Hatter, he becomes smitten with her and, realizing she IS the Alice he always wanted, he orders his cast to be disposed of, claiming they are a renewable resource. Word comes in that hundreds of people-men, women and children-have left their homes for no reason. What is found are all of their bodies floating in the Gotham River.  

Gregg Hurwitz continues to make The Mad Hatter the second biggest psycho in Gotham City behind The Joker. He is one perverse and possessed guy with a seriously troubled past. How perverse? He stapled a wig on to his “Alice’s” had. Yeah…I said STAPLED! So, it should be interesting to see where Hurwitz takes this madman from here. The only thing disappointing about the issue was Ethan Van Sciver NOT being on board for this chapter which was illustrated by Szymon Kudranski.

BATMAN INCORPORATED #10:  Still reeling from the death of his son, Batman meets with Michael lane, the most recent Azrael so he can borrow the Suit of Sorrows for his upcoming battle with Leviathan’s forces. In Gotham City, Batman is no longer wanted and the police are in full swing to destroy the Bat Signal. Meanwhile, Talia prepares for the endgame with her former lover as she also taunts her father. At the same time, she has her other son discipline those who failed her in a very final and bloody manner. Bruce and Lucius Fox discuss the future while Knight and Ranger attempt to rescue Wingman, who is really Jason Todd undercover. The police burst in on Kirk Langstrom and find Batman hiding there, but he escapes. As Leviathan is ready to unleash her ultimate attack on Gotham City, Batman arrives. He is wearing the Suit of Sorrows, a flying bat contraption and has injected himself with the Man Bat formula.   

There is not much I can say here. It’s Grant Morrison continuing to write his swan song on this title, which will end when he ends his run. It’s Chris Burnham turning out the best work of his career. It’s Jason Masters handling art on 2 two page sequences involving Talia and her son which are not at Burnham’s standard but are pretty darned close. Fans have been pretty pissed since the death of Damian Wayne. Guess what-so is batman and it will all come to a head in the next few months. This title will go down as possibly Morrison’s greatest work.

BATWOMAN #19:  Agent Chase has a conversation with her sister Terry, who haven’t spoken since their father died as a vigilante with the Justice Experience. Terry claims that Cameron’s work with the DEO is an attempt to deal with the hatred for her father. Cam’s resposnse is that she doesn’t want people to end up like Terry, to which the sister claims they shouldn’t see each other again. Meanwhile, Maggie Sawyer dreams of The Weeping Woman and awakens as she sees Batwoman carrying the corpse of Maggie’s daughter. Kate is lying with her and apologizes for gassing her with fear toxin. Elsewhere, Jacob shows his wife his war room and she is amazed at how much he has done since his daughter Beth died. The wife warns him to tell her everything else or she will leave him, at which point he claims he MIGHT have a son. That night, Batwoman and Hawkfire find Religion of Crime member Shard killing off-duty DEO agents as revenge for things being stolen from the Religion of Crime. That night, Bette questions why Kate is working for the DEO and refuses to explain and says she and Bette are not partners. After a meeting with Agents Chase and Asaf, Batwoman ends up meeting with Dirctor Bones, who demands she get’s him Batman’s identity. She refuses and reveals that Kate's sister is still alive and in DEO custody.

This is basically an issue designed to bring the players onto the paying field, reveal their family dilemmas and set up the next story arc(s). To that end, the tale is nicely done. Of course, I seem to recall that LAST ISSUE did a similar thing. So, we have two issues in a row that basically just act as set piece s for what lies beyond. I’m not sure if I’m totally thrilled about that. However, it’s a great story from J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, with art by Trevor McCarthy. My biggest question involves Agent Chase and her sister, not to mention her vigilante father who seems to have stepped out of KICK ASS. I wonder if DC should be paying Mark Millar a commission for that concept.

BIRDS OF PREY #19: The Birds are on a mission to save Starling, who has been kidnapped by Mister Freeze. With Condor as their back-up, after Black Canary and Batgirl give the lowdown on what they believe they know about him, the team prepare to search for their missing partner, as Strix as fled. Condor finds her and Batgirl goes to her, where she reveals that she doesn’t want to go back to the bad place-the place where she was (re)born. Strix does agree to show her friend where the place is. They break into the Owls’ facility and quickly realize they have been set up by Freeze and his partner-Starling.

This title needs a life raft and quick as it sinks under it’s creative team. Christy Marx and Romano Molenaar are mired in clichés and cheesy dialogue. And, by inferring that Condor is a Native American, you think this is the NEW 52 version of BLACK CONDOR, hear this: Molenaar is no Rags Morales and Marx is certainly NO Brian Augustyn!  And we have somehow put Starling in league with Mr. Freeze? I thought she was in league with Amanda Waller. Does that mean Mr. Freeze is the newest member of the Suicide Squad? I am so confused. My brain hurts…

CATWOMAN #19: In a tale that sort of runs parallel with JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, the JLA decides to have Catwoman caught in the act by the JLA and get her tossed into Arkham Asylum as their spy. She ends up placed in a cell between Black Mask and Vortex. She cuts her way out with her claws and Vortex gets out in the process. She finds a crow statue and pokes in its eyes, which activates a secret floor panel that lead to the Gotham Underground. She climbs out, right into the Gotham City Police.

Someone PLEASE fix this title! Let’s start with continuity first. The fact that this book comes out BEFORE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #3 just totally confuses things. And, if you’re not reading JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, then you have NO IDEA how all this Secret Society of Villains thing fits together. Add to that the clichéd dialogue from Ann Nocenti and average art from Rafa Sandoval, Cliff Richards and Stefano Martino and you have a book that is in so much need of repair that it isn’t funny. Get her out of this cliffhanging mess soon and get me out of this title!

CONSTANTINE #2: John has traveled to Myanmar to find the second piece of Croydon’s Compass. He gets visited and captured by Mister E, who is a founding member of the Cult of the Cold Flame. The blind magician begins tearing Constantine's soul from his body and he is forced to reveal that he hid the needle into one of his cigarettes. Telling a joke, John transports himself away, leaving Mister E waiting for the rest of the joke. Constantine encounters a red haired man who turns out to be Jim Corrigan as he transforms into The Spectre. He threatens Constantine, as Chris, who died last issue, was a close friend of Corrigan’s. John tells The Spectre that if he dies now at The Spectre’s hand, he will not be able to finish off the Cult. The Spirit of Vengeance promises to allow Constantine to finish his job but vows to come back and make the man in the trench coat pay. John enters a Buddhist temple and recovers the dial. And then he heads to London to gather the final part. Meanwhile, Sargon and Mister E prepare to meet him there. 

Okay, I still haven’t made up my mind yet about this title. I have loved this character for so long and wasn’t sure how he would translate in the NEW 52 universe. I have been happy with him in JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and his other appearances. But I have a hard time with John Constantine suddenly getting guilt. THAT’S not the Constantine I know. Ray Fawkes and Jeff Lemire are two phenomenal writers that just can’t seem to get it together here. Their dialogue is fine and I almost like the plot. But the whole thought of the master mage getting “religion” doesn’t wash with me. Did he REALLY get changed that much in his recent Justice League Dark adventure? And Renato Guedes, while turning in a beautiful job of penciling And inking, doesn’t fit for me. But then again, I don’t draw so I shouldn’t criticize.

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #19:  Gwen Pierce is examining an artifact called the Torc when suddenly this creature appears, takes her shape and flees, turning into an image of Superman when she reaches the street. Moments later, a warrior we all know as Beowulf( well, if we read his back-up stories in SWORD OF SORCERY). We learn that the creature that came from the Torc is called the Puca and it comes from Earth 26. Beowulf recaps his tale and tells of how Grendel’s mother created the creature to confuse him. Realizing he was too powerful, she exiled him with the Torc. Beowulf and Gwen tracked Pucs to the streets, where the creature has been transforming into various members of the Justice League. Despite a plea to him that they could rule together, Beowulf finishes the creature with two strokes of his sword. After fleeing the policed, the Torc is activated and Beowulf and Gwen head to her new home in Danelaw.

I was never a big fan of this series when it ran in SWORD OF SORCERY and I am still not. If this is DC’s idea of a jumping on point for a new series, count me out. If this is the death knell for DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS, then it goes out on a down note for me. Tony Bedard knows his character and Javier Pina does a nice job with the art. The WTF cover is totally misleading as it looks at though Beowulf has defeated the entire Justice league when he actually only defeated ONE creature disguised, one at a time, as the League.

DEMON KNIGHTS #19: Vandal Savage has a run in with his former friends, who try to explain that if Etrigan dies, the world may die with him. Meanwhile, Paradise Island is being overrun by Cain and his vampire brood.  The Demon Knights, with Vandal Savage in tow, land on the island just in time to save Queen Hippolyta and her army by telling them how to slay the vampires. During the battle, Sir Ystin approaches Cain and, because of on of Merlin’s prophecies, is willingly bitten. Jason Blood returns from the torture of Hell and turns into Etrigan, who sets fire to the vampire hoards and causes Cain to flee. Sir Ystin mentions the need to be infected to continue to seek the Holy Grail. This causes Hippolyta to repay the Demon Knights’ with information.

Again, thanks to the WTF cover, we knew Sir Ystin was getting bit long before the page happened, as it was part of the gatefold cover. Robert Venditti writes a fun if not totally predictable tale. Bernard Chang does a good job with the art. But this is all starting to get a little too much like soap opera and not in a good way. Sir Ystin the hermaphrodite manages to get him/herself bitten by Cain to follow the Grail. Vandal Savage can’t decide if he’s going to be the rotten bastard we all know and love or be a nice guy and play with the other Demon Knights. I just find myself getting tired of the direction this title is moving and wish it would move to the modern date and join up with JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and become the JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK KNIGHTS.

DETECTIVE COMICS #19: In the main story, we have Kirk Langstrom feeling responsible for the outbreak which is turning citizens in the 900 block into Man-Bats. As Batman and Alfred try to analyze blood samples, Batman tries to gain assistance from his companions, all of whom are refusing to work with him following the recent Joker incident. Victor Zsasz shows up, having also been turned into a Man-Bat. After securing the killer, Batwoman arrives with Langstrom and his wife Francine. Kirk explains he designed the Man-Bat Serum and is responsible for all of this. The scientist injects himself and begins to transform. His contagion will change people back and only allow people with his DNA to change. Shortly, everyone returns to normal except him. In prison, Zsasz confesses he got his special knife and the serum from Emperor Penguin, who is last seen entertaining Poison Ivy.
As this would have been the 900^th issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, we are treated to many back-up tales and a lot of pin-ups. BIRTH OF A FAMILY has Francine Langstrom taking the formula herself. WAR COUNCIL fills us in on what happened to Bane following his recent defeat at the hands of Batman and how he is about the destroy the Court of Owls and then Batman. BIRDWATCHING features Mr. Conbustable as he double crosses Emperor Penguin and looks to help free Mr. Cobbepot. THROUGH A BLUE LENS follows a group of police officers discussing and debating what side of the Batman debate they sit upon. You know, for eight bucks, you would think that we would have gotten more than a so-so main story and a bunch of relatively lame back-up tales. While John Layman has done most of the work, writing all the tales except for the Bane story, which was written by James Tynion IV (with art from Mikel Janin) and will crossover into TALON, the main story is the only one truly worth reading, although all the rest of the tales put events in motion that will play out over the next few months. We get the origin of the NEW 52’s Man-Bat and great looking art from the always reliable Jason Fabok. BIRTH OF A FAMILY gives us Francine’s soon to be origin story with nice art by Andy Clarke. BIRDWTCHING, with art from Henrik Johnson, shows how the upcoming Penguin war begins, once Oswald gets out of Blackgate. The final story was pure fluff with equally fluffy art from Jason Masters. EIGHT BUCKS…REALLY! Happy Anniversary indeed!

DIAL H #11: We begin with the Centipede hooking up the French of the Church of the Dial to a device that will give him exactly what he wants. By the priest praying, it will force open a doorway to the Exchange and allow The Fixer to be able to come through it. General Choler interrupts him and threatens to break into the room. The device causes the priest to disintegrate, opening the door to the Exchange. The Fixer appears and the Centipede explains he will allow him through and shut down the other dials in exchange for a favor. Meanwhile, Nelson wakes to find he and Roxie slept together. He accuses her of using the H Dial to command the user of an S-Dial to make him sleep with her. He grabs the dial and transforms into The Flash. He thinks he IS the Flash and that means the real Flash has lost his powers. The Centipede and the Fixer arrive forcing Roxie and Nelson to flee at super-speed. Nelson’s power wears off and Roxie quickly tries to dial another hero so they can escape. The Centipede grabs the dial away from them and gives them up to the Fixer. 

This book continues to rewrite what a superhero book is. China Mieville and Alberto Ponticelli have taken the genre to another place. I have mixed emotions on what place, especially with the romantic/sex between Roxie and Nelson. The NEW 52 is all about diversity. Do we really need Senior Citizen sex? At almost a year in, I can hope that we can get some more answers soon.

EARTH 2 #11: We begin with Nabu, in his new body, having a conversation with Jay Garrick’s mother while Jay and Khalid search for the Helmet of Fate. Most of the conversation deals with how Nabu has a vendetta and if they pair do not return with the Helmet, he will kill Mrs. Garrick. Inside the Tower, Jay and Khalid flee from the guardians and Khalid begs for the sprit of Nabu to help. The spirit says he’s dead and can’t be of any help. Nabu does insist that Khal is hesitant to assume control to Nabu because of what happened to the former guardian of the Tower, Kent Nelson. Despite the fear that madness will overtake him, Khalid dons the helmet and becomes the new Doctor Fate. In other developments, Steppenwolf sends Fury to find the lost son of Highfather in the ruins of Gotham City. 

James Robinson continues to show his love of comics by continuing to rewrite the book on his beloved Earth 2. Personally, I don’t think there is anyone else I would trust with this honor. Nicola Scott bangs out some awesome looking art and the whole thing feels fresh. While I don’t totally agree with some of his character choices and his characterizations, I do appreciate his wit, his dialogue and his total love of the personages that came before them.

GREEN ARROW #19: When last we saw Oliver Queen, he was falling to his death after Komodo shot through his line. He manages to dodge death by grabbing scaffolding. The police helicopters show up and Green Arrow jabs an arrow into Komodo’s leg, distracting him and allowing himself to get away. Both archer fire arrows at each other, but Ollie’s has an explosive tip that knocks them both down by the explosion. Komodo is up first and pierce all of Oliver's limbs with multiple arrows, adding he learn this from Ollie’s father, right before Komodo killed him. He claims he brought the helicopter down which allegedly killed Robert Queen.  Police helicopters interrupt the pair but before Oliver can get away, Emiko, who had been mentally torturing Naomi, arrives and hit Ollie with another arrow. Oliver tries to subdue her with a net arrow, but she breaks the bowstring with one of her own arrows. He makes a run for it and gets rescued by Henry while Komodo takes down both helicopters and sends them crashing into a ring of police cruisers below.

This is DEFINITELY an improvement from the previous NEW 52 incarnation. Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino has breathed major new life into this comic which hasn’t had this much fun and excitement since Mia Dearden’s Speedy was revealed to be HIV Positive or Roy Harper was found to be a junkie. This is on par with Kevin Smith’s work and even that of Judd Winick. I won’t go as far as comparing Lemire’s work to Denny O’Neil’s because that is just a very VERY big mountain to be facing. Suffice it to say, this is equal parts melodrama, mystery and CW TV show.

GREEN LANTERN #19: Hal is still trapped in the Dead Zone and still contemplating jumping off a cliff to gain the black ring, despite Tomar-Re trying to talk him out of it. Meanwhile, Sinestro gets the story on the First Lantern from current Green Lantern Simon Baz and teleports to Korugar. Volthoom arrives, now fully powered by the emotions Sinestro has instilled in the people of the planet, and attacks Sinestro. He then makes him watch an alternate timeline where he and Arsona prepared to defend Korugar from the Qwardians and the Anti-Monitor. As the battle resumes, the pair causes an earthquake that causes major damage across the planet. Devastated by what he has caused. he regains his Yellow Power Battery. Back in the Dead Zone, Hal and Tomar-Re witness the arrival of the Sinestro’s people and realize something bad has happened. With no other logical choice, Hal jumps off the cliff. 

As Geoff Johns roars down the road of his final GREEN LANTERN story, he intends to apparently pull out all of the stops. With the artistic styling of Adriam Syaf and Szymon Kudranski by his side, this trio is ruining everyone’s day within the pantheon. Sinestro, damaged villain/hero, is responsible for destroying much of his planet and now plans on gaining his revenge with the Yellow Ring. Hal Jordan embraces apparent death to gain the power to defeat the First Lantern. And Simon Baz? He’s stuck somewhere in the middle and doesn’t quite know what to do. Maybe THAT’S how he ended up on the new justice League of America. If you haven’t jumped on by now, you have missed an amazing run by an amazing writer.

I, VAMPIRE #19: We begin in 1592 where we find that Mary has been abused by Andrew Bennett’s father. But now he has returned from the dead. We flash forward to now, as Mary has been brought back from the dead yet again and this time as an emissary of good. But Tig has also been reborn as Lilith and Cain is by her side. Deborah cuts off Cain’s head in the hope that this will stop him, but his head simply grows back. Up in the House OF Mystery, Lucifer sits in judgment and pronounces that Cain will live within the House forever. Andrew arrives to help Mary and, with the help of Mishkin the dog, they knock the keeper into the portal and it is closed. Lilith leaves Tig’s body and she and Charles attempt to flee, before running into John Constantine who decides this is Andrew’s issue and not his. Mary realizes she must be released, kisses Andrew and disappears, professing her love for him. As an epilogue back in 1592, we see Mary telling Andrew that she was planning to use her powers to kill those who hurt her during her life. We also discovered that she had already killed Andrew’s father as payback for raping her. 

And so Joshua Hale Fialkov, Fernando Blanco and Andrea Sorrentino bring to an end one of the most interesting comics around that unfortunately couldn’t quite find an audience large enough to support it. While it has been a critical success, it was not a financial one and DC gaze it the stake in it’s wonderful heart. Fialkov has presented us twenty wonderful issues that brought Andrew Bennett from hero to villain and back again. I would expect to find him returning at some point in a book like JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, I would have issues with who might be writing him and would probably only trust him to someone like Scott Snyder or Jeff Lemire. Thanks you Team I, VAMPIRE for a wonderful if not short lived treat.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #19: We start in the Batcave where a mysterious intruder shocks Red Hood into unconsciousness and throws Alfred through a display case. The intruder then makes his way through the security system to enter a vault where Batman keeps items to use against the rest of the League, and opens the case bearing Superman’s logo. Some time later, Superman and Wonder Woman are handling the Sons of Adam in Khandaq while Cyborg, Batman, and Aquaman investigate the break-in at the Batcave. Batman transports to Khandaq and criticizes Superman and Wonder Woman regarding how they represent the League. He also tells them he is aware of their relationship. Meanwhile Despero appears on the Justice League Satellite, currently being manned by The Atom and Firestorm, wearing a Kryptonite ring and demanding the Justice League. In the back-up, we get the next chapter in the Shazam tale. The children search the subway seeking the wizard and Billy gets Black Adam’s history from the woman in the mirror. He also gets to meet Black Adam with less than optimal results.

Geoff Johns just became my newest hero as he introduces Despero to the NEW 52 Universe! YAY!!! Despero has always been one of my favorite JLA villains and was never totally used to his full potential. So here’s hoping! Great art from Ivan Reis that totally rivals the work he did on AQUAMAN. As far as the SHAZAM back-up: I can’t wait for this to conclude and we get a real book. I mean, I get the whole idea of doing this introductory story as chapters and charging us four bucks. But this is SUCH A TEASE!!! At this point, we have an 88 page tale. That would be almost four issues of a regular title. Or even a mini series. But, after all this is done, if this doesn’t make it into a monthly title, I think there may be serious outrage in fandom.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #19: Constantine wins at the horse track and, when he goes to collect his winnings, the lady behind the counter gives him a note saying: "THE COLD FLAME BURNS." Within moments there is a massive explosion. Meanwhile, Deadman meets with Steve Trevor who asks him to spy on Justice League Dark and, in return will give him a position on Justice League of America. Deadman heads to Greenwich Village, meeting with Madame Xanadu, Frankenstein on Constantine, who announces that someone has stolen the House Of Mystery and they have to get it back in the next 24 hours or he will lose control over it forever. He summons Swamp Thing, who can track the House through the wood. He senses that the House is infected and soon they are all swallowed by individual horrific nightmares. As it turns out, the House of Mystery is on Fifth Avenue and Doctor Destiny is using his Dreamstone to control it and the members of Justice League Dark.

Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes combine with Mikel Janin to provide one really creepy ride. And it only gets creepier once the nightmares begin. Constantine coughing up blood that turns into distorted versions of himself. Deadman in Madison Square Gardens and being attacked by the Cannibal Carnival. Xanadu is in a graveyard where she gets attacked by the bodies of her former lovers. And Frankenstein watches his Bride attacked by their Spawn. This is just awesome stuff and dropping Doctor Destiny into the mix just ratchets it up to the next place.