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!