VILLAINS MONTH Week 3

ACTION COMICS #23.3 LEX LUTHOR: Lex Luthor gets released from prison and is a bit upset that Superman didn't show up for his release. In fact Superman seems to have vanished. Lextells his assistant Casey to start Project Ghost Town. Back at Lexcorp, he undergoes surgery tofix his scarred face while trying to convince Noel Spheeris not buy out an unprofitable company Lex owns. He then instructs Casey to look for a file on Spheeris, and to carry out the instructions. Meanwhile Ghost Town launches. When it reaches its destination, it turns off its engines. the crew broadcasts an SOS, specifically asking for Superman. The crew realizes that isn't coming and try to restart the engines, which they cannot and the ship explodes when it hits the atmosphere. Casey is shocked and tries to call the police, but cell reception has been disabled by her boss. This was a test and she just failed it. Lex calls down to his receptionist and tells her there has been a terrible accident and he needs a new P.A. Soon he is on a helicopter ride with his new P.A. 

This one is a little confusing, as there are a couple of mistakes in it. The whole story with Spheeris is lame, as we never really understand what convinces him to NOT buy the company. We can ASSUME it was the Ghost Town explosion, but we’re not 100% certain. Then the book ends with Lex gloating how, with Superman gone, it will be a good day. Again, an assumption on Luthor’s part as this leads directly into FOREVER EVIL #1, which came out three weeks prior to this book. Again, a gripe with DC is books coming out before or after stories in other titles. Get your chronology straight, guys. Other than that, it’s a wicked evil Lex Luthor story courtesy of Charles Soule and Raymund Bermudez

BATMAN #23.3 PENGUIN: The Penguin has learned that he is losing a ton of money at his casino at the hands of a failed magic act called the Illusionists. He has them escorted out, demands his money back and bans them from the establishment. They refuse, so he has Lark escort them outside and he kills them personally with his umbrella, ordering any of their family killed also. Their bodies end up on the front steps of GCPD Headquarters and Governor Carter Winston promises to put a stop on crime, starting with the Penguin’s Iceberg Casino. The Winston family and the Cobblepots while Oswald and Carter, though, have a personal history as well, with Carter being Oswald’s bodyguard at boarding school. Oswald invites Carter for dinner. Carter refuses to back down on his promise and he soon finds that Penguin has drugged his drink. When he awakens, he discovers himself in a hotel room with the murdered corpse of his Assistant Miss Collins. The poison in his veins had Venom in it and there are text records of a sexual relationship between the two. Several days later Carter Winston calls a news conference, states that “sometimes the bullies get it right” and shoots himself in the head on live television. Oswald orders that a massive flower arrangement, saying that Carter is like everyone he has ever dealt with: they underestimated the Penguin.

Frank Tieri and Christian Duce Fernandez craft a classic tale of revenge with The penguin once again amping up his degree of evilness. There was a time that Oswald Cobbleppot actually attended to be a REAL businessman, running a “legitimate” casino. Those days are gone, especially after the whole Emperor Penguin debacle which still leaves a bad taste in his mouth. This is a great story about a classic villain.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #23.3 RAS AL GHUL: In 1285, there were rumors of a powerful demon that lived in a dark tower. A band of Crusaders, led by Prince Gerhardt, rode to the tower. They were met by the demon’s servant Dusan, who led them down a series of passages. Soon every knight but Prince Gerhardt was slain and he had found himself at a Lazarus Pit with Ra’s al Ghul facing him. In present times, an emissary of the Secret Society tries to convince him to join them. Unimpressed, he demands they fight in a duel before he will consider the offer. As the two battle, the emissary relates tales of Ra’s al Ghul from various times in history. he even goes as far as to tell the tale of how he had hoped to marry his daughter off to his hand chosen successor: Batman. But Talia's death represented the final loss. Defeating the emissary, he explains that if Ra's will join the Secret Society, they will help him achieve his goals. He rejects the invitation, calling the Society's masters cowards. The emissary attempts to kill Ra's, but fails as Ra’s has him pinned at the wrists with spears to a wall. Calling the Society cowards, he boasts that a power will rise in the east in a dark tower. 

James Tynion IV and Jeremy Haun take a different twist on the origin of Ra’s al Ghul, who we know has been alive and reborn for centuries. But to have an emissary of the Secret Society waltz in, relate his history to him and then call Talia’s death his greatest defeat-well, that’s just plain ballsy! And obviously, the emissary knew a lot about Ra’s but not enough to know that he is a maniac who ALWAYS gets his way. Case in point: Ra’s is back and will create his own empire while the Crime Syndicate attempts to create theirs. 

BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #23.3 CLAYFACE: Basil Karlo, otherwise known as Clayface, learns that the Justice League is dead and that gives him free reign to do whatever he wants.He ends up at Bar 8, hanging out with many Gotham criminals and hears that the Secret Society is recruiting villains. He learns that there is a gang of ex-military types who are attempting to form a resistance and he decides that HE will take them out personally. When he arrives at the base, he kills everyone he sees and contacts the Secret Society. They inform him that the soldiers were under their command. In his rage, he starts the self-destruct sequence for the hangar and is caught in the blast. Weeks later, he has nursed his wounds and come up with his own plan to get back in the game.

John Layman writes a great tale but, unfortunately, makes legendary actor Basil Karlo into an absolute idiot…even the Secret Society tell him he is one. That just ruins a really good tale as we follow Clayface through the whole affair only to find out he blew it and ends up a chump. Great story, nonetheless with dynamic art from the always dependable Cliff Richards.

DETECTIVE COMICS #23.3 SCARECROW: With the Crime Syndicate seemingly eliminating the Justice League, Gotham City now has a new mayor in the form of Oswald Cobblepot and the town has been divided intro districts run by some of Arkham’s most insane criminals. The Scarecrow finds himself moving from district to district informing all that the free prisoners from Blackgate Prison are looking to take over the city for themselves. Of course, he is playing both sides, as he was told by the Crime Syndicate to personally recruit many of Gotham's villains. Through guile, he convinces the Arkham rulers to join him in the upcoming war and, after tossing his partner Hudson to his death, declares that Gotham will soon be his..

Can I wake up now? I LOVE Peter J. Tomasi’s work but this is one long excuse to fill a book with all of the key Batman players. And each one has their own chunk of the city and each one agrees that they should come together as one. REALLY!? Not the Arkham crew I know. But, I digress! It’s a long read filled with characters who have already had their own book. And when did the Penguin become Mayor? I thought sure he would end up as Governor after taking him out of the game. Lastly, Szymon Kudranski art is okay…nothing great…just okay. Remember that when I review his next book, as he did do another one in VILLAINS MONTH.

FLASH #23.3 ROGUES: The Rogues have decided to raid the abandoned gem mines beneath Keystone City. They also planned to dig up underneath a bank, have Mirror Master grab 10 million dollars, and take it back to Mirror World to divide it up. But the building starts to collapse and they must flee, but not before repairing the damage because The Rogues do not kill. The next night Lisa, who is trapped in a hospital bed for the rest of her life, astral projects herself and tries to pull her boyfriend Sam from inside the mirror he is stuck in. She pulls him through but it causes her real body to crash and doctors rush in to try to reverse her heart-failure. When brother Len gets the news, he becomes quite angry and declares that the Rogues are finished. He reflects on how he founded the Rogues and decides to try and rob the back from earlier anyway. The other Rogues drag him into the Mirror World to stop him and remind him that they need a leader and since Lisa Snart can’t be the leader, Len Snart must. He decides they must go to Iron Heights and free the Trickster. They get to the fence and encounter a “pseudo-flash”, who invites them to a meeting at the ruined Justice League Watchtower. They learn of the death of the Justice League and plot on how the Gem Cities can be theirs. They arrive to find the two cities in a state of turmoil and decide that they will make certain those responsible pay for their crimes.

Brian Buccellato certainly likes writing about The Rogues and it shows all over this issue. He has taken this band of classic criminals and turned them into semi-lovable, bumbling somewhat good hearted bad guys. This actually hearkens back a little to the last FLASH series prior to FLASHPOINT. Where they were once some of the baddest in the Rogue’s gallery, hence the name, they have all developed consciousnesses and hearts. I mean: think about it-THE ROGUES DON’T KILL. I never thought we would ever see that. Patrick Zircher delivers the goods nicely on the art side of the fence and, all in all, this issue is quite enjoyable. PLUS it sends up the mini-series within the FOREVER EVIL event as The Rogues become part of the resistance against the Crime Syndicate.

GREEN LANTERN 23.3: BLACK HAND: We begin with a couple of laborers cremating bodies from an asylum when a Black Lantern ring drops from the sky and falls into the ashes. The ashes of the dead attack one of the laborers and turn him into Black Hand. But he finds himself captured by a security guard and thrown into jail. While in the cell, he uses his power over undeath to call up a zombie policeman to get him out. The zombie cop kills all the other criminal in the cells and Black Hand escapes with a brand new zombie army. And with all the chaos outside, Black Hand finds plenty of new recruits for his army and takes to the streets where chaos reigns. He heads to Shady Vale Cemetery and speaks with the corpse of Martin Jordan, who is Hal Jordan’s father. This can’t bode well for the Green Lantern.

What a strange issue…but I like it. I mean, it took me until the very end of the issue to appreciate it, but dragging Martin Jordan out of the grave is sheer genius. I have to give major points to Charles Soule for throwing in that one, although the whole zombie army got quite silly after awhile. Artwork is by Alberto Ponticelli…’Nuff said!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #23.3 DIAL E: Four children named Case, Ben, Gwen, and Al have stolen a dial from some thugs connected to Vernon Boyne. Gwen uses it to steal money and groceries, but find them cornered by the thugs they stole the dial from in the first place. The police arrive but not before tons of super-powers are dialed up and Gwen is taken hostage by Tibbs and his gang. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Centipede arrives to try and capture this dial. While Ben dials a bunch of beings who are ineffective and eventually disappears, the Centipede explains that it is a Q dials, which stands for Qued. Apparently this is an old word for "Bad." Gwen can’t use the dial because she isn’t bad enough. Before he can use the dial though, he is knocked out by Rescue Jill, who arrives from a portal and announces that Case is safe.

So, if you like DIAL H, you’ll love this book. If you didn’t, prepare to be utterly disappointed and confused. This is China Mieville swan song and it’s a beauty, filled with kids, bad guys and the return of The Centipede. And, if that wasn’t enough, because of the various heroes and villains coming and going, it features more pencillers than I can count. Those artists include Mateua Santolouco, Carla Berrocal, Riccardo Burchielli, Liam Sharp, Jock, Tula Lotay, Marley Zarcone, Brendan McCarthy, Emma Rios, Emi Lenox, Jeff Lemire, Frazier Irving, David Lapham, Carmen Carnero, Sloane Leong, Kelsey Wroten, Michelle Farran, Annie Wu, Zak Smith, and Alberto Ponticelli. This is one long strange trip without even a lick of The Grateful Dead in it.



JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #23.2 ECLIPSO: We learn the story of Gordon Jacobs, who was a prominent scientist, failed to harness solar energy and made a mess of what became known as Solar City. Living as a recluse, he receives a package containing a certain Black Diamond in it. He contacts his old colleague Jonah Bennett, who will have noting to do with him. From within the diamond, he hears the voice of Eclipso asking to be freed. He claims to be a servant waiting to be set free. He tells Gordon he has lived many lives trying to help people, but always ended up trapped in the diamond for his trouble. He believes Gordon is the right person to free him. He convinces Gordon to cut himself with the diamond and free him, which he does. Jonah Bennett's arrives at the house as the transformation occurs. When Jonah opens the door, Eclipso grabs him and drains his life force into the diamond. Shocked, he demands Eclipso leave his body and he does return to the diamond. But beware: if the diamond and Eclipso are destroyed, Gordon will also die because of their blood bond. He must be around to console Jonah’s soon to be heartbroken daughter. 

Leave it to good old Dan Didio to come up with a real stinker. Didn’t we have this great story about the Black Diamond that ran through a whole bunch of NEW 52 titles, letting the evil Eclipso loose and wreak havoc everywhere he seemed to go? Yeah, that is what I thought. Here, we get a genie out of the bottle syndrome and this supposedly brilliant scientist becomes a gullible and bumbling moron. The dialogue is lame, the plot is even worse and even the art of Phillip Tan can’t save it. Stick to animation, Dan and stay out of my comic books!

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #7.3 SHADOW THIEF: Aviva Sands is meeting with her former Mossad team who throw her out of a window. As she falls, we receive her origin in a flashback. A proud, ruthless member of the Mossad, she had to flee to America for killing her commander and initiating a missile strike on an area full of civilians. A mysterious Mister Q, who we learn is a Deamonite, sent her for a case containing a bio hazard and a suit. Her mother and brother were biochemists who decided to test the bio hazard, which blew up on them, causing them to melt down inside the sealed chamber they were testing it in. Aviva grabbed the suit, thinking it would protect her against the virus. It turned out to be the Shadow Suit which allows her to become the Shadow Thief. She can enter the Shadow Realm through any shadow on Earth and can also create Shadow Weapons. Inside of the Shadow Realm are hostile creatures which created the Skin and attack her on sight. Back in present times, Aviva changes into her Shadow Skin and manages to slip into the Shadow Realm to escape certain death. When she exits, she finds herself back in the room she had just been thrown out and kills all but one. She sends him back to the Mossad with a message to not deal with aliens.


Tom DeFalco is back after a long overdue absence and unfortunately crams so many words into this book that I find myself dizzy and tired! The Shadow Thief has always been a fun character but the NEW 52 version is pretty much lost to me as I didn’t read SAVAGE HAWKMAN expect for issue #0 and #1(was there even an issue #0). Such a shame that too may words manage to clutter a great read but that’s the issue here. Chad Hardin’s artwork rocks the joint though and makes up for the shortcomings from the story.

SUPERMAN #23.3 HEL: H’el is Patient H whose story is told while he is in a coma. He is on Krypton and being examined by Jor-el and Orla. Of course, they also have noticed a piece of the planet, otherwise known as Kryptonite, lodged within him, which was caused during his battle on Earth. Jor-el explains to the Science Council that a piece of Kryptonite could only have come from the core of the planet. Zev-ekar accuses Jor-el of treason. H’el watches all of this and boasts how he could stop all of this but that changing the past would alter the future. Leaving the meeting, Jor-el gives Zod a tour of his laboratory. One of his experiments is to send a ship through the galaxy and through different kinds of radiation to test how it affects Kryptonian cells. H’el awakens from his coma upon learning that everything he knew was a lie. He burns Zod and then breaks Jor-el’s neck as he escapes in the time capsule. 

Okay…here it is: the ABSOLUTE DUMBEST BOOK THIS MONTH!!! Thank you Scott Lobdell for proving once again you forgot what you wrote. Let me see: H’el doesn’t want to alter the past to change the future? Gee, didn’t he want to make sure that Krypton didn’t explode? Last time I checked, that means CHANGING THE PAST TO CHANGE THE FUTURE. The writing is sub-par, the dialogue is horrendous and this is a character I really didn’t care for and one of the reasons I stopped reading SUPERGIRL and SUPERBOY was because of this idiotic crossover with H’el. The ONLY saving grace on this stinker is that Dan Jurgens drew it, but it looks like he drew it with one eye open as a lot of the perspectives are off. SUPERMAN used to be a great title. Now it is not only a shadow of itself, it’s a shame.

SWAMP THING #23.1 ARCANE: Anton Arcane is stuck in a place where nothing ever rots which, for him, is worse than death. One day he is visited by the avatar of The Rot: his daughter Abby. She tells him she wants a favor and, in return, will let him touch the Rot again. She states that she wants only to hear about her mother. When her father died, she and her mother were taken in to her Uncle Anton's castle. But her mother sent her away to live with her aunt in France and told her to never come back. Anton came for her, killing the family and taking her back to his castle. Using his rot-flowers, he erased all the memories except for living in the castle. Since becoming an Avatar those memories have returned. Arcane insists that he did not kill Abby's mother but will tell her the story he knows. When he was 12, he ate the rotting corpse of a rabbit, causing the Parliament of Decay to come to him and make him their avatar. His job was to destroy as many avatars of The Green and the Red as possible. He found a quicker way though by infecting Ilse, the woman Abby knew as her mother, with the flesh-eating bacteria. That was when she sent Abby away. And he kept infecting her over and over and grafting on new skin, making her a patchwork of sorts. He then reveals that Ilse was NOT Abby's mother. She was a whore he had found to raise Abby when her mother had died. Arcane explains how Abby unknowingly had killed her own mother because of her connection to The Rot. Leaving, she warns that he will never touch the Rot again and never ever leave this place. He mocks her and throws his eyeball through the doorway. Somewhere, a young boy is about to bite into an apple but his stopped by his mother who notices an usual patch of rot on the fruit…one that looks like an eyeball.

Yeah…that is probably the sickest book I’ll read this month! In the tradition of the classic Anton Arcane, this guy takes the cake by repeatedly infecting a woman to watch what The Rot does to her. And then, best of all, we discover it is NOT Abby’s mother at all and that Abby is no different than her uncle be cause SHE infected the poor woman with The Rot. This is a minor masterpiece from Charles Soule and Jesus Saiz that also serves to relaunch Anton Arcane into the NEW 52 from his place of exile. What an awesome issue!

TEEN TITANS #23.2 DEATHSTROKE: Deathstroke is on a mission when he crosses paths with Deathblow. Deathstroke is here to execute a hit on a world leader. This leads to a flashback to their first meeting, when Deathblow sets off a bomb at a children’s hospital in a war torn land. Collateral damage or not, Slade Wilson quit the service. Moving forward in time, we see the birth of his son Grant and how he and Slade eventually became partners; until one time in North Korea when they were ambushed. Grant died and Slade lost his eye, all at the hands of a woman named Wilson. Back in modern times, Deathstroke completes the hit and kills off Michael Cray, his former partner, in the process. He eventually returns home where he greets his young daughter Rose.

Well, here is another fine mess on our hands! What starts out with great potential, with the Deathblow appearing in the NEW 52, ends up being a convoluted mess. And exactly what time frame is this set in? I thought the assignation was taking place during the preset day, but since it looks like he returns from the mission to an prepubescent Rose Wilson, I guess that’s a no. The story by Coory May and Dooma Wendschuh is confusing with a lot of little Image touches. And if you were a fan of Image, you know what I mean. By the way: Dooma Wendschuh? Are you sure this isn’t Rob Liefeld under a pseudonym because it reads like something he would write. Art is by Moritat, Angel Unzueta and Robson Rocha and, if you have to have THREE people draw it, you know that’s a mess of epic proportions. And lastly: how does he get a book anyway? And what does it have to do with FOREVER EVIL? Sigh…

WONDER WOMAN #23.1 CHEETAH: Once upon a time, Barbara Minerva and Wonder Woman were friends who had a falling out and, in the process, Barabara became the Cheetah. Well, now the Cheetah has busted out of Belle Reve and gets a call from the Secret Society, demanding she obey them. She promises to be there soon, but not until she completes a mission of her own liking first. With the Justice League gone and Amanda Waller missing, Captain LeRoi Holmes is called out of retirement and selects Mark Shaw to investigate. Shaw ends up at "Amazonia": a group home where Barbara grew up and that emulates the Amazonian lifestyle. Mark asks whether Lyta, who runs the group home, where Barbara's mother Thena and her brother Alexander might be. When last she heard was when Barbara had killed her own brother, winning a hunting tournament along with the right to leave Amazonia and retrieve the God-Slayer Knife. Lita decides that Mark needs to be hunted and gives him a five minute head-start to run for his life. She catches him and his preparing to finish him with her knife when she is knocked aside by Barbara. She explains that she is not here to protect him, but to kill her, which will end Barbara Minerva’s connection to this world. She then proceeds to tear Lyta’s heart out, dedicates it to her goddess and then quits. Warp arrives demanding she goes to the Society. Mark claims the knife for himself, saying he will now be hunting her.

Leave it to John Ostrander to come from out of nowhere and deliver a really powerful tale that defines Barbara Minerva. Seriously, I didn’t see this gem coming. While it is a bit wordy, most of John’s work has been in the past, he does tell one hell of a tale and, as always, LOVES using military characters within his plot. Cue Mark Shaw, the NEW 52 Universe version of Manhunter,  who now will become a key player down the road, possibly in the new JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA title. Art by Victor Ibanez is solid and, all in all, this was a fun issue to close out Week Three.