ACTION COMICS #30: The mysterious group that attacked Superman in Venezuela has released Doomsday from the Phantom Zone and begins to hunt. Meanwhile, Superman is attacking Tower Control, determined to destroy all of their equipment. A woman named Harrow who explains that she wasn’t malicious in her actions regarding the recent incident with Subterranea. Unable to convince him that HE is the real menace, she leaves and unleashes an army of ghost soldiers from all eras of time. However, Superman manages to make them turn on Harrow who releases them back to the spirit world. Exhausted, she admits that it wouldn’t take much for Superman to end her life. So they agree to work together for a common goal. But she turns on him and leaves, promising that the next time they meet, she will kill him. At the same time, a Tower sub moving through the Mariana Trench encounters a very transformed Doomsday.
This is the opening shot, the first chapter of the Prelude, in the summer Superman story, DOOMED. It will run mostly through ACTION COMICS and SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN but also spills out into select issues of SUPERMAN, BATMAN/SUPERMAN, SUPERGIRL, along with two annuals and a pair of free standing SUPERMAN: DOOMED books which act as the opening and closing chapters. Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder, along with Jed Dougherty and Karl Kerschl on this issue, continue to create one of the most reinvigorated comics on the market today. Six months to a year ago, this was the worst of the Superman titles and now, having officially moved into present day continuity, it is one of the best. The turn-around since Pak and Kuder came on board is amazing! This IS the Superman title to read monthly…hands down!
ALL-STAR WESTERN #30: We begin with Jonah burying Gina, who died at the end of the last issue. He heads to town and runs into his old love, Tallulah Black. Since he is now without his scars, she assumes he is actually Jonah Hex's brother. They sit and drink and he tells her the tale of his traveling to the future and back. Hex asks about active bounties, she produces a key off a man she killed earlier. But this causes everyone in the bar to draw their weapons and demand the key. In the back-up, Jeanne Walker’s father and his partner’s son Henry have been mining and Henry betrays him. He sets off an explosion that traps Jeanne and kills her father. Jeanne finds a glowing pool of water and dives in. This takes her to a place filled with demons. Armed only with her twin pistols, she goes in search of someone called Kerberos.
Well, you won’t have to hear me tell you how much I love this title for much longer as DC has decided to give it the axe in August. Until then, try and the adventures of my favorite gunfighter, courtesy of Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Staz Johnson. The back up tale, by Palmiotti, Gray and the legendary Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is fun but…I mean, I get a little tired of these back-ups featuring bosomy gunslingers and then…we never see them again! Drawing your attention to it is a great looking cover by Dan Panosian. I will truly miss this title as I found it a nice little oddity in the NEW 52.
AQUAMAN #30: Aquaman battles Hercules and the other creatures freed by the trident opening a portal last issue. Eventually, he overwhelms the Olympian and tosses him into the labyrinth, which may take him centuries to escape from. Arthur contacts Wonder Woman and makes her aware that he had to deal with her half-brother. Meanwhile, Mera is attacked and almost killed by forces from Xebel, only to be rescued by Orm’s sister Tula.
Jeff Parker ends this chapter and opens the door to another chapter that will come to us in this summer’s AQUAMAN ANNUAL #2. And what goes on with the former Aquagirl, who is now sister to that evil Orm guy, saving Mera from her own people? Then Triton Base is in the middle of creating a reboot of a Pre New 52 character by inserting brain tissue from The Kraqan. Paul Pelletier handles the art with great skill, as always, but with an assist from Alvaro Martinez. Next month: Swamp Thing comes along as that battle comes to a long awaited confrontation.
AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #1: We begin thousands of years ago where Atlan, the banished king of Atlantis, steals ten magical bars of gold from someone called The Alchemist. Several teams of trained villains attack various members of The Others in an effort to steal their Atlantean artifacts. And it appears that some of these artifacts have now lost their powers. During a mission The Operative is on, his Atlantean relic also fails and he comes under attack, only to be saved by Aquaman. The team convenes some time later to relate their woes and their plane comes under attack Meanwhile, Kahina’s sister Sayeh gets kidnapped as she babbles on about how she needs to be saved before the machines come to destroy everyone.
I was not incredibly thrilled with these characters when they first appeared in AQUAMAN and I am equally uninspired by them now. Dan Jurgens is desperately trying to breathe life into some extremely cardboard and cliched characters that Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis are responsible for. Unfortunately, they are so boring and lame, that he cannot. Law Medina’s art is nice-nothing to jump up and down about, but all the proportions look decent. I just cannot find myself caring about these characters at all. I may hang about for the first two or three issues, in an attempt to give it a shot. But Jurgens is going to REALLY have to find a way to give some life to the lifeless.
BATGIRL #30: We learn of a game that Gotham teenagers play where they try to summon someone called the Midnight Man. Batgirl is patrolling the area when her EMF reader goes off. It takes her to a quite house where she finds a monster rising from the floor and about to attack the teens sleeping there. She wakes the teens and they try to flee from the house as the Midnight Man becomes a swarm of bats and blocks the door. Crawling through a ventilation shaft to make her way to the kitchen, she ends up turning on the stove and lights some sage, which she throws at the Midnight Man. Screaming in pain, the creature ends up fleeing the house. Her parting warning to the teens is that they should play Spin the Bottle next time.
Wow! This SO FEELS like a fill-in issue. But, since this is now the second BATGIRL story I have read by Marguerite Bennett, maybe this is what we’re going to be getting in the future. I sure hope not because this was just a plain, boring tale! The art by Robert Gill was okay, but nothing to write home about. I MISS Gail Simone! Can someone get some quality back on this book?
BATGIRL ANNUAL #2: In the not so distant past, Batgirl and Black Canary on a mission where there targets have terminal diseases and answer to a "Mr. Rain." The rest of Dinah’s team shows up, including Poison Ivy, and joins the battle. One of the “terrorists” whispers something to Ivy that shocks her. A week later, Ivy betrayed the team. Flashing forward, Barbara is convinced by her roommate Alysia Yeoh to help her build a garden at an abandoned lot. That night, she goes looking for Mr. Rain. Ivy joins up with her, claiming she is pregnant with a non “flesh baby”. Ivy also explained that the secret she had been told was the Mr. Rain could fix her. Breaking into Mr. Rain’s lab, they found human bodies hung in bags. They worked together for three months before they got another lead. They found a man who agreed to Rain’s experiments to prolong his life. In actuality, he was being used as an organ farm, as were all the others they had previously found. Ivy, who is suffering with Seasonal Affective Disorder, and Batgirl brawl as Batgirl tells her the partnership is over. Ivy returned to the man’s room and, after telling him how her father killed her mother and buried her in the front garden, she put him out of his misery by using her plant pheromones. Three more months pass and the garden has been destroyed, much to Barbara’s dismay. That night, Batgirl receives a message and meets Ivy, who had found Mr. Rain but was also weak and withered-like plants do in the winter. Making their way to the woods, Rain tries to convince Ivy to kill Batgirl and he would make her whole again. Instead, she attempts to kill him, until Batgirl convinces her not to. Ivy also knows this means she will be going to Arkham. Hours later, the Alyia’s garden had regrown, thanks to Ivy.
I probably would have enjoyed this story much more if it had been told during the original continuity. Because of what occurs with Poison Ivy, this issue would have to fall between BIRDS OF PREY #3 and #9. And that would have been at LEAST 21 issues ago. I can’t remember what happened 2 months ago, never mind almost two years. A long, drawn out story that is designed to show how Poison Ivy really isn’t so bad and that the reason she betrayed the Birds was because some crazy guy offered her a cure. Gail Simone and Robert Gill do no justice to the book at all. Simone’s writing is good, yet plodding. Gill’s art is his typical fare. All in all, I wasn’t happy to waste five bucks on this one.
BATMAN #30: We begin with a flashback with Bruce convincing his friend Julie Madison to go with him on a tour of the countryside with him. But as she climbs out the window, he sees her bleeding from the side of her face. Bruce wakes to find he is in an apartment in Bell Towers, where he has been residing in an unconscious state for almost six months. He is now living in Zero Year, as The Riddler has taken down Gotham and begun to build it to his own designs. He calls Alfred and explains that he survived the balloon crash. Alfred tells him that The Riddler controls all that remains of Gotham, complete with having turned it into a wilderness thanks to stealing Pam Isley’s formulas. He has also established a game of sorts. Each night, the Riddler challenges the people of Gotham to present him with a riddle he can't answer. If that happens, he will return the city back to them. That night, Bob Chee of Powers Industries, tries his luck and pays for his failure with his life. Jim Gordon and his tactical team show up and the team leader offers a suitcase filled with fifty million dollars in untraceable cash. His response is to have a wrecking ball begin knocking buildings down towards them in a giant game of dominoes. Telling them that he has Riddler-bots surrounding them, Batman tells them to shoot the robots in the eye. Gordon opts to shoot a camera-drone down, which causes the robots to fire on it. Batman shoots down the water-tower on the top of the building, which creates a bridge for Gordon and the team to cross. Jim reveals his ally to the tactical team.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo continue the ZERO YEAR storyline as it slowly rumbles to an epic conclusion. This has been one long story but, for the most part, has been a ball to read. While this may upset those loyal readers who claim this never happened in Batman mythos, I believe that a story is a story and this just adds color to the legend. It’s a comic book, it’s literature, it’s fiction. Deal with it.
BATMAN AND ROBIN #30: Batman arrives on Themyscira and is immediately held at knife point by Aleka. Wonder Woman explains that Batman is here in search of his dead son who was kidnapped by Ra's al Ghul, who has found a Lazarus Pit on the island. Batman offers a Batarang as a gift to the Oracle of the Amazons and is told to find the Lazarus Pit in the Cavern of Neekta. Ra's discovers that the pit is no longer active and uses the crystal he brought to re-activate it. Batman and Wonder Woman intervene, temporarily stopping his plan. He then explains how he got a map from a Spaniard who had found the island. As Batman explains that this is not a true Lazarus Pit, a Neekta bursts forth from it, allowing Ra's and his Man-Bats to escape with Talia and Damian’s sarcophagi. Batman is further driven to find his son and put him to rest.
Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason continue their awesome run on this title. The story is always captivating, Gleason’s artwork is impressive, and I love the whole feeling of this title. And yes, I know it HASN’T been called BATMAN AND ROBIN since Damian died, but I just don’t buy changing it every review. And, if you look it the crystal ball known as the future releases from DC Comics, you will soon see it BACK to being called BATMAN AND ROBIN yet again. In any event, you need to read this as part of your monthly Batman fix.
BATMAN ETERNAL #1-4: In issue #1, Jason Bard is the newest member of the GPCD, having just transferred to Gotham from Detroit. Harvey Bullock introduces Bard to Major Forbes. Captain Maggie Sawyer interrupts Forces rant about how Jim Gordon does not understand how Gotham works, to inform them that Gordon needs backup. Gordon is in a battle with Professor Pyg and his men and luckily, Batman arrives, quickly taking down Pyg and most of his men. Jim corners the last of the men and orders him to drop his weapon. The man claims he isn’t holding a gun but Gordon can see it and fires a warning shot that strokes an electrical box . The explosion that follows knocks both men down and affects the system that controls the trains. Two of them collide, causing destruction, injury, and death. When back up arrives, led by Forbes, Bard is ordered to place the Commissioner under arrest.
In issue #2, we find Mayor Hady visited by a man who reminds him that, five years ago, he said this would happen. At the Gotham Gazette, there is a debate about whether they should run the story. Final decision is it NEEDS to be run and Vicki Vale is ordered to publish the story online.
Batman, visits Gordon in Gotham Central Booking and Jim sticks to his story: that Derek Grady had a gun in his hand. Security footage tells a different story and Batman feels this is all a setup. Down in the subway station, an officer discovers a man wandering around. He straes her in the eyes and insists she won’t remember him being there. Batman breaks into the Gotham Metro Transit Authority and runs a facial recognition on the crook known as Derek Grady. He finds himself shocked by the results. He tells Catwoman that the man WAS Derek Grady, who was last seen here five years ago when he and his boss were forced to leave town. He and his boss, The Roman, are apparently back in Gotham and we learn that this is the mysterious guest of Mayor Hady. Meanwhile, at Arkham Asylum, Doctor Phosphorus' is screaming in response to the voices he hears. A skeletal finger appears before Sartorius, forcing him to scream the name "Blackfire", before the flames inside him explode.
Issue #3 begins with Stephanie Brown's mother upset that her daughter is out this late in Gotham. Stephanie was back at her father’s place to collect her tablet. Unfortunately, she interrupts a meeting with his super-villain friends and is knocked unconscious. Arthur Brown is told by one of the men there that he needs to kill his daughter and he finds that easy to do as he really doesn’t care for his daughter. Stephanie reaches up, pulls the pin on one of his gas-grenades and makes her escape. She calls her mother to let her know about a secret that her father is willing to kill her for. At the Iceberg Casino, Batman interrupts The Penguin who is torturing one of his croupiers, demanding to know where he can find Carmine Falcone. The Penguin replies that Falcone isn’t in Gotham and Batman gives him the chance to find out if he has returned to Gotham. Secretly, he plans to go to war with Falcone. At Gotham City Hall, Forbes meets with Mayor Hady and Carmine Falcone, telling him he is glad the Roman is back in Gotham and promising to have his officers look the other way so Falcone can take back the empire he once had. Batman finds out that fires are breaking out all over Gotham and it seems Falcone’s making his move tonight. Captain Sawyer orders GPCD to suit up for gang war, but Forbes cancels her order. She challenges the order, but is interrupted by the Mayor. He declares Forbes to be the Interim Commissioner and says that the gang war is not their first order of business. The first order of business is war with Batman.
Issue #4 begins with Batgirl having problems believing her father is guilty of what he has been accused of, including the death of one hundred and sixty-two civilians. Denied bail, he is remanded to serve time in Blackgate Penitentiary. Warden Agatha Zorbatos, a woman Gordon removed from the force, greets him and leads him to his cell, making sure to parade him by many of the inmates he was responsible for jailing. Meanwhile, Stephanie Brown tells her mother that the police are in on whatever it is her father’s gang is planning. She gives her mother her address and hangs up, at which point mom calls her ex-husband and tells him where she is. At GCPD Headquarters, Forbes meets with Lt. Bard, who informs Forbes that his men found some of Professor Pyg's men, apparently captured by Batman. He begs permission to assemble a strike force to be ready to stop the forthcoming gang war and is denied. Batman breaks into the Falcone penthouse, accusing him of setting up Jim Gordon, which he denies. Returning to the Batcave, he finds Barbara working on the case. She has discovered that a Brazilian soap opera star with suspected ties to drug cartels spent thrtee hours waiting around and never boarded a train. As far as she is concerned, Gonzolo Dominguez is to blame for causing the train collision.
This is an AWFUL lot to read in four weeks and an awful lot to digest and write a synopsis for. Welcome to DC’s latest experiment: the weekly. This is either going to be a huge success or a major flop as you have added the monetary equivalent of four new monthlies to your stack.
Between these four issues, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, John Layman and Tim Seeley all put their writing input in while Dustin Hguyen and Jason Fabok handle the art chores. One thing that is certain, with stories flying all over the then and now of the New 52, this definitely takes place in current continuity. In one scene in one of the issues, there are notations on a white board in Police headquarters. On it are references to Charise Carnes, Cherry Hill, Icarus, Elena Aguila, Wolf Spider, and the deaths of Dick Grayson and Nightwing. Again, this is an awful lot to swallow in a month and DC will be putting more slow moving titles on the chopping block to support at least one more weekly. Strap in folks: it will be a wild ride.
BATWOMAN #30: The inmates of Arkham are attacking Batwoman while Wolf Spider escapes. Defeating most of the villains, she continues after Wolf Spider, catching up with him on the roof. He pops out a set of wings and flies off, but not before she can attach a tracker to him. She follows him to the Kane Estate where he is stealing the Eisenstadt painting, cornering him and asking what the importance of these paintings are, but is shot in the back by Mr. Grantham before he can answer. She plays plays dead until they leave. Later, she and Bette look at the paintings and, rearranging the pieces, learn the secret is in a location it reveals. Meanwhile, Maggie Sawyer is served a subpoena. Her ex-husband Jay is suing for sole custody of their daughter.
Marc Andreyko continues to try and mold this great character into something of his own, taking threads from previous creative teams and weaving them into his own. Jeremy Haun provides the art this time around and it serves it’s purpose. What I love with this book is the subplot layers throughout. With the main story being the Wolf Spider art thefts, the sub plot involving Maggie Sawyer and her relationship both with Batwoman and her own child runs with it and provides a nice escape from the main action. I’m still loving this book despite the editorial changes that caused the creators to exist in a huff.
BATWOMAN ANNUAL #1: Batwoman batlles Batman, as she has been ordered by Director Bones to discover his identity. But Batman defeats her easily and sets off explosives on his Utility Belt, causing the yacht they are on to sink. Kate tries to swim away, but Batman stops her and tries to convince her to help him stop. She knocks him out with a stray board and takes him back to her base. She explains that Bones has her sister and, as Jake arrives, Batman agrees to help with a plan to free Kate’s sister. Meanwhile, at GCPD Headquarters, Agent Chase has declared martial law on Gotham and has put Maggie and Bullock into cells to keep them from interfering. But Bullock fakes a heart-attack, allowing Maggie to escape. Chase rendezvous with Bones and Agent Asaf warns them that the preisdent himself is now monitoring the DEO. Kate takes Batman to the Gotham Ironworks Factory, Kate meets with Bones and demands he release her sister and her friends. Bones unmasks Batman and finds Jake Kane under the cowl. The real Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl arrive at his side. Bones has his own men to defend him, and as they rush in, Agent Chase warns Batwoman that she didn't want any of this. Kate's response is unmerciful. After kicking Chase in the face, she rushes to Beth and unties her. Before she can get to Bette, though, a DEO agent does. Bones orders his agents to kill everybody, but agent Asaf, knowing the Bones had gone rogue, shoots him in the head. When all is done, a congressional hearing is held to determine whether the DEO should be dissolved. Agent Asaf explains that Bones should never have been put in charge. Bones had thought that Colonel Kane was his father and planned to blackmail Batwoman. Asaf explains he plans to lead the DEO. Kate’s father and sister head off to her grandfather's private island, hoping he can find beth inside of Alice. Bones ends up in jail, having suffered severe brain trauma. Agent Chase quits the -DEO and become a private eye as a civilian. The tale ends with Batwoman and Batman going on patrol together.
So, if this all seems like you have been exposed to part of this before-you have. This story continues from BATWOMAN #24. Only Marc Andreyko and Trevor McCarthy had to step in an finish it after creative differences arose between the creative team and DC Editorial. So, this story is six month away from where it SHOULD have ended and, unless you have a strong memory, you really don’t care or remember where things were in relationship to relationships. This also acts to explain where Jake and “Alice” have gone for the last six months. It would be interesting to see how this would have played out if the powers that be, the powers who pushed the concept of their books representing their readership, hadn’t backed away from the marriage of Maggie and Kate. All in all, it was a decent ending to a story that Andreyko didn’t begin.
BIRDS OF PREY #30: The Birds are battling the League of Assassins while they attempt to protect Mother Eve. Black Canary has cut a deal with Ra’s, but she is the last line of defense between Mother Eve and the League. Condor has also cut a deal, as he wants to have Kurt Lance killed during the attack. But he has a change of heart and heads down to the infirmary to protect him. Ra’s arrives outside of Mother Eve’s chamber and lets him know she has changed her mind. One of his assassins attempts to strangle her, but she gets free and Strix comes to her aim. Dinah catches up with Ra’s and lets loose her canary Cry, as she is in a room which amplifies her cry, bringing Ra’s to his knees. Mother Eve steps out of her safe room-a 10 year old Mother Eve. Ra’s and his men leave, as his plan has failed. As it turns out, the fluid Ra’s was going to give Dinah for Kurt was actually cyanide. Hours later, Mother Eve and the Birds go their separate ways.
So, after all of this, we discover that Ra’s cannot be trusted and that Mother Eve is now ten years old? Really!? That is what this whole thing boiled down to? Well, this book is certainly NOT the book it used to be in the Pre NEW 52 . Of course, it doesn’t have the killer creative team it had before the reboot! Christy Marx and Robson Rocha do their best to give us an exciting diversified team but what we get is a bad romance tale with some action here and there. What that means is they have three more issues to wrap it all up as this title, another one of the original 52, bites the dust with issue #34. Do you realize that only 21 of the original 52 are left on the shelves?
CATWOMAN #30: Catwoman decides she has had enough of being Catwoman, so she burns her suit in an effort to change her luck and her life. While working out at the local gym., she spies Trip Winter and it brings back old memories. She later discovers that an invitation in the form of a puzzle box has been slipped into her purse by him. Inside, she finds a USB drive and a bag full of teeth. She goes to work at GCPD Headquarters, when she takes a suicide hotline call from someone she recognizes as her friend Gwen and rushes off to check on her. What she finds is that Gwen has shot up her apartment. As they talk, they end up working on the puzzle box together where they find a video file featuring Roulette on the USB drive. Roulette issues a challenge to all other thieves to enter the Race of Thieves and prove they are better thieves than she is. The teeth belong to children held hostage by him. Using a cat-suit Gwen saved for her, Catwoman steals some dental records from Foundling Hospital and then heads over to Tesla's workshop, where it is revealed that the masquerade party site is on Gotham Beach. Roulette and Trip arrive with Hunt Stone, who is putting up the prize money to save his child. They will have three tasks: a heist at the Monte Carlo Casino is one of the first tasks. As the race begins, Catwoman finds herself lost in the Mirror World. I guess Mirror Master has gone back to the “Dark Side”.
Man, this just feels like a bad SPEED RACER episode! It’s the “Great Race of the Greatest Thieves” episode. This means, we will get two or three issues of this drek with no true movement forward in the pother story lines, like Ricky suing Jim Gordon. It WAS nice to see the team come back together in the form of Alice and Gwen. Maybe they can all be the new Birds of Prey, since the old one is soon to be in the history books. Ann Nocenti and Pat Oliffe give us a truly lackluster issue underneath an always awesome cover by Terry and Rachel Dodson. Now if only the guts was as awesome as the skin. Or, as they say, you really CAN’T tell a book by its’ cover.
CONSTANTINE #13: We begin the issue in Moscow, where Constantine is visiting a mind controlling Russian known as Spellbinder. Constantine has come to warn him that the Cult of the Cold Flame is interested in him. But Spellbinder thinks there is another reason for John’s visit and enters his mind where he sees Nick Necro and Billy Batson warning John not to underestimate Spellbinder. Waking up, he finds that he has aged. He sees a message written in blood that says: "There's something in your head." Spellbinder continues to attack John, hitting him with angry images of Zatanna before going back to the point where Papa Midnite brought him back to life. John lets loose every childhood memory and overloads Spellbinder. Meanwhile, Papa Midnite is summoned before Tannarak and Sargon and tries to cut a deal. He insists that in exchange for Constantine's plans, the cult must stay out of Manhattan.
John Constantine needs to grow a set back and stop being this miserable, lovesick guy I the trench coat. I can’t blame Ray Fawkes or Aco for that. This is DC Editorial’s idea, I guess, of getting him ready to television in the Fall and making everyone forget that HORRIBLE Keanu Reeves movie. Go out, deal with the bad guys, move on, and move back to being a bad-ass, back-stabbing wizard. You’re not Harry Potter!
DETECTIVE COMICS #30: A new drug called Icarus has taken over the streets of Gotham City’s Chinatown and Batmna is trying to keep it off the streets. Later, Bruce Wayne attends a business meeting with Elena Aguila who is showing off her daughter Annie: a motorcross champion. Her business plan is to have Bruce help her revitalize the worst areas of Gotham with medical clinics and drug treatment facilities. The news of this upsets Congressman Sam Young and some other supporters of the waterfront development and they plan to use the contents of a certain suspicious briefcase to gain an advantage. Meanwhile, on the waterfront, a drug runner named Jonny is reunited with his brother, the Squid who makes him watch as someone who stole from the Squid get torn apart by a giant squid. Back at the Batcave, while drinking his tea, the sounds of a woman screaming sends Bruce upstairs to find Elena Aguila, burning up from the inside.
Francia Manapul and Brian Buccellato, who made their names by being responsible for what was a critically acclaimed run on THE FLASH, are turning their talents onto The Dark knight. And, if this issue is any indication, their run on this will be legendary. Now the art is a bit quirky, but that’s the style. Readers of THE FLASH soon grew accustomed to it and you will to. This one issue has dropped so many subplots into place that we will be busy sorting them out for months. Add this to your must read list, if you do not currently read it. This is the making of a beautiful relationship.
EARTH 2 #22: This issue begins Alan Scott is beaten to death by Superman. But now he has been reborn, rising up through the bones of the dead. In the Batcave, the remaining heroes plan and Red Tornado takes Val-El outside and teaches him to fly. But, in the middle of their lesson, Superman and the Paradeamons attack. He beats down Val-El and, just before he is about to deliver the killing blow, Red tornado tells him she is really Lois, his wife.
The current era of EARTH 2 rolls on with Tom Taylor, Nicola Scott and Trevor Scott paving some killer road! As I have said before, James Robinson seemed to be running out of steam on this book and his last few issues were a bit on the boring and unorganized side. But, ever since Taylor jumped on board, there has been great new life on the book. And the introduction of NEW 52 versions of Jimmy Olsen, Red Tornado and Red Arrow has given it a nice nostalgic feel. I love how this book reads, what it looks like, and the way it all comes together for me. I cannot wait to see what happens next!
FLASH #30: We are five years in the future as The Flash watches as Iris West loaded into the back of an ambulance. Darryl Frye tells him that they need to identify the kid who was killed in the car crash-a crash that would have been prevented I The Flash had arrived in time. In the here and now, Barry is sleeping at his desk at central City Police Headquarters when he is woken up by his girlfriend Patty. She reminds him he needs to take his psychological assessment to get him back in the crime lab again. Barry visits Dr. Rebecca Janus and they discuss his feelings of failure, even as he jets out mid-way through her conversation to help people as the Flash. Upon his return, she reminds him that it is important he remember that he was a survivor and he needs to work past his grief. We flash forward to twenty years from now. Barry has lost so much and allowed too many to die. Fifteen years ago, he let Wally West be killed in a car accident. He plans on fixing that.
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you probably realize I have not been a follower of this title and have only published a handful of individual issue reviews. But now we have a brand new creative team in the form of Robert Venditti, Van Jensen and Brett Booth (the previous team is now on DETECTIVE COMICS). So, I felt it was only fair to give it a shot. And, from first looks, this could be a winner. Venditti and Booth have managed to drop in a whole bunch of potential plots for now and future use. And, if you HAVE read this blog before, you know I am a huge fan of the work of Brett Booth. So, put that all together and…WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!! Add this to your pull list. This title is poised to take off like GREEN ARROW did with its’ creative team change
FLASH ANNUAL #3: Barry Allen has been cleared to go back to work in the CCPD crime lab and tries to share a quick coffee with Patty Spivot. She has a craving for a Guatemalan fruit called nÃspero. So Barry heads down South, grabs the fruit but comes back to find his coffee cold and Dir. Singh upset that Barry is late. He hands Barry an easy case that involves an escaped Iron heights prisoner named Ernest Flake. Leaving the station, Barry sees Iris Allen who is here to bail out her nephew Wally West. She explains that Wally’s mother disappeared when the Crime Syndicate attacked. Flashing twenty years in the future and we see that Wally is dead, and Iris has a serious spine injury from the result of a car crash. At Wally’s graveside, Iris tells him it is time to move on and stop blaming himself. He surprises her by finally admits that he is Barry Allen and he loved Wally like his son. He also tells her he can fix this. Back in the present, Barry visits Flake in Iron Heights who insists he is innocent, even though the way Walter Hill was killed could have been by a weapon he used when he was "Mogul". But Barry is taking a DNA sample anyway to try and prove Flake’s innocence. Back at the station, David Singh warms Barry that he’ll find himself back in the records room if he doesn’t start closing cases. Barry gets word of a break-in at the Dearbon Gallery and he races to the scene. The thieves hit him with a weapon whose ultrasonic vibrations wreck his speed ability. He is able to save the paintings they throw at him and eventually defeats them, even after they were willing to sacrifice one of their own to get away.
Flashing forward twenty years, Grodd and Barry meet in Gorilla City. He mocks Barry and brags about how he used the Speed Force to go to the 25th Century, kill Eobard Thawne and eat his brain, thus gaining his knowledge. Barry admits the Speed Force is broken and that was caused by Daniel West’s attempt to travel through time. Barry challenges Grodd to a battle to the death. Grodd proves to be the stronger of the two. But Barry plants a micro-bomb into Grodd’s ear, causing the gorilla’s head to explode. Now Barry plans on running back in time and killing himself to keep all of this from happening again.
This new team of Robert Venditti and Van Jensen immediately pick up where the previous team left off and launches a whole new storyline that shows a potential darker side to the fastest man alive. Goodness me: a battle to the death with Grodd and you dispatch him by putting a micro explosive in his ear and blowing his head off? Wow: that is some serious hardcore heroeing! Plus we get the typically nice art of veteran illustrator Ron Frenz and this reboot of sorts is off and running. I cannot wait to see what Venditti and Jensen have in store from here on out.
FOREVER EVIL #7: To keep the bomb that was going to go off last issue, Lex Luthor stopped Dick Grayson's heart by using a cardioplegia pill that paralyzes the muscles around the heart. Luthor injects him with adrenaline, bringing him back to life. Cyborg arrives, having beaten Grid, They head off to free the rest of the team from the Firestorm matrix while Lex, who steals Batman’s Kryptonite Ring, and Bizarro remain behind to battle the Crime Syndicate. Meanwhile, Deathstorm warns Ultraman that Alexander Luthor, who has called down the lightning of Mazahs, will be utilizing the powers of those slain Syndicate members. Superwoman arrives with Mazahs, who she reveals is the father of her unborn child. Superwoman captures Deathstorm in her Lasso of Submission and Mazahs kills him, gaining his powers. Mazahs turns his attention to Luthor, who discovers that this is Alexander Luthor from another world. Mazahs kills Bizarro and takes his powers, filling Luthor with genuine grief. Lex decides to reset Black Adam’s jaw so he can call down the lightning, changing Mazahs back to his human form. Sinestro uses his ring to thrust the lightning rod Lex got from Batman into Mazahs' chest. Adam shouts the word, striking Superwoman before hitting Mazahs. As he attempts to kill Lex, Luthor shouts the word and, covering his other-worldly twons’ mouth, shoves a blade into his chest, killing him. Sinestro and Black Adam and Sinestro disable the solar eclipse, causing the sun to burn Ultraman. Despite begging to be killed, Lex lets him remain alive as the weakest man on the planet. With that, he crushes Atomica under his boot. Meanwhile, Cyborg explains how he defeated Grid and how they need to use the Lasso of Truth to free the rest of the League. Owlman arrives, claiming he has come for Nightwing and to help the heroes. The Gotham he knew is gone and so is Alfred. All he has left is Dick Grayson. Batman uses the lasso to connect with Wonder Woman and pulls out of their prison. But Superman is dying from the sliver of Kryptonite implanted in his brain. Lex and the others arrive and Lex saves Superman’s life regains consciousness, the first face he sees is Lex Luthor's, smiling and admitting that he just saved his life.
The following day, it is decided that the villains who helped save the world would have their records wiped clean. Dick Grayson decides to no longer hide anymore and Batman assigns him a new, dangerous mission. Lex meets with a young Ted Kord and encourages him to run his late father’s company. Nice, considering Lex killed his father. Lex also learns that it will take five years to rebuild the B-0 project. He has also learned that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Oh yeah: there’s a NEW Anti Monitor.
And with that, and after a bit of a delay, Geoff Johns and David Finch conclude this game-changing epic. Game changing? Yep! We have seen Lex Luthor become a hero, which will lead to him becoming a member of the Justice League. Dick Grayson, who has been a superhero for most of his life, now has to change his style and become something else. And Bruce Wayne? Well, Lex Luthor is no dummy and he knows that Batman and Bruce are the same. That knowledge in itself is a very dangerous thing for the New 52 Universe. And let’s not forget that the last page introduces us to a NEW Anti-Monitor. Could that mean a new crisis down the road and another reboot? Now, I will admit that the numerous crossovers and spin-off titles were a bit much, but this one hit it out of the park!
FOREVER EVIL AFTERMATH-BATMAN VS. BANE #1: Following the war between the prisoners of Blackgate Penitentiary and the inmates of Arkham Asylum, Gotham City is a disaster area. Finally, the power has come back on and it just shows how much worse the city is now that it is illuminated. It is filled with sick and starving people who must rely on the Black Market to get food and medical supplies. But Bane is here and tells the people that they have the power if they want to take it. He meets with William Cobb, who warns that this reign may not last forever, although Talons have captured the Scarecrow. They soon find themselves in a block of ice and the Scarecrowis freed by a pair of Batarangs. That night, Batman arrives at Wayne Tower and declares the war for Gotham City has begun. Claiming that he was only protecting the city when no one was there to do it, Bane attacks Batman in a battle the rages across what is left of Gotham City. Eventually, Batman renders Bane unconscious. The next day, Bruce Wayne promises to make funds available to get Arkham Asylum up and running properly again. Meanwhile, their newest prisoner is kept here until the venom leaves his system.
Peter J. Tomasi and Scot Eaton ring the Battle of Gotham to a conclusion with this very satisfying epilogue to the entire FOREVER EVIL story. Bane is behind bars, Batman is back and town and the rebuilding begins. Poor Gotham City: when you take into account this disaster and those that came before the NEW 52, as we know parts of continuity still exist from the old DCU, Gotham gets wasted almost as much as Tokyo in any Japanese monster film. Anyway, kudos to Tomasi for writing a great ending and allowing us all to move on.
GREEN ARROW #30: Outside of the Cathedral in Prague, Green Arrow is trying to calculate how to get in and attack Komodo without hurting his half-sister Emiko. That is when he discovers his father and Shado, who insist on helping Oliver, followed him The trio burst in to find the corpses of Oliver Queen and Golgotha. The corpse of Oliver rips the arrow from his brian and begins to speak, revealing himself to be Magus in disguise. Onyx orders the loyal clans to kill all of them. Magus calls on the Axe and Sword clans, the latter of which is lead by Katana, to offer support. Komodo escapes with Emiko as Oliver and Robert pursue and Katana chases after Onyx. Oliver and Robert argue, as Robert insists what he had done caused Oliver to become the man he is today. Oliver claims that his mother, who was dying of cancer while his father was gone, taught him love while Robert taught him how to hate. Komodo shoots Shado’s in the arm and her screams bring Oliver and Robert. Emiko begs Komodo not to hurt Shado. He responds that he will kill her, just to keep her away from the Queens. Oliver fires his arrow as Komodo fires his. Oliver's shot hits Komodo in the shoulder while Komodo's arrow pierces Robert’s heart as he was trying to save his daughter. Back in Seattle, Count Vertigo receives a prison visit from Richard Dragon who has come to set Vertigo free. He claims to run Seattle now and insists Vertigo join him in the new order.
If you don’t think this book gets the award for most improvised DC title in the last twelve months then you are NOT reading this title. The Era of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, in it’s own way, stands with Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams run on GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW and has some of the best writing since Kevin Smith worked on the book so long ago now. This is a must read title, even though this Oliver Queen is nothing like his old DCU predecessor. He is equal parts Ollie and Connor Hawke, but is no clone of either. It’s a great read and looks fantastic and you truly need to be reading this book..
GREEN LANTERN #30: Hal and the remaining Lanterns have a funeral for their departed friend Kyle Rayner. Then Hal, Killowog and some others head to Port Bay, where the Lanterns and some Khunds get into a disagreement. This leads, after a customary evening of drinking, to a battle to the death between Bakka Khu and Hal, which Hal wins. Trying to help the wounded Khu, one of the other Khunds slays him and takes him armaments. Meanwhile, back on Mogo, Mukmuk finds the Durlan spy and executes him, later telling Warden Voz that he had transformed into a Caltoosian Sea Draon and forcing him to kill him.
Robert Venditti gives us another so-so issue. I am SO TIRED of Hal being the dedicated Corps man who spends too much time puffin up his chest and then letting his emotions carry him away. Hal Jordan has always been a character with a conscience, but this Hal is just too ineffective to lead a fine organization like the Green Lantern Corps. The art by Martin Coccolo is fine, but the cover by Billy Tan is the best part of this book. Venditti needs to find a comfortable direction with this book or it’ll be leaving my stack quickly.
HARLEY QUINN #5: Harley agrees to help Sy Borgman kill the Russian agents who made him into a cyborg. In exchange, he will help her with the bounty on her head. That night, she studies Sy’s file and suffers a bizarre, chili dog induced dream. The following day, she and Sy begin their hunt.Their first target, Igor Lenivetskin, is in a coma. Harley takes one of the tubes keeping Igor alive and blows into so hard that his head explodes. Their next target is Ivana Brekemoff, who fires an RPG at them as Sy and Harley try to break into her home. Harley eventually gets her in a headlock but the old woman blows up her house with everyone inside.
Well, this issue was another wild ride from the creative team of Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmitotti and Chad Hardin. I never thought I would see the day where I could read a comic and have someone get the head blown up by someone blowing into a medical tube.Oh wait: Ivana Brekemoff...I want to break them off? SERIOUSLY! The book is like Harley herself: totally out of its’ mind! Do not expect major plot exposition and earth shaking developments that will have an effect on the NEW 52 Universe. DO expect a fun, crazy time with some of the sharpest humor in comics today. Oh yeah: a great, sexy cover by Anamda Conner never hurts!
JUSTICE LEAGUE #30: The world now knows that Lex Luthor helped save the world from the Crime Syndicate. LexCorp stock has skyrocketed and Lucious Fox suggests that Wayne Enterprises partner with Lex's company. Lex shifts blame away from the Justice League but Niles Caulder and his Doom Patrol don’t believe it. In Central City, Captain Cold meets with his parole officer and we learn that Lex is interested in having him with him as he plans ahead. The Justice League continues to search for the remnants of the Secret Society even as Luthor sends Batman an invitation to board a satellite. Teleporting there, the League meets Lex Luthor who greets them with champagne. He claims he is a changed man and that qualifies him for membership in the League. Under the influence of Wonder Woman’s lasso, he explains that he has been making this the new Justice League Satellite. And he knows that whatever destroyed Earth 3 is still a threat to this Earth and the Ring of Volthoom is still out there too. Superman refuses to work with him and Luthor leaves, but not before he gives the control codes to the satellite to Cyborg. Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon Sara Cruz tries to get inside her sister’s house. But Jessica can’t answer because the Ring of Volthoom has chosen her to destroy Earth. Later, Alfred answers the door at Wayne Manor and Luthor demands to see Batman.
Okay: we all knew that Dick Grayson’s identity reveal would be an issue. Well, it has now come home to Bruce Wayne’s doorstep. So, here is my guess on how this story will go. Lex blackmails Bruce to let him into the League, bring Captain Cold with him, and his secret will remain safe. Another brilliantly conceived and executed issue by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis and Doug Mahnke that comes off of the successful FOREVER EVIL storyline. It will be interesting to see how all this unveils in the coming months and just what Luthor’s true intentions are. Let’s be honest: Lex Luthor as a good guy is as silly as The Joker being dead.
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #30: Constantine has quit Justice League Dark and finds himself getting drunk in a bar. A waitress comes over and flirts with him. In actuality, the woman is possessed by Deadman, whose is still angry about being trapped in the corpse of Sea King and tells Constantine so. Deadman returns to the House of Mystery, where Zatanna is trying to forget John Constantine and tries to ignore Nightmare Nurse, who seems to desperately be a part of the new team. Meanwhile, Deadman tries to convince Frankenstein and Black Orchid to stay, but they have had enough after the incident at Nanda Parbat and depart. The doorbell rings and Deadman finds Constantine there, drunk and demanding to see Zatanna. When he is turned away, he casts spells on Frankenstein and Black Orchid. Zatanna arrives and he begs for five minutes to explain his actions; claiming he left because he was tired of one hopeless situation after another. With that he kisses her on the cheek and departs, leaving a team made up of Zatanna, Deadman, and the Nightmare Nurse. Zatanna summons Swamp Thing who demands to be sent back after being summoned with his permission. Suddenly Nightmare Nurse bursts into flame and transforms into Alice Winter.
Confused? Yeah…me too! Nightmare Nurse spontaneously combusts and turns into someone named Alice Winter. And should we be canceling this book considering no one is left in it? Hey-how cold is John Constantine to mess with Black orchid’s mind in such a way that she has no idea who she really is? J. M. DeMatteis writes a great story with some nice twists and Andres Guinaldo provides some cool looking artwork. All this under a cover by Mikel Janin. Good stuff, even if it is kind of confusing.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #14: Stargirl tells Steve Trevor about her being imprisoned in the Firestorm Matrix, while he explains how Lex Luthor saved Superman's life while the rest of the Justice League’s defeated the Crime Syndicate. She also learns that the JLA are considered to be as bad as the villains they allege to protect the world from and the government wants to break the team up. Most of the members have been changed by the experience including Catwoman and Simon Baz. Green Arrow wants to keep the JLA together and begins looking for new members, starting with Hawkman. He then meets with Katana, who refuses. Meanwhile, .Martian Manhunter, is searching for Courtney, who is being kept at a safehouse. Amanda Waller turns him that she has been removed from her role at A.R.G.U.S., but tells him Courtney is with Steve, where she is actually interrogating him while he thinks he is interrogating her. Steve tells Courtney he would like to put the team back together but he and Amanda have been stripped of their power and America doesn't want them. She meets Martian Manhunter, telling him that Waller has put her in charge and wants his help. Heading north, she realizes this team was more family than anything else.
And thus, Matt Kindt, Eddy Barrows, Tom Derenick, and Diogenes Neves brings this version of the JLA to an end. But fear not, because the team now morphs into…
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #0: Animal Man and Stargirl doing a meet and greet at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where they meet an anthropologist from the University of Toronto named Dr. Adam Strange. He tells a tale of how he and student Alanna Lewis were on a dig in Northern Ontario two weeks ago when a beam of light came down from the sky and made Alanna disappear. He shows them an unusually shaped skull and suddenly Stargirl, Animal Man, and Dr. Strange are teleported away. Strange leads them to a dig site in Moosonee. Buddy finds a mass grave, full of more bones of a similar shape to those Adam had already found. A group of armed aliens arrive, surround them, and shoot Courtney down. Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter joins the trio and help defeat the aliens and then discover an alien base beneath them. The scientists’ there teleport away, back to the moon of Thalsalla and report their findings to Lord Byth Rok. He tells them to proceed with their plans and lets their jailer Lobo know that they plan on disposing of their prisoners, including Alanna Lewis and Hawkman. Meanwhile, a strange man transforms into a strange creature and orders Miiyahbin Marten to say a special word. She shouts "Keewatin" and transforms into Equinox. He leaves, claiming she cannot run from herself.
So the new era of what was once described as JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA begins here. Acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire and veteran artist Mike McKone gives us a new team for a post FOREVER EVIL world. The United States government has broken them up, so Stargirl forms a new team north of the border with some unlikely choices. As we can see, Adam Strange is just a doctor who will hopefully become the hero we know. Actually, unless they can find a way to make Alanna and Adam come from Raan that will NOT be the pair we know and love. I also noticed that Allanna has changed her ethnicity. This must continue to be part of DC’s way to reflect their readership through diversity. The first issue was fun and I am such a huge fan of Lemire’s work, so I look forward to the story unrolling in future issues.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #5: So Terry has resurrected Firestorm and The Flash(again) while the rest of the Batman and Ariel are running for their lives on the Prison Planet Takron-Galtos as The Convert has possessed all the prisoners. Meanwhile, Superman and Wonder Woman are fighting with the Goddess Kali, who asks Wonder Woman to join The Five. The tables appear to start to turn when the prisoners begin dying, as Kali sucks the life force out of them to feed herself. As it looks like Batman and Ariel are about to meet their fate, the newly reborn Flash arrives to save them. With Firestorm’s arrival, Ariel is horrified as weaving two strands of DNA together led to an unstable matrix that the Wonder Twins were supposed to destroy. With The Flash bringing the whole team together, they find that the Coeval has possessed their Transversal, which means they have no way to get home.
All I know is this titles continues to be one of the weirdest and wildest in the New 52, especially because there is know way to know how much of this is “real” or will be changed by events in the present day universe. Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis write these characters which such energy that it is hard not to like them, especially once they found out they are not our heroes but just their DNA. Although the cover says Howard Porter, the interiors are by “guest artists” Raymund Bermudez and Wayne Faucher. I am alright with that, although everyone looks a little more square than usual. In the end, this book continues to throw curveballs at the reader and I hope it gains a fan following. I would really not want to see it end up like so many other unusual titles in the NEW 52 that just didn’t garner a readership.
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