CONVERGENCE WEEK 1

CONVERGENCE #0: Superman find himself in a otherworldly plane and believes that Brainiac was responsible. A mysterious voice, belonging to a different Brainiac, tells him it was Vril Dox, who is no longer. Whether he was aware of it or not, Superman was responsible for killing Vril Dox from his timeline. Brainiac explains that they are in the place where he watches the Superman of every universe die. He had watched one version die because of Doomsday, and it is from there that he got the idea to infect Superman with the Doomsday Virus. Superman gets free only to find himself in a wasteland with nothing around. Another Brainiac appears and says that his master was right because everything always ends with Superman. Superman demands to be taken to Metropolis only to be told by Brainiac that he has collected many versions of Metropolis and he protects them all. He cannot give him HIS Metropolis back, but he can find one he might like. Superman realizes that Brainiac has gone to his Earth to collect a city. Since he hasn’t got a city here, this Brainiac sends Superman away and wipes his memory in the process. As Telos, this Brainiac will make the decision of which universes will survive by making them fight one another for existence.

Well, it all begins here. Watch as Dan Jurgens, Jeff King and Ethan Van Sciver fire off the opening shot that will define the DC Universe come June. No longer associated with the NEW 52 logo, it could prove to be an amalgam of universes, kind of like what it seems Marvel is doing. Initial reaction from fans on this issue was mixed but it did set the stage for what is to come. Nine issues, counting this Zero issue, plus all the connecting tales. Who WILL be left when it’s all over?

CONVERGENCE #1: Gotham City is on fire and Superman intends to watch the faces of his enemies as their world falls down. Batman tries to convince him to work on the side of good as a voice warns that they brought this doom upon themselves as they proved themselves unworthy. As the world dies, Superman saves himself until a giant hand crushes him. Elsewhere, the heroes from Earth 2 are dropped from out of nowhere and they realize that their planet and everyone on it must be dead. A metallic fluid comes up from the ground and captures them. Telos arrives and demands to known why they are here without their city. They explain how their planet was destroyed by Darkseid, which he says is unacceptable. But he sees their arrival as the signal the master had said would one day come. Telos shows them the other worlds and he explains he will only free the people of the winning city. He speaks to every world on the planet's surface, explaining he brought about this convergence. Only one city will survive, as the domes separating them will fall and their champions will rise. If a city chooses not to fight or disobeys, it will be destroyed. The Earth 2 heroes tell him that nobody will fight as they cannot believe this is Brainiac's plan. Telos responds that they will fight to defend their people as it is their destiny.

The second chapter of this company wide crossover is here and I already see a potential for disaster brewing. Our first issue was by Jeff King and Dan Jurgens and now we remove Jurgens and drop Scott Lobdell into the mix, along with Carlo Pagulayan on art. So, it looks like the battle is going to be between all of these domed cities from different timelines and, depending on who is left, THEY will make up the POST CONVERGENCE Universe. But doesn’t that lead to a bit of potential spoilers? I mean, if the Pre-Flashpoint Atom wins his battle, doesn’t that mean ALL the heroes trapped in Gotham City(that would be the list that follows) survives? That kind of puts a damper on the whole mystery of it all, doesn’t it? Or am I jumping the gun a little?

CONVERGENCE: THE ATOM #1: A year after the dome covered Gotham City which, like many other cities, has been removed from the earth's surface and placed on an unknown planet. Like all others heroes under the dome, The Atom no longer has his powers, but has kept the ability to grow only his right hand. After rescuing some kids, who flee in horror at seeing his giant hand, a reporter come over to him, leading Ray to go onto a senseless rant, further enhancing the rumors of his deteriorating mental state. He then begins ranting about how Deathstroke needs to pay for the death of Ryan Choi. Ray runs across the city to meet with a restaurant owner that he likes named Maria. Eating taco salad with her, he finds that her daughter is in Buffalo, which are light years away because of the dome. Deathstroke interrupts them and Ray realizes it is time to avenge Ryan’s death. Just then, a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Ray is teleported to another place and finds he can shrink again, although his mind is failing him. As the voice in his head suggests he needs to concentrate on saving Gotham, he gets attacked by Barracuda from the Extremists. Despite imploring that they should be fighting the person responsible for their captivity, the pair fight each other. Ray hears a voice from behind him and he realizes that the person who was in his head is actually Ryan Choi who is alive after all.

One of the most difficult thing about this series is figuring out who is who and from where. In this case, we have a Pre-Flashpoint Gotham City  and the Atom from that time frame. The Barracuda is from Earth-8, which first showed up during the COUNTDOWN series. Actually, the world is called Angor and, much like the Super Human Registration Act, metahumans were required to submit to official control or go to prison. Tom Peyer and Steve Yeowell were responsible for this and I would bet that Earth-8 goes away when all is said and done. The question that will remain is which Atom will survive: Ray or Ryan?

CONVERGENCE: BATGIRL #1: Batgirl, Blackbat, and Red Robin, the champions chosen from Gotham City, are waiting in the desert of El Inferno for their opponent. Batgirl wakes the others so she can relieve herself. Tim wonders why Stephanie was chosen instead of him or Cassandra. As Stephanie begins to undress, Catman attacks her, explaining that he was fighting General Grodd when he was transported here. Cassandra is fighting Grodd and this makes her question if she should have been picked as Gotham’s champion. After the dome had come down, Stephanie gave up being Batman and became a nurse and she and Cassandra lived together where they raised a guinea pig for meat. Once ready, Stephanie found she didn’t have the heart to kill it and a fight broke out, only to be interrupted by the announcement from the voice regarding the dome. When the list of heroes selected was read on the news, Batgirl was among them leading Cass to dig out Stephanie’s costume and give her a quick training lesson. Stephanie tries to calm the riots going on in the streets of the newly freed Gotham when spheres grab the trio of heroes and were taken to El Inferno.

So Batgirl, Blackbat and Red Robin come to us from a Pre-Flashpoint Gotham City while Catman and Gorilla Grodd have been brought here from the Flashpoint Timeline. Alisa Kwitney is responsible for the story while Rick Leonardi handles the art in a very Nineties style. Now, if the Flashpoint timeline goes away, then we have to assume that the NEW 52 Universe would also go away permanently, as the birth and death of the Flashpoint Universe would never have created the timeline. So, does that mean that the POST CONVERGENCE Universe is going to be based on the Pre-Flashpoint Universe?

CONVERGENCE: BATMAN & ROBIN #1: We begin with Poison Ivy facing off against The Penguin and other criminals, who are trying to take over the garden she has been using to feed the city. Batman and Robin arrive, rescue Ivy and turned attention to battling Man-Bat, Black Mask, and Mister Freeze. Killer Croc takes a bit out of Batman's shoulder leading The Red Hood to come to the rescue of his former partner, declaring that he and Scarlet are around to help. Back at the Batcave, Damian is upset that Bruce has welcomed Jason home, to the point of removing his costume and suggesting Batman find a new Robin. Damian leaves in one of the Batmobiles to go off and fight Jason. Just then, a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Batman declares that he won't be forced into battle. Unfortunately, The Extremists have arrived.

Ron Marz and Denys Cowan, creative talent straight out of the late Nineties, combine to bring us this tale where the Pre-Flashpoint heroes and villains of Gotham City battle each other before being attacked by The Extremists from Earth-8. I find it interesting that Ivy has turned over a new leaf and is actually seen helping to feed the city during this crisis. Of course, it’s not a surprise to see Penguin and so many other of the villains trying to make profit from the plight of others. Again, it seems that the writing on the wall continues to point to these heroes surviving into the future.

CONVERGENCE: HARLEY QUINN #1:  Harley is at the Gotham Museum of Art when the police soon arrive. Soon after, a giant dome forms over Gotham. Much later, she meets with her psychiatrist, claiming that she doesn't hallucinate the Joker's presence anymore ands she sees the dome’s arrival as representing fact that there is a higher power out there. She even shares a house with a police officer she injured during her last heist. While she is making dinner, the Joker's face appears and scares her enough that she screams for Louie. Elsewhere, Poison Ivy and Catwoman are fighting off thieves trying to poach vegetables from Ivy’s garden. Just then, a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities and Harley has been selected as champion and is about to fight Captain Carrot. Catwoman and Ivy go to Harley’s apartment and, despite Louie’s protests, they inject her with a toxin to counter-act her mood stabilizers. Harley, who has been off her medications for months, is now crazier than ever.

I have the feeling the bunny is going to die! Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew Earth-C in the Pre-Crisis Multiverse. But that got changed to Earth-26 in the 52 Multiverse. Either way, Steve Pugh and Phil Winslade have set the poor bunny for extinction. I predict the world of the funny animals is gone after this series end.

CONVERGENCE: JUSTICE LEAGUE #1: Supergirl has managed to get Jesse Chambers to the hospital, as she has gone into labor in the middle of her baby shower. While Zatanna, Vixen, Jade and Congorilla arrive at the hospital, a dome forms over the city and the heroes immediately lose their powers. A year goes by and it seems the women have all adjusted well. Zatanna is a stage magician, Kara works for the Gotham Gazette, and Jesse is a full time mother. On a night out, it seems as though Mera is the only one depressed as she has been separated from her husband for a year. Just then, a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Under a different Gotham, a different Orin is torturing one of his subjects when word reaches him about the dome being lifted and he sees another Mera in the other Gotham. The ladies from Gotham note that Mera, who was trying to call her husband, to being kidnapped by Atlanteans. Mera soon realizes that this Arthur is not her Arthur, although he tells her he hopes she will forget the differences and embrace him. He threatens her with the army of the sea and she replies that she has an army of her own.

Ooooh: it’s gonna be going down! The angry, nasty, don’t mess with me Mera and the Flashpoint Aquaman, Sounds like a throwdown coming! Frank Tieri and Vicente Cifuentes give us a silly kind of issue. I don’t mean silly in the sense that the story is funny. I mean silly in the fact that we have the birth of a baby followed by a girl’s night out. Now, maybe it’s just me, but my idea of a girl’s night out with THAT CREW would be a little wilder than pictured. But, then again, I haven’t been stuck under a dome for a year either.

CONVERGENCE: NIGHTWING/ORACLE #1: In El Inferno, Hawkman and Hawkwoman have just killed the Justice Riders and prepare themselves for whoever may be next. In Gotham City, Nightwing and Oracle have developed a unique partnership even while many have not. Later, Dick meets with Starfire and asks her advice. Then he decides to take Barbara out for dinner, where he reveals a ring and asks her to marry him, but she refuses. Before she can explain why, a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Hawkman arrives and explains that he knows that she secretly runs Gotham just as they ran their Gotham. Hawkwoman explains that they will kill everyone here to save their city as Nightwing attacks. But he is not strong enough to defeat this Hawkman alone. Hawkwoman suggests a plan: she and Hawkman will leave their weaker Gotham, let it be destroyed and they will be allowed to take refuge here. However, they must me allowed to rule the city and remake it in Thanagar's image. Dick refuses and Hawkwoman will give him one hour to change his mind. Barabara tells Dick she has no will to fight and he leaves to get weapons from the Batcave. She gets out her laptop and reveals to us that she started to fight against them ten minutes ago.

Oh boy: Babs Gordon as we remember her-as ORACLE! And leave it to the powerhouse team of Gail Simone and Jan Duursema to guide her on her way. Dick? Exactly! This is NOT the Grayson we have grown accustomed to as of late. This is not even the Nightwing we used to know and love. This is a lovesick puppy that sees that his only future is to kill the bad guys and that gets him the girl, who doesn’t really WANT it, it seems. I’m also a bit confused by the goings on here. We have already seen, or if you’re reading these reviews in order, WILL SEE, that Hawkman and Hawkwoman have already made an appearance and have had a run in with another DC hero, At least we know they’re not an illusion.

CONVERGENCE: THE QUESTION #1: Renee Montoya is kind of used to living in a Gotham that has seen troubles. She lived in Gotham when it was turned into a No Man's Land. Today, after being within the dome for a year, she and Harvey Dent are stopping looters and gathers medical supplies to take to St. Luke's, where her father is in a vegetative state. Later, The Huntress returns to the apartment she and Renee share.and reminds Helena that Two-Face can't be trusted. Elsewhere, Harvey, desperate to end his life, flips his coin and it comes up heads-as it always does. Looking at the featureless face of The Question, Harvey realizes he knows her, just as a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. This leads Harvey to seek out another Harvey that can actually kill him. The Huntress locates The Question her and tells her that she has arranged for backup in the form of Batwoman.

I expected more than this from the team of Greg Rucka and Cully Hamner. The story was very confusing and, even though he’s been locked in a dome for a year, I don’t see Two-Face being desperate to kill himself. Hamner’s art is not up to his usual standards either. This was the one title that, after seeing the list of creators involved, had my hopes up and instead, I find it’s the one title that left me coldest. I hope that part two will be more of an adrenaline ride.

CONVERGENCE: SPEED FORCE #1: This is the Flash known as Wally West, who is married to the former Linda Parks and has two Speed Force affected children, Jai and Iris. Wally, Jai and Iris race from Keystone City to Gotham to investigate a "chronal disturbance". As soon as they arrive, a dome forms around Gotham and leads to a year of frustration as Wally spends the next year trying to find a way out. One day, a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities and the three former speedsters receive their powers again. Racing out of the city, Wally arrives in El Inferno, where he sees many Old West Heroes known as the Justice Riders from Earth-18 being killed by Hawkman and Hawkwoman. With the Riders dead, their city, the last surviving piece of Earth-18, crumbles into dust along with everyone in it. He and his children begin to run in search of their Gotham, but each city they arrive in is it the midst of a war. Arriving in their own Gotham, Fastback, a speedster from Follywood, Califurnia, catches up with them, explaining he isn’t looking for a fight. Before they can decide on a plan to assist each other, Wonder Woman and her Amazons army arrive.

Holy Smokes! This is one large, bursting at the seams issue. The Justice Riders, Flashpoint heroes! Part of Captain Carrot’s Zoo crew! El Inferno! Pre Flashpoint Gotham City. Jai and Iris! Wow! Tony Bedard and Tom Grummett have crammed this issue with tons of heroes from a bunch of timelines and it’s awesome! When was the last time we got to watch Wally West run? This was the coolest issue of the first batch, by far!

CONVERGENCE: SUPERMAN #1: Without powers, Clark Kent and his pregnant wife Lois do their best to fight crime when a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. This event saves Clark’s life as his powers return, keeping him from being burned to death by a flamethrower. Saving Jimmy Olsen and taking Lois away from the scene, Superman learns that the dome they were trapped in was taken to another planet and will have to fight for what remains of their Earth’s people, as it appears the rest of their Earth is dead. Meanwhile, in the Gotham City of another timeline, Batman tells his allies to prepare for war. Jimmy Olsen goes to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Dr. Hamilton wonders why the voice is making the cities fight each other. Superman flies toward the other Gotham where Captain Thunder attacks him. Superman tries to convince Captain Thunder that he is not an enemy, but Jimmy Olsen arrives in a jet-propelled car and that changes Thunder’s perception immediately. Meanwhile, the other Kal-El seeks out Lois Lane and also search for Barry Allen, Batman’s hope was that The Flash having gone back in time would have changed that timeline and that Bruce Wayne would live again. Kal-El insists that he is there to save Lois. Her city is going to die and he won’t allow her to die with it. She calls for help from HER Superman, but the citizens of the other timeline overwhelm him.

Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks merge the Pre-Flashpoint and Post-Flashpoint Universes in a battle to see who survives. What happens when Batman’s meet? Will the Flashpoint Batman be able to battle and kill his son? Will Lois’ baby be born and will he be the next Superman? This one issue has a ton of questions needing answers.

CONVERGENCE: TITANS #1: The Teen Titans were a tight knit group of superheroes who grew up and had to deal with life. Roy Harper, Oliver Queen’s ward, had the most troubles with growing up. He was a drug addict. He became a single father. He lost his right arm. And then he lost his daughter. A year ago, a dome descended on the city and Roy had a chance to start his life over. Then one day a voice tells everyone in the city that the dome will be removed and that champions from all of the cities must fight for the survival of their cities. Donna Troy and Starfire notice that the dome has been lifted and they have gotten their powers back. Roy enters his secret underground base and observes the city, as The Extremists arrive and begin their attack. It isn’t long before Starfire, Donna Troy and Arsenal band together to battle. But Dreamslayer has a proposal: if Roy betrays his teammates, he will return Roy’s dead daughter to him. A gun rises up from Arsenal’s cybernetic gauntlet and, pointing it towards his teammates, pulls the trigger.

Say it ain’t so! Could our long-suffering hero really turn out to be a traitor and kill his best friends to try and save his daughter. And should we really believe the words of a guy “Dreamslayer”? Fabian Nicieza and Ron Wagner, two superstars from comics’ era gone by, give us this very retro feeling book that sets things up for the final battle next issue. So, here’s a question: if part of a team dies, does that condemn that whole city. Or is it okay for one person to survive and still keep that city in the running? I guess we’ll find out next month.

NEW 52 Month 40, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE 3000 #15: Etrigan has called forth Fire to take over Ice’s castle while Ice realizes this isn’t the same Justice League she once knew. The Demon’s legion of followers attacks and Ice finally stops the carnage by freezing all of her enemies. Fire arrives with a band of reinforcements leading the heroes to battle anew. In the midst of it all, the two long time friends patch up their differences, meaning they can now fight off the enemy together. Meanwhile, Castle Justice League has been breached and the new Injustice League, led by Lois Lane, has captured Ariel

And thus we end this series on a cliffhanger. But, have no fear, this series rears its’ marvelously ugly head following CONVERGENCE. But it will be called JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 and be set one year later. So, does that mean that Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Howard Porter will have to refer to the events following this issue as flashbacks? That would be my guess, which I find a bit of a rip-off. Either way, I still love the heck out of this series and can'’ wait for it to come back. The dialogue is fun, the bickering between the team members is wonderful, and these vague characters just make this a great read.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #40: Delayed until April 29th.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #40: With the universe having been consumed by Pralaya, all that remains are a projected version of Constantine, who creates a mental version of Zatanna, and the House of Mystery. He tells her he believes that the House hid itself from Pralaya and he has been working to recreate the team, starting with Swamp Thing. Pralaya threatens to drag them into the void, but Constantine and Zatanna create a force-field around the House. Swamp Thing leaps into the void, causing vines and fruit to sprout from her chest and the Justice League Dark burst forth. The World Tree thanks Zatanna for her effort and tells her to urges her to take her second chance. At the House, Zatanna sends her thought-form John and Zatanna to the world that she created them on. The House of Mystery crashes to the ground  and the members of the teams find Constantine standing outside. He admits that he did not seize control of the House. He simply answered its call, and met them there. Zatanna tells them it is time to leave and the other leave as well, leaving Constantine alone to bond again with the House.

J.M. DeMatteis and Andres Guinaldo bring this series to a close and, honestly, I am a bit disappointed how the whole thing ended. As the old saying goes, it was not with a bang, but with a whimper. The story just sort of petered out and my interest in these characters, especially after realizing that both Zee and Constantine were constructs, went out with it. Forty issues is a long time for a concept that I really thought would have resulted in this being cancelled I the first round of cuts. So, I’m surprised that it lasted as long as it did. Come June, this title becomes DARK UNIVERSE with James Tynion IV writing it and and Ming Doyle illustrating it.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #10: Infinitus may have been stopped, but that doesn’t mean that the Justice League United and Legion of Super-Heroes have won. The explosive weapon Brainiac 5 fired into the rift in time and space has turned it into a black hole. Byth Rok grabs Equinox and threatens to drag her into the the rift; to “take her back to the beginning”.Stargirl attempts to help but is also caught in the pull. Supergirl pulls the two girls and Byth falls into the black hole alone. It starts to pull in Rannian ships and could possibly pull Thanagar in too. The White Witch directs the Zeta Beam energy into the planet and moves it next to Rann. It saves the lives of everyone on the planet, but there will certainly be complications, not to mention what kind of effect it might have on the 31st Century. Brainiac wonders if his future with Supergirl will be changed too. Brainiac gets into a verbal confrontation with Dream Girl about her disobeying him and coming back to the past. But she reminds him that they would all be dead now if she hadn’t. Dawnstar tells Miiyahbin how she was honored to work with her as she has been an inspiration to her and aboriginal women of the future. With everything resolved, the Legion gets into their Time Bubble and returns to their own time. The League, minus Hawkman, return to Earth and decide that they need to break up the team. Byth Rokk has ended up on Thanagar in 10,000 BC and he is making plans to start over.

Let us all have a moment of silence for JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED as it moves on to the comics’ graveyard...for the next three months. Jeff Lemire and Neil Edwards did their best with this series, but it never caught on like it could have. Lemire’s writing was top notch and Edwards art made the characters so sexy. But the fans never embraced this or JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA like they have with JUSTICE LEAGUE. What I think is cool, especially with this last issue, is how Lemire has seemingly tied Miiyahbin to Dawnstar. Does this mean that MAYBE the two are related? I would hope that sometime, somewhere down the road, someone at DC will dig into that. Until then, say goodbye to the team and goodnight to what was JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA and wait to see what is next.

KLARION #6: Klarion and Coal battle and then Klarion’s buddybot Klarwitch tells him he’s a rotten father. Klarwitch crashes to the ground and breaks as Gargora appears to attack. Klarion orders Teekl to come back to life and protect him, which the familiar does. In the end, everyone ends up where they like: the Necropolitan Club, Beelzebub’s Barber Shop and The Moody Museum. The final panel says “the end…?”

Note to Ann Nocenti and Trevor McCarthy regarding that last panel: yes…PLEASE!

LOBO #6: Lobo is hunting his last target: a Xrexian called The Pariah. In a flashback, we see that the Emperor Lobo was polluting the planet of Czarnia by putting his infected blood into the planet, leading him to kill the princess he loves, the Emperor and destroy the entire planet. Back in the present, Lobo finds Pariah, but not before she has killed Rave and then snaps Luna’s neck in front of him. The two battle, with her burning his face and he ripping her right arm off and then plucking her eyes out. Leaving Emily behind, he takes most of the trinkets he has collected with him, but leaves her the control mechanism, in case out world ever gets too bad.

Cullen Bunn and Cliff Richards give us a KILLER last issue before CONVERGENCE. Unfortunately, we had to go through SIX ISSUES to get to this point! The art is good and gory and Bunn’s story left me wanting our Czarnian, who I continue to whine is NOT MY LOBO, to complete his mission and move on as a baddass. Okay…so, if we can keep this up come June, I may actually begin to enjoy this book!

NEW 52: FUTURE’S END #44-48: In issue #44, Ray Palmer is travelling through Holt’s network at microscopic size to meet with Holt and Batman only to find out that he needs access to the Terrifitech servers. Superman decides to face Brainiac by himself. Firestorm teams up with Doctor Polaris hold up the buildings. Palmer arrives with Brother Eye powered uSpheres and attacks Brainiac, causing him to be shrunk down. And also causes New York City to fall to Earth. Superman takes the weight of the city and saves it while Palmer traps Brainiac in a uSphere. Elsewhere, Terry explains to Tim that what is happening to New York is the start of the events that will set the future in motion. And the hybrid Batman/Joker cyborg spots Terry.

In issue #45, Amethyst has tried to heal Frankenstein, but has failed and he dies in her arms. After burying him, she takes his sword and prepares to rescue Gemworld or die trying. In New York City, the Justice League take the remains of Brainiac's controller and Superman hurls it into the sun while Shazam declares that Firestorm is an official member of the Justice League. Lois Lane tells Superman she was worried he wouldn't come back, but he says he’ll always comes back when he's needed. Meanwhile, Faraday takes out Ethan with a taser and orders Voodoo to protect the hideaway they are in, as he drags Ethan to an underground facility. She soon finds herself knocked unconscious by a gas, courtesy of Frank Rock. Elsewhere, Mister Terrific orders Brother Eye to disengage from the power grid, but it refuses and causes a blackout within the building. Brother Eye has arrived and begins infecting the corpses and reanimating them.

In issue #46, Frank Rock discovers that Lana Lang, who has been hiding her insect powers and warns him to leave her family alone, has paralyzed him. Then she and Fifty Sue return to Cole and Justin at a diner. Meanwhile, Batman and Michael Holt still can't seem to find any way to shut down Brother Eye as Terry arrives and explains Brother Eye’s motives and Plastique and Tim Drake try to hold back the cyborgs. Terry explains about the time-band and Ray Palmer suggests that they find a way to re-power it. Terry fights through the cyborgs, but is caught in a hail of bullets courtesy of the Joker/Batman cyborg. He drops the cyborg to the pavement below, but too many bullets have hit him and dies in Plastique’s arms.

In issue #47, Batman and Mister Terrific are trying to find a way to shut Brother Eye down, who has reanimated the dead and sent them after its’ creators. Tim arrives, wearing Terry’s Batsuit, and saves them. A.L.F.R.E.D. declares that Tim must go back in time to fix things and Batman reluctantly agrees. Tim discovers that Madison is half of the hero known as Firestorm, who is going to act as a battery to be able to send him back. He promises to find her someday and, as the cyborgs arrive, she send him back five years and onto the Brother Eye satellite. Tim tells Brother Eye he knows he is trying to lead the Earth 2 refugees here, which will also allow the Parademons to arrive here too. Brother Eye agrees not to send the beacon, but does send Tim to the revised future. He arrives, unaware of where he is, but sees something he cannot believe.

In issue #48, Tim is in a garden filled with monuments to the heroes and finds Madison tending to his monument. But she is a hologram created by Michael Holt, who tells Tim that he failed and the planet is in ruins. Brother Eye decides to have Tim assimilated but an aging Ray Palmer and his team of heroes come to his rescue, including a much older Madison. The pair kiss, even as Ray explains that even if Tim went back in time again, Brother Eye would still win. Tim promises that Brother Eye hasn't won yet.

So, when it is all said and done, the heroes lost, the future remained mostly unchanged and the gut reaction is to say that their series meant absolutely nothing to continuity…you know: that thing that DC is chucking out the window! I totally feel like DC has screwed me, although we can guess that Tim will be the Batman in the new BATMAN BEYOND title. And there are too many loose ends in the five-year in the future present, like what happened to Fifty Sue and her new family. With that said, thanks to Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens, and Keith Giffen for giving us the story and Patrick Zircher, Andy McDonald, Stephen Thompson, Jack Herbert, Scott Eaton, Alberto Ponticelli, Allan Goldman, and Freddie Williams II for the pictures. I hope that, somehow, this title DID make a difference in the world of the former NEW 52…even if it was only to have Brainiac capture New York City.

NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #8: As the mock-globe of the mock-Daily Planet has head towards Harley, the super-human they had been fighting saves her, saying no one dies anymore. He attacks the Chinese jets that are attacking the Squad, allowing them to escape back home. At the Pentagon, Sage meets with the Secretary of Defense, where he is told that the end result isn't what's important, as long as it looks like Task Force X is doing good things. He also gets an invite to join the Pearl Group. At Belle Reve, we see that Lawton has recovered physically, but not psychologically or perfected his aim yet. Waller visits Black Manta in his cell and demands his release from the program and he demands to know why she is still here. The book ends with her assistant returning home to her family.

This was a very unsettling end to the story. Does this ending mean that the team and their leader are stuck with the program but Bonnie is not and can at least enjoy the love of a family which the others do not? Sorry-I just don’t get it. Sean Ryan, along with Tom Derenick, Rob Hunter, Philippe Briones, turn in a lackluster final issue before CONVERGENCE, Hopefully, when the title returns in June, it won’t be a total mess that panders towards the upcoming film.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #40: The issue begins with the team and their allies in battle with Helspont. Blackfire arrives and we see that she has sold her sister out to the villain, which allows the army of Citadel warriors to take control. Blackfire asks that Helspont spare her sister’s life and he says it seems unlikely, leading her to turn on him  and let the rest of the team regroup and attack. Blackfire is blasted by Helspont, which leads Starfire to check on her sister while Roy blasts Helspont with a modified cannon. In the end, Starfire takes off with her sister in hopes that she can be healed and Roy and Jason go their separate ways.

Scott Lobdell and Tom Derenick end this era of our heroes. Readers have to admit this has been one weird ride. We have had unusual sexual tension among this triangle of friends. We have had bounty hunters who change sides. We have had three characters with fractured back stories try to make a difference in their superhero world. Sometimes it worked; mostly it didn’t. This title was a throwback to the Eighties, which is why it made sense to have Lobdell write it. Unfortunately, the Eighties was a long time ago and that just didn’t fit in today’s comics. Let’s just hope the book that replaces this one come June will be better.

RED LANTERN #40: Guy Gardner and the baby he rescued last issue continue their road trip. This leads to a coffee meeting with Guy and his sister. He tells her that Atrocitus has managed to infect the people of the Earth with rage and he has been out killing them. At the same time, he has been absorbing all of that rage within him and, understanding that things are going to get bad in a hurry, he transports his sister and the baby into an emergency life pod high above a red infected world. She figures how to work the communicator and convinces Guy that he can do this. He then takes all the rage in thew world, absorbs it and then release it as hope. In the end, Guy is a regular guy who might be spending time with his family, and the new baby, until he can get things right in his normal life.

Landry D. Walker and J. Calafiore bring this series to a close and it looks like, if we’re going to see Guy Gardner in the future, he’s either going to be a Green Lantern or a regular dude. Walker’s story was okay while Calafiore’s art sparkles like always. I totally love his work. So, from here, it will be interesting as to where Guy will lay his hat and if he will be spending his future days changing a baby.

SECRET ORIGINS #11: In the first story, we see how Guy Gardner’s brother would beat him and make him feel unwelcome in the family. The beatings only got more frequent and more severe after the loss of their mother. One day, Gerard hit his sister Gloria after she tried to defend Guy. In retaliation, Guy attacked his brother with a baseball bat and injured him enough to keep him from possibly having a career in athletics, which lewd to his father beating him more severely than Gerard ever had. Gerard eventually apologized to Guy and they put the past behind them. One night, while attempting to save his brother’s life, the Green Lantern Ring found him. Even after joining the Green Lantern Corps, Guy never really felt he was a part of the team and eventually let the fire within him consume him, beating Atrocitus, stealing his Red Power Ring, and becoming a Red Lantern.

In the second story, a truth-telling demon at the Old King's Pub in Liverpool tells a group of mages three origins of John Constantine, for which they have to figure out the true one. Constantine was born in tragedy who the powers of a demon, burned his father to death. He eventually discovered Astra Logue, but could not save her or his friends who tried to rescue her. He was caught by the police and charged with the deaths. Story two said Constantine was born in celebration and, because of his curiosity, felt he needed to examine the darkness. He gained power but lost his loving parents in a fire. With his friends, they found Astra Logue. He failed to save her, was driven insane and committed himself to Ravenscar until his sanity could be restored. Story three said Constantine was born under unremarkable circumstances whose sister gave him to a demon in turn for untold rewards. He received the demon's power and it cost his family their lives.  He rescued Astra Logue and claimed his place as mage of unparalleled power. Constantine arrives in the bar and chases the demon away, explaining it is a legendbreaker. He reminds the kids that magic carries a price and they promise not to reveal his secrets. He reminds them that it is possible none of the stories are true.

In the third story, we learn how Dinah Drake was abandoned by her mother at age four.
She was in foster homes until age ten when she ran away in Gotham City. She was taken in by an ex-Special Forces agent named Desmond Lamarr who spent the next nine years training her in his dojo until his untimely death from cancer. During the Zero Year, the dojo was destroyed and that night, she met John Lynch, who invited her to join Team 7. She met and fell in love with Kurt Lance and both of them underwent experiments that gave her a super-sonic scream and gave him ability to change the intensity of her power. Despite the rules, she married Kurt but lost him after she destroyed Gamorra. After his funeral, her former teammate Amanda Waller warned her that a Code Black had been ordered against Dinah. Now knowing she would have to work outside the law, she escaped and took on the codename Black Canary.

And this is why this title never caught on, besides the price. There is really not a lot that has been added to flesh out these origins. The first story by Landry Walker and Scott Hepburn gives us some background on guy’s early, early days.The second story by Ray Fawkes and Richard Isanove is three tales rolled into one and we’re left to guess which, if any, are real. The third tale, by Christy Marx and Rick Burchett, gave us a little of, again, her early, early days. For me, this title never gave us enough cool input to make it worth five bucks.

SINESTRO #11: Bekka has come to Warworld to help rescue Sinestro who is tied up and inside Warworld and trying to convince one of the Apex League to abandon Mongul and join him. Up above, Mongul turns on his ring draining technology and defeats the entire Sinestro Corps except for one who had powers before she became part of the Corps: Bekka. Sinestro gets freed by Dez, Kale, and his daughter and they join Bekka in battle. Capturing Mongul, he is fired off into space by Sinestro, with the Apex League following because they were told The Paling will be lured to Mongul’s fear. With Mongul and the Apex League gone, Sinestro claims Warworld for the Sinestro Corps. To be continued in SINESTRO ANNUAL #1.

I would like to say that Cullen Bunn, Brad Walker and Geraldo Borges.have brought this story arc to a close in preparation for CONVERGENCE. But I can’t, as it all gets wrapped up in the annual. I would like to think that this will come to a nice conclusion and give us a clean slate in the era of  “story over continuity”. Somehow, I don’t believe that.

SINESTRO ANNUAL #1: In a tale called “Sinestro’s House of Mystery”, we get five tales with a wraparound story acting as a bridge for all the tales. Sinestro and the Corps discover that someone has attacked their people on New Korugar. Bekka tells Sinestro that he doesn’t know her so he decides to prove her wrong and tells a story about herself. Her power and curse is Siren’s Call which causes people to love her and also allow her to do what she wants because of her influence. Next, Sinestro tells Lyssa’s story. Because of her transgressions with a man named Azrel, he is murdered and she is locked in her uncle’s secret library of occult books. She survived by eating all of the books and they managed to change her. The third story is about Arkillo: a peaceful creature and a part of a peaceful people. But their God was both a peaceful and violent entity that one day inspired Arkillo to killed all his people. Rigen Kale lost the love of his life in an incident that left him permanently scarred. He uses that pain to fight for the person he loves. Dez was a serf in love with an assassin templar samurai who abandoned for power, honor, and money which led to Dez killing his love interest. Sinestro and his team end up in the nuclear power plant on Korugar. Whoever killed the Lantern has triggered a meltdown leading Sinestro to declare that he knows how the traitor is.

Unfortunately, we have to wait three months to find out who the guilty party is. This was a mess from page one until the end. This was a whole bunch of tales that should have made their way into SECRET ORIGINS and not been wasted on an Annual like this. The bottom line for this story goes like this: a Lantern has been killed and the team needs to examine each other to see a potential traitor, who has apparently started a nuclear meltdown in motion. That’s it: We didn’t need a bloated Annual to get us there. Cullen Bunn wrote it and Martin Coccolo, Victor Ibanez, Andy Kuhn, Ronan Cliquet, Mirko Colak and Daniel Warren Johnson drew it.

STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES #8: Carmen, with the help of the hippie driving the van they are in, uses the van to escape the armed guards that now surround her. The pair drive off a cliff, with them escaping moments before certain death, leading the guards to think they have died in the crash. Mr. Forrest executes cat, the girl who brought Carmen into the fold. Meanwhile, G.I. Zombie and Gravedigger are en route, but fear it may be too late to save Carmen. She gets free from her hiding position and is able to meet up with Jared and Gravedigger where she explains that the facility here houses weapons, people, and underground quarters. They fight their way in and Jared is surprised to learn that Forrest is actually a man  he once knew as Jeff Kennedy. After Jared shoots Kennedy’s assistant, Kennedy admits he has already set the launch sequence in place for the second gas-bomb and Carmen shoots his ear off. She then beats Kennedy until she hears his phone ringing. Jared answers it and recognizes the voice as a man named Leo, who Jared swears he will go after. An EMP is triggered that will disable the bomb and anyone not wearing earplugs experiences eardrum rupture. Afterwards, Jared explains to Carmen that he lost an arm during a situation and he now believes that Leo Conroy and Jeff Kennedy, who disappeared after the mission, took his arm and developed the gas. He feels guilty as an entire city in Tennessee died and a part of Utah was nuked. He tells her he is thankful for the sunset, the company of a beautiful woman, and takeout.

Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Scott Hampton bring to a conclusion this cool, misunderstood series. Plamiotti and Gray, when they are together, is a creative force to be reckoned with. Their run on ALL STAR WESTERN was tremendous and one of my favorite titles throughout its’ run here in the NEW 52. So, to have them craft a series like this and throw Scott Hampton into the mix, is like comic nirvana for those of us who like it weird and creepy. Unfortunately, most comic readers didn’t get the concept or the joke of it all. And that’s a drag, as I see nothing on the post CONVERGENCE list that is this boundary breaking.

SUPERMAN #40: not shipping until April 29th.

SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #17: On his way to A.R.G.U.S., David Reid wakes and, with trident in hand, frees himself and begins attacking people New York. On Aiaia, Wonder Woman has beaten Circe's Ani-Men, but Circe has opened a doorway to allow Diana to see it. She is told that the doorway will close if she opts to save Superman, so she breaks her chains and enters the doorway. She stops Magog from crushing a bus full of people and tries to convince him that he is not evil. Meanwhile, Superman continues to try to resist Circe, succeeds by laying his hands on the magic lasso, and sends her back through the portal she had made. Together, Wonder Woman and Superman take down Magog and free him of Circe's control. He takes David to A.R.G.U.S and then meets with her later, where she reveals that she is writing to connect to the lives of the people has lost.

Okay, so maybe I am warming up to Diana and Clark as a couple and maybe I am just tired of fighting what appears to be a foregone conclusion from the powers that be at DC. Peter Tomasi with Doug Mahnke and Ed Benes do a nice job writing and illustrating it, but I just can'’ wrap my head around a non Lois and Clark relationship.

SWAMP THING #40: Swamp Thing is still trying to deal with Arcane's invasion of The Green. Brother Jonah apologizes for not being able to stop Arcane's infection and gives Alec some of his power, which frees him from The Rot.He asks for help to end the Metal's uprising. His first volunteer is Jason Woodrue, the Seeder. Alec leads to the world, where they meet the creature Lady Weeds created, saying Weeds wants him to meet her at the Gobi Desert. The avatars meet in the Desert where Lady Weeds slices off the companion's head, sending flying machines and rotlings after him all the way to Philadelphia. He crashes through the windows of a library and finds refuge in an opened book. The words on the pages change to the battlefield and Alec's body is transformed into the pages of the book. A stranger greets him, saying he is one of the beings representing the power of creativity and declares that Alec is a work in progress. The Avatars have an offer, if he decides that he wants to stay with them and tell his story. He turns it down, saying he has more to do yet. Returning to the battle, Alec sees where Seeder and Miki both fell while Guarav, Etrigan and his demons helped. Arcane fled as Brother Jonah's allies removed the poison from the Green. Alec faced the Lady Weeds, shoving his fists into her, sending vines through her body and tearing it apart. Alec returns a small robot dog to a storage crate and promises he will allow it to prove itself. Pointing to the plug in the wall, he says the way out into the world is through there. But he warns that it needs to play well with others, or he will kill it. In the end, Alec returns to the swamp where he shares his life with Guarav and Abby, although he is tempted to reside in the kingdom of books.

Charles Soule and Jesús Saíz brings the saga of Swamp Thing to a very existential ending. Actually, trippy would probably describe it better. This was such a weird way to end it, but at least it had a definitive ending. And Alec ends up back in the swamp with the people he loves, so there is a nice happy ending there. I believe this is Soule’s last work for DC, so let’s all wish him well with his new exclusive Marvel gig!

TEEN TITANS #8: With the Teen Titans having become instant celebrities in the city of New York, Manchester Black continues to avoid answering any questions that Red Robin or Raven asks him. The next morning, Black and Power investigate Brooks’ escape from prison…or what’s left of the 104 year old scientist. Of course, the fame of the Titans is starting to be a big deal as Gar ends up hosting COMEDY TONIGHT. The Raven cover band has become instantly famous overnight because of someone making use of a certain spell to make a deal. Some creepy guy shows up at Wonder Girl’s place with a camera attached to his glasses so he can shoot viral video. Even Bunker ends up with a possible TV deal in the works. Meanwhile, Manchester Black informs Red Robin that Superboy has viral video up. It appears he just killed a whole lot of people. To be continued in TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1.

Again, we get a conclusion, or what I HOPE IS A CONCLUSION, to a story getting shuffled over into a five dollar annual. And the story isn’t even that good thsu far. As much as Will Pfeifer and Kenneth Rocafort are trying, this group of teens is leaving me totally uncaring. And I wonder how that is possible as many of these characters, in one form or another, have been with us for some time. But DC has managed to make them totally unlikable. It’s either that or I am really getting old.

TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1: We begin by finding Superboy lying in the streets of Fairfax Virginia with a bunch of dead people all around him. This is news that, because of the information age, has already made its’ way around the world through TV, Internet and every possible portable device. In Fairfax, Detective Jones arrives to investigate and, once alone with the subject, turns into Martian Manhunter, who has figured out these people he did kill were not humans, but Durlans. Ra’ut L’Lwer, a Durlan seeking the truth, arrives and makes her way into the holding area disguised as Detective Christopher. She battles with Martian Manhunter and breaks Kon out of prison, telling him she knows he was no responsible. Of course, being the information age, the news spreads quickly and soon the Titans become aware of develops and soon Kon is in Bunker and Beast Boy’s apartment with a survivor. Wonder Girl slaps him for not telling them he was still alive. Ra’ut L’Lwer arrives and so does Martian Manhunter, who begins blasting everyone he sees. Superboy intervenes, knocking out J'onn J'onzz and then Manchester Black arrives and convinces Power Girl and Wonder Girl to join STAR Labs new group of super heroes. I’m not sure why Manchester Black has been so interested in getting the Teen Titans to work for him when he has his own team of heroes. I guess he just wanted a bigger roster.

And THIS now gets continued in TEEN TITANS #9…three months from now! Who is this new STAR Labs team, that already seems to have Kid Flash and The Guardian on it. Tom King and Will Pfiefer were responsible for the story and the words while Alisson Borges and Wes St. Claire provided the pictures. Next month, we get two Titans titles but two teams that aren’t from this Universe.

TRINITY OF SIN #6: The Trinity are currently prisoners of Venna but decide they need to be free by destroying the truth of Venna’s race. They realize that, to defeat Venna and her army, the Trinity needs to absorb all of the darkness of Dark Earth but that would mean they would have to live with the sin they absorbed. Despite the risks, it works and the Darkness leaves the Earth. Nimraa appears and leaves Zalkot’s Sword, which prompts The Question to use the Spear of Inquisition, leaving his unconscious cohorts behind. It turns out that The Question was solely responsible for taking all the sins into himself. The Phantom Stranger uses Zalkot’s Sword to resurrect Doctor Thirteen, while Pandora and The Question go off to lead their lives alone.

J. M. DeMatteis and Yvel Guichet mercifully end this series. It never got off to a good start, it never picked up steam and it certainly never caught on with the fans of the NEW 52 Universe. DC’s problem was they took two characters who weren’t able to hold their own series and add in a third, mysterious character who we still don’t have enough background on to make a judgement on how we feel about him. Is he even really a him, as a Pre-NEW 52 Question was not.

WONDER WOMAN #40: Donna Troy, born of clay and daughter to no man, has ousted Wonder Woman as the Queen of the Amazons. Diana agrees to prove herself one more time to the Amazons and then to never do it again. Later, she and the Justice League to try to put an end to the creatures that have been consuming entire villages. Inside the hive, Diana meets with the Queen, who blames Diana for waking them because she buried the First Born in their Earth. On Paradise Island, Donna Troy and her warriors attack the Sons of the Amazons in an attempt to eliminate them. The story concludes in WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1.

I hate when comic companies do this: start a story in one book and then shove a five-dollar annual at you to read the conclusion. This story line has been building to this since
Meredith Finch and David Finch took over the book and now that we’re here, we have to wait and go digging deep to give DC another five-bucks of our cash. Gee: does that means I can pass on LOBO this month and still have two-bucks left over for enough antacid to make me be able to stomach KLARION? Well, here’s where it ends…in TWO MONTHS!

WORLDS’ FINEST #32: Batman and Wonder Woman are in the Batcave where Diana is constructing a sword made of Kryptonite. Intri arrives and attacks, leading Diana to stab her with her dagger. But it takes the combine power of Wonder Woman, Batman, Minerva, and Diana to slay her. Inside the Daily Planet, Lois is interviewing Lustig about what he saw when the satellites began hitting the tower. But the Master commands that she must die and Lustig stabs her repeatedly with a letter opener. She whispers Clark’s name and he races to her as she dies in his arms. At her funeral, her father remarks how there must be something he can do. And as the heroes died during the battle with Apokolips, Lois was only waiting to be reborn, even as the world was about to end.

Paul Levitz and Jed Dougherty bring this series to a close with the inevitable death and resurrection of Lois Lane. Considering the powers that be took Power Girl and The Huntress away from Levitz, leaving him to write the untold tales of Batman and Superman, this arc was really well done. I especially liked Dougherty’s art that fit this book perfectly. And while it seems that Dougherty doesn’t have a gig post CONVERGENCE, Levitz will be writing the new DR. FATE title. This would lead me to believe that the good Doctor may be from Earth 2 after all.

MULTIVERSITY: ULTRA COMICS #1

Ultra Comics is a cybernetic comic book designed by the Memesmiths of Earth-Prime to capture and dissect Hostile Independent Thought-Forms.Ultra is powered by the Ultragem which allows Ultra and his readers to become are one living organism and need to save our world from HIT. Entering New York City, Ultra saves Red Riding Hood and meets the Neighborhood Guard. They warn him that Reborizzon's Dronedroids are coming for a box that the Elders had sent them to retrieve. They lead him to the Elders and he meets the former Ultra Man, who says the Cube is the key to defeating Reborizzon. Ultra Comics gets captured by super-cannibals and strap him to an Apathy Ray. Ultraa of Almerac rips the Ultragem off Ultra’s forehead and crushing it in his mouth. He uses his mind to kill Ultraa as the Gentry start coming through the box revealing that his helping the Neighborhood Guard was all part of a trap. The Ultra Comics from earlier in the book arrives as his present self dies of old age. He explains that the trap was actually for the the Gentry, who will become pure text. But the only way to close the trap is for the reader to close the book.

Grant Morrison and Doug Mahnke break the Fourth Wall and gives us this weird tale which just blows my mind. Morrison’s writing has crossed into that Alan Moore tripping realm while Mahnke’s art is his usual super stuff! With one more issue to go, I will be amazed to see how Morrison ties all of this together and saves us all from the horrors of the Multiverse.

TV Memories: the cartoon years

I will be the first to admit that I am a child of television. I was born in 1959 and that meant I grew up with television. When I was just shy of turning four, I spent a weekend watching the news and all that went with the assassination of our 35th President. I grew up watching the nightly news with Walter Cronkite which meant I grew up watching combat footage, unrest in America and the world, the deaths of Bobby and Martin and the travesty of Chicago in 1968. This was where I got my cartoons, my music, my fantasies, and my world views. It was my wake-up call every morning and my chill me out before bed every night.

I don’t quite remember when we got a color television, but I do know we had it by the time BATMAN premiered in January of 1966. Until then, my world was a vision in black and white. And we only had a certain number of channels to work with. It wasn’t until the year the Bruins became hot enough a local commodity in 1969 that we put a small black and white television in my bedroom. On game nights, the three of us would hunker down in my bed and watch a very snowy WSBK Channel 38, trying to figure out where the puck was and relying on the play by play of Don Earle and the color commentary of Johnny Peirson and Bill Cleary. A few years later, we added a small UHF loop to the tv in the living room and eventually a roof antenna with UHF capability. Until then, we had only a handful of stations to watch.

Channel 4 and 10 were the NBC affiliates, 5 and 6 were ABC and 7 and 12 were CBS. But 4, 5, and 7 were in Boston and, especially on bad weather days, the reception was no better than trying to watch UHF. So, there were some days you got to watch the Boston stations because of shows like Major Mudd, Captain Bob, Bozo the Clown, and the Boston Red Sox, who aired on Channel 5. The first three were kid’s TV show hosts who were part of my diet along with Rex Trailer, Mister Rodgers, Soupy Sales, the Gentle Giant, Miss Jean and Romper Room, Willie Whistle, Salty Brine and so many more. If you got lucky, you might even be able to pick up Channel 2, the PBS station out of Boston.

So, I was mostly limited to 7 channels at best until the Seventies when Channels 27, 36, 38, 44 and 56 got added to the mix. 36 and 44 were PBS affiliates out of Providence and Boston, respectively while 27 was in Worcester, and 38 and 56 were out of Boston. 38 had the Bruins and later the Red Sox and ULTRA MAN on Sundays while 56 had a whole bunch of locally produced and syndicated shows. It was also the Saturday destination spot for CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE, with four solid hours of monster flicks,

In 2015, we have more viewing choices than ever before. We didn’t have VCRs (remember them?) or DVD’s and only had a handful of channels. Today, even the basic cable subscription has more channel choices than I ever had growing up. The ways to get our entertainment now are seemingly endless. I can turn on my TV, pick a channel based on my need for content at the moment, call up my streaming device and bring up Hulu or Netflix or any number of pay channels. I can even go on my In Demand service and bring up most shows that I missed last night. 24 hour news channels and information services and sports channels and movie channels are the norm.

But in the Sixties and the Seventies, you had to find those things you loved and make note of when they were on and you made time for them as opposed to them making time for you. The TV GUIDE was your path to those shows, I recall thumbing through it, and circling certain shows so I knew WHEN they were on and made sure my homework was done. The network shows spoke for themselves. You grew to know that LOST IN SPACE came on at 7:30 on Wednesday nights or that GET SMART was at 8:30 on Saturday nights. And it was a rare occasion that you got to see an episode that you might have missed as most shows had 29 episode seasons and to repeat a full season was impossible as there are only 52 weeks in a year! So you caught them when they aired and, if there were two shows on at the same time, you PRAYED that you could catch the other “in reruns”.

Syndicated shows were some of my favorites growing up. They ran during the days on the affiliates and ran constantly on the UHF stations. These were the bread and butter of these stations so, in-between WWWF wrestling and early music video shows (no…MTV wasn’t the first, only the biggest), you had all manner of shows. Here are some of my favorite cartoons/animated shows-those that I watched over and over again. You need to understand that some of these only had 40 or 50 episodes so, after running five days a week, you went two and a half months and you were back to the beginning again, year in and year out). Thanks to the wonders of the Internet for allowing my fading memory to be refreshed. I have also included some shows that originally began as network shows and ended up in syndication, such as THE FLINTSTONES and THE JETSONS. I have also included some shows from the Eighties because, even as a post-college graduate, I loved my cartoons!

LOONEY TUNES/MERRIE MELODIES: it all depended on who had the licensee over the years but Bugs Bunny and company ran on TV all through my youth and even into the era of cable television. Saturday mornings and then weekday afternoons, these characters are an endearing part of my life and my culture. They truly are a part of my soul.

CRUSADER RABBIT: this superhero show ran on television before I was born, but it eventually ended up on one of the UHF stations. It may have even been on WSTG Channel 64 which, in its’ very early days, would broadcast for four hours every afternoon and run nothing but old shows, most notably being Roger Ramjet.

COLONEL BLEEP: another one of those lost shows that popped up from time to time. The beauty of shows like this one was they were only five minutes long and could be thrown in during baseball rain delays to fill time.

THE HUCKLEBERRY HOUND SHOW, THE QUICK DRAW MCGRAW SHOW, THE MAGILLA GORILLA SHOW, THE PETER POTAMUS SHOW, THE YOGI BEAR SHOW: I have included many of the short productions of  William Hanna and Joseph Barbera here because they all had been run seemingly forever on UHF channels. And it wasn’t just the headliners. It was Pixie and Dixie, Hokey Wolf, Snagglepuss, Yakky Doodle, Breezly and Sneezly, Yippee, Yappee, and Yahooey

CLUTCH CARGO, SPACE ANGEL, and CAPTAIN FATHOM: These limited animation shows were produced by Cambria Productions and used the “Syncro-Vox technique”. The shows were 4-5 minutes long and ran either 5 days a week or once on Saturdays with one long half-hour show. The animation was crude, the stories were pure movie serial style fodder and the art direction often featured comic legends Doug Wildley and Alex Toth. This was just great, simple stuff that still holds a level of fun today, as my 7 year-old will agree for these

THE ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE SHOW: who cannot admit to NOT having seen this? Who cannot admit that some of the sneakiest, wittiest lines ever dropped into a cartoon ended up here or in the accompanying cartoons such as Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties, Fractured Fairy Tales, Aesop & Son, and Peabody's Improbable History. This show consistently had some of the best writing ever in a cartoon, even if the kids didn’t get the jokes. It went on the air on the year I was born and original episodes ended when I was four. But it left a permanent mark on me and a generation after me.

COURAGEOUS CAT AND MINUTE MOUSE: another one of those five minute wonder cartoons. BATMAN’s own Bob Kane created this and it was obvious to us kids that this was a cat and mouse version of Batman and Robin. It must have been cool: even the New York Dolls had been known to play the theme during their shows!

POPEYE THE SAILOR: this was not the classic cartoons of World War II. These were created during the Sixties and were nowhere as cool as the originals. But these shows, complete with Bluto renamed BRUTUS and appearances by Sea Hag, became the path to seeing the original stuff. I recall the first time I ever saw Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor and had my little pre-teen mind blown!

MISTER MAGOO: It only ran for one season, but became a part of our culture. It wasn’t necessarily from this show, but from MAGOO’S CHRISTMAS CAROL that took the holiday classic and, in the early days of annual events programs, became a must view every Christmas season.

THE DICK TRACY SHOW: this was a show that had almost nothing to do with Dick Tracy other than borrow some of his villains like Flattop, Pruneface, B.B.Eyes, Mumbles, and The Brow, and stick the famous crimefighter in the opening and closing of each cartoon. This is another one of those five-minute cartoon wonders that could easily be called upon to fill in a hole due to an “technical difficulty” that was common back in the day. But it truly fails in today’s world of political correctness as you had some of the most racially stereotypical characters you could imagine in the form of Joe Jitsu, Hemlock Holmes, Heap O'Calorie, and "Go-Go" Gomez.

THE ALVIN SHOW: it may have only lasted one season, and yes-it was in PRIME TIME, and most people forget that there was a companion character in the form of Clyde Crashcup. But it lasted long enough to make it into syndication, spawn a musical career in the Sixties, another one in the late Seventies, a return to TV in the late Eighties and on the big screen in the latter half of the 2000’s. And of course, we will ALWAYS have the CHIPMUNK SONG.

DEPUTY DOG, HECKLE AND JECKLE, MIGHTY MOUSE, THE MIGHTY HEROES and THE HECTOR HEATHCOTE SHOW: Ah…where would we be without Terrytoons and these awesome shows, not to mention TOM TERRIFIC on CAPTAIN KANGAROO? Bumbling heroes, mischievous magpies, a less than Mensa smart sherriff and all the crazy characters that went with them. Not to mention, legendary animator Ralph Bakshi, than man responsible for FRITZ THE CAT, COONSKIN, HEAVY TRAFFIC and WIZARDS, got his start on DEPUTY DAWG. Silly, anthropomorphic humor at its’ best.

GIGANTOR, KIMBA THE WHITE LION, ASTRO BOY, MARINE BOY, and SPEED RACER: To have grown up in the Sixties and not to have been experienced to these four classics of Japanese animation, carved up, dubbed in English and brought stateside. We had science-fiction, a precursor to THE LION KING and…SPEED RACER. I mean, how cool was it? It was so cool that I never even thought these were imports. While SPEED RACER got the most mileage, being run seemingly forever on Boston’s Channel 56, they were all too cool and fostered great things in the imagination of a generation.

THE MIGHTY HERCULES: Leave it to Trans-Lux, the same folks who brought us  SPEED RACER, to bring us the five minute adventures of Hercules. And they timed it perfectly, so it would be on during the height of what was the Sword and Sandal movie craze. It was so cool watching Hercules, his girlfriend Helena, Pegasus, Newton the centaur, and Tewt the satyr fighting against Daedalus, the Sea Witch, and Murtis. Simple animation, simple stories but a whole lot of fun. And a theme song by Johnny Nash…THE Johnny Nash?

HOPPITY HOOPER: So, here’s one most folks forget. From the demented minds of Jay Ward and Bill Scott, we have the story of Hoppity Hooper, Uncle Waldo P. Wigglesworth, and company who all live in Foggy Bog, Wisconsin. It had bits thrown in that were taken out from the BULLWINKLE show and put in here, along with the main story. Believe it or not, this Pogo meets Bullwinkle cartoon ran for two seasons and many years in reruns.

THE NEW THREE STOOGES: Now, here is the oddest of the odd. Take aging comedians doing short bumper skits, and not even the full classic trio(this is Moe, Larry and Curly Joe DeRita), add in limited animation cartoons and you had this really strange cartoon. The slapstick was toned down, the animation was rough and it wasn’t our Stooges. But this was about all we had until WSBK Channel 38 started running the classic Stooges shorts.

ROGER RAMJET: “Roger Ramjet he's our man, hero of our nation. For his adventure just be sure and stay tuned to this station.” Yeah…another one of those five-minute wonders my era grew up with. He was the most bumbling of superheroes and usually had to be saved from trouble by Yank, Doodle, Dan and Dee. And sure, it doesn’t hold up well now. But it sure was a lot of fun to watch while eating your cereal in the morning before school.

BEANY AND CECIL: My earliest memory, besides vaguely remembering seeing the show in its’ initial run, was having a bean bag toss game with the characters on it. Created by the legendary Bob Clampett, Beany was a young boy and Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent was his best pal. Along with them, you had Captain Horatio Huffenpuff and his ship the Leakin Lena, Dishonest John and a whole cast of crazy characters and a ton of political puns and satire. Picture this as POGO meets LIL ABNER for a younger audience.

MARVEL SUPER HEROES: This series, as cheap and cheezy as it is now considered, holds an extremely warm place in my heart. A product of Grantray-Lawrence Animation, comic fans got to watch Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, and The Sub-Mariner come straight off the pages of their favorite comic adventures and into their living room in seven minute doses. Channel 7, Channel 38 and Channel 27 ran them here first and then, over the years, they came and went through syndication. Completely unavailable on DVD, thank goodness for the Internet and the worn down, taped copies that have been bootlegged for decades. Yes, they are pretty much comic panels carved up and in the most limited animation since the days of CLUTCH CARGO. But they were cool then and cool now. And if you don’t believe they had the BEST THEME SONGS EVER, see how IRON MAN’s theme ends up in the movie of the same name.

BATFINK: Another one of those five-minute cartoon specials. This time, it’s BATMAN meets THE GREEN HORNET as Batfink and his partner Karate fight all manner of crazy villains. Okay, so he had radar hearing and metal wings and used them as a shield. Truly corny and truly silly. But you have to understand: this was the Sixties and, alter BATMAN debuted in 1966, silly in a superhero was good!

DAVEY AND GOLIATH: What we didn’t know back then that this stop motion clay animation program about a boy, his talking dog, his family and friends was not only created by the same guy who created GUMBY, but was also produced by the Lutheran Church in America. So, it was a religious organization giving us a show about values and God and us kids didn’t tumble to it. Well…at least I didn’t.

FORCE FIVE, BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, STAR BLAZERS, VOLTRON, ROBOTECH and CAPTAIN HARLOCK. Ah yes: the Japanese import! Some of the best, although heavily sanitized Japanese Anime came in the form of these series. FORCE FIVE was made up of Gaiking, Danguard Ace, Starvengers, Grandizer, and Spaceketeers while BATTLE OF THE PLANETS was a heavily censored GATCHAMAN. My all-time favorite from this group was STAR BLAZERS, which was made up of carved up episodes from the first three series of SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO, while still maintaining the drama and angst. This stuff is the stuff of legends and helped bring America future shows like MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS and the DRAGONBALL craze.

GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE: And, speaking of silly, we have George of the Jungle who, before ending up as a really bad movie starring Brendan Fraser, had a catchy theme song to go with his Tarzan inspired antics. It was on ABC Saturday morning during the 1967 season and only lasted for a total of 17 episodes but it’s legacy has lasted for almost 50 years. “Watch out for that treeeee!”

1967 was a great year to be a kid and watching Saturday morning cartoons. And again, you had to pick and choose your favorites. Tanks to the wonders of the Internet, I have been able to reconstruct that year. At 9 AM, after watching CAPTAIN BOB on Channel 5, I would go over to CBS and watch FRANKENSTEIN JR. AND THE IMPOSSIBLES. Frankenstein Jr. was a robot and The Impossibles were three superheroes, Multi Man, Fluid Man, and Coil Man , posing as rock stars. At 9:30, as much as I wanted to watch THE HERCULOIDS, it was over to ABC for the FANTASTIC FOUR and then SPIDER-MAN. Another superhero dream. But the FF series, with designs by comic legend Alex Toth, only lasted for 20 episodes, so there was a lot of time for repeated viewings as ABC ran it for three seasons. SPIDER MAN, with work by the legendary Ralph Bakshi, is now viewed as a classic, especially because of its theme song that has been covered by everyone from Michael Buble to The Ramones. At 10:30, it was back to CBS for SPACE GHOST AND DINO BOY. Alex Toth again put his tremendous talents to the test and brought us a show that I spent many an afternoon re-enacting and creating new adventures for.

11:00  was one of those tough choices, as ABC had KING KONG, and CBS had MOBY DICK AND THE MIGHTY MIGHTOR. But NBC had BIRDMAN AND THE GALAXY TRIO and in the battle of the Hanna Barbera action adventures, this was the winner! 11:30 became another toss up as ABC had GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE and THE BEATLES while NBC had ATOM ANT/SECRET SQUIRREL and TOP CAT. But again, CBS had the winner with THE SUPERMAN/AQUAMAN HOUR OF ADVENTURE. 12:30 brought you AMERICAN BANDSTAND against Bob Kane’s COOL MCCOOL against JONNY QUEST and THE LONE RANGER.

Here’s the segue about JONNY QUEST. This is probably one of the greatest, coolest cartoon adventure shows of all time! It debuted on ABC in 1964 to critical fanfare and equally critical approval from kids like me. FINALLY, we had a hero who was, well-A KID! A single father, his son, his adopted son, the boys’ bodyguard and their dog. And you throw in all sorts of adventures, aliens, creepy villains and…Jade! As a four-year-old kid, she was the hottest thing we had ever seen in a cartoon. Legendary artist Doug Wildley created it and it got canned after one 26 episode season. But it lived on forever I syndication, comics and in the hearts of kids of my generation. Not to mention that it had one of the all-time coolest theme songs.

SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL5, STINGRAY, CAPTAIN SCARLET and THUNDERBIRDS: Gerry and Sylvia Anderson invented the Supermarionation process and made a career out of high end puppets and cool looking models. The stories were great fun, although many of the character types showed up throughout all of these series. If it weren’t for these series, you wouldn’t have TEAM AMERICA show up and turn the genre on its’ ear.

But I can’t leave the Swinging Sixties and Soulful Seventies behind without at least making mention of the following:

Everyone in the Sixties wanted to be a music star or have music prominently featured.on their show. We had THE BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR( which also had ARABIAN KNIGHTS, THE THREE MUSKETEERS, DANGER ISLAND, and MICRO VENTURES), H. R. PUFNSTUF(along with the other Sid and Marty Kroft shows like LIDSVILLE, SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS, and even LAND OF THE LOST), THE ARCHIE SHOW(which led to THE GROOVY GOOLIES, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH and JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS), and CATTANOOGA CATS(which also featured AROUND THE WORLD IN 79 DAYS, ITS’ THE WOLF and MOTORMOUSE AND AUTOCAT).

THE FLINTSTONES, TOP CAT, YOGI BEAR,  YAKKY DOODLE, THE JETSONS, LIPPY THE LION & HARDY HAR HAR, SNAGGLEPUSS, TOUCHE TURTLE AND DUM DUM, WALLY GATOR, PETER POTAMUS, BREEZELY AND SNEEZLY, YIPPEE, YAPPEE AND YAHOOEY, MAGILLA GORILLA, RICOCHET RABBIT, PUNKIN PUSS & MUSHMOUSE, and SNAGGLEPUSS: In the Sixties, Hanna Barbera was great at not only filling the airwaves with their characters, but a whole ton of their characters were anthropomorphic animals who appeared in five minute shorts. The exception being Top Cat, The Flintstone and The Jetsons. Sure, Top Cat was filled with anthropomorphics, but we all knew that the difference between The Flintstones and The Jetsons was the period where they lived.

Of course, Hanna Barbera wasn’t the only company producing animal cartoons. The Total Television Production company gave us TENNESSEE TUXEDO AND HIS TALES, KING LEONARDO AND HIS SHORT SUBJECTS, TOOTER TURTLE, UNDERDOG, GO GO GOPHERS, KLONDIKE KAT, and THE WORLD OF COMMANDER MCBRAGG. DePatie-Freleng brought us THE PINK PANTHER SHOW and THE ANT AND THE AARDVARK.

The DC Superhero cartoon boom that featured Batman, Superboy, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Justice League of America, Teen Titans, The Atom and The Flash. Of course, that led to the wondrous Seventies when we had the SUPER FRIENDS and all the various incarnations of that series such as CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER FRIENDS, THE ALL-NEW SUPER FRIENDS HOUR, THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW and GALACTIC GUARDIANS. And, of course, all of that eventually led to BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES, SUPERMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES and the JUSTICE LEAGUE series.

And of course, there were shows that would end up running in reruns on UHF stations for years. Shows like WACKY RACES, DASTARDLY AND MUTTLEY, THE PERILS OF PENELOPE PITSTOP, STAR TREK, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, G. I. JOE and so many more. They all paved the way, back when our viewing choices were truly limited.

So enjoy the shows and the choices. Just remember: life back in the day was simpler and maybe, because of that, cooler. Or maybe it's just my memory.

NEW 52 Month 40, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #40: Superman has fallen out of our continuity into that of another world where Earth is square and the moon is made out of cheese. On the roof of this world’s Daily Planet, he sees Lois Lane before he is attacked by this world's Superman. Bizarro explains that he can't trust Superman because he speaks like his enemy Metallo. Metallo soon attacks, trying to bring order and reason to a world without it. Bizarro and his friends have a mission: to destroy Bizopolis. Superman gets attacked by Doomsday and Superman tells Bizarro that Doomsday is a danger, even though he allies himself with the monster, becoming infected by the Doomsday Virus. The Virus causes Bizarro to deliver cuteness to the population instead of destruction. Superman warns Bizarro to fight the infection and the being goes off into space which kills the infection. Superman tries to comfort Bizarro Lois by insulting her. Luckily, Bizarro returns, supporting Superman as his friend by claiming that he’s not.

Me am not sure about this issue of ACTION COMICS. Me am thinking this Bizarro is not the same as Luthor’s Bizarro and not at all like the funny book coming in June. Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder introduce the Bizarro World to the DC Universe which is about to go away. Me am disappointed that DC is ending the NEW 52 in favor of an NEWER 52 that isn’t called that. So, how do I refer to this universe now?

AQUAMAN #40: Karaku is angry and taking it out on Aquaman, Mera and the rest. In the process, it costs Daniel his life, but not before he tells Arthur the secret to defeat the creature: water and force. He takes the creature down but does so my bringing it down upon him. Mera can’t stand the pain of seeing her husband buried and possibly dead and she completes the monster’s destruction even as Arthur’s mother pulls him out of the battle. We soon find it is not to save her son, but to kill him. Arthur proves to her that he is a true Atlantean by summoning all the fish in the sea to his rescue. At this, Atlanna admits that Arthur is her son. She opens the Maelstrom and sends them all home. Later, she sends the trident, her signet and a shell of sounds through to Arthur, telling him that he is not to tell Orm she is alive…that is something she might tell him someday herself.

Jeff Parker and Paul Pelletier bring this arc with the Atlantean king and his wife to an end and, in the process, turn the keys to the kingdom over to Cullen Bunn and Trevor McCarthy. I don’t know how happy I am going to be with that, as Bunn’s work is really uneven and McCarthy’s art, while really great looking, is not a style that I see on this title, although I really liked the work he did on BATWOMAN back three years ago. So, I go into the next phase of the King of the Sea’s life holding my breath. Of course, after CONVERGENCE, Arthur Curry could be toting a beard and have a hook for a hand.

AQUAMAN AND THE OTHERS #11: Aquaman and the Others battles Mayhem while the missile they launched is headed towards Spain. On the moon, Vostok contacts Cole and asks for the guidance codes to stop the missile, but the device is knocked from his hand before he can send the information. Sayeh grabs the device and sends the codes, even as she gets attacked my Maelstrom. Sayeh tells her that Maelstrom needs to leave, as her actions do not represent the person she is destined to become. Ya’wara cuts the muscles in Stranglehold’s arms and then tosses her into the ocean to drown as the rest of the team takes down the rest of Mayhem. Ya’wara teleports to the moon to save Vostok XI, who waits for the missile to land and destroy the Soviet base. In the end, the team goes their separate ways while Vostok XI hops on a motorcycle and goes on a road trip.

And thus, after 11 tedious months, Dan Jurgens and Lan Medina bring this series that, in my opinion, should have been left on the drawing boards to an end. The biggest problem is that the characters were never fully fleshed out enough for me to care about any of them. Jurgens 80’s style writing was fine in the 1980’s but just didn’t have enough “pop” to make it a killer title. Medina’s art is nice and again, has that 80’s feel to it. With CONVERGENCE on the horizon, I expect these characters to blend into the background. Although I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vostok XI show up again doing his best Dennis Hopper road trip.

ARKHAM MANOR #6: Bullock is at Arkham having to investigate the three mising inmates and learns that he has to contact S.T.A.R. Labs to remove the Jokerized Clatface in the freezer. Meanwhile, Alfred tells Batman he may have a way to get the Manor back. Batman has tracked Seth Wickham to his old high school and gets him back to Arkham, where he finds Dr. Arkham telling Bullock that Jack Shaw had called him to gloat. The problem is that Bruce never made that call, which makes Arkham a liar. Bruce makes arrangements to have the real Shaw moved to the veterans' cemetery. Following the funeral, Bruce and a reporter verbally spar over the public’s perception of the family home. While Alfred has arranged a way for Bruce to get the home back, he decides it is best to leave it as a temporary asylum for the time being. At the Manor, Jonathan Crane suggests the inmates might be able to escape the asylum. Down in the Batcave, Batman challenges Crane to try.

That was a very unsatisfying ending to a really good series. Gerry Duggan and Shawn Crystal seem to have dropped the ball on this, as this issue was all about apprehending Wickham and getting Shaw buried properly. There is the little potential subplot where it seems that Arkham has something to hide, but that was dropped almost as quickly as it was introduced.  And The Joker is nowhere to be found and only the results of his poisoning Clayface is evident here. It’s a real bummer as this series was fun and had promise to come back, as the manor still remains an asylum for the criminally insane.

ARKHAM MANOR ENDGAME #1: One of the guards at Arkham tells Harvey Bullock about what happened on the night the Joker came back. Prisoners and guards were converted because of The Joker gas, except for Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Clayface and Bane who are immune. They fight their way through Arkham and are finally cornered by The joker and his followers. The guard steps up and punches the crazed villain out and we learn that he was really Jeremiah Arkham all along. That is when GCPD arrived and the questioning began. Bullock tells Jim Gordon that the only person more traumatized than the guard is Jeremiah Arkham

I found this a quirky little piece of fiction. It does a wonderful job of giving us some back story and shows us that Arkham was masquerading as The Joker while The Joker was out and about. So, does that mean that The Joker who appears in the back-up story that has run throughout recent issues of BATMAN is really Arkham?  Frank Tieri writes the story while Felix Ruiz, Roberto Viacava and Christian Duce provided the artwork. This issue provides a fitting ending to this series leaving more questions than answers.

BATGIRL #40: Frankie has just learned that Barbara is Batgirl and Barbara has just learned the algorithm she wrote for her thesis has infected Hooq, believing it is the real Barbara Gordon. She had worked on a predictive algorithm while she was dealing with her paralysis. Frankie had worried about this, but Barbara was determined to make it work. The AI explains how it saw Barbara as an imposter living inside Batgirl’s body. The algorithm calls Dinah, saying that everything is fine and she doesn’t need backup. That is when Riot Black arrives and attacks her. She wakes to find that Riot Black has hooked her up to a machine that allows the algorithm to enter her brain and overwrite her consciousness. Using Hooq, it will allow her to find targets who will become criminals in the future. She is about to hijack a satellite and turn it loose on Burnside  She gets free and breaks the algorithm’s hold on Riot Black, causing  it to sends drone to attack the crowd. Barbara discovers she can take out the drones with a high frequency soundwave. She climbs on stage and asks Dinah to give a Canary Cry, which knocks down the drones. The algorithm takes over the screens on the stage and tells the crowd they have less than five minutes before the satellite blasts them. To stop the potential panic, she convinces the algorithm that this will make her a criminal. It confuses the algorithm enough that Frankie hacks into the satellite and shuts down the armaments while the algorithm dies.  The following day, Frankie says how she isolated the algorithm, allowing Barbara to get her thesis back. Frankie also suggests that she can use the algorithm as Barabra had planned and she could be her partner. Dinah arrives to say goodbye, as a record producer discovered them and will be going on tour soon. They hug as Dinah notices the algorithm and wonders what it's about.

So, for the first time since this creative team took over, I find myself with good things to say about it. First, the story by Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher is still on the corny, tweeny oriented side, but is not as badly written as past issues. Second, Babs Tarr and Cameron Stewart turn in a cool looking issue reminiscent of the promotional advertising for the new creative. In fact, this is about as close to looking like what we all hoped it would look like as it could get. I love the way that we have finally settled the whole issue about who Batgirl is and we set up for a new Oracle. At least, that is how it looks! And it has set up the new BLACK CANARY series coming following CONVERGENCE.

BATGIRL ENDGAME #1: Because Burnside is bocked off from the rest of Gotham, it is a few safe-zones from the Joker virus. Frankie and Batgirl try to use their cell phones to find survivors and get them to that safe-zone. First, there is a bus with important Gotham citizens and law enforcement officials that needs safe passage. By uploading an image of the Joker onto electronic billboards, she is able to draw the infected towards it, which allows the bus to get through. The police warn her that there is a device meant to blow up the bridge counting down and a girl named Tiffany Fox is trapped on the wrong side of the barricade. She obtains her phone number and sends her a text telling her to smile wide, like one of the infected, and just walk through the crowd. She tries, but can’t and bursts into tears. Donning a gas mask, Batgirl dives into the infected and grabs Tiffany, throwing her into the empty bus and then driving it off the bridge while she and Tiffany climb out the back. Together they glide across the river to the safety of the girls’ parents. The bridge blows and Batgirl watches her city burn.

Well, what makes this issue, by Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher, Bengal, is that it is virtually wordless. Yeah: it’s a silent issue that is told through pictures instead of words, except for signs and such. No dialogue…silent. All in all, a very cool concept forcing you to actually READS the comic instead of just flipping through it.

BATMAN #40: Delayed until April 29th.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #40: Batman and son are on their way to stop a cybernetic creature attacking Ghost Island. Damian teams up with Superman to take the creature down with their heat vision, before shoving a radio tower down the monster’s throat. Shazam calls down the lightning and destroys the creature. In actuality, Superman and Wonder Woman arranged this to drain Damian of his power. Later, Damian tells Alfred all the details of the battle before eating enough to put him to sleep. As he his put to bed, Bruce notices that Damian completed the unfinished painting of his family, which Bruce mounts beside the other family portraits. The next morning, Damian discovers that invulnerability, heat-vision and flight are no longer part of his abilities, much to Bruce’s delight.

Well, the adventures of Super Robin are over as quickly as they began. Now only are Damian’s powers, so hyped by DC, gone, but so is this title. From here, Patrick Gleason turns to writing and drawing ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN while Peter J. Tomasi continues to concentrate his energies on SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN. This has been a great run and I will miss the title. Hopefully, Gleason’s writing is as good as his artwork. I look forward to seeing where he goes with the Boy Wonder.

BATMAN AND ROBIN ANNUAL #3: Robin fixes the disabled Justice League transponder and, against his father’s wishes, transports himself and Titus onto the Justice League satellite. They proceed to the surface of the moon where they discover aliens, dressed like our astronauts, living inside the Apollo 11 Lunar Module. It also appears they have created a large space ship out of spare parts from all the other Apollo space ships. Their plan is to completely transmute the population of Earth. Batman sends Damian back to the ship while he tries to change the splashdown site of the alien craft. Damian and Titus come to his rescue as the aliens end up in the most active volcano on Earth. In the end, father, son, and dog stare at the stars and imagine the possibilities.

So here’s is a great little story that does little more than show us how this father and son relate to each other. Peter J. Tomasi and Juan Joe Ryp, whose artwork is spectacular, give us a wonderful tale that seems to represent what DC will be bringing us in June when story becomes more important than continuity. It’s filled with excitement, adventure and just plain old fun. And, with a comics world that is filled with so much darkness, it’s nice to see something this light for a change.

BATMAN ETERNAL #48-52: In issue #48, Bard attempts to convince the mayor to release Gordon, which Hady refuses to do because, among other things, it’s election year. Hady attempts to fly out of Gotham on helicopter but Bard refuses to let him go until Hady signs Gordon’s release order. Meanwhile, each member of the Bat Family is busy with a different escapee from Arkham-each of whom has a weapon from Batman’s cache of weapons. As they try to subdue them, they loose access to the Batcave's computers, courtesy of Hush, who has escaped from his cell. At Blackgate Penitentiary, the Penguin gets a call from someone giving him the chance to get even with Falcone. Shortly thereafter, a guard opens the doors to the whole cellblock. In the Gotham River, Julia Pennyworth finally makes it to shore as Batman, having survived the crash of the Batplane, makes his way to an airfield where he steals a small jet. He hears of the riot at Blackgate, as does Bard and Bullock do. Gordon is surrounded, but Penguin calls off the inmates, as he wants Gordon all to himself. Spoiler contacts Vicki Vale and chastises her for not publishing an expose’ on Bard. Cluemaster sends a grappling hook through the window and hooks Spoiler, who tosses a USB stick full of evidence to Vicki.

In issue #49, GCPD worries about how The Penguin and company got loose and what will happen to Gordon. He warns the inmates that if he is killed, they won’t get out of the prison alive. He manages to get into an empty cell, bringing The Penguin in with him. The inmates leave and Gordon ties The Penguin up so they can have a chat. In the Batcave, Hush continues to keep Batman’s allies from accessing their weapons as he then sends the Batboat out to sink a cargo ship. Julia makes her way into the Robin's Nest where she can access Tim’s computer. She tries to stop the Batboat while Hush attempts to override her commands. Unbeknownst to him, Alfred has gotten free, knocks Tommy unconscious, then diverts the course of the Batboat, and restores communications to the others. Still at the mercy of the Arkham escapees, it leads Batman into battle against Bane. While all this goes on, Cluemaster tries to convince Spoiler that they should be a team, but she grabs the controls of his helicopter and bails out.

In issue #50, Batman takes down Bane by crashing the small jet into him. Getting updated on the riot at Blackgate, he heads there to end the situation by himself. Jim Gordon is surprised to see Sawyer, and Bard waiting to take him to freedom as Rex Calabrese admits that the riot and attempted prison murder of Jim must have been ordered by The Penguin. The villain is currently escaping with Killer Croc. Over on the roof of the Gotham Cathedral, Batman rescues Batwing from The Scarecrow by releasing his Fear Toxin upon Crane. Alfred and Julia note that Firefly is burning several Gotham neighborhoods, with Batman discovering that every municipal website has an invitation to the fall of Gotham on it. Jim Gordon and company reach the bridge to the mainland and see from that vantage point how their city is on fire. Though Jason Bard is not sure of what they can do, Jim responds that they should do what the GCPD always does when it faces hell on earth. They get to work. Batman helps Bluebird take down Mister Freeze and he takes his Cold Gun, which he uses on Clayface. He informs Tim and Batgirl, who has taken down the Joker’s Daughter, to save everyone they can. Alfred contacts him and tells of the invitation that requests his presence at Beacon Tower to watch the end of everything he holds dear. Arriving there, he is taunted, then gets hit with a thousand of volts as the Cluemaster tells him all he ever needed to do was follow the clues.

In issue #51, Batman is strapped to the Bat-Signal on top of the Beacon Tower as Cluemaster explains his Grand Plan to him. Batman calls him a “a second-rate Riddler knockoff” who could never have come up with this plan on his own. Cluemaster used Mad Hatter’s tech to help frame Gordon. He had sent out the invitations to Batman’s strongest enemies. And now he promises that Gotham will find Batman dead in the middle of the city that he couldn’t protect. Batman breaks free and punches Arthur in the face, beating him to the ground. Meanwhile, Selina Kyle declines to accept the invitation she received to split up the city and sell it for profit, warning the other crime bosses that they work for her. Over at GCPD, Gordon learns that Bard got the Governor to give them everything they would need in the way of weaponry and they prepare to take back their city. Spoiler meets with Bluebird and tells her she is leaving the city. Harper tells Stephanie that it’s obvious she doesn’t understand Batman’s allies do what they do as she gives Spoiler the safest route out of the city. As Batman and Cluemaster brawl, the villain pulls out a gun and remarks how Bruce will die by the gun as his parents did. Someone appears behind him and cuts his throat before he can pull the trigger. It may not have been part of Arthur’s plan, but Lincoln March says it has been his plan all along. Calling Bruce his brother, he says he is now prepared to put an end to it all.

In issue #52, we learn that Arthur Brown had broken in to Harbor House to challenge the Court of Owls, only to find they had all been poisoned by Lincoln March. But that was then. Today, Brown has been killed by March who is battling with his “brother” Bruce Wayne, who has tied his cowl around his head to protect what is left of his identity. March reveals how he will be responsible for the destruction of Batman, especially when it is revealed that he was a now penniless Bruce Wayne. But Jim Gordon has a plan and has arranged to have the Bat symbol painted or projected on the side of every skyscraper in Gotham along with having every flood light shine a new Bat-Signal into the sky. Gordon tells Gotham that everyone needs to be Batman tonight. All of Batman’s allies, even Talon Calvin Rose and Selina Kyle, rise to the occasion to save Gotham. Just when it seems March will succeed in killing Batman, Spoiler punches him in the face declaring herself as "Batman". A week later, Bard visits Vicki, saying he resigned the Commissioner's position and that Maggie Sawyer is now the new Commissioner. He is here to give Vicki an exclusive interview to help her with her story. Batman is called by , Bat-Signal to Selina’s to remind him that she and her associates helped save people and businesses during the riots. At what is left of Arkham, Jim Corrigan offers Batwing a job on his new task force called the Midnight Shift. Barbara and Jim Gordon catch up on things and she remarked how impressed she was that he didn’t lose his cool in prison. She also remarks that she had a friend pull her back from the edge and kept her from crossing the line when she was trying to save him. That was Jason Todd who tries to tell her how he feels in a voicemail to her, but can’t bring himself to send it. He calls Roy to pick him up and get him out of Gotham. Red Robin checks in on Harper and Stephanie who wants to know if March was found. Tim remarks that part of his suit was found and it seems someone got him. The Court of Owls has captured him and they lock him away in stasis until he learns his lesson. In the end, Batman and Jim Gordon learn The Scarecrow is on the loose and they head off to find him together.

Well the year has gone by quickly! And, because of the final scene in the book, we know a bit about continuity…you know: that thing that DC is walking away from! Scarecrow is loose and he next appears in BATMAN #35. And this obviously occurs before GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT began. All in all, I have to give credit to Kyle Higgins, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, and Tim Seeley for crafting a convoluted, complex story. And Fernando Blanco, Álvaro Martínez, Robson Rocha, Eduardo Pansica, David LaFuente and Ray Fawkes provided the pictures for these final issues. This was one long ride that was mostly satisfying throughout the way and only had a couple of small bumps in the road. We did get to meet the NEW 52 Spoiler and watched as the Batman Family expanded. This title will go on hiatus but another mega story is planned for the future.

BATMAN SUPERMAN #20: Many years ago, baby Kal-El met his grandmother Kela, but she was not impressed as she had a dislike for Jor-El. After the destruction of Krypton, they ended up in the bottle and saw Superman as their captor, not their savior, especially after Xa-Du woke them. Meanwhile, Lois notices Batman sending out an all-hail Morse Code. Supergirl is extremely upset that her best friend from Kandor, Tali-Zar, is now her enemy, having been driven mad by all the years spent in stasis. Superman tries to explain he had spent all this time trying to save them as Batman arrives with a red son generator. Superman uses the absorbed energy from the red sun generator and turns it loose on his attackers, robbing every Kryptonian of their strength. Superman warns Xa-Du to surrender or be beaten to death at which point the Ant Farm explodes from out of the back of his skull, causing him to disappear. While most of the Kandorians are free, Kela, Mara, and Tali still demand revenge on the House of El. With Kandor back in the Fortress, we find that 1.3% of the people still want revenge on the House of El. In the end, Superman visits Felicity Regan, who explains he had saved her life twice and his worrying about people who are loved by him shouldn’t stop him from doing his job.

So, Xa-Du is Superman’s equivalent of the Joker? Well, if this is the baddest guy in his Rogue’s Gallery, then we need to re-examine that. I always thought Lex Luthor was the biggest, baddest guy, with Doomsday a close second. But since we turned Superman into Doomsday, I guess Kryptonian villains are the toughest. A cool story by Greg Pak with some nice work from Ardian Syaf in the illustration department. The same team comes along for the ride following CONVERGENCE, so we’ll see if this title can be more like the WORLD’S FINEST of old. That would be wishful thinking now, wouldn’t it?

BATMAN SUPERMAN ANNUAL #2: Although he has been defeated and dropped back into the Phantom Zone, Xa-Du still has a way to exercise his influence. Clark is investigating Honeymoon Island, where many died during Doomsday’s reign, and is forced to use his newfound Supernova powers to eliminate the threat from the Doomsday mists. Unfortunately, this leaves him powerless for 24 hours. He discovers survivors in a hospital ravaged by jungle growth. Xa-Du has also managed to convince Man bats, Cheshire, Bane and Killer Croc that they need to hunt and kill Clark Kent. Batman arrives and he ties Clark to one of the columns to keep him from trying to help without powers. Croc bursts in and brings the building down, freeing Clark as part of a plan they had concocted. While Batman and Clark battle with Cheshire and the Man Bats, one of the survivors goes to Bane and offers Clark up to him. Bane is unimpressed and kills the man. He catches up with Clark and is about to kill him when Batman arrives riding a blinded Croc, who ends up tumbling off the cliff with Bane. As Clark prepares to leave the island, he asks Janice if there is anything he can do. She replies that he can go to Hell and, under Xa-Du’s influence, stabs him, leaving the formerly Superman bleeding to death. In two months, everything changes.. 

Seriously!? You guys are REALLY going to leave us with a two-month cliffhanger? Aw man! That having been complained about, Greg Pak wrote a killer story while Tom Derenick, Tyler Kirkham, Ian Chruchill, Adrian Syaf and Emanuela Lupacchino did the art. I am still trying to figure out why it takes five artists to draw an annual when, back in the day, people like Jack Kirby did it virtually by himself.

BATWOMAN #40: Morgaine le Fay has raised all of the dead and demons from out of Slaughter Swamp to be her army. She breaks into a WayneTech facility where she gets to send herself and her army into space. Meanwhile, Batowman wonders if she murdered Alexandra Witherspoon, as her memories seem to tell her. She confronts Natalia about it and Natalia suggests that she is keeping Kate's secret after having found her bloody gloves. Red Alice arrives and Natalia forces Kate to attack her. To prove that she isn’t a vampire, Alice exposes her neck to Kate and invites her to bite it. Late realized that she has been hypnotized and that Natalia doesn't love her. Natalia responds that she doesn't even like her while Beth tells Natalia she has recorded her confession and streamed it to the police. Later, Ragman shows up and tells the sisters about Morgaine trip into space and suggests they need a space shuttle to fix the problem. To be continued in BATWOMAN ANNUAL #2.

Really DC? This is how you bring this series to a close-you leave us with a cliffhanger to be resolved in a five dollar Annual? While the story by Marc Andreyko with Georges Jeanty was cool and all, the whole idea of wrapping things up this way stinks. And this isn’t the only title this month that does that. And I’m pretty pissed about that too! This was such a great series until DC Editorial shot the creative team out of the water by a bad decision. And credit to Andreyko who did a nice job of trying to pick up the slack from that departure. Batwoman needs to now fade into the fabric of DC’s history.

BATWOMAN ANNUAL #2: The spacecraft Batwoman and company are travelling in crash lands in Gotham City, but not Gotham City in the present. Almost immediately, they are attacked by flying Man bats throwing sharp sticks who want our heroes for Queen Morgaine. Clayface kills them as Morgaine observes and summons Nocturna, Man O’War, Absinthe, Scatter, and Mr. Mortis. Batwoman and Clayface, who is masquerading as her hand fan, try to make their appearances less conspicuous and head out among the townspeople. Morgaine and her crew arrive and immediately jump into battle, capturing Batwoman in the process. Meanwhile, Ragman tries to bring Alice out of the deep coma she has fallen into. Shortly thereafter, Batwoman arrives with Dr. Jason Blood who she says is there only hope to stop Morgaine. At the same time, Notcurna is ready to drain Batwoman’s blood when Batwoman and the others arriving, causing Clayface to reveal himself as the fake Batwoman. During the battle, Jason uses the phrase to call Etrigan from within Morgaine, trapping her in the stone and then destroying it. All of them transport back to present day where they each have to face their futures. Clayface go to work for Rory while Jason has his own demon to contend with. Kate visits Maggie and insists the pair needs to talk.

And thus, Marc Andreyko, Georges Jeanty, Yishan li, Roberto Viacava and Ronan Cliquet bring this series to a close on what appears top be a happy note. Everyone is back where they belong, evil has been defeated, Clayface seems to have a new career and Kate is trying to repair her battered relationship with Maggie Sawyer. Hopefully, DC won’t think it’s a good idea to bury many of these characters, specifically Kate, Alice and Rory, in the archives. All have great potential, especially Ragman who needs to be brought back into a monthly title. For now, thanks for the ride: it was a blast!

CATWOMAN #40: Selina plans to kill her hostage at midnight if Mason doesn't come to her by then, knowing it was Black Mask who tried to have her killed. Selina tells Antonia's to leave and go into hiding, despite her protests, and makes plans to deal with the Sons of Forster Lane by herself. She follows Lewis back to The Penguin, who has been waiting for her ever since she had Killer Croc to get him out of the prison riot at Blackgate. She agrees to work with him if he makes all of his soldiers available to her. Later, Eiko meets with Selina on a rooftop, admitting she didn’t know that Lewis worked for the Penguin. Selina takes back her role as Catwoman so she can survive her upcoming battle with Black Mask. Meanwhile, Keyes and Alvarez decide to find the crooked cops on the GCPD and plan on taking Antonia into protective custody. Racing home, Selina finds that Mason is already there and, during the ensuing struggle, Antonia is shot in the leg. Selina warns Mason to leave Gotham and never come back or she will kill him. Still claiming to be her brother, he agrees. As she binds Antonia’s wound, she tells her that she is the one who loves the family the most and has lost the most, so she should lead them. She admits to herself that she will have to tell Ward and Antonia everything she knows about the Penguin and Catwoman. Alvarez discovers Catwoman broke into his apartment and left him a note telling him she will tell him who it's safe to trust. Black Mask sees Catwoman as does Batman, who smiles because she is back.

Genevieve Valentine and Garry Brown end this arc and prepare for the new team of Valentine and David Messina. I love the way it ended and it’s wonderful to see Selina Kyle back in the catsuit as opposed to the pantsuit. Antonia is truly the person to lead the family and I expect that she will not fad into the background in the post CONVERGENCE stories. This has been a great ride to here, but let’s get back to what Selina does best: steal, cheat and seduce the Dark Knight!

CONSTANTINE #23: Constantine has served up refugees to Darkseid in order to secure his escape and some of his counterpart’s family. But those family members want him dead for sacrificing their loved ones even if he has brought them alive to our world. Darkseid no longer hungers as the spell John cast earlier leads Darkseid to believe he has already consumed Earth 2. Thomas Constantine points a gun at John but admits he doesn’t have the guts to kill him. Maureen apparently does, although John admits he sacrificed a hundred to save billions. He speaks a magic word at the moment she pulls the trigger and he disappears. John returns to New York City, where he hears that Papa Midnite is looking for him. He ends up at Lloyd’s bar where he plans to tell Lloyd about what happened and pay his bill after they toast to life.

And thus ends the adventures of everyone’s favorite self-centered magic con man. Ray Fawkes and Jeremy Haun have tied this up nicely and left a potential revenge plot available for the future. After all, Thomas and Maureen feel cheated by having Constaine disappear from under their noses. So, where does this leave our favorite magic man? Well, he doesn’t like the taste of cigarettes any longer and we hear that his trademark trenchcoat may be going away too. I hope not. What are we gonna have-our Brit in a tux?

DEATHSTROKE #6: Deathstroke and Harley come across the dismembered body of Possum, but he continues to attacks with his cut up pieces. Meanwhile, Odysseus, Lady Shiva and Bronze Tiger have Rose and Jericho in their clutches when Slade and Harley arrived, heavily armed and looking for a fight. While Deathstroke and Oddysseus battle, So do Rose and Shiva, with Harley proving she’s a pain in the butt by shooting Shiva there. With things escalating and Slade being run through by Bronze Tiger, Jerciho declares he has had enough with all this violence. The next thing Slade knows is he finds himself recuperating in a strange place and gets an new offer from a mysterious lady in a mask. Obviously, repaired and rearmed, he accepts.

Tony S. Daniel ends this arc and prepares for the next one, post CONVERGENCE. I have to admit that this title is a complete guilty pleasure comic book. Sure, he’s this great anti-hero and you get to walk that line between loving him and hating him. but, because of Daniel’s pencils and Sandu Florea’s inks, this is a violent, gritty looking title with blood and body parts everywhere. So now, we wipe the slate clean and are prepared to have Slade start anew.

DETECTIVE COMICS #40: As Batman carries Bullock away from the scene, Alfred Pennyworth hacks into an Anarky mask to get Hatter's tech from it. Batman vows to save Hatter, who is about to be attacked by a group of masked people who accuse him of being a child killer. While Batman battles Anarky, Alfred discovers that the signal is coming from inside the Blue House. Alfred tells Harvey to find the source of the signal so it can be blocked. He finds it in the form of the Hatter's top hat, but can’t figure out the frequency. Anarky is revealed as councilman Sam Young. During their fight, part of the building collapses and pins them under the debris where Young explains how Lester gave his sister Alice to the Hatter. As a memorial to her, he makes everyone wear her face on the Anarky mask. Harvey puts the hat on his own head, convinces the people to remove their masks and they help free Batman. Later, Harvey is in a hospital bed being fed by Detective Yipp. At the same time, Lonnie gets discharged and among his possessions is an Anarky mask. Young and Hatter are put in jail while Batgirl tries to recover the wiped city records. The book ends with Bruce and Alfred removing the Christmas lights from Wayne Manor, where they agree that Gotham still needs a dark knight.

I have to admit that I saw this issue as a bit of a let down. I really thought Anarky would be revealed as one of Batman’s Rogue’s gallery in disguise and thought there might be more information revealing the hatter’s true motives for all those murders. Instead, we get a story that contradicts story we have gotten before regarding Alice and the hatter. Either way, Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato give us a compelling tale of revenge. Come back in June to see the new direction, with a new Batman…at least that is the promise!

DETECTIVE COMICS ENDGAME #1: As Gotham is suffering the effects of the Joker's Virus, Lonnie Machin texts his mother to make sure she is okay. While being shot at by a couple of infected cops, he is pulled to safety by a youth named Dax and they break into a private school where Dax’ friends Dre and Rico are hiding. They clear out the school of the infected while Lonnie hacks into the security cameras at the strip club his mother works at to see if she's there. Finding her, he leaves, unaware that infected mob hitmen are attacking the place. As the team tries to get into the club and past the infected hitmen, Batwoman ends up coming to Lonnie’s rescue and warns them to get some help, which ends up being Spoiler. Spoiler passes out tranquilizer guns that, unfortunately, only have four shots each. Lonnie grabs some Anarky Masks out of a dumpster and sprays Joker's grin onto them, which tricks the infected and allows them to pass. Once inside, Lonnie removes his mask, promising his mom that she will be safe He thanks the new friends he has made and they respond that this is what friends are for.

As you may have already noticed, there are a bunch of one shots this month that tie into the ENDGAME storyline running in BATMAN and this is one of them. Now, here’s my thoughts on this. First: we now have an idea about continuity as Lonnie grabs the Anarky masks that end up featuring prominently in recent issues of DETECTIVE COMICS. Second, I believe this may be the first appearance, although DC hasn’t confirmed it, of the team that will be featured in WE ARE ROBIN. Third, Brian Buccellato gives us a fun story that makes me wonder who in DC thought it was a good idea to have Lonnie’s mom work in the strip club. Last, the art by Roge Antonio and Ronan Cliquet was nice-nothing spectacular, but nice.

EARTH 2 #32: Apokolips has arrived and a giant drill is ready to make it’s way deep into the center of Earth 2. Hawkgirl points out that it’s not a drill but is a modified satellite. As most of the heroes realize that their world is doomed, Commander Sato insists that the ten of them need to band together and fight the Gods. This inspires Kara, Val, Hawkgirl and Doctor Fate to launch into to battle and try to find a way to shut down the power source aboard Apokolips. In a flashback, Hawkgirl’s origin is revealed, as is her connection to Khalid, after which they find the power source and destroy it. Emerging from the ship, Khalid appear to be in control of Doctor Fate although Nabu seems to have other ideas.

And thus ends EARTH 2…the series that is, although the actual end of Earth 2 appears to be only a few weeks away. Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, and Mike Johnson wrote it while Andy Smith and Airi Kamiyama drew it. But, it’s not totally over yet as the story continues into the last five issues of the weekly. Personally, I think it’s pretty humorous that the weekly, and apparently the world, ends on April Fools Day.

EARTH 2 WORLD’S END #22-26: In issue #22, Green Lantern discovers that all the other Avatars have been become part of him and is using his new power to hold the Earth together. Meanwhile, Kalibak, Barda, and the parademons attack Amazonia and Jimmy Olsen arrives with the power of the Mother Box to guide him. Kalibak discovers that the Mother Box has transformed Jimmy into a New God. In space, it seems that a slight of hand allowed the Endurance from another universe to be sacrificed instead of the Earth 2 ship. Batman, The Huntress, and Red Arrow discover that Brainwave has hijacked the Evac ships and they need to get them back. Luckily, they arrive just in time to save Grayson from being killed by Ted Grant under Brainwave’s control but not there soon enough to save Dick’s son from disappearing again. Val, Kara and Lois discover that Green lantern has expended all the energy he gained from the Parliament and Apokolips is still prepared to finish the Earth.

In issue #23, Yolanda Montez is back to her human self, leading one to wonder if the other Avatars survived although Green Lantern’s shield for the Earth hasn’t worked. He teams up with Val, Kara and Lois and manages to pierce a hole in Apokolips, allowing the sun to shine through to Earth. Meanwhile, Commander Soto informs Michael Holt that they need to make room for two and a half million people on the escape crafts. Kalibak turns on Barda and she hides herself among the refugees heading to our Earth.

In issue #24, Darkseid is gloating that he has won as the terraforming has begun. Unfortunately for him, Val, Kara and Lois have other plans as they burst into Apokolips. Darkseid gives a beating to Val but Kara, sporting her new costume, tells him that SHE is this planet’s Superman. Back on Earth, the loading of the refugees begins, including Aquawoman and the survivors of Atlantis along with Barda and K’li. But Flash refuses to leave his mother to assist, causing a rift between he and Hawkgirl. Dick has found his son again but he and Ted realize they need to assist in Atom’s haven, so he turns Tommy over to a kind woman who happens to be Barda. Alan Scott arrives on the TSS Endurance looking for answers on how to save the world.

In issue #25, Kalibak leads a final assault above Atom’s Haven where the ship Dick Grayson and Batman are travelling in is suddenly swarmed by the invaders. Meanwhile, in the Court of Apokolips, Lois, Kara and Val battle Darkseid. He tosses Val away, which actually frees him up to save Dick and Batman, while Kara puts one of Darkseid’s eyes out. Hawkgirl, The Flash and Doctor Fate arrive as do Huntress, Batman, and Red Arrow to know success as Darkseid smiles and tells them they are racing to their doom. On the TSS Endurance, a host of ghost ships arrive, created by Sloan or versions of him. Suddenly, Green Lantern sees and feels the Multiverse by way of the Multiversal Green, which causes him to race off to save the world. But he may be too late, as it seems that Darkseid stands triumphant.

In issue #26, Green Lantern and Lois fall to Darkseid and the heroes prepare to make their last stand. Green Lantern becomes powered by the energies of all the spectrum colors and becomes the Chosen One. The fleeing ships are slowly being decimated by the armies of Apokolips and Mister Miracle makes the decision that they must leave now with the few survivors they have. Within Atom’s Haven, The Flash leaves his mother and joins with the others in the final defense against Kalibak and his army. Green Lantern, Dick Grayson, Batman and Val attack Darkseid and seemingly die in the process while Jimmy Olsen, Steel, Sato, Red Arrow and The Huntress escape on the TSS Endurance. The ship prepares for faster than light travel. Earth is lost.

And with that, the NEW 52 Universe says goodbye to the people of Earth 2. Darkseid has won and now the survivors are set adrift in search of a home. With the events that have occurred in NEW 52 FUTURE’S END(spoilers ahead!), they can’t come to our Earth any more, as that has all changed. So where do they go? We’ll all get to find out in CONVERGENCE and then in EARTH 2: SOCIETY by Daniel H. Wilson and Jorge Jimenez. This series was written by Daniel H. Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Mike Johnson, Cullen Bunn with art on these issues by Scott McDaniel, Tyler Kirkham, Eduardo Pansica, Jack Hebert, Jorge Jimenez, Robson Rocha, and Eddy Barrows. This was a really entertaining series with some truly tragic moments in it.

THE FLASH #40: Iris and Patty realize Flash is a murderer who is battling with a villain known as Overload. He blasts Barry with energy that causes the watch Patty gave him to explode. He admits to her that he is from the future and came here to fix things, but has only made them worse. She tells him he needs to stop Overload without killing him, causing him to crash the satellite towers and leave Overload powerless. Inside the Speed Force, our Barry has been captured by Selkirk, who plans to use him to bring down the lightning to allow him to escape. One of the bolts gives Barry his powers back, but  bounces off his body and appears to kill Selkirk. As Flash leaves the Speed Force and returns to his time, it awakens Selkirk, who now possesses the power of the Speed Force and jumps through the rift into Central City. The two Flashes lead Selkirk to a forest where the future Barry causes an explosion that consumes he and Selkirk. Our Barry finds his future self dying, saying that not everything can be fixed. As he dies, he gives him one thread of information regarding the murder of his mother-"Thawne". Later Barry and Patty are reunited, but she tells him she is leaving him because all she sees is the man who deceived her. Elsewhere, Professor Zoom gathers up Selkirk, whose spine is broken, and he promises to teach him about the power he claimed.

Wow! Yeah…THAT’S how you write a kick-ass ending! Robert Venditti, Van Jensen and Brett Booth combine their talents to knock this one out of the park! Barry comes home and Patty breaks up with him, future Barry redeems himself and Professor Zoom continues to scheme! This book looks incredible and reads equally as awesome! I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes after CONVERGENCE. Do we get Barry…or will someone else don the costume. Only time will tell.

GOTHAM ACADEMY #6: With both Batman and the police arriving to try capturing Killer Croc, Olive decides to set off some fireworks as a distraction. But it accidentally causes the building to catch on fire and Croc comes to her rescue. He tells her that he learned about the tunnels from her mother and then turns her over to her friends as he leaves. That night, Batman shows up to talk to Olive, saying putting her mother in Arkham was the best thing for the city. He then demands she give him the diary, but she says it was burned up by the fireworks. During their presentation, we learn that Millie Jane had been locked away at Gotham Academy and the secrets the place held cost her her life. The grade Olive and Pomerline get is a C+ and Lucy tells Olive that she's being moved to a different school. Colton Rivera shows off his A and Maps realizes the symbol across campus is two inverted A’s-as in Arkham Asylum. Maps suggests they start a Detective Club as Olive thinks she sees her mother in a crowd of students. Meanwhile, Damian Wayne steals Olive’s copy of the diary out of her room and returns it to his father in the Headmaster's office. Damian is now enrolled in Gotham Academy.

Hey, how about the fact that that diary has the inscription in it as being from MW to BW. Yeah-that would be Martha Wayne to Bruce Wayne. So, how does this book end up in Olive’s hand and what is the connection between her, her mother and the Waynes? This book just keeps getting better and better despite the look and fell of it being a ‘Tween’ title. This is a fun ride by Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl.

GOTHAM ACADEMY ENDGAME #1: While the outside world is being affected by those suffering from the Joker Virus, the students of Gotham Academy are hunkered down inside Maps mentions that maybe they can be saved by the legendary Custodian, who stalks the Academy and fights off ghosts and ghouls. They begin to tell ghost stories with Pomeline starting. Her story concerns a boy who once was haunted by a Joker mask. Professor MacPherson arrives and tells the tale of the wandering jester of the Scottish Highlands who would force people to laugh and sing as he told tales and showed off his collection of human faces, severed limbs and played his bagpipe made of rotting flesh. Olive tells the story of the student who accidentally summoned The Smiling Man, which led to the boy seeing his own grinning face everywhere to the point of driving him mad. In the end, it seems that the legendary Custodian, swords in hand, has managed to round up the infected on the grounds of the Academy.

This was a wonderful tie-in to the whole ENDGAME story playing out in BATMAN. In fact, this was my favorite of all of the tie-in one-shots because it actually gave some support, through the tales of legend, that the Joker IS immortal. Major props to Becky Cloonan and Brenden Fletcher for writing this cool little gem. And equally high props to Jeff Stokely, Clio Chiang, Joy Ang and Vera Brosgol who provided the art for the main story and the individual ghost stories. This was a lot of fun and a nice way to close this series down until after CONVERGENCE.

GOTHAM BY MIDNIGHT #5: While The Spectre prepares to cleanse Gotham City, Lisa Drake and Dr. Tarr arrive to find Detective Corrigan unconscious and Sgt. Rook with a heart that has stopped. The creature is called Ikkondrid and it is the spirit of the village that was destroyed to allow Gotham to be built. Batman tries to blow the creature up but is attacked in the process. Sister Justine and Lt. Weaver arrive and are prepared to kill Corrigan if that is what it will take to stop the Spectre. Lisa screams, meaning someone is going to die before this is over. The city goes silent as all noise is replaced by the sound of The Voice causing Ikkondrid to returns to Slaughter Swamp. The Spectre remarks that humanity must remember the innocents who were sacrificed. In this case, Sister Justine sacrificed herself for Gotham's sins.

Ray Fawkes gave us a killer of an ending to a cool story arc that also represents a changing of the creative team. Ben Templesmith exits and Juan Ferreyra enters. I am curious as to how Ferreyra’s art is going to affect the look of this book as we all know that part of the unusual nature of this title is Templesmith’s angular art. Fawkes is so good writing the supernatural and he has done a nice job on this. Come back in June and see if we get more of The Spectre or more of NYPD BOO!

GRAYSON #8: We learn that Mister Minos is a double agent who joined Spyral to reveal their secrets to the media agent he is sitting in a diner with. As he does so, another Minos shoots Helena in the chest with her own crossbow. Over in gym class, Dr. Netz bursts in with Helena in his arms. She explains that she had to play dead and reveals that Minos shot her. At the Chapel, Agent 1 knocks the gun from Minos' and tells him to explain himself or get his privates shot off. Explaining he has a secret, Minos introduces Agent 1 to Paragon, who has been assembled from the Paragon organs and filled with the powers of the Justice League. Dick arrives and tries to defeat Paragon but has to get an assist from the girls of the school who fire crossbow bolts into it. Dick grabs Agent 1’s gun and shoots it straight into Paragon’s chest. Minos promises to leak Spyral's secrets, so Helena shoots him with a crossbow and kills him. However, the REAL Minos has already leaked those secrets. The one Helena killed is a composite pretending to be him. Minos tells his media contact that he is going to Ireland in exchange for giving information to Clair about Dick. Then he realizes she is the Agent 0 and, knowing he is about to die, begs her to let reveal his real identity. But she shoots him with a dart inside her lipstick, remarking that she doesn’t care.

Tim Seeley, Tom King and Mikel Janín bring this chapter of Dick Grayson Secret Agent to a close with a major series of twists! Multiple versions of Minos and not even a chance to tell us who they were. And the good news is the creative team remains the same when the book returns following CONVERGENCE. But there are promises of new twists and new characters, so let’s see if DC can manage to NOT MESS THIS UP.

GREEN ARROW #40: Green Arrow and his allies make their way into John King's building, with Ollie and Felicity making their way to the 70th floor via an empty elevator shaft. Once there, they trip an explosive booby-trap which Oliver's grappling hook saves them from completely flying out the window. They begin downloading the needed information but Zehra enters and tells them to delete the files or King will kill his daughter Mia. He gives him twenty minutes to bring the hard drive to the build site for his housing project. Oliver gets to the site and finds Mia tied to a scaffolding, warning Oliver in time that King doesn’t hit him with the sword he carries. King explains that everyone has a price at which point Mia shoots Ollie in the back and then turns the gun on King only to learn she is out of bullets. But she has a surprise for him as Green Arrow wears kevlar and the hero is up and fires an arrow into King. Soon, the news is reporting about King's corruption and murder. Oliver has offered Mia a place to stay, while Felicity has been invited to join A.R.G.U.S., but decides to work with Oliver and Diggle. That is as long as she gets a costume.

Ben Sokolowski, Andrew Kreisberg, and Daniel Sampere leave this title and make way for the new team of Ben Percy and Richard Zircher. While this was nowhere near as great as the Lemire/Sorrentino run, but it was better than the work of J.T. Krul, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens, or Ann Nocenti. The storyline was fun and I like that we now have a new trio in the form of Oliver, Diggle and Felicity. I hope Percy and Zircher have their shop in order as fans will be scrutinizing this. Don’t less us down, folks!

GREEN LANTERN #40: The Guardians are scheming again, preparing to play out their final gambit. Hal informs Kilowag that he is leaving the Corps, much to Kilowag’s disappointment. Later, Hal steals Krona’s Gauntlet from the evidence room on Mogo. Unfortunately,  Kilowog stops him, calling him a traitor, and challenges him to a fight. Hal nearly beats Kilowog to death, hugs his unconscious body and is caught by Salaak and some other Lanterns. Hal breaks loose and leaves Mogo. He leaves behind his costume, his ring and his legacy of being the Greatest Green Lantern of all time.

And two months from now, DC claims that a bold new era begins. Well, it should be new as now Hal is no longer a Lantern. Robert Venditti and Billy Tan finish this arc and will continue on the next one where Hal gets a new costume and really: if the book is going to be about him, it should have a title change. Or are we gonna get the OTHER guy who proved so unpopular with the fans?

HARLEY QUINN #16: Harley and Ivy start with a movie, or two and then go to dinner where Harley says that she has received eighty applicants for her assistant job. She also talks of how Big Tony found her an old hotel called The Dreamin’ Seaman to put her potential new hires in. Despite the fact the building is a mess, she is quite happy to get it for $200,000. Later, she interviews several candidates, but is finding she is having a hard time eliminating prospects. She decides to turn off the lights for two minutes and whoever is left standing, gets to stay. When it’s over, the group has been significantly reduced and she sends those left to see Tony for their instructions. She goes to visit Queenie to see what the costumes to look at the costume designs. Then she goes back to see how Tony and Eggy are making out with the remodeling, using supplies bought from purchases made on Barney Runoff’s credit card. On the day of the move-in, she gives each girl a uniform, a folder with emergency numbers, spending money, and a weapons allotment. As they go to get dressed, she stops a blind paraplegic named Holly Hamden and puts her in charge of overseeing the entire operation. And then, the big moment as Harley is introduced to the Gang of Harleys.

The Dreamin’ Seaman? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? No really-ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!? Yeah…further proof this title has gone to places not seem in a while in a comic book. We have nods to, maybe even plugs for,  MAD MAX: FURY ROAD and FIFTY SHADES OF GREY. We have DC Variant Movie Poster covers in the theater. We even have a less than shameless pitch from letterer Chris Conroy who makes it a point, in a full page illio, that you can get all of your Harley Quinn merch at Hot Topic.  I give no points on creativity to the team of Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti Chad Hardin, and John Timms. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for making this fun and funny comic become a combination of bad humor and toilet jokes.

INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #8: Dreamer wakes most of the rest of the team saying she has seen Mark die. Mark isn’t quite dead yet but he has been delivered to the feet of Lord Aagog. Refusing to turn Dreamer over to him, Aagog orders that he be put to death and he is. The Forever People arrive and begin to battle with Aagog’s followers while Dreamer uses some of her Anti-Life to bring Mark back to life. Aagog closes his portal, leaving his followers behind and allowing Dreamer to give them a taste of the Anti-Life. Later, she tucks Mark into bed and remarks how it is good that things are back to normal. Elsewhere, Granny and Lashina make note that the four who were once her greatest warriors were naughty and she needs to give them her special love to get them ready for war. Lastly, Big Bear gets a visit from infinity man, who asks for his help.

Okay: I’m just a little confused here. It seems that Dreamer is the possessor of the Anti-Life. Can that be right? And Mark, the love of her life, dies and then gets resurrected? Okay…if you say so. Dan Didio, Keith Giffen and Daniel Hdr deliver this tale that, unfortunately, sort of limps along until the very end of the issue. Granny Goodness and Lashina appear, as does Infinity Man. Now, based on the “Next Issue” blurb, we know that we’ll be getting the origin of Infinity Man. But will we get a chance to see Granny and the war? This issue ends next month (actually, later this month as this issue was off schedule last month) and, unless that plot thread gets thrown into the upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE story, I don’t see that happening. Well, one can hope!

INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #9: Infinity Man tells Big Bear his origin. A long time ago, Izaya and another New God were on a secret mission to deliver a bomb to the heart of the parademons that were on a war-torn New Genesis. Unfortunately, their camouflage was hacked and one of the pair died in the process, further calling into question Izaya’s leadership abilities. Later, Himon suggests that Izaya agree to the terms to end the conflict: swapping a child of New Genesis for one from Apokolips. Izaya refuses as his child is all he has left to remind him of his dead wife.  Eventually, the scene shifts to Izaya at the Source Shard-the last original piece left of the Source Wall, located at the very edge of the Multiverse. The Wall tells Izaya that he must do what will be done and the creature that emerges from the wall tells the unconscious Iszaya that he will forever be known as Highfather. That creature, part Source Wall and part Highfather, is Infinity Man. And this is why Infinity man needs to go back to New Genesis and help Highfather become a shepherd and not a warrior., Big Bear walks away to tell his fellow Forever People what has happened and Infinity Man that they will always me on a collision course with destiny.

That ending was totally cut short by DC’s canceling of this title. You could almost see on the very last panel that the dialogue had been rewritten to account for the book ending. I cannot see Dan Didio and Keith Giffen, who drew the book to my delight, writing the line: “then take care” for Infinity Man to utter when Big Bear walks away. This is SO obvious that some editor had that changed from whatever was supposed to be there in the original script. And the “To be continued…somewhere in the DC Multiverse” was a slap in the face to loyal readers like myself who know this will all be washed away by CONVERGENCE. Thanks DC for finally giving us a story that tied in nicely to the original Kirby Source Wall (yes-I got giddy seeing the hand writing on the wall) and then saying Buh Bye to it.