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.
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