ACTION COMICS #46: Superman, partially under the influence of the Black Mass, frees the captives that have been held in the secret facility and been experimented on. He tells everyone, including Lee, to wait for John Henry and Lana and then heads off to West Virginia where Wrath is amassing an army. He confronts her and finds that Lee also came through the shadows here and that Wrath has her. Together, the two of them defeat her army…until Frankenstein comes riding in on a creature. The two of them, now both under the influence of the Black Mass, battle each other as Wrath takes control of Lee.
So this tale of an infected Superman, who is losing more of his ability and free will all the time, continues. I like Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder’s writing and the way this series is tying into many other Superman appearances across the DC Universe. And generally, I like Scott Kolins artwork, although it doesn’t quite hit me on this title. It’s not because it isn’t any good-I just feel it fits the title. It’s a personal preference thing. Despite that, I like seeing Frankenstein back from the world of cancelled comic heaven.
AQUAMAN #46: Aquaman confronts Entriax regarding not being told that Mera had been replaced by Siren or that he was supposed to destroy Thule. Before he can explain, Wonder Woman arrives to argue with Aquaman about why he never told the League about the invasion of Thule. The Atlantean assassins arrive and battle our heroes, but lose in the process. She assures Aquaman that he won’t have to fight them alone, even as an attack is launched on Amnesty Bay.
If you haven’t heard, Cullen Bunn is leaving this title after issue #48, based on the
reaction from fans which Bunn said was “brutal”. I don’t condone the hate mail and such that he got, but yeah…this is NOT his best work. The real treat this issue is the art of Vincente Cifuentes. It TOTALLY makes the book worth reading.
BATMAN #46: Bloom arrives at a party at the Powers Building and proceeds to start murdering every person he can. Batman shows up with gun blazing before Bloom stabs him with one of his murderous tendrils. Just when things look bad, Julia shows up and bails him out. Still, Bloom manages to escape. Later, he heads out and tracks Bloom down, only to have his robot half, nicknamed Rookie, turn on him. Meanwhile, Bruce and Julie enjoy some quality time in the shower after he tells her that he wants her to marry him. Elsewhere, Duke is breaking into the Iceberg Lounge, where he finds something in Penguin’s office that amazes him. Penguin and his crew catch him, but he plays Death Metal music to distract them and escape.
While this was not the best issue of the series, it could have been a lot worse. I have given a lot of praise to the team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo over the years for their innovative stories and beautiful art. But, while the art was still kicking, I found the story a bit disjointed. I mean, we have Jim Gordon fighting the mysterious Bloom, Duke breaking into to the Iceberg and facing off with Penguin and Bruce and Julie bumping uglies in the shower. Well…he WAS a billionaire playboy, remember? Yeah. I could have done without that whole subplot. By the way: enjoy Capullo now because he’ll be taking a break from the title as of issue #48 and will be replaced by Yanick Paquette.
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL: #5-8: Issue #5 begins with a Batman and Robin flashback involving Dr. Crane, Orphan and eventually Cassandra Cain, who interrupts the meeting between Crane and Orphan. Switching to present day, Dick is visiting the Drake residence where he is passing himself off as a solicitor. It isn’t long after he arrives that Poppy shows up. As the Drakes hide, Mrs. Drake says CNEMIAL and the living room turns into Sanctuary. After a bit of a battle, Dick knocks her out. Tim shows up and has a tearful reunion with his parents before he goes over and punches Dick in the mouth. Meanwhile, Harper and Cassandra have made their way to the church we saw in the flashback. Unfortunately, orphan is there too. In the course of battle, Cassandra cuts off his right arm, forcing him to flee but not before Harper hits him with a tracker.
In #6, we see Dick looking in on Bruce as he works with the kids at the Rec Center, before he and Jason meet at St. Elijah’s and they discover Orphan and Cassandra’s training facility beneath the church. This leads to a Batman and Robin flashback with them chasing the Scarecrow after the events of last issue. Unfortunately, Dick makes a mistake and the villain gets away. Bruce heads off to a fundraiser where his friend Maxwell tells Bruce how he bought his wife from Mother for forty million dollars. Then he changes his story and says he met her at a pottery class in Prague. Later, he discovers that Maxwell and his wife have been murdered by the Orphan, which results in he and Robin heading to Prague. Back in the present, Dick rounds up Cassandra and Harper to head off to Prague. Mother knows they’re coming and that doesn’t seem to bother her at all.
In #7, we have a flashback to several years ago as Batman and Robin are looking for Crane in Prague. Later, Bruce Wayne requests an audience with Mother and is told to go to the ballet. Moving to today, Dick, Harper and are in a Batcave and they are heading off to the Prague Ballet to prevent Orphan from attacking star ballerina Sarangarel Jalair. At the same time, Tim and Jason arrive in Gamorra, where they end up in a bar together. At the ballet, Cassandra and Harper realize that this is a trap and that Sarangarel has connections to Mother. Speaking of which, she pops up and meets with Dick as he is tracing orphan’s signal.
In #8, we have a flashback where Bruce gets to meet with Mother and we see that Bruce has come to her looking for an heir.In the present, Dick meets with mother who offers to show him who that heir was, as long as he comes with her and leave Harper and Cassandra to fight for their lives. Of course, he turns it down and helps the girls out. Once free, Harper tugs on Cassandra’s hair, causing her to freak out and flee. Back at the Prague Batcave, they realize that Cassandra is gone and that’s a big problem. Meanwhile, Jason and Tim go to a church to meet with Jean Metier, who is one of the biggest dealers of tech in Gamorra. But he’s mentally unhinged, as he claims her has been visited by the Angel of Death while mumbling that “the circle around the circle is the fullness of God… the circle protects me from oblivion”.
Well, here we have four more killer issue from the writing team of James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Steve Orlando, Genevieve Valentine with Scot Eaton, Ronan Cliquet, Steve Pugh, Tony S. Daniel, and Alvaro Martinez handling the art. So, after all this, the question remains: who did Bruce get as an heir? He already had Dick, so that leaves Jason, Tim and possibly Damian. The obvious choice would be Jason but it IS Tynion and Snyder, so don’t expect the obvious.
BATMAN BEYOND #6: Tim Drake, dressed in Jim Gordon’s old robot Batsuit while Barbara and Micron try to hold off the heroes who have been turned into cyborgs. Tim gets into a one on one with Brother Eyebut it’s Inque who comes to save the day. In order to make sure that Tim keeps his promise top save her daughter, she uses her ability to infest and shut Brother Eye down. This causes a chain reaction that destroys the moon complex and Brother Eye. This also causes all of the superhero cyborgs to stop working.
Okay…so this could be a good stepping off point on this series by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang. I mean, we have reached an end, it even says THE END in the end. Brother Eye, the Big Bad of the future, has finally been destroyed and now Tim, the younger can spend his later years with Barbara the older…or something like that. This title had great beginnings and then just got on the weird treadmill of me not caring. However, I do LOVE the variant cover by the great Craig Rousseau.
BATMAN SUPERMAN #26: Back in Siberia, Superman, Batgirl, Red Hood and Grayson are trying to help the folks who have been threatened by Vandal Savage. Savage’s Shadow Monsters show up. Batman arrives too, chastising them all before lending a land. In the end, he blasts the ice and it reveals a very large Nazi airship hooked up to the artificial sun.
That’s a short synopsis for an issue, but that about sums up everything that went on. Greg Pak gives us a great issue with some cool dialogue and some even cooler in-jokes while the art team of Ardian Syaf, and Cliff Richards makes it all look so good. I love how Pak manages to tie the events in his current Superman writings with what’s going on here. Again, nicely done. And what’s up with this Nazi airship?
BAT-MITE #6: We begin with Reagan’s boss blasting her for the way Bat-Mite has been causing mischief across the country, even as our hero is meeting with the President with an offer to help him. Then he discovers that Gridlock has thrown his hat into the political arena. Bat-Mite confronts him and gets gassed for his trouble. When he wakes, he finds himself captured by Gridlock who DOES have the GALAXY TREK pilot. Through Bat-Mite’s power, they end up inside the episode and the crew attack Gridlock, who they accuse of killing one of the Red Shirts. He pops out of the show and has to battle The Sentry Silent, who has come to take him back home. In the end, three cloaked figures pass judgment on him. They are the Justice Mites of America and they need him to help them battle Canceltron.
Dan Jurgens and Corin Howell conclude this fun series with some more fun! And if you’re are a fan of certain politicians, especially Hillary and The Donald, you may NOT want to read this as there is some pretty nice slaps at them! This was such a fun mini-series that I can only hope for a return at some point.
BIZARRO #6: Jimmy is slowly dying in the Nevada desert when he gets picked up and kidnapped by King and Queen Tut. Meanwhile, Bizarro meets Superman, who heads the other way when he learns Jimmy is in trouble. Colin the Chupacabra is in deep space and gets the message, causing him to head directly to Seattle. He’s not alone, as Bizarro, Talliwag, Big Munk, Zatanna, Chastity Hex, Deadman, the FBI agents come together to form the Bizarro League and return things to normal. Bizarro and Jimmy make up and, after Bizarro buys a car from the diamonds he has made from coal, they finish their road trip, with Colin the Chupacabra joining them. Unfortunately they get stopped at the Canadian border, but are given a gift basket filled with Tim Hortons donuts, moose jerky and Molson Beer! Back in Metropolis, Jimmy finds out that Clark has gotten Bizarro an internship at the Daily Planet.
This is the final issue of one of this truly hilarious series! Thank you Heath Corson and Gustavo Duarte for one wild ride. And special thanks to guest artist turns from Dave Stewart and Tim Sale. I cannot say enough about how much fun this was. Either you got it or you didn’t. I am so glad that this turned out to be the silly, slightly wacky and totally fun book I had hoped it would be. I sure hope that, based on the ending, a sequel is in order.
CATWOMAN #46: Killer Croc informs Eiko that heads of the families have arrived, as she prepares for their slaughter. Antonia arrives to offer condolences, at which Eiko sends her away and Croc informs her that the hit squads are ready. The teams quickly take out gang members all over the city and Alvarez and Keyes discover one crime scene. Catwoman takes down one of the assassins and then Stephanie arrives and tells Selina it’s Eiko’s doing. She confesses that she killed Bill Turner, to which Selina tells her Bill had been shot, so she wasn’t fully to blame. Selina confronts Eiko, which ends up in a fight and a stalemate with Selina bidding Eiko goodbye. Selina heads to the underground, looking for Penguin, only to find Antonia as his guest. Penguin is quite happy how the eliminating of the crime families has been a bonus for him Later, Antonia and Selina discuss how Eiko’s actions benefited the Calabrese Family. In the end, Catwoman bids goodbye to Gotham City.
And with that, Selins Kyle heads out of Gotham and Genevieve Valentine and David Messina do the same, to be replaced by Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda. This has been a fun, but uneven ride for the creative team as they struggled to take Catwoman from semi-superhero to crime boss. We have seen her move into a role much like Don Corleone, complete with the awful task of her one of her own family eliminated. Tieri and Miranda will have some big shoes to fill here. Tieri has recently done GRIFTER and a couple of the CONVERGENCE mini-series for DC while Miranda has worked on FAIREST and BIRDS OF PREY. It would nice to see this book NOT evolve back into just a woman in tights series again. By the way: seek out the variant cover by Darwyn Cooke featuring Catwoman and Tweety Bird!
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #6: With a great big monster coming out and making it’s way through the halls of the apartment building where Constantine lives, it takes John to use a puzzle box style trap to have it stop bothering a former Arch-Duke of Hell. Then he sits around naked in his house before deciding to place an online ad soliciting himself as an exorcist. He spends most of the rest of book going around and helping people for a fee, getting rid of demons and such. He has a bit of a conversation with a gargoyle named Bartleby, before going back to the business of exorcising. In the end, he ends up making a connection with an old lover named Oliver. By the way-Papa Mnidnite is coming!
So, while this was one of the better issues of this title, it is still not the rotten, nasty Constantine we all know and love. And I have to ask the question: is sexual ambiguity and homosexuality the new routine in comics? Between Catwoman, Midnighter and Constantine, for starters, the DC Universe is going into grounds which might make some readers feels a bit…quirky? James Tynion IV and Ming Doyle write a great story, with a lot of nice bits, specifically all of John’s exorcising missions, some of which are really funny! Riley Rossmo provides the art and it’s okay, but I find it still going into the Batgirling of the line. While time may tell, I think time is running out on this title.
DEATHSTROKE #12: Deathstroke and Black Manta are battling it out underwater before Slade uses Manta’s speed to toss him out of the water. This is all because Slade wants to kill Waller for what has happened to his daughter. In the middle of all this, Harley and Deadshot get involved. The Belle Reve's shock troops show up to attack and that leads to Slade taking Harley out of the mix so she can lead him to Waller’s office. It’s a bloody and messy trek to the office but Waller is not there. She’s being held by Snakebite, who has no problem taking out anyone trying to rescue her. Things look bad for Slade and Harley until Catwoman shows up.
James Bonny and Tony S. Daniel combine with Tyler Kirkham to give us another action filled issue with not a lot of mental substance to it. What I mean is this book flows over you and doesn’t require a lot of thinking. It’s a good looking, action adventure book where people get shot and beat up and we have a fair share of bad puns (Harley bashes some of the Belle Reve guards by saying “clean up on Aisle Five). All in all, I have read worse. Picture G.I. JOE with blood and guts and you have this!
DETECTIVE COMICS #46: Batman and the Justice League are off in the Himalayas where they are investigating a giant monster skeleton, which they figure out has been murdered by a stalactite. They find anther creature inside a cave that they assume had committed suicide. When a second creature arrives and seemingly attacks them, they figure out that the second creature is a child and the mother killed herself so the baby could live. The child is slowly dying due to lack of food and earth’s own atmosphere. They project an image of the child’s mother and he lies down with her, slowly dying. Batman stays with the child and sings it a lullaby.
A beautifully sweet ending to a pretty awful issue! I have been a big fan of Peter Tomasi for some time, but this whole story just felt uneven and forced fel to it. I don’t buy this Batman as part of the Justice League and the fact that most of the team comes off sounding sluggish doesn’t help. And I really don’t like Marcio Takara’s artwork. Here’s hoping next issue gets back on some kind of normal track, like chasing bad guys and solving crime in Gotham. You want to play in the Justice League, find a way to work him INTO their book!
DOCTOR FATE #6: Khalid has become blind and can only see while he is wearing the helm of Doctor Fate. Meanwhile, Anubis continues to mess with the world, as the rain continues to fall. After a visit from the cat, Khalid decides he needs to do what he needs to do and attacks Anubis. He reaches a point where he thinks he has the Egyptian god on the ropes, but finds himself swallowed up by it. And Khlaid’s dad, now that he can see again, gets busy with Khalid’s mom!
Sorry…still can’t get into this series. I cannot believe that we’re six issues in and we’re still monkeying around with this storyline. And, after all this, I still cannot believe that we still have very little on our character and his supporting cast. It’s all just a lot of confusion. It’s brought to you courtesy of Paul Levitz and Sonny Lew.
DOOMED #6: Alpha Centurian is here and he, Superman and Doomed team up to battle Mother Herd, who drops a battleship on them. Because of his reduced powers, Superman is struggling to get free and it’s Doomed who saves them from a watery grave. In the process, Mother Herd loses her head, which means she loses her minions too. Superman dissuades Alpha Centurian from killing Doomed. Actually, he knocks Alpha Centurian out. Doomed begins to speak in words that Superman can understand and then he transforms back to Reiser and convinces Superman not to take him to S.T.A.R. labs. So he gets to go back home with Oui-Oui and continuing his heroic adventures…with the Teen Titans.
Okay…so can we all admit that this book existed to get the character introduced and get him a gig in TEEN TITANS? If that was the purpose of this series, then I am good with it. If this was someone at DC’s idea of what a successful series is meant to be, then I want the chance to pitch them MY comic idea. This is the end of this series, which DC has claimed that it was “always” a six issue limited series. Yeah…I believe that has been retconned! Anyway, Scott Lobdell wrote it and Javier Fernandez illustrated it and I’m glad to see it come to an end. I do have to admit that Reiser’s character did get interesting towards the end and perhaps he will play well over in TEEN TITANS…even if Lobdell is no longer writing it.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #6: Flash , Batman and Val face off against Jimmy Olsen, now known as Doctor Impossible, Johnny Sorrow and Miss Anarky when Hourman shows up to lend the villains a hand. Jimmy, the murderer of Terry Sloan, manages to slip away through a Boom Tube. Flashback three months ago where Jimmy, Huntress and Red Arrow are at work on a new Source Vault when it explodes in Helena's face. Red Arrow quickly lays the blame at Jimmy’s feet. A week later, Rick Tyler breaks into Waynecorp to steal back his father's Miraclo. But Jimmy teleports him away and convinces him that he needs to worship Jimmy. got him to start worshiping his Doctor Impossible persona. In the present, Power Girl and Huntress are checking out the Green Lantern quarantined zone, when Jimmy shows up and takes Huntress by the hand. Looks like she has gone to the Dark Side too!
To this point, I have truly been really disappointed by this series. But now that we have a gathering of villains, business has picked up! Daniel H. Wilson and Alison Borges bring us a powerhouse issue filled with unexpected turns. I mean, Jimmy Olsen is a bad guy, Hourman is a bad guy, and now it looks like Huntress is bad too! This is truly the best issue of the series to date. I still have issues about the art, but the story has truly gotten better with this issue. I really have a hard time seeing these heroes twisted this way, but it is making for some interesting reading!
FLASH #46: As Frye continues to blame the Flash for destroying the Precinct and "nearly" killing half of his men, Zoom shows up with Folding Man, Block and Roscoe and proceeds to make things even worse. Elsewhere, Henry Allen tends to Magali, who has had her powers stripped by the power hungry Zoom. They head off to the battle, while Selkirk begs them not to let Zoom get to him. They show up at the battle and convince the others that Zoom is only out for his own self, leading to their turning on him and teaming up with the Flash. Zoom grabs Henry and heads off, telling him that his son is the Flash. The issue concludes with them being dumped for a final battle at the Allen home.
If you're as big a fan of Brett Booth’s artwork as I am, enjoy this issue and the next one, as he is departing for greener pastures. His work has really taken this book to a new place and elevated to the level it needs to be at. Robert Venditti and Van Jensen continue to write a killer story and, with the finale of this arc next issue, I cannot wait to see where they are taking it. While this is a long way from the classic Flash/Zoom story we knew, it is a super re-imagining of it and I love it. Between this and the television show, we’ve got lots of Zoom!
GRAYSON #14: Otto Netz explains the origin of Spyral, from the beginning of the of his days as Agent Zero to his creation of a Leviathan and his becoming Doctor Dedalus. Discovering he had Alzheimers, he created Kate and Elisabeth Netz. Meanwhile, Dick, Tiger and Ladytron are battling Spyral security spiders before Dick knocks out Tiger yet again, before getting Ladytron to tap into “Mister Malevo” to gain access regarding Agent Zero. Spyder orders Helena to dispose of him and she releases the Nanobots. Luckily Ladytron was able to shut them down before Dick shuts her down. In the end, Tiger awakens and tries to kill Dick, whio insists that they have to destroy Spyral.
Tim Seeley and Tom king combine to give us another roller coaster issue with tons of plot twists and turns. And just how creepy is Otto Netz? REALLY CREEPY, complete with bug eyed glasses. And what does all of this whole thing going on with the Netz’ and Helena? I love where this book is going. The only bummer from this issue was Stephen Mooney on the art. Mooney’s art is good, but he’s certainly not Mikel Janin. We get a breather next month as the story stops long enough for Part 2 of the ROBIN WAR event. Personally, I don’t know if I can wait until January to see where this thing is going!
GREEN ARROW #46: In Juarez, Mexico, a man named Miguel tried to send his daughter Sophia away, but the bus she is on gets stopped by the bone cult. They killed everyone on the bus but her, who drove the bus for them to save her life. Tarantula and Oliver go to Juarez and head into a bar for a drink. But when blood drops into Ollie’s glass and he finds the bartender stabbed to the ceiling, he realizes it’s a trap. Unfortunately, Catalina has already been captured and Ollie surrenders. Back at Jefe’s compound, he tells Green Arrow how Tarantula was going to use Ollie to swap for her niece, Sophia. That goes bad quickly and he breaks free, killing all of the bone cult members in the room. Tarantula, Sophia and Green Arrow jump out a window and he has them leave as he is going to be the sacrifice that will save them.
Benjamin Percy and Patrick Zircher turn in another interesting issue that seems to owe more to the television show than to previous issues of the comic. My favorite moment is as Catalina and Oliver are driving into town and he shuts off the radio because it’s playing a Black Canary song. Unfortunately, that seems to be what is happening with sale of the book, so I guess art imitates art! This is definitely not the book that Lemire and Sorrentino gave us not so long ago, but it’s also not the Ann Nocenti version from the first 18 months, so I guess things could be worse.
GREEN LANTERN #46: While Trapper, Virgo and Darlene head off into space, Hal brings an unconscious Black Hand to Relic, who is investigating the crack in the Source Wall that developed when Black Hand broke free. Black Hand gets free and now begins hurling hunks of stone at Hal and Relic, but the arrival of Trapper, Virgo and Darlene, who fire a large hook that knocks him into the wall, saves them as he is absorbed by it. Hal then decides to head home with his crew and it’s a good thing as some terrorists from the former Sovereign Nation of Modora are planning to attack Coast City.
So here’s the good of this issue: most of it! Robert Venditti turns in another great script where Hal Jordan isn’t a whining pain! Billy Tan’s art is his usual awesome work, although there are times where Mark Irwin’s inks seem a little less than complimentary. All in all, the new” Green Lantern is far more interesting than the old one..although I am still a bit upset that Hal now looks like he’s wearing the Spectre’s clothes!
GREEN LANTERN: LOST ARMY #6: The Lost Army battles it out with Lightsmiths of every colors who are trying to gain access to the main Power Battery on Mogo. Mogo gets transformed into an emotional converter and therefore can control all the different energies. And Guy loses his red ring in exchange for a green one while Two-Six becomes a Blue Lantern. In the end, John tries to get the team back through the hole in the Source Wall when Hal Jordan seals the wall from his side, trapping John and the rest of the Lost Army. Now they need to go looking for another way out which they may or may not find in GREEN LANTERN CORPS: EDGE OF OBLIVION.
Cullen Bunn and Jesus Saiz brign this series to a much needed close. But wait: we ain’t done yet! GREEN LANTERN CORPS: EDGE OF OBLIVION will pick up where this series left off and leaves me to ask WHY? Didn’t DC learn that this book didn’t sell? What makes them think a sequel will be any better?
HARLEY QUINN #22: Harley comes back from her adventures in Beverly Hills to settle into life in Brooklyn, when she finds out that Zena Bendemova has been reborn and has a hit out on her. She also finds out that Zena’s kidnapped Sy Borgman not to mention that Mason Macabre is having a bear of a time in prison. His mom is told that he’s as good as dead. Harley gathers up the rest of the Harleys and has half the team go off the help find Sy while the balance goes off to free mason.
First off, you need to go back 16 issues and read HARLEY QUINN #6, which is where the whole Zena Bendemova/Sy Borgman story developed. In case you haven’t figured it out, it’s another Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti/Chad Hardin romp. One of the things I have noticed is that this book, while maintaining a bunch of its’ humorous moments, cue the Harley Queens boob joke, is that it has managed to take a more serious tone in recent months. And that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned, especially with the HARLEY QUINN POWER GIRL book and the forthcoming HARLEY QUINN’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK poised to continue with the humor. At the same time, I don’t think most people will get the Texas bell tower joke and the emotional abuse issue with the Joker doll was a bit hard to take.
HARLEY QUINN POWER GIRL #5: Our heroes have to battle the Harvester of Sorrow. Harley consults her spirit animal and ends up inside, and the thing turns into a giant Joker’s head. Harley bursts free and destroys it, but not before she decides to manscape Vartox’s upper lip. With the universe safe again, Vartox drops to one knee in front of Power Girl and whips out a diamond ring.
One more to go, right? Oh thank goodness! Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray wrote it with their respective tongues in each others’ cheeks. Stephane Roux drew it in the usual bombastic way. And all six issues fit in between a panel in an issue of HARLEY QUINN? Sure. Well…this will end just in time for the NEW HARLEY QUINN title…which comes in a black bag for your protection!
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE DARKSEID WAR – FLASH #1: With The Flash now possessed by the Black Racer and having killed Darkseid, Barry tries to outrun the Racer, but he sees a ghost of his mom and that allows the Racer to inhabit him again. He is told that if he takes just one life, then the Universe will continue to live. He goes to visit Iris, explains his problem but refuses to kill her. So he kills the Black Racer instead, but unknowingly releases death to kill universes. Of course, this all happens inside Barry’s head. So, he decides he must accept the mantle of the Black Racer.
So…does this mean the next issue of THE FLASH will be called THE BLACK RACER instead. Rob Williams and Jesús Merino do a nice job in this side story to the main THE DARKSEID WAR piece running out of JUSTICE LEAGUE. I certainly have found it more satisfying than the SUPERMAN tale, which I write about next. It was interesting that they had Barry visit Iris as opposed to his long time love Patty, even if the two of them are splitsville. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE DARKSEID WAR – GREEN LANTERN #1: The Parademons have landed on Oa and merged Darkseid’s Motherbox with the central power battery. A beat up John Stewart sends a distress signal to Hal Jordan. When Hal arrives, he finds that the Green Lanterns have been turned into Parademons. To save his friends, Hal accepts the role of the God of Light and then uses his powers to restore Oa and the Corps. Throughout the book, we get flashbacks of a young Hal being visited at a Catholic church by a stranger in a bomber jacket. We learn that Hal uses his new found powers to become that stranger. And then he realizes that he doesn’t want to be the God of Light, and gets Motherbox to destroy itself, turning himself back to Hal Jordan.
I sort of half expected this book to really be another lame crossover title that goes nowhere. And I was pleasantly surprised to have that NOT be the case. Tom King and Doc Shaner do a great job of giving us a story that allows Oa to be wiped out and then restored again. I liked the nice touch of having Hal visit Hal, even if I did figure it out almost immediately without figuring out how…so that worked. What I am confused about, and this must tie into the whole idea of telling great stories and not worrying about continuity, is how Oa is still around. Didn’t Oa go down thanks to Relic and that’s why Mogo is now the home of the Lanterns? But, lo and behold, here it is. Confused…
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE DARKSEID WAR – SHAZAM #1: Shazam ends up in a neighborhood in South Philadelphia. After the death of Darkseid, six New Gods have pushed out the six ancients gods that used to be a part of Billy Batson’s hero and he finds himself trying to force them out. He says that magic word and transforms to Billy Batson, who meets with Anapel and then the rest of the New Gods within him. They are S’ivaa, H’ronmeer, Anapel, Zonuz, Ate, and Mamaragan. Zonuz, we learn, is also known as Yuga Khan and is the father of Darkseid and he has gotten his hands on the Wizard’s staff. Shazam brings down the lightning upon Zonuz and defeats him, gaining him as one of his gods in the process. He meets with Mamaragan, who is the Wizard transformed. In the end, Billy is a new Shazam.
But he STILL is not Captain Freakin’ Marvel! Steve Orlando and Scott Kolins craft a tale that explains the origin of the NEW SHAZAM…provided this all stays the same when this whole DARKSEID WAR ends. Orlando gives us a tale better than his recent issues of MIDNIGHTER while Kolins work is as good as his usual stuff. All in all, this fits in nicely to the ongoing story and didn’t feel like it was written just to sell another book.
JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE DARKSEID WAR – SUPERMAN #1: A much angrier Superman, one all in black, comes back to earth and defeats an alien in a giant robot. Then he goes off to eat pie and then tosses Jimmy Olsen through a window, saying that what happens in Metropolis doesn’t matter because he isn’t human. A black mass not unlike that which has been running through the Superman titles attacks everyone in Metropolis, ultimately saves the day, before leaving again.
I was a fan of Francis Manapul and his work on THE FLASH, but this is disappointing. With a plot straight out of SUPERMAN III, which featured a Superman with a far nastier demeanor than we had seen before, this issue goes nowhere fast. And obviously it’s set PRIOR to the events in Superman, as he still has what seems like all of his powers and Perry White doesn’t hate him! Bong Dazo’s art though is nice.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #5: Set in the past, J’onn J’onzz is on the Watchtower with the rest of the League. Then there is a shift to Nevada and then Japan where he disguises himself as a human and gets involved in a murder mystery. In the process, he meets a red Martian that calls himself The Unnamed. In the end, he destroys The Unnamed and decides to spend his time on Earth protecting, watching, and learning.
If you have been following Bryan Hitch’ series and wonder what the heck this is all about, you are not alone. We have gone from a cliffhanger ending last issue to this: a pretty obvious filler issue. What went from the League dealing with Rao goes to a Martian Manhunter that turns out to be a murder mystery and the first taste that there are other Martians out there besides J’onn. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, the book ends with “Discover the truth about J’onn and Mars in MARTIAN MANHUNTER”, which means this book acts as a mainstream hype piece for a book which is critically acclaimed but doesn’t sell well. Matt Kindt and Rob Williams, who does awesome work on the MARTIAN MANHUNTER series, wrote it while Philip Tan drew it. If this came after the end of the Rao story, I would have been fine with it. But, to drop it here means that the Rao piece loses a ton of steam.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #6: While Supergirl wants to have Tina Sung arrested, Batman convinces her to bring her back to Camelot Nine where he can adopt her. Meanwhile, her best friend, and archenemy Harley Quinn gets killed by two silver android creatures known as Scullions. They show up and attack Batman and Kara and we discover that these creatures regenerate after being injured. It seems that there are lots of Scullions and they are currently destroying Cadmusworld. Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Superman show up on Takron-Galtos to lend a hand, resulting in Superman getting his head blown off. In the end, the Scullions prepare to kill them all!
Well…that could be a problem! So, the hero with the biggest ego gets toasted. Big bummer! I LOVE THIS SERIES and I LOVE THIS ISSUE!. There are a ton of good jokes, courtesy of J. M. DeMatteis and Keith Giffen. What makes this work is that the jokes flow nicely and don’t feel forced as they often do in HARLEY QUINN. The real highlight for me is the art by guest artist, the legendary Colleen Doran. If you don’t known Colleen’s work-WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? Three words: A DISTANT SOIL! And that’s just for starters. So, besides this book being a hoot to read, it looks awesome too! As far as I’m concerned, she could do this gig regularly.
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #15: Over in Arracourt France, the battle rages on. Robotman and Steel battle OMAC while Stargirl saves the Enemy Ace. Frankenstein and company watch the action and then join in and help. Vandal Savage reveals himself as a good guy and explains how he was responsible for getting them all together. The Unknown Soldier appears and tosses a grenade, with Robotman making the save. With repairs made to G.I. Robot, they all form an alliance and charge back into battle. The Unknown Soldier appears again, but Sgt. Rock opens him up with a bayonet, causing energy to explode from within him. Soon Robotman, Steel, Batgirl and Stargirl are in modern day Arracourt, Rock and Easy are back in 1944 and the Enemy Ace is back in 1918.
If you were as big a fan of DC’s war comics back in the day, you would be thrilled with these last few issues of JLU. Jeff Pelletier gets all sorts of high marks for this story, right down to the Joe Kubert tribute on the last page (DC’s war books during the Vietnam War era were famous for inserting the slogan "Make War No More" at the end of every issue). And while that is an extremely cool nod to a legend in the field, seeing all of these classic characters together in one tale is mind-blowing. And we even have a version of the Unknown Soldier too. Best of all, we have the unbelievable art of Paul Pelletier that just puts the icing on this wonderful cake. So…can we REALLY bring back the CLASSIC war books?
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