JUSTICE LEAGUE #48: The League meets with the Crime Syndicate and, despite their better judgment, even as gods, they realize they must work together to kill the Anti-Monitor. The deal is that once it is done, the Syndicate will return Cyborg to them. So they allow Ultraman to feed on Kryptonite and it’s off to battle. Arriving in Gotham City, they find Mobius attacking everyone and destroying everything. Green Lanterns arrive to lend a hand and many of them fall, as does Ultraman who is claimed by the Black Racer. Lex Arrives with an army of Parademons, Superwoman goes into labor, and Grail kidnaps Steve Trevor, saying she has plans for him.
This is just what you want and need in a JUSTICE LEAGUE book: non-stop action! Geoff Johns continues to give us a knockout of a story and Jason Fabok totally kills it in the art category. He brings it with three gorgeous two-page spreads and two great looking splash pages. This all comes to an end in JUSTICE LEAGUE: DARKSEID WAR #1. And then, with REBIRTH, the book will ship twice a month.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #9: Lady Styx has given Terrance Magnus new powers and he is now Eclipso, who will be in command over her Legion of Death in the upcoming battle against the new Justice League. Meanwhile, Supergirl and Ice are trying to figure out how to save the Universe while Wonder Woman, Flash and Batgirl find the remains of Cadmus. That’s when the Scullions arrive and the battle begins, with Flash saving the day by identifying their weaknesses. Supergirl and Ice head to the planet Bohdi, which was the first planet Lady Styx conquered. But all they find is a wasteland and a giant monster. In the back up, Lois Lane and Ariel Masters discuss Lois’ plans for the universe.
This title is off the schedule when the NEW 52/DC YOU ends and REBIRTH begins and I, for one, will be very sad to see it go. I so love the way Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis write together and have been a long-time fan of their combined work on various DC titles. Scott Kolins provides the art for the main story while they always talented Colleen Doran turns it loose on the back up. So, by my calculation, we have three more issues to get this whole thing sorted out. Personally, I hope that Giffen and DeMatteis get their hands on a new title post REBIRTH…maybe someone in Editorial can resurrect PLASTIC MAN or even THE CREEPER.
MARTIAN MANHUNTER #9: We begin with John Constantine trying to recover from a night of drinking with a lady demon when he notices there’s another Mars coming our way. That sends him running out wearing only his trenchcoat. Back on Mars, the giant robots are battling each other while Daryl and The Pearl are trying to come to grips with themselves. J’onn J’onzz transforms into a giant robot too and Alicia agrees to team up with him rather than arrest him. In the end, Mister Biscuits makes his way to the Martian child who plans to tell Biscuits how the Martian Manhunter was created.
I have said that this is one of the weirdest and strangest titles out there. Well, Rob Williams continues to baffle us all with his style and story. The art is from Eddy Barrows, Ronan Cliquet, and RB Silva and it looks great, as expected. This title is off the schedule once REBIRTH kicks in, so enjoy it while you can.
MIDNIGHTER #9: Midnighter is talking with his Spyral handler about how Task Force X has stolen the Perdition Pistol as he is waiting to be shot out of a railgun towards their Crow's Nest space station. He battles his way through a defender in a Mercury Mantle, but his super speed is no help and Midnighter takes him out. Our hero finds something interesting and then proceeds to blow up the station along with the Perdition Pistol. Back at Spyral, he tells Helena that Henry Bendix is involved with Task Force X. Next stop, Boston where Midnighter and his friends eat jalapeno poppers, drink some tall cold ones and talk about Robert’s documentary. While they are out shooting the documentary, members of the Suicide Squad show up and, because of a character called Afterthought, Midnighter gets his butt whipped.
So the highlight of this book was…the reintroduction of Henry Bendix? Wow! If there was a true lunatic in the DC Universe, it was Bendix. He wasn’t a lunatic in the same way that The Joker is. Bendix was just a crazy megalomaniac. Major props to Steve Orlando, Aco, and Hugo Petrus for this beauty. So, I just want to know what will happen to our homosexual homicidal maniac come June, as this title is not on the schedule.
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #17: We start out three months ago when two Americans from the Horus Organization run into problems in Moscow. One of the two, Adam, tells his partner Seraphine that the world needs is the Victory V’s. Over in Belle Reve, Waller is giving a tour to Mr. Ashemore, who is looking for Britain’s answer to Victory V. he gets to check out Cheetah, Harley Quinn, El Diablo, and Deadshot. Next, the team is sent to Hong Kong to protect a politician named Chen Ho from the Triads. Despite their best efforts, the Triads grab Chen Ho, while a strange blue beam kills all the Triads and the Suicide Squad.
Leave it to Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra to give us a thoroughly boring first half of this title and make it up with the last 10 pages. The whole deal with Moscow, Victory V, and Mr. Ashemore’s tour is just plain filler, unless the Moscow piece is some sort of set up for a future issue. But the action in the last 10 pages more than makes up for it. Come the Fall, this title goes away and get replaced by SUICIDE SQUAD, which will ship twice monthly. Hey-you knew this title wasn’t going away. There’s a movie coming!
POISON IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #2: Ivy is still reeling over the death of Doctor Cruz and goes about questioning some of her co-workers and eliminating them as suspects. Meanwhile, the cops are suspicious that Pamela Isley has no real history that they can find. But they also can’t see any reason to suspect her. In the end, Ivy delivers two seemingly human babies from her pregnant plant and Darshan find a dead Doctor Grimley. Guess when can rule Grimley out as a suspect, huh?
Amy Chu and Clay Mann deliver another issue which, unfortunately, spends far too much time with own green heroine playing detective.
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #9: We begin with Jason battling Iron Rule and not doing a very good job of it. But he is reminiscing about the training he got from Batman and Ducra. Meanwhile, Arsenal is in The Nethers, looking for Duela, and manages to get captured and brought to Charon. The good news is that they toss him into where they are holding Duela and that gives Charon more time to monologue about his master plan. Just then, Jason drops in…literally. Duela, no longer wearing Joker’s mask, apologizes to Charon and then tries to kill him and herself by jumping into the lava below. Roy saves her and in the end, she leaves her Joker face behind so the people of the Underground know someone is watching over them. Oh yeah-there’a cliffhanger that hints that Roy once led the Iron Rule before they became the zombies that Jason faced.
This truly is a title that DC doesn’t know what to do with. I thought that Scott Lobdell and Javier Fernandez MIGHT have been trying to turn this into a threesome with the addition of Duela, but now that she has left the mask behind, I doubt that’s gonna happen. Plus, there’s this whole thing with the Iron Rule? Well, either way, this title goes away in July and, once again, becomes…drum roll please…RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS! Last time around, it was Roy, Jay and Kori. This time? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #9: Damian watches as his father interacts with Julie and the kids at the Youth Center and then hangs out and watches his father while he sleeps. Then, he takes on a bunch of lame villains and defeats them, before heading underwater to battle Snowfox and Wunderfox, who are in Ducard’s ship. Just when things look their bleakest, Goliath shows up to pull him out. The Fox guys follow and explain that they’re mad because Maya paid them and then went dark, leaving them out of work. They leave him and Robin decides to spy on his friend. Dejected but happy for her, he heads back to the Bat cave, rounds up Titus the dog, Pennyworth the cat and Batcow, introduces them to Goliath and declares that it’s time to get to work.
So here’s a Bat-title that’s off the schedule with the REBIRTH event. Patrick Gleason, with inking assist from Mick Gray, continues to work wonders with this character. First off, Gleason’s writing is truly from the heart, even if his dialogue is sometimes a bit over the top. And his art is always top notch. I expect that the “Son of Batman” will make his way into something like the Teen Titans and that is where we’ll see him in action. Two Robins on one team? There’s a concept!
SECRET SIX #11: While Catman is walking the dog and the sheep/fly, Batgirl crosses his path and lead to a fight…after he leaves her with his bag of dog poop. The whole battle is based on the fact that Batgirl needs to talk to Strix, and she tells him Strix’ orgin as they head back to the team’s headquarter. Meanwhile, Porcelain is giving Strix a makeover, which takes a lot of work and a lot of makeup to accomplish. Big Shot gets a phone call from Sue Dibny, who he believed was dead, and she begs him to let her come home. Strix’ makeover is amazing but, in the end, she reverts back to her old self and busts the mirror. That night, Ralph heads out to meet Sue, with Black Alice and the Ventroloquist, tagging along. Unfortunately Lady Shiva attacks them, as she wants to recruit Strix for the League of Assassins.
I am SO MUCH A FAN of this book. Gail Simone continues to write a ravishingly weird story that puts all these misfits together. Dale Eaglesham blows away the level of artistic beauty on this book each and every time. It’s a complete artistic package as the inking of Tom Derenick and Jason Wright’s colors tie it all together. This book is off the schedule with the arrival of REBIRTH and I hate to see it go. This is such a quirky title, I can only hope there is a place for it in the future DCU.
SINESTRO #20: Sinestro’s Corps, complete with the new inductees such as Superman and Wonder Woman, are battling The Paling while Sinestro is fighting The Pale Bishop. The Corps provide him with their power and he destroys The Pale Bishop and thus the Pale Vicars also die. But the fight has taken far too much out of him and he turns over his leadership to his daughter Soranik.
Cullen Bunn and Brad Walker bring this act to a conclusion and it must have been easy to write as it’s all about the action this month! So, Soranik is the new Sinestro, so to speak, and you have to wonder if he is going to be out of action for some time, as this title is gone with REBIRTH. Or…is he going to be a part of HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS?
STARFIRE #9: Atlee wants to take Stella and Kori to her home in the middle of the earth, so, after spending some time with a little creature named Syl’Khee…and also some sunabthing…they head off to the Everglades. Once there, they meet up with former Strata resident Billybob, who is the gatekeeper to Strata. He sends them off in an underwater bubble. Unfortunately, he goes back to his shack to find his sister in the clutches of an orange snake man who makes him give him a communicator in exchange for her safety. Once they arrive in Strata, Atlee is concerned as there are no guards around. Kori goes on ahead and lets out a scream, causing Atlee and Stella to comes running, where they find Atlee’s parents have staged a surprise party for her. The bad news is that King Neala-Tok has arrived to capture the city and kill anyone who resists.
Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and guest artist Elsa Charretier turn in another lackluster issue. The plot is tired, the art is reminiscent of Darwyn Cooke (not a bad thing but not right for this title), and I really can’t stand most of the cast. This title is gone when REBIRTH happens and I can only guess that Kori will end up back with Jay and Roy in The Outlaws.Too many cheeky jokes, too much sexual innuendo and too much of Kori being a bubblehead.
SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED-DEADSHOT AND KATANA #2: Katana saves the people of Markovia from Kobra but allows Lady Eve to escape. While Captain Narz tries to run out of town, she saves Violet Harper from a jail cell and they proceed off, complete with Harper going through withdrawal, to find the missing Dr. Jace. Lord Kobra, who threatens her with torture if she doesn’t comply with his requests, is holding the good doctor. Katana, Harper and stowaway Anna (and her cat) end up getting into a confrontation with Kobra’s team. Anna gets captured and Katana surrenders and is about to be executed when…the Suicide Squad arrives to take her instead.
In the second tale, Deadshot has gone off the grid and has come to where his father is. The story Floyd Lawton has always told of how his mother, father and brother died as a result of a drug deal gone bad, is a lie. His father used to beat him and his brother, so he decided to kill him. Unfortunately, Floyd’s sniper shot missed dad and kills his brother by mistake. He finds his father dying with his mother at his bedside reading to him from a Bible. Floyd is here to kill the man, but he dies before Floyd can exact his revenge. With mom cursing him out and blaming him for his brother’s death, Floyd executes her. He also discovers that they know of his daughter and he worries what they have told her. Meanwhile, Waller sends the Suicide Squad to come after him.
In the second issue of this mini-series, Katana lays a big fat egg, courtesy of Mike W. Barr and Diogenes Neves. The art by Neves is top notch but the story is filled with too many cliches for me. And I saw most of them played out in SEVEN SAMURAI and everything it inspired. I guess I’m most bugged by saddling our hero with a junkie, a kid and a cat. The Deadshot back-up, which I really felt unattached from last time, comes back with a vengeance as Brian Buccellato rewrites history and creates a completely new origin for Floyd Lawton. Viktor Bogdanovic’s art is great and reminds me a lot of Vince Locke’s classic style. One has to wonder: is this the origin we are going to be fed in the movie?
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #26: Superman is chasing after the Fortress of Solitude that Vandal Savage stole only to find that it has merged with the Stormwatch Carrier and the Justice League Watchtower. Savage tells the Puzzler that they need the Fortress to capture the comet that gave Vandal his powers. Superman busts in to battle Savage and his crew but is stopped by a force field. Vandal and his twins leave as Wonder Woman arrives, but she can’t get him free either. The twins return to battle Superman and Wonder Woman while a tractor beam grabs the comet and pulls it to Earth. Unfortunately, the Thermosphere and Superman can’t hold it up and it crashes to Earth with him under it. The next chapter is in SUPERMAN #49.
Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke give us another killer chapter in the continuing saga of a depowered Superman. We all know Tomasi writes a great story and the same is true with Mahnke’ art. This title falls off the schedule in the REBIRTH era, as TRINITY is probably absorbing it in the process.
SUPERMAN #49: Continued from SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #26. Wonder Woman struggles to free Superman from the wreckage of the Thermosphere. Luckily Lois lane and her personal guardian Metallo arrive and he helps to dig him out. Savage is pretty disappointed to find that Superman has survived, but is thrilled that he has been able to latch onto the comet and now there will be enough power to give to all of his descendants throughout the world. But since Hordr_Root no longer has original body, he gets left out of the power distribution and Salvaxe kills him with an axe to the back of Hordr's head. As all of Savage’s offspring begin their attack, Mister Terrific and many of Superman’s Mythbrawl friends arrive to lend a hand. Metallo gets taken out and, to help the cause, offers his Kryptonite heart to Superman so the Man of Steel can continue the fight. John Corben gives his life and his heart to Superman.
Gene Luen Yang and Jack Herbert bring us one step closer to the resolution of this story. Hordr_Root is written out of the family, Savage brings his army together, and Metallo goes out a hero. Sure, the ending is a bit sappy, especially his comments about how his heart has always been for Lois alone but Superman’s heart is for everyone. But John Corben gets to leave the New 52 as a hero. Come June, this title will revert to #1, ship twice monthly and MAY be written by Peter J. Tomasi.
SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #5: In a flashback, our Batman gets saved from a ninja’s arrow by Clark from the Pre-Flashpoint Earth. The flashback continues as Lois and Clark celebrates Jon’s 5th birthday. In the present, Clark is buried under a mountain and trying to free himself while Blanque convinces Hank to fly the spaceship hanging inside the Fortress. Lois calls Clark, but Blanque answers and threatens her and Jon. That’s when Clark breaks in and smashes Blanque in the mouth. But Blanque uses his telekinesis and uses a Khund War Suit against Clark. Henshaw saves the day as he uses the gun on the spaceship to take down Blanque and allow Clark to put the madman back in his cell. In the end, we meet the next big villain on Clark’s horizon and Lois tells her husband about running into Bruno Mannheim. Oh yeah: it looks like Jon may have discovered his father’s secret.
This book, along with TITANS HUNT, are the greatest surprises of the last batch of titles. I so expected this to fall flat but Dan Jurgens, with Neil Edwards handling the art, continues to absolutely amaze me. I mean, it’s obvious that Jurgens has a great love for these characters that he knows so well. This title will go away during the REBIRTH Era and, guessing here, will probably be replaced by THE SUPER-MAN. We’ll all have a better idea after the big DC Presentation at WonderCon during the first weekend in March.
SWAMP THING #2: We begin with Swamp Thing pulling himself back together after being ripped apart by Lazlo. He then heads to New Orleans, where he meets with Shade the Changing Man, who tells him that Lazlo was resurrected and turned him into a zombie buy his parents. Swamp Thing is given a needle, thread, and a bag of sea salt: the idea to fill Lazlo with salt and then sew his mouth up. He tracks Lazlo down, as the creature is going after his parents, and disposes of him using the salt. But Swamp thing leaves the deceased creature with his parents and, as they are trying to dispose of the body, the police show up and arrest them. In the end, The Phantom Stranger shows up to chat with Swamp Thing while Matt Cable checks into a motel near the swamp.
Len Wein jumps back into this character that he helped create and it feels like the good old days once again. And with Kelley Jones on board, the book looks like the days of Bernie Wrightson, as this was the book that thrust Wrightson into major popularity. This is a fun take on the classic character and it’s great to see Matt Cable back! Unfortunately, it is not slated on the schedule after REBIRTH, so enjoy this while you can.
TEEN TITANS #17: The Titans are off in the woods hiding from the police, but not very well as Cassie keeps hearing voices. This leads her to seek out her father, with the Titans in tow. That’s a good thing as suddenly hyena men show up and the real fight begins. They eventually defeat the creatures and end up inside the apartment, only to discover her dad’s decapitated head turned to stone. In pops her Aunt Cassandra who declares that Cassie is the Grand-Daughter of Zeus. Off they all go except for Tim, who is faced with Wonder Woman'’ wrath for trashing her apartment.
The minute that Greg Pak and Ian Churchill jumped on this book, the quality jumped up with it. What a fun issue! The story was a roller coaster that ties Cassie in to the gods of Olympus while Churchill’s art is so right for this book. A new number one will replace this title in the Fall but, until then, let’s see where this wild ride takes us.
TELOS #5: Telos leaves the rest of his group on Colu and heads off into battle. That’s when Parallax shows up to join the fight. He convinces Telos to build him his own Coast City in return for telling him where his family is. Telos agrees and Parallax reveals what he knows-which is a lost sector of space. He beats down Telos and goes off to rebuild his Coast City.
That’s quite the set-up for the finale! And it seems Parallax is making his presence felt through the New 52 in preparations for the REBIRTH. Jeff King and Igor Vitorino give us an action-packed issue that literally is non-stop action! The first half of the book is Telos wailing on the bad guys and then the “evil” Hal jumps in and does the same before screwing Telos over and beating him down too. Next issue is the finale and we’ll see if it’s a happy ending or not.
TITANS HUNT #5: In the past, Herald is captured by Mister Twister and told to climb a spiral staircase to save his friend. In the present, it seems the past is repeating itself. Over in Hatton Corners, Garth, Donna and Dick get filled in by a policeman on what happened with a monster here four years ago when the local kids called the Teen Titans to town to help. Dick decides they should investigate, saying that “Robin, Wonder Girl and Aqualad” can handle it, to the amazement of Donna and Garth. Dawn takes Hank to see Lilith and that’s when Roy and Gnarrk show up, leading to a big brawl. Hank becomes Hawk, Dawn becomes Dove and Lilith faints. As the trio heads into the forrest and confronts Mammoth, Mister Twister forces Herald to use his talent and play tha amplified spiral staircase horn.
I have said it before and will say it here again: I never thought this title would be as cool as it is. While we still don’t know how all of this ties together, and with REBIRTH looming and the NEW 52/DC YOU ending, maybe it doesn’t really matter. But Dan Abnett, with Paulo Siqueira and Geraldo Borges handling the art, nails this thing! I love seeing all these classic Titans showing up here. Now, with everything changing in June, I am still pretty positive that this title will lead into TITANS in July, although this was a 12 issue series, which means it will end in September, unless we get some double sized issues or a change thanks to DC Editorial.
WE ARE ROBIN #9: Smiley starts to make his presence felt among the punks of Gotham. Izzy discovers that she may be flunking out of school. Duke meets with her and explains how he found his parents, but they are unresponsive because of their exposure to the Joker Toxin. Riko beats up a racist in a convenience store while Dax tries out a grappling gun. Dre watches the news and learns of the troubling events surrounding Smiley’s parents. Later, when Smiley and his gang try to rob a family, a masked hero breaks it up, to the support of the kid in the family.
So, there is a reason why this book is off the schedule once REBIRTH rolls in. Just read this issue and you’ll see. While it tries to be a story that gives us some fleshing out of the core characters, it just becomes a laborious read as we get two page snippets of these characters. If you’re going to do an expose like this, give each character half the book or the full book. This was way too disjointed to enjoy and Smiley is just annoying. Lee Bermejo wrote it, Jorge Corona drew it and I read it…so you won’t have to.
WONDER WOMAN #49: Zola, Hera and Diana are going crazy because Zeke is sick and not waking up. Hera seems to think that his illness has to do with everything what has been going on with Olympus. Diana goes to the hidden temple of Gaia, but finds Hecate instead, who explains that Gaia won't respond to a god of Olympus. Hecate shows a vision where Hera convinces Zola to leave the baby with her. Diana needs to get three orbs from the bottom of Hera's scrying pool. In the process, Ares and Eirene, and then Artemis and Apollo come through, but Diana is unseen and gets the orbs. Unfortunately, she gets knocked out by a cyclops that carries her away.
Meredith and David Finch continue on their journey with the Amazon queen who is the God of War. It looks great, reads better than it has in past issues and has a nice cliffhanger ending. This title will ship twice monthly starting in July with a creative team to yet be revealed, possibly including Marguerite Bennett, at the helm. Maybe Diana will be back in her old uniform…or a white pantsuit!
In addition to all this, the other new DC REBIRTH titles coming in the Fall include BLUE BEETLE, SUPERGIRL, SUPERWOMAN, and SUPER SONS. As of this writing, there is no information floating about on these but a lot of speculation. Blue Beetle could either be Ted Kord, who is alive again thanks to CONVERGENCE, or Jaime Reis. Supergirl is currently in JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 unless we want to have Power Girl come back from Earth 2 and do her thing here. The current Superwoman is a pregnant, evil one from the Crime Syndicate, although Earth-1 and Earth 2 Lois Lanes WERE Superwoman in the past. Or they could really screw around and make Power Girl Superwoman. And the Super Sons? Could they REALLY be reviving Batman Jr. and Superman Jr. from the old WORLD FINEST days? Don’t forget: in the New 52 Multiverse, the Chris Kent and Damian Wayne lived on Earth-16 as Superman and Batman. Heck…they could even bring back the ORIGINAL Nightwing and Flamebird!
Stay tuned, fans!
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