MARTIAN MANHUNTER #10: Agent Wessel and Alicia are hunting for the mysterious Martian child, but they first find Mr. Biscuits, who brings them to the child. The child then proceeds to tell Martian Manhunter’s origin. Millions of years ago, a technologically advanced Mars was threatened by a vision that convinced most Martians that they were going to be attacked by a giant tentacled beast. Ma'alefa'ak convinces the Martian Council that they need to make a Martian super weapon to battle the beast and that J'onn J’onzz needed to be the soul of the machine. Ma'alefa'ak started using Martian blood magic which caused the death of the planet and the creation of the Martian Manhunter, who ended up on Earth where he spent the next million years trying to forget. Ma'alefa'ak came searching for him, so he split himself up into multiple personas to make him harder to find. In the end, Mr. Biscuit's reveals himself to be a normal looking Martian Manhunter. And that is when Ma'alefa'ak comes out of nowhere and murders him.
If you think this is your daddy’s Martian Manhunter, you are so wrong. Rob Williams and Eddy Barrows give us an origin story that is so weird, so wild and so twisted that I cannot even believe I just read it. I will so miss this title when REBIRTH comes along. The GOOD NEWS is that the amazing Eddy Barrows will be illustrating DETECTIVE COMICS when REBIRTH does occur.
MIDNIGHTER #10: Marina and Helena Bertinelli are in Boston, where they find Robert and a lot of destruction, but no Midnighter. He is in the clutches of the Suicide Squad who are in the process of torturing him to no avail. He breaks loose and tracks down some of the A-listers: Harley, Parasite and Deadshot. He quickly takes down Harley and Parasite and then proceeds to break Deadshot’s hands, but the Squad comes back and ends up riding in a plane that Harley blows to pieces.
Steve Orlando gives us a ton of action here while Hugo Petrus and Aco, sharing the art duties, give us a nice dose of blood. This was a good issue that once again was full of action and very little of the “romancing of Midnighter”. This title is off the schedule come June, so it’s anyone’s guess what happens to our hero. But I think I can say that DC isn’t killing off this crazy guy!
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #18: The Squad was injected with nano particles at the end of last issue, which explains why they are not dead. It seems that Seraphine and Adam Reed, of the Horus Organization, freed them from Belle Reve and now they are being taken to have their neck bombs removed. When they get to their location, Kilgore, Hellslayer, Razer, Deathtrap, and Brutus greet them at gunpoint. But the mercenaries tell the Squad how they are big fans and it turns into a team-up. That is until Adam stabs Seraphine, releasing the spirit of the Rose Tattoo and setting the castle on lockdown. The Fist of Cain is here and they are about to kill of the Squad, because that’s what they do.
Tim Seeley and Juan Ferreyra come back on their second issue with some confusing moments and a bunch of action, complete with Brutus taking a nasty head shot. By the way, if you didn’t know, Kilgore, Hellslayer, Razer, Deathtrap, and Brutus, along with Rose Tattoo, are all leftovers from the days of the Wildstorn Universe. So, by taking out members, is this DC’s way of eliminating their past?
OMEGA MEN #9: Kyle and the Omega Men walking into a negotiation room that actually is the site of a debate between Kyle and the head of the Citadel Empire. During the debate, which Kyle is losing, Kalista has Scrapps' robot assistant blow itself up and taking the planet Voorl with it. Guns start blazing and bodies start dropping. Just as Scrapps is about to die, Kyle summons his white lantern ring and turns into a hero wielding the greatest force in the universe.
This is one of the best books on the market today. Tom King and Barnaby Baganda have been just totally turning out quality work since issue #1. The White Lantern is finally back and I couldn’t be happier. Find back issues and don’t take my word for how great this title is!
OMEGA MEN #10: The war against the Citadel rages for 41 days until the Omega Men win the battle and get to celebrate their hard fought victory.
Read the above review. Tom King and Barnaby Baganda kill it here.
POISON IVY CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH #3: People keep dying at Ivy’s work and that means everyone is getting involved in the investigation. But, at the same time, Ivy is enjoying nurturing her twin sporeling babies, Rose and Hazel. Her super creepy co-worker shows up and he meets his demises at the hands of her man-eating plants. In the end, Darshan shows up at her apartment and that presents a bit of a problem for Ivy AND Catwoman.
After two great issues, this one crawls to a bumpy stop! Clay Mann’s art still looks amazing, but Amy Chu’s story just stumbled from page one. Is this about a murder investigation or a superhero remake of BABY BOOM? Poison Ivy as a mommy? And if Chu wanted to be CLEVER, she should have named the twins Rose and Thorn. Yeah…us old timers would have gotten it!
RED HOOD/ARSENAL #10: We jump forward to find the boys on the U.S.S. Excelsior fighting some folks from HIVE before finding this giant doomsday bomb on board. Going back five hours earlier, Tara Battleworth is meeting with the boys when they ask her to get a therapist for Duela, which she does…in the form of Lilith Clay (see TITANS HUNT). While she undergoes intensive therapy, the boys are on the U.S.S. Excelsior shutting down that bomb. They become heroes while Duela passes her psyh test, which leads her back underground where she retrieves her mask, promising to do bigger and badder anything daddy Joker could do.
Thanks to Scott Lobdell and Dexter Soy for actually rounding out Duella’s character. Now if they could have done something ELSE with the boys’ story. It was just long and boring and uninteresting, except for bringing the HIVE into it. Let’s have Duella lead the team in the future and let the fun begin!
ROBIN, SON OF BATMAN #10: Damian grabs hold of Goliath and heads to Mexico where they have to retrieve three items stolen from the Year of Blood vault. So off he goes while Maya fights ninjas and runs into Talia, who takes her as a captive onto her ship. With Damian on the hunt for the last of the artifacts, we discover that Suren Darga has them and he is ready to bring them to Gorilla City.
Ray Fawkes and Ramon Bachs handle this adventure of the newest Boy Wonder and what we discover is that Maya’s story is more interesting than his. Fawkes script is spot-on and Bachs art is fun in a cartoonish kind of way. Overall, it was a fun issue and I can’t wait to see what happens in Gorilla City next issue!
SECRET SIX #12: The issue begins with a celebration by an interesting trio of ladies. Meanwhile, Shiva has taken out a ton of cops and is moving in for Strix and Porcelain when Catman and Batgirl show up. After a brief battle, Shiva explains that she is here for Strix and if she goes with her, she will spare the lives of the others. Strix agrees and, after receiving Batgirl’s boots as a gift, she leaves with Shiva to start her new life in the League of Assassins. Back inside, Catman explains what happened to Big Shot before he gets to go upstairs and meets with his long lost wife Sue. With her support, the decision is made to put the family back together as Big Shot becomes Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man!
Nothing makes me happier than watching Gail Simone work her magic and the team of Dale Eaglesham and Tom Derenick illustrate the Holy Hell out of it! And we get the return of the REAL RALPH DIBNEY!!! This book is so much fun, so great to look at and I will be totally bummed when it is gone!
SINESTRO #21: Soranik is now in charge of the Sinestro Corps and, while she is not happy about it, the people of Earth are thrilled. With the crisis ended, the yellow rings leave the converted heroes and head back to find other prospects for the Sinestro Corps.
The people of Earth panic, afraid that they no longer have someone to assist our heroes so Arkillo and Saint Walker agree to stay behind. Some of the Lanterns investigate the defeat of the Paling, but only find Mongul, who quickly ends their lives and promises revenge.
Cullen Bunn and Martin Coccolo do a nice job of wrapping of the story from the past few issues and set the scene for the upcoming battle with Mongul. It was an average issue that suffered from Brad Walker’s NOT being on the art. This book goes away with the start of REBIRTH, so I expect this upcoming arc to be wrapped up fairly quickly.
STARFIRE #10: Stella takes Kori’s body to a hospital in Hollow Earth, while King Neala-Tok continues his assault. Luckily Atlee has the sense to wipe out his cricket army with a bomb. But he has a second plan and calls forth the Chida to attack. Kori wakes at the hospital and she heads off to join the fight, using her powers to defeat King Neala-Tok. She collapses after this and it’s back to the hospital where they have Stella wear a ceremonial gown and use their underworld sun orb to bring Kori back to life. That means it’s time for a party! Meanwhile Rave and Sol share a tender moment,
Really? A party? Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Elsa Charretier are responsible for this tragic issue. And I do mean tragic. The art is cartoony and the story…well: I really didn’t know that Stella “groomed” herself.. Nerxt thing you know, we’ll get references to Sol and his need to manscape! Totally embarrassed!
SUICIDE SQUAD MOST WANTED-DEADSHOT AND KATANA #3: Deadshot’s father has just died on him and he has just taken out his mother. So Amanda Waller sends in the Suicide Squad to take him out. He takes out the whole team but Harley, which gives Evans a chance to take him out. Back at Belle Reve, Evans explains how the classic “my parents were killed by drug dealers” origin was actually his own. Evans now proudly proclaims that HE is the New Deadshot. In the Katana story, the Squad arrives to save Katana and her friends, but the cat dies in the process. The team comes together and goes after Kobra, before coming face to face with King Kobra.
So here’s my take on this series: give me the Deadshot story by Brian Buccellato and Viktor Bogdanovic and keep the Katana story by Mike W. Barr and Diogenes Neves. I just love what is being done with Floyd’s character and the art. And, to be fair, there is nothing wrong with the Katana story…except I find her totally uninteresting…which was the reason I didn’t read her series in the first place. So give me a $2.99 comic with Floyd and be done with it.
SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #27: Superman and his team battle Vandal Savage's children. When we come across Savage, he is lying on the ground with a pipe stuck through his side. Beastmaster battle with Savage and he ends up being run through by the pipe for his troubles. Vandal’s children begin to disintegrate while Vandal and Superman duke it out in the middle of an approaching meteorite storm.
Well…that was a complete waste of time. Well…almost a complete waste. Cliff Richards art rocked, complete with several killer two page spreads! Peter J. Tomasi’ story was just filler as far as I am concerned. Here comes the big finale in SUPERMAN #50.
SUPERMAN #50: Superman comes face to face with a powered up Vandal Savage and the Puzzler and suddenly Superman finds himself experiencing the vision of an alternate reality where he experiences what life would have been like if that comet never came towards Earth and gave Vandal his powers. It seems that Superman’s parents and a young Kal-El would have been alive. His next vision is in the future and shows Superman as Vandal’s General. He is leading a team of made up of Aquaman, Giganta, Grodd, Lobo, Captain Atom, Black Adam, Shazam, Killer Croc and Blockbuster and they proceed to take on the Dominators. After their victory, the team celebrates. But not really, as Lois, Jimmy and Perry show up to serve their victory meal, much to Superman’s displeasure. The last vision has Earth turned to ash. Savage says this is what will happen is Superman doesn’t join him. Vandal tries to push the comet down to Earth faster and Superman, along with Puzzler, stops it. The comet breaks apart, sending Vandal out into deep space. In the end, Superman rekindles his friendship with Loid and Jimmy, who has been hired back by Perry White.
Gene Luen Yang ends this long-winded story and sort of resets the status quo. The art was by Howard Porter, Adrian Syaf, Patrick Zircher, and Jon Bogdanove and I have no issues with that. My issue is with Yang writing his own version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL with Clark playing Scrooge. THIS is how we end this story? For real? Honestly…I thought we deserved better than that. Come June, Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason and Doug Mahnke take their shot at the Man of Steel.
SUPERMAN LOIS AND CLARK #6: We opening with a flashback to that moment when Lois outed Superman. Back in the present, Clark is trying to find Cora by listening for her ringtone. Luckily that works, as he finds her in a cabin near San Francisco and frees her. Also lucky is that he wrapped that up quickly as he needs to fix the mess that Bad-Ass Nation has made. Meanwhile, Manheim’s gang has captured Lois and Jon. Luckily, jon has discovered he has powers and is prepared to save his mother. Lastly, Hyathis shows up at The island looking for the Oblivion Stone.
I SO CANNOT WAIT to see where these characters are going when REBIRTH comes! Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks have been absolutely blowing it away on this series. This is MY Superman, not the guy running around each month and in June, I get the chance to see MY Clark and Lois doing what they haven’t been able to do for the past four years. So…is it June yet?
SWAMP THING #3: Swamp Thing is wrestling with a huge boa constrictor in his swamp for fun when a mysterious stranger kills the snake. Turns out it’s Matt Cable and he thought he was saving his friend. After a warm reunion, Matt tells Swamp Thing that he has been working on getting a cure for him. He ended up in Nanda Parbat and got his hands on the Hand of Fatima, but he doesn’t know how to make it work. So they go off to Shadowcrest, New England to meet with Zatanna. She works her magic and Alec Holland is human again. The consequence-Matt Cable is now the Swamp thing.
Okay…I’m just a little bit confused. Based on what we KNEW about Alec Holland, what with his redone origin in the NEW 52, how can a creature turn into something he wasn’t? Or was he all along? Again…really confused. I’m going to chalk that up to Len Wein, the man behind the Swamp Thing way back when, coming on board and trying to right the wrongs of the past four years. And if you can’t get the legendary Bernie Wrightson to draw your book, then I guess Kelley Jones will have to do.
TEEN TITANS #18: Wonder Woman learns from Red Robin that the demigoddess Cassandra is taking Wonder Girl to see her real dad. On the way to Greece, where the rest of the team is fighting Cassandra and her Hyena Men, she explains to Tim how she was in cahoots with The First Born and they killed hundreds of Gods and Amazons. At the same time, Cassandra explains to Cassie that she knows she did wrong and now she is trying to make up for it. But then she goes and grabs the Rod of Ascelpius and suddenly there are three giant snakes emerge from the Temple of Apollo. The Titans can’t seem to take the snakes down, but Wonder Girl dons her armor and carves up the beast, which causes the Temple to collapse. Wonder Woman steps in to save the day and that leads to her tying it up with Cassandra. Diana wraps her in the Lasso of Truth and it reveals that Cassandra IS telling the truth: she is here to introduce Cassie to her dad. That leads to Cassie figuring out that Wonder Woman is her Aunt.
While Greg Pak presents a so-so story (hey…it IS the TEEN TITANS you know!), Ian Churchill and Tom Derenick nail it with their artwork. What I DID like in the story was that Pak has managed to do fill-in flashbacks so anyone not reading WONDER WOMAN knew the whole First Born story. It’s nice to see Cassandra is still as wild and wacky as she was there! And I have to admit this story is far better written than we have been experiencing in the past, so that is a plus. Don’t forget: we get TWO Titan themed books when REBIRTH arrives. Who will be playing on this team, if it is even a team from the NEW 52, is anyone’s guess.
TELOS #6: Parallax has claimed Telos' power shard so he can defeat Mongul and Cyborg Superman. Apparently this is not the first time Telos and Parallax have done this dance because they keep losing Coast City to the bad guys. Eventually Parallax and Telos finally beat Cyborg Superman and Mongul, but Telos has turned the people against Parallax so he kills everyone in Coast City. Telos goes up against Parallax, who loses his hold over time and everything gets destroyed. Parallax tells Telos that the shard only has enough power for one of them. Parallax leaves Telos stranded in space while he goes off to kill Hal Jordan.
What? That’s it? BOOO!!! Boo to you Jeff King and Igor Vitorino for giving us this really crappy ending.
TITANS HUNT #6: Mal is singing into Mr. Twister's bone organ while Dick, Donna and Garth battle Mammoth. At the hospital, Bumble Bee is being told of her husband’s past by Neil Richards, who was Mad Mod in the original 1967 series. When he finishes with her, he makes a phone call and orders the deaths of the Teen Titans. Hawk, Dove, Roy, and Gnark meet with Lilith, who explains that she made them all forget Mr. Twister to stop him five years ago, but he began whispering to her a year ago. In the end, Honeybun and Ding Dong Daddy show up at Lilith’s to eliminate the team.
I so love what Dan Abnett and Stephen Segovia are doing on this book and look forward to REBIRTH. With Abnett pulling out all sorts of characters, no matter how obscure, from the classic team’s past. We have Mad Mod, who was one of the first of their villains, who made a brief appearance during Dan Jurgens’ Nineties run on the title. And then we have DDD and Honeybun. They come straight out of the Sixties and, I have to admit, I needed to research them, as he has been absent from the books for a long time (although he was in the television show). I have often said what makes Dan Abnett’s writing so great is that he has a great love of comics of the past. This book is truly a loving tribute to the Titans of the past.
WE ARE ROBIN #10: We begin with Smiley trying out his stand-up comedy skills at a local club, to less than ideal results. Elsewhere, Duke and the rest of the Robins deal with their daily lives before they all see the breaking news about Smiley's attacks on television. While they all make plans to get involved, Dre plans on going after the Jokerz himself, so he infiltrates the group. In the end, Smiley and his Jokerz enter Middletown High School where they plan on making a name for themselves.
Lee Bermejo and Jorge Corona give us another issue and it’s another month with lots of character driven action but no real action to speak of. Bermejo gets all sorts of credit from me for fleshing out these characters, but the lack of action means this feels like an Indy comic as opposed to a superhero book. I will be very curious to see where these characters end up when REBIRTH arrives.
WONDER WOMAN #50: Dina has been knocked out the cyclops and finds herself in a trap set by Hephaestus. It turns out that the cyclops are being beaten by Hephaestus and they are only doing his bidding, so Diana tries to free them, but can’t. She does vow to return and free them as she goes off and return Hera's orbs to Hecate. She returns to Hecate, learns that the orbs are actually the eyes of the cyclops and that Gaia is behind Baby Zeke being sick. It all boils down to Donna Troy being cast as the new Fate. To save him, she is given a series of impossible tasks, beginning with battling Ares, who feels she is not fit to be the God of War. She releases Typhoeus, the Father of Monsters, who flies her back to Hecate. Diana’s next task: go back to Themyscira and head into Tartarus. In the back-up, Donna Troy learns how important her job is as fate, whether she likes it or not.
Meredith Finch, with David Finch and Johnny Desjardins handling the art, weaves another confusing tale. I mean, orbs are really the eyes of cyclops? Honestly? I didn’t see that coming. And the Goids are liars? NO!!! Say it ain’t so! The back-up by Finch and Miguel Mendonca is a beautiful tale and possibly her best work to date on this title. The good news: June brings us Greg Rucka, Liam Sharp and Nicola Scott on what should be more of a throwback to classic Wonder Woman. Pantsuits not included!
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Monday, April 4, 2016
DC YOU Month 10, Part 1
ACTION COMICS #50: The issue opens with Vandal Savage monologuing about his plans to the captured heroes on the Justice League. Superman, powered by Metallo’s Kryptonite heart, heads off to fight the villain and his children while Jim Gordon’s Batman, Wonder Woman, Mr. Terrific and others show up to lend a hand. Superman and his friends free the captured heroes, leaving the Man of Steel free to face off with Savage. The villain shoots Superman with a toxin bullet that leaves him completely powerless and falling into the Fortress of Solitude. Miraculously, Superman is fully restored and back to full power again. In the end, Steel, Stargirl, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman head off for the final battle.
Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder write this next to penultimate chapter in the entire TRUTH story. While the story results in Superman getting his power back, the way we get there is pretty confusing, with him apparently being resurrected by the Fortress. If he would have known that, he could have fixed this problem a year ago! The worst part of this issue is the multiple artists used including Kuder, David Messina, Javi Fernandez, Bruno Redondo, Vicente Cifuentes, Gaetano , Juan Albarran, Tomeu Morey, Arif Prianto and Wil Quintana Carlucci. It should be interesting to see where this title goes from here, especially when it goes back to its’ previous numbering come REBIRTH, with Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher at the helm.
AQUAMAN #50: With the FBI investigating the water murders, Aquaman is drafted into helping out on the most recent one-in the pool of a high rise. Midway through his investigation, a creature that the media is referring to as Dead Water attacks him. They brawl and end up underwater, much to the concern of the two FBI agents. In the end, Aquaman defeats the creature that is actually a man who has been transformed. Meanwhile, Mera introduces herself at a press conference as Aquawoman and explains what Spindrift is all about.
Dan Abnett with guest artist Brett Booth brings an end to this storyline and we prepare to see where Abnett and Brad Walker take us in June. For a 50th issue, this felt a little light and unsatisfying, although I did like the cute little banter that the FBI agents had with Aquawoman. It reminded me of the cute bits of dialogue that inhabited the first few issues of the series. So, I really don’t expect major changes post NEW 52, especially with Abnett at the helm.
BATGIRL #49: The issue begins with Barbara and Frankie trying to figure out who Greg/Fugue really is. In actuality, it’s all in Barbara's mind as Frankie is trying to figure out what is going on my using neural implants. Frankie resorts to desperate measures as she implants the Evil A.I. again and goes in with it. She meets up with it and explains that if it messes about with either she or Barbara, she will arrange for it to be permanently deleted. The pairs find Batgirl arresting a named Vinton Burwell and THAT is who Greg really is. Frankie ends up in a life or death battle with Fugue before the A.I. comes to save the day. But the A.I. isn’t done and turns on Barbara, trying to take over. Frankie blasts the A.I. out of existence, allowing Barbara to come back from the brink of madness. She explains how Fugue was able to get to her and how he plans to use the Negahedron to destroy Burnside. Batgirl, Frankie, Black Canary, Spoiler and Bluebird team up and head off to stop him.
So…there is a moment in the middle of Frankie’s jaunt through Barbara’s brain where we are bombarded by images that are part of her life…allegedly. While we know that Batman didn’t get unmasked by Two-Face or that Jim Gordan is dead, but we DO know that there was a time where Batgirl did get attacked by the Joker and DID end up in a wheelchair. THAT splash page made this whole issue a winner. Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher gives us a rambling story with some cool moments in it while the art is by Babs Tarr, Horacio Domingues, Roger Robinson, Ming Doyle, and James Harvey. This all leads to a 50th issue that will finish the storyline and set things in motion for…REBIRTH, where Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque take over.
BATMAN #50: Jim Gordon is badly injured, but has survived his encounter Mr. Bloom, although his followers aren’t quite with Jim yet. Luckily the original Batman returns to save his old friend. That’s when the pair discover that a super seed in Bloom’s back is channeling the collider at Powers Industry and making an energy surge that could destroy the city. The GCPD are all wearing robotic Batman, but Bloom has gained control of them, along with a giant Joker Batsuit. While Batman battles the robots, Duke Thomas finds that Daryl is not only the person responsible for Mr. Bloom, but was also the original Bloom in issue #44. He used his money from his Crowne Grant to develop a prototype that would allow Gothamites to be their own heroes, but it all went wrong and Bloom was born. Batman gets to make his way past the robots and uses his own giant Batman robot to take out the giant Bloom. Gordon shuts the dark star down and destroys Bloom in the process. In the end, Jim is recovering nicely and even his hair and mustache are growing back. He also is reinstated as Commissioner. Batman and Jim share a moment that seems to illustrate that Jim knows Batman is Bruce Wayne, even as the woman he loved mourns how Bruce Wayne is now lost to her.
Say goodbye to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo with this issue, which I found a bit disappointing. For a plot line that has been bubbling since not long after Jim Gordon took over the suit, I expected the reveal to be better than Daryl having created the big bad Mr. Bloom. Come June, you will get to say hello to the team of Tom King, David Finch and Mikel Janin. Snyder and Capullo have been the guiding force on this title since the NEW 52 began and King and company will be hard pressed to keep up the quality. However, I have faith in King, who has been doing some tremendous work throughout the industry.
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL: #22-25: In issue #22, Mother and her team are getting the Somnus Satellite in position while Orphan and poppy transports a captured Harper and Cassandra to her base. When they at least arrive, Mother illustrates that she has a problem with failure and kills Orphan. That completed, she activates the Somnus and the world prepares for the worst. Meanwhile, Damian has arrived to meet with the rest of the Robins and gets them to come together and finish off Mother’s operation.
In issue #23, Harper is calling Cullen when Red Robin doors in to gather up Spoiler and have her go watch over Scarecrow while Tim takes Cullen to Midnighter's apartment. Scarecrow tries to screw with Spoiler’s head when Red Hood shows up to threaten crane to make enough trauma toxin to disrupt Mother's signal. Midnighter and Cullen bond while Grayson heads off to Mother’s stronghold and the rest of the team battle the activated children.
In issue #24, Dick is ready to enter Mother’s fortress when he receives word that the rest of the team, including Katana, Catwoman, Batwoman, and Talon are losing badly to the gangs of children. A plane crashes and out-steps Azrael who wants to take Mother out by himself and begins to fight with Dick. Inside Mother’s fortress, Mother is showing Harper how badly everyone is doing and monologuing about her plans for the world, based on her horrible childhood trauma. Midnighter doors into where Spoiler is watching Crane and dispatches her to help in Tokyo while he watches Scarecrow. In the end, Mother trys to convince Harper to kill Cassandra.
In issue #25, Midnighter tells everyone that Scarecrow needs more time to finish making his toxin while Dick and Azrael continue to battle. Mother continues to try to convince Harper to kill Cassandra so she can close the circle. Scarecrow finally finishes his toxin and Cullen figures out how to deliver it to the Orphans and Dick makes his way to Mother, setting up the final issue to resolve it all.
In issue #26, Harper and her mom share a tender moment in a scene from years ago, which transitions to Mother STILL trying to convince Harper to kill Cassandra. Harper has been pausing all this time because she has been scoping out the electrical infrastructure and proceeds to take it out with the twin knives. This gives Harper a chance to attack Mother, but Mother is prepared, pulls out a gun, and takes a shot at her, but Cassandra jumps into block the shot. Just when Mother thinks her plan is foolproof, the connection to Somnus is severed, thanks to Azrael. So she releases her orphans and they all brawl while Mother reminds everyone that she built her palace on an active volcano. Cassandra decides that, if they are all going to die, she is going to take Mother with her. But Orphan, presumed dead after what went down in issue #22, comes out of nowhere and runs Mother through with a sword. He says his goodbye to his daughter and takes Mother into the volcano as the ice palace comes tumbling down. In the end, Batman meets with Harper, who temporarily hangs up her costume and heads off to a possible gig at the Gotham Technical Institute. When she leaves, Cassandra arrives, renamed Orphan and prepares for her training. But before that can happen, Batman and all the Robins need to take care of business.
So, after a half year investment, we find out that all this managed to do was reunite ALL the Robins and set up Cassandra and The Spoiler for future roles in the Bat Family. James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Genevieve Valentine, and Steve Orlando were responsible for writing it while Fernando Blanco, Christian Duce, Alvaro Martinez, Javi Pina and Scot Eaton drew it. Next up: the new kids get to be trained by Batman and Batwoman in DETECTIVE COMICS.
BATMAN BEYOND #10: Batman is battling a handful of Splicers while Dr. Cuvier and Tuftan look on. Meanwhile, Matt McGinnis revives the Justice League, only to have them attacked by a giant elephant man with the power of mind control. Off in Neo Gotham, the refugees break down the gates of the city after one of the refugees’ daughter dies. In the end, Batman finds himself being attacked by a mind-controlled Justice League as Barda uses her mega rod to disintegrate Batman.
So, this title is not on the schedule come REBIRTH until the Fall. Maybe this is why…you kill of Batman and what are you supposed to do? Oh wait: I would let Terry’s brother Matt become Batman. Anyway…that’s for the future. Thank you Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang for bringing King Tuftan into the mix. I still have hope that Kamandi will end up in this series!
BATMAN SUPERMAN #30: Batman is flying through space in Lobo’s ship and trying to communicate with Superman, who is being held captive by the ancient Daxamite named Si Bar. Superman reveals that he can see that Si Bar is dying and he admits that all he truly wants is his freedom. Superman convinces him that if he frees him, he will make certain Si gets home. Meanwhile, Batman calls up Hal and asks for a favor before Superman finally get in touch with him. Lobo eventually catches up with Batman and chains him to the outside of his spaceship as he brings his dead body back to the evil alien who sacrificed his daughter to lure Superman here. But Batman isn’t dead as it turns out to be Superman in disguise and he tosses Lobo into space. Then Green Lantern Corps shows up and they take the evil alien away. In the end, Batman and Superman take him to Earth, whee the three of them watch the sun set and Si dies.
This is some pretty heavy stuff here, especially the ending, even if we did see this in 30 DAYS OF NIGHT! Tom Taylor writes a great story and I love what he has done since his return to DC from Marvel. And Robson Rocha shows us just what made his work such a hit on LOBO. This title will disappear come June and we can only hope that Taylor and Rocha end up on TRINITY.
BLACK CANARY #9: Black Canary had been hired to play Carmine Flacone’s granddaughter’s Sweet Sixteen party. The guests include Dr. Hugo Strange, Black Mask, and Professor Pyg. We also find out that Dinah’s former Suicide Squad teammate Valentine Chan is here, having been hired to girl the birthday girl. But there are other assassins here too. Dinah takes out five or the six assassins and takes the stage. During the show, it turns out that the birthday girl’s crush, Louis Barbiere, is the sixth hired gun. Dinah takes him out, but this upsets Julia and she cries and comforts him. You know what that means: the band isn’t getting paid.
Really? A full length issue about a Sweet Sixteen party? Ugh! Well, at least Matthew Rosenberg wrote some funny dialogue while Moritat brought it home on the art. Unfortunately, that’s about all I could say about it. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send Dinah back to the Birds of Prey and leave the band behind! Come August, BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY comes to us from Julie and Shawna Benson and Claire Roe, featuring Batgirl, Huntress and…yes-BLACK CANARY!
CATWOMAN #50: Selina is behind bars with Penguin’s million dollar bounty on her head, so it quickly looks like an episode of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. Luckily, she has friends in high places as Clayface, Firefly, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn show up to bust her out. After she and Alice Tesla find out what is on the flash drive, Selina meets with Lex Luthor, who wants the drive. She learns that Alice is being held by Lex’ men and will die if Selina doesn’t turn over the drive. In return, he clears Selina’s name and gets the bounty removed. In the end, all the players get what they deserve, including Luthor who ends up with a useless flash drive. In the first back-up, we get the origin of the Faceless Mask and see that Selina plans on making it her own. In the second back-up, Catwoman breaks into the Justice League Watchtower, just to tell them their security sucks.
Frank Tieri does triple duty on this issue as he writes all three tales, with Inaki Miranda, Dan Panosian and Alex Konat, and Steve Pugh providing the art respectively. I liked the main story, as we put an end to that tale in a satisfying way. She gets revenge for her friend, Luthor gets nothing for his trouble and Penguin gets a date with Croc. As for the back-ups, unless the Faceless Mask is setting up for a future storyline, I found it and the Watchtower tale to be just filler.
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #10: Constantine has found himself in Faerie Land where it is revealed that this place is almost as bad as Hell as the faeries kill a unicorn and bathe in its’ blood. Despite his best efforts, Constantine is captured and discovers that Lord Neron has threatened the fairies with disruption if they hand him over. John convinces a fairy named Flutterbee to take him to New York, where John breaks the creature’s neck. He goes off and rescues Oliver, telling him to get him and his daughters out of New York. Unfortunately, Oliver leaves his girls with a babysitter who is really Blythe.
Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV and Travel Foreman give us a weird and long-winded tale this month. While it was cool to see that Faerie Land is not something out of MY LITTLE PONY and a little closer to I HATE FAIRYLAND, the ending with Oliver’s rescue went on far too long for my liking. Suddenly we have two kids thrown into the mix that we didn’t know about? That’s a little too convenient for me.
CYBORG #9: CyForce is here with Shazam and they want Cyborg, which leads to the two Justice Leaguers to battle each other. As it turns out, this is all part of a plan that the two of them worked out a month ago when the Cybernetic Regulations Act went through. In the end, Bobby Zirrozinski, transforms his cybernetic arm into a chainsaw, cuts Cyborg's arm off and the government takes him into custody.
OMG…REALLY? David F. Walker with Felipe Watanabe and Julio Ferreira give us another less than great tale. It has nothing to do with the ability of the storytellers, It has to do with Cyborg just being so boring. I was a fan of the CLASSIC CYBORG in Wolfman/Perez NEW TEEN TITANS. This guy is a shadow of his former self.
DEATHSTROKE #16: Beginning 12 days ago, Rose’ best friend Rachel gets taken out by Lawman’s folks and he takes off with her. Meanwhile, Deathstroke is wailing on Victor Ruiz until Red Hood arrives, leading to them battling each other.Ruiz seemingly comes to the rescue by helicopter, taking Deathstroke to where he says Rose is being held. They make their way to Montana where Deathstroke runs into Snakebite. At that point, Ruiz stabs Slade in the back…literally! Lawman arrives with Rose, who claims her father will die by the hands of justice.
Is it me, or is this the LONGEST STORY ARC in history? I mean, it seems like Slade Wilson has been looking for his daughter forever. James Bonny wrote it and Paolo Pantalena, filling in for Tyler Kirkham, handles the art. The issue was just okay but this story arc needs to come to a conclusion and DC’s answer to the Punisher needs to get back to his roots.
DETECTIVE COMICS #50: Gordon and Bullock are shaking down local criminals in an effort to try to figure out where and when the villain, who is off making bone soup, before donning a dog’s head and kidnapping a young couple. Bullock and Gordon are called to the Gotham Zoo, where they find the dog the killer took out, missing a bone. Batman finally figures that the killer sees himself as St. George and he is about to slay a dragon by calling up the devil and fighting him. Batman arrives, frees the couple dressed as Alice and Lewis Carroll, and subdues the crazy killer. There is also a 13 page tribute to 11 curious cases of Batman from the past.
Peter J. Tomsi, Fernando Pasarin and Scot Eaton bring this wild story to an end with a question. Is the villain dead or still alive? It is kind of hard to tell, as Batman stabs him and then finishes him off by submerging him until he passes out or drowns. Anyway, this tale ends and prepares for the coming change, when Bruce Wayne reclaims the suit, and Jim Gordon reclaims his role at Commissioner. Regarding the back up: it’s an excuse to pay tribute to some classic covers by such luminaries as Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson, Mike Kaluta, Norm Breyfogle, Klaus Janson, Gene Colon, Bernie Wrightson, Jim Aparo and Dick Giordiano by today’s artists including John Paul Leon, Kelley Jones, Cam Stewart and John Timms. Come June, James Tynion IV joins forces with Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez to tell tales featuring a team fronted by Batman and Batwoman and made up of Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain and…Clayface?
DOCTOR FATE #10: Deep beneath the Egyptain Consulate, Doctor Fate finds himself surrounded by the ghosts of ancient Egyptians and that leads to a brief battle among them all. Khalid discovers that his magic light can banish the ghosts and he sets all the protesters free. But that only lasts long enough for them to get away as Roman ghosts arrive and prepare to serve Khalid to Caesar. Meanwhile, Khalid's social life and academic life are quickly going into the toilet.
Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew brings us another chapter in the life of the least effective Doctor Fate in DC Comics history. I understand that Levitz is trying to equate Khlaid’s life to Peter Parker and, at the same time, illustrate that being a superhero with powers has a huge learning curve. But we’re 10 issues in and Khalid is still knee deeps in NOT GETTING it.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #10: Batman confronts Kyle Nimbus about his greed and how it is not good for the world. He calls forth his bouncer in the form or Hourman. They battle and it turns out that Nimbus is also a Wonder and it seems that Batman is at Hourman’s mercy. Meanwhile, the World Council is trying to figure out what they are going to do on a planet where the natural resources are a lie. Ma Kent shows up on television telling the world that her son was Superman, that he killed Pa Kent and that Earth 2 should ban the Wonders from the city. In the city of the Amazons, Hawkgirl has decided she needs to warn people that Fury had all the non-Wonders on her ship killed. Unfortunately, she may never get that chance as Aquawoman is in cohoots with the Amazons.
Is the series over yet? I mean, I have nothing against Dan Abnett’s writing or Jorge Jimenez’ art, but I totally do not like these characters. They are one dimensional, cliched and just annoying. And, no matter how good a writer you are, you can’t fix that!
GOTHAM ACADEMY #16: Damian Wayne sneaks into Maps and Olive’s dorm room and digs up her scrapbook. This is the basis of the issue. The first story is about Maps coming up with a crazy plan to meet Batman and become his sidekick. But after turning on the Bat Signal and waiting for the Dark Knight to show, she falls asleep, only to wake up in her bed and finding out that Batman signed her pictures. Pomeline comes into Mps room and that scares off Damien, who leaves with what turns to be Maps’ fake scrapbook. In the second story, a boring Sunday gets interesting with the discovery of a box labeled “time capsule”. This leads to a treasure hunt/scavenger hunt.
Brenden Fletcher, James Tynion IV, and Ken Niimura team up, along with art from Niimura, Adam Archer, and Christian Wildgoose to give us the third installment of YEARBOOK. I have not been a big fan of this series, as it just totally feels like filler. Fletcher and Archer are responsible for the two Damian Wayne vignettes, which are nice and playful. The other two were cute, but nothing to make me jump up and down about, especially because the final tale by Niimura was just overly long with a silly payoff.
GRAYSON #18: While Helena gathers her girls, we learn that The Syndicate is on it's way to kill her and it seems like King Faraday’s team may have succeeded. Dick and Tiger show up to lend a hand as Netz takes Helena away to try and patch her up, where Spyder tells her that her father is alive and coming. Agent Zero shows up and convinces the Skull Squad of girls that Dick and Tiger are the traitors. Agent 8 shows up and blows up the dorm, possibly killing off the girls. Grayson calls for Midnighter, who takes great pleasure in battling The Syndicate. Tiger confronts Agent 8 and she taunts him, telling him he doesn’t have the guts to kill her. In the end, the Netz sisters fight over their place in the organization when…Mom shows up?
There is a new creative team here in the form of Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly with Roge Antonio and Geraldo Borges handling the art. They replace the creative team of Tom King, Tim Seeley and Mikel Janin, who have moved onto other projects with the advent of REBIRTH. That having been said, the issue feels okay, but it certainly doesn’t have King and Seeley’s bite to it and the art is nowhere near Janin’s level. This title gives way for NIGHTWING in July, by Tim Seeley, Javi Fernandez and Marcus To and it should be interesting to see how much of NEW 52 Dick Grayson remains.
GREEN ARROW #50: Warg Marrock has been sprung from prison by The Patriots and now he has a plan, which leads to him breaking into a blood donation center. From here, he makes the center director take his blood and selling it to hospitals, which causes the disease to spread. Meanwhile, Fyff shows Oliver the new drone that he has fixed up from one of Zimm’s drones that they can now use to run surveillance. The drone reveals that the person behind the blood centers is a 130-year-old vampire named Paragon who is surviving because of multiple blood transfusions. At the same time, over in Africa, we meet Doctor Miracle, who travels around the world, injecting his blood into the sick and curing them. The Patriots shut down the blood tampering operation but at the cost of the arm of the one who shot his hand in the GREEN ARROW ANNUAL. Green Arrow, Emiko and George follow Deathstroke to Africa, but he shoots down Oliver’s jet which leaves the heroes surrounded by gun toting natives.
Ben Percy and Szymon Kudranski give us some pops and shocks and some blood and guts. C’mon-we get a Patriot getting bit by a Warg and orders one of his partners to carve it off with a chainsaw to stop the possible infection. Sure, it’s something out of a horror movie, but it works! The art looks cool, Percy writes a fun ride and where else can we have a hero who is part werewolf and a bad guy who is vampire? This may not necessarily be the Ollie we grew up with or the one we see on television, but he is somewhere in between. But honestly: I want the hard riding, Black Canary loving mayor to come back!
GREEN LANTERN #50: Parallax has come to Earth, remembering what his Coast City looked like and marveling in what this Coast City is like. Now he is ready to take down this Hal Jordan, who has organized a homecoming party for his nephew Howard. Parallax reveals himself and explains that he plans to kill Hal so history doesn’t repeat itself and this Coast City doesn’t get destroyed. The pair battle, with Hal taking the brunt of it until he rallies and drives Parallax away…for now.
For an oversized 50th issue, I really thought there would be more substance here. While Robert Venditti writes a good story and the team of Billy Tan and Vincente Cifuentes give us some killer illustrations, I truly wanted more. What we get is a long set up for something we knew was coming and we knew the rationale behind it: Pre-Flashpoint Hal, filled with the energy of the Green Lantern Corps, wants to prevent the destruction of Coast City. But…if CONVERGENCE wiped out all that history, how did Coast City die? Ah…it is puzzlement!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #3: The Lanterns are trying to get to Mogo after losing their friends to Marniel’s forces. That leads to Guy Gardner and Kilowog coming to blows over the whole affair. But they eventually patch things up as they lead their team, with the help of a Lantern constructed drill, attack Marniel inside the planet. Marniel’s supporters quickly meet them, but it is Marniel who provides the biggest challenge. She is the last of her people and she uses the ghosts of her people to take down the Lanterns. She also reprograms their rings and transforms herself into a Lantern.
This third issue hits on a few more cylinders than the last issue and a lot of that is due to the phenomenal artwork of Ethan Van Sciver. This may possibly be some of the best pages I have seen him turn out in his long career. While he has inked his own work, which certainly helps maintain a true look, Gregory Wright’s colors are dynamic! The downside of all this is that Van Sciver leaves this project to work on REBIRTH, so it will be interesting to see what his replacement turns out. Oh yeah…I should mention that Tom Taylor’s story is pretty cool too!
HARLEY QUINN #26: After a troubling dream, Harley and the gang end up back in Coney Island, where her quiet day at the beach becomes an excuse to beat up some thugs. A tourist who spends way too much time discussing the merits of her behind also hits on her. And while the Mayor plots and schemes against Harley again, we meet a paraplegic looking for revenge against her. After getting a movie makeover for her hair, Harley goes to Skate Club, where The Red Tool challenges her in what should certainly be a blood-match.
What it is that Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti do so well is write satire. How else could they get away with tearing off someone’s mohawk, someone else’s earlobes and then spend two pages discussing Harley’s mud flaps! Oh yeah: we also get a new hairdo that now makes our girl look totally like she stepped out of the new SUICIDE SQUAD movie. John Timms and Chad Hardin handle the art and hey…it’s HARLEY QUINN! You were expecting WAR AND PEACE?
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA # 8: With Rao’s cathedral on the moon destroyed, he and Superman continue to fight it out. Wonder Woman and Aquaman show up, leading to Rao being run through by Aquaman’s trident before being tossed into a boom tube sending him back to the Clean Energy Power Plant. Parasite is here and ready to suck away all that energy from Rao and the Justice League gives him their power too. The Flash returns from 1961 with the Infinity Corporation and gives Parasite access to the Speed Force. In the end, Rao is defeated, his followers are freed, the Parasite is betrayed by Batman and Superman is dead.
So the book looks great and that is thanks to Bryan Hitch. But I really don’t known want he is writing. Green Lantern is still missing, but Flash is back and it seems that the only reason he was gone is because we needed to do something to get him out of the book. Personally, I find this a major mess.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #10: Supergirl and Bea battle against some nasty looking creatures called Scavvies when Tora finds out they aren’t that bad. The person who tells them that is her old pal Gnort. He also reveals that his boss is the infamous Agent Orange, Larfleeze. Meanwhile, the Convert, currently in Tarriq’s body, gets beaten out of it by The Flash and then jumps into Wonder Woman. Lastly, Eclipso gathers his forces and prepares to eliminate the Justice League. In the back-up, Lois and Ariel find a pole dancing Sinestro before being attacked by Scullions.
So, this series ends with the advent of REBIRTH, but that leaves Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Scott Kolins free to work on BLUE BEETLE come September. As much as I love this book and will hate to see it go, I have been enjoying the back-up more. When do you ever get a chance to watch Sinestro pole dance in an intergalactic strip club? And when the ever amazing Coleen Doran illustrates it…absolutely gorgeous!
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #1: Firestorm returns to the DC Universe with Professor Stein running tests on a merged Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond. Meanwhile, Multiplex kidnaps Dr. Marla Cunningham while our hero discovers that the Firestorm Matrix is causing problems severe enough that it looks like Firestorm is going to explode! In the second story, Simon Stagg, his daughter Sapphire, and his ape-man lab assistant Java, are experimenting on Rex Mason, who has become Metamorpho after the Orb of Ra gave him powers. But Sapphire finds out what her dad’s experiments are all about and frees Mason. Unfortunately, Java has the hots for her and has decided that he is going to kill Rex Mason. Oh yeah…Kanjar Ro is heading to Earth. Next up, a grown up Sugar & Spike are private investigators who are on the hunt to get a zebra Batman suit from Killer Moth and return it to its’ rightful owner. In the final tale, the Metal Men return to help out a town under siege from robot missile men. Later, because of the events that the Nameless caused, the government demands that the Metal Men get decommissioned
First off, this semi-tie-in to the television show is one expensive monster-eight bucks. But when you realize that you’re getting four full length tales for eight bucks, it’s a good investment. But…are they worth spending the money on. Well, you get Firestorm by Gerry Conway and Eduardo Pansica and it’s just okay. Personally, I get having Dr. Stein resemble his television counterpart but don’t have to like it. Metamorpho by Aaron Lopresti with inks by Matt Banning is my favorite of the bunch. It’s a great story that retells Rex Mason’s origin with new details. And I’m a big fan of Lopresti’s work anyway. Sugar and Spike by Keith Giffen and Bisques Evely is just a weird, quirky tale. Heck-it’s Giffen. What else would you expect? Metal Men by Len Wein and Yildiray Cinar is my second favorite, as this team, despite having made Will Magnus far younger than I remember him, is one I grew up with. Personally, I like the concept of it all, but would have preferred slipping Firestorm out and maybe sliding Rip Hunter in.
Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder write this next to penultimate chapter in the entire TRUTH story. While the story results in Superman getting his power back, the way we get there is pretty confusing, with him apparently being resurrected by the Fortress. If he would have known that, he could have fixed this problem a year ago! The worst part of this issue is the multiple artists used including Kuder, David Messina, Javi Fernandez, Bruno Redondo, Vicente Cifuentes, Gaetano , Juan Albarran, Tomeu Morey, Arif Prianto and Wil Quintana Carlucci. It should be interesting to see where this title goes from here, especially when it goes back to its’ previous numbering come REBIRTH, with Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher at the helm.
AQUAMAN #50: With the FBI investigating the water murders, Aquaman is drafted into helping out on the most recent one-in the pool of a high rise. Midway through his investigation, a creature that the media is referring to as Dead Water attacks him. They brawl and end up underwater, much to the concern of the two FBI agents. In the end, Aquaman defeats the creature that is actually a man who has been transformed. Meanwhile, Mera introduces herself at a press conference as Aquawoman and explains what Spindrift is all about.
Dan Abnett with guest artist Brett Booth brings an end to this storyline and we prepare to see where Abnett and Brad Walker take us in June. For a 50th issue, this felt a little light and unsatisfying, although I did like the cute little banter that the FBI agents had with Aquawoman. It reminded me of the cute bits of dialogue that inhabited the first few issues of the series. So, I really don’t expect major changes post NEW 52, especially with Abnett at the helm.
BATGIRL #49: The issue begins with Barbara and Frankie trying to figure out who Greg/Fugue really is. In actuality, it’s all in Barbara's mind as Frankie is trying to figure out what is going on my using neural implants. Frankie resorts to desperate measures as she implants the Evil A.I. again and goes in with it. She meets up with it and explains that if it messes about with either she or Barbara, she will arrange for it to be permanently deleted. The pairs find Batgirl arresting a named Vinton Burwell and THAT is who Greg really is. Frankie ends up in a life or death battle with Fugue before the A.I. comes to save the day. But the A.I. isn’t done and turns on Barbara, trying to take over. Frankie blasts the A.I. out of existence, allowing Barbara to come back from the brink of madness. She explains how Fugue was able to get to her and how he plans to use the Negahedron to destroy Burnside. Batgirl, Frankie, Black Canary, Spoiler and Bluebird team up and head off to stop him.
So…there is a moment in the middle of Frankie’s jaunt through Barbara’s brain where we are bombarded by images that are part of her life…allegedly. While we know that Batman didn’t get unmasked by Two-Face or that Jim Gordan is dead, but we DO know that there was a time where Batgirl did get attacked by the Joker and DID end up in a wheelchair. THAT splash page made this whole issue a winner. Cameron Stewart and Brenden Fletcher gives us a rambling story with some cool moments in it while the art is by Babs Tarr, Horacio Domingues, Roger Robinson, Ming Doyle, and James Harvey. This all leads to a 50th issue that will finish the storyline and set things in motion for…REBIRTH, where Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque take over.
BATMAN #50: Jim Gordon is badly injured, but has survived his encounter Mr. Bloom, although his followers aren’t quite with Jim yet. Luckily the original Batman returns to save his old friend. That’s when the pair discover that a super seed in Bloom’s back is channeling the collider at Powers Industry and making an energy surge that could destroy the city. The GCPD are all wearing robotic Batman, but Bloom has gained control of them, along with a giant Joker Batsuit. While Batman battles the robots, Duke Thomas finds that Daryl is not only the person responsible for Mr. Bloom, but was also the original Bloom in issue #44. He used his money from his Crowne Grant to develop a prototype that would allow Gothamites to be their own heroes, but it all went wrong and Bloom was born. Batman gets to make his way past the robots and uses his own giant Batman robot to take out the giant Bloom. Gordon shuts the dark star down and destroys Bloom in the process. In the end, Jim is recovering nicely and even his hair and mustache are growing back. He also is reinstated as Commissioner. Batman and Jim share a moment that seems to illustrate that Jim knows Batman is Bruce Wayne, even as the woman he loved mourns how Bruce Wayne is now lost to her.
Say goodbye to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo with this issue, which I found a bit disappointing. For a plot line that has been bubbling since not long after Jim Gordon took over the suit, I expected the reveal to be better than Daryl having created the big bad Mr. Bloom. Come June, you will get to say hello to the team of Tom King, David Finch and Mikel Janin. Snyder and Capullo have been the guiding force on this title since the NEW 52 began and King and company will be hard pressed to keep up the quality. However, I have faith in King, who has been doing some tremendous work throughout the industry.
BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL: #22-25: In issue #22, Mother and her team are getting the Somnus Satellite in position while Orphan and poppy transports a captured Harper and Cassandra to her base. When they at least arrive, Mother illustrates that she has a problem with failure and kills Orphan. That completed, she activates the Somnus and the world prepares for the worst. Meanwhile, Damian has arrived to meet with the rest of the Robins and gets them to come together and finish off Mother’s operation.
In issue #23, Harper is calling Cullen when Red Robin doors in to gather up Spoiler and have her go watch over Scarecrow while Tim takes Cullen to Midnighter's apartment. Scarecrow tries to screw with Spoiler’s head when Red Hood shows up to threaten crane to make enough trauma toxin to disrupt Mother's signal. Midnighter and Cullen bond while Grayson heads off to Mother’s stronghold and the rest of the team battle the activated children.
In issue #24, Dick is ready to enter Mother’s fortress when he receives word that the rest of the team, including Katana, Catwoman, Batwoman, and Talon are losing badly to the gangs of children. A plane crashes and out-steps Azrael who wants to take Mother out by himself and begins to fight with Dick. Inside Mother’s fortress, Mother is showing Harper how badly everyone is doing and monologuing about her plans for the world, based on her horrible childhood trauma. Midnighter doors into where Spoiler is watching Crane and dispatches her to help in Tokyo while he watches Scarecrow. In the end, Mother trys to convince Harper to kill Cassandra.
In issue #25, Midnighter tells everyone that Scarecrow needs more time to finish making his toxin while Dick and Azrael continue to battle. Mother continues to try to convince Harper to kill Cassandra so she can close the circle. Scarecrow finally finishes his toxin and Cullen figures out how to deliver it to the Orphans and Dick makes his way to Mother, setting up the final issue to resolve it all.
In issue #26, Harper and her mom share a tender moment in a scene from years ago, which transitions to Mother STILL trying to convince Harper to kill Cassandra. Harper has been pausing all this time because she has been scoping out the electrical infrastructure and proceeds to take it out with the twin knives. This gives Harper a chance to attack Mother, but Mother is prepared, pulls out a gun, and takes a shot at her, but Cassandra jumps into block the shot. Just when Mother thinks her plan is foolproof, the connection to Somnus is severed, thanks to Azrael. So she releases her orphans and they all brawl while Mother reminds everyone that she built her palace on an active volcano. Cassandra decides that, if they are all going to die, she is going to take Mother with her. But Orphan, presumed dead after what went down in issue #22, comes out of nowhere and runs Mother through with a sword. He says his goodbye to his daughter and takes Mother into the volcano as the ice palace comes tumbling down. In the end, Batman meets with Harper, who temporarily hangs up her costume and heads off to a possible gig at the Gotham Technical Institute. When she leaves, Cassandra arrives, renamed Orphan and prepares for her training. But before that can happen, Batman and all the Robins need to take care of business.
So, after a half year investment, we find out that all this managed to do was reunite ALL the Robins and set up Cassandra and The Spoiler for future roles in the Bat Family. James Tynion IV, Scott Snyder, Genevieve Valentine, and Steve Orlando were responsible for writing it while Fernando Blanco, Christian Duce, Alvaro Martinez, Javi Pina and Scot Eaton drew it. Next up: the new kids get to be trained by Batman and Batwoman in DETECTIVE COMICS.
BATMAN BEYOND #10: Batman is battling a handful of Splicers while Dr. Cuvier and Tuftan look on. Meanwhile, Matt McGinnis revives the Justice League, only to have them attacked by a giant elephant man with the power of mind control. Off in Neo Gotham, the refugees break down the gates of the city after one of the refugees’ daughter dies. In the end, Batman finds himself being attacked by a mind-controlled Justice League as Barda uses her mega rod to disintegrate Batman.
So, this title is not on the schedule come REBIRTH until the Fall. Maybe this is why…you kill of Batman and what are you supposed to do? Oh wait: I would let Terry’s brother Matt become Batman. Anyway…that’s for the future. Thank you Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang for bringing King Tuftan into the mix. I still have hope that Kamandi will end up in this series!
BATMAN SUPERMAN #30: Batman is flying through space in Lobo’s ship and trying to communicate with Superman, who is being held captive by the ancient Daxamite named Si Bar. Superman reveals that he can see that Si Bar is dying and he admits that all he truly wants is his freedom. Superman convinces him that if he frees him, he will make certain Si gets home. Meanwhile, Batman calls up Hal and asks for a favor before Superman finally get in touch with him. Lobo eventually catches up with Batman and chains him to the outside of his spaceship as he brings his dead body back to the evil alien who sacrificed his daughter to lure Superman here. But Batman isn’t dead as it turns out to be Superman in disguise and he tosses Lobo into space. Then Green Lantern Corps shows up and they take the evil alien away. In the end, Batman and Superman take him to Earth, whee the three of them watch the sun set and Si dies.
This is some pretty heavy stuff here, especially the ending, even if we did see this in 30 DAYS OF NIGHT! Tom Taylor writes a great story and I love what he has done since his return to DC from Marvel. And Robson Rocha shows us just what made his work such a hit on LOBO. This title will disappear come June and we can only hope that Taylor and Rocha end up on TRINITY.
BLACK CANARY #9: Black Canary had been hired to play Carmine Flacone’s granddaughter’s Sweet Sixteen party. The guests include Dr. Hugo Strange, Black Mask, and Professor Pyg. We also find out that Dinah’s former Suicide Squad teammate Valentine Chan is here, having been hired to girl the birthday girl. But there are other assassins here too. Dinah takes out five or the six assassins and takes the stage. During the show, it turns out that the birthday girl’s crush, Louis Barbiere, is the sixth hired gun. Dinah takes him out, but this upsets Julia and she cries and comforts him. You know what that means: the band isn’t getting paid.
Really? A full length issue about a Sweet Sixteen party? Ugh! Well, at least Matthew Rosenberg wrote some funny dialogue while Moritat brought it home on the art. Unfortunately, that’s about all I could say about it. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send Dinah back to the Birds of Prey and leave the band behind! Come August, BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY comes to us from Julie and Shawna Benson and Claire Roe, featuring Batgirl, Huntress and…yes-BLACK CANARY!
CATWOMAN #50: Selina is behind bars with Penguin’s million dollar bounty on her head, so it quickly looks like an episode of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. Luckily, she has friends in high places as Clayface, Firefly, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn show up to bust her out. After she and Alice Tesla find out what is on the flash drive, Selina meets with Lex Luthor, who wants the drive. She learns that Alice is being held by Lex’ men and will die if Selina doesn’t turn over the drive. In return, he clears Selina’s name and gets the bounty removed. In the end, all the players get what they deserve, including Luthor who ends up with a useless flash drive. In the first back-up, we get the origin of the Faceless Mask and see that Selina plans on making it her own. In the second back-up, Catwoman breaks into the Justice League Watchtower, just to tell them their security sucks.
Frank Tieri does triple duty on this issue as he writes all three tales, with Inaki Miranda, Dan Panosian and Alex Konat, and Steve Pugh providing the art respectively. I liked the main story, as we put an end to that tale in a satisfying way. She gets revenge for her friend, Luthor gets nothing for his trouble and Penguin gets a date with Croc. As for the back-ups, unless the Faceless Mask is setting up for a future storyline, I found it and the Watchtower tale to be just filler.
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #10: Constantine has found himself in Faerie Land where it is revealed that this place is almost as bad as Hell as the faeries kill a unicorn and bathe in its’ blood. Despite his best efforts, Constantine is captured and discovers that Lord Neron has threatened the fairies with disruption if they hand him over. John convinces a fairy named Flutterbee to take him to New York, where John breaks the creature’s neck. He goes off and rescues Oliver, telling him to get him and his daughters out of New York. Unfortunately, Oliver leaves his girls with a babysitter who is really Blythe.
Ming Doyle, James Tynion IV and Travel Foreman give us a weird and long-winded tale this month. While it was cool to see that Faerie Land is not something out of MY LITTLE PONY and a little closer to I HATE FAIRYLAND, the ending with Oliver’s rescue went on far too long for my liking. Suddenly we have two kids thrown into the mix that we didn’t know about? That’s a little too convenient for me.
CYBORG #9: CyForce is here with Shazam and they want Cyborg, which leads to the two Justice Leaguers to battle each other. As it turns out, this is all part of a plan that the two of them worked out a month ago when the Cybernetic Regulations Act went through. In the end, Bobby Zirrozinski, transforms his cybernetic arm into a chainsaw, cuts Cyborg's arm off and the government takes him into custody.
OMG…REALLY? David F. Walker with Felipe Watanabe and Julio Ferreira give us another less than great tale. It has nothing to do with the ability of the storytellers, It has to do with Cyborg just being so boring. I was a fan of the CLASSIC CYBORG in Wolfman/Perez NEW TEEN TITANS. This guy is a shadow of his former self.
DEATHSTROKE #16: Beginning 12 days ago, Rose’ best friend Rachel gets taken out by Lawman’s folks and he takes off with her. Meanwhile, Deathstroke is wailing on Victor Ruiz until Red Hood arrives, leading to them battling each other.Ruiz seemingly comes to the rescue by helicopter, taking Deathstroke to where he says Rose is being held. They make their way to Montana where Deathstroke runs into Snakebite. At that point, Ruiz stabs Slade in the back…literally! Lawman arrives with Rose, who claims her father will die by the hands of justice.
Is it me, or is this the LONGEST STORY ARC in history? I mean, it seems like Slade Wilson has been looking for his daughter forever. James Bonny wrote it and Paolo Pantalena, filling in for Tyler Kirkham, handles the art. The issue was just okay but this story arc needs to come to a conclusion and DC’s answer to the Punisher needs to get back to his roots.
DETECTIVE COMICS #50: Gordon and Bullock are shaking down local criminals in an effort to try to figure out where and when the villain, who is off making bone soup, before donning a dog’s head and kidnapping a young couple. Bullock and Gordon are called to the Gotham Zoo, where they find the dog the killer took out, missing a bone. Batman finally figures that the killer sees himself as St. George and he is about to slay a dragon by calling up the devil and fighting him. Batman arrives, frees the couple dressed as Alice and Lewis Carroll, and subdues the crazy killer. There is also a 13 page tribute to 11 curious cases of Batman from the past.
Peter J. Tomsi, Fernando Pasarin and Scot Eaton bring this wild story to an end with a question. Is the villain dead or still alive? It is kind of hard to tell, as Batman stabs him and then finishes him off by submerging him until he passes out or drowns. Anyway, this tale ends and prepares for the coming change, when Bruce Wayne reclaims the suit, and Jim Gordon reclaims his role at Commissioner. Regarding the back up: it’s an excuse to pay tribute to some classic covers by such luminaries as Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson, Mike Kaluta, Norm Breyfogle, Klaus Janson, Gene Colon, Bernie Wrightson, Jim Aparo and Dick Giordiano by today’s artists including John Paul Leon, Kelley Jones, Cam Stewart and John Timms. Come June, James Tynion IV joins forces with Eddy Barrows and Alvaro Martinez to tell tales featuring a team fronted by Batman and Batwoman and made up of Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain and…Clayface?
DOCTOR FATE #10: Deep beneath the Egyptain Consulate, Doctor Fate finds himself surrounded by the ghosts of ancient Egyptians and that leads to a brief battle among them all. Khalid discovers that his magic light can banish the ghosts and he sets all the protesters free. But that only lasts long enough for them to get away as Roman ghosts arrive and prepare to serve Khalid to Caesar. Meanwhile, Khalid's social life and academic life are quickly going into the toilet.
Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew brings us another chapter in the life of the least effective Doctor Fate in DC Comics history. I understand that Levitz is trying to equate Khlaid’s life to Peter Parker and, at the same time, illustrate that being a superhero with powers has a huge learning curve. But we’re 10 issues in and Khalid is still knee deeps in NOT GETTING it.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #10: Batman confronts Kyle Nimbus about his greed and how it is not good for the world. He calls forth his bouncer in the form or Hourman. They battle and it turns out that Nimbus is also a Wonder and it seems that Batman is at Hourman’s mercy. Meanwhile, the World Council is trying to figure out what they are going to do on a planet where the natural resources are a lie. Ma Kent shows up on television telling the world that her son was Superman, that he killed Pa Kent and that Earth 2 should ban the Wonders from the city. In the city of the Amazons, Hawkgirl has decided she needs to warn people that Fury had all the non-Wonders on her ship killed. Unfortunately, she may never get that chance as Aquawoman is in cohoots with the Amazons.
Is the series over yet? I mean, I have nothing against Dan Abnett’s writing or Jorge Jimenez’ art, but I totally do not like these characters. They are one dimensional, cliched and just annoying. And, no matter how good a writer you are, you can’t fix that!
GOTHAM ACADEMY #16: Damian Wayne sneaks into Maps and Olive’s dorm room and digs up her scrapbook. This is the basis of the issue. The first story is about Maps coming up with a crazy plan to meet Batman and become his sidekick. But after turning on the Bat Signal and waiting for the Dark Knight to show, she falls asleep, only to wake up in her bed and finding out that Batman signed her pictures. Pomeline comes into Mps room and that scares off Damien, who leaves with what turns to be Maps’ fake scrapbook. In the second story, a boring Sunday gets interesting with the discovery of a box labeled “time capsule”. This leads to a treasure hunt/scavenger hunt.
Brenden Fletcher, James Tynion IV, and Ken Niimura team up, along with art from Niimura, Adam Archer, and Christian Wildgoose to give us the third installment of YEARBOOK. I have not been a big fan of this series, as it just totally feels like filler. Fletcher and Archer are responsible for the two Damian Wayne vignettes, which are nice and playful. The other two were cute, but nothing to make me jump up and down about, especially because the final tale by Niimura was just overly long with a silly payoff.
GRAYSON #18: While Helena gathers her girls, we learn that The Syndicate is on it's way to kill her and it seems like King Faraday’s team may have succeeded. Dick and Tiger show up to lend a hand as Netz takes Helena away to try and patch her up, where Spyder tells her that her father is alive and coming. Agent Zero shows up and convinces the Skull Squad of girls that Dick and Tiger are the traitors. Agent 8 shows up and blows up the dorm, possibly killing off the girls. Grayson calls for Midnighter, who takes great pleasure in battling The Syndicate. Tiger confronts Agent 8 and she taunts him, telling him he doesn’t have the guts to kill her. In the end, the Netz sisters fight over their place in the organization when…Mom shows up?
There is a new creative team here in the form of Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly with Roge Antonio and Geraldo Borges handling the art. They replace the creative team of Tom King, Tim Seeley and Mikel Janin, who have moved onto other projects with the advent of REBIRTH. That having been said, the issue feels okay, but it certainly doesn’t have King and Seeley’s bite to it and the art is nowhere near Janin’s level. This title gives way for NIGHTWING in July, by Tim Seeley, Javi Fernandez and Marcus To and it should be interesting to see how much of NEW 52 Dick Grayson remains.
GREEN ARROW #50: Warg Marrock has been sprung from prison by The Patriots and now he has a plan, which leads to him breaking into a blood donation center. From here, he makes the center director take his blood and selling it to hospitals, which causes the disease to spread. Meanwhile, Fyff shows Oliver the new drone that he has fixed up from one of Zimm’s drones that they can now use to run surveillance. The drone reveals that the person behind the blood centers is a 130-year-old vampire named Paragon who is surviving because of multiple blood transfusions. At the same time, over in Africa, we meet Doctor Miracle, who travels around the world, injecting his blood into the sick and curing them. The Patriots shut down the blood tampering operation but at the cost of the arm of the one who shot his hand in the GREEN ARROW ANNUAL. Green Arrow, Emiko and George follow Deathstroke to Africa, but he shoots down Oliver’s jet which leaves the heroes surrounded by gun toting natives.
Ben Percy and Szymon Kudranski give us some pops and shocks and some blood and guts. C’mon-we get a Patriot getting bit by a Warg and orders one of his partners to carve it off with a chainsaw to stop the possible infection. Sure, it’s something out of a horror movie, but it works! The art looks cool, Percy writes a fun ride and where else can we have a hero who is part werewolf and a bad guy who is vampire? This may not necessarily be the Ollie we grew up with or the one we see on television, but he is somewhere in between. But honestly: I want the hard riding, Black Canary loving mayor to come back!
GREEN LANTERN #50: Parallax has come to Earth, remembering what his Coast City looked like and marveling in what this Coast City is like. Now he is ready to take down this Hal Jordan, who has organized a homecoming party for his nephew Howard. Parallax reveals himself and explains that he plans to kill Hal so history doesn’t repeat itself and this Coast City doesn’t get destroyed. The pair battle, with Hal taking the brunt of it until he rallies and drives Parallax away…for now.
For an oversized 50th issue, I really thought there would be more substance here. While Robert Venditti writes a good story and the team of Billy Tan and Vincente Cifuentes give us some killer illustrations, I truly wanted more. What we get is a long set up for something we knew was coming and we knew the rationale behind it: Pre-Flashpoint Hal, filled with the energy of the Green Lantern Corps, wants to prevent the destruction of Coast City. But…if CONVERGENCE wiped out all that history, how did Coast City die? Ah…it is puzzlement!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #3: The Lanterns are trying to get to Mogo after losing their friends to Marniel’s forces. That leads to Guy Gardner and Kilowog coming to blows over the whole affair. But they eventually patch things up as they lead their team, with the help of a Lantern constructed drill, attack Marniel inside the planet. Marniel’s supporters quickly meet them, but it is Marniel who provides the biggest challenge. She is the last of her people and she uses the ghosts of her people to take down the Lanterns. She also reprograms their rings and transforms herself into a Lantern.
This third issue hits on a few more cylinders than the last issue and a lot of that is due to the phenomenal artwork of Ethan Van Sciver. This may possibly be some of the best pages I have seen him turn out in his long career. While he has inked his own work, which certainly helps maintain a true look, Gregory Wright’s colors are dynamic! The downside of all this is that Van Sciver leaves this project to work on REBIRTH, so it will be interesting to see what his replacement turns out. Oh yeah…I should mention that Tom Taylor’s story is pretty cool too!
HARLEY QUINN #26: After a troubling dream, Harley and the gang end up back in Coney Island, where her quiet day at the beach becomes an excuse to beat up some thugs. A tourist who spends way too much time discussing the merits of her behind also hits on her. And while the Mayor plots and schemes against Harley again, we meet a paraplegic looking for revenge against her. After getting a movie makeover for her hair, Harley goes to Skate Club, where The Red Tool challenges her in what should certainly be a blood-match.
What it is that Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti do so well is write satire. How else could they get away with tearing off someone’s mohawk, someone else’s earlobes and then spend two pages discussing Harley’s mud flaps! Oh yeah: we also get a new hairdo that now makes our girl look totally like she stepped out of the new SUICIDE SQUAD movie. John Timms and Chad Hardin handle the art and hey…it’s HARLEY QUINN! You were expecting WAR AND PEACE?
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA # 8: With Rao’s cathedral on the moon destroyed, he and Superman continue to fight it out. Wonder Woman and Aquaman show up, leading to Rao being run through by Aquaman’s trident before being tossed into a boom tube sending him back to the Clean Energy Power Plant. Parasite is here and ready to suck away all that energy from Rao and the Justice League gives him their power too. The Flash returns from 1961 with the Infinity Corporation and gives Parasite access to the Speed Force. In the end, Rao is defeated, his followers are freed, the Parasite is betrayed by Batman and Superman is dead.
So the book looks great and that is thanks to Bryan Hitch. But I really don’t known want he is writing. Green Lantern is still missing, but Flash is back and it seems that the only reason he was gone is because we needed to do something to get him out of the book. Personally, I find this a major mess.
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #10: Supergirl and Bea battle against some nasty looking creatures called Scavvies when Tora finds out they aren’t that bad. The person who tells them that is her old pal Gnort. He also reveals that his boss is the infamous Agent Orange, Larfleeze. Meanwhile, the Convert, currently in Tarriq’s body, gets beaten out of it by The Flash and then jumps into Wonder Woman. Lastly, Eclipso gathers his forces and prepares to eliminate the Justice League. In the back-up, Lois and Ariel find a pole dancing Sinestro before being attacked by Scullions.
So, this series ends with the advent of REBIRTH, but that leaves Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis, and Scott Kolins free to work on BLUE BEETLE come September. As much as I love this book and will hate to see it go, I have been enjoying the back-up more. When do you ever get a chance to watch Sinestro pole dance in an intergalactic strip club? And when the ever amazing Coleen Doran illustrates it…absolutely gorgeous!
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #1: Firestorm returns to the DC Universe with Professor Stein running tests on a merged Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond. Meanwhile, Multiplex kidnaps Dr. Marla Cunningham while our hero discovers that the Firestorm Matrix is causing problems severe enough that it looks like Firestorm is going to explode! In the second story, Simon Stagg, his daughter Sapphire, and his ape-man lab assistant Java, are experimenting on Rex Mason, who has become Metamorpho after the Orb of Ra gave him powers. But Sapphire finds out what her dad’s experiments are all about and frees Mason. Unfortunately, Java has the hots for her and has decided that he is going to kill Rex Mason. Oh yeah…Kanjar Ro is heading to Earth. Next up, a grown up Sugar & Spike are private investigators who are on the hunt to get a zebra Batman suit from Killer Moth and return it to its’ rightful owner. In the final tale, the Metal Men return to help out a town under siege from robot missile men. Later, because of the events that the Nameless caused, the government demands that the Metal Men get decommissioned
First off, this semi-tie-in to the television show is one expensive monster-eight bucks. But when you realize that you’re getting four full length tales for eight bucks, it’s a good investment. But…are they worth spending the money on. Well, you get Firestorm by Gerry Conway and Eduardo Pansica and it’s just okay. Personally, I get having Dr. Stein resemble his television counterpart but don’t have to like it. Metamorpho by Aaron Lopresti with inks by Matt Banning is my favorite of the bunch. It’s a great story that retells Rex Mason’s origin with new details. And I’m a big fan of Lopresti’s work anyway. Sugar and Spike by Keith Giffen and Bisques Evely is just a weird, quirky tale. Heck-it’s Giffen. What else would you expect? Metal Men by Len Wein and Yildiray Cinar is my second favorite, as this team, despite having made Will Magnus far younger than I remember him, is one I grew up with. Personally, I like the concept of it all, but would have preferred slipping Firestorm out and maybe sliding Rip Hunter in.
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