ACTION COMICS #51: Read the synopsis for BATMAN SUPERMAN #31 first. Superman breaks into the Department of Extra-Normal Operations and saves Supergirl, although she is far from happy about it. She explains that she was having issues with her powers being drained and D.E.O. was trying to solve the problem when he came busting in. He explains that he is dying and he gives her the key to the Fortress of Solitude. That is when Wonder Woman shows up and wants to know why he hasn’t told her about his problem. Meanwhile, the surviving Chinese Dragon returns to Dr. Omen, who cuts off the Dragon’s hand which is covered in Superman's blood. Also, the parolee with the powers shows up at the Daily Planet and causes a world of mayhem, including using his heat vision to kill three security guards. Luckily, Lois knows how to use a taser.
Peter J. Tomasi and Paul Pelletier gives us the third chapter in what may be Superman’s last stand. I love that we have dropped the D.E.O. and Cameron Chase back into the mix…can we get her into the REBIRTH world? Tomasi’s story is great, especially with Lois zapping the big bad guy with the taser. And Pelletier’s art looks great, especially with Sandra Hope Archer inking him. Head on over to SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #28 for Part Four.
AQUAMAN #51: Scavenger gets a call from an FBI informant, telling him that Aquaman is hunting for him. Going back 12 hours earlier, we find that Jonah Payne, the man who was Dead Water, is being interrogated an, in its’ own way, being tortured. Payne is in a container that allows him to have no access to any water. The FBI shows up and Mera tells Payne that Dead Water has killed a bunch of people who allegedly wronged him, including his ex-wife. The last thing he remembers was working salvage for a guy named Peter Mortimer-The Scavenger. Arthur goes off after him and ends up being subdued by his huge aqua suit. Meanwhile, Payne breaks down and manages to crack his container, which also allows him to cry over his dead wife. That leads to Dead Water coming back.
Dan Abnett and Vicente Cifuentes continue to bring this arc to a conclusion before the NEW 52 becomes REBIRTH. Abnett’s story is fun, with Aquaman being tough as nails. And the appearance of The Scavenger was killer. Cifuentes is not Paul Pelletier, but his art style is pretty darned close. This book hasn’t had this much momentum since the first few issues. Hopefully, when it goes to twice a month during REBIRTH, this will continue. After all, Marvel’s answer to the King of the Sea is dead.
BATGIRL #50: We start three hours from now and it looks like the end for Batgirl. Back in the present, Fugue has put together a team made up of Dagger Type, Velvet Tiger, Killer Moth, The Jawbreakers and Corporal Punishment to go after Batgirl and her friends. From here, it’s a whole series of fight scenes between Batgirl’s friends and the villains. Batgirl finds out that Fugue is doing all of this just to be able to rob the Gotham Bank. She arrives and he tries to use her Neural Implant against her, so she uses the edge of her Batarang to cut into her head and disable the implant. This brings us back to the beginning of the book and Fugue shoots Batgirl, allegedly killing her. But it turns out that she has him in one of his tubes and has implanted false memories into him. In the end, Frankie patches up Barbara and introduces her to the new headquarters of Batgirl and Operator.
So, Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart with art from Babs Tarr, Roger Robinson, John Timms, Eleonora Carlini, James Harvey, and Stewart, bring this story arc to an end and prepare to turn over the reigns of this series to a new direction come June. What was one book will become two as BLACK CANARY leaves the schedule and BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY arrives. I have not been a fan of this series since Fletcher and company took over and have been pretty vocal about it. A sleek and sexy super-heroine seemed to get young and just did not appeal to me. There was actually a point where I hope we would go back to Pre-Flashpoint Batgirl as Oracle. Now we will see what we get.
BATGIRL #51: We begin with spoiler chasing after a stolen SWAT van and it seems that Gladius is back in town. Unfortunately, Barbara gets wind of the fact that Frankie is running ops behind her back involving Qadir and chews her out for her troubles.While Black Canary is in Poland digging into the plot and the plot involves breaking out Gladius Commander. Batgirl arrives on the scene, but can’t keep her from getting away. Following this, Barbara asks Alysia to run Gordon Clean Energy and tells Luke and Frankie that she has to go away for a while. She also runs across Olive and Maps while she is in the Gotham Library doing research. The bad news is that Black Canary and Vixen arrive to let the cast know that Gladius Commander wants revenge on Barbara’s family and friends.
Brenden Fletcher is the only person left from the “critically acclaimed” BATGIRL run and he’s done a nice job with handling his character. In fact, I actually like this issue better than most because he has done a good job of bringing other Bat characters into the mix. Eleonora Carlini, Minkyu Jung, and Roger Robinson handle the art here and they are all just doing their best to look like Babs Tarr. But I want to know when Black Canary’s hair turned white!
BATMAN #51: This issue is all about different views of what Gothan really is. But we begin with Alfred and Bruce in the Batcave and Alfred has two hands again thanks to crazy Quilt’s Healing Stitch. While out on patrol, the power goes out in Gotham and that means the Dark Knight is going about to find out why. This takes him through Arkham, the Labyrinth of the Owls, the Iceberg Casino, Black Mask, Great White Shark, and someone who used to be the Joker. In the end, he meets with a columnist for the Gotham Gazette who writes a column called “Gotham Is”. In the end, the power outage was just a power outage.
I’m sorry: I thought last issue was Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s last. At least that was the word on the street. Anyway, it’s nice to see them together here again and this is a low-key but fun issue that is more about characterization than action. It looks great and it’s obviously these two have big shoes to fill with REBIRTH. But it was cool to see Bats in drag with the Court of the Owls!
BATMAN BEYOND #11: Batman has survived his apparent death last issue by using a cloaking device in the suit to escape and it was thanks to Matt McGinnis yelling C-3 that helped to activate it. At this point, Matt and the Bat are going to attempt to free Superman, specifically Superman’s son Jon. But Dr. Cuvier activates him first and sets him to kill Matt, but Tuftan breaks Cuvier's mind control remote, which puts the Man of Steel back into a right mind. That also leads to the rest of the League being freed from their mind control. The Justice League head to Neo Gotham and convince the rioters to stop their actions, bringing peace to Neo Gotham. But, in the end, Rewire is talking to his mysterious boss concerning conquering Neo Gotham while the Justice League are trying to rebuild Earth.
Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang just keep making this series such a delight to me. I was not reading the previous series and wasn’t ever a fan of the television show. But the coolness of this series, especially over the last six issues, has made me a believer who is now searching for the DVDs. I can’t wait to see where this series will go with REBIRTH.
BATMAN SUPERMAN #31: Read the review of SUPERMAN #51 first! We find Superman heading to Gotham to see Batman and explain to him that he is dying. Batman insists he can help save him, as he was able to bring Damian back from the dead. All he wants is help in finding his cousin Kara. Over in Metropolis, a flaming Superman, who is really a parole violator who THINKS he is Superman, rescues some people from a fire and seems to think he knows Jimmy Olsen. In the end, Superman and Batman encounter The Four Pillars of the Chinese Zodiac, who implode rather than be captured. That means, with all the questions swirling about, Superman needs to get to National City to rescue his cousin.
Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke give us a killer second chapter in THE FINAL DAYS OF SUPERMAN arc. There are some great moments throughout, especially between Batman and Superman. The introduction of the creatures of the Chinese Zodiac adds a nice little bit of intrigue to where this whole thing is going with REBIRTH and I love we finally get to see Supergirl again in our own time. Of course, I am curious to see how we’re going to get the explanation of how she ended up back here.
BLACK CANARY #10: Dinah meets with Barbara Gordon, who is fangirling all over the place because her friend is in the band Black Canary. They end up together, investigating an old recording studio where they are searching for clues about Dinah’s mother. The “ninja death cult” shows up and fights our heroes, as they want to get their hands on the Five Heavens Palm. Batgirl gets taken down and Greyeyes insists Dinah show him the Five Heavens Palm or he will have Batgirl killed. She shows him another move and that just buys Barabara time, who has now taken out his minions, leading to a one on one between them. Dinah wins, leading to Greyeyes committing suicide. In the end, Barbara, Frankie and Dinah go off to try and save the band, as it appears they may be walking into a trap.
Brendan Fletcher writes this issue alone with art by Moritat and Sandy Jarrell. This series has bounced around from really good to really bad and this is certainly somewhere between the two. The story rolls along nicely in the recording studio scenes until we get this dumb fight, a self-immolation, and a rushed ending. All in all, I look forward to seeing Dinah hooked up with Oliver Queen in the forthcoming GREEN ARROW series after REBIRTH.
BLACK CANARY #11: Dinah heads off from Burnside to Berlin where she is looking to free her band from the German ninja cult that is holding them captive in suburban Berlin. She arrives at Club Unverhofft Kommt Oft to find the band playing backup for Izak Orato, who has hypnotized the band with a strange German song. He then proceeds to do the same to her until she sees Ditto in the crowd and that makes then all wake from their slumber. As they fall through a trap door and into a hall of mirrors, he shows her visions of her past. She unleashes a Canary Cry that not only shatters the mirrors but reveals Orato as a monster with a great big mouth in his chest. She gets outside and joins Vixen in battle against the ninjas. Dinah’s aunt arrives and then runs a samurai sword through Dinah, before revealing herself as Orato.
Because of the dreaded deadline doom, we get two issues this month as this titles races towards its’ end. Brenden Fletcher and Sandy Jarrell combine to give us a wild story with a great cliffhanger ending! I am really dying to see how Fletcher writes himself out of this one.
BLOODLINES #1: In the quiet town of Pine Ridge, we meet Eddie: a young man who suffers from a degenerative disease that has him needing crutches to walk. On his way to school, his friend Graham gives him a ride and it turns out to be a semi-regular day at school for him. We also meet Dana, Faith, Haley, and Ricky-the rest of the supporting cast. That night, the students of Pine Ridge High School are having a party when this strange deer-beast creature bursts onto the scene and begins attacking the kids. Eddie gets angry and transforms into a big blue creature with red eyes and destroys the creature by tearing it’s head off. Unfortunately, it’s too late to save his buddy Graham.
What the heck is this all about? Based on the title, I thought it might possibly have a connection to the old series of the same name from back in the day. But, apparently I was wrong. Or not. This six issue mini-series will obviously continue on even after REBIRTH begins, so maybe there is a chance it will tie into REBIRTH. J.T. Krul wrote it and V. Ken Marion is responsible for the art, which is very much like Brett Booth in style. My curiosity is piqued and that means I will read the next issue to see where this is going.
CATWOMAN #51: We begin with a new report announcing the imminent death of Black Mask’s father, Richard Sionis. That takes us back to a flashback where Selina and a guy named David are pulling a credit scam at Richard Sionis’ expense. It comes back to bite them, however, as they get stopped by the False Face Society and their leader, Richard Sionis. Back in the present, Catwoman almost has a run in with the False Face Society and their new leader, White Mask, as he grabs the Faceless Mask She goes off to spy on the group and finds out that White Mask is actually her old friend David, who is supposed to be dead. In the end, Black Mask, dressed as a a nurse, visits his dying father and finishes the job.
Creepy…very, very creepy! I love it! Frank Tieri and Inaki Miranda do a great job of weaving the past and the present together and leaving the mystery of the not-dead David as a mystery. Black Mask, White Mask and the False Face Society: this is a war waiting to explode. And I can’t wait!
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #11: Constantine is in Los Angeles and he is not happy. He storms into a Hollywood party being thrown by the Archangel Gabriel. John is looking for help concerning the Neron problem, but Gabriel has more important things on his mind and refuses to help. So Constantine ends up at an amusement park with his old friend Bartleby. John says that he is through with trying to save New York City…until Bartleby reminds him that his boyfriend Oliver is still in New York City. He heads off to Declan’s Bar & Grill to drown his sorrows and ends up being possessed by Deadman, who kidnaps his body and forces him back to New York City, where he finds out that Oliver’s daughters have been kidnapped.
Ming Doyle & James Tynion IV gives us this continuously weird story while Travel Foreman provides the art. This book is soon going to be like the television show: missing an audience because it has been pulled from the lineup, although he will be back in a new book after REBIRTH begins. I would like to say I’m happy, but I really wanted this series to work out. John Constantine is a legendary con man and anti-hero. For him to go from being a lovesick puppy drooling over his Justice League Dark teammate to looking to shag with anything that moves. Maybe the next time around the powers that be will actually get it right.
CYBORG #10: Victor and his dad get to spend some quality time with Victor’s “mom” before he turns himself over to Holmes, who is going to experiment on him, even though it’s illegal according to the Cybernetics Act. It turns out the Holmes is really being controlled by the Technosapiens and that Victor’s mother is really a creation of the Technosapiens. But Victor is one step ahead and has managed to infect the Technosapiens systems, making them easy pickings for Cyborg and Shazam. In the end, Victor destroys the hologram that wasn’t his mother.
Marv Wolfman: the Eighties called and they want their plot devices back. Sorry…I have always been a huge fan of Wolfman but this issue just didn’t do it for me. Too many cliches, too predictable (there was a whole conversation between Vic’s father and his “mother” that just tipped off the “something’s not right” radar early on). Ivan Reis did the layouts while Felipe Watanabe, Daniel Hdr and Julio Ferreira did the pencils.
DEATHSTROKE #17: Slade has been captured by Lawman, who he discovers is his old partner Wardell Chambers, who was killed on a mission many years ago. Well, apparently he is not, as he is here and now has mind control powers that he has used to manipulate the hatred in Slade’s daughter Rose. The two begin a fight to the death that is interrupted by Red Hood, who has come to help out Deathstroke while Snakebite assist Lawman. But Lawman uses his powers to convince Red Hood that Batman has arrived and needs his help, which leads to a battle between the two again. In the process, Rose gets run through by Lawman and so does Slade. It looks like she is done until the pair disappear before the villains’ eyes thanks to a bit of mind control from Jericho who introduces his father to Ra’s al Ghul.
Things look like they’re going from bad to worse for Slade Wilson. Not only are he and his daughter seriously wounded, his estranged son has now brought him to Ras al Ghul himself. James Bonny and Tyler Kirkham give us a great issue that sets up for the big finish next month.
DETECTIVE COMICS #51: An old Marine buddy of Jim Gordon warns him about stuff going down from their past. That doesn’t last long as his friend is killed and his killer takes himself out with a foaming mouth suicide. After finding out that his friend and his killer had large strips of flesh stripped off their body. Gordon heads off to Afghanistan and he meets up with some of the Marines who know about what is going on with their comrades dying. He ends up doing some Batman style investigation and ends up at a meeting between Colonel Stone and one of the followers of Amun-Set who wants Gordon and all the rest dead. Gordon heads out in the desert and gets caught in a sandstorm. That is when we find out that Gordon and his fellow servicemen interrupted a ritualistic torture chamber.
Peter Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin give us what started to feel like a fill-in issue, but by the end, we realize that this is just the first act in the final arc before REBIRTH. The story is Tomasi’s typical solid writing and, of course, Pasarin just knocks it out of the park, especially with Matt Ryan inking him. The book just looks amazing! I can’t wait to see how Tomasi gets this out and makes the transition to REBIRTH, with Bruce back in the costume.
DOCTOR FATE #11: Khalid has been captured by the ghosts of Caesar and his Roman soldiers and they have brought him to a General who has great interest on his amulet. Unfortunately for the general, it does have a magical power that burns him when he tries to take it for himself. That angers the general and he demands that the ghosts eliminate Doctor Fate. Khalid figures out that the general has the knife that killed Caesar and that is what is giving him his power over them. Khalid uses his powers to free the knife from the general and that causes the ghosts to go to their rest. Without his ghosts, the general is powerless and is captured by Khalid. Good thing too as he has received word that he is about to get kicked out of school. Meanwhile, Khlaid’s mom and Puck the cat have a talk.
Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew have struggled through this series and it has never made a foothold in DC’s Universe. Personally, I think it has to do with the character, as Levitz has tried too hard to make him a Peter Parker clone. It has never really worked for me and I have never really warmed up to Liew’s art style. I will be curious to see what happens with REBIRTH. When Doctor fate gets introduced, who wears the helm?
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #11: Red Arrow and Ted Grant come charging through a window to try and save Batman from Hourman, but he has already found a way to take him down by using Anti-Miraclo. So Batman sends Arrow and Ted after Kyle Nimbus and they take him down as a team. Meanwhile, Green Lantern sets up a meeting between the soon to be warring Governors, but they blame Lantern and the Wonders for everything, including the fact that their planet is barren. Because of this, Sato, Steel and Sandman issue Martial Law and that means killing anyone who gets out of hand. In the end, Fury tells Hawkgirl how almost everyone on the Aphrodite died of radiation poisoning so she used the Pandora vessel to merge the souls of the Amazonians the dead to save them both.
Dan Abnett continues his run on this title, with Federico Dallocchio handling the art duties. I so wish I could love this series but I just don’t love these characters and it feels like Abnett is trying to put a Band-Aid on this book to keep it from getting worse. The characters got really flat at the end of the last series and now it just seems like it’s all going to hell for our heroes. There is a future for EARTH 2 in REBIRTH. I just hope it’s the CLASSIC EARTH 2!
THE FLASH #50: The Flash has been captured by the Rogues so Captain Frye has him sent to Iron Heights. Barry’s dad hears a radio report about it and immediately calls in a favor. Girder and Overload break loose and take the Flash with them, thanks to that phone call from Henry Allen. As Iron Heights loses power and an explosion almost kills Frye, Barry now has to deal with a whole bunch of loose convicts. The Rogues get involved but the Trickster has betrayed them in favor of supporting the person who has Heat Wave: The Riddler. In the back-up, we see Wally West understanding what makes up the Speed Force from his future self.
Van Jensen, with Jesus Merino and Paul Pelletier, handled the main story while Jensen and Joe Eisma did the back-up. The back-up was obviously a great lead in for Wally West’s new role in REBIRTH. The big bang was in the main story where we see that The Riddler is the bad guy here. Boy, for a guy who was a low grade, although classic, Batman villain, he sure has made a name for himself in the new 52. One more issue to go and then it’s REBIRTH time for the Fastest Man Alive.
GOTHAM ACADEMY #17: In YEARBOOK PART FOUR, Maps is freaking out because Robin broke in and took her book. This leads to a tale where the gang meets up with Heathcliff, who is acting as road manager for Black Canary. He then goes to talk to his crush, Pomeline, and they go off for a walk, where he hands her a special cassette tape that Lord Byron made for her and also autographed. He decides to play her a song, but she runs off, listening to him from inside her room. Then we get the story of Maps and Olive running into Teekl, who is in the process of bringing Klarion back his first spell book. Then we get the tale of what happened to the Gilkey Warlocks, who called forth a creature while playing a game of Serpents and Spells and were never heard from again. In the end, they might have another meeting real soon with a Robin who is doing his best to hide in plain sight.
We’re almost at the end here, as there is one more chapter to go in YEARBOOK. This issue was kind of fun and was brought to us by Brendan Fletcher, Adam Archer, Annie Wu, Michael Dialynas and David Peterson. It is a wonderful mix of writing and illustrated style here and my favorite piece was seeing Klarion come back in something resembling his CLASSIC FORM.
GRAYSON #19: Doctor Dredalus has return and his daughters are a bit upset about it, especially because Luka is tasked with killing her sister. But she is not dead and Dredalus kills Luka. Max Lord shows up and tells Netz he will save her if she turns over the Minos Files and reveals that he created Mister Minos and Minos is Max. She deletes the files as she dies, leaving Lord empty handed after all. Elsewhere, Dick and Tiger, who is working for Checkmate, fight it out while Midnighter, having seen that all that has happened was about bringing Doctor Dredalus back, splits the scene. In the end, Dick confronts Doctor Dredalus, who is in the body of Helena.
Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly take over the story, Roge Antonio has taken over the art, and that means this issue is a big disappointment. The story is fun, however, as the sisters die, Helena needs to be saved from Doctor Dredalus, Tiger is working for the bad guys and Max Lord proves, once again, that he is a major player in the world…and not in a good way. This is the penultimate issue that will wrap next month and lead to Dick Grayson becoming Nightwing again.
GREEN ARROW #51: Green Arrow, Emiko and George have been captured by an African militia who plan on ransoming our heroes. They also have Doctor Miracle, who they are using to heal their various injuries. Deathstroke is also here as he wants Doctor Miracle too, so that means he’s blasting his way through the camp. Slade kills all the militia and that leads to him killing Green Arrow. Really? Yeah-big old knife in the chest as Deathstroke captures Doctor Miracle.
Ush…that was a long issue with not much happening. Ben Percy has painted Ollie into a corner that I’m pretty sure that Doctor Miracle will get him out of and, I’m sure, will purge him of his current wolf illness. The highlight here is Szymon Kudranski’s art. Actually…that was the ONLY highlight here. Sorry…I didn’t need another Deathstroke book!
GREEN LANTERN #51: Hal is a green construct of what he was recently in space but doesn’t know who he really is. His brother Jim fills the construct in on Hal’s history Jordan, which finally convinces Hal to become Hal again. Now that he has become himself again, he decides that he needs to find the Green Lantern Corps and he leaves Earth. Out in space, Trapper and Virgo are being attacked by the Gray Agents and Darlene is getting disabled. They get transported to the Gray Agent's ship, where they decide to head to Earth. But Hal shows up and is preparfed to make sure that doesn’t happen.
I totally love Robert Venditti’s work, but this is not his best work. The whole Hal as a construct part of the story, complete with life history that tied up the first half dozen pages of the book was annoying. Then we have three pages of Hal deciding that he must search for the lost Lanterns…how did he know they were missing? And the rest of the book revisits a pair we haven’t seen in ages. On the plus side, Rafa Sandoval’s art is really great!
GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #4: As Kilowog tells Guy that he was right to be concerned about protecting these aliens, the team gets beat up while fighting against Marniel. But Xrill-Vrek reveals that Marniel isn't the villain here, but that Ausras and Dismas are. It also seems that they can control minds and that leads to Guy want to have the rest of the Lanterns protect them.
Well, now that we have lost Ethan Van Sciver to the REBIRTH project, we get Aaron Kuder. That’s not a bad thing, but he’s not Ethan Van Sciver. Tom Taylor continues to write the book and the fact that we’re now two-thirds of the way through the series and we get the big reveal makes me a bit upset. Did I really just waste three issues of my reading life only to find out that this was a swerve? Looks like!
HARLEY QUINN #27: Harley battles Red Tool, but he gasses the place and takes her with him, singing all the while. He takes her to the top of the Wonder Wheel Ferris wheel where he feeds her Nate Man’s hot dogs and fries. He starts to show her his secret origin, but the battery on his phone dies, leading to Harley eventually getting free and dumping him out of the Ferris wheel. Once she gets back to her Gang of Harleys, she finds out that what she thought was a bruise on her but is actually a phone number that Red Tool tattooed on her posterior. This leads her to a certain address where she discovers that Red Tool has set up their wedding day.
Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, with art by John Timms, continue with their brand of sophomoric satire, complete with Red Tool being their version of Deadpool. It’s more of the same old same old. You will either like it or not. It’s not Chaucer, but it has it’s moments.
HARLEY QUINN AND HER GANG OF HARLEYS #1: Meet the Gang of Harleys! We have Erica Zhang as Harley Queens, Antonia Moore as Harlem Harley, Shona Choudhury as Bolly Quinn, Harvey McPherson as Harvey Quinn, Carlita Alvarez as Carli Quinn, Hannah Borgman as Hanuquinn, and Holly Hamden as Coach. There job is to protect Coney Island from all manner of annoying people. Harley goes into a Port-a-Potti to drop a deuce and disappears. Apparently, she has been kidnapped right off the potty! The team takes to the town, going to Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island too in search of their fearless leader. In the end, it seems there is a new Harley in town-Harley Sinn
The first thing you notice is that Amanda Conner is nowhere to be seen and that makes all the difference. Jimmy Palmiotti and Frank Tieri wrote this and that means there are nowhere near as many off-color jokes in here (except for a reference about playing with her beaver). So I guess we know who the dirty one is in the Palmiotti household! Mauricet provides the art and it looks good. Of course, when you fill a book with that many scantily clad women(and one man), how could it not look good?
HARLEY QUINN AND THE SUICIDE SQUAD APRIL FOOL’S SPECIAL #1: Harley gets an invitation to join a villain support group called Evil Anonymous and she decides that she will actually use her psychiatrist’s degree to help the villains. She tries to subdue Man-Bat and gets knocked out in the process. She ministers to Enchantress, Ratcatcher, Starro, Toyman, Poison Ivy , Killer Moth and more. But then the Justice League busts in an captures her. This reveals that she has been dreaming all of this, as she has been under the hypnotic control of Amanda Waller. She is about to become part of the NEW NEW SUICIDE SQUAD, coming in June, starring Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Killer Croc and Katana.
While I did find parts of it humorous, I wouldn’t call it an April Fool’s Special. Rob Williams wrote it, which makes for a nice change from the usual Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti hijinx. However, it all just ends up being a lead-in for the June REBIRTH title. Sean “Cheeks” Galloway provides the bulk of this issue, as his cartoony style provides the fantasy piece where Harley does her therapy. The real highlight here is getting 20 pages of beautiful Jim Lee art. Lee is the guy responsible for the new series in June, so let’s hope that his stay will be lengthy, because this stuff looks awesome!
HARLEY QUINN’S BIG BLACK BOOK #3: An old amusement park ride called Hellgate 2 is ready to be torn down but it is haunted by Rick the Ringmaster, Betty the Tattooed Lady, and Bob the Lobsterman and they aren’t happy about that. Over at Harley’s apartment, she is dealing with her drunken British visitors while Tony’s newest boarder, Zatanna, is dealing with a visit from the ghosts. She scares them off, so they [pop upstairs to visit Harley who responds with some violence of her own. This leads to Zatanna showing up and the two girls teaming up. The ghosts explain that Jolly Straton, the original operator of Hellgate 2, was infected by a partially-summoned demon and he has been after them since 1911. Of course, they are safe within the confines of the ride, which is going to be torn down and that makes them vulnerable. Zatanna and Harley go to the spectral plane and ask Jolly to release the three. But he says he is a prisoner of a demon named Nad Oidid. So they go off to his pleasure palace filled with sexy naked people, where he sees he is in the presence of his favorite murderer in Harley and he agrees to free everyone if she spends a month with him in Hell. But she drives him nuts and he sends her home within 24 hours.
Here is all you need to know about this. Issue: Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner wrote it in their usual ridiculously silly style. And the demon is Dan Didio spelled backwards. The highlight? Joseph Michael Linsner drew the whole freaking thing! So, if you can wade through the silliness, you truly get treated by Linsner’s always amazing art! That IS the reason to buy this book. And, if you’re lucky, you can also find a copy with the Linsner variant cover.
JUSTICE LEAGUE THE DARKSEID WAR SPECIAL #1: Jessica Cruz’ consciousness is trapped inside Volthoom, along with everyone who ever wore the ring at some point, specifically the former Power Ring, Harold Jordan. He tries to convince her to stay and give into her fears. But she races to the light that she believes is Volthoom's main Power Battery. Actually, it turns out that it’s Cyborg. The other main story is the origin of Grail, who was born on the same night that Hippolyta gave birth to Diana. It appears that just as Hippolyta is about to name her daughter, Myrina spies something she shouldn’t and is chased after by the Amazons. Myrina and Grail flee Themyscira and spent their lives dealing with Grail’s quest to find the Anti-Monitor so she can kill Darkseid. In the end, we learn that Grail has captured Steve Trevor and transfers part of the Anti-Life Equation into him with a kiss. What happens next? Tune into JUSTICE LEAGUE #49
Geoff Johns contributes the story in this off shoot of the Darkseid War that seems to be going on forever. That’s not so much because the story is running long, it is just running behind. Two issues behind most of the rest of the New 52 books, in fact. The art is great and it should be, considering that Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Oscar Jimenez, Paul Pelletier and Tony Kordos all leave their stand on it. Just remember that this will all lead to a new status quo for when REBIRTH begins. At least…that is the promise.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #49: While Superwoman prepares to give birth to the baby that the Crime Syndicate believes is the secret weapon to kill Mobius, Lex Luthor arrives and battles with Mobius. Superman shows up and joins the fight, along with Wonder Woman, while Lex is visited by the Black Racer influenced Flash, who informs him that death is coming. Big Barda, having realized that Lex and the Parademons are here, heads off to Apokolips to free the slaves. As the baby boy child is born, Grail, Myrina, and a powerful Steve Trevor arrive and Trevor uses his new found powers to kill Mobius. At this point, Grail announces that Steve is going to kill all of them next.
Picking up from where the DARKSEID WAR SPECIAL left off, Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok nail this one! The story is totally captivating and Fabok’s art is just utterly amazing. So, who is REALLY the father of Superwoman’s baby-a child that was supposedly going to have the powers we now see that Steve Trevor has? My guess: Darkseid. And that would lead to his resurrection somehow. This has been a weird, wild ride so far and I can’t wait to see how Johns gets out of this one!
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #11: While G'nort and Supergirl debate the good and bad points of Larfleeze, Ice convinces him to turn his attention to Lady Styx. Guy Gardner is fluctuating between the Guy and Shiryalla Tome personality and Ice tells Larfleeze that Lady Styx has his ring. Meanwhile, Eclipso tells Lady Styx that he will destroy the Justice League and she informs him to keep Teri alive. Over on Takron-Galtos, Wonder Woman, Flash and Batgirl make the decision to head back to Paradise Island where they talk with G'nort, until Eclipso and his Legion of Doom arrive, leading to a knock down, drag out fight between the two teams. During it all, Terry and Teri have a less than happy reunion. In the end, Lois Lane and Ariel Masters are on the run from the Scullions, who figure the best way to stop the girls is to neutralize the whole planet.
I am so sad that this book is not continuing with the coming of REBIRTH, but that will just free up Keith Giffen, J. M. DeMatteis and Scott Kolins for some other greatness. This book has been fun from the beginning and this issue is no exception. With Batgirl in a Batsuit singing the Batman theme and Guy Gardner having a personality crisis of epic proportions, this title is just one long joke with some plot and action thrown in. How does that differ from HARLEY QUINN, which also has pushed the boundaries of humor? Well…this is actually funny!
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