ACTION COMICS #52: Read BATMAN SUPERMAN #32 first. The Final Days of Superman Part 6. In a scene mirroring the opening of BATMAN SUPERMAN #32, Superman and Wonder Woman are holding hands as they fly away from China along with Batman, when the Man of Steel loses consciousness and falls onto the Batplane. Meanwhile, Lois and the parolee Superman chat and he offers to show her a secret. That means a trip to Salinas, California, where the Pre Flashpoint Clark and Jon are having breakfast. With a possible threat to Jon, Clark attacks the parolee Superman and drives him out of the house, leaving the New 52 Lois with Jon. Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman track the solar flare activity to Salinas, which brings the New 52 Superman face to face with the Pre-Flashpoint Superman. New 52 Lois comes home to find her home busted up and Clark shows up and whisks her, Jon and their pets away. In the end, the parolee Superman asks the Trinity if they are here to ask him to join the Justice League. Continued in SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #29.
Peter J. Tomasi, with Dale Eaglesham and Scot Eaton handling the art, brings the three Supermen together into this. I have yet to totally figure out how DC is going to make this all work. As of right now, we have three people who are Superman to a degree. And we believe that the New 52 Clark is dying while the Pre-Flashpoint Clark will be the flag bearer during REBIRTH. But what do we do and how do we handle TWO LOIS LANE’s. Unless this world’s Lois bites it somehow alone with the parolee Superman. We shall see.
AQUAMAN #52: Arthur battles Scavenger while Mera battles a recently escaped Dead Water. Once defeated, Scavenger explains how Payne and two companions encountered some weird water in a mini-sub. With only one oxygen tank, Payne killed the other two and headed back to the surface, but became transformed in the process. Now he is here and he wants revenge on Scavenger and begins to eat him. Aquaman reminds Dead Water that he killed two men to save himself and the human portion of Payne comes through and he kills himself on Aquaman's trident.
Dan Abnett and Vincente Cifuentes give us a lackluster ending as they wrap up this series. I say lackluster because there are some glaring plot point holes. For example: why would Dead Water commit suicide and leave behind an orphaned son that he was so concerned about earlier in the story arc. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. So, this one goes down hard on what should have been a wonderful trip towards REBIRTH.
BATGIRL #52: Gladius Commander is holding most of Gotham Academy hostage, but that is just what Barbara wants. She has amassed a team made up of Black Canary, Vixen, Spoiler, and Bluebird and they lead the charge against the villain. They are quickly taken down and we discover that Gladius Commander wasn’t really that Gladius Commander after all. She tracks down the real Gladius Commander and makes short work of her, which means she has time to get to her surprise going away party. The issue ends with the going away party and we get to see Barbara say her goodbyes to everyone she loves. So where is Luke Fox in all of this?
You would think that Babs Tarr, the person who was responsible for the look of Batgirl over the last year or so, would be here for this title’s final gasp. But she’s not. She has left the title in the hands of writer Brenden Fletcher and artists Eleonora Carlini and Minkyu Jung, who attempt to ape Tarr but are not that successful. It actually looks more like an issue of GOTHAM ACADEMY. Either way, Barbara leaves Burnside and heads back to Gotham where she will start her life over again. She will be running through two titles, as the Birds of Prey reunite. Or at least A VERSION of the Birds of Prey will appear, as she teams up with Black Canary and former Spyral agent Helena Bertinelli.
BATMAN #52: Just two weeks after his parents were murdered, Dr. Leslie Thompkins comes to visit a young Bruce Wayne. She suggests he start a book and list things he needs to do to move on. Flash forward through many years later, when he is training and is still carrying his book with him. Today, a high tech bank robber named Crypsis, who has stolen something important belonging to Bruce Wayne out of a safety deposit box. When Batman catches up with him, he brags that he has Bruce Wayne’s biggest secret and will sell it to the highest bidder. It turns out that it’s the notebook. In the end, Batman returns to the Batcave with the book and he and Alfred share a tender son/surrogate father moment.
James Tynion IV and Riley Rossmo present what I would best call a fill-in issue as Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo left the book last month. The tale that ties into Batman’s past and how Bruce’ notebook proved so important to him was just cute buut did nothing to flesh out the Dark Knight’s tale. Okay: cute but not essential to the legend of the Bat. This is the last issue before the renumbering and the new creative team. Let’s see if the new team can live up to the work that the old team did.
BATMAN BEYOND #12: We begin in the past, with old Bruce Wayne chewing out Terry McGinnis for going through some of his computer files. When Bruce walks off, Barbara shows Terry Red Robin’s costume in a display case. Tim Drake, as she tells him, just up and disappeared one day. In the present, Barbara finds that ironic as Tim, now in the Batsuit, as he goes after Rewire. Unfortunately, Rewire knows how to short circuit Tim’s suit and he finds himself powerless and gets dropped into a river. In the end, Rewire meets up with his mysterious partner who is only concerned with keeping Rewire alive.
Dan Jurgens and Philip Tan do a killer job on this issue! I have said before that Jurgens has done a great job of inspiring me to seek out the DVD’s for the BATMAN BEYOND show and actually go look for back issues of the comic series. And this is why: curve balls and characters that I never thought I would get to see. While this series has had a bunch of ups and downs, and many more downs than ups, it is really caught my attention and made me want to see where this will fit into REBIRTH when that happens.
BATMAN SUPERMAN #32: The Final Days of Superman Part 5. We begin with Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman trying to track down the parolee and they end up in China where they meet the Great Ten. And then they battle the Great Ten until they restore order by putting Hu Wei’s necklace back on again and it stops her berserk rage. The Trinity explains that they were tracking an energy source and it brought them here. The Great Ten take them to Dr. Omen, who shows off her Superman. He breaks loose and the Great ten promise to hunt him down. Meanwhile, the Superman parolee arrives at Lois’ apartment and wants to talk. Continued in ACTION COMICS #52.
Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke bring us the next chapter in the closing epic. Unfortunately, we spend almost the entire issue with the Trinity fighting the Great Ten and it becomes a long fight issue, minus a nice little “gee it’s great to have the band back together” moment involving Clark, Bruce and Diana. And who or what is a Hu Wei? Anyway, we get to look at what I believe is the first full appearance of the NEW SUPERMAN, who will soon have his own book during REBIRTH. As this races to an end, you have to wonder what will happen when this Lois eventually meets the OTHER Lois.
BLACK CANARY #12: Running late. This won’t ship until June 8 and will be reviewed next month.
BLOODLINES #2: The comet from last issue is seen again as it launches projectiles onto a handful of residents of the town. Next we go to Graham’s funeral followed by members of the Pine Ridge High School football team wanting to beat Eddie up for causing their friend’s death. Then we see various vignettes of the other people who have gained strange powers. We have high school student Dana who is vlogging herslef for YouTube. Haley is in a bar and pierces some guy’s hand with a weird tattoo that comes off of her. Officer Blake is getting frustrated texting his ex-girlfriend that he causes a bottle of beer to become a bomb. Faith is a spoiled child who uses her powers to slaughter everyone at a kid’s birthday party. Blake and his partner investigate it and they are greeted by Duncan who claims this is the end of the world. That night, Eddie wakes from a bad dream and decides to go skateboarding, which causes him to transform again. In the process, Albert appears and says they should talk.
Can someone explain why this book even exist? Is it because DC needed to renew the trademark on BLOODLINES or something. First the good news: V. Ken Marion’s art is great and sort of reminds me of Ian Churchill’s work. Anyway-here’s a major talent! Now the bad: J.T. Krul’s story. I don’t really think Krul, who previously wrote GREEN ARROW and CAPTAIN ATOM, is a bad writer. I just don’t understand where this book is going. If I wanted super-powered folks with no clue, I could go back and re-read THE RAVENGERS.
CATWOMAN #52: Selina is trying to figure out how it is that her ex-boyfriend David is still alive and is the White Mask. She breaks up a little private party he is having with a couple of girls and it’s time for each one to unmask, causing him to be totally surprised to see that Catwoman is his ex. This leads to a flashback that shows what happened with the meeting between David, Selina and Richard Sionis, where she and David were instructed to steal "The Faceless Mask". They steal the mask, end up back at Sionis’ place where David decides he would rather have a shoot ‘em up rather than give up the mask. That leads to him getting shot and “dying”. In actuality, it was a well-rehearsed ruse between Sionis and David, complete with blanks and fake blood. In the present, Black Mask arrives, tells the tale of David’s death, and explains how he is here to get revenge on David. Selina tell Black mask he can have David and leaves…but not before running off with the mask.
Frank Tieri, with Inaki Miranda and Pop Mhan, ends the NEW 52 run of everyone’s favorite kitty cat bad girl/good girl and does so with a wonderful story with a cool twist ending. While Miranda and Mhan combine for some great looking, highly atmospheric art, Tieri’s story puts a nice cap on the series and further proves that you can’t always trust a kitty. I’ll be curious to see what role Selina plays from here on out in the new DCU.
CONSTANTINE: THE HELLBLAZER #12: Constantine storms into Club Midnight, demanding to see Neron, only to find out that Papa Midnite and Blythe, who John left in hell a couple of issues back, have struck a deal with Neron. Neron interjects and Blythe informs John that he can’t exorcise them, forcing him to leave the Club without Oliver’s kids. When he returns to the bar to tell Oliver this, he storms out, leaving Constantineto hit on some woman at the bar. And that’s when he thinks of a loophole. Whatever it actually is, Constantine is planning to draft Zatanna, Deadman and Swamp Thing into his scheme.
What? Okay…so Constantine screws up, gets tossed out of Club Midnight, gets told off by his boyfriend, reveals how he kind of did that on purpose, then tries to pick up a WOMAN and finally ends up with his old JL Dark teammates. Gotta love that John Constantine! Anyway, Ming Doyle & James Tynion IV wrote it and Eryk Donovan illustrated it and it was a fun issue. One more to go and then our British mage disappears for a little while…until the next version of this title rears its’ ugly head.
CYBORG #11: Silas Stone is running some tests on Cyborg , which leads our hero to reach out across the Internet and finds out the plane with Dr. Sarah Charles is on has been hacked. After believing a woman from Afghanistan MUST be the cause, even though all she is doing is to travel to Detroit to see her fiancé, he discovers a series of warehouses being burned which has something to do with all of this. He makes his way into the Dark Web and stops the hackers. In the end, he and Sarah chat.
You know you could be in trouble when you have three pencilers working on a book in the form of Felipe Watanabe, Daniel HDR, and Julio Ferreira. What that gives us is a mixed up looking issue that tries to be cohesive but fails miserably. Marv Wolfman’s story is just there…no great moments and no killer bits. It just exists. Personally, this series seems to be limping along until REBIRTH.
DEATHSTROKE #18: Two months have passed since the end of last issue and Slade is in Monte Carlo and taking out Victor’s associates. Then it’s off to Nanda Parbat where Rose and Jericho are training and being observed by Slade and Ra’s. Over in Northern California, Lawman and Snakebite listen to the plans of the boss Mystasia and it’s a good thing too, as Jericho, Rose and Deathstroke attack their hideout. Of course a battle ensues, with Lawman taking over Rose’ mind and allowing her to attacks Slade. Jericho unleashes his power on Rose and nearly kills her, leading to Ra’s appearing and saying he can both save her and leave Slade in his debt forever.
James Bonny and Paolo Pantalena bring us closer to the end of this series but not quite. Looks like the only way that Slade can save his dear old daughter is to play nice with Ra’s al Ghul. Pantalena’s art is confusing and I find it hard sometimes to know who is who. And Bonny’s story is running about three issues too long. It is beginning to feel like he is stretching it to get to the end. Sigh! Hope for better in the new series.
DETECTIVE COMICS #52: Jim Gordon, in his super cool Batsuit, teams up with his Marine buddies to free their fellow Marines from the clutches of the followers of Amun-Set. The Marines fight it out with the followers while Amun-Set gets wrapped up like a mummy with strips of skin and goes after Gordon. The pair are pretty well even matched until Gordon lights up the containers holding the supply of skin. As Batman flees, his fellow Marines come back to kill a burning Amun-Set. They then bury the place and agree to tell no one and move on with their lives. In the end, Gordon returns Wyler’s dog tags to his widow.
Peter J. Tomasi and Fernando Pasarin bring the NEW 52 run of DETECTIVE COMICS, and Jim Gordon’s tenure as Batman, to an end with this tale. Okay-it was a nice change of pace that looked amazing. But let’s be honest: it’s not Bruce Wayne and we all want jim Gordon back with a stache and smoking! That’s just the way it is! Next month, we go back to the original numbering, like THAT isn’t going to mess with your database entries, and Batman and Batwoman team-up to train the next generation of heroes including…Clayface? Yeah…this will be an interesting ride.
DOCTOR FATE #12: Khalid is all set to be tossed out of school for his multiple absence when Dean Raskin has a heart attack and dies. But that doesn’t stop Khalid who spends the rest of the story chasing after Raskin’s soul, where he is forced to fight Anubia. In the end, Raskin lives, Khalid is allowed to stay in school, Bastet gets to go to his eternal rest, and our hero gets to meet his Uncle Kent. Kent Nelson, that is, who reminds Khalid that he has something that belongs to him.
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Kudos to Paul Levitz for at last having the sense to introduce the proper Dr. Fate into this mythology. For the first time since the beginning, I am actually interested in the next issue. Sonny Liew continues to give us his interesting style of art and, although I am not a fan of it, I am getting accustomed to it. I expect that this is Levitz’ way of paving the road for Kent Nelson’s return during REBIRTH. While this was a nice experiment, I won’t be sad to see it go.
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #12: In an effort to keep the war from happening, Green lantern Alan Scott gives up his power to provide Earth 2 with all the energy it needs. In the end, we see that the Ultra Humanite has been pulling the strings that led us to this point and that makes his plan ready to move into full action.
I’m sorry: I just couldn’t bring myself to writing a long synopsis about the various factions pissing and moaning about acting or not acting. Dan Abnett’s dialogue is his usual work although I find Iban Coello’s art uninteresting and too angular for my tastes. Why is it there is a whole generation trying to draw like Frank Robbins and Irv Novick and not a one can hold a candle to either of them? What I DID enjoy was the appearance of the Ultra Humanite!
THE FLASH #51: The Riddler has revealed his plan to The Flash and the Rogues, involving the various death drones. Just when things seem bad for our hero, in rolls the Pied Piper to save the day. The police show up and the Riddler informs them of his plan and how they now work for him. He gets on the air and informs the Flash that he must surrender or his drones will kill everyone. And if THAT doesn’t work, there is always the chance to set off Heat Wave like a nuclear bomb. In the end, Barry reveals his secret identity and surrenders.
Major kudos to Van Jensen for the plot twist that I didn’t see coming! Barry unmasks himself and surrenders. Yeah-I saw the surrender coming, but not the open unmasking. Let’s see Jensen write his way out of this! Also, Gus Vasquez puts in a nice turn on the art. I love that The Riddler has become a major player in the New 52 Universe and not just in a Bat title. I also love the long-awaited return of the Pied Piper. He has been dormant too long in Flash Mythos.
THE FLASH #52: An unmasked Barry Allen is trapped in The Riddler’s lair with his head in a guillotine. Elsewhere, Wally West starts to run, which triggers the drones in the city, leading The Riddler to believe that Barry is a fake. Darryl gets Barry free and sends him off to finds the REAL Flash. He heads off to the Rogues’ base, messes with Axel’s robotic hand and that causes him to bring Lisa back to live…with a new power. As The Riddler wreaks havoc on the city, Flash and the Rogues team up to take out his drones. They end up back at Riddler’s hideout and Trickster uses his mechancial arm to blow Heat Wave out of his cell. Axel is badly injured, but Flash tells the Rogues he will survive. Back in Central City, Flash and the Rogues, with a lot of help from Pied Piper’s collection of rats, take out The Riddler. Darryl admits he was wrong and hopes that he and The Flash can work again in the future.
And thus ends the New 52 run of Barry Allen. The highlight of Van Jensen’s story was the long-awaited team-up between The Flash and The Rogues. That was a fan-boy’s dream! Jesus Merino’s art was on target to, especially with all of the action sequences peppered throughout the story. The downside of it all was I wanted a bit more than a few panel wrap up to our hero’s New 52 run. With REBIRTH, does all of this change? Does Barry end up with Iris and how do we account for what appears will be two Wally Wests? Again,. I wanted more of a wrap up than we got here. But it was an AWESOME moment with Barry and the Rogues!
GOTHAM ACADEMY #18: Yearbook Part Five. Maps and Olive continue to give chase to Robin, who has stolen Maps’ scarpbook. Along the way, we discover how Professor Milo was dismissed from the Academy for breaking into the Headmaster’s private chambers. We also see how Maps stole a silver solution from Mister Silversmith so she could make her monster fighting weapon. During the annual school talent show, Maps and Pom end up with a forced bonb that may eventually turn into a friendship. And Kyle teaches Mia how drive drive in a aspecially designed Bat Golf Cart. In the end, the scrapbook is found, with a special series of drawings that lead to a gift: a first edition of SERPENTS & SPELLS.
That’s all for GOTHAM ACADEMY until August when a one shot appears(and don’t forget the LUMBERJANES GOTHAM ACADEMY book), followed by a full REBIRTH series in September. Not a new series, mind you, as the numbering will continue. This issue was written by Brenden Fletcher, Steve Orlando, Natasha Alterici, and Faith Erin Hicks with art from Hicks, Adam Archer, Sandra Hope, Serge LaPointe, Minkyu Jung, and Natasha Alterici. I’m actually looking forward to the new series as I am curious to see how all of this will fit into REBIRTH continuity. Until then, class dismissed!
GRAYSON #20: Dick continues his battle with Doctor Daedalus, who is inside of Helena Bertinelli's body. He tells Daedalus to leave Helena’s body and enter his instead.
The couple kiss and then the transformation happens. Otto asks “Who is Dick Grayson” and that is when the Somnus Satellite from BATMAN AND ROBIN ETERNAL kicks in and wipes everyone’s memory of who Dick Grayson was. This leads to a battle in the mind of Otto Netz with all Dick’s various incarnations joining in the fight. With one code word, Netz is defeated and forgotten. Meanwhile, Patron reveals that he has left Checkmate and proceeds to assassinate Alia, before returning back to Spyral. In the end, Dick bids goodbye to Helena and proceeds to his new destiny: as Nightwing.
Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, along with art from Roge Antonio, bring this series to an end and I have to give them a bunch of points. This team had to step into a killer title and pick up the pieces they were left with. To that end, it was a truly satisfying ending to a fun book. I certainly hope that the dangling plot twist gets resolved somewhere else. Unfortunately it looks like the new of the New 52 could mean the end of that plot and leave fans wondering for a while. But who knows: we may get a surprise yet. Just don’t hold your breath! Helena is set to be part of BIRDS OF PREY and Dick is set to serve in the Court of the Owls.
GREEN ARROW #52: Ollie is still alive because the machete that Deathstroke stabbed him with still had blood on it from when he cut Dr. Miracle's tongue. It cures Ollie of the Warg disease, but also heals his wound as soon as Emiko removes the blade. In an old WWII bomber, our heroes fly back to Seattle, where the Beserkers have arrived to break their fellow Wargs out of the internment camp they have been put in. Deathstroke delivers Dr. Miracle to Mr. Paragon, but he refuses to pay the full amount because he's seven hours past the deadline. Paragon reminds him he doesn’t have to pay him anything because the deal was no payment if late. Ollie and Emiko arrive and Slade, who is leaving with his money, tells them to undeliver the package…and kill Paragon at the same time. Ollie cuts off Paragon’s bloodline, pins Dana to the wall, and frees Dr. Miracle, with all of them making their way to the riot. Oillie calms the rioters down and demonstrates Miracle’s ability. Marrock takes a bite out of the Patriot leader before riding off with Green Arrow’s blessing.
That was a very anti-climatic end to this series. When Ben Percy and Szymon Kudranski took over the series, we saw how prejudiced the people of Seattle were. Now we reach the end and…same problem. The only thing that got resolved here was Olllie’s disease. REBIRTH means a new creative team. Let’s hope it feels more like classic GREEN ARROW and not a television show.
GREEN LANTERN #52: Hal is battling the Gray Agents who have commandeered his ship and that is going pretty well until Speechmaker gets hold of him and accesses his memory. When they find a memory of Star Sapphire, that sets Hal off and he turns into a construct again, causing him to lose complete control. Virgo and Trapper finally get him to come to his senses, but those results in Virgo getting taken hostage. It looks like a Mexican standoff, but Hal gives a construct gun to Trapper who manages to take down a Gray Agent and save Virgo. The Gray Agents retreat to save their wounded partner and Hal Jordan says goodbye to Trapper and Virgo.
So Hal flies off into the sunset, so to speak, and prepares to saddle up in HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS. Robert Venditti and Billy Tan do an adequate job of resolving the storyline and bringing the saga of this intergalactic trip to an end. I am still a fan of Venditti’s writing and love Tan’s art. Here’s hoping the next act for Hal is truly legendary.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS EDGE OF OBLIVION #5: We begin with a flashback of Guy Gardner's less than happy home life, which explains why Guy is the way he is. In the present, Guy realizes he was used by the World Eaters and now wants revenge. So the small band go after Dismas and Ausras, even though the ten other Lanterns are still under their control. That leads to an all-out war between Lantern factions. With Dismas and Ausras distracted, Xrill-Vrek unlocked the mind of Mogo, who blasts the pair with Lantern energy, revealing their true forms and causing the remainder of the Lanterns to snap out of the hypnotic haze.
Tom Taylor wrote it, while Scott McDaniel, Ardian Syaf, and Cliff Richards drew it. Basically, it’s an all out action issue with a lot of monologuing while fighting. It could be worse. I’ll be glad when this series ends and our Lanterns head off to their new place in the REBIRTH world.
HARLEY QUINN #28: Red Tool has taken an entire Brooklyn church hostage so he can get married to Harley. Actually, he has captured all of these people, as they are all New York City’s most wanted, including the pedophile priest. Chief Harry Spoonsdale leaves the mayor’s press conference to handle the situation. Harley knocks out Red Tool and walks out to tell the police she is not responsible for this, to which they open fire and kills or wounds most of those inside. Ordering a cease fire, the Chief walks inside to talk to Harley Quinn and Red Tool, where he cuts a deal with them. They all go on television, where the Chief introduces them as heroes, much to the ire of the mayor. Harely and Tool go to Nathan’s for some hot dogs, followed by a trip to the boardwalk and ends with Harley taking a moonlight swim while she dismisses him. Finally, Dominic finds out his son got killed in the Skate Club riot and he swears revenge on Harley.
It’s another Amanda Conner/Jimmy Palmiotti jaunt with art by John Timms and a cool dream sequences by Moritat. All in all, it’s more of what we expect every month: fart jokes, sexual jokes and overall T+ material.
HARLEY QUINN AND HER GANG OF HARLEYS #2: Harley has staged a fake kidnapping and ends up being kidnapped by Harley Sinn and her gang. She sends out her assassins to kill off each member of Harley’s gang. The team, aware of a problem, decides to try and hide away their loved ones. Bolly Quinn sends her mom and grandma to somewhere in Astoria. Harvey Quinn puts his visiting parents up at a hotel and then goes off to meet Bolly at her family’s restaurant. Harlem Quinn is in the sights of one of Sinn’s gunmen when he is ordered to pull back. Angered, he decides to cut up some other folks, which causes Harlem take him down, before going to join Bolly and Harvey. When the bystanders try to hide his unconscious body, he ends up getting run over by a train. Harley Queens checks in on her parents before heading to the meet. Unfortunately, Sinn’s assassin is hiding behind mom and dad’s couch. Carli Quinn is also sent to the restaurant. Now that everyone is together, Sinn releases her plan: Sending a rocket launcher into the restaurant while she forces Harley to watch her gang get blown up.
Frank Tieri and Jimmy Palmiotti gives us a great story with almost no sex jokes, so I guess that tells me those are Amanda Conner’s doing. Mauricet’s art is super clean and highly delineated. Let’s put it this way: he sure knows how to draw sexy women. So, of the two Harley titles this month, this is the one that most resembles a super hero title. I like what it does and there cliff hanger is pretty cool too. I find myself looking forward to next issue.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #50: The battle for Earth rages as Grail sends a morphed Steve Trevor to attack the morphed Justice League. Even the Green Lanterns show up to join the fight. But with Superwoman uttering one word, "MAZAHS!", the baby steals Lex and Superman’s powers for himself. She is convinced that nothing can stop the Crime Syndicate now…until Grail kills her with one shot from her laser eyes much to Owlman’s dismay. Grail continues to utter "MAZAHS", stealing powers and taking down heroes at every turn. Her blast separeates Flash from the Black racer, meaning Flash could be next. Cyborg hacks into Volthoom, which allows Jessica Cruz to gain control and she steps between Barry and the Black racer, causing Power Ring to die. Grail realizes that Steve Trevor wasn't the first man to step foot on Paradise Island, so she utters the word and the baby becomes a reborn Darkseid, thanks to the Anti-Life Equation. Barda and the Furies show up to sontinue the fight for Darkseid. But Myrina realizes that her daughter has gone to far and sacrifices herself with her Grail hitting her with the Omega Beams. They go through her and into Darkseid. There is a huge explosion and Grail and baby are gone.
In the end, Hal puts his ring on Batman, which gets him out of the Mobius Chair. Jessica Cruz, not killed (that was only Volthoom) is turned into a Green Lantern. Barda explains she made a pact with the Furies and is forced to return to Apokolips, leaving Scot Free behind. Lex goes there to, seeming to be their new ruler. A dying Myrina tells Diana that she has a twin brother named Jason. Batman reveals to Hal that the Mobius chair told him there were THREE Jokers, not just one. Owlman takes control of the Mobius Chair and gets Grid to download itself into it. In space, they meet Metron and the two of them are vaporized by a mysterious figure.
Wow! That’s all I have to say is wow! Geoff Johns has given us an absolutely amazing story that wraps up the plots from the last six months or so and paves the way towards REBIRTH, as some of the closing plot pieces fall right into DC UNIVERSE REBIRTH. Jason Fabok’s art, as it has been throughout this whole storyline, is just amazing. This book, renumbered when it next appears, is poised for greatness with the arrival of REBIRTH. Bravo Geoff Johns and company for one amazing ride!
JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001 #12: We start with a flashback to three years ago when Teri and Terry with beginning the resurrection of the Justice League. There’s the rebirth of Superman and the first inkling that Terry was totally involved with The Five. In the present, the Justice League battles the Legion of Doom, who have orders to kill all the League except for Flash. It’s revealed that Teri is Strix’ daughter and she has plans for her and she sends her and Batgirl back into the 21st Century. "To Be Continued...?" And Larfleeze? Well, he refuses to appear in a cancelled comic book.
I’m sad to say this is the end of a fun series and I will miss it dearly. Thank you Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis for leaving us with a cliffhanger, but for also giving me such a truly enjoyable time over these last two series. Special thanks to Colleen Doran for giving us a full dose of her always great looking art. Again, I can’t say anymore. Of all the titles which will drop by the wayside, this may be the one I may miss the most. Thanks for the ride, folks-it was a blast!
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