BATMAN BEYOND #14: Beginning with Tim and Matt out on a run, Matt tells the tale of when he found out that Terry was Batman. Batman was fighting Shriek and Matt is collateral damage in the process. At the hospital, as he is feeling guilty, Terry tells Matt about his double life. In the end, Tim takes Matt to Wayne Manor and the Batcave and Matt gives a short glance at the Robin costume in the glass case. Meanwhile, Spellbinder, in the guise of an old woman, has convinced Terry that he is Davis Dusk.
Wait: how is Terry alive when he is dead? I’m confused! Thank you Dan Jurgens for telling a great story and throwing in a couple of major curveballs while Bernard Chang continues to provide us with great looking visuals. So, we all know this series is winding down and getting rebooted with Terry back in the suit. Does that mean his brother becomes Robin? And what happens to Tim? Wait a few months and we’ll know!
BLOODLINES #4: Officer Blake and Haley have their night in bed interrupted by Duncan, who wants to kill them before they get a chance to become monsters. Meanwhile, Eddie, Dana and Albert are hanging out at Pine Ridge High School when they hear screaming coming from the big homecoming football game. There they find a gigantic monster made up of the bodies of several people attacking and absorbing more people. Luckily, Blake, Haley, and Duncan show up to help in the fight and the six of them take the parasite-infected person down. In the end, the local infected priest talks with his equally infected parishioners.
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Ugh…is this series done yet? J.T. Krul gives us another issue of this mini-series and it just plods along. Krul’s dialogue is fine, but the plot just rumbles about and goes nowhere. We could have had the events in this issue drop in place in issue #2 and we would be none the worse. V. Ken Marion handles the art and I have no problem with it, as it is very reminiscent of Brett Booth’s work. But that is truly the high point.
DEATHSTROKE #20: We begin in the now, with Deathstroke and Ra's al Ghul are dueling it out on Danger Island. Flashing back to earlier, Deathstroke, Rose, Jericho, and Ra’s agree to go to Danger Island to take down Snakebite and company, who are preparing for their arrival. Upon arriving, the two teams battle, with Slade demanding that no one takes Victor down. As the battle winds down, Ra’s offers to spare the lives of their opponents if they swear allegiance to the League of Assassins, which they all do. All but Victor, who is killed by Slade before he gets a chance to say otherwise. This is what leads to the opening battle we saw. Jericho steps in an threatens to kill everyone with his power unless the duo stop fighting, which they do. Ra’s releases Slade from his allegiance and leaves, while Slade orders his kids to leave him.
James Bonny and Paolo Pantalena bring this chapter in the life of Slade Wilson to a close. I was a huge fan of this series when it began, thanks to Tony S. Daniel, who was the creative force behind it. But that didn’t last long as he left the book and I lost a lot of interest. I like the idea of bringing Slade’s kids back into the NEW 52 and really liked a bunch of thew supporting cast of villains. But I was never a fan of the “Slade gets young” and all and I can only hope this is corrected during his upcoming REBIRTH run.
DOCTOR FATE #14: Kent Nelson berates Khalid for leaving a doorway to open after he returned from the land of the dead, which let a monkey djinn loose in New York. So, it’s up to Khalid to go off and spend the rest of the issue closing the door to Anubis' world. We also get a back-up story dealing with racial prejudice and how Dr. Fate uses his powers to calm an angry mob.
I’m sorry: I want the REAL Dr. Fate back. Not Khalid, not even this version of Kent Nelson. Paul Levitz and Inaki Miranda gave us the main story, which totally feels like a fill-in story. The back-up is by Levitz and Breno Tamura and also feels like a fill-in. So…we get a full issue with nothing to move the story of our hero along. In fact, it’s the same every issue: Khalid gets a near impossible task that he must accomplish on his own and spends most of his time whining about it before he actually goes off and gets it done.
EARTH 2 SOCIETY #14: Batman, Khalid, Power Girl and Huntress tell Fury about their idea to use the Pandora Vessel to bring the old Earth 2 back to life. She proceeds to tell them their plan is ludicrous and dangerous. The Ultra-Humanite's altered group of children show up and try to take the casket. Turncoat steals Power Girl's powers, while Scalpel cuts up Captain Steel. Fury shows up, giving enough time for the Wonders to get Captain Steel some medical help. Firepattern arrives and reveals himself to his dad, Dick Grayson.
Dan Abnett is trying his best to tie all these multiple plots together before this series comes to an end. With the artistic help of Federico Dallochio and Angel Hernandez, Abnett turns out one of the best-written issues in awhile. While I really can’t stand this version of Dick Grayson, who spends way too much time continuing to whine and grieve the loss of his family, I do like where this story is going with father meeting son and ultimately resolving that. Will the old world get reborn? We’ll have to see in the next few issues.
HARLEY QUINN #30: While Harley and the gang are watching a movie, she steps out for some snacks and steps into a weird world of her mind. Wait: it’s all in her mind as she has actually chained herself to a tree to save it and has been dreaming. She convinces Big Tony to take her place, so she can go handle her job at the Assisted Living Facility. By the time she gets back, the company looking to tear the tree down has upped its’ game and that means Harley calls out the big guns in the form of a Transformer type truck. But the “Man” has better ideas and that leads to the gang ending up at the local bar where the wait for Poison Ivy to show up. She ends up creating a whole jungle where a tree once stood and that’s how you get a happy ending.
When did all the villains becomes heroes? First harley and now Ivy and what is up with their relationship? Anyway, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti and Elsa Charretier put an end to this series with this issue. But wait: DC’s answer to DEADPOOL is back next month with a brand new REBIRTH series which, I am sure, will pick up where this one left off. More of the same smutty dialogue, more of the usual Chad Hardin art and more one-shot specials.
LEGENDS OF TOMORROW #5: We begin the FIRESTORM tale with Ronnie and Jason back in high school and Professor Stein figuring out where Multiplex is. Ronnie doesn't know if he should take that football scholarship and Jason is trying to interview for an internship again. Of course we know what happens: Stein gets a lead on Danton Black that calls the boys back to him and allows himself and Ronnie to become Firestorm again. Not only has Black used a Quantum Field Generator that has shattered the boundaries of realities, Mulitplex is here to give Firestorm a butt whooping!
In the METAMORPHO tale, Metamorpho takes on and quickly defeats Kanjar Ro. Meanwhile, Sapphire Stagg, who took the Orb of Ra for her dad, regrets her decision and returns it. Unfortunately, she doesn’t bother to tell Rex that Java has arrived to handle the task himself by killing Rex.
In the SUGAR AND SPICE tale, Spike tells Bernie of his attraction to Sugar and how it all began. They were private investigators that ended up catching Computron violating his parole. Things looked bad until The Flash arrived to handle it. From that point on, they have been hired by the superhero community to deal with stuff they would rather have go away. In the end, Sugar calls to say they have been given office space in the museum they busted last issue.
In the METAL MEN tale, the old Metal Men and the new Metal Men battle it out to see who is the BEST Metal Men. The Calculator gets caught and…Chemo is back!
And one to go. Firestorm is by Gerry Conway and Eduardo Pansica, Metamorpho is by Aaron Lopresti, Sugar and Spice is by Keith Giffen and Bilquis Eveley, and Metal Men is by Len Wein and Yildiray Cinar. All in all, this is just an attempt to keep the name LEGENDS OF TOMORROW in the forefront and see if thee is some kind of interest in these characters. I’m not a fan of Firestorm or the way Sugar and Spice have been treated, although it has been nice to see some old characters come sliding into their tales. I have mixed feelings about the other two, although I really like what Lopresti is doing with Metamorpho as a character and the look. And I would like some tweaking to Metal Men, specifically bringing Doc Magnus back as the "older" Doc Magnus. Personally, I would really like them to come back in legit REBIRTH stories.
NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #22: Harley Quinn analyzes Harley Quinn. She meets Batman, rides a roller coaster known as the Death Trap, flashes back to her childhood, her time as a doctor at Arkham Asylum, her father’s death, and more. In the end, Harley is in her cell at Belle Reve and hallucinated the whole thing.
While Sean Ryan does a great job of giving a look into the mind of Harley Quinn and Ronan Cliquet does a great job illustrating it, the book IS CALLED the NEW SUICIDE SQUAD, NOT THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF HARLEY QUINN. What a disappointing way to end this series. Hey kids: there’s a movie about these guys!
TEEN TITANS #22: The team finds Tim missing because he has been captured by Amanda Waller and is being held in Belle Reve Prison. The team tracks him down and it’s a full-on assault of Belle Reve. This is all a ruse though, as Tim has been free for some time and this is all to prove to Waller that they are their own team.
Really? This was all to prove a point? Sounds like a waste of time to be, Tony Bedard and Ian Churchill. And it was a waste for me as, although it was fun and looked great, it meant NOTHING to continuity or plot or anything!
Friday, August 12, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
DC Rebirth Month 2
ACTION COMICS #959: Lois is reminded of the last time her husband fought Doomsday and has to explain to Jon how Doomsday is a really bad, bad dude. In the city, Superman is fighting Doomsday and Lex is trying to help the civilians while jimmy tries to convince Clark Kent to change into Superman. As Superman forces Doomsday into the sewers, Clark tells everyone to stay back and proceeds to fall into the sewer and break his arm. Clark tells Superman he needs to save him like when he forced Kent into hiding several months ago-an event Superman has no idea about. Lex shows up and he flies Kent to safety. Doomsday grabs a gas line and there is a massive explosion in the sewer that Doomsday alone walks out of and approaches Kent.
ACTION COMICS #960: While the mysterious Mr. Oz watches events unfold, the battle with Doomsday continues, with Diana thrilled to see this version of her dead lover. At the family home, Jon is elated to see his father winning and lets out a super "YEAH!", which breaks the windows in the house and alerts Doomsday to Jon's presence on Earth, causing it to leave the area. Superman quickly figures out the monster's plan and heads home with Diana, leaving Lex in charge of Metropolis. The duo arrives to meet Lois and Jon, but Doomsday has arrived too and takes on Diana.
Dan Jurgens and Tyler Kirkham do their best to introduce this new Superman, who is really our OLD Superman, to the DC Universe. It has a weird feeling to it, as I am still trying to get use to Lois the mommy as opposed to Lois the bitchy reporter. But I like Jon’s character a lot, as I did in the LOIS AND CLARK series, and Superman being back in blue as opposed to his black outfit is a nice sight to see. What also feels strange is how this continuity ties in with SUPERMAN and how it will tie in with SUPERWOMAN when it arrives. And what of Mr. Oz? When will he be revealed?
AQUAMAN #2: The issue begins with the retelling of how Aquaman killed Black Manta’s father and leads right into Manta trying to take his revenge now. Meanwhile. Spindrift is collapsing and the Lieutenant from the Royal Navy is trying to save Mera. Aquaman defeats Manta but then offers his foe a chance to kill him, which Manta cannot do as he realizes that would end his reason for existing if is enemy is dead. Manta is taken away in cuffs but is freed by a mysterious lady and her flunkeys.
AQUAMAN #3: Atlantean head of security Murk and Aquaman are told that Spindrift is off limits due to the carnage from the last two issues. Aquaman meets with Mera and they go off to Washington to meet with the President. Meanwhile , Manta finds out he has been freed by a group called N.E.M.O., who want to use his abilities for their common goals. While Aquaman and Mera are meeting with the White House Chief of Staff, the USS Pontchrtrain is attacked and all on board are killed, with Atlantis claiming responsibility. The government sees Aquaman’s meeting as a ruse and promptly has him arrested for crimes against the United States.
It looks like the concept of multiple issues in a single month is already starting to take its’ toll on the creative teams on these books. Perfect example is here where Dan Abnett has written both issue but Philippe Briones replaces Scot Eaton on issue #3. At the same time, the art on both issues is good and doesn’t really have an effect on the story. The story has its’ good and bad points. On the good side: Black Manta is back with a vengeance and now we have a new villain introduced into the picture in the form of N.E.M.O. On the bad side, it looks like Lieutenant Stubbs gets introduced, has potential as an ongoing character, and then gets left out of the story at the end of issue #2. Overall, these two issues are a nice setup for where this series will go.
BATGIRL #1: Barbara Gordon is backpacking her way through Japan, where she is looking for the world’s oldest living superhero: Chiyo Yamashiro. Fighting crime in the 1940’s as Fruit Bat, she is now 104 years old and lives in Naha with her son. Barbara ends up staying in the same hostel as her old friend Kai, who used to live in the neighborhood with her back in Chicago. They go out for food and drinks and he gets sick! The next day, she meets a wheelchair bound Chiro and the next thing you know, an attacker dressed like Sailor Moon with clown makeup, is attacking Kai. Suddenly, Batgirl springs into action, but it’s a revitalized Fruit bat who saves the day. After that, Chiro collapses, telling Batgirl she must flee before they arrive and must go find the teacher to be able to see the future. Later, Babs sees a sign advertising the “future” of Mixed Martial Arts at a tournament in Singapore. Kai arrives home and says he knows Batgirl is here to protect Babs, who then asks him if he wants to go to Singpore with her.
Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque combine for a very strange first chapter in the NEW Batgirl. With Barbara Gordon suddenly uprooted to Japan, she meets what is best described as the Japanese answer to Batgirl…an OLD Batgirl who can still kick ass! We get a new villain and a new supporting cast member/possible future boyfriend in Kai and we get a fair amount of action mixed in with a fair amount of back story on our new characters. While I am still not totally thrilled with this direction, I do like it better than Babs’ adventures in Burnside.
BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1: Batgirl takes down some would-be bank robbers and finds out the person who hired them for this job is Oracle. Then we get a history of Barbara Gordon, complete with her Killing Joke moment and beyond, including forming the Birds of Prey and being able to get out of her wheelchair because of her surgery. She decides she needs to reconnect with Black Canary, who has recently left her band but is still watching their backs. They team up and go about seeing who might be behind this. Meanwhile, Helena Bertinelli, the former Matron, has a hit list of Mafia people that destroyed her family and she is working her way through it. as The Huntress. She interferes with Dinah and Barbara as they are trying to get information out of Louis Terroni. That leads to a brawl between the heroes and the shocking revelation that huntress knows everything about the other two. And so, apparently does the new oracle.
Julie Benson, Shawna Benson gives us the starting point for the new Birds of Prey team. Claire Roe’s art is a perfect fit and expertly captures the classic moment in THE KILLING JOKE perfectly. The book does a nice job of filling in Barbara’s back story for new readers, although it would be nice to do the same with Dinah and Helena. Overall, this feels like a good start for the team and I can only hope that, since the Secret Six is no more, maybe we can add Strix to the team.
BATMAN #2: Batman is battling Solomon Grundy with Gotham and Gotham Girl do their best to assist. Later, a man shows up at Commissioner Gordon’s office, confesses to helping Grundy escape and then cuts his own throat declaring that "The Monster Men are Coming!" Gordon calls Batman, who brings Gotham and Gotham Girl with him, and explains the situation. In the end, it seems that Hugo Strange is up to his old tricks and Amanda Waller is pleased..
BATMAN #3: We begin with a flashback to a father and his two children being saved from a robbery by Batman. Moving to the present, Matches Malone has a talk with the parents of Gotham and Gotham Girl and we get their origin. We also see that the two children in the flashback was them. As he leaves their house, Alfred alerts Batman of a suicide bomber and he finds Gotham and Gotham Girl already there and needing little help. Seeing how well they handled the situation, Batman heads off after hinting that he knows their true identities. The duo heads off to the scene of an explosion and find Professor Hugo Strange and the Psycho Pirate.
Yeah…I’m having too much fun with this series. Tom King is writing a great story and I really am starting to like this new “Dynamic Duo” that he has introduced. I had apprehensions at the beginning, but they are starting to grow on me. David Finch’ art is nice and clean and looks so much better than it did on his recent WONDER WOMAN run.
DETECTIVE COMICS #936: Kate Kane talks about her days in the military and how she was trained to lead. At the same time, she meets with Renee Montoya, who tells her that she needs to trust herself. Red Robin calls and soon she ends up at the new Batcave and finds that Batman has been beaten down pretty badly. So the call goes out to the rest of the trainees who find out what the deal is with The Colony, coming from Kate’s father. Suddenly, The Colony attacks The Belfry and we discover that Kate’s father is in cohoots with them. He tries to convince her and the rest to join him but Red Robin hacks into their network. That’s a big mistake, as it compromises their whole system and gives The Colony full access to all the Belfry’s files. Clayface becomes a giant ball and that allows them to escape…for now
DETECTIVE COMICS #937: Batman has been taken captive but, because of a special little goodie hidden in a tooth, he gets free, even as members of The Colony are rifling through his utility belt. This gives him a glimpse of the version of the Batcave that Colony has set up. Meanwhile, the rest of the team is now underneath Gotham, where an incredible bullet train system has been set up. Back at the Colony Batcave, Batman meets his biggest fan in the form of Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, who tells him the origin and reasons for Colony. They are trying to develop a super soldier to do what Batman did during ZeroYear. Batman’s Uncle Jake shows up with some of his troops, telling Batman that the real danger in Gotham is the League of Shadows. Just as Jake is about to execute Batman, Kate shows up with the rest of the team.
It goes like this: James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez. It is a rocking writing job with back story, great plot, and a ton of action. It’s a beautiful looking book with some amazing pops on every page. One of my favorite bits is the DARK KNIGHT RETURNS poster that hangs at Ulysses’ desk. Absolute genius. Who do I credit for that-Tynion’s script or Martinez’ inventiveness? Either way, it’s classic!
THE FLASH #2: The Flash tries to console August Heart, who was hit by the Speed Force at the end of last issue. Heart reveals to The Flash that he knows his true identity. Meanwhile, Iris checks in with S.T.A.R. Labs and quizzes a couple of security guards about the recent break-ins there by Black Hole. She calls Barry to give him a tip on what she hasn’t really found, when she gets kidnapped by some of Black Hole. Luckily she brought some mace with her and gets free while Barry and August head to the scene. Barry rescues Iris but gets taken down by a Speed Force gun one of Carver’s guys shoots at him. August shows up and uses his powers to recharge Barry and they take down the bad guys. But they only get a few minutes to enjoy their victory as a Speed Force storm hits the city and it looks like there may be more Speedsters on the way.
THE FLASH #3: Following the Speed Force storm, S.T.A.R. Labs sets up a training center for all those affected by new powers, which The Flash and his partner August investigate. Dr. Dhawan, who has also been affected by the storm, joins the two men, as they go to the house of a young girl who is having issues adjusting to the Speed Force. Once there, Barry teaches her how to control her power. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, August and two other are attacked and critically injured by someone known as Godspeed, who used the Speed Force as a weapon. Meanwhile, Iris and Wally investigate the Black Hole incidents by Wally stealing the file from the Central City Crime Lab.
Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico continue to give a strange new version of The Flash that I’m not sure is going in a good direction. While we do get a glimpse of the Rogues, most of the old supporting cast has been totally sent to other places, with the exception of Iris, Waly and David Singh. Where is David’s partner? Where is Barry’s dad? Where is Barry’s old flame? Di Giandomenico’s art is quirky enough to fit into my tastes, although I do long for the clean lines of Brett Booth.
GREEN ARROW #2: We begin with Emiko and Shado dumping the apparently dead body of Oliver Queen overboard, leaving him for shark bait. They then go to meet up with their leaders, The Burned. Meanwhile, word travels throughout the world that Queen has died as the result of a murder/suicide. But Henry gets a homing signal he believes is Emiko’s and that leads him to a barely alive Oliver, who then gets nursed back to health by Henry's Nainai. But while he has been gone, Broderick has been talking smack about Queen, ruining his name and eliminating Queen Industries. In the end, Black Canary investigates and finds out about something called the Ninth Circle.
GREEN ARROW #3: Oliver makes his way into what was once his headquarters and ends up face to face with members of The Burned. After fighting them off, he confronts Broderick, who gets saved by Shado and The Burned, forcing Oliver to flee with Broderick’s laptop. With Shado in pursuit, she reveals that she is doing this because the Ninth Circle inherited her Blood Oath. The police stop him and accuse him of blowing up Queen Industries. Meanwhile, Diggle is off in Italy learning about how the Ninth Circle is a bank and The Burned are bankers. At the headquarters of The Burned, Dante reveals his disgust at Shado’s continued failure to Emiko, who plans on using Black Canary as bait to trap Qliver.
While I like the story that Ben Percy is delivering, I have a major problem with the dialogue which reads like a bad television script. I also have an issue with the continuing art changes. I know this books ships twice a month, but shifting from Otto Schmidt to Juan Ferreyra is just distracting to the tale. While I like where the plot is going, especially bringing Shado back into it and introducing The Ninth Circle, I would like a little consistency here.
GREEN LANTERNS #2: Atrocitus is inciting his followers and going on about how both Hell Tower and the Red Dawn are coming. And he is right because Hell Tower is active in Pima County, Arizona. Over in Oregon, Jessica is dealing with a rage outbreak and Simon arrives to give her some backup Despite her objections, Simon convinces Jessica that this is bigger than both of them and they see that Red Lanterns symbol is covering the Earth's surface.
GREEN LANTERNS #3: Atrocitus, Bleez and Dex-Starr show up in a cornfield and threaten a farmer and his son with talk of the Red Dawn. Bleez is then instructed to head over a nearby city where she battles with Jessica and Simon. Simon uses his will power to cure Bleez, who tells him to destroy Hell Tower. Then Jessica arrives and Bleez reverts back to her Red Lantern self, leading to the pair arguing again. They finally agree to a truce and head off to Hell Tower where they find unconscious A.R.G.U.S. agents that had been affected by rage. And Jessica becomes infected by the rage as well. Meanwhile, the last guardian shows up at Simon’s home looking for him.
I really didn’t like Simon Baz as a Green Lantern when he was introduced way back when. But I equally dislike Jessica Cruz and nothing Sam Humphries can do is making me like these two at all. They are whining poor excuses for Green Lanterns. And how many times can I watch them fight with each other? This is truly like a bad buddy movie. Issue #2 features the art of Robson Rocha while #3 needs the combined efforts of Rocha, Tom Derenick, Jack Herbert, and Neil Edwards, All in all, give me another RED LANTERNS book and let’s put this one to bed.
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1: While the Sinestro Corps controls Warworld, Hal Jordan is now a construct who uses the ability of Krona’s Gauntlet to free the other Lanterns from their individual places in the universe. He also manages to construct a new Lantern ring for himself, which he charges in a power battery before the power is gone. Hal Jordan, Green Lantern, has returned. Back on Warworld, Sinestro meets with Parallax and asks for everything as a final request.
Well, this was a very disappointing issue, minus the awesome artwork of Ethan Van Sciver. I wasn’t disappointed with Robert Venditti’s writing, which was top notch as always. I was disappointed that this book wasted 20 pages to tell a tale that could have been wrapped up in half the space. In a nutshell, Sinestro is cozying up to Parallax again and Hal Jordan has managed to reach out to all the other Lanterns and becomes a Green Lantern again in the process. Done. Now let’s get to the REAL BOOK!
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS #1: Hal is off in the Outer Rim looking for any leads that will put him back in touch with the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro, who has gotten old quite fast since his series ended, is on Warworld, where he drains Parallax of all the space energy it has left, revitalizing him. He sends his Sinestro Corps out to instill fear in the universe and Hal feels it where he resides with the smugglers of the Outer Rim. The Sinestro Corps shows up, eliminates some smuggler, and proceeds to go at it with Hal. Meanwhile, The Green Lantern Corps, or what is left of them, emerge from the Fringe of the Cosmos.
Robert Vendetti ups his game a little bit here and manages to bring in Sinestro and the Green Lantern Corps. So, that makes this issue a better read than the one-shot. Rafa Sandoval’s art is nice and he does a great job of getting all the faces right. I expect this series to be more space oriented than the last GREEN LANTERN series, now that Hal is no longer guarding Earth. I also expect that Hal and Company will be dealing with Sinestro and his Corps in upcoming issues.
THE HELLBLAZER REBIRTH #1: We begin with John Constantine in London many years ago and getting beaten an angry demon he calls Laughing Boy. He threatens to send John to Hell, but opts to send him to New York City instead. Now he is heading back to London because he fears Donald Trump may become President. He has his old friend Chas pick him up at the airport and reminds him about how he had been cursed when last he was here. He whips out a machete Chas brought to the airport and this gets the attention of a meditating woman. Laughing Boy catches up with Constantine, but the mage pricks the demon and uses his blood to remove the soul-stealing curse and place it on everyone in London. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman, Shazam, and Swamp Thing are deciding what to do about the situation Constantine has created and Swamp Thing convinces them to let it play out. The meditating woman, whose name is Mercury, arrives and tells John the demon’s name is Nybbas, which allows him to banish the demon and save the day.
Kudos to Simon Oliver and Moritat from getting John Constantine out of NYC and putting him back where he belongs: Jolly Olde England! He hooks up with his old buddy Chaz and then we get Mercury and then he decides to show his true colors and screw all of London for his own gains. I love this John Cnstantine and hope that we will have more of a darker, Vertigo version of the mage than the superhero one that inhabited the New 52. And yes, I LOVE that Donald Trump is referred to as a “racist, short-fingered, failed meat salesman”.
JUSTICE LEAGUE REBIRTH #1: While Lois and Clark talk about the importance of their place on this Earth, the Justice League fights an alien invader. When all seems lost, Superman appears and lends a hand, helping to defeat the invaders as part of the Justice League.
Absolutely awful! Shame on Bryan Hitch for taking looks like it what may have been an issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, retooling it, and turning it out as this. It is 20 pages that goes nowhere. I certainly hope the regular book doesn’t have this little energy to it.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1: Wonder Woman is somewhere in Eastern Europe taking out some Russians wielding guns and tanks. Unfortunately, an ‘extinction level event” earthquake hits right in the middle of this all over the world, leading to the League going out and saving lives. Suddenly, the living and the dead become possessed, attack our heroes and drain their powers. They claim that The Kindred are coming and Diana tells them to bring it.
This is not much better than the REBIRTH issue except we have Tony S. Daniel on the art chores. Again, we have a story that is dragged out for 20 pages with not much substance to it. This is far from a good beginning for a flagship title like this.
NEW SUPER-MAN #1: The issue begins in Shanghai, China, where we meet a bully named Kong Kenan. He runs into a villain named Blue Condor and saves the kid he was bullying by throwing a can of soda at Blue Condor. The video of him shot by Laney Lan goes viral and gets seen by the Dr. Omen of the Ministry of Self Reliance. At home, Kenan’s dad gives him a hard time because of who he saved. Later, while visiting his mother’s grave, he is visited by Dr. Omen, who convinces him to go with her to the Oriental Pearl Tower. There, while dreaming of how he could have saved his mother in the plane crash that killed her, he is transformed into Super-Man. This is great, except the Batman and Wonder Woman of China arrive to shut him down.
Wow! What a great start to a new character! This is so much better than who Doctor Fate became. Gene Luen Yang’s writing is great, with some funny bits and some really awesome dialogue while Viktor Bogdanovic nails it in the art department. And since every Superman needs a Lois Lane, or at least someone with the initials L.L., we get would be journalist Laney Lan. I cannot wait for the next issue of this. Oh wait: when did China get their own Batman and Wonder Woman?
NIGHTWING REBIRTH #1: The issue begins with Dick Grayson battling The Madmen, before going off to the present, where he is hanging out with Damian. We then flashback to three days ago, where he prepares to say his good-byes to Helena Bertinelli. She gives the excuse that she isn’t feeling well when she is actually getting into her new role at The Huntress. More flashbacks are interspersed throughout including episodes with Tiger and Midnighter. When he finishes helping Midnighter with his mission, he gets a gift from the God Gardener that he later uses to remove the bomb that the Court of the Owls placed inside Damian’s head at the end of Robin War. As Dick Grayson once again becomes Nightwing, so he can infiltrate the The Parliament of The Owls, Lincoln March is murdered by an unknown assailant who will now lead the Parliament.
So Tim Seeley and Yanick Paquette tie up loose ends from the GRAYSON series and give us a lot to chew on in this one shot. The fact that Damian had a bomb in his head all this time and never knew it seems like a useless plot point that got dropped in for no good reason. Paquette’s art looks stunning and Seeley’s story does a great job of setting things in motion for the future. But who is that masked man/woman that kills March with a dart through the eye?
NIGHTWING #1: Somewhere in Romania, a strange woman and what appears to be a zombie are digging up something for the Parliament of Owls when the zombie gets killed and she gets buried alive by someone named Raptor. Meanwhile, over in Italy, Nightwing saves Representative Manfredi from the clutches of Kobra. He ends up in Greece where he learns that the Parliament is not happy with his antics and he proceeds to tell them to bite him. He ends up in Gotham and then Burnside, where he meets with Batgirl. Dick ends up in Russia, where he meets Raptor, who describes himself as Nightwing’s new partner. Raptor beats Nightwing up, before declaring that everything Batman taught him is wrong.
Tim Seeley and Javier Fernandez come out swinging with this first issue but doesn’t hit it out of the park. I found it way too jumbled to work. We start with the introduction of a character that we don’t get to really know who he is until almost the end of the book. We have Dick bouncing all over the world for a page or two and then off to the next locale. The conversation between him and Barbara just feels so forced, especially her wanting him to bring her back a present from his mission to Russia. So he gets her a nesting doll with her name on it. Really?
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS REBIRTH #1: The issue begins the retelling of Jason Todd’s meeting with Batman and how he began training with him. Throughout the book, we see Jason’s developing into the role of Robin, leading to his eventual death at the hands of The Joker and eventual resurrection. In the here and now, Red Hood seemingly kills the Mayor. In actuality, he only shot him with an antidote to counter-act a techno-organic virus. He later tells Batman that he is the best person to go undercover and infiltrate the Gotham Underground. Looks like he will be doing it alone as Batman doesn’t really believe he can do it.
Did Scott Lobdell read the NIGHTWING REBIRTH story, because it seems weird that both Dick AND Jason are going undercover to infiltrate the criminals in Gotham. With half the book retelling Jason’s life and death and the other half giving a lame little story with Jason impressing Black Mask’s people by shooting the Mayor, this was a long-winded waste of 20 pages. Dexter Soy’s art is okay and that becomes the high point of the book. Hopefully, once the actual Outlaws get into the book, this might get off the ground. And maybe Scott Lobdell will stop writing everything like it’s the Nineties.
SUPERMAN #2: Superman and Jon are in the Arctic where they team up to save a submarine and its’ crew from a giant octopus creature. But some blood gets spilled and an unknown predator makes note that it’s from the House of El. Back home, Jon is with Kathy Branden, when the tree branch they are sitting on breaks and he gets a concussion in the process. Meanwhile, at the Fortress of Solitude, the Eradicator has arrived.
SUPERMAN #3: Clark, Lois and an unconscious Jon arrive at the Fortress of Solitude to find the Eradicator there. As parts of the Fortress collapse during the obligatory fight, the Eradicator saves Lois and Jon, who is now awake. Superman runs some tests on Jon as The Eradicator tells his origin. Designed by General Zod, they were designed to suck the life energy out of criminals and put it in the Phantom Zone until they went on trial. When Krypton was destroyed, The Eradicator went searching for the lone spacecraft it saw: Kal-El’s. His true goal is to keep the Kryptonian’s alive and that means sucking out Jon’s human half. Krypto jumps in the way and he is eaten by the Eradicator, leading Jon to get mighty angry.
Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason do a super job on these two stories, as we get a little deeper into Clark’s relationship with his son. Issue #2 features art by Patrick Gleason while issue #3 is by Jorge Jimenez, which is a little bit of a bummer after seeing Gleason’s work. My biggest problem is not with the plot or the art, it’s with killing off Krypto! Really folks: you had to do it? ARRGGHHH!!!
TITANS #1: Lilith is trying to make sure the connection the Titans share with Wally is maintained and she comes across the name Linda Park in his head, leading him to explain it was someone he knew and still loves. Garth realizes that this lost time in their lives might have something to do with that mission they had against Mr. Twister, so they decide to go after Mammoth to get some answers. Donna and Roy find out that Mammoth now works for Simon, AKA Psimon. Back at Grayson's loft, Lilith thinks she might have done a bad thing by poking around in Wally's subconscious. That bad thing is a fat magician working a kid's birthday party who turns into Abra Kadabra and claims that he's the one who made Wally West disappear.
Can I first off say how much I love Brett Booth’s art? I first saw his stuff on BACKLASH way back when and grew to like it and then love it. This has the makings of being some of the best of his career to date. Dan Abnett has a great love for these characters and it shows throughout! The whole book is filled with wonderful dialogue and, by bringing back a classic villain, takes us back to the original days of the Teen Titans. This is the REAL Titans, as far as I’m concerned and two issues in, is already showing this to be a much better title than the TEEN TITANS book was through two incarnations!
WONDER WOMAN #2: Way back when, Diana and her Amazon sisters are stargazing while military man Steve Trevor and his colleague Nick are lost and trying to find their way to a safe place. Flashing back further, we see Trevor and Nick in the real world while Diana and her sisters are on Themyscira engaging in their every day lives. At one point, Diana is bit by a snake, falls ill and needs the help of a healer over a long amount of time to be fully helped. Nick and his wife start a family, but he and Steve find themselves flying out on a mission. Their plane crashes and everyone is killed, except for Steve. That is the bad news. The good news: they have crashed on Themyscira. Aditional bad news-they have crashed on Themyscira.
WONDER WOMAN #3: Wonder Woman and Cheetah have a confrontation, where Diana reminds her that, although they have been enemies, she always will think of Barbara as a friend. The Hyena Men are under the command of the Warlord Cadulo. They worship the God Urzkartaga, who gave the power of the Cheetah to Barbara and they are chasing after Diana. They cross paths with the Hyena Men and Cheetah is shot with an arrow, which sends her into an animalistic and hungry frenzy, feeding on the corpses of the Hyena Men. As Diana calms her down, she begs her to find and kill Urzkartaga to free her from her curse. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor and his men are following Cadulo's men, who kidnapped this village's daughters. They get captured and Cadulo believes that they have been brought here to serve Urzkartaga.
Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott handle issue #2, which features the first installment of YEAR ONE. Scott’s art on this issue is so beautiful. This may very well be her best work yet. Every, single page is a piece of absolute beauty. Issue #3 goes back to the present story line and features the equally stunning work of Liam Sharp. While I have an issue separating the two stories and would much rather have one storyline end and then give us the second, I will deal with it. This is a book that is quickly finding a proper place in the Wonder Woman canon and the works of Strazynski and Azzarello.
ACTION COMICS #960: While the mysterious Mr. Oz watches events unfold, the battle with Doomsday continues, with Diana thrilled to see this version of her dead lover. At the family home, Jon is elated to see his father winning and lets out a super "YEAH!", which breaks the windows in the house and alerts Doomsday to Jon's presence on Earth, causing it to leave the area. Superman quickly figures out the monster's plan and heads home with Diana, leaving Lex in charge of Metropolis. The duo arrives to meet Lois and Jon, but Doomsday has arrived too and takes on Diana.
Dan Jurgens and Tyler Kirkham do their best to introduce this new Superman, who is really our OLD Superman, to the DC Universe. It has a weird feeling to it, as I am still trying to get use to Lois the mommy as opposed to Lois the bitchy reporter. But I like Jon’s character a lot, as I did in the LOIS AND CLARK series, and Superman being back in blue as opposed to his black outfit is a nice sight to see. What also feels strange is how this continuity ties in with SUPERMAN and how it will tie in with SUPERWOMAN when it arrives. And what of Mr. Oz? When will he be revealed?
AQUAMAN #2: The issue begins with the retelling of how Aquaman killed Black Manta’s father and leads right into Manta trying to take his revenge now. Meanwhile. Spindrift is collapsing and the Lieutenant from the Royal Navy is trying to save Mera. Aquaman defeats Manta but then offers his foe a chance to kill him, which Manta cannot do as he realizes that would end his reason for existing if is enemy is dead. Manta is taken away in cuffs but is freed by a mysterious lady and her flunkeys.
AQUAMAN #3: Atlantean head of security Murk and Aquaman are told that Spindrift is off limits due to the carnage from the last two issues. Aquaman meets with Mera and they go off to Washington to meet with the President. Meanwhile , Manta finds out he has been freed by a group called N.E.M.O., who want to use his abilities for their common goals. While Aquaman and Mera are meeting with the White House Chief of Staff, the USS Pontchrtrain is attacked and all on board are killed, with Atlantis claiming responsibility. The government sees Aquaman’s meeting as a ruse and promptly has him arrested for crimes against the United States.
It looks like the concept of multiple issues in a single month is already starting to take its’ toll on the creative teams on these books. Perfect example is here where Dan Abnett has written both issue but Philippe Briones replaces Scot Eaton on issue #3. At the same time, the art on both issues is good and doesn’t really have an effect on the story. The story has its’ good and bad points. On the good side: Black Manta is back with a vengeance and now we have a new villain introduced into the picture in the form of N.E.M.O. On the bad side, it looks like Lieutenant Stubbs gets introduced, has potential as an ongoing character, and then gets left out of the story at the end of issue #2. Overall, these two issues are a nice setup for where this series will go.
BATGIRL #1: Barbara Gordon is backpacking her way through Japan, where she is looking for the world’s oldest living superhero: Chiyo Yamashiro. Fighting crime in the 1940’s as Fruit Bat, she is now 104 years old and lives in Naha with her son. Barbara ends up staying in the same hostel as her old friend Kai, who used to live in the neighborhood with her back in Chicago. They go out for food and drinks and he gets sick! The next day, she meets a wheelchair bound Chiro and the next thing you know, an attacker dressed like Sailor Moon with clown makeup, is attacking Kai. Suddenly, Batgirl springs into action, but it’s a revitalized Fruit bat who saves the day. After that, Chiro collapses, telling Batgirl she must flee before they arrive and must go find the teacher to be able to see the future. Later, Babs sees a sign advertising the “future” of Mixed Martial Arts at a tournament in Singapore. Kai arrives home and says he knows Batgirl is here to protect Babs, who then asks him if he wants to go to Singpore with her.
Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque combine for a very strange first chapter in the NEW Batgirl. With Barbara Gordon suddenly uprooted to Japan, she meets what is best described as the Japanese answer to Batgirl…an OLD Batgirl who can still kick ass! We get a new villain and a new supporting cast member/possible future boyfriend in Kai and we get a fair amount of action mixed in with a fair amount of back story on our new characters. While I am still not totally thrilled with this direction, I do like it better than Babs’ adventures in Burnside.
BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1: Batgirl takes down some would-be bank robbers and finds out the person who hired them for this job is Oracle. Then we get a history of Barbara Gordon, complete with her Killing Joke moment and beyond, including forming the Birds of Prey and being able to get out of her wheelchair because of her surgery. She decides she needs to reconnect with Black Canary, who has recently left her band but is still watching their backs. They team up and go about seeing who might be behind this. Meanwhile, Helena Bertinelli, the former Matron, has a hit list of Mafia people that destroyed her family and she is working her way through it. as The Huntress. She interferes with Dinah and Barbara as they are trying to get information out of Louis Terroni. That leads to a brawl between the heroes and the shocking revelation that huntress knows everything about the other two. And so, apparently does the new oracle.
Julie Benson, Shawna Benson gives us the starting point for the new Birds of Prey team. Claire Roe’s art is a perfect fit and expertly captures the classic moment in THE KILLING JOKE perfectly. The book does a nice job of filling in Barbara’s back story for new readers, although it would be nice to do the same with Dinah and Helena. Overall, this feels like a good start for the team and I can only hope that, since the Secret Six is no more, maybe we can add Strix to the team.
BATMAN #2: Batman is battling Solomon Grundy with Gotham and Gotham Girl do their best to assist. Later, a man shows up at Commissioner Gordon’s office, confesses to helping Grundy escape and then cuts his own throat declaring that "The Monster Men are Coming!" Gordon calls Batman, who brings Gotham and Gotham Girl with him, and explains the situation. In the end, it seems that Hugo Strange is up to his old tricks and Amanda Waller is pleased..
BATMAN #3: We begin with a flashback to a father and his two children being saved from a robbery by Batman. Moving to the present, Matches Malone has a talk with the parents of Gotham and Gotham Girl and we get their origin. We also see that the two children in the flashback was them. As he leaves their house, Alfred alerts Batman of a suicide bomber and he finds Gotham and Gotham Girl already there and needing little help. Seeing how well they handled the situation, Batman heads off after hinting that he knows their true identities. The duo heads off to the scene of an explosion and find Professor Hugo Strange and the Psycho Pirate.
Yeah…I’m having too much fun with this series. Tom King is writing a great story and I really am starting to like this new “Dynamic Duo” that he has introduced. I had apprehensions at the beginning, but they are starting to grow on me. David Finch’ art is nice and clean and looks so much better than it did on his recent WONDER WOMAN run.
DETECTIVE COMICS #936: Kate Kane talks about her days in the military and how she was trained to lead. At the same time, she meets with Renee Montoya, who tells her that she needs to trust herself. Red Robin calls and soon she ends up at the new Batcave and finds that Batman has been beaten down pretty badly. So the call goes out to the rest of the trainees who find out what the deal is with The Colony, coming from Kate’s father. Suddenly, The Colony attacks The Belfry and we discover that Kate’s father is in cohoots with them. He tries to convince her and the rest to join him but Red Robin hacks into their network. That’s a big mistake, as it compromises their whole system and gives The Colony full access to all the Belfry’s files. Clayface becomes a giant ball and that allows them to escape…for now
DETECTIVE COMICS #937: Batman has been taken captive but, because of a special little goodie hidden in a tooth, he gets free, even as members of The Colony are rifling through his utility belt. This gives him a glimpse of the version of the Batcave that Colony has set up. Meanwhile, the rest of the team is now underneath Gotham, where an incredible bullet train system has been set up. Back at the Colony Batcave, Batman meets his biggest fan in the form of Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, who tells him the origin and reasons for Colony. They are trying to develop a super soldier to do what Batman did during ZeroYear. Batman’s Uncle Jake shows up with some of his troops, telling Batman that the real danger in Gotham is the League of Shadows. Just as Jake is about to execute Batman, Kate shows up with the rest of the team.
It goes like this: James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez. It is a rocking writing job with back story, great plot, and a ton of action. It’s a beautiful looking book with some amazing pops on every page. One of my favorite bits is the DARK KNIGHT RETURNS poster that hangs at Ulysses’ desk. Absolute genius. Who do I credit for that-Tynion’s script or Martinez’ inventiveness? Either way, it’s classic!
THE FLASH #2: The Flash tries to console August Heart, who was hit by the Speed Force at the end of last issue. Heart reveals to The Flash that he knows his true identity. Meanwhile, Iris checks in with S.T.A.R. Labs and quizzes a couple of security guards about the recent break-ins there by Black Hole. She calls Barry to give him a tip on what she hasn’t really found, when she gets kidnapped by some of Black Hole. Luckily she brought some mace with her and gets free while Barry and August head to the scene. Barry rescues Iris but gets taken down by a Speed Force gun one of Carver’s guys shoots at him. August shows up and uses his powers to recharge Barry and they take down the bad guys. But they only get a few minutes to enjoy their victory as a Speed Force storm hits the city and it looks like there may be more Speedsters on the way.
THE FLASH #3: Following the Speed Force storm, S.T.A.R. Labs sets up a training center for all those affected by new powers, which The Flash and his partner August investigate. Dr. Dhawan, who has also been affected by the storm, joins the two men, as they go to the house of a young girl who is having issues adjusting to the Speed Force. Once there, Barry teaches her how to control her power. Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, August and two other are attacked and critically injured by someone known as Godspeed, who used the Speed Force as a weapon. Meanwhile, Iris and Wally investigate the Black Hole incidents by Wally stealing the file from the Central City Crime Lab.
Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico continue to give a strange new version of The Flash that I’m not sure is going in a good direction. While we do get a glimpse of the Rogues, most of the old supporting cast has been totally sent to other places, with the exception of Iris, Waly and David Singh. Where is David’s partner? Where is Barry’s dad? Where is Barry’s old flame? Di Giandomenico’s art is quirky enough to fit into my tastes, although I do long for the clean lines of Brett Booth.
GREEN ARROW #2: We begin with Emiko and Shado dumping the apparently dead body of Oliver Queen overboard, leaving him for shark bait. They then go to meet up with their leaders, The Burned. Meanwhile, word travels throughout the world that Queen has died as the result of a murder/suicide. But Henry gets a homing signal he believes is Emiko’s and that leads him to a barely alive Oliver, who then gets nursed back to health by Henry's Nainai. But while he has been gone, Broderick has been talking smack about Queen, ruining his name and eliminating Queen Industries. In the end, Black Canary investigates and finds out about something called the Ninth Circle.
GREEN ARROW #3: Oliver makes his way into what was once his headquarters and ends up face to face with members of The Burned. After fighting them off, he confronts Broderick, who gets saved by Shado and The Burned, forcing Oliver to flee with Broderick’s laptop. With Shado in pursuit, she reveals that she is doing this because the Ninth Circle inherited her Blood Oath. The police stop him and accuse him of blowing up Queen Industries. Meanwhile, Diggle is off in Italy learning about how the Ninth Circle is a bank and The Burned are bankers. At the headquarters of The Burned, Dante reveals his disgust at Shado’s continued failure to Emiko, who plans on using Black Canary as bait to trap Qliver.
While I like the story that Ben Percy is delivering, I have a major problem with the dialogue which reads like a bad television script. I also have an issue with the continuing art changes. I know this books ships twice a month, but shifting from Otto Schmidt to Juan Ferreyra is just distracting to the tale. While I like where the plot is going, especially bringing Shado back into it and introducing The Ninth Circle, I would like a little consistency here.
GREEN LANTERNS #2: Atrocitus is inciting his followers and going on about how both Hell Tower and the Red Dawn are coming. And he is right because Hell Tower is active in Pima County, Arizona. Over in Oregon, Jessica is dealing with a rage outbreak and Simon arrives to give her some backup Despite her objections, Simon convinces Jessica that this is bigger than both of them and they see that Red Lanterns symbol is covering the Earth's surface.
GREEN LANTERNS #3: Atrocitus, Bleez and Dex-Starr show up in a cornfield and threaten a farmer and his son with talk of the Red Dawn. Bleez is then instructed to head over a nearby city where she battles with Jessica and Simon. Simon uses his will power to cure Bleez, who tells him to destroy Hell Tower. Then Jessica arrives and Bleez reverts back to her Red Lantern self, leading to the pair arguing again. They finally agree to a truce and head off to Hell Tower where they find unconscious A.R.G.U.S. agents that had been affected by rage. And Jessica becomes infected by the rage as well. Meanwhile, the last guardian shows up at Simon’s home looking for him.
I really didn’t like Simon Baz as a Green Lantern when he was introduced way back when. But I equally dislike Jessica Cruz and nothing Sam Humphries can do is making me like these two at all. They are whining poor excuses for Green Lanterns. And how many times can I watch them fight with each other? This is truly like a bad buddy movie. Issue #2 features the art of Robson Rocha while #3 needs the combined efforts of Rocha, Tom Derenick, Jack Herbert, and Neil Edwards, All in all, give me another RED LANTERNS book and let’s put this one to bed.
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1: While the Sinestro Corps controls Warworld, Hal Jordan is now a construct who uses the ability of Krona’s Gauntlet to free the other Lanterns from their individual places in the universe. He also manages to construct a new Lantern ring for himself, which he charges in a power battery before the power is gone. Hal Jordan, Green Lantern, has returned. Back on Warworld, Sinestro meets with Parallax and asks for everything as a final request.
Well, this was a very disappointing issue, minus the awesome artwork of Ethan Van Sciver. I wasn’t disappointed with Robert Venditti’s writing, which was top notch as always. I was disappointed that this book wasted 20 pages to tell a tale that could have been wrapped up in half the space. In a nutshell, Sinestro is cozying up to Parallax again and Hal Jordan has managed to reach out to all the other Lanterns and becomes a Green Lantern again in the process. Done. Now let’s get to the REAL BOOK!
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS #1: Hal is off in the Outer Rim looking for any leads that will put him back in touch with the Green Lantern Corps. Sinestro, who has gotten old quite fast since his series ended, is on Warworld, where he drains Parallax of all the space energy it has left, revitalizing him. He sends his Sinestro Corps out to instill fear in the universe and Hal feels it where he resides with the smugglers of the Outer Rim. The Sinestro Corps shows up, eliminates some smuggler, and proceeds to go at it with Hal. Meanwhile, The Green Lantern Corps, or what is left of them, emerge from the Fringe of the Cosmos.
Robert Vendetti ups his game a little bit here and manages to bring in Sinestro and the Green Lantern Corps. So, that makes this issue a better read than the one-shot. Rafa Sandoval’s art is nice and he does a great job of getting all the faces right. I expect this series to be more space oriented than the last GREEN LANTERN series, now that Hal is no longer guarding Earth. I also expect that Hal and Company will be dealing with Sinestro and his Corps in upcoming issues.
THE HELLBLAZER REBIRTH #1: We begin with John Constantine in London many years ago and getting beaten an angry demon he calls Laughing Boy. He threatens to send John to Hell, but opts to send him to New York City instead. Now he is heading back to London because he fears Donald Trump may become President. He has his old friend Chas pick him up at the airport and reminds him about how he had been cursed when last he was here. He whips out a machete Chas brought to the airport and this gets the attention of a meditating woman. Laughing Boy catches up with Constantine, but the mage pricks the demon and uses his blood to remove the soul-stealing curse and place it on everyone in London. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman, Shazam, and Swamp Thing are deciding what to do about the situation Constantine has created and Swamp Thing convinces them to let it play out. The meditating woman, whose name is Mercury, arrives and tells John the demon’s name is Nybbas, which allows him to banish the demon and save the day.
Kudos to Simon Oliver and Moritat from getting John Constantine out of NYC and putting him back where he belongs: Jolly Olde England! He hooks up with his old buddy Chaz and then we get Mercury and then he decides to show his true colors and screw all of London for his own gains. I love this John Cnstantine and hope that we will have more of a darker, Vertigo version of the mage than the superhero one that inhabited the New 52. And yes, I LOVE that Donald Trump is referred to as a “racist, short-fingered, failed meat salesman”.
JUSTICE LEAGUE REBIRTH #1: While Lois and Clark talk about the importance of their place on this Earth, the Justice League fights an alien invader. When all seems lost, Superman appears and lends a hand, helping to defeat the invaders as part of the Justice League.
Absolutely awful! Shame on Bryan Hitch for taking looks like it what may have been an issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, retooling it, and turning it out as this. It is 20 pages that goes nowhere. I certainly hope the regular book doesn’t have this little energy to it.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1: Wonder Woman is somewhere in Eastern Europe taking out some Russians wielding guns and tanks. Unfortunately, an ‘extinction level event” earthquake hits right in the middle of this all over the world, leading to the League going out and saving lives. Suddenly, the living and the dead become possessed, attack our heroes and drain their powers. They claim that The Kindred are coming and Diana tells them to bring it.
This is not much better than the REBIRTH issue except we have Tony S. Daniel on the art chores. Again, we have a story that is dragged out for 20 pages with not much substance to it. This is far from a good beginning for a flagship title like this.
NEW SUPER-MAN #1: The issue begins in Shanghai, China, where we meet a bully named Kong Kenan. He runs into a villain named Blue Condor and saves the kid he was bullying by throwing a can of soda at Blue Condor. The video of him shot by Laney Lan goes viral and gets seen by the Dr. Omen of the Ministry of Self Reliance. At home, Kenan’s dad gives him a hard time because of who he saved. Later, while visiting his mother’s grave, he is visited by Dr. Omen, who convinces him to go with her to the Oriental Pearl Tower. There, while dreaming of how he could have saved his mother in the plane crash that killed her, he is transformed into Super-Man. This is great, except the Batman and Wonder Woman of China arrive to shut him down.
Wow! What a great start to a new character! This is so much better than who Doctor Fate became. Gene Luen Yang’s writing is great, with some funny bits and some really awesome dialogue while Viktor Bogdanovic nails it in the art department. And since every Superman needs a Lois Lane, or at least someone with the initials L.L., we get would be journalist Laney Lan. I cannot wait for the next issue of this. Oh wait: when did China get their own Batman and Wonder Woman?
NIGHTWING REBIRTH #1: The issue begins with Dick Grayson battling The Madmen, before going off to the present, where he is hanging out with Damian. We then flashback to three days ago, where he prepares to say his good-byes to Helena Bertinelli. She gives the excuse that she isn’t feeling well when she is actually getting into her new role at The Huntress. More flashbacks are interspersed throughout including episodes with Tiger and Midnighter. When he finishes helping Midnighter with his mission, he gets a gift from the God Gardener that he later uses to remove the bomb that the Court of the Owls placed inside Damian’s head at the end of Robin War. As Dick Grayson once again becomes Nightwing, so he can infiltrate the The Parliament of The Owls, Lincoln March is murdered by an unknown assailant who will now lead the Parliament.
So Tim Seeley and Yanick Paquette tie up loose ends from the GRAYSON series and give us a lot to chew on in this one shot. The fact that Damian had a bomb in his head all this time and never knew it seems like a useless plot point that got dropped in for no good reason. Paquette’s art looks stunning and Seeley’s story does a great job of setting things in motion for the future. But who is that masked man/woman that kills March with a dart through the eye?
NIGHTWING #1: Somewhere in Romania, a strange woman and what appears to be a zombie are digging up something for the Parliament of Owls when the zombie gets killed and she gets buried alive by someone named Raptor. Meanwhile, over in Italy, Nightwing saves Representative Manfredi from the clutches of Kobra. He ends up in Greece where he learns that the Parliament is not happy with his antics and he proceeds to tell them to bite him. He ends up in Gotham and then Burnside, where he meets with Batgirl. Dick ends up in Russia, where he meets Raptor, who describes himself as Nightwing’s new partner. Raptor beats Nightwing up, before declaring that everything Batman taught him is wrong.
Tim Seeley and Javier Fernandez come out swinging with this first issue but doesn’t hit it out of the park. I found it way too jumbled to work. We start with the introduction of a character that we don’t get to really know who he is until almost the end of the book. We have Dick bouncing all over the world for a page or two and then off to the next locale. The conversation between him and Barbara just feels so forced, especially her wanting him to bring her back a present from his mission to Russia. So he gets her a nesting doll with her name on it. Really?
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS REBIRTH #1: The issue begins the retelling of Jason Todd’s meeting with Batman and how he began training with him. Throughout the book, we see Jason’s developing into the role of Robin, leading to his eventual death at the hands of The Joker and eventual resurrection. In the here and now, Red Hood seemingly kills the Mayor. In actuality, he only shot him with an antidote to counter-act a techno-organic virus. He later tells Batman that he is the best person to go undercover and infiltrate the Gotham Underground. Looks like he will be doing it alone as Batman doesn’t really believe he can do it.
Did Scott Lobdell read the NIGHTWING REBIRTH story, because it seems weird that both Dick AND Jason are going undercover to infiltrate the criminals in Gotham. With half the book retelling Jason’s life and death and the other half giving a lame little story with Jason impressing Black Mask’s people by shooting the Mayor, this was a long-winded waste of 20 pages. Dexter Soy’s art is okay and that becomes the high point of the book. Hopefully, once the actual Outlaws get into the book, this might get off the ground. And maybe Scott Lobdell will stop writing everything like it’s the Nineties.
SUPERMAN #2: Superman and Jon are in the Arctic where they team up to save a submarine and its’ crew from a giant octopus creature. But some blood gets spilled and an unknown predator makes note that it’s from the House of El. Back home, Jon is with Kathy Branden, when the tree branch they are sitting on breaks and he gets a concussion in the process. Meanwhile, at the Fortress of Solitude, the Eradicator has arrived.
SUPERMAN #3: Clark, Lois and an unconscious Jon arrive at the Fortress of Solitude to find the Eradicator there. As parts of the Fortress collapse during the obligatory fight, the Eradicator saves Lois and Jon, who is now awake. Superman runs some tests on Jon as The Eradicator tells his origin. Designed by General Zod, they were designed to suck the life energy out of criminals and put it in the Phantom Zone until they went on trial. When Krypton was destroyed, The Eradicator went searching for the lone spacecraft it saw: Kal-El’s. His true goal is to keep the Kryptonian’s alive and that means sucking out Jon’s human half. Krypto jumps in the way and he is eaten by the Eradicator, leading Jon to get mighty angry.
Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason do a super job on these two stories, as we get a little deeper into Clark’s relationship with his son. Issue #2 features art by Patrick Gleason while issue #3 is by Jorge Jimenez, which is a little bit of a bummer after seeing Gleason’s work. My biggest problem is not with the plot or the art, it’s with killing off Krypto! Really folks: you had to do it? ARRGGHHH!!!
TITANS #1: Lilith is trying to make sure the connection the Titans share with Wally is maintained and she comes across the name Linda Park in his head, leading him to explain it was someone he knew and still loves. Garth realizes that this lost time in their lives might have something to do with that mission they had against Mr. Twister, so they decide to go after Mammoth to get some answers. Donna and Roy find out that Mammoth now works for Simon, AKA Psimon. Back at Grayson's loft, Lilith thinks she might have done a bad thing by poking around in Wally's subconscious. That bad thing is a fat magician working a kid's birthday party who turns into Abra Kadabra and claims that he's the one who made Wally West disappear.
Can I first off say how much I love Brett Booth’s art? I first saw his stuff on BACKLASH way back when and grew to like it and then love it. This has the makings of being some of the best of his career to date. Dan Abnett has a great love for these characters and it shows throughout! The whole book is filled with wonderful dialogue and, by bringing back a classic villain, takes us back to the original days of the Teen Titans. This is the REAL Titans, as far as I’m concerned and two issues in, is already showing this to be a much better title than the TEEN TITANS book was through two incarnations!
WONDER WOMAN #2: Way back when, Diana and her Amazon sisters are stargazing while military man Steve Trevor and his colleague Nick are lost and trying to find their way to a safe place. Flashing back further, we see Trevor and Nick in the real world while Diana and her sisters are on Themyscira engaging in their every day lives. At one point, Diana is bit by a snake, falls ill and needs the help of a healer over a long amount of time to be fully helped. Nick and his wife start a family, but he and Steve find themselves flying out on a mission. Their plane crashes and everyone is killed, except for Steve. That is the bad news. The good news: they have crashed on Themyscira. Aditional bad news-they have crashed on Themyscira.
WONDER WOMAN #3: Wonder Woman and Cheetah have a confrontation, where Diana reminds her that, although they have been enemies, she always will think of Barbara as a friend. The Hyena Men are under the command of the Warlord Cadulo. They worship the God Urzkartaga, who gave the power of the Cheetah to Barbara and they are chasing after Diana. They cross paths with the Hyena Men and Cheetah is shot with an arrow, which sends her into an animalistic and hungry frenzy, feeding on the corpses of the Hyena Men. As Diana calms her down, she begs her to find and kill Urzkartaga to free her from her curse. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor and his men are following Cadulo's men, who kidnapped this village's daughters. They get captured and Cadulo believes that they have been brought here to serve Urzkartaga.
Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott handle issue #2, which features the first installment of YEAR ONE. Scott’s art on this issue is so beautiful. This may very well be her best work yet. Every, single page is a piece of absolute beauty. Issue #3 goes back to the present story line and features the equally stunning work of Liam Sharp. While I have an issue separating the two stories and would much rather have one storyline end and then give us the second, I will deal with it. This is a book that is quickly finding a proper place in the Wonder Woman canon and the works of Strazynski and Azzarello.
Sunday, August 7, 2016
A whole bunch more #1 issues
A bunch of number one issues…
BETTY & VERONICA #1: Well, here comes Archie Comics…once again with a new take on some very old characters. This time around, it’s everyone’s favorite gal pals, Betty and Veronica. What makes this different from their portrayal in the horror line and their portrayal in either ARCHIE or JUGHEAD is that this is the work of the amazing Adam Hughes. It looks tremendous! I could just go through this book and not READ IT! Once you get down to the story, that’s pretty cool too. We get the usual cast of characters, but also get narration from J. Farnsworth Wigglebottom III, also known as Jughead’s dog Hot Dog. That’s right: the dog is the narrator. It also has enough sense to be able to make fun of itself too. And, if you’re a die hard, you need to go find all 24 covers by such luminaries as Stephanie Buscema, Cliff Chiang, Rebekah Isaacs, Moritat, and Ryan Sook.
CIVIL WAR II: Welcome to Marvel’s newest “sequel” of sorts. This is the newest “Earth shaking event” in the Marvel Universe that will lead into a bunch of major events this fall including DEAD NO MORE and DEATH OF X. More importantly, it leads into the new era of Marvel Now this October. So…here is an Inhuman named Ulysses who can see the possible future and Captain Marvel and her camp decide that he could be a powerful tool in keeping the world safe. In the process, a mission is run against Thanos with deadly consequences. War Machine is killed and She-Hulk is critically injured, leading to a split between Carol’s camp and Tony Stark’s. Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez are the architects of this series that also features (SPOILER) the death of Bruce Banner and the rumored death of Tony Stark. As events go, it’s an interesting one.
DARK KNIGHT RETURNS-THE LAST CRUSADE: Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, and John Romita Jr. combine for this one shot that acts as a prequel to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Regular Batman villains including Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and The Joker all show up, as does Selina Kyle. In fact, this does a great job of tying Batman mythology to this book with references to the death of Jason Todd. Romita’s art is typical Romita and Miller works nicely with Azzarello to tell a short, concise and pretty cool tale. In fact, I enjoyed this more than I have been enjoying the newest DARK KNIGHT epic.
THE FLINTSTONES #1: First off-this is NOT your father’s FLINTSTONES. As part of the rebooted Hanna Barbera line, Mark Russell and Steve Pugh brings us THE FLINTSTONES. And, like the rest of the line, this is a long way from the cartoons we know. Beginning at a museum in the present day, we travel back to Bedrock 100,000 years ago and meet Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty and Mr. Slate. Or specifically these new versions of them. The story was fun, but not funny, if you get my drift. What I really loved was all the Bedrock takes on modern businesses such as TarPit, Spears and Roebuck, the Outback Snakehouse and the Wammoth Bammoth Thank you Mammoth. This was such a fun read that I can’t wait for issue #2.
GROO FRAY OF THE GODS #1: This is a dream book if you are a fan of this classic warrior! Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Tom Luth and Stan Sakai combine to bring us the continuing adventures of the most feared warrior of all time. The book is fun, funny and filled with jokes and sight gags galore. This is an amazing effort that looks great and is a nice joy to sit back and read and not have to use a ton of brain matter to figure out a plot. Highly recommended!
LADY KILLER 2 #1: Everyone’s favorite housewife assassin is back in this wonderful mini-series from Joelle Jones and Michelle Madsen. This first series was a wonderful 1960’s tale of blood and intrigue and this second arc is no different. Tupperware saleslady by day and then murderer by night, this story rocks! And Madsen’s art is wonderfully grotesque. Let’s put it this way: the book’s first killing is amazing, gory and…just really, REALLY disturbing.
MIDNIGHT OF THE SOUL #1: Howard Chaykin is back! And he brings with him his favorite bits in the form of a troubled lead character, sex, intrigue and offensive language and actions. With a BLACK KISS feel to it and a slight AMERICAN FLAGG look to it, Chaykin brings us the story of a World War II vet turned writer that is in a failing marriage with a wife with moral issues. Chaykin remains one of the most dynamic, although not prolific, storytellers of my generation and this issue proves that he is not looking to stop any time soon. His work is not for everyone, but if you’re a fan of his work, this is a must read.
ROM #1: The classic toy turned comic hero is back in a new series from IDW. Christos Gage and Chris Ryall write it while David Messina illustrated it and it brings Rom into the IDW Universe. The space knight, misunderstood though he is, is here to hunt the Dire Wraiths, who have already made themselves a part of the Earth population. And, after a full length issue filled with crazy action and confusing plot points, the issue ends with the G.I. Joes showing up. For me, it’s one and done. The story was predictable and the art was just okay.
THE SHADOW-THE DEATH OF MARGO LANE #1: Here’s everything you need to know about this book in two words: MATT WAGNER. Besides this being a great take on a classic character, it’s a complete Matt Wagner effort. He wrote it and illustrated it and it looks so amazing! I have long been a fan of Wagner, so this was a no-brainer for me. And I’ve also been a huge fan of The Shadow since the reprint paperbacks of the Seventies came out. Yeah…this was a no-brainer for me. This is a highly recommended series because it looks great, reads like a pulp novel, and is just a whole lot of fun!
SNOTGIRL #1: Yeah…that’s what it’s called-SNOTGIRL! It’s Brian Lee O’Malley. You may not know that name but if you have any kind of connection to SCOTT PILGRIM, you know his work. Leslie Hung is the artist on the book, which is about a pretty vapid fashion blogger. I was immediately intrigued because it WAS O’Malley. But the book left me cold. I don’t like the character or any of the supporting cast. While O’Malley’s characterizations are wonderful, I just don’t like the characters. Maybe if I was a 13 year old girl…
WACKY RACELAND #1: Hey kids: all the characters from this classic television cartoon are here in this wacky DC take on these Hanna Barbera creations. Oh yeah: it’s set in a post-Apocalyptic future and it’s pretty hardcore. Yeah, we get Penelope Pitstop and Dick Dastardly (with Muttley), the Ant Hill Mob, the Gruesome Twosome, the Slag Brothers and more. Ken Portac is the writer with art from the always-amazing Leonardo Manco. It’s blood, death, crazy monsters, and killer characters. We also get a back-up, by the same creative team, set in the days before the great race. Like the rest of the new Hanna Barbera line, this is an amazing twist that is just a hoot to read.
BETTY & VERONICA #1: Well, here comes Archie Comics…once again with a new take on some very old characters. This time around, it’s everyone’s favorite gal pals, Betty and Veronica. What makes this different from their portrayal in the horror line and their portrayal in either ARCHIE or JUGHEAD is that this is the work of the amazing Adam Hughes. It looks tremendous! I could just go through this book and not READ IT! Once you get down to the story, that’s pretty cool too. We get the usual cast of characters, but also get narration from J. Farnsworth Wigglebottom III, also known as Jughead’s dog Hot Dog. That’s right: the dog is the narrator. It also has enough sense to be able to make fun of itself too. And, if you’re a die hard, you need to go find all 24 covers by such luminaries as Stephanie Buscema, Cliff Chiang, Rebekah Isaacs, Moritat, and Ryan Sook.
CIVIL WAR II: Welcome to Marvel’s newest “sequel” of sorts. This is the newest “Earth shaking event” in the Marvel Universe that will lead into a bunch of major events this fall including DEAD NO MORE and DEATH OF X. More importantly, it leads into the new era of Marvel Now this October. So…here is an Inhuman named Ulysses who can see the possible future and Captain Marvel and her camp decide that he could be a powerful tool in keeping the world safe. In the process, a mission is run against Thanos with deadly consequences. War Machine is killed and She-Hulk is critically injured, leading to a split between Carol’s camp and Tony Stark’s. Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez are the architects of this series that also features (SPOILER) the death of Bruce Banner and the rumored death of Tony Stark. As events go, it’s an interesting one.
DARK KNIGHT RETURNS-THE LAST CRUSADE: Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, and John Romita Jr. combine for this one shot that acts as a prequel to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Regular Batman villains including Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and The Joker all show up, as does Selina Kyle. In fact, this does a great job of tying Batman mythology to this book with references to the death of Jason Todd. Romita’s art is typical Romita and Miller works nicely with Azzarello to tell a short, concise and pretty cool tale. In fact, I enjoyed this more than I have been enjoying the newest DARK KNIGHT epic.
THE FLINTSTONES #1: First off-this is NOT your father’s FLINTSTONES. As part of the rebooted Hanna Barbera line, Mark Russell and Steve Pugh brings us THE FLINTSTONES. And, like the rest of the line, this is a long way from the cartoons we know. Beginning at a museum in the present day, we travel back to Bedrock 100,000 years ago and meet Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty and Mr. Slate. Or specifically these new versions of them. The story was fun, but not funny, if you get my drift. What I really loved was all the Bedrock takes on modern businesses such as TarPit, Spears and Roebuck, the Outback Snakehouse and the Wammoth Bammoth Thank you Mammoth. This was such a fun read that I can’t wait for issue #2.
GROO FRAY OF THE GODS #1: This is a dream book if you are a fan of this classic warrior! Sergio Aragones, Mark Evanier, Tom Luth and Stan Sakai combine to bring us the continuing adventures of the most feared warrior of all time. The book is fun, funny and filled with jokes and sight gags galore. This is an amazing effort that looks great and is a nice joy to sit back and read and not have to use a ton of brain matter to figure out a plot. Highly recommended!
LADY KILLER 2 #1: Everyone’s favorite housewife assassin is back in this wonderful mini-series from Joelle Jones and Michelle Madsen. This first series was a wonderful 1960’s tale of blood and intrigue and this second arc is no different. Tupperware saleslady by day and then murderer by night, this story rocks! And Madsen’s art is wonderfully grotesque. Let’s put it this way: the book’s first killing is amazing, gory and…just really, REALLY disturbing.
MIDNIGHT OF THE SOUL #1: Howard Chaykin is back! And he brings with him his favorite bits in the form of a troubled lead character, sex, intrigue and offensive language and actions. With a BLACK KISS feel to it and a slight AMERICAN FLAGG look to it, Chaykin brings us the story of a World War II vet turned writer that is in a failing marriage with a wife with moral issues. Chaykin remains one of the most dynamic, although not prolific, storytellers of my generation and this issue proves that he is not looking to stop any time soon. His work is not for everyone, but if you’re a fan of his work, this is a must read.
ROM #1: The classic toy turned comic hero is back in a new series from IDW. Christos Gage and Chris Ryall write it while David Messina illustrated it and it brings Rom into the IDW Universe. The space knight, misunderstood though he is, is here to hunt the Dire Wraiths, who have already made themselves a part of the Earth population. And, after a full length issue filled with crazy action and confusing plot points, the issue ends with the G.I. Joes showing up. For me, it’s one and done. The story was predictable and the art was just okay.
THE SHADOW-THE DEATH OF MARGO LANE #1: Here’s everything you need to know about this book in two words: MATT WAGNER. Besides this being a great take on a classic character, it’s a complete Matt Wagner effort. He wrote it and illustrated it and it looks so amazing! I have long been a fan of Wagner, so this was a no-brainer for me. And I’ve also been a huge fan of The Shadow since the reprint paperbacks of the Seventies came out. Yeah…this was a no-brainer for me. This is a highly recommended series because it looks great, reads like a pulp novel, and is just a whole lot of fun!
SNOTGIRL #1: Yeah…that’s what it’s called-SNOTGIRL! It’s Brian Lee O’Malley. You may not know that name but if you have any kind of connection to SCOTT PILGRIM, you know his work. Leslie Hung is the artist on the book, which is about a pretty vapid fashion blogger. I was immediately intrigued because it WAS O’Malley. But the book left me cold. I don’t like the character or any of the supporting cast. While O’Malley’s characterizations are wonderful, I just don’t like the characters. Maybe if I was a 13 year old girl…
WACKY RACELAND #1: Hey kids: all the characters from this classic television cartoon are here in this wacky DC take on these Hanna Barbera creations. Oh yeah: it’s set in a post-Apocalyptic future and it’s pretty hardcore. Yeah, we get Penelope Pitstop and Dick Dastardly (with Muttley), the Ant Hill Mob, the Gruesome Twosome, the Slag Brothers and more. Ken Portac is the writer with art from the always-amazing Leonardo Manco. It’s blood, death, crazy monsters, and killer characters. We also get a back-up, by the same creative team, set in the days before the great race. Like the rest of the new Hanna Barbera line, this is an amazing twist that is just a hoot to read.
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