HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #2: John Stewart and the Lost Lanterns are recovering from a journey that has cost them over 6000 members of the Corps. Meanwhile, Hal Jordan is battling two members of the Sinestro Corps while Sinestro himself discovers that Hal has reclaimed the mantle of Green Lantern and flips out! He flips out even more when he finds out that Hal has been captured by his Corps members and orders them to leave. Hal tracks them to a inhabited planet. Where he finds they have back-up…lots of back-up!
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #3: John is still trying to reach Hal while Guy is in a pit with bloodied fists. Hal is trying to protect the residents of Chall’Enn. Off on Warworld, Sinestro is meeting with members of the Sacrament, which certainly upsets his daughter Soranik. Back on Chall’Enn, Hal pushes his power levels beyond normal levels and crashes to Earth defeated.
And now the action starts, with three plotlines running at once. We have Hal trying to get back in step as a Green Lantern. Sinestro is trying to take back the reigns of the Sinestro Corps, now that he has been restored by Parallax. And the Lost Lanterns are trying to figure out where they are and Guy Gardner is the guy who is going to go out and figure things out. Robert Vendetti and Rafa Sandoval combine for some fun issues that set in motion the next few months worth of story. I’m pretty sure it will eventually end with Hal and the Corps back together. But for now, they just exist in their own little worlds.
HARLEY QUINN #1: This issue begins with Harley and Ivy relaxing in a spa. Then, for anyone who doesn’t know, Harley tells her story and introduces her supporting cast. Harley meets with Red Tool and Jimm Salabim, informing Jimm that she’ll need him to work at Madame Macabre’s. That’s when the zombies show up, who were created by eating Nathan’s Nateman’s hot dogs containing alien parts. Red Tool gets bitten by a zombie, so Harley cuts off his arm at the elbow. She packs the arm in a cooler and launches Red Tool towards the hospital via the Scatapault. Now we just have to hope that he wakes up soon!
HARLEY QUINN #2: Red Tool, thanks to Harley’s crack shot ability, makes it safely into the hospital. With that out of the way, Harley and her team go out and start taking out the Nateman’s Hot Dog zombies. Unfortunately, there are more zombies than they can handle. Just when things look the worst, Poison Ivy shows up with a Weedwacker and an attitude!
So, if you were a fan of the New 52 HARLEY QUINN book, then you’ll be loving this as the characters and all have made their way to REBIRTH. Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, Chad Hardin, Bret Blevins and John Timms all combine to bring us more wackiness, sexual innuendoes and crazy situations. My favorite moment is when Tony takes out a zombie metalhead and Harley mentions that maybe he went to Heavy Metal Heaven with (Ronnie James) Dio, (Randy) Rhodes, Bon (Scott), Lemmy (Kilmister) and Wendy O.(Williams). Thanks for the nod to some legends!
THE HELLBLAZER #1: We begin with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the start of World War I. We see that it could have been prevented but someone named Adnan kept his brother Marid back from stopping it. In the present day, Constantine is woken up by Chas, who takes him out to the greenhouse to meet with the Swamp Thing, who is looking to collect a debt. That takes us back to some months ago in New York when Swamp Thing showed up in some oranges and asked John to help find Abby. Constantine agrees, but only if Swamp Thing agrees to back him up for what he is planning to do in London(see the REBIRTH SPECIAL). To pay that debt, John hooks Swamp Thing up with the woman named Mercury we met in the Special. In the end, Marid visits his brother Adnan and kills him, saying it was right to do what was done and that disproves the existence of God.
I’m loving what Simon Oliver and Moritat are doing with our favorite crafty magician. Gone is the nice Constantine from JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK and gone is the guy who masqueraded as him in the last series. This is more like the Vertigo guy we all know and love. Oliver’s writing is top notch and I have long been a fan of Moritat’s art. I can’t wait to see more of this team and this version of John Constantine in the months to come.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #2: The Lanterns and The Flash are battling all these possessed people when suddenly the possession just stops. They all end up on the Watchtower with Cyborg who explains that something known as The Kindred is causing the earthquakes. That’s when an alien invasion happens and the possessions start all over again. Batman decides this is a job for Superman.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #3: Wonder Woman tangles with The Kindred: a giant being which is made up of people it has merged with. Meanwhile, Simon and Jessica are fighting the bugs, the other Kindred giants around the world appear to be on the move and getting ready for the Purge. Batman asks for Cyborg to meet him at the Kent Farm, where he creates a Boom Tube that will take Superman to the center of the Earth to take out the “Extinction Machines”. The bugs show up and Cyborg saves Lois, Jon and Batman, while they attack him instead. While the song stops and the four Kindreds join together with the powers they have stolen from the Justice League, Superman gets closer to the Earth’s core and realizes he doesn’t now what to do.
Well…Tony S. Daniel’s artwork is nice. Other than that, this book is an embarrassment to the great name of the Justice League. This feels exactly like Bryan Hitch’ work on JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA did and I found that one long limping story. Heck-there is even a reference in the book about how Superman defeated Rao. Really? Those final issues of JLA are still waiting to be published! This is enough to make me want the days of the Gypsy and Vibe team to come back and those were pretty bad times!
NEW SUPER-MAN #2: The Bat-Man and Wonder Woman of China jumping into Kenan’s face and it’s a battle between the Chinese Trinity. Wonder Woman ties him up which allows Bat-Man to knock him out. When he finally comes to, he immediately calls his dad and tells him that he didn’t come home last night. Dr. Omen takes the phone and plays a recording, with Kenan’s voice, saying he was out studying. She then tells Kenan he is now part of the Justice League of China. Bat-Man and Wonder Woman discover that a super villain named Sunbeam is attacking the CEO of a large data firm at her house. Bat-Man and Wonder Woman get inside the house and she brings out the CEO's young daughter, who gets left with Kenan. Sunbeam comes out with the CEO, causing her daughter to cry. Flashing back to how he felt when his mother died, Kenan tackles the villain, which allows the CEO to escape. Sunbeam blasts Kenan with her solar gun and it actually restores his powers. Having defeated the villain, Laney Lan shows up and Kenan reveals his secret identity to all of China.
Gene Luen Yang and Viktor Bogdanovic continue to make this book a great treat! What a fun ride this book is after only two issues. The concept is fresh, the characters are refreshing, and the look is engaging. Of the “new” REBIRTH titles, this is my favorite by far. With nods to classic DC characters, especially Batman, Wonder Woman and Laney Lan, this book is just a great guilty pleasure and I look forward to the next issue!
NIGHTWING #2: So Dick has a new partner in the form of Raptor and they go off on their first mission. Batgirl calls from her mission in Japan and makes a day with him for the next day. Dick and Raptor take control of the ship that Kobra has infested and finds infected people and a ship filled with refugees that the Parliament is going to use for slave labor. The pair are sent on another mission which Dick is not a fan of. But Raptor reveals he has something to bring down the Owls. That means Dick needs to play along for a while and also means blowing off the date with Barbara.
NIGHTWING #3: Our issue begins with Nightwing and Batgirl facing Raptor, who apparently has killed someone. Flashing back to earlier, we see that Nightwing and Raptor are looking to make their way into the house of the guy who made the Parliament's Crete fortress. The Parliament has ordered them to kill him, but they plan on stealing the blueprints to the fortress. And then Batgirl shows up and, after her and Dick work out some of their issues, the trio make their way through the booby trapped house. Raptor gets ahead of Dick and Babs and when they catch up with him, he is standing over the dead body of Knute Rudd. The Parliament of the Owls is watching and approve but, when they sign off, we see that this was all a put on and the blood on the floor is from Raptor. In the end, Barbara tells Dick off and he and Raptor go to Raptor’s hideout in Turkey where he has a certain Dr. Leviticus in a cage.
Leave it to Dick to be one! Yeah…he just made a best effort to patch things up with his ex and now he goes off and screws it up again! Then he fixes it and screws it up AGAIN! I understand you have a mission, dude…but really! Tim Seeley is writing a fun story, complete with a partner who may be a good guy in disguise. Or maybe he is just seeing how loyal Nightwing is. Either way, I’m having a ball with it. Nice art from Javier Fernandez too!
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #1: We begin with a flashback to a times years ago when Jason got involved with a fight between Batman and Ma Gunn. That brings us to today when Jason is actually saving Ma Gunn from an explosion at the School for Wayward Boys. And it seems Black Mask is responsible, as she turned down an offer from him. Through guile, Jason secures a meeting with Roman and looks to be drafted into his family as his second in command. Jason gets sent out on a mission with some of Black mask’s men, but he runs into some trouble…in the form of Artemis.
Well…this was a lot of fun! Scott Lobdell and Dexter Soy combine for a rollicking issue that is equal parts action and intrigue. Lobdell has stepped away, at least for the moment, from writing 90’s comic dialogue and given the reader a true sense of Jason’s past. Soy’s art is cool too and his action sequences are nicely set up. I love his interpretation of Ma Gunn and his Black mask, looking like the gimp from PULP FICTION, is freaky!
SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH #1: The President, based on some of the shenanigans of her team, wants to shut down Task Force X. But Amanda Waller convinces him that Corporal Rick Flag is going to be the solution who can handle the team. Unfortunately, Flag is in Guantanamo Bay for disobeying orders that cost the lives of his troops. The Suicide Squad, Captain Boomerang, Harley, and Deadshot, are on a mission in Mongolia where they are trying to save a Meta Gene researcher from his kidnappers The Dogra War. He has developed a meta-gene bomb that, for 36 hours, can give unpowered folks super powers and remove the powers from the super powered. One of the new metahumans grabs hold of him and threatens to drag him back to The Dogra War, but Captain Boomerang uses a boomerang to cut off the good doctor’s hands which are holding the briefcase with the plans. Deadshot shoots Dr. Ljungberg between the eyes and then detonate the bomb, removing the metahuman’s powers. Just then, Rick Flag shows up to lead the team to “save the world”.
Okay…I would like to say this was a great reintroduction for the Suicide Squad but, in all honesty, it was a way to tie the movie to the book and vice versa. C’mon-we start off by making Amanda Waller her old rotund self from back in the days before NEW 52. And then we introduce Rick Flag, whose original character does have history with the Pre-Flashpoint Suicide Squad. But he is also the big star of the movie, so we need to tie him to this team. It’s no different than Marvel turning the Marvel Cinematic Universe into Samuel L. Jackson after his doppelganger appeared in the Ultimate Universe. And then they made Nick Fury into The Watcher and introduced the NEW, illegitimate bastard Nick Fury. Anyway, the story was rushed, the concept of Boomerang and Deadshot being a little extreme in handling the situation, and then having Flag appear on the last to pages and making us assume they are off to victory just left me cold. Here’s hoping that Rob Williams and Philip Tan do a better job with the regular title.
SUICIDE SQUAD #1: Amanda Waller arrives at Belle Reve where she is putting the team together for a mission. This time around it is Rick Flag, Katana (billed as his second in command), Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, and June Moon (The Enchantress). The rules are the same: go on a mission and don’t try to split or have your head exploded. The mission is that they are to go to Siberia and, to get them there, they are being shot into space. Unfortunately, Boomerang soils himself and Croc gets space sick, throwing up inside his space helmet which leads to the possibility of him drowning in his own vomit. Flag gets free and breaks Croc’s helmet, but that causes the spaceship to wobble out of control. Flag order’s June to let the Enchantress out, but it may be too late as the ship, and all inhabitants, crash into the waters below.
In the back-up, Deadshot tells a tale about the time he was contracted by Kobra to kill Bruce Wayne, t save the life his kidnapped daughter. In the process, he secretly contacted Batman for help and agreed to use rubber bullets. In the end. One guy is left to threaten his daughter and Floyd takes him out with a single real bullet, for which Batman sends him off to prison.
While this was a vast improvement over the one shot, it was still a disappointment. Again, Rob Williams has written a story involving characters from the SUICIDE SQUAD movie, as we have dragged June Moon onto the team. Considering we haven’t seen her in comics since the first JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK story, you know this is all about a movie tie-in. Second, the main story for this month, as it will be each month, is a scant 13 pages of Jim Lee. And it is not his best work as Scott Williams’ inks are doing their best to make those pencils look better. The back-up, by Williams and Jason Fabok looks really good, but suffers from a story that I didn’t care about. Yeah…fans know that Floyd loves his daughter and Batman gets points for going in with the villain on a semi BRAVE AND THE BOLD moment. But to turn around and bust him for saving his daughter, because he broke his promise and used a real bullet, is just a bogus ending. For what DC is calling one of their flagship titles this is a major disappointment.
SUICIDE SQUAD WAR CRIMES #1: We begin in New York City as the former Secretary of Defense, George Carmody, gets kidnapped by Strikeforce Europa. They want him to stand trial in the Netherlands for war crimes that he allegedly authorized during the last Gulf Action. Amanda Waller sends the Task Force X team, comprising Harley, Deadshot, Boomerang, El Diablo and Mad Dog, off to rescue him. The team arrives in the Netherlands and manages to kidnap Carmody back while also battling it out with Strikeforce Europa. Unfortunately, Mad Dog gets captured by Guerrieroa, leading Waller to explode his neck bomb, killing both of them. Then Shado shows up, grabs Carmody for herself, and tosses him into a black helicopter. Boomerang takes down the copter and Harley apparently takes out Shado, allowing the team to grab Carmody and deliver him back to Waller in the States. He’s a little upset that his former allies sent Shado to take him out and he threatens to expose Task Force X if she doesn’t send them to eliminate Black Mountain Ltd. So Waller shoots him in the back, saying that she will spin it as him dying of a heart attack.
Classic SUICIDE SQUAD writer John Ostrander teams up with Gus Vasquez and Carlos Rodriguez to give us an entertaining little gem. Yes…I said gem. This was a fun, if expensive ride, which could have been wrapped into a 20 page story, but works well here. The art is cool and Ostrander’s dialogue fits the bill too. We get Shado and Digger being called “Boomiebutt” and Mad Dog…who I THOUGHT was getting his own series. Well…not unless he can resurrect himself.
SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1: Some time ago, in Argo City, Zor-El sends Lar-On into the Phantom Zone because of his dangerous Red Kryptonite transformations. In the here and now, Supergirl, currently powerless, is flying a spaceship towards the Sun for Cameron Chase and the D.E.O., all in an effort to get her powers back. Suddenly, Lar-On shows up from out of the Phantom Zone and turns into a Red K werewolf. The trip to the sun works and Supergirl comes racing back to Earth to help save Chase, the D.E.O. staff, and her foster parents. She learns that her father put Lar-On in the Phantom Zone, gets him to calm down and promises to abandon him. She then makes it a point that the D.E.O. does their best to help cure him. Chase now gives Superghirl, who apparently has only been on Earth for two months, the new identity of Kara Danvers and assigns her with these foster parents, while she promises to help the D.E.O. while being a student by day. In the end, we may see her father return…in the form of the person he was in the previous series.
So, Supergirl ends up at the D.E.O. because she lost her powers. But she has only been on Earth for two months. So, do we just forget about the three plus years of her NEW 52 title PLUS her appearance in THE LAST DAYS OF SUPERMAN? I’m confused! Are we writing a comic here or just trying to find a way to make this an extension of the television series? Steve Orlando writes a confusing story with beautiful art by Emanuela Lupacchino. Not a fan at the moment, but it IS an introduction to a forthcoming first issue
SUPERMAN #4: Superman and son find themselves in a heated battle with the Eradicator when his containment suit explodes and Superman, Lois and Jon end up in Metopolis on the pool table at Bibbo's Ace O' Clubs in Metropolis. Our hero is weakened as the ghosts of Krypton enter the bar too. Lois guesses that a moon rock that Bibbo has recently acquired is a piece of Kryptonite. When she tosses it away, her husband gets his strength back. He also figures out how to free the ghosts, but the Eradicator arrives and begins to reabsorb the ghosts while trying to eliminate Jon’s human side. The ghosts fight back and take out the Eradicator. Superman puts his family into Bibo’s mini-sub and heads off with them to the moon.
SUPERMAN #5: The Superman family land on the moon and he takes them to the Batcave that Batman has set up there. Not long after, the Eradicator shows up and the two Kryptonian’s are brawling again. The Eradicator proceeds to absorb the Man of Steel and begin chasing after Jon. Meanwhile, Lois finds the armored Batsuit and attacks the Eradicator. Superman asks for help from the ghost of Krypton and they enter him, allowing him to exit the Eradicator and fight back.
Welcome to the continuing adventures of Clark Kent and his family. A Batcave on the moon? Is Bruce THAT paranoid? Apparently! Issue #4 is by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, with art by Gleason while #5 is by Tomasi and Gleason with art by Doug Mahnke. I’m having so much fun with this series because this “trinity” works so well together. Lois has settled into her role as a wife and mother while Jon is slowly starting to use his powers. At times, he feels like Damian Wayne, but that is familiar territory for Tomasi and Gleason. Other than that, this series rocks!
SUPERWOMAN #1: Going back to a few weeks ago, Lois lane is helping Lana Lang on her farm by hoisting a tractor over her head Come forward to today where Lois Lane is Superwoman. Apparently, when Superman went Supernova, Lois and Lana got super powers. Today, Lex Luthor is introducing a new aircraft carrier but a terrorist makes him lose his powers and it’s up to Super Lois and Super Lana, who previously had been whispering instructions to Lois, to save the day. They go below inside the aircraft carrier and find a laboratory with the scientists torn apart. The next thing you know, this strange Bizarro-like version of Lois appears and Lois, calling out Clark’s name and saying she understands, ends up exactly as he did in his last moments. Is this the end of Superwoman?
Wow! That was unexpected. Actually, almost the entire book was unexpected. Phil Jimenez, handling both the story and the art, with inks from Matt Santorelli, deliver a great looking book that is filled with stuff that I’m sure will be fleshed out in the months to come. Instead of one Superwoman, we get two, even though it looks like that might change. It would make sense to eliminate Lois because we have a Lois in continuity now. Two would just be weird! My questions include such topics as how did they get their costumes-the Krypton fairy made them? And who is this mysterious person who apparently is at the center of Lex’ power loss and everything else that occurs in this issue? Jimenez has piqued my interest enough to make me want to come back for issue #2.
TITANS #2: Linda Parks is trying to figure out what is going on with Kid Flash when the Teen Titans show up: Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Speedy and Wonder Girl. They start attacking everyone when the Titans show up as Kadabra watches. Wally gets hold of the Lasso of Truth and gets Wonder Girl to reveal that Kadabra is behind all of this. Garth goes after Kadabra and it looks like it may have cost him his life.
Dan Abnett and Brett Booth gives us a ton of action here, but still leaving us with a lot of questions. How did Kadabra mange to conjure up the Teen Titans of Yesteryear? How is he responsible for the gap in their memories? How is it that Linda Park is starting to remember at last? Abnett’s writing is great, certainly better than what we got in this months’ EARTH 2 SOCIETY ANNUAL. And, if you have read my work before, you know how I so love Booth’ art, going all the way back to his Image days. This book is a major surprise, as the mini-series was.
WONDER WOMAN #4: Part Two of YEAR ONE. The Council of Themyscira is meeting to discuss what has happened with the soldiers’ crash landing here. They also see it as a sign from the Gods and wonder what to do next. The decision is made to have a contest and let one of them go to the outside world and act as an ambassador. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor awakes and discovers that his fellow soldiers are dead. Diana comforts him and promises him that she will keep him safe. Whoever ends up as the ambassador will be taking him back home and will never be able to return. Hippolyta tries to prevent Diana from entering the contest but she does and ultimately wins. Hippolyta gives her daughter the Treasure of Themyscira in the form of the magic lasso. The Amazons have also fixed Trevor’s airplane and turned it into the invisible jet. With a series of tearful goodbyes, Diana and Steve head off to “Man’s World”.
WONDER WOMAN #5: In Part Three of LIES, we see Etta Candy meeting with her superior, a woman named Sasha, and tells her that Steve Trevor has gone silent. The decision is made that, with Wonder Woman in the area, any rescue mission will be put on hold. Steve and his men have been captured by the warlord Cadulo and it looks like they will be a blood sacrifice for the god Urzkartaga. Specifically, Cadulo decides that Steve is going to be the means to have the great god walk the Earth once more. Meanwhile, Diana explains to Cheetah that her memories and history have been messed with and she needs help in fixing it. They make their way into Cadulo’s stronghold and find Steve’s men. But Steve is nowhere to be found, as the ritual is about to take place. Elsewhere, Sasha seems to not be what she seems.
Although I am still a bit miffed over the whole “let’s alternate the story every issue”, Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott are delivering a great retelling/reworking of Wonder Woman’s origin while Rucka and Sharp are delivering the present day story. The past story, with added details, is well-written, as one would expect from a New York Times best-selling author. And what can you say about Nicola Scott that hasn’t been said. Her work is truly spectacular. And we all know what kind of work Liam Sharp can deliver. This series is elevated to a new level thanks to the enthusiasm of the creators. But who is Sasha and what is her motive?
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