EARTH 2 SOCIETY #20 by Dan Abnett and Vincente Cifuentes. In downtown Metropolis, Val-Zod is fighting with the Sandmen when Fury and the rest of the Wonders finally arrive to lend a hand. Meanwhile, the Bat family convinces Sergeant Steel to lead them to Central Control. In the end, the Ultra-Humanite realizes he needs to unleash his ultimate weapon-Green Lantern.
SIX PACK & DOG WELDER HARD TRAVELIN' HEROEZ #6 by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun. In deep space, no one can her you scream especially when Constantine has sex with gets Guts and then Bueno Excelente joins in, causing John to barf in his space helmet. Dogwelder goes out for a space walk to weld the two stars together, which costs him his life. In the end, they all end up in Noonan’s, where Sixpack gets drunk and then heads off to a charity event, so he can tell off the Justice League. He gets tossed out, vomits, and then passes out in it. In the end, there is a new constellation in the sky and it’s Dogwelder.
SUICIDE SQUAD’S MOST WANTED: EL DIABLO AND AMANDA WALLER #6 by Jai Nitz, Cliff Richards. With El Diablo was mortally wounded, his spirit looks over his dead body along with Lazarus Lane and Chutriel, who is trying to El Diablo to come back to life. When he is reminded that Azucar is fighting the Suicide Squad, Justicia, and Dalesko, Diablo agrees to Chutriel’s terms. They come together to form a fire demon to fight Dalesko, leading to Chutriel busting out and taking Dalesko to Hell. Deadshot takes El Diablo back to Belle where he ends up playing chess with Uncle Sam. In the Amanda Waller story, she gets a visit from the ghosts of her family, Agent Jeon, and her own self while under the influence of Black Mirror. The Squad completes their mission, although it looked like they were taken out last issue. In the end, Amanda goes to visit her family's’ grave.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Saturday, January 28, 2017
CW's RIVERDALE
When I first heard that the Archie Universe was being revamped, I was skeptical. Taking an icon that came to be in 1941 was a bit on the daring side. But when they introduced LIFE WITH ARCHIE in 2010 and developed two different possible future timelines, fans lapped it up and I realized that there was a niche for an Archie series that wasn’t all about Mom and apple pie and wholesome fun. The books tackled controversial subjects and introduced Kevin Keller-an openly Gay character. Then, three years later, Archie Publications unleashed AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, followed by CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA. Then, following the heroic death of Archie in the last issue of LIFE WITH ARCHIE, the company announced a full blown relaunch of their titles, with some major players working on the titles. ARCHIE by Mark Waid, Fiona Staples, and Veronica Fish was soon followed by Chip Zdarsky’s JUGHEAD, Adam Hughes’ BETTY AND VERONICA, Dan Parent’s LIFE WITH KEVIN, Marguerite Bennett and Cameron DeOrdio’s JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS and Tom DeFalco’s REGGIE AND ME.And that brings me to RIVERDALE.
When this was first announced, I again found myself being skeptical. After all, it was a show that was going to air on the CW Network and, while the CW has been responsible for such fan favorite shows(including its’ time as UPN) as SMALLVILLE, SUPERNATURAL, LEGENDS OF TOMORROW, IZOMBIE, THE FLASH and ARROW, it was also responsible BEAUTY AND THE GEEK, 7TH HEAVEN, ONE TREE HILL, and a rebooted MELROSE PLACE. In other words, I was nervous! And then, when it was compared to TWIN PEAKS, I got even more nervous.
Well, having seen this first episode of the show, I can say that die hard ARCHIE fans are gonna be pissed! But casual fans, who only know of the characters from 1960’s cartoons and music recordings will hopefully be pleased. Written by Archie Comics' chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (the guy responsible for AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE) and executive producer Greg Berlanti(who has been spearheading the Arrowverse), it is a weird little drama that certainly doesn’t fit into the standard CW mold.
We begin in the quiet town of Riverdale on the Fourth of July when twin siblings Cheryl and Jason Blossom go out on a boat trip on the canal and only Cheryl comes back alive, as her distraught soaked self is found by Dilton Doiley and his Boy Scout troop. Soon after we are introduced to the major players in the show. There is Betty Cooper: the smart, perfect girl with the long time crush on her best friend, Archie Andrews. Archie has blossomed over the summer and is now wrestling between his love of girls, football and music and trying to please his father, who wants him to take over the family business at some point. Kevin Keller is the openly gay, sometimes overly flamboyant, best friend of Betty Cooper and is developing a crush on Moose Mason. There’s also Cheryl and Reggie Mantle, Ms. Grundy, Pops and Jughead Jones-our series narrator.
And then there is Veronica Lodge, her mother, and their butler Smithers. The Lodge’s have moved back here from New York after we learn Veronica’s father is facing embezzlement charges. After arriving at the moment when Betty is hoping to reveal her true feelings to Archie, she immediately becomes part of their social circle and attracts Archie’s affectionate attention. Betty and Veronica soon become cheerleaders for the school’s River Vixens team, much to Cheryl Blossom’s dismay. And Archie, now wishing to be a songwriter, approaches Josie and the Pussycats for help, but is quickly shut down. We also learn that he wants Ms. Grundy, the music teacher, to help him foster his talent but she has reservations. It seems the pair had a sexual tryst over the summer and were together on that July 4th day when Jason died. In fact, they were having a picnic when they heard a gunshot., which they never reported.
At some point it is revealed that Jason Blossom was responsible for Betty’s sister Polly having a nervous breakdown and ending up in a group home. That night, after the Semi-Formal, the blossoming love triangle ends up at Cheryl Blossom’s after-party, where Archie and Veronica end up in the closest during a game of Seven Minutes in Heaven. When they come out, and yes they do kiss, Betty is gone. Archie heads to the Chok’lit Shoppe and ends up with former best friend Jughead, who is writing a novel about what happened over the summer. This leads to Archie visiting Betty and she declares her love for him while he says he loves her too…but admits he will never be good enough for her.
In the end, Kevin and closeted homosexual Moose head to the canal for some fun and skinny-dipping when they find Jason’s corpse-complete with a bullet hole between the eyes. So…who killed Jason Blossom and why?
This is truly a teen-drama that has TWIN PEAKS overtones and then some, not the least of which is a dead body washing up at the end of the episode. You name it and we’ve got it. We have a staged lesbian kiss between Betty and Veronica during cheerleader tryouts. There is statutory rape/sex in the back of the car between a buff Archie and a hot Ms.Grundy who is nothing like her comic book version. There is what was once a love triangle between Mr. Andrews and Mrs. Lodge that resulted in her choosing the not embattled millionaire. We have Kevin and Moose going skinny-dipping as Moose admits he is not gay, but will “do everything but kiss.” This is a Riverdale designed for those teens who made their way into the FIFTY SHADES series.
There is some amazing, witty dialogue, which I would expect from Aguirre-Sacasa who spent time writing for GLEE. Veronica delivers three of the best lines. When she meets Betty and Archie, she quips: “I feel like I’m wandering through the lost epilogue of Our Town!” The next day at school she says: “Ten minutes in and I’m already the Blue Jasmine of Riverdale High.” And the best line of the show: “I’m BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, but this place is strictly IN COLD BLOOD.” God Bless Truman Capote! Josie gets in a good dis too in the form of: “Read my glossed lips, Justin Gingerlake… not gonna happen.” Betty makes the cheer-leading squad after being shut out last year for being “too season-five Betty Draper”-a great MAD MEN reference if there ever was one. Even Kevin gets in on the action with lines like “Archie got hot…six more reasons for you to take that ginger bull by the horns tonight.”
Yeah…not your grandfather’s ARCHIE!
Add to this a pretty good looking cast right out of the PRETTY LITTLE LIARS playbook. K. J. Apa is Archie Andrews is all buffed out and looking like a hot stud rather than the boy next door. Lili Reinhart is Betty Cooper and Camila Mendes is Veronica Lodge-both fitting the look of their comic characters. Cole Sprouse, best known with his twin brother Dylan for BIG DADDY and THE SUITE LIFE OF ZACK AND CODY plays a brooding Jughead who is a blogger and a writer and appears to have NO INTEREST in hamburgers. Marisol Nichols who played Special Agent Nadia Yassir is Mrs. Lodge, Luke Perry, legendary teen heartthrob from his days on 90210, is Archie’s father Fred and bears NO RESEMBLANCE to his fat and bald comic character. Other notable cast members include: Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl Blossom, Ashleigh Murray(THE FOLLOWING) as Josie McCoy(heads up-ALL of the Pussycats are now African Americans…as is Pops.), Mädchen Amick(yes…Shelly from TWIN PEAKS!) as Alice Cooper(yeah…forgot Mrs. Cooper’s name was Alice!), Ross Butler(K.C. UNDERCOVER) as Reggie(yes…he’s Asian), Casey Cott as Kevin Keller, Cody Kearsley as Moose and Sarah Habel(UNDEREMPLOYED) as Ms. Grundy.
We have yet to see other characters that have been announced but haven’t appeared yet. These include: Lochlyn Munro (Jack Sheridan on CHARMED) as Mr. Cooper, Olivia Ryan Stern as Tina Patel, Shannon Purser (Barb Holland from STRANGER THINGS) as Ethel Muggs, Robin Givens (HEAD OF THE CLASS) as Mayor McCoy, Skeet Ulrich (JERICHO) as FP Jones, and Molly Ringwald (yes…THAT Molly Ringwald!) as Archie’s mom.
Anyway, I found this an entertaining first glimpse and can’t wait for more. Now, I realize that I am a strict comics continuity kind of guy who takes issue with major changes in DC and Marvel films (ask me my real opinion of SUICIDE SQUAD), but I find myself more than willing to let the TV world of comics differ from the “real” world of comics. This is another example. It is quirky and dark and, being a huge fan of TWIN PEAKS, I can appreciate the similarities and even the homage.
This could turn out to be the hit cult show of 2017.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
DC REBIRTH Month 7, Part 2
MIDNIGHTER AND APOLLO #3 by Steve Orlando and Fernando Blanco. Gregorio gives Midnighter instructions on how to get to Hell and tells him that he is only going to have seven minutes to save Apollo before dying. In hell, Neron and Apollo are playing a game of Mansion of Happiness. Midnighter heads to Virginia where he meets with and beats up a demon named Vodyanar, but gets a special bullet to use in the process. He goes to Hell and goes looking for the Ace of Winchesters that he can use to get Apollo home. Unfortunately, the gun has been broken and there is a battle brewing next month!
NEW SUPER-MAN #6 by Gene Luen Yang and Viktor Bogdanovic. August General in Iron and the Freedom Fighters are about to take out the airliner controlled by Starro, even if it means killing a lot of people in the process. Kenan and Flying Dragon General make their way into the plane and begin to brawling with Freedom Fighters and Human Firecracker. Kenan uses a tub of ice to get Starro off Bat-Man’s face and that leads to Wonder-Woman and Bat-Man going outside the plane and getting the Freedom fighters to follow. Human Firecracker attempts to blast Kenan and Flying Dragon General leaps in front and it costs him his life. In the end, it looks like Flying Dragon General may someday be reborn…if his love Dr. Omen has her way.
NEW TALENT SHOWCASE #1 by Michael McMillian, Hena Khan, Joëlle Jones, Emma Beeby, Vita Ayala, Adam Smith, Chris Sebela, Erica Schultz, Michael Moreciū, Khary Randolph, David Messina, Sonny Liew, Juan Ferreyra, and Barnaby Bagenda. In the first story, Constantine gets into a fight and ends up in a bar in demon bar talking with her dead father Zatarra. Next, Wonder Woman talks to Flash aboput the responsibilities of being the God of War. In the third tale, Kyle Raynor and Carol Ferris harken back to a tale that feels straight out of the NEW GUARDIANS series. Hawkgirl stars in the next tale: Detective Shayera Hall who has access to Thangarian weapons and makes use of them to fight evil. Deadman fights crime and then has a long discussion with Rama Kushna in an otherworldly bar. Wonder Girl finds out she and her mom Helena Sandsmark are suspects in the theft of some ancient armor, even then who dead boyfriend Diesel may be responsible. Wonder Woman comes to Catwoman, asking her for help on a theft in Themyscira in the next tale. The Pre-Flashpoint Superman has to help save a Jokerized Lois Lane in the next story. We end with total craziness as Harley Quinn and a bunch of villains break out of Arkham.
NIGHTWING #10 by Tim Seeley and Marcus To. Having been convinced by Pre-Flashpoint Superman to follow in HIS Nightwing’s footsteps, Dick Grayson makes the move to Bludhaven, where he takes a gig volunteering to work with troubled kids.That night, he apprehends Gorrilla Grimm, who has ben accused of murder, even as he professes his innocence. Grimm tells him to visit his new boss Shawn Tsang, only to find she is the villain known as Defacer.
NIGHTWING #11 by Tim Seeley and Marcus To. We learn that Defacer was a villain Dick knew from his earlier days as Robin. She is part of a group known as the Run-Offs: ex-villains who left Gotham together and have formed a support group. After talking with them, Dick goes to the Meadowdale Mall, Bludhaven’s illegal street market, to get some information about Grimm. In the end, Nightwing goes back to Defacer, who gets arrested as a suspect to another murder in town. But it looks like maybe Run-Off member Orca may have turned back into a life of crime.
RAVEN #4 by Marv Wolfman and Alisson Borges. As the people of San Francisco get sucked into the glowing orb, Raven is dealing with her evil soul-self. She gets visited in her mind by her friend Antt and that snaps her out of her trance. Her friend Madison tells her to go off and save her friend Archer, who is in the glowing orb. Raven goes off, confronts the terrorists who are demanding five billion dollars to stop the orb, and quickly discovers they have nothing to do with it. She then becomes part of the next group of people being sucked inside, but it won’t let her penetrate.
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #5 by Scott Lobdell and Dexter Soy. Bizarro, under Black Mask’s control, attacks Red Hood and Artemis. Jason quickly finds that injuries to Bizarro affects Roman, and Jason tries to capitalize on that. While Bizarro trying to break free, Roman shoots Jason and reveals what he really looks like under his mask…and it’s not pretty!
SUICIDE SQUAD #8 by Rob Williams, Jim Lee, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Francesco Mattina. Everyone in the Squad has gone crazy, except for Harley who is now normal. Rick Flag arrives and shoots Killer Croc in the face, while June changes into the Enchantress. Meanwhile, Hack is talking to Captain Boomerang’s digital ghost and Zod begins to get his power back. Luckily Hack gets to turn the Red Sun generator back on, draining him of his powers even as Boomerang comes back to our world. The backup is about how Killer Frost became a part of the Suicide Squad, which leads into JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD #1.
SUPERGIRL #4 by Steve Orlando and Brian Ching. National City is being attacked by the Cyborg Superman Zor-El and his army of cyborgs, leading Jeremiah Danvers and Cameron Chase into action Supergirl can’t help, as she is being held captive by her mother, Alura and her adoptive mother, Eliza, is dying. Eventually, Alura gifts part her energy into Eliza, reviving her. In the end, Supergirl breaks free as her father arrives to confront Jeremiah.
SUPERMAN #12 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke. Lois is at her new job at the Hamilton Horn newspaper when Frankenstein arrives and attempts to kill Lois’ boss, Candice. Using the Hellbat glove she borrowed 7 issues ago, she distracts Frankenstein and she and Candice attempt an escape. Superman intervenes, leading to a fight between he and the S.H.A.D.E. operative. In the end, it turns out that Candice is really a “cold-blooded” creature named Kroog.
SUPERMAN #13 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke. It seems Kroog is an alien wanted for murder across the galaxy. All looks well until the Bride shows up and wants the bounty that her husband also wants, leading to a fight between the estranged spouses after Kroog escapes in an unorthodox way. They eventually pout aside their differences and track down the murderer. Frankenstein offers the villain to his estranged wife as a peace offering. She takes the murderer but the two remain separated.
SUPERWOMAN #5 by Phil Jimenez. With Ultrawoman in charge, her Bizzaro Women are destroying Metropolis and Traci 13 and Natasha Irons are left to stop them. Even though it may kill her, Lana eventually makes the decision to fight. She ends up meeting with the Shape-Shifter who killed Lois and apparently, she may have killed Lana too.
TEEN TITANS #3 by Benjamin Percy and Khoi Pham. After a flashback explaining how Mara got her scar at the hands of Damian, we move to the present where the team bonds while they hide from the League of Assassins. Damian decides to go off with Goliath, so as not to endanger his new friends, leading him to submit to his grandfather to save their lives.
TITANS #6 by Dan Abnett and Brett Booth. Wally finds himself within the Speed Force where he gets to have an IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE moment with Linda. While the rest of the Titans try to find a way to win the day, Wally makes the decision to leave this Speed Force heaven and comes back, throwing Kadabra back into the Time Stream. As they talk about the importance of “Manhattan”, a mysterious masked person wonders who this Flash really is.
TRINITY #4 by Francis Manapul and Emanuela Lupacchino. Even though it’s a dream, the Trinity heads to Themyscira, where female warriors and a very young Diana confront them. Even though the heroes succeed at various Amazonian trials, they are banished to the Dark Quarters. Young Diana joins them and gives Wonder Woman the Lasso of Truth, allowing them to see this is all not real. However, it’s real enough that they have to fight a dragon and then confront Mongul.
VIGILANTE SOUTHLAND #3 by Cary Phillips and Elena Casagrande. Donny escapes from armed attackers while Percy gets the name Spectros from a guy who poisoned a prostitute. The lawyer who ran naked is given a leave of absence but his brakes have been cut and he gets killed in a car crash. That night, Donny goes to investigate on a boat but ends up fleeing and crashes his bike in a junkyard where he may get attacked by the proverbial junkyard dogs.
WONDER WOMAN #12 by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott. In this YEAR ONE chapter, the Sear Group has taken credit for the Mall attack, meaning that Diana needs to train harder. After that, Diana tells Etta, Steve and Barbara what she knows about the tree and then uses her lasso to interrogate on the captured Sear Group members and finds out it all has to do with something called the Maru Virus. That’s when Ares arrives on scene to cause havoc.
WONDER WOMAN #13 by Greg Rucka and Renato Guedes. Steve and Diana are on an island in the middle of nowhere and need to get home. Veronica Cale orders Colonel Maru to pick up Diana, leading to an armed team led by Dr. Poison landing on the island. Steve manages to set up a variety of traps and takes out most of the team, but gets shot by Dr. Poison. Diana is convinced to go into the helicopter with Poison when Steve's crew shows up and rescues them. Diana ends up in the hospital and is given a new name: Diana Prince.
NEW SUPER-MAN #6 by Gene Luen Yang and Viktor Bogdanovic. August General in Iron and the Freedom Fighters are about to take out the airliner controlled by Starro, even if it means killing a lot of people in the process. Kenan and Flying Dragon General make their way into the plane and begin to brawling with Freedom Fighters and Human Firecracker. Kenan uses a tub of ice to get Starro off Bat-Man’s face and that leads to Wonder-Woman and Bat-Man going outside the plane and getting the Freedom fighters to follow. Human Firecracker attempts to blast Kenan and Flying Dragon General leaps in front and it costs him his life. In the end, it looks like Flying Dragon General may someday be reborn…if his love Dr. Omen has her way.
NEW TALENT SHOWCASE #1 by Michael McMillian, Hena Khan, Joëlle Jones, Emma Beeby, Vita Ayala, Adam Smith, Chris Sebela, Erica Schultz, Michael Moreciū, Khary Randolph, David Messina, Sonny Liew, Juan Ferreyra, and Barnaby Bagenda. In the first story, Constantine gets into a fight and ends up in a bar in demon bar talking with her dead father Zatarra. Next, Wonder Woman talks to Flash aboput the responsibilities of being the God of War. In the third tale, Kyle Raynor and Carol Ferris harken back to a tale that feels straight out of the NEW GUARDIANS series. Hawkgirl stars in the next tale: Detective Shayera Hall who has access to Thangarian weapons and makes use of them to fight evil. Deadman fights crime and then has a long discussion with Rama Kushna in an otherworldly bar. Wonder Girl finds out she and her mom Helena Sandsmark are suspects in the theft of some ancient armor, even then who dead boyfriend Diesel may be responsible. Wonder Woman comes to Catwoman, asking her for help on a theft in Themyscira in the next tale. The Pre-Flashpoint Superman has to help save a Jokerized Lois Lane in the next story. We end with total craziness as Harley Quinn and a bunch of villains break out of Arkham.
NIGHTWING #10 by Tim Seeley and Marcus To. Having been convinced by Pre-Flashpoint Superman to follow in HIS Nightwing’s footsteps, Dick Grayson makes the move to Bludhaven, where he takes a gig volunteering to work with troubled kids.That night, he apprehends Gorrilla Grimm, who has ben accused of murder, even as he professes his innocence. Grimm tells him to visit his new boss Shawn Tsang, only to find she is the villain known as Defacer.
NIGHTWING #11 by Tim Seeley and Marcus To. We learn that Defacer was a villain Dick knew from his earlier days as Robin. She is part of a group known as the Run-Offs: ex-villains who left Gotham together and have formed a support group. After talking with them, Dick goes to the Meadowdale Mall, Bludhaven’s illegal street market, to get some information about Grimm. In the end, Nightwing goes back to Defacer, who gets arrested as a suspect to another murder in town. But it looks like maybe Run-Off member Orca may have turned back into a life of crime.
RAVEN #4 by Marv Wolfman and Alisson Borges. As the people of San Francisco get sucked into the glowing orb, Raven is dealing with her evil soul-self. She gets visited in her mind by her friend Antt and that snaps her out of her trance. Her friend Madison tells her to go off and save her friend Archer, who is in the glowing orb. Raven goes off, confronts the terrorists who are demanding five billion dollars to stop the orb, and quickly discovers they have nothing to do with it. She then becomes part of the next group of people being sucked inside, but it won’t let her penetrate.
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #5 by Scott Lobdell and Dexter Soy. Bizarro, under Black Mask’s control, attacks Red Hood and Artemis. Jason quickly finds that injuries to Bizarro affects Roman, and Jason tries to capitalize on that. While Bizarro trying to break free, Roman shoots Jason and reveals what he really looks like under his mask…and it’s not pretty!
SUICIDE SQUAD #8 by Rob Williams, Jim Lee, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Francesco Mattina. Everyone in the Squad has gone crazy, except for Harley who is now normal. Rick Flag arrives and shoots Killer Croc in the face, while June changes into the Enchantress. Meanwhile, Hack is talking to Captain Boomerang’s digital ghost and Zod begins to get his power back. Luckily Hack gets to turn the Red Sun generator back on, draining him of his powers even as Boomerang comes back to our world. The backup is about how Killer Frost became a part of the Suicide Squad, which leads into JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. SUICIDE SQUAD #1.
SUPERGIRL #4 by Steve Orlando and Brian Ching. National City is being attacked by the Cyborg Superman Zor-El and his army of cyborgs, leading Jeremiah Danvers and Cameron Chase into action Supergirl can’t help, as she is being held captive by her mother, Alura and her adoptive mother, Eliza, is dying. Eventually, Alura gifts part her energy into Eliza, reviving her. In the end, Supergirl breaks free as her father arrives to confront Jeremiah.
SUPERMAN #12 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke. Lois is at her new job at the Hamilton Horn newspaper when Frankenstein arrives and attempts to kill Lois’ boss, Candice. Using the Hellbat glove she borrowed 7 issues ago, she distracts Frankenstein and she and Candice attempt an escape. Superman intervenes, leading to a fight between he and the S.H.A.D.E. operative. In the end, it turns out that Candice is really a “cold-blooded” creature named Kroog.
SUPERMAN #13 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke. It seems Kroog is an alien wanted for murder across the galaxy. All looks well until the Bride shows up and wants the bounty that her husband also wants, leading to a fight between the estranged spouses after Kroog escapes in an unorthodox way. They eventually pout aside their differences and track down the murderer. Frankenstein offers the villain to his estranged wife as a peace offering. She takes the murderer but the two remain separated.
SUPERWOMAN #5 by Phil Jimenez. With Ultrawoman in charge, her Bizzaro Women are destroying Metropolis and Traci 13 and Natasha Irons are left to stop them. Even though it may kill her, Lana eventually makes the decision to fight. She ends up meeting with the Shape-Shifter who killed Lois and apparently, she may have killed Lana too.
TEEN TITANS #3 by Benjamin Percy and Khoi Pham. After a flashback explaining how Mara got her scar at the hands of Damian, we move to the present where the team bonds while they hide from the League of Assassins. Damian decides to go off with Goliath, so as not to endanger his new friends, leading him to submit to his grandfather to save their lives.
TITANS #6 by Dan Abnett and Brett Booth. Wally finds himself within the Speed Force where he gets to have an IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE moment with Linda. While the rest of the Titans try to find a way to win the day, Wally makes the decision to leave this Speed Force heaven and comes back, throwing Kadabra back into the Time Stream. As they talk about the importance of “Manhattan”, a mysterious masked person wonders who this Flash really is.
TRINITY #4 by Francis Manapul and Emanuela Lupacchino. Even though it’s a dream, the Trinity heads to Themyscira, where female warriors and a very young Diana confront them. Even though the heroes succeed at various Amazonian trials, they are banished to the Dark Quarters. Young Diana joins them and gives Wonder Woman the Lasso of Truth, allowing them to see this is all not real. However, it’s real enough that they have to fight a dragon and then confront Mongul.
VIGILANTE SOUTHLAND #3 by Cary Phillips and Elena Casagrande. Donny escapes from armed attackers while Percy gets the name Spectros from a guy who poisoned a prostitute. The lawyer who ran naked is given a leave of absence but his brakes have been cut and he gets killed in a car crash. That night, Donny goes to investigate on a boat but ends up fleeing and crashes his bike in a junkyard where he may get attacked by the proverbial junkyard dogs.
WONDER WOMAN #12 by Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott. In this YEAR ONE chapter, the Sear Group has taken credit for the Mall attack, meaning that Diana needs to train harder. After that, Diana tells Etta, Steve and Barbara what she knows about the tree and then uses her lasso to interrogate on the captured Sear Group members and finds out it all has to do with something called the Maru Virus. That’s when Ares arrives on scene to cause havoc.
WONDER WOMAN #13 by Greg Rucka and Renato Guedes. Steve and Diana are on an island in the middle of nowhere and need to get home. Veronica Cale orders Colonel Maru to pick up Diana, leading to an armed team led by Dr. Poison landing on the island. Steve manages to set up a variety of traps and takes out most of the team, but gets shot by Dr. Poison. Diana is convinced to go into the helicopter with Poison when Steve's crew shows up and rescues them. Diana ends up in the hospital and is given a new name: Diana Prince.
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
DC YOU Month 19
EARTH 2 SOCIETY #19 by Dan Abnett and Bruno Redondo. The Wonders snag a copy of the Daily Planet to find out what is going on and then decide to dress in normal clothes and try to blend in. Meanwhile, Sergeant Steel takes Batman, Huntress and John Grayson to a underground base where, with a group he calls The Movement, he fights against the Central Control. And it seems that the Ultra-Humanite is the head of Central Control.
SIX PACK & DOG WELDER HARD TRAVELIN' HEROEZ #5 by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun. We find Constantine and Section Eight in an Egyptian motel where the TV news is reporting that stars Sirius A and Sirius B are on a collision course and that will destroy the galaxy. But the JLA might be able to save us all…maybe. But Section Eight heads to NASA, knock out some astronauts and make their way onto the space shuttle that is going off to stop this thing from happening.
SUICIDE SQUAD’S MOST WANTED: EL DIABLO AND AMANDA WALLER #5 by Jai Nitz, Cliff Richards, Vita Ayala and Mart Mernoff. El Diablo, Azucar, and Xolotl, who is really a White Martian, are battling a version of the Suicide Squad when ¡Justicia!, Mexico’s answer to the Justice League, shows up. They’re here to capture Xolotl, but they’re a little late as he dies from his injuries. This leads to El Diablo heading off to take on Dalesko. Before he can get there, Deadshot shows up and fires two bullets into El Diablo’s heart. In the Amanda Waller story, the Suicide Squad have been sent into Eastern Europe to get Phillip Weiss out. They manage to get Weiss out, but the Squad all show up deceased on her monitor. And Waller-she is oozing black gunk from her eyes and mouth.
SIX PACK & DOG WELDER HARD TRAVELIN' HEROEZ #5 by Garth Ennis and Russ Braun. We find Constantine and Section Eight in an Egyptian motel where the TV news is reporting that stars Sirius A and Sirius B are on a collision course and that will destroy the galaxy. But the JLA might be able to save us all…maybe. But Section Eight heads to NASA, knock out some astronauts and make their way onto the space shuttle that is going off to stop this thing from happening.
SUICIDE SQUAD’S MOST WANTED: EL DIABLO AND AMANDA WALLER #5 by Jai Nitz, Cliff Richards, Vita Ayala and Mart Mernoff. El Diablo, Azucar, and Xolotl, who is really a White Martian, are battling a version of the Suicide Squad when ¡Justicia!, Mexico’s answer to the Justice League, shows up. They’re here to capture Xolotl, but they’re a little late as he dies from his injuries. This leads to El Diablo heading off to take on Dalesko. Before he can get there, Deadshot shows up and fires two bullets into El Diablo’s heart. In the Amanda Waller story, the Suicide Squad have been sent into Eastern Europe to get Phillip Weiss out. They manage to get Weiss out, but the Squad all show up deceased on her monitor. And Waller-she is oozing black gunk from her eyes and mouth.
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
DC REBIRTH Month 7, Part 1
ACTION COMICS #969 by Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher. L'Call and Zade have taken Lex Luthor to Mideesi. We find out, through flashback, that Zade and L'Call are responsible for stopping future evil that their mentor Ch'arr discovers. L'Call wants to stop the killing and he is troubled by memories of his dead family. But Zade informs him that they need to go capture and kill Luthor, as he will become the new Darkseid. In present time, Luthor convinces L'Call to hold a trial before killing him, in the hopes that Superman will arrive on time to save him. Superman is in the Amazon at the site of the missing Geneticron building, where he realizes that the shattered pods are teleportation devices.
ACTION COMICS #970 by Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher. Superman breaks into Luthor’s cell, pulls the nullifier off his armor and that’s when Zade and L'Call show up. It seems that Darkseid had once invaded Mideesi and murdered the people and, specifically, L'Call family right in front of him. And, since he knows Luthor will be the next Darkseid, he must kill Luthor. The survivors of Darkseid's invasions find Lex guilty of future crimes and it seems Superman now agrees.
ALL STAR BATMAN #5 by Scott Snyder and John Romita Jr. Batman and Dwayne continue to try and get Two-Face to the last place Bruce and Harvey were at when they were kids, while fighting off a cadre of villains including the Beast. Harvey produces a cure for his affliction, but there is a trick: it will permanently lock-in the personality that is the strongest. Meanwhile, Alfred calls Batman to tell him that he was responsible for bringing the plane down in issue #1 to protect his identity. Gordon and company make their way to what they believe is the Batcave and it turns out to lead them to a “Man Cave”. Batman injects Harvey, but has actually tricked him and injected him with a compound that Harold made up. The Beast arrives and attacks Batman, but the members of the army of villains arrive and save the day. In the end, Batman shows up at Penguin’s door dressed as The Beast.
AQUAMAN #12 by Dan Abnett and Philippe Briones. N.E.M.O.is attacking the East Coast and making themselves off to be the Atlanteans, causing President Obama to declare was on Atlantis. Aquaman sends out all of Atlantis’ defensive units with strict orders to not fire on the surface folks unless provoked. It turns out one of the warships advancing on Atlantis is a ghost ship that disappeared 35 years ago. An American sub attacks one of the Atlantean warships and destroys it and Arthur still tells them to hold off. At the White House, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shows up with the Aquamarines and they are going to be the solution to the Atlantean problem. While this is going on, the N.E.M.O. crew unleashes monsters on the American fleet. All of that leads to the Justice League showing up and threatening Aquaman.
AQUAMAN #13 by Dan Abnett and Scot Eaton. Aquaman is confronted by the Justice League and he tries to show them evidence that N.E.M.O. is actually responsible for the attacks on America. Commander Stubbs and N.E.M.O. launch an attack on Atlantis, using American codes to avoid suspicion. Aquaman intervenes, destroying the N.E.M.O. ships and capturing the crew. Black Manta triggers something that causes their heads to explode. Superman shows up to present his case for innocence to the United States Chief of Staff, but he decides to let the Aquamarines loose instead.
BATGIRL #6 by Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque. Barbara Gordon is leaving China and heading home, applying for a new job as she does so. The passengers smell something foul and she changes into Batgirl to investigate, leading her to discover Poison Ivy. It seems Ivy has woken up a nearly extinct stink plant that takes over the airplane, forcing Ivy to put everyone to sleep with pheromones and eventually killing the plant. Once back in Gotham, Barbara is greeted by Frankie, finds out that she got the job she applied for and we see that an E. Cobblepot was also on the plane.
BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #5 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and Roge Antonio. The team is inside the lair of the new Oracle and it turns out he is a Batgirl/Oracle obsessed fan by the name of Gus Yale. He admits he was probably wrong working with Fenice and all, but he did manage to get the Birds of Prey back together. Batgirl agrees to a temporary truce and starts working with him while Black Canary and Huntress head to where Fenice had been Huntress has a chance to take her out when she realizes that Fenice is actually her supposedly dead mother.
BATMAN #12 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. While Batman is making his way to Bane and the Psycho Pirate, we get a long letter from Bruce Wayne to Selina Kyle...a letter from Bruce Wayne. Even though he defeats all of Bane’s men, he ends up on his knees in front of Bane, Psycho Pirate and Catwoman.
BATMAN #13 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. While Batman and company are in Bane’s clutches, Amanda Waller drops into the Batcave to visit with Alfred. It seems she may have been the reason for Batman going to Santa Prisca, as this leads into JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE SUICIDE SQUAD. In Santa Prisca, turns out that Catwoman was faking it all after all and she snaps Bane’s back. Scarface is back, in a way, and takes down Psycho Pirate, allowing Bronze Tiger to take out the Ventriloquist. In the end, the team heads off on a raft made of Bubble Gum while bane cries for venom and is probably looking for revenge.
BATMAN BEYOND #3 by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang. Terry has cozied up to the Jokerz, disguising himself as Matches Malone’s son. Dana attempts an escape and Terry goes after her, returning her back to the Jokerz. Later, she shows him the cryogenically frozen Koker and tells him about the Jokerz plan. Wilson and his crew show up, telling Terry that they knew who he was all along. They take Terry and Dana, string them upside against “The Wall” and toss acid “pebbles” at them. Meanwhile, Wilson visits with The joker, who he reveals is actually Bruce Wayne.
BLUE BEETLE #4 by Keith Giffen and Scott Kolins. After a flashback involving Dan Garrett, who is ultimately hunted and murdered by Dr. Fate, who takes his scarab, we move to the present where Jaime gets introduced to Brenda’s friend Naomi, telling him that Naomi wants Jaime to ask her out. Later, Jaime is being tested by Teri and tells how he, Brenda, and Paco came across the scarab while swimming several months ago. In the end, Teri tells Ted that the scarab is bonded Jaime and also mutating his skeletal structure. Ted experiences a flashback from when he first became Blue Beetle. This was when he got a chance to meet archeologist Dan Garrett, who shows him the scarab he had found. And we end where Jaime asks out Naomi.
CYBORG #6 by John Semper Jr. and Will Conrad. Cyborg manages to bring Agent Taylor to her new life as a cyborg and becomes her friend, taking her out and trying to make her forget everything that happened in Iraq. He goes about training her on her new talents and she goes on to call herself Variant. He even teaches her how to change her form into a human one, resulting in them having sex. She remembers something from Iraq and they go off to investigate this guy and his Invasion Force he is creating. Unfortunately, she turns out to be a double agent
CYBORG #7 by John Semper Jr. and Paul Pelletier. Cyborg has been betrayed and been captured. It seems Terrence Fisher, the ex-C.I.A. guy controlling his Invasion Force, was a field agent with Scarlett and they came up with a plan that would allow her to be transformed. So she purposely allowed herself to get killed, because she had a brain tumor anyway. Cyborg had Sarah hack into Variant’s system and now she finds out that Fisher had planned on letting her die when it was all done anyway. So she teams up with Cyborg and they defeat him. Unfortunately, the government decides they need to shut her down, because she is a risk. In the end, Victor’s “dad” reveals his true self and shuts Cyborg down.
DEADMAN DARK MANSION OF FORBIDDEN LOVE #2 by Sarah Vaughn, Lan Medina and Phil Hester. Deadman and Adelia try to figure out why they’re trapped in Glencourt Manor. Berenice tells them that Adelia was married to the Manor’s first owner. Berenice heads into town to do research at the library and discovers that Adelia went missing just after her wedding. Then she heads over to the antique store and makes up, and out, with Sam. Back at the Manor, Nathan announces that he has finished the first draft of his book, which means he and Berenice can move out. Just to make things better, he proposes to Berenice, but then the haunted house produces a monster that threatens to kill Nathan.
DEATH OF HAWKMAN #3 by Marc Andreyko, Aaron Lopresti, and Rodney Buchemi. Adam Strange fills Hawkman in on what's going on over on Rann, where the high council is wondering if Adam is off betraying Rann to Thanagar. But on Thanagar, the authorities are looking for Adam too. We also find out that Despero has an army behind him and is ready to take on the universe. Adam and Hawkman steal a ship and head to Kalador. Meanwhile, Alanna puts a bounty out on her husband.
DEATHSTROKE #8 by Christopher Priest, Larry Hama and Carlo Pagulayan. It’s Deathstroke versus Superman and Deathstroke's Ikon Armor actually hurts Superman and causes him to bleed. They continue to fight and, in the end, Deathstroke kills off his target, much to Superman’s dismay. Superman knocks him out and allegedly delivers him to the governor of Rota-at least that what he tells Adeline. Over in Los Angeles, Rose finds out that Etienne is working for a think tank and Richard is working for Deathstroke. In the end, she plans her next move and is off to Vietnam..
DEATHSTROKE #9 by Christopher Priest and Cary Nord. In Los Angeles, Jericho meets with his father’s personal physician, Dr. A. Villain. Deathstroke is in a Supermax in Colorado. Rose, who learns her real name is Xia, is in North Vietnam. In a flashback, we get a story of Deathstroke and Wintergreen in Srebrencia, where they agree to bring down the war criminal Dragas.
DETECTIVE COMICS #946 by James Tynion IV and Eddy Barrows. We begin with a flashback of Batman discuss the idea of the Team with Tim. In the present, Batman battles the First Victim while Steph meets with the AI that is Tim. Clayface is off with Glory, who wants to be known as Mudface. He has her put on the device that changes him, altering her back to her original self and that shocks her…literally! We also have Batwoman and Batwing taking on Madame Crow and Mister Noxious. The issue ends with Batman and the First Victim apparently ending their fight when Spoiler shows up as a potential new member of the Victim Syndicate.
DETECTIVE COMICS #947 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez. Spoiler takes down Cassandra, Batwing, Batwoman and Clayface, who she tears apart with an app. on her phone, before taking on Batman. She tells Batman if he doesn't retire she will release every bit of information on Batman and the crew to the public. Luke and Clayface tells her why they disagree with her and Batwoman gets the phone away from Spoiler, who declares she will be standing in their way until they agree with her. And then she leaves. Three days later, the Syndicate is in Arkham and Batman is looking to add Jean Paul and Harper to the team. In the end, Tim Drake escapes the cell that Mr. Oz put him in and gets out a distress signal, but gets imprisoned yet again.
THE FLASH #12 by Josh Williamson and Davide Gianfelice. Flash and Kid Flash are travelling through Shadowlands with Shade as they move towards the Queens of the Shadowlands. Barry and Wally get attacked by the Shadows and struggle until Barry uses the Speed Force to free time. After being told why Barry can’t reveal his identity, time is restored and Wally uses his lightning to eliminate the Shadows. It also causes Iris to become her old self again, while Shade works on freeing Hope. The two Flashes fist bump and that eliminates Shadowland, bringing everyone back to Central City. In the end, Barry asks Iris out on a date.
THE FLASH #13 by Joshua Williamson and Neil Googe. Barry and Iris go out on a date while Kid Flash has to deal with Tar Pit. It seems the bad guy is actually trying to do good and deal with even badder bad guys and Wally decides to help. In the end, the bad guy gets justice and Iris and Barry may make this new relationship work.
GOTHAM ACADEMY SECOND SEMESTER #4 by Brenden Fletcher and Jon Lam. The Carnival Midnight has arrived in town and a mysterious boy named Bernard gives Maps and Pomeline a flyer, prompting the Pizza Detective club to check it out. Headmaster Hammer confronts the Ringmaster and tells him to pack up the carnival. Back at the Academy, the Club researches it, with little luck. They do find a picture from a hundred years ago with two boys and one who looks like the Headmaster. Back at the carnival, Maps notices that Bernard reflection in a mirror is that of an old man. Olive manages to scare away a giant Snake Lady. The ringmaster is revealed to be a demon and Headmaster Hammer kills it with a silver blade. Bernard ages in Hammerhead's arms and then dies.
GREEN ARROW #12 by Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt. While Seattle has mixed emotions about whether Green Arrow is a hero or not, we see that Ollie, Dinah, Diggle and Henry have made a tree house base in the Rainier Wilderness. Later, Green Arrow takes out an abusive policeman. The following day, Ollie, in disguise, meets with Nathan Domini, looking for a big favor, which is to have him bug a meeting with Broderick. Before it is all over, Broderick is making sure that Seattle hates Green Arrow by killing people with arrows like his.
GREEN ARROW #13 by Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt. Oliver and Dinah end up at a crime scene where it looks like Ollie was the murderer. The police start shooting and that leads to Oliver and Dinah heading back to their place in the forest. Officer Notting gets put out on paid leave, which gives him time to have his team cause havoc in Pennytown. Henry uses his skills to figure that quarterback Cy Samson may be the next victim. Nathan Domini and Broderick have a meeting that includes Domini eating a fly, before engaging in drink, drugs and girls. In the end, Oliver is at Queen Industry Field when an arrow takes down Cy Samson and leaving Green Arrow as the #1 suspect in a hostile crowd.
GREEN LANTERNS #12 by Sam Humphries and Eduardo Pansica. The Green Lanterns are doing all the can to survive and beat Frank Laminski and his Orange Lantern. They have to back off to save lives and allow him to escape in the process. Frank heads back to his apartment in Coast City, where Volthoom is pulling all emotion out of Rami. Frank becomes a Green lantern and shows up at a Memorial Park, where he offers to let “regular people” take selfies with him. Simon and Jessica show up, just in time for Frank to become an Orange Lantern again and unleash a pair of constructs upon them.
GREEN LANTERNS #13 by Sam Humphries and Ronan Cliquet. 10 billion years ago, the Guardians find themselves having to deal with Volthoom, causing them to unleash the Green Lantern rings upon the universe. In the present, the Green Lanterns are battling Frank, who is now channeling the power of the yellow and using constructs. Rami and Volthoom chat, and we learn that the Guardians were responsible for putting a Lantern Battery in Volthoom’s chest, making him the first Lantern. In the end, Sam and Jessica need to find a way to save Frank, before he explodes!
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #10 by Robert Vendetti and Ed Benes. Brainiac is enjoying his Xudar collection, that features the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps. Ganthet and Sayd, along with Kyle Rayner, are on Nok, where they tell him that he is the only person who can bring Hal Jordan back from the Emerald Space. Abin Sur and all of the Lanterns who have died in action are in Emerald Space with Hal as Kyle fights to bring Hal home. Eventually, Hal comes back to reality. Back to Brainiac where he delivers Xudar to the Grand Collector- Larfleeze.
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #11: Robert Vendetti and Rafa Sandoval. In the not so distant past, Larfleeze ended up with Brainiac’s head and brought him back to life. He now serves Larfleeze and has captured all of the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps. They stage a fight that forces Larfleeze to open their container. Over on Planet Nok, Hal Jordan is back and Kyle Rayner is filling him in on what has been happening, leading Hal and the others to head off to Mogo. Once there, Mogo tells them the Lanterns are on Okarra.
HARLEY QUINN #9 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Brandon Peterson and Michael Kaluta. Harley is having Wizard of Oz themed dreams that stars The Joker, which Frank explains means she is afraid of the future. She goes off to Skate Club and tangles with her old nemesis Bertha, who is content on killing Harley. And she might have succeeded if it weren’t for The Joker showing up and killing Bertha. Harley passes out and, while she’s unconscious, Harley has a psychedelic dream courtesy of Michael Kaluta. When she wakes, she heads to the hospital to get her head X-rayed, then heads to a pizza place for a snack, where she breaks up a robbery, getting her a lifetime supply of free pizza. After giving pizza to a homeless guy, she heads home to find Mister J. waiting for her.
HARLEY QUINN #10 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Moritat, Joseph Michael, Linsner, Bret Blevins, and Inaki Miranda. It’s Christmas time and Harley ends up being shrunk down to FANTASTIC VOYAGE size to go into a Department Store Santa’s brain to save him. That means fighting multiple “Creatures of the Id” to save his mind.
HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #5 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, and Neal Adams. In a parody of/tribute to the classic SUPERMAN VS MUHAMMAD ALI comic, an alien named Scrubb visits Harley and, convinced that she is one of Earth’s greatest warriors, abducts her to fight his champion. Superman arrives and he has to fight Harley to take her place. They go to the Fortress of Solitude where he depowers himself, allowing her to knock him out during their fight. With Harley facing Hun’ka, Jimmy Olsen reveals himself as Superman and, after taking a restoration pill, breaks out of his prison, causing the invading armada to be recalled by Scrubb. In the ring, Harley pulls down Hun’ka’s pants, leading to her knocking him out of the ring and winning. In the end, Superman and Harley go back to Earth and she returns most of his Kryptonian balls to him, except for the one she used in the LAST ISSUE.
THE HELLBLAZER #5 by Simon Oliver and Pia Guerra. Constantine has put Mercury in charge of finding Abigail, since the Swamp thing is currently out of commission. Along the way, Mercury takes Constantine to a mental institution to visit her mom, who he once had a relationship of some sort with. Oh yeah: and the Djinn want to destroy the world.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #10 by Bryan Hitch and Neil Edwards. The Justice League have arrived at the Palmer household to see what connection James Palmer has to everything that has been going on. It turns out that his daughter Lily took his code but it was Bobby, playing a game on his Ipad, that is responsible for the Genie. Suddenly, everyone gets attacked by the combined forces of Giganta, Gizmo, Plastique, Girder, Psimon, Coldsnap, Shimmer, Major Disaster, Mammoth, Jinx, and Heatstroke. Batman takes the family into the house, where Scarecrow is waiting. Meanwhile, Amazo shows up.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #11 by Bryan Hitch and Neil Edwards. The two teams continue to battle. Eventually, Lily manages to use the Ipad to hack into Amazo’s system and convinces him that his team is the Justice League, leading to a quick surrender.
JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE SUICIDE SQUAD #1 by Joshua Williamson and Jason Fabok. A mysterious figure walks into the top-secret underground prison known as the Catacombs and frees some of the worst of the worst. Meanwhile, the Suicide Squad are in Badhnisia where they have been tasked to stop a cult leader from using an earthquake pulsar to destroy the place. The Justice League goes to Badhnisia, where they try to take the Squad in, but the Squad is told by Waller that they must take down the League or die
In the end, it is revealed the criminals broken out of The Catacombs were Doctor Polaris, Emerald Empress, Johnny Sorrow, Rustam and Lobo and Maxwell Lord was the guy responsible.
JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE SUICIDE SQUAD #2 by Joshua Williamson and Tony S. Daniel. While Max Lord explains that he wants the freed criminals to take ouot Amanda Waller, the Justice League battles the Suicide Squad. In the end, Killer Frost steals some of Superman’s power to freeze EVERYONE, allowing the League to be captured and taken back to Belle Reve. As Waller says: Welcome to the Suicide Squad.
ACTION COMICS #970 by Dan Jurgens and Patrick Zircher. Superman breaks into Luthor’s cell, pulls the nullifier off his armor and that’s when Zade and L'Call show up. It seems that Darkseid had once invaded Mideesi and murdered the people and, specifically, L'Call family right in front of him. And, since he knows Luthor will be the next Darkseid, he must kill Luthor. The survivors of Darkseid's invasions find Lex guilty of future crimes and it seems Superman now agrees.
ALL STAR BATMAN #5 by Scott Snyder and John Romita Jr. Batman and Dwayne continue to try and get Two-Face to the last place Bruce and Harvey were at when they were kids, while fighting off a cadre of villains including the Beast. Harvey produces a cure for his affliction, but there is a trick: it will permanently lock-in the personality that is the strongest. Meanwhile, Alfred calls Batman to tell him that he was responsible for bringing the plane down in issue #1 to protect his identity. Gordon and company make their way to what they believe is the Batcave and it turns out to lead them to a “Man Cave”. Batman injects Harvey, but has actually tricked him and injected him with a compound that Harold made up. The Beast arrives and attacks Batman, but the members of the army of villains arrive and save the day. In the end, Batman shows up at Penguin’s door dressed as The Beast.
AQUAMAN #12 by Dan Abnett and Philippe Briones. N.E.M.O.is attacking the East Coast and making themselves off to be the Atlanteans, causing President Obama to declare was on Atlantis. Aquaman sends out all of Atlantis’ defensive units with strict orders to not fire on the surface folks unless provoked. It turns out one of the warships advancing on Atlantis is a ghost ship that disappeared 35 years ago. An American sub attacks one of the Atlantean warships and destroys it and Arthur still tells them to hold off. At the White House, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shows up with the Aquamarines and they are going to be the solution to the Atlantean problem. While this is going on, the N.E.M.O. crew unleashes monsters on the American fleet. All of that leads to the Justice League showing up and threatening Aquaman.
AQUAMAN #13 by Dan Abnett and Scot Eaton. Aquaman is confronted by the Justice League and he tries to show them evidence that N.E.M.O. is actually responsible for the attacks on America. Commander Stubbs and N.E.M.O. launch an attack on Atlantis, using American codes to avoid suspicion. Aquaman intervenes, destroying the N.E.M.O. ships and capturing the crew. Black Manta triggers something that causes their heads to explode. Superman shows up to present his case for innocence to the United States Chief of Staff, but he decides to let the Aquamarines loose instead.
BATGIRL #6 by Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque. Barbara Gordon is leaving China and heading home, applying for a new job as she does so. The passengers smell something foul and she changes into Batgirl to investigate, leading her to discover Poison Ivy. It seems Ivy has woken up a nearly extinct stink plant that takes over the airplane, forcing Ivy to put everyone to sleep with pheromones and eventually killing the plant. Once back in Gotham, Barbara is greeted by Frankie, finds out that she got the job she applied for and we see that an E. Cobblepot was also on the plane.
BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #5 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and Roge Antonio. The team is inside the lair of the new Oracle and it turns out he is a Batgirl/Oracle obsessed fan by the name of Gus Yale. He admits he was probably wrong working with Fenice and all, but he did manage to get the Birds of Prey back together. Batgirl agrees to a temporary truce and starts working with him while Black Canary and Huntress head to where Fenice had been Huntress has a chance to take her out when she realizes that Fenice is actually her supposedly dead mother.
BATMAN #12 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. While Batman is making his way to Bane and the Psycho Pirate, we get a long letter from Bruce Wayne to Selina Kyle...a letter from Bruce Wayne. Even though he defeats all of Bane’s men, he ends up on his knees in front of Bane, Psycho Pirate and Catwoman.
BATMAN #13 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. While Batman and company are in Bane’s clutches, Amanda Waller drops into the Batcave to visit with Alfred. It seems she may have been the reason for Batman going to Santa Prisca, as this leads into JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE SUICIDE SQUAD. In Santa Prisca, turns out that Catwoman was faking it all after all and she snaps Bane’s back. Scarface is back, in a way, and takes down Psycho Pirate, allowing Bronze Tiger to take out the Ventriloquist. In the end, the team heads off on a raft made of Bubble Gum while bane cries for venom and is probably looking for revenge.
BATMAN BEYOND #3 by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang. Terry has cozied up to the Jokerz, disguising himself as Matches Malone’s son. Dana attempts an escape and Terry goes after her, returning her back to the Jokerz. Later, she shows him the cryogenically frozen Koker and tells him about the Jokerz plan. Wilson and his crew show up, telling Terry that they knew who he was all along. They take Terry and Dana, string them upside against “The Wall” and toss acid “pebbles” at them. Meanwhile, Wilson visits with The joker, who he reveals is actually Bruce Wayne.
BLUE BEETLE #4 by Keith Giffen and Scott Kolins. After a flashback involving Dan Garrett, who is ultimately hunted and murdered by Dr. Fate, who takes his scarab, we move to the present where Jaime gets introduced to Brenda’s friend Naomi, telling him that Naomi wants Jaime to ask her out. Later, Jaime is being tested by Teri and tells how he, Brenda, and Paco came across the scarab while swimming several months ago. In the end, Teri tells Ted that the scarab is bonded Jaime and also mutating his skeletal structure. Ted experiences a flashback from when he first became Blue Beetle. This was when he got a chance to meet archeologist Dan Garrett, who shows him the scarab he had found. And we end where Jaime asks out Naomi.
CYBORG #6 by John Semper Jr. and Will Conrad. Cyborg manages to bring Agent Taylor to her new life as a cyborg and becomes her friend, taking her out and trying to make her forget everything that happened in Iraq. He goes about training her on her new talents and she goes on to call herself Variant. He even teaches her how to change her form into a human one, resulting in them having sex. She remembers something from Iraq and they go off to investigate this guy and his Invasion Force he is creating. Unfortunately, she turns out to be a double agent
CYBORG #7 by John Semper Jr. and Paul Pelletier. Cyborg has been betrayed and been captured. It seems Terrence Fisher, the ex-C.I.A. guy controlling his Invasion Force, was a field agent with Scarlett and they came up with a plan that would allow her to be transformed. So she purposely allowed herself to get killed, because she had a brain tumor anyway. Cyborg had Sarah hack into Variant’s system and now she finds out that Fisher had planned on letting her die when it was all done anyway. So she teams up with Cyborg and they defeat him. Unfortunately, the government decides they need to shut her down, because she is a risk. In the end, Victor’s “dad” reveals his true self and shuts Cyborg down.
DEADMAN DARK MANSION OF FORBIDDEN LOVE #2 by Sarah Vaughn, Lan Medina and Phil Hester. Deadman and Adelia try to figure out why they’re trapped in Glencourt Manor. Berenice tells them that Adelia was married to the Manor’s first owner. Berenice heads into town to do research at the library and discovers that Adelia went missing just after her wedding. Then she heads over to the antique store and makes up, and out, with Sam. Back at the Manor, Nathan announces that he has finished the first draft of his book, which means he and Berenice can move out. Just to make things better, he proposes to Berenice, but then the haunted house produces a monster that threatens to kill Nathan.
DEATH OF HAWKMAN #3 by Marc Andreyko, Aaron Lopresti, and Rodney Buchemi. Adam Strange fills Hawkman in on what's going on over on Rann, where the high council is wondering if Adam is off betraying Rann to Thanagar. But on Thanagar, the authorities are looking for Adam too. We also find out that Despero has an army behind him and is ready to take on the universe. Adam and Hawkman steal a ship and head to Kalador. Meanwhile, Alanna puts a bounty out on her husband.
DEATHSTROKE #8 by Christopher Priest, Larry Hama and Carlo Pagulayan. It’s Deathstroke versus Superman and Deathstroke's Ikon Armor actually hurts Superman and causes him to bleed. They continue to fight and, in the end, Deathstroke kills off his target, much to Superman’s dismay. Superman knocks him out and allegedly delivers him to the governor of Rota-at least that what he tells Adeline. Over in Los Angeles, Rose finds out that Etienne is working for a think tank and Richard is working for Deathstroke. In the end, she plans her next move and is off to Vietnam..
DEATHSTROKE #9 by Christopher Priest and Cary Nord. In Los Angeles, Jericho meets with his father’s personal physician, Dr. A. Villain. Deathstroke is in a Supermax in Colorado. Rose, who learns her real name is Xia, is in North Vietnam. In a flashback, we get a story of Deathstroke and Wintergreen in Srebrencia, where they agree to bring down the war criminal Dragas.
DETECTIVE COMICS #946 by James Tynion IV and Eddy Barrows. We begin with a flashback of Batman discuss the idea of the Team with Tim. In the present, Batman battles the First Victim while Steph meets with the AI that is Tim. Clayface is off with Glory, who wants to be known as Mudface. He has her put on the device that changes him, altering her back to her original self and that shocks her…literally! We also have Batwoman and Batwing taking on Madame Crow and Mister Noxious. The issue ends with Batman and the First Victim apparently ending their fight when Spoiler shows up as a potential new member of the Victim Syndicate.
DETECTIVE COMICS #947 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez. Spoiler takes down Cassandra, Batwing, Batwoman and Clayface, who she tears apart with an app. on her phone, before taking on Batman. She tells Batman if he doesn't retire she will release every bit of information on Batman and the crew to the public. Luke and Clayface tells her why they disagree with her and Batwoman gets the phone away from Spoiler, who declares she will be standing in their way until they agree with her. And then she leaves. Three days later, the Syndicate is in Arkham and Batman is looking to add Jean Paul and Harper to the team. In the end, Tim Drake escapes the cell that Mr. Oz put him in and gets out a distress signal, but gets imprisoned yet again.
THE FLASH #12 by Josh Williamson and Davide Gianfelice. Flash and Kid Flash are travelling through Shadowlands with Shade as they move towards the Queens of the Shadowlands. Barry and Wally get attacked by the Shadows and struggle until Barry uses the Speed Force to free time. After being told why Barry can’t reveal his identity, time is restored and Wally uses his lightning to eliminate the Shadows. It also causes Iris to become her old self again, while Shade works on freeing Hope. The two Flashes fist bump and that eliminates Shadowland, bringing everyone back to Central City. In the end, Barry asks Iris out on a date.
THE FLASH #13 by Joshua Williamson and Neil Googe. Barry and Iris go out on a date while Kid Flash has to deal with Tar Pit. It seems the bad guy is actually trying to do good and deal with even badder bad guys and Wally decides to help. In the end, the bad guy gets justice and Iris and Barry may make this new relationship work.
GOTHAM ACADEMY SECOND SEMESTER #4 by Brenden Fletcher and Jon Lam. The Carnival Midnight has arrived in town and a mysterious boy named Bernard gives Maps and Pomeline a flyer, prompting the Pizza Detective club to check it out. Headmaster Hammer confronts the Ringmaster and tells him to pack up the carnival. Back at the Academy, the Club researches it, with little luck. They do find a picture from a hundred years ago with two boys and one who looks like the Headmaster. Back at the carnival, Maps notices that Bernard reflection in a mirror is that of an old man. Olive manages to scare away a giant Snake Lady. The ringmaster is revealed to be a demon and Headmaster Hammer kills it with a silver blade. Bernard ages in Hammerhead's arms and then dies.
GREEN ARROW #12 by Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt. While Seattle has mixed emotions about whether Green Arrow is a hero or not, we see that Ollie, Dinah, Diggle and Henry have made a tree house base in the Rainier Wilderness. Later, Green Arrow takes out an abusive policeman. The following day, Ollie, in disguise, meets with Nathan Domini, looking for a big favor, which is to have him bug a meeting with Broderick. Before it is all over, Broderick is making sure that Seattle hates Green Arrow by killing people with arrows like his.
GREEN ARROW #13 by Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt. Oliver and Dinah end up at a crime scene where it looks like Ollie was the murderer. The police start shooting and that leads to Oliver and Dinah heading back to their place in the forest. Officer Notting gets put out on paid leave, which gives him time to have his team cause havoc in Pennytown. Henry uses his skills to figure that quarterback Cy Samson may be the next victim. Nathan Domini and Broderick have a meeting that includes Domini eating a fly, before engaging in drink, drugs and girls. In the end, Oliver is at Queen Industry Field when an arrow takes down Cy Samson and leaving Green Arrow as the #1 suspect in a hostile crowd.
GREEN LANTERNS #12 by Sam Humphries and Eduardo Pansica. The Green Lanterns are doing all the can to survive and beat Frank Laminski and his Orange Lantern. They have to back off to save lives and allow him to escape in the process. Frank heads back to his apartment in Coast City, where Volthoom is pulling all emotion out of Rami. Frank becomes a Green lantern and shows up at a Memorial Park, where he offers to let “regular people” take selfies with him. Simon and Jessica show up, just in time for Frank to become an Orange Lantern again and unleash a pair of constructs upon them.
GREEN LANTERNS #13 by Sam Humphries and Ronan Cliquet. 10 billion years ago, the Guardians find themselves having to deal with Volthoom, causing them to unleash the Green Lantern rings upon the universe. In the present, the Green Lanterns are battling Frank, who is now channeling the power of the yellow and using constructs. Rami and Volthoom chat, and we learn that the Guardians were responsible for putting a Lantern Battery in Volthoom’s chest, making him the first Lantern. In the end, Sam and Jessica need to find a way to save Frank, before he explodes!
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #10 by Robert Vendetti and Ed Benes. Brainiac is enjoying his Xudar collection, that features the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps. Ganthet and Sayd, along with Kyle Rayner, are on Nok, where they tell him that he is the only person who can bring Hal Jordan back from the Emerald Space. Abin Sur and all of the Lanterns who have died in action are in Emerald Space with Hal as Kyle fights to bring Hal home. Eventually, Hal comes back to reality. Back to Brainiac where he delivers Xudar to the Grand Collector- Larfleeze.
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #11: Robert Vendetti and Rafa Sandoval. In the not so distant past, Larfleeze ended up with Brainiac’s head and brought him back to life. He now serves Larfleeze and has captured all of the Green Lantern and Sinestro Corps. They stage a fight that forces Larfleeze to open their container. Over on Planet Nok, Hal Jordan is back and Kyle Rayner is filling him in on what has been happening, leading Hal and the others to head off to Mogo. Once there, Mogo tells them the Lanterns are on Okarra.
HARLEY QUINN #9 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Brandon Peterson and Michael Kaluta. Harley is having Wizard of Oz themed dreams that stars The Joker, which Frank explains means she is afraid of the future. She goes off to Skate Club and tangles with her old nemesis Bertha, who is content on killing Harley. And she might have succeeded if it weren’t for The Joker showing up and killing Bertha. Harley passes out and, while she’s unconscious, Harley has a psychedelic dream courtesy of Michael Kaluta. When she wakes, she heads to the hospital to get her head X-rayed, then heads to a pizza place for a snack, where she breaks up a robbery, getting her a lifetime supply of free pizza. After giving pizza to a homeless guy, she heads home to find Mister J. waiting for her.
HARLEY QUINN #10 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Moritat, Joseph Michael, Linsner, Bret Blevins, and Inaki Miranda. It’s Christmas time and Harley ends up being shrunk down to FANTASTIC VOYAGE size to go into a Department Store Santa’s brain to save him. That means fighting multiple “Creatures of the Id” to save his mind.
HARLEY’S LITTLE BLACK BOOK #5 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, and Neal Adams. In a parody of/tribute to the classic SUPERMAN VS MUHAMMAD ALI comic, an alien named Scrubb visits Harley and, convinced that she is one of Earth’s greatest warriors, abducts her to fight his champion. Superman arrives and he has to fight Harley to take her place. They go to the Fortress of Solitude where he depowers himself, allowing her to knock him out during their fight. With Harley facing Hun’ka, Jimmy Olsen reveals himself as Superman and, after taking a restoration pill, breaks out of his prison, causing the invading armada to be recalled by Scrubb. In the ring, Harley pulls down Hun’ka’s pants, leading to her knocking him out of the ring and winning. In the end, Superman and Harley go back to Earth and she returns most of his Kryptonian balls to him, except for the one she used in the LAST ISSUE.
THE HELLBLAZER #5 by Simon Oliver and Pia Guerra. Constantine has put Mercury in charge of finding Abigail, since the Swamp thing is currently out of commission. Along the way, Mercury takes Constantine to a mental institution to visit her mom, who he once had a relationship of some sort with. Oh yeah: and the Djinn want to destroy the world.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #10 by Bryan Hitch and Neil Edwards. The Justice League have arrived at the Palmer household to see what connection James Palmer has to everything that has been going on. It turns out that his daughter Lily took his code but it was Bobby, playing a game on his Ipad, that is responsible for the Genie. Suddenly, everyone gets attacked by the combined forces of Giganta, Gizmo, Plastique, Girder, Psimon, Coldsnap, Shimmer, Major Disaster, Mammoth, Jinx, and Heatstroke. Batman takes the family into the house, where Scarecrow is waiting. Meanwhile, Amazo shows up.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #11 by Bryan Hitch and Neil Edwards. The two teams continue to battle. Eventually, Lily manages to use the Ipad to hack into Amazo’s system and convinces him that his team is the Justice League, leading to a quick surrender.
JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE SUICIDE SQUAD #1 by Joshua Williamson and Jason Fabok. A mysterious figure walks into the top-secret underground prison known as the Catacombs and frees some of the worst of the worst. Meanwhile, the Suicide Squad are in Badhnisia where they have been tasked to stop a cult leader from using an earthquake pulsar to destroy the place. The Justice League goes to Badhnisia, where they try to take the Squad in, but the Squad is told by Waller that they must take down the League or die
In the end, it is revealed the criminals broken out of The Catacombs were Doctor Polaris, Emerald Empress, Johnny Sorrow, Rustam and Lobo and Maxwell Lord was the guy responsible.
JUSTICE LEAGUE VS. THE SUICIDE SQUAD #2 by Joshua Williamson and Tony S. Daniel. While Max Lord explains that he wants the freed criminals to take ouot Amanda Waller, the Justice League battles the Suicide Squad. In the end, Killer Frost steals some of Superman’s power to freeze EVERYONE, allowing the League to be captured and taken back to Belle Reve. As Waller says: Welcome to the Suicide Squad.
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