SUPERMAN REBORN, Parts 1-4

SUPERMAN #18 by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. In Part One of SUPERMAN REBORN, Tim Drake taunts Mr. Oz by telling him that someone has escaped from him. Over in Hamilton County, Lois and Clark are celebrating their anniversary while Jon finds a photo album on the porch filled with pictures from before Jon was born. The house becomes engulfed in a blue flame, which leads to the house and Jon disappearing.

ACTION COMICS #975 by Dan Jurgens, Paul Dini, Doug Mahnke, and Ian Churchill. In Part Two of SUPERMAN REBORN, Clark and Lois are flying to Metropolis in search of Jon and they go to Clark Kent's apartment. All they find is a refrigerator filled with junk food until Clark shows up and begins fighting with Superman, saying how he left him to rot in a cell. Then Clark begins turning into a myriad of villains including Bizarro, Brainiac, Mongul, the Parasite, the Cyborg Superman, Doomsday, and finally his true self-Mr. Mxyzptlk. In the back-up, Mxzyzptlk tells Jon how he came to Metropolis to play with Superman when Oz took him off the game board. He knew Superman would show up to save him, but that never happened. He tried to escape but that didn’t happen either, so he became Clark Kent to hide from Oz, even convincing himself that he WAS Clark Kent. In the end, he promises to spend a lot of time with Jon, so that Superman will know what it feels like to forget someone.

SUPERMAN #19 by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason. In Part Three of SUPERMAN REBORN, Lois no longer remembers her son, who is in a void where two balls of red energy eventually start talking to him. Mxzyzptlk forces Superman to play a strange intergalactic board game filled with pieces from Superman and Lois' past. Superman and Lois eventually make it to the top of the globe of the Infinite Planet, even though they no longer know who he is. Jon breaks free of the globe and uses the balls of red energy, combining them with his parents and turning them into the New 52 Superman and Lois.

ACTION COMICS #976 by Dan Jurgens and Doug Mahnke. In Part Four of SUPERMAN REBORN, Jon has been freed by his parents, but he realizes that they not only look different, they don’t recognize him. By using the red energy burst, he has inadvertently replaced his parents with their New 52 counterparts. While Superman and Mxyzptlk fight, blue energy arrives and speak to Jon. He then convinces the New 52 Superman and Lois to let the blue energy balls enter them, which causes the memories of the Pre-Flashpoint Superman and Lois to merge with the New 52 versions. In this, both New 52 and Pre-Flashpoint history becomes one. And Mr. Oz is impressed.

DC YOU Month 22

EARTH 2 SOCIETY #22 by Dan Abnett and Vincente Cifuentes. It’s six months after the last issue and we see all of the Wonders going about Metropolis. They are doing what they do: being heroes and being individuals living their everyday lives. In the end, Dick Grayson is the new oracle, Hewlena is the new Batman and John Grayson is the new Robin.

That ends both EARTH 2 SOCIETY and the entire DC YOU line. From here on out, any DC superhero title I review will fall under the REBIRTH banner, even if it is not listed that way.

Thanks DC for an interesting ride.

Sears #2283: September 1975-March 2017

This may be one of the toughest pieces I have ever decided to write, at least since the death of my mother 19 years ago. But I need to do it because, on March 26th, a friend, an enemy…a major piece of my life, will pass away at the young age of 41 years.

The Sears store in the Swansea Mall will close forever as the result of a changing economic landscape in the town. As I write this, the attached Auto Center has already closed, the huge lighted letters have been removed from their building, and the associates who worked there have moved on. That 100,000 square foot store was my home for 37 years, supporting me through college, marriage, a home, and two children. It gave me food for an as yet unpublished novel, introduced me to my wonderful wife and gave me a group of friends that has influenced me and been in my life to this day.

I left that place in January of 2014 because of a combination of work pressures and complications from my Bi-Polar Disorder. But through it all, I never lost my love for the people I met there or for the building. The Japanese Anime films revolving around SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO make a point of treating the ship like the important cast member. For me, the building, with all of its’ bumps, bruises and blemishes, is a part of those memories as much as the people, events and all.

I was a Freshman at Bridgewater State College when the decision got made, mostly by my parents, that I needed to get a job under my belt to help pay for college expenses. With a car getting 20 miles to the gallon and driving 300 or so miles a week, even with gas only being around $.65 a gallon, that was an added expense on top of my tuition. Leave it to my mom to talk to her hairdresser, whose son, and one of my closest friends, was working there. Next thing I knew, mom had called the store and talked to a woman by the name of Martha, who was the personnel director. It was early in November and, since they were gearing up for the holiday season, they were obviously looking to hire.

So I went in, filled out and application and then took a standardized test they used to screen out the good applicants from the bad. I must have done something right because, about a week later, I got a call to come in and interview. The guy I interviewed with was the manager of the Toy Department and his name was Tim. I must have done okay with that too because the following Saturday, I was learning policies and procedures along with how to operate the register. 

Tim, my first boss, after a long and diverse career with this company, gets to close the store he helped open in September of 1975.

As you can imagine, working in a Toy Department at Christmas was a little on the crazy side. Back then, the store had an outdoor patio area for spring and summer gardening business. The covered patio area was where the cases of toys were stored. So that meant every time that Ernie, the stock guy, or any of the rest of us needed to get stock to refill the floor, we ventured out into the freezing cold to get it. For me the whole thing was a crazy adventure, as I was in college too. So, that meant going to school all day, working until 10 or 11 o’clock every night and then going home to study and such. Many nights, it was 2 or 3 in the morning when I finally got my schoolwork finished. It’s no wonder than I flunked two classes and ended up on Academic Probation.

The one advantage I did gain from the $2.00 job(yes…I was a minimum wage slave in 1977)? I got access to the hottest toy of the 1977 Christmas season: STAR WARS figures! Yeah-I managed to get a full set before Christmas arrived. Now, if only I can find them. They are supposedly stored somewhere at my dad’s house, in a Darth Vader carrying case. Unfortunately, they are not mint in package!

So I made my way through that first Christmas, dealing with the often demanding public and meeting new friends including my longest friend Bob, who has been one of my best friends for almost 40 years now. Bob was part of my wedding party, I was at his wedding and we have endured deaths, marriages, and children together.

The initial ride at Sears was a short one however as, being seasonal help, I was laid-off on Christmas Eve. Once again, I found myself unemployed and out of bread. Christmas and New Year’s came and went and then school started again, with another huge course load. Soon it was February and here comes the legendary Blizzard of 78. No…I wasn’t lucky enough to be working during that time, nor was I stuck on the Bridgewater campus as many of my classmates were. My dad was stuck in Fall River and had to bunk at his mom’s house and that meant I was the man of the house, taking care of my mom and shoveling snow for too many days to want to care.

Soon winter turned to spring and my job prospects were not looking very good. In fact, my godfather had arranged to have me come work for his company, which meant I would be riding a beer truck to New Hampshire twice a week and unloading beer along the way. Because there was nothing that I wanted to do more than anything else but engage in physical labor on my only days off. I was one week away from starting when Martha called and said they had an immediate opening to work in Sporting Goods and would I be interested.

From that day on, I never looked back.

So I went back to Sears and started working for Mike, who ran Sporting Goods, Housewares, Luggage, Office Equipment and Toys. Our department was rather large and had three full-timers and six part-timers. Three days after I started, they held a storewide meeting where the new store manager was introduced to us. I had never met the old store manager when I was there at Christmas and had only met the Operations Manager, Mr. M., once or twice. Mr. C. would be the Store Manager from 1978 until he opened the North Attleboro store in 1989. He was succeeded by Mr. P., who retired in 2001 and was followed by Mrs. V., then Ms. L. and the Mr. G., who was in charge when I finally left. Mrs. L. and then Mr. W., who stayed with us until he went to Middletown in 1989, succeeded Mr. M. as Operations Manager. As Mr. W.’s parting gift, they made me full time. Imagine: I stayed in that job for 12 years and did so on no more than 30 hours a week.

Somewhere along the way, Mike left and Rick was my boss and then Charlie. I got made Charlie’s Assistant Manger in charge of Sporting Goods and then, when he moved on, I was also made the Assistant Auto Center Manager. Not long after I became full-time, I got moved to the Display Department as the Assistant Display manager, which became the Assistant Visual Coordinator, then Visual Coordinator, and then In-Store Marketing Lead and then Operations Manager. I was a Manager until I stepped aside in 2008, becoming a Hardlines Merchandise Assistant.

For the record: I never really wanted that Operations job but felt the obligation to my boss and my family. I was happiest when I was the Visual Coordinator. I enjoyed making the place look nice, picking out the clothes for mannequins and, because of that, always making sure that my wife’ size ended up on them so, when the outfits went to clearance, I could guarantee that I would have one for her. But I was sold a bill of goods by the District Manager about the Operations position, given a hefty pay raise, and ultimately didn’t want to disappoint Ms. L., who I greatly respected and still do. In the end, I did disappoint and removed myself from the job. She was kind enough to protect my pay and I will always be grateful for her treating me like a member of the management staff, even when I no longer was, and always as a member of her family.

When Mrs. V. became Store Manager, I was informed that my schedule of working Monday through Friday, besides coming in on Sunday mornings to hang signs and one out of seven Saturdays, was over and I needed to work almost every Saturday like the rest of the staff. Suffice it to say that going from around eight Saturdays a year to having only eight Saturdays OFF put a major crimp in what was becoming a rather lucrative wedding video business which I folded in 2005 due to being unable to commit to clients. Throughout it all, I never held it against her and took the bullet like I was expected to do. I never held it against her even until the day she died several months ago after a long struggle with cancer. She was a good, but hard person and I miss her.

With so many people and so many memories, it’s hard to pinpoint them all. For the first 12 years there, I found myself trying to get a date and found that to be pretty unsuccessful! When Mrs. L., eventually becoming Ms. P., was in our building, she believed in positive vibes throughout the place and that meant setting up monthly parties at the St. John’s Club in Fall River. Cheap tickets meant a night of dining and dancing. I have many great memories of those. The funniest was one night Bob and I were out there with some of our co-workers and were dancing like fools. Someone came over to me and asked if I was okay to drive home…and I hadn’t had a drop.

The worst experience was the night that the store Christmas party came unglued, complete with a hostess shutting down the bar and threatening to throw all these “drunk fools” out who “allegedly” were having legal age folks buy for them. Truth be told, their servers said: “It’s a Christmas party…everybody drinks”. I had to get up in front of my co-workers and chastise them. That also meant I lost whatever time I had with my date and, as nice as she was, I would have loved to date her again. But that whole night just left a really bad taste in our mouths.

The year before that party, the band I was in, The Hellfire Club, got to debut their newest single Dance this Night at the annual Christmas Party. Two Christmas parties later, I protected my future girlfriend, who I recently discovered on Facebook (because EVERYONE ends up there eventually!) from a jerk who was hitting on her. We dated for several months until she left for Japan. She was a showgirl for Ringling Brothers(no joke) who I just recently reconnected with. Not long after she left, I met my future wife (thanks to a co-worker named Tom, the Grammy Awards and Sinead O’Connor).

Memories…

I remember freaking out Mr. C. because there was a very good possibility that the local news media would be in to harass one of our employees and I threatened to “throw them onto to sidewalk” if they did. Her son, who had contracted AIDS during a blood transfusion, was embroiled in a battle to be able to attend school in town. They never showed, he eventually passed away and they named an elementary school in his honor.

Anyone and everyone who ever worked there has heard the legend of the night one of our security personnel rappelled off the roof of the building to try to stop a potential thief. After a string of car break-ins with the hot item of the time being radar detectors, a sting operation was set-up. And when it all went down, this one security officer rappelled off the roof, screaming like a madman as he did. The perpetrator fled, another officer’s car blew it’s transmission during the high speed chase and some poor woman who was trying to get her VCR repaired almost crapped her pants during it all! But another radar detector never ever got stolen!

My boss Mike who was all about playing with the toys in the Toy Department, which he managed. That meant video games…yes-Pong, the Atari 2600, Intellivision, etc., and remote control cars. One night, he was zipping a car up and down the aisle around my ex-boss Tim, who was trying to sell some appliances to a couple. After several minutes of being annoyed, Tim excused himself and stomped on the car, blasting all four wheels off and putting the fun to an end.

There was that time when one of my co-workers was driving Tim nuts…so he locked him in a chest freezer. A customer asked if that could be harmful and Tim said: “No, we close in half an hour.” How about the person who wanted bags for a Regina vacuum but kept yelling she needed “vagina bags”? There was the customer who complained about the gas stove that had a clock that didn’t work. When I asked if they plugged the clock in, the reply was: “Why? It’s a gas stove!” One of the original maintenance guys came into the lunch room one day to change a light bulb. Someone said they would help. “You hold onto the bulb and we’ll turn the ladder.” He knew they would probably do it…because they would…and he left the room. That light never got changed until after he retired.

One of the greatest characters I worked with was a guy named George or, as he was known, “Sharkey”. George could sell the clothes off your back and has his own dedicated group of customers. I once watched him pull his own tooth with a pair of pliers he took off the sales floor. You did not want to have a drinking contest with him, as it was like drinking with Lemmy. I recall he and I drinking screwdrivers in the stock room on Christmas Eve with fixings that was stored in Mr. M.’s file cabinet. Of course, I recall drinking champagne in a security perch with the security manager on New Years Eve. I remember someone giving George a milkshake…only to find out he was lactose intolerant and sh*t himself all the way through the stock room to the bathroom. On the day he retired, he had a band come in and pipe him out of the building.

Speaking of bands and such, I remember the day we had a belly dancer come in for the 40th birthday of two of the managers. Or the multiple times my friend Keith dressed in drag to help roast other managers on their birthdays. Or the time my buddy Brian broke his hand…punching a cow in the head. If you were a friend of The Hellfire Club, you were coming to our “Lumber Party”, where you needed to bring wood to enter. There were nights after work at B.B. Binks or the Rustic Pub or even the Hoy Tin Restaurant (eat there once…and you’re “Hoytin”!). There were Sunday morning softball games and trips to the Red Sox or the Paw Sox or even…dare I say it…the strip club. There was always something to do, somewhere to go, or someone to be with. If you were there, although there was often competition among salespersons and competition among people looking for companions, you were family.

Thieves…the guy that tried to escape by jumping into the disgusting pond behind the building and breathing through a straw. The Auto Center Manager and a security person caught him by borrowing one of the canoes we had for sale and launching it in the pond. The bad guy got caught, but the canoe, covered in algae and nasty slime, was a total loss. Thieves…the fat man that took four of us to cuff and then found out that he was a walking needle mark. Standing in the bathroom with my friend Keith, also in my wedding, and praying that we didn’t catch something from skin to skin contact on this sweaty beast. Thieves…the guy who pissed himself after stealing a chainsaw and being apprehended by two security officers. Thieves…watching the two security managers bounce a shoplifter’s head off the pavement like a basketball until he finally went limp and they could put cuffs on him. Thieves…the gang of four that left carnage in their wake and one of my co-workers in a hospital bed for weeks.

Chaotic moments…that time that a pipe broke in the wall where the janitor’s mop sink was. That meant Tim and I were getting our pretty suits soaked as we smashed the tile wall with sledge hammers to gain access to the shut-off valve for the main. Chaotic moments…the guy who staggered in, clutching his belly, and bleeding all over the place as someone followed him brandishing a knife. Apparently, there had been some altercation in the parking lot that spilled into the store. Chaotic moments…taping up and boarding up windows because of approaching hurricanes.

Alarm calls…While a member of the management staff, I ended up on the alarm call list. In most cases, those were false alarms caused by any number of things from power outages to plow trucks setting off motion detectors to stray field mice doing the same. Alarm calls…the night I had to investigate a possible call, in a snowstorm, with my pregnant wife. Alarm calls…the night I showed up, meeting my security manager there, to find an entire window had been smashed and we had to hold the fort down in mid January with a 30 mile an hour wind whipping in through the broken window while we clean up broken glass. Alarms calls…having a major power outage at the store and finding that it went back to a major power surge. There is nothing like the rush of hitting the main transformer and praying that you won’t eat a voluminous amount of volts! Alarm calls…showing up and having the responding officer, who may have been brand new on the job, follow me (yes…the guy with the gun) and continually snapping and unsnapping his holster. I kept waiting for him to accidentally shoot me in the back!

Friends…There are far too many acquaintances made and far too many friends made in my 37 years to mention, between full-timers, part-timers, seasonal hires, etc. Many are still Facebook friends. As I mentioned earlier, I met my future wife there, even though our first meeting resulted in dual insults. 75% of my wedding party was made up of Sears co-workers-Geoff, Keith and Bobby. When my oldest child came into my life, my friends threw a baby shower. When my little one came along, more gifts. Because of that place, I met my mate Randy, which led to a friendship and a musical partnership that has lasted for 30 years. There are so many people I have been associated with over those years and so many that are gone too soon. At least two of my bosses are gone, as are several handfuls of co-workers, both young and old. Every time I see a name in the paper or on Facebook, it cuts into me. And while there are many I have not seen in many a year, I still am affected and remember the good times.

But there are nicknames I can recall and, if you were a part of this, you’ll know who they were and will smile. Totes, Johnny V., Trudy, The Wife, Bobby A., Paulie A., Wanker, Joe M., Kevin the Shipper, BSB., Big Tony, Connie, Hippo, Johnny M., “Rick”, Weeda, Robbie, Slappy, Slapnutz, Lobo, Neal Heaton, Scooter, Ange, Bobby K., Schwacker, Choo Choo Charlie, The Baby Killer, Bonzo, Weeble’s Wobble, The Walrus, Nattie, Netsie, The Misses, The Guv, Salto, Suzie Q., Peeps, Smithers, Little Tokyo, Six Pack, Kinnaneamania, Lats, Spike, Spot, Nibbles, Bleaker Bill, Big Dope, Queenie, Weezie, Mr. Ed, Joe Rap, Saez, and so on… 


So here we are: days away from the doors being closed and the lights being turned off one last time. The name will come off the building and it, like the Apex store at the other end of the Mall, will become another empty building…but a 100,000 square foot building. I have created a Facebook group for all of us who spent time there to reside in and share memories. 42 years means a lot of veterans, whether it was for a month, or several decades-all are welcome. As of this writing, there are almost 300 members from all eras of the place. And almost all say the same thing: this represented some of the greatest moments of our lives. This was a place where lifelong friendships were made.

For now, I leave it all here. I may revisit this blog and update. Maybe not. For now, I know that I have made a whole lifetime of friendships and those experiences, especially the influence of a handful of people who became my mentors, colored the person that I grew up to be. One door opens and one door closes. And while my door closed in 2014, the feelings left behind are still there. My hope is I can be there on the last day and help shut off the lights-something I never got to do when I left so suddenly. THAT would bring closure to me. What I also know, if that my children can never follow in my footsteps for their first jobs. At least not here.

DC REBIRTH Month 9, Part 2

MIDNIGHTER AND APOLLO #5 by Steve Orlando and Fernando Blanco. Midnighter is in Hell trying to rescue Apollo from Neron, leading to a bloody fight between them. But just when it looks like Midnighter will win, his seven minutes are up and he passes out. Apollo frees himself, but Neron is ready to make Midnighter play the unwinnable game. However, it looks like Apollo is fired up and ready to save his lover.

NEW SUPER-MAN #8 by Gene Luen Yang and Billy Tan. Kenan is trying his best to hit Master I-Ching, as he needs to hit him once before the Master hits him eight times. Meanwhile, Baixi is battling Rongpei for the rights to be the true Batman of China while Wonder-Woman is battling Alpaca, who turns out to be Baixi’s sister. Kenan hears cries for help and soon is out saving everyone he can, much to the delight of Master I-Ching, who allows him the one strike he needs to take him under his wing. Baixi wins his fight, but then Rongpei takes Schoolmaster O hostage with a threat to kill him unless Baixi gives him the cowl. He hands him the cowl, but it is booby-trapped, allowing him to save Schoolmaster. In the end, Baixi’s sister is sent to jail and Superman Zero has a visitor…is that Fu Manchu?

NIGHTWING #14 by Tim Seeley and Marcus To. The police are searching for Nightwing, who is hiding beneath Detective Svoboda's car. Nightwing, Defacer and Svoboda head to Jim Nice’s hideaway where we find that Cherry Annabel was helping Mayor Madrigal with his weapon smuggling ring. Nice sees this as a crime and is ready to kill her. She gets away and runs into our heroes, resulting in Nice teleporting Nightwing and himself to the spot where Nice killed his wife. Luckily, Svoboda shows up and causes the mirror he is holding to explode and weld to his face. In the end, Dick takes over Shawn Tsang's Run-Off support group and a mysterious person wearing what looks to be a version of Nightwing’s costume watches him.

NIGHTWING #15 by Tim Seeley and Minkyu Jung. 68 days ago, Dick Grayson started a relationship with the former Defacer. Through ups and downs, we see our couple still together. Yesterday, as Dick admitted to Bruce Wayne that he was in love, she is apparently kidnapped.

RAVEN #6 by Marv Wolfman and Diogenes Neves. As Raven tries to get into the mysterious energy dome, her Aunt Alice shows up and pleads with her to help save Mary-Beth. Everyone on the outside of the dome holds hands and their energy helps to free  the town.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #7  by Scott Lobdell, Mirko Colak, and Tom Derenick. Red Hood and Bizarro tell Black Mask's followers to get out of Gotham when Killer Croc shows up. Of course, it’s a mechanical Croc that gets dispatched fairly quickly. Later, we see Artemis looking at video of Bizarro’s origin and that leads jason to wondering if he should eliminate a potentially dangerous Bizarro and goes to talk to Alfred about it. Jason and Bizarro head out and Jason has a Kryptonite bullet in his gone. In the end, Jason can’t kill him and they watch the sunset together.

SUICIDE SQUAD #11 by Rob Williams, John Romita Jr. and Eddy Barrows. Rustam is going about releasing every criminal everywhere, starting with those in Belle Reve and then those in Blackgate. With Amanda Waller on leave, Harcourt is left in charge. Meanwhile, the Suicide Squad is on a mission in Tibet, where they have been assigned to take down someone and steal a hard drive. But Deadshot is a little anxious and kills both the perp and the hard drive. Hack manages to gather some classified information about a spy within the Squad and she sends it off to Waller. In the back-up, the team gets a little r&r while Waller gets shot point blank in the chest.

SUICIDE SQUAD #12 by Rob Williams, John Romita Jr. and Eddy barrows. Amanda Waller has been shot and, although a medical team struggles to save her, it appears that she has died. Meanwhile, Rustam has a new team of super villains he calls the Burneing World and they are all about beating up on the Squad. Once word arrives of Waller’s death, Rustan and company leave. In the back-up, Emilia Harcourt presides over Waller’s funeral, takes over Task Force X and introduces herself as the new leader. In the end, it looks like the only person who could have killed Waller…is Deadshot.

SUPERGIRL #6 by Steve Orlando and Brian Ching. As the government sends troops to help out in National City, the warship known as Argo City is on its’ way down to Earth and Supergirl battles with her father, the Cyborg Superman. Cat Grant convinces the Daily Planet to allow her to use their radio tower to let her app. broadcast a signal that shuts down the cyborgs. Her father is defeated by being overloaded and that means Argo City crashes into the sea. The next day, Kara, with ben’s covering up, convinces Cat to be a part of the Young Innovators. And we see that dad’s not dead…he’s just in stasis.

SUPERMAN #16 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Tony S. Daniel, and Clay Mann. Prophecy has Superman in his clutches and we are told he is capturing all these Super beings so he can take on some major Multiverse enemy. Superman gets tossed into a pit with all the other powerless Supermen and Superwomen. Elsewhere, the Justice League Incarnate try to come up with a plan, which leads to Red Racer putting a plan in place, at the cost of his life. But that allows the Justice Incarnate to track down Prophecy. All the Supermen and Superwomen get their powers allowing them to fight back. Prophecy disappears into a blue glow during the fight and the heroes win. In the end, Kenan Kong and Superman go back home to New Earth while we see that Mr. Oz has added Prophecy to his collection that already includes Doomsday and Red Robin.

SUPERMAN #17 by Peter J. Tomasi, Patrick Gleason and Sebastian Fiumara. Kathy shows up at Jon’s house to tell him that her grandpa Cobb went out  hours ago to find a stray cow and is still missing. They end up going to Deadman's Swamp, where a shadow man and giant animals chase them. They eventually get to an old mansion that attacks them and they manage to get saved by Grandpa Cobb. In the end, Cobb says that they were just hallucinating because of swamp gas. Once home, Jon goes to bed and we see the fake Clark Kent watching from Deadman’s Swamp.

SUPERWOMAN #7 by Phil Jimenez, Matt Santorelli and Jack Herbert. As the battle against Lena and her clones continues, it seems Lex is more useless than normal, as his suit is shut down and his legs won’t work. Kryptonite Man asks if he tried to reboot it, he does and viola-he can walk! Lena’s plan and her craft comes crashing down, Lois Lane-the live one-shows up and Superwoman seems to be suffering the same fate as her friend Lois did.

SUPER SONS #1 by Peter J. Tomasi and Jorge Jimenez. After seeing what appears to be a family on the set of a television show, we get a brief snippet of Robin and Superboy teamed together. We then shift back two days where Jon has to confront some bullies while heading home from the Hamilton School. Damian shows up and it turns out he has been disguised at the school bus driver and also the science teacher and has been spying on Jon. Later, Damian gets left in the Batcave while his dad goes on a mission and, being bored, he heads to Hamilton and meets up with Jon, who is in bed. With a little convincing, they head to the big city, where they run into Lex Luthor.

TEEN TITANS #5 by Benjamin Percy and Khoi Pham. The teen Titans have come together and they head off to battle Ra’s al Ghul Demon's Fist members. But rather than fight, they are told how they were taken from their parents and brought here, which leads to them turning from supporting the cause and teaming up with the Titans, which Robin fights his grandfather. Ra’s flees, taking a hesitant Mara with him, the Demon’s Fist heads off to find their destiny and Robin has a confrontation with his father. Three months later, they return to their new home: a new Titans Tower in San Francisco.

TITANS #8 by Dan Abnett and Brett Booth. Mal and his wife meet with Peter Simon at Meta Solutions concerning her powers, when Mal reveals he has lost his powers. Meanwhile, the rest of the Titans are working through their various issues back at Titans Tower. While Mal is waiting for his wife to finish, he sees Mammoth hanging out in the waiting room and freaks out. The Titans catch up with him and follow him back to Meta where it looks like Psimon is making Bumblebee a part of his NEW Fatal Five.

TRINITY #6 by Francis Manapul and Emanuela Lupacchino. Mongul has possessed Clark kent to make his way into our world and that means that Poison Ivy has a problem. In the dream world of Black Mercy, Batman tries to convince White Mercy to help them get out. White mercy takes over Bruce’ body and meets her “mother”, which Wonder Woman stays inside the dream to save Superman. Bruce uses a Kryptonite necklace to save Superman, forcing Mongul out. With control broken, Lois gets free and everyone is saved. The Green eliminates Ivy's memories, so she feels no pain at the loss of her child, who may actually still be alive in The Green.

WONDER WOMAN #16 by Greg Rucka and Bilquis Evely. The first part of GODWATCH begins Veronica and Dr. Cyber discussing the Cyberwalker program and why Cyber hates Wonder Woman. Meanwhile, two mysterious twins manipulate Izzy to force Cale and Cyber to get them the location of Themyscira.

WONDER WOMAN #17 by Greg Rucka and Liam Sharp. In the second part of THE TRUTH, Castalia tries to chop down the mysterious black tree, but that just leads to the axe shattering. Meanwhile, Diana is in Nightsong Hospital where she is having a tea party with the snake that lives inside her arm. Elsewhere, Etta, Steve and Ferdinand find themselves under attack by Colonel Poison's team. To save them, Barbara Minerva agrees to let Veronica Cale  turn her back into Cheetah again. With the troops called off, the trio heads to Nightsong and Ferdinand hands Wonder Woman her clothes and her lasso.

DC REBIRTH Month 9, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #973 by Dan Jurgens, Patch Zircher and Stephen Segovia. Superman heads to his Fortress of Solitude where he finds Steel and a dying Superwoman. Superman doesn’t know what is causing her cellular degeneration but has an idea and they fly off to an unknown location. That’s when it is revealed they are being tracked by Hank Henshaw. Meanwhile, Lois is undercover as a waitress with a bunch of bad hombres including a crooked police detective. “Clark” is with Maggie Sawyer on this stakeout and decides he needs to rush in and save Lois. His clumsiness actually helps to rescue her. Later, he asks her out on a date and, since she wants to know who this Clark REALLY IS, she accepts.

ACTION COMICS #974 by Dan Jurgens, Patch Zircher and Stephen Segovia. While Superman and Steel try to figure out what’s wrong with Lana, Superman decides to put her into the classic Kryptonian Battle Armor he has to keep her alive. He also finds out that someone is near his Fortress in the Himalayas. It turns out to be Hank Henshaw and his men and they make their way into the Fortress. Blanque gets them to release him and he blows up the Fortress. Meanwhile, fake Clark goes out on his date with Lois and proposes to her. When she turns him down and leaves, he stalks her all the way back to her home and discovers that Jon is her son…and there is another Clark.

ALL STAR BATMAN #7 by Scott Snyder, Tula Lotay and Francesco Francavilla. Batman tracks down Poison Ivy so she can help him find an antidote to the bacteria that got loose during his battle with Mr. Freeze last issue. In the CURSED WHEEL back-up, Batman tells Duke that he needs to keep up the good work but to be careful and get some rest to recover from his injuries. Instead, Duke sneaks out.

AQUAMAN #16 by Dan Abnett and Brad Walker. Warhead is using his deadly psychic powers to get his hands on weapons and such. Meanwhile, Aquaman and his people are hard at work helping to rebuild Amnesty Bay, even as Warhead is trying to use his powers to convince people to help him take control of Aquaman.

AQUAMAN #17 by Dan Abnett and Scot Eaton. Aquaman goes to the United Nations and, during his speech there, is struck with a headache from Warhead’s ability. He begins to hallucinate, seeing a vision of a wounded soldier. The vision and the headache eventually passes. With the speech over, he again sees the soldier as he exists the building and is asked to follow him. He takes off and goes to Beckman College, where the soldier says “no more” before disappearing. A student, controlled by Warhead, fires a shotgun at Aquaman and eventually Arthur hunts down Warhead. Again struck with a headache, Warhead touches Aquaman’s head and suddenly he is in the middle of a battlefield.

BATGIRL #8 by Hope Larson and Chris Wildgoose. While Ethan Cobblepot and Barbara Gordon are on their first date, Cobblepot tells her how his mother was a waitress who Penguin got pregnant. He paid regular child support and also sent a check to have Ethan go to yale. Ethan went to Gotham to tell off his father and, at the same time, used the money to start a company called Vicform, which made him very rich. Vicform is responsible for an app. called Walkhome, which is like Uber but with people and not cars. Later, after a trip to a local bar, she interrupts a potential assault only to find that one of the people working for Walkhome is Magpie, who earns herself a special knockout punch from Batgirl. In the end, Ethan reveals that he sees Batgirl as an obstruction.

BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #7 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and Claire Roe. After confronting the Zodiac Master, the girls crash at Dinah’s place. Barbara is trying to figure out why her realtors are so interested in the Clocktower she bought so Dinah and Helena set up a sting operation. What they eventually discover, thanks to Oracle’s hard work, is there was a robbery of the Gotham Bank many years ago and the loot was never found. Barbara tears apart the Clocktower and finds the missing gold, leading to her turning it over as a donation to Gotham’s Children’s Hospital, much to the realtors dismay. In the end, the girls celebrate Valentine’s Day by themselves.

BATMAN #16 by Tom King and David Finch. Psycho Pirate may be locked up in Arkham Asylum, but he is still using his influence to cause havoc, as he takes control of Bronze Tiger and has a guard almost kill Jeremiah Arkham. Later, at a place called Batburger, Bruce tells his sons and wards that Bane coming to Gotham and he needs five days to cure Gotham Girl. And he needs his family to get out of Gotham City as soon as possible, for their own safety. Later, he responds to the Bat Signal and  finds Catwoman instead of Jim Gordon. She knows bane is coming and he’s probably coming for her. In the end, Batman begins to work on curing Gotham Girl, only to find three bodies hanging in the bat cave, dressed as Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood, with the phrase I AM BANE painted across their naked chests.

BATMAN #17 by Tom King and David Finch. Bronze Tiger is in a hotel room, trying to kick his Venom habit, when he gets shot. Over at the Fortress of Solitude, Superman puts the bodies of the three Robins in hibernation for their own safety. At Arkham Asylum, what we are led to believe is Hush being brought to see thew Psycho Pirate by a guard, turns out to be Alfred bringing Gotham Girl for her Psycho Pirate therapy. Elsewhere, Bane’s men capture Selina Kyle, Jim Gordon and Duke. In the end, Bane has four of Batman’s acquaintances and is apparently waiting for a confrontation with the Bat.

BATMAN BEYOND #5 by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang. Batman is trying to figure out how Bruce Wayne can be alive when he saw him die during a battle with Brother Eye. He then heads over to the Wayne-Powers building, where it seems that Terminal has set up. Terminal had found Bruce in a medical tent after he was presumed dead and has kept him alive so he can gain access to a device called Keystone that allows you to tap into any computer in the world. Before he can gain access, Terry stops him, but then has to let Terminal escape so Terry can save Bruce.In the end, the escape ship crashes and Terminal means his end at the end of a crowbar…being wielded by The REAL Joker!

BATWOMAN REBIRTH #1 by Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion IV and Steve Epting. We see Kate kane are five ages in her life. At age nine, she watched as her mom and her sister are murdered. At age twenty, she is in the Army and she is dealing with her feelings for the woman she spars with. At twenty-two, she is a party girl who also gets dishonorably discharged from the army. At age twenty-three, she is on the Island of Coryana where she is in a relationship with a woman named Safiyah. Later that year, she goes back to Gotham where she rekindles a relationship with Renee Montoya. At age twenty-four, Batman saves Kate and that forces her to train harder. She becomes batwoman and, after recapping various stories from the past, it takes us to today, where we find that Monster Venom is on the Black Market and it’s Kate’s job to try and stop the supply.

BLUE BEETLE #6 by Keith Giffen and Scott Kolins. Jaime expresses his extreme displeasure to Ted about all that has happened and the secrets he has been keeping…like that the scarab is mutating him. After finding out that the scarab may have been responsible for killing Dan Garrett, Blue Beetle heads off to confront Mordecai. The essence of the scarab comes forth and transforms Blue Beetle into a monstrous force that can only be stopped…by Doctor Fate? 

CYBORG #9 by John Semper Jr. and Paul Pelletier. Cyborg is confronting OTAC, who reveals that he wants to be known as Anomaly. He reveals that Dr. Stone was trying to create what he called the Omniscient Transformational Advanced Cell and that caused the explosion which eventually gave his wife cancer. He then created a series of clones of himself and tried to cure their cancer, but his wife died in the process. While he wanted the clones destroyed, they got sold to black market research and were used for torturous testing. Along the way, one of the scientists, named Aldous, became his friend and that is the person who currently has the real Dr. Stone. In the end, Victor and Exxy use a Boom Tube to get away from Anomaly long enough for Exxy to try and fix Cyborg’s blindness caused by Anaomaly’s malware.

CYBORG #10 by John Semper Jr.and Will Conrad. Cyborg is on the run after the press is saying how he’s gone rogue. Exxy teams up with him, getting some things from Holt Industries to purge Anomaly’s virus from Vic’s system. Over at Star Labs, Anomaly is trying to absorb Variant's technology when he says that he is doing all of this because of a voice in his head. The voice tells him to find Rizzo Rattama, who has trained rats to run drugs for him. But now, because of Anomaly's OTAC tech, he has the rats going off to kill Cyborg. 

DEADMAN DARK MANSION OF FORBIDDEN LOVE #3 by Sarah Vaughn and Lan Medina. Berenice, Sam, Deadman and Adelia make their way into Nathan’s office where they find a spell book. Seems Nathan hasn’t been working on his book…he’s been playing with spells. He is actually Adelia’s husband Edward who has been killing and maintaining an everlasting life in the process. Deadman takes control but to little success and the solution seems to be to burn the mansion down and everything inside it. As the fire spreads, Edward releases his grip, Deadman gets free and Edward finally dies. In the end, Berenice and Sam end up together and Deadman heads off to help someone else.

DEATH OF HAWKMAN #5 by Marc Andreyko, Aaron Lopresti and Rodney Buchemi. In the present, Green Lantern Isamot is killed by Despero and that leads to Ryan Kral of Thanagar being chosen as a member of the Green Lantern Corps. In flashback, it seems that Despero is using his will to push everyone he encounters to act on his behalf, including Adam’s wife. In the end, even Cyborg is revealed to be part of the conspiracy and, since Despero now controls all of the Nth Metal, he is in the process of removing it from Hawkman and possibly causing his death!

DEATHSTROKE #12 by Christopher Priest, Larry Hama and Joe Bennett. Slade explains to Pat that Luis/Richard will stay alive until he decides to kill Deathstroke. We also see that Slade is blind. Flashing back, we see Red Lion breaking Slade out of prison. Over in Minneapolis, Hosum shows up and asks Rose for help. He also reveals that the person behind all of this is Adeline. Jericho is still fighting off migraines while Slade visits the prison warden and finds out that Red Lion is also helping Raptor. Deathstroke tracks Raptor down and find out that Raptor has stolen Deathstroke’s Ikon Suit.

DEATHSTROKE #13 by Christopher Priest and Joe Bennett. Slade and Raptor battle until we discover that getting them together was all part of Red Lion's plan: gain control of his ship, which allows him to get back to his country. In the end, Red Lion gets to go home, Deathstroke gets evidence on his ex-wife, we find that Jericho loves Ikon, who is in a coma, and Slade is in bed with Jericho’s fiance.

DETECTIVE COMICS #950 by James Tynion IV, Marcio Takara, Alvaro Martinez, and Eddy Barrows. In the first tale, Cassandra helps bust up a drug ring while trying to come to grips with who she is. And Shiva is poised to play a part in her future life. Plus, Duke has come up with a compact way to allow Clayface to change to human shape. Unfortunately, it looks like he is going to have physical problems no matter who he is. In the second tale, Azrael is training with Batwing and we learn a little something about Ascalon. In the final tale, set before his “death”, Tim Drake confronts Batman about the war he apparently is preparing for, which will lead to the DARK DAYS saga later this year.
 
DETECTIVE #951 by James Tynion IV and Christian Duce. Three months ago, Shiva is interrogating one of Kane’s men and pronounces that the League of Shadows is coming. In the present, Batman goes to talk to Mayor Hady, only to find that Hady is pinned to the wall by a plethora of swords. Batman flees the dying Mayor and heads to see Jacob Kane, who confirms what we already knew: the League of Shadows is coming. Then Gotham seems to get hit with a dose of Joker Gas and the townspeople looked possessed and ready to take on Batman and his team.
 
THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #2 by Cary Bates, Greg Weisman and Will Conrad. Eighteen months have passed since the end of last issue and it New Year’s Eve 1996. And Captain Atom, living under the assumed name of Vince Mallory, has just gotten mugged! But he gets to meet his future wife Doctor Takara Sato. Once he is better, he goes to visit Professor Rathaway, posing as a fiction writer looking for information on time travel and is told of the dangers of a potential Butterfly Effect. He eventually marries Takara, becomes a rescue pilot and even saves the life of Perry White. Several years go by and the Mallorys move to Central City. Nathan visits the Professor, who believes that Nathan is a time traveler. Nathan fears he is becoming Captain Atom again and, on the way home, he is carjacked and explode, only to awake in 2017. What’s worse-Takara is pregnant.
 
THE FLASH #16 by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Last issue, Barry Allen was totally outsmarted by the Rogues and this issue he finds himself kicking himself for it. Even Iris West wants to know what happened. He tracks Heat Wave to his old family home just as he lights up the other houses in the neighborhood, leaving Flash to save the day while Mick escapes to join up with the other Rogues. When Captain Cold arrives, he is quite mad because Heat Wave screwed up the plan. Because of that, The Flash arrives and beats them all down. All except Cold, who has a special weapon he has made from the parts Black Hole used to create the Speed Force Storm. He has a Black Ice Gun.
 
THE FLASH #17 by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Captain Cold explains the whole thing behind his Black Ice gun. Flash defeats Cold, but that’s when the Rogues arrive and it’s a battle until Lisa Snart arrives and it looks like she will finally kill The Flash, but he mustered up enough energy to take them all down. In the end, Flash returns all of the things that the Rogues had stolen and Captain Cold declares himself the new crime boss of Central City.
 
GOTHAM ACADEMY SECOND SEMESTER #6 by Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Adam Archer and Msassyk. Pomeline and Tristan find a sarcophagus under the school that leads to a cave where they find some strange symbols. Following the symbols, it eventually leads them to Maps, Olive, and Amy, along with Kyle and Colton, who had been talking about Colton’s non-existent family life. Eric arrives, wearing a headband with the Arkham Asylum symbol on it and calling himself The Symbolist. He fires a bolo at Tristan, who bites Eric and then falls to his apparent death.
 
GREEN ARROW #16 by Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt. Arrow, Canary, Red Arrow and Chief Westberg end up tracking the Vice Squad to O’Neil Airfield where the two teams battle. In the end, some well-placed grenades kill off Notting and his men. Later, Ollie tries again to get Domini. Later, after a family dinner, Arrow meets with the Chief and reveals his secret identity to him. Unfortunately, when the Westberg goes into the bathroom to compose himself, he gets murdered.
 
GREEN ARROW #17 by Ben Percy and Otto Schmidt. Malcolm Merlyn has framed Green Arrow for Chief Westberg’s murder and, thanks to that, Nathan Domini is now the Mayor of Seattle. Nathan tries to plant Oliver's cloning device on Broderick's computer, but that fails and he is taken to the Ninth Circle to be branded, literally, as a traitor. Arrow goes to visit Victoria Much and gives her his evidence on Broderick.  Later, Oliver and Emiko get attacked by Merlyn. Ollie eventually takes him down, but Diggle arrives to knock Ollie out and take off with Merlyn, saying he has to do this because Merlyn saved his life. In the end, Victoria finds out that Queen Industries was built at the center of a star…Star City.
 
GREEN LANTERNS #16 by Sam Humphries and Neil Edwards. The Lanterns head to Gotham to help Batman and Gordon solve a crime. Unfortunately, there are problems right off the bat as Batman wants Simon to not have his gun with him while in Gotham. Jessica figures out that the yellow spectrum is being to influence people, which might mean the Sinestro Corps is responsible. Soon, Alfred is affected and beats up Simon, stealing his gun in the process. In the end, it seems the yellow spectrum is spreading and that The Scarecrow is responsible.
 
GREEN LANTERNS #17 by Sam Humphries and Eduardo Pansica. Alfred has stolen Simon’s gun and is going to kill Batman until Batman activates a post hypnotic trigger that brings him back to normal. The trio tracks down Scarecrow, all the heroes fight their fears and defeat Scarecrow and Simon gives up his gun, as he has conquered his fear. In the end, “Rami” calls the Lanterns home to help on a mission.
 
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #14 by Robert Venditi and Rafa Sandoval. Guy Gardner tracks down the Space Cabbie and offers a deal to him, wherein he gains immunity for helping to find the missing Sinestro Corps members. . Meanwhile, Jon is trying his best to make the new alliance between Green and Yellow Lanterns work, even as Hal Jordan heads out on a special mission with Kyle Rayner.They end up at a planet that is close to being destroyed and it’s Kyle job to find hope here. Eventually, he does, in the form of Saint Walker.
 
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #15 by Robert Vendetti and Ethan Van Sciver. While Yellow and Green lanterns are learning how to live and work together, Guy steals Space Cabbie’s ride and heads off to find and confront Arkillo. Meanwhile, Hal and Kyle are captured by Misery, until Saint Walker arrives to lend a hand. He shows them their worst nightmares, which only makes them stronger and allows them to defeat the beast.
 
HARLEY QUINN #13 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Bret Blevins, John Timms, and Chad Hardin. After much torture, the fake Joker reveals his name is Edwin and he first showed up in issue #9 of the 2013 series. He had fallen in love with Harley and had endured diets, plastic surgery, and even a dive into toxic chemicals to win her love. Too bad she is not impressed and shoots him right between the eyes in front of all her friends.
 
HARLEY QUINN #14 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Khari Evans and John Timms. While Deputy Mayor Berkowitz tells the vampires where the best eats is, Harley, Harlem and Tony face giant ants who are the followers of Zorcrom: a silver skinned creature that was awakened by Harley and Red Tool when they were beneath the wax museum. After he eliminates his followers and some police officers, she sends him to Washington D.C. Meanwhile, Harley Sinn is transferred out of Arkham, only to be recruited by a shadow government to perform a hit. They fake her death and send her off to kill Randy Houser, a guy with a Band-Aid across the bridge of his nose, universal symbolism for “bruiser.” In the end, Atlee from Strata arrives to try to help Harley stop Zorcrom from tearing up Coney Island.

THE HELLBLAZER #7 by Simon Oliver and Philip Tan. Everyone, good guys and bad,  is heading to Henry’s apartment. Dante is prepared to shoot Henry, who refuses to answer the questions of the bad guys, when Dante has a heart attack. As he dies, Henry tells Dante about a book containing all of his memories. Constantine arrives and Dante shoots at him, causing John to dive out the window and find himself at gunpoint.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #14 by Bryan Hitch. A huge spaceship entered Earth’s atmosphere, blew a hole in a city in Canada and trapped the League 12 miles underground. After an entire issue where they try to figure out what to do and deal with Jessica’s fears, they come up with a plan and free themselves.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #15 by Bryan Hitch and Fernando Pasarin. While Batman and Superman go to the Infinity Corps building, the rest of the team get shifted from a U.N. Meeting to various places in time by Molly, to try to stop The Timeless. Aquaman is in ancient Atlantis, Wonder Woman is in ancient Greece, Cyborg is in the 31st Century with Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Superheroes, the Green Lanterns are in a distant future where the use of their rings is frowned upon and The Flash is back on the day when he got his powers. And they all need to hurry up as The Timeless is coming.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA REBIRTH #1 by Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis. Batman takes Frost to the Happy Harbor Sanctuary in Rhode Island, which is home for the new Justice League of America’s headquarters. Frost meets up with Black Canary, who is itching for a fight until Batman intervenes. Black Canary goes out and gets Lobo, leading to he and Batman seeking out Ray Palmer. Instead, they find Ryan Choi-the NEW Atom. In turn, The Atom gets The Ray to join the team and, finally, Batman convinces Vixen to come in to the fold.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #1 by Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis. An alien superteam arrives in Saratoga , New York and begins to wreak havoc, causing the new Justice League of America to spring into action. They all take a bit of a beating and it looks like The Atom may lose his life. That’s when Batman tells their leader to leave the kid alone and to take him instead.