ACTION COMICS #977 by Dan Jurgens and Ian Churchill. Because of recent events, Lois and Clark are working at the Planet together, Perry White knows they are married and apparently, he is Jon's godfather. Confused about how he and Lois were split into two beings, he goes to the Fortress of Solitude to investigate, which also gives us and him a chance to review his rebooted origin story, from his launch from Krypton through his early days as boy on Earth. Meanwhile, a mysterious holographic figure visits Metallo and Blanque, encouraging them to join him in his mission to take out Superman.
ACTION COMICS #978 by Dan Jurgens and Carlo Barberi. Superman, with Kelex’ help, reviews his history from the point that he saves Lois Lane for the first time. They begin dating, get married and she reveals she is with child. With Batman standing guard and Wonder Woman acting as midwife, Jon is born. We then move forward through how they changed their name , Superman left the League, grew a beard and dressed in black.. The mysterious Mr. Oz appears before Superman and begins to destroy the place. Meanwhile, the mysterious figure tries to recruit The Eradicator and he joins Metallo and Blaque on the moon. The mysterious figure is revealed as Hank Henshaw and he has gathered together the Superman Revenge Squad.
ALL STAR BATMAN #9 by Scott Snyder and Jock. Batman is racing towards the Washington Monument and is being chased by “alleged” agents of the Blackhawks. It seems the mastermind for all of this story arc is Ra's Al Ghul. Batman is shot and taken down before he can get to Ra’s, but it’s really Catwoman in disguise, allowing Bruce Wayne to slip inside and confront him. But Ra’s has a master plan that he seems to enact, including killing Duke and Bruce. Actually, he poisoned Ra’s with Hatter toxin and made him BELIEVE he had done all those things. Ra’s still manages to get away and the story of the bacteria is still unresolved. In the back-up, Duke battles Darryl, Duke’s mom assist, Batman solves Riddler's puzzle and all of this leads to DARK DAYS: THE FORGE that is coming this summer.
AQUAMAN #20 by Dan Abnett and Philippe Briones. At the Navy Research Station, Aquaman fights with Dead Water, temporarily causing it to flee. He orders the Aquamarines to go back on patrol while he goes to work on a signal jammer the scientists had designed to deter Dead Water. Wilks gets attacked and killed by Dead Water, but that gives enough time to activate the jammer, which turns the creature back to human form. Sergeant Toye kills him and they later deduce that he was one of the research scientists working here. Since it appears Strange Water causes the transformation, Authur and Mera go out searching the area with scuba tanks filled with ocean water. As it turns out, the guy who was Dead Water had no exposure to Strange Water, which means something else is changing them.
AQUAMAN #21 by Dan Abnett and Scot Eaton. Aquaman and Mera head towards The Gate while Elder Leot argues about who should be running Atlantis with Arthur missing.
Meanwhile, Mortimer gets the brilliant idea to make use of the Nuke to solve the problem. Aquaman deduces that people change into Dead Water when they let their fear overtake them. Unfortunately, Ajar is scared to death and turns into a creature…right next to Mortimer.
BATGIRL #10 by Hope Larson and Chris Wildgoose. Batgirl and Penguin are playing ping pong before she heads over to the Iceberg Lounge to survey the crime scene with Commissioner Gordon. Then, realizing she is late for a date with Ethan, she heads over only to have his intern dump her for him. Later she texts Dick, only to find out that Ethan has posted pictures of her playing ping pong with his father on the Internet. The next morning, Barbara, Alysia and Frankie go to brunch, only to have a car smash into the restaurant they are in. It’s due to an automatic driver malfunction caused by Ethan Cobblepot. In the end, Ethan shows up to meet with the Penguin and declares a takeover…as Blacksun.
BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #9 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and Roge Antonio. Blackbird is using Roulette to help her find meta humans to exploit, specifically at the Fight Club that Black canary is operating undercover at. Blackbird steals Gemini’s powers and then the same happens to Owen and, it appears, Black canary. Meanwhile, Batgirl and Huntress meet up with Green Arrow, who is getting the scoop from a scared Gemini. One call to Nightwing and it looks like it’s Team Batgirl to the rescue.
BATMAN #20 by Tom King and David Finch. While continuing to get beat down by Bane, Batman recalls almost every major event since the start of REBIRTH. Just when it appears all it lost, Batman delivers a head butt to Bane’s nose and that’s that.
BATMAN #21 by Tom King and Jason Fabok. Part One of THE BUTTON. Starting out in Arkham Asylum, we find the inmates, specifically Saturn Girl, watching the Gotham Blades hockey game. She recognizes what is going on and starts yelling that a player is going to get killed. Meanwhile, Batman is looking at The bloodied Comedian’s button when the Psycho Pirate's Mask causes FLASHPOINT’s Thomas Wayne Batman to momentarily appear. Batman calls to The Flash and asks for help and Flash says he will be there in a minute. Just then, Eobard Thawne arrives and beats Batman bloody, destroying the infamous Thomas Wayne letter from FLASHPOINT in the process. Thawne picks up the button and is sucked into a broken monitor, only to come out, partially decomposed, claiming to have seen God. That’s when Barry arrives to see the carnage, which leads into THE FLASH #21.
BATMAN BEYOND #7 by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang. While Bruce recalls the olden days, Matt informs him that the Bat Signal is on and Terry is too busy with Dana to pay attention to it. Finally, Matt gets a message to Dana and that’s when Terry realizes he’s messed up. As Batman, he shows up and takes on the League of Assassin ninjas, even as Bruce begs him to return with the prototype Bat suit. In the end, it appears that Ra's Al Ghul is still alive and running the League.
BATWOMAN #2 by Marguerite Bennett, James Tynion Iv and Steve Epting. We begin with a moment from the Lost Year where Kate and Safiyah share a quiet moment and Safiyah tells her about the bar called the Desert Rose. Rafael arrives and says it’s time to meet with the crime lords of Coryana. Moving to present day, Kate brings Rafael’s body to The Desert Rose and informs Julia that she is going dark. She gets attacked by Tahani: the assassin who killed Rafael, now calling herself Knife. A signal fire gets lit and many of the local crime lords come to Kate’s rescue. It seems that the Kali Corporation started buying up land and Safiyah left Coryana. In the end, it seems that Kali Corporation is run by the two siblings and Knife is working for them.
BLUE BEETLE #8 by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Scott Kolins. Teri and Ted check out Jaime and it looks like he is cured, now that the scarab has been removed from him. As he and his mom head home, he runs into his friend Kevin Kho, who is terrified because Arion’s insect followers are chasing him. Jaime’s mother becomes a monster like them and that forces Kevin into being turned into OMAC by Brother Eye. Mom flees, OMAC leaves and, with Doctor Fate duking it out with Arion and losing badly, Jaime heads back to Ted and convinces him to let him wear the classic Ted Kord costume.
CYBORG #11 by John Semper Jr., Will Conrad, and Tom Derenick. Cyborg, infected by Anomaly’s virus, finds himself in a battle in an 8-bit digital world called Perilandria, that was created by him and his friend Keiji Otari when they were just kids. It seems that Vic once gave the access codes for S.T.A.R. Labs to Keiji so they could upload the game as a virus. It also turns out that Keiji was a hacker who stole data from the Red Room, sold it on the Dark Web and went to juvenile halll for it. Keiji broke out, by creating Perilandria and becoming H8-Bit. In the end, we learn that Keiji actually died in juvenile hall and that H8-Bit is only a program that he created. After Cyborg defeats H8-Bit’s big bad monster, H8-Bit disappears and Cyborg uses a Boom Tube to head back home.
DEATHSTROKE #16 by Christopher Priest, Larry Hama, Carlo Pagulayan, and Roberto J. Viacava. After her long fall, we discover that Tanya is alive. But that may not last for long as Deadline blasts her in front of Deathstroke/Twilight and threatens to do the same to Wintergreen, who he takes hostage. Meanwhile, Dr. Villain is looking to revive Dr. Ikon and Rose contacts Etienne, who is only going through with the wedding as a ruse, and threatens to kill her. Twilight tracks down Deadline, who loses his right hand in combat, and with the help of Power Girl and her dog Roscoe, takes him into custody.
DEATHSTROKE #17 by Christopher Priest and Joe Bennett. Tanya gets a visit from Beast Boy who freaks out when he sees Deathstroke in the adjacent room. She gets Gar out of the apartment and asks “Evan” if he is there to kill her. He responds by killing Roscoe, which sends her into a fury. Despite their battle, he still manages to escape. Meanwhile, Rose confronts her Minneapolis “family” to find out if they were truly hired by her father. They are not blood relations but are related to Rose's mother as they both worked in a Vietnamese brothel. She calls Wintergreen and finds out that Richard was working for Adeline and not Slade. We also find that Dr. Ikon is alive and Etienne learns that Jericho and Ikon had an affair. In the end, it looks like the wedding may be off because it looks like the bride has been murdered.
DETECTIVE COMICS #954 by James Tynion IV and Marcio Takara. Batman faces Ra's and captures him, but Ra’s explains the secret of the League of Shadows. While Batman believes they are just a myth, Ra’s convinces him they are real and that he made batman forget them. Batman frees Ra’s, who then paralyzes the Dark Knight and lets Shiva and the League into the Batcave. Ra’s turns Batman over the Shiva while Ulysses and Colony break Jacob Kane out of his prison in the Belfry. They prepare to invade the League of Shadows base and Cassandra prepares to take on her mother.
DETECTIVE COMICS #955 byJames Tynion IV and Marcio Takara. Cassandra leaves Christine Montclair, the girl who had nursed her back to health, to battle her way through the League of Shadows. With Kate, Luke, Azrael and Clayface their captives, the League has an atomic bomb ready to destroy Gotham and Shiva is working about setting that plan in motion. Meanwhile, Ulysses shows Jacob his new super-weapon that is designed to kill the League of Shadows. Shiva and Casandra meet for a one-on-one…or so Shiva thinks. That’s when Kate, Luke, Azrael and Clayface arrive…with Batman and Ulysses.
THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #4 by Cary Bates, Greg Weisman and Will Conrad. The “New” Captain Atom does a live television interview and demonstration to prove he’s large and in charge to the world. Then it’s time to investigate the mysterious package and who was in the picture at Nathaniel’s wife’ grave. Then he goes to a maximum-security prison, where Max Thrane was in the process of being executed in the electric chair when the flare created a quantum bubble that stopped time around him. When Captain Atom tries to absorb the quantum bubble to free Thrane, but he actually absorbs Captain Atom's power, turning Thrane into Captain Atom. In the end, it seems Dr. Megala is secretly running tests on Captain Atom's son Genji.
THE FLASH #20 by Joshua Williamson and Neil Googe. Iris is busy investigating a grave-robbing incident that has ties to both the Speed Force Storm and Godspeed. It seems all of Godspeed's victims are missing except for Meena Dhawan. Iris ends up investigating Black Hole and, because she has to, becomes an Agent of Black Hole. The Flash shows up and is taken down by Black Hole. But Iris saves the day. Later, Barry burns dinner for he and Iris and they order pizza. In the end, it seems that Meena, in a snazzy new costume, is working for Black Hole.
THE FLASH #21 by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter. Part Two of THE BUTTON. An aged Johnny Thunder is on the top of the Good Life building and calling for Thunderbolt by screaming his legendary magic word to no avail. Orderlies take hold of him and take him back inside, where they promise to raise the dose on his medications. In the Batcave, Barry Allen tries to figure out what happened to Reverse Flash and, because of the Speed Forced Signature he found on Thawne, it looks like Barry could be responsible for Thawne’s death. Barry visits Bruce and tells him the Button is missing and Bruce informs him that Thomas Wayne from Flashpoint had been there. Barry goes to the "Hall of Lost and Found" where he unveils the The Cosmic Treadmill. He and Batman travel through the Speed Force, where they see images from the “missing years”, before the Treadmill crashes. They have landed in the Flashpoint Batcave and come face to face with Thomas Wayne-The Batman.
GOTHAM ACADEMY SECOND SEMESTER #8 by Brenden Fletcher, Becky Cloonan, Karl Kerschl, Adam Archer and Msassyk. Olive Silverlock is possessed by Amity and in a rage. We learn that Pomeline’s ancestor Aleinor wrote about Olive’s ancestor Amity Arkham in the Book of Gotham. Amity was a witch who was burned and cursed the Copplepots, the Waynes, and others while she died. We also learn that Amity had a baby named Beatrix who, when her mother died, was brought to the Silverlocks by Aleinor. Speaking of the Book of Gotham, Bookworm wants the book from Pomeline and Colton, but Kate arrives and sets them free, allowing Pomeline to knock him out. Pomeline and Colton race back to where Olive has burst into flame in front of Professor MacPherson and Batman. Pom hands her the Book of Gotham, Batman ties her up with a batarang and she, with the promise of taking her revenge on Gotham, she disappears.
GREEN ARROW #20 by Ben Percy, Eleonora Carlini, and Mirka Andolfo. In between flashbacks of Roy’s troubles in the past with his adiction issues, he has teamed up with Ollie and Dinah to take on the Wild Dogs. Roy finally remember that it was the sherrif who killed Big Bow and not himself. In the end, Roy and Ollie patch up their differences and agree to work together.
GREEN ARROW #21 by Benjamin Percy and Juan Ferreyra. Amongst Arrow’s memories of his past, Cheshire takes manages to arrange that a jet crashes into the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport terminal. Eddie Fyers is also back in the book, this time infesting the Grand Pacific Hotel with bed bugs. We also continue seeing Green Arrow as he tells us he never got to really know his father. Danny Brickwell destroys the Seattle Capitol Hill building. Mayor Domini is using threats against Councilman Martinez. In the end, Broderick meets with his Four Horseman and declares how he has destroyed Oliver and Green Arrow. And now he will murder Seattle, replacing it with…Star City.
GREEN LANTERNS #20 by Sam Humphries and Eduardo Pansica. Jessica and Simon are fighting to free themselves from the watery tomb they are currently in, but she overcomes her fear and uses her willpower to break them out. They track down Dr. Polaris and discover he has taken his brother from the hospital. Cyborg lends a hand and tracks him down by magnetic disturbances in the area. Simon and Jess find where Seth is and Dr. Polaris arrives, just in time to see Seth flatline.
GREEN LANTERNS #21 by Sam Humphries and Robson Rocha. Seth Emerson is dying and Simon tries to use his ring to save him, but it is too little too late. Doctor Polaris freaks out and flies off, using his powers to pull the Watchtower out of orbit and towards Earth where it will kill everyone in Gateway City. The Lanterns work together and crank their willpower up to maximum, making constructs that put the Watchtower back into space. In the end, Doctor Polaris and his human self have a conversation where they blame the Lanterns for Seth’ death. And Simon and Jessica get called away from Earth by Jon Stewart, where they are being relocated to Mogo.
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #18 by Robert Vendetti and V. Ken Marion. Gorin-Sunn of the Green Lantern Corps and Space Ape of the Sinestro Corps are on patrol when they encounter a temporal anomaly that apparently kills them. On Mogo, the Green Lanterns are restoring their power battery and the Sinestro Corps are building one. Of course, that leads to the two Corps fighting with each other until Guy and Arkillo break it up. Saint Walker is told he is now the sole possessor of the Blue Light, and Ganthet and Sayd send him away. Salaak tries to find the missing Lanterns only to have a temporal anomaly shows up there. But this one contains Rip Hunter, Time Master…who is wearing a Green Lantern ring!
HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #19 by Robert Vendetti and V. Ken Marion. Rip Hunter, as he recovers from his long trip through time, explains to John Stewart that HE gave Rip the Lantern ring. He also explains that he is hunting someone named Sarko. As it turns out, Gorin-Sunn and Space Ape are still alive and being interrogated by Sarko. He also calls Space Ape by his real name: Prince Lorix. He has come from the future where the Sinestro Corps had become a part of the Green Lantern Corps. Because he hates them so much, Sarko sends his Prism Beasts to attack Mogo and, according to Rip, this is the day that changes the future.
HARLEY QUINN #17 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Paul Dini, John Timms, and Bret Blevins. The vampires are feasting in New York since the Mayor hired them to take care of the homeless problem. Chief Spoonsdale meets with Harley to tell her about the disappearing homeless, which leads to Harley and her team doing night patrol in Prospect Park. The team catches some crooks and Red Tool goes to deliver then to the police, leading to Harley being captured by one of the vamps. Meanwhile, in Toole, Utah, Harley Sinn is ready to fulfill her contract when she realizes her target is Madame Macabre’ husband Mason. So she changes her plan and decides to take him as a hostage instead. In the back-up, it’s the first part of HARLEY LOVES JOKER, it’s a New Year’s Eve caper as Mr. J. tries to take his crown back from the mysterious thief that is hitting all of his favorite spots.
HARLEY QUINN #18 by Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Paul Dini, John Timms, Joseph Michael Linsner, and Bret Blevins. It’s Gotham 2167 and Dev is prepared to travel back to the present to kill the person who murdered Batman— one and only Harley Quinn. Meanwhile, Harley is bring dragged off to become the main course at the vampire buffet. Only we learn they aren’t vampires-they are cannibals hired by Madison Berkowitz in the Mayor’s office. Red Tool tries to rescue Harley, but that doesn’t go so well, so he calls on Eggy to lend a hand. Harley gets brought to the Butchery and tossed into a room filled with rats and human bones. Madison tells the cannibals they are no longer needed and they tell her they have decided to stay. That’s when Red Tool shows up carrying a really BIG GUN. In the back –up, Joker gives Harley a stolen fur coat, but she leaves her old coat at the crime scene. That means that Batman has arrived at their apartment and is ruining date night.
THE HELLBLAZER #9 by Simon Oliver and Davide Fabbri. Constantine, Mercury, and Misabel are following the magic sneaker so they can get Henry’s journal. Misabel runs off on her own, leaving John and Mercury to head to an antiques shop looking for the book. The book section is filed with old comics including an issue of SWAMP THING that features the first appearance of Constantine. They end up in a museum masquerading as another couple, who shows up while they are there. Seems the proprietor is employed by…Misabel. Meanwhile, a guy named Carver chews out the Houses of Parliament before going off to the Tate Club. The Djinn subdues Mr. Carver and forces him to de-wing an angel and then behead an angel. In the end, Carver gives Djinn access to the abandoned Greenham Common Air Force Base.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #18 by Bryan Hitch and Fernando Pasarin. While Superman and Tempus argue, the rest of the heroes fight their battles throughout time. Batman saves Superman just as we find out that Tempus is really a hologram. Superman destroys the machinery and all of the Timeless throughout history stop fighting and collapse. But wait: Tempus wasn’t the villain after all…Molly is.
JUSTICE LEAGUE #19 by Bryan Hitch and Fernando Pasarin. Batman, Superman and Jane face off against Molly, who plans on wiping out all the superheroes and villains in the world. Over in the Infinity Building, Vincents cuts himself, which allows him to bleed into the Timeless’ systems. The League gets a message from Tempus, warning them about Molly but that gets interrupted by Vincent telling them to destroy Tempus’ machine, which will leave them all stranded in time. They destroy the machine and Molly tries to kill Superman and family, but the League, NOT stranded in time, saves the day. Molly warns them that they may have won the battle but this is only the beginning.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4 by Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis. The team continues to fight against and ultimately defeat The Extremists. Bogna regains the country, although Dreamslayer escapes to try and help people. Back at The Sanctuary, we see the Crusader Shield and the axe that Havok used. In a final flashback, we see Havok killing American Crusader while Blue Jay shrank down into the Microverse.
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #5 by Steve Orlando and Andy MacDonald. The JLA has decided to open their doors in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island to anyone who wants to see what heroes do. Following a reporter’s question, the League heads to Penn City, where the villain Aegeus is controlling the place. After Lobo gets taken down and shot out of Aegeus headquarter, the Ray arms the team with light constructs.
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