Another fresh batch of first issues

ARMSTRONG AND THE VAULT OF SPIRITS by Fred Van Lente, Cafu and Darrick Robertson.  Part of Valiant’s classic duo returns with a special wine tasting, featuring Faith, Punk Mambo, Quantum and Woody and Archer. They crack the vault, only to have to run into one of the last sons of Canaan,w ho blame Armstrong for their ills over the centuries.  It’s a wild team-up with a surprise visit from Ivar the Timewalker. It looks great and I always liked this character as the big oaf he has always been. A cute little one-shot that brings some of Valiant’s most popular heroes together.

ASSASSINISTAS #1 by Tini Howard and Gilbert Hernandez. First off: if you’re going to et Gilbert Hernandez illustrate it, you’ve already won me over! Hat having been said, this is a wildly entertaining tale of a group of lady guns for hire: their past, their present, their families and their lovers. The dialogue is fun and the script is rife with great lines while Hernandez does what he does best: draw quicky characters. This is not a book for everyone, as I know many who don’t care for Hernandez’ art srtyle. Me-I LOVE IT!

30 DAYS OF NIGHT #1 by Steve Niles and Piotr Kowalski. 30 DAYS is a classic tale which was made into several movies. Niles has rebooted the story for a new generation and it’s great! The story holds up really well and Kowlaski’s art is traditional comic style art, not the wonderful abstract work of Ben Templesmith. Will Niles change it up from the original? I’m curious to find out. If you have never read the original, score this! And if you have, score this anyway!

DARKHAWK #51 by Chad Bowers, Chris Sims and Kev Walker. Possibly the last Marvel character we needed to see again. But, lo and behold, here he is. Chris Powell has found a secret amulet that gives him the powers of Darkhawk. Now he’s all grown up and is a cop, but still has his connection to the amulet. It’s 20 pages of…nothing. This was, by far, the weakest of the LEGACY themed one-shots that brought back “classic” characters. Nothing to see here…move along.

DAYS OF HATE #1 by Ales Kot and Danijel Zezelj. When you start a comic with a quote from Steve Bannon, you know it’s going to be off the rails. And it is! Set in the not so distant future, the world is devastated and. While it is not a wasteland, the country is pretty messed up. With political prisoners, undercover operations, bad bikers and all, this book is so intriguing on where it will go over the course of the next year. It’s a wild ride that will keep you guessing page after page. The art is dark and has a noir feel while Kot’s writing is right where it needs to be. Revealing any more could give it all away.

DEJAH THORIS #0 by Amy Chu and Pasquale Qualano. Dynamtie launches this new series with a 16-page story that introduces the Princess of Mars to us. There is an additional 8 pages of sketches, inked art and other extras.  The story is okay, and the art is reminiscent of Terry Dodson. The highlight, besides the 25-cent cover price, is the amazing Jay Anacleto cover, which truly makes this book worth the 25 cents! Also, be on the lookout for the extremely limited Elias Chatzoudis variant!

DOCTOR STRANGE DAMNATION #1 by Nick Spencer, Donny Cates and Rod Reis. Doctor Strange uses his magic to rebuild Las Vegas, but all magic has a price and this time, it means playing Poker with Mephisto for Doc’s soul. Doc cheats and gets caught, causing Mephisto to claim many Marvel heroes as his pawns. This leads to Wong getting involved and putting together a new team made up of Moon Knight, Brother Voodoo, Iron Fist, Blade, Man Thing, Ghost Rider, and Bloodstone. Fun beginning. The art is fine and the story is cool. Donny Cates has been on fire lately and you can feel his influence at parts of the tale.

FAITH’S WINTER WONDERLAND SPECIAL #1 by Marguerite Sauvage and Francis Portella.  Faith ends up in Wonderland and it’s not quite what Lewis Carroll imagined. This is a pretty harmless piece by Sauvage with killer art from Portella. In fact, it’s pretty much an all-ages story, except for a couple of scary monsters, so feel free to read it to the kids.

FRANKENSTEIN ALIVE, ALIVE! TRIO by Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson. IDW collects the three issue series in one book. If you never bought these when they came out, it is a beautifully loving tale about the monster from the creature’s perspective. Lavishly illustrated by by the late great Berni Wrightson, Niles’ story is a touching one. Issue #4 is on the way, with bonus material by Kelley Jones. It’s eight bucks, but well worth it!

ICE CREAM MAN #1 by W. Maxwell Prince and Martin Morazzo. What has dead people, a killer spider, a werewolf and an ice cream man? This book! Equal parts mystery story, science fiction adventure and EC horror tale, this is a fun romp with great art by Morazzo. Two scoops please!!!

  

INFINITY COUNTDOWN: ADAM WARLOCK #1 by Gerry Duggan and Mike Allred. Adam Warlock is back from the dead and ready to rock! But he awakens in the clutches of Kang the Conqueror, who reveals that the universe is in great danger. In an effort to save it, Warlock accepts a mission which will result in Kang getting the time gem. He travels back to Ancent Egypt and encounter Rama Tut, who is the original version of Kang. This lead-in to the forthcoming INFINITY COUNTDOWN is a nice introduction to the character. The story is okay, the dialogue is a bit heavy-handed, but Allred’s quirky art is amazing, as always.

INFINITY COUNTDOWN PRIME by Gerry Duggan and Mike Deodato Jr. The search for the Infinity Stones continues, this time mostly focusing on the reborn Wolverine. But the Super Skrull appears, and Magus is killed. Oh yeah: Ultron/Hank Pym is back and an elderly Gamora makes an appearance. This is a great lead-in to the upcoming mini-series that leaves more questions than it gives answers. Deodato’s art is amazing, as always and Duggan hits on all cylinders with this outing.

MARVEL 2 IN ONE #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Jim Cheung. MARVEL 2 IN ONE was always one of my favorite titles because there were some classic storylines, like the Pegasus Project, that got dropped here. No-it wasn’t just a Thing team-up book, although many of the stories were one-offs. This title comes roaring back with Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm teaming up again to search for the rest of the Fantastic Four, missing since the end of SECRET WARS. The story is full of heart and the art is spectacular! Will this lead to the rebirth of the FF? I sure hope so. But, for now, this is a great way to start to bring back the characters I love so much.

THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS #1 by Ian Flynn and Kelsey Shannon. Back in the 1960’s, Archie Comics had this fun attempt at a superhero title. Then they rebooted the characters, some of which got their own series and some of which became second bananas. This book puts the team back together and it’s a mess. There is a bunch of unexplained back story that just leaves you confused and wanting the good old days. Don’t get this, but pick-up the reboot of THE SHIELD, which actually told a great story with a nob to the classic character.

NINJAK VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSE #1 by Eliot Rahal and Joe Bennett. This book acts as a bridge between the live-action story, featuring Michael Rowe, John Hennigan, Jason David Frank and others with the comic book universe. Ninjak is given an assignment which sets the rest of the heroes after him. The artwork is decent while the story is a little contrived. But I can’t wait for issue #2 to see where it comes. Seek out the variant, which features pictures of the live action stars on the cover

OLD MAN HAWKEYE #1 by Eric Sacks and Marco Checchetto. In the tradition, and timeline, of the original OLD MAN LOGAN, we get this spin-off. Superheroes have been all but wiped out and the few that survive live in the wastelands. One of them is Hawkeye, who is slowly going blind but still has one last mission to fulfill, even if he does it alone. The story feels like it will be fun, although I don’t know if 12 issues isn’t too long, and the art by Checchetto looks great. Definitely worth a taste, but I have doubts on it being able to hold interest for a year.

PHEONIX RESURRECTION #1 by Matthew Rosenberg and Leinil Francis Yu. Spoiler: JEAN GREY IS DEAD. Well…one of them is. Yeah, the past Jean Grey DIED in JEAN GREY #10(sort of) and now the Pheonix has returned in the form of OUR Jean Grey. Yeah… totally confusing. But there’s an anomaly that is causing the dead to come back, even Wolverine, and Jean is one of them. When this series is done, we will have a new team led by the recently deceased Jean Grey called X-Men Red.  The story is a bit filled with holes, but the art is nice. Hopefully, it all makes sense before this mini-series ends.

PUNK’S NOT DEAD #1 by David Barnett and Martin Simmonds. Feargal Ferguson is trying to deal with life and being the kid who gets tormented. Luckily, he has a new, mostly unseen protector is his life. He’s a dead rocker named Sid. And the Department for Extra-Unusual Affairs is also looking into it. This is one wild, crazy book which has some wonderful nods to the British Punk era, while rooting itself firmly in present day. This may be the best book yet from Black Crown/IDW.

QUANTUM AND WOODY  #1 by Daniel Kibblesmith and Kano. Valiant resurrects this oddest duo in superhero comics and it’s a gem! Here’s two “brothers” who don’t get along but they’re gonna try and make it as a team. Filled with great dialogue and killer art, this has always been a favorite of mine. My only question is: when do we get the goat back!?

SECRET WEAPONS #0 by Eric Heisserer and Adam Pollina. Valiant unleashes the first in a series of prequels to their 2017 mini-series.  Story telling on this is awesome, with the art of Pollina and the layout of the book, which tells the tale of one character over the course of a year. Masterful story telling that ties in beautifully to the mythos of the series. I can’t wait to see the next installment!

THE SNAGGLEPUSS CHRONICLES #1 by Mark Russell and Mike Feehan. So, it’s the 1950’s, McCarthyism is in full swing and you’re a pink lion playwright who is also a closeted homosexual. That’s the basis of this story which takes our beloved Hanna Barbera character and turns his word upside down. Guest appearances by Huckleberry Hound, Dorothy Parker and Lillian Hellman.

STRANGER IN PARADISE XXV by Terry Moore. AT LAST!!! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to see these characters I know and love so well, back! I have always been a huge fan of Moore’s work like ECHO, RACHEL RISING and MOTOR GIRL. But this is the book that first hooked me. The line work is clean, the story is not to overly wordy and Katchoo, Francine and Tambi are back. Rumor has it this will tie his other series together and I can’t wait to see how! Bravo, Terry! Spopiler:" they all come together in this series...just saying!

TALES OF SUSPENSE #100 by Matthew Rosenberg and Travel Foreman. Black Widow is dead. But is she REALLY? Clues seem to point otherwise and it’s the unlikely alliance of Hawleye and Bucky to try and figure it out. Part James Bond action flick and art mystery novel, this was entertaining, even if there seem to be a whole lot of red herrings floating about. Definitely worth getting the next issue to see where it goes.

VENOM INC. ALPHA by Dan Slott, Mike Costa and Ryan Stegman. In an effort to pump some life into the sagging sales of VENOM, we have the first of several months of cross-overs between popular titles. In this one, Eddie Brock is back in his Venom guise, but Flash Thompson is floating around to get the symbiote back for himself, so he can continue his space-based, crime fighting ways. But someone else is in the game too, and they want to create their own army of Venoms. The art is great, but this just gets silly and, if you want the full story, you have to read this, two issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, two issues of VENOM and then the OMEGA book. But wait: next up-a crossover with the X-MEN BLUE.

X-MEN RED #1 by Tom Taylor and Mahmud Asrar. Jran Grey is back from the dead and she has found the world she knew completely changed. So she puts a new team together consisting of herself, Wolverine, Honey Badger, Nightcrawler and Namor. After things go bad, they find themselves at odds with the humans and it looks like Cassandra Nova might be pulling their strings. Taylor writes a good story and Asrar’s art is okay. How many X-books do we need? Apparently Marvel thinks we need one more.

DC UNIVERSE Month 3, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #24 by Steve Orlando and Neil Edwards. Vixen is in the Red and states how she is prepared to save the world for all the "Wishers" trapped here. While Promethea battles the Queen, Vixen arrives with her army of Wishers and they take down the Queen’s tower. Frost gets her curse back and uses her powers to kill Tsaritsa. Promethea eaves, promising she can come back if needed. Ray returns to the team and so does Batman, who is ready to take them to the next hot spot in the world.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #25 by Steve Orlando, Miguel Mendonca and Mikyu Jung. Batman has arrived and, while criticizing the team for the damage that occurred, The Ray introduces Aztek to the team.  While Batman continues to complain and explain the reasons why he started the team in the first place, he decides the team needs one last mission-to Angor. As it turns out, the mission is just Batman, Black Canary and Dreamslayer. Arriving to see the homeworld devastated, Dreamslayer says that someone or something is keeping him from rebuilding his world. The Adjudicator arrives, claiming responsibility. In the end, Havok arrives to hopefully help rebuild.

MERA QUEEN OF ATLANTIS #1 by Dan Abnett and Lan Medina. Orm, the former Ocean Master, is living a happy life with his wife and son, when he hears on television about everything going on with his brother and wife and the recent events in Atlantis. Meanwhile, Mera finds herself battling a villain known as The Eel. After defeating him, she contacts the Justice League, to inform them that she is currently a Queen in exile. She also discovers that Rath paid the Eel to attack Mera. She later meets with the State Department regarding her status and Orm may be getting ready to resort to his old life.

MOTHER PANIC/BATMAN SPECIAL #1 by Jody Houser and Ty Templeton. MILK WARS Part 2. Gather House has returned and now it is being run by someone named Father Bruce, who happens to dress as a bat. She heads off to Gather House and discovers that milk is the reason for the return. She encounters his children sidekicks who call themselves the Holy Sidekick Choir of Merciful Justice. Father Bruce reveals how, after his parent’s death, Alfred came through his window with milk and his life was changed. Mother Panic battles Father Bruce and his sidekicks and eventually frees him by destroying the source of the milk. He follows Mother Panic back to her mother’s house and learns a bit about her powers. Joined by Fennec Fox, the trio heads off to meet Cave Carson. In the back-up, we get another “vintage” tale about Formless Girl.

NEW SUPER-MAN AND THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF CHINA #20 by Gene Luen Yang and Brent Peeples. While Keenan and Avery share some quiet conversation, the rest of the League battles an energy drining beast clled The Sleez. Keenan and Avery arrive to help, but so does the Green Lantern Corps of China, who are looking to sprehend our heroes. The team manages to get aay and Keenan and Avery share a kiss. Meanwhile, in North Korea, Ahn Kwang is questioned by the state police, because he has been watching THE SIMPSONS on television. The police beat him up, but they get theirs when two giant spider crabs crawl out of his sweat and proceed to move him across the border into China.

NIGHTWING #38 by Sam Humphries and Bernard Chang. We find that Svaboda shot Nightwing because of the influence of The Judge’s golden poker chip. Nightwing goes to visit Guppy who has killed his father because of The Judge’s influence. He heads to the Justice Tree to discover it has ben poisoned and he heads off to the casino to have a confrontation with The Judge. In the end, Nightwing gets beaten down and The Judge reveals that he is blind.

NIGHTWING #39 by Sam Humphries, Phil Jimenez, and Jamal Campbell. Dick is held captive by The Judge who reminds him of the second time they met, when Dick was in college. The Judge then goes on to explain that he was the First Judge of Bludhaven. After letting a guilty man go free, he was thrown in the ocean, but survived and was changed. Over time, he ended up at St. Jude's Monastery, where he sewed his eyes shut. With the water rising, he leaves Nightwing tied to a chair where it appears he will drown.

RAGMAN #5 by Ray Fawkes and Inaki Miranda.  Ragman fights to save Frank’s possessed son, while battling demons in the process. But he stops when he realizes that these demons are actualy possessed townspeople. The Shining Knight arrives and tells Rory that Etrigan is actually using him. To save everyone, Rory agrees to give the cloak he wears to Z’Dargall: give up the magic hell cloak, despite it resulting in the loss of his own life. With that, the demon kills Rory.

RAVEN DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS #2 by Marv Wolfman and Pop Mhan. Raven is facing off against Azure, who soon departs and Raven heads home, troubled by images of

Trigon the Terrible.  Soon, she heads off to the hospital, as her friend Teri’s Grandmother is dying and there is nothing Raven can do. Later, she helps decorate the family Christmas tree, although she doesn’t understand why. Azure observes this and then leaves in a van, while Raven follows. Attack helicopters arrive, destroying the van and killing Azure in the process. Baron Winters observes this and Raven observes him, leading to her transporting to a place where she gets attacked by a tentacled monster.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #19 by Scott Lobdell and Marcio Takara. Jason and Artemis go out on a date and end up in the Batcave, where they can have a conversation without Bizarro being able to listen in. Meanwhile, Bizarro meets with Solitary, who may be the person responsible for the Outlaws coming together in the first place. With Bizarro becoming more and more dependent on Kryptonite to keep him super smart, he ends up being found by Jason and Artemis passed out in a Gotham bar. With that, they bring him back home, aware that they realy need to keep an eye on him.

SIDEWAYS #1 by Kenneth Rocafort, Dan DiDio and Justin Jordan. Derek was a regular high school kid until Challengers Mountain dropped into Gotham City and this teenager ended up with powers which allow him to open a doorway in space and transport a ywhere in the world. While trying to navigate high school life and be an Internet sensation as a hero, he hears a strange voice in his head. He creates a rift and transports right into the face of the voice: a massive creature who has judge our hero to be a problem for the space-time continuum and is sentenced to death.

SHADE THE CHANGING GIRL/WONDER WOMAN SPECIAL #1 by Cecil Castellucci and Mirka Andolfo. MILK WARS Part 3. Shade is trapped in a world where Wonder Woman has come to believe that she is a 1950’s mom named Wonder Wife. With the help of Cave Carson’s Cybernetic Eye, Shade and Loma are able to finally crack open the walls of sanity and convince Diana that she is really Wonder Woman. Using the eye, they travel off to their next stop in order to stop Retconn. In the back-up by Magadalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew, ALHPA 13 is rebooted as CHRYSALIS THE ETERNITY GIRL.

THE SILENCER #2 by John Romita Jr and Dan Abnett. Honor Guest continues to fight Underlife assassins Breacher and Bloodvessel, eventually taking them down. This leads to her calling The Switchboard, who sends out a cleanup crew to dispose of the bodies and make everything right again. She goes home, after cutting what’s left of her disheveled hair, which leads to her and her husband having some “quality time”. The next day, she contacts Remedy and arranges a meeting, where he wants her to do some house cleaning for him. When she refuses, he brings out the heavy artillery, which she says she can take down in a matter of seconds.

SUICIDE SQUAD #35 by Rob Williams and Eduardo Pansica. The government has their own new Black-Ops Super Soldier in the form a The Wall. While Killer Croc is trying to regain his humanity and King Faraday is profiling the team for Waller, who leaves to witness the birth of her grandchild, the team is off fighting, and losing to, Damage. In the end, all of Belle Reve’s system are comprised by someone looking for revenge: Hack.

SUICIDE SQUAD #36 by Rob Williams and Eduardo Pansica. The team arrives back in Belle Reve to find that everyone has been released and Hack is in control of everything, demanding to know who her killer was. Hack has her hands-on Waller’s secret documents and wile Killer Croc eats most of the other prisoners, Waller decides to do what she must to save her secrets. That means blowing up Belle Reve!

SUPERGIRL #18 by Steve Orlando, Jody Houser and Carmen Carnero. What to do? If Kara changes into Supergirl, she saves all of her friends, but will reveal her secret identity. Agent Ocampo shows up, allowing Kara to head into the photo booth and change into Supergirl. She Mr. Bones are up to when Mokkari arrives, intent on shutting her down permanently.

SUPERMAN #40 by James Robinson and Doug Mahnke. Superman and son plan on celebrating the anniversary of the destruction of Krypton by watching it via a holographic projection.  They witness a planet which is about to suffer the same fate and the two head off to save it. Only, the people don’t want to be saved, as they believe their destruction is God’s will. Not wanting his interference, they use the magic of prayer to null his powers. Luckily they are saved by a scientist, who while believes that their religion is a joke and he convinces them that they must find a way to save the people.

SUPERMAN #41 by James Robinson and Ed Benes. Superman and son, alon with rogue scientist Klain, are trying to get off of Galymane before it explodes. In tow, is an egg containing Klain’s children. Despite Superman wanting to save the citizens of the planet, the populace arrives, killing Klain in the process. While Superman doesn’t agree with their decision, he respects it. Superboy heads off to find a new world for the children as Superman stays with the citizens until the planet explodes. Eventually he reunites with his son and they head back to Earth for apple pie and ice cream.

SUPER SONS #13 by Peter J. Tomasi and Carlo Barberi. Damian is still trying to fit in at his new school, but is aggravating more classmates than he is making friends with. Things get worse when Talia shows up, trying to convince her son that he has a higher calling and delivers his League of Assassins outfit to him. This leads the boys to take down Ezar, an assassin that Damian trained, who reveals that Talia is in town because of the whole thing going on in SILENCER. Not only that, she has someone on her hit list…and her name is Lois Lane.

SWAMP THING WINTER SPECIAL #1 by Tom King, Jason Fabok, Kelley Jones and Len Wein. Swamp Thing finds himself stuck in an endless loop of never-ending Winter , trying to protect a young boy. After what seems like years, he realizes that, to save the Green, he must kill the boy, which he does. The second story has no words, because Len Wein died before the lettering could be finished. It features Jones’ artwork and features Batman, Solomon Grundy and Matthew Cable.

TEEN TITANS #17 by Benjamin Percy and Scot Eaton. Because Titans Tower-West is still a mess following the Super Sons of Tomorrow story, the team is forced to move out. Beast Boy goes to a baseball game and is mistakenly called Yeast Boy, which just shows how far his stock has dropped. He gets met by a fan who take him to her clubhouse for “lost boys” called Nevrland. They introduce him to a VR implant that allows the user to live in many worlds at once. Gar gets injected with it and he feels a change. Meanwhile, the rest of the team saves a school bus filled with kids that are in peril because one of the kids freaked out. Of course, that kid appears to have been under the same influence of the VR tech.

THE TERRIFICS #1 by Jeff Lemire and Ivan Reis. Simon Stagg is trying to access the Dark Multiverse by tapping into Metamorpho’s Nth Metal, which is not a good thing.  Mr. Terrific shows up with Plastic Man and they all get transported into the Dark Multiverse, where they find themselves standing on a giant corpse. They also run into

Linnya, who most of us know as Phantom Girl. The signal that brought them there. That signal was sent by… Tom Strong!

TITANS #20 by Dan Abnett and Paul Pelletier. Roy is beating up Intergang bad guys when Cheshire arrives and helps him. The two go off together and try to patch up things in their lives. Meanwhile, Donna Troy is dealing with the loneliness of being held on the Watchtower until the Justice League can figure out if she is a danger to the world. Back on earth, Arsenal and Chershire find the pure sample of Bliss, which leads them back to his apartment to celebrate. When he wakes in the morning, she is gone and so is the sample. It turns out she is really working for The Brain and Monsieur Mallah.

TRINITY #18 by James Robinson and Patch Zircher. The Trinity continues to tell their tale from being on Skartaris. They learn that The Warlord is really just an apparition, because he is battling Deimos. They go off to find his daughter Jennifer and make their perilous journey on unicorns. After defeating several of Deimos’ horde, they get to Shamballah where they meet Jennifer and find that Travis Morgan is dead. They also discover that they are all aging rapidly, just like the corpses of the pilots they found along the way.

WONDER WOMAN #40 by James Robinson and Emanuela Lupacchino. Jason and Diana have survived their perilous fall, and both are healing rapidly. They go to Garrett Memorial Hospital, where they find that Silver Swan has killed everyone and destroyed all her research. Jason heads home and Silver Swan goes to attack him, but Diana arrives and defeats her. She is taken into custody and, maybe someday, there will be a cure for her. Jason decides he is hampering his sister and decides to leave. But a mysterious energy field takes him away before Diana can say goodbye to him. Meanwhile, Steve and company continue to fight the Furies.

WONDER WOMAN #41 by James Robinson and Stephen Segovia. Darkseid is pissed off that Steve Trevor and his team defeated them, meaning he can’t get the relic he wanted. He’s also upset because Earth means nothing to him now that Themyscira is out of his reach. Diana informs Steve that she has had to battle a number of individuals with power and that she thinks Veronica Cale may be responsible. In the end, Jason comes back, now wearing armor.

DC UNIVERSE Month 3, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #997 by Dan Jurgens and Brett Booth. Superman and Booster Gold are trapped in an alternate timeline where they find themselves battling Zod, along with his wife and son, along with the Eradicator. Our heroes get captured and are about to be executed by Zod and company. To make matters worse, Zod destroys Skeets. Meanwhile, Lois finds herself in Logamba, where she is trying to free her father. Just as it looks as if she is going to be shot, she discovers she has a Guardian Angel with her in the form of her son, Jon. Arriving at where her father is held, there is a first time reunion between child and grandfather. Freeing General Lane, they ll make their escape, only to be trapped by Logamban troops who apparently kill the General and his daughter.

ACTION COMICS #998 by Dan Jurgens and Will Conrad. As Zod and his family are bout to burn Superman and Booster Gold to death with his heat vision, we find out that Skeets has been able to make his way into one of the Eradicator and saves them. They make their escape through the Time Sphere and head back to the past, to make sure this future never happens. Along the way, Superman convinces Booster to let him go to the destruction of Krypton, to prove that Mr. Oz is really his father. He sees the rocket carrying himself jet off the planet, watches his mother die and sees Jor-El be taken by the blue light. Back in the present, Superman goes off to find Lois and Jon, when Booster finds out that Lois and her father have been killed in Logamba. Booster alters time, which is totally against the rules, to save their lives before they are killed.

AQUAMAN #33 by Dan Abnett, Rick Leonardi  and Riccardo Federici. Aquaman and Undercurrent make their way into the palace in an effort to destroy the Crown of Thorns. King Shark joins the fray and helps the group succeed. Meanwhile, Sister Cetea makes Mera the Queen of Atlantis, followed by Aquaman bring her to the surface before she drowns.. With Tula caring for her, he heads back to the sea to take care of Corum Rath once and for all.

BANE CONQUEST #9 by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan. Bane continues to recruit members for his new team, in an effort to recapture the future Kobra leader from the villains. After building his team, by any means necessary, they head to Jakarta, where they capture one of Kobra’s members, who gives up the information the team needs.

BATGIRL #20 by Hope Larson and Sam Basri.  Barbara uses her eidetic memory to make her way to Qadir, who has been beaten up and someone has stolen his Trust Ray, which allows people to be compromised to think what the user wants them to. Looking at a recording, she finds out that it’s Ethan Cobblepot, who stole the machine to help The Penguin in his run for Congress. She tracks the villain down, defeating him and destroying The Penguin’s stolen device. In the end, she decides she needs a change, because she is not a kid anymore.

BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #19 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and Roge Antonio. The Birds continue their war against Gotham’s criminal element, eventually crossing paths with a robot named Burnrate, that is bent on finding out who Oracle is for his master. Fleeing the villain, they end up at Gus’ house, only to find that Burnrate has beaten him to near death because he won’t reveal Oracle’s secret. They defeat the robot, but at the cost of Gus’ life. Barbara decides to give up her career as Oracle while The Calculator, the master behind Burnrate, observes Huntress as she goes to prison and visits her mother.

BATMAN #40 by Tom King and Joelle Jones. Catwoman demands that The Gentle Man brings back Wonder Woman and Batman, which he agrees to do, but not until he has had a chance to visit his wife. At truce and Diana have spent decades fighting the enemy on The Gentle Man’s world. The Gentle Man gets to have a tearful reunion with his wife, before opening the gate and changing places again. But she reminds him that the next time this happens, it will be Catwoman and Batman making the trip.

BATMAN #41 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. Bruce wakes from a dream about

Poison Ivy and it seems Selina is having the same dream. He knocks out Alfred, who is infected, and heads to the Batcave, where he inoculates himself and Selina. They both ass out and, when they wake, they’re in bed, in their costumes and are told by a possessed Alfred, that she has taken over the world by tapping into the Green. In the end, she tells them that she knows everything about everything and Batman and Catwoman are the last defense for the planet.

BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL #2 by Scott Snyder, Tony Patrick and Cully Hamner. Duke is getting beat-up at Arkham Juvenile Center until Detective Aisi arrves, aong with a silent signal sent to the teens by the mysterious person in charge of them. Duke does a vanishing act and ends up at The Hatch, where Riko quits. This is all observedby the mysterious person, who is disappointed that he is siding with Batman instead of himself, since he has set everything in motion. Detective Aisi tells Duke that they found a piece of Nth Metal in one of the Afkham teens , which sends Duke to visit Batman. It seems the Bruce Wayne housing project has a bunch of sdolsr panels and the powers of the sun is activating powers in everyone in the Narrows…and not in a good way.

BATMAN BEYOND #17 by Dan Jurgens and Phil Hester. Terry manages to avoid his unmasking by Striker, while his brother considers donning the Robin costume to go help him. Ten, who is the person that stole the picture of Terry from Wayne Manor, dons her costume and heads off to help Batman. Payback, the villain who hired Stalker in the first place, arrives and is done with Stalker, cutting off his legs in the process. Batman saves Stalker, but Payback launches a bomb at them, while he kidnaps Ten and blows up the skyscraper that Batman and Stalker are in.

BATWOMAN #12 by Marguerite Bennett and Scott Godlewski. Batwoman is on her way to Safiyah’s island of Coryana, to confront her former lover. In flashback, we learn that Safiyah has deduced that Rogue Warloard Maksim is responsible for the sickness that is affecting the creatures on the island. She has him captured and tried, but sends him away. The other warlords are waiting for him and they kill him. Later, Kate learns that she is actually the person who was responsible for bringing the bacteria to the island which was killing the creatures. Kate tries to leave, but Tahani is sent to keep her on the island. The air battle inside the lighthouse, which catches fire and explodes, allowing Kate and the others to escape the conflagration. Back in the present, Kate prepares to meet her former lover.

BLACK LIGHTNING: COLD DEAD HANDS #4 by Tony Isabella and Clayton Henry. Black Lightning continues his fight against White Thunder, while the police are protecting the kids and the entire neighborhood is under siege. Meanwhile, as the town watches what is happening on television, Jefferson’s daughters are experimenting with their newfound powers. Jefferson is captured and arrested, but one of the officers allows him to escape. Tobias has his assistant Miss Pequod use the alien gun to eliminate some loose ends, deciding he is going to take on Lightning by himself.

BLUE BEETLE #18 by Christopher Sebela and Scott Kolins. Jaime’s life has been in the toilet since he and Naomi broke up. But she reaches out to him and gives him one last chance. Before his date that night, Ted Kord invites him to the facility to show him his newest experiment, which goes amok and they end up fighting a A.I. that doesn’t want to be replaced. Jaime manages to come up with a solution which shuts the A.I. down. And he makes it to his date in time. The End.

CAVE CARSON HAS A CYBERNETIC EYE/SWAMP THING SPECIAL #1 by Jon Rivera and Langdon Foss. MILK WARS Part 4. Because of Retconn’s milk, Cave Carson, along with his daughter and Wild Dog, end up working in an office complex filled with endless cubicles. During a break, the milk causes Cave to vomit green gunk everywhere, which turns out to be Swamp Thing. He makes Chloe and Wild Dog do the same and explains that he managed to hide in Cave’s stomach, while Cave’s cybernetic eye went into hiding. The eye reveals that Retconn is changing history, even going as far as to make over the story of Christ. They make their way to the Human Resources department, where they find that humans are being stored and their minds are being harvested by Retconn. As the Retconn folks arrive to capture them, Cave orders Swam Thing to take Jack and Chloe away, leaving himself to surrender. The back-up, by Magdelene Visaggo and Sonny Liew, is a further reboot of ALPHA 13, which features a character who will reappear soon as ETERNITY GIRL.

DAMAGE #2 by Tony S. Daniel and Robert Venditti. We begin by seeing Ethan’s first mission as Damage. When Ethan wakes up, he finds himself in a homeless shelter where he ended up being taken after being found when he transformed back. As Damage, he has laid waste to a town. Ethan leaves to call his parents, but that just leads to him being found by Deadshot and the Suicide Squad. He transforms into Damage and takes the team apart. Luckily Wonder Woman shows up at the end, promising she will take him down.

DARK KNIGHTS RISING: THE WILD HUNT #1 by Scott Snyder, Grant Morrison, James Tynion IV, Joshus Williamson, Howard Porter, Jorge Jimenez, Doug Mahnke and Jamie Mendoza. Detective Chimp began life as a chimp in a circus, who was abused by his captors. Then he was cared for by a man named Fred, who was killed by the men. Chimp ran away and ended up gaining the powers of intelligence and speech. In the present, Chimp is with Will Magnus, the Metal Men, and the conclave of evil geniuses on Blackhawk Island, as they try to figure out how to stop the threat from the Dark Multiverse. Meanwhile, Flash and his team ae journeying through the Multiversal Bleed as they too are trying to stop the evil. The Dark Multiverse villains catch up with the ship and prepare to board it, leading to a battle between the heroes and the villains. Flash manages to use the Speed Force to transform the Dark Flash, who realizes that he is fighting for the wrong side and teams up with Flash. Red Death buys the team time to escape and it costs him his life. The team decides to use their ship to ram the Dark Multiverse vessel and destroy it. Back on Blackhawk Island, T.O. Morrow opens the door and Red Tornado is also awakened, revealing that his awakening means the end of the world. Detective Chimp has a revelation and the ape creatures from another Multiversal world convince him to team up with the heroes and save the world.

DEATHSTROKE #28 by Christopher Priest and Diogenes Neves. After a future vignette concerning the Hmong sword, we see Deathstroke back in the present-back in his familiar garb. Devestated by Tanya's apparent suicide, he has gone back to his old ways. Jericho is still trying to figure out who killed Etienne while Wintergreen confronts Slade and announces that he is trough with all this and promptly quits. Willow, who is in the company of a transformed Isherwood, learns that she is really Rose and then discovers that she is the person who killed Etienne-or at least her Willow personality did. After getting in to it with Kong Kenan, Slade apologizes to Tara for taking advantage of her as a teen. It’s a good thing that got patched up, as now they have to deal with The Forgotten.

THE DEMON HELL IS EARTH #4 by Andrew Constant and Brad Walker. The team continues their journey through the Hellscape. Etrigan eats a giant snake while Madame Xanadu and Jason talk about the relationship that went source during DEMON KNIGHTS. It’s also revealed that the split-up Jason/Etrigan can only be less than 100 feet apart from each other. Hey finally reach the center of the demon invasion and things look really bad for planet Earth.

DETECTIVE COMICS #974 by James Tynion IV and Philippe Briones. Clayface is dead and Batwoman is to blame. Batman, Robin and Orphan confront her and batman removes her symbol off her chest and fires her, which may result in Azrael and Batwing joining her in her departure. Three days later, Glory Griffin is administered the cure which transforms her from being Mudface back to her old self. This was Basil’s parting gift. Back at Ronin’s Nest, Stephanie breaks up with Tim. Meanwhile, Kate recuperates at her father’s place and he has decided it is time for her to fight on her own and alongside him. In the end, it looks like Ulysses Armstrong’s plan to cause havoc and make sure the future timeline falls into place is proceeding right along.

DETECTIVE COMICS #975  by James Tynion and Alvaro Martinez. After a flashback shows a young Kate and Bruce at her mother’s funeral, we move to the present where Batman has brought most of the family together to discuss what to do about Batwoman. Batgirl arrives, accusing Batman of starting the program to keep Kate from going don the wrong path and be more like him. Meanwhile, Kate is taking down Gorilla Boss with the help of Luke. Kate later visits her mother’s grave and says she killed Clayface to save Cassandra, who she deeply cares for. Her father arrives and she decides to join his team.

DOOM PATROL/JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA SPECIAL #1  by Steve Orlando, Gerard Way, Dale Eaglesham, and Nick Derington. MILK WARS Part Five. Milkman Man is torturing Cave Carson until the Justice League, along with the Doom Patrol, arrive to combat him. Because of all this, the Retconn deal goes bad and one of the powers that be decides to eradicate the universe. In the process, Casey consoles her son, Milkman Man and Rita Farr breaks free of her prison. In he end, the universe is restored, Rita is back with Doom Patrol and Cliff Steele becomes human again.

THE FLASH #40 by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Grodd is dying and he wants the Speed Force to be drained from Barry to save his life. Raijin attacks and Barry orders Kid Flash and Avery away. Grodd tells Barry that he is nothing without being The Flash and it turns out that Meena ends up being the one to rip the Speed Force from our hero. Our Wally arrives to rescue a now powerless Flash, who turns over the job of the Scarlet Speedster to him.

THE FLASH #41 by Joshua Williamson and Carlos D'Anda. As Lord Grodd looks over the kingdom he has built for himself in Central City, Barry tries to figure out how to deal with being powerless. He looks at Grodd's Lightning Rod as a way back, but also tells the Flash team that they must evacuate everyone in Central City or they will all die. While Wally works on the evacuation, Kid Flash and Avery go off to save Meena. Wally sees a frozen Iris but, before he can act, is attacked by Raijin and Multiplex. He realizes he must go an protect Barry, but Barry has gone to Iron Heights to free Godspeed.

GREEN ARROW #37 by Benjamin Percy and Juan Ferreyra. Emi has been mortally wounded and Ollie and company prepare to face of against the remains of the Ninth Circle. Emi fights for her life as her mother faces off against Ollie’s mom, ending with them falling into a flaming pit together. Just as Merlyn is about to kill Dinah, Diggle arrives to save the day. With Emi recuperating, and Diggle back as part of Team Arrow, Ollie prepares for trial. Meanwhile, Detective Ros is prepared to kill Ramsey, but her lawyer arrives and eliminates the threat by sinking a knife in the Detective’s head.

GREEN LANTERNS #40 by Tim Seeley and Barnaby Bagenda. Jess and Simon help Firestorm, Blue Beetle and Ms. Bulleteer save folks from a hurricane. Ms. Bulleteer mentions that she is concerned about Night Pilot, who is missing. This leads our heroes to the Watchtower, where they learn that may heroes have gone missing after using a dating app. Called Caper. Along the way, they meet up with one of the Omega Men and we learn that all of these missing heroes have been placed into a massive space dungeon.

GREEN LANTERNS #41 by Tim Seeley, Barnaby Bagenda, and Tom Derenick. While Jessica bemoans the fact that she is matched up to Simon on the Caper dating app, they, along with Scrapps, head to Garnet to meet with Scrapp’s tech buyer. Even though the Lanterns are in disguise, that soon goes awry, and the Lanterns end up in a fight. They catch up with the tech dealers, who agree to change information for pictures of them with the Lanterns beat up, so they can post and boast on their social media. In the end, the information leads the Lanterns to the Order of the Steed, where they are trying to convert Night Pilot to their way of thinking.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #38 by Robert Vendetti and Ethan Van Sciver. Hal and Kyle have been imprisoned by Zod and company, leaving The Eradicator to try and crack the secret of the rings. Hal discovers that his ring, which he created is still connected to him, and he calls it to him, which rips through the Eradicator’s head in the process. The Lanterns fly off to free Zod’s slaves, only to discover they are actually followers of Zod. Hal give Kyle his power ring and sends him off to get the rest of the Corps.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #39 by Robert Vendetti and Rafa Sandoval. Zod still has Hal Jordan tied up while Kyle, juiced up do the Hal’s ring and despite having life threatening injuries. Meanwhile, the Guardians tell John Stewart that they will let him know when they can go save Hal. John is pretty pissed off and the Lanterns go to Jekku anyway.

HARLEY QUINN #37 by Frank Tieri and Mirka Andolfo. Harey has gone to Hell’s Kitchen where she plans on being a hero for hire. Her intentions are good but her execution tends to leave a bit to be desired, as she leaves destruction in her wake. Meanwhile, The Penguin continues to gather his army of villains to take Harley out of the game permanently.

HARLEY QUINN #38 by Frank Tieri and Mirka Andolfo. Penguin’s gang of villains attack Coney Island, leading the Gang of Harley’s to defend the place. Villains include Condiment King, Mr. Freeze, King Tut, Film Freak, Ratcatcher, Johnny Karaoke, Zebra Man, and Egghead. Meanwhile, Killer Moth has a run-in with Killer Croc, who declares that all of Coney belongs to him now. Harley faces of with the Gorilla Gang and helps save Hell’s Kitchen. Spoondale sends her off on a new mission, which means she doesn’t get the message from Coach requesting help at Coney Island.

THE HELLBLAZER #19 by Tim Seeley and Davide Fabbri. John is back in London and he’s looking Margaret Ames. When he comes to her flat, he finds out that it has been turned into a portal to Hell. This is because a priest, who is part of a crime organization, has performed an exorcism and swapped her soul with that of his brother. IN the end, it seems the Day brothers have someone else to worry about: The Huntress.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #38 by Christopher Priest and Marco Santucci. While the team tries to figure out how to deal with the problem regarding the Fan, Flash saves an astronaut, almost at the cost of both their lives. Batman makes a decision to leave the team. After a tearful kiss from Jessica, Bruce Wayne leaves the team and puts Cyborg in charge.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #39 by Christopher Priest and Ian Churchill. After a flashback where Aquaman is in the desert and meets w is taking the stand. He is represented by his lawyer, Regina Cole. There is also a quick visit from J’onn J’onzz. Meanwhile, Batman and the JLA are working at a train derailment. J’onn visits the Watchtower and that means the Justice League is off to help the JLA.  While the two teams solve the train problem, social media is exploding with comments of how the Justice League is only about helping the rich. Cyborg transports to the scene and that’s when it’s revealed that Cole is really The Fan in disguise.