DC UNIVERSE Month 5, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #28 by Steve Orlando and Hugo Petrus. Chronos has captured Ahl, the God of Superheroes, and is bragging about it. The leads to Ryan distracting Chronos, so Ray can steal Ahl away from him. Aztek declares that they are actually at what will someday become Mount Justice, so the team rallies to protect it. That’s when Chronos and his army break out Chemo. With the team defeated, Ahl confronts Chronos, who promptly kills him.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #29 by Steve Orlando and Hugo Petrus. Ahl is dead and the team is defeated by Chronos. But Frost uses her powers to heal Ryan and that allows him to sneak past Chronos and take his Hourglass. Defeating Chronos, the team now spends weeks and multiple tests to get the Hourglass to bring Ahl back to life.  With that accomplished, the team returns back to present time, where they decide to break up the team. Chronos ends up in a bar with Lobo, who will surely kick his butt. In the end, a new team is announced, called the Justice Foundation, which is led by Vixen and features members of the team, along with supporting cast members from SUPERGIRL and MIDNIGHTER.

MERA QUEEN OF ATLANTIS #3 by Dan Abnett and Lan Medina. After a flashback involving Mera's first battle in Xebel, we move to the present where Orm is fighting Mera, who gets saved by the appearance of Orm’s girlfriend and son. After a long discussion, Orm agrees to team up with Mera to take on Corum Rath. En route to Xebel, they encounter some guards and finally King Nereus, who happens to be Mera’s first husband.

MOTHER PANIC GOTHAM A.D. #2 by Jody Houser, Ibrahim Moustafa and Paulina Gamucheau. Our hero goes to Robinson Park, which has been transformed by Poison Ivy, where she meets with an older Selina Kyle, asking for help to get into Arkham to find her mother. GCPD is using deadly force to stop criminals, Madam Gala is using her powers to continue her experiments and Fennec Fox, despite orders, tags along as Mother Panic makes her way into Arkham. She meets with a new Catwoman, who shows her the way in. With the Joker getting busted for using balloon weapons, Gala meets with her connection inside Arkham: Dr. Harleen Quinzel. In the backup, Joker seeks advice on what to do no that the center of his affection, Batman, is no longer around.

NEW SUPER-MAN AND THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF CHINA #22 by Gene Luen Yang and Brent Peeples. The Justice League of China battles with Dragonson, where Baixi gets captured by Anathema. Just before it looks like he’s going to be killed, he gets saved by his sister Alpaca. Kenan has been captured by the Green Lantern Corps of China but discovers he has a new ability which turns him all white and allows him to unleash light as a power. This leads to him heading to a final face-off with Dragonson.

NIGHTWING #42 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Jorge Corona. Nightwing finds himself in Tokyo, as Damian has been kidnapped by the Crimson Kabuki, Dick then has to fight through various levels of villains to save his friend, eventually making his way to the top level and biggest bad guy. There, with help of Damian and the bad guy’s dragon, they defeat the enemies.

NIGHTWING #43 by Michael Moreci and Minkyu Jung. Dick is looking forward to spending the night watching Netflix when he hears from both Roy and Damian, which leads him to Gotham to help deal with the League of Assassins. Cheshire shows up and the trio team up to take her and the League down. In the end, Dick apologizes for not spending time with his friends and the payback is for him to have them all go back to Bludhaven, so he can eat popcorn while his friends fight the bad guys.

RAVEN DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS #4 by Marv Wolfman and Pop Mhan. While the strange creature who has been pursuing Raven through the first three issues breaks her fellow aliens out of 2MorrowTek, Raven is at Teri's Grandmother's funeral, where she has a reunion with her mother, who wants to take her home. Later, the whole family gets attacked by the strange creatures, causing Angela and Raven to flee, which leaves the rest of the family escaping because of what they believe is a “gas leak”. Angela reveals that she was a young rebel who ended up with several men before finally meeting Trigon. They get attacked again by the team from 2MorrowTek, get captured and, while flying off, the helicopter they are in crashes. But Angela and Raven survive. Meanwhile, Baron Winters observes it all.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #21 by Scott Lobdell and Dexter Soy. Bizarro asks Artemis for help, as he has found that he is regressing, and he fears it. After an almost uncomfortable kiss between the two, he destroys most of his Kryptonite supply. Meanwhile, Jason goes undercover at the Iceberg Casino, but is discovered. He still defeats the Penguin. In the end, Ma Gunn's granddaughter appears, as she searches for Jason to present Ma’s letters to him.

SIDEWAYS #3 by Kenneth Rocafort, Dan DiDio, and Justin Jordan. Derek confronts Killspeed at the hospital, before opening a series of rifts which takes them to Gotham. There, she reveals that she is one of the speedsters affected by the Speed Force Storm and that she is also dying of Leukemia. Using her powers just makes the disease spread faster. The police arrive to arrest her, but she attacks Derek, who creates a rift and takes her bloody arm with him hen he teleports. Unfortunately for him, someone is watching and have nefarious plans for Derek.

THE SILENCER #4 by Viktor Bogdanovic and Dan Abnett. a flashback, Honor is working for Talia and is told she can get out of Leviathan if she completes one last mission. She is sent to kill an accountant working for Leviathan who could leave and take secrets with him. She completes the task, even though her target has a family. This also leads to a confrontation with his hired protector Deathstroke. In the present, after dealing with issues involving her family duties, she In gets attacked by Deathstroke, who has finally decided it’s time for payback for that last hit.

SUICIDE SQUAD #39 by Rob Williams and Neil Edwards. Waller sends the Squad in to take care of The Wall and everyone in Washington he has managed to control. In the process, he escapes, but not before Enchantress is dragged to Hell, leaving Croc devastated. It turns out that this as all a ruse, as The Wall heads off to kill Waller’s daughter and her newborn.

SUICIDE SQUAD #40 by Rob Williams and Jack Herbert. The Wall is prepared to kill Amanda’s daughter and newborn grandchild, when her sons arrive to stop him. One gets critically injured before the Squad shows up to take him down. The Wall is being influenced by Hack, who is dedicated to ruining Waller’s life and gives her a choice: she will save her family and release Waller’s secrets to the world. Waller agrees, but Hack dies before it can get to the waiting world. When all is said and done, everyone is safe, except for June who died last issue. But it seems her soul may live on within Katana’s sword.

SUPERGIRL #20 by Steve Orlando, Jody Houser and Robson Rocha. Bones and Mokkari are heading off to the Blade when they get attacked by Turid Goldenaxe, leading to Supergirl intervening and saving them, even as Mokkari throws Bones under the proverbial bus. Shay Veritas is strapped to a machine which will wipe her memory if someone doesn’t save her. That turns out to be Cameron Chase. After a kiss and an embrace, they publish the story saying that Bones was corrupt and all his plans go to hell really quick. In the end, Supergirl is once again loved by all.

SUPERMAN #44 by Patrick Gleason, Peter J. Tomasi and Doug Mahnke. Superman and Bizarro duke it out while Superboy, Beacon, Nobody, Boyzarro and the Super Foes take on the Legion of Fun. In the end, the good guys win but Bizarro has had enough, tells Boyzarro he is not a good father and blasts off into space in his home-made rocket, just before the planet explodes. Luckily, the heroes save everybody and get them back to their world before they are killed.

SUPERMAN #45 by Patrick Gleason and Peter J. Tomasi. The farmhouse in Hamilton County has been sold and the Kents are packing everything up and moving to Metropolis, with the help of The Flash. They eventually go to the Hamilton County fair, where Kathy and Maya are trying to get the Bizarro Boys to help them, with comical results. There is a statue dedicated in Superman’s honor, after the events of Black Dawn, but Superman can’t stay as the Justice League needs him. In the end, Lois finds her men passed out on the couch and covers them with a blanket.

SUPER SONS #15 by Peter J. Tomasi and Carlo Barberi. After seeing some trouble at Lexcorp, we learn that this trouble leads to an attack on the Super Sons headquarters by

Kid Amazo. The heroes end up being dragged into the ocean, with Damian being saved by Cyborg. Jon has been captured by Kid Amazo, who reveals he has killed Reggie and is ready to siphon powers from the Justice League.

TEEN TITANS #19 by Benjamin Percy and Scot Eaton. Beast Boy is still under control of Joran and that means he is attacking his teammates, while they try to subdue the others under her control without killing them. After getting a kiss from Raven, Wally races around and removes the device that is controlling everyone. Meanwhile, Joran explains how she handled her abusive father and that as when she created her imaginary world. Her pirate ship arrives, and she gets in. But this is all because Robin hacked into her VR program and she is actually on the Titan’s ship and is taken to prison. In the end, Brainiac arrives and leads our team into NO JUSTICE.

THE TERRIFICS #3 by Jeff Lemire  and Joe Bennett. The tea, is still bound together by whatever happened to them in the Dark Multiverse. Mr. Terrific goes off to figure it all out, while Phantom Girl follows him, begging him to find a way for her to find the planet she once lived on. Stagg Industries gets attacked by War Wheel, which leads the team to take on and destroy it, much to Stagg’s dismay as this as a weapon he had developed for the government. When it’s over, Holt goes back to trying to find a way to contact Tom Strong. Meanwhile, in the not too distant future, ordinary folks are being turned into Metamorpho.

TITANS #22 by Dan Abnett and Paul Pelletier. The Brain is now at 60% and his drive to world conquest continues. Donna Troy is still being held on the Watchtower, but the Brain takes over the station and she escapes in time to save Roy from Cheshire. But that means they now have to go off and fight Brain and Mallah.

TITANS ANNUAL #2 by Dan Abnett, Tom Grummett and Tom Derenick. The Brain has almost gotten to 100% control of the world and it looks like he is going to leave Mallah behind hen he elevates to the next level of Godhood. Although Mallah goes off to fight the team, his heart isn’t really in it and he eventually gives in nd reveals both Brain’s plan and his location. While Mallah gives a tearful goodbye to his lover, Wally hits Brain with an arrow which shuts him down, returning the world to normal. In the end, the Titans together are ready for NO JUSTICE.

TRINITY #21 by James Robinson and Patch Zircher. After a flashback on Skartaris, we see the Trinity fighting a possessed Steve Trevor. They eventually gas him and the other monsters, before we go back to Skartaris and get a look at Warlord’s arsenal of weapons. In the present, the team breaks into the Blue Strike base where they find that it’s really a magical relic research facility.  While they get lucky enough to find a portal to Skartaris, Deimos arrives and captures them.

TRINITY #22 by James Robinson and Patch Zircher. It seems that Deimos’, posing as a businessman, has made a deal with Blue Strike Security so he can use their weaponry to defeat Skartaris. Bit the Trinity must defeat a possessed Steve Trevor and Deimos’ army, so they can breach the barrier and save Skartaris. Wonder Woman uses her lasso, which convinces Deimos that he defeats everyone and rules the world. In actuality, the lasso, under the influence of Deimos spell which reverses their powers, becomes the lasso of lies and he loses his mind. In the end, everyone is saved, Steve is restored, and the TRINITY title rides off into the sunset.

WONDER WOMAN #44 by James Robinson and Emanuela Lupacchino. Steve and his team take on the Female Furies and the Parademons, Jason battles Grail busy and Wonder Woman goes up against Darkseid.  But Darkseid’s minions have put the relics in place and opened a portal to Themyscira, where the Amazons are being turned into Parademons.  

WONDER WOMAN #45 by James Robinson and Emanuela Lupacchino. With Diana fighting Darkseid, Jason breaches the portal so he can save the Amazons. While Grail and her influence gets defeated and Jason has a reunion with his mother, Diana uses her love energy to draw the dead gods out of Darkseid. He disappears, only to turn up as a human on an island in the end. Steve and Diana debate closing the portal, but ait until Jason reappears. A.R.G.U.S is going to try and find a way to turn the Amazons back to normal and Grail ends up in prison with Ares as her captor.

DC UNIVERSE, Month 5, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1000 by Dan Jurgans, Peter J. Tomasi, Marv Wolfman, Paul Levitz, Geoff Johns, Richard Donner, Scott Snyder, Tom King, Louise Simonson, Paul Dini, Brad Meltzer, Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Jurgens, Patrick Gleason, Curt Swan, Olivier Coipel, Rafael Albuquerque, Clay Mann, Jerry Ordway, Jim Lee and John Cassaday. A handful of stories and pin-ups celebrate this milestone. The biggest piece is the final story by Bendis Lee. In it, Rogol Zaar arrives to kill Superman and eliminate the Kryptonians, as Jor-El had once told him to do. This leads directly into Bendis’ THE MAN OF STEEL #1.

AQUAMAN #35 by Dan Abnett and Robson Rocha. King Shark and the Ninth Tride are attacking Corum Rath’s followers when what is left of Kadaver shows up. Aquaman arrives in time to take the fight to them. But that also leads to Murk arriving and fighting with the man he formerly served. After explaining that he didn’t really kill Aquaman, just made it look that way, and that he doesn’t hate Aquaman, just didn’t want him as king, they form a truce and lead the attack on Corum Rath. Meanwhile, Corum Rath asks for the powers of the wizards to make him better and that means he gets mutated into a horrible sea beast.

BATGIRL #22 by Hope Larson and Minkyu Jung. While trying to stop a guy from killing his wife and children with a space gun, she gets shot with the gun. Surviving the blast, he gets turned over to the police. Then she runs into her former boyfriend Kai, along with May Hao, who has moved to Burnside to start a MMA gym. While sparring with May, who has been given an enhancing drug, she gets knocked out. That is when she discovers, by way of a visit from Fruit Bat, that she has been put into stasis and all of this AFTER the shooting is in her head. She needs to find a way out or she will die.

BATGIRL AND THE BIRDS OF PREY #21 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson and

Roge Antonio. The gang is trying to track down Calculator and figure out that there is going to be an attack at Helena’s apartment. Green Arrow and Black Canary arrive just in time to see the apartment blow up. Seems Huntress rigged her apartment to blow. This leads the team to meet with Calculator, where Canary uses her cry to destroy Burnrate. Unfotunatly, she hurts the team in the process. We end with Blackbird controlling Huntress, so she will tell who Oracle really is.

BATMAN #44 by Tom King, Mikel Janin and Joelle Jones. Selina sneaks out of Bruce’ bed, where she seems to be going off to her thieving ways. After drinking some champagne and possibly stealing a dress for the wedding, she comes back home and climbs back into his bed.

BATMAN #45 by Tom King and Tony S. Daniel. Booster Gold watches as Hal Jordan uses his ring to kill himself. It seems that Hal has been Jokered and the world as we know it has changed. In Gotham, Dick Grayson is a gun-toting Batman, Jason Todd is selling special anti-Joker tires and Duane has been lobotomized. It appears that Booster has altered time to show Bruce, as a wedding gift, what his world would be like if he wasn’t Batman and his parents hadn’t died. That leads to a meeting with Bruce, where he is dancing with his mother. That also leads to a confrontation with Booster, where Bruce destroys Skeets and that means time cannot be changed back.

BATMAN AND THE SIGNAL #3 by Scott Snyder, Tony Patrick and Cully Hamner. Everyone has been turned into Metas by Gnoman and it takes the combined effort of Nightwing, Batgirl, Red Hood, Robin, Riko and Izzy to take them out of the game. Duke figures out that all of this influence is due to Gnoman making use of the 8^th Metal inside of the needle. Gnoman has a confrontation with Duke, where he reveals that Duke’s mother may have powers and that he may actually be Duke’s father. Teaming up with Detective Aisi, Duke stops the threat, although Gnoman escapes in the end.

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BATMAN BEYOND #19 by Dan Jurgens and Phil Hester. Matt McGinnis puts on Robin’s mask and heads off to help his brother in his battle against Stanton, who is out to avenge his son. Although Terry is livid that Bruce would do this, they worked together and take Stanton down. Still mad at Bruce, Terry goes off to visit Shaka and his people, providing them with much needed food and the possibility of giving Shaka has legs back.

BATWOMAN #14 by Marguerite Bennett and Fernando Blanco. The twins of the Many Arms of Death are in a bad way as Alice has made them drink a liquid that causes them to bleed from their eyes and mouths before exploding. Kate arrives in Gotham and, after telling Julia that Knife is behind everything, she engages with Knife. A giant hologram of Alice reveals that she was behind this and that she was responsible for everything that went down with The Scarecrow. Alice used him to infect bats with dozens of diseases and they are attacking Gotham.

BLACK LIGHTNING: COLD DEAD HANDS #6 by Tony Isabella and Clayton Henry. Tobias is ready to take out Black Lightning, bit this is all a ruse on Jefferson’s part. He has set up Tobias so police and the League can take down Tobias’ warehouses and get the alien guns of the streets. With the help of “Sparky”, he takes down Tobias while his loyal assistant runs away. In the end, life goes back to normal and Black Lightning is back in the hero game.

THE CURSE OF BRIMSTONE #1 by Philip Tan and Justin Jordan. Joe Chamberlin is stuck in a small town and makes a deal with some sort of evil person who turns him into the fiery Brimstone.

CYBORG #21 by Marv Wolfman and Tom Derenick. Cyborg is in Hawaii here he is fighting mechs that want to capture him for his tech. In the end, the mechs capture him.

DAMAGE #4 by Robert Venditti and Cary Nord. Poison Ivy has a thing against farmers working the land and violently attacks them. Meanwhile, Ethan ends up getting a job working with the farmers and, when Ivy shows up, he has no choice but to change into Damage. Elsewhere, Col. Jonas and her team of hired hands, named Misha, Paparazzi and Handyman, prepare to hunt Ethan down.

DEATHSTROKE #30 by Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan. After a scene where we see that Alfred and Wintergreen have history together, Batman and Gordon are investigating a crime scene, where Batman discovers evidence that leads him to believe that Damian may not be his son. That leads him to meeting and fighting with Deathstroke and Batman reveals that he has DNA evidence that shows Slade to be Damian’s father. That leads to Batman threatening to shut down Slade’s actions.

THE DEMON HELL IS EARTH #6 by Andrew Constant and Brad Walker. The planet is screwed as Belial has taken over Earth. Luckily, Merlin’s dying energy makes Etrigan super powerful and allows him to battle his dad. Madame Xanadu is able to use some of that power to help take down Belial, restoring our planet to the way it once was. In the end, Merlin’s essence is gone, but he may come back. And Etrigan: he’s now the ruler of Hell.

DETECTIVE COMICS #978 by James Tynion IV and Javier Fernandez. Batman goes off to meet with Batwoman and her father while the rest of the team faces off against Colony soldiers. It is revealed that Ulysses, now with a new haircut and calling himself The General, has poisoned folks with Nanotech and is transforming them into his own One Man Army Corps. That is also affecting Tim, who begins his transformation.

DETECTIVE COMICS #979 by James Tynion IV and Philippe Briones. Tim Drake has been corrupted by Ulysses and become part of his One Man Army Corps. Ulysses continues to try to convince Tim to give in, as he shows him what will happen in the future if he doesn’t, including causing Cassandra’s death. While Luke and Azrael fight against the OMACs, Tim is fully converted and becomes a Batman inspired OMAC. Batman and Cassandra seek out the assistance of Stephanie while Tim and the OMACs attack what is left of the Belfry.

THE FLASH #44 by Joshua Williamson and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Anticipating that his battle with Grodd will result in his death, Barry writes a letter to Iris, where he tells her everything, including the existence of another Wally West. With Barry getting beat up by Grodd, soldiers from Gorilla City show up and arrest Grodd. The speedsters show up and join together to help Barry stop the Negative Speed Force that is destroying Central City. The team saves the day, with August disappearing in the process. Barry goes off to see Iris and, in the future, Hunter Zolomon prepares for the Flash War.

THE FLASH #45 by Joshua Williamson and Christian Duce. With the Speedsters rebuilding Central City, they take a break to go to Iron Heights to meet with Meena, here she tells Barry that he isn’t the best man for the job of Flash. Later, Barry meets with Kristen to discuss Godspeed’s escape. Godspeed has a conversation with a mysterious vice, that may be Hunter Zolomon. In the end, Barry meets with Iris and tells her all about things. They kiss and tell each other they love each other. Wally West shows up, triggering long buried memories. And those memories overwhelm Wally.

GREEN ARROW #39 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Marcio Takara. Ollie is in

Rhapastan, that was ravaged by Deathstroke in DEATHSTROKE ANNUAL #2. But his mission costs him his pilot and it is revealed he is not wanted here. The villain, a guy named Nothing, turns out to be a child leading an army of children, leading to Ollie putting down his weapons and being alone in Rhapastan.

GREEN LANTERNS #44 by Tim Seeley and Ronan Cliquet. Jessica visits her therapist, where she is still dealing with not being able to save her friends that were killed years ago on a camping trip. Simon interrupts the session to tell her that Singularity Jain is on the loose. While Simon battles a robot who is upset that he has lost custody of his kid, Jessica fins Jain and is tempted to take an offer which would revel the killer of her friends. All Jain wants in return is the ability to feed off of her suffering and pain. Jessica turns her down and Jain gets locked up. In the end, Jessica’s sister is concerned because there is a giant Black Hole in Jessica’s apartment and no Jessica to be found.

GREEN LANTERNS #45 by Tim Seeley and Ronan Cliquet. The Justice League has arrived to set up a perimeter around the Black Hole in Jessica’s apartment. Simon has brought Singularity Jain to the scene, so the League can question her about all of this. The final solution is to bring in John Constantine to help with this mystical thing. Finds all the previous owners of the power ring. He also finds Earth- 3’s Harold Jordan, who reveals that Volthoom is no more and this world is Jessica’s own creation.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #42 by Robert Vendetti and Ethan Van Sciver. The Controllers are in the process of making their Darkstars, by getting people to jump into their armor, much like the Green Lantern rings seek out people worthy to be Lanterns. Meanwhile, Tomar-Tu reveals that he feels guilty for disgracing his family but not for killing Romat-Ru and would do it again if possible. A Darkstar suits arrives and Tomar-Te joins in and becomes part of the Darkstar army.

HAL JORDAN AND THE GREEN LANTERNS CORPS #43 by Robert Vendetti and Rafa Sandoval. The Darkstars are going out and unleashing their brand of justice on all that they deem need to be eliminated. That leads the Corps to go after them but, during the confrontation, all are transported back to Mogo. Except for Hal Jordan, who confronts former Corps member Tomar-Tu, who is now the spokesperson for the Darkstars. He explains that the Controllers now serve the Darkstars and they will continue to do what they do because they have the numbers and they can. Despite the dissension among the Corps, John Stewart realizes they are outnumbered and have no choice.

HARLEY QUINN #41 by Frank Tieri, Inaki Miranda and Moritat. Many of Harley’s friends have been hypnotized into wanting to kill the Gang of Harleys, thanks to a plot by The Penguin. That’s when Harley and Killer Croc show up to free them. And also to defeat the giant penguins running through town. In the end, the Penguin and his crew gets defeated and the gang celebrates by having dinner. Unfortunately, the Riddler shows up late and gets a beat down for his troubles.

HARLEY QUINN #42 by Frank Tieri and Mauricet. It’s the future in the Jersey Wastelands and we find Harley strapped to Red Tool’s car. Along the way, they encounter Goatboy’s inbred offspring and Big Tony, no older and piloting his on giant robot. I. A computerized Coach is again put in charge and Red Tool and Harley head out together to cruise the wastelands.

THE HELLBLAZER #21 by Tim Seeley and Davide Fabbri. Joey has been captured and now Lucas is bringing him to his brother, who is still possessing and tormenting the body of Inspector Margaret Ames. She is a conduit to bring the legions from Hell and Constantine and Huntress, at last free from the street gang, is on a hunt to find her before it’s too late.

THE IMMORTAL MEN #1 by Jim Lee, Ryan Benjamin, and James Tynion IV. Caden Park is a young who is troubled by some continuous dreams here he finds himself running from death. But he gets to escape every now and then by going to a safe place called The Campus, where a mysterious set of eyes tells him he will soon have a mission of higher purpose. The Campus is actually located under the city of Philadelphia and the person in charge is the oldest woman in the world, the Infinite Woman. The Batman Who Laughs arrives and brags to the Immortal Woman and her servant Hunt. This leads them, along with Ghost Fist, Timber, Stray and Reload, to reveal they will go after Caden Park, who is destined to thwart their plans. In the end, Caden and his friends get attacked by The Immortal Men.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #42 by Christopher Priest and Pete Woods. While Superman is trying to get an injured Wonder Woman, Flash interrupts and says he can do it faster.  That leads to Flash getting Kid Flash to get Raven, so she could save Diana with magic. Meanwhile, Red Lion has sent the warring people to the remains of the Watchtower, so the media will focus on that and now on the fact that he’s getting ready to invade the country next door. Cyborg manages to get around the programming that Lion infected him with and repairs himself, even despite the knife that had plunged into him. Along with Batman and Aquaman, they capture the Lion and, along with the previously captured Fan, rendezvous with the rest of the League. That is when Deathstroke arrives and shoots The Fan in the head, promising to do in this country what the League couldn’t.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #43 by Christopher Priest and Pete Woods. Deathstroke battles the League while Raven tries to heal Wonder Woman. Once she is somewhat stable, she decides that she must go back and help her teammates. But it gets revealed that this was a plan all along by the League and Deathstroke to fight so they could scare the refugees from the Watchtower crash site. In the end, the idea that Batman brought the Fan to Africa to die pisses off Cyborg. And then the team is off to handle the upcoming events in NO JUSTICE.

Another batch of first comic issues

AVENGERS SHARDS OF INFINITY #1 by Ralph Macchio and Andrea DiVito. Well, I was excited about this, believing it to be a tie-in to the INFINITY COUNTDOWN. Boy-talk about disappointing! It has NOTHING to do with that story and feels like it was sitting in a drawer from the Nineties and someone dug it up and decided to put it out. The shards in question is part of the Cosmic Cube and that leads to the team in a search for it. DiVito’s art is great but the story is a long, rambling excuse for spending $4.

THE BEEF #1 by Richard Starkings, Tyler Sahinline and Shaky Kane. Chuck works at the slaughterhouse, just like his dad before him did. But something has happened to Chuck, who has been eating modified beef all of his life. And now, he looks like the Incredible Hulk, minus his skin. This is one weird title with some even weirder art. It’s equally Underground Comic gross and Hernandez Brothers surreal. Truly, one of the weirdest reads this year…and I love it!

CAVE CARSON HAS AN INTERSTELLAR EYE #1 by Jon Rivera and Michael Avon Oeming. Cave Carson and his crew are back, this time on a mission to visit and, hopefully save Cave’s old friend Adam. This picks up from both the last series and from events n MILK WARS. Rivera writes a fun story and Oeming, whose work on POWERS caught my attention back in the day, creates a visual masterpiece. This is a bunch of fun with a character that Young Animal has managed to make relevant for today.

DOMINO #1 by Gail Simone and David Baldeon. Domino is back and is bringing her cast of characters with her. It’s back story and action and a whole lot of fun, wth Simone totally on point with this title. Readers will obviously make comparisons to Harley Quinn, but this is the quirky female anti-hero done right. Baldeon’s art shines and hey: a killer Greg and cover that would make a great poster(hint, hint, Marvel!). With a great cliff hanger ending, this is a fun read. Well done!

DRY COUNTY #1 by Rich Tommaso. I became a big fan of Tommaso’s work on DARK CORRIDOR, which led me back to SHE WOLF and THE COTTEN-STEEL PHOENIX. It’s Miami in the 1980’s, so it looks and feels like a twisted version of MIAMI VICE. His characterizations are great, his art is quirky and the mystery for Lou Rossi begins here. Again, Tommaso’s art is very quirky, but it grows on you. And the colors so make you think Crockett and Tubbs are going to show up. It’s loud and bold and a ton of fun!

ETERNTY GIRL #1 by Magdalene Visaggio and Sonny Liew. DC’s Young Animal 2.0 begins and this book is just what you would expect. Having been introduced in the back-ups of the MILK WARS mini-series, Caroline Sharp as a superhero working for Alpha 13 when she ended up getting strange powers while battling Madame Atom. Now she has to deal with all of that. A true psychological drama that hits on so may cylinders. Liew’s artwork is straight out of his work on DOCTOR FATE and Visaggio knows how to write a clever tale. Not for everyone, but the closest “Mainstream” comparison to Vertigo titles.

THE HUNT FOR WOLVERINE #1 by Charles Soule, David Marquez and Paulo Siquiera. Logan has managed to come back from the dead and now the X-teams are going looking for him. There is a lot of back story here as Pierce and his Reavers want that giant statue of Wolverine to sell the Adamantium. Surprise: he ain’t there. The teams fight and, in the end, the call goes out for the various heroes of the MCU to find him. This is a fairly long, unsatisfying set-up for the multitude of mini-series where the heroes search for Logan.

INFIDEL #1 by Pornsak Pichetshote and Aaron Campbel. Basically, our heroine is a Muslim woman living in a haunted house. Or is it all in her mind? This is a great psychological horror story for our times with killer art from Campbel that feels like an old Warren horror title. The first issue brings you down a dark rod and leaves you there. I can so see this as a film and I wouldn’t be surprised if that eventually happens. Great characters spouting cool dialogue. It’s grimy, dark and very disturbing.

INFINITY COUNTDOWN #1 by Gerry Duggan and Aaron Kuder. And so, after months of prequels, it finally begins. The Infinity Stones have been scattered across the universe, leading the Nova Corps and the Guardians of the Galaxy to find them before they end up in the wrong hands. It’s a big fight book that results in Groot being reborn as he once as, but with full speech capabilities. Oh yeah: Black Widow is back too, which kind of screws up the final reveal in the yet to be completed TALES OF SUSPENSE mini-series. Kuder’s art is amazing while Duggan’s story is just okay. I’m hoping it picks up in intensity before the end.

MAD MAGAZINE #1 by the Usual Gang of Idiots. I guess this is the era of reboot and this legendary magazine is no exception. At $6, and still being billed at CHEAP, the mag has gone to full color of slick stock, moving from its’ long run as black and white on newsprint. It’s filled with the usual features we have grown to love: parodies, takes on current events, fake ads, the ever-popular Fold-In, SPY VS SPY and lots of bits and pieces by Sergio Aragones. Much more adult than purely sophomoric (can we use the words vagina and dildo in a kid’s book?), it is chock full of work by some true legends in the comics world including Peter Kuper, Peter Bagge and Brian Posehn. Highlights include a killer LAST JEDI spoof and an amazingly spot-on ARCHIE take, where the classic character Starchie, done by Tom Richmond in a scary Will Elder style, gets brought to the present RIVERDULL. Okay…I’m hooked!

OBLIVION SONG #1 by Robert Kirkman and Lorenzio DeFelici. With INVINCIBLE finished, Kirkman looks for the next big thing. It’s a quest book where our hero jumps between worlds to find people missing by a catastrophic event in the past. At the moment, I’m not a huge fan, as the set-up is long, and this feels like another monster epic (THE WALKING DEAD has over 175 issues and INVINCIBLE was around 150 issues). I’m hoping things will be clearer and it doesn’t just become a long TWD style book with a million characters who come and go after 10 or 12 issues.

THE PRISONER #1 by Peter Milligan and Colin Lorimer. There’s a new Number Six in town in this 21^st Century reboot of the classic series. Just like the series, it’s weird and wild and twisting in weird ways. Typical Milligan story with great art by Lorimer. Look for the Jack Kirby variant cover from the aborted adaptation from back in the day…that makes this long strange trip worth it.

SECRET WEAPONS OWEN’S STORY #0 by Eric Heisserer and Raul Allen. Another Valiant one-shot that ties into the SECRET WEAPONS mini-series from a few months back. This time, it’s Owen’s version of how he came to be part of the group. It’s a lot of fun if you read the mini-series, but means nothing if you didn’t Seek out the collection and slide this in with it.

SHADE THE CHANGING WOMAN #1 by Cecil Castellucci and Marley Zarcone. Shade is back from Young Animal and now she’s grown up. Like it’s predecessor, it’s got some trippy dialogue, spaced-out art and takes a couple of reads to get the vibe. Not a book for everyone, as it just drifts between teenage angst and philosophical meanderings.

SHADOWMAN #1 by Andy Diggle and Stephen Segovia. Valiant’s newest title brings back Jack Boniface-the Shadowman. Having been trapped for five years, the hero is back and dealing with some dark stuff going on in the Bayou. Along the way, he has to deal with Baron Samedi and his voodoo powers. I was a big fan of the original series and the reboot that Valiant crafted in their current universe. I could use a bit more back story to all of this and can see how this is going to tie into the forthcoming HARBINGER WARS 2. It’s a great jumping off point if you don’t know the character and a nice present for existing fans.

TAARNA #1 by Alex DeCampi, Esau Escorza and Isaac Escorza. A long time ago, there was this amazing little film called HEAVY METAL: adapted from the book of the same name. The centerpiece, and longest piece in the film, was an animation masterpiece called TAARNA. She was a silent barbarian hero with a taste for vengeance against her enemy. Well, she has been brought to comic book life by Alex De Campi and the Escorzas. As in the film, she never speaks but her actions speak volumes. It’s a good introduction and a great jumping on point. It looks amazing and De Campi’s writing is as sharp as ever. If you loved the movie, you will love this. Btw: she’s naked throughout some of it, so keep that in mind when you’re reading it at home with the kiddies around!

THANOS ANNUAL #1 by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Chris Hastings, Flaviano, Kieron Gillen, Andre Araujo, Katie Cook, Heather Breckle, Ryan North, Will Robson, Al Ewing and Frazier Irving. In a issue filled with six tales of Thanos, this brings the run on this title to an end. It also leads into Cates’ COSMIC GHOST RIDER mini-series. The stories are all strung together by the once dead Frank Castle who tells of some funny and also some despicable moments in the life of the Mad God. Fun, heartbreaking and definitely a nice coda to a great Cates run. Oh yeah: guest appearance by Odin!

VAMPERONICA #1 by Greg Smallwood and Meg Smallwood. Archie Comics dips back into the well for another horror take on classic characters. This time, Veronica Lodge is bitten by a vampire and must control her urges while battling the undead. Greg Smallwood’s art is beautiful, but the whole story just seems like a retread. We’ve had Jughead as a werewolf, Sabrina as a tormented itch and the hole gang fighting a killer plague…will we EVER see the end of that tale. C’mon Archie: this just doesn’t have the fun kick that AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE had. How about bringing that back and stop with these other series.

VENOMIZED #1 by Cullen Bunn and Iban Coello. Spinning out of the recent POISON-X crossover nd features the bad guys from the VENOMVERSE series, Eddie Brock as Venom fights to free Earth’s heroes who are being turned into Symbiotes. It’s a five issue weekly event that wraps up those storylines and acts as another mini-event designed to sell comics. Only for die-hard fans.

WEAPON H #1 by Greg Pak, Cory Smith and Marcus To. Springing out of WEAPONS OF MUTANT DESTRUCTION, we have Weapon H-a former military man who has been infused with the DNA of Wolverine AND the Hulk. You know that can’t be a good thing! He ends p in Canada where a bunch of crazy scientists are recreating a Wendigo. That means a bunch of blood and guts and some story thrown in. Fun character to work with and we even get a guest appearance from Doctor Strange. In the back-up, a little story involving Weapon H’s family and trying to figure out hat is really going on.

XERES #1 by Frank Miller. A long time ago, Frank Miller wrote and illustrated the amazing 300, which wowed fans and ater led to a pretty cool movie. This sequel of sorts tells the tale of the fall of the House of Darius and the rise of Alexander. It’s short on dialogue, long on Miller’s art, some of which is beautiful but most of which is very sketchy at best. This is truly for die-hard fans only. Personally, I would recommend the originals over this.