DC UNIVERSE Month 25, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE #37 by Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez. The League battles the Legion of Doom. Inside the Hall of Justice, Superman, Wonder Woman, and others tap into the Totality to reverse the effects of the Doom Symbol. They almost succeed, but they lose the power and the sigil goes back to full strength. They ask Hawkgirl for help, but she and Jon Stewart is having enough problems with the Anti-Monitor. Perpetua destroys Earth-44 and the force of that energy endangers the heroes, with Forager pushing against it to save them. The Hall of Justice gets destroyed but Luthor discovers that the heroes within are all safe and seemingly supercharged.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #38 by Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez. The Trinity, along with Hawkgirl and Jon Stewart, tell Luthor they aren’t here to in but to lose in style. Luthor uses his enhanced powers to decimate most of the League, leading to a one on one face-off with Superman. Superman defeats him and Perpetua shows up, to handle matters by herself. Shayne enters Luthor’s mind and eventually his body, freeing Martian Manhunter with his sacrifice.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #18 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno. Wonder Woman confronts the Upside Down Man in the Collective Unconscious. She makes a deal with him that would allow her to return to her body on Earth. He agrees but slays Witchfire in the process. On Earth, Circe calls upon Darkul Karfang to break into the Hall and gain access to Eclipso. That leads to a big decision: Khalid gets Dr. Fate’s helm and prepares to don it.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #16 by Dan Abnett and Cliff Richards. Blackfire, Dex-Starr, and Hax go out to the junked ships while Jessica speaks with Orion, who tells her the New Gods began to "unform" after the fall of the Source Wall. Being the only one to survive, he used Okkulting armor to remain hidden from the Eskaton. While he blames the League for what has happened, she tries to explain that Darkseid is doing this because of what is happening with Perpetua. Meanwhile, Blackfire, Dex-Starr, and Hax meet Gamma Knife, the daughter of Space Ranger, who is scavenging material for her boss. Jess and Orion arrive, but are taken down by Xothar, who is following orders from Cyborg.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #2 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ryan Sook. The Horraz attempt to steal Aquaman’s trident but are defeated by the Legion. Rose Forrest, official Legion liaison to the United Planets, meets with Madamehonorable Brande, President of the United Planets. Jo reveals he was searching for the trident to bring to his mistreating father, so the team heads to Rimbor to meet with him. Supernoy travels back to the past to meet with Damian and bring him to Planet Gotham.

LOIS LANE #6 by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. Lois relives moments in her life as she deals with the death of her father.

LOIS LANE #7 by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. Lois, disguised as a nun, meets with Jessica Midnight, who is in a mental hospital, fearing Leviathan. Later, she is seen kissing Superman, which result in a confrontation between her and Renee Montoya. Once they sort things out, they both go to Lois’ apartment, only to find a new housekeeper cleaning the room. It turns out the housekeeper is an operative who has planted a bomb and blows up the room.

METAL MEN #3 by Dan Didio and Shane Davis. The team battles the winged creature while the Nth Man begs to be released to help them. Magnus eventually relents and the Nth Man defeats the creature. Nth Man brings an injured Tina back and Gold reveals himself to be alive.

NIGHTWING #67 by Dan Jurgens and Ronan Cliquet. The Nightwings battle Talon Ric Grayson, and they get an assist from Condor Red. Thing go badly for Red and it looks like Ric will kill him. He removes his mask and smiles.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #41 by Scott Lobdell and David Messina. Red Hood gets into a battle with Artemis and Bizarro while the rest of the team tries to find their teacher. It turns out that Vessel, who was kicked out of Red Hood’s school, by Hood and Shay Veritas, is seeking revenge and is controlling Artemis. It takes a kiss by Jason to Artemis to break the spell. The students free Veritas, Vessel’s plan is thwarted, and they all end up at Ma Gunn’s for dinner.

SHAZAM #9 by Geoff Johns, Marco Santucci, Scott Kolins and Dale Eaglesham. With his father transformed, Billy, Mary and dad team up to fight Black Adam and his team. The heroes get transported to the Wozenderlands, where they meet with the Wizard and the others. Billy is told he cannot share his powers with his father, but he says the magic word and they all transform into the Marvel Family. In the end, Sivana hatches his plan to bring King Kid from the Funlands to Philadelphia.

SUICIDE SQUAD #1 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. A new Task Force X has been formed, now that Waller has retired, made up of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, Magpie, Cavalier and Zebra Man. They take on a group known as the Revolutionaries, ecologically-minded metahumans who have kidnapped a general. Magpie dies and one of the Revolutionaries has his head exploded by a brain bomb. In the end, the new team leader looks to put the two teams together to form the Suicide Squad.

SUPERGIRL #37 by Jody Houser and Rachael Scott. Kara relishes in her new powers and goes about seeking justice with extreme violence. Superman comes to her and tells her he can find a cure for her infection. She slaps him and then flees, but runs into Batman in the Batwing. She pulls him out and tosses him away, knowing Superman will save him. She changes into street clothes and is met by Ben. But she hears a screeching voice in her head and that leads her to The Batman Who Laughs.

SUPERMAN #18 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis. Clark wrestles with the decision he wants to make. After revealing himself to Perry and Jimmy, who learned of this earlier from Lois, Superman reveals to the world that he is Clark Kent: a reveal that angers Luthor, who believes he should have known.

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #6 by Matt Fraction and Steve Leiber. Jimmy starts the issue in jail, but is quickly out on bail. Meanwhile, Princess Jix is poised to get married, but it is revealed she is already married to Jimmy, sending her on a hunt to kill him. Nathan Guy has “killed” Jimmy and that leads to Lex eliminating him to clean up loose ends. Jimmy and his sister are accosted by thugs, but Dex-Starr saves the day. When Batman sows up, he says whoever is responsible for all this is off his radar and he can’t help him.

TALES FROM THE DARK MULTIVERSE: THE JUDAS CONTRACT #1 by Kyle Higgins and Tom Raney. In this version of the tale, Dick Grayson decides to stay the Teen Titans and that leads Tara Markov to take control of her life. She meets with her lover and protege Slade Wilson and kills him, before turning her attention on Wintergreen. She sets her sights, having changed her named to Gaia, on the Titans, eventually killing all of them and then the rest of the heroes n this Earth. In the end, she is seen riding a great dragon and wreaking havoc.

TEEN TITANS #37 by Adam Glass and Bernard Chang. With Kid Flash, Crush and Red Arrow captured, Damian faces The Other, who reveals himself as…Damian’s clone, long thought to be dead. The Other explains how he was reborn in the Lazarus Pit and tells Damian to join him. Elsewhere, Roundhouse has a heart to heart talk with his mother and makes his way to where his teammates are held captive, with the thought being to free them and become a Teen Titan again.

THE TERRIFICS #23 by Gene Luen Yang and Sergio Davila. The Terrifics have been turned into kids and are now being forced to relive the same day over and over again-a day that ends with Ms. Terrific being sucked into the Initial Singularity. Mr. Terrific finally figures out that they are repeating the day and gives her a mental way to break out of the Time Loop. He convinces the rest of the team that they need to go into the Time Vortex, which they do along with The Terribles. This is going to take them to the very beginning of time.

WONDER TWINS #10 by Mark Russell sand Stephen Byrne. Lex Luthor is stuck in space and his employees are just concerned about having a party on his dime. Eventually, he makes contact with Gorilla Grodd, who gives him landing coordinates. But he finds himself tapped as Grodd is really Jayna in disguise. The Twins, along with Gleek and Polly commandeer the spaceship and head to the Phantom Zone, where Zan uses his ice power to free Polly’s dad and others. Elsewhere, Colonel 86 is free and now controls the Internet.

WONDER WOMAN #83 by Steve Orlando, Jheremy Raapack and Miguel Mendonca. Diana faces off against Barbara Ann in a battle that takes them all the way to Boston. The Silencer arrives, looking to get revenge for Cheetah’s attack that put her husband and son in danger. This leads to a three-way battle for supremacy that get interrupted by…Hera.

YEAR OF THE VILLAIN: OCEAN MASTER #1 by Dan Watters and Miguel Mendonca. Orm has returned to Louisiana, but Erin doesn't want him back. Despite that, he tells her about the Rig and the experiments being conducted by the recently upgraded Marine Marauder. He does his best to save the poor unfortunates before taking revenge on Marine Marauder, establishing the city of Dagon in the process. The citizens declare him to now be King Orm. Lex visits him and he rejects the offer, saying to keep him out of the war. In the end, he leaves Erin and her son and goes back to rule Dagon.

YEAR OF THE VILLAIN: HELL ARISEN #1 by James Tynion IV and Steve Epting. A year ago, Lex meets with The Batman Who Laughs, who asks who is going to win when Lex finally has to have his help. In the present on Earth-3, Lex arrives at the headquarters of the Crime Syndicate and takes them to meet Perpetua. She tells them they are free to rule Earth-3, but all the people have been changed to Apex Predators. She kills Johnny and then sends them back to Earth-3, while she sends Luthor back to Earth-0. The Infected pay Lex a visit, as it seems The Batman Who Laughs is free and has captured Rip Hunter, Time Master.

YOUNG JUSTICE #11 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Timms. The Young Justice crew finally makes it back to their Earth, where they end up at S.T.A.R. Labs in Oregon…where they meet up with Naomi, who had already made her way here. The team crashes at Naomi’s house. Connor learns they were at S.T.A.R. Labs and so was Dr. Glory, who was responsible for sending him to Gemworld. He flies off to confront her, but she tricks him and sends him to Skartaris…where he meets The Warlord. In the end, the team meet Glory, who asks if these are the friends he was speaking about.

DC UNIVERSE Month 25, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1018 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr. Six months ago, Robinson Goode was investigating the disappearance of some folks at S.T.A.R. Labs when she is knocked out and, in the process, gets merged with a mysterious cloud that turns her into Red Cloud. In the recent past, Clark Kent reveals his secret identity to Melody Moore. She promises to keep his secret safe in exchange for his endorsement for her as Mayor. Then he gets involved with the attack by the Legion of Doom, who has joined forces with…Leviathan.

AQUAMAN #55 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha. Mera saves Jackson and then unleashes her water powers to attack Manta, saving her husband. Arthur saves Maurer while Mera and Aqualad combine their powers to form a super Mera, which attacks the Mecha Manta. Manta tells the Mecha to initiate the self-destruct, but it refuses and Mera’s touch destroys the ship. Everyone is saved but Mera has fallen unconscious.

BATGIRL #42 by Cecil Castellucci and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Batgirl and Oracle continue their battle, while Babs decides it’s time to flee, setting up a citywide search by Oracle, Jason Bard, Shark and Fox. It leads to a confrontation with Batgirl and Oracle, who has captured Frankie. Bard reveals his true intentions, leading to Oracle giving Batgirl the choice to save Frankie or Bard. Batgirl drops Bard into a dumpster before using a lightning strike to destroy Oracle. In the end, Frankie is saved and Bard and Babs share a kiss.

BATMAN #84 by Tom King and Jorge Fornes. Batman faces off against Thomas Wayne. Then the tale is told in reverse order. It is revealed that it was Thomas that pulled himself out of the pit and headed to Gotham. We see the deal Thomas made with Bane. We see the Joker near death in the church, where Thomas asks him who told him that Batman was getting married. Thomas is shown watching Bruce and Selina’s relationship, at the carnival with Clark and Lois, and when Bruce proposed. We see Thomas brought to our universe by Eobard Thawne so he could keep his son from being Batman. We see moments from The Button storyline, the end of FLASHPOINT, how Martha, who had become The Joker, killed herself, how she had killed Selina and how Batman and Selina had met. His idea of justice was killing the villains of the city. It is revealed that Martha, as The Joker, had killed Alfred. He had tracked down Joe Chill and beat him to death with a rock. He tried to keep Bruce alive even as Martha went insane. In the present, he begs Bruce to give up The Batman and get married.

BATMAN #85 by Tom King and Mikel Janin. With Bruce at Thomas’ feet and defeated, Catwoman springs into action and attacks Thomas. She reveals she was able to control the Ventriloquist because she still has a piece of Scarface. Thomas admits defeat and he is put in prison, where Bane breaks is back. Later, Batman meets with Gotham Girl, who is now cured because she has been given Platinum Kryptonite, and asks about he and Selina getting married. Bruce and Selina tell each other how much they love each other go off to fight crime together. In the end, the news reports reveal Superman has revealed his secret identity and the Joker thinks that mat be a great idea to do to Batman.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #8 by Bryan Hill and Dexter Soy. Black Lightning, Katana, Sofia, and Kaliber are in a burning jet heading straight for Gotham. Black Lightning, using a newly gained ability, saves Katana, leaving Batman to Sofia from the harbor. Later, Jefferson tries to console Batman over the loss of Alfred, while Katana takes Sophia to the Batcave. Elsewhere, Jefferson’s friend Tina s murdered, thanks to Ra’s, who brags he has evolved Duke, hurt Jefferson and reminded Cassandra of her destiny.

BATMAN BEYOND #39 by Dan Jurgens and Inaki Miranda. Batwoman fights Blight, who is still alive because radiation can’t be killed. He also reveals that he knows Terry was Batman, as he was responsible for killing Terry’s dad. Batwoman uses a mini-bomb to injure Blight, who now has to find a new body to possess. So he makes a call to…Constance, who he calls Gustanov. Constance has a body for him…it’s Terry.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #5 by Joshua Williamson and David Marquez. The Dark Multiverse Watchtower has come through a rift to infect the world. Batman and Superman battle the Infected and eventually, Superman destroys the Dark Multiverse Watchtower. They see the Hall of Justice has been destroyed and that the Batman Who Laughs is free. They note who Wonder Woman will be furious. This leads into YEAR OF THE VILLAIN HELL ARISEN #1.

CATWOMAN #18 by Joelle Jones and Fernando Blanco. Selina meets with Zatanna and they team up to battle a bunch of bad guys.  After defeating everyone, they drink Creme de Menthe and Zatanna gives her a magic rabbit’s foot for her future fights. Meanwhile, Raina has initiated martial law and Carlos and Maggie find themselves surrounded.

DEATHSTROKE #50 by Christopher Priest and Carlo Pagulayan. It is revealed that the other Slade Wilson came here from the Dark Multiverse, where he had killed Batman and most of the Teen Titans. Before their final fight, they go off and have coffee together. But Isherwood arrives and interrupts the meeting. Dark Multiverse Slade is captured, but Raven, who played a part in it, refuses to do any more. So he is released and the two Slades battle, with Dark Multiverse Slade apparently being killed. Later, it is revealed that Isherwood has died trying to remove Luthor’s gift from Joseph. In the end, they all have a family dinner. But this is only a momentary end to Deathstroke’s story.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1017 by Tom Taylor and Fernando Blanco. A teenager named Miguel escapes from the Martha Wayne Orphanage.  Lucius Fox, now assuming Alfred’s role,  finds Bruce in the Batcave and informs him of the runaway, leading to him using his detective skills to find the boy. While he meets with the man running the orphanage, he sends Damien to find the boy. It takes him several days, but he finds Miguel, suffering from hypothermia and starving. They rush him to the hospital, where Miguel says he ran to raise awareness to the kids who had gone missing. The boy dies but Bruce discovers that the man running the orphanage was responsible.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1018 by Peter J. Tomasi and Scott Godlewski. While Batman deals with handling things at Wayne Manor following Alfred’s death, a series of grisly murders grips Gotham. It turns out it could be a Viking…

DIAL H FOR HERO #10 by Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones. Summer and Miguel get transported into the Multiverse where they end up on Earth-32. There, they meet Young Justice International, who is fighting the HarleyQuinntor. They have been tasked by the Operator to protect their dial, but Mister Thunderbolt arrives and reveals himself to be Robby Reed-just like The Operator. He convinces Miguel that he can save the Multiverse if Miguel uses the dial, which he does, creating the Reign of the SuperMiguels.

DOOMSDAY CLOCK #12 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. As the heroes and villains of Earth battle, Dr. Manhattan realizes that Superman represents hope after he saves Manhattan from attack. Batman and Alfred convince Reggie to become Rorschach again while Lex tells Lois she must write about how the timeline has been changed. Manhattan wipes out the universe and then recreates it, restoring the previous timeline. He allows Alan Scott to reach his lantern and the Justice Society of America forms. He allows Superboy to save his adoptive parents. His actions mean the classic Legion of Super-Heroes lives again. Johnny Thunder remembers and can again say the magic word and channel his thunderbolt. They all team up and arrive to help Superman. Manhattan’s actions result in not only the creation of the Multiverse but the Metaverse. Earth-2 is born, Earth-1 becomes Eath-1985 after the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The future is shown, with crisis after crisis occurring throughout. Luthor uses a vibrational emitter to send The Comedian back to the Watchman Universe at the moment of his death. Manhattan returns to the Watchmen universe with Rorschach and an injured Ozymandias, who is imprisoned for his crimes. Mime and Marionette are left behind with Manhattan saying they will have a daughter soon and someday reunite with their son. Manhattan saves the Watchmen Universe by making all nuclear weapons disappear. Carver Colman ends up with a better life, becomes an advocate for LGBTQ rights and, after his death, is honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Stein is arrested and Superman's name is cleared. Later, he and Lois meet up with the Kents. Manhattan raises Mime and Marionette's son and names Clark. Eventually he disappears, transferring his powers to Clark and his life force to the planet. Young Clark is sent to Laurie and Daniel's home and is adopted by them.

THE FLASH #84 by Joshua Williamson and Christian Duce. Flash and his team travel to Weather Wizard’s new home, where he reveals that all he wants is to be left alone. Golden Glider convinces him that this Flash is the real Flash. Demanding proof, he removes the power dampeners. The team attacks Weather Wizard until Glider uses her bandages to subdue everyone and she gens training Flash how to control his out of control powers. She tells Wizard about Cold’s plan and how he has been upgraded thanks to Luthor. Heat Wave arrives and joins the team.

THE FLASH #85 by Joshua Williamson and Christian Duce. Glider continues to train Flash before the newly united team goes looking for Mirror Master. Just before Flash is ready to grab the mirror pieces the team needs, Mirror Master attacks and shoves the team into the mirrors, which transports them into Cold’s fortress, where they are attacked by his allies. Glider tells him that she wants things to go back to the way they were, and he responds by freezing everyone but The Flash. Thanks to Lex, he has gotten a significant upgrade that may allow him to defeat The Flash.

GREEN LANTERN: BLACKSTARS #2 by Grant Morrison and Xermanico. Parallax meets with Superman and tries to tell him he and the Blackstars have a solution for the impending apocalypse. Jon agrees with the Blackstars way but his father tries to convince him otherwise, forcing Hal and the Blackstars to leave. Back in space, the Countess tells of her awful forced marriage to Lord Vorlokk. In the end, Superman declares war on the Blackstars, who have a new ally-Superboy.

HARLEY QUINN #68 by Sam Humphries and Sami Basri. Harley visits Christmas Hamlet where she tries to gain some joy. But she gets captured by the Nutcracker Squad and ends up in the clutches of the Christmas Ghost, who turns out to be Kira the Unjoliest. Together they get into mischief and burn the Tremendous Tannenbaum. Two months later, Harley has a new gig: she’s a wrestler named Harley the Queen.

HARLEY QUINN #69 by Mark Russell and Sami Basri. Notorious criminal Hambezzler is finally freed from jail and goes to work for Harley as her accountant. He reveals he was falsely imprisoned for embezzling the retirement fund of McGobbles. The McGobble Land Gang arrives, and all tell sorrowful tales, especially Crown McCrown who was disfigured in a vat of Country Dew. They meet with Councilman Cheeseburger, who tells them that Mitch and Murray, the owners of McGobble, embezzled the money. The gang goes after them and gain their revenge.

HARLEY QUINN’S VILLAIN OF THE YEAR #1 by Mark Russell and Mike Norton.

Harley hosts the first Villain of the Year awards, as chosen by the readers. Flashpoint Batman is the Best Justification of Evil. The Ventriloquist is Best Supporting Villain. Most Obessed Villain is Bane. Red Hood wins Comeback Villain of the Year. The Batman Who Laughs wins Best Villain Upgrade and Villain of the Year. But tell that to The Flamingo, who is tricked into thinking he won and ends up with him being captured and spends his future in a glass case in the Legion of Doom’s headquarters.

HARLEY QUINN & POISON IVY #4 by Jody Houser and Adriana Melo. Harley and Ivy travel to Dinosaur World, where they cross paths with Dracorex, who has been kidnapping people with her tourist trap. The girls start to free people when  The Floronic Man shows up, having hidden himself in Ivy’s arm. They use a microwave to blow up the main building and flee. Later, Ivy makes the decision to have her arm cut off to keep the Floronic Man away from them.

HAWKMAN #19 by Robert Venditti and Pat Olliffe. The Shade has contacted the Justice League about Hawkman not being himself and they send Shayera to confront him. They battle and, after he is defeated, he transports away. Later, he argues with Carter’s spirit and decides to pick his brain and makes his way to Carter’s hidden lair…where he retrieves the Black Journal.

THE INFECTED: DEATHBRINGER #1 by Zoe Quinn and Brent Peeples. Donna Troy has been infected and takes on The Titans, before finally declaring them ghosts of her past and leaving them to wonder what to do next.

THE INFECTED: THE COMMISSIONER #1 by Paul Jenkins and Jack Herbert. An infected Gordon meets with Detective Conley and tries to convince him to use the Unicorn Key to release everyone in Arkham. Batgirl heads to Gotham, where the National Guard is evacuating the city. She gets attacked by Anarky and his crew, fighting back until Gordon and Conley arrive and tell her to leave, Gordon removes his glasses and we see that he is truly infected.

INFERIOR 5 #4 by Jeff Lemire and Keith Giffen. The mystery deepens as a mysterious man in black meets with a moon man, who says a second invasion is coming. In the backup, Peacemaker battles Rocket Red. After defeating him, he heads to Dangerfield.