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.