DC UNIVERSE Month 26 Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #19 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martinez Bueno. Injustice League Dark has broken into the Black Vault. But the Upside-Down Man has given Wonder Woman the power to fight against Circe. During their battle, Eclipso breaks free and infects Wonder Woman. This leads to Khalid, as the new Doctor Fate, to join the battle and uses his power to contain Eclipso long enough for Diana to take Circe out of the fight. Diana gives Circe the power she wants, but traps her in a mirror for all time. With the Injustice League Dark defeated, it’s time to find Swap Thing.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #17 by Dan Abnett and Will Conrad. Darkseid's group of New Gods, led by Xotor and Cyborg, have caught up and captured Orion and Jessica Cruz, although Gamma Knife escapes. She contacts her boss, who wants her to save the team and get the Eskaton block. At the same time, Blackfire, Dex-Starr, and Hax are attacked by robots while attempting to scavenge parts to fix the ship. An unconscious Jessica replays Cyborg’s message, but he has updated it, telling her he is sorry and should kill him when she gets the chance. Orion gets freed by Gamma Knife and he attacks the New Gods. Blackfire and company use a device to block the signal controlling them and make their way to their leader: Epoch-the Lord of Time.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #3 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ryan Sook. On Rimbor, Ultra boy’s father, Craz, ants to know where his son is and where Aquaman’s trident is. Elsewhere on Rimbor, Mon-el unintentionally becomes the ruler. Meanwhile, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Light Lass, and Chameleon boy convince December Sevenbergen, to let them interrogate Mordru. Jon brings Damian Wayne to the 31st Century, which causes major issues with the Legion, based on what Damian’s future holds, with them referring to him as “Baby Hitler”. After a diplomatic incident with the team and Craz, Saturn Girl erases Damian’s recent memory and sends him back to the 21^st Century. In the end, Craz says that Brainiac 5 was responsible for stealing the trident and needs to explain why.

LOIS LANE #8 by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. After the explosive end to last issue,

Renee Montoya fights off the assassin known as Kiss of Death. The pair are interrogated by the police and then go on a search for Lois' former maid, who has gone missing. Elsewhere, former Checkmate agent, Jessica Night is on her way to Chicago.

METAL MEN #4 by Dan Didio and Shane Davis. Gold is alive and proud of us nakedness. He is a new Gold as his responsemeter has been destroyed by Nth Metal Man, giving him something closer to free will. Will Magnus and Janet Klyburn go off on a date, leaving Nth Metal Man alone with Platin, where they are guests and have a chance encounter with their biggest fan, Kevin Kho.  Chaos occurs when a Con worker is taken over by a cybernetic, leading to Kho becoming…O.M.A.C.

NIGHTWING #68 by Dan Jurgens and Travis Moore. Ric come to his senses, as his mind is flooded by memories of being Robin, Nightwing and the Teen Titans. But he is also confused as he believes some of his implanted Court of Owls memories may be valid. He battles Cobb and gets saved by Hutch, allowing Cobb to escape. In the end, he confesses to Bea that he is confused but they share a kiss in the end.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #42 by Scott Lobdell and Paolo Pantalena. Artemis, Bizarro and

Generation Outlaw settle in art Ma Gunn’s, where she tells Jason she didn’t tell him about his father as she was afraid how he would react. He leaves with Artemis and tells her of everything that has occurred while she was gone, including the entire HEROES IN CRISIS event. They talk about the kiss and kiss again, realizing it feels weird and they should just remain friends.

SHAZAM #10 by Geoff Johns, Dale Eaglesham and Scott Kolins. King Kid has brought the Earthlands to Philadelphia and now has to deal with the Shazam Family. King Kid realizes he has been bad, blaming it on being bullied, and Shazam takes away his wishing stick, leaving him to cower and cry. Elsewhere, Dr. Sivana and Mr. Mind breach the Monsterlands, where Sivana meets a prisoner who promises to take down Billy Batson. In the end, the Wizard shows up in Billy’s bedroom and takes him down, saying he is going to ruin his plans.

SUICIDE SQUAD #2 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. We begin with a mission going very wrong, which turns out to be in the future. Going back a day, we get the lead in to what led to this. The team is sent out to take out the President of Badhnisia. During the course of the mission, the President is captured, by Deadshot decides to capture but not execute him. Osita gets injured during the siege, but he decides to follow orders and shoots the President in the head.

SUPERGIRL #38 by Jody Houser and Rachael Stott. Krypto tracks down the Infected Supergirl, who is on a mission to change the world, so it won’t end up like Krypton by infecting everyone. But the townspeople of Smallville are not buying what she is selling and revolt against her. Before she can hurt anyone, Wonder Woman shows up and they battle. Wonder Woman gets her lasso around Supergirl and, for a brief moment, she begins to change to her old self.

SUPERMAN #19 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis. Following Superman’s revealing his identity, Perry White fires Clark Kent…and hires Superman. Later, he tangles with Mongol and loses.

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #7 by Matt Faction and Steve Leiber. Jimmy and his sister continue to investigate who tried to have him killed and why. To continue their search, and keep Jimmy alive, they head to Opal City. But when he sees everyone dressed like him, they leave.

TEEN TITANS #38 by Adam Glass and Bernard Chang. The Other traps Damian in Djinn’s ring, where she shows him the future The Other is offering him. While it is everything he ever wanted, he turns it down, knowing Djinn will be trapped in the ring forever. Freed from the ring, Damian fights with The Other and gets help from all of the team, complete with Crush beating The Other badly. In the end, the reborn team goes off to confront and take down Elias.

THE TERRIFICS #24 by Gene Luen Yang and Sergio Davila. The team, paired up with The Terribiles, race through the end of time and end up at the Noosphere. They learn this is all part of a simulation, but band together, and with the help of Paula, now an avenging angel, they face off against the Terribles. Noosphere gives them their escape as a gift and Paula takes a page out of our book fr future use. In the end, she goes off on a mission from God. Later, at the Treehouse of Solitude, Bizarro Jr sees his father fighting forever within the comic page.

WONDER TWINS #11 by Mark Russell and Stephen Byrne. The Hall of Justice computers, and all computers, have been infected by the Colonel 86 virus. In the end, the Wonder Twins, along with Polly and her father, end up at the source computer, where Polly’s dad makes a hard choice and shuts down his creation.

WONDER WOMAN #750 by Vita Ayala, Marguerite Bennett, Kami Garcia, Dean Hale, Jeff Loveness, Steve Orlando, Greg Rucka, Gail Simone, Mariko Tamaki, Nicola Scott, Elena Casagrande, Colleen Doran, Jesus Merino, Phil Hester, Riley Rosso, Laura Braga, Amancay Nahuelpan, and Bryan Hitch. In the main story, Diana, Hera and Silencer face off against Cheetah. Diana, Hera and Cheetah have a lengthy discussion before Diana gets the Golden Perfect back. In the real world, Silencer gets injured by the God Slayer and Cheetah gets temporarily gets captured by the lasso. She gets away and Diana severs ties with Hera. Back on Themyscira, she and Hippolyta reforge Diana’s wrist bands. Back in Boston, Diana gets arrested. The backups feature a bunch of moments throughout her career including a continuation of the Star-Blossom story, a meeting with Ares, an attempt to reform Cheetah and a Bombshells tale. In the end, we see Diana in the 1940’s, which looks to be a new beginning and a new DC timeline.

YEAR OF THE VILLAIN: HELL ARISEN #2 by James Tynion IV and Steve Epting. Lex squares off against and defeats the Infected. He later meets with Mercy Graves, claiming blood samples he took from Shazam and Supergirl will help him defeat The Batman Who Laughs. But The Batman Who Laughs has been busy and infected any more heroes including Hawk and Dove, Booster Gold and more. Elsewhere, The Batman Who Laughs has captured the Phantom Stranger and it seems The Joker is poised to get involved with it all.

YOUNG JUSTICE #12 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Timms. Wonder Girl and Teen Lantern make their way to the Hall of Justice, where they meet the Wonder Twins. They are trying to get help from the Justice League against Dr. Glory, but they are unavailable. They “borrow” Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and head to the site of Connor’s disappearance and, just when they think he is coming back, Miguel and Summer from DIAL H FOR HERO arrive. They all team up and go off to take down S.T.A.R. Labs.

DC UNIVERSE Month 26 Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1019 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr. Last week, after Leviathan had been revealed, Mark Shaw met with the Legion of Doom to reveal his future plans, including taking them to Leviathan Island. Two days ago, Luthor and Leviathan met with Red Cloud, revealing they are taking the fight to the Justice League in Metropolis. Right now, the Justice League battles the Legion of Doom.

AQUAMAN #56 by Kyle Higgins and Aaron Lopresti. Set before REBIRTH, the people of Amnesty Bay have gathered to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Arthur and Mera. After the party ends, the Trench attacks. In the end, Arthur manages a truce. In the present, Arthur and Mera awaits the birth of their baby.

BATGIRL #43 by Cecil Castellucci and Cian Tormey. A monster attacks a woman in the ark and Batgirl saves the day. What she discovers is that the monster comes from Unearth and the woman is Margeret Lew, who was the editor of the Unearth books. It seems Ernest Hinton is lonely and is trying to create a companion based on Lew. She gets teleported into Unearth, where he woos her. She reveals she has a terminal illness and agrees to stay. But that means a dragon must be slain to gather the ingredients to save her, which leads to Jason Bard and Batgirl facing the dragon.

BATMAN #86 by James Tynion IV and Tony S. Daniel. Cheshire kills a man by melting his face with the poison of a jellyfish before she enters a building to meet with Merlyn, Gunsmith and Mr. Teeth. A shadowed figure gives them an assassination job. Meanwhile, Selina is acting as Bruce’ representative at the unveiling of a new Wayne Campus. She changes into Catwoman and tracks down a man who dies in the same grisly manner as the doorman earlier. Lucius Fox has developed a new machine he calls Nightclimber which is eventually sent to Batman, who has been brawling with Deathstroke: the shadowed figure giving out the assignment to Cheshire and company. In the end, it seems the Joker is still around and has plans.

BATMAN #87 by James Tynion IV and Guillem March. A highly deformed Riddler is speaking to Oswald Cobblepot, who claims he is in the process of solving Gotham. The Penguin, surrounded by a bunch of bodies, says he is preparing for war. They make a deal, saying that The Designer is coming to collect. After meeting with Commissioner Bullock, Batman heads to the place where the assassins have been taken: the Black Block. Batman visits Deathstroke here in an effort to get information, but gets nothing. He also observes that Cheshire is gone and has been replaced with a clay double. With Lucius’ help, he tracks her down and eventually apprehends her. Back at the GCPD, Slade and his assassins are able to free themselves and take down Bullock but leaves him alive. In the end, we learn the Penguin knows about the plan, as he was one of the first creators of it.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #9 by Bryan Hill and Dexter Soy. Jefferson's friend Tina was killed last issue and he wants revenge, even though Batman tells him rage is not the answer. Meanwhile, Duke and Cass are taking down some thugs in Metropolis and later, Bruce shows up and criticize them. Superman arrives and tries to talk sense into Bruce, with little effect. In the end, Jefferson gets a visit from Lady Shiva, who promises to help him kill Ra’s.

BATMAN BEYOND #40 by Dan Jurgens and Sean Chen. Terry and Dr. Constance Gustinov, who was masquerading as a homeless person, meet with Blight, who offers him a job. Blight finds it humorous thar Terry doesn’t know who he is or that Blight ruined his father’s life. Meanwhile, Batwoman continues to battle crime and, at one point, she gets rescued by a mysterious person on a motorcycle. Batwoman flees and Bruce, Matt, Melaine and Barbara arrive. The mystery person reveals himself as Dick Grayson and tells everyone that he is worried about his daughter Elainna, who it is revealed is Batwoman.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #6 by Joshua Williamson and David Marquez. Batman and Superman interrogate Infected Jim Gordon in an effort to try and get the cure for the infection, with no avail. They seek out Wonder Woman who is upset by lies and secrets, as she is upset about what happened to Donna Troy. Saying she can’t trust Batman and Superman anymore, she flies off. Batman comes up with a plan to go against the Batman Who Laughs by developing a database of their enemies to share with the heroes of the world. In the end, Zod meets with Ra’s and declares the Lazarus Pits belong to Kandor.

CATWOMAN #19 by Joelle Jones, Geraldo Borges, Aneke, and Inaki Miranda. While zombies attack where Carlos and Maggie are holed up, Selina races to the scene. Together, she and Carlos fend off the attack. Carlos’ aunt saves the day but pays for it by being run through by a stray zombie. The zombie is dispatched and 9-1-1 is called. After a terse exchange, Selina heads off. Meanwhile, Raina has a new plan and maybe zombie Adam will play into it.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1019 by Peter J. Tomasi and Scott Godlewski. Bruce battles the Viking from last issue and defeats him when the Viking hits a lighting cable with his ax. Back at the Batcave he finds the Viking is a man named Sorel Rinsdale. Batman heads to the Botanical Gardens where he's attacked by the guy in charge of this cult. Sorel was supposed to be one of the sacrifices, but got free and became delusional, thinking that he was a Viking. The cult summons a demon and Batman battles it. In the end, the demon kills and eats the leader and Sorel is restored.

DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL #3 by Peter J. Tomasi and Sumit Kumar. In a flashback, we see Alfred in his spy days, escaping Ukraine and getting help from Agent H. In the present, Batman gets a visit from Marigold Sinclair: Agent H. She enlists Batman to bring a former agent, now gone rogue, to justice. In the Ukraine, Batman encounter a NKVDemon, where he is knocked out and captured by the traitor. Marigold shows up and together they take out the traitor. In the end, Marigold brings Bruce a book with pictures from Alfred’s life.

DIAL H FOR HERO #11 by Sam Humphries and Joe Quinones. The Operator tells Summer she must battle the Super Miguels, so she dials up Lo Lo Kick You. She battles the Reign of Super Miguels. She loses, which allows Mister Thunderbolt to acquire the last of the cardinal H-Dials. The foursome try to unite as one, but that results in Super Miguel and Thunder Montez. Montez joins with Mister Thunderbolt, who dials up Fifty Two, which sends him to the Overvoid, where he can remake the Multiverse.

THE FLASH #86 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval. King Cold muses about all the times that he was beaten by The Flash. But now he is beating The Flash, thanks to his augmented power and the unstable Speed Force. Cold lowers the temperature of the battlefield, but the allows Flash to normalize his powers and he flees, freeing his allies. He returns to fight Cold, with backup from the Rogues. Mirror Master is hesitant to fix things, but the Rogues convince him to help. He finally agrees, which brings Central City back to normal. Glider tries to reach her brother, but Cold sees the Flash as turning his family against him. Flash becomes unhinged and beats on Cold. The police arrive, the Rogues escape and Flash and Cold are arrested.

THE FLASH #87 by Joshua Williamson and Christian Duce. Captain Cold and Flash are being taken to Arkham. Glider is being taken to Blackgate. Cold’s henchmen are still on the run.  Iris is now helping Kid Flash and Avery get normalized, where Meena is running tests. Iris makes a call, bringing The Pied Piper to Arkham to help. Piper reveals he has fund a solution to the Speed Force problem, although it’s a painful process. He uses the process to save the speedsters. Just the, they are made aware of a breakout and Cold has been freed by Glider, who has broken out of Blackgate. In the end, the future version of Barry arrives, saying that stopping the loop from Year One, they created a paradox, at which point . Future Barry begins to decay, telling them to get Commander Cold. When Barry reveals Cold is dead, Future Barry tells him it is too late and Paradox is coming for him. He then melts away.

GREEN LANTERN: BLACKSTARS #3 by Grant Morrison and Xermanico. Superboy has sided with the Blackstars, leading to a battle between Earth’s heroes and the Blackstars, resulting in Jon accidentally killing his father. Earth now embraces the Blackstar way. But Hal starts an uprising after learning of Belzebeth’s traitorous ways, leading to a battle with her. He reveals that he has used his ring to create all of this in Universe-15 and he has trapped her there. Although she has eliminated Controller Mu, all the computers are still following Mu’s ways and eliminate her.

HARLEY QUINN & POISON IVY #5 by Jody Houser and Adriana Melo. Harley and Ivy head to Manhattan for a showdown with the Flouronic Man. They see how plants have taken over Manhattan and, with help from Batwoman, who was there to capture Ivy, they attack the plants. Together they free some captured people. But. In the end, Ivy finds a giant flower and a version of Ivy comes out of it.

HAWKMAN #20 by Robert Venditti and Fernando Pasarin. Sky Tyrant continues to read the Black Journal to learn the secret of a weapon created from a past life and kill his enemies. He travels to a land where he counters a Giant Hawkman who is determined to protect the key needed for the weapon. Meanwhile, Hawkwoman works with The Atom and Adam Strange to find a way to cure the infection.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #39 by Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Daniel Sampere and Juan Albarran. Martian Manhunter is alive again and is trying to connect with the people of Earth to break Perpetua’s spell. While the Justice League continues to battle the Legion, the people of Earth choose Doom, despite Manhunter’s effort. She sends the time displaced heroes home and the League finds themselves meeting with the Quintessence, who saved our heroes from ultimate death. They open a door which connects past, present and future and the team heads off to face Perpetua.