DC UNIVERSE Month 30, Part 2

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #7 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stephen Byrne. Following New Earth’s oceans being replenished with water from Aquaman’s trident, the team is called to the office of the United Planets Madame President. It’s a contentious meeting that gets smoothed out thanks to Jon’s charm. This leads to the team going back to their headquarters and deciding to actually hold an election to name a true leader of the Legion. It come down to a vote between Cosmic Boy and Ultra Boy, with Ultra Boy the overwhelming winner. That’s when his father arrives with his army to arrest the Legion.

LOIS LANE #12 by Greg Rucka and Mike Perkins. Lois is trying to put the finishing touches on her article, but she needs a file. Renee and the Kiss of Death are in Chetnya fighting to get that file. The Planet publishes the story, the President and the Kremlin deny the allegations, Shaw is arrested for Agger’s murder and the attempt on Lois’ life, and Sister Clarice plans to open up a sanctuary for people affected by other worlds invading their personality.

METAL MEN #8 by Dan Didio and Shane Davis. Mercury and Tin go to an amusement park and discover that Lead and Iron are working there as one of the rides. Meanwhile, Magnus’ new team, known as The Gas Gang, take on Chemo. But he claims he has been given free will by the Nth Man and lulls the team into a false sense of security before destroying them. Chemo prepares to attack Magnus…and that’s when Mercury, Tin, Lead and Iron arrive to presumably save the day.

NIGHTWING #72 by Dan Jurgens and Ronan Cliquet. Bea makes a huge burning Bat-Signal and meets with Barbara Gordon, explaining how Ric beat The Joker, but his personality has changed. Barbara goes to Gotham and finds Ric…but Punchline arrives. Ric seems to stop her, but it is revealed that he is now controlled by The Joker. Meanwhile, Sap is out of surgery and the rest of the Nightwings are told that the news about him is not good.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #47 by Scott Lobdell and Paolo Pantalena. After a flashback to a previous time when Arsenal, Starfire and Red Hood were at the Chamber of All, the scene shifts to now as Jason, Artemis, Essence, S'aru and General Glory try to shut down the Dark Obelisks that opened up the Chamber. Inside the Chamber, Bizarro battles Trigon, eventually taking him down. The team struggles to close the Chamber when they get some unexpected help: the team of Arsenal, Starfire and Red Hood.

SHAZAM #13 by Geoff Johns and Dale Eaglesham. The Marvel Family faces off with the Monster Society, led by Billy’s father. It seems that he didn’t seek out Billy: Sivana did and that led to Mr. Mind getting inside and controlling him. Mind wants control og the Magic Lands and has decided he needs to be the Seventh Champion. He threatens Billy’s foster parents and turns Tawny into a baby tiger. The key to the seven lands is used to unlock them but Billy disappears. He didn’t run away however: he’s shrunk down and entered his father’s brain where he is ready to battle Mr. Mind.

SUICIDE SQUAD #7 by Tom Taylor and Daniel Sampere. Ted Kord is informed of what has transpired and he decides it is time to up the search for the Revolutionaries. Deadshot goes to see his daughter, Zoe, who has decided she wants to be an arrow shooting superhero. Floyd tells his family that he has been pardoned and his life in costume is over. The FBI arrive and order him to surrender. Things get amped up and one of the agents fires at Zoe, who gets saved by Aerie and Wink. The Revolutionaries arrive and the FBI flees. In the end, Floyd masks up and decides it is time to kill the Suicide Squad.

SUPERGIRL #42 by Jody Houser and Rachael Stott. The General has captured Krypto and is now facing Supergirl. Supergirl continues to hallucinate, seeing herself battling Zor-El, Rogol Zaar, Director Bones and Starshame. Eventually, she conquers the hallucinations and shows her all she has been trying to do is save people. The General comes to her senses and allows Kara to help. She saves the people and then the military attempt to arrest her. The people rally to her, allowing her to escape and muse how she wants to help Earth.

SUPERMAN #23 by Brian Michael Bendis and Kevin Maguire. We start in the past when Leviathan attacked the DEO.  Agent Veronica Bissette was bringing strange artifact to the DEO and it merges with her to save her life when the DEO headquarters is teleported away. Now she is the host for Xanadoth: the Lord of the Lords of Chaos. While Dr. Fate is examining Superman, to make sure he is not being controlled by magic, Xanadoth shows up and demands Dr. Fate’s helmet, claiming it was his originally.

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN #12 by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber. The jig is up for Julian Olsen and he tries to flee but is stopped by Jimmy and his friends. Later, Miss Tessmacher meets with Jimmy and reveals that Jimmy is related to Lex and is a Luthor Family trustee, meaning he has access to Lex’ money and how it gets spent. Jimmy confronts Lex and makes some demands, leading to Lex admitting everything that happened was all Lex’ idea. Jimmy becomes publisher of the Planet and publishes the story of how Luthor was responsible for everything.

TEEN TITANS #43 by Robbie Thompson and Jesus Merino. The team tries to figure out who killed Brother Blood and Red Arrow deduces it was Robin. Robin is going after KGBeast and the team confronts him, forcing him to admit to the killing. Robin attacks KGBeast for shooting Nightwing and, in the process, he cuts off the Russian’s left hand.

THE TERRIFICS #28 by Gene Luen Yang and Sergio Fernandez Davila. Mister Terrific welcomes people to his Terrifictech Modern Community Association. We see that Simon Stagg isn’t dead but is barely holding onto life. Metamorpho uses his powers to transform his hand into lung tissue to keep Stagg alive, but he ultimately dies. Later, the T-Council battles the Parasite and easily defeats him. Silas Stone comes up with a plan to disrupt the Parasite’s powers permanently, but it may cause brain damage and Mister Terrific vetoes this option. At Stagg’s funeral, Staggatron crashes the church, bring crashing into the church, bringing Sebastian Stagg with him. Sapphire reveals that Sebastian is her brother and he declares he has come to take what he believes is rightfully his.

WONDER WOMAN #758 by Steve Orlando and Emanuela Lupacchino. Wonder Woman battles the Phantom Stranger at Heaven’s Gate for the life of Paula Von Gunther. Diana uses her lasso to defeat the Stranger and convinces Paula she believes in her. They travel back to Themyscira and, despite her mother’s initial rejection, Diana gets the Amazons to open up their world to the rest of the world. In the end, Jason gets a visit that reveals a plot that will be eventually revealed in WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #4.

WONDER WOMAN #759 by Mariko Tamaki and Mikel Janin. Diana relocates to Washington, D.C. as she now works for the government. After saving a mother and child during a runaway car chase, she heads to and breaks into a top secret high max prison. She gets attacked by the inmates, but they end up killing themselves. It seems she is getting some help from an old adversary: Maxwell Lord.

YOUNG JUSTICE #16 by Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker and Scott Godlewski. Bart meets up with Connor and they take down a monster. After that, Bart explains how Mirror Master threw him into a place between dimensions and he just kept running until he ended up in the future and found that all the Young Justice members were dead. He eventually found himself in Arkham Asylum, but escaped and kept running until he ended up back in the present. Tim Drake arrives and decides that they need to go to the Hall of Justice and get to the answer to their mystery.

 

 

 

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 30, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1023 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr. Jimmy and Lois are menaced by Red Cloud who explains that Metropolis is always in danger is because of Superman. Clark, Jon, Brainiac 5 and Connor show up and battle with Red Cloud. She departs and the Super team decides to bring the fight to the Invisible Mafia, eventually shrink down one of their clubs, calling it Kandor. In the end, Agent Chase and the FBI show up at the Daily Planet.

AQUAMAN #61 by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Miguel Mendonca. Mera’s wedding day is here and all the races of Atlantis are here…including Orm and his people. Mera arrives and gives a speech declaring she never planned to marry Vulko and, when she does marry, it will be to her equal. Orm offers to be that person, which Mera shoots down. Orm decides he is going to get what he wants and calls for his people to lead the rebellion. That’s the moment that Aquaman and Tula spring into action. 

BATGIRL #47 by Cecil Castellucci and Robbi Rodriguez. Joker shows up at Barbara’s place and, as he has done in the past, menaces her. He wants the passcodes for Batman's older computers. He finds a way to hack into the electronics in the body that allows her to walk. She stabs herself to disable the electronics and eventually impales Joker. In the end, both hero and villain are lying on the ground and bleeding out.

BATMAN #94 by James Tynion IV and Guillem March. In the past, Bruce meets with former detective Cassander Wycliffe Baker who turns down Bruce when he wants Baker to train him. But he will teach him about failure. In the present, Bruce has been injured and Lucius arrives, insisting Batman goes to the hospital. Bruce calls Selina and tells her she needs to go somewhere safe before he decides to find her to save her from The Joker. He finds her hospital bed empty, but The Joker’s crew is here and The Joker gets Batman, telling him he has plans for Gotham. That is when The Joker’s guys shoot at Batman. Elsewhere, Catwoman wakes up to find she is in a hideout with The Penguin and she tells him the true identity of the Designer. In the end, Batman vows to the memory of Alfred that he will be a better Batman.

BATMAN #95 by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez. Wayne Enterprises has been taken over and Batman is being chased by some of Joker’s goons. They blow up the Batmobile, but find no one inside. They report into Punchline, who has gained access to Batman’s armory because she has compromised and tortured Lucius Fox. Meanwhile, Joker is at the Monarch Theater, where he is going to screen The Mask of Zorro. He has the owner join the Joker Virus infected citizens of Gotham to watch the film. Over at Wayne Industries, it is revealed the man running Wayne is The Underbroker and he orders that the company buys every movie theater in Gotham. Batman sneaks inside and gets attacked by Punchline, who reveals a new Batsuit she found in the armory. Batman has been infected by a combination of  Joker Virus, Fear Toxin and Venom. He hears Alfred’s voice and then sees the Batplane, which attacks Wayne Industries. 

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #14 by Bryan Hill and Dexter Soy. The team splits into two teams to track down Ra’s. Batman, Katana, Sofia, and Jefferson go to Khadym to interrogate Ra’s followers while Shiva, Duke and Cassandra go to London to do the same. In the end, Black Lightning uses his newly enhanced powers to track Ra's and Batman and Shiva have been in touch and she now considers herself an official part of the team. 

BATMAN BEYOND #45 by Dan Jurgens and Paul Pelletier. Zeh-ro has ousted Damian from his place as ruler of the League of Assassins. Zeh-Ro plans on saving the world by setting forth a new ice-age. His League of Assassins will leave the planet and wait for everyone to die before coming back to rule what is left of the world. The League of Assassins again launch an attack against Terry and the others, leading to Batman, Damian, Goliath, Dick and Batwoman banding together to attack the League of Assassins City-Destroyer ship.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #10 by Joshua Williamson and Clayton Henry. After a flashback of Superman battling Ultra-Humanite, we view Batman doing an autopsy on Atomic Skull.  He has discovered that the detonator he found inside was made by Waynetech. Superman and Batman head to Gotham Industrial Clean Waste where they battle a group of dead workers controlled by the Ultra-Humanite. Superman gets rid of the one with the explosive component, but Batman gets captured and taken to the Ultra-Humanite’s lair, where it’s revealed he has had a bomb implanted in him.

CATWOMAN #23 by Sean Murphy, Blake Northcott and Cian Tormey. Selina goes to Isla Nevada, where she meets up with Snowflame, who is still living and dressing like it’s the 80’s. It is revealed he is running an auction that will include “The List”, which contains the secrets of superheroes. Meanwhile, Snowflame's guys are in the jungle where they are trying to kill the Kisin, who gets saved by Catwoman. Unfortunately for Selina, this cat doesn’t seem to be friendly.

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #2 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Wonder Woman, Wally West and Swamp Thing are in the Hellscape and drive the Batmobeast to meet with Batman and Jonah Hex, who are trying to decide who they need to resurrect to fight the battle. She convinces him to not go with his plan and go with what she has in mind, which leads to a reunion between Wally, Barry and Jay Garrick. The plan is to head to New Apokolips and free their friends. Elsewhere, the Batman Who Laughs gets his brain transplanted into a Bruce Wayne that appears to be a cross between The Joker and Dr. Manhattan. This gives him new powers, which allows him to be reborn as The Darkest Night.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1023 by Peter J. Tomasi and Brad Walker. The Joker breaks into a crypt and resurrects Lincoln March. Meanwhile, Batman trying to find Harvey Dent. He finds Hugo Strange, who put the device into Harvey's brain, along with Mad Hatter. He eventually finds Harvey in the Gotham Armory where Harvey is wearing a Batman mechsuit.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1024 by Peter J. Tomasi and Brad Walker. Batman has found Harvey Dent, but now the Talons and the Two-Face cult show up. Batman tells Harvey he has to choose a side: Batman's, Two-Face’s, or the Talon's. Harvey chooses Batman’s and they team-up to fight the others, with Harvey using the Batsuit’s guns and Batman stopping Lincoln with Freeze technology. The Two-Face personality comes out, but Batman shuts the suit down to stop him. Batman then operates on Harvey and removes the bullet that the Joker was using to control him. In the end, Harvey has become a jailhouse lawyer who gets a visit from Matches Malone.

THE FLASH #757 by Joshua Williamson and Rafa Sandoval. Although he is obsessed with Eobard Thawne, Barry needs to do some real work in his job at CCPD. Barry travels to a crime scene and discovers echoes of the Speed Force and finds that Eobard was responsible for the death. He gets on the phone with Director Singh and, at that moment, Turtle attacks the CCPD. At the same time, Trickster blows up Barry’s apartment. Simultaneously, Captain Cold and Golden Glider attacks S.T.A.R. Labs and Gorilla Grodd attacks the Flash Museum. Barry runs to his family and gets them out of Central City.

THE FLASH #758 by Joshua Williamson and Christian Duce. Central City is in ruins because of these attacks which last 5 minutes and 13 seconds: significant because it represents May 13^th-Barry’s birthday. Barry checks on the city and discovers that his lab has been destroyed. After making certain his family is out of the city, Barry checks on his father. He goes to his family home but gets attacked by the Tornado Twins and the Legion of Zoom. Thawne arrives and declares that he will become Barry Allen, and finds the right speed vibration to merge with Barry. In the end, Barry wakes to find he isn’t inside the Speed Force and is attacked by rotting versions of Jesse Quick and Max Mercury.

GREEN LANTERN: SEASON TWO #5 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. After a confusing lead in to the cliffhanger from last issue, Hal battles Hyperwoman, Hyperman, and Hyperdog, who is killed by Hal. The Ornithoids show up to help out, but it may be too late as his ring is dead and Hal is dying.

HARLEY QUINN #74 by Sam Humphries and Sami Basri. Harley has been captured by Wittleson who not only admits to killing Alicia but has also created a Fire Pit in Los Angeles. Granny Goodness arrives and they battle, with Harley defeating her by bringing up her childhood dog. Distracted by Harley, Granny watches as Harley destroys the Fire Pit. In the end, Harley and Becca spread Alicia’s ashes over the ocean and Booster and Harley share a kiss.

HAWKMAN #25 by Robert Venditti and Marco Castiello. Hawkman and Hawkwoman have been captured by the Lord Beyond the Void. Before they battle, it is revealed that the Lord Beyond the Void was responsible for initially tying Hawkwman to Hawkman’s continued series of resurrecting. They battle but, despite their best efforts, Hawkman and Hawkwoman fail and the Lord Beyond the Void is poised to drain their lives to power himself.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #48 by Si Spurrier and Aaron Lopresti. The team answers a distress call in space, but discovers a world in the middle of a civil war. The League intervenes and the people decide that the League should rule them. Should this group be allowed to change a world based on their own beliefs?

JUSTICE LEAGUE #49 by Si Spurrier and Aaron Lopresti. After being chosen to run this alien world, Wonder Woman questions the decision, based on past events in Amazon history. The team is not doing a good job of ruling and the battle between the Way Of The Cell and the Way Of The Spark continues. In the end, someone broadcasts an outburst from one of the heroes and Batman gets shot by some loyal to the Empress.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #24 by Ram V and Amancay Nahuelpan. Bobo discovers Kirk doing some experiments regarding Swamp Thing. Kent decides he needs to leave and that Khalid needs to continue on as Doctor Fate. Diana joins Zatanna as she searches for her father and finds a flaming spectral figure of Zatara.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #22 by Dan Abnett and Cliff Richards. Jessica Cruz has been sent back in time by Epoch and Gamma Knife, a space ranger named Suzi Starr, for the first time. They team up , but they get attacked. Suzi transports Jess away before her ship disappears.