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.