DC UNIVERSE Month 32, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE #52 by Jeff Loveness and Robson Rocha. Batman is controlled by Black Mercy and that causes him to see his dead mother, trying to convince him to stop being Batman. Wonder Woman breaks free and sets him free, allowing the team to get back to Earth and reflect on their mission and what the Black Mercy Planet made them realize.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #53 by Joshua Williamson and Xermanico. In the Dark Nights: Death Metal world, Nightwing, Hawkgirl, and Detective Chimp make their way to what is left of the Hal of Justice, where they find a cloaked and scarred Lex Luthor. He them that the mission is to get to Perpetua's throne and retrieve the Legion of Doom. That job has apparently fallen on Martian Manhunter, who realizes that The Omega Knight is the guardian and the Mindhunter is the warden.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ANNUAL #2 by Robert Venditti and Aaron Lopresti. There is a man dead deep in a sub-basement of the Hall of Justice. But they soon are attacked by the protocols designed to stop the various villains of the team. It turns out the mastermind of this is the disembodied head of The Eradicator. The team ends up working together to stop the assault and, in the end, Batman locks The Eradicator’s head in a vault.

JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #26 by Ram V and Amancay Nahuelpan. Detective Chimp has found Constantine, who has been captured by Madame Xanadu. They ask how to defeat the Upside-Down Man and she draws tarot cards, basically telling them they need to believe in magic. What she doesn’t reveal is that John’s tarot card is Death. Bobo and John recruit Kirk and Dr. Fate and head off to the fight. They all team up and use their combined belief that their magic is stronger than that of the Upside-Down Man and defeat him, but not before he seemingly kills John.

JUSTICE LEAGUE ODYSSEY #24 by Dan Abnett and Cliff Richards. Hax has revealed that she serves Darkseid, who is now the Lord of Time and convinces Gamma Knife to help Darkseid. The rest of the team figures they need to use one of Epoch’s time crystals to fix things. They hook Cyborg up to Epoch's time technology and bring back Starfire, Cyborg, Jess and Azrael from before they were controlled by Darkseid, meaning there are now two Jess's and two Cyborgs. So, the team is that much bigger as they attack Darkseid for a final battle.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #9 by Brian Michael Bendis, Jenny Frison, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Klaus Janson, Arthur Adams, Joe Quinones, John Romita Jr., Nicola Scott, Jim Cheung, Emanuela Lupacchino, David Marquez, Gary Frank, Kevin Nowlan, James Harren, Mike Grell, Gene Luen Yang, Nick Derington, Tula Lotay, Michel Fiffe, Mitch Gerads, Ryan Sook, Wade Von Grawbadger and Jordie Bellaire. The origins of the Legion heroes continues. Crav shows with his son in chains, saying it was he who betrayed the United Planets. Dream Girl arrives and she stands with Ultra Boy, saying she has seen the future. Then she announces that the Great Darkness is coming. Dr. Fate is summoned and he declaes that Dream Girl is correct. The White Witch is revealed as Modru’s daughter and claims Crav was seeking parts of Aquaman’s trident, because he knows the Great Darkness is coming. Gold Lantern contains Crav and sends him back to Rimbor. The trial is ended, the Legion lives on and Saturn Girl and Superboy kiss.

METAL MEN #10 by Dan Didio and Shane Davis. Jenet Klyburn reveals that Nth Metal Man has been manipulating Will Magnus and the Metal Men this whole time and that Will forgot to turn on their responsometers. In the Dark Multiverse, had built her own Doc Magnus, where this team fought the Dark Multiverse Metal Men and won, killing the living Doc Magnus. Platinum captured Plutonium, strapped him to a rocket and blew it up, sending the Metal Doc Magnus into space. There, he was picked up by the Thanagarians, who infused him with the Nth Metal. When he returned to his world, he found it destroyed and then created the Dark Multiverse Metal Men, who are currently led by a reborn Plutonium. Doc and the Metal Men head to the Dark Multiverse to face off against the Dark Multiverse Metal Men and save Tina.

NIGHTWING #74 by Dan Jurgens and Ryan Benjamin. Bea is searching for Ric, Red Hood and Tim face off against some of Joker’s followers. That’s when Ric, now Dicky-Boy, reveals his true self and battles the former Robins. Barbara manages to grab the memory crystal from the Joker and Bea shows up and tries to convince him to be Dick again. He finally snaps out of it, becomes Dick Grayson again and destroys the crystal. Batman shows up, Tim defuses the bomb at the Children's Hospital and Bea walks away, saving Dick but losing the man she loves.

RED HOOD OUTLAW #49 by Scott Lobdell and Paolo Pantalena. The team along with the time displaced Red Hood, Starfire and Arsenal, struggle to close the door to Trigon's domain. Bizarro has slain Trigon and now he’s been declared the king of the region. As the team is set to close the door, Bizarro appears and tells his teammates that he is going to stay in the domain. After a tearful goodbye, the doors to Trigon's domain and the Chamber of All, sending Red Hood, Starfire and Arsenal back to their own time.

SHAZAM #14 by Geoff Johns, Dale Eaglesham and Scott Kolins. Billy Batson takes on Mr. Mind and Superboy-Prime shows up to throw his support to the Monster Society of Evil. Billy defeats Mr. Mind, which also takes out the magically enhanced foes in the process. In the process, Superboy-Prime gains magic power and uses it to draw the power out of Billy's family. Black Adam arrives and he and Billy take Superboy-Prime out. Billy’s father no longer remembers Billy, leaving him and leaving Billy back with his foster parents. In the end, the Wizard reveals that Billy's greatest achievement will be redeeming the seventh champion: Black Adam.

SHAZAM #15 by Jeff Loveness and Brandon Peterson. Billy does what he does as Shazam, even though Billy the student is getting in trouble with his teacher for not finishing a report on Civil War reconstruction. Later he saves his teacher, whose building burns down. He saves her and then takes her out fr sa burger and encouraging conversation. In the end, Billy apologizes for how he treated her in class, but he still hasn’t done his report.

SUICIDE SQUAD #9 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. Thylacine and Chaos Kitty kidnap a Senator, who later gets interrogated by Fin until he reveals the location of Ted Kord. After Zoe works on her shooting ability, the team goes off to Kord Defense, where they see Superman is already there and has captured Kord. Deadshot asks for some time alone and it’s revealed that Superman is really Black Mask in disguise, who shoot s Floyd between the eyes, sending he and Kord out the window towards the street below.

SUPERMAN #25 by Brian Michael Bendis and Ivan Reis. While Lana Lang interviews Clark about the past, present and future, now that he has revealed his identity to the world, Synmar learns his people may have been killed because of Superman. This sets up Clark’s next adversary.

TEEN TITANS #45 by Robbie Thompson and Javier Fernandez. The team is forced to come back together to fight Gizmo. Along the way Red Hood shows up and tells them that Damian throwing distractions at them so he can get away from their hunt for him. In the end, they take down Gizmo and Superboy arrives, looking for Damian.

THE TERRIFICS #30 by Gene Luen Yang and Sergio Davila. Although the team has defeated Parasite, they have discovered he was working with someone else. The team discovers Sebastian Stagg was responsible and has put together his own team, the Stagg Circle, made up of Staggatron, Lobo, and Silas Stone. Staggatron breaks Parasite out of captivity and Stagg shoves a molecular destabilizer into him. He explodes, resulting in  Parasite drones that begin changing the people it hits into monsters. Stagg says that he has a device that can fix this, but only if he gets millions in ransom. The Terrifics arrive, defeat the creatures and find a way to change them all back.

WONDER WOMAN #762 by Mariko Tamaki and Carlo Barberi. Diana forms an uneasy alliance with Maxwell Lord as she tries to stop all the mind control shenanigans going on. In the end, it’s revealed that Liar Liar is causing all the trouble in town. And Liar Liar turns out to be Maxwell's daughter.

WONDER WOMAN #763 by Mariko Tamaki and Carlo Barberi. Liar Liar tells Wonder Woman and Maxwell Lord about the day her mother died. And it turns out that, by using her psychic powers, she was responsible for the car crash that killed her mother. She tries to use her powers on Diana, but Max uses his power to silence his daughter. Diana takes her down and she is captured. In the end, Max remembers that Diana snapped his neck during Infinite Crisis, but still agrees to be a team player.

YOUNG JUSTICE #18 by Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker, Scott Godlewski and Michael Avon Oeming. Tim Drake teams up with Stephanie Brown so that they can take down her father Cluemaster. In the end, Drake changes his name back to Robin and the New 52 version of Cassie arrives, saying she needs the help of Young Justice.

DC UNIVERSE Month 32, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1025 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr. Years Ago, Leone has a clandestine meeting with Dr. Glory. In the present, the House of Kent team break into Leone's headquarters while Red Cloud and Dr. Glory find a version of The Parasite from a multiverse where he killed his Superman. The Super team confronts the Parasite and he may have killed Connor. In other news, the FBI continues to search the Planet,   Jimmy hints that he will buy the paper and Leone shows up, claiming that our Lois is a Lois from another universe.

AQUAMAN #63 by Jordan Clark and Marco Santucci. Jackson and his Grandpa A.I. infused ship find themselves in the Trench where the Xebelians are in a fight with the Trench people. Jackson meets up with Ha'wea and they team up to help in the fight, with Aqualad's aquakinesis saving the day. In the end, Jackson makes amends with his father before heading off with the Grandpa A.I. infused ship.

BATGIRL #49 by Cecil Castellucci and Robbi Rodriguez. Batgirl investigates the series of “cosplay murders”, only to discover that James Jr. has been responsible all along. James is schizophrenic and decides to get rid of the other voice in his head by jumping to his apparent death. Commissioner Gordon arrives and tries to arrest Batgirl for manslaughter, but she flees and renounces her Batgirl persona.

BATMAN #98 by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez. With Scarecrow and Riddler playing chess, Penguin and Selina discuss what’s happening in Gotham. Meanwhile, Harley is taking care of Batman, who continues to have hallucinations with Alfred, when Punchline shows up with a flamethrower. The two fight and, luckily, Batman breaks from his hallucinations and takes Punchline out, telling Harley he needs everyone’s help. In the end, Selina tells Penguin that she is leaving and offers to make him a billionaire.

BATMAN #99 by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez. Joker picks up a package and makes his way towards ACE Chemical. He gets a call from Punchline, explaining the battle with Batman and Harley. Batman meets with the Bat-Family, with he and Harley heading to ACE Chemical. He enters ACE Chemical and is met with the reanimated corpse of Alfred, followed by Joker in the diamond suit that Alfred had made for Bruce. Meanwhile, Catwoman has teamed up with Penguin and Riddler as they go after the Underbroker and steal back the Wayne fortune.

BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #16 by Bryan Edward Hill and Dexter Soy. The team faces off against Ra's al-Ghul and his team. Working together, they defeat them, with Jefferson using his amped-up powers to defeat Ras and his alien weapon powers. In the end, Batman says he has a plan for the future and will explain all when they get back to Gotham.

BATMAN BEYOND #47 by Dan Jurgens and Sean Chen. Batman and the team face off against Mr. Zero and the League of Assassins. Damian gains revenge and traps Mr. Zero in his destroyed spaceship. In the end, the world has been saved and Booster Gold shows up to change the future and keep Batman from not existing.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #12 by Joshua Williamson and Max Raynor. Steel and Batwoman investigate the destruction within the Batcave. Through a taped message, Batman reveals that the Batcomputer had been hacked by Brainiac, leading to a battle with Chemo. The message is damaged at the end, leading Batwoman and Steel to the moon. But the message was for them NOT to go to the moon, as Superman and Batman have been captured.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN ANNUAL #1 by Joshua Williamson, Dale Eaglesham, Clayton Henry and Gleb Melnikov. Two kids are playing with Batman and Superman action figures to see who would win in a fight between the two heroes. It turns out that this is taking place in the Fifth Dimension and Bat-mite and Mxyzptlk are here to step in and throw their thoughts into the debate. Bat-mite tells a tale where Superman's existence is ripping apart the Multiverse, with Batman turning the sun red, resulting in both heroes dying. Mxyzptlk tells his story and helps Superman win by cheating. In the end, the real heroes wake believing they have been toys and Krypto and Ace fight over Bat-mite and Mxyzptlk action figures.

BATMAN: THE JOKER WAR ZONE #1 by James Tynion IV, John Ridley, Joshua Williamson, Sam Johns, James Tynion IV, Guillem March, Oliver Coipel, David Lafuente, Laura Braga and James Stokoe. A collection of five tales spinning out of the JOKER WAR and setting up future stories in the Batman books. In the first, Joker goes to Arkham Asylum and visits Bane. His biggest gripe is that Bane killed Alfred in front of Robin instead a Batman and vows to pay him back for this. In the second, the Fox family deals with the ramifications of both Lucius encounter with Punchline and having access to the accounts that were given to them by Catwoman. The Joker Gang shows up and Luke suits up as Batwing. In the third tale, Hench Master is training the folks that make up the various villains armies. The leads to Spoiler and Orphan going into action and eventually retrieving the broken Bat Signal. The penultimate story features Poison Ivy, who takes revenge on Joker Gang members who have started a fire in her home, leading to her deciding her plant side need to take over her human side. In the final tale, Clownhunter, with a baseball bat weaponized with a batarang, takes his aggression out on a small group of Joker Gang members, to the cheers of the residents.

BATMAN: THREE JOKERS #2 by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok. With only two Jokers left, Jason continues his hunt while Batman and Batgirl investigate the murder of Judge Walls. This leads them to Arkham, where it is revealed that Joe Chill has been moved and is dying of Cancer. Jason ends up at the Gotham City Athletic Association, where he discovers a pool filled with toxin and Jokers. A Joker shows up, captures him and beats him. Later, Batman and Batgirl arrive and fight off the Jokers before finding and rescuing Jason. In the end, Jason and Barbara share a kiss and The Joker interrogates Joe Chill, anting to now why he really killed The Waynes.

CATWOMAN #25 by Ram V, Fernando Blanco, John Paul Leon and Juan E. Ferreyra. In the first tale, Selina, Riddler, and Penguin are stealing Bruce's money back from the Underbroker. Things go off but not without a hitch, which leads to Selina getting injured and saved by Detective Hadley. Later, she meets with Luke Fox, where she tells him the Wayne money has been deposited in Lucius account in the Cayman Islands. In the second story Selina heads back to Alleytown, where she takes in and works with a new generation of strays. In the last story, Selina meets up with a new cat that’s very much like her.

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL: MULTIVERSE’S END  #1 by James Tynion IV and Juan Gedeon. On Earth-3, Owlman is interrogating John Stewart while survivors of the Multiverse battle. Bat-Baby and the Rainbow Batman Corps show up to the battle and it looks like the Crime Syndicate may join Justice Incarnate to fight against Perpetua, especially when Harbinger informs Owlman that he has died multiple times. But this just proves to Owlman that he has survived, no matter which version of the Multiverse exists. He betrays his Crime Syndicate teammates, but sacrifices himself by destroying Bat-Baby and the Rainbow Batman Corps. In the end, Stewart and his team head home, now that Perpetua’s towers have been taken down.

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL: SPEED METAL #1 by Joshua Williamson and Eddy Barrows. With the world turned upside down, Barry, Wally, Jay and Wallace try to outrun the Darkest Knight, who wants to take the Creation Energy from Wally. The Darkest Knight throws everything at the team and Barry gives Wally his energy to allow him to reach the Mobius Chair, reuniting him with the whole Flash family, including Linda and his kids. Next step: get the chair to Wonder Woman. Continued in DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL #4.

DARK NIGHTS DEATH METAL: TRINITY CRISIS #1 by Scott Snyder and Francis Manapul. The Trinity, along with Swamp Thing, Jarro, Jonah Hex and Harley Quinn head to Castle Bat so that they can access a portal to the Dark Multiverse. It seems three worlds are continually going through Final Crisis, Infinite Crisis and the Crisis on Infinite Earths. After battling the defenders of the Castle, they discover a chained up Barbatos. When they find the portral, the Robin King emerges and he kills Hex. The Trinity ends up at the three crisis points, with Batman and Superman being defeated. Even Disana is felled, when she is greeted by Superboy Prime who says that on these three worlds, the heroes lost.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1027 by Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Dan Jurgens, Tom King, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Scott Snyder, Mariko Tamaki, Peter J. Tomasi, James Tynion IV, Marv Wolfman, Lee Bermejo, Chris Burnham, Jamal Campbell, Jim Cheung, Olivier Coipel, Jos L. Garca Lpez, Dan Jurgens, Emanuela Lupacchino, David Marquez, Dan Mora, Ivan Reis, Eduardo Risso, John Romita Jr., Riley Rossmo, Walt Simonson, Brad Walker and Chip Zdarsky. This 144 page anniversary issues features twelve stories. The most revealing, and important to Batman continuity, is battling Calendar Man. During the fight, the museum catches fire and, as he sees a portrait of his parents stating the gallery was dedicated to them in 1985, there is a blinding white light. Everything becomes fractured and many versions of Batman are seen. Our hero is now dressed in his DETECTIVE #27 costume and the portrait now says the gallery was dedicated to them in 1915. Kamandi appears, telling Batman that Booster says time is broken. Together, they leave to “get the team together”. To be continued in GENERATIONS FUTURE STATE #1.

THE FLASH #761 by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter. In the 853^rd century, the newest Kid Flash is being taught the “most important moment in our history.” It turns out that moment is the battle against the Legion of Zoom. Max puts out a call and speedsters from all across time arrive to help in the fight. Thawne tells Barry that he used his knowledge of the past to change things to benefit him. He also used the Negative Speed Force to manipulate events, so he can gain revenge on Barry. Wally’s voice interrupts their fight, telling Barry to find him. Barry and Thawne head into the Speed Force for, what we are told, is their last race.

THE FLASH #762 by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter. Barry is chasing Eobard, who wants to go back to the 25^th century, insisting Flash kills him. But Barry turns the tables, telling Eobard that he forgives him. Barry reveals that he brought the Speed Force inside of him and causes Eobard to disappear. Eobard is now in the 25^th Century and is a curator in the Flash Museum.  Reverse-Flash is still recognized as a villain, but his identity has never been known. Barry shows up to check on Eobard and then goes through the timeline to fix everything that Reverse-Flash altered. Barry eventually goes back to the murder scene he had been investigating before all of this happened, only to find the woman is now alive. It turns out she is the ancestor of Eobard Thawne. In the end, Barry and the Flash Family have a barbeque.

GREEN LANTERN: SEASON TWO #7 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. Hal is dead and finds himself in the afterlife and facing judgment from the Young Guardians. They explain there is a coming war and they’ll need the help of the Death Lantern. Hal fights the come back from the dead, but he forgets everything he was told about the upcoming war. Now he and his team need to fight the battle against the Anti-World.

HAWKMAN #27 by Robert Venditti and Fernando Pasarin. The Hawks have just one life left to live and they are doing it with the JSA in the 1940s. They team up to defeat the Injustice Society. In the end, Carter confesses that he is afraid to die while Hath-Set is making preparations to end their lives.