DC UNIVERSE Month 39, Part 2

MAN-BAT #3 by Dave Wielgosz and Sumit Kumar. Harley Quinn is trying to psychoanalyze Kirk Langstrom before letting him go, with a promise that if he broke Francine’s heart again, she would kill him. Francine gets kidnapped by The Scarecrow and Kirk visits his sister, who he has been doing his research to restore her hearing. He bonds with her and develops what he thinks is the right serum. That’s when Scarecrow shows up and the next thing you know, Kirk is with Francine in his lab. But that’s just an illusion planted by his kidnapper-The Scarecrow.

THE NEXT BATMAN: SECOND SON #1 by John Ridley, Tony Akins and Travel Foreman. Tim Fox is in Vietnam on a covert mission. After completing the mission, he is met by Grifter, who tells him tat his father wants him home. Tim, who goes by the name of Jace, returns home and it’s obvious there is tension among the family, especially with his brother, who is secretly Batwing. Elsewhere, Mayor Nakano promotes Renee Montoya to Police Commissioner In the end, during an argument between Luke and Jace, Tamara collapses and an ambulance needs to be called.

NIGHTWING #79 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. While Dick and Barbara eat pizza, he decides to use his newfound wealth to help feed and house the homeless. He sets up a father and son with a hotel stay, but the father doesn’t live long enough to enjoy it as a shadowy villain literally steals the man’s heart. Dick’s wallet gets stolen and he observes the Maroni Crime Family meeting with Melinda Zucco. He tracks down the kids who stole his wallet and that leads to him finding a tent city filled with homeless kids. In the end, Dick decides to use the money to be a safety net for Bludhaven.

ROBIN #1 by Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov. While the Bat family try to find Robin, he is in a cage fight against King Snake-the father of Bane. Robin wins the fight and this eventually buys him a marker that gains him access to the League of Lazarus tournament. Robin finds himself on a boat with other contestants, including Respawn and Ravager, on their way to Lazarus Island. After meeting Mother Soul, Robin decides he wants to fight starting now and battles Flatline, who pulls Robin’s heart out of his chest, seemingly killing him.

SUICIDE SQUAD #2 by Robbie Thompson and Eduardo Pansica. Peacemaker is fighting to get William Cobb out of Arkham Asylum. Connor Kent Superboy arrives with a new team made up of Nocturna, Mindwarp, Culebra, and Exit. Batman arrives and finds Cobb’s cell empty. Things go bad when Mindwarp’s mask cracks and he dies from Joker gas. The team escapes and Batman saves the remaining Arkham survivors. Back at Task Force X headquarters, Culebra saves Superboy from his Kryptonite exposure by injecting him with an antidote. Peacemaker and Superboy butt heads about the way things are and Peacemaker knocks him out. In the end, Amanda Waller decides she needs speed and that means getting the Teen Titans Academy student Bolt on her team.

SUPERMAN  #30 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Sean Lewis, Scott Godlewski and Sami Basri. Lois, Clark and Jon are playing miniature golf when Superman gets a distress signal which sends he and Jon to Thakkram, where they eventually meet with Clark’s old friend Faldr Poornym. Superman says he got a distress call from Qarath O Daanim. But that can’t be because Qarath is dead. Superman and Jon go looking for the body and find one of Superman’s old communicators. Unbeknownst to him, Qarath’s killer now inhabits Faldr. In the backup, Ambush Bug becomes a detective to take on Projectress.

THE SWAMP THING #2 by Ram V and Mike Perkins. Levi Kamei continues waking up nightly in the desert inside the Swamp Thing body, where he continues to be defeated by the Pale Wanderer. The nightmare is different each night as the Pale Wanderer kills somebody new each time. News reports reveal that this is not just a recurring dream. Levi shows the reports to Jennifer to prove why he's returning home early in the morning. Meanwhile, the sheriff of Aztec Town goes off to confront the Pale Wanderer as Levi arrives and prevents the sheriff's death. The Pale Wanderer tears the Swamp Thing’s heart out, but the green retaliates, killing the Pale Wanderer and forms a huge green tree in the middle of the desert. In the end, as the government prepares to take over the investigation of the giant tree, a mysterious figure receives a folder labeled the Holland Phenomenon.

TEEN TITANS ACADEMY #2 by Tim Sheridan and Rafa Sandoval. The issue begins with Bolt facing off against Red X. In flashback, Nightwing is having relationship issues with Starfire, after he reveals he needs to see Barbara. Later, he discovers Red X downloading Titan files, but eventually gets away. He calls a meeting of the students, where Bolt is deleting a contact from her phone. Back where things began, Bolt asks Red X if he is going to kill her and he responds he won’t, but maybe the others present will…The Suicide Squad.

WONDER WOMAN #771 by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad, Jordie Bellaire,Travis Moore and Paulina Ganucheau. Wonder Woman questions Thor about why he is more concerned with wine and women and not his fellow warriors. Later, she goes off with Ratatosk to save everyone, but encounters the Murk Elves. During the battle, she is haunted by the voices from beyond trying to remind her of what she truly is. She defeats the Murk Elves and meets Dr. Psycho, who sends her off to meet Níðhöggr: the serpent who eats the roots of Yggdrasil. She wants the key to the Valkyries, but Níðhöggr wants an eagle egg from the top of the tree. Along the way, she meets Odin. She gets an egg and then hides inside the shell, believing she can slay Níðhöggr from inside. In the backup, another tale of young Diana, where Helene is poised to stop the young princess’ mission.