More new first issues

ALIEN #1 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca. Marvel has gotten the Alien franchise (and the Predator franchise, although all recently solicited items have suddenly been cancelled) and that means everyone’s favorite space creatures have a new home and new life. The story, set almost 800 years after the Nostromo mission, involves another questionable corporation, a father and a son and…yeah: Xenomorphs. Intriguing read but Larroca’s art is the real star here. This reminds me very much of the original Dark Horse series from so long ago, so I’m hopeful; this will be a winner.

AVENGERS: CURSE OF THE MAN-THING #1 by Steve Orlando and Francesco Mobili. Marvel tries to give new life to their classic shambling creature in this first of several inter-connected one-shots. Harrower separates Man-Thing from Ted Sallis, leading to an Avengers hunt for both. Looks great, but I wouldn’t call it a return to form, as the story stumbles throughout.

THE BATMAN AND SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES #1 by Ivan Cohen and Dario Brizuela. Sio, with the end of the Multiverse and the creation of the Omniverse, everything is in continuity now, right? So now we have Batman and Robin teaming up with the Mystery Inc. gang in a time travel mystery. This is truly for younger kids or completists. Looks like a cartoon and reads like one too.

BATMAN/FORTNITE: ZERO POINT #1 by Christos N. Gage and Reilly Brown. So…here’s the setup, straight from DC’s website:” A crack splits the sky above Gotham City...a tear in reality itself. This rift pulls the Dark Knight into a bizarre and unfamiliar world, with no memory of who he is or where he came from. Batman has been drawn into Fortnite! As our hero fights to recall his past and escape an endless loop of chaos and struggle, he’ll come face to face with the likes of Renegade Raider, Fishstick, Bandolier and more. While the World’s Greatest Detective strives to make sense of this strange new world, he’ll uncover the shocking truth about the Island, what lies beyond the Loop and how everything is connected to the mysterious Zero Point.” Yeah…cash grab that has been super-hot because of the exclusive DLC codes included with each issue.

BETA RAY BILL #1 by Daniel Warren Johnson. The other Thor fights a Knullified Fin Fang Foom, before he goes on a quest to regain his humanity. And he almost gets it on with Sif, but she’s turned off by his appearance. The first f five issues. Yeah…it’s a little weird and sometimes cringy.

BLACK KNIGHT: CURSE OF THE BLACK BLADE #1 by Si Spurrier, Sergio Dávila and Sean Parsons. Coming out of events in KING IN BLACK, Dane Whitman has learned that he is the darkness that fuels the blade, not the other way around. So this Grade C level hero, considered a joke by fellow Avengers, is on a mission to find himself. This is a cool little psychological drama with some great dialogue and art. This could be fun and am curious to see where it goes from here.

CAPTAIN AMERICA ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE #1 by Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and a lot of artists. Similar to Marvel’s celebration of GIANT SIZE X-MEN #1, Cap gets the same treatment here with the story being retold panel by panel and page by page by a host of artists. Two stories from CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #1, including the first appearances of Cap and also the Red Skull, and the classic AVENGERS #4 get the treatment. It’s quirky but fun, if you can handle each page having a different art team.

DARKHAWK: HEART OF THE HAWK #1 by Danny Fingeroth, Dan Abnett, Kyle Higgins, Mike Manley, Andrea Di Vito and Juanan Ramirez.Three tales that apparently brings an end to Chris Powell and sets in motion to rise of a new Darkhawk. The stories are okay, but feel like stuff that came out of the inventory files.

DC FESTIVAL OF HEROES #1 by a host of creators. DC celebrates their Asian heroes with the huge 11 story collection featuring a whole host of heroes including Red Arrow, Green Lantern, Katana and more. Most importantly, it features the first appearance of the Monkey Prince, who apparently will get his own series in the future.

FANTASTIC FOUR LIFE STORY #1 by Mark Russell and Sean Izaakse. Like the Spider-Man title that came before, this series retells the FF story from the Sixties until now…with some major changes. Like…Johnny knows a guy named Ben Grimm, who they get from a bar. And Sue is the pilot. And Ricardo Jones is the guy who talks Ben into betraying the team. And Galactus was the big baddie from mission #1. So, if you don’t mind what can best be described as an imaginary tale, this is a fun read. Just forget everything you ever knew about the team.

GEIGER #1 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. In a post-apocalyptic future, Las Vegas is divided into seven kingdoms, each run by a series of unusual rulers. Twenty years ago, an atomic blast has transformed Tariq into something else, where he maintains his land, and possibly his family in an underground bunker, from trespassers. And, of course, the explosion that Tariq was exposed to has transformed Tariq into Geiger. A great interesting first issue with lots of plots dropped and fantastic art from Frank. It’s an interesting take on a Hulk origin story.

GIANT SIZE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: KING’S RANSOM #1 by Nick Spencer, Roge Antonio, Carlos Gomez and Ze Carlos. The current storyline comes to an end in an oversized one-shot. Spidey, in a new suit provided by JJJ, has teamed up with roommate Boomerang to track down the Lifeline Tablet pieces And Robbie Robertson and Tombstone has teamed up because their kids are dating. In the end (SPOILER), Boomerang takes a powder, Kingpin gets the Tablet and, instead of bringing his dead wife back, he uses it to bring back his son, The Rose.

HEROES REBORN #1 by Hason Aaron and Ed McGuiness. Welcome to a brave new world where The Avengers were never formed, Captain America is still in ice and the Squadron Supreme is the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. And only Luke Cage remembers how it used to be. It’s a multi-part epic with no less than 10 interconnected one shots. How did this happen? Who is responsible? And what will it take to fix it, if it can be fixed? All will be revealed. It feels like a fun, dumb 90’s crossover and it looks great. Will it change the landscape forever? We shall see.

HEY KIDS! COMICS! VOLUME II by Howard Chaykin. This amazing romp through comics history is back, this time winding its’ way through the Fifties. There’s a change in the landscape as comics take a turn towards new directions. This leads to the industry coming under the magnifying glass of the government. Sound familiar? It should. Chaykin delivers in dropping breadcrumbs for comics historians to follow as art imitates life here. It’s a wonderful love letter to the business filled with Easter Eggs, like Peter Vance and Dick Altman’s signature logos looking a lot like Woof and Feldstein and the comic WAK in a familiar “mad” font. Highly recommended!

HOME #1 by Julio Anta and Anna Wieszczyk. A story ripped from today’s headlines! A mother and child cross into America from Mexico and get taken into custody. That’s when the family separation begins. But this is different as the child has superpowers. It’s a well written story that leaves the first issue with a cliffhanger.

HOT VALLEY DAYS AND COCAINE NIGHTS #1 by Matthew Spradlin and Sean E. DeMott. Here’s an unusual book from Antarctic Press, that is more known for NINJA HIGH SCHOOL. It’s an 80’s story that tells the tale of 15 year old Janie as she goes from small town Ohio to becoming the biggest drug dealer in Los Angeles. And it’s based on a true story. It’s a crazy tale with great art and a definite rush to read. Good luck though, as this book as underordered and, because of a nude variant cover on issue #2, has become a pricey title on the secondary market, meaning it could cost you upwards of $200.00 for the whole 3 issue mini-series.

THE INVINCIBLE RED SONJA #1 by Jimmy Palmiottti, Amanda Conner and Moritat. Another Dynamite Red Sonja title. Jimmy and Amanda write it with tongue in cheek…picture a barbarian Harley Quinn and you get the idea. Fun read with nice Moritat art.

MARJORIE FINNEGAN TEMPORAL CRIMINAL #1 by Garth Ennis and Goran Sudzuka. Ennis is back in this new 8 issue series from Upshot. It’s a wild, wacky time travelling adventure with a cast of crazy characters. It looks amazing and, in typical Ennis style, hits all the right buttons for comic weirdness. Upshot continues to deliver with some amazingly fun titles.

THE MARVELS #1 by Kurt Busiek and Yildiray Cinar.What happens when a regular guy encounters the heroes of Earth? You get this. An interesting story which feels like Busiek’s ASTRO CITY by his use of characters. It even looks a little like ASTRO CITY. What makes this work is that the heroes are part of the story, but not the stars of the story. Al in all, this loos like a winner.

THE MIGHTY VALKYRIES #1 by Jason Aaron, Torunn Gronbekk, Mattia De Iulis and Erica D’Urso. Anew anthology mini-series spinning out of KING IN BLACK. Two stories, one starring Jane Foster and Loki and the other billed as the “new Valkyrie story”. The Jane story is beautiful to see and has some funny moments involving Stephen Strange. The second tale reveals the new Valkyrie’s name as she travels to a distant planet. I’m curious to see where this goes and am in for more just for the main story.

REDEMPTION #1 by Christina Faust and Mike Deodato Jr. The team that brought you BAD MOTHER, that I absolutely loved, hits the Old West in this new five issues mini-series. Did I say Old West…more like the Old West is the norm in this post-apocalyptic future. It’s equal parts DEADWOOD and MAD MAX. I love Faust’s writing and Deodato’s art…what can you say. He’s still knocking it out of the park after all this time.

THE RISE #1 by George C. Romero and Diego Yapur. George Junior gives us a well-crafted prologue(his words, not mine) to his father’s classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Set in the era of Kennedy, it promises to explain how the zombie outbreak began. A fun read with killer art. If you’re a horror fan, you need to add this, which is promised to be eventually collected into a graphic novel. So, if you’ve missed the openings chapters in this comic, be patient.

RWBY/JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 by Marguerite Bennett and Aneke. I know nothing about RWBY but this seems like they’ve mashed up those characters with DC heroes. Personally, it did nothing for me.

SILK #1 by Maurene Goo and Takeshi Miyazawa. Cindy Moon, for those uninitiated, was once bitten by the same spider that bit Peter Parker and thus she got powers too. But those powers allow her to shoot webs straight out of her fingertips…no web shooter required. Then she got locked in a bunker for 10 years. Well, the hero known as Silk has a new job as cub reporter for J. Jonah Jameson’s website. Because of her publishing an article about a gangland slaying, Silk ends up becoming JJJ’s personal bodyguard. I expected this book to just be average, but I rather enjoyed it, with a fun story and a well-developed character while the art is obviously Manga inspired. This is a different little Marvel title that has potential.

STAR WARS: WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS ALPHA by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven. The biggest STAR WARS comic event ever that is being told over five months in 33 chapters. Boba Fett has Hans Solo and everyone is after him. If you’re a STAR WARS fan, you know that you’re diving in head first. The story is cool, the art is great and this leads into a long, deep dive that ends in October.

STRANGE ATTRACTORS #1 by Mark Sherman and Michael Cohen. One of my favorite independent comics of the 90’s is back, and I couldn’t be happier! This strange space tale is still an amazing black and white jaunt, with trippy graphics and a fun back story, complete with fictional comic books included. This has been a long wait of close to 30 years and brings me back to the days of the black and white boom. And with a variant cover from WANDERING STAR’s Teri S. Wood, it rolls back my clock to a simpler time in my life.

SUPERMAN RED AND BLUE #1 by Marguerite Bennett, Wes Craig, Brandon M. Easton, John Ridley, Dan Watters, Wes Craig, Clayton Henry, Steve Lieber, Dani Strips, Jill Thompson. An interesting anthology title from DC with two tone tales of the Man of Steel. All are interesting takes on sides of Superman’s life and was just a fun departure from the continuing storyline. Since everything now is supposedly in continuity, I guess this is important to have to a completist. But to be honest, I picked it up because of the contributors list, specifically Ridley and Thompson.

VAMPIRELLA VERSUS PURGATORI #1 by Ray Fawkes and Alvaro Sarraseca. Dynamite mines the legion of Vampi fans with another series which takes place in current continuity. But seriously: do we need another book? And while it IS in continuity, it feels off as Fawkes dialogue doesn’t jibe with Priest’s. She just comes off here with some really stilted dialogue that feels silly.

THE WAY OF X #1 by Si Spurrier and Bob Quinn. Another X book? Seriously Marvel: enough already! It’s another team book, this time led by Nightcrawler and features a host of C listers like DJ and Doctor Nemesis. Spoiler: Legion is back.

X-CORPS #1 by Tini Howard and Alberto Foche. Yet ANOTHER X book!!! Because the mutants need to make money, X-Corp is made, with Warren Worthington at the helm. Nothing like a book where mutant heroes run a drug company. For the record, this now makes 11 monthly X titles. 11!!! And soon, Hickman’s INFERNO, which will bring us an even dozen. And I bet you thought there were too many BATMAN titles in the world!

DC UNIVERSE, Month 40, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE #61 by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Ram V and Xermanico. The team has ended up on Naomi McDuffie's homeworld where they find themselves split up and having issues with their powers. Superman’s heat vision has gone crazy, Black Canary's canary cry is supercharged, and Naomi's hands started disappearing. While Superman and Black Adam battle Brutus, the others team up to lend a hand before Brutus heads back to Earth to make it his new home. In the backup, Justice League Dark, with Ragman’s help, figure out why Merlin attacked the bookshop. This leads them to a fictional library, where Merlin plans on regaining his original spell book.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: LAST RIDE #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Miguel Mendonca. Sometime in the future, the Justice League has disbanded, the Green Lantern Corps has been shut down, and Lobo has killed the New Gods. He has been captured, but Hal Jordan, who is planning on rebuilding Oa on the moon, insists the League needs to come together to see the Lobo stay alive to make it to some sort of cosmic trial. Batman rebuffs the idea and goes back to patrolling Gotham. Mr. Freeze is loose and Batman engages him, with Superman taking Freeze out, much to Batman;s dismay. That leads to an argument between the two, where Superman admits he sent Martian Manhunter to his death, which seems to have been the reason the team broke up. Eventually, Batman decides to join up, saying they need to take Lobo to Apokolips.

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #1 by Darrick Robertson. In a tale set in the past, Batman battles The Joker, who has a new batch of gas he plans to unleash on Gotham. In the end, Batman and The Joker are in a helicopter when The Joker unleashes the gas in the cockpit, sending the pair and the copter into the water below.

MAN-BAT #4 by Dave Wielgosz and Sumit Kumar. In their fear-induced fantasy, Kirk and Francine finish Scarecrow's sonic cannon. But during the process, the consciousness of the Man-Bat is trying to break free so he can stop all of this. He succeeds and he explains to Francine what is happening. Batman shows up and takes down Scarecrow. But then decides to challenge Man-Bat, who injects himself with Venom, creating a monster Man-Bat.

MILESTONE RETURNS INFINITE EDITION #0 by Reginald Hudlin, Denys Cowan, Chriscross, Jim Lee, Ryan Benjamin and Khoi Pham. In Dakota, a BLM protest ends badly as police unleash an untested gas which transforms people, one of whom is Virgil Ovid Hawkins who gains electromagnetic powers and transforms into the hero Static. This is the event that has come to be known as The Big Bang. Elsewhere, Curtis Metcalf reacts to the incident and suits up as the superhero Hardware, confronting the police and putting them on notice. Meanwhile, Icon and Rocket save some captives in a jungle and then enjoy tacos. In the end, Holocaust forms The Blood Syndicate. In the backup, originally published online during the DC Fandome event, we learn Icon is an alien from another world who shows Rocket the various heroes of Dakota including Static, Hardware, Xombi, and the Shadow Cabinet.

MISTER MIRACLE: THE SOURCE OF FREEDOM #1 by Brandon M. Easton and Fico Ossio. Shilo Norman is doing a pay-per-view escape show with surprising success. He meets with his agent, who chides him about not being willing to reveal his identity to the public, saying he won’t do that because of the way Thaddeus Brown was treated when he revealed his identity as a African American. Later, he saves some squatters during a fire and meets firefighter Denise Dorian. His agent meets with her and arranges for her to go on a date with him, which doesn’t go well because of his ego. Later, he finds his apartment trashed with graffiti calling him a thief. That’s when N’vir Free, the only child of Scott Free and Big Barda shows up, claiming to be the rightful heir of the Mister Miracle mantle.

THE NEXT BATMAN: SECOND SON #2 by John Ridley and Travel Foreman. The Fox family is gathered at Tam’s bedside after being poisoned by The Ratcatcher.  Tiff asks if having the actual toxin would help with a cure, which sends Luke as Batwing out after the villain.  Jace goes to work at FoxTech, although he also moonlights as a masked vigilante. Commissioner Renee Montoya promotes a pair of officers to detective, declaring that ALL masked vigilantes are to be apprehended.  “Even the goods ones,” she snaps, which is probably a questionable call, emphasis on the “Question” part.  In the end, Batwing fails to find the cure, leading to Tiff embracing Jace. 

NIGHTWING #80 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. The police show up to question Dick about the dead body they found that links to Dick. Barbara has to vouch for him and he sends Tim undercover at the tent city. Two of Blockbuster’s thugs show up, leading to a fight between Nightwing and them. A fire starts at the tent city, leading to Dick and Tim rescuing people. That’s when Heartless shows up.

ROBIN #2 by Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov. Damian wakes, finding out you don’t die on Lazarus Island. Actually, you can die twice and on the third time, your soul leaves you forever. The last survivor gains immortality. The only rule is you can’t kill someone at night. The odds on favorite is Connor Hawke, who is working for the League of Shadows. Later, he meets with Flatline and they discover the biggest Lazarus Pit he has ever seen. In the end, Robin and Ravager head to a tiki bar, where all the competitors are gathered.

STARGIRL SPRING BREAK SPECIAL #1 by Geoff Johns, Todd Nauck and Bryan Hitch. Green and Red Arrow are training when he reveals that he and Roy were the Green Arrow and Speedy in the Seven Soldiers of Victory, due to being thrown into the past by a Clock King trap, making him the Golden Age Green Arrow. That is when a new Crimson Avenger shows up saying that Lee Travis needs their help. Courtney and Pat head to Myrtle Beach to meet with Greg Saunders, the former Vigilante. While waiting for him, he tells how the original Crimson Avenger and his partner Wing died. The current Crimson Avenger shows up and Pat and Courtney are transported to a meeting with Green Arrow, Red Arrow, Vigilante and the Shining Knight. That sends them on a mission to find Clock King and save Lee Travis’ soul. They battle Clock King, find Lee Travis on the boat, which as a time vessel built by Per Degaton, who tells them to save Wing. They can’t save Lee, but his body is eventually found. In the end, Emiko tells Courtney that she has a lead on finding Wing. In the backup, set in 1940, Per Degaton enlists Clock King’s help.

SUICIDE SQUAD #3 by Robbie Thompson and Eduardo Pansica. Amanda Waller wants Bolt on the team, at any cost. Nocturna meets with Peacemaker and tells him that something is not right with Connor. Waller sends them out after Bolt with two new members: Keymaster and Branch. Things go bad fast, with Keymaster dying when Waller explodes his brain bomb. Connor shows up and tells Bolt to run. She escapes, Peacmaker knocks out Branch and then finds himself getting beaten up by someone who says they can get the team into Titans Academy: Red X.

SUPERMAN #31 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Scott Godlewski and Norm Rapmund. Superman and son meet Faldr and discover he has been taken over by Shadowbreed. Jon takes Prince Qarath O Bakkis to find Faldr’s lab, while Superman heads off, meeting with the citizens, only to discover the entire population has been taken over by the Shadowbreed. That leads to him being infected. Jon discovers Qarath O Bakkis has sold them out and is in cahoots with Shadowbreed. He races off to try and save his father. In the backup, Loose Cannon doesn't trust the new Gangbuster and that leads to a brawl where Gangbuster is critically injured. So what does Projectress have to do with this?

THE SWAMP THING #3 by Ram V and Mike Perkins. Levi Kamei submits to an MRI to find out why he's having nightmares and blackouts. During the exam, Levi starts transforming, sending both Jennifer and himself into The Green. In the process of trying to find her, he runs into Poison Ivy, explaining that he is looking for Jennifer. She explains they have to be careful of the Wodewos. Elsewhere, Jennifer about to be trampled by the Wodewos, but she gets saved by the Floronic Man, who offers to get her back home. Ivy takes Levi to a throne where Evil Ivy sits. The two Ivy's start to fight, which is broken up by a human Alec Holland, who proceeds to tell Levi about the nature of The Green and the forthcoming contagion.

TEEN TITANS ACADEMY #3 by Tim Sheridan and Rafa Sandoval. The Suicide Squad, along with Red X, have come to Titans Tower to capture Bolt. Waller’s rationale appears to be that she provided legs for Alinta when she lost the use of hers. Crush and her team, along with many of the new recruits, fight the Squad as Red X reveals he is a double-agent working for the Titans. The Squad teleports out and Crush quits the team. In the end, the “Bat Pack” try to discover who Red X really is.

WONDER GIRL #1 by Joëlle Jones. In a flashback, a young Yara Flor, her mother and some Amazons are surrounded by soldiers in the jungle. Yara’s mother dies, but Yara gets away with her adoptive aunt. In the present, Yara heads to Brazil for a tour and, when she steps on Brazilian soil, the powers of Heaven and Earth find that an ancient pact has been broken, leading to the forces throughout the various kingdoms working to kill her before her presence brings death to the gods.

WONDER WOMAN #772 by Michael Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Jordie Bellaire, Travis Moore and Paulina Ganucheau. Diana has made her way inside of the Snake, Nidhogg and has grabbed the Valkyrie key. Siegfried shows up to warn Diana, as does Thor and Odin, who gets crushed, leading to Diana going back into battle and dying again. She discovers the shadow figure that she sees at each death is Deadman, who again tells her this isn’t her place. This leads to her confronting her evil self. During their battle, Diana knocks Dr. Psycho out of her and self and they disappear. Odin arrives and takes her to Fortress Vakyrie. In the backup, Diana finds a long-lost tome, which she hides from Oenone.

 

 

DC UNIVERSE, Month 40, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1031 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, Daniel Sampere, and Michael Avon Oeming. Superman and son take in the potential Kryptonian refugees, one of whom bears the El sigil on her palm, while fighting off the Warzoons. But some of the refugees are being held by the Atlanteans. He speaks with one of the refugees, who says the word Mongol. Back at the fortress, the girl with the sigil wakes and destroys Kelex. In a flashback, it seems that Mongol has sent her to deal with Superman in order to save her family. In the backup, Midnighter and Apollo's relationship is on the rocks and Andrej Trojan has captured Mister Miracle and his Mother Box.

BATMAN #108 by James Tynion IV and Jorge Jimenez. Batman continues to be mentally tortured by the Scarecrow. Elsewhere, Nakano holds a press conference where he introduces the hero of A-Day, San Mahoney. Simon Saint meets Mahoney and gives him a proposition. Saint gives him a tour of Saint’s labs and offers Mahoney the position of Peacekeeper-01. In flashback, Matches is interrogated by the Unsanity Collective and meets Miracle Molly, who explains she knows he is in a disguise. They go to a safehouse, where she explains their ideology. She explains they had a contract with Simon Saint to pull off the heists. In the end, Saint prepares to make Mahoney into Peacekeeper-01; explaining it will be painful.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #18 by Gene Luen Yang, Jos Lus and Ivan Reis. Batman and Superman continue their fight with Auteur.IO in the Archive of Worlds, when he produces a Phantom Zone crystal. On film, our heroes are in the Batcave back on Superman and Lois Lane's world, where they are attacked by Wayne security robots while Jimmy Olsen gets attacked by a transformed Alfred. Superman saves Jimmy while Batman and Robin face off against Martha Wayne and this world's Bruce Wayne, who have captured Lex Luthor. Martha is involved in interdimensional smuggling with Dr. Atom and turns frightened Bruce into Bizarro. Superman defeats him and the Dynamic Duo unmasks Dr. Atom, revealing he is a Luthor from another world. Batman reveals his identity to Martha and the Bizarro Bruce returns to something close to normal, but has turned into Two-Face. Dr. Atom and the heroes jump through the burn hole and find themselves at the point where Auteur.IO produces a Phantom Zone crystal.

BATMAN: THE DETECTIVE #2 by Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert. Batman and Squire interrogate a crook, before heading to an underground clinic under Piccadilly circus where Knight is recovering from her injuries. Batman finds the tracker on the crook reveals he is on a train in Paris. But this is a ruse as the crook has been killed by the leader of the group he works for. On the train, Batman meets up with Henri Ducard. Ducard says he can help Batman for a fee. Later, Equilibrium arrives at Ducards hotel, where he gets shot. In the end, Batman holds a mortally wounded Ducard as Equilibrium escapes.

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS #3 by Chip Zdarsky, Che Grayson, Brandon Thomas, Matthew Rosenberg, Eddy Barrows, Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque, Max Dunbar and Ryan Benjamin. Batman drops Tyler with Leslie Thompkins  which is somehow connected to Cheerdrops. Jason follows a lead which leads him to Mr. Freeze. In the second tale, Lady Shiva visits Batman, before he takes her to see how happy her daughter is in her new life. In the Outsiders story, we learn Katana’s battle was just on the Astral Plane. Black Lightning and Metamorpho arrive to rescue her. Later, Jefferson reveals he is building a new team made up of himself, Metamorpho, Katana, The Signal and a surprise fifth member. In the last story, Grifter, six months ago, gets recruited by some mysterious men. In the present, he sleeps with his new boss, has dinner with Bruce Wayne, meets with Batman and then breaks into a secure area of Wayne Tech. But the Men in Black arrive and Grifter needs to leave. In the end, Cole is hanging out a window to stay hidden.

CATWOMAN #31 by Ram V and Fernado Blanco. Catwoman is confronted by Mr. Roy and his crew. She explains how she and her crew distracted everyone to steal Ivy from him. He responds by saying Simon Saint is a frightening man and shooting himself in the head. Elsewhere, Saint dispatches the Wight Witch to take care of Catwoman and Ivy. Later, Ivy is being stashed in an abandoned terminal building where Selina meets with her mysterious benefactor. In the end, Leo has been kidnapped by Father Valley.

CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER SONS #2 by Peter J Tomasi, Max Raynor and Jorge Corona. The boys seek out Wonder Woman and tangle with a minotaur bearing the Sword of Ares. They defeat him and save Wonder Woman from her prophesized death. In the distant past, Felix Faust and a much younger Rora meets with Vandal Savage. Faust is interested in discovering the secret to immoral life and has convinced Savage into helping him by offering to show him the future. Jon and Damian arrive, revealing this is what happened in issue #1 when they first met Rora. They are captured and Faust realizes they hold the key to the future.

CRIME SYNDICATE #3 by Andy Schmidt, Kieran McKeown and Bryan Hitch. The team battle Starro while arguing about how to do it best. Donna Troy takes action, even as Starro claims that they are the last hope to free the galaxy from the Overlords of Oa. Starro is defeated, but with great loss of life in Metropolis. But Ultraman is proud that he saved the physical city of Metropolis, much to the dismay of Alexander Luthor. In the backup, Donna meets and kills Steve Trevor.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1036 by Mariko Tamaki, Clayton Henry and Dan Mora. Lydia catches Bruce bringing Sarah Worth, who has been murdered, into his apartment and calls the police. It turns out Sarah has turned into Lady Clayface. Later, he meets with Huntress and they bring Lady Clayface to one of his Batcavees, where she says she remembers Sarah saying a man said “kneel”, which Batman deduces means Neil Betterman, who is connected tp Mayor Nakano. They track Neil down, who dies in front of them with a creepy eye fungus and blood on his hands. The blood is Lydia’s, whose death will probably be pinned on Bruce. In the backup, Huntress tracks down Mary’s ex-boyfriend to see if he murdered her.

THE FLASH #770 by Jeremy Adams, Jack Herbert, Brandon Peterson and Kevin Maguire. Jay Garrick and Happy Terrill, the superhero known as The Ray, are dispatched by the President of the United States of America to retrieve the Spear of Destiny before Adolph Hitler can get his hands on it. But they get captured by Parsifal, who can nullify the powers of metas. At this point, Wally West jumps into the Jay’s body and the Speed Force energy shoots from into Hitler, who now possesses the Spear of Destiny. They confront Hitler, but he uses the Sear to stop them in their tracks. Wally jumps out, freeing Jay, who uses the Speed Force to overload the Spear, seemingly killing Hitler. Jay and Happy escape and Wally…he has jumped into Reverse Flash’ body, in a cartoon version of the Legion of Doom.

FUTURE STATE: GOTHAM #1 by Dennis Culver, Joshua Williamson and Giannis Milonogiannis. Jason battles The Ventriloquist who mans a full sized mecha Scarface. After defeating him, there is a large explosion, that leaves a large crate in the form of a bat. Later, Jason is accepted by the Magistrate, with the possibly of becoming a Peacekeeper himself. In the end, a less than friendly Bat Family meet with Red Hood.

GREEN LANTERN #2 by Geoffrey Thorne and Dexter Soy. The Guardians and the Lanterns gather to mourn Koyos. His sister Nemosyni upends the hierarchy of the Lanterns, distributing the patrolling of 1200 sectors to the United Planets and reassigning the Lanterns. John Stewart is assigned to explore the Dark Sectors, with 1,000 other Lanterns. John says goodbye to Keli and Simon but, as soon as he leaves, the giant Lantern Battery on Oa explodes, apparently killing all the Lanterns on Oa except Keli. That’s when Sojourner Mullein arrives.

HARLEY QUINN #3 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo. Harley Quinn sets up a support group for former clowns to help them deal with their guilt and anxiety. Hugo Strange's thugs show up to collect test subjects for his medical experiments as part of Mayor Nakano’s S.A.F.E program. Harley breaks free of capture and ends up in the sewers where she is confronted by…Solomon Grundy.

THE JOKER #3 by James Tynion IV and Guillem March. Jim Gordon recalls the traumatic events of THE KILLING JOKE before meeting with Cressida. She gives him a bank card with an unlimited cash access and he boards a plane. Meanwhile, Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown attempt to track down Cressida. Gordon tracks down and mees with The Joker, who insists he wasn’t responsible for A Day. But this may lead to a team-up as Vengeance and her team are out to kill The Joker. In the backup, Orca has been brought back into prison to make an example out of Punchline. And Blue Bird is tracking down Punchline's past, but that may get her killed.