A collection of first issues recently released

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.

THE CONURING: THE LOVER #1 by David L. Johnson-McGoldrick, Rex Ogle, Scott Snyder, Garry Brown, Denys Cowan and Dave Johnson. Released to coincide with THE CONURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT, DC unleashes two new stories in a horror vein, along with some cool, retro ads. The main story continues into issue #2. I was okay and fills a hole left by the demise of the Archie horror line.

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.

DC PRIDE # 1 by a host of creators. DC celebrates their LGBTQ+ heroes with the huge 9 story collection featuring a whole host of heroes including Batwoman, Midnighter, The Question, Harley Quinn, Green Lantern, The Flash and Aqualad. Most importantly, it features the first appearance of Dreamer, who apparently will get her 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.

GAMMA FLIGHT #1 by Al Ewing, Crystal Frasier and Lan Medina. The breakout hero team from THE IMMORTAL HULK gets their own mini-series. Puck, Titaia, Crusher Creek, Rick Jones/Del Frye, Doc Sasquatch and Dr. Charlene McGowan are on the run and now they come face to face with…the son of Hulk. This title will lead into/tie into the upcoming HULK series by Donny Cates.

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 #1 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 CRUSADERS: THE SHIELD #1 by Rob Liefeld. Archie resurrects this classic team in this one-shot starring Joe Higgins: the original Shield, with cameos by most of the other classic characters like Flygirl, Fox and Black Hood. It’s more visuals than story but leaves us with a cliffhanger that may lead to a regular series. After all these years, Liefeld’s style hasn’t changed or lost steam.

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.

THE NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE #1 by James Tynion IV and Alvaro Martiunez Bueno. The surprise horror hit from DC! A bunch of people find themselves trapped in a house on the lake while the world comes to an end. It’s a beautifully illustrated mystery/horror tale that, after issue #1, leaves you with more questions than answers. Can’t wait for issue #2!

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 arts 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.

SPAWN UNIVERSE #1 by Todd McFarlane, Jim Cheung, Brett Booth, Stephen Segovia and Marcio Takara. After 318 issues, a new Spawn Universe is born. I have to admit, it’s been a very long time since I read the series, with the exception of issue #300, so I have no real clue as to what is going on here. But, I guess we have a host of Spawns which will star soon in the own series. KING SPAWN comes in August, GUNSLINGER SPAWN in October and THE SCORCHED in December. We have four stories starring King Spawn, Gunslinger, Medieval Spawn and She-Spawn. It’s a fun read, even if I don’t understand it!

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.

THE UNITED STATES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 by Christopher Cantwell, Josh Trujillo, Dale Eaglesham and Jan Bazaldua. Wile Cap questions what is going wrong in our country, someone busts in and steals his shield, leading to a country wide search for it with The Falcon. Along the way, he meets Aaron Fisher: the Captain America of the Railways. Aaron is gay and he finds himself defending the homeless and abused. It’s the first issue of this mini-series which will highlight different “regular” folks that are embracing the true American ideals.

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 41, Part 2

JUSTICE LEAGUE: LAST RIDE #2 by Chip Zdarsky and Miguel Mendonca. In a flashback, the forces of Apokolips are fighting our heroes on Earth. Batman and Martian Manhunter are trying to stop Darkseid from sending bombs through Boom Tubes by shutting down his control center. At the same time, Superman and Hal Jordan are fighting Parademons and trying to protect the Guardians. But everything they are doing doesn’t keep Darkseid from arriving. In the present, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Wally West are taking Lobo to Apokolips while John Stewart, Hal Jordan and Superman save an alien ship from a black hole.

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #2 by Darrick Robertson. Batman and The Joker both survive the helicopter crash, but both are suffering from the Joker Toxin. Batman uses a little of his antidote to save himself and the rest to save The Joker. They are eventually rescued by GCPD. Gordon shows him a clue from The Riddler, but Batman questions the authenticity. It leads him to a broken down casino at the end of the Amusement Mile. Still suffering from the toxin, he ends u in the casino in the clutches of The Quiz: a female villainess dressed in Riddler apparel.

MAN-BAT #5 by Dave Wielgosz and Sumit Kumar. Man-Bat faces off against a Batman possessed by the rage virus while Scarecrow continues to work on using the sonic cannon on Gotham. Francine thwarts Scarecrow and gets saved by Man-Bat, who has had an inner dialogue with Kirk, allowing him to take control. He defeats Scarecrow and uses the cannon to free everyone. He apologizes to Francine before allowing Batman to take him to Blackgate. Several months later, Wonder Woman meets with Man-Bat and convinces in to join her in what became known as Justice League Dark.

MISTER MIRACLE: THE SURCE OF FREEDOM #2 by Brandon Easton and Fico Ossio. Mister Miracle battles N’Vir Free, the daughter of Scott Free and Big Barda. But Shilo has no idea who they are, as they are obviously from another Earth in the Omniverse. He has his Mother Box transport him away from the battle and ends up in Northwest Australia. He also realizes that part of his face has been exposed, setting off a firestorm of issues when people realize that Mister Miracle “ain’t a white guy.” He transports to Vito’s office, where he discovers this situation has escalated. Vito takes Shilo to Thaddeus Brown’s house, where he finds the urn containing Brown’s ashes. N’Vir Free attacks again and Shilo transports again. When he touches a button on the urn, his energy level is increased by 1,000 % per second.

THE NEXT BATMAN: SECOND SON #3 by John Ridley and Travel Foreman. Jace sets up an assault on Eabha O’ Roark so he can see how tough she is when he tries to take her down and get to Arkadine’s courier. Elsewhere, Jace’ mother serves Montoya with a court order to seal evidence in the Enrique Acevedo case. Jace gives his testimony regarding Enrique Acevedo. He went to a party and afterwards was talking on his cell phone when we ran down Acevedo and then fled the scene, allowing Acevedo to die. What doesn’t get revealed during the deposition is that Lucius Fox and his team went into damage control mode, painting Jace as the innocent victim in all of this. Tim was sent away to the Sanford Military Academy, where he eventually would learn his fighting skills.

NIGHTWING #81 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. Melinda Zucco is getting sworn in as the new mayor of Bludhaven, but it is revealed that Blockbuster is truly running the show. Meanwhile, Nightwing faces off with Heartless, who sets the ier on fire, trapping the children. Nightwing puts out a maritime distress call and the kingness of strangers saves the children. Back at his apartment with Tim, Barbara and his dog, now named Bitewing, Dick learns that Melinda Zucco is now Mayor, leading him to break into her apartment to investigate. But she surprises him and capturing him. He screams at her, saying he knows she is the daughter of the man who killed his parents. She explains her real father is John Grayson…and she is Dick’s sister!

ROBIN #3 by Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov. Damien does his best to try and fit in at a beach party with the other competitors. Later, he meets with Connor and a tenuous friendship develops until the League of Shadows arrives and castigates Connor. The pair fight, leading to Connor throwing Robin off a cliff. When he finally washes ashore, he is discovered by his grandfather: Ras al Ghul.

STATIC (SEASON ONE) #1 by Vita Ayala, Chrisscross and Nicholas Draper-Ivey. Virgil Hawkins is still trying to adjust to his life after gaining powers during the Big Bang. If that wasn’t bad enough, Hot Streak is looking for payback from their fight in MILESTONE RETURNS. The pair renew that fight, resulting in Hot Streak setting the Hawkins house on fire.

SUICIDE SQUAD #4 by Robbie Thompson and Eduardo Pansica. Red X has been captured by the Suicide Squad. He reveals he allowed himself to be captured. A prisoner escape sends the team into action, leading to a battle between Red X and Peacemaker. Red X takes him down and makes his way to Waller. She threatens to explode the room they are in, but Red X is one step ahead and has already set off some explosives, leading to his escape. Apparently, Rick Flag is free now too.

SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW #1 by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. Ruthye Marye Knoll’s father is killed by a man named Krem. While her siblings decide to let their god deal with Krem, Ruthye takes Krem’s sword and decides to seek justice on her own. She stops at a pub and attempts to hire a bounty hunter to do the deed, who takes the sword as he reneges on the deed. A very drunk Supergirl, celebrating her 21^st birthday, disarms him. Ruthye tries to hire Supergirl to help her, but she repeatedly turns her down. Supergirl enters a spaceship but then is shot in the chest by Krem, who ended up there thanks to the bounty hunter. Wounded because she is vulnerable under this planet’s red sun, Krypto attacks Krem, but is also shot with an arrow. Supergirl attacks the bounty hunter and knocks him out while Krem enters the spaceship. In the end, Supergirl and Krypto are lying on the ground bleeding as Krem rockets away in the spaceship.

SUPERMAN #32 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Sean Lewis, Scott Godlewski and Sami Basri. Superboy finds himself up against one of the biggest threats he's been up against as he fights to rescue his father from the Shadowbreed. They work together to defeat the Shadowbreed, setting Jon up to be the Superman he was always meant to be. In the backup, Bibbo teams up with Acrata to defeat the Projectress.

THE SWAMP THING #4 by Ram V and Mike Perkins. Alec Holland shows Levi the threat the Contagion poses to both the Green and to all of humanity. Alec convinces Levi that he must assume the power of the Green to beat the Contagion and establish mastery over the Wodewos. Levi confronts the Wodewos but is overwhelmed until Ivy arrives to lend a hand and gets him to focus all the memory of the Green and control  the Wodewos. Meanwhile, Jennifer follows Woodrue to find a way to get to Levi but she fears Woodrue is leading them into dangerous places and flees. She sees the Levi Swamp Thing coming at her and faints. He brings them back to the world, cleans up the lab and they leave. In the end, agents find computer backups and some plant matter left by the tests. A call is made to Amanda Waller briefing her on the situation and asking her what she knows about the Holland Phenomenon.

TEEN TITANS ACADEMY #4 by Tim Sheridan and Steve Lieber. The Bat-Pack team up to try and figure out who Red X is. After eliminating most of their suspects, they deduce that it is Billy Batson, but Donna Troy blows up that hypothesis. Still not convinced, that changes when they run into Billy and then, immediately after, Red X. So…who is Red X?

TEEN TITANS ACADEMY 2021 YEARBOOK #1 by Tim Sheridan, Bernard Chang, Marco Santucci, Darko Lafuente and Rafa Sandoval. In the first story, Stitch gets elected Class President. Next, Beast Boy and Raven go on a date and continue to enjoy each other’s company, even after she has a premonition of death and destruction involving the school. Third, Matt ends up at Toobey’s house, fights a fire and saves a cat. In the end, the original Red X breaks up a scheme where foster children are eventually trained to work for Black Mask. In the end, one of the kids is heading to Titans Academy. But is HE the new Red X and, if so, which kid is it?

WONDER WOMAN #773 by Michael W. Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Jordie Bellaire, Travis Moore and Paulina Ganucheau. Wonder Woman meets with the Valkyries, when Thor arrives, leading to an all-out battle. Diana deduces that Thor is behaving this way because of Cizko's cursed weapons, leading to Diana crushing his hammer. She passes out and confronts Cizko in her mind, where she defeats him and Deadman takes him away. When she awakens, a truce is arranged and a way to save Yggdrasil is figured out. Diana shares one last night with Siggy before leaving for Olympus, which she finds has been destroyed. In the backup, young Diana receives the missing pages from the Amazonian text and questions the Amazonian way.

WONDER WOMAN #774 by Michael W. Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Jordie Bellaire, Andy MacDonald and Paulina Ganucheau. Wonder Woman and Ratatosk are standing in the ruins of Olympus. They find a wounded man and Diana gets the Rod of Asklepios to heal him. He reveals he is the other half of a person named Janus and his other female half used The God Scraper, forged from the same metal that created The God Killer, to kill the gods. She communicates with Deadman through Athena’s reflecting pool and she and Ratatosk head to the Graveyard of the Gods.  In the backup, young Diana meets with Clio regarding the missing book pages. But the pages get ripped in the process. And Clio, with gleaming red eyes, says that everything will be fine. But is she to be believed?

  

DC UNIVERSE Month 41, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1032 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Becky Cloonan, Daniel Sampere and Michael Avon Oeming. Superman tries to figure out what is going on with the mysterious “Kryptonian” girl. Then he goes off to help Aquaman battled transformed Atlanteans and discovers Necropolis. In the end, Steve Trevor shows up demanding the artifact found in Atlantis and Aquaman threatens war. In the backup, Midnighter works on his relationship with Apollo while having internal debates with a version of Andrej. And Andrej orders that Mister Miracle be killed.

BATMAN #109 by James Tynion IV, Jorge Jimenez and Ricardo Lopez. Batman talks to Oracle after he met with the Unsanity Collective and decides he needs to meet with Simon Saint to find The Scarecrow. Arriving at Saint’s office, Batman threatens Saint, leading to him getting into a brawl with the newly developed Peacekeeper-01. Meanwhile, Harley and Ghostmaker bond in The Haunt before Bella Garten, Poison Ivy’s college girlfriend, shows up, saying Ivy is out of control and needs Harley’s help. In the backup, Ghostmaker prepares to battle Brainstorm, who reveals why he is looking for revenge, after having been defeated in the past and tortured for many years.

BATMAN: REPTILIAN #1 by Garth Ennis and Liam Sharp. Batman hears the news that Scarecrow and Mad Hatter have been badly mutilated, which sends him to find out what happened. He grills a guy, doesn’t learn a lot, but whatever is responsible…it has claws.

BATMAN/CATWOMAN #5 by Tom King and Clay Mann. In the past, Selina gets really drunk and beats up the bartender. She decides to steal something and, because she is really drunk, it does not go well. Batman arrives and takes her away. In the present time, Selena watches as Phantasm kills as former Joker follower. In the future, Harley shows up at Selena’s and threatens to kill her for Selena killing Joker. Selena subdues her. That’s when Helena Wayne shows up and wonders what has happened here.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN #19 by Gene Luen Yang, Emanuela Lupacchino, Kyle Hotz, Steve Lieber and Darick Robertson. Auteur.IO and all the heroes face off against each in the satellite. Dr. Atom explodes himself, injuring Auteur.IO, who escapes into the “Alanna of the Planet Rann" film. There they meet and fight with Alanna and Dr. Sardath against Auteur.IO. He escapes again and they end up in the "El Diablo in the Desert of Doom" film. They team up with El Diablo and they take on Auteur.IO, who has transformed into a train. He explains how he had come to Earth and was fascinated by films. When theaters closed, he followed a voice that clothed him in armor, leading to him creating the Archive of Worlds. In the end, Auteur.IO unleashes Etrigan.

BATMAN: THE DETECTIVE #3 by Tom Taylor and Andy Kubert. Equilibrium has shot Ducard multiple times and Batman races to get Ducard to the Paris Hospital for treatment. In a flashback, a 17 year old Bruce Wayne saves Ducard from an assassin and convinces him to train him. The pair ends up as manhunters until Bruce learns that some of the assignments turn into assassinations, which is an issue for Bruce and his moral code. Back in the present, Ducard is recovering from his injuries as Bruce is arrested by Parisian police, charging him with killing Ducard.

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS #4 by Chip Zdarsky, Camrus Johnson, Meghan Fitzmartin, Matthew Rosenberg, Eddy Barrows, Loyiso Mkize, Belen Ortega and Ryan Benjamin. In the Red Hood, Jason recalls his death at the hands of The Joker as he finds himself frozen by Mr. Freeze. While Batman is investigating another Cheerdrops incident, he learns Jason is in trouble and races to save him. He does but gets frozen in the process. In the second story, Batwing faces off against The Riddler and gets some unexpected help from Killer Croc. In the third story, Tim Drake is on the case of the Chaos Monster and some missing kids. He meets up with his old friend Bernard, only to have that meeting interrupted by Chaos Monster, who kidnaps Bernard. In the last story, Grifter stages a fight with Deathstroke that gets out of hand, leading to Superman getting involved. Meanwhile, armed gunmen burst into a Lucius Fox gala and luckily he gets saved by Zealot. In the end, Superman and Batman discuss the situation, with Superman saying Grifter isn’t working alone and Batman declaring he can handle it by himself.

CATWOMAN #32 by Ram V and Evan Cagle. Father Valley continues to torture Leo, leading to Leo telling Valley how he and Selina met. Their crew was going to take down Mafia kingpin Diego Messina. During the assault, gang leader and Selina’s love Frank Baz is killed. Following his burial, Selina exacts revenge on Messina. Earlier in her life, we see how a young Selina became an integral part of Mama Fortuna’s crew. In current Alleytown, GCPD is taking down the Strays in Alleytown. Hadley visits Maggie, who tells him he should stay away from Selina. In the end, Valley leaves a mortally wounded Leo to die, even as Leo says Selina will come to save him. Continued in CATWOMAN 2021 ANNUAL #1

CATWOMAN 2021 ANNUAL #1 by Ram V, Kyle Hotz, Fernando Blanco and Juan Ferreyra. Someone, but not Selina, saved Leo and got him to a hospital. She visits him and is now prepared to confront Father Valley. In flashback, Azrael, Ludovic Valley, is waging his war on crime in Morocco. Later, he meets with Karl Wasieman. Ludovic is then tasked by Ariel to destroy the Order of St. Dumas to save the order. Azrael sets about killing members of the Order, which puts him face to face with Karl, who attempts suicide rather than fight the man he saw as his father. Karl survived and set about rehabilitating and transforming himself into Father Valley. Back in the present, the people of Allentown are pushing back against the police and Valley blows up a church, which is sure to turn the heat up in Allentown. Continued in CATWOMAN #33.

CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER SONS #3 by Peter J. Tomasi and Jorge Corona. Jon and Damian have been captured by Felix Faust and Vandal Savage. But the boys escape and get pursued and eaten by a monster, who ends up vomiting them out thanks to help from Rora. Back in the present day, the pair have knocked out Hawkgirl to save her from a poison gas attack. Unfortunately, she doesn’t understand and wakes up rather mad. The boys prepare the use a Chronometer to find Rora and save the rest of the Justice League. They find Rora…and she’s being held at knifepoint by Savage.

CHECKMATE #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Two years ago, Manhunter Mark Shaw met with Talia Al Ghul. A few weeks ago, Talia meets with her son as they look at taking down Leviathan. Somehow, they get captured and are prisoners of Shaw. There is a new Checkmate in the DC Universe made up of Lois Lane, The Question, Green Arrow, Mr. Bones, Steve Trevor, Kate Spencer and their enigmatic head, Mr. King. Later, Lois is doing research when she is visited by a co-worker, who reveals she is working for Shaw. She delivers a present to Lois which is Lois’ “father’s sacrifice”. As she examines the item, she is within the sight of a sniper.

CRIME SYNDICATE #4 by Andy Schmidt, Kieran McKeown and Bryan Hitch. Johnny Quick and Atomica are causing all kinds of destruction, which concerns a troubled Lex Luthor. He tells the world that he needs heroes to come together. Thaal Sinestro arrives and says they need to find a way to convince John Stewart, the Emerald Knight, to not give in to the corruption his power ring causes, and they need to get him to join Luthor’s team. Elsewhere, Ultraman, Owlman and Superwomam decide to form the Crime Syndicate. And Superwoman also wants an heir and looks to be interested in making Ultraman the DNA donor. Sinestro confronts John Stewart while Ultraman cleans up Starro. Stewart’s ring tries to sway hi from joining Luthor and he visits his daughter, who sends him away. In the end, Stewart ends up with Luthor’s team, which he has dubbed the Legion of Justice. In the backup, Stewart, a Coast City cop, gets the Power Ring, which he uses to execute the son of a man who loaned him money to help his daughter.

CRUSH & LOBO #1 by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan. Crush is fighting some aliens and realizes she is going to be late in attending her girlfriend's birthday party.  She arrives and everything seems fine until it becomes obvious that she has tracked in some kind of chemical from the alien fight and that creates some extremely toxic gas. This ruins the party and leads to Crush's girlfriend breaking up with her. Later, Emiko shows up at Crush’s apartment. Crush shows her a video message from her father Lobo inviting her to come visit him in prison. So she steals a jet from Titans Tower and heads for the prison reunion.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1037 by Mariko Tamaki, John Ridley, Dustin Nguyen, Karl Mostert and Viktor Bogdanovic and. Huntress discovers a dead Neil Betterman with some sort of ocular parasite evident. Bruce Wayne comes home to find out that Lydia has been murdered, leading to him being interrogated by police and ultimately being detained in jail. Meanwhile, Roland Worth storms into Nakano's office demanding answers about Bruce’ involvement in Sarah’s death. Not satisfied with how Nakamo treats him, he blows up the police station with an RPG. Apparently an SMS message cleared the building before it happened, save for everyone but Bruce. Bruce escapes and is able to lure Worth into the sewer, where he attacks Worth…as Batman. Elsewhere, it appears the Nakano’s man Vile is the person killing people with his parasites. In the first backup, journalist Deb Donovan writes about the not-so-innocent people involved in current Gotham events. In the second backup, a younger Lucius Fox needs to step up to assist Batman and Robin.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1038 by Mariko Tamaki, Meghan Fitzmartin, Viktor Bogdanovic and Karl Mostert. Batman is fighting Mister Worth until Lady Clayface, looking like Sarah, shows up and dissolves in his hand. This distracts him enough to lead to his arrest which doesn’t last long as he gets released and threatens to kill both Bruce and Batman. Worth is met by Hue Vile, who makes promises so they can work together. Later, Vile kidnaps Deb Donovan, setting up an explosive booby trap that Worth sets off, potentially killing Donovan, Batman and The Huntress. In the backup, The Penguin decides to no longer be the butt of jokes and prepares to team up with Worth.

THE FLASH #771 by Jeremy Adams, Kevin Maguire, Howard Porter, Berat Pekmezci, Bryan Hitch, Max Raynor, Scott Kolins, Tom Derenick, Fernando Pasarin, Oclair Albert and Brandon Peterson. Wally has jumped into the body of Reverse Flash and he's about to be inducted into the Legion of Doom. Because this is the Omniverse, this incarnation of the Legion of Doom looks like an episode of SUPER FRIENDS. This leads to a battle with Superman and Wally is able to use Luthor’s dampening ray to drain the Speed Force from Superman’s body and throw Wally back in the Speed Force. He gets sent through various times and places including into Max Mercury in 1832, Miguel in the current Teen Titans Academy, the Justice Society and even the Flash himself. He ends up in his adult son Jai’s body and talks with his adult daughter Irey. She reveals that both the kid’s became superheroes and Wally was still a hero. Mr. Terrific uses the Tachyon device and Wally is transported again…the site of the murders during HEROES IN CRISIS.

FUTURE STATE: GOTHAM #2 by Dennis Culver, Joshua Williamson, John Ridley, Giannis Milonogiannis and Oliver Coipel. Jason, now working undercover as a member of the Peacekeepers, battle the Bat family, injuring Black Lightning in the process. In flashback, we learn that Jason is in his current role because the mysterious stranger he has been meeting with is Bruce Wayne. Later, Jason goes to Blackgate Prison to meet with Astrid Arkham, but that is interrupted by the new Batman. They fight each other but then need to team up, as every door in Blackgate has opened and they are surrounded by Gotham’s most dangerous criminals. Elsewhere, someone is rallying the people of Gotham after last issue’s explosion, saying they need to be ready for war. In the backup, the new Batman has been captured and is being tortured. Luckily, he has backup in the form of his sidekick…his kid sister Tiffany!

GREEN LANTERN #3 by Geoffrey Thorne and Tom Raney. The Central Power Battery is gone and most of the Lanterns have gone off to the Dark Sector. John Stewart has been saved from deep space by drones and taken in by an alien mother and daughter who read his mind. Now he has to protect these people from the Qinoori when he no longer has his Lantern ring. On what is left of Oa, Jo Mullein is trying to work with the United Federation of Planets to restore the planet. Simon is alive and recovering and that thrills Kelli. Jo sends out a message looking for any Lanterns who can hear the message and it looks like Hal is one of them.

HARLEY QUINN #4 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo. Harley attempts to play chess with Solomon Grundy which results in her finding herself and deciding to do thing the “Harley way”. With a makeshift utility belt and cape, she heads off to rescue Kevin from Hugo Strange. She makes her way into Strange’ stronghold and, in the process, sees some of his experiences. She quickly dispatches a bunch of orderlies but that comes to an end when she comes out of an elevator to find Hugo Strange and his crew waiting for her.

INFINITE FRONTIER #1 by Joshua Williamson and Xermanico. A spaceship crashes with Batman inside. But this is Earth-23 and this isn’t this world’s Batman-this is Flashpoint Batman, A.K.A. Thomas Wayne. The Multiverse has changed, becoming the Omniverse and the Totality is trying to keep everything in check. Later, the original JSA Headquarters explodes in green flame and Alan Scott and his son find that Jade is missing. In Paris, Director Bones meets with Agent Chase, telling her the D.E.O.  has reformed and he needs her back full time. Elsewhere, Justice Incarnate (President Superman, Mary Marvel from Earth 5, Machinehead from Earth 8, Aquawoman from Earth 11, and Captain Carrot from Earth 26) meet with Batman, who wants to know where Barry Allen is. Barry is on Earth Omega, where he discovers the Quintessence has been killed and he gets attacked by the Psycho Pirate, who reveals a new crisis is coming and they need to team up. In the end, Roy Harper deals with an angry customer in a diner when he is attacked by X-Tract. He defeats them and realizes that he is wearing a Black Lantern ring and is dressed like a Black Lantern.

INFINITE FRONTIER: SECRET FILES #1 by Brandon Thomas, Joshua Williamson, Stehanie Phillips, Dan Watters, Valentine de Landro, Inaki Miranda, Stephen Byrne, Phil Hester and Christopher Mitten. At the D.E.O., Director Bones reviews tapes focusing on several individuals on several Earths including President Superman, Roy Harper, Obsidian and Jane, the two Totalities, Captain Boomerang and the Psycho Pirate, who ends up meeting Darkseid on Earth Omega, who transforms him to a new version o himself.

THE JOKER #4 by James Tynion IV, Sam Johns, Guillem March and Mirko Andolfo. Gordon and The Joker team up to save themselves from Vengeance and her assault team. The daughter of Bane gets her hands on The Joker, but that’s when the Sampson Crime Family from Texas show up, leading to a standoff. Joker unleashes his gas which takes everyone out. When a captured Gordon awakes, he find The Joker sewing Buddy Sampson’s mouth shut, while explaining that he wasn’t responsible for A-Day. The Joker leaves, saying he is headed to Europe. Vengeance frees Gordon and tells him to go back to Gotham. Elsewhere, Barbara Gordon, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain are maintaining surveillance on Cressida. But unknown to Barbara, there is an Owl hiding in her nest. In the backup, Bluebird escapes a near death situation at the hands of one of Alexis Kaye’s former classmates. In Blackgate, Punchline has ended up in the hospital ward after her fight with Orca. The Queen of Spades plans to dispatch her, but it looks like Orca and some of the other prisoners have sided with Punchline and the Queen may be dead!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #62 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ram V, David Marquez and Xermanico. Hippolyta goes to the Hall of Justice and meets with the Flash, who explains how he sent the League to Naomi’s birth world and screwed up his calculations. The powered down League faces off with Brutus, to keep him from invading our world. Hippolyta and Flash join the fight and take down Brutus, but then Zumbado shows up. In the backup, Justice League Dark continue to follow clues in search of Merlin and what his endgame is. It seems that Merlin is looking for Atlantis. Also, it looks like the Upside Down Man still has a hold on Zatanna.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #63 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ram V, David Marquez and Xermanico. Naomi wakes in the custody and care of the Justice League. We learn that the Nth Metal in Hawkgirl’s mace temporarily took down Zumbado, allowing them to escape this world and return to their own. The League offers her, Black Adam and Hippolyta a place on the team. In the end, Zumbado demands McMurph and Brutus find a way to get him back to our Earth. In the backup, Constantine allows the League to leave the Library by casting a spell and writing their own present. Man-Bat and Khalid work together to try and reactivate the magic in Dr. Fate’s helmet. Elsewhere, Elnara visits a cathedral, demanding the robed figures release their prisoner. As she battles them, Batman watches from the wings.