DC UNIVERSE Month 42, Part 2

HARLEY QUINN #5 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo. Harley analyzes Hugo Strange and his Batman fixation. After a bathroom trip, she breaks free and rescues Kevin and the other captured clowns, with some help from Solomon Grundy. In the end, Strange plans his next move with his mysterious accomplice Keepsake.

ICON & ROCKET (SEASON ONE) #1 by Reginald Hudlin and Doug Braithwaite. In 1843, a spaceship from a distant world crash landed on Earth and the surviving child, Arnus, was raised by a pair of slaves. In the present, Raquel Ervin and her friends break into his home. H now foes by the name of Augustus Freeman. He quickly dispatches the crooks, but a bond is formed between Augustus and Rachel, who convinces him to use his power to change the world. And she convinces him to let her be his sidekick.

INFINITE FRONTIER #2 by Joshua Williamson, Xermanico, Jess Merino and Paul Pelletier. Cameron Chase heads to the Hall of Justice where she is looking fr answers from Batman and Superman, which they refuse to answer. She checks in with Bones, who wants her to recruit Captain Atom. Elsewhere, Justice League Incarnate are collecting pieces of a wrecked ship that is scattered throughout the Multiverse. On Earth-22, President Superman is finding out from Thomas Wayne Batman how he ended up here when Magog arrives, looking for a fight. On Earth-0, Allan Scott and Obsidian are trying to figure out what happened to Jade, leading to a bit of an argument with Vandal Savage. Roy is trying to control the Black Lantern ring, which shows him his daughter may be alive. The ring seems t transform hm into a full Black Lantern, saying the words “Darkseid is”. Chase meets with Captain Atom and deduces that he is not the real Captain Atom she knew. Telling her that she doesn’t know what is happening with the Multiverse and how he knows too much, he rips open his chest, screams “Darkseid is” and sets off a nuclear explosion, apparently killing them both.

INFINITE FRONTIER #3 by Joshua Williamson, Xermanico, Tom Derenick, Jess Merino and Paul Pelletier. On Earth-22, President Superman and Thomas Wayne continue talking with Magog, who he calls an abomination. Justice Incarnate arrives and Magog allows them to examine the shuttle wreckage. On Earth-Omega, Flash thinks he is running a race with Jay Garrick, but he is in a trap and being monitored by the Psycho Pirate. Alan Scott and Obsidian are still looking for Jade, which leads them to visit Shade in search of information. This takes them to Bludhaven and an investigation in Command D. This leads them to discover a huge spaceship and Bones. And company, where they get blasted by Cameron Chase. At the same time, Black Lantern Roy finds himself floating in space and looking for a miracle. That miracle comes in the form of a similar, if not the same, spaceship, where he meets Hector Hammond, who has been changed since the reset. He gets subdued by Hammond and his team, who takes the ship into The Bleed. The ship gets attacked by Infinite Incorporated, led by Jade.

THE JOKER #5 by Mathew Rosenberg, James Tynion IV, Sam Johns, Francesco Francavilla and Sweeney Boo. In a flashback issue, a young Captain Gordon tries to convince Harvey Dent and everyone else how dangerous the Joker is. His obsession leads t the death of several officers and what could be the end of Jim’s marriage. In the backup, Harper gets some information from her father about Punchine and Punchline is seeking revenge on Kelly Ness.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #64 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ram V, Steve Pugh and Sumit Kumar. The United Federation of Planets' Honor Guard are trying Synmar Utopica, but he escapes and is headed to Earth to continue his fight with Superman. Elsewhere, Naomi has a sparring match with Aquaman while Green Arrow and Black Canary are confronted by Daemon Rose: agent of Checkmate. In the backup, Batman meets with Elnara Roshtu, who claims to be the thirteenth knight of Arthur’s court. They team up, fighting the Brother of Ambrosius and looking to free Randhir Singh.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #65 by Brian Michael Bendis, Ram V, Steve Pugh and Sumit Kumar. Black Canary and Green Arrow dealing Daemon Rose, who claims to be Lois Lane’s brother and also needing help from Checkmate. The revelation that Oliver is working for Checkmate doesn’t go over well with Black Canary, but there is little time to react to that as Deathstroke arrives-but not Slade Wilson-and takes them all out. Meanwhile Synmar Utopica battles the League and seemingly destroys the Hal of Justice, possibly killing Naomi’s parents and anyone else in the building. In the Justice League Dark backup, Batman and the 13th Oathswoman Elnara Roshtu try to free the mind of Randhir Singh. Elnara enters the mind of the old man, only to find a young child inside, where he reveals that Merlin is responsible for his captivity and he must pay. Meanwhile, Merlin is looking to conquer Atlantis and it's up to the combined forces of Justice League Dark and Aquaman to stop him.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: LAST RIDE #3 by Chip Zdarsky and Miguel Mendonca. The League gets Lobo to Apokolips before finding out that trouble is on the way. Batman and Superman argue over what to do before Wonder Woman steps in and the teams prepare for a fight.

LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #3 by Darrick Robertson. Batman is held captive by Quiz, but she reveals she needs his help. Scarecrow is looking to double-cross The Riddler in a deal with the Russians and she and Nygma love each other. Batman agrees to help, taking out the bad guys.

MISTER MIRACLE: THE SOURCE OF FREEDOM #3 by Brandon Easton and Fico Ossio. Shilo continues his battle with N’Vir, eventually leading him to The Core, where he observes how N’Vir established the Free Galactic Imperium. But there was a rebellion and that led to the destruction of the Imperium, which she believes is Shilo’s fault. He transports back to the fight and is quickly defeated., begging Mother Box for help. Meanwhile, Slakind heads to meet with a man named Oberon, who claims he knows everything, including why N’Vir is here.

THE NEXT BATMAN: SECOND SON #4 by John Ridley and Travel Foreman. Jace observes his father meeting with Mayor Nakano and Simon Saint before receiving word about where to find Arkadine’s courier. He tracks her down but gets stabbed in the process, only to be saved by Katana. Later, he learns that the courier’s satchel contained identification cards for folks on the government watch list. He also learns there is a sub-basement in the building and it is connected to the Clade of Chiroptera. He makes his way to the basement and discovers an armory and a Batsuit, leading him to discover that the Clade if the group who work for Batman.

NIGHTWING #82 by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo. Melinda, who has revealed herself to be Dick’s sister, takes him to meet her mother Meili Lin. Many yeas ago, she ran away from her abusive husband Tony Zucco while attending the circus, which leads to a confrontation between John Grayson and Zucco. Lin joins the circus and has a brief fling with a still singe Grayson. One night, Zucco kidnaps Lin back, where she gives birth to Melinda, who Zucco thinks is his. Eventually, they flee from Zucco, who will gain his revenge and Grayson by killing he and his wife Mary. Later, Dick and Melinda chat only to find out that Blockbuster is here.

ROBIN #4 by Joshua Williamson and Jorge Corona. Damian spends some quality time with Ra's Al Ghul, who teaches him some life lessons and tries to convince him not to return to Lazarus Island for the tournament. He leaves Ra’s and Goliath and heads to Corto Maltese, where he gets a visit from Tim, Dick, Stephanie and Jason, who are looking to take Damian home.

SHAZAM! #1 byTim Sheridan and Clayton Henry. Billy Batson is fighting alongside his Titans teachers against Chemo when his powers fail and Shazam disappears. Later, as he continues to deal with not being able to access his powers, his sister Mary meets with him, where he learns that Freddy is in the hospital with an undisclosed condition that Mary says is “bad”. She suggests he meets with Doctor Fate, revealing he is on campus explaining problems being encountered by a “celestial event”. Fate recounts how the power battery on Oa is gone, the Speed Force is in flux and the Rock of Eternity is in Hell. As he prepares to leave to find the Rock, fellow student Dane arrives and opens Doom’s Doorway to take them to Hell.

STATIC (SEASON ONE) #2 by Vita Ayala and Chriscross. Virgil battles Hotstreak, whose power has run out and so does he. Virgil uses his power to snuff out the fire in his house, much to the surprise of his family.Later, at school, Darius tries to live stream and interview with Virgl, who destroys his phone and breaks up their friendship. He contacts Curtis Metcalf, who sends him to a storage locker at the airport. En route, he meets with other Band Babies, and finds the government is after them. At the locker, Virgil encounter the police, who thinks he is Metcalf. Elsewhere, it looks like Daisy has gotten powers too.

SUICIDE SQUAD #5 by Robbie Thompson, Dexter Soy, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira and Joe Prado. Amanda Waller has sent Bloodsport to Earth 3, to kidnap Black Siren and add her to the Squad. That leads him into a direct confrontation with Ultraman, who likes getting shot with Kryptonite and, after dispatching Bloodsport, wants to know how to get to our Earth. Back at Task Force X base, Flag is still on the loose and Waller is told that they might have found Levi Kamei: the new Swamp Thing. And Waller decides to send Peacemaker after him.

SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW #2 by Tom King and Bilquis Evely. Supergirl and Ruthye are on a space-bus, in search of yellow sun. Along the way, they encounter a space dragon, forcing Supergirl to take a Red Kryptonite pill to give her enough power to defeat the dragon. They are on this journey as Supergirl is seeking a way to get an antidote to cure a mortally wounded Krypto. And she has also agreed to help Ruthye find and kill Krem.

SUPERMAN AND THE AUTHORITY #1 by Grant Morrison and Mikel Janin. It’s 1963 and Superman and President Kennedy turns down Superman’s request to protect him in Dallas. What he does ask is for Superman to promise to make the world better. The scene shifts to an assault against Manchester Black, who uses his powers to stop himself from being apprehended. Superman arrives and takes down Black. Black wakes in the Fortress of Solitude, where he has been operated on by Superman to fix his broken spine. Superman explains that he is losing his powers and is gathering a team that can help. There is also an imminent breakout from the Phantom Zone and he needs Black’s help, but Black refuses and the breach occurs. Superman does his best to fight but is losing the battle until Black changes his mind and uses his powers to help. Black sees the light an agrees to join this team. Elsewhere, a mysterious villain addresses other villains, including Eclipso, and explains that Superman is his oldest enemy and now knows how to destroy him.

SUPERMAN: SON OF KA-EL #1 by Tom Taylor and John Timms. We begin with Jon’s birth inside the Fortress of Solitude. Today, Jon is helping put out a fire accidently started by someone with uncontrolled fire powers. Despite a promise by authorities, the military knocks the boy out and demands Jon hands him over to them. Later, he talks with Damian about if he did the right thing. After dispatching ninjas on Corto Maltese, Daian tells him to stop fighting the symptoms in this world and to be the cure.

THE SWAMP THING #5 by Ram V and John McCrea. Levi Kamei is summoned to London to disarm an unexploded WWII bomb, with the help of John Constantine and Sierra Kirre. The bomb could cause people to become radicalized towards fascism by the radiation of the bad ideas that exist from the Nazis who created it. Swamp Thing finds the bomb and takes it out of London, where it explodes. In the end, Amanda Waller sends Peacemaker to capture Swamp Thing.

TEEN TITANS ACADEMY #5 by Tim Sheridan and Steve Lieber. In flashback, the Bat-Pack meets at an orphanage in Gotham that is selling students to Dr. Grusel. Grusel is trying to perfect Kirk Langstrom's Man-Bat formula, which leads to Diego Perez becoming Chupacabra. Nightwing shows up to save them from a transformed Grusel and bringing them to the Roy Harper Academy for Gifted Youngsters. In the present, Red X reveals his identity to them before leaving, saying he will be back to see if they want to join his team. Less than a minute later, as Red X predicted, Nightwing arrives and leads the Bat-Pack out to an end of semester celebration.

WONDER GIRL #2 by Joelle Jones and Adriana Melo. After being pulled into the water by a sea creature, we discover the creature is actually an ancient warrior named Iara. Iara gives her a magical Bolabefore, before returning her to the surface with few memories. Meanwhile, forces are conspiring to find and stop Yara before a prophecy is fulfilled. Artemis, Wonder Girl Cassie, and a group South American Amazons head to Brazil-each with different agendas. Yara and João jump on a plane to get Yara back to her hote, where they get attacked by a pair of South American Amazons. During the fight, Yara accidently kicks a hole in the plane. Eros and Zephyros, dispatched to get Yara to Hera, rescue the plane from crashing. Eros accidentally cuts himself with one of his own arrows and immediately falls in love with Yara.

WONDER WOMAN #775 by Michael Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Jordie Bellaire Andy MacDonald and Paulina Ganucheau. Diana, Deadman, and Ratatosk head into the Graveyard of the Gods where Diana must three riddles from the Keeper to save the Olympians. She succeeds and that brings the Olympians back to life. She promises Janus she will find his other half and retrieve the God Scraper. This leads her to enter a deep well and end up in Elfhame. In the backup, young Diana fights to save Clio from the cutches of Circe and does so with the help of Io’s purple ray.

WONDER WOMAN #776 by Michael Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Jill Thompson Jordie Bellaire and Paulina Ganucheau. Diana and Ratatosk wander through Elfhame, where Ratatosk gets turned into a boy, Siegfried shows up, and Diana talks to Deadman, which leads to a confrontation with Janus. Ratatosk gets captured, leading to Siegfried and Diana confronting Gwyn: king of Elfhame. She defeats Gwyn, gives his crown to Argna, the sister of the queen, and gets her lasso to force Gwyn to lead her to the portal that will bring Diana, Siggy and Ratatosk back to Earth at last. In the backup, young Diana learns that her mother was responsible for giving the order to destroy the sacred texts.