DC UNIVERSE Month 50, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1041 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Shawn Aldridge, Dale Eaglesham, Will Conrad and Adriana Melo. Midnighter goes on a lengthy rampage to free Apollo, killing slavers and freeing slaves, who join him on his mission. Along the way, Steel learns that the slavers have brought O.M.A.C.  to kill her. Before that happens, Superman, along with Midnighter and his rag-tag team, arrives. In the backup, J'onn continues his hunt for VULTURE, leading him to confront his past and the Court of Owls.

AQUAMAN/GREEN ARROW-DEEP TARGET #6 by Brandon Thomas and Ronan Cliquet. Aquaman and Green Arrow have been restored to their own bodies and, with the help of dinosaur Anderton, take down his crew. The human version of Anderton wonders why he is being attacked and dinosaur Anderton gets dragged beneath the waves by a fish monster, leading to Aquaman saving him. Anderton is captured and delivered to the Justice League. But something is wrong here has J’onn is actually masquerading as Anderton. J’onn explains what he has found to Oliver and eight days later, Oliver invades Atlantis, demanding to see Aquaman.

AQUAMEN #2 by Brandon Thomas, Chuck Brown and Sami Basri. Jackson has discovered that Arthur has teamed up with Black Manta and storms off, taking the body Manta was dissecting with him. He takes it to meet with Mera and discovers that Doctor Shin is there working with the Atlanteans. Elsewhere, the investigators into the explosion in Ohio discovers what appears to be letters left behind in the rubble. Back in Atlantis, it is revealed that the letters in Ohio are an ancient Atlantean language. Meanwhile, Manta and Arthur discover a broadcast station which sent out the Atlantean letters, which apparently acted as a distress signal, and they reactivate the machine in an attempt to shut it down. In the end, Jackson meets with a captive Orm and torments him to reveal who activated the distress signal.

ARKHAM CITY: THE ORDER OF THE WORLD #6 by Dan Watters and Dani. A week after Dr. Joy discovered that Professor Pyg was behind everything, she has decided to stay and continuing Pyg’s work to build a new Arkham. He decides to free Azrael and that’s a bad idea as Azrael takes revenge on Pyg and the escaped Arkham inmates. Detective Stone arrives, sees the carnage and shatters the Arkham skull the Ten Eyed Man has. He goes to kill the Ten Eyed Man, but Joy saves him and takes the bullet instead. Stone is knocked out, the Ten Eyed Man flees and Dr. Joy dies.

BATGIRLS #4 by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad and Jorge Corona. Stephanie and Cassandra continue to try to put the pieces together to find the Hill Ripper's identity, who they currently think may be their neighbor Mr. Greene. Meanwhile, Babs continues to create a more secure network that Seer cannot hack into. Later, the girls track down and capture Tutor, but the Saints are also tracking them down. They turn Tutor over to Babs ex-boyfriend Charles, who is billed as a criminal psychologist and art therapist. Too bad they did not realize that Charles is the man behind Tutor and is the villain Spellbinder.

BATMAN #121 by Joshua Williamson, Jorge Molina, Mikel Janin and Karl Kerschl. In a flashback, Lex Luthor finds out about Batman Inc and plans to go to Badhnisia. In the present, a blind Batman and Lex face off against Abyss and Batman Inc. Abyss explains he was used as part of an experiment by Luthor to create a new Batman and, when it went awry, he sent Batman Inc. after Abyss. Batman says "Code: Club of Heroes," and Batman Inc. reveal they were undercover the whole time. Abyss flees and Batman gets Luthor’s secret weapon off of his wrist which will provide enough light for Batman to see. Catching up with Abyss, he throws a powder at Batman which allows him to see again. At the same time, we see that Abyss is also permanently blind. He flees and Batman goes back to Luthor. Batman Inc. reveals that they never cashed Luthor’s money and everything they have done is to seek out the other Abyss projects Lex has created. Before heading back to Gotham, Batman tells Cayha that Badhnisia doesn’t need Batman Inc. and she should let him know when she is ready. In the epilogues, Batman contacts Ghostmaker to have he and Clownhunter keep an eye on something for him(continued in BATMAN 2022 ANNUAL coming in May). Cayha finds Luthor’s lab and wonders what he was up to. Prometheus tells his boss, Deathstroke, that Batman is back in Gotham(to be continued in SHADOW WAR: ALPHA). In the backup, Batman and Maps save Lindsay from the Kappa, finding out that her grandfather had his house filled with them. Batman sends her home, but she leaves him a flower which turns out to be Katherine Karlo. She tells Batman that Maps is going to Lindsay’s grandfather’s house. Mia discovers that grandpa is now a Kappa himself and Batman comes to the rescue to save her.

BATMAN: KILLING TIME #1 by Tom King and David Marquez. Three days ago, a security guard wants to spend time with one of the dancers at Penguin’s club. He makes a deal with Penguin to help in an upcoming bank robbery. An hour before the robbery, Catwoman is posing as a tennis pro and takes the wife of a bank president hostage. At the same time, Croc robs a bank, with the security guard getting killed, although Penguin promised him that wouldn’t happen. Croc is robbing the bank so he can get money to make himself human for a girl he loves, who eventually gets the money delivered to her for safe keeping until Croc gets out of jail. At the same time, Riddler gets into the vault of another bank-the same one that is connected to the president’s captive wife. He gets an object from the vault, which has connections to ancient Greece and meets with Catwoman and Penguin, where Riddler beats Penguin with his own umbrella. Batman is now on the case, as he is well aware of what is in the vault.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #1 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Many years ago, Batman, Robin and Superman team up to take down The Penguin. This is early in their association and the heroes promise to watch each other’s’ backs going forward. In the not-so-distant past, Poison Ivy teams up with Metallo and battles Superman, Batman and Robin. The Dynamic Dup take down the villains but not before Metallo injects Superman with a Red Kryptonite cocktail. In the present, Superman is fighting the effects of Red K, which continues to change him with varying deadly effects. He begins to hallucinate, believing that he is being attacked by various villains from his Rogue’s Gallery. The Doom Patrol show up to help and Negative Man manages to contain him. That leads Batman and Robin to take a trip to visit Dr. Niles Caulder to try and find a cure.

BATMAN: THE KNIGHT #3 by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Henri Ducard faces off with Bruce and Lucie while the police investigate Glonet's mansion.  Ducard reveals he is here because Alfred has hired him to find Bruce. The trio work together and deduce that Glonet, who is the serial killer known as The Foundling, is killing off specific people throughout his life and will next go after one of his classmates, Claude Laurent. Bruce goes after Glonet and stops his reign of terror but is not in time to save Laurent. In the end, he decides to stay in France and train with Ducard.

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS #13 by Vita Ayala, Ram V, Mohale Mashigo, Mark Russell, Nikola Cizmesija, Anano Rk, Arist Deyn and Karl Mostert. Zatanna, Batman and Constantine fight together to stop the approaching evil that has been unleashed. But Eos is stronger than they imagined. In the first backup, the Wight Witch gains bsack more memory, including a previous relationship with Ghostmaker. After a rampage, Sait kills her again, meaning her next rebirth will reveal more of her memory. In the second backup, Eternity thinks he has solved the murder and Creasy is arrested. But it turns out Regina and Creasy’s wife, both of whom are dead, committed the crime, as their souls were intertwined after their deaths. In the end, a man in black takes Regina away and warns Eternity to stay away from the dead. In the final backup, Batman is still captured and it’s up to the Super Pets to save him.

BLUE & GOLD #7 by Dan Jurgens, Phil Hester and Paul Pelletier. A mysterious villain has captured Jaime Reyes and is planning to unleash Nullifex on the world. When Nullifex begins a rampage in town, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold jump into action, eventually getting help from a recently freed Jaime Reyes. The trio defeat Nullifex because of Booster’s mistake which results in the villain accidentally killing himself. Jaime turns down the offer to permanently join the team. In the end, the master villain is revealed-Black Beetle.

CATWOMAN #41 by Tini Howard and Nico Leon. Dario and Noah are meeting with Dario’s father and it’s obvious he is becoming more distant from the family. Meanwhile, Selina and Valmont are waiting for Flamingo to arrive to dispose of the bodies of the two family members Valmont killed last issue. Onyx Adams shows up and questions why Selina is teamed up with Valmont. She explains how they are working to avenge Kristi and take down the Tomasso crime family. Later, they stop Dario from blowing up a meeting between his father and other bosses, including Black Mask and Eiko Hasigawa. In the end, Dario crashes in Selina’s apartment and, while he sleeps, Eiko’s hit squad arrives.

DEATHSTROKE INC. #7 by Joshua Williamson and Stephen Segovia. Respawn and Rose make their way into Deathstroke’s stronghold where he has gathered his Secret Society.Once unmasked, Respawn is revealed to be a genetically merged version of Damian Wayne and Slade himself and was tortured for years by Ra’s. Respawn pitches Rose out the window and joins Sade in his group. In the end, Lex meets with the other Legion of Doom members, who wonder what they are going to do about Slade.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1055 by Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg, Fernando Blanco and Amancay. Dr. Wear has been tossed from the tower by Nero, Ana and Siphon, killing him. They are trying to take control of the Tower and are taking hostages, including Nakano’s wife Koyuki. Ana had pursued Koyuki, but Huntress saved her, getting stabbed in the process. Despite her injuries, Huntress pursues Ana, but crosses paths with Mr. Freeze. They battle and Nightwing, previously seen with an unconscious Psycho Pirate, arrives to lend a hand. During the fight, Psycho Pirate flees and Nightwing ends up falling down a deep hole inside the building. Koyuki ends up with Pyscho Pirate and Nightwing ends up captured. In the end, Nightwing’s abductor encounters the leaders of the revolt, telling them it is time for his revenge. The abductor? Scarecrow. In the backup, the boy encounters an earthquake during the NO MAN’S LAND storyline and ends up with a group of survivors. Discovering that something stole their food, he goes out to find the person responsible, which turns out to be Croc. He cuts a deal with Croc to get some of their food back and also eliminate the group’s sadistic leader in the process.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1056 by Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg, Amancay and Fernando Blanco. The Scarcrow has captured Nightwing, Koyuli is holed up with Pyscho Pirate and Huntress, finally defeating Mr. Freeze, heads out to find Nightwing. While Stephanie gathers with a group of hostages, a group of Party Crashers find the captive Dr. Meridian, who is saved by Harley Quinn. Harley takes down the security building and the Bat Family converges on the Tower. Scarecrow throws Nightwing from the Tower, but Batwoman can’t save him. Luckily Batman arrives and he saves Nightwing. In the end, Ana finds Koyuli and the Pyscho Pirate. She points her gun and pulls the trigger. In the backup, the boy leads his group through Gotham, stealing food to bring to Leslie’s clinic. He meets with Helena and later engages in a fight with her as Huntress. Batman arrives and he is dressed down by the boy for how he was treated as a young child. Batman allows him to continue his operation as long as no one gets hurt.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1057 by Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg, Amancay and Fernando Blanco. Batman has arrived and takes down some of the Party Crashers. The Pyscho Pirate has been shot and Ana tries to goad Koyuli into taking his mask and using it. Huntress shows up and takes down Ana, allowing Koyuli and the Pyscho Pirate to escape. Elsewhere, Tim and Steph need backup to help them against Penguin’s squad and get it in the form of Batwoman. Harley fends off attackers with the help from Lady Clayface. Tim, Cass and Batman confront Scarecrow, getting assistance from Psycho Pirate. During the confusion, Pyscho Pirate’s mask hits the floor and Koyuli puts it on. In the backup, Batman and Jason confront Elliot Maslow, who Jason once knew when they were both at Ma Gunn’s. Batman accuses him of working with The Joker, which he denies. That leads Batman, Jason, Tim and Dick underground to further investigate when they are attacked by Clayface, Croc and Scarecrow. It’s a trap and now the tunnel is flooding.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1058 Mariko Tamaki, Matthew Rosenberg, Amancay and Fernando Blanco. The Tower siege has ended. It is revealed that Wear was behind the whole thing. The Penguin decides that he needs Psycho Pirate and sends a team out to apprehend him sat a motel. The Bat Family is waiting and defeat the team of bad guys. Later, at Wear’s funeral, Nakano tells Meridian that she is now in charge of the Tower. In the end, Psycho-Pirate gets help from Batman, who now has to deal with The Riddler. In the backup, Batman has a final meeting with the boy and the two come to an agreement. But the boy runs into The Penguin, telling him this is his story. Telling the boy he is just a minor caracter, The Penguin kills the boy.

THE FLASH #780 by Jeremy Adams and Will Conrad. WAR FOR EARTH-3 PART 3. Linda is dealing with the fact that she now has Speed Force powers. Wally and the kids come back from their adventure in Gemworld. Over at Iron Heights, Warden Wolf is working on a new project and is going to be using Blacksmith to achieve his goals. Johnny Quick arrives at the Flash Musesum, where he is trying to get the Cosmic Treadmill and bring it to Amanda Waller. Wally intervenes, but Mirror Master arrives, allowing Quick to get the treadmill. To be continued in TEEN TITANS ACADEMY #13.

FUTURE STATE: GOTHAM #11 by Dennis Culver, Geoffo and Rafael Albuquerque. Jason and Batman hide from the Next Joker, leading to Tobias fleeing. He gets captured by Harley Quinn and Hunter Panic. They get cornered by Joker and his Jokerbots, forcing them to fight back. Elsewhere, Nightwing gets his first treatment of Brane, which gives him insight on where Damian is, before collapsing. Batman and Jason head to one of Bruce’s satellite caves, where Jason shows off some prototypes he has been working on. The pair, wearing the armored prototypes show up to help Harley Quinn and Hunter Panic. In the backup, Batman travels down the River Styx with Deadman, where he is forced to relive traumatic failures in his life. It turns out to be illusions created by Scarecrow and Batman overcomes them and defeats the villain.

HARLEY QUINN #13 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo. A vigilante killer masquerading as Harley frames her for a series of gangland killings. At the same time, Harley and her team steal food trucks to feed the hungry. In the end, she is arrested for the killings and thrown into Blackgate.

THE HUMAN TARGET #6 by Tom King and Greg Smallwood. The clock is ticking and Chance is still dying. He and Ice have a fight after she learns he is investigating Fire. Later, when the pair try to reconcile, Guy shows up to reveal he has recovered his ring and attacks the pair. Ice freezes Guy and Chance smashes the frozen Lantern, killing him. In the end, Chance pays a visit to Fire.

I AM BATMAN #7 by John Ridley and Christian Duce. Chubb and Whitaker meet with Batman, who seems more concerned with getting guns off the street than helping to solve Devlin Rubel’s murder. He decides to investigate the murder while they go after the street gang, which they eventually capture. Later, Jace and Vol narrow their suspect list down to Rubel’s security head, Tyron Burrows. Batman tracks down Burrows, who convinces Batman he is innocent. Batman investigates further, leading him to the hiding place of the killer artist named Manray.

ICON & ROCKET: SEASON ONE #6 by Reginald Hudlin, Leon Chills and Douglas Braithwaite. Rocket confronts the alien and gets a huge assist from Static. Icon, Lil Bit and Xiomara arrive, leading to a final battle between Icon and the alien, with Lil Bit shrinking the creature and Icon crushing him with his boot. In the end, Icon gets Rocket enrolled in Switzerland. And Edward Alva, Hardware’s chief villain, appears, revealing he has plans for the future.

THE JOKER #13 by The Sawyer Family indulge in an exquisite cannibal dinner while The Joker waits in a cage before he ends up as the main course. He taunts the cook enough and gets free, killing the cook. Vengeance arrives and slaughters the Sawyers. She is just about to take out revenge on The Joker when Bane and Batman arrive, with Bane telling his “daughter” that they need to talk. In the backup, Punchline’s trial continues with Cullen admitting on the stand that the Royal Flush Gang instructed him to lie about Punchline. When the verdict comes in, Punchline is found…not guilty.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #73 by Brian Michael Bendis, Szymon Kudranski, Emanuela Lupacchino, Wade Von Grawbadger and Scott Hanna. In ancient times, the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos band together to stop Xanadoth. In the present, Xanadoth has taken possession of Black Adam and Zatanna battles him. Madame anadu tries to lend an assist with Xanadoth offerg a gift. Etrigan and Dr. Fate arrive to lend a hand, but are quickly defeated with Xanadoth taking Fate’s helm. The Justice League arrives and Adam flees. Later, the combined League and Dark call upon Nabu, who takes offense at being disturbed. He meets Naomi and, in a flash of light she is transported away. In the end, Xanadoth tells Xanadu that they have history together and Xanadoth is her future.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #74 by Brian Michael Bendis, Szymon Kudranski, Emanuela Lupacchino and Wade Von Grawbadger. With Naomi in a white void where she speaks with Nabu, the rest of the team battles Xanadoth. The magic users manage to separate Black Adam from Xanadoth and, with Naomi back and powered by Nabu, the villain begins to weaken. Nabu joins back up with Doctor Fate and Xanadoth is forced into the void until Black Adam confronts her and Naomi uses her new powers to defeat her. In the end, the team receives a priority alert and heads off.