DC UNIVERSE, Month 52, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1043 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Riccardo Federici and Will Conrad. Superman and his team head into Teacher’s Citadel to rescue Manchester Black. During the process, they find and rescue an infant in a jar. The team begins to plan to rescue Apollo and discover that Kryl-Ux has found the Enchantress.  Later, Byla tells Superman of Mongul’s origin, revealing that Warworld is not just a battle station but a trial to be faced. Meanwhile, Lord Mongul utilizes Apollo to bring Warworld to the village of Vylishei. In the backup, we are told how a Warzoom named Guldejo once killed an alien and became the first Mongul.

ACTION COMICS 2022 ANNUAL #1 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Si Spurrier and Dale Eaglesham. In a story with two interconnecting tales, we get a glimpse of Clark’s childhood and that of Mongul. In Smallville, Clark uses his power to deal with a bully, but is chastised by his mother for it. Later, he saves the boy’s angry father from certain death. We also learn that Martha Kent is fighting Cancer, which led to the bully making fun of her for being bald. In the end, the bully shaves his head to show solidarity with Martha Kent. In the Mongul piece of the story, we see how the child who would become Mongul and his mother are thrown out of the Warzooms and that his mother treats the caring child badly. Eventually, his mother is killed defending herself and the boy transforms into the killer he would become.

AQUAMEN #4 by Brandon Thomas, Chuck Brown and Sami Basri. After being indoctrinated, Scavenger appears to be the one responsible for activating the machine which is influencing people. Black Manta battles Scavenger, who runs off in defeat but not before critically injuring Manta. Arthur explains his trip to Mars, which was a lie. Instead, he was tracking down sleeper agents. The Aqua-team concocts a plan to find and fight the agents, but a sleeper agent invades the U.N. Security Council and sets off a bomb, leading to Mera getting help from Mr. Terrific to build a machine to counteract the sleepers..

BATGIRLS #6 by Becky Cloonan, Michael Conrad and Jorge Corona. Spellbinder has captured Babs but she manages to escape and take him out, sending out a transmission exposing his plan to the world. Over at the old Arkham Asylum, Steph and Cassie battle Tutor, who activates a bomb designed to kill everyone. With only seconds to spare, Steph throws the bomb in the back of Bondo and drives off a nearby pier, destroying the car and apparently killing her. Although the world thinks she is dead, Steph did survive and the trio is reunited and gets a surprise visitor asking for their help.

BATMAN #123 by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter. SHADOW WAR PART 5. Batman and Robin interrogate a fake Deathstroke in prison and he reveals he as hired by the Royal Flush Gang. This sends the duo looking for a man named Gambi who makes the outfits for the Rogues. They discover Gambi unconscious and are attacked by the Deathsroke who killed Ra’s.  Meanwhile, Ghostmaker, Clownhunter, and Batman inc. trying to protect Deathstroke's Secret Society and Slade. Slade has taken Respawn and Ravager to the scene of Ra's murder, and just as he declares he knows who the killer is, they are attacked by Talia's ninjas.  During the battle, Ravager saves Slade’s life and dies in the process. In the backup, Batman, Robin and Deathstroke team up to take down The Joker.

BATMAN ANNUAL  #1 by Ed Brisson and John Timms.  Back in the past, young Bruce Wayne and Ghostmaker fight some villains and discuss their plans for the future. In the present, Batman has decided to break Batman Inc. into two teams: one local and one International. The International team goes to Chechnya to see how Luthor may have been involved in something known as Project Black Wolf. What they discover is a group of refugees hiding from Gray Wolf. The team sets out to find him but discovers that these refugees have been given diluted doses of Lazarus Resin, making them unstable. Gray Wolf arrives, saying these people are under his protection. But Clownhunter accidentally frees them, meaning a team up to stop and save them. They develop an antidote and change the refugees back, with Ghostmaker inviting Gray Wolf to join the team.

BATMAN BEYOND: NEO-YEAR #2  by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing and Max Dunbar. Without the benefit of Bruce Wayne’s money, Terry finds his available resources running out. Despite that, he decides to go after the person behind a series of jewel thefts which rings him into direct contact with the living AI that is slowly taking over Gotham. This battle takes him to Joker Town where he is forced to battle clowns. In the end, he confronts the AI and offers them the stolen jewels, which he believes is part of their plan, if they want it. The AI does not take the jewels, but a mysterious stranger does.

BATMAN: FORTRESS #1 by Gary Whitta and Darrick Robertson. There is a planet wide blackout and it seems the Justice League, and specifically Superman, are not around. So Batman has to handle things alone, which is a problem as the security system in Gotham has gone dark with the power failure and all of those classic villains are loose.

BATMAN: KILLING TIME #3  by Tom King and David Marquez. In 1372, an artifact known as the "Eye of Christ." Is buried and later discovered by Ra’s al Ghul. In the distant past, Bruce trains with Ra’s and, upon completion, he gives him a small box containing the "Eye of Christ."  In the present, a critically injured Penguin tells one of his men to call The Help, who is a trained assassin. At the safehouse, Riddler answers the door and is shot by The Help. Just after the shooting, Batman arrives and battles The Help. Batman is defeated, but not killed, as The Help left his calling card for him. While unconscious, the buyer arrives and is killed by The Help. During their battle, Catwoman steals the Batmobile and takes the injured Riddler with her, later destroying the car as they steal a long-haul truck. She takes Riddler to Fred Carey, demanding he operate on him. Batman discovers the dead buyer and later his destroyed vehicle. In the end, The Help visits his employer and demands to know what the buyer was looking to purchase.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORD’S FINEST #3 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Batman, Superman and Billy Batson are trapped in Hell, which turns out to only be an illusion cast by Felix Faust. Faust. Billy is possessed by the spirit of Lord Nezha and tells the heroes that his servants will be responsible for the death of superheroes. The Doom Patrol travels to Switzerland where they meet with General Immortus, who now has Alzheimer’s and cannot remember who they are but reveals that there is a tomb off an island near Corto Matese which may contain Nezha. In ancient China, Supergirl and Robin battle the Warriors of Ji ho eventually reveal that many of their warriors died trying to contain Nexha in a tomb they had built but apparently could not contain him. Meanhile, Flash is battling against Mirror Master, but he ends up being sucked into a magic mirror powered by Nexha. Batman discovers that Wonder Woman has been turned into clay by Dr. Alchemy. Superman arrives to help defeat the villain and Hal Jordan arrives, creating a cage construct trapping the heroes. Batman calls to Alfred who explains everything within the Justice League computer looks fine. But Alfred has been compromised by Lord Nezha.

BATMAN: THE KNIGHT #5 by Chip Zdarsky and Carmine Di Giandomenico. Bruce and Anton are in a Russian jail after asking questions in search of ex-KGB agent Avery Oblonsky. After numerous beatings, they discover their captor is really Avery in disguise. She sends them on a series of missions to improve their skills, including one where they are to infiltrate a party and whoever gets the package she wants them to steal wins the challenge. Bruce is clumsy in his role and Anton gets the package, but Bruce, depressed about not being as good as he thinks he should be, reveals he actually stole the package from Anton, before tossing it into the water to keep it out of dangerous hands, like Avery.

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS #15 by Vita Ayala, Joey Esposito, Che Grayson, Mark Russell, Nikola Cizmesija, Jason Howard, Serg Acuna and Karl Mostert. Batman, Zatanna and Constantine continue to fight back against the evil threatening our world. In the first backup, Batman teams up with Plastic Man against KGBeast in an effort to save an old friend of Ell O’Brien’s. In the second backup, the Birds of Prey have captured Noah and are trying to solve the mystery of the Memory App, which results in Katana having a problem with how they are handling it. In the final backup, the Super Pets continue to make their way and save Batman, with the chicken dying in the process. They had best hurry, as Batman is now facing off the bear in the arena.

BLOOD SYNDICATE: SEASON ONE #1 by Geoffrey Thorne and ChrisCross. Wise Son and Tech-9 have returned from active duty in the Middle East only to discover that Dakota City is not what it was when they left. Superheroes have appeared thanks to the Big Bang and have eliminated the drug trade, allowing smaller gangs to arise in a gang war. The gang leader is a super-powered tough named Holocaust. Tech-9 gets a tour of the city with his old friends Fade and Sara. There is a drive-by with some of Holocaust’s men, leading to Tech-9 crafting a weapon and using it to take the gang down. But Holocaust arrives, forcing Fade to use his powers to phase them through the ground into the sewers.

CATWOMAN #43 by Tini Howard and Bengal. Black Mask enlists the Tomasso Family to put a hit out on Catwoman, who has stolen his mask. He wants his mask and her head. This puts Catwoman on the run with her cat Duchess and Harley Quinn. It’s a road trip, with stops at a sketchy gas station for snacks and then a trip to Roller Derby. En route, they are attacked by  one of the hit men, but send his car off the road. Later, Selina is attacked in their motel room but fights him off, which leads to spooning time that night with Harley. The next morning, the pair try out for the Roller Derby team and both make it. During a break in the action, Selina is confronted by Red Claw in the locker room.

DARK CRISIS SPECIAL EDITION(FCBD) #0 by Joshua Williamson, Dennis Culver, Jim Cheung, Chris Burnham and Rafa Sandoval. In the first tale, some kids get a tour of the Hall of Justice, where they are told about the Justice League and ho they were the greatest of heroes. But the tour guide is really Clayface in disguise, looking to steal Darkseid’s Mother Box. Wally West Flash shows up and defeats Clayface, telling one child that the world needs a new Justice League, but who? In the backup, a brief history of the Multiverse is told, ending with the current crisis.

DEATHSTROKE INC. #9 by Joshua Williamson and Paolo Pantalena. SHADOW WAR PART 6. Slade and his daughter mourn the death of Respawn, with the pair teaming up to taken down Talia. They reunite with his team and they take on Ghost Maker and Clown Hunter, forcing Ghost Maker to surrender and let Deathstroke go. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin face the fake Deathstroke who killed Ras.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1060 by Mariko Tamaki, Nadia Shammas, Sina Grace, Ivan Reis and David Lapham. Bruce Wayne is on a date with Judge Carolyn Donovan, where he tries to pump her for information about the recent attack on her. Later, Oracle advises him of a break-in at the Gotham Gazette where Deb Donovan is doing some late night work. She discovers that John Harper accidentally killed a young boy when he was 15 and she thinks it might be related to the various attacks. Thanks to Oracle, he later discovers that Deb Donovan recently too out a loan from the same bank that Harper gassed. Martin Ashen is the D.A.’s brother and Caroline almost always rules in Ashen’s favor. He also discovers that hair he fund in the Gazette belongs to Darby Turner.  Batman visits Talia, looking for information on Darby, who shows up at the Gazette and takes Deb hostage.  Batman arrives and disarms Darby and Perry shows up. He explains they have been getting blackmailed and it will never end. Darby jumps off the roof and Batman saves her. And then Perry is shot…by Caroline Donovan. In the backup, Gotham Girl continues to try and solve her friend’s death. Her investigation leads her to Dr. Meridian, who she kidnaps.

DUO #1 by Greg Pak and Khoi Pham. Dr. Kelly Vu and Dr. David Kim are friends and lovers who have developed a type of Infinite Cellular Regeneration through the use of Nanobots. Dr. Marius Chung offers then one Billion dollars to sell it to him, but they turn him down. In response, a strange creature shows up that night, attacking David and burning him and their home. When David wakes, he is fully healed, but learns that Kelly has died and all that remains are her bones and engagement ring. He realizes that the Nanobots have saved him and healed him. He gets attacked by Chung’s assassins and discovers that Kelly is a part of him now as the Nanobots not only healed him but transferred her consciousness into him. In the end, Chung calls a meeting with his family of immortals.

THE FLASH #782 by Jeremy Adams and Fernando Pasarin. Wally and Wallace battle Girder, finally subduing him after they use their Speed Force to magnetize him. They transport him back to Blackgate where Warden Wolfe seems to not really care and quickly finishes his conversation with the pair. Wolf meets with Girder, admonishing him for failing at the one job he had and promises punishment. Wally is convinced that Wolfe is up to something, so they don Stealth Suits and break back into Blackgate, where they find Girder has been crushed into a metal ball. They also discover that Wolfe is panning on running for Mayor of Central City. Meanwhile, the West kids are playing soccer and Iris is forced to use her new powers and explain it to the kids. In the end, Wally is called away on a mission just before Linda can tell him of her powers…but Wallace is now aware.

FLASHPOINT BEYOND #1 by Geoff Johns, Jeremy Adams, Tim Sheridan, Xermánico, Mikel Janín. Thomas Wayne has taken in Harvey Dent’s son Dexter after his father’s death. Cobblepot arrives and Thomas leaves to “go fishing”, leaving Oswald to teach Dexter how to shoot a gun. Wayne heads to Britain, where the Atlanteans have Wonder Woman captive. Batman arrives and slays her tormenters and asks to borrow her magic lasso, telling her she can do whatever she wants to the world because he does not care. Batman confronts Aquaman, who reveals he does not know who sent the Scavenger to kill Barry Allen. Batman realizes this was all a ruse to get him out of Gotham. Diana slays Aquaman with his own trident. She reveals that she loved him and he reveals he only loved Mera and Diana killed her. On our Earth, Flash meets with Bruce and says that someone is messing with time. When he leaves, Corky Smith appears and says it is not to late to undo this. Bruce replies that it is.

FUTURE STATE: GOTHAM  #13 by Dennis Culver, Mariko Tamaki, Ram V, Otto Schmidt, Dan Mora and Geoffo. Batman battles Peacekeeper-01, as seen in FUTURE STATE: DARK DETECTIVE #4, which ends with an explosion, apparently killing both. That was the past. In the present, Dick meets with Talia and decides he is going to be Batman again. He also reveals that Bruce is alive and on a bullet train, which leads Talia to make an assault on the train, as seen in FUTURE STATE: CATWOMAN #1 and 2. Later, Bruce meets with Talia and tells her he is going  to go find Damian. Meanwhile, Hush is putting a team together made up of Clayface, Croc, Two-Face and more. Dick breaks into the meeting and battles the baddies. Bruce and Talia go to Lazarus Island, where they discover a captive Zauriel. He explains that Damian used dark magic was responsible and went to Hell looking for Bruce. In the end, Damian is back from Hell, courtesy of a transformed Grifter. He has come to Gotham as Batman 666.

HARDWARE: SEASON ONE #5 by Brandon Thomas and Denys Cowan. Curtis and Asher are trapped after the missile attack by Alva. They discover a sub-basement and manage to escape. Asher tells Curtis of a jet which can take him to Alva and Hardware departs. Elsewhere, Barraki, Tiffany and Draymond are attacked by Alva’s men, but Barraki makes a deal that allows her to be in Alva’s clutches while allowing  Tiffany and Draymond to leave. Curtis arrives at the airfield but blows up the plane allowing for his escape. Alva has a second plan and manages to corrupt Hardware’s suit. He crashes and now has to fight one of Alva’s hired hands, who can multiply himself.

HARDWARE: SEASON ONE #5 by Brandon Thomas and Denys Cowan. Hardware battles Alva’s hit man and then heads to him, where he is holding Barraki hostage. This leads to a face-off between the pair, with Hardware winning out in the end. He goes off to heal from his wounds, but not before he’s inspired by the sight of Icon flying through the skies of Daktoa.

HARLEY QUINN #15 by Stephanie Phillips and Riley Rossmo. Batwoman has broken Harley out of jail and they set about trying to find out who the mysterious fake Harley is. They plan a heist at the GCPD's evidence locker. They team up with a GCPD officer and deduce that the villain, who Harley calls Verdict, is hiding out in one of Ivy’s old greenhouses. They battle Verdict, who gets away when a bomb is ignited. In the end, the injured villain ends up at Kevin’s place and reveals she is Sam: his girlfriend..

I AM BATMAN #9  by John Ridley and Christian Duce. Jace is mad he was defeated by the serial killer Manray, who admitted he was inspired by Batman, and he takes it out on a bunch of street level gang members. Elsewhere, Vol is looking to set up a special location for his client with “peculiar tastes”. Tanya meets with the Mayor, angry that he let a racist be police commissioner. Chubb finds Keenan digging for information in her computer, as he plans on not letting Batman do their job. Later, Jace meets with Hadiyah who takes him to an art museum and teaches him about the world of surrealist art, which gives him many possible leads as to who Manray might be. That night, Chubb’s detectives go searching through various lofts apparently rented by Manray and, in one, they discover his plans for this next target-the Mayor.