DC UNIVERSE Month 68, Part 2

NIGHTWING #106 by Tom Taylor, Michael W. Conrad, Serg Acuna,  and Stephen Byrne. Two years ago, Dick Grayson, having been shot and lost part of his memory, was now Ric Grayson. Someone he was once in the circus with gives him a package, which he leaves with his friend Bea for safe keeping. Two nights later, the Quartermaster arrives, telling Ric he will hold the envelope in The Hold. Today, Heartless arrives at The Hold, killing the Quartermaster in the process. Heartless and Boss Zucco enter the structure and find that The Hold is gone. Nightwing investigates and discovers that the paramedics who responded are not paramedics, causing him to give chase. That leads him to the harbor, where he encounters lot of armed men and Captain Blud…who turns out to be Bea. In the backup, Dick and Cass train before cooking dinner for Stephanie and themselves. But the apartment in being scoped out by a mysterious Mr. Hatch. And who are the Three Bears?  

THE PENGUIN #2 by Tom King and Rafael De Latorre. Oswald Cobblepot visits The Help, trying to get him to come out of retirement and help The Penguin take control of Gotham again. During a hunt the next day, The Help breaks The Penguin’s nose, telling him that he is not interested in joining him. Later, The help’s doctor resets The Penguin’s nose and Oswald kills him, followed by killing all of The Help’s staff. After beating The Help, the master assassin agrees.

POISON IVY #14 by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara. Ivy investigates the dead man and also the deserted building he was found in, which is owned by Undine Holdings. She calls Janet, who tells her Peter Undine was one of the corporate marauders who was looking to redevelop Gotham after NO MAN’S LAND. As Ivy continues to investigate the building, Janet tries to get a job a Undine, but doesn’t do well with the interview and doesn’t get a job there. After leaving, she leaves a message with Ivy, telling her she feels there is definitely some illegal stuff going on. Batman arrives and tells Janet she needs to get out and stop helping a terrorist. She fights back against Batman and flees, being saved by Harley and the two share a kiss. At the house, Ivy runs from something and encounters a man with a flowered head who tells her the building, Ivy and himself are transforming into something else.

POWER GIRL #1 by Leah Williams and Eduardo Pansica. “Paige” and Omen are undercover on a boat moored in Metropolis Harbor. Ppower Girl is now Dr. Paige Stetler and works for Steelworks. Tonight, she is here to help an auction of various artifacts from other galaxies and tomorrows, with proceeds to go to research and development of emergent technologies.  Along the way, she meets Axel Gust, who wants her to come work for him. Before any decision can be made, Amalak and his crew are here to take the items from  the “ignorant homo sapiens”.  The pair battle while Atlanteans arrive to help evacuate the ship. Amalak reveals his world was destroyed by Kryptonians, even as Power Girl says she is from a different Krypton. Amalak and his team flee, leaving behind an explosive that Power Girl buries in the Mariana Trench. Later, Superman meets with Power Girl, telling her there were other ways to deal with that bomb besides making life tougher between the Atlanteans and the surface folks. He also tells her of a virus that apparently is of Kryptonian origin…specifically HER Krypton.

SHAZAM #3 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Two weeks ago, the gods who gave Billy Batson his powers not only have Freddy Freeman captured but are making him their spy. Billy has decided not to ever use his powers again but an out of control bus makes him change into the Captain. The bus contains delegates from Gorilla City and he transports them there. He learns that the emperor on the moon has developed a secret rocket drive and plans to use it against the plant. The Captain heads to the moon and is captured by Emperor Garguax.

SPIRIT WORLD #5 by Alyssa Wong and Haining. The members of the Jade Court are watching what is happening in the Spirit World, where Batgirl and Constantine are trying to control their bodies and magic. Together, they create a spell that will hopefully allow them to stop this and then break through a door that will lead to the Jade Court. At the same time, Xanthe believes that the Verdant Sorceress may actually be Po Po. While Wan Yujing begins eating the supplicants, the Gilded General arrives to attempt to stop her. The trio manages to break through the door and make their way outside of the Jade Court, where they are forced to face off against the Gilded General…possibly with an assist from Wan Yujing, who has her own agenda.

STATIC: SHADOWS OF DAKOTA #6 by Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala. Static faces off against Ebon, who is on a crusade after the death of his family members. He defeats the person who is Ivan Evans and offers to help save his brother, despite all he has done.

STEELWORKS #4 by Michael Dorn and Sam Basri. Steel tells Lana that he believes the Superman Day attack, the break-ins, the zero point energy reactor and Natasha’s attack are all connected. Meanwhile, Silver Mist breaks in to Steelworks and into the vault containing the zero-point energy reactor. Steel and Lana respond to the break-in and Silver Mist detonates the device, figuring no one could have it. But Steel reveals this was a fake as he hid the real one. While Steel and company celebrate their victory, some men posing as cleaners come in and steal the device, delivering it to Charles Walker II, who has big plans in store for it.

SUPERMAN #6 by Joshua Williamson and Gleb Melnikov. Lex has been injured and he is being raced to the hospital, even as the paramedics say they are losing him. Clark meets with Lana, mentioning Project Chained, which leads him to Supercorp. He meets with a virtual Lex, who explains Project Chained was an early experiment designed to keep the most dangerous people restrained indefinitely. He also explains there is only one prisoner in it. So Superman goes deep below Stryker’s Island and finds the captive. The super powered individual frees himself but chains Superman in the process. With the being loose in Metropolis, Lex wakes up. The good news is Lex is the only person who can free Superman. The bad? The strange being is coming for Lex.

TALES OF THE TITANS #3 by  Steve Orlando, Kath Lobo, and Bob Quinn. Donna Tory, now an outlaw because of the sanctions against the Amazons, finds out about the human rights violations In Markovia, heads to that country, putting her in direct confrontation with baron bedlam and his army. She defeats the Baron and frees those prisoners. In the end, Donna gets a letter from someone who believes he may be her father.

TITANS #3 by Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott. Nightwing and Gar sneak into the Church of Eternity and find that someone is ready to be sacrificed to Trigon, leading the pair into action. At Titans Tower, Wally tries to convince the others to let him come on the mission, even though he knows that he will die within the next 48 hours. He goes with them and they take a Boom Tube into the Church of Eternity, much to the surprise of former Titan Garth. The combined team defeats the monks and Garth frees a captured Brother Eternity. Garth, believing that the world can no longer survive humanity, decides to stay with Brother Eternity, much to his friends’ dismay. Back at Titans Tower, the team investigates a mysterious meteor that Wally found hidden in the Church. Brother Eternity notices it is missing and he tells Garth he will visit his friends…after opening their mouths and a strange creature travels from Eternity into Garth.

THE UNSTOPPABLE DOOM PATROL #6 by Dennis Culver and Chris Burnham.  While Flex Mentallo has the new trainees face-off against the Doom Patrol in a game of Capture the Flag, The Quiz arrives with his own team of villains, resulting in the grisly death of Squonk. During the fight, Kipling arrives, saying there are intruders in the graveyard and they are digging up Dorothy. It seems that General Immortus, Mallah and Houngan have dug up Dorothy’s grave and Immortus is prepared to drink a solution. Cliff, Kipling and Niles arrive as Immortus drinks the solution and begins to melt, falling into the open grave. When he climbs out, he has become The Eternal Flame.

THE VIGIL #5 by Ram V and Sid Kotian and Dev Pramanik. In October of 1943, an experiment was conducted on the USS Eldridge involving cloaking. What was known as the Philadelphia Experiment went awry, resulting in mass casualties for most onboard. But three people, the Doc, Madison Cypris and Hep found themselves reconstituted in dimensional space outside of where they were. They found an unusual transmitter tower they named Atneon and discovered they could turn imagination into reality.  While Doc tried to find a way to get them back to Earth, Hep found a way to make the world into something he desired, creating small advancements in Earth’s technology through his thoughts. Doc and Cypris worked to stop him, with the Doc creating his team out of his own thoughts and dreams, including Mr. Lightless. Cypris stayed while the Doc left. While the rest of the team debates on if they should continue, the youngest member reveals he is a part of Hep’s group, with Hep explaining to Mr. Wall that he believes this revelation will indeed tear the team apart.

WILDC.A.T.S #11 by Matthew Rosenberg, Danny Kim, Tom Derenick, and Stephen Segovia. Halliday holds a press conference to introduce the world to the next step of cybernetic evolution. But the media is more concerned about where Jacob Marlowe is. Marlowe is in hiding with much of his team, many of whom who are visibly upset by the wear that Marlowe used them. Later, Dr. Stone, actually Cray in Maul’s body, even if he has hidden his real form, is confronted by Threshold and Majestic and is taken down. Grifter declares his love for Zealot and they have sex. Caitlin gets a radio, having lost hers earlier. With that radio, she contacts Batman, Roy and Dinah and arranges a late night meeting. Majestic and his team attempt to capture Caitlin but she has back up in the form of Batman and his team. But Caitlin isn’t really Caitlin and “she” contacts Lynch, telling him that Batman’s team are working to take down the Seven Soldiers.  At the same time, Grifter and his team are on top of the HALO Building while the rest of the team find themselves outside the HALO Server Building. It was at this moment that both teams realize they have been set up.

WONDER WOMAN #1 by Tom King and Daniel Sampere. A blonde Amazon goes into Kanigher’s Cues and kills the nineteen men inside. This action leads to anger and mistrust from many citizens. Meanwhile, Sarge Steel meets with two men, who he assassinates with the gun in his metal hand.  Later, Steel and a team visit Cybele, determined to take her and Nyx to a boat and back to their island home. Nyx attacks and is killed, leaving Cybele a widow and their adopted daughter mourning her mother. On the island, Nubia is informed that Diana has left the island and left her sword behind. Some time later, Diana is spotted in a graveyard and a sniper takes a shot at her, in violation of the Amazon Safety Act. Wonder Woman fights back, taking out the armed men and explains she is looking for Emelie: the woman who killed the nineteen men. She then crushes Steel’s metal hand. Later, Diana meets with Steve Trevor, asking him is he has heard of someone called The Sovereign. In the end, we see an old man wearing a crown and holding what is described as the Lasso of Lies.

WORLD’S FINEST: TEEN TITANS #3 by Mark Waid and Emanuela Lupacchino. The Titans, minus Robin, go to Titanscon Metropolis, where they participate in panels, take pictures with fans and meet cosplayers. At one point, someone tries to remove Bumblebee’s mask, causing a panic attack where she tells Wally to promise that she will never be unmasked in public. A strange man named Sherman shows up and causes havoc by turning toys into living things. He captures Bumblebee and claims his desire for her.  Despite Batman’s warning, Robin does go to Titanscon and saves the day by capturing “Toyboy”. In the end, someone breaks ‘Toyboy” out of police custody, telling him he is now part of the Terror Titans.

DC Universe Month 68, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1057 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Dan Jurgens, Magdalene Visaggio, Matthew Clark, Lee Weeks, and Rafa Sandoval. Superman is chatting with a former felon who is working for Steelworks when he gets a message from Lois to come back to the Daily Planet. It turns out that the leader of Blue Earth is giving the Planet an exclusive interview and that person, revealed to be Norah Stone, only wants to speak with Clark Kent. Clark uses his powers to examine Stone and catches her in a myriad of lies concerning terrorist activities she says she has never done. During the interview, Clark begis to feel ill and, concluding the interview, he feels the need to race off. Stone’s assistant meets him in the elevator and the two engage in a super powered fight, where the assistant reveals himself to be…Superman? In the backup, Clark frees his son, forcing Glyanna to flee, but also allows her to turn the Killameks loose. After defeating the Killameks, Superman and Jon meet with Glyanna’s parents, who insist that their daughter has been compromised.  On Earth, before Jon and Clark return, Doombreaker disappears, apparently having been transported away by Glyanna. In the final backup, Conner deals with not being anything other thana copy of Superman, even going as far to lash out at his girlfriend M’Gann

BATMAN #137 by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez. GOTHAM WAR Part 2. Batman breaks up another theft orchestrated by Catwoman and also defeats Fright, before heading to the Iceberg Lounge and capturing Scorpiana and Vox. Robin meets with Batman and tries to explain that whatever is happening regarding Catwoman, crime is down and that’s a good thing. Batman tells Robin he will arrest him if he gets in his way. Dick meets with Barbara, Tim, and Steph, explaining that Batman is out of control. Elsewhere, many of Gotham’s criminal underworld meet, deciding they should all work together to take over the city once more. Batman breaks into Selina’s hideout, which leads to a battle between himself and the Bat family. Damian comes to his father’s rescue while the team tries to figure out how to stop Batman. In the end, Bruce goes to Wayne manor and finds that it has been bought…by Vandal Savage, who seems to know that Batman is Bruce Wayne.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 by Joshua Williamson and Simone Di Meo. Batman and son work together to take out White Rabbit and her “goons”. Later, the pair go home and Damian goes back to work on his ‘novel’, featuring Damian Vane. The next day, over breakfast, Damian explains that White Rabbit’s objective was Dr. Kafira, who is doing work with DNA sequencing.  They end up at the doctor’s house, where Croc and Orca are attempting to kidnap him.  Man bat is also there, as is the Terrible Trio. Batman gets gassed and then is attacked by a cadre of bats. 

BATMAN BEYOND: NEO GOTHIC #3 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Max Dunbar. Below Neo-Gotham, Terry and Kyle make their way into the former home of The Court of Owls., to find that many followers of The Court of Owls are here, although primarily “a bunch of mushrooms”, along with one creature dressed as Batman. The Batman creature reveals that he was responsible for hiring Kyle. Kyle tells all present that he learned magic from John Constantine before eventually betraying him. Terry battles the creatures while also reaching out to Beam, telling her he does not want to descend into the darkness but may have to.

BATMAN/CATWOMAN THE GOTHAM WAR: RED HOOD #1 by Matthew Rosenberg and Nikola Cizmesija. Two weeks ago, Red Hood was stopping criminals when Catwoman comes to him, offering him a job with her. He is put to the task of training two criminals, Simpson and Bash, to add to her team. His training is tough and sometimes abusive before they go off on their first job, that goes bad when Bash accidentally sets off the alarm. A cop responds and it takes Red Hood to intervene violently to stop Bash from killing the officer. Selina quizzes Jason, accuses him of using her to gain intel on criminals, especially The Joker. Later, Stephanie visits Jason and brings him to a murder. Bash is dead and a message is left that reads “Get your own toys Red Hood.”

BATMAN INCORPORATED #12 by Ed Brisson and John Timms. The bomb in Australia has gone off, but Dark Ranger is barely alive despite it. Throughout the world, the team members have to defeat the Joker’s men without killing them. The decision is made that they need to build E.M.P.  disrupters to knock out the signal to the devices and Jiro begins to build one , which knocks out Dusty Bronco. While each team works to build E.M.P. disrupters. Joker detonates the one in Paris, killing Charles De Ghoul in the process. Running out of time, Ghost-Maker stabs Alpaca but does not kill her. Together, they free Skyspider. Later, with the team reassembled, Ghost-Maker makes the decision to dissolve Batman Incorporated. Despite his decision, the rest of the team decides to stay together.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #19 by Mark Waid and Travis Moore. While Superman battles Jax-Ur, Batman and Alfred are trapped in the Phantom Zone. A plan to get him back in the Zone fails but Jax-Ur pulls Batman out, saying neither one of the heroes is a threat to him. Jax-Ur makes his way to the Fortress of Solitude and begins to attack the bottled city of Kandor. Batman uses his skill to use the circuitry of the Phantom Zone projector and put it in the floor of the Fortress, sending Jax-Ur back. In the end, a mysterious creature named Aethyr the Messiah makes plans to release everyone from the Phantom Zone.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #5 by Tom King, Ed Brisson, Rob Williams, Mitch Gerads, Jeff Spokes, Stefano Landini, and Jorge Fornes. Batman continues to be bested by The Joker, as he continues his killing spree. And now, it looks like he has managed to masquerade as the Police Chief of Gotham to claim his next victim. In the second story, Stormwatch faces off against the god Apollo and it takes Core to stop him. Back at Skywatch, Ravager wants to know who really is in charge, despite what Director Bones says. It turns out, it may be Amanda Waller. In the third tale, Harcourt goes after Weapons Master: the man who killed her. She takes revenge, only to admit that she believes she has been lied to. In the final tale, Batman searches for the killer of a young college student in a mystery that leads him into The Penguins den and out again, discovering that a drug addict who thought she was a vengeful angel was responsible.

BIRDS OF PREY #1 by Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero. Black Canary speaks with Oliver Queen, telling him she is looking to put a team together. She begins building the team one person at a time, starting with Cassandra Cain. From there, the Cassandra assist Big Barda, asking her to join as Sin is in danger. In Star City, Canary visits Grifter and Zealot, bringing her into the fold. Cassandra tells a tale about her fighting Harley Quinn last year, which leads them to approach her. After initially turning it down, she hears that it involves Sin and agrees to join them to save the teenager from the Amazons. In the end, Meridian arrives, who claims that the Amazons may be looking to bring about the end of the world.

BLUE BEETLE #1 by Josh Trujillo and Adrian Gutierrez. Jaime finds himself fighting a team known as The Madmen when he gets an assist from Dynasties and Nitida. With the battle finished, Jaime goes to Gloria’s Diner, where he sees that member of The horizon are having problems with townspeople who want them out of their city. The next day, while Jaime and his friends are at the beach, Ted Kord is attacked by a mysterious invader who seemingly kills Ted.

CATWOMAN #57 by Tini Howard and Nico Leon. GOTHAM WAR PART 3. Vandal Savage is in the Batcave, explaining to Batman that he purchased Wayne Manor. Meanwhile, Catwoman and Marquise, along with Red Hood, plan their next heist. Batman seeks outThe Riddler who gives him a clue as to where Catwoman is and what she is up to. This leads him to a ballet performance of Puccini’s Turandot, where he brawls with Red Hood before sedating him. At the same time, Savage arrives and meets with Selina, who warns her to stay out of his way. In the end, Marquise gets a video call from her father, who is revealed to be Vandal Savage, who reveals that Marquise is really Scandal and has been embedded with Selina. To be continued in BATMAN #158.

CITY BOY #5 by Greg Pak and Minkyu Jung. Cameron is still haunted by ghosts in Bludhaven and, later meeting with Nightwing, meets a creature that is Bludhaven’s avatar. Nightwing reveals he knows Cameron is searching for his mother and that Jeannie Nguyen might b e working with Intergang. Cameron reveals that Intergang wants to turn the world into a new version of Apokolips and sees a vision of Darkseid. Nightwing follows a clue and Cameron enlists the city to help, leading them into conflict with each other and Mokkarison. Mokkarison tells Cameron that everyone knows he is a bad person and he will help them usher in New Apokolips here on Earth. While Nightwing takes Nguyen to a safehouse, Cam goes to the park to think. But he’s being watched by…Swamp Thing?

CYBORG #3 by Morgan Hampton and Tom Raney. Six months ago, Markus Wilcox pitched something he developed that allowed a person’s living code to be downloaded after they die, meaning they could virtually live forever. Silas downloaded his living code into Solace and observed the memories of people trapped there. So, the plan is to make his way back into Solace’ servers and free them. But Cyborg gets interrupted by A.T.L.A.S., which is the guard robot for the servers. The two battle, with Cyborg defeating it. That is when Markus arrives, declaring that Cyborg has stolen his property and attacked him. Cyborg uses a Boom Tube to go back to S.T.A.R. Labs, where they discover that Markus’ consciousness sacrificed itself and saved the 30 million in Solace.  However, a new robot is active now at Solace HQ, leading to the believe that maybe Markus’ consciousness is still alive.

DANGER STREET #9 by Tom King and Jorge Fornes.  The manhunter and the Master Assassin battle to the death, even as they both debate the rationale for it. In the end, both men die from their wounds and  continue their discussion in the afterlife.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1074 by Ram V, Dan Watters, Dustin Nguyen, and Hayden Sherman. Buildings significant to Bruce Wayne’s past are burning down, starting with Morton’s Confectioners, then Haly’s Circus. All the while, Batman battles against the influence of the Orghams. At last, he ends up in Crime Alley. In the backup, the Ten Eyed Man has discovered that there are holes being drilled in the heads of people. The man gets arrested and tells Commissioner Montoya has a hole in her head too, before escaping out into Gotham.

FIRE & ICE: WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE #1 by Joanne Starer and Natacha Bustos. Fire and Ice have been banished from Metropolis and have headed to Smallville, where they set up a beauty salon with the help of L-Ron.  Over a lunch with Martha Kent, where she meets Raquel ‘Rocky’ Rhoades, Ice learns that Fire has created a viral video where she says that she and Ice are here to fight crime. King Shark shows up to answer Fire’s challenge, but Superman arrives to take him down, leading to an argument that splits the girls up. While Fire mopes in the apartment, Ice continues to work the salon, with a customer influx from Martha’s book club. In the end, Fire calls an old friend, looking to beat them up on film. The old friend? Ambush Bug.

THE FLASH #1 by Si Spurrier and Mike Deodato Jr. Max Mercury and Impulse are trying to break through the Speed Force in order to time travel. But they get stopped, even as Max sees a vision of buffalo hunters from the past, which he sees as a message. Meanwhile, Wally is battling a gorilla army and realizes that using the Speed Force at the moment hurts his form. At one point, the world stops, Wally stops as an indigo streak races through the scene. Grodd gives his condolences about something, possibly dealing with the Speed Force, and then he and his gorillas leave. Later, back at home, Linda, now powerless, is feeding their son while Wally takes his other kids to school. After that, he meets with Mr. Terrific, who tells him of numerous attacks throughout the world by Grodd and his team, but also asks Wally if he has noticed anything unusual about eh Speed Force as of late. Wally denies the real answer, even though he has seen a vision telling him the Uncoiled are coming. At school, Irey goes looking for Jai, who was taken to the principal’s office, only to find him in the school basement, where he was apparently talking to a small individual. Wally again has to fight Grodd and his team when an indigo blue streak arrives to help. The individual is named Chad and declares he is a big fan of The Flash. But Chad is sucked away during the battle, only to come back disassembled. The Uncoiled has arrived.

GREEN ARROW #4 by Joshua Williamson and Sean Izaakse. Ollie faces off with Parallax, who he believes is not really Hal Jordan. Parallax takes Oliie to see what is happening with Roy and Dinah, who have gone to Brick’s house to gather intel. A fight breaks out but Ollie is helpless to help. Luckily Jade arrives and Wally tells her he needs her help to get Ollie, Connor and their daughter back. In the future, Lian meets with the Legion of Super Heroes and tries to convince them to break the law and use time travelling abilities to find Ollie. With the situation with Dinah and Roy finished, Parallax takes Ollie to a future version of Star City, which has been destroyed because of Ollie and his family.  After losing a one on one fight with Parallax, he finds himself stranded again until he is visited by a future version of himself.

GREEN LANTERN #3 by Jeremy Adams and Xermanico. One month ago, Hal Jordan is falling from space and trying to get his new ring to work, which he indeed does. Today, Sinestro is looking to bring some disguised aliens into the fold of the Legion of Doom. That leads them to attack Ferris Aircraft and break in. the next day, Hal is shown the footage and that leads Carol into wondering if Hal’s arrival is a bad thing. In the end, Hal is sitting in a bar and Sinestro arrives. In the backup, in another time and place, a young Lantern watches as John Stewart battles the Revenant Queen, but she escapes into the Multiverse. Back on Earth, John Stewart talks with Guy Gardner as a mysterious ring floats in the sky. To be continued in GREEN LANTERN WAR JOURNAL #1.

GREEN LANTERN: WAR JOURNAL #1 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Montos. In deep space, a space station is attacked and destroyed, while one of the crew sees a mysterious figure, a door to the stars and a purple Lantern ring. Later, Lantern Sheperd investigates encountering the Radiant Dead in the process. Back on Earth, John Stewart is dealing with life without the Lanterns, while also dealing with his mother, who does not recall that her daughter is long dead, causing John to create a construct for her. He also encounters Lantern Varron, who insists that John turn over his ring. But John does not have a ring, as he now possesses the Lantern powers within him, leading to a fight between the pair.

HARLEY QUINN # 32 by Tini Howard, Sam Maggs, Sweeney Boo, and Kelley Jones. Harley is back home and gets to enjoy some “quality time” with Ivy. The following day, she is ready to give the final exam to her students when Brother Eyes shows up and takes all of them to Warworld, where Lady Quark takes her on a journey to find out how she maneuvered through the Multiverse. At the same time, Bud and Lou work with the students, who seem to be accelerating in their work, including growing large brains. During Quark and Harley’s journey, they encounter the Restless Dead and they are followed back to Quark’s base, where the students save the day through the use of their renewable energy source. Quark sends them all back, but tells Harley she will need to respond whenever see is called. That night, robot detective Lux Kirby, P.I., telling Harley that a rabbit version of Harley has been found dead. In the backup, which is another Harley dream, Harley gets turned into a vampire and, after defeating the vampire lord, she turns Ivy into a vampire too.

HAWKGIRL #3 by Jadzia Axelrod and Amancay Nahuelpan. Forty years ago, a young Farlane Candor wants power and Vulpecula gives it to him. Yesterday, Farlane buries Ava Diaz while Vulpecula observes. This afternoon, Bruce Wayne meets with Candor, where he observes a piece of Hawkgirl’s wings. Now, Hawkgirl, along with galaxy and Argus, take down some followers of Killer Croc, saving the life of Alysia. Later, Hawkgirl, galaxy and Argus visit Batman, who reveals that Diaz is alive. He also reveals that Candor has a piece of Hawkgirl’s wings, which leads them to Candor and Vulpecula and makes them fight the Court of Owls. Vulpecula stabs Candor with the wing shard, turning him into a giant owl. Vulpecula escapes with Maureen’s help while Hawkgirl fights Candor, who asks the question “who is Carter” before dissolving. In the end, Vulpecula makes it known that Metropolis is her next stop.

THE JOKER: THE MAN WHO STOPPED LAUGHING #10 by Matthew Rosenberg, Carmine Di Giandomenico and Francesco Francavilla. In Old Town, The Joker invades a meeting with Black Mask and some of his crew, killing all but Roman. He demands to know who the other Joker is and Roman says he does not know but he is already here. Meanwhile, Red Hood questions the Ventrioquist, shooting his dummy in the process. Beneath Gotham and all throughout the city, various villains take out their revenge on The Joker’s followers, saying the real Joker is here. The joker calls Wesker but gets Red Hood instead, so he calls Shocky, promising to tell him who the fake Joker is. But Shocky is almost dead, as the Bat Family soon discovers. The Joker infiltrates the hospital but Shocky dies before he can say anything. As he flees, he stops to visit the sick child from earlier in the series and they talk. In the backup, The Joker finds a man who can’t die, so Pyg remakes him as The Joker. Along the way, the fake Joker kills Gaggy, leading to the real Joker killing the fake. Or did he, as he is seen laughing at the very end.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA # 5 by Geoff Johns and Marco Santucci. Jay Garrick gets to reunite with his daughter Judy, who was lost when she was taken to Orphan Island. Helena gets put up in an apartment by her father, Bruce Wayne. The other lost heroes, now known as Young Justice Society, begin training with the other established heroes. In the end, Helena and Power Girl agree to build the new team with both the young and the redeemed villains, such as Harlequin’s son, gentleman Ghost and Ruby. She also suggests Solomon Grundy be added.

DC Universe Month 67, Part 2

ACTION COMICS PRESENTS: DOOMSDAY SPECIAL #1 by Dan Watters, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Max Raynor. Supergirl has a nightmare about Doomsday only to find that this nightmare was sent to her by Martian Manhunter, who believes it is not just a dream but a vision. This leads the pair to Hell, where they meet the First of the Fallen, who wants Supergirl to act as his champion as Doomsday is trying to break out of Hell. As she battles the creature, Martian Manhunter pleads with the souls here to act as a barrier to keep the creature in.  With their help, they are able to contain Doomsday in Hell…for now. In the backup, Raphael Arce, who lost his life stopping Doomsday, finds himself in the Fifth Circle of Hell, where he encounters the creature guarding that level. Using the powers he received from Martian Manhunter, he transforms into a superhero and defeats him, before freeing some tortured souls and going deeper into Hell.

ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN: JON KENT #6 by Tom Taylor and Clayton Henry. While Superman prepares for the executions, Jon meets with The Flash and explains his plan. He then proceeds to take down Hawkgirl, Hal Jordan, and Wonder Woman before meeting with Damian. Superman has Jay in jail and threatens him with Jon arrives. During a heated argument, Superman breaks Jay’s arm, causing Jon to charge at Superman and then hugging him, telling him he is sorry for everything that has happened to him. Superman fights back until a vision of Lois stops him and Cyborg blasts Jon and sends him back to his own Earth. Back home, Jon finds the Hall of Justice deserted. To be continued in BEAST WORLD.

BATMAN BEYOND: NEO GOTHIC #2 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Max Dunbar. Terry comes face to face with a giant, transformed Killer Croc in the area beneath the city, but gets saved by Kyle the Catboi. As they flee and continue their journey, Terry reveals that this is the remans of Wayne Enterprises and that Croc is acting as a guard dog, although he is a hungry one. As the tunnel is rocked by an earthquake, set off by Lumos, they continue their journey, chased by Croc. Lumos has fired up Neo-Gotham’s future, in the form of self sufficient energy. When Kyle and Terry reach “the tomb”, they discover it is the Tomb of the Owls.

BATMAN/CATWOMAN THE GOTHAM WAR: THE BATTLE LINES #1 by Tini Howard, Chip Zdarsky, and Mike Hawthorne.  Set eight weeks after KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END, Bruce Wayne wakes from a dream and goes out on patrol. While he has been gone, crime has dropped off dramatically and that may be due to Catwoman’s new approach to crime: stealing from the wealthy and employing criminals who otherwise would end up working for villains such as The Joker and The Riddler. After a reunion with Tim Drake, Batman is informed of a meeting with Catwoman where she lays out her plans for Gotham. Batman still sees this as a criminal acting outside of the law and wants now part of her plan, even as members of the Bat Family disagree. Later, Red Hood breaks into Selina’s home and a fight ensues, before he tells her he is willing to help her from the inside of Batman’s family. Even Commissioner Montoya questions the need for a Batman with crime stats being down. In the end, one of Selina’s crew breaks into the condo of Hannah Jiang and pays with his life, further pushing Batman against Catwoman’s plans. To be continued in BATMAN #137.

BATMAN INCORPORATED #11  by Ed Brisson, John Timms, Sergio Acuna, and Nikola Cizmesija. Joker has left Batman Incorporated in a tough bind: kill the members of Joker Incorporated or innocent people will die because of their inaction. What is worse is that Bat-Man finds himself up against his own sister. The bombs have been activated and time is running out. And Raven Red snaps and is trying to kill the man who assaulted his father. What will happen next? Is this how the Joker wins?

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #18 by Mark Waid and Travis Moore. Years ago, someone has stolen six million dollars from a bank vault in Gotham and left a riddle behind in Kryptonian. The riddle is seemingly the work of The Riddler, except that it is in Kryptonian. This leads Superman to meeting Jim Gordon for the first time, leading him to also meet a vigilante who dresses like a bat, also for the first time. The two team up, taking down Spellbinder and Magpie. Later, Clark Kent goes to Wayne manor and meets Bruce Wayne, who admits he knows Kent is Superman before taking him to the Batcave, revealing his secret. They learn of a new message left on a wall at Gotham memorial Park. This leads them to an abandoned shipyard where they find The Riddler but also Jax-Ur, who has escaped from the Phantom Zone and trapped Batman there in his place.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #4 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Ed Brisson, Rob Williams, Meghan Fitzmartin, Kelly Jones, Pasquale Qualano, Stefano Landini, and Belen Ortega. People have been taken hostage, including Cullen Row, and Batman is trying to find them and the cause, which leads him to a thousands year old woman who claims they were taken by the Dark Garden. She leads him to the Garden, where Batman is forced to fight not only the creature living there but hallucinations. They find Cullen, who reveals he is the only one that has not been eaten. The girl sacrifices herself so no one else will ever be eaten. In the second tale, Phantom-One and Shado search for Victoria and Core, who have been captured by a creature trying to convince her that Stormwatch is using her. She is eventually rescued, but Core has reverted back to a fetus and eventually disappears. It turns out this is only a part of the Nightmare store created by Insomnia. Later, Victoria meets with Bones and demands that he tell her who they are actually working for. In the third story, Emilia Harcourt is back among the living, thanks to Waller and some Lazarus Energy. In the final tale, Batman battles Bane and, with him in critical condition, realizes the importance of family.

CITY BOY #3 by Greg Pak and Minkyu Jung. Cam meets with Superman, explaining that his powers are not destroying the city but helping to expand it.  While dealing with his own visions of people in his life and those he does not even know, he is finally able to get the creature calmed down and subdued. As he deals with the trauma of seeing everyone’s stories and pain, including his own, Superman convinces him that he can be a hero and he sets off on the road to Bludhaven.

DANGER STREET #8 by Tom King and Jorge Fornes. Lady Cop goes to dinner with Jack Ryder, where she reveals the trauma that led her to become a police officer. Meanwhile, the jailed Dingbats, along with Warlord, break out and that leads them to Starman. Abdul, on the run from Manhunter, explains how he became part of The Green Team. It all went back to when he was a kid and there were two teams: Green team and The Outsiders. That’s when a certain Dr. Fate also got involved. Abdul, it appears is relating this story to members of The Outsiders, one of whom presents him with The Warlord Sword, as they have aligned themselves with Manhunter. In the end, a drunken Ryder turns into The Creeper and Lady Cop knocks him out.

G’NORT’S SWIMSUIT EDITION #1 by Julie Benson, Shawna Benson, Steve Orlando, Meghan Hetrick and Paul Pelletier. While mostly a pin-up book featuring variant covers from DC Comics, there are two stories included. In the first, Ivy, Helena, Dinah, Mari, and Barbara spend a quiet day at Gotham City Beach when they discover that Penguin is looking to blow up an oil pipeline that would destroy the ecosystem. The girls jump into action, taking down the villain and saving the day…even if they have to endure the Penguin ending up naked in the process. In the second tale, a quiet beach day for Apollo and Midnighter is interrupted as Monsieur Mallah tries to break the love of his life, The Brain, out of a ship. The pair work to defeat Mallah but soon see that the love of the two villains is so important. In the end, the villains are jailed but are still together and that’s the most important thing.

HAWKGIRL #2 by Jadzia Axelrod and Amancay Nahuelpan. Fifty years ago, a strange woman named Vulpecula gives a two young boys a pair of medalions to fuel their wishes. Today, it seems she is back and looking to collect, using them to hunt down more Nth metal. Meanwhile, Kendra is dealing with her past lives, having crashed into Kat and Galaxy’s apartment. The pair, along with Argus the talking dog, proceed to Kendra’s apartment, even as she is getting used to actually being able to feel her metal wings. They end up spending the night in a gay bar, where Kendra runs into Abilene. The bar is later crashed into by Vulpecula and her transformed followers, Galaxy and Hawkgirl fight the villains, with them eventually leaving but promising to be in touch. In the end, Abilene asks Kendra who she really is, now having seen her as Hawkgirl.

ICON VS. HARDWARE #4 by Reginald Hudlin, Elon chills, Atagun Ilhan, Denys Cowan, and Yasmin Flores Montanez. Prehistoric beast have invaded Dakota City, thanks to all of the messing up with time and it’s up to Icon, Hardware and Rocket to stop their rampage. During it all, a group  calling themselves the Systematics arrive, saying they are here because without Dakota City there is nothing left for them to control.  Meanwhile, Alva gives orders to the Systematics to go into the past and collect as many anomalies as possible. In the suburbs, Static runs into what appears to be the Nazi army , leading to him taking them all out. The anomalies have even made their way onto Paris island, leading the Blood Syndicate into action. Later, the heroes have a meeting, trying to decide if what was changed in the past by Hardware, such as ending slavery, was good for this world. Seeing one robotic creature still about,  Hardware and Icon pursue it, only to lead them into what looks like a direct confrontation with Brainiac. In the end, in Switzerland, Rocket returns to her school, where she is confronted by Vandal Savage and the “mean girls”, who have been given some Q Juice. Luckily, Rocket has backup.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA # 5  BY Goeff JohnsMikel Janin, and Jerry Ordway. Helena and her father meet with the Justice Society, who have arrived with the snow globe. Also arriving is Per Degaton, who is seemingly everywhere at once as he is also off battling Stargirl and the Thunderbolt. He is also residing in his past, a twisted present and an equally devastating future. Dr. fate uses the snow globe to bring together a unified group of JSA members from different eras to defeat him and trap him in the snow globe along with the Flashpoint Batman, The Joker and Harvey Dent’s son. All of the JSA members go back to their proper times except for Helena, who is stuck in the present. As the JSA figures what to do with Helena, Stargirl, Hourman and Judy Garrick arrive to explain, leading to the Dawn of DC.

MULTIVERSITY: HARLEY SCREWS UP THE DCU #6 by Frank Tieri and Logan Faerber. As the alternate Harley lies dying in Harley’s arms, our Harley promises that she will take out the Starro Suicide Squad. She battles Red Tool and the pair end up in the time machine, before she can boot him out and he gets sucked into the time stream. Inside the device, she finds the to-do list that she needs to finish. She goes to Martian manhunter’s arrival where she sets him on fire, but she now arrives and puts the fire out with a fire extinguisher. Then she goes to fix her origin, where she takes out a Starro influenced Harleen Quinzel. It is a time paradox, as Harley was the one responsible for the other Harley to be freed from Starro in the first place. Thinking she is going home, she ends up in front of the Council of Quinn, where she meets the various versions of her: Hyena Harley, Injustice Harley, Harley Classic, Old Lady Harley, Bombshell Harley and Zombie Harley.  They admit to sent her on this mission in the booth and that they may be the problem for the various catastrophes. As she leaves for home, they engage a memory wipe. Booster Gold meets with the Council and they declare that all’s well that ends well. But…that may not be the case as we see an image of the Super Friends…but Aquaman is missing in that image!

THE PENGUIN #1 by Tom King and Rafael De Latorre. As the Bat Boat slowly sinks, Batman is trapped inside with the Penguin and both are mortally wounded. One year earlier,  One year earlier, Oswald Copplepott, now known only as Mr. Cobb, is trying to live a simple, retired life as the owner of a flower shop with a loving girlfriend. But people are watching his every move and he is eventually taken into custody by Agent Nuri Espinoza; last seen in BATMAN: KILLING TIME. She is working for Amanda Waller and has an offer for Cobblepott: work for the government and help to take down the Batman. In the end, his evil side comes to the top and he kills his tailor.

SPIRIT WORLD #4 by Alyssa Wong and Haining. Xanthe, Batgirl and Constantine search for the missing  residents when they are attacked by another collective, only to discover it is their missing neighbors. At the same time, Bowen, Shen and Po Po are also trying to free themselves. They all cross paths with the Divine Fox and, thanks to Bowen tossing Zanthe the Joss paper, she has her sword back and is able to free everyone, but not without a cost to Bowen, who ends up in the early stages of Spirit Deterioration. Xanthe wants to contact the Jade Court for help but before a decision can be made, Bowen appears to be taken over and suddenly Batgirl and Constantine can’t control their abilities.

SUPERBOY: THE MAN OF TOMORROW #5 by Kenny Porter and Jahnoy Lindsay. Superboy has been rescued by Krun and Gleeb, who are going to try and fix his teleporter, meaning Connor is stuck here for now. Meanwhile, Trav is using his might on the residents of Planet Callum, despite his teammates asking him to stand down. With his teleporter fixed, Connor can finally communicate with Kelex and asks him to send out a distress signal to pick up survivors of Dominator X’s attack. Teleporting to Planet Callum, Connor gets into direct conflict with Trav, who explodes during the battle. But he does not die and now his brain is inside a cloned Kryptonian body.

SUPERMAN 2023 ANNUAL by Joshua Williamson, Mahmud Asrar, Edwin Gaimon,m Caitlin Yarsky, Max Raynor, and Jack Herbert. Lois gathers her staff at the Daily Planet, looking for the next big front page story. Jimmy and Lisa Lombard go to Supercorp, where they see that Parasite is now an integral part of that team. But them a part of Parasite gets loose, eventually ending up with Parasite as his pet. Lois goes into prison to meet with Livewire and the pair team up to take down Robinson Goode. Cat Grant rides with the police and they come across a holdup and give pursuit, but Marilyn Moonlight gets there first and takes down the perps. During all of this, Superman battles a giant creation of Toyman’s, but soon discovers that Winslow is not to blame for the giant toy being loose. In the end, the Planet gets the headlines and Clark finally arrives to write his story. Lois explains that every story about Lex being a hero was buried by their former boss: Perry White. In the epilogue, Lobo has been captured by Dr. Pharm, where they discover a tracker hidden inside of him. But what does this have to do with Brainiac and his bottled city of Czarnia?

TALES OF THE TITANS #2 by Tini Howard and Eleonora Carlini. In the Hell Palace of Trigon, Trigon tries to inspire Trilogy, who was created following the Lazarus Rain. Meanwhile, raven and Kory attend a baby shower for Rosabelle Mendez, the Titan formerly known as Pantha. The whole event makes Raven think of her own mom and how her prayers led her to demons. That night, Raven heads into the church where her mother once was and meets the spirit Amadeus, who informs her of trigon’s plans to have a grandson. She heads to a castle where a blood ritual is taking place and manages to make like she is a member of the cult. She meets Eden, who is going to give birth to Trigon’s grandson. She manages to disrupt the ritual and leaves Eden to make her own choices, now that Trilogy has been sent back to Hell.

THE UNSTOPPABLE DOOM PATROL #5 by Dennis Culver and David Lafuente.  The main core of the team are in New Poplar, which is a front for the Metagen Corporation, turning innocents into weapons of mass destruction. In the process Niles and the Chief are captured by the Corporation, whose CEO wants to hire Niles. He introduces Niles to Metawoman, who he sends off to stop the Doom Patrol from destroying the town. But the metagenes in her system are unstable and she dissolves into a giant puddle of goop that continues to fight on. Once the team gets free, the CEO is revealed to only be a robot proxy. Elsewhere, General Immortus meets with his new recruits, telling them they can get anything they want if they destroy the Doom Patrol.

THE VIGIL #4 by Ram V and Devmalya Pramanik. The team make their way into a Lexcorp R&D facility, where they observe an old image that reveals the doctor was part of a research team here. A large enemy named Tyaga arrives and attacks, but the team is hard pressed to stop him as he has a healing factor. Doc gets Tyaga to stop fighting, telling the team that he made Tyaga and made all of The vigil when he thought them up. Meanwhile, at a Supercorp board meeting, Festus Hep shows the members Harmonia.

WILDC.A.T.S #10 by Matthew Rosenberg, Stephen Segovia, and Tom Derenick. Weeks ago, Peacemaker and Peacebreaker met with the President of a Western European nation. Spartan arrives and wants to make an offer, on Halo’s behalf, for meteor fragments the President has, leading to a fight between Peacemaker and Spartan and the plane that was leaving is destroyed. So too is Spartan’s internal gyroscope, meaning he must walk back to the United States. Currently, Spartan saves Voodoo after she was falling out the window at the end of last issue, but that leads him into a battle with Maul, Backlash and the Owls. During the fight, Cray ends up leaving Spartan and ends up in Maul, with Voodoo convincing Spartan to go to Marlowe’s aid. Elsewhere, Lynch, Maxine, Caitlin and Zannah meet with Marlowe, telling him the Amanda Waller has made them an offer better than his. The limo they are riding in gets into an accident that leads them directly into a confrontation with Batman, Black Canary and Roy Harper. Grifter arrives and sides with his friends, teleporting them away by using a JLA transporter.

WORLD’S FINEST: TEEN TITANS #2 by Mark Waid and Emanuela Lupacchino. Aqualad and Bumblebee go to meet Wonder Girl, finding her with someone named Mal. The foursome go off together and spend the day enjoying just being teenagers until Bumblebee gets an alert that leads them to the rest of the Titans. In Chapel Hill, Speedy and Robin meet with Lilith and Gnarrk, who have tacked a 16-year-old girl to an abandoned house. With the full team united, they all go into the house and find themselves in a variety of overwhelming nightmare scenarios that are based on the girl’s own nightmares. They all manage to fight through their insecurities and offer to help the girl. In the end, the team gets invited to Titanscon and all seem excited…except for Robin!

 

DC Universe Month 67, Part 1

KNIGHT TERRORS #3 by Joshua Williamson, Guiseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi and Caspar Wijngaard. Batman and Sandman fight their way through the creatures from the Land of Slumber in an effort to free Mr. terrific. Luckily Damian Wayne arrives to lend a hand, allowing the overwhelmed heroes to escape, but without Mr. Terrific. Deadman again looks into Insomnia’s dreams and sees how he had a grudge against the Justice League and, during a brutal and bloody therapy session, cut off his own eyelids. Sandman put Batman/Deadman and Damian to sleep so they can find the Nightmare Stone, believing it to be located somewhere between waking and dreaming. It leads them to the House of Horrors where Deadman is forced to relive his death and tear out the heart of his dream self. The heroes come out of their slumber with the Nightmare Stone, but Deadman may have plans for it.

KNIGHT TERRORS #4 by Joshua Williamson, Guiseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi and Caspar Wijngaard. Sandman, Damian and a Deadman inhabited Batman have made their way to Arkham Tower, with Batman possessing the Nightmare Stone. Along their journey, Insomnia impersonates Batman and Damian stabs him, temporarily sending him away. Next he tends Deadman with an apparition of Dove. Eventually, they find Christopher Lukas: AKA Insomnia. Deadman leaves batman’s body and, with the Nightmare Stone in tow, heads into Lukas’ mind to free him from the Lazarus curse. There he sees how Lukas’ family was killed in an explosion and the Justice League never showed to help. Insomnia meets Deadman and then kills himself, releasing all the nightmares into the real world. To be concluded in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: ACTION COMICS #2 by Leah Williams, Phillip Kennedy Johnson. Mico Suayan, Fico Ossio and Vasco Georgiev. Power Girl continues to try and find a way out of her endless dream where Omen is her enemy. She finally finds the power source for the Kryptonian spaceship and breaks free. But, once she wakes up, she sees that something bad is happening right now in the real world. Weeks later, there is a Kryptonian artifact that becomes attached to a scavenger and will represent a problem in POWER GIRL #1, coming next month. In the backup, the Superman Family are forced to fight Cyborg Superman and other creatures in their nightmare world, including Mongul Who Was. Henshaw’s nightmare revolves around his wife and it is she who manages to defeat him, allowing the children to wake from the nightmare. But the nightmare for this world is not over just yet. Both stories are to be continued in KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: ANGEL BREAKER #2 by Tim Seeley and Acky Bright. Angel Breaker and Raptor, along with the children of the Kobra Cult, look to find a way out, even as one child is slain and another is eaten by a giant cobra. Arlun West is with Angel Breaker. In the end, Raptor and Angel Breaker defeat Nanny Gillo, with West being the only child to survive the ordeal. Raptor gives the Asclepius to West, knowing that he and Angel Breaker will fall asleep, telling him to find other heroes..

KNIGHT TERRORS: BATMAN #2 by Joshua Williamson, Guillem March, and Trevor Hairsince. In the Nightmare World, Batman had become Joe Chill and killed his parents, leading to him battling nightmarish versions of a young Bruce Wayne. He breaks free and ends up at the Black Door, where he confronts Insomnia. He makes his wake through the door in his own mind and manages to wake up and find himself in Arkham Tower. His son is there, telling him this is the real world and that they lost the fight. Is this real or is Batman still stuck in his nightmare. In the backup, Black canary and Roy find themselves trapped in their own nightmare involving zombies in the swamps before canary’s scream wakes them. But it looks like it is not over yet. To be continued in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: BLACK ADAM #2 by Jeremy Haun. Black Adam fights through his nightmare, eventually ending up at the Rock of Eternity and meeting with the wizard, who tells him he is always destined to fail. The wizard becomes a nightmare creature and Adam fights against him, finally waking and finding himself in Khandaq, where he must fight another creature. To be continued in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: CATWOMAN #2 by Tini Howard and Leila Leiz. Batman and Catwoman find a younger version of The Joker, who reveals he has plans for Sister Zero. Later, the pair, in civilian clothes, meet with Maggie, so Selina can tell her The Joker is coming for her, who ignores Selina’s warnings. While in a confessional booth, Selina attacks the priest, who turns out to be The Joker. But Maggie does not believe Selina and orders her to leave. The Joker has poisoned the communion wine and his followers Naja and Lachesis attack the heroes, poisoning Selina in the process. Meanwhile, Sister Zero confronts The Joker, who reveals he has poisoned the wine. Batman injects anti-venom but it is too late. As she seemingly dies, she actually comes out of her nightmare, realizing what she must do. To be continued in BATMAN/CATWOMAN THE GOTHAM WAR: THE BATTLE LINES #1

KNIGHT TERRORS: DETECTIVE COMICS #2 by Dan Watters and Riccardo Federici. As jim Gordon continues to fall apart, mentally and physically, he is forced to fight a monstrous version of a man called Blake. With Blake blown up and Gordon taking tremendous damage in the process, the Pentapriests of the Fifth Dimension arrive and reveal they gave out three gifts, the third of which went to Barbara, who he finds that she too is broken like glass. She reveals that she found a interdimensional artifact on the Dark Web and used it, resulting in the Pentapriests appearance and the granting of wishes. She denounces them, breaking even more as she does. The Pentapriests now demand he wakes up and he does. In the end, someone goes into a watch shop and buys a mysterious watch, meaning this may not be the last we see of the Pentapriests.

KNIGHT TERRORS: THE FLASH #2 by Alex Paknadel and Daniel Bayliss. Barry continues to fight through his unending nightmare to save Wally, but all attempts fail. He finally ends up in the 25^th Century, where he battles Eobard Thawne, taking all of Thawne’s Speed Force with him. he races to save Wally but discovers that the monster responsible for slowing down Wally’s Speed Force is the accumulated versions of Barry, from so many attempts. It turns out that it’s Wally who eventually saves Barry. Wally explains that Barry has been running non stop for hours in some kind of trance and now needs to fill him mentor in on what had happened regarding Insomnia. To be continued to KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: GREEN LANTERN #2 by Jeremy Adams, Alex Segurs, Eduardo Pansica, and Mario “Fox” Foccillo. Barry faces off against a Nightmare version of Parallax, using all of his power to defeat the nightmares and come back to the waking world. In the backup, Sinestro fights through his nightmare, breaking free and finally seeing his purposes in life.

KNIGHT TERRORS: HARLEY QUINN #2 by Tini Howard, Leah Williams, PJ Holden, and Hayden Sherman. Harley continues to deal with the horrors of being on alternate Earths. She ends up as the Heroic Harlequin, fighting Brainiac in a Sixties comic book style. Later, she ends up with housewife Ivy, who gets knocked out by a returning Brainiac. Back at her apartment, she finds Ivy has been reduced to a bowl of lettuce and proceeds to slam her hand in the refrigerator to attempt to wake up. She ends up with Lady Quark, who sends her off on a mission to Warworld to save the Multiverse. In the backup, Harley and her future alternate version board a ship powered by all the various remains of Harleys past.

KNIGHT TERRORS: THE JOKER #2 by Matthew Rosenberg and Stefano Raffaele. The Joker, in his nightmare, is leaving a double life where he runs Wayne Enterprises by day, where he finds himself interviewing potential employees including Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow,  and has become Batman by night. He even coaches the Wayne Enterprises baseball team, where his anger leads him to kill Jimmy Olsen while umpire Insomnia watches. That night, he has dinner with Bruce Wayne before waking to find himself back at Wayne Enterprises. That night, his son finds the dead Batman after it has fallen out of a closet. Joker meets with several criminals and cooks up a special gas, convinced he can use the gas to show the world that the “real Batman” is alive. As Batman, he runs into his gang members who release the gas to subdue him as he has ordered. This allows him to wake and he decides to go back to sleep.

KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHTWING #2 by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and Daniele Di Nicuolo. Nightwing is rooming with Jonathan Crane in Cell #666 in Arkham, where he has been incarcerated for killing Batman. Also in Arkham are twisted versions of Batman’s Rogues Gallery and a somewhat robotic version of Barbara Gordon. He intentionally starts a riot and he and Crane look for a way out.  crane gets a radio message from Basil, who he is trying to find but, when they do, he is a version of a walking decayed creature. They eventually find Barbara and free her, even in her cybernetic state. This turns into visions of the circus and Nightwing must face Batman. With sharp claws, batman attacks and this begins to turn Nightwing in a cybernetic creature, only to be saved by Barbara. He leaves the circus and finds Barbara, who has been saved by the Batgirls. As the circus tent burns, Crane opts to stay behind, allowing Nightwing to escape with the Batgirls.

KNIGHT TERRORS: POISON IVY #2 by G. Willow Wilson and Atagun Ilhan. Ivy has settled into the comfort of the nightmare she shares with Harley. But when Harley decides to kill some weeds, Ivy reacts and realizes this Nightmare World is not what she wants in life. The nightmarish versions of Batman and Selina team up to subdue Ivy. Meanwhile, Janet finds herself captured by Mad Hatter and Batgirl, finding a way to break free and get to Ivy. The pair team up to fight these nightmare versions and eventually force themselves to wake up.

KNIGHT TERRORS: PUNCHLINE #2 by Danny Lore and Lucas Meyers. Punchline finds herself trapped by Batgirl and Oracle’s computer. Once freeing herself, she meets Insomnia, who continues to torment her before the robotic zombie Batgirl finds her. She fights back, destroying her enemy and finding her way out of the computer. This allows her to wake from the nightmare, where she finds herself among her crime cohorts. To be continued in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: RAVAGER #2 by Ed Brisson and Dexter Soy. Ravager battles herself and the minions of the Murder man in the Nightmare World. Meanwhile, in the real world, Stormwatch is trying to find a way to wake her up. Ravager fights against herself and the Murder man who admits she is the conduit that will let him into the real world. She defeats him and is awakened by Peacekeeper-01, with her asking if anything else came through with her. He tells her no but we see a single drop of blood moving on the counter she lay upon. To be continued in BATMAN: BRAVE AND THE BOLD #4.

KNIGHT TERRORS: ROBIN #2 by Kenny Porter and Miguel Mendonca. Tim and Jason are stuck in the own individual nightmares and struggle to find a way to break out. They manage to connect with each other in the nightmare world and find a way to team up to defeat each other’s worst fears. Breaking free of their prison, they make it back to the waking world and resume their crime fighting ways.

KNIGHT TERRORS: SHAZAM #21 by Mark Waid and Roger Cruz. Mary is trapped in the Nightmare World and fights a dark version of Captain Billy. Later, she manages to individually invade the nightmares of her siblings and frees them into fighting through their individual and collective nightmares. When she finally wakes, she sees that Captain Billy has made his way from the Nightmare World to the real world. To be continued in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: SUPERMAN #2 by Joshua Williamson and Tom Reilly. Supergirl is in the midst of a nightmare involving Krypton, including her father’s death at the hands of Doomsday. As she tries to flee, she finds Kal-El, realizing that she has managed to break into his nightmare. While this nightmare goes on, Aquaman and Mera, in the waking world, search the world with a sleeping Superman in tow, looking for any other heroes who may be awake. In the nightmare, Superman and Supergirl end up in a Western town, inspired by something Marilyn Moonlight had told Kal-El. They travel through several places, eventually ending up at the Daily Planet, where he rescues Lois from a paper monster. They get attacked by the Super-Reaper. They get him to Supercorp and try to devise a plan to wake up the world, but a creature sent by Insomnia attacks them. Luckily, Superman defeats the Super-Reaper just in time as he wakes and saves Aquaman and Mera. He returns to where this all started: the Hall of Justice.

KNIGHT TERRORS: TITANS #2 by Andrew Constant and Scott Godlewski. The team finds themselves battling twisted creatures at an equally twisted Titans Tower. Once they have defeated them, they discover they are all wearing inmate uniforms, leading Raven to reveal that Titans Tower was previously Bludhaven Private Prison and that the mysterious woman is actually a personification of the tower and they are stuck in her dream. The woman slashes at her surroundings, leading to her finding herself in the prison and finding herself where she meets her tortured self and manages to heal together. That moment brings the team back to the waking world and off to join the other heroes in a battle against Insomnia. To be continued in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: WONDER WOMAN #2 1 by Josie Campbell, Stephanie Williams, Meghan Hetrick, and Juan Ferreyra. Wonder Woman battles twisted vsiions of herself before finally defeating it and saving Detective Chimp, bursting out of the snake that ate her. With her lasso and her will, she finds the other trapped heroes and they break free of their slumber, only to find that their nightmares have now become real and are menacing the real world. They team up to stop the monsters but know that the rest of the world is also in trouble, so they head on to Gotham to continue the fight. In the backup, Nubia fights a monstrous version of Gaia. She destroys the creature but that leads to her being tormented by the souls that were left in the Well of Souls. She wakes alongside of Io, realizing the nightmares have invaded the real world. To be continued in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: ZATANNA #2 by Dennis Culver and David Baldeon. Zatanna fights against The Rustbringer: a corrupted version of Robotman. It also brings her into contact with a corrupt version of her dead father. She finds herself trapped in the maze and it seems she is destined to become the Dame of Death. But her magic prevents that and she is able to free Cliff from his being The Rustbringer. Dubbing themselves Hex and Violence, they head off to fight Insomnia. To be continued in  KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END.

KNIGHT TERRORS: NIGHT’S END #1 by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Stefano Nesi, and Trevor Hairsine. The nightmares are loose and the now woken superheroes must fight against them even as Insmnia controls the Nightmare Stone and holds Deadman captive. In return for giving him the Nightmare Stone, Insomnia gives Deadman a wife and children, patterned after his own family. Deadman finds peace with a family he never had until Sandman snaps him out of the dream and he fights back. When he reaches Insomnia, he tries to reason with him and Insomnia tears him to pieces. The heroes locate the dead body of John Dee and find his Dreamstone and Sandman decides he will use it. Deadman returns, showing he faked his death. Grabbing ahold of Insomnia, Deadman sacrifices himself to make everything end as Insomnia is sent away by the Dreamstone. Lukas is happy to be with his family again but that is only part of his nightmare as they attack him. With the crisis over, Zatanna sends Wesley Dodds back to his restful eternal sleep. Then Batman collapses and he is rushed to the Hall of Justice, where he will sleep until he is finally rested(which turns out to be close to eight weeks). In the end, Amanda Waller continues her fight against the heroes by gifting the Helmet of Hate and the Nightmare Stone to her newest creation: Doctor Hate. To be continued in BEAST WORLD.