DC Universe Month 72, Part 1

ACTION COMICS #1061 by Jason Aaron and John Timms. Bizarro goes to the Sorcerer’s World, battling them and absorbing their magic and killing the sorcerers in the process. Six weeks later and Bizarro has made his way to Earth and battles Superman. Bizarro has a number of magic artifacts and that is powering him, when he goes to use the last one, he finds himself dragged into a portal and he disintegrates inside of it. Even with Bizarro dead and gone, Superman still hears his voice in his head. Maybe that is because Bizarro is now within everyone.

ALAN SCOTT: THE GREEN LANTERN #4 by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey. Alan’s former lover, now revealed to be the Red Lantern, tells his story. In 1923, Johnny, who reveals he is actually Russian and his name is Vlad, joins the Russian military, where he began researching the Crimson Flame of Death. He gets assigned to infiltrate the U.S. Army, to become friends with Alan Scott and find a way to get the Crimson Flame, which the government had. The two becomes lovers and Vlad finds a way to access Project Crimson. During that moment with the pair on the ship, Vlad is captured by the Crimson Flame and dies. However he is filled with the power of the Crimson Flame and is saved by the Russian navy. During his recovery, the Russian government crafts a ring and give it to him, along with a lantern. In the present, he finds the ring he had given to Alan, revealing that Alan should have known that Johnny’s story was false, telling him how Florida State did not have a baseball team. Alan attacks and the two fight but, during the fight, Alan touches memories of the two of them together, giving him time to use the Red Power battery to recharge himself, giving him the Red Lantern’s powers.

AMAZONS ATTACK #4 by Josie Campbell and Vasco Georgiev. Themyscira is in flames and Nubia finds Io there. Nubia is confused as she sees Hippolyta and Io facinf Herakles army.. Meanwhile, Yara meets with Cassie at a safe house in Brazil, learning that all the Amazon safe houses are deserted and the words ASYLUM painted on all of them. They get attacked by A.X.E. troopers and flee. They head to Belle Reve, where Mary Marvel is battling with Count vertigo, who has been tasked with killing Mary by Amanda Waller. In the Garden of Hesperides, Faruka  realizes that they have a traitor in their midst and that person was responsible for Eris’ death. That is when Peacekeeper and A.Z.E. arrive, telling Faruka to surrender or he will execute Nubia.

BATMAN #141 by Chip Zdarsky, Dustin Nguyen, and Jorge Jimenez. In the past, Zur-En-Arrh creates Failsafe. In the present, Batman confronts Failsafe, who has declared himself the new Batman. Knowing he cannot defeat him, being that he is controlled by Zur, Batman flees. Meanwhile, Dick meets with Lucie, who explains that she was take by The Joker. Batman flees to a safe house but, when Failsafe catches up to him, he defeats Batman, who later wakes in a prison cell with The Joker, who promises to tell Bruce how he is involved with all of this. In the backup, Zur-En-Arrh makes his way into the mind of Failsafe, where he meets and battles other Batmen, finally promising to unite them and they will help him free the world.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #5 by Joshua Williamson and Nikola Cizmesija. Bruce Wayne is serving breakfast to students at Jason’s school, following a night working together to stop Orca. During the day, Damian is observing his principal, who he believes is Shush. Bruce meets with Damian’s Biology teacher, Ms. Heather Hall, who tells Wayne that Damian should consider getting started on college courses now. Damian’s chief rival at school is a student named Zach Shea. Later, Batman and Robin observe Zach and discover that he is Victor Zsasz’s son.

BATMAN AND ROBIN 2024 ANNUAL by Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter. Bruce and Damian go on a road trip, ending up at a gas station where Damian sees a collection of posters showing people who have gone missing. They set up at the Full Moon Campground and Damian finds several of the corpses of the missing people. They soon discover they are being detained by a force field. That is because Roulette is hosting a high-priced hunting party and the Waynes are the prey. Among those hunters are Bloodsport. The Waynes have no real weapons, so they have to rely on their wits to save themselves. The pair manage to defeat all of the hunters and capture Roulette.

BATMAN: OFF WORLD #3 by Jason Aaron and Doug Mahnke. Nyreek meets with Akkari, looking for batman, who has been off training with the barbed wolves. The pair, along with the wolf, leave the planet, in search of their previous captors. Along the way, Batman creates a new armored suit and also crafts weapons while Nyreek tries to seduce him. They pass through a space hurricane and Batman attacks, eventually coming face-to-face with the alien who defeated him on Earth and also tormented him in space. Using the skills he has learned, Batman defeats him, telling Nyreek he needs to know about the Blakksun Mining Company. Elsewhere, the Blakksun Twins prepare for Batman’s potential arrival.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #23 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. The heroes of two worlds team up, with the Batmen fighting with David, who is now Magog, and the Supermen battling Gog. Gog tells them that his upcoming war with Apokolips is so his super-powered followers can die in combat and go to Valhalla. The Batmen convince David that he is a good person and he turns on Gog, with the other super-powered beings of this world siding with David. Gog uses Metron’s chair to open a bridge to Apokolips. Batman comments that Gog’s ability to corrupt free will and end it is the Anti-Life Equation. They know that if he has it and makes his way to Apokolips, it could be the end of everything. They defeat Gog but it may be too late as Darkseid arrives.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST 2024 ANNUAL by Mark Waid, Cullen Bunn, Dennis Culver, Stephanie Williams, Christopher Cantwell, Edwin Galmon, Travis Mercer, Rosi Kampe, and Jorge Fornes. Iin the Fifth Dimension, there is a meeting of the Just-Us League, during which Green-Mite is killed by this world’s version of the Legion of Doom. The heroes make the decision to flee dimensions and the villains are ready to follow, which will be continued in BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #25. In the second story, Metamorpho goes on a treasure hunt for Simon Stagg, which ends up with him meeting his estranged father, Montana Mason. In the third story, Karen beecher, before she became Bumblebee, helps to take down Bucklin Mart, even though it will affect Stagg Industries. In the last story, the Challengers of the Unknown travel through space-time to stop a possible world ending calamity. But not everyone will come out alive.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #9 by Tom King, Kyle Starks, Gabriel Hardman, Bruno Redondo, Mitch Gerads, Fernando Pasarin, and Matt Hollingsworth. Batman confronts The Joker in the first battle, resulting in the Dark Knight victorious. Batman visits him in prison and tells the villain a joke, with The joker saying they are going to have a great time together. In the second story, Wild Dog decides he is not cut out to be a hero. But that changes when Gizmo holds an entire stadium hostage in an effort to extort five million dollars. Wild Dog suits up and takes Gizmo and his crew done. In the end, Wild Dog learns that a copycat is looking to duplicate Gizmo’s actions, meaning the hero may be moving on. In the third tale, Aquaman teams up with the residents of Gorilla City to fight back against the Dmoniators. Together, they defeat the invaders, even as Konar betrays the Dominators, at the cost of his own life. In the final tale, Batman battles The joker, defeating him, but also getting severely injured in a fall from the roof with the villain. In the end, Lucius Fox shows Batman his newest invention: A grappling hook gun.

BIRDS OF PREY #5 by Kelly Thompson and Arist Deyn. The Birds fight Megaera and the creature captures Sin in the process, Inside Megaera, the creature tries to convince Sin to join her, but she refuses. Dinah makes her way inside and reunites with sin, who tells her of Megaera’s plan, which is to kill someone to become her host. Dinah offers herself but Megaera tells her that Sin had made a wish and now she needs to accept this. Dinah uses her sonic scream to attack Megaera from the inside. Meanwhile, the rest of the Birds fight Diana and the Amazons, who have been corrupted by Megaera.

BLUE BEETLE #5 by Josh Trujillo and Adrian Gutierrez. Gimmix is alive again and meets with Paco and company, explaining that she saw an image of the Blood Scarab in her mirror. Starfire explains that they need to gather Nitida and The horizon to fight . Meanwhile, Jaime meets with Victoria Kord so they can find something to fight the Blood Scarab, which she says she will build. Jaime meets with the others and he rallies them to join him in the fight. The team fights the Blood Scarab and his followers and Jaime orders Victoria to launch her weapon. She does but it only seems to disrupt Jaime, who now must fight the Blood Scarab alone and with no powers.

CATWOMAN #61 by Tini Howard and Stefano Raffaele. Dario and ‘Catwoman’ are fighting crime in Gotham City while Selina Kyle is in Markovia pursuing the radioactive heart of a melted down nuclear reactor for a client. She battles her way inside the reactor, knowing exposure to that item will certainly make her deathly ill, perhaps even kill her because of radiation poisoning. She battles through gun wielding men in radiation suits, even as the poison begins to kill her. In delirium, she converses with an Egyptian goddess, explaining that her ability for rebirth is actually a gift and not a curse. She flees the site and, out in the snow, is visited by Superman, who tries to convince her to go to the hospital. She gives him the sample from the reactor and asks him to destroy the rest. Telling him she is not afraid, she dies in Superman’s arms.

DETECTIVE COMICS #1081 by Ram V, Dan Watters, Hayden Sherman, Riccardo Federici, and Stefano Raffaele. Talia takes an injured Batman to Aras, where he encounters a number of visions, along with Dr. Hurt. Later, he meets with a vision in the form of Farhad I Parethes. He wanders through the desert, eventually reuniting with Hurt and a group of his masked followers, with Hurt telling Batman that he had come to the Gotham that the Batman saved. Meanwhile, The Question continues to investigate the murder of Detective Henry Fielding, crossing paths with his partner’s mother in the process. Later, she finds Fielding’s partner, dead by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. She also finds a confession from him. In the backup, a group of people are in a group therapy session, describing their experiences that resulted in their lives being ruined. What they discover is all of their lives were impacted by Doctor Hurt, and the person leading the session gives them all the chance to kill Hurt.

FIRE & ICE: WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE #5 by Joanne Starer and Natacha Bustos. Fire wakes up to find lobo is gone. Tamarind wakes to find Honey gone and The Big tease on fire, leading to Bea saving her., leading to an argument between Bea and Ice. Meanwhile, the villains wake to find that Lobo has stolen all their loot and make the decision to rob the town. Tora goes to the diner and meets with Rocky, who declares that she needs her, even though it appears she is being controlled. As vines envelop her and other diner customers. Later, Tora and Bea make up, with Tora saying that an ancient creature named Crave is the person responsible for all of this. Rocky shows up wearing the strange mask, which apparently is the host for Crave, declaring that Kooey Kooey Kooey is going to rise again. As the destruction continues, they get a video call from Martha and see that crave is with her and looking for Tora.

THE FLASH #5 by Si Spurrier and Mike Deodato Jr. Jai West is learning more about his powers and now he finds himself wrestling with responsibility, even as his father seems wrapped up in his own problems. With he help of Inspector pilgrim, jai finds himself able to slip through time and observe his father at different points in time, finally ending up where his father is in the middle of conducting experiments. The Stillness arrives and a fight ensues. When it is over, as the cleanup begins, Jai tells his father he does not want to be a superhero.

GREEN ARROW #8 by Joshua Williamson and Phil Hester. Oliver Queen is dead and his son mourns him, while also going out to find his assassin. That leads him to track down Onomatopoeia, who apparently is the shooter. Onomatopoeia has left Star City, meeting with Brick: the man who hired him. Connor arrives and attacks, but Onomatopoeia reveals himself to be Green Arrow and his death had been faked. They ask Brick about what they have heard regarding Waller making some deal to kill of superheroes. Ollie asks him where Waller has taken Roy, but brick says that Roy has not been captured, but is instead working for Waller.

GREEN LANTERN #7 by Jeremy Adams, Peter J. Tomasi, Amanxay Nahuelpan, and David Lafuente. Some time ago, the Lanterns meet the new people in charge on Oa: the United Planets , led by Lord Premier Thaaros. Thaaors declares that Sector 2814 has been quarantined, meaning the Lanterns are banned from protecting Earth. Thaaros assigns Hal and Kilowog to accompany him to Korugar, where they meet with Sinestro. Jordan is evicted from the meeting but sees the beginning of an assassination attempt on Thaaros. Jordan and Kilowog team up, but Kilowog and the assassins are killed when the power battery on Korugar explodes. In the present, Razer tells Hal that the power battery on Odym has been destroyed. In the backup, Ngaf destroys Korg’s handmade rocket ship. In response, Korg shows that Ngaf was living large and stealing from the city, leading to a minor revolt by his followers. Korg defeats Ngaf and now Korg has his own team. To be continued in SINISTER SONS #1.

GREEN LANTERN: WAR JOURNAL #5 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Montos. At Steelworks, John is told that is mother is awake, talking to his deceased father and his deceased sister Ellie. John visits her, with her realizing that she is not in her home and that Ellie is missing. John uses his ring to transform the room into their home and also construct Ellie, which calms his mother down. Later, he and Shep go to the Amazon rainforest, where they find marking of the Darkstars. Green Lantern allies of Varron arrive, calling Stewart a traitor. The Radiant Dead arrives, kills the Lanterns and attacks John and Shep.

HARLEY QUINN # 36 by Tini Howard, Alexis Quasarano, Sweeney Boo, and Steve Beach. The Brother Eyes are looking to capture Harley and the monarchs also have been converted. In the middle of all this, with Bud and Lou protecting her, Harley gets a call from Ivy. Harley and Lux head out through the Multiverse to try and find her friend Kevin. And also to see what Harley will do in various situations in her Multiversal timelines. She finds and saves Kevin and now has to fight against her students, who have been corrupted, and not injure them in the process. She is told that if Harley gives herself up, her students will be released. She agrees but wants to visit Ivy first. Before she gives up, she asks for heroes to help her and the only person who does is Ivy. But the Brother Eyes have a plan and that is to show the whole world how horrible a person Harley really is. In the backup, Harley dreams she is a barbarian tasked to save Ivy in a fantasy world. She saves Ivy but, as always, she wakes before she gets to kiss the love of her life.