DC UNIVERSE Month 87, Part 2

JSA #6 by Jeff Lemire and Diego Olortegui.  On Earth, the JSA team members make their way to Dr. Mid-Nite’s communication signal and they are forced to fight KOBRA soldiers, with Yolanda finding Mid-Nite’s gear and a lot of blood. She attacks and kills one of the soldiers. They return to their headquarters and there is dissention among them. Meanwhile, in the demon dimension, Khalid is trying his best to hold back the demons but, after a pep talk from Wildcat, gets back in the fight as the Injustice Society arrives. Ted Grant fights against them so Khalid can continue his work. As the Tower of Fate is destroyed by a giant demon, Shiv runs a chest through Ted, killing him. Wotan grabs the Helm of fate off of Khlaids head and the villains leave. The JSAers return to their headquarters with Ted’s body.

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #6 by Mark Waid, Christopher Cantwell, and Dan Mora. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART TWO. Grodd reveals how he convinced Air Wave to work to Grodd’s goals. He sought out someone he could corrupt and discovered the recently restored Air Wave, convincing him that he was one of the good guys and the Justice League were the actual villains. By telling Air Wave that he was dying due to the exposure to chronal forces within the bio-field he had been held in and that, unless he was cured, he would cease to exist and everyone he ever helped will never have been helped; even his sister. When Grodd eventually springs his trap, Air Wave realizes that Grodd and the League are actually Inferno. Air Wave fights back but Grodd shoots him with a tachyon pistol and Air Wave is disintegrated. The League arrives but they are all shot with the same pistol. Continued in BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST 2025 ANNUAL.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE ATOM PROJECT #4 by Ryan Parrott, John Ridley, and Mike Perkins. In the recent past, Captain Atom is able to drain the errant powers of the people on The Watchtower. The Atoms make the decision to keep Nathaniel here so they can continue to examine him, but they are interrupted by a team of soldiers, led by Master Sergeant Garcia. Eiling contacts the Atoms to tell them to let him do what he wants, which is to have Captain Atom transfer the power set of Atom Smasher to the Master Sargeant, which he does. In the present, Captain Atom battles Major Force in what turns out to be an unfair fight as Eiling has instructed his team to blast Nathaniel, which drains his powers. The Atoms are trying to assist Nathaniel but Eiling tells them they should concentrate on helping the injured, all while Nathaniel is being blasted and drained. Major Force makes the decision to kill Nathaniel, even though Eiling wants him alive. This leads Captain Atom to drain Major Force’s powers, turning him back into a regular powerless human. As Ray Palmer attempt to console Captain Atom, he is blasted by two members of Inferno, telling him they are here to rescue him.

METAMORPHO THE ELEMENT MAN #5 by Al Ewing and Steve Leiber. The Thunderer has arrived and he reveals the grand plan of CY.L.O.P.S., which all goes back to the Sun Gods of the universes battling each other before deciding that it would be better to use proxies to engage in their duels and if a proxy loses it will result in sun death. Simon Stagg determines that the asteroid that created Metamorpho was a simple act of recruitment for a new proxy. Rex and Element arrive and battle The Thunderer, making the decision to run off, to draw the villain away. This takes them to Emily Sung, better known as Element Woman who, along with Element Dog, reluctantly agrees to team up. But, when Algon, the ancient Element man arrives, there is turmoil as Algon swear revenge on Metamorpho. He eventually agree to help but The Thunderer blasts Algon and turns him into a puddle of goo. Element Woman becomes air and enters The Thunderer, blasting him apart from inside. Despite that, Solaris, the Tyrant Sun, arrives to rule the planet.

THE NEW GODS #5 by Ram V,  Evan Cagle and Andrew MacLean. In a prologue piece, Lightray questions the meaning of Life, Death, and Existence. During his musings, The Racer arrives and tells Lightray that he will understand the meaning of Existence is The racer ever catches him. In the present Highfather meets Karok on the battlefield. Karok refuses to leave, saying that New Genesis will be hollowed out just as Darkseid once did to Karok’s home world. Highfather annihilates Karok, who reassembles himself and then presents Grayven, the bastard son of Darkseid. Grayven unleashes a ray of black Omgea energy to destroy Highfather but that is blocked by Lightray who decides to sacrifice himself and is run through with a sword as Highfather and the New Gods take a portal to Earth. On Earth, Scott and Barda continue to try to protect the child from Orion when Superman arrives to stop Orion..

NIGHTWING #125 by Dan Watters and Francisco Francavilla. Maggie gets a call telling her Frank Dietrich, part of the Helios Project, has been murdered. Speaking with his widow, she reveals that Frank would abuse his children for transgressions, meaning their may be numerous reasons for his murder. Maggie meets with Nightwing, who says he will look into the murder but believes Dietrich deserves what he got for killing Marcus Moran. Later, she gets a call from a former officer who explains that Captain Hallow, the BPD’s legendary boogeyman, must have been responsible for the killing. Just then, Captain Hallow arrives as does Nightwing. Hallow tosses the older officer out the window and flees.

POISON IVY #32 by G. Willow Wilson and Brian Level. Ivy and Undine fight against the transformed Ed Cooper, with Undine trapping him in a cage of vines. But he breaks free and attacks a spying Janet, killing her. Ivy flips out and uses her powers to unleash carnivorous plants that slowly begin to devour Ed. Devastated, Ivy wanders off and calls on the Bog Venus to ask for a favor to restore Janet’s life. The Bog Venus arrives and refuses to deal with Ivy, until Ivy says that if the Bog Venus saves Janet, she will tell her what Xylon told her. Bog Venus agrees, saying that Janet is beginning to transform as part of their deal. Janet sees the creature and, surprisingly, is not afraid of it. Ivy enters the Bog Venus, where she explains that The Grey only wants peace which the Bog Venus cannot believe and refuses, leading to Ivy becoming angry and saying they need to figure this out.

THE POWER COMPANY: RECHARGED #1 by Bryan Edward Hill, Khary Randolph, Alitha Martinez, Norm Rapamund, Ray Anthony Height, and Studio Skye Tiger. The story begins with a young boy and his family getting murdered by an assassin, leading to Signal reaching out to Jace Fox to come to Atlanta and help solve the case. Upon his arrival, Jace meets with Jeremiah Power, who has put together a team consisting of Signal, Vixen and Black Lightning. Jace wants nothing to do with a team and visits the crime scene himself. While investigating, the killer sets off a device, causing the house to explode with Jace inside. The team, having deduced that the murders are caused by an anti-metahuman group known as the Sons of Liberty, Signal and Vixen track the possible next victim, a journalist named Aki, who reveals the boy was a metahuman, and they save her from a Sons of Liberty attack. She reveals she was contacted by Agent Liberty, who actually is the killer even though he claimed to be a supporter of metahumans. Jace tracks Agent Liberty down and takes him down but the villain escapes. In the end, Black Lightning agrees to be available if The Power Company needs him..

POWER GIRL #20 by Leah Williams and David Baldeon.  Up above Asgard, Power Girl and Axel have an intimate moment where Axel says he loves her and they kiss, even though she is worried about the Karen Starr imposter. The following day, Paige walks into the headquarters and Omen immediately realizes it isn’t Paige but Karen Starr, who transforms into a series of weapons. Although she transforms into looking like Natasha, Mariposa comes in and punches her in the face, leading to Starr’s escape even as Mariposa has injured her hand. The following day, the Stargraze launch press conference is getting ready when Paige meets with Starr, realizing she is actually Ejecta, telling her she can have the name as Paige has already used Starr’s assets. That evening, Mariposa admits to having feelings for Natasha, who agrees to take her out to dinner. Omen has a heart to heart chat with Paige and then reunites with Siegfried. In the end, Power Girl realizes she has made peace with herself and her life.

THE QUESTION: ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER #6 by Alex Segura and Cian Tormey. Renee has been shot into space and the heroes onboard The Watchtower have been corrupted by Cyborg Superman. Renee has made her way back onto The Watchtower, believing she was saved by a shield around her. As she looks for the villains, she encounters Vic Sage and shoots him with the Phantom Zone rifle, which manages to eliminate Henshaw’s influence. Eradicator reveals that someone, probably him, has cut off Henshaw’s power from the Phantom Zone, just as Renee and Sage arrive and use the Phantom Zone gun to fully free the other heroes. Henshaw is jettisoned into space by Renee using the Green Lantern ring, and all those corrupted Leaguers are now ready to follow her as there appears to be Darkstars trying to gain access to the Watchtower.

SECRET SIX #2 by Nicole Maines and Stephen Segovia. We open with a group of scientists working on Amanda Waller’s body, fitting her with a helmet that brings back her memory. Over at the House of Secrets, the team argues as Deadshot reveals he was disguised as a guard and got pulled here by the teleportation spell. And no one knows why an injured Catman is here. Jon fights with Deadshot, Jay fights Black Alice and Catman wakes and fights with Deadshot. After the fights end, Deadshot explains Checkmate took Waller and he needs to get Waller back for the intel she has. But Dreamer wants to kill Waller before her memory comes back, although it may be too late for that.

SUMMER OF SUPERMAN SPECIAL #1 by Mark Waid, Dan Slott, Joshua Williamson, Jorge Jimenez, and Tomeu Morey. In the past, a teenage Clark sits with Lana, where he plans to tell her his biggest secret. Suddenly Validus arrives from the future, causing him to make an excuse and become Superboy. During their battle, he sees moments from his past, present and future, including finding out that Lois will be his true love. Validus fades away and Superboy forgets the memory of the future, thanks to a mental block once put in place by the Legion of Superheroes. In the present, Lana and John Henry are preparing to get married when Validus appears again, bring with him the storm of the century. While Superman battles Validus, the rest of the Superman Family deal with the storm. Validus disappears again and so does the storm. With the town in something like ruins, Lana and John get married. With the pair on their honeymoon, Superman contacts Mr. Terrific and Omen to see why Validus keeps appearing at the same spot in different times. Mr. Terrific detects a rift and uses a containment unit that will hold Validus while Omen probes his mind. Vaklidus disappears again as Omen notes that his mind revealed he was scared and on the run for something. In the end, Validus ends up in the clutches of Darkseid’s Legionnaires while Booster Gold is seen chained nearby.

SUPERMAN #25 by Joshua Williamson, Jamal Campbell, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Dan Mora. In the past, before Lex went to jail, he and Mercy put a plan in place that included working with Superman and, creating Supercorp. However, he did warn her not to unleash his superpowered clone, Project X-El (PXL), as he was too dangerous. In the near past, Lex has developed feelings for Marcy but she is still set on having his original plan come to light, even installing upgrades into PXL and letting hi loose, where he uses his Kryptonite beam to weaken Superman and Superwoman. At the same time, Lex is headed to Strykers Prison and, seeing Marcy out of control, has Marilyn Moonlight break him out, where he puts on his power suit and joins the battles against the clone. During the battle, PXL becomes unstable, recalling what had previously happened to Bizarro. PXL threatens the Kent family and Lex delivers the killing blow to his clone, causing Superman to question what was right. In the end, Superwoman has lost her powers.

TITANS #22 by John Layman and Daniel Bayliss. Months ago, Deathstroke is in stasis and is released by Terra, who explains that Waller has a plan, which we know became ABSOLUTE POWER. Now, the Titans figure out that Deathstroke and Clock King helped Mammoth escape custody and now has teamed up with Clock King and Killer Frost. At the same time, the Titans have to fight Volcano Man, eventually dropping him into the water to negate his power. After, Raven and Gar talk and Gar seems to want to take out Deathstroke permanently.

TWO-FACE #5 by Christian Ward and Fabio Veras. Harvey has chained himself within a mystic circle with Lake Cantwell acting as his eyes and ears. She c=goes to a casino where the villainess known as Die arrives, who uses her dice to destroy the White Church. While demanding to know where Two face is, she shoots Lake and, just before she stabs her to death, Harvey arrives. Die calls him dad but she really means Two-Face himself, who is no longer active. Later, Lake is recovering and Harvey says that Die has disappeared. Unsure of what to do, Harvey reaches out to…Batman.

WONDER WOMAN #20 by Tom King and Guillem March. Diana is lifting weights in an Amazonian temple when she is visited by her mother in the form of a ram. She explains how she invited a man into her bed after a wild night during one of Dionysus’ parties and now the man, who turns out to be Ares, is dead. Diana seeks out Batman to assist in the murder investigation. The pair travel to Olympus, stopping first at the temple of Zeus, where a herald demands a sacrifice with Diana punching him, saying she sacrificed a moment of peace and this blood would be dedicated to Zeus’ thunder. Zeus says that her mother will be punished with mortality if she is found guilty, meaning she will be sent to Hades. Diana asks for a day to solve the crime and Batman says that if they fail to solve the mystery he is willing to be sacrificed in Zeus’ honor. The pair travel to the temple of Dionysus and he tells her he saw Ares leave with someone who wasn’t Hippoylta. Ater Diana hits him with a bottle of wine and he experiences pain, he admits he saw Area leave with Aphrodite. Aphrodite seems unmoved that Ares is dead and turns her attention to Batman, who gets hit suddenly by a lightning bolt belonging to Zeus. Diana meets with Zeus who says someone stole that lightning bolt and an investigation is underway. As Diana tends to Bruce’s wounds, he admits he had lost religion until he met Diana. She lights some candles and promises to find whoever hurt him and make them pay.

ZATANNA #3 by Jamal Campbell.  Zatanna remains in the illusion world with Bruce as her companion. They observe as Basil Karlo and the Lady White arrive at the party. Zatanna confront Lady White but can do nothing as the sword is still in her. The scene changes and Bruce recognizes Zatanna as an actress and Basil’s co-star. Basil thinks Adam was just a character he played in a movie but Zatanna insists he was real and died because of Lady White. Basil insists this world is real even as Zatanna explains it is an illusion, which causes the illusion to fade and basil’s wife and daughter turn into clay. He gets stabbed through the chest with a spear and turns into Clayface and attacks Zatanna. Lady White reveals that Zatanna’s father took everything from her and she is going to collect what she was owed. Despite the pain, Zatanna casts a spell that destroys the illusory realm they are in. The illusion becomes a ruined landscape and the Lady White a red letter with her. Meanwhile, in Adam’s apartment, Blue Devil is visited by Brother Night, who wants to take the skin of the demon Neibros, but he fails and concentrates on turning Adam’s corpse into his slave and leaving Blue Devil as a meal for Lady White.

 

 

 

DC UNIVERSE Month 87, Part 1

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #7 by Scott Snyder and Marcos Martin. It is a month after the end of the previous issue. Gordon has been defeated in the election and Hamilton Hill has placed Gotham under martial law. Waylon, Harvey, Eddie and Ozzie meet in Crime Alley to construct a memorial for their childhood friend, Matches Malone. Bruce arrives to explain that he had asked Matches to craft documents to get Bruce onto the work crew at Ark M. Matches delivered the documents, revealing he had managed to sneak himself onto the work crew and had evidence showing prisoners in the unfinished building. At that point, Matches dies from exposure to some biological weapon. The evidence includes a list of scientists, including Pam Isley, Hugo Strange, Kirk Langstrom and, specifically Victor Fries. Fries runs V-Core and uses enough power to run ten city blocks. Batman tries to break into V-Core but is attacked by police drones. In the process, Alfred calls to tell him that Matches did die from a bacteria that there is no record of. Inside, he sees blocks of ice with prehistoric animals in them. He meets with the director, who is eventually shown to be Victor Fries Jr., and reveals that Victor and Nora Fries are no longer in charge and he shows them frozen in ice. The company cryogenically freezes the terminally ill and he does research which actually saved him from a childhood illness. Victor’s skin turns blue and he touches Bruce’s face, causing the veins in it to also turn blue.

ABSOLUTE FLASH #2 by Jeff Lemire and Nick Robles. With Wally fleeing into the cave, the boomerang drones find him as The Captain tells Harkness to find him while he seals off the exits with ice. As he tries to flee, Wally runs into Jesse and Glider, who hits him with energy blades that triggers him to run at super speed. He gets held in place by The captain freezing his feet to the ground and this triggers lightning from his body. And sends him back to yesterday in Barry’s lab. Barry is caught in a whirlpool of energy and Wally saves him. Wally’s father enters and begins punching Barry, even as Wally turns into red energy. Barry tries to talk him down and Wally hits Barry in the chest with the lightning flying out of his body. Back in the desert, Jesse tries to hold Wally in a force field so they can take him back to Fort Fox for experimentation. But he bursts free and flees from the Rogues, entering the timestream and seeing his entire life all at once, including two future visions: one where he is a hero and one where he destroys the world. Back in the desert, The captain decides to release Grodd: the green monkey Wally had seen in Barry’s lab.

ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #1 by Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay.  Five days ago in the town of Evergreen, Hal Jordan is having lunch with John Stewart and Jo Mullein, recently divorced from what is inferred to be Guy Gardner, who refuses why she left Coast City. A green dome falls around the area and a motorcycle rider hits it and splatters against it. John cannot get cell service and Jo looks to the sky, seeing a green lantern in the sky and an alien who is believed to be Abin Sur. In the present, Hall wanders along a desert highway on his way to the California state line. When he closes his eyes, he sees a ring of light and hears a voice in his head. He is stopped by a police officer who orders him to take his hands out of his pocket. A crying Hal says he cannot because something has happened to him and he closes his eyes. When he opens them, all that is left is the cop’s badge and a crater in the ground. He eventually reaches a small town and enters a diner, where he sees a news broadcast that shows the lantern above Evergreen. Recognizing this alien to be Abin Sur, he says that he wanted to be a hero and the diner owner demands Hal takes his hand out of his pocket, doing to at gunpoint. The hand is covered in black, with Hal saying it responds to threats. The diner owner shoots and the hand kills everyone in the diner. In the end, Jo, glowing in a green light, arrives and asks what happened to him.

ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER #2 by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez. As Agent Jones tries to piece things together, Trigger Taylor murders his parents because he believes they are infected by an alien being. Believing the residents of a town of Syrian immigrants called Little Damascus are also inhabited by aliens, he heads there to kill them all.  Elsewhere, the green smoke takes a shape and tells Agent Jones that it isn’t from Mars at all and has come to Earth because the planet is under attack by a similar race of aliens. The entity teaches Jones to reads minds and their deeds, which are represented by different colors of smoke. Agent Jones gets the call about Trigger’s attack on Little Damascus and responds, with the entity invading Trigger’s mind, making the shooter’s thought available to Jones, who tricks Trigger into believing they are old friends. The Martian entity finds something in trigger’s mind and destroys it, restoring him to sanity, even as a responding officer shoots Trigger in the head, killing him. In the end, the Martian says that Trigger had been infected by a White Martian.

ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #6 by Jason Aaron and Carmine Di Giandomenico. In the past, Sol and Kal-El fly through space looking for a livable planet to land upon. After seventeen months, Kal tells Sol to send him into the sun but Sol’s prime directive will not let him. Just then, he finds the third planet from the sun and puts them down on Earth, even as the yellow sun is causing Kal unbearable pain. On the planet, Jonathan and Martha Kent are negotiating their drought-ridden farm, thanks to weather manipulation from the Lazarus Corp, who wants the Kents to go bankrupt so they can take their land. Kal’s ship crash lands. Sol tells Kal that their solar cells are depleted and need to recharge, dissolving into partial armor and attaches itself to Kal. He babbles in Kryptonese before passing out and spends weeks in and out of consciousness, battling high fevers and bodily spasms as his powers unleash around him. After several weeks, he suddenly wakes and, bursting through the wall of the Kent home, he races at incredible speed into the fields, which reminds him of his own Redlands. He spends the next few weeks, unable to communicate with them, helping around the farm until Sol finally reactivates , wraps him in full armor and gives him the ability to speak and understand English. Lazarus drones arrive and Sol deactivates them, causing it to finally rain on the farm for three days straight. Kal gets reported to Lazarus as am undocumented immigrant and the Peacemakers arrive to capture him but he flies away as he realizes this is very similar to the corruption he witnessed on Krypton. In the present, Lois tracks Martha down at the Smallville Senior Living Center. Brainiac, who has been observing her, reports what he has seen to Lazarus’s Director, who is revealed to be Ra’s al Ghul and declares that he will see Superman kneel before him.

ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #7 by Kelly Thompson and Mattia De Iulis. In the past, young Diana makes friends with Persephone: the captive Queen of the Undwerworld. As she grows up, her mother asks Hecate for advice on how to free Diana from the Underworld. The answer lies in Circe’ interpretation of the story ‘The Lady, or The Tiger?’ In the present, Circe is held in chains and forced to watch Diana battle a Chimera, which Diana ruefully has to kill. Hades gives her the option of one of two doors: one leads to death and other freedom. She choses no door and breaks her mother’s chains, saying she ate one of Persephone’s Pomegranate seeds, which gives her a third option. Diana is allowed to leave but if she sets foot on the Wild Isle to visit Circe, she must remain for one moth in The Underworld.

ACTION COMICS #1085 by G. Willow Wilson and Gavin Guidry. Perry has Lois investigate the heat wave will have on Metropolis, even though he had previously assigned her to interview scientists working on a project in the Arctic, which is now assigned to Clark. Clark meets with Dr. Addison and Dr. Pearce, who are working on a device to reverse the effect of greenhouse gases. However the machine is not working and Clark thinks it may have been sabotaged. At this point, they are attacked by a pair of cybernetically enhanced polar bears leading to Superman arriving and taking the bears away, where they vanish. Later, Superman stands guard when a large robot arrives, that gets stopped by the Man of Steel. That is when the true offender makes themselves known: Kilg%ore

AQUAMAN #4 by Jeremy Adams and John Timms. In a flashback, we see the moment when Arthur met Mera and fell in love with her. At the present, Arthur wakes in chains aboard Dagon’s ship, with Lori telling him they are headed to their master. Arthur uses his powers to draw moisture from the decking and breaks free, even as Lori and the crew give chase. Elsewhere, Arion and Vivienne realize Arthur was taken through the Alpha Portal and make their way through with Thalassa the Trilance Saber. They stop Arthur’s capture and give him the blade. In the end, he uses the weapon to destroy the ship and is heading to Dagon.

BATGIRL #6 by Tate Brombal and Takeshi Miyazawa.  Cass and Shiva have been captured and still argue with each other as Kalden the Unseen comes in and says that even though the al Ghul’s were responsible for starting a war with The Unseen,  Shiva found their hidden world and paid them back for their kindness by stealing their sacred poppies. Shiva tells her daughter that she did it because she needed a fresh challenge. Jayesh arrives, having taken out the guards, and cuts them down. But Nergui the Unknown runs him through, killing him. Shiva and Cass flee with Cass saying she will help them escape but never wants to see her mother again. Cass calls bats in the cave and they attack The Unseen. They escape the cave but are confronted by Kalden and his followers, leading to Shiva ordering Cass to leave as she stands her ground to fight. As she rides out of the area, Cass sees Kalden holding up the remains of Shiva’s outfit.

BATMAN #159 by Geof Loeb, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams. Faced with no other good option, Batman takes the critically injured Joker to Leslie Thompkins. With no real resources available and issues about saving the villain’s life, she treats his wounds and wires his jaw shut. With nowhere to take him, Batman takes him to the Batcave to recuperate. Later, batman is attacked by Red Hood, resulting in Batman being knocked out. When he eventually wakes, The Joker is gone and Batman concludes that Red Hood is working for Hush. Meanwhile, Batgirl and Nightwing discuss possible choices when they are visited by the only person who seems to know what is going on-The Riddler.

BATMAN AND ROBIN #20 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Hugo Petrus, Miguel Mendonca, and Juni Ba. Dr. Bashir is dead and Robin has been captured by Memento. An infected Batman goes to Ribin’s room and finds  a comic Robin has created, which tells of the encounters with Memento but also reveals he wants to be a doctor like his grandfather. An image of Alfred tells Batman to look closer and he finds a casebook that Damian created about Memento

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #38 by Mark Waid and Clayton Henry. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART ONE. Clark and Bruce watch the testing of a new plane that Hal is piloting when something goes horribly wrong and Hal is forced to eject, but disappears as he parachutes to the ground. They receive a transmission  where they see he has been captured by Grodd, who declares war on the human race. They head into action along with The Flash, who has known about Gorilla City for a time and explains that he has a good relationship with King Solovar. Entering Gorilla City, they are approached by armed gorillas who are quickly dispatched by Superman until he is taken down by a giant ape with Kryptonite eyes-Titano.  Flash finds Grodd seated in a chair and behind a force bubble. Batman finds Hal and Solovar in captivity and frees them. But Grodd has managed to swap brains with Superman and attacks. Batman has Titano turn onto the possessed Superman, knowing this might kill his friend. Flash races to Grodd and brings him to Superman, engaging the swap again before Titano kills Superman. With Grodd jailed, he is visited by his future self who takes over his mind. Continued in JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #6.

BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST 2025 ANNUAL by Christopher Cantwell, Mark Waid, and Dan McDaid. WE ARE YESTERDAY PART THREE. Inside the Hall of Doom, Grodd explains his master plan to the Legion of Doom, knowing he needs to convince them first, telling them they will all be defeated in the future by the Justice League. His plan is to send the villains out in a three-prong attack to where they will steal time-related tech that will transport them to the future where they can defeat the League and take over the Watchtower. Bizarro and Lex go to Central City where they create a tachyon pulse using the Cosmic Treadmill. Joker and Scarecrows got to Dr. Nichols lab to steal his tachyon particles when Batman and Robin arrive, with Robin being hit with a tachyon gun and disappearing. Sinestro, Black Manta, and Cheetah attack The Atom to steal his Time Pool. With all the teams successful, Grodd is ready to transport them to the future. but he has also made a deal with Pythoness to use her magic on the trip. In exchange for revealing to Pythoness about her future death, the villains leave, but leave Cheetah behind in the process as part of that deal. The villains arrive in our present, but the displaced Robin also arrives there, where he meets Batman and Nightwing? Continued in BATMAN/SUPERMAN: WORLD’S FINEST #39.

BIRDS OF PREY #20 by Kelly Thompson and Sami Basri. Batgirl investigates an alleged suicide which, once Batman arrives, is tied to a robbery at a military black site where an experimental drug had been stolen. Batgirl deduces that the scene has been staged, although she notes all of the evidence here. Back at Birds of Prey Headquarters, Black canary sends the team out to investigate the various leads, with Barda being sent to the UAE and Dinah going to Tokyo, while keeping Cass and Sin local to investigate. They observe a man Cass had seen previously at the crime scene and watch as he drops down a manhole, which leads them to follow. In Tokyo, Dinah investigates a tech conference where she observes a new kind of  camouflage that could be a game changer for espionage. In the UAE, Barda arrives at a seemingly deserted town and makes her way into a large skyscraper. Once inside, she hears a voice in an air vent and a black creature slithers out, steals her power rod, transforms and flies away. Shortly after that, the room Barda is in is launched into space and explodes. In the end, someone who is targeting the Birds comments that one is down and there are four to go.  

CATWOMAN #75 Torunn Gronbekk and Patricio Delpeche. Years ago, Evie and the crew she is working with are planning their heist. The day prior to the operation, Belov decides that Donny and Anton are going to accompany them. During the operation, things go well until Danny and Anton go rogue, shooting and killing their target’s dog and all of the security guards.

CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN #5 by Christopher Cantwell and Sean Isaaske. All of the Challengers except for Rocky are infected by Omega energy. Wonder Woman uses her lasso to get the Challengers to spout about how their Omega is dying and Omega must not die. The decision is made to put all the Challengers affected into medically induced comas under a cure can be found. Angry about it, Rocky shuts down the primary power systems of the Watchtower and Ultivac arrives and begins drawing Omega energy out of the Challengers. The Watchtower becomes an Omega rift and begins to alternate space and time. Rocky confronts Ultivac and asks why he has no Omega in him with Ultivac saying he does not know but can breach the threshold with his death and kills him. A rift tears apart part pf the Watchtower and Rock and Ultivac drift into space and disappear. In something resembling an afterlife, Rock and Ultivac talk, with Rocky saying life is power. In the end, Rocky and Ultivac find themselves near Challengers Mountain, which had been destroyed years ago. It is then that Rocky realizes they are in the past.

DC HORROR PRESENTS CREATURE COMMANDOS #6 by David Dastmalchian and Jesus Hervas. As the team flees Brainiac’s base, Eiling argues with Dr. West, saying this needed to be done, even at risk of their lives. The team goes to the Delaware State Fair where they seek the other weapon that brainiac is planning to use. They find her and Brainiac arrives. They delay him from activating the weapons, fighting off his troops while Velcro drops the pair of weapons into the ocean, killing them and defusing them at the same time. Brainiac flees and then the team is attacked by military, resulting in Lucky accidentally killing a little girl. Suicicidal, Lucky is about to kill himself when a spectral projection of  Zatanna arrives, saying she will help them if they stick together and transports them to a safe house..

DETECTIVE COMICS #1096 by Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin. Batman gets Scarlett out of the burning lab and, when he asks if anyone else is there, she says Dr. Forster is. As he rescues her, he tells her that he knows who she really is. Dr. Forster is a de-aged Evelyn Scott: Scarlett’s mother and also Asema. She reveals she has Joe Chill locked in a room beneath the burning lab and that is how she will get her revenge on him; more like she wants Bruce, knowing Batman is Bruce Wayne, to be able to gain his revenge. He overwhelms her, save Chill and arrests Evelyn. At the same time, the Bat Family intercepts men authorized to take teenagers out of Faultless, defeats them and arrests Warden Slattery. Later, Bruce meets with Scarlett and tells her Chill is her father. He promises to use his money to shut down Faultless and open a rehabilitation facility for troubled teens. In the end, Elixir visits Evelyn Scott in prison, promising to spare Scarlett but saying that others will not be so lucky.

DETECTIVE COMICS 2025 ANNUAL by Al Ewing, Stefano Raffaele, John McCrea, and Fico Ossio. Batman follows a musical signal that is giving out a message in Morse Code. He gains entry into a secured bunker belonging to a technocrat named Cody Morse. What he discovers is a dead Morse and a message in blood declaring: Batman, don’t solve my murder. As he investigates, he sees that the entire place is automated by gravity defying technology. He also finds five identical books; all with the same five pages torn out. he heads to London and meets with Dr. Jenny Sykes who tells him about Arthur Milligan and how he once created a series of equations that could end the world. He goes to a publishing house in search of a sixth copy and ends up fighting with Mr. Mystic, who has solen the magic powers of John Dee. He finds the book and then gets a call from the killer, who wants the book and has taken Sykes hostage. The killer is Morse’s business partner, Briar, and he forces Batman to give him the missing pages. Batman does, but only one page. Briar inputs the information and finds himself trapped permanently in something akin to a giant glass ball. In the backup, a seventh grade boy, who is also the president of the Junior Batman Detective Club, is convinced the Scarecrow is at the school and has done something to cause the kids to get sick and hallucinate. What the boy and Batman discover is that the school was built on a former Scarecrow lab that didn’t get cleaned up properly.

FIRE AND ICE: WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER #1 by Joanne Starer and Stephen Byrne. Fire and Ice are in new Kooey and they have problems dealing with their powers being totally switched. That night at a karaoke night, Fire finds a Monkey Paw and makes a wish to switch them back, which doesn’t work. But the next morning Ice wakes up next to Charlie. But here is something wrong here. Tora has her powers back but this isn’t Tora: Fire and Ice have their powers back but she and Bea have switched bodies.

THE FLASH #20 by Simon Spurrier and Vasco Georgiev.  Wally has split himself into thousands of versions of himself where a war is going on. The T-Sphere of Mister Terrific that is investigating meets with a Wally, who is dressed in a black costume, where Wally send one of his duplicates to meet with General Judy Garrick. Wally brings the T-Sphere to a room filled with injured Flashes and they meet with Inspector Pilgrim, who explains that the Heliophage is using Godspeed’s powers to steal the moon. Later, the ‘Terrible Two’ (Avery Ho and Wallace West) arrive to create a cluster bomb and clear out the enemy. With General Garrick telling the Flashes to “die well”, they attacks the enemy vent. The casualties are horrendous as Magenta watches from above. Captain Zero arrives to watch the proceedings and then a giant Eclipso is seen, complaining how much it hurts as the family dog struggles inside of him.

GREEN ARROW #23 by Chris Condon and Montos. Ollie battles the Fresh Water Killers who have captured Detective Benitez. He manages to free Benitez and they team up against all their enemies. Eventually, Ollie meets with Kenny Gordon, who is the leader and the young boy we first met at the beginning of the storyline. Kenny gets the upper hand but Ollie is saved by Benitez, leading to him musing about the damage that was done to the townspeople.

GREEN LANTERN #22 by Jeremy Adams and Xermanico. Hector Hammond has regained his powers and is using them to attack Hal, Carol, and Dove, but they gain the upper hand by working as a team. Later, Hal grills D.E.O. Bones, saying the Department is on notice but is willing to overlook it for the use of a special key. Meanwhile, Odyssey picks the lock of the man that was found at a Reach outpost. Insectoid aliens on giant beetles attack, with Kon and Kyle fighting them while Odyssey tends to the man, who reveals he is Dan Garrett: the original Blue Beetle. Dan finds a magical beetle and transforms into the new Silver Scarab. Hal, with the help of Zuriel and the Phantom Stranger, heads to St. Patrick’s Purgatory in Ireland and uses the key to open a doorway to Hell in order to retrieve the next item Sorrow Lantern needs to build a Power Battery. But they end up encountering…G’Nort?

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #3 by Jeremy Adams, Morgan Hampton, and Fernado Pasarin. John and his Lanterns faces off against Atrocitus and his form Red Lanterns. Atrocitus explains  that many Red Lanterns died when the United Planet Lanterns destroyed the Red Power Battery because their hearts were tied to the Battery’s energy. Because of what was going on with the Emotional Spectrum, Zillius Zox’s rage filled him with Red Lantern energy, so Atrocitus figured out a way to siphon his power along with Nth Metal to help the surviving Lanterns. Atrocitus now seeks Nth Metal to find a permanent solution and take revenge onto the Green Lanterns. The Nth Metal egg hatches and the Thanagarian god Horus emerges, wondering why he had been forced to come out centuries ahead of schedule. The Lantern ship fires at him and he rips them in half, forcing John to hold it together. Shayera begs for mercy and Horus flies off to find a planet that can be the new Thanagar. In the end, the surviving Red Lanterns decide to go into cryo-freeze until a new battery can be restored.

HARLEY QUINN #50 by Elliot Kalan and Mirka Andolfo. Harley has suddenly had a change of heart and is being influenced by Quintellect: her brain which has taken over Harley’s actual instincts, leading to her taking on more than she should in the town. Harley tries to fight back and, in the process, finds herself being shot at by Gunbunny and Mayfly. Harley tries to fight them but, because of Quintellect, didn’t have a weapon with her. In the end, it looks like her decision to give up being violent may cost Harley her life.